Chapter Twenty-Seven (Ranma 1/2)
Being the headmaster at a school filled with illogical people was perhaps a nice change of pace, but as the clock ticked, the first troublesome individual arrived. Ryoga Hibiki, with his yellow and black bandana, the heavy umbrella on his shoulders and his large backpack on his back stepped into the ring of war that was the courtyard after having cried tears of joy at having found the right location. His emotions were short-lived, though.
Mostly because I intercepted him on the path. "You're late for school, kid," I drawled as I walked towards him from the main door of the school, "Come on," I continued as I gestured at him, "We'll get you sorted out and all."
"Uh? Excuse me sir, but I'm not a student here," Ryoga said, his voice polite as I simply raised an eyebrow in his direction. "I'm looking for that accursed Ranma," he continued, clenching his right fist and turning sideways, gritting his teeth in the meantime. "To challenge him and have my honor restored!"
"Well," I said flatly, "You are Ryoga Hibiki, yes? Your parents wished for you to further your education," I continued, "So they simply spoke to the minister of education while meeting him by chance in Tokyo while trying to reach Moscow." I shrugged lightly as Ryoga actually bought the lie with the hook, the sinker, the cane and the fisherman without the need to effectively alter his mind to accept it. "So whatever school you're in, you'll get enrolled for free."
"My parents did that?" there were tears coming out of his eyes. His gaze lifted to the sky, filled with emotions. I stared blankly at him, and then inwardly decided not to mess with his pure smile. I shuddered the next second, and gestured at him to follow me.
"Now come along, Mister Hibiki," I said as I began to walk back inside the school, only for Ryoga to start heading towards the backyard. I sighed, and silently altered the very fabric of the world. Slowly, but surely, Ryoga's steps brought him back by my side and as we walked inside the locker room, I showed him the newly materialized locker where he could change his shoes and grab a school uniform. "Lessons have already begun, but for today I'll close an eye on your tardiness. Ensure it doesn't happen again," I continued, before turning around to let him change. There was no one in the school entrance, and once Ryoga was done, I began to walk once more.
Guiding him through the hallways, I came to a halt in front of the door of a very specific classroom and knocked resolutely against it before stepping inside.
"Ah, headmaster," the professor wheezed out. He was old, and wrinkly, but he still had that typical teacher-like behavior that made one either respect him, or outright ignore him. Ranma apparently had chosen the latter, seeing how he was looking at the ceiling until the second I had stepped inside. Rito had instead been paying attention, and as his gaze fell warily upon me, I smiled in the general direction of the class.
"Good morning," I answered before ushering Ryoga inside. "We have a new transfer student, so—"
"Ranma!" Ryoga bellowed, pointing a finger in his direction before outright rushing towards the boy, only for him to nimbly jump backwards and begin dodging the blows coming his way. The rest of the students hastily moved out of their desks, even as Ranma's dodging brought him close to the wall.
"Oi! The hell are you doing!?" Ranma yelled, only for Ryoga to increase the speed of his attacks.
"My dreadful enemy Ranma! Today I'll make you pay for what you did to me!" as the wall began to crack, I neared the fighting duo. A single strike hit Ryoga squarely in the stomach, my fingers moving nimbly to strike at pressure points across his front and freezing him in place.
"No fighting allowed at school I'm afraid," I said with a sigh, shaking my head as I plopped Ryoga down in the nearest desk. "Don't make me come down here to stop a fight again, or you'll regret it," I added with a grin as I pressed a couple more points on Ryoga's shoulders, lifting the paralysis off him. "If you want to fight, just go at it outside the school," I continued as I turned to leave. "Have a nice day."
I left the classroom sliding the door to a close, and stepped back into my headmaster's office just in time to gaze through the eyes of a Sliver left behind at the battle of spit and paper that was now underway between Ryoga and Ranma.
I had, after all, put them one next to the other. I chuckled as I watched the fists fly, the hands slap away the incoming blows, the other hand busy crafting paper balls to chew and then spit. It was a war that had no respite. It was a war that held no peace, and that would concede no quarter. Such brutal tactics as bogeys and snot were used, filth scraped off the desks, and chewed gums thrown for the hair-shot.
Admittedly, it was far more entertaining than it had the right to be, and as I watched it, I sighed at Rito's non-interventionist political stance. While being Switzerland was all good and nice, Rito needed a push in the right direction, I reckoned. The rest of the students had stopped paying attention to the professor, and were currently watching slack-jawed the developing fight, Nabiki having somehow left her class as if on a sixth sense, and taking bets in a corner of the room.
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
A chuckle escaped my lips as I watched with wonder the childish fight. While there most certainly was heat, there was innocence to it. It was endearing. Ryoga wanted to beat Ranma, but most certainly he didn't want to rip his limbs off, replace them with mechanical parts, and then alter his mind to become a dull servant of the will of Phyrexia and Yawgmoth. A Powerstone slowly ripped itself out from my skin, and as I glanced at the shining bright light within it, I sighed.
The stone disappeared back into my skin the next second, my ears twitching in alert.
Someone was coming.
No, not just a random someone.
Admittedly, meeting Planeswalkers wasn't that rare of an event, especially because they tended to gravitate around specific planes, but if one went to the fringes of the Multiverses, then normally the ratio of encounter would be greatly reduced. It still meant that once in a while, another Planeswalker would be met. It wasn't difficult to hide one's Spark from scrutiny across the planes, just like it wasn't that difficult to pierce through obscuring magic to find them depending on the skill of the hunting Planeswalker.
"Probably felt Rito's Spark," I mumbled as I felt the energy spread and twitch, appearing out of thin air a short distance away from the school. The Spark was burning a bright shining light of judgment, and inwardly I reeled back from the feeling and the sensation of pure, unwashed righteousness that emanated from it.
If there was one thing I detested, apart from naive fools, it was when righteous sanctimonious Planeswalkers came by pleading for my aid against this or that great evil, as if expecting a lesser evil such as myself to aid them every single time.
I had seen my fair share of ancient evil gods and mighty cruel dragons from worlds that Planeswalkers just budding into their powers couldn't defeat alone.
The fight between Ranma and Ryoga forgotten, I concentrated and slowly brought a Sliver closer to the Planeswalker. The shadows twitched and streamed, the eyes gazing at the somber looking figure of a young and pretty man.
I groaned.
Out of all the possible chances, this Planeswalker clearly was the one type of individual I hated the most.
A mixture of White and Blue Mana surrounded his frame, his glowing eyes and light hazel hair cast in an unearthly glow. He was the classic martyr type. I could smell the stench of his beliefs, his cult leader-like appearance made my skin crawl and he was, without a doubt, not here for sightseeing.
He moved forward and with purpose, heading through the courtyard and straight into the school.
It was once he stepped inside Rito's classroom that I understood just what kind of guy he was.
"You!" he bellowed, pointing a finger straight at Rito. "Quick! Come with me if you want to live!"
I stared, befuddled, at such an earnest introduction.
This was going to be fun.
