[Ranma][FanFic] The Bet - Spring Of Drowned Hero
MetroAnime
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this snippet to flesh it out a bit...
char tm R.Takahashi, Marvel comics, Gainax,
& a lot of other people. only the fanfic treatment
can be blamed on Metro...@aol.com
SPRING OF DROWNED HERO?
The abandoned timeline was the
result of a cheat, a cheat from a deity that had
"dirty tricks" in his listed portfolio.
Would it really surprise anyone
who knew either of the tricksters involved, if
one of these timelines lasted just a bit longer
than would be expected normally?
---------------------------------------------
He was a Chinese villain, he was
powerful, and he was more than a little schizoid.
He had known of Jusenkyo, Phoenix Mountain,
the Musk Dynasty, and even the Nichieju for
quite some time.
Why conquer the United States
when there was an unexploited power base
MUCH closer to home? His new advisor was
proving his worth, and was quite easy to pay
off.
The first stage was vengeance, but
would also lay the groundwork for further actions.
Seperation of some of his key opponents from their
groups weakened those groups.
The nature of Jusenkyo caused it to
pull the unique to the region into their depths, to
drown them and form the template that would be
part of the Jusenkyo curse. Even a duck could
drown, given the nature of the magic of Jusenkyo.
The Hulk had been the first, the strongest
of his many foes. Despite his rage and power, he had
proven unable to escape the magic of Jusenkyo.
Others had followed, and now had perished
the one that the Mandarin had most admired and also
had hated. Admired because the individual had no
superhuman powers as such, but would always find a
way to win despite the odds. Hated because he was a
symbol of a foreign power, a foreign power that had been
party to the opium trade that had led to the Boxer Rebellion
and the People's Revolution.
The Mandarin had no problem with the concept
of respecting an enemy. It was easy to underestimate this
old soldier, but he'd win if you played that game. Only by
keeping his new ally a secret and in reserve had he at last
tricked the soldier into entering Jusenkyo.
Which to conquer first? The Musk were heavily
depleted, only three of them remained in their fortress. The
forces of Phoenix Mountain would be difficult to conquer
but also the most rewarding when it was done. The Nichieju
Amazons would fight him tooth and nail.
"You could ally yourself with the Musk,"
suggested the Mandarin's advisor. "They could be
betrayed later and have the most reason to hate the
Amazons. With both of their powerbases in your
control, you could then turn your attention to those
of the Mountain."
"You reason well," the Mandarin admitted.
"Very well, and your reward will be great if you do as
I direct."
Happosai tapped the explosive collar around
his neck. "I don't suppose removing this will fall into that
reward?"
"Eventually, perhaps."
----------------------------------------------
"NO!" Ranma sailed away from the
panda, heading down to a rendevous with a
spring. Alternating sensations of hot and cold
flashed through his body as he hit the bottom
and looked up at the sparkling surface above
him.
A sensation besides that of the
hot/cold flaring penetrated. Something hard
was lying beneath him. Ranma grabbed the
object, and pried it loose from the surrounding
mud. A moment later he broke the surface.
"A shield?" An odd circular design
with a star in the center. He noted how incredibly
light the object was and pushed a length of blonde
hair away from his face.
Ranma froze for a moment then grabbed
a strand of hair to examine it. Blonde?
"Oh, too bad sir, you fall in Spring Of...
Drowned...Girl?" The Guide blinked. The pool was
steaming? Sir was still a sir? The Guide looked over
the figure stepping out of the pool and decided that
he might want to take a dip later.
"Oyaji?" Ranma looked over at the panda.
"What have you done NOW!?"
----------------------------------------------
Genma in his panda form had worked
up quite an appetite running away from Ranma.
His son was a LOT faster, a better acrobat than
ever, and had a longer reach. Genma, on the other
hand, had a lot more experience running away and
hiding. Upon seeing a burbling in one spring, he
approached. Maybe it was something good to
eat?
The water exploded upwards, revealing
a green humanoid figure nearly nine feet in height,
and was composed largely of bulging muscles.
This huge figure looked at the panda,
whose eyes had gone to the size of dinner plates
upon seeing this mammoth figure appear out of
nowhere.
"Ryouga....SMASH!" Ryouga's fist
struck the ground where a panda had stood just
a moment ago, causing a large number of bamboo
poles to fall out of a large number of springs.
Pandas are not known for great speed.
One was currently making a best effort to set
a new speed record for the species.
Behind Genma, Ryouga looked at his
green skin for a moment before howling his rage
to the heavens. "RANMA! This your fault!"
Ryouga flexed his legs, leaping clear
from the spring. Unfortunately (by his reckoning)
this caused him to overshoot the panda by roughly
four miles, at which point he was lost again.
-------------------------------------------------
"I don't understand this. Why is
oyaji's curse so much different than mine? Cold
water turns him into a panda, hot water turns him
back to normal, while I can't change back." Ranma
didn't mention the odd feelings and flashes of
memories that weren't his own. He knew better than
to expect sympathy or help from his father and his
one talk with the Guide alone had revealed that the
man knew very little about cures or why the
Springs worked the way they did.
Not that it mattered. The Guide was
not quite sure WHY this curse acted so
differently, though he had noted that some
of the pools only worked on ONE individual at a
time. As long as someone was cursed and alive by
these springs, they would not work that way on
another. It was believed that the large green fellow
who had jumped out of Jusenkyo was from one of
the other pools like that.
"Sirs be very careful here. Today is
fighting tournament. Is only time that outsiders
allowed into village area since conquerer come
many year ago."
Ranma's blue eyes scanned the crowds.
"I hope they've got some bigger clothes I can buy.
My regular clothes are way too damn tight."
"Growf?!" The panda made a beeline for
a certain table.
Ranma started towards the pile of food
but then shook his head. No, that was too much like
stealing. It wouldn't be right for him to do that.
The girls fighting on the log finished,
and Ranma finished analyzing the fighting styles
involved. He frowned as he realized that he had
done so far more quickly than he had before he
fallen into that spring. What kind of monster was
he becoming?
"<HEY YOU! Why do you let your
panda eat the prize!>" Shampoo stalked up and
looked over the stranger. She wasn't NEARLY
as angry as she was acting though. The thought
running through her head was that she was being
denied one feast but had a MUCH tastier one in
her sights. And it would last longer too. She licked
her lips as she studied the form before her.
Ranma blinked as the Guide translated.
A surge of the old confident Ranma bubbled up
from the confusion. With a glare at his father, he
challenged the girl. What he couldn't understand
was why she immediately did a cartwheel and
sounded so happy about it.
Shampoo smirked as she got to her end
of the log. This male would be defeated, and she
would have him...work off...the debt to her. After
the past few days, she felt she DESERVED a reward,
and here the Heavens had provided.
It didn't quite work out that way. She
launched an attack, the other countered and the
amazon girl went flying.
"<Great grandma?>" Shampoo was
wondering why the Elder was performing the
Splitting Cat Hairs technique. Then she realized
the entire village was doing it. "<Oh, I _really_
don't feel too good right now.>"
"<Lie down and listen, Shampoo. The
'Master' and his pet have arrived, so this is mainly
for their benefit.>" Cologne stepped back and
raised her voice, which caused Shampoo to wince
with every word. "<My great-granddaughter has
been defeated by an outsider male who has fled
the village. In accordance with ancient Amazon
Law, Shampoo will now pursue that male and give
him the Kiss Of Marriage so that he can be inducted
into the tribe. All is in accordance with the ancient
laws as allowed us by the Mandarin.>"
Happosai turned his attention to his
Master, the Master who allowed him to...indulge
many of his tastes. Happosai no longer wore the
collar. It wasn't necessary anymore. "Are you
sure about this?"
Forgetting the lesson learned long
ago, the Mandarin nodded. "It is Phoenix
Mountain and its secrets that concern me.
Besides, it is only one Amazon, and it is only
one man. Let them have their hope, the more
amusing when it is crushed."
-------------------------------------------
"So, oyaji, this is the place?" Ranma
settled his new clothes around himself and still
tried to get used to his new height and mass.
"Tendo Anything Goes dojo, to challenge the
dojo use rear entry and ring bell?"
[This is the place.] A sign popped
up. [We can rest here.] Genma silently added
that until Ranma stopped acting so weird, or
could get rid of this bizarre curse, he couldn't
go face Nodoka, or...gulp...the katana.
"Well, let's go then." Ranma stopped.
"Oyaji, if I find out that this 'honor pledge' was
you and your buddy sitting in a bar one night..."
[No, nothing like that!] The panda
tried to hide that he was sweating. When had
Ranma gotten observant?!
---------------------------
Marller was walking the streets of Dis,
a large city in Hel. She wasn't expecting the snowball
that knocked her over.
--------------------------
Nabiki walked out the door, took a long
look at this powerfully built blonde gaijin and
decided that her father was MUCH more well travelled
than she had thought.
"Hi there! Are you Ranma?" Nabiki grinned
and looked down shyly. She heard American men liked
that sort of thing. She was very glad that she was
wearing a kimono that flattered her to the extent that
this one did. Not that the traditionally minded Kasumi
or the (are you sure you're not lesbian) Akane would
be interested in this guy.
"Yes, may I come in?"
"Oh...my." Kasumi stopped at the doorway.
Though young, this Ranma wore an aura about him.
Confident, strong, mature beyond his years. There was
also a confused, frightened, look that briefly surfaced.
Sure, he was a gaijin, but Kasumi had read about them.
She'd have to determine which stories were true.
"Saotome?" Soun looked around. There was
just this gaijin weightlifter (too muscular to be a proper
martial artist) and a panda. Where was his old buddy
Genma?
"How depressing, a ...boy?" Akane stuck her
head out the door, and immediately went into the "bird
frozen by the gaze of the snake" impression. "Dad, you
didn't tell me you knew any Americans." He had to be
an American, he was tall, blonde and blue-eyed. All
Americans were tall, blonde, and blue-eyed. Well, except
for some of their movie stars.(1)
"I'm Ranma Saotome," Ranma repeated. "May
I come in?"
"Certainly," Kasumi bowed slightly.
Nabiki latched herself onto an arm. "Gee, Daddy,
you know this doesn't seem like a bad idea after all."
Akane decided to practice her English on the
stranger. He spoke Japanese without a trace of an
accent, but she could see where having someone to practice
on would give her English test scores a boost.
"Dinner will be ready shortly," Kasumi said as
Ranma passed her, a slight blush coming to her cheeks as
she noticed the way the slightly tight pants rode on the
younger boy. She was nineteen, after all, and not above
noticing a well-tuned male form.
Nabiki was busy getting in the way of Akane,
who kept trying to throw a few English phrases in Ranma's
direction. Akane hated boys, why was she trying to talk
to HER Ranma?
"//I trip you had a hope nice, Mister Ranma.//"
Ranma wondered what the girl in the yellow
gi was talking about. The language she was speaking
sounded familiar, but it didn't make any sense. "Huh?"
"Maybe I should ask him to spar," Akane
mused aloud. If he had spent years training in the art,
he might be pretty good at it. This would be a much
more serious test of her skills than the schoolyard
brawl.
"Maybe you shouldn't," shot back Nabiki,
leading Ranma inside. "I'm sure Ranma would welcome
the chance to relax a little..."
Soun frowned. "How did Genma...why that
sly dog." Soun looked over at the panda. "He married
Nodoka, but had a child by some American? Why that..."
The panda was shaking his head wildly and
pulled out a sign. [That's not it!]
"He always was popular with the ladies, that
Genma. So he's branched out to foreigners..."
[You've got the wrong idea!] The panda spun
the sign around. [Well, I AM rather popular with the
ladies, aren't I?]
"And he's gotten braver, considering that his
wife has that katana. Kind of admirable at his age."
[Well, I wouldn't do anything like that very
often.] The panda seemed to be thinking about something.
[Though I do remember there was a time...]
Soun continued to ignore the signs and entered
his home, closing the door behind him. The panda waited a
few minutes, then decided to go around back. He really
wanted to find some hot water.
------------------------------
Shampoo followed the trail. She would find her
husband, and then see if he could get a few allies. Her
homeland could be freed if someone could defuse the
bombs and break the Mandarin's mind control over that
inventor type with all the robot soldiers.
And if not, they would go out gloriously in
battle! As befitted a true amazon warrior.
------------------------------
So, here we go. Captain America, as stated,
wins against all the odds, even in impossible situations.
So Ranma has _merged_ with Steve Rogers to some
extent. The hints are in there that the two are slowly
fusing together.
The concept that some of the springs only
work on one individual at a time is based on the power
of Tarou's cursed form and that of Rouge's cursed form.
Otherwise the Musk might have used the first to increase
their power in the wars against the Nichieju, while the
amazons could have replied by using the latter. So after
the Hulkinichuan has cursed Ryouga it goes back to
being Spring Of Drowned Piglet. Likewise Spring Of
Drowned Virtuous Supersoldier becomes Spring Of
Drowned Girl again.
Nabiki has staked a claim. Kasumi is
interested. Akane isn't angry at Ranma and as long
as he isn't engaged to her, she doesn't have much
problem with him. All three are going to be a little
put off by the idea that this is a curse. As the merger
continues and lil' Ranma grows up, i think Akane
would get rather more interested as time goes on.
Kuno comes down with the Japanese
prejudice against "filthy gaijin invading the school"
for Ranma, and the idea of him "sullying
the purity of pure Japanese" by being engaged to
ANY of the Tendos is anathema to Kuno. Ranma's
protests about his really being Japanese are quite
obviously lies, at least as far as Kuno's concerned.
Ranma seems to pick up English skills VERY
easily, but starts having problems in History class.
Shampoo comes to Nerima. How much is
safe for her to reveal? The reaction of Soun and Genma
to her mentioning the name of the Mandarin's flunky
will certainly give her pause.
Ryouga shows up. No P-chan. No merger.
Ryouga merely hulks out in his cursed form. MAJOR
property devaluation in his presence. The pig template
was completely overriden. Akane pities Ryouga, but
doesn't cuddle up with him.
Various American heroes come calling
as the Hulk reappears. Somewhere down the line,
Ranma uses that fancy shield of his and it gets
recognized. Most assume that he's the son of the
now-vanished Captain America.
The Mandarin has two allies, which he
has under his control. One developed the robot
soldiers, the other is Happosai. (No, I'm not saying
who the inventor type is.) He's mainly concentrating
on holding onto his new powerbase and trying to
bring Phoenix Mountain under his control. Eventually
he begins building Sentinels.
Herb is an ally of the Mandarin, but has
little doubt what will eventually occur. He's riding
the tiger, and knows eventually the tiger will turn
on the rider.
The new springs? Left to the imagination
of you, the reader. The threats that Mandarin would
go after would be the ones most likely to interfere, so
favored villains could be in there too.
Plotline? Freeing the amazons, defeating
the Mandarin and his agents, all of which are gradually
introduced. How far is Mousse willing to go if he is
promised Shampoo by the Mandarin?
Power level? Well, Ranma gradually ends
up as a mix of himself and Captain America. He'll find
himself "remembering" skills and developing "new"
techniques that the original had.
Divergent, ne?
----------------------------------
(1) i actually ran into this attitude. *sigh*
because self is NOT tall, blonde, or blue eyed, then
obviously i must not be American...pfeh! Actually
had one person trying to practice their Greek on me.
Of course, i've heard asians at anime conventions
have perfect strangers coming up at jabbering at them
in Japanese, whether they're Chinese-Americans or
whatever...
As for the Mandarin's big mistake, come on, they
ALWAYS do the "one _______ won't matter."