Apprentice Option (RAAC rewrite) by Gregg Sharp ===== It was pointed out to me (by Rick Robinson) that instead of two divergences (Angel 1/2 and Devil 1/2) that there should be FOUR divergences from Hel's little manipulation. One, the demon in the pool. (Devil 1/2) The second option, the angel in the pool. (Angel 1/2). Three, neither in the pool. Four, both in the pool (which was the Fourth Option released a little while ago.) setting and major char by Rumiko Takahashi add'l char & situations by way too many people. y'know who y'all are, so just take a bow, would'ya? -------------------------- Hel was unhappy. Hel had a tendency to take this out on anyone in the vicinity. Unlike Toltiir, Hel was neither particularly inventive or possessed of a sense of humor. A Demon First Class, seeing an ancient enemy, decided to get away from his mistress and go off into battle. He wasn't aware that the whole thing was a setup, or that Hel was manipulating events. Not in imitation of the Bet, but to see what could be done to hurry off some of those alternate timelines into darkness, destruction, and death. Hel _really_ hated happy endings. ------------------------------------------------------ The battle had become a ritual, but all rituals had a beginning and they had an end. Every day the two had met and fought over the Cursed Springs for weeks now. Every day the two had pulled back to lick their wounds and return the next day. They both knew this was the last such time they would do so. Others of their kind had come, to witness, to see that if they were going to engage in this fight that they would settle it once and for all TODAY. Asuralle made her peace with the Almighty and spread her wings. Across the Valley of Jusenkyo, Amon snarled, spat and spread his wings. Within the Valley, two martial arts disregarded the portly Guide and leapt to the top of bamboo poles. ---------------------------------------- "I won't go easy on you," growled the father to his son. "That's how I want..." Ranma stopped. The hair on the back of his neck was rising and his instincts were screaming DANGER! His father prepared to leap, then cocked his head, getting a similar premonition. "Oh sirs, very bad you fall in Spring!" "Pops? What the heck?" Ranma's eyes swept all around. "Something's really really wrong here." "I feel it too, boy." Genma growled. That chill was as if the Master himself was present. No, even worse, though if you'd asked Genma a minute ago he would have sworn that the idea of something more evil than his old sensei was laughable. Lightning flared and struck and a battle commenced overhead. "WHAT THE HELL!?!?" Ranma almost fell from the top of his pole as Something Wicked this way flew. It was at LEAST fourteen feet tall, covered in black greasy-looking fur, batlike wings, spurlike growths rearing back on its head, and reddish eyes that briefly met his and said "not only are you a tiny little puking worm, when I get done here I'll come back and devour you and you'll die in agony over the next century." Genma met the same gaze and knew that his old Master was a perverted sick little b*stard but he was looking at Evil right now. He desperately tried to remember those Forbidden Techniques, because if that Thing came back he'd need everything he had and Genma knew that it still probably wouldn't be enough. Something else shot past the two and in every way the two could perceive, it was the Opposite of what they had just seen. There was a scream of "oh no, not again" and the Guide went racing towards his hut. He didn't mind a religious experience, so long as it didn't involve personal danger or meeting the beings in question. It's quite one thing to profess a belief in a god or gods, quite another when you find out that you may have an appoinment with said beings for later that same day. Black fire slammed into a cliff wall, spreading cracks all through the surface. Lightning flared and shot from the ground towards the sky. "RANMA! LOOK OUT!" Genma leapt, his concern for his son for once overwhelming his own self-preservation instinct. It was his finest moment in a life filled with mistakes. Given time to think about it, he might not have done it. Genma took a blast of the same black flame and knew he was dead before he had finished falling. "NOOOOOOOO!" His father had been an annoyance, a harsh taskmaster, and had thousands of faults. But he was still his father, Ranma jumped down to where his father had hit the ground, not realizing how close he had just come to turning into a panda. The battle waged above continued to increase in scope. Chi blasts met darkness. Hellfire met light. Serpents of black energies formed and wrestled with serpentine golden forms. The large black-furred figure smashed the smaller glowing one down towards the ground like a volleyball being spiked. The feathered one spared a moment. "Mortal, leave this place, the pools are dangerous. My opponent more so." Ranma blinked. That hadn't been Japanese but he'd understood it anyway. "No shit." "Don't be talking to my lunch," Amon growled, diving past Asuralle to land on Ranma's father. "HEY!" Ranma leapt away, landing in the waters of a pool a moment later. Amon's claws ripped into the corpse beneath him. He'd sensed some tiny amount of power here, and any advantage was to be seized in this fight. Ranma's legs wrapped around a thick throat and began squeezing, while his hands came up and popped the demon's ears, reasoning correctly that the creature's thick fur would tend to blunt more typical blows. Ranma was ripped free and thrown the length of the valley. He had a chance to look up and see the massive fireball heading his way when a shape dropped down in front of it and stopped the burst. The angel dropped to the ground and wasn't moving. Ranma looked from the downed angel to the limping ,approaching, demon, and gathered himself. He'd die doing it, but he could at least get a couple of good hits in. Asuralle waited until Amon was closer then formed her sword the last time and thrust it home, even as a clawed hand slashed deep into her chest. The demon seemed to smile briefly, then collapsed. The angel looked up at Ranma. "Told you to stay away from the pools." Blood trailing from her mouth, she tried to smile. "Could be worse. Sorry about your father, but he's made up for a lot by saving you... Tell Bell..." Ranma looked at the corpse he was kneeling at, watching it dissolve, glancing up to see the demon likewise dissolving. Where the angel seemed to convert to glowing dust motes that whisked away on the breeze, the demon was simply turning an opaque black and collapsing in on itself. "Well, that's it." A man faded into existence nearby. "Those two just HAD to keep going at it." "What?" The man brushed his hair back away from his face and regarded Ranma. "Well, you're involved now. Might as well take care of Asuralle's last request." "Huh?" "Though I'll have to warn a few people off, or did you realize that the pool you jumped in had turned you into a girl?" "WHAT?!?" Ranma looked down and realized that she had WAY too many things on her mind at the moment to not notice that. "C'mon, we'll get you that training." "Training?" Ranma repeated, his mind having gone into overload. "Yeah, you were on a training mission right? C'mon, we can at least get you dry clothes. Between me and Belldandy, we'll get you trained, don't worry about THAT." -------------------------------------------------- It had taken a couple of years, but Ranma finally had Yggdrasil access. He owed Skuld a favor for getting it for him. The first thing he did was check his own file. "Let's see. I was SUPPOSED to go to some Amazon Village, defeat their champion, run away, get engaged to some girl named Akane in some mutually abusive relationship that dragged on for two years, meet some girl named Kodachi who'd fall into an obsessive disorder centered on me, meet my... Ucchan's a GIRL?! How many fiancees?" Ranma blinked over at his friend of the past year. "Did you read this?" Skuld nodded. "All of this was kinda invalidated the moment that fight broke out while you were at the Springs. Yeah, makes for interesting reading, especially when you consider the various alternate timelines. I kinda prefer this one over here where you marry one of the Sailor Senshi." "But this was my timeline, and then it split off." Ranma continued to read the file. "Oh man, how could I be stupid enough to do THAT?! Geez." "Hurry up, will ya? You know this is strictly forbidden. Who knows what your sensei would do to you if he found you like that." Reading your own files was really discouraged. "Hey, compared to my old man, Tyr ain't nearly so bad. Oh no, I do WHAT?! And then this Happosai guy drinks the water? And after all that we get a messy divorce in two years and never speak to each other except in the settlement. Oh man, I screw up everybody's life, don't I?" Ranma finished scanning the stack. "So..." "So when you go back to the mortal plane in a couple of days..." "Hey, they ain't gonna do any of that memory sealing crap, are they?" "I don't kn..." Skuld vanished in midword. "Uh oh." Ranma managed before he also vanished. The terminal shut itself off. -------------------------------- "This sucks," said Earth Trainee Ranma, looking over the tournament, still sore about the demotion from Devil Hunter Trainee. "You're telling me?" Earth Trainee Skuld frowned. The technology here was strictly 1800s as far as she could tell at first glance. Most of it wasn't even that advanced. "Might as well get it over with." Ranma walked up to the girl who was just having a hand raised by the judge. "" The girl blinked. "" "" Ranma smiled at the girl, nodding and adding a small box of rare herbs to the prize table before leaving without another word. Cologne watched the two strangers leaving, noting their auras and speculating. "That was certainly odd. I wonder..." She became invisible as far as anyone could tell, masking her presence completely and following the two who glowed to her senses as if they were bonfires of chi. "Well," Ranma said as they got out of sight of the challenge area. "We saw her and managed to avoid ruining HER life. So she goes on as the village Champion and avoids any problems, right?" "Until the Musk and Phoenix Mountain, yeah." Skuld nodded. "Oh? What happens then?" Ranma smiled, thinking about all the problems he'd avoided and feeling the pride of a job well done. Wasn't there something at the end of that story he'd read regarding the destruction of Jusenkyo? That wasn't a big deal... "She dies. The Amazons are either enslaved or killed off, and the whole Chinese Amazon thing joins the Greek variety as a legend." Skuld hadn't wanted to say this, but Ranma HAD asked. There were times that the "can't tell a lie" thing chafed. Ranma stopped. "What?!" "Uhm, well," Skuld flinched. "See the Musk Dynasty is kinda their ancient rival/enemy and Phoenix Mountain gets this really bratty kid named Saffron who decides to destroy Jusenkyo then eliminate the locals. The Musk figure this out and 'cause they're sorta dependent on one of the springs, they try a last ditch attempt to destroy the amazons and recover some of their magical artifacts. The amazons eventually destroy the Musk, but then when Saffron gets into his full power he gives the surviving amazons the choice of servitude or death. Then he kinda creates a volcano in the village." Ranma turned his gaze to the heavens. "Please, can't I have a solution that doesn't involve me ruining Shampoo's life? She could be village Champion instead of pursuing me around for the next two years." "Well," Skuld said seriously. "You can't kill Saffron. He's immortal and he's essentially the head of his people. You can't destroy Jusendo, cause that'd cause even worse problems." "How about if I come back during this guy's rise to power with some allies, THEN kick his butt." "That might work," Skuld allowed then smiled. Yeah, he could get some high powered help, save the amazons, and he didn't have to get engaged to at least one of 'em. "That's an idea." Cologne listened a little longer, then headed back to her village. She'd have to do some research, but if the little girl was an oracle, then the safety of the amazons was at stake. And if the safety of amazons was at stake, then even putting her great granddaughter through two years of hell was worth the sacrifice. ----------------------------------------- "Hey Skuld, how does this sound? "Dear Ucchan, I have just learned of two things that you have known for years. First, that my little buddy Ucchan isn't a boy. Second, that my father stole your dowry. My father is beyond your vengeance. I, on the other hand, will try to find a way to make reparations. I cannot replace the years spent in pursuit of vengeance, nor can I produce the yattai. "I will find some way of making it up to you as best as I can. I expect to have a permanent address soon in Nerima, and will be able to find a way to pull in some income at that point. I will contact you again as soon as I have resolved the next debt that my father has left me. "Please forgive me. You deserve so much better in your life than to waste it in pursuit of vengeance. Ranma Saotome." "Not too bad. You KNOW she'll come to Nerima and hunt you down." "Yeah, but we can at least get it over with sooner that way." Ranma paused. "I'm sending off similar letters to Mister Daikokuji, Mister Natsume, and Mister Kino. Oh yeah, and that postcard to Mister Tendo." Like the manga, he'd only had time to skim the relevant files. Skuld came over to the table and started reading. "Hmmm. Simple and to the point. You're giving 'em a couple of days warning, I see." "Yup," Ranma held up a sticker he'd gotten from a photo booth. "Even sending a picture of myself so that they know what their father's trying to get them into." "Good." Skuld smiled. "Hey, we'll get through this yet." ---------------------------------------- "ENGAGED!?" Akane glared at her father. "Can I see that postcard?" Nabiki noted that the scene was completely unfamiliar to her. A gruff looking individual with a halberd standing in front of a rainbow so clear that it looked almost solid. "Hmmm," Nabiki hmmed. "Dear Mister Tendo, Greetings. My name is Ranma Saotome and I recently learned of the honor agreement between our two families. As this is a matter of honor, I am coming there to meet with you regarding of this. I do hope that you will keep an open mind about this whole thing as it appears my late father had made other arrangements as well. I am bringing a friend with me who has been temporarily exiled from her own people that I met on my training journey." Nabiki looked over the two-view photosticker that was on the postcard. "Hey, he looks kinda cute." "Let me see, Nabiki." Kasumi looked over the photo. "My, he doesn't look that young does he?" "He definitely works out, look at those pecs." Nabiki grinned. "I hate boys." Akane mentioned, just in case anyone was listening. Still, her gaze DID linger a bit on the photo. He DID look like he was in fair shape. "Oh, Nabiki, you really shouldn't be..." Kasumi looked over the standing and closeup photos and tried to make out the details from the tiny shot. "Uhmmm. You shouldn't be looking at things like that..." "Wipe your chin, big sister," Nabiki teased. "This guy is ready to be inducted to the National Hunkdom League. I'd guess he's about eighteen, works out on a regular basis. Daddy- you said that his father had been training him in the martial arts all his life?" At her father's nod, Nabiki continued. "Those clothes are a bit odd but look really well made. So he's well-traveled, able to make odd bucks while on the road, guy quite obviously ain't starving. His handwriting is very precise, and he don't sound boring at all. Therefore, I will sacrifice so much of my freedom by being the one to get engaged to Hunkma, I mean Ranma." "Better you than me," said Akane, eyeing the photo and not sounding nearly as certain as she had earlier. Kasumi frowned slightly. "Nabiki, don't you think we ought to meet him first? And what of this friend he's bringing with him?" "We'll just have to see about that," Soun Tendo said, an ominous tone creeping into his voice. ------------------------------------------- Kasumi stopped sweeping as her sisters came into the house. "Nabiki, who's that young man standing by the gate?" "Hmmm? Oh, Kuno-baby?" Nabiki shrugged and let Akane go past her and into the house. "Well...today he paid me for information about why his 'dear Akane' was so overwrought today. He got up to 500yen before I started giving him details." "Oh, I suppose that I can go grocery shopping later, then." Nabiki nodded. "Anyway, so eventually we got to the heart of the matter. The Tendos and the Saotomes and their deal to unite the two families. Well, Kuno goes absolutely frothing-at-the-mouth berserk. He's SO sure that this guy is going to come and choose Akane and that she'll be forced to go off and marry. Forsaking her true love. Him." "Oh. Then we ought to warn Ranma not to choose Akane." "Akane doesn't love Kuno. She can't really stand the guy. Anyway, Kuno's there to stand guard over 'his Akane' until such time as Saotome shows up. Then, of course, Kuno plans on defeating the fiend that seeks Akane's hand." "Oh dear." "Anyway, Kuno didn't buy what time Ranma would show up, so he's gonna be there all night and all day tomorrow. I figure he'll be dead on his feet when Ranma does arrive." "Oh." Kasumi resumed sweeping. Nabiki glanced back at the waiting Kuno, up at the heavens, and went inside. Tomorrow showed every sign of being a LONG day. ----------------------------------------- There had been a time when Ranma would have disdained using a weapon in combat. Then his sensei, a guy named Tyr Grimjaws, had told him about goblin spiders and about the Midgard Serpent, and about a lot of other noxious things. Things that you wanted as far away from your flesh as you could possibly get. So Ranma had learned weapons. Not for every fight, to be sure. Tyr had taught him the longsword and the warhammer. Susano, the katana and the wakizashi- the daisho of the samurai. He'd already known how to use the staff and the horse-spear, nunchakus and sai. In female form she'd learned the spearwork of the valkyrie, the bow from some humorless girl named Artemis, and the halberd and yari from some guy named Hachiman. This brought Ranma to his "greeting the morning" kata. Today was an exercise using a weapon he still hadn't quite mastered, the kusari-gama. Not an elegant or a silent weapon, that much was sure. Not that he couldn't do the basics, but if he got caught by a dozen swordsmen in a bamboo grove he'd drop the weapon and fall back on dodging. "Aw c'mon, Ranma, it ain't even dawn yet," grumbled Skuld from their room. "Can't you practice the sword or your unarmed stuff today?" "That's what you say every time, Skuld." Ranma relented though, and began going into exercises that were silent. "You could've at least used your manriki-gusari. That only makes noise when you want it to," Skuld stopped speaking in order to produce a long and drawn-out yawn. "It's an enchanted weapon. Too easy to get dependent on those." Ranma frowned as he realized he was quoting his teacher. "Then somebody slaps you with a 'Neutralize Magic' and it throws you off." Skuld grumbled a little, preparing to go back to her futon, when something crossed her mind. "Hey, today's the day, ain't it?" "Yes, Skuld. Today we meet the Tendos." Ranma began to blur as he used a pattern of moves he'd learned from Raideen. Too bad he couldn't do the lightning stuff, that had been cool. Well, at least not yet. He wasn't completely willing to admit defeat on those special manuevers. "Oh man. 'Yes, Skuld, today we meet the Tendos.' C'mon, Ranma! I mean, you've got this whole fiancee thing coming down on your head now, don't you go bottling it up like ol' Grimjaws." Ranma swept through the set of strikes and moves that Raideen had shown him, shifting into a set of manuevers that he'd studied while sparring with Susano. "At least tell me which one you like the most. C'mon, remember, I'm the goddess of the future and I can absolutely say with confidence that not all of them turn out as badly as some of them do." Why did she feel so nervous about his answer? Ranma sighed and dropped from his stance. "Skuld, why don't YOU tell ME something. Why aren't you unhappier with this? I mean, I got you kicked outta Heaven for cryin' out loud." "It's only temporary." Skuld looked wistful. "Besides, that remark about my big sister proved to be dead on. Never told you about that did I? You said it looked like my sister was gonna go visit her boyfriend. Never woulda occurred to me if you hadn't said something." "Well, it was kinda obvious. Eros had said something to me about some kid named Usagi, and I noticed your sister had the same look in her eyes as the girl that Eros was watching." Ranma sighed and started doing situps. "Yeah, well, Belldandy has been monitoring a mortal for years. When I found out about it, I checked the records. She's been watching this guy since they were kids!" Skuld pouted. "He's not good enough for MY sister. Not nearly enough. But she's gonna grant his wish, and she's already put in for consideration to have HER wish- which will modify his wish so she gets to be his girlfriend." "Sounds like it wouldn't be too difficult." "Yeah, but it plays awfully close to some rules. Makes me nervous that Belle is gonna do it. Urd I can picture doing something like that, but Belldandy?" Skuld sighed. "Anyway the prediction program I ran said there was a 97% chance they'd end up living here in this mortal city. So, I'm away from my sister, but when she comes down I'll be here already." "So who's covering the Yggdrasil duties? Urd?" "Nah, you made some friends over in the Greek quarter. Clotho and Lachesis will take turns and you know how Hephaestus was when you talked it over with Urd about letting him learn the systems so she could go meet with Bacchus." "Ah," Ranma finished a set of situps and went on to start one-handed pushups. "Skuld? You've got a prediction program?" "Yeah?" Skuld sat back and wondered when that Keiichi guy would make his wish. "Who would I make the happiest? Who needs me the most? Who SHOULD I marry?" After all, Ranma reasoned, if he DID marry then that would cancel out the remaining engagements and he wouldn't be stringing along all these girls. "Hmmm?" Skuld considered and whipped her notebook computer out. "Letsee. If I hook it into a subetheric modem link and access Yggdrasil.com, and run a minimalist query it should give me some quick results." Skuld secret technique: sonicspeed typing. "Ah-hah!" Skuld exclaimed. "I am such a...genius?" "What you get?" Ranma stopped his pushups and started getting up. Skuld snapped the notebook shut. "Still have to work out some parameters. Probably need to get a full workup instead of just addressing the online data from Yggdrasil. I'll work on it when I get a chance." "Oh," Ranma returned to the exercises. Skuld sighed in relief, then cracked open her notebook to look at the results again. This couldn't be right. Could it? ---------------------------------------------- Ryouga Hibiki stood on the cliff's edge, looking out into the strange valley. He pondered the meaning of all the little pools, of the bamboo poles sticking out of them. Of the cliff crumbling away under his weight, causing him to tumble down into one of the springs. He didn't know that the cliff had been weakened by a demon's assault. He didn't know that Ranma had been gone from this place for two years subjectively and fifteen minutes chronologically. All he knew, in his heart of hearts, was that Ranma was responsible for this. ---------------------------------------------- The first man to walk up had been a postal carrier. Kuno saw through his disguise and ran him off. The second man to walk up to his beloved's home had been also cleverly disguised, but Kuno knew that the evil Saotome would likely come in disguise in order to hide from his greatness. He fled before the might of the Blue Thunder, taking his delivery of rice with him. Kuno saw the third man wandering by and immediately drew his bokken and demanded to know why he was here in front of the Tendo household. They did say that the third time was the charm, did they not? Kuno noted the man's panicked look and had drawn the immediate conclusion. He had posed, informed the man that the virtuous and beautiful flower within that house was to be his bride, and had attacked. The man's glasses had fogged up, he had mumbled something that started with a Ka... and now Kuno knew what a Rubik's cube felt like. The fourth such man was walking up with a girl, and the great Tatewaki Kuno was a little cautious after that last encounter. Not much, but a little. "HOLD!" Kuno posed again, a little unsteadily. "Who are you to approach the Tendo household?" "Uhm. Ranma Saotome. And this is my friend Skuld. And you are?" "At last," the kendoist trembled, not sure if his knees would give out or not. "KNOW YE THIS THEN, AKANE TENDO IS MY FUTURE BRIDE." "Okay. You don't need to shout, y'know. Oh, uh, congratulations. Hope you two have lots of future happiness and all." Kuno blinked. He considered rushing forward and attacking but he'd just gotten done trying to reset his joints and wasn't sure they'd stay there. "Do you concede then before my superior skills and noble lineage?" "Sure. Say, if you're a swordmaster, maybe you n' me could have a match sometime. I recently learned some moves that I'm having a little trouble with." Kuno blinked again. His skill was being recognized and deferred to? His superior claim to the beauteous Akane was acknowledged? Either this Saotome was a coward or he recognized that Kuno was his superior. "Ah. Well. Good then." He'd have to think about this. "Yeah, not tonight though. I gotta meet with the Tendos and see if there's a way I can avoid an engagement to one of his other daughters. Have a nice night." Kuno blinked again. He thought he heard a noise. Yes, it was his bed calling him. How could he deny his bedchambers the noble presence of their master for a second night? "So be it then. Have a pleasant night. I think I must be going myself." Skuld watched the kendoist stagger off. "That guy is kinda scary." "Nah, I figure he's just like that minor goddess over in section G, Tiana. Probably this Akane was nice to him once when he was really down and he immediately fixated on her." "So we just go in?" Ranma knocked. "Nah, I figure..." The door opened. Ranma and Skuld both blinked. There was something Belldandy-like about the girl standing there. "Hello?" The voice was also perfectly Belldandy. "Sorry miss, you just remind me of Skuld's sister." Ranma bowed and apologized for the moment of staring. "Wow," was Skuld's comment as she was still staring. She'd have to do some readings, but she might have found her sister's mortal analogue. "I'm Ranma Saotome, and this is my friend Skuld. Pleased to meet ya." "Oh, won't you come in?" Kasumi gestured towards the inside of the house. "I am Kasumi Tendo." Another girl popped out. "He's here?! Hi, I'm Nabiki Tendo. Come on in, we're all (well, almost all) anxious to meet you." ---------------------------------------- Nabiki looked around the table, edged a little closer to Ranma and looked attentive. Kasumi wondered if the formal teaset should be brought out now, or would it be better if she waited on such details. Certainly this Ranma was better than she would have expected. "So." Soun Tendo inhaled a massive drag on his cigarette, snorting an impressive cloud of smoke a moment later. "Which of my daughters are you going to marry?" "Are you absolutely sure there should be one? I mean, my dad apparently made a few of these arrangements. I sure as heck don't wanna force nobody into nothing." "You better not choose me," Akane grumbled, though she was glad to see this guy wasn't too keen on the marriage thing either. She'd had a couple of days to calm down, and so found a degree of tactfulness. Besides, there was no reason to rain on Nabiki's parade. "I detest this concept of a forced marriage. Nothing personal." "Uhm, you're Akane, right? It's OK, I already met your fiance and he explained everything." Ranma shrugged and smiled. Akane blinked, then leveled a cold glare at her father. "Dad? Have you made OTHER arrangements specifically involving me?" Soun shook his head frantically. "He said his name was Tatewaki Kuno..." Skuld offered, only to be met with a series of moans. "I haven't given him permission," Soun said slowly. Well, Akane COULD do worse. "Well, I suppose..." "DAD!!!!" Akane panicked. Sometimes her father got ahold of an idea and just wouldn't let go. "Well, that leaves me and Kasumi." "NABIKI!!!" Kasumi gently chiding, Akane staring in increased alarm. "Mister Tendo, do you even think this is fair to your daughters? They don't know me, after all." "It is a matter of honor." Soun nodded, gathering stoic dignity around him like a blanket. "As far as I am concerned, that is the end of it. For the sake of my deceased friend, your father, this must be done." "Maybe," said Kasumi as if just considering the idea. "He should get to know us just to see which would be the better match." "What a wonderful idea, Kasumi!" Nabiki nodded enthusiastically, as well she might as it was her idea anyway. Nabiki could usually count on Kasumi to remember her lines. Ranma exchanged a glance with Skuld. So far it was pretty much as she'd predicted. "So, Skuld is it? I know Ranma spent most of his life being trained in the martial arts, but what about you? How did you get involved in all this?" "I was exiled from my homeland temporarily for the crime of data hacking." Skuld sipped at her tea and noted the blank looks from all but one. She smiled as Nabiki obviously started working out angles on how to exploit this. "Because I was doing a favor for Ranma here, digging up some information he needed, I've just been tagging along until either my sister starts going to college here in Japan or until my sentence is over." "So you're an information specialist," Nabiki said thoughtfully. "Actually, I'm mainly a debugger. System maintenance is my usual occupation." Skuld shrugged. "Ah, whatever." Soun managed after a moment. He had less idea of what this young girl was talking about than Akane, who was less computer literate than Kasumi (who'd only seen computers in stores and the like but had read a book.) It wasn't like they had computers available in Furinkan High School. "So where did you say you were from?" "Norn's Grove, a little place South of Valhalla." "Ah," Soun exclaimed. She was German. Spoke Japanese very well for a gaijin. No doubt Ranma had been the tutor. "Valhalla?" Kasumi frowned a little. Skuld? Norn's Grove? Ah, she was Norwegian! No doubt she'd have some serious trouble with the Japanese summers. "Well we have two guest rooms, and we can put you up while Ranma decides to marry me." Everyone stared. Kasumi blushed when she realized what she had said. "...or Nabiki," she appended a moment later. "For tonight," Ranma inclined his head in a sitting bow, "that would be quite welcome. Tomorrow, though, me and Skuld'll be checking out a small apartment near here until we resolve a few things." "It's no trouble," Kasumi put in, not quite willing to let the matter drop as her eyes swept over Ranma's form. "I'm afraid it's necessary," Skuld said with a shrug. "There's gonna be some trouble looking for Ranma here, and there's gonna be more trouble if he's staying here when it comes." Plus, she'd discussed this with Ranma and too many of the other fiancees would construe this as favoring the Tendo engagement. "Oh, there's this." Ranma held up an arm fitted with a bracelet made of jade and silver. "I'm under a curse which this keeps in control." "Yeah, right." Akane scoffed openly, still irritated at this *boy* calling *Kuno* her fiance. Ranma removed the bracelet, setting it on the table with a raised eyebrow. "Skuld?" Skuld pulled a canteen out of her backpack and splashed Ranma with it, putting the canteen back while the Tendos were gaping at Ranma. Ranma quickly explained that his father had chosen this wonderful training site, which was where his father had saved his life from a stray attack from another fight going on at the same location. He never mentioned exactly WHAT was fighting there. Hot water changed him back to male, cold water to female, unless he was wearing the Stability Bracelet. "It was originally created for people with curses like werewolves and the like. If I'm a girl when I wear it, I'll be a girl until I take it off and get some hot water. It's made dealing with the curse a lot easier in some ways." "Uhm," Nabiki said, starting to have second thoughts about the whole thing. "Now, now, let's worry about this later, shall we?" Skuld put in quickly. "Worry about it later, eh?" --------------------------------------------------- "School, huh?" Ranma wasn't impressed. "Yeah, Ranma. All your records show your chronological and not your biological age. I could fix those but your mother and all would definitely view this as being strange. Best to leave as is for now." Skuld shrugged. "I had to mess enough with my own records." "What records?" "Exactly." Skuld nodded. "Now, thanks to Urd's little potion and my laptop computer, I look like and am registered as a fourteen year old exchange student from Norway who registered high enough on the placement tests that I can attend Furinkan." "Uhm, Skuld? Other than you look closer to fifteen, you haven't changed.." "Oh bugger." Skuld frowned. "Well, whatever. Anyway, you're attending the same class as me and Akane. Nabiki is in the same class as that Kuno guy." "Okay. Did you give me a good grade point average?" "You're gonna have to do that yourself, don't know how much of that Dad'll put up with before he starts with the lightning bolts." "Do I haveta wear a school uniform?" "You might be able to get away with some clothes. I doubt your working clothes..." Nabiki opened the door. "C'mon, you two, breakfast!" "'Kay." Skuld finished typing on her laptop and closed it up. "Now try to get through the day without fighting anyone, Ranma." "Oh yeah, THAT's gonna happen." "Y'never know." Skuld shrugged. Kasumi looked up from setting out the breakfast dishes. "My, Ranma-kun, what was that you were doing this morning?" Ranma blinked. "Do you mean the spear katas, the unarmed stuff, or the meditation?" "That bit where you were glowing and floating in midair." Kasumi's comment stopped her sisters in midmotion and even caused Soun to stop reading his paper for a moment. "Oh, THAT. Just a meditation technique, building up your chi, directing the flows, that sorta thing." "Oh," Kasumi nodded, satisfied. "Floating?" Nabiki repeated. "Yeah, advanced chi techniques, y'know," Ranma shrugged. Akane blinked. It was almost unthinkable, after all, she was the best there was in the Furinkan area. But if Ranma were THAT good, he might have some stuff that she could learn. She grinned inwardly. Oh, yes, and she would be able to check out Nabiki's fiance a little more thoroughly and determine if he was suitable for her dear (lonely though thoroughly mercenary) sister. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- okay then, here we go with a different sorta crossover. Apprentice what, you ask? Devil hunter, of course. Tyr is a better judge, Thor a better drinker, Hercules a better brawler and stronger, etc. On the other hand, you KNOW how much better Ranma gets when he's fighting strong opponents and he's spent the equivelant of two years in Einherjar Boot Camp learning from masters of various skills. The bracelet would be necessary to lock him in female form while learning from Artemis or among other similar folk. (The Locking Bracelet ends up being given away by him after he meets Ryouga, who arguably has a greater need for it. Giving up a CURE, even if partial, to the other boy reduces the animosity level between the two to begin with.) Ranma's use among all these powerful is as a wild card. He can affect the outcome where all other variables are known.. Hmm. From wild horse to wild card, sounds like a good chapter title... Though Ranma MIGHT remind Artemis of Orion, and if he was the warrior reborn... Ranma's not really interested in ANY of the engagements at this point. He kinda likes some girl, but he's skimmed the canon manga (online at Yggdrasil) and thinks that THAT Ranma is a jerk and he's not gonna do any of that stuff. Of course, he's only read through the first twenty volumns and the last story, so he doesn't have the full picture there. Even then, he's speedread through the thing and doesn't have nearly all the details. No, he's made up his mind. He's gonna find ways to settle the various debts that does not end up in him getting married, if he has to, he'll marry one of 'em, but he wants to get out of all of 'em if he can. Not gonna string ANYONE along. If he needs to, he'll find out which one is the best match and just go ahead with it. Besides, his plans are he's gonna go back to Heaven and get his full Devil Hunter certificate, hang out with the warrior gods and eventually try the placement test for godhood. THEN he'll have his own logon to Yggdrasil and he can get rid of the curse! Also because he's a wild card, Marller wants to recruit/seduce him for THEIR Side. He's got some other interested parties, knows about ALL the engagements. Eventually he tries to get Skuld to use her predictor program, but she tells him that she can't do it without better Yggdrasil access. Skuld's hoping her dad doesn't find out she's lying or will overlook it. Why? Because depending on how she words the question, she gets a different answer every time. "Who could make Ranma the happiest as a wife" is a different candidate than "whose life would be changed for the best if Ranma chose to marry her" or even "who would Ranma make the happiest if he married her." Skuld also was surprised to see her own name showing up on the lists and is trying to sort out her own feelings on THAT. There is no clearcut choice for True Fiancee in this timeline. The ones currently on Skuld's lists are: Minako Aino, Rei Hino, Makoto Kino, Kasumi Tendo, Nabiki Tendo, Kaori Daikokuji, Ukyou Kuonji. The last five are flagged as arranged engagements by Genma. There's also Skuld herself, whose name keeps popping up even when she's just deleted it. Why those five? Kaori's engagement is from the anime. A Tendo-Saotome union is from both, and evidence suggests that someone (likely both) were drunk in a bar at the time. Ukyou's father just had to mention the yattai for Genma to agree, which would seem to indicate he's done it before or just is a pushover. So...more fiancees. Kino is added because with both of her parents dead, she likely would have no way of knowing about such a thing.(No, Ranma didn't get that far in the file, so he doesn't know about that.) (Hmmm. Maybe Mamoru also has an arranged marriage, say to Nabiki or Akane. Complications...heh) Ranma's trained extensively, ate extensively, and has drank of the Evergold. He's better looking, stronger, tougher, and a better fighter than in the canon. He uses a lot of weapons quite well, and is still trying to get his chi to where he can emulate certain manna based attacks/manuevers. Raideen's lightning (a la Mortal Kombat) is one example. Opponents? Heck, he goes HUNTING devils. (Not demons, as they have that pesky Doublet System. Point him at some Youma though and he'll go to town.) His manriki gusari is enchanted? (A manriki is a chain weapon like the kusari-gama, but shorter and with weights at both ends. Ranma has a crescent-moon blade as one weight while the other more resembles a barbed spear-head.) Yeah, it's based on Shun's Nebula Chains from Saint Saeya. Length lengthens or shortens on command, it can be directed to move by thought, and can be completely quiet if he wills it. He's going up against supernatural beasties, and even Ranma needs help every so often. Heck, after the Ranma Fan Club starts at Furinkan (girls after the strong handsome often mysterious and dashing figure who looks so much more mature than a sixteen year old) he's got even more girl troubles. Mind you, he'd actively WANT to associate with the Senshi just to have a chance to bust youma/daimon heads. And once Honey Kisaragi starts showing up on Skuld's predictor program... Skuld in Furinkan... Y'know this is a disaster waiting to happen. Can you picture her putting together a Banpei sparring partner for her new friend Akane? And here goes Ranma off to smash youma and having all that fun. Somehow I can't picture Skuld as wanting to stay at home (unless they're showing some neat mecha) and there's some scenes there... Skuld's machines don't always work, remember. Though she's always confident in them. Sorta like Akane and cooking... Hmmm. Skuld and Washu in a jam session. May have to incorporate that in A Very Scary Bet. Oh, and if he's got different enemies, then different allies and rivals as well, ne? Who, of course, expect him to be staying at the Tendo place or else look for him at Furinkan. ------------------------------ Kasumi answered the knock at the main gate with her usual politeness and efficiency. "That's odd, there's no one here?" Kasumi paused as she noted the presence of the two furry tree trunks standing next to the gate. Her gaze tracked up the two "tree trunks" to an equally furry chest, then to a large muzzle pointing down at her. Kasumi blinked. "Oh my." A little louder she called into the house, "Ranma, I believe you have a visitor." Kasumi paused briefly. "I'll go get him. He just stopped by to pick up some misdelivered mail. May I say who's here to see him?" The wolf grinned down at her and spoke in a thick Irish brogue. "Aye, lass, that ye may. Tell him that Fenris be paying him a call to be giving the lad a wee bit of payback." ----------------------------------------------- which of course leads to this scene: THOOMTHOOMTHOOMTHOOM Ranma came running into the compound, spotting his friend/rival immediately (it's hard to miss a wolf bigger than a cement truck) as the one making the odd beating noise. "Ahhhhhh! There, lass, there! Ah, a little harder! OooooOOOOWWOoo" Ranma stopped and leaned against the wall as Kasumi used a rake to scratch a spot on the old wolf's back. Kasumi didn't know it but she'd just made a friend for life. Unfortunately that rear leg beating against the ground was registering in some seismologist's office. ---------------------------- As for who answers what question, it would change from day-to-day (always in motion, the future) and depends on how much data Skuld can access. (If Akane shows up ANYWHERE on the lists you can assume i haven't gotten flamed from the True Knights lately.) Well, anyway, this is just the promised Third Option (the fourth being already out.) Enjoy. gregg