SOURCE OF PRIDE by Gregg Sharp.
char by various sources. this was just an
idea i got reading Mirrors Multiplied, with
an Altiverse where Ranma had been thrown to
the lions. i started wondering about that and
what kind of changes just that act might have
thrown in the timeline, especially with the
press coverage from something so incredibly
showbiz.
 So i started this, planning on using it as
the omake for Expansion Set-Gemini or Illegal
Aliens In Nerima. The rest of this flowed out
and was at 34k before i got to the part with
the repercussions starting to show.
 So, yes, this is ANOTHER unintended fic.
=============================
 "I don't understand," the Kasumi of Sword9
timeline said, almost frowning. "Why would
Isis and Bast hate Mister Saotome? They
certainly seem nice enough."

 "Kasumi, you prefer to ignore the bad things
about people." The demon nearby sighed. "I
used to do the same thing myself, but it
causes problems to remain longer than they
need to. And that eventually causes more
problems. Let me show you something. The
scene is the same in almost every timeline
with Ranma being raised by Genma."

 Grey made a pass over the waters of Mimir's
Well and a scene sprung to life.
--------------------
 "NO! FATHER! Not again, please not again!"

 "Get in there, worthless boy! Stop whining
like a girl." Genma finished tying his son
up, applied a little fish paste, some fish
oil, and threw the fish-cake festooned boy
into the pit of starving cats. "You can't
come out until you learn the Cat Fist!"
--------------------
 Kasumi turned a little green as the
screaming and pleading turned frantic. She
couldn't seem to blink as the scene continued
with the boy getting gouged and scratched in
the restless and hungry dark. After a few
moments, Kasumi managed a very weak "Oh my."

 "In three realities he tries different kinds
of cats after the first attempt didn't work.
In twelve he just varies the bait. In four he
tries different types of pits and locations.
In another six he tries entirely different
animals on the idea that it might be
something 'close to neko' that was copied
wrong into that manual. (One of these
actually has Ranma learning the dreaded
nikkou ken and is a cheerful happy person.)
In one he actually learns the Cat Fist and
ends up relatively content, but that's very
unusual. There's others, these are just the
ones I've seen.

 "In four, Ranma's permanently crippled in
some fashion. In two, he's demonically
possessed. In four more, he's just plain old
killed. In five more he's pulled out of
Genma's custody by either the police or other
people drawn to the pit by Ranma's screams.
In two more Ranma never does learn the Cat
Fist or anything even close, having escaped
(at least temporarily) from his crazy father
to try and find a life somewhere else. One of
those has him reuniting with his Ucchan when
they're both eight. Six have similar outcomes
to what you're familiar with, the Catfist
only coming out when he's frightened into his
other personality. There's another one where
Ranma learns the Catfist and never comes out
of his feral state, and a final one where a
crippled Ranma makes his way to a Jusenkyo
pool that cures his afflictions.

 Grey sighed. "You realize part of his
immaturity and overweening pride in those
timelines comes from the Catfist training and
similar hardships. After all, if he's not the
best then all this was for nothing. You were
well aware that he woke up screaming on more
than one night from the memories of this
incident alone."

 Kasumi nodded, still staring at the scene.

 "Isis and some of the other goddesses
_really_ dislike Genma for treating his son
like that. Bast and other feline types see
that, plus all the dead kitty cats that
resulted both from the training and from
Ranma's learning the technique." Grey
shrugged. "Not that I approve of Genma, but
he does have his good moments. It's just that
the bad ones stand out so bloody well."

 "What happens in this one?"

 "Hmmm? Oh, this is that Ukyou one. Looks
like the Nekoken was at a different age
here."

 "Is it any happier?" Kasumi blinked and got
a better look at the timeline.
----------1984-----------------
 Ukyou leaned back against the wall, out of
sight. She recognized Genma, and with little
effort could picture that voice in the pit as
belonging to Ranma. She closed her eyes.
Revenge, yes, she wanted revenge. Revenge
against Ranma for pretended friendship.
Revenge against Ranma for leaving her behind.

 "AAAAAaaaaaaa! My eyes! Stay away from my
eyes!"

 Ukyou shuddered and began curling up where
she hid. She could see killing the two, or
beating the royal snot out of them as
revenge. "Dear kami, not like this." Ukyou
cried as the screaming continued, her body
shuddering as she pulled tighter to avoid
hearing what was going on in a vacant lot a
few yards away.
------------------------------
 "Well, come along Ranma. We'll try the
training again elsewhere." Genma swatted
Ranma across the ground when the little boy
flinched. "STUPID BOY! All you have is the
Art. Live it, breathe it, it is your only
friend and companion, your only hope of
redemption."

 "But Ucchan..."

 Genma sighed and rolled his sleeves up. The
boy needed to learn discipline again at the
loving hands of his father. "Ranma. You
remember Ukyou waving goodbye to you, don't
you? Ukyou was saying goodbye because he
didn't want to interfere with your training.
You should respect the boy's wishes. Now,
son, are you coming or are you going to
disgrace Ukyou?"

 "I..." Ranma hesitated, and was therefore
lost. Genma's first blow slapped the boy into
the pipes. He then carefully slammed punches
and kicks into the boy until Ranma stopped
fighting back.

 "Ah, this is regrettable what you make me
do, boy. If you simply accepted my authority,
we wouldn't have these problems."

 Ukyou ducked her head back down from the
fence, tears again forming in her eyes.
Vengeance against Ranma was quickly looking
less like it was necessary. Anything she
could do, Ukyou saw Ranma's father as having
outdone her already. Genma was the only one
she wanted revenge against right now.

 What could she do, though? She wasn't any
older than Ranma. Her mother was dead, her
father given only a few months more, no
relatives to speak of. There was no way she
could fight Genma. How could she avenge
herself?
------------------------------
 "Okay, boy." Genma grinned down at the
blanket containing his son. He was sure it
would work this time. Third time's the charm,
after all. He'd gotten bigger cats, a
different bait, and found a really impressive
location called the Pit Of The White Wyrm.
Odd how all the cats had *really* fought
being put in the pit, and they'd been quite
noisy at first, but they were quiet now. All
that remained was his son, already tied up
with smelt and daintily garnished with some
stolen caviar and sun-warmed fish oil. "Time
for you to learn the Cat Fist!"

 Genma lifted the blanket, and with a
flourish, tossed the contents into the pit.

 After a few moments the smile faded from
Genma's face. No scream of anguish. No
howling from the cats. No shrieking from his
son. How odd.

 A moped shot past from a few yards away, an
object wrapped in a blanket tied into place
at the rear. A strangely familiar looking
child made a rude hand gesture as the vehicle
sped away.

 Genma blinked twice, his gaze focussing on
the blanketed object as it became concealed
by the meandering of the path through the
trees. "But I haven't taught him the Cat Fist
yet..."
---------------------
 "Don't worry about it, Ucchan," Ranma
groaned a little and stretched out. "Pops and
me tended to avoid the holy places, so this
shrine ought to do fine tonight."

 "Ranchan, you just don't get what that baka
father of yours was putting you through, do
you?" Ukyou shook her head. "But then, that's
the only kinda parenting you've had, ain't
it?"

 Ranma shrugged, not sure what he could say.
"I gotta go back to him, y'know. He *is* my
Pop."

 "Ranma he beat you, he threw you into a pit
of starving cats, he defiled a shrine just to
get you up to that 'Pit of the White Wyrm'
thing, he lies and he cheats everyone whose
path he crosses. AND he's a poor bargainer.
That yattai cost a helluva lot more than the
price of just one meal, even as much as he
eats. Don't go back to him!"

 Ranma looked at his friend again. "Well,
yeah. But he means well."

 "Did he also mean well by abandoning me?"

 "Uhm. No?"

 "Ya got that right at least." Ukyou sighed.
"Now we just gotta figure out our next step.
Besides, if we go back to him now, he'll just
abandon me again."

 "I s'pose," Ranma looked out into the night.
"Still, we're only eight. What the hell we
gonna do?"

 "Attend school, learn the martial arts, and
study the paths of honor," came a voice from
the darkness. The shrine priest stepped
forward from the shadows, almost seeming to
teleport from nowhere to the two startled
children. A faint smile tugged at his face,
yup, he still had it.
-----------1985----------
 "You really want to do this?" Ukyou thought
the whole thing was silly. Just some old
fashioned idea that Tenchi had read about
then Ranma had gotten enthusiastic about.

 One of her own spatulas was used to make a
small cut on the hand.

 Then they shook hands. Ukyou not only
thought this was silly but gross, but put it
down to them being boys. Then Tenchi read
some of the old words from one of the scrolls
that his grandpa kept hidden. They didn't
make much sense, but seemed to fit somehow in
that spooky old cave.

 Ukyou didn't like that cave much. She always
felt as if someone were watching her.

 "Blood brothers," said Ranma with a gleam in
his eye. NOW he had a brother. This was cool.

 "and sister!" Ukyou put in, wiping her hand
absent-mindedly. Maybe at least THIS would
get the jackass to start taking her
seriously.
-----------1986-----------------
 Tenchi noted that his two friends had
abruptly stopped talking and went into guard
positions. He exchanged a glance with the
fourth member of their quartet (which was
referred to as the Kolkoz  Elementary Junior
Martial Arts Club by some critics). She
shrugged in reply, clearly at a loss as well.
"What's wrong? Ranma? Ukyou?"

 "Ranma," a large man near the gate repeated,
a satisfied look coming over him. "Finally."

 "Father," acknowledged Ranma after a moment.
He didn't relax. Ukyou, at his side as
always, looked ready to launch herself at the
bigger man.

 "It's been two years, son. Time to go."
Genma looked over the three. None of the four
ten year olds (though one was just mature
looking for her age) would be sufficient to
challenge him. He had known that staking out
the schools would eventually net him results.
"You disappoint your father so. Showing fear
from such a little thing."

 "I ain't scared a nuthin'!" Ranma eyed his
father and wished he had his sword with him.

 "Boy," said Genma with a threatening tone to
his voice. "Come along. NOW."

 "I ain't abandonin' Ucchan."

  Genma eyed the four children. Each had
settled into a stance he well recognized. It
was a loose martial arts stance of Anything
Goes. For ten year olds, they showed
remarkable promise. There was an immediate
temptation here for Genma, the teacher who
finds an exceptional student and wants to
bring out that student's gifts. This was the
promise gleaming in all four of these
children.

 Genma shook his head. He had enough trouble
taking care of Ranma.  The long and winding
road, constantly on the move, on the run and
living in the shadows was the only way he
knew for sure that would make Ranma a true
martial artist. Ranma had to live, breathe,
and sleep the Art. Having friends or a home
would only detract from that all consuming
dedication.

 Well, he'd tried to be reasonable. Once on
the road, he could break the boy's will to
his own once again. In order to make a sword,
you had to beat all the impurities out, to
beat and beat and beat it until the metal was
pure. "Oy Toh Shoh!"

 The four scattered as Genma went from
threatening to a blur of motion. The last of
the four fell thirty seconds after the fight
had started. Genma was impressed that they
had managed to last that long. The murmur of
the crowd of students didn't concern him,
after all, he was the father and he had the
right to discipline his child.

 Slinging the limp Ranma over his shoulder,
he left the others. Genma was certain they'd
forget all about this in a few months time.
They were children after all.

 More than one child watched fearfully as one
of their number was carried off by the evil
man who had appeared and attacked without
warning.

 One of the onlookers  ran forward as one of
the girls had come to his defense when HE had
been facing some bullies. This despite the
gulf (two years) in ages between them.
"Mako-chan? Tenchi-san? Ukyou-san?"

 "I'm OK, Keiichi." Makoto groaned anyway as
she regained her feet.

 Tenchi wiped blood from his face as he got
up. "So Ranma's father is back."

 "That was him," confirmed Ukyou.

 "He's the one that tried to feed Ranchan to
those cats?" Makoto glared in the direction
the adult had apparently left in.

 "He's tried to feed his son to some cats?" A
girl who had run forward looked over the four
for confirmation. "That's horrible!"

  Four heads nodded in unison.

 Nobody could remember later who actually
said it. Everyone present just chimed in with
agreement with the sentiment.

 "Genma Saotome! I swear VENGEANCE upon you!"

 Everyone remembered the lightning crackling
dramatically. They also remembered the
teachers taking the description of the evil
man down. There would be a reckoning.
Eventually.
------------Mimir's Well-------------
 "Oh my."

 The demon chuckled. "Oh, Genma has really
put his foot in it in this timeline. Guess he
was a little miffed about all the time he
lost looking for his son."

 "What's he doing there, two days later?"
Kasumi9 pointed at a spot of different color
along the thread.

 The demon examined it. "#@#$#!! Even Genma
wouldn't..."

 "Oh my!"
-----------------------------------------
 "NO, I don't wanna!"

 The sound of flesh striking flesh echoed in
the room. "BOY! How many times do I have to
tell you! A true martial artist is afraid of
nothing if it will make him stronger!"

 "But..."

 Genma sighed. The boy was stubborn. Two
years had seen the collapse of most of the
control that Genma had over his son and Heir.
No matter how much he beat on Ranma, the boy
balked at the simple training exercise. He
lashed out at the bound child again. "Accept
that I know what is best for you, son! Ah my
son, you must learn discipline and honor from
my hands again. Would that I had not sired
such an ungrateful and foolish boy. You act
like a girl, all foolish and weak! Perhaps I
should get you a dress."

 "You..." The remainder of what Ranma was
going to say was lost as his wind was driven
out by a kick into the abdomen.

 "DON'T raise your voice at me," said Genma
regretfully. He truly regretted this, but
Ranma had to be free of weaknesses such as
compassion. A few more blows to head and
stomach reduced Ranma's complaints to a weak
groan.

 Finally satisfied, Genma tied the meat into
place. "I couldn't round up enough cats, but
I figured that one big cat ought to be enough
to replace a lot of smaller ones. And surely,
if one large cat was good, several would be
better. Go now, and learn the Cat Fist!"

 Genma tossed his son to the lions.
-----------Mimir's Well-------------------
 Kasumi9 had a faint green tint to her skin
that was not the result of lighting.

 Grey turned on hearing a low hiss and noted
that Bast had snuck up, curious as a cat, and
now was staring with teeth drawn at the
images being displayed.

 "Guess he's *really* concerned about that
lost time, isn't he?"

 The screams of a child being mauled by lions
abruptly cut off.

 There was silence for a few heartbeats.
Kasumi9 couldn't even manage an "oh my."

 "Well, at least the zookeepers arrived and
got the paramedics." Grey said, breaking the
silence.

 "But hiss fatherrrr got away," growled Bast
in her leonine form. She wasn't at all happy.
Some of the lions were mauling each other
now, and the indications were that after
having tasted human flesh, they'd be put to
sleep as a safety measure. "Parrrramedicsss
not in time. Unlessss."

 "Unless?" Grey blinked. "Bast, you wouldn't
interfere in this timeline would you?"

 "Yourrrr powerrr level not enough to light a
match," Bast looked over the demon with
obvious disdain. "Besidesss, he wasss hurrrt
by lionsss. My jurrrisdiction."

 "What are you doing?" Kasumi9 glanced
between the timeline and Bast.

 "Interrrferrring," Bast growled in reply.
"Norrrmal timeline hass boy die frrrom
wounds. Fatherrr not suffer until yearrrs
laterrr. I fix this two waysss."

 "A different sort of Catfist?" The demon
wasn't expert at reading the streams of manna
that Bast wove, but could make a guess. One
small one set up for a bigger one later.

 Bast merely grinned in reply.
-------------------------
 The boy disappeared shortly after being
released from ICU. Videocameras revealed that
his father had come for him.

 Officers Ogino and Miya exchanged a glance
and entered another report into the
"G-files." G for Genma Saotome, now
positively identified as the suspect.

 "How many charges of Breaking and Entering
now?" Officer Koetsu Ogino looked
heavenwards.

 "Twenty-five." Officer Kanuka Miya consulted
her notebook.

 "Assault?"

 "Thirty seven."

 "Child Abuse?"

 "Nine with witnesses, mainly what he's done
to his son."

 "Vandalism? Petty Theft?"

 "Fifty nine, and I lost track around eighty
six. Not counting rolling the drunks in the
park or the smashed pachinko machine."

 "You know, if the papers get ahold of
this..."

 Kanuka shook her head. "The press will
scream at the mayor. The mayor will scream at
the chief. The chief will scream at the
sergeant. The sergeant will proceed to take
it all out on us."

 "I'm beginning to feel like that Zenigata
fellow," confided Officer Ogino. "We're
lagging a few steps behind a master thief,
always arriving just *after* he's made his
mark."

 "He's hardly a *master* thief, but he *is*
fast."

 "Officers," an orderly held up a phone at
the desk. "It's for you. There's been another
sighting."

 Ogino took the phone and mumbled into it
briefly. Finally he nodded and talked to the
doctor briefly.

 Miya clucked at the expression on her
partner's face. "That bad?"

 "He apparently saw a paper. It's out. The
press is calling for him to be caught and
publicly tried. He was spotted in Yokohama,
and it's thought he's on a Chinese
freighter."

 "Great," Miya's tone left no illusion as to
what she thought of that. "What'd the doctor
say?"

 "With some of the internal organ damage done
to the boy, he's going to need medication on
a regular basis. Some exotic stuff, too."

 "Oh, so." Miya scowled. "Well, in that case,
we ought to add Manslaughter. The kid ain't
gonna get that sort of thing on some Chinese
ship."
-------------------------------------------
 Soun Tendo lowered his newspaper, twitching
slightly. "He said he was taking his son
Ranma on 'rigorous training' trips to learn
the martial arts." His eye went to the
headline again "Father Throws Son To Lions,
Then Steals Him From Hospital" and he felt
his eyes mist over. Why, he could remember
the Master doing similar things to his two
pupils. Just not lions.

 Worse was the way this story seemed to have
caught the imaginations and attention of the
nation. Even a "Mothers Against Genma
Saotome" group had formed and was calling for
his public execution.

 The tide of emotion erupted from Soun in
spectacular fashion. "Genma! What about our
promise to unite the schools by marrying one
of my daughters to your son?!"

 There was the sound of a dish breaking in
the immediate silence. Soun looked up from
his paper to see his three daughters staring
in his direction. "Oh, ahem. Well, I..."

 Nabiki, a precocious eleven-year-old, took
another rice cracker from the stack and
waited to hear from her father. "This is
gonna be good."

 "Get out your hip waders," completed ten
year old Akane, remembering Nabiki's comment
during that "Get Rich Quick" scheme their
daddy had *almost* bought into.

 "Oh dear." Kasumi said, looking down at the
plate she had dropped. She was only thirteen.
Still, the princess had been engaged at age
ten, so there *was* a precedent. How
romantic!
-------------------
 Nodoka Saotome lowered the newspaper, now
*knowing* why the police had been questioning
her. Blinking, she began to think about manly
and what Genma had done in trying to meet
that standard. The article had glossed over
the details of the wounds, though muscle and
flesh had need to be grafted and resewn. The
last paragraph, about the child needing
medication, was quite fresh in her memory.

 The associated article about "Martial Dad
Leaves Trail Of Crimes" had also quite stuck
in her mind. She wanted Genma to teach Ranma
to be manly? What *was* Genma teaching Ranma?
Peeping was one thing, and small theft might
be needed, but what kind of manliness was
Genma teaching her son?

 Ranma's mother spent quite a length of time
thinking about this, and considered the
possibility that she had made an error of
judgement.
------------------
 The teachers read the article to their
students. Some cried, others renewed their
vows of vengeance, while still others weren't
quite sure what to do.

 One did. Ukyou Kuonji stood atop her desk
and renewed her vow of vengeance. "GENMA
SAOTOME! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY A THOUSANDFOLD
FOR THIS!"

 "Sit down, Miss Kuonji. You can have your
dramatic spotlight later. It says here that
Genma fled to China, so you can't go there
yet."

 "Yes, teacher." Ukyou nodded. She'd need to
learn Chinese to track him down. And she'd
need to prepare. Her martial arts skills
would have to be much better. Genma would
*pay* for this.
---------------
 On a ship crossing the Sea Of Japan, Genma
frowned. Ranma had gotten steadily sicker
after leaving the hospital. He couldn't be
faking this much. It was said that the lion
would keep push his own cubs down a cliff to
ensure that only the ones strong enough to
climb back up would survive. Of course, that
meant that some of the cubs didn't make it.

 The conclusion was obvious. He had failed.
Ranma wasn't strong enough to survive the
rigours of training. Genma shook his head,
then glanced over at some battlescarred old
tomcat that was batting about an old Chinese
pamphlet.

 Taking it, Genma looked briefly at the
pictures with Japanese titles. The main text
was in Japanese. "Healing Springs?! Nichieju
Village? It's perfect!"
--Mimir's Well-----------
 "Uhm, Bast? Jusenkyo doesn't have a healing
spring."

 "Jusendo comes up in morrre than one place,
yesss?" Bast blinked green eyes at her two
bipedal colleagues. "Besides, sprrring drrry
up perrriodically."

 "The Amazons have a connection to you, don't
they? Hence all the cat references." Grey
looked from the goddess Kasumi to the
catqueen and wondered at what they had been
discussing privately.

 Bast grinned and looked both smug and
mysterious. This was something all cats could
do quite well.
----------------------
 Genma took the weakly coughing ten year old
and lifted him bodily and tossed him into the
spring. The boy was stubborn though, and kept
coming up. Genma lifted a pole to shove Ranma
out into the waters again, knowing that he'd
seen the Amazons come here periodically and
leave looking refreshed. He'd checked, this
had to be the healing spring.

 A shriek let him know that he'd been spotted
but it was just a little girl with purple
hair. Unfortunately, Genma knew that meant
that more Amazons would be coming at any
moment.

 "<Quickly! A stranger is drowning a child in
the village water supply!>"

 Genma fled, knowing he could come back for
Ranma later. Maybe he ought to leave him in
the hospital a little longer this time,
though.
-----------------
 "Pneumonia, Lilac?"

 "Some rather severe injuries on the boy."
Lilac blinked owlishly at the group.
"Actually, I'm surprised he's still alive. He
shouldn't be."

 "Well, I noticed the sutures. I take it
there's infections?"

 "Everywhere, Cologne, it's hard to find
anything working as it should." Lilac sighed.
"Besides the obvious injuries, from some kind
of tiger maybe, he's gotten infected along
the suture lines in several places. He was
put back together by experts, but he's
obviously not been in the cleanest of
surroundings since he was operated on.

 "That he's still alive is miracle enough.
For him to recover is too much to ask. I'll
do my best, but I don't want to mislead you
on the odds."

 The Elders nodded. The boy might have been
an outsider male, but he was a child. And in
the village, children were a precious
resource.

 "Do what you can," Cologne agreed. "If he
dies, it's too bad. If he lives, though, then
he's strong enough to be adopted into the
tribe."
---------------------
 Nodoka turned back, regretfully. Two months
had passed since she had read of her
husband's exploits. One month to follow the
suspect ship and end up in an odd Chinese
village with her equally odd companion.

 The reporter was simply pursuing her job.
Hekiru Yamamoto, young reporter for a Tokyo
Daily who had hoped to be at the reunion of
mother and the mutilated son. ESPECIALLY she
had wanted to be there when the mother met
the father responsible for crippling her son.
Pictures of THAT meeting would have made her
a respectable sum.

 Nodoka glanced back over the village again
before getting on the bus. It had been a dead
end, and it was her fervent hope that this
was NOT an indication of how her son was
faring.

 Hekiru watched the woman board the bus
before turning back. She wasn't going to let
it go this easily. If she found either of the
two, this could be the story that
springboarded her career.

 Now, where to check next?
----------1987-------------
 "Operator."

 "Yes, the number for a Nodoka Saotome
please." Nabiki jotted the number down and
called it, only to get no answer from the
phone. Disappointed, Nabiki hung up.

 "What are you doing, Nabiki?" Kasumi asked
her twelve year old sister.

 "I found out from Daddy that his pal's name
is Genma Saotome. I checked some of his old
papers..."

 "Nabiki! You've been going through father's
things?" Kasumi was shocked.

 Nabiki made a face. "Anyway, Genma married
Nodoka. There's a Nodoka Saotome in Juuban."

 "This isn't right, Nabiki."

 "So you aren't curious? One of us is
supposed to marry this guy, after all."

 Kasumi's mouth shut with a click. "You'll
let me know what you find out?"

 "No problem, sis."
----------1988---------------
 "Ranma! What are you doing?"

 Ranma blinked up at his adoptive sister.
"Oh, hi, Shampoo. Uhm, well..."

 "You've been watching the warriors learn
Secret Techniques again, haven't you?"
Shampoo rolled her eyes. Here was her
brother, apprentice Healer, but doing the
same crazy stunts he'd always pulled.
Ignoring the Elders and trying to learn
special fighting techniques much too soon.
Maybe that was why they got along so well.
"You *know* you're not supposed to exert
yourself like that! Don't you remember what
happened when you tried to master the
Breaking Point?"

 "Yeah," Ranma said slyly. "You caught me and
then we snuck off and mastered the
technique."

 "Damn straight. So what is this one?"

 "They call it 'Chestnuts Roasting On An Open
Fire' and it's some sort of speed
training..."

 Unseen by the two children, a shadow moved
away from the small fire and their little
game. Cologne smiled. She had been afraid
that something else would happen between the
twelve year olds, but it was all martial arts
and training.

 Much safer than the alternative. It wouldn't
do for Shampoo and a weak fighter like Ranma
to *ahem* get too close. Brother and sister
was fine, however.

 Cologne smiled a little. Shampoo hadn't let
up on the warrior training, but she had
opened up a lot more since gaining a brother.
Now she was even getting a few friends among
the other children.

 The Matriarch found herself well pleased
that her great granddaughter was laughing and
enjoying herself a lot more.
-----------1990---------
 Nabiki, Kasumi, and Akane at long last met
the woman Nabiki had been speaking
infrequently with for a little over two years
now. Nabiki had met her near their home last
year, but this was not only the first time
her sisters had met her, this was her home.

 Other than that one meeting, they'd only
talked on the phone- mainly when another
'Demon Dad' article showed up in the paper.
Genma left a trail of debts, outraged
shopkeepers, and hostile officials that the
reporter still followed. Anything Goes
indeed.

 The most recent one had indicated that, even
though the son was no longer with the father,
that the father kept returning to one area in
China as if looking for something.
Invariably, he would return to another
village, looking as if he had been in some
great battle.

 Nodoka Saotome took one look at the three
charming young ladies and was ready to adopt
the flock as her own on the spot. Maybe, if
her son *was* alive, she could... If only the
Japanese government wasn't so set against
polygamy!

 "So Mrs Saotome, is this a picture of Ranma
when he was younger?" Nabiki pointed to a
picture showing a young boy laughing as he
played with fingerpaints.

 "Yes," Nodoka hesitated but finally produced
another set of photographs. "These are the
most recent ones I have, they were taken by
the doctors and police when Ranma was in that
hospital."

 The pictures were somewhat gruesome but the
young ladies were courageous, with the hearts
of samurai.

 "EEEeeeewwwww," summed up fourteen year old
Akane.

 Okay, maybe they were still little girls.

 "Here's one where he's not on an operating
table," said Kasumi a few moments later,
looking a little green herself.

 Nabiki opened her eyes and tried to figure
out what he'd look like without all the tubes
stuck him, and without suture lines, and with
all the chunks put back into place. He might
look halfway presentable, sort of. And he'd
started out as such a cute kid! "Is he... "
Nabiki stopped short of asking if the boy was
still alive.

 Nodoka either didn't notice, or pretended
not to. They'd both read the article. The
reporter herself had thought that maybe the
Demon Dad was insane and looking for a dead
son. OR the injuries came because he had
settled on a lookalike and was trying to
steal him away from his natural parents.

 Kasumi looked over the photographs and
wondered how Ranma could have survived. This
was enough to firm her decision to study
nursing.

 Akane wondered anew at the kind of father
that would do such an evil deed. She decided
that if she ever ran into this Ranma, she'd
have to be extra nice to him.

 Nabiki wondered who paid for the whole thing
and if Ranma still required expensive
medications. He might be high maintenence.

 There was a brief silence, broken only by
Akane asking what this meant as far as the
engagement went.

 "When Nabiki mentioned the engagement, I was
rather surprised." Nodoka said in a low
voice. "I really do need to speak with your
father regarding this." Maybe, if that nice
member of the Diet...
------------------
 Ranma's hand snuck out and pulled the amulet
from its case. Lilac wouldn't mind if he took
a look at this. Well, maybe she would, but
Auntie Lilac had just given him a strange
look everytime he brought up the Nice Lady or
The Lion-Ghost.

 They'd visited his dreams on occasion.
Telling him of things that he could do,
things that he needed to do, and things he
must not do.

 "If you take the path of Jusenkyo," had
whispered the Nice Lady, "forever it will
dominate your destiny."

 This had been followed by the Lion Ghost
whispering something about movie references.

 Ranma stuck his tongue out between his teeth
as he opened the box that the amulet was in.
The Nice Lady and the Lion Ghost had argued
(!) about this. Nice Lady said don't do this.
Lion Ghost said that he should.

 The final incentive had been when the Lion
Ghost had said that with it, he wouldn't be a
cripple anymore. To have both arms and legs,
not a ragged stump for a left arm and the
plastic foot-ankle piece that composed his
right leg. To be whole again.

 Such a simple thing, a carving in crystal of
a cat. Though the eye seemed to slip over it,
and what kinda cat was this anyway?  Ranma
couldn't look at it, due to the fear that
threatened to overwhelm him with the
memories. He did note that it looked like a
lion one minute, or a housecat, or something
else entirely. Ranma slipped the rawhide
thong over his head and prayed.

 Then the pain hit and Ranma screamed.
-----Mimir's Well--------
 Kasumi-9 whimpered in sympathy and turned
her eyes away from the scene.

 Grey glared at Bast. "Why?"

 "No pain, no gain." The lion grinned but
didn't bother to look at the incubus or the
probationary goddess. Newbies.

 "That's *not* what I meant. I understand the
Law Of Sacrifice."

 The lion cocked her head slightly but still
didn't look away from the scene. "Why? Why do
*this* to him? Simple, there's a species of
cat that's on the endangered lists that I'm
rather fond of. Why the pain? Law Of
Sacrifice, as you've said. Law Of Balance,
too. Besides, I'm rather fond of this Ranma.

 "Being crippled and dependent, he's become
less proud. He's learned to cooperate with
others. Through the pain and his medical
studies, he's learned quite a bit about the
burdens that others bear. Therefore he's
learned sympathy and consideration. Through
having experiences with two sisters and a
brother, if only by name, he's learned much
of himself.

 "Leaving him crippled and twisted
physically, if whole mentally, isn't amusing.
THIS will be."

 "Oh my!" Kasumi had glanced back at the pool
and saw what had become of Ranma.
----1991------------
 "NO, Mousse."

 "Get out of my way, you...?!" Mousse
blinked. "When did you get your arm back? No
matter. I am ready for your speed this time.
You will not keep me from being reunited with
my Shampoo."

 "She said NO. She meant it. C'mon Mousse,
just try giving her some room. You can't
possibly beat her, and that leaves winning
her on HER terms."

 "AND WHOSE FAULT IS IT THAT SHE'S LEARNED
ALL THESE SPECIAL MANUEVERS!" Mousse roared
to the heavens.(1) "It's YOU! You've taught
her all those tricks. YOU are the one whose
filled her silly head with those stupid
notions from your homeland! YOU are the
obstacle to my life with Shampoo."

 "Excuse me," came a familiar voice. Shampoo
stepped out of the doorframe. "Silly? Stupid?
My brother is the only obstacle?"

 "Shampoo!" Mousse started forward as the
sight of the object of his obsession came
before him.

 "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Shampoo's fists
blurred forward.

 Ranma winced, then waited for Shampoo to go
back in before he addressed the heap lying on
the ground. "Uhm, Mousse. Next time you want
to insult my sister, DON'T yell. Especially
don't yell outside her window. Better yet,
don't insult her at all. She's much more
clever than a lot of people give her credit
for."

 "She'll come to love me," Mousse mumbled
into the dirt. "I know she will. I'm strong
enough. She *will* be mine."

 "Mousse, why not give it a rest at least for
a while. Absence makes the heart grow fonder,
y'know. She's not interested in you right
now. Pursuing her like this only makes you an
annoyance, not a suitor."

 "She's just playing hard to get. I know deep
down she loves me too. Like an outsider like
you could ever understand OUR ways." Mousse
pushed himself off the ground unsteadily.
"For poisoning Shampoo's mind against me, I
WILL have my revenge."

 Shampoo eased away from the door. Ranma now
looked handsome and exotic with the odd
changes he'd undergone. He still had some
problems with his endurance, but having both
arms and legs and having filled out so much
had definitely increased the amount of
interest in him from a number of the
warriors.

 In a way it was a pity that he was her
brother, Shampoo mused, as he was definitely
a good healer and not a bad warrior at all.

 Shampoo grinned a little as she considered
some possibilities.

(1) (Hmmm. The Mousse That Roared. Sounds
like a good fanfic title.)
--------------------
 Akane leapt forward, her bokken a fierce
storm of blows.

 Calm met her storm. Each motion circular,
without fuss or waste.

 Akane began to get flustered. "C'mon,
Kasumi! Fight back!"

 Nodoka watched two of her three students and
sighed. It was always the same. Of the three,
only Akane had the fighting potential and
spirit. All three had the basics down. Only
one had any gift with the sword. "BREAK!"

 Nodoka Saotome changed partners so that
Akane would get a little bit more of a
workout. Kasumi was very good- at blocking.
She had almost no skills as an attacker.
Nodoka had found a friend to teach Kasumi
aikido once a week, and had hopes that
eventually Kasumi would make a decent
fighter.

 Nabiki wasn't very good at the sword,
either. OR at hand to hand. She HAD turned
out to be ambidextrous, and paired weapons
was something she had some skill at. Given a
pair of tonfa, hanbo, or gunsen - she could
be devastating.

 Nodoka watched dispassionately as Akane
launched attack after attack which were all
seamlessly deflected. Akane had learned from
past sessions and had closed her defenses
somewhat, and Nabiki's few counterstrikes
failed to land.

 Finally, Akane stopped, the bokken's tip
less than an inch from Nabiki's breastbone.

 "Winner Akane," Nodoka noted aloud. It was
interesting how each of the three had
responded to her training in different ways.

 Akane, the most enthusiastic, had taken to
the martial arts training quite well. Her
cooking... well, it had improved. Especially
the curry. Unless she started getting
enthusiastic.

 Kasumi was quite the opposite. In cooking
and the traditional feminine skills, she had
as much talent and potential as Akane did in
the martial arts. Now she'd had to slack
somewhat from her martial arts training as
she went to nursing school. Akane had the
fire of passion, whereas Kasumi tended to be
like water and generally more calm and slow
to anger.

 Nabiki was middle-of-the-road in both
departments. Clever and intelligent, and
marked with considerable curiosity, she
didn't have the clear mastery in a specific
field but was doing quite well at the juku.

 Nodoka allowed herself a little smile as she
herded the little flock into the furo. If her
son did indeed live, and the engagement did
go through, how could he possibly choose?

 Or maybe, if that inconspicuous line in that
little and otherwise completely unrelated
bill passed, he wouldn't have to.
--------------------
 "So, Keichi, you'll be going to Nekomi Tech?
That's great."

 "Yeah, I've always been fascinated with
gadgetry and engines." Keichi shrugged.
"Sorta my destiny, I guess."

 Tenchi looked over at his old friend and
raised an eyebrow. "You gonna get the chance
to come out to the shrine any? Ukyou really
likes you."

 "Not as much as she does Ranma," replied
Keichi with a sad smile. Why couldn't he have
someone the way that Ukyou and Ranma had each
other?

 "Hey, you hear from Makoto?"

 "Kino-san or Mizuhara-san?."

 "Kino, of course. She's doing pretty well
for living mainly on her own."

 "She still call you sempai?"

 "Yeah, don't know why though." Tenchi shook
his head. "Anyway, she's started acting
pretty mysterious. Can't reach her anymore by
phone. Sometimes I'll get a little note with
the latest 'Demon Dad' article, but that's
about it. I wonder what she's up to."

 "Probably all sorts of things." Keichi
sighed and studied the poster of the latest
idol adorning the train station wall. "She's
two years younger than you, Tenchi. Four
years younger than me. Just a kid."

 "Don't let *her* hear you say that."
-------------------
 "You ready, Shampoo?"

 Shampoo wrapped herself tighter around her
brother and tried to ignore the feelings that
being this close to him brought forth. She
was *quite* aware during times like these
that there was no blood relation.

 Especially with Great Grandmother reversing
her earlier stand against the two of them.
Amazing what having a whole body and a few
new tricks could do.

 "I'm ready. Now remember, brother, when you
start to tire - stop. Don't go getting all
male-stubborn. This is partly to help your en
durance."

 "Yeah, I know. Thanks, sis." Ranma settled
himself a little bit with Shampoo in the
Fireman's Carry position. Taking a deep
breath, he started to run.
-------------------
 "eeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee!"

 Lilac looked across the Amazon valley to see
the trail of dust that marked Ranma
attempting to run while carrying Shampoo. She
clucked as she realized that Ranma was barely
breaking 45kph. Less than half his usual
speed.

 "That's Ranma," noted Azure.

 "Yes. That's my apprentice in the Healing
Arts, though he's also learned quite a bit of
the warrior's trade. The amulet transformed
him into a werecheetah, and now acts as a
control on his abilities. He spends a lot of
time in his hybrid shape, refuses to go into
the catlike form, and the rest of the time is
in his human form. Other than a streak of
blonde hair and having both arms and legs
restored, his human form is unchanged."

 Chun Li smiled as she noted the faint blush
on cousin Azure's cheeks. So an exotic
looking man had gotten to the younger Amazon.
Well, Chun Li could remember a few guys in
Hong Kong who'd caught her interest.

 Not that Ryu and this guy had anything in
common.
--------------------
 Mousse came running up, and gaped at the
sight. There was Ranma and, and, Shampoo!
Ranma was wheezing and his hair was all
mussed up and he looked blonde! But it was
definitely him as nobody else wore that
clothing style.

 Worse was when Shampoo picked herself off
the ground, grinning like a maniac, leaves
and dust in her hair which was also in
disarray. Her...clothing was ripped! HIS
clothing was ripped! Brother and sister -
yeah, right! They must have been?! Could
they?!

 Mousse nearly fainted when Shampoo,
laughing, swept Ranma up and twirled him
around in a tight embrace. Then the filter of
red snapped into place.

 "Die, you FIEND!" Mousse ran forward and
launched an attack.

 Ranma ducked the bladed chain and countered.
Unfortunately, Mousse's glasses were covered
by dust or he would have noticed the fur on
Ranma. Ranma found out what occurred when he
did a "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire"
attack while in werecheetah hybrid form.

 "Eeeewwww," said Shampoo five seconds later.
"Good thing you're a healer."
-----1992-----------
 "This is Hekiru Yamamoto." The reporter
spoke into the phone with a sense of urgency.
"I've found the father. Get this, the kid's
still alive."

 "You sure about that? How's the kid
survived?"

 "Well, at least the 'Demon Dad' thinks so. I
found him here at this village in the
foothills of the Bayankala Mountain range in
Qinghai Province. Apparently he abandoned the
kid when a bunch of locals got after him."
Hekiru glanced about herself surreptiously.
"I don't know how the kid's alive, but
apparently he is. The locals confirmed this.
Apparently there's some magical healing that
took place, I thought it was an urban legend
but there's people who actually have met him.
Look, this guy's been trying to get in and
sneak away his son again but apparently he
hasn't been able to get in that close. He's
going to try again tomorrow."

 "And you'll help." It wasn't a question.

 "A fellow Japanese, a photographer trying to
get a few pictures of a Lost Society within
China that somehow managed to maintain their
own identity during the Communists attempts
to suppress such? Oh yes, there's apparently
one of those here too. We'll rescue the
little boy, then I'll contact you as soon as
I can. He comes back to Japan with his child,
and we're ready with an exclusive of the
police taking the 'Demon Dad' into custody."

 "Sounds good." The editor's voice carried
the smile and gleam in his eyes. "Did you
call your answering machine and give another
report?"

 "Yeah, should be all ready to be
transcribed. I've got the photos going by
courier to Hong Kong, from there an overnight
to you. Save a copy for me."

 "Always, Yamamoto-san, always."
--------------------
 "She said no, Mousse. Leave my sister
alone."

 "Shampoo *will* be my bride. You? You're a
freak and an outsider, less than a real man.
You CERTAINLY aren't her brother. Why should
I listen to *you*!"

 Sixteen year old Ranma tried not to show how
much the accusations hurt. Shampoo was even
more like a sister than Ukyou. Shampoo had
been a friend and rough-and-tumble playmate
for several years now. Many in the village
accepted him, even though he wasn't born
here. Shampoo, Cologne, Azure, Tiger, Sugar,
Lilac, Razor, and a few others. Many in the
village did NOT accept him and continued to
make their displeasure quite clear.

 "Because Shampoo talks to me and I LISTEN!
That's one of the things she has against you.
You DON'T listen."

 "You don't understand Shampoo OR our ways
like I do, monster." Jealousy turned Mousse's
features harsh. This unworthy boy spent so
much time with Shampoo, having her friendship
and sleeping in the same house. It was *so*
unfair! "And what are you going to do about
it if I don't leave Shampoo alone?"

 "I'm telling you NICELY, idiot! Stop bugging
my sister."

 "Fist Of The White Swan!" Mousse replied,
using one of his newest manuevers.

 Ranma grunted and slid back a few feet from
the blow. "Not bad, Mousse, but it takes more
than one punch to finish me."

 "There's an old line of Chinese Amazon
wisdom that applies, I think. 'Obstacles are
for killing.' Yes, that does seem
appropriate." Mousse produced a spear that
glinted silver in the light. "Now I end your
miserable excuse for a life and at the same
time reclaim Shampoo."

 "She was never yours to begin with," growled
Ranma in reply. "Last chance."

 "DIE RANMA!"

 "No." A lithe form landed in between Mousse
and Ranma. "You will not do this, Mousse. If
you are going to challenge Ranma, do it
within the Law."

 "You defend him, Azure? He's an outsider."
Mousse stopped but readied a few throwing
knives within the folds of his robe.

 "He is NOT an outsider. He has been adopted
into the tribe as Shampoo's brother. You may
NOT attack him as you would an outsider."
Azure privately added that he was too cute to
be lost through Mousse's refusal to see that
Ranma only thought of Shampoo as his sister.

 A voice spoke from behind Mousse. "You throw
those knives, Mousse, and *I* will challenge
you. What do you think your odds would be
then?"

 Mousse stopped. Azure he could probably
defeat. Sugar was another thing entirely. And
if Sugar was here, Spice was likely nearby.
Someone had once said that Shampoo was among
the best of the best. Sugar, Spice, Cinnamon,
Kohi, and the giantess Dowel were also part
of an elite fighting group within the
Nichieju. Azure was the well-meaning but
often fumblefingered buddy. For Mousse to go
up against Sugar was the mouse trying to kill
the serpent, difficult but not impossible.
For Mousse to go up against Sugar AND Spice -
he didn't think anyone would put odds on him.

 "Then I declare a formal challenge," Mousse
said after a moment. "Me versus Ranma to
determine if he is allowed to be Shampoo's
brother."

 "The challenge rings are booked solid for a
good month," Azure put in quickly.

 "It doesn't matter," came yet another voice.
Shampoo had heard, and Shampoo wasn't
pleased. "I accept Ranma as my brother.
Whether you win or lose against him is beside
the point."

 Mousse frowned but bulled ahead. "I know of
a challenge ground that we can use. This
*will* be settled and I will send this weak
cripple out of the village."

 "Where?" Azure was sure she wouldn't like
the answer. She had plans for the Healer that
she was sure Shampoo would approve of.

 Knowing that his father had tried to drown
him, Mousse hoped that water would yet prove
to be Ranma's undoing. If not, he had enough
weapons tipped with silver to do the job.
"Jusenkyo."
------------------
 "Dad!" Nabiki glanced up from the paper.
"There's another Demon Dad article in the
paper."

 "Aaaaaa!" Soun cried just from the shame.
Hadn't Genma risen above the Master's moral
level at all? Who would learn Anything Goes
martial arts with this kind of infamy
attached to the school?

 Akane, the sole student of his dojo (and
even then she was being trained by Mrs
Saotome), looked across the table with a
blink. "What's going on this time?"

 "She followed the trail of petty thefts to a
village in China, doesn't say where. Says the
Demon Dad has apparently been... oh dear. I
wonder if Mrs Saotome has seen this?"

 Soun twitched slightly. He didn't want to
ask. He didn't want to know. Ignorance was
bliss, if only in comparison to knowing.

 "What he do now?" Akane wanted the lurid
details.

 "Not only has Ranma been engaged to twelve
other girls, Mister Saotome has been doing
'Anything Goes' in the moral sense as well as
the Art sense. Theft, sleeping around,
whatever will get him sleeping indoors and
keep him near where he can reclaim his son."

 "Ranma's alive?!" Kasumi came out of the
kitchen, a smile lighting her face. They had
come to know *something* of this Ranma of
late. The pictures relayed from this Masaki
boy to Ranma's mother had shown a completely
different side to their iinazuke than the
little boy largely concealed by tubes and
monitoring equipment. "I'll call Saotome-san
and tell her to check the paper."

 Soun twitched again, feebly.
------------------------
 "Tenchi! Tenchi!" Ukyou ran into the cave,
knowing that Tenchi tended to hang around it.
"Morisato-san just called. There's another
'Demon Dad' article in the paper."

 An unseen spirit listened with interest to
the two. SHE remembered the brash little boy
who had been here a few years ago too. She
wanted out of this damn cave more than ever.

 "Does it say?"

 "Not confirmed, but they think Ranchan's
alive!"

 Tenchi blinked at that, wondering how.

 "So..."

 "So I'M going."

 "Does the article say where he is?"

 "Nope, but Morisato's got a lead on where
Ranchan's mother lives and I gotta bullet
train pass to Tokyo. You know how long I've
been planning." Ukyou had the determined
gleam in her eyes that spoke of her vengeance
upon one Genma Saotome. Though she had to
leave enough of him that his wife could deal
with him later.

 "Does Grandpa know?"

 "Not yet. With any luck, I can be in Azabu
Juuban by the time he finds out." She had her
pack, her bo staff, and her spatulas ready.
"Morisato-san wants you to give him a call
back when you read the article."

 Tenchi nodded, no point in fighting Ukyou
when she got THAT look in her eyes. "I'll
call the others and let 'em know."
----------------
 Cologne's eyes were slits. She was angry.
No, angry didn't quite do it.

 Three junior warriors took one look at the
Matriarch's expression and nearly fled. One
sergeant was actually hoping they would
because then she could get out of the area
while chasing them.

 Lilac raised an eyebrow at her colleague's
ruddy aura, but merely frowned herself.

 THAT was enough to cause several rather
tough older Amazons to remember duties
elsewhere. Cologne angry was unusual and
dangerous. For Lilac to show any signs of
anger herself, why - the horn of Apocalypse
must have sounded and the demonic hordes
already on the way.

 "They...went...where?" Cologne's voice was
low but carried well.

 "You *let* them?" Lilac's voice was the
raspy whisper it always was. Nevertheless, to
many present it carried more import than
Cologne's anger. It was simply so unheard of
for the Elder Healer to show such obvious
signs of displeasure.

 Azure winced. "Elders, I..."

 Lilac's eyes unclenched a little. A touch of
her usual humor began to filter into her
voice. "No, *you* tried to stop them, didn't
you?"

 Azure stepped a little back, not sure how
much Lilac knew.

 "Oh yes, child, I know." Lilac made a
dismissive wave. "Watching from the shadows
as you have, cultivating a friendship with
Shampoo despite that Shampoo had always
viewed you as merely a weak warrior and
therefore not worthy of associating with
her."

 "What?" Cologne's gaze fell upon the
warrior, who flinched under it.

 "She's got the hots for my apprentice."
Lilac dismissed the muted whispering from two
of the other Elders who felt that a proper
Amazon shouldn't allow the weakness of
feelings for a male to undermine their
warrior hearts. Lilac was a bit more earthy
than some of the others and didn't disapprove
of the concept. Okay, she wanted to see
Amazon kids in Ranma's future. "So, of
course, she let us know as soon as she could
out of concern for Ranma."

 "Let them fight," councilled Kuraioh.
"Mousse will slay the beast and our village
need not suffer this outsider any longer."

 "Let them fight," seconded Wind. "The
Amazons must be strong to survive. He is too
strange, too different."

 Cologne began to argue with the two,
bringing two more Elders into the argument as
she did, noting that Lilac and Azure had
vanished. A thought caused her to stop the
whole thing as unproductive.

 "You can argue this however you want.
Shampoo is my great-granddaughter, you
idiots, and SHE is with them! Family takes
precedence." With that, Cologne took her own
leave from the Audience Hall.
------------------------------
 "Coward! Come and face me!" Mousse leapt to
the top of one of the poles, smirking down at
the little monster. This would be over
swiftly. To an obstacle to his love of
Shampoo, there could be only one fate!

 "Mousse, you idiot!" Sugar almost drew her
sword. This place didn't feel at all right.
"You could have just waited a month or two
and had the challenge match on the log.
Instead you get us all out here on a cold
night."

 "Afternoon," corrected Spice.

 "Well, it's a cold breeze, at least." Sugar
glared at Spice as if wanting to hear any
further contradiction.

 Ranma leapt to the top of his own pole,
looking a little uncertain about this whole
thing. For one thing, there was something
really familiar about that fat guy in the
trenchcoat and Hawaiian shirt.

 Hekiru and Genma, two Japanese tourists,
edged a little closer to the drama.

 Shampoo was as tactful as ever and her
comments indicated her complete disinterest
in the fight. "Go, Ranma! Whip the Mousse!
Rip his lungs out! Stamp him into the muck!
Pop his spleen! Eviscerate, crush, kill,
maim, destroy!"

 Sugar began to look a little pale as Shampoo
went into great detail about what Ranma
should do to Mousse, using blunt instruments
and definitely no anesthetic. "Please,
Shampoo, I haven't eaten supper yet."

 "I will kill you, Ranma, then Shampoo will
be mine." Mousse drew twin curved blades from
within his robes.

 "She is my sister, Mousse. My
bloodoath-sister if not by anything else. She
doesn't want anything to do with you." Ranma
grinned, showing enlarged canines. His curse
was suppressed by the amulet, but it still
showed a bit in the gold of his hair and the
toothy grin.

 "DIE!" Mousse launched himself.

 Instead of leaping forward, Ranma waited
where he was. Patience was something all
veteran warriors and healers possessed.

 Throwing knives tipped with silver shot out.
Mousse was rather shocked when Ranma pulled a
warfan out of his sleeves and blocked them.

 "That's...Hidden Weapon Style," Mousse said
upon landing on another pole. "How dare you
use my own style against me?!" It had been
bad enough the last time they had fought.

 "I'm a Healer, Mousse. That doesn't mean I'm
defenseless." Maybe when he had first come to
the village, but he had learned a LOT before
he had worn the amulet. Now that he had...

 "I will not tolerate this insult!" Mousse
launched himself again, once again producing
the pair of swords and moving closer to his
opponent.

 Shampoo turned to Sugar and produced her
bonbori, then a spear, then a nine-ring
broadsword. Finally she produced from her
right sleeve a tray with several sandwiches.
"Handy technique, isn't it? Ranma's such a
good brother to share so much with his dear
sister, don't you think?"

 "No rice?" Spice blinked at the sight but
wondered why foreign food.

 "Too difficult to keep it from spilling.
Ranma introduced me to peanut butter
sandwiches a few years ago, and they keep
really well." Shampoo offered the odd food to
her two friends as they watched the battle.
"I send him out to pick me up some stuff you
can't get around here. He heads over to
Cloudgate Pass."

 "That's an eight hour hike," noted Spice.

 "Ranma does it in fifteen minutes," Shampoo
said, taking a large wineskin out of her left
sleeve. "He's gotten pretty good at running."

 Sugar smiled betwen bites. "Almost makes me
wish that I had a brother."

 "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire," said
Ranma in response to Mousse's attack. His
fists lashed out with a cracking noise that
had nothing to do with the force of impact.
Mousse made a short arc and landed in one of
the pools below.

 "That reminds me, Shampoo," one sixteen year
old said to another. "Is Ranma handfasted
yet? Engaged? Seeing someone?"

 "No. Why do you ask, Sugar?" Shampoo looked
slyly at the swordswoman, well knowing the
answer.

 "It just occurred to me that since his
adoption into the tribe is contested, that
maybe a less controversial way to bring an
outsider into the tribe might soothe a few of
those dissenters."

 "It's possible," agreed Shampoo. "I think
Azure's interested."

 "Azure tends to walk into walls, ESPECIALLY
when your brother's around." Sugar smirked
slightly. "No, I think a REAL warrior is what
your brother needs."

 "This is true. But it is also true what
Mousse says about that." Shampoo smirked and
started off to go congratulate her brother on
his victory. "He's not *really* related to
me, is he?"

 Sugar came to a complete stop and stared at
Shampoo for a moment before deciding the
formerly aloof Champion was kidding. Sugar
tried to remember the always serious warrior
who had been dedicated to being Champion and
friendless (RinRin and RanRan being more like
groupies) just a few years ago. "That Ranma
really is amazing to get Shampoo to open up
like that," Sugar mused with a smile. "Life
is just full of surprises."

 At that moment a hawk crawled out of the
spring that Mousse had vanished into and
chee'ed angrily at the sight of Shampoo
supporting the wheezing Ranma.

 One of the two tourists began to loudly bang
on the door to the Guide's hut, causing
attention to be directed there by the young
Amazons present. Which was when the larger of
the two tourists made his move.

 Flinging his diguise aside at the same time
he charged forward, Genma attacked. He
startled Shampoo enough to fling her aside
and sent a wooden cudgel into his son's face.
He ran THROUGH one of the pools, drenching
himself as he headed across the Valley.

 Sugar was about to give chase when she
noticed Lilac, Cologne, Azure, and a half
dozen other Amazons charging along.

 "That's Ranma's father," yelled Azure,
recognizing him from a day when a young boy
had nearly been drowned in the town's water
supply.

 Hekiru continued to sneak off, mumbling a
little something about "so-called brilliant
plans" hatched by "overlarge fools" and how
much she looked forward to seeing him taken
into police custody. At least she'd be able
to ditch the disguise and come back.

 Ranma got over being startled and shifted.
His father, feeling the weight in his arms
increase, looked down.

 Genma SCREAMED in sheer mortal terror.
---------------
 Keiichi Morisato grumbled about being left
alone to answer the phone, but this was part
and parcel of being low man on dorm room
totem pole. His eyes widened as he saw the
article. He had to call  and tell Tenchi
about this!

 He dialed the number quickly. "Hello,
Tenchi?!"

 "This is the Goddess Helpline. I'll be there
immediately for a consultation." Belldandy
smiled. She had been planning this for years.
She'd already made HER wish, which would
modify HIS wish.

 And she hadn't even had to make him give up
smoking in *this* timeline.
---------------
 "Another 'Demon Dad' article!" Nabiki said
this fairly loud, rewarded with one long moan
of anguish from her father and two requests
for further information from her sisters.

 "It's got pictures this time, too." Nabiki
looked over the photos with a smirk.
"According to this, the reporter got quite a
welcome when she announced she was chasing
after the Demon Dad to bring him to justice.
This Ranma is in an Amazon village hidden in
the Bayankala mountain range."

 "Oh, she actually gives her location away
this time?" Akane sat down with a cup of tea
and looked over Nabiki's shoulder at the
photographs. "Hmmm. Martial artist female
warriors? Sounds like it could be fun."

 Nabiki shrugged at her sister's idea of fun.
"Anyway, dig this. This is a photograph
Yamamoto-san took in the village showing
Ranma and his 'Amazon sister' Shampoo."

 "Oh, let me see," Kasumi said brightly. "Oh
my, he looks a lot better now that he's off
life-support."

 "Kinda scarred up though." Nabiki frowned
slightly. He'd never be an idol, that was for
sure. Though those three parallel scars on
his cheek gave him a certain air of
character.

 "His sister's named for a hair care
product?" Akane snorted.

 "Apparently the Demon Dad abandoned him
there a few years ago so he could be healed,
they adopted him into their tribe and he is a
'promising specialist in shiatsu and Chinese
herbal medicine' according to one of their
Elders." Nabiki paused as she considered
marketability and possible financial
developments.

 "What's that say about a curse?" Akane
pointed to a line of text.

 "Apparently Ranma decided being whole was
worth getting a curse. He's a
...werecheetah?"

 "Yeah right," Akane started waving it off.
"Waitaminnute, what if it's serious?"

 "A real magic curse?" Nabiki smirked. "Come
on, it's just something she added to make the
story more interesting." Nabiki's smirk died
as she saw the picture on the next page. They
hadn't wasted any money on this. It was a
color shot of Ranma in his wereform. Gee, was
it warm in here all of a sudden?

 "If it were true, this would be another
thing to hold Mister Saotome accountable
for." Kasumi sounded faintly disapproving but
eyed the photo of the young boy and his
sister. She hadn't seen the odd picture on
the next page yet, nor the open stare that
Nabiki was giving it.

 "I'll call Mrs Saotome and make sure she
sees this." Nabiki handed the article off to
Akane. Besides she had to wipe drool off her
chin.

 She was rather surprised to hear Mrs Saotome
had a guest. She was even more surprised to
hear plane tickets being discussed.

 Kasumi and Akane got to the next page and
didn't blink for quite some time after that.

 "Oh my," said Akane with feeling.

 Kasumi merely nodded.
--------------------------
 "Aw, c'mon, Grandpa. Curses?"

 "Lycanthropes? Yes, they are real, though
rarer than the movies would make you think.
There's also ghosts and shinnentai and a
number of other things the modern world
scoffs at."

 "Then... it's real?" Tenchi couldn't believe
it. Then, did this mean that his old friend
was now a cat? How... bizarre. Ukyou would
*really* be upset.

 "Don't go *there*, Tenchi." Tilting his head
so that the light caught his glasses just
*so*, Yosho regarded his grandson. "Instead,
why don't we go visit an Amazon village..."

 Tenchi waited until his grandfather had left
before lifting up the set of keys he'd
filched. He'd have to hurry, but at last he
could find out what was in that cave!
---------------------------
 "A wish?" Keichi blinked at the girl
floating in midair. "For anything? Anything
at all? I could be rich or be a race car
driver or even... "

 "Yes," said Belldandy with a smile that
warmed the room, seeing the unspoken desire.
Keiichi had seen the love and devotion that
Ukyou had for her Ranma long ago, and like
the others had also sworn that Genma would
face justice for his crime. "But don't waste
a wish on vengeance, Genma Saotome will face
the repercussions of his actions."

 "I could..." Keichi's eyes found the article
lying on the floor. Ranma smiling with his
Amazon sister. "I know. I never meet a nice
girl like Ukyou around my own age. None of
the girls my age are interested in me 'cause
I'm so short."

 "That isn't so important," answered
Belldandy with complete sincerity. "It's not
the size of the body that's important, it's
the size of the heart."

 Keichi looked at this person, not as a
goddess, not as someone who came floating up
out of mirrors. Kind, nice, beautiful, the
kind of girl he never met. He had no idea
where the impulse came from. "I just wish I
had a girl like you, who was as devoted to me
as Ukyou was to her Ranma."

 Belldandy was careful not to smile as she
granted the wish.
---------------------------
 Nodoka led the way. This cargo plane wasn't
exactly first class, but who else could get
them into a remote region of China quickly
and without questions asked?

 "<Y'all strap in. We're going around most of
China to avoid the air restrictions, then go
in low over the mountains and into that
Bayankala area.>" Ace smiled at the mostly
young group and shrugged. He wished 'em luck,
that 'Demon Dad' series was being translated
into English and had caused quite a stir
abroad.

 Genma had done something the Japanese people
really didn't like. He'd called attention to
them, and made them all look bad by
association. Embarrassing their nation was
not something a Japanese took lightly. Losing
business and money due to being linked to the
Demon Dad had caused even mild-mannered
assembly line workers to curse the name of
Genma Saotome.

 "He's American?" Akane wanted a chance to
practice her English.

 "Ace was made known to me by a friend. He is
apparently one of the best pilots one can get
to run special freight deliveries who
operates mainly within the law." Nodoka
didn't have a hair out of place.

 "<I got your passports and such here, and
the special Entry permits from a guy I know
in Shanghai. I gotta drop you off, then I
gotta make a stop in Tibet and unload some
radio parts. Cause of the air restrictions,
you'll have to make your way back to
civilization on your own.>"

 "<Not a problem,>" Nodoka assured the young
man.

 "Yo," said a girl wearing hiking clothes and
looking over the others. "Name's Ukyou
Kuonji. Ranma's mom tells me one of you
three's engaged to Ranchan. I think we ought
to have a little chat during this trip."

 "Oh my."
------------------------
 "So, do you have it?"

 "Found it. It's legit," Ami didn't look up
from her computer, continuing to type at high
speeds. "Your old sempai is in Qinghai
province, Bayankala mountain range, about
twenty five klicks from a village called
Cloudgate Pass."

 "Can we get there?" Makoto Kino frowned and
looked to the west as if she could pierce the
distance and walls between here and there by
simple act of will.

 "It would require a Sailor Teleport." Ami
frowned slightly, remembering the large man
who had pounded four children years ago. Even
if she hadn't been one of those pummelled, it
was clearly engraved in memory.

 "Too dangerous. It's not like this Genma is
from the Dark Kingdom, we can't risk it for
personal business." Luna met the resulting
glare from Makoto without a flinch. "You know
I'm right."

 "On the other hand, if and when he returns
to Japan," Minako clenched a fist. "He'll be
taking a trip down Yenzu river..."

 "That's 'Senzu river', Minako." Artemis
sighed.
-------------------------
 Genma snuck back. Those damn Amazons had
done something to his son. Something
horrible. Maybe that hadn't even been his son
after all. After all, it had changed shape.

 Well, he'd find Ranma and get him back. He
knew what to do about werewolves. Though that
hadn't really looked like a wolf. More like
some kind of leopard.

 A thought stopped Genma in mid-sneak. Maybe
this was the true power of the catfist?
-------------------------
 "Yeah, uhm, okay." Keichi put the phone back
on its cradle. "Tenchi and his grandpa are
going to that Amazon village. Ukyou's already
going there. The only one home is their
father..."

 "Yes?" Belldandy sat back and blinked.

 "Yeah, I heard about that," Megumi stretched
out. "Hey, think that when Ukyou and Ranma
get back together they can show me some
moves?"

 "Yeah right," Keichi shook his head. One
meeting with Ukyou Kuonji and Tenchi Masaki,
and Megumi had added martial arts to her
resume. Not that she was any good at it, she
just had gotten enthusiastic about watching
it. "Considering how much they were into that
stuff, all you'd have to do is drop the
hint."

 "I just wish *we* could go to that village,"
Megumi said with a sigh. "Just imagine what
it'd be like to be there when they're
reunited."

 "Hmmm," hmmmed Keichi, thinking of how
romantic that could be and if Belldandy were
with him...

 "Hmmm," hmmmed Belldandy, thinking of how
romantic that would be. And maybe if Keichi
were with her...

 "Ah-HA!" Urd chuckled as she watched from a
distance. Perfect.
--------------------------
 Hekiru was at once both in and out of her
element.

 In her element because this was HER story.
She had spent many years tracking this all
down and at last had found the boy she'd
given up as dead long ago.

 Out of her element because she was used to
working alone. Out of her element because
magic and the supernatural had taken her
normal little story and thrown it into a
reporter's No Man's Land. Even with the
pictures, people were having trouble with
this.

 The lower class and the upper class ran into
enough weirdness that they didn't have much
trouble with it. The middle class, locked
into their grey suburban drudgery, wondered
what was going on.

 Hekiru looked at the boy that kept turning
into a hawk, at the  healed Japanese boy, and
wondered what had happened to her nice
orderly world.

 Hekiru also looked at the television crew,
their equipment and monitors, and wondered if
this was still *her* story. Yes, the
newspaper she worked for was owned by a media
group, and this television station was
therefore an affiliate. Still, it was *her*
baby.

 Little did she know how much things were
going to go completely insane.
---------------------------
 "Tenchi?!" Ukyou blinked at the sight on the
trail. "Mister Masaki? Uh-oh."

 "Young lady, you *could* have told me."
Tenchi's grandfather pushed his glasses
firmly onto the bridge of his nose. "Consider
yourself grounded as soon as we get back."

 Tenchi merely perspired and prayed that the
demon he'd awoken from that cave STAYED in
that cave.

 Ryoko, of course, was hiding nearby. She'd
surprise Tenchi later.

 "How nice," Akane said with a smirk. If
Ukyou was grounded, then that meant her
sisters had a clear shot at this Ranma guy.
Mrs Saotome had never made a preference
clear, and both Nabiki and Kasumi were
interested in meeting this Ranma fellow. All
SHE had to do was keep some of the riffraff
away and this engagement stuff would just
pass Akane by.

 "Hmmm," Nabiki hmmmed. If Kasumi got Ranma,
this new guy looked kinda cute AND didn't
have major injuries (or curses). At least as
far as she could tell.

 "Oh dear." Kasumi unfurled her little
parasol and looked around at all the people
converging on the air strip. She could hardly
wait to do a medical exam on Ranma. There was
no telling what damages the lack of
medications might have done to him over the
years.
-----------------------------
 Megumi blinked as her brother was being
drawn INTO the television screen and grabbed
for him.

 A moment later Belldandy re-entered the
empty room with a tray of snacks, noted that
a transport spell had been used, and began
tracking her Keichi down.
-----------------------------
 Megumi fixed her brother with a glare,
deciding to ignore the tanned girl with the
platinum hair, the Amazon village, the
startled camera crew, and the line of
arriving burros.

 "Okay, bro, you've got thirty seconds to
explain what the hell is going on around
here!"

 "Uhm, well," Keichi stammered.

 "Hmmmm. Maybe you can help me out here,"
purred Urd. "After all, I got you here where
you wanted to be, so you can pay me back."

 "I didn't ask for you to pull me through a
TV SET!"

 A chromed surface chose that moment to erupt
in light. "Keichi! Are you allright? ...Urd?!
I should have known!" Belldandy scowled.

 "Well, Keichi, I'm waiting?"
-----------------------------
 Cologne's chopsticks broke.

 Lilac glanced at that, then noted aloud that
her teacup had just cracked.

 With a clatter, one of the wall hangings
became acquainted with the ground.

 A crow, for no apparent reason, fell dead at
the entry to the Audience Hall.

 Cologne's eyes went to slits. "This means
something."

 "I think she's got something," Lotion
agreed.

 "This could be interesting," chorused Lilac.
------------------------------
 "Goddesses?" Megumi said, feeling her jaw
wanting to hit the ground. She'd abruptly
been pulled aside by the bronze-skinned girl
who'd figured that since this girl was
Keichi's sister and she knew anyway...

 "That's right, I'm Belldandy's big sister
Urd. Now, if you can help me out by getting
those two together..."

 "My brother's girlfriend is some kinda
goddess?"

 "Yes, one of the three Norns. Urd,
Belldandy, Skuld. Now back to the problem at
hand."

 "A goddess?! Keichi? Keichi couldn't get a
date to save his life and he's living with a
goddess?"

 "Yes, yes, yes. Keichi and my sister the
goddess. Norn of the Present, Belldandy.
Actually they're in sort of the same boat
since Sis hasn't gone out terribly often
either." Urd noticed that Megumi Morisato
hadn't blinked in several minutes.

 "Keichi and a goddess..." Megumi's mind
started to process this bizarre turn of
events and work its way past the blockage.
"Shacking up." Scandalous enough if it was a
foreign exchange student, but dear kami- a
megami?!

 "That's the problem you see. The past is my
specialty, and the future is Skuld's, but
with all this chaos it's anyone's guess. Your
brother is so indecisive and hesitant, I
can't see the two getting together in the
near future."

 "Well, they've only known each other a day,"
Megumi finally started fitting things
together. "That's right, they'd just gotten
thrown out of the dorm yesterday. Wow, that
means that I interrupted my brother's first
attempt to kiss a goddess. Wow!"

 "Yes, I KNOW!" Urd took a deep breath and
let some of her frustration out that way.
"Anyway, to get them together."

 "You WANT to get them..." Megumi blushed.
HER brother, and a goddess?!

 "YES! Like I said, the past is my specialty
and when I heard about this Ranma fellow I
got curious about his past. When I explored
HIS past I ran across this Keichi fellow, so
I followed HIS past. And found...my sister."

 "Your sister, in Keichi's past?" Megumi
began to smile, beginning to go into shock.

 "Yes. It turns out the two of them met prior
to Keichi meeting this Ranma and a boy named
Tenchi Masaki, a girl named Ukyou Kuonji, and
a girl named Makoto Kino. ALL of whom have
VERY interesting pasts. Bell has been
watching Keichi from Heaven for years now.
Probably planning for Keichi's wish. So
Belldandy made a wish to modify Keichi's wish
so that it would come out as a wish for HER."

 Megumi blinked finally. "So they're fated
lovers, cruelly seperated by destiny, but
she's never forgotten him, and now the lovers
have been at last reunited but my brother's
clueless about the whole thing. It figures."

 "That's..." Urd blinked this time.
"Actually, that's pretty accurate."

 "Hey, I read shojo manga all the time. So,
it's forbidden for gods and mortals to
cohabitate or something?"

 "Uhm, not forbidden. It's just really
frowned on. A lot of the male gods have quick
flings and the like. This isn't a quickie
though, I've seen that much."

 "Right!" Megumi clenched a fist and fire
glinted in her eye. "An ancient love between
a goddess and a mortal, even if my brother is
a bit of a weenie, seperated by cruel fate
and given the chance to bloom because your
sister had the guts to cross that barrier of
forbidden love!"

 Urd shook her head. "No, that's not quite
it."

 "Close enough."

 Urd had to agree with that.
-------------------------
 Ranma stopped and stared. There, riding a
burro, parasol perched jauntily over one
shoulder, was Nice Lady.

 "<There's an awful lot of strangers in the
village today.>" Shampoo noted. "<You suppose
they're all here for the Tournament?>"

 "<Shampoo, do you see that one with the odd
umbrella? That's the Nice Lady, except she
doesn't have the marks on the face.>"

 Shampoo blinked and peered at the crowd.
"<That's her? Are you sure?>"

 "<Yeah. I mean she's even got the hair done
the same way. And that one over there is...>
UCCHAN?! TENCHI?!"

 Shampoo braced herself against the wind
caused by Ranma's quick departure.
--------------------------
 Ukyou and Tenchi both looked up at hearing
their names. They weren't quite ready for
this.

 Running at speeds you normally needed a
bullet train for, Ranma grabbed up his Ucchan
and circled the burro train three times
before coming to a halt.

 "R-R-RAnma?!" Ukyou blinked. Blonde? The
scars she could see, but what was with the
fur?

 "<Brother? Do you want to introduce me to
your friends?>" Shampoo panted between every
word having done her best to match speeds
with her brother.

 "<Oh, sorry, Shampoo. I've told you about
Ucchan and Tenchi. That's Tenchi's
grandfather, Katsuhiko.> Ucchan, Tenchi,
Grandfather, this is my sister Shampoo."

 "Ranma? You've got fur? Then it's true?"
Tenchi looked over his old friend.

 "What's true?"

 "Hi, I'm Nabiki." A girl with short hair
came forward and shook Ranma's hand. "I'm
your fiancee."

 "EXCUSE ME!?" Shampoo, Kasumi, Ukyou, Akane
and Azure (appearing out of
nowhere)exclaimed.

 Ranma just blinked and considered fainting.
-----------------------
 "So I'm engaged to marry one of your
daughters by an ancient arrangement between
families. PLUS I'm engaged to marry Ukyou?"
Ranma twitched a little.

 "Shampoo also promise Azure, Sugar, Kohi,
Ran Ran and Rin Rin that they have chance at
you." Shampoo shook her head at this
insanity. "Plus remember that Shampoo not
really sister and great-grandmama would
really like bring you into family for real."

 Ranma nodded. THAT had been an idea that had
developed after he'd regenerated the arm and
leg. Lilac, his mentor in the Healing Arts,
just wanted to see him settle down with a
large number of kids. She had reminded him on
more than one occasion that he could
potentially take more than one wife.

 Ranma glanced over at his mother, still
trying to get used to the idea that he had
one.

 "According to the papers, you've also got a
dozen other fiancees that your Dad arranged."

 Tenchi nudged his blood brother. "Better you
than me."

 Tenchi's grandfather heard that and smirked
at some private joke.

 "But..." Ranma's eyes began to glaze over
again.

 "Son, don't worry about it." His mother,
beaming proudly at the boy, checked some
papers in her hand. "It will all work out."

 "Hmmmph," hmmphed Akane. All boys were
perverts anyway. Not that she wanted him.
Nope. She hadn't paid any attention to that
taut waist, well defined pectoral and butt.
Not her! She had studiously avoided noticing
that the scars on his face seemed to further
define it rather than detract from it. She
*especially* did not notice how cute and sexy
his hybrid form was with the feline exotic
looks. She wasn't a pervert, after all. Nope.

 "And you said, you were..." Nabiki looked
over at Tenchi.

 "We're the Masaki Brothers," said Tenchi and
Ranma in a well practiced unison.

 "And I'm the Masaki Sister, I'm the Cute
One." Ukyou chimed in a half beat later.




MUCH LATER:

 Tenchi had come in with the news. Ranma had
been visiting the Tendos in Nerima as part of
that deal with his mother when Genma Saotome
(the infamous Demon Dad) had used a
silver-plated chain weapon to kidnap his son.

 Ayeka paused as if considering something.
"Lord Tenchi, do I understand correctly and
this 'Ranma' is your sworn bond-brother?"

 "Uhm, yeah."

 "Tenchi's descended from the royal line.
That makes Ranma a Knight as far as Jurai law
is concerned," added Sasami. "Therefore he's
a citizen of Jurai."

 Ryoko grinned, a thoroughly feral looking
expression. She sensed an alliance. "So?"

 "In this case, I must concur with Ryoko!"
Ayeka posed dramatically. "ALL SHIPS MOVE
OUT! For an affront even against minor
nobility, Genma Saotome must be PUNISHED!"

 "Now you're talking!" Ryoko turned to the
cabbit. "Ryo-oh-ki! Let's go! He's in
Nerima!"
----------------------
 Ami came running in. "HE'S HERE!"

 Rei hadn't been sleeping well. Visions of
disasters kept cropping up in her dreams and
some fat man she didn't know seemed to play a
central role in them. "Who's here?"

 "Genma Saotome!" Ami held the newspaper up,
showing a picture of the reknowned "Demon
Dad."

 Rei spat a stream of tea up that managed to
tag her princess.
"THAT'S HIM!"

 "NOW can we go get him? I'm sure he's Dark
Kingdom somehow!" Makoto was ready, if they
didn't back her up on this she would do it
herself.

 "He's the one. Somehow, he's responsible for
destroying a good section of Tokyo!" Rei
gasped as she finally could breathe again.

 "Then we MUST stop him," Minako said. "For
love and justice! VENUS CRYSTAL STAR POWER!
MAKE UP!"

 "JUPITER CRYSTAL STAR POWER! MAKE UP!"

 "MERCURY CRYSTAL STAR POWER!" Time to put
the nightmares to rest, Ami thought with a
shudder. "MAKE UP!"

 "I'm pretty sure he's not Dark Kingdom,"
offered Luna, trying to head this off. It
would have been easier to stop a train.

 "You mean we can finally beat on an evil
threat that doesn't beat us into the ground
for the first few minutes?" Usagi blinked.
"MOON CRYSTAL STAR POWER! MAKE UP!"
-------------------------
 "AKANE! NABIKI! KASUMI!" Soun cried to the
heavens.

 "Don't worry, Dad," Akane growled. "I'll
save Ranma!"

 "Yeah right, Akane, no I'll be the one to
save Ranma!" Nabiki readied her ton-fa
nightsticks. This would be a tough battle but
she had her motivation. When Shampoo had
brought the news of Ranma's abduction, Azure
had made it all a personal bet that whoever
rescued Ranma got first dibs on him.

 "I'm very sorry," Kasumi put her helmet on
and bowed to her sisters. "Keichi got my
motorcycle working. *I* will be the one to
save Ranma."
-------------------------
 "<For honor, for love, for our adopted
brother in the tribe!>" Shampoo raised a
bonbori above her head. "<TRACK HIM DOWN LIKE
THE RABID BEAST HE IS! RESCUE OUR BROTHER AND
PUNISH HIS ABDUCTER!>"

 "<YEAH!>" An even dozen weapons were thrust
aloft by a dozen Amazons, each planning on
being the one that rescued their brother from
the foul clutches of the evil Genma. "<CRUSH
HIM! POUND HIM! SMASH THE BEAST!>"

 More than half wanted the promised first
dibs.
-------------------------
 Ukyou ran through the night. Out there
somewhere was her Ranchan. Alone. Alone with
his father.

 "Oh, Ranchan! Be strong! I'll save you and
get my vengeance on that damn father of
yours!"
-------------------------
 "Calling all cars! Calling all cars! Genma
Saotome has been spotted in Nerima! Keep a
lookout for him. He is considered very
dangerous!"

 One policewoman looked at the other in their
patrolcar. "Miyuki?"

 "I'm on it! If I use the nitro we can be
there in five minutes!"
------------------------
 "Two mokkori?"

 "If you can get Genma Saotome, I might go to
three."

 Ryo Saeba's eyes half closed in pleasure at
the thought. "City Hunter will bring in this
vile beast, have no fear!"
------------------------
A scene was replayed with minor variations in
newsrooms, police stations, SDF Headquarters,
the Diet, and various other organizations.

 "Genma Saotome's been spotted in Nerima
Japan. He's kidnapped his son again!"

 Everything stopped. "The 'Demon Dad'?!"

 "Yeah."

 There was a moment of silence before chaos
erupted. Phone calls made, forces mobilized,
alarms going off.

 After all, there would be a great deal of
good publicity for whoever finally stopped
the Demon Dad.
-------------------------
 "All units attention, Genma Saotome was
spotted in the Furinkan Ward of Nerima.
Reward of 200,000 yen has been collected by
the Mothers Against Martial Artist
Dads."(formerly Mothers Against Genma
Saotome, but MA MAD was voted in last year as
the name change.) Dispatch paused. "Ucchan's
Okonomiyaki has also thrown in two free lunch
passes. Now, MOVE OUT!"

 The sentai group moved out, glad they
weren't going after Godzilla or something WAY
out of their league for once.
-------------------------
 "Gina?!"

 "I'm way ahead of you, Brit. We can be there
in no time."

 "You're not leaving ME behind are you?"

 "You know they won't let you bring half of
your usual weapons, Brianna."

 "But, other than Brittany, he's the last
werecheetah alive!"

 "Jetta's leading a bunch of her people to
track him down now. And you KNOW what good
trackers the werewolves are!"

 "But if they get there first, there won't be
anything left for me to shoot!"
-------------------------
 Genma made a noise as he saw some of what
was going on, televised live from Nerima.
Alien warships jockeying with military
aircraft, police helicopters, Sailor Senshi,
and all manner of news choppers. All with one
mission in life.

 "WHERE IS THAT RAT BASTARD GENMA SAOTOME?!"

 The noise Genma made was halfway between a
squeak and a whine. He made the same noise
several times. He also twitched a lot.

 All he'd wanted was to make Ranma the best
martial artist in the world. Something that
he could be proud of. Ranma being the best
would be his Source Of Pride.

 That wasn't so bad, was it?
==================================

definitely an unintended story. stopping here
at least temporarily while i see if this is
just too strange. something was irresistable
about several concepts here which might have
been better off being written out seperately:
 1) Ranma growing up as a member of Amazon
society.
 2) The thrown-to-the-lions concept.
 3) The idea that the majority of problems in
Ranma 1/2 comes back to "Pride As Motivation"
and the crippling effect this has on the
characters. Ranma in the canon is a
one-dimensional jerk. Akane in the canon is
sometimes nice but mean, jealous, and prone
to rages that would get her the next cell to
Kodachi. Genma has sacrificed Ranma's
development as a sop to his own pride - which
hangs on Ranma becoming the Best Martial
Artist. Nabiki causes the problems to fester
like a overripe wound because of her own
pride in her intellectual edge. Etc.



 something i was curious about regarding love
potions and stories about such.
      i can't recall reading any that deal
with the likely aftereffects of a nonabusive
use of such. As an example, Kodachi gets her
hands on one and attempts to snare her
Ranma-sama. Ranma and Kasumi are affected,
both trying hard to please the other and
modifying their normal behavior as a result
of being caught up in that rosy glow of
mutual admiration and affection. Akane and
the others eventually find the cure,
administer it, and everything returns to
normal. Except of course, they have memories
of that giddy happiness, that contentment of
pleasing the one you love, of all the little
highs and lows that come with being deeply in
love with someone who appreciates you.
      likely, in a non-canon (ie no permanent
effects or consequences from damn near
anything) storyline, there would be longterm
repercussions from such a thing. Or, if you
prefer...
	Akane and Tatewaki. Same setup and
situation, except that Ranma is one of those
who had desperately attempted the cure. In
this instance, Kodachi pulled off what she
had intended to, driving a wedge between
Akane and Ranma at least temporarily.

-----------------------------------------
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/

ja ne,
gregg