[Ranma][Fanfic] The Bet - Ranma 1/2 by night
MetroAnime
The Bet- Ranma 1/2 by night
1a: "It must be that time of month"
all char tm their respective owners. note
that as a storyline in The Bet, this is an
alterniverse story and therefore will not
mirror the manga. What it WILL hopefully
do is mainly stay in character...
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"It's quite obvious, really,
the earlier one places the alteration, the
greater the effect at the end of the slope."
Toltiir's tail was lashing, as
anyone who knows felines would observe,
that meant he wasn't too happy. "Yes, but
we're also going for a certain...aesthetic
quality. Otherwise the change Zeus placed
where Japan was annexed as a territory by
the United States (later attaining statehood
in the mid-70s as the 52nd state) would have
won."
"Or Hel's entry where no nuclears
were used, the War Council kidnapped the
Emperor to keep him from surrendering, and
the bloody War Of Inches began... Point
taken." Clotho nodded. "Yes, yes, I see. Hmph.
Well how about if I change THIS!"
Both watched the scrying pool.
No changes were evident.
"Uhm, Clotho." Toltiir said after
a moment. "You were going to introduce
a tiny change in THIS timeline, right?"
"Well, yeah. I thought if Ranma
boyo fell in Spring Of Drowned Strapping
Young Man..."
"Your aim was off. WAY off.
What you altered was the formation of
Jusenkyo."
"This's gonna be ruled illegal,
isn't it? Aw, c'mon Tolty!"
-----------------------
The young man took a seat,
facing the three girls and looking
nervously at the clock. "Uhm pop,
it's gonna be sundown soon..."
"Past your bedtime?"
Akane said with a sneer. This guy
didn't look so hot.
"Hey, what's wrong
with you? Why are you so hostile
to me, I just got here."
"Don't blame Akane
here, she just found out about
the engagement and she HATES
boys." Nabiki elbowed Akane.
"Right, sis?"
"Yeah, whatever."
"Oh," Ranma blinked,
"who is she engaged to?"
Everyone blinked at
that except Ranma and Genma.
"Well, son, there's
something I wanted to tell you
about, but with everything that
had been going on..."
"Ranma," Soun
interrupted. "These are my three
daughters. This is Kasumi, she's
19, Nabiki, she's 17, and Akane,
she's 16. Pick any one you like,
she'll be your new bride."
"Oh, so that's what you
meant. For a minute I was afraid that...
SAY WHAT!?"
"Son, you'd better
choose quickly." Genma looked
outside at how the shadows
were lengthening.
"I can't choose a
wife."
"Then it's settled."
Nabiki nodded. "I'll accept this."
She silently added she wanted
a boyfriend anyway and none of
the guys at school wanted anything
to do with her that didn't deal with
money or her little sister.
"But..." Ranma looked
outside as the shadows continued
to lengthen. "There's something you
should know." If they knew of his
curse they wouldn't be so anxious.
He had their attention.
"Uhm, we ran into a problem in China.
You've heard of werewolves right?"
"Yeah," Nabiki smirked.
"Don't tell me you were bitten by
a werewolf and under the full moon
you turn into a werewolf. I mean..."
The sun set. The moon
was already up. Ranma changed,
hair lengthening, body changing
shape before their startled eyes.
Ranma-chan sighed.
"Well it wasn't a were_wolf_
exactly..." Her voice had a soft
quality that the male Ranma's
voice did not have.
//FLASHBACK/////////////////////
"Here we come to
Training Ground Of Cursed Valley.
Here terrible tragic story sirs. Oh
sir, LOOK OUT!"
A woman with long
purple hair jumped on Ranma,
pinning him to the ground before
he had gotten over his surprise.
"OUCH! Hey, she BIT
me!" Ranma punched the woman
repeatedly, then rolled her off. "Huh?"
"Hmmm. It's just a young
girl. Ranma, to be so quickly overwhelmed
by a mere girl."
"Hey, she's about my age,
OK? Besides, I wasn't exactly expecting
this..."
"Oh no, sirs, terrible thing
happen." The Guide was moaning. "Oh
terrible tragic story."
////END FLASHBACK/////////
"Wait a minute, you were
bitten by a girl, and now you turn into
a girl?" Nabiki blinked.
"According to the guide,
it is something about the mists of Jusenkyo.
They drive people mad, then afflict them
with a curse that is transmitted much like a
virus. While the original victim eventually
returns to normal, the victims who get the
curse thereafter are pretty much stuck that
way." Genma sighed.
"During the day, he's a guy
unless something strange happens
with the light levels. During the night
he turns into a girl. There's one thing
more, though. According to the guide,
the change includes psychological
effects during the nights of the full
moon."
"So it IS essentially the old
werewolf curse." Nabiki nudged Akane.
"He's perfect for you then, isn't he,
Akane?"
"You've already staked your
claim, sis," Akane smiled back. "I wouldn't
dream of stepping between you and your
hentai fiance."
"Who's a hentai?" Ranma was
indignant. "It's not my fault!"
"You turn into a girl, therefore
you are a pervert." Akane nodded. "It
doesn't matter if it is your fault or not."
Ranma took in the look of
disgust on Nabiki's face, the ever-so-
slightly upset look that Kasumi was giving
Genma, and the angry expression that
Akane wore. She felt somewhat angry
at this turn of events.
"During the day you're a guy,
right?" Nabiki speculated. "Sun sets and
you turn into a girl?"
Ranma nodded. The disgusted
look had been replaced with a more
thoughtful expression.
"Ranma," said Genma, adjusting
his glasses, "would you get me a beer?"
"Right away, father!" Ranma
got up, bowed, and scampered off to the
kitchen.
"It's...a full moon, tonight,"
Nabiki realized. "That's why the personality
shift. She walks differently, talks differently,
acts differently. I think the boy would have
pounded you for that request."
"Yes. Oh the shame of it. To
have a son that fails to be...Oh, thank you,
Ranma." He took the beer from Ranma.
"Where was I? Oh yes. The shame of
having a son that has failed so badly!"
"Mister Saotome?" Kasumi
put her cup carefully down on the table.
"Isn't his curse _your_ fault? Wasn't
it _your_ decision to visit that particular
training ground?"
"Well, we were prepared to
sacrifice our lives for the Art." Genma
looked about the room, not wanting to
meet Kasumi's gaze for some reason.
Ranma looked faintly
embarrassed to be discussed like this.
"Interesting. Does the rest
of the werewolf lore follow through?"
Nabiki was wondering about the effect
of silver, was the curse contagious, did
memories remain intact?
"I have no idea." Genma
shrugged. There hadn't been much time
for experimentation on the road.
Nabiki got out her abacus and
began to work out a few possibilities in her
head. There had to be a way to use this to
turn a profit.
"Oh, are you in charge of the
expenses, oneechan?"
Nabiki looked over at where
Ranma-chan was looking at her papers
and abacus. "You're into finances?"
Ranma-chan nodded. "Hmm.
Oh, yes, don't you think that money
management is a traditional skill of the
Japanese woman? It's so much better
than the martial arts Daddy keeps trying
to push on me!"
"Oh, the shame of it all, Tendo!"
"There, there, Saotome."
Nabiki stopped. The change
between the male Ranma and the girl in
front of her was quite extreme, but she
found herself liking this girl. Perhaps she
was a kindred spirit in some way. "Why,
yes, as a matter of fact."
---------------------------------------
"So," Nabiki said, walking next
to her iinazuke. "You don't remember that
much after you've changed?"
"Nah," Ranma replied, looking
a little shaken. "Normally it's just the body
that changes. Last night was the first full
moon since the curse, and I can't remember
anything very clearly. It's all just a kinda
blur."
"Are you any good with math
normally?"
"No, I mean I get by..."
Nabiki smirked. "Your girl side
was adding up figures without an abacus
as fast as I was using one. She also gave
a hand to Kasumi in the kitchen during
clean up last night. Quite a performance."
Ranma stumbled. "You're kidding?
Please be kidding. What else did I do?"
"You don't remember? How sad."
"What?!"
"Now, now, Saotome." Nabiki looked
at where he'd almost fallen off the fence. "I think
it would be easiest if we just called your female
persona Ranko. She's really a seperate individual,
who doesn't remember you too clearly either."
"Well, I only got to put up with her
three nights a month, and I'll be asleep most of
that time. I hope."
"Now remember," Nabiki said as they
got to the school, "you don't know me. I'll let
the cat out of the bag later when I can do some
spin control, you understand?"
"C-c-c-cat?"
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How could this change things?
Ranma changes into a girl at
night when the moon is up. If he sees
a full moon even during the day, he
changes then as well. Direct sunlight
changes him back.
Ranma changes psychologically
at night during a full moon. She remembers
everything the male Ranma does, but is
along the lines of the Ranma-chan in the
"Pretty Womanhood" episode.
Nabiki starts looking for
excuses to palm Ranma off on one of the
others, but discovers that Ranma-chan
has a head for business (remember that
household finances in Japan are traditionally
the wife's sole responsibility) and is
turning to Nabiki as a friend...
Something Nabiki doesn't
have a lot of.
Meanwhile, Kasumi is also
taking Ranma-chan under her wing-
and the young lady is anxious to learn.
Akane finds herself being
attracted to the male Ranma, while
Ranma-chan is simply an annoyance.
Enter Ryouga. He isn't
cursed, up until he attacks Ranma-chan
during a full moon and gets bitten.
Did I mention that the curse is still
transmittable during nights of the
full moon?
Shampoo enters a bit
later, not only having been defeated
by a male Ranma, but feeling responsible
for his curse as she is the girl who
bit him and gave him the curse. She
isn't cursed anymore, having transmitted
it to Ranma freed her of the mists.
Then Cologne enters the
picture, and as punishment for not
marrying Shampoo, hits a shiatsu spot.
Now whenever he shifts, it includes
the mental/attitudinal changes
whether there's a full moon or not.
The story continues
pretty much as normal, except that
Ryouga now turns into Ryouga-chan.
Oh yeah, and Genma gets too mean
once too often during a full moon.
Well, at least he doesn't turn into a
panda... You really shouldn't have
put your hand over her mouth,
either...
Oh dear, so Ryouga and
Genma don't manifest any psych
changes? And it's only Ranma who
has the transmittable version? So
why is Nabiki looking like she knows
a way to profit off that?
Hmmm. All sorts of
possibilities here, dont'cha think?