Disclaimer: I own neither Dragonball nor Ranma ½.
Chapter One
Mr. Tendo opened his mail. Throwing away a number of adds and fliers, the black-haired man came to a post card with a panda on the front. Slightly confused, the middle-aged martial artist flipped the card around and saw a nearly illegible scrawl he'd never forget: Hi. Bringing the children from China. Saotome.
Gushing crocodile tears, the Tendo patriarch gripped the letter with manic intensity. "Oh how I've w-w-waited for this day!"
The moustachioed master of Anything Goes Martial Arts never even considered the odd wording of his old friend's message. Why write children? As far as Soun knew, Genma had only ever had one son. Fortunately for Mr. Tendo's positive state of mind, the prospect of seeing his former training partner again overrode any other considerations.
"Happy day! I'd best go tell my daughters the good news!"
-o- -o- -o-
"Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane! Akane? Where is that girl?"
As the Tendo patriarch screamed out a summons for his three daughters, the youngest of the trio -- Akane -- was just returning from her morning run. Briefly wiping some sweat off of her face, the teenaged girl cast off her jogging clothes in favour of her preferred yellow gi. Then, setting up a few cinder blocks, the sixteen year-old let out a mighty roar, as she broke said blocks into pieces with a mighty blow.
"Hyaah!"
Observing her handiwork, the youngest of the Tendo daughters wiped her brow, remarking contentedly, "Whew. That was nice."
A voice cut into the young woman's self-congratulations abruptly. "There you go again, Akane. No wonder all the boys think you're weird." Nabiki, the second-born of Soun's children, stood behind her sister neutrally. Clad in short shorts and a skin-tight top, the middle sister was, as always, more daringly dressed than either of her siblings.
Turning with a half-glare at her intruding sister, Akane replied cynically, "So, why should I care? Not everyone thinks the world revolves around boys, Nabiki." The word "boys" was spat particularly harshly, though the entire phrase carried considerable venom.
"No?" Nabiki placed her arms behind her head in a relaxed manner and turned to walk away. "Then, I guess this wouldn't interest you?"
Curious about what her sister was referring to, Akane quickly jogged after Nabiki. Oh... she could be so infuriating sometimes. That was the moment when she heard her father's voice in the family room. He was, apparently, explaining something to Kasumi. Overhearing only the end of the explanation, the martial artist still managed to hear enough to reach a conclusion. Seething, Akane charged into the room her sisters had already entered, making her presence known with an incredulous yell.
"Fiance!?!"
Ignoring his daughter's ire, Soun Tendo replied, motioning for Akane to take a seat where a cup of tea had been set up at the table. "Yes: the son of a very good friend of mine. If one of you three girls were to marry him, and carry on this dojo, then the Tendo family legacy would be secure."
"Wait a minute!" Akane spat, her predisposition slowly moving from annoyed to positively murderous. "Don't we have some say in who we marry?"
Somewhat more calmly, the eldest sister's echoed Akane's viewpoint: "Akane's right, daddy. We've never even met this boy."
Ever the optimist, Soun released a hearty chuckle, still holding his friend's postcard. "That's easily fixed."
-o- -o- -o-
All across the streets of Nerima, a running battle was being waged. The combatants -- a boy, a girl, and a panda -- were sprinting desperately: the girl to avoid an engagement: the panda to enforce the engagement, and the boy was following for no real reason at all. In a burst of incredible speed, the wild animal caught up to its prey, sending a mighty punch in the young girl's direction. Hurling the shoes she'd been holding, as she ran barefooted, the redheaded, young woman leaped over the blow, replying with a kick that sent her pursuit reeling.
"Yo! Cut that out!"
A steadily increasing crowd of onlookers gazed at the strange spectacle, one commenting, as the panda rose, "Say isn't that a panda?"
Another man replied uncertainly, "It is a panda, isn't it?"
Said panda spit out a bit of blood and dropped into a bizarre martial arts stance: not a common thing for wild animals to do. The girl adopting her own stance responded to the beast's motions with a cocky reply.
"Your move."
The panda unleashed a flurry of blows, pushing the redhead to her limits, as she desperately dodged. The crowd gasped, as she barely ducked under another blur of white and black fur.
"Well, I still say this whole thing sucks!"
Finally perceiving an opening in her foe's defences the girl grabbed her opponents arm, hurling the panda away with a massive throw.
"Choosing my fiancé for me without even asking!!"
Momentarily breathing hard, the prodigal martial artist seemed to watch the animal carefully. Then, seemingly certain the panda wasn't getting up, she turned away, flipping her pigtail. Hefting her pack, she mocked her foe: "I'm going back to China. Suck on that old man!"
As the girl turned away from the panda, the animal began to silently rise. Hefting a sign with the words Show some respect boy! printed on it, the giant animal moved to bash the youth over the head. Before he could, however, the small boy who'd been following the duo leaped on top of the girl's head, causing the panda to freeze.
"Please don't do that, Ranma! Swimming to China is soooooooooo boring and it takes sooooooooooooo long!"
In reply, the young woman simply groaned. "Jeez, Goku. What's your problem? Don't you wanna get cured too?"
The boy began to moan pitifully. "But last time I didn't get to eat for four, whole days! I was starving!"
"Oh, c'mon, kid. You mighta got lucky, falling into the spring of drowned man, but I ended up a girl! There ain't no way I'm gettin' any fiancé before I'm cured!"
As Goku pouted, the currently human youth spotted Ranma's dad behind the cursed boy. He was holding up a second sign now, which read If you move, I promise we won't swim back.
Unfortunately, Goku was not a particularly literate individual and, thus was forced to read out loud.
"If... you... move... I... promise... we... won't... swim... back."
Ranma was now getting confused. What the heck was the little kid going on about now?
"Oh! Thanks, Mr. Saotome!"
Goku leaped off of Ranma's head, just as Ranma finally figured out what was going on. As a third sign, bearing the words Heh heh! Got you now boy! fired down towards the martial artist's head, the heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts spun around, turning the finisher into an only glancing blow.
"C'mon pops! Is that the best you can do?"
Apparently it wasn't, as, taking advantage of his son's distraction, the master of Anything Goes crushed Ranma's skull between the two signs he'd used earlier. Then, lifting the boy turned girl over his shoulder in a fire man's carry, the victorious Saotome began to walk away, quieting the crowds protests with a few, menacing growls.
"You're really good, Mr. Saotome. Do you think that the Tendo's will have some hot water, so I can change back?"
Damn straight, boy. The Tendo's are old friends and own an entire dojo.
-o- -o- -o-
"Ranma and his father have been on a voyage of training! Recently, it seems, they crossed into China."
Putting on an enthusiastic facade, Nabiki exclaimed, "Wow! China!" Inwardly, the most mercenary of the sisters added another fact to her mental file on Ranma. She doubted that marrying a wandering martial artist would prove beneficial to her plans, but one should never ignore any information or opportunities. If Ranma proved desirable, she would take him.
Akane's response was somewhat less positive. "What's so great about walking to China?"
Nabiki continued, "Is he cute?", while the eldest of the Tendo sisters asked in a concerned tone, "How old is he? Younger men bore me."
Mr. Tendo simply laughed, not easing either girl's mind in the least. Thus, while Akane looked away from her father disconsolately, both her sisters simultaneously asked, "What kind of guy is this Ranma?"
Finally, the Tendo patriarch seemed to sober. Adopting a serious pose, and clearing his throat, Soun replied, "No idea?"
"No idea!?!"
Nabiki moved so that she was glaring at her father from no more than a few inches away.
"I've never met him."
A sudden commotion at the front of the Tendo household disturbed the confrontation between Soun and his second daughter.
"Leggo, y'ol' fool! Hey Goku, why ain't ya helpin' me here!?!"
All three Tendo daughters turned towards the ensuing conflict.
"Hm. We must have visitors," Kasumi noted easily.
Nabiki quickly made the simple connection and leaped up to go see her new fiancé, closely followed by her father. Smiling in anticipation, she said, "Ooooh! It must be Ranma!"
As the father-daughter duo charged to the front door, Kasumi quickly straightened her hair, thinking, "Oh, I hope he's older."
Akane remained unhappy with the prospect of a fiancé. The thought foremost in her mind was quite simple: "How depressing. Boys!"
As quickly as they'd gone, Nabiki and Soun swiftly returned, trailed by a giant panda bear. The youngest sister and oldest sister simply sweat dropped at the strange turn of events. The animal seemed to be carrying a youth on his back, as well. Additionally, a young boy was perched on the beast's head, wearing a wide grin. Even for Nerimans, such events were somewhat out of the ordinary.
The figure on the panda's back turned its head to yell at the panda. "Hey! Yo! You're scaring 'em spitless!"
As Soun and Akane sweat dropped, staring silently, Kasumi whispered, "Daddy... this... is your friend?" Nabiki's response was somewhat more furious.
"Oh, so this panda just decided to visit! Happens all the time!"
Breaking Soun out of his stupor, the panda quickly placed the person he'd been holding in front of Mr. Tendo. As the individual looked upwards hopefully, a burst of inspiration struck Soun. Pointing at the new arrival, he began uncertainly, "You... wouldn't be..."
Playing with his or her own pigtail, the individual replied nervously, "Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this."
Breaking into a wide smile and grabbing the arrival, Soun yelled joyfully, "At last! You've come!"
Nabiki's response was equally enthusiastic, as she gazed at her potential fiancé from behind her father's back. "Oooooo! He's cute!"
Enclosing the youth in a firm hug, Soun cried, tears streaming down his cheeks, "It's so good of you to come! So-"
Soun's glomp halted, as he slowly backed away from Ranma, staring at the supposed boy's chest and sweating bullets."
Suspicious, Nabiki said, "Hmmmm..." as she poked the Tendo's guest a few time in the chest."
"Getting annoyed at the repeated pokes to her chest, "Ranma requested, "Um... could you stop that."
Nabiki simply glared at her father, utterly ignoring the apparent girl. "He... is a girl."
It was at about that moment that Soun collapsed and Akane screamed.
"Eeeeek! Pervert!"
Somewhat unsure about the youngest Tendo's sexuality in her unrevealing, yellow gi, Goku had preceded to do a closer inspection than purely visual of Akane. Though his pat pats assured him that she was a girl, they did nothing to endear the youth to the female martial artist. Grabbing a nearby flower vase, Akane crashed her weapon over Goku's head, interrupting his cheery remarks.
"Oh, so you are a gir- Ughhh..." The Saiyajin turned human collapsed.
-o- -o- -o-
The Tendo dojo's wind chimes rang ominously, setting the mood for the coming confrontation. Soun Tendo lay dejectedly on the floor, covered in a blanket and with tears streaming down his face.
Sitting demurely, Kasumi sympathetically remarked, "Oh, poor daddy. He's so disappointed." Nabiki was somewhat less forgiving of her father's error.
"He's disappointed! Some fiancé this is!"
"Stop it you two!" Akane cut in, breaking her eyes away from scowling at a still prone Son Goku to chide her sisters. "He... she.. is our guest!"
Becoming increasingly annoyed, as well as unhappy at her younger sibling's reprimand, Nabiki continued ranting at her dismayed father. "This is all your fault, daddy! You should have made sure!"
"Well, he said he had a son."
Reaching a limit to her patience, the young woman squeezed the right breast of the aforementioned guest for the second time that day to accentuate her point. "Do you see a son here? Do you?"
Becoming annoyed with the girl who kept poking and squeezing her in uncomfortable places, Ranma said, "Um... I really wish you'd stop that."
Sympathetic to the girl's plight. Akane stood up behind her, leaning down to ask, "Hey. Join me in the practise hall?" Noting some hesitation, the youngest Tendo gave the guest her brightest smile. "I'm Akane. You want to be friends?"
Attracted by the girl's friendliness, Ranma's lips quirked upwards in a hopeful grin, as he nodded. Inside, he thought, "Man, I haven't had a real friend since junior high and that smile was pretty cute. I hope the curse doesn't scare her away. I could really use a friend."
-o- -o- -o-
"You do kempo, don't you?"
Replying to Akane's question neutrally, from the opposite side of the Tendo dojo, Ranma said, "A little."
Brightening at her new friend's response, Akane dropped into a basic ready stance. "Then let's have a little match, okay?"
"Huh?"
"Just for fun," Akane added to reassure the girl. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you."
Ranma simply clenched his arms behind his back and bowed his head, indicating readiness. "If you say so."
Moving into an offensively oriented position, Akane took her training partner's cue to attack. "Better start with something easy," she thought to herself. "If she's not even in a stance, she probably isn't too good."
Having considered her options carefully, Akane charged forward, releasing a simple punch that even a beginner could have blocked. Rather than doing so, however, Ranma leapt over the blow and did the splits to avoid the follow-up kick. Still in the air, the heir to the Saotome school dodged another three punches by mere inches and then, upon landing, proceeded to twist out of the way of a pair of Akane's best blows effortlessly.
Now breathing hard from the few moments' exertion, the heir to the Tendo school considered her options wordlessly. "Why... Why am I missing her? Is she reading my moves?" Concluding that the new guest was definitely a formidable martial artist, Akane prepared to give it her all. "Okay," she thought, "this time for real!"
Unleashing a potent blow in Ranma's direction, the female martial artist abruptly found her hand smashed through the wall, having completely missed the girl once again. Then, she felt a light touch on the back of her head. Ranma had somehow managed to circle around her and poke her before she'd even been aware that her new friend had moved.
The two girls both began laughing nervously, Ranma fiddling with his pigtail momentarily. Being the first to calm down, Akane noted, "You're pretty good." Then turning towards the door of the dojo, Akane finished: "I'm just glad you're a girl. It's just... I'd just really hate to lose to a boy."
With her last comment, the youngest Tendo turned and smiled, reassuring her new friend that there were no hard feelings. Ranma simply quavered at Akane's words. She wouldn't be happy when she learned about the curse.
-o- -o- -o-
Two old men, masters of the martial arts, sat facing one another solemnly. Tears raining down the cheeks of the last masters of Anything Goes, Genma and Soun welcomed each other in a manner befitting martial artists of their stature: silently and content in their meeting.
"Kasumi," Nabiki inquired, pointing in the direction of the family room, "who's that old guy?"
The elder sister, working diligently to make a sizzling dinner replied, "Got me."
Seeing her task could wait a few minutes, Kasumi went to see if she could find their guest. As caretaker of her family, the young woman felt she'd acted most inappropriately to their obviously nervous visitor and was, thus, feeling guilty. "Ranma! Where are you, Ranma?"
Finally locating the girl on the back porch, the elder sister asked the girl politely, "Wouldn't you like a bath?"
"Huh? No! I mean it's okay."
Placing her hands on the smaller girl's shoulders, Kasumi insisted, "No, it's not! You must be all sweaty from your workout! A proper lady shouldn't appear as such."
Fighting down the urge to insist she was a man, Ranma finally nodded at the older woman's insistence. "Sure... I mean, I guess I can, if you want."
Accepting Kasumi's smile and nod as confirmation, the martial artist stood up, climbing the stairs to the furo. Opening the door, she quickly stripped down, closing the door behind her, as she began to rinse herself with cold water. Stepping into the warm furo, he sighed in contentment, as the change back to his true form took place, and then began to consider his options. "Now what do I do?"
Unbeknownst to Ranma, Goku had seen him enter the furo and figured he would bathe with his almost older brother. After all, he, Ranma and Mr. Saotome had bathed together on a number of occasions. There was nothing unusual in such actions and he really wanted to change back to normal. Unfortunately, for the fourteen year-old martial artist, Akane had also seen Ranma's entrance.
"Hah! And he said he wasn't a pervert. Trying to see if I was a girl! As if that's what you were trying to see!"
Trailing after Goku, in hopes of catching him peeping, Akane walked into the furo herself, knowing there was nothing wrong with two girls seeing each other. Therefore, the youngest Tendo daughter managed to walk in, fortunately for her, fully dressed, on a now very male Ranma, just as he was exiting the furo.
Eyes widening, Akane simply stared. She'd entered the room, expecting to find her friend, Ranma: a girl. Instead, some naked boy had walked out of the furo Ranma had been using. Wait a second. A strange boy in the furo that Ranma had been using... There was only one explanation.
"You pervert! If you did anything to Ranma, I'll kill you!" Akane quickly hoisted a stool, holding the piece of wood as if to throw it.
"Hey! Who're you callin' a pervert? If anyone's a pervert, it's you walkin' in on me like this."
Having a boy call her a pervert was a new experience for Akane. Usually, she was the one calling boys perverted. How dare he? That was when Goku decided to walk in. Totally unclad, the teenager, as was usual for him, utterly ignored the presence of a girl in the same room as him, going so far as to accidentally rub against Akane as he passed by. Of course, the gi-clad teen completely misinterpreted the boys actions and might have returned to pervert smasher mode had not something even stranger occurred.
Blithely waving to the naked boy who had, since Akane's entrance, ducked back into the tub, Goku hesitantly stuck his foot into the scalding furo, prompting one of the weirdest transformations the Tendo daughter had ever seen. In the space of an instant, Son Goku's hair went from limp to wildly spiked, his musculature increased greatly and, most unusual of all, a furry, brown tail sprouted out of his back. Even for Akane Tendo, Goku's change was a little too peculiar to rationally deal with. It looked to her as if he'd transformed into some sort of hairless monkey. Therefore, the heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts screamed... and screamed... and screamed... and, finally, her sisters arrived.
Kasumi barely managed to let out and "Oh my!" before she fainted.
Fortunately, Nabiki was made of sterner stuff. "Okay, jungle boy, though I appreciate the free show, I still want to know what's going on here."
However, before the middle sister's interrogation could continue, Ranma's voice came from the opposite corner of the room. Somewhere, in the confusion, he'd found a towel... no, wait. Rather, he'd appropriated Akane's gi top and wrapped it around his lower body. "No. Let Goku take his bath. I think I can explain this."
"And you would be?"
Then, she noticed the resemblance. The face, the pigtail... He was...
"I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this."
-o- -o- -o-
"All right," Soun stated, gesturing towards a trio of male figures seated to his right, "I'll explain it once more."
Each of Mr. Tendo's daughters was seated across from the men, their expressions ranging from incredulous to intrigued. Almost an hour had been required to calm down Akane and wake Kasumi, but now, finally, it appeared that everything would be revealed.
"This is my good friend..."
"Genma Saotome," an older man, wearing glasses, finished seriously. "And this is my son..."
"Ranma," the boy to his right mirrored the method of introduction his elders had used.
As Akane stared suspiciously at both Ranma and Goku, Kasumi took the opportunity to speak up. "Are you really her? That same girl."
Nabiki's focus was somewhat different. "Who cares about that? Compared to monkey boy, super fast sex changes are nothing!"
The older, gi-clad figure put a figure to his forehead contemplatively. "Hmmmm. Where should I begin? I know..."
Grabbing both his son and Goku in a flash, Genma hurled them both towards the Tendo's koi pond. "Hyah!"
"Hey!" both Ranma and the Saiyajin yelled as they flew towards the water. Upon hitting the pond's surface, the two boys momentarily quieted, but in a flash of motion the two youths were above water again.
"What the hell are you doing!?!"
"That was really mean!"
The three Tendo's looked on in wonderment. Goku's hair had gone from spiky to flat once more, his eyes turning from pupiless black to a light blue colour, while Ranma was once more displaying a feminine figure that would put some models to shame.
"They changed!"
Crying, with fists clenched, Mr. Saotome struck a dramatic pose. "My own son. So humiliating. So humiliating." A swift jump kick from Ranma interrupted the older man's weeping, sending the elder Saotome flying into the pond as well.
"Who are you to talk," the pigtailed martial artist mocked, as his father burst from the pond in panda form.
Kasumi moved beside her father to quietly ask "Daddy? Why are you friends with them?"
"They weren't like this before! Not before they went to China... and undertook that terrifying training exercise!"
A quick soak in the furrow and the three, male martial artists returned in their natural forms.
Again the faced the girls, as Genma began their story. "Ah yes. It was two fateful weeks ago."
Flashback
"Here sir. Is legendary training ground of accursed springs."
Behind Genma were three teenaged boys, one shorter than the other two. All four of the martial artists looked upon the springs without trepidation. Compared to the active volcano they'd visited or even the training ground of rabid wolves, this Jusenkyo didn't seem like much.
The tallest of the quartet by a small margin, a boy with a yellow bandanna and small fangs, smirked at Ranma mockingly. "So Ranma, ready to get beaten senseless?"
"In your dreams, Ryouga. We've been training for what, a year now, and you've barely ever beaten me at all!"
Snarling the teen replied by jumping onto one of the bamboo poles that were spread across the training ground. "Feh, Ranma. If you think you're so great, try backing your words up, or are you to scared you sissy?"
Dropping his pack, Ranma leapt up to a pole that matched Ryouga's in height and smirked. "C'mon, Ryouga. You know you can't beat me in the air. You're not bad at the aerial moves, but there's no way you can beat me."
"We'll see about that, Ranma!"
Leaping towards his foe with complete abandon, Hibiki arrived in time to watch Ranma springing away to another pole: exactly what he'd hoped for. Aiming for the bamboo foothold that was Ranma's target, Ryouga jumped, managing to beat his opponent to the pole.
"I've got you now, Ranma!"
The heir to the Saotome school was an old hand in aerial combat, however and, thus, managed to dodge a pair of powerful punches easily. What he didn't anticipate was that Ryouga had developed a technique that charged his bandannas with raw ki. Therefore, he was unprepared when one of the nigh unbreakable bandannas wrapped around his left wrist.
"You're not getting away this time!" That was the very moment when Genma chose to join the conflict, taking advantage of the opening each boy left in his defences to land a devastating pair of kicks. He was so satisfied with knocking his students to the ground that he entirely forgot his own trajectory; that was, he forgot until he landed in one of the springs.
Goku was the only one of the martial artists who didn't immediately join in the fighting. Usually, he'd be the first to start sparring, but he hadn't eaten in a whole day and was really hungry.
"This place very dangerous. Is more than one hundred springs here, and each have its own tragic legend! Is very bad if you fall into a spring."
Only half listening to the Jusenkyo guide, the young Saiyajin decided to take a swim before eating. He was pretty sure he'd heard the guide say something about falling in the springs being bad, so he'd have to wade in, but that was okay. Slipping into the nearest spring, Goku felt a strange shift in his balance and, before he knew it, he was plunging into the spring head first. That was when he noticed that his tail was gone and his hair had gone all weird.
"Oh! You is very lucky sir. You only touch waters from spring of drowned man. All other springs cast horrible curse, but this one do nothing since you is already man."
End Flashback
"So we all fell into one of the accursed springs, though we're still unsure as to why Goku was affected."
"The legendary ground of accursed springs. Its true horror has always been shrouded in mystery, but now..."
Ranma was seething at the recollection of his humiliation, but before he could attack his father, Nabiki cut in. The story had made a few things clear, but not many. "Wait a second. Who's this Ryouga guy? Also, you still haven't explained why Goku has a tail."
Ranma, however, had had enough. "Feh! Whaddya mean true horror?"
Grabbing his father by the front of his white gi, Ranma spat, "Yo, old man! What's the idea takin' me to a place like that, anyway?"
For the second time that night, Genma tossed his son into the koi pond. "You sound like a woman! Were you not prepared to give your life for the sake of your training!?!"
Beginning to glow with a faint, green battle aura, Ranma said darkly, "My life, yes." Blazing across towards his father, landing a bucket full of cold water on his head, Ranma yelled, "My manhood is another story!"
As Ranma and Genma-panda fought all across the room, Soun declared, tears again drenching his normally stern countenance, "Oh, what a tragedy!" His sobbing was interrupted, however, as Goku approached, pulling on his pant leg.
"Um, Mr. Tendo. Do you know where I could find something to eat? I'm really hungry."
The patriarch was about to reply, as Nabiki took the choice out of his hands. Seeing the opportunity to finally get some answers, she grabbed the strange boy by the arm. "Don't worry. I'll get you some food, and then you can tell me all about your adventures."
Becoming increasingly annoyed by the violence, Kasumi did something entirely uncharacteristic of her: she yelled. "Stop that!"
Even Genma was unable to ignore the normally subdued daughter, as she grabbed his arm. "You just went too far, Mr. Saotome! What ever could have made you do such a thing?"
In response, the panda threw a small book in the eldest female Tendo's direction.
Picking the book up, Kasumi tried to make sense of the words on the cover. "It's a Chinese map and guide book. I think it says something about training grounds. No wonder. You can't read Chinese, can you?"
A huge party favour exploded over Genma's head, signalling that Kasumi was Correct!
Ranma simply hit the man turned panda over the head. "What a stupid father!"
Interrupting the father-son moment, Soun took the opportunity to pour scalding water on Genma from a nearby kettle. Admittedly, the water was a little warmer than was really necessary, causing Genma to momentarily writhe in pain, but the kettle did the job.
"So. When doused with hot water, you return to normal form."
Still wincing in response to the boiling water, the elder Saotome clarified, "Well, it needn't be quite that hot, Tendo."
The Master of the Tendo school then moved to Ranma's position. "When doused with cold water, you become a girl, but hot water turns you back into a boy!" Accompanying his final words, the older man attempted to pour some of the scalding water he carried onto Ranma. Needless to say, Ranma dodged his attempts.
"Hot water! Not boiling!"
Giving up on forcing the boy's transformation, Soun patted his future son-in-law on the back. "No sweat. Your problem isn't so terrible after all."
"Huh? What're you-"
"My daughter Kasumi: nineteen. And Nabiki... who is not here at the moment. Finally, Akane: sixteen. Pick the one you want. She's your fiancé."
Before Akane could respond to this new turn of events, she found her older sister pushing her gently towards Ranma. "Oh, he wants Akane."
"Eh?"
"She's obviously interested in him, or else she wouldn't have tried to peep on him in the furo."
"You must be joking! I wasn't peeping!"
"See daddy, she's not denying that she likes him. They're obviously a perfect match." Kasumi nodded her head enthusiastically, a cheerful smile on her face."
Mr. Tendo stroked his moustache, deep in thought. "Well, then it appears the match has been made already. Ranma, I give you permission to marry my daughter."
"Me, marry that pervert." both Ranma and Akane stated simultaneously. "Never!"
"Wait a second," both added, turning to face one another. "Who are you calling a pervert!?!"
"You tried to assault me in the furo and took my shirt!"
"Yah! Well you walked in on me! How's that for perverted?"
"It's different when a girl sees a boy! You were trying to strip me, you jerk!"
The patriarchs of the two families simply laughed companionably to one another. "They're already a perfect couple!"
Akane turned from the argument momentarily to glare at her father and Mr. Saotome. "He's a couple by himself!" Then turning back to her new fiancé, she continued where they had left off. "And if you ever try that-"
"Goodbye!" Ranma said as he walked towards the Tendo household's front door.
Glaring at his wayward son, Genma asked, "Where are you going boy?"
"Back to China! To find a way to change back for good! This is no time for 'fiancés.'"
Akane stared noncommittally at Ranma's retreating form. If that perverted boy wanted to leave, it was no concern of hers. She hadn't wanted a fiancé anyway. She remained essentially unconcerned until Ranma turned to get in a parting shot.
By the way, you took a pretty good look at me in the furo, so you should no I wouldn't be interested in stripping some ugly chick like you. After all, if I want to see a naked girl, I can just take a look in the mirror, and I'm better built to boot!"
Ranma's deriding laugh was cut off, as the Tendo's table was planted on her head courtesy of Akane. Following her assault, the youngest Tendo stormed off to her room. This had been a very bad day. "Ooooh! That jerk!"
Mr. Saotome echoed the girl's sentiments, noting, "Now that he had coming!"
-o- -o- -o-
Ranma awoke slowly and in considerable pain. "Ugh... What hit me?"
Recognizing her guest's awakening immediately, Kasumi quickly moved to tend to the younger girl. "Oh good! You're awake."
The elder Tendo daughter's voice brought Ranma back to the present quite quickly. The engagement... Akane... the table: images of the past began to register in his conscious mind. With these memories came as well pain: a lot of pain. Grabbing the back of her head and moaning, the martial artist took note of her surroundings. The older girl, not his brand new fiancé, was kneeling beside him and looking worried.
"Are you okay? Please don't think too badly of Akane. She's really a sweet girl. She's just a violent maniac."
That comment finally awoke Ranma from his stupor. "Was that supposed to reassure me?" he thought to himself. "What kind of crazy place have I ended up in? Well, at least it can't be as bad as Jusenkyo, I guess."
After thanking Kasumi, as he learned was the elder sister's name, the heir to Saotome martial arts decided that he could really use a long soak in the furo. Finding out there was no hot water boiled was a large part of this decision, but also it appeared that Goku was occupied by Nabiki, who interrogating the younger boy, as the tailed youth ate the Tendos out of house and home. Ryouga wasn't here to spar with and pops was bust laughing about something with that other old guy, so he was on his own; hence, the furo was chosen as his intended destination.
Walking slowly down the stairs that led to her sole source of hot water, at the moment, Ranma reflected on his fiancé's actions. She'd been so nice initially; he'd hoped to find a new friend for the first time in over a year. Then, however, she'd floored him with the table. "Jeez. What kind of girl is she anyway? My head's still smarting from that cheap shot. So much for friends when she found out I'm a boy!"
Tossing away her shirt and pants, the Anything Goes practitioner opened the door to the furo, only to find a naked Akane standing stunned in front of him. Having spent the last hour attempting to alleviate her urge to smash her fiancé again for humiliating her, Akane had finally admitted that maybe Ranma wasn't such a pervert. After all, would she prefer if he'd strutted around naked like Goku? Then, he decided to peep on her. Maybe, even worse, he'd intended to try to take advantage of her in the bath!
In an instant, all her feelings of humiliation and anger, directed at Ranma, came roaring back. He was a pervert after all! Trying to take advantage of her... Pow! The pre-eminent, young martial artist in Japan found himself floored, for the second time that night, by his erstwhile fiancé.
Scarcely a half hour later, the fiancés sat in separate rooms: Ranma with Genma, while Akane half-heartedly listened to Nabiki's interrogation, as she fumed. Goku was still eating.
"So how did you meet the Saotomes, anyway?"
Not bothering to stop eating, the young Saiyajin answered Nabiki's question, while continuously spewing all manner of foodstuffs. "Well, after grandpa died, when I was eleven, about three years ago I guess, they wandered by my cottage, looking for grandpa. They sort of got really sad that I was alone, so they decided they'd help me train. Isn't Mr. Saotome nice!"
"Uh yeah. Sure Goku," the middle sister replied in a bored tone, though Goku took no notice of her manner. Turning to her younger sister, she decided to brighten the girl up. Unfortunately, Goku decided to try making Akane more cheery first. Admittedly, he was somewhat less than tactful.
"I don't get why you're so mad that Ranma saw you naked. You saw him naked, right? So that should make it okay."
Fearing a blow up, Nabiki decided to engage in damage control. Her younger sister did not appreciate being lectured by boys. "You were both girls. That makes it okay!"
"Okay is not the word."
Simultaneously, a similar discussion was occurring between Ranma and his father.
"So, she's got spunk. That just makes a fiancé cuter."
"Cute is not the word."
End Chapter One
Author Notes: Integration of the Dragonball and Ranma ½ worlds is a difficult process, which requires numerous compromises. Ranma ½ occurs on an Earth not dissimilar to our own, while Dragonball is in a world of flying cars with a geography that only vaguely resembles a world that did not contain the Americas. The simplest way to reconcile this difficulty was to simply say that Japan is about where one would expect, if you assumed the Americas did not exist. Additionally, there is a king of the world. However, he only rules over the majority of the continental landmass from Capital City. Thus, Japan and numerous other kingdoms are independent. Any other questions about how the integration occurred may be left in a review; these are the basics.
Additionally, many characters from Dragonball will appear in this fanfic. I am not attempting to simply insert Goku into the Ranma ½ world. The integration is planned out in considerable depth and most of the story is plotted out already, if not written.
A final warning is about pairings. Essentially, pairings are up in the air; this is to say that I know exactly who will end up together, but the vast majority of traditional pairings are being thrown out the window. Some traditional pairings will be present, but many will be entirely unorthodox, often DB characters matched with Ranma characters. If you cannot handle different pairings, please don't flame me, saying so. A new world is created; nothing will be the same (and that includes pairings).
After the aforementioned final warning, one note should be added. This chapter followed the manga very closely, but from here on in we will be departing from the storyline radically. Goku's three years with the Saotomes have wrought serious changes on both father and son, which will become apparent quickly. There's an excellent reason why Ryouga was travelling with the Saotomes (again, tied to Goku) and many other encounters changed because of his presence as well (author snickers to himself about what happened in the amazon village this time). Dragonball fans will find numerous changes in the storyline, as well, resulting from Goku's absence. Matters shall swiftly become strange. You have been warned.
Chapter One
Mr. Tendo opened his mail. Throwing away a number of adds and fliers, the black-haired man came to a post card with a panda on the front. Slightly confused, the middle-aged martial artist flipped the card around and saw a nearly illegible scrawl he'd never forget: Hi. Bringing the children from China. Saotome.
Gushing crocodile tears, the Tendo patriarch gripped the letter with manic intensity. "Oh how I've w-w-waited for this day!"
The moustachioed master of Anything Goes Martial Arts never even considered the odd wording of his old friend's message. Why write children? As far as Soun knew, Genma had only ever had one son. Fortunately for Mr. Tendo's positive state of mind, the prospect of seeing his former training partner again overrode any other considerations.
"Happy day! I'd best go tell my daughters the good news!"
-o- -o- -o-
"Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane! Akane? Where is that girl?"
As the Tendo patriarch screamed out a summons for his three daughters, the youngest of the trio -- Akane -- was just returning from her morning run. Briefly wiping some sweat off of her face, the teenaged girl cast off her jogging clothes in favour of her preferred yellow gi. Then, setting up a few cinder blocks, the sixteen year-old let out a mighty roar, as she broke said blocks into pieces with a mighty blow.
"Hyaah!"
Observing her handiwork, the youngest of the Tendo daughters wiped her brow, remarking contentedly, "Whew. That was nice."
A voice cut into the young woman's self-congratulations abruptly. "There you go again, Akane. No wonder all the boys think you're weird." Nabiki, the second-born of Soun's children, stood behind her sister neutrally. Clad in short shorts and a skin-tight top, the middle sister was, as always, more daringly dressed than either of her siblings.
Turning with a half-glare at her intruding sister, Akane replied cynically, "So, why should I care? Not everyone thinks the world revolves around boys, Nabiki." The word "boys" was spat particularly harshly, though the entire phrase carried considerable venom.
"No?" Nabiki placed her arms behind her head in a relaxed manner and turned to walk away. "Then, I guess this wouldn't interest you?"
Curious about what her sister was referring to, Akane quickly jogged after Nabiki. Oh... she could be so infuriating sometimes. That was the moment when she heard her father's voice in the family room. He was, apparently, explaining something to Kasumi. Overhearing only the end of the explanation, the martial artist still managed to hear enough to reach a conclusion. Seething, Akane charged into the room her sisters had already entered, making her presence known with an incredulous yell.
"Fiance!?!"
Ignoring his daughter's ire, Soun Tendo replied, motioning for Akane to take a seat where a cup of tea had been set up at the table. "Yes: the son of a very good friend of mine. If one of you three girls were to marry him, and carry on this dojo, then the Tendo family legacy would be secure."
"Wait a minute!" Akane spat, her predisposition slowly moving from annoyed to positively murderous. "Don't we have some say in who we marry?"
Somewhat more calmly, the eldest sister's echoed Akane's viewpoint: "Akane's right, daddy. We've never even met this boy."
Ever the optimist, Soun released a hearty chuckle, still holding his friend's postcard. "That's easily fixed."
-o- -o- -o-
All across the streets of Nerima, a running battle was being waged. The combatants -- a boy, a girl, and a panda -- were sprinting desperately: the girl to avoid an engagement: the panda to enforce the engagement, and the boy was following for no real reason at all. In a burst of incredible speed, the wild animal caught up to its prey, sending a mighty punch in the young girl's direction. Hurling the shoes she'd been holding, as she ran barefooted, the redheaded, young woman leaped over the blow, replying with a kick that sent her pursuit reeling.
"Yo! Cut that out!"
A steadily increasing crowd of onlookers gazed at the strange spectacle, one commenting, as the panda rose, "Say isn't that a panda?"
Another man replied uncertainly, "It is a panda, isn't it?"
Said panda spit out a bit of blood and dropped into a bizarre martial arts stance: not a common thing for wild animals to do. The girl adopting her own stance responded to the beast's motions with a cocky reply.
"Your move."
The panda unleashed a flurry of blows, pushing the redhead to her limits, as she desperately dodged. The crowd gasped, as she barely ducked under another blur of white and black fur.
"Well, I still say this whole thing sucks!"
Finally perceiving an opening in her foe's defences the girl grabbed her opponents arm, hurling the panda away with a massive throw.
"Choosing my fiancé for me without even asking!!"
Momentarily breathing hard, the prodigal martial artist seemed to watch the animal carefully. Then, seemingly certain the panda wasn't getting up, she turned away, flipping her pigtail. Hefting her pack, she mocked her foe: "I'm going back to China. Suck on that old man!"
As the girl turned away from the panda, the animal began to silently rise. Hefting a sign with the words Show some respect boy! printed on it, the giant animal moved to bash the youth over the head. Before he could, however, the small boy who'd been following the duo leaped on top of the girl's head, causing the panda to freeze.
"Please don't do that, Ranma! Swimming to China is soooooooooo boring and it takes sooooooooooooo long!"
In reply, the young woman simply groaned. "Jeez, Goku. What's your problem? Don't you wanna get cured too?"
The boy began to moan pitifully. "But last time I didn't get to eat for four, whole days! I was starving!"
"Oh, c'mon, kid. You mighta got lucky, falling into the spring of drowned man, but I ended up a girl! There ain't no way I'm gettin' any fiancé before I'm cured!"
As Goku pouted, the currently human youth spotted Ranma's dad behind the cursed boy. He was holding up a second sign now, which read If you move, I promise we won't swim back.
Unfortunately, Goku was not a particularly literate individual and, thus was forced to read out loud.
"If... you... move... I... promise... we... won't... swim... back."
Ranma was now getting confused. What the heck was the little kid going on about now?
"Oh! Thanks, Mr. Saotome!"
Goku leaped off of Ranma's head, just as Ranma finally figured out what was going on. As a third sign, bearing the words Heh heh! Got you now boy! fired down towards the martial artist's head, the heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts spun around, turning the finisher into an only glancing blow.
"C'mon pops! Is that the best you can do?"
Apparently it wasn't, as, taking advantage of his son's distraction, the master of Anything Goes crushed Ranma's skull between the two signs he'd used earlier. Then, lifting the boy turned girl over his shoulder in a fire man's carry, the victorious Saotome began to walk away, quieting the crowds protests with a few, menacing growls.
"You're really good, Mr. Saotome. Do you think that the Tendo's will have some hot water, so I can change back?"
Damn straight, boy. The Tendo's are old friends and own an entire dojo.
-o- -o- -o-
"Ranma and his father have been on a voyage of training! Recently, it seems, they crossed into China."
Putting on an enthusiastic facade, Nabiki exclaimed, "Wow! China!" Inwardly, the most mercenary of the sisters added another fact to her mental file on Ranma. She doubted that marrying a wandering martial artist would prove beneficial to her plans, but one should never ignore any information or opportunities. If Ranma proved desirable, she would take him.
Akane's response was somewhat less positive. "What's so great about walking to China?"
Nabiki continued, "Is he cute?", while the eldest of the Tendo sisters asked in a concerned tone, "How old is he? Younger men bore me."
Mr. Tendo simply laughed, not easing either girl's mind in the least. Thus, while Akane looked away from her father disconsolately, both her sisters simultaneously asked, "What kind of guy is this Ranma?"
Finally, the Tendo patriarch seemed to sober. Adopting a serious pose, and clearing his throat, Soun replied, "No idea?"
"No idea!?!"
Nabiki moved so that she was glaring at her father from no more than a few inches away.
"I've never met him."
A sudden commotion at the front of the Tendo household disturbed the confrontation between Soun and his second daughter.
"Leggo, y'ol' fool! Hey Goku, why ain't ya helpin' me here!?!"
All three Tendo daughters turned towards the ensuing conflict.
"Hm. We must have visitors," Kasumi noted easily.
Nabiki quickly made the simple connection and leaped up to go see her new fiancé, closely followed by her father. Smiling in anticipation, she said, "Ooooh! It must be Ranma!"
As the father-daughter duo charged to the front door, Kasumi quickly straightened her hair, thinking, "Oh, I hope he's older."
Akane remained unhappy with the prospect of a fiancé. The thought foremost in her mind was quite simple: "How depressing. Boys!"
As quickly as they'd gone, Nabiki and Soun swiftly returned, trailed by a giant panda bear. The youngest sister and oldest sister simply sweat dropped at the strange turn of events. The animal seemed to be carrying a youth on his back, as well. Additionally, a young boy was perched on the beast's head, wearing a wide grin. Even for Nerimans, such events were somewhat out of the ordinary.
The figure on the panda's back turned its head to yell at the panda. "Hey! Yo! You're scaring 'em spitless!"
As Soun and Akane sweat dropped, staring silently, Kasumi whispered, "Daddy... this... is your friend?" Nabiki's response was somewhat more furious.
"Oh, so this panda just decided to visit! Happens all the time!"
Breaking Soun out of his stupor, the panda quickly placed the person he'd been holding in front of Mr. Tendo. As the individual looked upwards hopefully, a burst of inspiration struck Soun. Pointing at the new arrival, he began uncertainly, "You... wouldn't be..."
Playing with his or her own pigtail, the individual replied nervously, "Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this."
Breaking into a wide smile and grabbing the arrival, Soun yelled joyfully, "At last! You've come!"
Nabiki's response was equally enthusiastic, as she gazed at her potential fiancé from behind her father's back. "Oooooo! He's cute!"
Enclosing the youth in a firm hug, Soun cried, tears streaming down his cheeks, "It's so good of you to come! So-"
Soun's glomp halted, as he slowly backed away from Ranma, staring at the supposed boy's chest and sweating bullets."
Suspicious, Nabiki said, "Hmmmm..." as she poked the Tendo's guest a few time in the chest."
"Getting annoyed at the repeated pokes to her chest, "Ranma requested, "Um... could you stop that."
Nabiki simply glared at her father, utterly ignoring the apparent girl. "He... is a girl."
It was at about that moment that Soun collapsed and Akane screamed.
"Eeeeek! Pervert!"
Somewhat unsure about the youngest Tendo's sexuality in her unrevealing, yellow gi, Goku had preceded to do a closer inspection than purely visual of Akane. Though his pat pats assured him that she was a girl, they did nothing to endear the youth to the female martial artist. Grabbing a nearby flower vase, Akane crashed her weapon over Goku's head, interrupting his cheery remarks.
"Oh, so you are a gir- Ughhh..." The Saiyajin turned human collapsed.
-o- -o- -o-
The Tendo dojo's wind chimes rang ominously, setting the mood for the coming confrontation. Soun Tendo lay dejectedly on the floor, covered in a blanket and with tears streaming down his face.
Sitting demurely, Kasumi sympathetically remarked, "Oh, poor daddy. He's so disappointed." Nabiki was somewhat less forgiving of her father's error.
"He's disappointed! Some fiancé this is!"
"Stop it you two!" Akane cut in, breaking her eyes away from scowling at a still prone Son Goku to chide her sisters. "He... she.. is our guest!"
Becoming increasingly annoyed, as well as unhappy at her younger sibling's reprimand, Nabiki continued ranting at her dismayed father. "This is all your fault, daddy! You should have made sure!"
"Well, he said he had a son."
Reaching a limit to her patience, the young woman squeezed the right breast of the aforementioned guest for the second time that day to accentuate her point. "Do you see a son here? Do you?"
Becoming annoyed with the girl who kept poking and squeezing her in uncomfortable places, Ranma said, "Um... I really wish you'd stop that."
Sympathetic to the girl's plight. Akane stood up behind her, leaning down to ask, "Hey. Join me in the practise hall?" Noting some hesitation, the youngest Tendo gave the guest her brightest smile. "I'm Akane. You want to be friends?"
Attracted by the girl's friendliness, Ranma's lips quirked upwards in a hopeful grin, as he nodded. Inside, he thought, "Man, I haven't had a real friend since junior high and that smile was pretty cute. I hope the curse doesn't scare her away. I could really use a friend."
-o- -o- -o-
"You do kempo, don't you?"
Replying to Akane's question neutrally, from the opposite side of the Tendo dojo, Ranma said, "A little."
Brightening at her new friend's response, Akane dropped into a basic ready stance. "Then let's have a little match, okay?"
"Huh?"
"Just for fun," Akane added to reassure the girl. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you."
Ranma simply clenched his arms behind his back and bowed his head, indicating readiness. "If you say so."
Moving into an offensively oriented position, Akane took her training partner's cue to attack. "Better start with something easy," she thought to herself. "If she's not even in a stance, she probably isn't too good."
Having considered her options carefully, Akane charged forward, releasing a simple punch that even a beginner could have blocked. Rather than doing so, however, Ranma leapt over the blow and did the splits to avoid the follow-up kick. Still in the air, the heir to the Saotome school dodged another three punches by mere inches and then, upon landing, proceeded to twist out of the way of a pair of Akane's best blows effortlessly.
Now breathing hard from the few moments' exertion, the heir to the Tendo school considered her options wordlessly. "Why... Why am I missing her? Is she reading my moves?" Concluding that the new guest was definitely a formidable martial artist, Akane prepared to give it her all. "Okay," she thought, "this time for real!"
Unleashing a potent blow in Ranma's direction, the female martial artist abruptly found her hand smashed through the wall, having completely missed the girl once again. Then, she felt a light touch on the back of her head. Ranma had somehow managed to circle around her and poke her before she'd even been aware that her new friend had moved.
The two girls both began laughing nervously, Ranma fiddling with his pigtail momentarily. Being the first to calm down, Akane noted, "You're pretty good." Then turning towards the door of the dojo, Akane finished: "I'm just glad you're a girl. It's just... I'd just really hate to lose to a boy."
With her last comment, the youngest Tendo turned and smiled, reassuring her new friend that there were no hard feelings. Ranma simply quavered at Akane's words. She wouldn't be happy when she learned about the curse.
-o- -o- -o-
Two old men, masters of the martial arts, sat facing one another solemnly. Tears raining down the cheeks of the last masters of Anything Goes, Genma and Soun welcomed each other in a manner befitting martial artists of their stature: silently and content in their meeting.
"Kasumi," Nabiki inquired, pointing in the direction of the family room, "who's that old guy?"
The elder sister, working diligently to make a sizzling dinner replied, "Got me."
Seeing her task could wait a few minutes, Kasumi went to see if she could find their guest. As caretaker of her family, the young woman felt she'd acted most inappropriately to their obviously nervous visitor and was, thus, feeling guilty. "Ranma! Where are you, Ranma?"
Finally locating the girl on the back porch, the elder sister asked the girl politely, "Wouldn't you like a bath?"
"Huh? No! I mean it's okay."
Placing her hands on the smaller girl's shoulders, Kasumi insisted, "No, it's not! You must be all sweaty from your workout! A proper lady shouldn't appear as such."
Fighting down the urge to insist she was a man, Ranma finally nodded at the older woman's insistence. "Sure... I mean, I guess I can, if you want."
Accepting Kasumi's smile and nod as confirmation, the martial artist stood up, climbing the stairs to the furo. Opening the door, she quickly stripped down, closing the door behind her, as she began to rinse herself with cold water. Stepping into the warm furo, he sighed in contentment, as the change back to his true form took place, and then began to consider his options. "Now what do I do?"
Unbeknownst to Ranma, Goku had seen him enter the furo and figured he would bathe with his almost older brother. After all, he, Ranma and Mr. Saotome had bathed together on a number of occasions. There was nothing unusual in such actions and he really wanted to change back to normal. Unfortunately, for the fourteen year-old martial artist, Akane had also seen Ranma's entrance.
"Hah! And he said he wasn't a pervert. Trying to see if I was a girl! As if that's what you were trying to see!"
Trailing after Goku, in hopes of catching him peeping, Akane walked into the furo herself, knowing there was nothing wrong with two girls seeing each other. Therefore, the youngest Tendo daughter managed to walk in, fortunately for her, fully dressed, on a now very male Ranma, just as he was exiting the furo.
Eyes widening, Akane simply stared. She'd entered the room, expecting to find her friend, Ranma: a girl. Instead, some naked boy had walked out of the furo Ranma had been using. Wait a second. A strange boy in the furo that Ranma had been using... There was only one explanation.
"You pervert! If you did anything to Ranma, I'll kill you!" Akane quickly hoisted a stool, holding the piece of wood as if to throw it.
"Hey! Who're you callin' a pervert? If anyone's a pervert, it's you walkin' in on me like this."
Having a boy call her a pervert was a new experience for Akane. Usually, she was the one calling boys perverted. How dare he? That was when Goku decided to walk in. Totally unclad, the teenager, as was usual for him, utterly ignored the presence of a girl in the same room as him, going so far as to accidentally rub against Akane as he passed by. Of course, the gi-clad teen completely misinterpreted the boys actions and might have returned to pervert smasher mode had not something even stranger occurred.
Blithely waving to the naked boy who had, since Akane's entrance, ducked back into the tub, Goku hesitantly stuck his foot into the scalding furo, prompting one of the weirdest transformations the Tendo daughter had ever seen. In the space of an instant, Son Goku's hair went from limp to wildly spiked, his musculature increased greatly and, most unusual of all, a furry, brown tail sprouted out of his back. Even for Akane Tendo, Goku's change was a little too peculiar to rationally deal with. It looked to her as if he'd transformed into some sort of hairless monkey. Therefore, the heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts screamed... and screamed... and screamed... and, finally, her sisters arrived.
Kasumi barely managed to let out and "Oh my!" before she fainted.
Fortunately, Nabiki was made of sterner stuff. "Okay, jungle boy, though I appreciate the free show, I still want to know what's going on here."
However, before the middle sister's interrogation could continue, Ranma's voice came from the opposite corner of the room. Somewhere, in the confusion, he'd found a towel... no, wait. Rather, he'd appropriated Akane's gi top and wrapped it around his lower body. "No. Let Goku take his bath. I think I can explain this."
"And you would be?"
Then, she noticed the resemblance. The face, the pigtail... He was...
"I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this."
-o- -o- -o-
"All right," Soun stated, gesturing towards a trio of male figures seated to his right, "I'll explain it once more."
Each of Mr. Tendo's daughters was seated across from the men, their expressions ranging from incredulous to intrigued. Almost an hour had been required to calm down Akane and wake Kasumi, but now, finally, it appeared that everything would be revealed.
"This is my good friend..."
"Genma Saotome," an older man, wearing glasses, finished seriously. "And this is my son..."
"Ranma," the boy to his right mirrored the method of introduction his elders had used.
As Akane stared suspiciously at both Ranma and Goku, Kasumi took the opportunity to speak up. "Are you really her? That same girl."
Nabiki's focus was somewhat different. "Who cares about that? Compared to monkey boy, super fast sex changes are nothing!"
The older, gi-clad figure put a figure to his forehead contemplatively. "Hmmmm. Where should I begin? I know..."
Grabbing both his son and Goku in a flash, Genma hurled them both towards the Tendo's koi pond. "Hyah!"
"Hey!" both Ranma and the Saiyajin yelled as they flew towards the water. Upon hitting the pond's surface, the two boys momentarily quieted, but in a flash of motion the two youths were above water again.
"What the hell are you doing!?!"
"That was really mean!"
The three Tendo's looked on in wonderment. Goku's hair had gone from spiky to flat once more, his eyes turning from pupiless black to a light blue colour, while Ranma was once more displaying a feminine figure that would put some models to shame.
"They changed!"
Crying, with fists clenched, Mr. Saotome struck a dramatic pose. "My own son. So humiliating. So humiliating." A swift jump kick from Ranma interrupted the older man's weeping, sending the elder Saotome flying into the pond as well.
"Who are you to talk," the pigtailed martial artist mocked, as his father burst from the pond in panda form.
Kasumi moved beside her father to quietly ask "Daddy? Why are you friends with them?"
"They weren't like this before! Not before they went to China... and undertook that terrifying training exercise!"
A quick soak in the furrow and the three, male martial artists returned in their natural forms.
Again the faced the girls, as Genma began their story. "Ah yes. It was two fateful weeks ago."
Flashback
"Here sir. Is legendary training ground of accursed springs."
Behind Genma were three teenaged boys, one shorter than the other two. All four of the martial artists looked upon the springs without trepidation. Compared to the active volcano they'd visited or even the training ground of rabid wolves, this Jusenkyo didn't seem like much.
The tallest of the quartet by a small margin, a boy with a yellow bandanna and small fangs, smirked at Ranma mockingly. "So Ranma, ready to get beaten senseless?"
"In your dreams, Ryouga. We've been training for what, a year now, and you've barely ever beaten me at all!"
Snarling the teen replied by jumping onto one of the bamboo poles that were spread across the training ground. "Feh, Ranma. If you think you're so great, try backing your words up, or are you to scared you sissy?"
Dropping his pack, Ranma leapt up to a pole that matched Ryouga's in height and smirked. "C'mon, Ryouga. You know you can't beat me in the air. You're not bad at the aerial moves, but there's no way you can beat me."
"We'll see about that, Ranma!"
Leaping towards his foe with complete abandon, Hibiki arrived in time to watch Ranma springing away to another pole: exactly what he'd hoped for. Aiming for the bamboo foothold that was Ranma's target, Ryouga jumped, managing to beat his opponent to the pole.
"I've got you now, Ranma!"
The heir to the Saotome school was an old hand in aerial combat, however and, thus, managed to dodge a pair of powerful punches easily. What he didn't anticipate was that Ryouga had developed a technique that charged his bandannas with raw ki. Therefore, he was unprepared when one of the nigh unbreakable bandannas wrapped around his left wrist.
"You're not getting away this time!" That was the very moment when Genma chose to join the conflict, taking advantage of the opening each boy left in his defences to land a devastating pair of kicks. He was so satisfied with knocking his students to the ground that he entirely forgot his own trajectory; that was, he forgot until he landed in one of the springs.
Goku was the only one of the martial artists who didn't immediately join in the fighting. Usually, he'd be the first to start sparring, but he hadn't eaten in a whole day and was really hungry.
"This place very dangerous. Is more than one hundred springs here, and each have its own tragic legend! Is very bad if you fall into a spring."
Only half listening to the Jusenkyo guide, the young Saiyajin decided to take a swim before eating. He was pretty sure he'd heard the guide say something about falling in the springs being bad, so he'd have to wade in, but that was okay. Slipping into the nearest spring, Goku felt a strange shift in his balance and, before he knew it, he was plunging into the spring head first. That was when he noticed that his tail was gone and his hair had gone all weird.
"Oh! You is very lucky sir. You only touch waters from spring of drowned man. All other springs cast horrible curse, but this one do nothing since you is already man."
End Flashback
"So we all fell into one of the accursed springs, though we're still unsure as to why Goku was affected."
"The legendary ground of accursed springs. Its true horror has always been shrouded in mystery, but now..."
Ranma was seething at the recollection of his humiliation, but before he could attack his father, Nabiki cut in. The story had made a few things clear, but not many. "Wait a second. Who's this Ryouga guy? Also, you still haven't explained why Goku has a tail."
Ranma, however, had had enough. "Feh! Whaddya mean true horror?"
Grabbing his father by the front of his white gi, Ranma spat, "Yo, old man! What's the idea takin' me to a place like that, anyway?"
For the second time that night, Genma tossed his son into the koi pond. "You sound like a woman! Were you not prepared to give your life for the sake of your training!?!"
Beginning to glow with a faint, green battle aura, Ranma said darkly, "My life, yes." Blazing across towards his father, landing a bucket full of cold water on his head, Ranma yelled, "My manhood is another story!"
As Ranma and Genma-panda fought all across the room, Soun declared, tears again drenching his normally stern countenance, "Oh, what a tragedy!" His sobbing was interrupted, however, as Goku approached, pulling on his pant leg.
"Um, Mr. Tendo. Do you know where I could find something to eat? I'm really hungry."
The patriarch was about to reply, as Nabiki took the choice out of his hands. Seeing the opportunity to finally get some answers, she grabbed the strange boy by the arm. "Don't worry. I'll get you some food, and then you can tell me all about your adventures."
Becoming increasingly annoyed by the violence, Kasumi did something entirely uncharacteristic of her: she yelled. "Stop that!"
Even Genma was unable to ignore the normally subdued daughter, as she grabbed his arm. "You just went too far, Mr. Saotome! What ever could have made you do such a thing?"
In response, the panda threw a small book in the eldest female Tendo's direction.
Picking the book up, Kasumi tried to make sense of the words on the cover. "It's a Chinese map and guide book. I think it says something about training grounds. No wonder. You can't read Chinese, can you?"
A huge party favour exploded over Genma's head, signalling that Kasumi was Correct!
Ranma simply hit the man turned panda over the head. "What a stupid father!"
Interrupting the father-son moment, Soun took the opportunity to pour scalding water on Genma from a nearby kettle. Admittedly, the water was a little warmer than was really necessary, causing Genma to momentarily writhe in pain, but the kettle did the job.
"So. When doused with hot water, you return to normal form."
Still wincing in response to the boiling water, the elder Saotome clarified, "Well, it needn't be quite that hot, Tendo."
The Master of the Tendo school then moved to Ranma's position. "When doused with cold water, you become a girl, but hot water turns you back into a boy!" Accompanying his final words, the older man attempted to pour some of the scalding water he carried onto Ranma. Needless to say, Ranma dodged his attempts.
"Hot water! Not boiling!"
Giving up on forcing the boy's transformation, Soun patted his future son-in-law on the back. "No sweat. Your problem isn't so terrible after all."
"Huh? What're you-"
"My daughter Kasumi: nineteen. And Nabiki... who is not here at the moment. Finally, Akane: sixteen. Pick the one you want. She's your fiancé."
Before Akane could respond to this new turn of events, she found her older sister pushing her gently towards Ranma. "Oh, he wants Akane."
"Eh?"
"She's obviously interested in him, or else she wouldn't have tried to peep on him in the furo."
"You must be joking! I wasn't peeping!"
"See daddy, she's not denying that she likes him. They're obviously a perfect match." Kasumi nodded her head enthusiastically, a cheerful smile on her face."
Mr. Tendo stroked his moustache, deep in thought. "Well, then it appears the match has been made already. Ranma, I give you permission to marry my daughter."
"Me, marry that pervert." both Ranma and Akane stated simultaneously. "Never!"
"Wait a second," both added, turning to face one another. "Who are you calling a pervert!?!"
"You tried to assault me in the furo and took my shirt!"
"Yah! Well you walked in on me! How's that for perverted?"
"It's different when a girl sees a boy! You were trying to strip me, you jerk!"
The patriarchs of the two families simply laughed companionably to one another. "They're already a perfect couple!"
Akane turned from the argument momentarily to glare at her father and Mr. Saotome. "He's a couple by himself!" Then turning back to her new fiancé, she continued where they had left off. "And if you ever try that-"
"Goodbye!" Ranma said as he walked towards the Tendo household's front door.
Glaring at his wayward son, Genma asked, "Where are you going boy?"
"Back to China! To find a way to change back for good! This is no time for 'fiancés.'"
Akane stared noncommittally at Ranma's retreating form. If that perverted boy wanted to leave, it was no concern of hers. She hadn't wanted a fiancé anyway. She remained essentially unconcerned until Ranma turned to get in a parting shot.
By the way, you took a pretty good look at me in the furo, so you should no I wouldn't be interested in stripping some ugly chick like you. After all, if I want to see a naked girl, I can just take a look in the mirror, and I'm better built to boot!"
Ranma's deriding laugh was cut off, as the Tendo's table was planted on her head courtesy of Akane. Following her assault, the youngest Tendo stormed off to her room. This had been a very bad day. "Ooooh! That jerk!"
Mr. Saotome echoed the girl's sentiments, noting, "Now that he had coming!"
-o- -o- -o-
Ranma awoke slowly and in considerable pain. "Ugh... What hit me?"
Recognizing her guest's awakening immediately, Kasumi quickly moved to tend to the younger girl. "Oh good! You're awake."
The elder Tendo daughter's voice brought Ranma back to the present quite quickly. The engagement... Akane... the table: images of the past began to register in his conscious mind. With these memories came as well pain: a lot of pain. Grabbing the back of her head and moaning, the martial artist took note of her surroundings. The older girl, not his brand new fiancé, was kneeling beside him and looking worried.
"Are you okay? Please don't think too badly of Akane. She's really a sweet girl. She's just a violent maniac."
That comment finally awoke Ranma from his stupor. "Was that supposed to reassure me?" he thought to himself. "What kind of crazy place have I ended up in? Well, at least it can't be as bad as Jusenkyo, I guess."
After thanking Kasumi, as he learned was the elder sister's name, the heir to Saotome martial arts decided that he could really use a long soak in the furo. Finding out there was no hot water boiled was a large part of this decision, but also it appeared that Goku was occupied by Nabiki, who interrogating the younger boy, as the tailed youth ate the Tendos out of house and home. Ryouga wasn't here to spar with and pops was bust laughing about something with that other old guy, so he was on his own; hence, the furo was chosen as his intended destination.
Walking slowly down the stairs that led to her sole source of hot water, at the moment, Ranma reflected on his fiancé's actions. She'd been so nice initially; he'd hoped to find a new friend for the first time in over a year. Then, however, she'd floored him with the table. "Jeez. What kind of girl is she anyway? My head's still smarting from that cheap shot. So much for friends when she found out I'm a boy!"
Tossing away her shirt and pants, the Anything Goes practitioner opened the door to the furo, only to find a naked Akane standing stunned in front of him. Having spent the last hour attempting to alleviate her urge to smash her fiancé again for humiliating her, Akane had finally admitted that maybe Ranma wasn't such a pervert. After all, would she prefer if he'd strutted around naked like Goku? Then, he decided to peep on her. Maybe, even worse, he'd intended to try to take advantage of her in the bath!
In an instant, all her feelings of humiliation and anger, directed at Ranma, came roaring back. He was a pervert after all! Trying to take advantage of her... Pow! The pre-eminent, young martial artist in Japan found himself floored, for the second time that night, by his erstwhile fiancé.
Scarcely a half hour later, the fiancés sat in separate rooms: Ranma with Genma, while Akane half-heartedly listened to Nabiki's interrogation, as she fumed. Goku was still eating.
"So how did you meet the Saotomes, anyway?"
Not bothering to stop eating, the young Saiyajin answered Nabiki's question, while continuously spewing all manner of foodstuffs. "Well, after grandpa died, when I was eleven, about three years ago I guess, they wandered by my cottage, looking for grandpa. They sort of got really sad that I was alone, so they decided they'd help me train. Isn't Mr. Saotome nice!"
"Uh yeah. Sure Goku," the middle sister replied in a bored tone, though Goku took no notice of her manner. Turning to her younger sister, she decided to brighten the girl up. Unfortunately, Goku decided to try making Akane more cheery first. Admittedly, he was somewhat less than tactful.
"I don't get why you're so mad that Ranma saw you naked. You saw him naked, right? So that should make it okay."
Fearing a blow up, Nabiki decided to engage in damage control. Her younger sister did not appreciate being lectured by boys. "You were both girls. That makes it okay!"
"Okay is not the word."
Simultaneously, a similar discussion was occurring between Ranma and his father.
"So, she's got spunk. That just makes a fiancé cuter."
"Cute is not the word."
End Chapter One
Author Notes: Integration of the Dragonball and Ranma ½ worlds is a difficult process, which requires numerous compromises. Ranma ½ occurs on an Earth not dissimilar to our own, while Dragonball is in a world of flying cars with a geography that only vaguely resembles a world that did not contain the Americas. The simplest way to reconcile this difficulty was to simply say that Japan is about where one would expect, if you assumed the Americas did not exist. Additionally, there is a king of the world. However, he only rules over the majority of the continental landmass from Capital City. Thus, Japan and numerous other kingdoms are independent. Any other questions about how the integration occurred may be left in a review; these are the basics.
Additionally, many characters from Dragonball will appear in this fanfic. I am not attempting to simply insert Goku into the Ranma ½ world. The integration is planned out in considerable depth and most of the story is plotted out already, if not written.
A final warning is about pairings. Essentially, pairings are up in the air; this is to say that I know exactly who will end up together, but the vast majority of traditional pairings are being thrown out the window. Some traditional pairings will be present, but many will be entirely unorthodox, often DB characters matched with Ranma characters. If you cannot handle different pairings, please don't flame me, saying so. A new world is created; nothing will be the same (and that includes pairings).
After the aforementioned final warning, one note should be added. This chapter followed the manga very closely, but from here on in we will be departing from the storyline radically. Goku's three years with the Saotomes have wrought serious changes on both father and son, which will become apparent quickly. There's an excellent reason why Ryouga was travelling with the Saotomes (again, tied to Goku) and many other encounters changed because of his presence as well (author snickers to himself about what happened in the amazon village this time). Dragonball fans will find numerous changes in the storyline, as well, resulting from Goku's absence. Matters shall swiftly become strange. You have been warned.
