Here's another alternate universe story.  It's still pretty preliminary.

How and whether I continue this may depend a _great deal_ on the comments I
receive.  This is a Ranma story, and as such, I expect people to say things. :-)
(Oh, if it seems not to be going anywhere, remember I still have to introduce
a _lot_ of characters, just like the real series.)

Seventeen years ago....

    Soun Tendo greeted his wife.  "Honey, I'm home...  we finally got the
permit for the dojo.  We can open it soon now!"
    Mrs. Tendo responded with a big hug.  "That's good, dear... let's
celebrate."  She winked at him.  Soun knew what that meant, and after eating
dinner they went off into the bedroom together.  Three month old Nabiki
watched them and might have cried for food as they went away, delaying events
by a number of minutes, except Mrs. Tendo had anticipated this and made sure
she was fed well before anything started.  But a few minutes--or the lack of
it--can make a big difference in some cases, and without that delay a certain
egg cell just _barely_ never got fertilized....

                                    TENDO 2/3
                                 by Ken Arromdee
                              Chapter 1: Beginnings

    Soun stared at the postcard received in the mail.  He was crying, a
strange display of emotion that drew his oldest daughter Kasumi into the
room seeing to his distress.  "Kasumi...  he's here...  *sob* Genma's finally
here..."
    His other daughter was sprawled out reading a manga and eating a popsicle
when her father entered unannounced.  "Nabiki..."
    "Hmm?" answered Nabiki.
    Soun announced "Ranma's arriving!"  Wondering just what her father was up
to right now, Nabiki followed him to the kitchen table, where he explained.
"Ranma Saotome is the son of a good friend of mine, Genma.  We planned it
out...  one of you two would marry Ranma and join our families, taking
ownership of the the Tendo Dojo for our family."  For Kasumi to complain was
rarer than snow in Okinawa, but this one time, she spoke, telling her
father that they've never even met Ranma.  Nabiki stayed silent, figuring
that there has to be some way out of this mess.
    "Genma and Ranma have been training in kempo off in China, and they've
just recently returned.  Nabiki asked "Is he handsome?"  Asking if he was
rich, of course, would never work.  Kasumi wanted to know how his age.  "I
hope he's not younger than me...."  "What's this Ranma person like?" asked both in unison.
    Their father stopped as if he'd never really thought about that question.
"I don't have the faintest idea."  Nabiki was skeptical.  "No idea?"  "Well,
I've never met him.  We'll see when he gets here.  I'm sure you'll like him."
    Nabiki waited a moment for her father to say anything more.  Hearing
nothing, she got up from the table, followed by Kasumi.  "I'm going to go
for a walk", she told her sister.  "Coming?"
    Nabiki and Kasumi walked along, Nabiki about to figure out a plan with
her older sister--she knew Kasumi was awfully perceptive even if she'd never
contradict anyone in public--when their walk was interrupted by the sight of
a large black-and-white panda with a girl tossed over its shoulder.  "Oops",
thought Nabiki, "that was close...  another minute and they'd have been inside
the house, the direction they were going."
    Kasumi called out "Father!  You have guests!  Is this your friend?"  She
indicated the panda and girl.  The panda came to a screeching halt, almost as
if intelligent, and waited for Mr. Tendo to arrive.  Soun asked the dazed
girl "Are you...?"
    Recovering her wits, she sputtered out "I'm Ranma Saotome...  sorry
about this."  Soun, apparently so eager to meet Ranma that he missed the
breasts and female voice, hugged him.  "I'm so glad...."  Nabiki, amazed,
played along and gushed over "him".  "He's cute!"  "Now", she thought, "I'd
better get Dad into a normal mood".  He was beginning to realize that he was
squeezing a soft chest anyway, and let Ranma go, so Nabiki poked Ranma a few
times there and announced "He... is a girl."  Soun fainted.

    Nabiki screamed at her father.  "This is your fault...  you should have
been sure!"  "Well, he said he had a son."  Nabiki poked Ranma in the chest
again.  "Please stop that."

    The night went uneventfully, but the next morning Nabiki and Kasumi
immediately noticed the strange man sitting across from their father.  Kasumi
suggested a hot bath for Ranma, which she accepted, but did behind closed
doors.  "Hmm, they'll have to find out sometime", thought Ranma.  "Sooner or
later...."  Ranma decided to come downstairs male.  "I'm Ranma Saotome.
Sorry about this."  Genma explained.  "This is my son, Ranma."  Kasumi
asked "Are you really that girl that was here yesterday?"
    Genma hmmed.  "Where shall I begin?"  He reached out for Ranma.
    Ranma constantly fought with his father, to the point where he was
always expecting some sort of argument or fight to happen every morning.
As nothing had happened yet, all of his martially-trained senses were alert,
so as Genma tried to throw Ranma in the pond, Ranma ducked and grabbed his
father's upper arm, heaving all 200 pounds of him into the water.
    Kasumi said "Oh, my.  That pond is not very deep."
    Ranma didn't care.  "My dad has a thick skull.  He'll be fine."  At that
moment a panda came roaring out of the pond, glasses draped over one ear and
half-wearing Genma's gi, trying to say something and speeding for Ranma.
Ranma tripped him.

    Soun explained "They weren't always like this.  It started at a place
called Jyusenkyou...."
    At the end of the story, Kasumi was furious.  Twice in two days, thought
Nabiki.  This isn't good.  Kasumi berated Genma.  "Why did you ever do
something so dangerous?"  Genma, still a panda, did not reply, but pointed
to the guidebook.    It was Ranma's turn to explain.  "We only ended up there
because he didn't know Chinese!"

    Genma patted Ranma on the back.  "Well, your problem isn't so bad, then."
He poured boiling water on Genma.  "Hot water returns you to your normal
form.  Only cold water makes you change to your other form."  He continued.
"So here are my two daughters.  Nabiki, age 17, and Kasumi, age 19.  Which
one of them would you like to marry?"  Nabiki and Kasumi looked to each other,
trying to think of a way out.  Ranma was a nice enough boy, all things
considered, but really didn't seem particularly suitable for either of them.
Nabiki spoke up.  "Why not give us a few days to think it over?"
    Genma insisted.  "Ranma, make your decision now."  Ranma asked "Mr. Tendo,
does it really matter who I pick?"  "Either one is fine with me", he replied.
"As long as you maintain the dojo and keep it in the family...." "Then I've
made my decision.  I'll...  I'll..."
    "Yes?", said his father.
    Ranma continued.  "I'll marry one of them, but since it doesn't matter
which one, I don't have to tell you right now."  He walked away.  Soun
followed, or would have, except Nabiki just happened to be right in front of
him.  "Oops, sorry dad.  I think I dropped something and I didn't mean to get
in your way."  Kasumi said "Let me help you find it, Nabiki!", managing to
block Genma's path as she crossed the room towards her sister.

    The next morning, Genma tossed Ranma a satchel.  "Time for school!"
"Dad, do I have to?"  "Of course, you have to.  We're not on a training
trip now and you'll have to work hard to catch up with what you missed!"
"Well, goodbye then!  I have to get going!"  Ranma knocked him into the pond
and proceeded to school, walking atop a fence near a ditch in order to add
a little danger to this routine-to-be so as to keep training his skills.
Ranma made it past the fence without any hassle, but immediately got splashed
by an old woman wetting the sidewalk to keep the dust down.

    "Oh no, now what?", thought Ranma.  "Got to find hot water...."  The
neighborhood was completely new to her, and after ten minutes of searching she
decided she'd better not be late to school.  Ranma rushed through the gates
barely in time.  "Hi, Nabiki.  Whew, I just made it, didn't I?"  Nabiki
responded, "Not without hot water, you didn't.  I can tell you a guy Kasumi
likes who'd give you some hot water.  He's a doctor...."  Hmm, she thought.
Let's see how good Ranma is at thinking on his feet.  "500 yen", she demanded,
wondering what Ranma would do to get try to get the information for free.  But
Ranma paid the fee without a protest, and the surprised Nabiki wrote down Dr.
Tofu's name and address on a piece of paper for Ranma.  "Wait, I can't go
there now!  Class is in a minute!"  Nabiki decided that Ranma had great
promise as a supplemental income source, but little as a fiancee for her.

    Ranma made it to class, and introduced herself.  At this time a panda
could be seen running across the schoolyard, carrying a pot of hot water.
"Great, _now_ you come", thought Ranma.  "The only way that could have been
any help was if I had waited around in the yard, and then I'd be late to
class!"  With a scream, a blue robed figure ran out of the building,
and kicked the panda away.  "Foul beast!  Something must have possessed you, to
conduct such a bold assault upon Furinkan High School!"  Ranma shouted down
out the window "Hey, watch it!  He _is_ my..."  Ranma stopped, not wanting to
expose the secret in front of the whole class, but the robed figure stared at
her with a pair of eyes low in intelligence which nevertheless displayed a
certain raw cunning.  "This creature attacked you, beautiful pigtailed girl?"
Ranma stammered "Yes, he did...  now I have to get back to class..."  He
continued "I, Kunou Tatewaki, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High and undefeated
Kendo champ, will protect y--"  Ranma shut the window to help muffle the sound
and closed the blinds,

    At lunchtime, one of the boys in the classroom introduced himself as
Hiroshi and asked if Ranma wanted to go ice skating on Saturday.  Ranma would
have said yes, except Hiroshi used the word "date", which caused Ranma to
scream "I am not going on a date with you!" loud enough to be heard two
floors away.  In fact, Ranma would have been better off not shouting so loud.

    Less than two floors away, Kunou stood up.  "Nabiki Tendo, do you know that
pig-tailed girl whose voice just shouted down to me?"  Nabiki answered "Yes,
her name is Saotome Ranma, and I don't think she's interested."  "As her
protector, I must insure that she is not forced into any date for which she is
not ready."  "Kunou-chan, Ranma can take of herself.  Leave her alone."  "I
shall announce it after school!"

    At the end of the day, Kunou stood on a makeshift podium with a
loudspeaker.  Rumors spread quickly in Furinkan, so over half the students
knew that Kunou was going to do something that was at least amusing, and
possibly something that they'd have to know about, for whatever they thought
of Kunou, they knew his fighting skills were unparalleled.  A huge crowd of
them waited to listen to what Kunou had to say.
    "I am Kunou Tatewaki, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!"
    *Applause*
    "The pig-tailed girl named Saotome Ranma does not wish to date men other
than me!"  Nabiki thought that that _was_ technically right, though incomplete.
    *Applause*
    "Therefore, I announce...  that all who wish to date her must defeat her in
combat first!  And even if you disagree, I, the Blue Thunder and rising star of
the Furinkan High Kendo Club, will insure that you follow that request!"
    The applause took longer than before, but finally came anwyay.


                               Chapter 2: Secrets
 
    Dawn broke in Nerima the next morning.  Ranma entered the washroom and
filled himself a hot bath.  When he finished, he considered the previous
day's events, staring at a cold water faucet.  Ranma finally emerged from
the bathroom male and in his Chinese suit; it was more comfortable than
school clothes and he was glad Kunou had set the precedent for wearing martial
arts-related clothing.  He sat around the table with the Tendos to eat
breakfast, while his father, even fatter than normal in panda form, munched on
a special plate of bamboo prepared by Kasumi.

    As Ranma prepared to run to school at the last minute, Nabiki tapped him
on the shoulder.  "I think I should warn you.  Kunou caused a little bit of
trouble yesterday.  There may be a bit of a fight."  She added "400 yen for
more details", figuring that she'd already told Ranma all he really needed to
know, and if he couldn't figure it out from that and needed to pay to clarify
it, well, that's his own fault.  Ranma didn't answer her this time, running
out.

    Ranma passed the usual fence without trouble.  This time he was splashed
from above when a panful of dirty water thrown out of a window landed directly
on him.  Followed by the pan, of course.  Female again, she approached the
school when her clear path to the front door was suddenly blocked by about
ten boys her age, wearing uniforms of all the major Furinkan sports teams.
"Saotome Ranma, you're my goddess!  Please go out with me!"  They charged her
with hockey sticks, baseball bats, boxing gloves, sabers, and other pieces of
equipment.  Ranma dodged each one's attack and knocked them down, one per
second.  "Good practice", she thought, "but what are they up to?"  A sumo
wrestler nearly fell on top of her, instead becoming a tree decoration when
Ranma laid a haymaker on him and sent him flying in an arc far over everyone's
heads.  Then Ranma swung her satchel, deflecting back the bombs thrown by the
chemistry club.  She jumped into the air and stepped on a few more boys, then
kicked their limp bodies aside.  When the supply of combatants ran out, Ranma
leapt through the classroom window and landed in her seat, barely even
breathing hard.
    "Nice workout.  Wonder if they'll wake up in time for the bell?" thought
Ranma.  "I don't want to make anyone late for class."

    Ranma's second day at school went pretty uneventfully too, once it
started.  Up above in room 2-E, Nabiki asked Kunou how the morning went.  "Oh,
Ranma is so energetic!  She should be happy for what I did for her!"  "Kunou,
she hasn't said a word to you.  She probably just thinks of it as more
training.  Nothing to do with you at all!"
    Kunou asked back "How do you know so much about her anyway?"
    Nabiki considered.  "Well, if you buy me some pizza later, I might tell
you."  Ranma was cuter, but it was more fun to play with Kunou's mind.  "Hai,
Nabiki Tendo!  But you must give me all the information I seek!"

    There was no big announcement by Kunou this time, and Ranma went home,
making a beeline for the hot water.  "Not much of a challenge this morning",
he thought.  "Got to find something else...  I wish Ryouga was still around.
I could always get some good exercise beating him!"  Ranma left again,
searching for challenges.

    Kunou and Nabiki were busy eating pizza.  "Nabiki Tendo, you promised."
"Sure, Kunou-chan.  I know all about her because I live with her!"  "She is a
guest of your family?"  "Hai", replied Nabiki, munching another slice.  The
challenge was to play around with Kunou's mind without lying.  "And her father
is trying to engage her off to someone, too, Kunou-chan!  I don't think she
really approves!"  "He cannot do that to the girl I love!"  Nabiki coughed.

    In most towns, the people one could run into on the street included a lot
of salarymen, students, housewives, and others, but very few martial artists.
Certainly, a random search for one was as unlikely to work as a Sailor
Senshi's chance of finding the youma in walking distance.  This section of
Nerima was not, fortunately, most towns; still, the martial artist population
was only slowly beginning to rise, and the pickings were slim.

    Several hours and several miles after the start of his search, Ranma found
a fat man with a top hat and a peculiar beard walking along the street.  He
recognized the man at once, though it had been ten years.  "He's back in town?
Maybe it'll be months before he finds me...  but I can't take the chance.  And
Ucchan might be in danger."  Ranma launched a kick at the man.  A large die
fell on him.  "You lose."

    Ranma staggered down the street, his head at a slightly wrong angle from
the impact.  He eventually remembered the address that Nabiki had given him,
and took out the slip of paper.  Ranma knocked on the window.  "Dr. Tofu?
I'd like you to help me..."  He opened the window and let Ranma in.  "You
really should come through the door, you know."  "CAN YOU FIX ME UP?"  "Oh,
sure."  Dr. Tofu slapped one ear, and Ranma's head clicked into position.
"By the way, I was wondering if you knew of a cure for Jyus...."
    At this point Kasumi entered.  Tofu's eyes clouded over.  "Hi!  It's so
nice to see you, Kasumi!"  He hugged Ranma.  "Isn't that so, Betty-chan?"
Kasumi only smiled and said "I had to return this book.  You're so amusing,
Tofu-sensei!  But that's not your skeleton.  It's Ranma."
    Tofu said "Oh yes!  Ranma wanted a cure for something!  I have to search
for it."  Ranma told him "I didn't tell you what I needed the cure for yet!"
Tofu searched in a lower file cabinet, and then got up.  Feeling an obstacle
in his way, he threw it aside.  "Ranma?  You didn't tell me what you needed
the cure for!"  Ranma?  Why did you go?  Oh, I guess you don't want it then."

    Meanwhile, Kunou and Nabiki were eating ice cream. "What will you do if 
Ranma doesn't like you?", asked Nabiki.  "Oh, by the way, please pass the
sprinkles."    "I shall do all I can to win her heart, then!  She cannot help
but fall for me, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!"  At this point, Ranma
fell out fo the sky, landing in what was now a former drinking fountain.
Kunou shouted "I love you!" at Ranma, running away from Nabiki.  Nabiki tried
pulling Kunou back to the table, an action which Ranma helped along with a
well-placed punch.  Kunou landed on the table, drooling.

    Late that night, Nabiki handed Ranma a letter.  "It's for you, from
Kunou.  For your girl side, anyway."  Ranma opened it.  "Hmm, it says that he
remembers the way I hit him today and he wants me to meet him at sunset next
Friday...  a letter of challenge!"  Nabiki facefaulted.  "Ranma, Kunou's in
love with your girl side.  I'm sure you can just beat him up, but that might
not be what he wants at all.  You might not want to go.  And _this_ advice,
is free."
    Ranma didn't think quite the same way as Nabiki.  "So what?  I come by,
I clobber him, I go home anyway.  Send him my acceptance, but tell him not
to expect a date."  Ranma went up to sleep besides a loudly snoring panda.

    In class the next day, Nabiki relayed the message to Kunou.  "Not to
expect a date?  Oh!  She must want to fight then!"  Nabiki nodded.  Maybe
Kunou had some promise.  Kunou continued "Because I said that she must be
defeated before any boy can date her!  She must not know me well enough to
know my prowess, and expect that I cannot defeat her!  But I will win and we
will date!"  Nabiki concluded that where Ranma was concerned, she would never
be able to play with Kunou's mind better than he could himself.

(To be continued.)