Chapter Text
Ranma watched as the ground past by him as he flew...or rather, fell. He let out a sigh. All her said, was that Akane should consider tasting her own cooking, before asking others to as well. He meant is as politely as possible, as a way to possibly help her improve her cooking skills, however...as usual, she flipped her lid thinking it was an insult and let loose the mallet.
It was...a pretty typical day.
Letting out a sigh, he braced himself as he saw himself getting closer to the ground, and...
CRASH! BANG! BOOM! SPLOOSH!
Ranma waited for everything to stop moving, before slowly getting up. She was wet...from some of the pipes she went through, which happened on occasion, on the rarer chances she got through a roof. Looking around, it was a processing plant or something. It had a lot of pipes, and water in most of them if she was right.
Walking over to a dry spot, she took a seat and let out a sigh. This was great...just great.
Letting out a sigh, she leaned back, letting her mind go blank...and then opened her eyes wide at the energy she felt. Getting back up, she looked around, then down. There was Ki...RAW and powerful, coming from the floor below. Looking around, she took a stair case down into the basement level...and blinked. A large green pipe, just sticking out of the wall, amongst the pipes. Shrugging, she walked over to it. The Ki was flowing in the sides of the pipe, and from within.
The ki didn't feel malicious, it felt...embracing, like it was someone reaching out to hug her. Curiosity got the better of her, and she started to leaning, seeing if she could get an idea of what was producing the ki, when a light breeze pulled at her, and picked up speed.
A moment later, Ranma found herself getting pulled off her feet and into the pipe, which soon changed into lights, so many brilliant lights and colors, that she could help but feel amazed! It was so...breath takingly beautiful
Letting out a bit of tension, she just let the pipe carry her. For a few minutes, she flew, watching as she passed by colors, shapes, in a space that opened up, showing transparent pipe ways much like the one she was in.
Then up ahead, she saw a cloud, made of colors coming up, her clear pipe leading into it. Soon she was heading in, then she was spit out, and reflect took hold as she flipped through the air, and landed on her feet, looking over a vast forest made purely of mushrooms. GIANT, tree sized mushrooms.
She blinked as she looked around. Mushrooms as far as the eyes could see...with a town or city smack dab in the middle of it. She nodded a bit to herself, deciding to head that way, and took a few steps before jumping onto the next mushroom...and went over and past it, and just barley managed to land on the next one without falling off the edge.
She blinked and looked back, mentally measuring the distance she had just jumped. It almost felt like she had glided over the mushroom. Curious, she opened her Ki senses to the area around her...WHOA!!!
This place was VIBRANT with ki, it was in the air itself in such a rich and flowing way...she took a few steps, and sped up, the kids moving with her...oh that felt amazing.
She sped up and jumped, and watched as the ki moved, helping her along. That was amazing! She didn't know why this place was like this but she was LOVING IT!!!
Smiling, she picked up speed and continued, making her way across the mushroom forest towards the town. She hummed a bit to herself, enjoying the journey-
"ATTACK!!!"
Ranma blinked and turned...and saw flying turtles that were shaped like people diving towards her.
She let out a chuckle and jumped the flying turtles passing harmlessly underneath her, and she even landed on one...and it got sucked into it's shell.
Reaching down, she picked it up, then looked at the few left in the air, before shrugged, and chucking it at them, watching it bounce off them before they all fell to the ground.
She looked down at them as they lay in a heap, before shrugging and heading on her way.
Peach looked at the Koopa troops that had been rounded up and brought to the holding cells. She turned to the Toad patrol that had found them and brought them, "Did you ask them what happened?"
"Yes your Majesty! They said they were out trying to hone their skills in live combat, but got outdone by a human, noticably with a lot of red, but no blue."
Mario tilted his head from where he stood nearby, "Another human? We haven't gotten one since me and Luigi popped in ages ago."
Peach nodded, "I agree...let the toads know, if they see a new human, they are invited into the castle to meet with us."
The nearby guards nodded, before turning and leaving, Leaving themselves, Peach and Mario headed up the stairs into the upper floors of the castle, making it to the main room, where Peach took the seat on her throne to begin going through some paperwork, while Mario looked at some from the seat beside her, when he turned to her, "Any idea where Rosa went?"
"Oh if I had to guess, she's out having fun again."
"Right. How did we end up with such a adventure hungry girl as our child?"
"Well...her dad is the hero of the kingdom."
"True....and her mother is an amazing defender of her people."
"I guess it's just in her veins-"
BOOM!
They looked up to the main door of the room, and their daughter ran in, hat a little crooked as she clutched it to her he'd, the crown symbol on the front almost covered by her hand as she ran in, "Did I her right!? A new human?!"
Mario chuckled and walked around, throwing his arms around his taller daughter in a hug, "Hey Rusty! You heard right, there's a new human."
"OH!!!! Do you think they're my age!? Where do you think they're from, italy like your family dad? Or maybe someplace more exotic like Hawaii? Maybe they're roman, or...or..."
"Slow down, take a breath. We don't know, but the roads are going to pass along the message they're invited to come meet us. We're pretty sure they're here in the mushroom kingdom somewhere."
"OH! I'm so excited! I wonder what they're like!!!"
Having found some hot water, Ranma had changed back and was hopping around. This place was interesting. Flouting bricks clusters , the bricks all stuck together in blocks. Moving platforms, with nothing actually connected to them.then the pipes. Not exactly the same as the one that brought him here, but they were still fun to hop into and zip around in.
And then there was the mushroom people who lived here.
They had mushroom caps on their heads, but Ranma couldn't tell if they were real or just some kind of local fad they all chose to wear. Their bodies were built oddly, but they were packed with ki that just blended with the world around them These were definitely natives.
But what more, they actually weren't freaking out or anything when they saw him. He saw a few pointed when they saw him, but he just waved and moved on. After a bit, Ranma was starting to feel hungry...there was just one small problem.
The money these people used, where HUGE hold coins. He could use them a a plate. He had none, and while he didn't want to do it, trying to take one would be tricky. Since the coins were so large, it was much easier to see someone take one.
Plus, there was also the language. It was english, and while he did somewhat know it, he wasn't to sure how easily he could carry a conversation.
Well...maybe he should consider finding his way back to the pipe that brought him to this world-
"Pardon me."
Ranma turned, and found himself looking down at a older mushroom person, this one had a yellower colored cap with dark brown spots instead of the usually white ones. He also had a staff that had a tiny mushroom on the end to match. Also...Ranma was surprised he understood what he said so clearly...but then again it had just been two words.
"Hi...."
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Toadsworth, advisor and magician of the Mushroom Kingdom. Queen Peach has formerly invited you to her castle, and wishes to thank you for taking care of the Koopa Troops before they were able to cause trouble in the kingdom."
"You mean the flying turtles guys? It was no problem."
HOW was he speaking english so clearly right now? This was an odd place...maybe there was magic in the air as well as the ki?
The old man chuckled, "Well none the less, she would like to meet you please. The royal chefs should be working on lunch right now, so you can probably join them for lunch if we leave now."
He had been getting hungry...
"Alright. Lead the way sir."
"Why thank you."
Nodding, Ranma followed along, the older man moving pretty well as he guided the martial artist. Soon they worked their way through a series of pipes, till one brought them up to the top of the town...and before a castle.
Ranma nodded at it, "Nice place...though it's very...pink."
"It is her Majesty's favorite color."
"Well...when you're royal, you might as well enjoy the small things in life."
"That's the spirit."
Ranma followed him, and they passed by a pair of toads outside the front gate, and walked inside. Ranma looked up and around, seeing it was a nicely kept place, with lots of space, and also...
"You have plants hanging from the ceiling?"
"They were a gift from our neighboring kingdom's leaders, and they add a breath of fresh air to the place."
Ranma nodded. The smell of the flowers were nice...
Soon they were walking into a throne room, and there sat two people, one with a pink dress with a gold crown, next to a shorter man with red and blue on, with a hat with a large M on the front. There was also another mushroom person, this one on a ladder, a really tall one, water the plants hanging from above.
Toadsworth took the space before Ranma, "Allow me to introduce her Majesty, QUeen Peach, and her Husband Mario!"
Ranma stepped forward, and bowed, "You majesties, I am Ranma Saotome, thank you for inviting me into your home."
The table before the throne was moved aside and she stood, walking up to him, with a natural grace that wasn't like a marital artist's, but noticable better then one would find on a acrobat or dancer.
"No need for formalities. Welcome to the Mushroom Kingdom Ranma. Call me Peach, and as Toadsworth said, this here is my husband Mario."
"Hey there. First day here?"
Ranma nodded to the short man, who nodded back, "It's a really doozy, huh?"
"Yeah...the ki of this place is so...vibrant!"
They looked at him, and he realized they didn't know what he meant, so he decided to give a quick explanation-
BOOM!
"He's here!? HE'S HERE!!!!"
Ranma turned and saw a girl his age standing there, and then started walking towards him. She was clearly the daughter of the two humans with Ranma, as indicated by no only her shared features, but the mix of her clothes. Her father wore red shirt with blue over alls. She wore a red shirt with a pink skirt that had overall style straps. She also wore pink hat, but with a crown instead of a letter.
Peach giggled, "Ranma, this is Princess Rosa, our daughter. Rosa, this is Ranma Saotome, the human we heard about."
She grabbed his hand and started to shake it, "Welcome! I'm Rosa, but my friends call my Rusty! Allow me to welcome you to-
SPLASH!
"-the Mushroom...King...dom...huh..."
Ranma blinked the water out of her eyes, before letting out a sigh and looking at the girl still holding her hand, the two of them now the same height, "Yeah, still me. Magic curse I got back in my world. Cold water girl, hot water guy. I was born a guy and got the girl form about...two years ago."
"Oh...my...GOODNESS!!!! I didn't know these kind of things could happen in other worlds, heck I didn't even think magic could do something like this! What's it like!?"
Peach placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder, "Rosa sweety, calm down."
"Right...sorry."
Ranma waved her hand, "Nah it's fine. Honestly I usually get worse reactions. It's nice that someone actually thinks it's kind of neat for once."
Her eyes lit up, "Really!?"
"Yeah...people like to jump to conclusions or expect the worse."
"Well why would they do that? You're still you, just... different in appearance."
"Ha...if only everyone else saw it that way..."
Ranma didn't notice the look the two adults passed to each other, as their daughter was now walking around him, taking in his new form, "So is it just this change?"
"Well for me, but there's different variants of the curse. Most of them are animals, and some human specific ones, like this one I have, but there's also a few oddball ones. Most of them are activated through water to cause the changes, but there is the spring of drowned twin. Instead of a transformation, it creates a duplicate of any living thing it splashes, however the small bit of time I was around it, I don't think water was about to undo the split, so once you have the twin, they're just there."
"Neat! So where in the other world are you from?"
"Japan, though I spent a few years in China, where I got this curse."
"I see...what where you doing in China?"
"Marital arts training journey."
"Martial arts...like boxing?"
"Well...not exactly, though admittedly I did study a bit while on my journey. My school is the Saotome Branch of Anything Goes Martial arts, a school dedicated to observing, learning, and adapting. My specific branch focuses on ariel combat, which includes speed, flexibility, reflexes...and so on."
"OH! We should see what you can do with a flying power-up! I think we have some red stars stashed away from Aunt Rosalina's last visit."
"Wait? What do you mean Power-uuup!"
Ranma was grabbed by the wrist and was getting dragged to the door, though Mario quickly blocked his daughter, "Why don't we give them a bit to get used to the Mushroom Kingdom and power-ups first BEFORE we go throwing them off the towers. Besides, it's lunch time and we got one of your favorites!"
"You right! Follow me!"
Ranma felt herself get pulled along as again by the wrist she had yet to have been released from the princess's grip, heading towards the door.
"I can walk! I have my own legs!"
"I admit, THIS is the best spaghetti I have ever eaten!"
Rosa nodded, "Grandma's own recipe! The toads are amazing cooks, but trust me, when Grandma makes it herself, it's AMAZING compared to this!"
"I hope you introduce me to this woman, cause I am intrigued by your claim."
The girl next to Ranma eagerly nodded while preparing to intake another forkful of the sauce-soaked pasta noodles, while her parents on the other side of the table watched. The room they were in was actually pretty typical, in western style, but typical. A dining room with a table a bit on the bigger side, with chairs around it, and the room has some decorative knick-knacks here and there. It was a pretty nice place.
Peach set down her fork, placing it on the edge of the noticeable smaller plate from Ranma's and Rosa's.
"So Ranma, what's your home like?"
"Well...there's a lot of martial artists, though it can be pretty chaotic."
"Really? Maybe you could show me-"
"NOPE!"
The room went still, and Ranma's eyes went around, and she let out a nervous giggle, "I'm sorry...that was rude of me. Uhhh...let's just say if certain people see me show up with a new random girl...conclusions and accusations would be made...and then...stuff...very bad...chaotic...and HARMFUL...martial arts stuff would happen...and I would rather you NOT end up in the middle of all that."
Rosa tilted her head, confused, while Peach brought her hands up and wove her fingers together, trying to understand what Ranma was exactly worried about.
Mario however, had the courage to ask, "Why would you being with a girl cause trouble like that?"
"I...uuhhhhh...you seeeee....the thing is...I...welll...AAAHHH!!"
She curled up in her seat and tucked her head between her knees while her hands covered her head. Light mummbling came from the curled up red head, though Rosa leaned in and listened a moment.
"So...you have three fiancés that you didn't want or ask for, and a few rivals, all of whom are martial artists, and half of them might attack me thinking I'm some new fiancé, PURELY cause I know you?"
A small nod.
Now the two parents were looking VERY concerned. Looking back at Ranma, Mario leaned over to Peach, "Should we do something?"
"Probably...Rosa, try and...help Ranma uncurl. Me and your father would like to have a talk."
She nodded and turned back to Ranma, while they stepped out, entering the next room and closing the door, Peach turning to Mario, "Is what she's saying true?"
"Well...coming from the other world, NORMALLY I'd say it's unlikely. However, they have shown they experienced magic in the form of their curse, that they got from China. I'm willing to bet this is true, and if that's the case...I don't think we should let Ranma go back."
"I agree...but will they agree?"
"I don't know...this is new to me, and I fight fire breathing turtles on a normal basis."
"True...well what do we do?"
"I think offer them a place to stay. We can let them move into my old mushroom house, since me and Luigi have both been moved out for a while."
"I guess we could do that. It gives them a chance to get away from people that crazy."
"Agreed...so do you want me to tell them?"
"If you want. And take Rosa with you, she seems to be getting along with Ranma pretty well."
Nodding they opened the doors back in, and found Ranma sitting up, and setting down a kettle from above his black hair, Rosa giving it a good look over.
"I AM IMPRESSED!!! Cute girl and a hot guy all in one."
Ranma noticeably blushed and turned away, "Thanks...I appreciate that."
Peach giggled a little, then nodded to Mario as he walked over, "So Ranma, how would you feel about staying for a while?"
The boy turned to him, "Really?"
"Sure! We got a house you can use, my old digs when me and my brother moved out here."
"Brother?"
"Yup, Luigi. A bit taller then myself, and prefers green himself, but when you meet him you'll see the family resemblance."
Ranma nodded, then looked down, "Well...I don't know. I don't want my chaos following me here."
"Come on, a small vacation couldn't hurt."
"Well... I'll consider it?"
"Alright! Why not come out and see the place for yourself? Show you around a bit."
Ranma thought about it, "I guess looking couldn't hurt."
"That's the spirit! Rosa, you wanna tag along?"
"Would I ever! Yes please."
Mario chuckled, then turned to Peach, "We'll see you later!"
"Alright, have fun."
Rosa could barely keep herself paced as she walked alongside her dad and Ranma. As they walked out the gates, she turned to Ranma, "So Ranma, what can you do as a martial artist?"
"Oh lots of stuff. Jump great distances, move at amazing speeds, ki technique, etc."
"What's Ki?"
Ranma turned to her, "You don't know what it is...but your world is filled with it!"
Mario turned around, walking backwards, "I'm curious about that as well, you mentioned it earlier."
"Well...ki is life energy, to put it simply. When one trains enough z they can reach in and use their own ki to enhance themselves, and do all sorts of meat tricks, including sensing it. And this place...the world is just buzzing with ki! And it's receptive! I easily jumped over a giant mushroom earlier when I meant to jump into it! I feel so ALIVE right now!"
Mario slowly nodded, "I understand what you mean actually. When I first got here, it took a bit for that to fully happen, but I was boosted along with the red mushroom."
"Red mushroom?"
Rosa leaned over, "One of the power ups I mentioned earlier. The basic effect is that it makes you larger, but to someone new who hasn't adjusted to our world yet, it bolsters their physical capabilities. Once the natural energy of the world has been present enough, you'll naturally get that capability without the mushroom, though I'm guessing you're already past that point."
Ranma chuckled, "Probably, considering my life of training."
"Life of training?"
"Yup. Since I could remember, my old man was on a training journey to make me I to a ma...master martial artist."
Rosa perked an eyebrow at the small slip, but just kept walking.
Mario cleared his throat, "Well we can talk more later. Into the pipe please."
Rosa stepped ahead and dove in, letting the pipe carry her through the kingdom. A minute later she slowed down and stepped out, followed by Ranma, and her dad, who gestured to a nearby mushroom, this one notably a bit bigger then others, "Here we are! The old stomping grounds."
Ranma nodded and followed. Mario pulled out a ki ring, flipping through them till he found the one he was looking for and unlocked the door.
The two followed him and in and Rosa looked around. Mario swept his arm out, "it used to be smaller, but we renovated a few times before we both moved out. The downstairs here as you can see is a kitchen, dining room and living room all in one, while upstairs you got the bedroom and bathroom."
Rosa watched as her dad pulled the key off the ring and casually placed it on the counter of the very empty house.
"I'll head into the basement and see if anything need a tune up."
They watched as he headed to the stairs and pulled up the door on the floor underneath the stairs before heading down. After a moment, Rosa walked over and picked up the key, "I think my parents really want you to have the place "
"I don't know... I'm sure them mean well...but the fact the people back home could casually break apart your home of they follow me...I don't want that for you guys."
"Ranma...you shouldn't have to worry. Warp pipes in other worlds are incredibly hard to find. The fact you found it is amazing."
"About that ..I was more or less dropped onto it, and then I found it with my Ki senses. If I could do that, they could do that."
"True...but then there's the fact they could also get randomly dropped elsewhere. The pipe in the forest isn't the only one it could go to. My dad and uncle Luigi both entered a pipe in Brooklyn at the same time, but they got dropped off in two separate places here in our world."
Ranma listened, and slowly nodded, "I guess... trying for a little while wouldn't hurt "
Smiling, Rosa placed the key in Ranma's hand, "Welcome to the Mushroom Kingdom Ranma. Any questions?"
"Yeah...earlier you mentioned something about a red star that makes you fly?"