Fourth Option by Gregg Sharp ===== Ranma 1/2: Bet: A Fourth Option, part a 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. Two, the angel in the pool. Three, neither in the pool. Four, both in the pool. Three, i thought would be pretty much normal Ranmaverse, except that something occurred to me... you know how dangerous THAT is. but instead of going there now... 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? --------------------------- INTERSPHERE MEMO- From: Skuld@Yggdrasil.com To: Lian@Yggdrasil.com, BHandy@Yggdrasil.com, C_Angel@Yggdrasil.com, Toltiir@aol.com, Baldur@Bridge.org, Grey999@rro.org, BDandy@gro.org, Urd@gro.org, Setsuna@Moon.gov, Susano@Surfer.com Subject: Hel hath no fury Regarding Hel's manipulation of the events, esp battle between Asuralle (Angel 1st class, limited license) and Amon (Demon 1st class, limited license). Refresher: Hel attempted to manipulate events in a retrograde (ie in the processing of merging with a major line) timeline to create suffering and misery. Based on the results, it is guessed that there is a 92% chance that she will give up on the entire effort as not worth the time and energy. There is a 5% additional chance that while she will try again, she will give up if this produces similarly unsatisfactory results. Unlike previous documentation (see ref files "Devil 1/2" and "Angel 1/2") there were actually four timelines developed through the manipulation. In one timeline, it was the Darkness that rose triumphant over a certain small body of water. In another, the Light was the victor. A third branch off saw the fight continuing for a time until both parties retreated, then continually coming back to spar in midair over the springs to end their ancient feud once and for all. A fourth branch appeared where both, locked in immortal combat, fell into a single spring. Research on this fourth timeline is appended, please note that it is still early in its divergence and therefore fully unexplored. The Musk Dynasty (use keyword MuskDyn at any Yggdrasil info kiosk for details) determined that their favorite spring was destroyed. Said destruction was largely focussed in a vertical axis, so the area of Jusenkyo destroyed was quite small, roughly 120 feet circular. The destructive force itself was caused by two opposing magical beings in battle, the magic of the Cursed Springs themselves (use keyword Jusendo) and the Doublet system being fedback due to a simultaneous death. Herb, young Prince of the Musk Dynasty, responded by having his men fill in the big gaping hole since it was entirely too big to become a cursed spring and somehow Cursed Roughly Olympic Sized Really Damn Deep Swimming Pool just didn't roll trippingly off the tongue. Even in Mandarin Chinese. Due to an ancient pact with the spirits of the place, they were now to create more of these cursed springs. As Spring Of Drowned Girl is important to them and their culture, it was decided that this was the priority. As in forty-seven other timelines (results pending further investigation) this proved to be a considerably greater task than was originally thought. After all, grab some girl, throw her in a new spring, she drowns, you've got a NEW Spring Of Drowned Girl, right? Well, no, it never quite works out that easy. Hence the creation of a Spring Of Dragon-Who-Was-Shapeshifted-Into-Human-Form, Spring Of Really-Young-Girl, Spring Of Amazon-Warrior, and three other springs that didn't quite make the cut. You'd think that Spring Of Bimbo or Spring Of Heart's Desire would have satisfied them, but at this point Herb was getting pretty stubborn and his various henchmen were set in their routine. Their REAL problems came about when a couple of martial artists showed up during one of their attempts to create a new Cursed Spring, shortly after the creation of the Cursed Spring Of Dragon-Who-Was- Shapeshifted-Into-Human Form by throwing a drunk dragon who had assumed a human guise into a newly excavated spring. -------------------------------------- Ranma hadn't actually thought about it. He saw two guys, one of whom was holding a girl's head underwater. He reacted in the manner of a trained martial artist, moving without thinking when fast decisive methods were indicated. They were good, very good. Better than he had faced in a long, long, time. They were too good, in fact. Ranma felt himself being thrown aside as easily as if he were a baby challenging a grown man. He was getting pretty angry when he struck the ground and more than a little startled when it caved in underneath him. "" Garlic snarled at Mint. "" "" Garlic grabbed the older man who was trying to flee and threw him into Spring Of Drowned Piglet. At least they'd be able to eat something after the fight. "" The ground rumbled. "" The ground rumbled again and the hole Ranma had made was beginning to glow from within. Garlic proved that he was more capable than Mint OR Lime. Put off getting hurt when you can. "" Mint nodded and started running for the citadel, ignoring the bleating piglet that was crawling out of a spring. With an angry glance back at the hole (now fountaining up loose dirt and rock), Garlic also made his best speed. NEXT time they'd fill the spring up with rocks, THEN pour dirt over the surface. Then maybe some of that Readymix concrete stuff.) The Guide came out of his hut, determined that it was safe, knew better than to save the drowned girl, and poured a little hot water on the piglet, then poured a little down the hole. A moment later, Ranma emerged. "Aw shit!" Ranma ran towards one pool, seeing the girl floating face down in it. He felt a tingle when he pulled the girl to the side, but didn't pay much attention to it. The girl wasn't breathing but didn't feel cold. He remembered enough to start pumping the water out, but what now? An old woman's voice said something in Chinese. "I don't understand. Why isn't she breathing?!" Ranma began to notice there were some really odd sensations beginning to penetrate through the urgency of the moment. "Japanese, eh? Well, try this." The old woman began giving instructions to clear the airways then give mouth-to-mouth. Ranma sat back as the girl began to draw her own breaths, coughing up still more of the water as Something Bad began to penetrate. Cologne noticed the look of panic and the way those hands were fumbling. "Don't worry, child, hot water will restore you to normal." "What?!" Ranma now noticed his voice was different. Higher pitched with an odd sing-song quality. "Oh no, what's happened to me?" "We'll have to request this spring be sealed." Cologne remarked. "Come along child, you've had a more eventful day than you can imagine." "B-b-but I?!" Cologne kindly tapped a sleep shiatsu spot. There would be time for this a little later. Now she had something else to attend to. "" "" "" Cologne chuckled. "" "" Shampoo knew her abilities at recovery. Her eyes widened at what she saw at her Elder's feet. She considered screaming. "" "" ---------------------- "So," announced Ranma shakily after he'd awakened and explanations had been made. "Cold water turns me into...a girl." "Turns you into an exact mirror image, a twin of sorts, of my great granddaughter Shampoo. Except that you have another form that you can change into, providing the local environs can accomodate a dragon. Dragons can shapechange into human form, but because of the springs mixing like that, the form you change into is that of Shampoo." "" "" Cologne regarded Ranma. "I don't want to hit you with too much at once, but there is one thing that needs to be addressed immediately. Shampoo needs to challenge you to a fight, and you must not hold back at all." "Huh?" Ranma looked over at the girl who HAD been smiling a few minutes ago but was now looking as coldly angry as he'd ever seen anyone before. "It's a legal matter that needs to be taken care of." Cologne nodded at the boy. "It deals with pride and honor and legal matters that I'll go into once you defeat her. IF she doesn't, oh how does that phrase go? Oh yes, 'kick your behind so badly that you'll be tasting her shoe polish.' Hmm. Maybe that wasn't it after all." "Oh yeah? Well, come on, then!" Ranma was feeling out of sorts, a fight might just help him center everything. "Good, outside, please." Cologne allowed herself to smile some. There were laws, and there were laws, and there was the possibility of her great granddaughter to have a measure of happiness among all the duties. Cologne was determined to give her the chance at least. Ranma blinked at the combat circle that the old woman drew in the dirt, then turned his attention back to his opponent. Where was his father anyway? Probably stuffing his face, per usual. This Shampoo girl looked deadly serious, but her own relative was telling Ranma that he needed to go all out against her. It wasn't the first time he'd run across weird provincial laws or customs, but... Then he saw a girl readying a set of manacles to the side. She met his eyes briefly and said "in case lose" quite distinctly. Ranma snapped to a ready stance. So they were gonna make him work off some kinda debt, huh? No way. He remembered the last time that had happened. He'd been working with raw sewage for three days. "Ain't no way." Cologne nodded. "BEGIN!" Shampoo launched herself. Ranma launched himself. Some guy yelled Shampoo's name and was quickly silenced. The two combatants got over the opening manuevers and began to exchange blows in earnest. Ranma was surprised when the girl connected with a spinning kick to his ribs that failed to do much at all. His return, a legsweep, actually spun Shampoo around in midair. When he punched her jaw, the amazon was briefly airborne and came down in a heap. "What the?" Ranma stared at his fist. He hadn't been holding back, but he was sure that his opponent hadn't been either. He felt his other hand being raised to signal that he'd been the victor. What had happened here? Ranma looked up to see the girl smiling at him, before she grabbed him in a tight embrace and landed a passionate kiss upon him. "It's done!" Cologne spoke in Japanese for the benefit of Ranma, then repeated it in the local dialect for the audience. Sugar put away the chains, they might not be needed after all. There was a generally enthusiastic cheer from the audience. "What's done?" Ranma stared at the old woman, puzzled. "She has just given you the Kiss Of Marriage, acknowledging you as her husband." Cologne hopped away, as Mousse had just started screaming something about bloody wholesale death and carnage, and she wanted to shut him up before he intruded on the happy couple. "M-m-m-marriage?" Ranma said, feeling as if he had been hit a lot harder with that one statement than he had been at any point in the fight. "No way! I can't! No!" "Wo da airen. Wo ai ni!" Shampoo chirped happily as she snuggled up against Ranma. And he turned into her twin sister, so he could go off and do all the boring stuff she didn't want to do like attend meetings/lectures run by that old battleaxe Huang Ling. Shampoo colored as she thought of OTHER possibilities this brought up. The sound of wood meeting someone's skull echoed through the village as various amazons gave quiet congratulations to Shampoo. "BUT I DON'T WANT TO MARRY SHAMPOO!" An old woman's voice (not the one that was again in front of him) helpfully translated this. Silence. Ranma glanced around to find the looks he was getting now were ten degrees colder than the look Shampoo had given him earlier. "So, groom. Are you refusing to marry my great-granddaughter?" Cologne turned and said a few words in her native language to the crowd. Sugar sighed and got the chains back out. One of the other amazons whispered a few words to Shampoo. "I can't marry no..." Ranma stopped when he heard a sniffle. He glanced at Shampoo and saw those red eyes brimming with tears. "...body." He swallowed. Somehow that one look, full of pain, was worse than the bared swords and readied spears now surrounding him. "I. Marry? I can't. No? I don't even know you!" The amazons present were largely experienced, hardened, warriors. They noticed the cool confident way that Ranma faced their weapons. They also noted (and pointed out in whispered Mandarin for the less experienced or slower amazons) how Ranma started to fall apart upon seeing a few tears beginning to form. "What's going on here!" Genma came stalking up, a picnic basket full of pastries, fruits, and other edibles under one arm. "What's this about my boy getting married?" "He was just telling us that he couldn't lower himself to accept an Amazon wife." Cologne sneered at Genma. "Shampoo apparently doesn't live up to his standards." "It's not like that!" "Oh? Then what is it? Why is Shampoo unsuitable?" Ranma looked nervously at the waiting Shampoo, who looked like she would commence with the waterworks if he said just one wrong thing. "Uhm, well, I mean. Look, she's really cute and all, but, I, that is..." "He's already got a fiancee," Genma announced as Ranma's voice trailed off. "What?" Ranma spun to face his father. "Whattaya mean by that!?" The other Elder translating added that apparently this was news to the groom. There were one or two in the crowd who needed to be hit over the head with such information. The rest were merely annoyed. "Yes, DO tell us what you mean." Cologne wasn't smiling. She wasn't amused in the slightest. Prudent amazons located a nearby exit. Just in case. "There is an old honor agreement that Ranma will marry one of my good friend Soun Tendo's daughters and carry on the Musubetsu Kakuto Ryuu!" "HAPPOSAI!" Three amazons screamed the name as if it were a curse (it was) and drew weapons again. Over two dozen others stared at Genma as if deciding where to make the first cut. Cologne silenced them with a gesture. "So, Ranma, you throw aside my great granddaughter in favor of these other girls?" "I don't know anything about 'em! I've never met 'em, so I don't know them either. I ain't gonna marry anyone I don't know." As the translation went over his most recent words, a knowing look came into the eyes of more than one amazon. This male was trying to bargain, and if other women wanted him, that just proved he had some additional value yet to him. More, this male was behaving like a cornered wild horse. Given time, he could be broken to the saddle. Shampoo, hearing all the comments about equestrian activities, was blushing a little. Well, supposedly it helped develop muscle tone. She'd have to see if that was true. Cologne nodded as if considering something. "" "" Shampoo nodded. "" Shampoo thought a moment. "" " You, Genma." Cologne smiled humorlessly. "Bring these other fiancees. We'll keep Ranma here so he can get to know Shampoo better. If this is so important, then they should be anxious to come and help free their young fiance. We'll give you a month before we formalize the marriage." -------------------------------------- Soun Tendo opened the letter from his old friend and glanced at the two maps. One showed a port in Yokohama with the name of a ship marked. The second showed a set of buses that would take one to a village called "Cloudgate Pass" and from there an overland journey into the Bayankala mountain range and another village. A note stated that a certain area to the side was called the "Martial Arts Training Ground Of Cursed Springs" and should be avoided. Soun waited until after dinner, this was going to be a problem. "FIANCE!?" Akane exploded after being told about an arranged marriage. "Is he cute?" Nabiki questioned, after all most of the local boys were obsessed with her younger sister. It would be nice to have a boy who was interested in her, and not as a way to meet Akane for a change. Rich was too much to hope for, anyway. "I hope he's not too young," Kasumi frowned as she spoke. "Does your letter say anything about that?" "They ran into some problems in China," Soun said, looking over his daughters. "Just listen. "Tendo-san, "It is with great urgency that I must ask you to come with all haste and bring your daughters with you. If you do not, I fear the Saotome and Tendo lines cannot be joined and the pledge of honor we made between our families will be lost. "My son, Ranma, has fallen afoul of some local laws. By saving a young girl's life from some thugs, he will be forced to marry her by those laws within one month's time. I was granted one month to produce your daughters to prove that there was a prior engagement." Nabiki interrupted. "So he's saying that this Ranma saved a girl's life, and now he's got to marry her? That's silly!" Akane nodded agreement. She thought the arranged marriage was silly and stone age as well, but agreed that it sounded like this Ranma guy had gotten a raw deal. "Yes, that's what it says here." Soun nodded, then continued to read. "The village is marked here on the map, there are ways of sneaking in and out of China, one of which I have permission for you to use. Go to Dock 13 as marked on the map, look for a small fishing vessel named the Myou No Maru, and seek out one of the crew. Say that you are on amazon business and they will get you to a port in China. "I am seeking out someone else to bring back, just in case your daughters decide to abandon family honor and not come. I know that you will come, old friend, and I look forward to seeing you there. "Sincerely, Genma Saotome. PS: if you run across any little black pigs in your travels, be sure not to eat it. I'll explain when you get here. -Genma." "Family honor, huh?" Akane scowled, then brightened. "I can't do it. School's in session and we have a big test coming up. Well, darn, guess Nabiki or Kasumi will have to be the one to get engaged." Nabiki blinked. Akane was pulling a fast one? "Hmmm. China, eh? Well, I would like to see China. Darn, though. Sure we couldn't wait until the 16th? That's when Spring Vacation starts, and that would free both me AND Akane up." Akane hmmphed and made a pointed show of not looking at her clearly deranged sister. "No, I insist. We must leave immediately. There is no telling what kind of delays will set in if we allow them to. The families must be united." "If it is SO important, how come you didn't mention it before now," mumbled Akane. Her father had obviously set his mind on this idea. "Oh father, father, father." Kasumi merely shook her head, with family honor at stake she might end up married to a child. How silly. How like her father. ---------------------------------------- "Have I mentioned how much this really stinks?" "Since we saw the ship, twelve times. Since we packed, thirty four times." Nabiki wasn't happy about the accomodations either, but it was free. "On the first bus, six times. On the second bus, four times. On the hike to this shelter, twice." Akane glared at her sister. "That was a rhetorical question." Soun came walking up the road, weariness apparent in his every move. "That village is 'Cloudgate Pass' all right." "So we have to hike the rest of the way?" Nabiki rubbed her sore feet. "I'm afraid so," Soun said and shrugged. "You go into mountains?" Two large Chinese men grinned at each other then at the family. Soun took a couple of steps back. They had literally appeared out of nowhere and had the moves of powerful confident fighters. He had a bad feeling about this. "Why, are you offering a ride?" Nabiki brightened considerably. Roughing it was not her idea of a good time. Soun's own aching muscles proved to be too much of an argument in favor of accepting the ride. Besides, if he was rested, he could fight the two much better, couldn't he? ------------------------------------------------ Kasumi tugged at the ropes but Mint and Lime were getting fairly good at this. Kasumi's father had been thrown into another spring, and a little girl had come out wailing about getting wet. Kasumi noted that the two had tied up the little girl to the extent that she rather resembled a sushi roll. Kasumi also noted that the two not-so-nice young men seemed rather enthusiastic about their job. Akane had struggled and had been beaten pretty badly by the two. Simple-minded, noted Kasumi, but quite strong. Akane had been wrapped up in a similar fashion to the little girl. One end of the rope had been tied to a large rock and rolled into a spring. Akane was still struggling, but the rope was slowly pulling her in. The two men thought this was particularly amusing and clever. "I really don't think you should be doing this," said Kasumi as they lifted her up. "This isn't a proper way to treat guests in your country." "Don't worry," Mint said brightly. "Once you drown in Cursed Spring, you feel much better." "Dummy," Lime growled. "Once she drowned, she dead. She not feel ANYTHING." "Oh dear," Kasumi managed. She flinched involuntarily as she felt herself lifted up to be thrown into the spring. A thunderbolt arrived. There were flashing claws and clashing jaws, and SOMETHING that moved past her and Kasumi felt certain portions of her anatomy slam into the ground instead of the water. A scent that somehow evoked the image of a pineforest in spring, newly kissed by rain, lingered in the air behind... Kasumi's eyes widened as she saw her rescuer. Easily twelve feet long, with a coloration that seemed to incorporate every shade of blue-green imaginable. Blue eyes, strangely human, narrowed in anger that was focussed directly on the two men. Nabiki screamed as the shape flew past, intent on fighting the two. This brought the dragon's attention back to the two women as opposed to following the fleeing Mint & Lime. Kasumi flinched again as she felt the creature's nose push her over, as she felt the beast's warm breath against her back, as she felt large sharp teeth gently snap through her ropes. Kasumi blinked and replayed that last sensation over in her mind. Expected: teeth cutting into flesh. Received: ropes being cut through. Kasumi pulled her arms in front of her and stared. All the fingers were still there. Rope marks but no teeth marks. "STAY AWAY!" Akane's shriek cut through Kasumi's quiet moment of introspection. Kasumi saw the dragon pause, obviously not sure of what to do about this current situation. It had been heading straight for Akane, who was still slowly being pulled into the water. She considered that this seemed to be a fairly civilized seeming dragon, and therefore assumed that it understood Japanese. "Mister Dragon, if you'd like to help my other sister, I'll pull Akane away from that waterhole." "HuRunnn." The dragon obediently moved over to the girl still near the cart. Nabiki didn't quite freak out at seeing a huge carnivore heading her way, showing its teeth in a threatening manner. She opted for the slightly more dignified fainting spell. Or at least that's what it looked like. That the dragon reached over and very delicately nipped through one of the ropes was not unnoticed by her. Lime & Mint chose that moment to re-enter the fray. Their combined attack slammed into the dragon's skull. "" Lime squatted next to the stunned dragon's head and began kicking repeatedly at it. "" Mint poked at the apparently unconcious girl. "" Feeling herself lifted, Nabiki's eyes shot open to see the two Chinese youths had returned. Her eyes focussed past the two, where the dragon's tail was curling up. Mint noticed the girl's gaze. "Lime, look out!" "Gakk!" Lime almost managed to duck under the tail, but it had found and wrapped around his neck and was lifting him up. With a grin, the dragon flung the youth into one of the pools and turned to confront the other. Mint ran, intent on reaching the safety of the Citadel. A now female Lime would prove that at least one of the pools was close enough, and Herb would declare the efforts successful. (1) A shriek of terror was what kept the dragon from pursuing the two as both dragon and Nabiki turned to see Kasumi was still shoving against Akane to keep her out of the spring, but was falling victim to it herself. ----------------------------------------------------- (1) This was Spring Of Drowned Bimbo, but with Lime's initial intelligence level it was not immediately apparent that the maximum intelligence of the cursed form of this particular template was strictly double digits. Oversexed, underintelligent, and quite likely to continue being a headache to Herb in either form. ----------------------------------------------------- "She's coming around." Voice unknown. Female. Fairly young. "Kasumi?" Voice identified. Nabiki. "AAAAaaaa! Kasumi! Kasumi!" Obvious. "Someone shut that blithering idiot up." Another unidentified voice. This one much older, female, raspy with age. "I did the best I could. Will she be all right?" Another unidentified voice. Male. Perhaps a little younger than herself. "You did fine, boy. With all the practice you're getting rescuing young ladies from a Jusenkyo drowning, maybe you ought to be a professional lifeguard." The older woman's voice again. "Of course! Now just go ahead and pack your things, it is quite obvious that the Tendo-Saotome pledge takes precedence over some primitive community...." Her father's voice again. "WHO are you calling primitive? We choose to live with nature, rather than forcing it to follow our dictates. We value strength, and keep ourselves strong without becoming overly reliant on your technologies and the web of connections needed to keep it working." "Hey, you jackass. I've got a claim that's at LEAST equal to anyone else's!" Another voice. Female. About her own age from the sound. Kasumi cracked an eye open to look at the various people who had decided to have a loud argument in a sick room. "Nonetheless..." Her father was trying to intimidate a small withered woman who was standing on a stick. "Leave Shampoo alone! She's MY bride!" Some Chinese boy grabbed a pony-tailed boy and seemed to be trying to identify him by feel. "Mousse, how many times do I have to tell you, I am NOT Shampoo!" The young man started to repeatedly strike the guy who was trying to grope him. Not that Kasumi could blame the young man in the slightest. A purple haired girl grabbed the hentai and literally kicked him to the curb. "You no bother Shampoo or her airen!" A young boy with an enormous spatula tried to glare at everyone. "What makes you think he's YOUR 'airen' anyway?" Nabiki covered her eyes and had the grace to speak in a low voice. "People, could we be a little quieter while my sister recovers from her little ordeal?" A young girl came running into the hut and spoke rapidly in Chinese. The old woman on a stick rolled her eyes and made a comment that sounded like it was probably a very dirty word in Mandarin. Kasumi noted Nabiki was writing it down for later reference. The old woman spoke. "Well, we'll leave the young lady here to recover. Ring Ring here is a bit young but she is quite qualified as a healer. We have to go see what your youngest daughter has stepped in." "Youngest? Akane?" Kasumi's father blinked. "Azure here tells me that she started to get into an altercation with one of our hotheaded warriors, and when one of the village males tried to intervene, she misinterpreted the gesture." "One of your villagers tried to start a fight with Akane?" Nabiki held a finger up. "Doesn't say much for your little society here." Cologne's gaze was hooded. "There are always those who are exceptions. Dowel enjoys inflicting violence a bit too much but if your sister had given way, she would have avoided this. Razor, on the other hand, is such a gentle soul that even Dowel wouldn't strike him." Kasumi noticed that both the boy with the ponytail and the purple haired girl had slipped out and were running. Her father and some large man were behind them before Nabiki had finished making her argument. The boy with the spatula followed a moment later, muttering under his breath. The older woman, having said her piece was out the door after them. Nabiki sighed. "Uhm, excuse me, Nabiki. What happened?" "Oh, sorry Kasumi." Nabiki paused and collected her thoughts. "Okay, you drowned in one of these Cursed Spring thingies. Each of those springs tries to drown something in it, forming the template for a transformation curse. Anyway, you kept Akane from drowning, but got drowned yourself, so now there's a Kasuminichuan with a not so tragic story of a girl who almost got drowned in the spring but got resuscitated by a dragon who can turn into a girl but is actually a guy who has two of these Jusenkyo curses. Oh that was the one who was in here with the red shirt and the ponytail, and he's also the fiance that our father dragged us out here to see. "The boy with the spatula is actually yet ANOTHER girl that Mister Saotome promised Ranma to, taking her dowry or something like that. She just crossdresses as a boy 'cause of some vow or something. I still don't have all the details on THAT mess." "Oh," Kasumi said. So her life had been saved by the fiance their father had arranged. This was interesting as they had come to rescue him. "Anyway," Nabiki continued. "Akane was getting annoyed about all the fuss and bother and so was going off to get a look at some of the martial arts contests that are getting underway for some big tournament of theirs." ------------------------------- "Let me go!" Akane really didn't like being carried under one arm by this amazon. She especially didn't like the way the bishonen she'd belted kept giving her that hurt look. It wasn't as if she'd intended to hit him since he was clearly some noncombatant sort. Besides he looked a lot like a male version of Kasumi. A lot of this sing-song Chinese going on all around her. Hardly anyone spoke Japanese, of course. She was set down on a chair roughly and asked a lot of questions. One of them pointed to her, and to the guy she'd hit, and asked her a question. Akane guessed what the question was and nodded, yes she'd hit the guy. Why couldn't any of these villagers surrounding her speak Japanese? There were some amazons that did, she had heard them. Oddly enough, as soon as she nodded there was a lot of astonished expressions. Then grins were exchanged and a sort of celebration began among the assembled amazons. Someone had at least gotten her a drink, and that guy she had flattened had seemed immensely cheered up when Akane had accepted it and sipped at it. What strange customs they had here. "Oh dear." That Ranma guy came running up. "Did you actually beat Razor?" "He was interfering in my fight with THAT amazon!" Akane stabbed a finger at the much larger Dowel. "I didn't mean to hurt him." Shampoo started to laugh. "Now that one of Tendo daughters you no have to marry, Ranma!" "Huh?" Ranma looked at Shampoo then looked at the cup in Akane's hands. "Tendo-san, you drank from that? Did Razor drink from his?" Akane looked from her own cup to the matching one in the boy's hands. He had just drained his cup. Some little voice began telling her that she was in a bad situation. "Uhm, was there something special about this?" "You marry Razor. Is very good match. Razor very good healer, good weaponsmith, he considered very good catch among amazons." Akane stared at Shampoo, not wanting to believe she had heard what the amazon had said. "AAaaaaaa, my little girl's gotten married!" Soun started weeping. There was enough water that Genma disappeared and a little pig was heard squealing in protest a moment later. "Oh wow!" Nabiki looked at the blushing groom, then over at the shellshocked bride. "Hey, Akane, congratulations!" "Eeep," Akane eeped. Her eyes tracked over to where the guy she'd laid out on the ground was looking her way. He blushed, looked at the ground, and grinned. Akane lost her grip on the marriage cup as she fainted. -------------------------------------------- "BUT SHE'S NOT BOUND BY AMAZON LAWS!" Nabiki protested. "Why not? Oh, and even if she not, then my brother is. He bound by Amazon Laws. Amazon Laws say he married to Akane." Sash stumbled over the unfamiliar words. "But...but..." Nabiki stared at the sight in front of her. Razor had quickly lain the fainted Akane out, checked her pulse and pupils, made sure she was comfortable, and was now sitting next to Akane to monitor her condition. He was the very picture of attentive concern. He didn't just LOOK like a male version of Kasumi, he was acting like it. Nabiki shook her head to clear it of the idea that they made a cute couple. Razor was now crushing a few herbs into a bowl, mixing it with water, then soaking a compress in the mix to put over Akane's brow. He certainly LOOKED like he knew what he was doing. A little voice in the back of Nabiki's head whispered something about how much money an expert at Chinese medical lore could bring in to their household. "So very sad," Sash was continuing. "Now my poor brother have to follow wife, go live in strange land, learn strange language and customs, tend to wife's needs. I have to visit often...oh terrible tragic." Nabiki's eyes flicked back to where Sash was trying unsuccessfully to conceal a grin. "Gives you an excuse to get out of the provinces, does it?" "Damn straight. Love homeland, love simple life, but sometimes want to (how you say) party on?" "That's another thing, how come you, this Mousse guy, and so many others speak Japanese?" "Uchan Senkan Yamato," Sash said with a nod. "Have whole first season on tape." Ukyou, listening in the background, twitched. She LOVED Space Battlecruiser Yamato! Nabiki blinked at that. Oh dear kami no, not an otaku! Next thing you know she'd be saying she did cosplay! "Razor good tailor, very skilled, good healer, do nice work with bladed weapons. Many many skills to bring to marriage." Sash was still trying to convince Nabiki to accept Razor as a brother-in-law. "He very very good catch, but no good as fighter, just not have right instinct for fight. Is good that he find someone who care for him like your sister do." "I really DON'T think Akane intended any of this," Nabiki's voice was getting thoughtful. She had noticed the skilled embroidery work on Razor's shirt, and if the boy had done it himself... "Have dowry," tried Sash. She really wanted this to work. Why, her brother was already eighteen and in danger of never finding a bride! It wasn't absolutely official until it had been consummated though, so an Elder could declare the marriage to be invalid unless the head of the household agreed it WAS valid. K-CHING! Nabiki tried to keep her reaction under control but the way she snapped to attention was a dead giveaway. "Oh?" Nabiki tried to sound disinterested. "Yes, great treasure of my family. Heirloom many many generations. It belong Razor now, he take with him to give in marriage." Sash looked over the younger girl and the way her hands were twitching slightly. Could it be this simple? "Why are you talking to me about this, anyway? Shouldn't you be bargaining with my father?" This had just occurred to Nabiki. "Eldest woman in family who not sick. You in charge by custom of my people." Sash shrugged. "Marriage make Nabiki in charge of her family until Kasumi feel better. Then Kasumi be head of house in amazon eyes. Is different in Japan but we tend to see things in term of culture we grow up in, yes?" Nabiki smiled. "Hmmm. Okay. Now what about this dowry?" ------------------------------ "So, we're agreed then?" Cologne looked around at the assembled parties. It was a compromise, and as with all compromises it didn't really satisfy anyone but instead worked to minimize the overall dissatisfaction. "I've got a year to decide whether I marry Shampoo or Kasumi or..." Ukyou sat back and looked over the group. She'd have to determine for herself how much of what she'd heard today was absolute rubbish. Some things had become quite obvious within minutes of their meeting. "Yes, Ranma, I AM a girl, and yes, I AM a fiancee and your best choice too." There were immediate protests from Soun and Shampoo on this last point. "And me," Nabiki chimed in. "I'm a Tendo too, y'know." "Razor and his wife fly back to Japan with Ranma while the rest of you," began Cologne. "THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Akane screeched. Razor looked on in concern at his wife and took the appropriate stance for a husband accepting punishment from his wife. Head bowed, back exposed, kneeling in front of her. Akane looked blankly at this until Sash helpfully explained the details about an amazon marriage and how the wife (the dominant partner) could demand any number of things from her husband including a public beating for discipline. Ranma looked alarmed and glanced at Shampoo, who merely shrugged and smiled. Akane looked ill and rushed to explain that it wasn't like that. Of course, Razor didn't speak a word of Japanese and assumed he was just getting yet another tongue lashing from his wife. What had he done NOW? Not for the first time, he was wishing that he'd gotten interested in his sister's tape collection. Akane screamed at the heavens when it became quite clear that: a) if she yelled at this guy, he wasn't going to do anything except wait meekly for her to finish and wouldn't understand a word anyway. b) if she hit this guy, he wouldn't do a thing to stop her and would (in fact) be trying twice as hard to be a dutiful and supportive husband. c) she wasn't getting a bit of support from anyone else in the room who were all concerned about the tangle of problems surrounding this Ranma guy. Razor heard the scream, continued to look at the floor, but flinched, being absolutely certain that this was going to hurt. Didn't he get to enjoy any of the perks of being married? His eyes flicked over to where his wife was obviously trying to get control of herself. He knew he could please her. He knew all the right shiatsu and moxibuxtion points, had the scented warming oils that the massage techniques could work into her after she'd had a hard day defending her homeland, and he had studied all the various manners of giving one's wife pleasure. Of course, he'd never actually put them to use, it wouldn't have been proper behavior before he had gotten married. When Razor was convinced that his wife was through venting, he returned his attention to his embroidery. He'd heard her name meant 'Scarlet' and so was putting a nice scarlet crane rising up in front of a yellow sun on the back of a silk shirt for his beloved. Maybe this would please her. "While the rest of you," continued Cologne after Akane had settled down into muted mumblings, "go by more traditional methods. As Kasumi here still has a nasty cough, flying should be avoided." "If Ranma can handle it, I ought to go back that way too." Nabiki winked. "After all, school is still in session and I need to get back as soon as possible." "Three is a little difficult," Ranma confessed. "I can fly two with frequent rests. Three's really pushing." "You're still young in dragon years," Cologne acknowledged. "Your strength and speed will continue to develop as you continue to mature." "Oh," Kasumi said with disappointment. She'd rather been looking forward to flying on dragonback. --------------------------------------------- stopping here. this was just an idea to sketch out and it took off like way too many ideas lately. Akane is married (in Razor's eyes at least) to Razor. Akane is going to have trouble staying mad at someone who is trying so hard to please her. Though there will be obvious misunderstandings. Shampoo, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Ukyou are all engaged to Ranma, and he's got to choose one to marry at the end of the year. Ranma's male form is also influenced by the dragon. Greater strength, speed, endurance, chi level. It's one of the more intelligent breeds so he's also rather more thoughtful than in the canon. His lifespan in both forms is gonna be a lot higher too, expect him to remain in his teens for over a century. The Musk Dynasty has a grudge against a number of the characters, especially Ranma, and will be making appearances. There's no Akanenichuan, but there is a Kasuminichuan as well as Spring Of Drowned Bimbo and a few other non canonical springs. All resulting from the Musk trying to remake the Spring of Drowned Girl. One of which Ryouga falls into on his own. It's still Ranma's fault though, as Ryouga would never have fallen in the spring if Ranma hadn't run out on their duel. Ukyou, Shampoo, and the Tendos start out with a nearly level playing field. Shampoo's had a little more time with Ranma to begin with. Ukyou's the old childhood friend. Ranma is staying at the Tendo household. If a crossover, imagine the scene where the infamous Sailor Scouts are cornered by one of Beryl's generals, only to have a dragon come swooping down and knock him into next week. Of course, in both manga and American comics, there's a tradition to uphold here. The Senshi will naturally panic and start attacking the "evil dragon." Soun Tendo turns into a six year old girl when splashed with cold water. Genma turns into a little black piglet. Ranma turns into a dragon who can assume the shape of Shampoo through an innate shapeshifting ability. Ryouga turns into __________ (it shouldn't be P-chan.) Spring of Drowned Chihuahua That Speaks With Cheech Marin's Voice sounds amusing. Nobody else (to begin with) is cursed until Mousse decides to try to even the odds between him and that damn bride-stealing Saotome by taking a dip in the dragon-spring. Unfortunately that one was sealed up so he ended up in an entirely different one. It should still be some sort of powerup though, maybe Tarou's spring. Duck vs Dragon wouldn't be a terribly long fight, even with Hidden Weapons style, unless you wanna give him access to dragonbane. Ranma is a LOT more comfortable with his curse. Not necessarily turning into Shampoo's twin sister, but turning into a dragon? Especially with the nature of the curse enhancing his uncursed form. Shampoo, Ukyou, Nabiki, Akane, Razor, and Ranma going to school. Kuno attacks Razor for being engaged to the fair Akane. Kuno nearly kills Razor who is waiting for his warrior wife to step in, said wife stalking off angry with everyone for taking this marriage thing seriously. Razor continuing to try to figure out what the heck he did to offend his wife THIS time. It's gotta be his fault, after all. Maybe she didn't like the shirt? After all she hung it up on her wall instead of wearing it... Inevitably, Kunou starts going after his "twin goddesses" (Ranma & Shampoo), Ukyou (who is dressing in feminine fashion just to compete here), and Akane. How can he deny one the manly presence that is Tatewaki Kuno? Razor recovers and is told that Akane hasn't "done the deed" with him yet because he hasn't proven he can defend himself. At which point Kuno finds himself getting targetted with potion bombs, drugged darts, and pressure point attacks. Razor still can't bring himself to actually try to HURT anyone, so he's at a disadvantage in a Kuno vs Razor fight. Akane has no idea about Razor's real feelings in any of this. It's gotta just be those dumb laws, right? Wrong. Razor thinks his wife is cute, relatively gentle, has a kind heart, and needs someone supportive. As a healer, he thinks his skills form the perfect balance to Akane's skills. He fell in love on the trip to her home. He's just frustrated because of her refusal to see him as her husband. Once he understands that in HER culture the male is supposed to initiate certain activities, he'll try glomping her and acting the enthusiastic partner. Which, of course, Akane won't appreciate one bit. Sash shows eventually, finds out that the marriage STILL has not been consummated and has a long talk with Akane. Maybe she doesn't know that the woman is supposed to be the aggressor here? Or (gasp) maybe she doesn't know about sex at all? Is she...(say it ain't so)...frigid or just ignorant? After talking with Akane she'll assume it is the former and start taking steps to correct the problem. Sash loves her brother (though he's a bit of a wimp) and does want him to be happy. Obviously starts out divergent and goes way out there, ne?