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[Ranma][Fanfic][The Bet] Bet-Apprentice Option

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Gregg Sharp

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Feb 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM2/1/99
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Ranma 1/2: Bet: Apprentice Option, part a, raac rewrite
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?
webpage: http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/
--------------------------
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.
"<Pardon me, is your name Shampoo?>"

The girl blinked. "<Who are you, outsider, who
knows of me? Have you come to congratulate me on my
victory?>"

"<Yes. I have heard of your great skill and wanted
to congratulate you on winning this tournament.>" 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?
-------------------------------------------------
Ranma 1/2: Bet: Apprentice Option, part b revision,final version
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?
webpage: http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/
----------------------------------------------
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

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