Private Bet #7: The Prince of Pigtails
A Ranma 1/2 & Tenchi Muyo! Combo
by Shade

Disclaimer: TSR, Takahashi & AIC creations used here 
without their permission. This is a Lawyer free fanfic!
~~~~~~~~~~

1a: It's Best To Let Sleeping Demons Lie......


�Who�s that?� 

�An acquaintence from Shadowdale.�
Rowan didn�t elaborate further.

�That�s HIM?!?! I thought he�d be taller.�

�He�s probably the only person who can 
sympathize with what Ranma has to go through.�

The Guardian laughed at his little joke. The others 
just sweatdropped, maybe if they were quiet nobody 
would think he was with their group.

�Are you sure you want to do that?�
Shadow asked the hooded figure.

�Of course, meddling is one of the few vices I still have.�

The hood was thrown back to reveal a old man with a 
twinkle in his eye. With an agility that few would suspect 
from such an ancient and dignified personage he tossed 
a finely cut garnet into the pool.

�Waste of a perfectly good gemstone if you ask me.�
~~~~~~~

Chromosomes are a funny thing.

A single one of them determines if you�re boy or a girl.

The rest serve as a template for who you are and what you might be.

But the most interesting thing about them is that if given 
the slightest push in the right direction the genetic information
for one individual can be changed to someone else........ 
~~~~~~~~

�Ranma! Ranma! Where are you boy?!�

Yosho Masaki wondered where that scamp 
of a grandson had gone to now as he walked 
up the stairs of the Masaki shrine.

Ranma Masaki was currently digging around 
in his grandfather�s storage room looking for a 
certain set of keys. This was his last chance, 
tomorrow he�d have to return to his home and
*Ugh*...school.

 Ranma loved the summers he spent in this 
peaceful valley but for the past couple of 
years he�d been too focused on finding a 
way to get into the Demon�s cave to enjoy 
the scenery and the quiet reprieve from the normal 
hassles of teenage life. Then there was his father to 
worry about.....

Noboyuki had been a fine(if slightly shy) man in his day.
Then his wife Achika died.

In a fit of grief he left his son with his father in 
law and became the apprentice of a mysterious 
martial arts master. When Noboyuki finally 
returned from his training he was a changed 
man, he was........

........a complete and utter pervert.

Ranma shuddered briefly before resuming his 
search for those keys. He just had to find out 
what was in that cave!

A whisper of air made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Uh oh.....

Ranma turned to see the outside door slide shut.
Frantically he looked around, Grandpa wasn�t 
going to be happy if he caught him here. His 
emergency visual scan turned up empty with 
the exception of a sleeping cat.

Ranma relaxed.

*WHAP*

�Ow!! What�s the big...?!!!�

Pause.
Look over right shoulder.
Panic.

�Erk.....Grandpa...what a surprise to see you here!�

�Looking for this?� Yosho pulled out a 
set of keys hanging from a old and worn keyring from robe.

Ranma�s eyes gleamed eagerly.
~~~~~~~~~

The birds chirped happily 
in the shade of the majestic trees.

As far as Mother Nature was concerned all 
was right in the world. 

Ranma might have argued about that if it didn�t hurt 
his jaw so much when he opened it. The old man sure 
didn�t pull any of his punches and packed quite a 
wallop for someone his age, but then Ranma 
wouldn�t have had it any other way. He�d put 
up a good fight, in fact the battle between the 
two of them had lasted for nearly five minutes 
this time, a new record. In the end though Gramps 
had pulled out one of his sneaky special techniques 
and the next thing the younger Masaki knew he had 
a date with the other side of the wall. 

But he�d gotten the key.

Ranma smirked, then winced in pain.
Damn, he�d forgotten about his jaw again.
Ranma rubbed it ruefully, the swelling would go 
down in a few hours he figured. 
~~~~~~~~~~

-Obligatory Flashback
[Scene edges soften]

�Ranma! How many times have I 
told you not to play in here?�

�Gramps what�s in there?�

Chibi-Ranma asked, ignoring the 
scolding with an ease that spoke 
of long experience.

�A demon sleep in there Ranma.�

�A demon? Really?�

Yosho nodded, then prepared 
to launch into his suitably heroic 
story in order to impress Ranma 
and convince him to never come 
back here. 

At least, that was his plan.

�Wow!!
Can I play with it?
Wanna be friends Demon?
Where are youuuuu?�

Chibi-Ranma darted around excitedly, 
looking around for the demon in the cave.

�Come out, come out where ever you are!�

Yosho sweatdropped.

{I�m getting too old for this.}
~~~~
-We now return you to the present which is already in progress

Inside the darkened interior of the cave an ancient 
gate was ajar, the lock that had sealed it for centuries 
gathered dust on the rocks where it had fallen.

Ranma was busy trying to free what appeared 
to be a sword from a small shrine he�d found 
at the back of the cave.

Ranma gave a mighty tug and a moment later he 
suddenly felt it sliding free from its stony confinement.

�This is the great weapon that imprisoned the demon???�

Ranma held the sword up to get a better look.
The rusted iron blade snapped off and bonked him 
on the head, decades of corrosion finally taking 
their toll on the weakened metal. 

�OW!� Ranma rubbed the large lump that 
sprouted from the impact.

�What a piece of junk!�

Except for the three red jewels mounted 
in the sword�s hilt it was nothing to look at.
He was a little curious about the design though,
Ranma didn�t recognize the style or the material that 
the hilt was made of.

�Kuso.� All that effort for nothing, just a little rusty 
trinket and a whole lot of pain. He�d skipped out 
on chores for THIS??

Angrily he banged the pommel against the nearest 
object, a large rock with a ton of faded paper wards on it.

The stone broke in half.
The Shinto wards vaporized.

Ranma�s eyes bugged out.

{Oh man, I�m in trouble.}

Panicking he backed up to the cavern wall, 
which suddenly wasn�t there anymore......

�Aaaaaaaiiiiiiiiggghhhh......*THUNK*.....�

Forunately Ranma landed on his head so 
nothing important was damaged.
~~~~~~

A few minutes later Ranma ran screaming out 
of the secret entrance. Nothing living scared him, 
the dead were a different story altogether. 
Especially when the corpse was still kicking!!
His Grandfather had taught him that a 
little fear is healthy, it kept you alert 
and alive.

But right now Ranma was beyond simple fear.

The only other time he had been this shaken 
had been when he was fourteen and his dear 
old dad had decided to make a man out of 
his son and dragged Ranma to a brothel.

It took three years of therapy to get him 
over his fear of the fairer sex. 

�There�s gotta be a way to close it!�

Ranma started tying the two pieces of the rock
 back together with some of the vines hanging
from the walls.
~~~~~~~

�............�

�..........�

�.........�

�Well......it�s never been 
done quite like that before.� 

The Guardian tried to think of a diplomatic 
comment to make. A large sweatdrop formed 
as he struggled to be honest yet polite at the same time.

�Everyone seeing trouble coming.......�

�AYE!!� The entire crowd boomed.

�Anyone think that it�ll actually work out in Ranma�s favor for once?�

A cricket chirping filled the uncomfortable silence.
~~~~~~
~After some time has passed

Ranma snorted and woke up. He yawned, 
then stretched out from his nap. The roof was 
a great place to catch up on his sleep. After all 
the nightmares that had haunted him last night, 
he�d needed it. Then he noticed something.....

�ARGGGHHH!!! It�s night already??!! I missed 
all my classes!!!�

Ranma paused as he realized what he had just said.

�Wait a sec.....I missed all my classes! Why 
am I COMPLAINING about it??!!!�

A bell chimed softly.

�Meow.�

�Huh?� Ranma pivoted around to see a small cat 
padding its way toward him.

Smiling, he reached down to pick it up only to 
see it vanish as it leaped toward him.

�What the...?� This getting to be too weird.

�Ryoko.�

Ranma looked up to see an attractive cyan 
haired girl standing above him.

�Ryoko?�

�That�s my name.�

The girl smiled, her eyes seeming to glow in
the starlit night. There was an almost feral 
quality to her features that seemed to 
enhance her beauty in Ranma�s opinion.

Wait a second....her eyes......

�YOU�RE THE MONSTER THAT WAS IN THE POOL!!!�

Her golden cat like eyes narrowed, Ranma 
instinctively took a step back from that 
steady glare.

�It was cold in that cave......�

Oops. Maybe he shouldn�t have called her a monster.

�....and dark. I was trapped in there for seven hundred years. 
Seven HUNDRED years! Do you have any idea what�s that like?!�

�Uh...uh...uh...� Ranma�s intelligent response came.

�That�s why I have to kill you. Too 
bad though, you�re kinda cute.�

That snapped his wits back together.

�Kill me?! But I haven�t done anything!!!�

Ryoko shrugged.

�So what? I�ve got a lot of pent up 
stress and frustration that I need to 
let loose...RIGHT NOW!!!�

Ranma had already dived to the side, 
alerted by the motes of glowing energy 
that had spontaneously appeared around 
Ryoko and gathered to form into a ball in 
her palm. The blast blew a giant crater 
in the school roof and caused a lot of 
smoke and dust from the explosion.

He started running. Laughing wildly 
Ryoko flew after him, firing brilliant 
beams of destruction nonstop.

Amazingly Ranma dodged them all 
as if he knew where the blasts would 
be aimed at despite not being able 
to actually see Ryoko for more then 
a few seconds at a time.

�HEY!! Quit it!! You�re going 
to really hurt someone with that!!!�
Ranma yelled back as he jumped 
to avoid yet another one of the 
demoness�s attacks.

�I know. That�s the point! Now be 
a good little boy and take your 
punishment like a man!!� 

�Forget it lady!!�

�What�s a matter.....feeling a little Chicken?�

That did it.

Nobody, absolutely nobody called Ranma Masaki 
a Chicken. As another cloud of smoke temporarily
obscured him from Ryoko�s sight the martial artist
made his move. 

He jumped.......

Ryoko blinked in surprise as the dust settled to reveal no 
Ranma around. Then she came down to get a closer look.

{Where�d he go?}

�How�d he do that??!!�

*GLOMP*

Arms encircled Ryoko�s chest, pinning her hands to her 
sides as a pair of legs wrapped around her waist from behind.

�Gotcha.� Ranma whispered softly into Ryoko�s ear.

(To be continued)

Treason doth never prosper; what's the reason?
For if it prosper: none dare call it treason.

-John Harrington

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

-Dorothy Parker

I am his Highness' dog at Kew;
Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?

-Alexander Pope

____________________________________________________________________
Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1