Ranma- Nekokenesis(sic): a brief alterniverse look.
written because i thought this was a totally
bizarre idea and just wanted to throw it out. Rants,
detailed criticisms, personal insults, parodies and
the like are really not needed.
theme song: twilight zone?
Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi.
--------------------------------------------------------
"You don't want to look at THAT one,
Kasumi." A demonic, but usually nice, entity
informed the apprentice godling. Not that he didn't
find the formerly mortal Japanese girl attractive, but
he couldn't look at her without feeling guilty. If he
hadn't left a business card behind, she would likely
have gone on to marry some nice guy and lived a
relatively normal life. Instead...
"Whose entry was it?" The apprentice
deity of Spring & Renewal blinked as the timeline
came into view.
"You're familiar how in Shintoism, that
they've got gods for all occasions? Heck, they've
even got a godling of cellular phones, for cryin' out
loud."
Kasumi nodded, not quite understanding.
"Well, over in the math department of a
minor Tokyo university there's a little shrine to a beastie
called 'Schrodinger's Cat' - Shinto deity of mathematical
oddities like Chaos Theory. You follow me so far?" Grey
had learned that sometimes Kasumi was three steps ahead
of you, but in entirely the wrong direction.
"Like a butterfly clapping its wings in China
causing a storm that eventually goes through Kansas and
dumps a farmhouse on some evil witch?"
Grey blinked. "Ahhhh. Yeah, that's pretty much
it. Anyway, THAT was the Cat's entry. It was disqualified,
of course, but the differences won't spin down for quite awhile.
EssCee put a small change down, back when Happosai was
in the Amazon Village. Not much really occurred then, but
completely unrelated things started going off."
"Chaos Theory," Kasumi said, nodding and making
that "hmmph" noise.
"So..." The reluctant demon shrugged and let his
explanation trail off as he saw that Kasumi was investigating
anyway.
----------------October 9, 1989----------------------
A thirteen year old boy, a girl of the same age, and
their sensei heard the screams at the same time.
The sensei kept his attention directly on the food.
He had priorities, after all.
The boy and the girl stopped their sparring and
ran to investigate.
A boy was chasing after a girl, and the two Japanese
children shuddered at the sight. The boy with thick glasses was
using blades and chains in an attempt to wound the girl.
This was not acceptible behavior. Ukyou threw a
pair of throwing spheres. These were, for all intents and
purposes, croquet balls made of tough hard wood. Ranma
followed the spread of missiles himself, leaping over one of
the odd springs.
Mousse glanced up from his pursuit of Shampoo
in time to notice the flying roundhouse kick approaching his
face. "Shampoo?!"
-------------Mimir's Well-------------------
"Oh my, so Ukyou went with Genma?"
"Not technically as a fiancee, but yes. It *was*
two hundred and odd change years for the various changes
to hit. So there are ancient ties between the Kuonji and Saotome
clans now. It doesn't help matters any that she's got a crush on
her liege lord there. That isn't the biggest change, though."
----------------Jusenkyo---------------
The little nearly-blind housecat was sufficiently
sighted that he could make out the yari in Ukyou's hands.
The samurai stood ready for a few minutes, watching in the
direction that neko-Mousse had fled.
"AAAAAaaaahhh!" Ranma came awake with
a start. "Oh man! What happened?"
"Ah sir, you fall in very tragic, very cursed,
spring of Drowned Girl. One thousand five hundred year
ago, girl drown in spring. Now whoever fall in spring take
body of young girl."
"Can I give it back?"
"Hot water change you back to boy," said the
Jusenkyo Guide, not understanding the joke. "Cold water
turn you into girl again."
"Ukyou?"
"Yes, Ranma?"
"Give me a hand, will you? You know how hard
it is to get this sorta thing with only one arm." The redhaired
girl looked down at her sopping clothes and made a disgusted
noise at how they were clinging to her body.
"<Excuse me, Honored Guide. Could you introduce
me to these two who have saved my life? I am Shampoo, a
Healer of the Amazons.>"
-------------------Mimir's Well------------------------
"I don't understand. Shampoo's a Healer instead of
a Warrior? Ukyou's a samurai instead of a okonomiyaki chef?
Ranma's only got one arm?" Kasumi almost frowned.
"Chaos Theory. This is why this entry was
disqualified. Having Happosai develop a little differently
after getting sick off of a set of bad pork buns and being
nursed back to health by Cologne, should NOT have had
results this far-reaching."
"Oh my."
"Ukyou Yojimbo, by the way. She's sworn to
protect the Heir of the Saotome line. Shampoo's been trained
as a Healer all of her life, and was being chased down by
Mousse as she had no one to protect her from Mousse's
attempts to defeat and marry her. She had just lost her last
defense on turning thirteen.
"This despite that it had been explained many
times to Mousse that Healers have a different Law Of Marriage
than Warriors. You get the Kiss Of Marriage from a Healer if
you save the Healer's life. Which happens as soon as she
calms down enough to remember it. THIS Shampoo is a gentle
soul dedicated to the Healer's art.
"Ranma lost his arm and had some internal
injuries when Genma couldn't get enough small cats to do
the Nekoken training, so he stole a rather big cat to use as
a substitute. The tiger mauled Ranma up pretty badly."
Kasumi traced a line in midair which glowed with
silver light. "What of the me that's in this timeline?"
------------------Tendo House--------------------
"CINDERFACE! Do you call this clean?! Get down
on your knees, by all the kami and do a better job!" Atsuko
pointed at the offending scuff as if Japanese Civilization
were about to collapse due to its presence. "I have the
bridge club coming by later, and I will not tolerate your
laziness!"
"Yes, stepmother Atsuko," murmurred Kasumi
Tendo, sixteen year old housekeeper, taking one of her rags
(actually a dress that had been handed down from her younger
sister Nabiki until it fell apart last week.) Kasumi resolutely
turned her attention away from pleasant fantasies like clothes
that weren't always worn out or dirty being worn by herself.
"Really, Kasumi, you need to do a better job!"
Nabiki scolded. "Oh, and I won't be here for supper, I've
got to get a new dress for the ball."
"Oh yes," said Akane, twirling in her white dress
near the top of the stairs. "I can hardly wait for my own
'Coming of Age' party. Right, mama?"
Atsuko Chardin-Tendo grinned back at her
two darling stepdaughters, ignoring the serving girl. Kasumi
was the butt of many jokes, and these two girls deserved a
proper servant, did they not? If only that ragged girl were
better, but you had to make do with what you had.
Kasumi was too much like her late mother, whom
Atsuko cursed (though only within the confines of her own
mind) for being her ancient rival. Well, SHE had won in the
end, after all!
Besides, with Kasumi held as an example, it
had been easier to mold the other two daughters into what
Atsuko had wanted.
---------------Mimir's Well--------------
"I _tried_ to tell you not to look too closely
at that one."
"Father remarried? I have an evil stepmother?
And two evil stepsisters?"
"Well, maybe not _evil_ per se."
Kasumi's eyes clearly said she didn't believe
the demon.
"Really, Nabiki snuck her older sister some
food when Atsuko decided to put that version of yourself
on a strictly water diet."
Kasumi looked at the scene again. "Still, I
expected Father to do better."
"Well, he saved the dojo and his ancestral home,
plus made sure that his little girls would be taken care of. Of
course, he's rarely home to see this going on. Typical 6am to
9pm Japanese salaryman."
"Well, Akane seems to be happier."
"Yeah, she's doing quite well as Kodachi Kuno's
understudy over at Saint Hebereke's School For Girls."
"Oh dear, well at least she doesn't have any
boy troubles."
"Uhm, well..."
"And Ranma doesn't have the same fiancee
problems. I mean if Shampoo's a Healer, and Ukyou's merely
a family retainer."
"Err, well..."
---------------December 13, 1991-----------------
"Shampoo know how to keep airen warm!"
"SHAMPOO!"
There was a rumble off in the distance from
Ukyou's raised voice, quickly getting *much* louder.
The mouth of the cave vanished in a wall of white shortly
thereafter.
Ranma sighed in the resulting dark and looked
in the direction of the now-blocked cave entry. "Well, this
seems par for the way things have gone lately."
"Sorry, Ranchan," said Ukyou in a small voice.
"At least Pops is back at the lodge. He'll find us."
Ranma tried to sound confident.
Shampoo's eyes narrowed, though nobody could
see her. This was her Big Chance! "Airen! We have to huddle
together for warmth! Shampoo just happen to bring sleeping bag."
"Oh no, you don't. Ranchan, I'll set up a fire,"
Ukyou rummaged in her pack until she found her flashlight.
"Ukyou, let's explore the cave first. If we have adequate
ventiliation, THEN you may start a fire. Who knows, there may
be a way out back there anyway."
Shampoo tried not to act disappointed, particularly
after Ranma slipped and fell into some snowmelt. Now a group
of three girls explored their cave.
"Tiny crevice, but there's some light," Ranma said
in the large chamber at the end of the tunnel. "Air flow. A fire
would be okay, I suppose, but it won't be enough by itself."
Shampoo grinned. She wasn't that good at math,
but the basic stuff she knew. Fire + snowmelt = hot water.
Hot water + Ranma(chan)= Ranma(kun). Ranma(kun)+
Shampoo+bedroll = Shampoo(happy).
Ukyou smiled. Ranma(kun) + bedroll + Loyal Samurai
Girl = (insert scene of incredible passion followed by Ranma
confessing that he's always loved his Ucchan.)
Ranma sighed. Ranma(chan) + bedroll + Argumentitive
Girls(2) + cold night = Ranma too tense to sleep. He wondered if
either of them would mind if he used the fire to heat up some hot
water so he could at least turn back to a guy.
--------------------Mimir's Well--------------------
"Oh dear." Kasumi stared.
"Oh, nothing much happens. All three of them, of course,
end up in the bedroll. When they wake up, they're all pretty tight,
especially Ukyou and Shampoo. Those two start to get more friendly
after that, despite being in competition. THEN, of course, when
Ranma actually gets to be 16 and therefore marriable, he's hauled off
to meet the Tendos.
"Genma hadn't told Ranma about the engagement as
Ranma is pretty much with either Shampoo or Ukyou on a 24 hour
basis. Genma KNOWS something is going on, but doesn't interfere
too much as he fears he'd bring the whole thing out into the open."
"I see. . ."
"So, the day after Ranma turns sixteen, the Tendo
household gets a few visitors. And Soun took the day off work
as he'd been planning for this event.
"Oh, and Akane was thrown out of Rhythmic Gymnastics
for losing a match by trying to roll through a hoop and going out of
the ring when she did so. She's now the undisputed Champion of
Saint Hebereke's Karate Club, though."
-------------March 12, 1992(Tendo house)--------------
"Well, your problems aren't so bad." Atsuko smirked,
looking over the boy. "You're of a noble house, fairly well off,
and not too crude. Being cursed and crippled is a bit of a turnoff,
but we'll see. This my daughter Akane, she's sixteen and is the
rising star of Saint Hebereke's Karate Club. This is my other
daughter Nabiki, she's seventeen and... a little strange but she'll
grow on you."
Soun cleared his throat. "There's also Kasumi."
"Too old and too crude for such a dignified young man."
Atsuko's glance promised trouble later for her husband.
-------------------------------
just out for general consideration. there were a few ideas that i
wanted to explore here that i thought had merit.
Kasumi as Cinderella, with a Prince or two in the sidelines...
The what if Shampoo had been primarily trained as something
other than the fighter/heir type. Going with the caste concept, a
Healer is almost 180degrees from Warrior but still an elite position.
Something about the image of samurai Ukyou just strikes me
as visually appealing.
Just sending this so it isn't unrecoverable. Anyone know what
files absolutely MUST be backed up? (if it is a virus that McAfee
can't detect, i don't want to back up too much and increase the
chance of backing up the virus.)
gregg