I had to revise certain elements of this one because I felt it would make a pretty complicated story even more complicated than it needed to be. Otherwise, please enjoy.
This may be the best opportunity to explore the backgrounds of two important factors within these events. To begin with, martial arts cheerleading. At its core martial arts cheerleading is a variant of key cheerleading principles: Support your team, pump them up and give them enthusiasm and energy to fight for victory. Tactics abound in such contests. Interfering with the opponent, assuming direct control over your own team via puppetry and, of course, outright attacking the other cheerleading team/individual.
In a sense, it's only natural that Mariko and Ranma would become friends in this version of events. Mariko's style of cheerleading martial arts is pretty similar in philosophical outlook to Anything Goes: Be inventive, think outside the box. Adapt to circumstance, don't let your opponent dictate the pace of the battle. Flexibility is k-e-y!
Contrast this with Tomiko's style of cheerleading martial arts, which made heavy use of her incredible knitting skills. You might call her the "support type" cheerleader. While Mariko preferred a more active involvement, using her dexterity to her absolute advantage, Tomiko focused all her effort on giving her own team the fullest support to encourage them to victory! One style was fluid like water, the other steady as a rock. In a contest like that the rock will always win a short-term contest. However, in the longer term the water shall wear it down...
And now for the less mundane factor in events. The chocolate bunnies and the past-changing gum. Ask anyone that might know of such matters and they would probably look at you askew. Even in magical circles these things weren't well known of. Still, were anyone to analyse them they would find similar magic surrounding both of them. The gum possessed a less concentrated version of the magic, intended to alter the path to ensure that two people would become close friends. As for the bunnies, the gum seemed to supplement the effect, and yet...
The magic behind them was a little more intricate. Not the kind of magic you could fit into a stick of gum. A chocolate bunny, on the other hand? Yep, plenty of mass in there for all kinds of spells. There were six flavours in all: Dark chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, orange, honey and white chocolate. The flavour one consumed absolutely mattered, for its effect on that person and the effect on their past were inextricably intertwined.
For each person that consumed one of these bunnies, the same effect would apply every single time. At some point in their past, events would alter such that they happened upon and felt compelled to wear a peculiar bunnygirl outfit that was exactly their size. It would have a colour scheme that matched their selected flavour, and as soon as it was worn would become the only item of clothing that person could ever wear. They could remove it, certainly, but anything else they tried to wear would become the bunny outfit again until they took it off.
A peculiar curse, but there was more to it than that. Nobody would ever object to the peculiar manner of dress. Not that they weren't aware of it. More like, they didn't find an objectionable matter in the subject wearing an outfit that was more suited to certain kinds of clubs or certain kinds of parties. Not so much public venues.
So, that sounds like a terrible curse, doesn't it? Being forced to wear the same clothing day after day. For that clothing to deliberately highlight how hot or not you might well be. Either way it was demeaning, but there were certain advantages that came with it. All that mattered was which flavour of bunny your future self happened to eat....
<hr>
Akane was watching this fight with absolute intensity in her concentration. Mariko's skill in martial arts had caught her off guard quite a bit, and she really wanted to learn a lot more about this whole "martial arts cheerleading" thing. As a practitioner of "Anything Goes" she had to be able to adapt to any opponent, and understanding an esoteric style like this could really help her branch out of the more mundane style of martial arts she'd been applying. One thing was bothering her.
"Would you quit staring at her butt?" Akane hissed, elbowing Ranma right in the ribs.
"Oof! Uncute tomboy! I wasn't staring at her anything, not that you should care. A quick glance could tell anyone her hips are much better than yours."
It was begrudging, but she had to admit his point there. Tomiko wasn't really doing anything quite yet. Just standing there with her back to them, knitting away and lightly bouncing from one foot to the next. Not really doing much physical except working those barely covered hips.
"So," Mariko said. "For someone hell bent on revenge, you sure are just standing there a whole lot. Gonna do anything to attack, or would you rather I made the first move?"
"Oh, I've already made my move," Tomiko said, still bouncing around, still working those hips back and forth in a way that made Akane think about a pendulum. So distracting. "About five hours back just after we started."
"... That was about a minute ago, you time-ignorant idiot. And what do you mean you already made your first move?"
"Well, it would hardly be a cheering contest if I fought you myself," Tomiko said, using the tone of voice where even though she couldn't see the girl's face, she could just about see the confident smirk. "As for what exactly I mean, you should be seeing right... about... Now."
Suddenly, the street sort of vanished. Or sort of faded away. It was hard for Akane to really think about it in any way. All she knew was that she was suddenly right in front of the school. All by herself. Huh? Wasn't she just about to watch a fight or something? Strange. She couldn't remember the details. There was also this weird taste of dark chocolate in her mouth for some reason. Oh well! She stuck her hands on her hips and, in a manner that even caught herself off guard, walked confidently forward like a model down a catwalk.
"Hold, Akane Tendo!" called an all too familiar, all too annoying voice. Tatewaki Kuno, barring her entrance into the building. "On this day, I have had enough of our games. Today, I shall best you in combat. Then we shall date, as we should have done weeks previously!"
"Oh, stuff it, you blowhard," Akane said, quickly rushing forward to meet the bane of her existence. "A pervert like you has no place - Woah!"
Somehow, Kuno managed to easily duck under her attack. Funny, he seemed a little shorter today? Whatever. The bastard rolled behind her, and Akane suddenly realised he was trying to get a peek under her skirt! "Get away from me!" she yelled, finding her kick expertly blocked by his bokken.
"Very good," Kuno arrogantly said. Almost condescending to her in his tone. "However, today I hold nothing back. In order to prove your worth as a fighter, I suggest you do the same."
"You know something?" said a new voice. "You, butt out! You've had your chance. It's about time someone taught this uncute chick a lesson. And if I beat her, then I get to date her. Right?"
There he was! Kuno backed off, but suddenly there was that idiot Ranma. Showing his true colours at last. She remembered their spar. She remembered how skilled he was. She didn't stand a chance at all, did she?
"You can do it!" a voice called nearby. "Kick their ass! Beat them up! It's all up to you!"
They were right. Yes! Of course they were right! She couldn't give up that easily. What sort of martial artist would she be if she just rolled over because of a tough opponent? At the back of her head the cheer resonated into her brain until she completely believed it. She could win! She <i>would</i> win! And she'd start with this lightning-fast punch to the sternum -
<hr>
Ranma brought up his hands in a cross guard and took the punch, finding himself sliding back along the ground from the impact. This was not, needless to say, how he had expected this fight to proceed. For once he'd expected to sit this one out completely!
"What's going on?!" he yelled. "The tomboy's behaving weird, and she's way stronger and faster than she was yesterday!"
"This is the true horror of martial arts cheerleading," Mariko explained. "Tomiko's style allows her to make a person let their whole potential loose. Right now there's no doubt, no hesitation, no distractions. She's completely focused on only one thing: Victory."
True enough, Akane suddenly popped up right next to him and swept her leg up in a roundhouse kick he was pretty sure would've knocked the wind right out of his sails... If he hadn't dodged at the last possible moment.
"The only thing I don't get is why she's attacking us in the first place," Mariko said. "Ranma, keep Akane busy! The real enemy is Tomiko! I'll distract her while you try to snap Akane out of it."
"Oh, her name's Akane?" Tomiko said. "Thanks! That really helps! Yay, Akane! Now they'll see, how you approach vic-to-ry!"
Keep her busy, she says. Sure, he didn't exactly <i>like</i> the tomboy or anything, but that didn't mean he was going to hurt her or anything. The best he could do was use her newfound strength and speed to his own advantage, grabbing hold of this jab like so and twisting her around so that he could put her in a sleeper hold -
"Pervert!" Akane yelled, and suddenly Ranma found himself flying backwards through the air, which was never a good position to be in even when you weren't in a fight.
"Okay," Ranma winced. "So grapples and holds are a really bad idea. Maybe I should try something else..."
He looked up at Akane, who was stalking towards him with a strange little swish in her step that completely didn't match the image he'd built up of her in his head. Weird. It was kind of a perverted way to walk for someone calling him a pervert.
"My next attack will keep you down for certain," Akane said. "And then I never want you to bother me again! I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice."
<hr>
"You're making this far too easy," Tomiko said as Mariko stalked over towards her. "Any moment now my fighter will hit yours with, like, the ultimate attack and then he'll be left completely helpless. It'll be my win."
"Yeah, no," Mariko casually replied. "See, I don't need to cheer Ranma on. He's always had more than enough confidence. Any more and he might just burst! Besides, I'd rather deal with the real problem. That's you, right?"
"Duh, how'd you guess?" Tomiko rolled her eyes. "Isn't it obvious? The power of dark chocolate is the power of illusions. I've got her completely wrapped up in an illusion that makes her want to fight at her strongest. And the funny thing is, I don't even need to actually cheer her on, 'cause the illusion has a me in there doing it for her."
"Giving her two power boosts for the price of one," Mariko observed. "But it must only work on one person at a time, otherwise you'd have set both of them on me. Though, I wonder why Akane..."
"I was aiming for the boy and somehow mistimed it," Tomiko explained. "It's all in the hips. She must've been staring a little too long. Probably some repressed bi-curiousness in that one - not that I'd know anything about that - or maybe I'm just that hot."
Somehow mistimed it, she said. Somehow. As if this girl's sense of timing was anything to go by. Well, whatever. Mariko had heard enough. She lunged forward with the intention of putting an end to this farce of a fight here and now, except that along the way she managed to find her arms ensnared in wool. In an instant they were constricted, stuck together with only extremely limited movement possible. In the time it had taken to lash out with that attack Tomiko had knitted something tight and stronger than steel around Mariko's arms. She couldn't break it at all!
"Do you like it?" Tomiko asked, all sweetness and smiles. "I call it my 'Chinese Arm Traps'. Similar kind of design, but a bit bigger. Now try to kick me with your long, smooth legs and I'll show you another variant you might find even more puzzling."
This opponent was tougher than she'd expected. For a brief moment, Mariko played with the idea that Ranma might be able to resist whatever the so-called "ultimate attack" Tomiko mentioned might be. She was probably using the illusion to influence Akane's movements and thought process for some kind of attack she might not normally have thought up by herself, but if Mariko remembered li'l Ranma properly he'd be able to see a weakness in no time flat and develop a counter attack lickety split!
Except that right then he was pinned up against a wall, with Akane kissing him full on the lips. Oh no! His one and only weakness had been discovered! That was a hell of an "ultimate attack!" Poor boy didn't stand a chance.
"Give up?" Tomiko asked.
"Nuh uh!" Mariko said with renewed confidence in herself. "This fight ain't over until the fat chick sings."
"Oh? I didn't know you'd been taking singing lessons."
Mariko's response was simple in its elegance. She started to spin around in place. One foot planted on the ground, the other on her knee. She went around and around, and for any man lucky enough to walk down the street they might have even seen her skirt billow up around her.
By coincidence, Tomiko had a thin trail of blood drip down from her nose. This had nothing to do with any kind of latent attraction to her archrival, however. Perish the thought! She was just excited from her fast-approaching victory.
Once she had developed sufficient momentum Mariko leaped forward with her arms outstretched, hurling herself forward like some great wrecking ball intent on clobbering Tomiko to the ground -
But just at the moment before she leaped it started to rain. Two things happened at once. First, both cursed victims transformed on the spot. Secondly, Tomiko's mouth hung open at the sight of Mariko's very male, very handsome, very male form.
"So handsome..." she whispered, and then was struck in the face with an oversized wool-covered fist. Maybe if she hadn't been distracted she might have done something to block or dodge it. But who could say? It wasn't like it was possible to see other ways events might have played out if things were different. Right?
<hr>
Back in the "present", Mariko was staring in irritation at the little fudge bunnies Ranma was carrying, and it was beginning to freak him out a little. He hadn't done anything to offend her, had he? Hum... Maybe he had. Apparently he had a tendency to do that.
"What?" he asked. "What's the matter now?"
"Nothing," Mariko said. "They just remind me of that dumbass Tomiko. That stupid bunnygirl outfit she always wears, those hypno-hips of hers. Ugh! I just want to bite one of their little heads off. That might teach them!"
"Ah, ah!" Ranma said, pulling them away protectively. "Akane was saving these. I don't think she'd be too happy if we wound up eating them before I got 'em back home."
"Oh, listen to you. The henpecked husband already. I'm soooo jealous." She giggled a little, and he couldn't exactly help himself either. "You know, it's funny. As a girl, I get annoyed when all the guys stare at your fiancee, but when I'm a guy I'm completely the same. 'Specially when she's in that cute cheerleader uniform."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ranma groused. Really? Even Mariko thought the tomboy was hot? Huh. What the hell was he missing, then? Wasn't anything about her that was cute.
"Please, not the 'uncute tomboy, I'm not interested' act. Nobody buys it, you know."
"Buys it?" Ranma asked. "What do you mean?"
"Everyone knows you l-i-k-e each other!" Mariko said. "You're so cute together it's a wonder you're not at least dating properly already."
Maybe if everyone stopped trying to set them up... No, wait, he didn't mean that. Dating Akane was not a thing he wanted to do, nope, no how, no way!
"I can see it already," Mariko said, playfully skipping around in front of him. "One day you'll just scoop her up into those big, powerful arms of yours, look her right in the eye and say something like 'I want you. I've always wanted you. I just never knew how... to... say it!' The two of you are sooo cute together! Go ahead and ask her out to dinner one time, just to try it out. Maybe you'd be surprised? I'd be cheering you on all the way!"
"Dating really isn't my -"
"In that case," Mariko interrupted. "Ranma Saotome, I challenge you to a round of double date martial arts! The winner is the one that shows their date the better time. Be there or be square! And since we both know you won't ever give up on a martial arts contest... You're going to need my help to ask Akane out on a date!"
"More like you're going to need mine to ask out that fiance of yours."
"Nuh uh! I'll just flash my doe eyes at him and he'll gush all over me! Somehow I don't think that would work for you."
"Have you <i>seen</i> my girl form?"
Man, it was so refreshing having a girl hang around with you without any of that pressure for romance between them. Sure. Mariko was really kinda pretty. He just didn't see her that way, you know? A good friend was a rare thing, and he was so grateful to have her around.
Who knows how things might have turned out if she hadn't been there?
Back in the past, the walk to school becomes a bit awkward. Then Ryoga shows up.
Another fudge bunny gets eaten.
We haven't met Mariko's fiance yet. What's he like?
Akane starts training in cheerleading martial arts.
Something else
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