A trio of figures could be seen in the evening light
just in view of the outskirts of Hiroshima.  One of
them was constantly muttering under her breath.  The
other two were familiar figures.  One of them was a
rather wet Genma, behind him was a slightly damp Keiko.
The third figure walked slightly behind the two and
was, well, to put it lightly...drenched.  She was rather short,
only coming up to Genma's shoulders, if there, and just
slightly smaller than Keiko.  Her flame red hair was tied
back in a braid and her face was definitely evidencing
displeasure.  What stands out about her the most was her
clothing.  She wore a very high necked Chinese style
shirt with short sleeves which show that both her arms
were entirely wrapped in bandages that end with the black
gloves on her hands.  All in all, below her chin there was
not a single centimeter of skin showing.

  "Damn it, pops!  Why in the hell did ya have to go and
use all of the hot water up for anyways!  There was more
than enough for the both of us.  An besides, I'm the one
who thought to bottle some hot water this morning, just in
case."

  "Stop whining, boy.  A little cold water isn't going
to kill you, so you can just wait until we make camp
for the night.  It'll be fairly soon.  We won't be
able to reach Hiroshima until tomorrow anyway."

  "And that's another thing," Said Ranma, "Why'd we
have to come out here anyways?  We could have just
stayed at home you know.  I sure as hell would have
liked so see Mom again."

  Keiko suddenly spoke up.  "Yes, Mr. Saotome.  Please
do enlighten us."  

  Genma became very nervous, very quickly.  "Well...
um...you see, it's...um...kinda like this.  Well
you see um...well son we're going to meet um...
well, you see, it's like this...we're going to meet your
fiancee."

  The countryside grew utterly silent, the weight of it
seemed to press inwards until it was shattered by a
shriek of pure fury.  "MY WHAT!!"


                    Ranma 1/2 Bachi chapter 1
                    by Olin 'Neplusultra' Petty
                      
The characters in this story mostly belong to Rumiko
Takahashi.  Although a number of them are mine as
you will see.
 "....." Speech(duh)
[.....] Speech specific thought

  
  Somewhere in China, a diminutive figure sat upon his
throne as an imp materialized before him.

  "Master," the repugnant thing groveled , "the subject 
you said I should follow has made it to Japan with a fair
degree of skill."

  "Ah, yes, thank you.  Leave me now and send for Burn
and his...companion, Kate. Now, GO."

  A short while later, a pair entered the room.  The man
was tall, at least six feet in height.  His mid-length black hair
constantly falling in his face, getting in the way of his
smoldering red eyes.  He wore a suit of blood red power
armor bearing a nasty looking sword with a serrated edge
strapped to his back.  His companion looked very fragile
by comparison.  She was slightly smaller than he was, but
tall none-the-less, standing about five eleven.  Her pale
green hair was close-cropped and slightly curly.  She
was undeniably quite beautiful.  Unlike Burn, she bore
no weapon and wore no armor.  She was ,however, wearing
blue jeans, and a rather short shirt that came to an end just
above her navel.

  The both of them bowed and the man spoke. "What is it
that you wish of me, my master?"

  "Ah Burn.  How good of you to come...finally."

  "Master, please forgive us.  We were... busy."(1)(2)

  "No matter.  I have a most important task for you.  The
two of you are to travel to Japan and find two men for
me.  One of them is named Genma Saotome; him, you can
kill.  He has no worth.  His son, on the other hand, Ranma,
is different.  You are to return him to me alive and in
good condition.  Go now.  Malor can give you some information
on where they are.  Be sure not to take to long on 
your mission, or else I would be forced to come after you."

  Simultaneously, the lovers uttered, "Yes, my master." and
left."

  Chuckling evilly upon his throne, the little one grinned
in anticipation.  "Soon, Saotome, I shall have my revenge
upon you.  I shall never forget the way that you betrayed
me.  Never."

  As he murmured some sort of spell, the empty air before him
glowed, and seemed to rip open creating a rift in reality
itself.  A voice from the oter side rumbled, "Report!"

  "It goes well my lord.  Soon the Saotome shall be ours
and the protection will at last be gone.  Then can the
sacrifice begin."

  An evil chuckle rolled from the rift as it closed, sending
shivers down his servant's spine.

(1) Ok yes I admit if freely I like elipises you got a
    problem wit 'dat.
(2) And for all you perverts out there, yes.  It probably
    is what you are thinking.

                       * * *

  It was a normal day in the Tendo household.  Kasumi had
gotten up early and made the usual delicious meal.  Nabiki
was up early as well; however she was up for a different
reason.  She had to check the status of her holdings on the
net.  Though she did go down to eat breakfast, it was out
of necesity alone.  Akane, on the other hand was up a little later
than her sisters, but still early enough to take a jog before
breakfast.  After eating, Akane headed toward school with
Nabiki.  At the Tendo house, it wasn't until the mail came
that things were upset.  For in the mail there was a postcard
with a picture on the front of Kyoto, and the backside read...
        
        Soun,
           Coming with Ranma, and a friend.  Be there
           soon.
                        Genma.

  "Oh, wait until the girls get home.  I can barely wait
to tell them the news."  Soun cried, breaking out in tears
"Oh I'm so happy!"

  At that moment, Kasumi stuck her head in the room, "Is there
something wrong, father?"

  "Oh, nothing, Kasumi.  Nothing at all."

                       * * *

  Ranma and Genma were fighting, as usual, although this time
something was slightly diffrent about their sparing.  Actually
a more accurate description would be that Genma was running at
Ranma with his arms opened and was getting repeatedly getting
kicked away.  Keiko was looking upon this with poorly restrained
mirth.

  "Thank you, Ranma.  I'm so happy!" Genma cried as he rushed
toward Ranma again, arms wide.

  Ranma promptly, and with skill, planted his foot in Genma's
chest, yet again knocking him backwards.  "Knock if off, pops.
You and Keiko got me to come with you, that's it.  I'm just
goin 'cause Keiko asked me.  But there ain't no way that I'm
gonna marry someone I don't love.  I'll show up and that's it."

  At that moment, a passing car splashed through a puddle getting
both Ranma and Genma wet.  Genma promptly became a giant
panda.  And this time when Ranma became girl, we see what it
was she was hiding, and with good reason.  If they hadn't been
in a well nigh deserted part of town the sight of Ranma's arms
would have frightened quite a number of people.  Her arms
were covered by hundreds of intricate tattoos.  They looked real;
as a matter of fact, almost as if they could jump out at
you.  But it wasn't just the fact that they were there, it was
also what they depicted; flaming swords, pierced hearts, skulls,
and terrible monsters of every description; all in all, the effect
was rather horrific and, yet, at the same time, there was something
odly comforting about them.

  "Damn it!"  Ranma immediately dropped her pack as she bent
to retrieve the less revealing gear.  "Well, old man, since you say
that we are in such of a hurry, there is no time to change back.
We'll just have to go and meet your friend as is."

  For some reason, at this point, Keiko suddenly broke out in 
laughter.  Being unable to controll herself any longer.  Ranma
glared at her, "What's do damn funny!"

  This did absolutely nothing for the situation.  In fact, it
made her laugh even harder.  "haha... Nothing.. Ranma.. he
nothing at all.  Hahahaha"

  "Aw who asked you anyway."

  The ensuing uproar was nearly tumultuous.

                       * * *

This chapter was too long for me to send without people
needing to download it.  Thought I'd save them the trouble
and break it down a bit.


Sir Olin 'Neplusultra' Petty
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/3488/index.html

And Death
That flies on Ebon wings
Seeks not people
But other things
~Daniel Bunn