There were many things; things that no matter what, always played out the same across the multiverse. This is especially true for subsets, universes that shared almost everything.
One of these subsets were the ones where Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo studied under Happosai, where they sealed their dreaded Master, where they agreed to join the schools through the marriage of their children.
“Fiancé?”
In addition, one of those similarities was that Soun Tendo would always wait until after Genma’s letter had arrived before dropping said arrangement on his daughters’ head. That was soon followed by Soun trying to explain the situation, which the marriage was to unite the schools, to provide for them to carry on the Dojo, the speech that was often the same throughout the subset.
Of course, this universe was different. Therefore, there would be no battle between a redhead and a panda on the front door step.
“No idea?” asked Nabiki.
“I’ve never met him,” replied Soun.
“AHHHHHHH!” came a cry from the backyard, as a flaming man ran by, jumping into their koi pond.
The Tendo family rushed to the door, shocked at such a sight.
“Oh dear,” muttered Kasumi. “I wonder if I should get the First Aid kit.”
“Should we get him out of—EEK!” yelled Akane, as a large figure floated to the top, smoking slightly.
“A panda?” asked Nabiki, eyes narrowed. “Didn’t a guy on fire jump in there?”
“Damn,” came an unknown voice from their side, “I thought he was smart enough to stop, drop, and roll.”
As one, the Tendos turned, spotting a pigtailed teen sitting on the outer wall, a cat on either side of him, looking at the floating panda.
“You did this?” yelled Akane.
“He started it,” replied Ranma. “I told him I didn’t know any spells to cure his curse. But does he—woah!” Ranma yelled, as he and the cats leapt away from a wave of water tossed at them.
“How could you do that to your dear Father, Boy?”
“Oh, what have I done to deserve such a worthless son?”
“Who are you people?” yelled Akane.
“Tendo, don’t you recognize me?”
“You’re a panda now, Old Man. I don’t think he’d recognize you?” Ranma drawled.
“Whose fault is that?”
Palming his face, Ranma hopped back down to the ground inside the Tendo Yard. “Forgive my Old Man. He’s … special,” sighed Ranma. Man, his father was embarrassing. “He’s forgotten that the reason he has a curse that changes him into a panda is his own fault.
“To be honest, I think I may have to commit him. His mind is going.”
“How dare you say such things?”
“I wonder,” Ranma muttered. “Anyway, the panda with the memory problems is my father.”
“Genma Saotome, Master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes.” The panda almost seemed to be smirking as it bowed, holding its sign.
“Where does he get those signs?” asked Kasumi. She swore he seemed to pull them out of thin air.
“But that would make you…,” gasped Soun.
Ranma gave a formal bow. “Ranma Saotome, warrior-mage, and—GAWK!”
“Oh, you’ve come at last!” cried Soun, squeezing the young man for all he was worth.
Unnoticed by all, the two cats gave each other a look of annoyance.
Cologne sat before a table as her main office was being rebuilt, trying to put together a plan. Thanks to the Jusenkyo Guide, they had names for the foreigners. They knew what they originally looked like, as well as their mailing address.
But now what? Sure, many on the Matriarchs were insisting on vengeance, totally missing the fact said mage had torn through their ranks. However, those political blocks were crumbling, as many in the village knew the truth, that those who preached revenge had also been the ones preaching that the Kisses were not a threat to their community.
The damage spoke louder than any speech Cologne could have offered.
Nevertheless, that still left what to do now. They knew the identity of the mage—not that it did them much good. True, a name had some power over a mage, but not this one. Moreover, as unique as a mage named Ranma Saotome with a Jusenkyo Curse was, they still could not track him. They did get better results on the father, but all that meant is that the spell showed a twitch that it was working before failing completely.
If the address was a fake, did they really wish to waste time tracking down a mage of such strength? It was obvious a direct assault would yield no ‘good’ results. In addition, she’d be damned before she let one of the Old Block try and push for the Kiss of Marriage.
Not that she didn’t want to get the boy into her family. A mage of such talent and power? Those martial arts skills? She’d be a fool not to try.
Didn’t mean she wasn’t going to be subtle about it.
“So,” muttered Lotion, walking over to her fellow Matriarch, “I heard you are leading a group to go make contact with the mage.”
“You heard correct,” stated Cologne, not bothering to turn and face her political rival. “I’d rather have such powers allied with our village than carrying a grudge.”
“I stand by my earlier decisions.”
Cologne narrowed her eyes. “Does that include the one you had halfway prepared when the tide turned?” asked Cologne with venom. “The one suggesting punishment for my great-granddaughter should she fail to sleigh the redhead.”
“That was standard for what occurred,” supplied Lotion.
Cologne turned back to face the gathering group of Amazons. “Yes, I’m sure it was,” she drawled. “We are set to leave within the hour. Was there something else?”
“I wish for my great-grandson to accompany you.”
“… What are you smoking?” snorted Cologne.
“He is one of the strongest warriors of his generation.”
“He is also obsessed with my heir and obsessed with never wearing his eyeglasses, making him a threat to friend and foe,” Cologne replied. “He is a wild card, and to be honest, I wouldn’t trust you not to have sent him on a separate mission for you.”
“As a fellow Matriarch, I can insist a representative of my own goes with you on this hunt,” Lotion snarled.
“It isn’t a hunt.”
“Call it what you will, but the fact remains you will be hunting this cursed male. You will be attempting to bring him into the tribe through any viable means possible.
“I—like the others on the Council—wish to ensure you do so for the benefit of the tribe and not for your own personal gain. Whether or not this will remove us from that Council is not important.”
“No; ensuring that if nothing else, the mage doesn’t side with my clan is,” Cologne spat.
“As if I didn’t notice how many strong females are accompanying you from your clan.”
“And yet you want to send Mousse; curious,” wondered Cologne aloud.
“I wish for honest connections, not the type of waving a hot body in front of him.”
Sighing, Cologne lowered her face and began to rub her temples. Sometimes, a long life meant large pains in the ass.
“Do we have a flight yet?” asked Zeus, pulling on his shirt again. Damn mortals had to move past the toga. I can’t breathe in this thing!
“Oh yeah, because the P-man’s issues have been dealt with,” grumbled Hermes, as he once again tried to calm the God of the Sea. “Besides, shouldn’t you be ensuring Hera doesn’t go and blow the mortal money we acquired on the duty-free store?”
“I gave her just enough for something to keep her occupied,” complained the Greek King of the Gods. “There rest is in that wallet-thing I have.”
“And she didn’t switch it?”
Blinking, Zeus slowly reached into his pocket, pulling out the new wallet—complete with lightning symbol—and opened it, looking at the same lone banknote he had given Hera.
“BY OLYMPUS!” he bellowed, taking off towards the duty-free store.
“Well, there goes our deposit,” muttered Ares, watching the television in the lounge. “I am not doubling up in a hotel room with him. I’d like to sleep, not hear him trying to woo Japanese girls.”
“No one does,” sighed Poseidon, wishing that he wasn’t immune to the mortal medicines to calm his anxiety. Damn anti-drinking rules… He could use a few tankards of mead now to calm his nerves. He hated flying with a passion. Give him the sea anyday.
Hermes snorted. “Certain Japanese Teenagers may have a fetish for foreign men, but Zeus is far past their preferred age... if he wants any, he's paying for it.”
“I say he stays with Hera and her new purchases,” spoke Dionysus, munching on a bag of chips like a certain rotund ninja from a certain anime. “They have food on this flight, right?”
“You know, all of the sudden, using the right channels to pass via the higher plane doesn’t sound so bad,” sighed Apollo. “And do all of us really need to go?”
“Up to the King and Queen,” replied Hermes. He did feel that perhaps the Big Man was trying to buff up their presence in case the Roman Gods or any other Pantheon decided to make a similar play for the Saotome kid. It was so hard to find a hero needing a patron in this day and age. And no doubt, the old Pantheons would see it as a chance to revive their image, maybe attract new followers, or at the very least raise the awareness of their history so it wasn’t butchered for any games or Disney cartoons.
Hermes himself didn’t really care. Since they fell out of favor, he had almost nothing to deliver. It was nice to be able to put his feet up and just relax.
“Why would we need these?” he could hear Zeus yell over the background noise of the airport.
“I can find several uses for them!” yelled Hera.
“We may want to make other arrangements,” sighed Ares. He most certainly did not want to end up undergoing a cavity search.
Poseidon raised an eyebrow. “Why? We should stand by my brother and your father as Greek Gods in arms. It's not like this would lead to anything inhuman that might be considered a sodomic orgy, right?”
Ares just raised an eyebrow.
Poseidon merely nodded. “Oh, right; my brother does sort of have that effect on people.”
“So … you’re Ranma?” asked Nabiki.
Ranma nodded.
“And that—”
“YEOW! It need not be that hot, Tendo.” Soun had poured fresh hot water over the head of the panda, returning it to the steaming form of his training partner.
“Sadly, yes,” finished Ranma.
“Oh, are these your pet cats?” asked Kasumi, setting down a bowl of milk for each of the two.
Genma stayed quiet as Soun patted him on his back, wondering why the two evil furballs hadn’t spoken yet. Oh, it couldn’t be for anything good, he was certain of that.
“Um … sure,” replied Ranma, smiling. They hadn’t exactly told him one way or another how to react. So he would just let them lead.
“And you expect us to believe you know magic?” growled Akane.
Smirking, Ranma held his arm out, generating a small fireball. “Anything else?”
“Can you turn lead into gold?” asked Nabiki.
“… I don’t know, I’ve never researched it,” Ranma pondered. He knew he could use the Mercury Path to create gems. But changing materials… He’d have to research that.
“Do you have a curse as well, Ranma?” asked Kasumi.
“Aside from my Old Man here?” Ranma asked with a smile. Hearing a light giggling, he opened his mouth, preparing to answer her question.
Splash!
His father however felt actions spoke louder than words.
Must not call down lightning on Old Man… Must not destroy roof…
WHAM!
Must remember to disperse fireball after demonstration, Ranma thought with a smile as her father tried to put out his now flaming gi. “Drowned Girl,” Ranma supplied, as she wiped some water off of her face. “It went like this,” Ranma supplied as she launched into their tale of Jusenkyo.
Well, she tried to.
“I’ll tell this story, Boy,” groused Genma, glaring at his son-turned-daughter. “Now, it all began…”
Ten minutes, three ninja, one rescued princess, and a lost puppy returned to a peasant girl later…
“And that’s what happened,” said Genma, nodding, as he sipped his tea, happy that he had gotten the ‘truth’ out there.
“Levitas!”
“AH!” Genma screamed, ducking down and trying to make himself as small a target as possible.
“My, that was very rude of Mr. Saotome to do,” replied Kasumi.
“The picture quality is amazing,” stated Nabiki in awe.
Blinking at the fact he was not experiencing magical voltage once more, Genma peaked up.
On the table was a glowing replica of Jusenkyo, showing the entire scene of what had really occurred. In Ranma’s hands were one of her crystal instruments, projecting the image onto the table. The spoken spell had come from the projected Ranma.
“You were saying, Pops?” Ranma replied, as the image faded away.
“So you went there willingly?” asked Nabiki, eyebrow arched. Maybe it was something a mage needed to do.
“We went there because my Old Man insisted on leading the way and not being able to read or speak Mandarin,” Ranma answered. “I offered, but he insisted he knew the way, and then he refused to notice he was a giant panda before he clipped me and well...”
Akane just stared at the girl before her. Something was definitely off about her. Maybe he was a pervert. Maybe he wasn’t. “You don’t seem too upset about turning into a girl.”
Ranma shrugged. “Some spells come off better as a girl. Plus I get to study a chaos-type spell and gain a better understanding of multiple-layering spells. To be honest, it is a huge learning experience and at least I don’t have to worry about turning into someone’s dinner.” What remained of the map in the Guide’s hut had indicated that there were quite a number of possible curses she could have ended up with.
Though how or why an octopus was in those mountains was beyond her. Even the Guide himself was clueless about the history behind how that particular spring came to be. He may say it is a tragic story, but no way could he actually tell you what said story was. Never mind why the hell a yeti was riding a bull carrying so much.
“Well, your problem isn’t so bad!” stated Soun with a smile on his face. “These are my daughters: Kasumi who is nineteen, Nabiki who is seventeen, and Akane who is sixteen. Pick the one you want. She will be your fiancée!”
“… What?” asked Ranma, blinking, a fireball already forming in the palm of her hand, the need to burn someone … growing.
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(Posted Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:10)
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