Texas Tournament: The Trip Part 1
The Texas Tournament, The trip Part 1
Started By: Happosai
Jim King sat in his small office at the "King Dude Ranch and
Dojo". He was a young man dressed in jeans a flannel shirt
and wearing a ten gallon cowboy hat. His expression was far
from happy.
"Gosh Darnit! We're gonna go broke at this rate. Somehow
we're gonna have ta get some new blood into tha school. All I
need is some attention, and then my recruitment would go up."
He glanced at the television, and noticed that those crazy
martial artists from Nerima had made the news again.
Suddenly, inspiration struck as he picked up the phone to
make a few calls.
24 Hours Later
An invitation arrived in every martial artists mailbox.
Included with each invitation was a voucher for a seat on a
chartered plane to west Texas.
The invitation read like this.
Greetings Y'all
You are hereby invited to the
King Dude ranch and Dojo
For an anything goes Martial arts
tournament.
First prize
An all expense paid trip to anywhere in
the world.
Silk looked at the invitation. She seemed to be getting all
sorts of odd invitations lately. But a free trip to America
was nothing to be scoffed at. But she wondered about the name
of the tournament. She thought anything goes was a Japanese
style that hadn't been exported. She picked up the phone and
dialed the Tendou Dojo, seeking Happosai, master of Anything
Goes.
Happosai had just come from the Koi pond so he was female at
the moment. "All I did was ask for a little date!" She
shouted in the direction that she flew in from.
She heard the phone ringing, and Kasumi was working hard so
she decided to answer the silly device.
Using her best Kasumi impression Happi answered the phone.
"Hello, Tendo Dojo, may I help you today?"
"Hey Happi, do you know anything about this invitation we all
seem to have received from 'King's dude ranch and dojo'? It
seems he's having a 'anything goes' martial arts tournament
in western Texas, in the United States. I didn't think you'd
exported your school to the US." Silk ignored Happosai's
attempted impersonation. She knew the old master to well to
be so easily fooled.
Happi frowned slightly, Silk was so hard to fool sometimes.
She had to think for a moment about the question. "I didn't
exactly export it, Silk-Chan, but I taught some of it to a
young cowboy when I was in the United States. Perhaps he
mixed what I taught him with some other teachings and created
his own Hybrid anything goes school."
Ryuu read the invitation and smiled. At least this
tournament had a prize worth getting. He glanced at the list
of tournaments he had been banned from. Street
Fighter...Tekken...King of Fighters... He sighed and then
laughed. "Seems this one hasn't heard." he thought in glee.
He pulled out the voucher and saw that the plane would be
leaving soon. He packed his bag and walked toward the
airport...the 30 or so miles there.
Keisuke entered the kitchen from the stairs leading to his
room. "Yo, Silk." he said waving the invitation in front of
her face, ignoring the fact that she was on the phone. "What
the hell is this?"
Perfume followed Keisuke into the room. "This sounds like
fun, I've always wanted to go to America."
Alex looked his own invitation, and grinned. "Well, this
looks interesting. I think I'll go to this thing." He looked
at the trophies he had from previous tournaments.
"Darkstalkers...Tenka-ichi-budokai...Fatal Fury...Marvel Vs.
Capcom..." He grinned. "I think it's high time I added
another one to the shelf."
There was a clatter of dishes as Mimiku fended for himself in
the kitchen. Taking out some chilled ramen, he sat and
shuffled through the mail. He blinked when he found a letter
from the Americas. "Hmm...I wonder what this is about? All
the way from Texas!" He quickly opened the eye-catching
letter. "A tournament! Hmm...sounds like it'll be fun. I
might as well.... I wonder if Kuno and Kodachi were
invited...?"
They say you should never speak of the devil, because he will
come. Just as Mimiku was wondering about the Kunou's
participation, Kodachi was just opening her invitation. "Oh
hohohoho Oh my, Texas?" An image of John Wayne appeared in
her head. "It's another chance to prove that the Black Rose
is a force to be reckoned with!" She laughed insanely and
dropped her brother's invitation by his place at the table.
He'd find it soon enough.
Fujiko read through her invitation and wasn't laughing. She
looked through and the words "Buyer Beware" rang through loud
and clear. She'd go all right, but she'd make ulterior
plans. No way was she going to be stuck half a world away
without a back-up plan. Silk would be proud of her. She
found another use for her computer besides Tetris.
"This should be quite some fun..." Ryuu said aloud as he
jogged toward his destination. Seeing the airport in the
distance he increased his speed. As he ran towards his
target he was already formulating battle tactics to use
against his opponents.
"Thanks Happi. that's all I needed to know. Bye." Silk hung
up the phone and looked at her hovering roommates. "So, you
guys coming to Texas too?" she asked them. "I just got off
the phone with Happosai, and I think the tournament and the
sponsor are legitimate."
Alex was finalizing his packing, and decided to call the
Cures and Curses, to see if any of the residents were going.
"Hey, did you guys hear about the tournament in Texas? Any of
you going?"
Happi smiled to herself. It had been a good long while since
she was in Texas, and this school was related to the founding
school. She just had to see what was going on.
She ran by the kitchen and grabbed her invitation on her way
out.
Moria was just coming in through the kitchen while reading
her own invitation to the tournament, when Happosai literally
ran into her on her way out, sending both girls, and their
invitations, flying.
"OW!" Moria groaned as she picked herself off the floor.
"Happi what's the big rush?!" she exclaimed, before her eyes
caught sight of two invitations floating down.
Reaching up, she snatched the one out of the air, thinking it
was hers, only to realize that it was Happosai's instead.
"You got one of these invitations too?" She asked, as she
handed it over. "Are you going?"
"Who's going where?" Akane asked as she stepped downstairs to
grab a bite to eat. "Did I miss something here?" A brightly
colored envelope nearby Happi's feet caught her eye.
"Hmmmm... A tournament in the US?!" But before she could give
the invitation back to the crimson headed female, Akane was
knocked over by an enthusiastic Ranma clawing for the blue
piece of paper.
"Tournament...Free trip...Texas." Her fiancée pondered over
while Akane picked herself off of the floor. The brown flecks
in her eyes slowly turned an irate red as she clenched her
hand around a large handle.
Ranma felt the familiar shot of bone-crunching pain that
always accompanies one of Akane's mallet blows while she
called him her typical insulting name. "BAKA! If you want to
go to the Texas just to show off, then be my guest. But you
don't have to be rude and inconsiderate."
The sting of the weapon against his flesh was instantly
cooled by the refreshing waters of the Koi pond outside.
Emerging in his busty female form, the cocky kempoist waved
his fist at the hammer wielding vixen and proceeding to walk
back inside the dojo.
"No need to get all uptight about it KAWAIKUNE!" He
dodged another swing from her. "I don't need no stupid
tournament to prove that I'm the best. I'm better than you,
that old man of mine and every other person in this cursed
town."
"But there's a lot you don't know Ranma." Akane swung
at him again and missed for the second time. "And I won't be
surprised if someone teaches you a lesson out there." She
couldn't deny that he was a great martial artist,
nevertheless she couldn't help but be slightly concerned for
him. "You'll probably come back all beat up!"
"Whatever. Anything I don't know," He jumped up just in
time to feel the mallet brush pass his cheek. Seeing an
opening, Ranma lunged forward and flipped behind her back,
grabbing it's handle and tried to wring it out of Akane's
hands. But he only managed to pull her and the mallet closer.
"Anything I don't know...I learn quickly,"
Silk picked up the phone, since she was sitting next to it,
and answered Alex's question, "Yes, it looks like Perfume,
Keisuke and I are all going. Why do you ask?" Silk and Alex
may no longer be a couple, but they were still friends.
Behind her Perfume was throwing a few necessary items into a
duffel bag. She had her bag packed and her Naginata, sword,
and Bon Boris sitting nearby. She was ready to go on to
America before Silk even finished talking on the phone.
Keisuke ran downstairs to his room and grabbed a couple bags
he always had prepared travel-ready. He tossed them up the
stairs and they landed right next to Perfume's stuff. With
that, he ran back up the stairs and waited for Silk to pack
so they could leave.
"Just seeing who all I can expect to be there. Besides, it's
been too long since I've been back home. I figure I'll go and
win this thing, then stop and visit a few friends while I'm
there." Alex inwardly grinned, knowing he'd bring out Silk's
competitive side.
He already knew Ranma would be there, so he'd get a good
workout. "Hope to see all of you there." Alex then looked
over at his closet, and his bags began to pack themselves.
"Foolish hope soon answered. Bye." Silk said, dropping the
phone on its cradle, she went upstairs to get her bags
(prepacked, they always were) but this time she also went to
the closet and pulled out her combat gear.
The tightly woven reed basket held her dragonscale formal
fighting gear, her fighting fans, a pair of tonfa, and two
swords. She didn't plan on using the swords, but she wasn't
going to just leave them behind, either. She came down the
stairs a moment later, calling to the waiting Perfume and
Keisuke, "Let's go. The next train to the airport leaves in
five minutes."
They all headed out toward the train station. It wasn't a far
walk, about 10 minutes, maybe. The ride to the airport would
be another half hour. Taking his seat next to Perfume in the
compartment, Keisuke looked at Silk across him. "Excited?" he
asked with a smile.
Silk grinned, "Yeah, I've always wanted to go to America. I
have some friends who live in Texas. I'd love to see them
again." Her eyes were filled with a sort of merry light.
"Besides, I need the vacation."
Ryuu entered the airport and shuddered. The thought of
riding a dozen tons of metal through the air seemed unnatural
to him, as was the notion of any other "civilized"
transportation. What was wrong with swimming to the America?
Besides the extra time that is. Keeping in his nervousness,
Ryuu did all that one such as him could do in a situation
like this. He got confused and lost.
Back at the Ranch, Jim had finished his last phone calls. As
he hung the receiver back up he turned to the three men in
his office.
"This is shaping up better than I planned. We're actually
going to have a really good tournament." He smiled at three
fighters. "And you three will be representing America, Ken
Masters, Terry Bogard, and Johnny Cage, the three best
martial artists in America.
Suddenly the door burst open. In stepped Robert Garcia, Andy
Bogard, and Paul Phoenix. Andy stepped forward to speak.
"Bro, you weren't seriously thinking of joining a tournament
without me, were you? I brought along some friends. Mr. King,
meet your American fighting dream team."
Silk, Perfume and Keisuke were unaware that the youngest
Amazon Rinse had stowed away with them, hiding as a kitten in
one of Perfume's bags. Shampoo and Great Grandmother did not
allow Rinse to go to America for they thought he was too
young to go alone without them who were uninterested in the
fight.
The trio (or quartet depending on how you look at it) arrived
at the airport terminal. Perfume still didn't enjoy flying
but she wasn't afraid of it anymore. That's when she noticed
Fujiko already at the terminal.
"Nihao, Fujiko-Chan!" She smiled and gave Fujiko a hug,
dropping her bag in the process.
"Hello, Perfume. What brings you guys here? Did you get a
silly invitation too?" the redhead asked.
The plane over hadn't been fun. Mimiku had put in second
class because he happened to pick a loser to take the place
of. It hadn't been that hard to pick out a real sucker and
lure them into a dark corner to get their ID and change his
face to match theirs, but next time, he was choosing a first
class flier! They hadn't given him much trouble at the
security desk, since his bokken was wooden and his cloak
wasn't considered a 'lethal weapon' here in the Americas.
It only took a short while to catch transportation to the
ranch. There was a series of courtesy limos for the foreign
combatants. Mim crossed his fingers, hoping Kodachi would be in
the same limo as he.
Ryuu sat down nervously on one of the planes to Texas. After
swallowing his pride, he had asked someone to direct him to
the plane. He looked around a bit worried as the plane
started up. Was it his imagination that those wings looked to
be falling apart? And this metal it was made of, was it even
strong?
Ryuu reached out toward one of the seats in front of him and
tore it out with one hand. "AAGGHHH!!!" he screamed,
"Everything is falling apart!" He noticed that everything in
the plane was easily breakable. "We're all gonna die!" he
shouted in panic. He jumped up out of his seat and smashed
through one of the walls...and out. Tearing a hole through it
he ran toward the ocean and started to swim to Texas...very,
very quickly.
Happi-Chan grabbed what few items she needed and rushed to
the airport, hoping that her students were following her. She
smacked right into Fujiko and her party.
"OW!"
Kodachi Kunou was never one to conform, and was certainly not
one to fly anything but the best. She chartered her own Lear
jet to Texas. There was simply no way she would travel with
the other rabble. A Kunou always goes first class. Her plane
landed in Lubbock, Texas, and she took a helicopter the rest
of the way to the ranch.
A long way from Texas, there was a Chinese boy in a large
robe so deep in his own thoughts never noticed the people in
front of him. Therefore, he bumped into them. "Ah! Watch
where you are standing! You could hurt someone!" he said as
he donned his glasses to study the miscreant. "Silk?" Mousse
said, managing to sound surprised. "What on earth are you
doing here of all places?"
Perfume smiled when she saw everyone that was going to be
going with her. This was going to be a fun flight. "Why Hello
Mousse-Chan." "Hm?" Mousse said, turning to the sound of the
non-Silk but yet familiar voice. "Perfume, hello. Are you all
here for that tournament thing?"
(Tendo Household)
Seeing Happi quickly bolt out of the door after the argument,
the belligerent couple finally decided to let things cool
down, or rather RANMA DECIDED that he had no time to fuss
with Akane when there was a trip to prepare for.
Walking into the kitchen to boil some water, Kasumi handed
him a fresh kettle full and smiled as she went back in to
prepare a light snack. "WAHHH!!! HOT!! HOT!! HOT!!!" he
yelped while his clothes began to fit comfortably on him.
Relieved to be in his normal male form again, the pig-tailed
boy jokingly stuck out his tongue at his fiancée and followed
her upstairs to taunt her while she packed.
"Don't tell me you're going too?"
She looked up at him questionably, pulling out a few shirts
and pants and stuffing them into her black suitcase. "Yes.
I'm going to compete too. ANY REASON why THAT would seem so
strange?" She asked, slightly insulted by Ranma's tone. After
years of practicing kempo, her skills could be considered
superior to any normal female. Akane wasn't the best martial
artist but her quick bursts of energy proved to be formidable
in any match.
"Well," he paused for a moment, trying to think of something
to say which wouldn't result in a bash across the head.
"Uh...no, um you just might be out of your league here. Maybe
you should just sit this one out."
He could feel Akane's hot ki flaring up with anger with each
word that sputtered out of his mouth. "C'MON AKANE! Stop
gettin' so angry all the time. You know it's the truth." This
was his way of saying "I'm concerned for you and I don't want
you to get hurt." Unfortunately, it came out all wrong.
Holding up her favorite yellow gi, the young Tendou placed
the final garment in her suitcase and firmly shut it closed.
"I'M GOING TO FIGHT!...If I need anymore training, I'll just
get Happosai to teach me...Hey!" She opened her drawer again
and realized that most of her underwear was missing,
especially the colorful silk bras that she bought a few days
ago at the urging of her sister Nabiki. "Why that NASTY
LITTLE PERVERT! Oh now I'm DEFINATELY GOING, and when I find
him...."
"But you JUST wanted that old prune to show you a few tricks
before the tournament... I don't know Akane," Out of sheer
spontaneity, he flipped onto his hands and tried to see how
long he could maintain a handstand. "That may be too much for
even HIM to do. Unless, of course Kawaikune, you think he can
train the biggest klutz in all of Japan, in time for the
match!!"
Opting for a different weapon this time, the short-haired
maiden swung her heavy suitcase around and clobbered Ranma
directly in the gut. He fell to the ground hard and stumbled
out of the door, almost tripping over his brown backpack in
the process.
Finally the quarrelsome couple made it to the airport after
being kicked out of two cabs for fighting and one pickup
truck for bumming a free ride. "You owe me BIG Ranma!" Akane
mumbled as she dragged her suitcase through the halls. Eyeing
Happi and the others getting on the plane, she ran after
them, bypassing ticket check and baggage claim all together.
"PERVERT!" her cries echoes through the terminal, alarming
everyone within a mile radius. "I"LL get you for taking my
stuff!"
Silk greeted Mouse and Fujiko with smiles, and winced when
she heard Ranma and Akane approaching. The plane ride would
be violent, she knew. Predictable, for a tournament involving
Nerimites, though. "This everyone?" she asked the various
people around her, reconsidering for a moment her decision to
go. If she stayed she would be one of the only ones in town.
It would be a peaceful week, with most of the trouble makers
gone.
Perfume smiled at Mousse (Like he could see it) and said, "I
wouldn't miss going to America for all the tea in China."
Noticing who all was going with her on the flight, she took
two Tylenol, knowing that a headache was not far off.
Running ahead of the irate maiden, Ranma quickly scooped
Akane up in his arms and held her by the waist. "Let ME GO!"
she protested. "I'll kill that old pervert! I'll...I'll drown
him it the ocean with my bare hands."
"Calm down." Ranma whispered in to her ear while giving a
small embarrassed grin. With his arm still wrapped around
her, he picked up the suitcase that she dropped in her
pursuit of Happi all the while dodging Akane's flailing arms
and legs that thrashed in her short green skirt.
"Givin' him a sight to see huh?" Akane hung motionless while
casting an angry look at him. "Chill out. It's not like it
turns me on seeing you in your underwear or nothin'. Let's
just get on the plane."
Hearing Ranma's voice, Mousse looked around and stared at an
innocent passer-by. "Saotome! Release Shampoo at once!"
Happi-Chan was a little confused as to why Akane was mad at
her this time. She hadn't done anything to the tomboy in at
least three days. Then again, who knew what angered the girl
half of the time? She grabbed Mousse and turned him the right
direction. "This way, Mousse."
Just then the pilot stepped into the terminal. He was wearing
Jeans, cowboy boots, a ten gallon hat, and a belt buckle the
size of a Buick hubcap. "Y'all the fighters for the King
tournament?" he didn't even wait for an answer. "Y'all go git
in tha plane, we's goin' up to tha big house."
Mimiku sat in the limo for quite some time before he got a
bit uncomfortable. "Hey, what time are we going to get to the
tournament?" A large foreboding figure turned and smiled at
him with crooked teeth. "Why, we're waiting for the other
fighters to arrive. It seems that you came early."
"What?!?" Mimiku blinked. He was sure he was supposed to take
the early flight. "They're plane hasn't even taken off yet,"
the chauffeur continued, "and it looks like you've got a long
wait.... Hey, do you know how to play Parcheesi?"
Mimiku screamed for his dear life, jumping out of the limo
for some air. There was no way in 'ell he was going to stay
in there and play Parcheesi for three hours. He went inside
to get something to eat and settle his nerves.
Silk considered for only a moment longer before picking her
bags up and boarding the plane. It may be a crazy vacation,
but it was a change of scene, at least. She discovered that
the charter jet had no 'coach class'; every seat was
luxurious and had sufficient legroom for even the tallest of
them. "The only way to travel." she said as she picked a
window seat near the front and loaded her bag into the
overhead compartment.
"Whoah." Keisuke said, admiring the inside of the plane.
"This is sweet." Keisuke walked to the front of the plane and
saw Silk in the window seat. "Hey! I wanted that seat."
shrugging it off, he took the window seat next to her across
the aisle.
Perfume settled into place in the seat behind Silk. She was
still apprehensive about the flight, considering what
happened last time she got on a plane.
"/Silk-Chan, they don't hijack chartered planes do they?/"
Keisuke looked back at Silk. "Don't worry, I don't think they
do. I'm sure we'll be safe." said Keisuke, answering
Perfume in her native language. "What?" he asked when they
both gave hum a dumbfounded look. "So I've done Chinese opera
before. What's the big deal?"
Fujiko stared out the window. "I don't know about this,
gang. I always thought "the big house" was slang for
jail..." was all she said.
Ryuu gasped as he crawled onto a beach. "Oh..." he groaned,
"My arms hurt like hell itself." He wrung out his shirt
and put it on when he noticed the people staring at him.
"What?" he asked loudly, "Never seen a guy swim from Japan
before?" He shook his head to clear it of water and went off
to ask for directions to the Tournament.
Akane sighed upon looking at the jumbled mass of people in
the middle of the isle and promptly jumped over them angrily
making her way to the cockpit. "What are you doing?!" Her
pig-tailed fiancé asked as she plopped herself down in the
pilot's seat and placed a huge set of headphones on her head.
Turning around for a moment to search for a control manual,
Akane merely answered "First, you said my fighting skills
weren't up to par for this tournament." Her hands brushed
lightly against a massive book underneath her seat. After
becoming confused with all the weird terminology and foreign
terms, she threw the manual behind her back and started
randomly pressing buttons.
"Then," Akane continued, "Happi steals my underwear."
Stopping briefly, she clicked on her seatbelts and Ranma
followed suit unsure of where she was going with all of her
complaining. "We get kicked out of two cabs just trying to
get to the AIRPORT and NOW some idiot tries to take over the
plane! I'm tired of this! WE ARE GOING TO AMERICA EVEN IF IT
KILLS US!"
Suddenly, a loud whirring blasted through as the tires
started to head down the runway. "Look at what ya did
Kawaikune!" Ranma said while frantically grabbing a large
lever hoping it would make the plane stop. Instead, as the
plane moved down the runway at a faster speed, it quickly
tipped upwards making all of the unsecured passengers flip
and tumble to the end of the isle. Several yelps and cries of
pain could be heard as the plane elevated rapidly.
"What I DID?! You're the one who pulled the level! How do you
steer this thing?!" "Control Tower to the Texas Belle. Do you
read me? Over...Texas Belle, Do you read me? Over." The
operator repeated once more before Akane pulled the headphone
mike to her lips and tried to answer in between screams to
Ranma's failed attempts to keep the plane steady.
"Uh yeah this is AKANE! Texas Belle, is that what THEY CALL
THIS?! What a STUPID name. HELP US!!!!" "Ok Akane...This is
Tenchi from the Control Tower... Stay calm, everything's
going to be ok." "OK?! What the HELL are you talking about?!
My no good fiancé is CONTROLING THE PLANE!" Ranma scrunched
up his nose at her remark but continued to remain focussed on
what he was doing.
"Akane," Tenchi continued," I don't know how or why you got
in the cockpit but may I please speak to the pilot?" "No. He
tried to hi-jack us. I don't know where he is now nor do I
care. Please...TELL US HOW TO FLY THIS THING SO WE WON'T
DIE!" Tenchi cleared his throat for a moment and continued to
talk in his normal mellow voice. "Calm down, you're only
acting this way because you're in an uncomfortable
situation."
"She's like this all the time!" Ranma commented. "BAKA!"
Raising up a huge mallet to sock him in the mouth, the
Control Tower operator interceded. "Akane, listen to me very
closely. Beside your seat, to the left, there is a large blue
button. Do you see it?" "Hai. The one that says
'Auto-Pilot'?"
"Yes! Press that al the way down and have a nice trip to
America. ...Please don't come back." Akane waved her fist at
the speakers. "I heard that!" "Oops, left my mike on!"
Ignoring Tenchi's last sentence, Akane followed his
instructions and upon her completion, the plane steadied its
course and set out on its nonstop fight to Texas.
Alex, who had been sitting down when everyone went flying,
chuckled softly as he secured his keyboard and walked towards
the cockpit. He saw Keisuke buried in a pile of bodies. He
stepped into the cabin and said as he moved towards the
pilot's seat, "If you don't mind, Akane, I'll take over the
flying."
Keisuke scrambled out from under the sudden mess. "What the
hell just happened??" Keisuke gasped, dusting himself off. He
saw Alex walking in, going to fly the plane. "Um, Alex. I
wouldn't touch that if I didn't know what I was doing. Flying
a plane is a serious thing, you know."
Ranma glanced at Alex, he and Akane walking out of the
cockpit. "You know how to fly a plane?" He shrugged slightly.
"I hope you do. Cause this uncute girl over here sure
doesn't." Ranma ran to the back of the plane, anticipating
Akane's brutal retaliation.
The actual pilot of the plane had finally struggled out of
his bindings he was tied up with, and emerged from the
lavatory.
"Gawl Dang Hijackers! why do thay always go afta me?"
The Texan pilot made his way to the cockpit.
Alex didn't even bother to look back at Keisuke, he just
flashed a pilot's license. "I spend close to half my time as
a bird. Flying comes fairly naturally to me. Now you can just
go back to your seat and relax, unless you want to stay up
here and co-pilot."
The Trip Part 2