Trap Version 1 - Gas Attack and Betrayal

Saotome Ranma knew something was up. His encounter with Akane at school had tipped him off that she was up to something. For some reason Mrs. Chiba had thought it fit to partner him with Akane during chemistry class and she had not been her usual snarky self. Instead she had almost gone out of her way to make sure that they both completed the assignment without the usual arguments. Then there had been the way she had offered him one of her rice cakes during lunch, claiming that she wasn’t really hungry and hated to see it go to waste. It was behaviour that was unusual in the **** so when she had stated that she couldn’t train with him this evening because she had to prepare for a physics exam that was two weeks away he knew she was up to something. So he had eaten his supper quickly, excused himself by stating that Dr. Kato, his literature teacher, had given a last minute assignment in which he had to memorize forty verses of the Tale of Genji and had high-tailed to his room. It had taken him only seconds to exit by way of the window and then position himself in front of the house where he could watch Akane’s window.

After a half hour wait he was just beginning to think that he had been wrong and was speculating on whether or not he might be able to sneak into the kitchen and purloin a bowl of rice with eel sauce when he saw Akane at her window. The girl took a quick look around and then dropped lightly to the ground. Chuckling at his cleverness, Ranma fell in behind her at a safe distance and followed her through the streets.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. It was a typical summer night and likely to rain although the forecast had not predicted it. He might have to run for cover if he didn’t want to undergo a sex change before he was ready.

Akane took a fairly direct course through the streets, slowing down only occasionally. She seemed very certain of where she was going and after a while he figured it out too. “Rikugien Gardens,” he muttered. Why would she be going there? Almost certainly this late at night it would be closed. His curiosity now fully aroused, he followed her to the park gates, ignoring the ominous rumble of thunder overhead. He would just find out what she was up to and then seek shelter before the rain came.

As he had surmised the park gates were locked, however, Akane seemed undettered. After rattling the gates she headed around to the side of the park and finding a convenient tree climbed up, worked her way out along a branch and dropped out of sight behind the park’s wall. It was an impressive feat considering that Akane was still wearing her school uniform and showed a good deal of her scantily clad backside as she climbed the tree. “Little slut is wearing a thong,” he muttered. “Talk about advertising your wares.”

Thunder rumbled again and the wind picked up, but Ranma was not about to be put off by the threat of a little bit of rain. Now he really wanted to see what Akane was up to. Following her lead he shimmied up the tree and moving hand over hand along the branch, crossed the wall and dropped to the other side. Now he would find out what she was up to.

It took him a little while to locate her, but he found her moving stealthily toward the centre of the gardens. There was a large pond there that could be crossed by stepping stones to a pagoda located on an island in the middle. That was almost certainly where she was going, but why was she being so cautious?

“Well,” he muttered. Now things were getting really strange. What was she doing here? He watched as Kuno Kodachi’s sleek form moved into view. As usual the devious “Black Rose,” seemed to be up to something, clearly making an effort to keep out of sight, slinking from shrub to shrub and tree to tree until she reached the edge of the pond. Then, after taking a careful look around, she hopped gracefully from stone to stone. Her natural grace was emphasized by the skin tight leopard skin leotard she was wearing, an outfit that made her seem positively feline. It reminded Ranma of just how beautiful the annoying and often dangerous girl was. Her long ebon hair braided into a long fighting braid added to her sensuality as it swayed sinuously against her back as she moved. At that moment a large and very wet raindrop landed on top of his head.

“Damn,” Ranma muttered. He didn’t want the transformation to take place here, but he was too late even as he ran for shelter the rain began to fall heavily. He felt his body change dropping several clothing sizes while at the same time other parts of his anatomy underwent an amazing transformation. “Damn! Damn! Damn!” She was now soaked to the skin, her long, shoulder length red hair plastered to her head. Her thin white cotton shirt was so wet that the rose pink nipples of her well-formed breasts could easily be seen through the thin material. Her schoolboy pants, now several sizes too large for her threatened to fall down and she had to hold onto them to keep them from pooling around her ankles.

Ah well, there was nothing for it now. She would have to proceed as a female. Shaking the water from her hair, she continued in the direction where she had last seen Kodachi. She stopped at the edge of the pond and peered toward the pagoda. No doubt that was where Akane had gone as well, and she was just about to follow when she caught a slight movement out of the corner of her eye. She stepped back between two rows of stone lanterns and waited.

Another female emerged out of the darkness. “Ukyo!” It seemed that almost every young woman she was acquainted with had shown up. What was this, some sort of midtnight pest convention? Still she had to admit that all of the girls who had made an appearance were well worth looking at. Even reserved Ukyo was undeniably attractive. Her tight midi and hip-hugging jeans emphasized her tiny waist and small firm breasts, while her dark red-brown hair framed a pixie-like face.

Ukyo also halted at the edge of the pond, eyeing the pagoda suspiciously, her large dark eyes moving over back and forth as if searching for something. And then she too crossed the pond skipping lightly from one stepping stone to another. After a suitable delay Ranma followed.

She heard the three girls long before he saw them. “Where is he?” Kodachi demanded. “Where did you hide him? He told me that he would meet me here tonight.”

“You?” Akane returned angrily. “I was here first, and he told me to be here.”

“And what would he want with you? Kodachi spat. “I doubt that you would have the least idea what to do with him if you got him alone, other than hit him on the head.”

“Grrrr!” Akane began.

“Wait!” cut in a calmer voice. “Don’t you think this a bit strange?” I got the same message. Meet me at the pagoda in Rikugien Park at midnight.”

“What would he want with you, mouse?” Kodachi sneered. “Offer you some cheese?”

“I’m not a mouse,” Ukyo replied. “The note said…”

Ranma crept a little closer. Her hiding place was a little exposed, but no one in the pagoda was the least bit interested in her. The three girls were ranged in a confrontational circle, each where she could see the other two. None of them seemed the least bit happy at being in the presence of their rivals.

“What did the note say?” Kodachi smirked. “Was he going to tweak your little titties?”

“The note said – my titties are no smaller than yours,” Ukyo replied angrily. “Just because you let yours hang out…

“I think we’ve been set up,” Akane interrupted. “Someone, maybe Ranma, sent us all the same message. It would be his idea of a hilarious joke. Get all his girlfriends in one place and then watch the sparks fly.”

“But that would mean…” Ukyo began.

“That he’s hiding somewhere nearby,” finished Kodachi.

Almost as one the eyes of the three girls turned in Ranma’s direction. “Oops,” she thought, “Time to leave.”

But it was already too late, the three girls converged on her more than obvious hiding place like vultures on ripe carrion. “You!” Akane said, catching sight of her. “Got caught in the rain did you?”

“What’s she doing here?” Kodachi demanded. “Don’t tell me you got a note too?”

“Ahh err… Ranma stuttered. It was bad enough that Akane knew her secret without letting everyone else know. But before she could stutter out an answer something else distracted everyone’s attention.

Thump! Bzzzzz! “What the heck is that?” asked Kodachi as the strange black buzzing object landed at her feet.

Ranma took one look. Her eyes widened. “B…, b…, bomb,” she stammered.

POP! “Not much of a bomb,” Ukyo commented it just …” She swayed uncertainly, her large dark eyes glazing.

“Must be some sort of invisible gas,” said Akane lazily. She dropped to her knees, and then as if she were taking a nap curled up on the ground and closed her eyes.

“Don’t breathe,” Ranma gasped as she slowly sank to her knees. “Try to fight it… Ohh!” She toppled slowly to one side.

Kodachi lasted the longest, actually staggering to the edge of the island before falling headlong and rolling to within a couple of centimeters of the edge.

A heavily built figure emerged from the shadows at the side of the pagoda. “Most excellent,” he murmured. “Now to give these little bitches a lesson. I’ll teach a bunch of schoolgirls to mess around with my organization.” He motioned his men forward. “Tie them up and dump them in the van. We’ll entertain them at the hideout.”

“Well,” Shampoo said. “That went well.” From her hiding place in the corner of the park she watched the four girls being carried out. Just one thing puzzled her. She had sent the phony note to just three of the girls. What was the fourth one doing here? She shook her head. No matter. She had eliminated three of her rivals.

Something moved in the darkness. She turned toward it, suddenly alert for danger, and then she relaxed. “Mr. Sato!”

“You did very well, Shampoo chan,” Sato smiled. “Mr. Big is very pleased with you and has ordered me to give you a special gift.”

“Well, it’s no more than I deserve,” Shampoo thought. “I wonder what it is?”

Sato took out a long black object and held it toward her. “Looks like some sort of fancy MP3 player,” Shampoo thought. She reached toward it. “Than….Aaaaahh!”

Sato looked down at the **** girl. 200,000 volts had done their work. “You treacherous little bitch,” he said aloud. “You’re going to get a lot more of that before I’m through with you. He took out two pairs of handcuffs. “It’s the van for you, bitch. But when we get to the hideout you’re all mine.” He smiled at the thought of what was to come.