Ranma: Son of Saki

Prologue 1:
Genma's Master
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They had been an year away from their wives, away from they children. And all because of that goblin of a master they had, that malevolent force of evil that could only experience joy from their misery... well, ok, not only from their misery, in fact he pretty much only experienced joy when stealing panties or bras from very naked women. But they usually got caught thanks to him.

He was their master, he didn't actually teach them martial arts, but they got from time to time to watch him in action. The master was very skilled, and he knew they could be two of the strongest of their generation. However, he treated them like dirt. Soun thought he did so because he actually wanted them to become tougher. Genma knew better. Happosai just didn't care about them. He wasn't a good master. He was a thief and a liar.

Not that he, Genma, wasn't those things in the first place. But he didn't like to do the stuff his master forced him to do. He didn't like stealing for no good reason. He didn't like being chased out of towns by rabid villagers with shotguns.

And he certainly didn't like the master's last idea.

"I shall be rich!" He stated one night after they had decided to go to sleep. The two disciples had to stay awake to hear him, or he'd make them pay.

"What are you plotting?" Asked an annoyed Genma. He almost regretted talking like that to his sensei as Happosai whacked him in the head.

Happosai took his pipe and smoked from it. "There's a certain magical artifact in a temple North from here"

Genma scratched the back of his head but said nothing.

Soun sighed. This was going to mean lots of pain later. "What artifact, master?"

Happosai shrugged. "That's none of your concern, scrub. We're leaving now, by the morning I'll have lots of money, and lots of money means lots of women, and lots of women means lots of treasures!" Genma guessed he didn't even know what they'd be stealing that night.

It took them almost two hours to get to that temple. Two hours of evading a freaking army of ninja. An army of ninja of all things. Genma saw a logo on one of the ninja's back, it was the Foot. Was their master going senile? Even he knew that the Foot was something you just didn't mess with.

After getting there, Genma suggested that each should go on his own in the search of the so called 'magical artifact'. After he was sure that Happosai and Tendo had left, he turned himself into a shadow. Umisenken was his most precious treasure, it was not the time for his master to know he could do that; but if he wanted to survive, he'd need it.

He went on his own for almost half an hour when he arrived to a room with a giant door. He wanted to survive. But he was also one curious person. He thought to himself that he was already there...

"What else could possibly go wrong?" Genma steeped in the enormous room.

Whatever was in there was dark. And it was cold. And it was malevolent.

He looked around. There were more than a dozen different samurai armors. Very odd samurai armors. They looked more like a cross between a western knight armor and a samurai one. But there was something more to those crosscultural armors... they were... evil?

He continued to explore the big room. There were a couple of skulls. Those skulls didn't look one bit human. He didn't want to think about it. The center of the room got his whole attention.

There was a sword resting there. It had... a beautiful blade. It looked kinda like a katana. But it wasn't quite one. It felt... alive.

He took a step towards it and extended his hand to reach it.

"Touch it and you die" muttered a voice from behind him.

A wave of danger, of unspeakable evil attacked him. He barely dodged it.

He turned around and took a Umisenken position. The man before him had an armor much like those resting in the room.

"Ah... I see you're one skilled thief" The... man, if it could be called a man, actually laughed a little.

Genma looked at the back of the armored man. He was blocking the exit. And if he was capable of sensing him when he was using umisenken there was no way to tell how skilled that warrior was. He had to face the enemy.

Genma took a step back and changed styles. If this man could sense Umisenken, it was no use. Yamasenken was another story.

"It's a shame tonight you die" The man with the armour tried to punch him -more like slash him, but Genma wasn't paying attention to that kind of detail, he only knew that one punch could mean death-. Saotome tried to evade the attack, but the claw from the armor got to his cheek.

When he felt his blood, he knew he had to do something soon. He came to an ultimate decision. "WAIT!" Exclaimed Genma at the top of his lungs. The man looked at him oddly "Mouko Kaimon Ha!" Yelled the man as he used his arms to force a hole in the armored man's defense. He did charged with Chi his foot and delivered a powerful kick.

The armored man caught Genma's foot with his left hand. "You are actually quite a persistent shrimp".

Just as the man was about to cut Genma's leg, the martial artist looked up, just centimeters from his opponent's face. He waved his hands in a circular motion and yelled "Kijin Raishu Dan!" A huge vacuum arc projectile launched towards the man's neck.

Happosai's pupil took a breath and looked up. He blinked. He had managed to cut the man's head off. But the decapitated man kept a firm grip on Genma's foot.

This was the moment that Happosai and Soun decided to enter the room. They were obviously being followed by an horde of Foot ninja. Genma grunted at that, his only exit had been blocked by those ninja.

Happosai jumped on the still standing figure of the armored man and took a look at the sword. "What a haul! That sword looks expensive!" When he jumped, the head-less man freed Genma from his grip.

Genma sidestepped his master just in time as he didn't seem to notice him. Nor he was in any mood to deal with the troll. He looked at him and growled under his breath. They were about to die at the hands of an army and his master only cared for the stupid sword.

A hideous voice came from behind. "You're one of the most skilled men I ever met, boy"

Genma's eyes grew. The armor with no head... it was talking.

"I take it you two are this buffoon's students" The monster man took his head and put it back on his place.

Happosai put his hand on the handle of the sword. It electrocuted him. The impish man jumped back, his hand was completely burnt.

"You three dared trying to steal from the Shredder. YOU! Happosai. What can you say on your defense?" Shredder demanded as he moved at an insane speed and kicked the small man on the head.

Happosai rolled on the floor and frowned at Shredder. "I, cough, can only say... Happo-dai-karin!" The old man threw a bomb at the now headed man. Maybe he expected to him to give him a hole in his defense for him to fight. The Shredder gave him none. The bomb exploded and the Shredder was still there, looking at Happosai with his small, evil red eyes.

The Shredder lifted the old man and laughed. "You actually thought you could take the sword of Tengu from me?"

Happosai smiled weakly. "I kinda did, yes"

"Guess a hundred years is not enough training for you" muttered the man in the armor as he slashed the old martial artist.

Blood was everywhere. Genma and Soun had been washed with it. Soun's face was one of terror. He couldn't say a thing.

Genma was many things in life, a quitter he was not. He bowed to Shredder. "Please, mighty Lord, let us continue with our pitiful lives" The old Crouch of the Wild Tiger was at work again.

Shredder studied the two faces before him. He first looked at Tendo. The man looked weak and cowardly, but he had been able to evade his foot ninja. Then he looked at Saotome. This man possessed techniques that would be usefull to him and his clan.

"You swear your eternal servitude to me, Oroku Saki, the Shredder?"

Soun took this opportunity to talk. "Yes master, you freed us from the monster, we are at your mercy" He looked like he wanted to cry. He too, like Genma deeply bowed to the Shredder.

Genma gulped at Oroku Saki. This was no man. He was like a Tengu. He was powerful.

But then again, he had freed him from the troll. How bad could it be to serve him?

Shredder took off his helmet and revealed a human face. "Then I welcome you to the Foot clan. Remember that failure means death to me."