Ranma: Gene Fractions
Chapter One: Failure To Apply
The moment Ranma saw Happosai Drinking the cask of Jusenkyo water was the moment something inside Ranma died.
The idea that a cure to his curse was right there and the grandmaster to the martial arts he was a practitioner of drank it like Sake... Fate clearly was not on his side.
Especially since it was that day...
[*The day Ranma was cursed*]
Ranma was rather confused when the Guide to Jusenkyo led him away from his father for 'private conversation'
"So what's up?" Ranma asked.
"Customer must have their attention brought to spring they drowned in... it wasn't just any regular girl with tragic story that fell in the water."
The Jusenkyo Guide explained to Ranma that the girl who drowned in that particular 'girl pool' wasn't purely human, their family had the ability to switch with different 'demi-humans'... anything that looked relatively humanoid or had a human form could be turned into with the right circumstances
But surprisingly the girl who drowned did so with her own volition and explained something to the Guide's ancestor, who in return wrote it down so the message could be spread.
"My ability will be locked away from anyone cursed in my spring for two years... during that time any Jusenkyo water will make the ability become lost. If that time passes the person cursed will gain my ability indefinitely and will also lose their previous form."
Ranma was shocked, but luckily the Guide explained that there was a spring of drowned boy that he knew of, and would gladly lead him to it.
Unluckily... Genma had other plans and had a one track mind about the first help the Guide mentioned, the Village nearby.
Ranma tried again and again over the three years, but problems kept springing up which prevented him from removing the ticking time bomb of his girl curse.
[*back*]
Which leads him to this day, the last chance to be truly human was literally trickling away into the gullet of the gnome-like pervert.
Then... pain.
So much pain.
Ranma heard his 'fiancés' calling out his name as he felt his body lose height, weight and something important to a male.
This would be the last time a change of the same sort would happen to him.
No turning back...
[*The next day*]
Ranma awoke to a familiar ceiling; Doctor Tofu's to be exact.
"Ah, you are awake now Ranma?" said doctor called out, causing Ranma to turn their head.
"Hey doc." They said in a voice attempting to be cocky, but ended up falling short... and short was the height of a mountain.
"So I expect you know that your curse is locked?"
"Yup."
"Do you know how to fix it?"
"Not this time." With that Ranma climbed off the hospital bed he was put on and started to walk out the door.
"Are you going to be alright?"
"Not sure just yet, but if I end up dead it might be a good idea to donate my body to science... if what the guide said was true anyway." With that Ranma walked outside.
A few minutes later he was back at the Tendo Home.
She was quick to notice Kasumi was cleaning up what was earlier known as a wedding all alone... well what she could anyway, house chunks would still need to be put back where they belonged by professionals.
Ranma quickly walked into the house, sighing to herself as she did so.
She was just about to walk up the stairs before a hand stopped her; the familiar pixie cut hair style made the locked teen internally sigh again.
"We need to talk Saotome." Nabiki said in a no-nonsense tone.
"Let me get changed out of this suit and we can talk all you want." Ranma said as she shoved past the girl and headed upstairs to the guest room which she slept in with her father.
"Fine." Nabiki said, surprising Ranma slightly. The Ice Queen of Nerima wasn't one to back down so easily... especially not for herself.
After heading into the place she called 'his/hers' (partially) she quickly got changed before searching her pack, intent on looking for a couple specific objects which she never hoped to need
[*Jusenkyo, the day of curse*]
"If customer is unable to become uncursed in the allotted time, they will need these." The Guide said as he rifled through one of the shelves in his home.
A few moments later the man presented two things, a very large leather-bound book and a red silk scarf embroidered with black.
"Scarf apparently makes and creates clothes fitting for form; book contains information and was given by drowned girl. Please return if you manage to cure self."
[*Return*]
Ranma pulled out the scarf and stared at it for a few moments before wrapping it around her neck, the silk was cold to the touch but Ranma knew she would need to get used to it.
Next came the book, something the she had never hoped to actually have a need to read, the large thing even held a recognisable weight to the martial artist, this was rather surprising for even a book its size to hold.
'Maybe the pages have something on them to make it weigh mo- woah!'
Ranma thought 'woah' for one reason, that being that it wasn't weighty pages... it was more pages.
'The book is kind of like a 'Tardis' from that English TV show then? Cool I guess...' Ranma thought as she slammed the parchments closed once more and headed down the stairs to have her... talk... with Nabiki
'Time to face the music I guess...'
A few moments later he was sitting opposite of Nabiki, who looked at him like he was an arson who just burned down a money printer that she owned.
"Now since this was your wedding an all, all damages will be paid for by you. The suit that was hired for you is also in complete tatters, so you need to pay for that too..." Nabiki continued off all the things he needed to pay for.
"Food was pretty expensive as well, that'll add an extra to your payments required."
"Invitations were especially made for the wedding too, gold leaf and everything so that means an extra..."
The word 'invitations' made Ranma's martial arts attuned mind switch to a 'smart state', a sudden thought flashing through her head making her grin slightly.
"Now wait just a moment there, Nabiki... you said something about Invitations... how many did you order?"
"Not many, only sent to family friends and the like, the wedding was put on hush-hush by daddy and Genma... but they still cost quite a handful of yen, which will be coming out of your hands of course..." Nabiki said idly before continuing to increase her costs by adding even more charged.
"Who did you give them to?"
Nabiki suddenly stopped her 'money talk'.
"Just family friends, you know?" Internally the 'Ice Queen' started sweating.
"Hmmm," Ranma got up from the cushion she was sitting cross-legged on, "You know just now I noticed something... how did Kuno and the others get an invitation?"
"That is beside the point, Saotome... word of mouth must have spread it quickly, Nerima's secrets are barely kept from anyone."
"You are contradicting yourself there, Nabiki... you just said that the wedding was 'hush-hush', but continued by saying that it 'spread by word of mouth'... whose mouth was that hmm?"
Ranma's gaze upon the taller girl suddenly darkened, causing Nabiki to visibly sweat this time.
"W-well I-"
"I think you did it." Ranma said bluntly, her arms going under her voluptuous breasts, making them look much bigger than Ranma would like for them to look (if she knew)
"Now why would I do that? Why would I ruin my future brother-in-law's wedding?" Nabiki said, trying to get Ranma's attention off 'his' 'genius idea'.
"Just like why you make me pay to get some hot water... the money." Ranma said simply.
'I never expected to one-up Nabiki... maybe this body is making me smarter after the powers got unlocked?' The girl thought to herself as she absentmindedly twirled a tail of her scarf.
Finally Nabiki spoke up once more.
"Alright fine, I told the others about the wedding for money... what of it Saotome? It's not like you actually wanted to marry Akane." Nabiki said, thinking she had turned the tides once more
"Of course not, I am still too young for that, so is Akane... plus I can't even marry her anyway anymore, which is your fault."
"What on earth do you mean, Saotome? Can't handle a failed wedding, honour demands you need to run away?" Nabiki questioned cheekily, in an attempt to regain some of her own 'Mercenary' tendencies which had drifted off during the conversation.
"Curse is locked; I was on a timer which ended just as soon as the old perv drank the cure." Ranma replied honestly.
"Seriously? I want proof here." Nabiki said back.
Ranma decided to humour the 'Ice Queen' and picked up the hot tea which Nabiki had 'kindly' prepared and poured a curse measurement of it onto her head.
Apart from the flinch from the near-blistering liquid... nothing.
"Now if you are done trying to swindle money I don't have because you took it all, I have some things to do."
Nabiki just sat there in silence. She quickly confirmed that the tea was still hot too... and managed to burn her tongue.
'Maybe I shouldn't have kept the heat under this while talking with Ranma... even if it might have given me a little extra money if I sold it.'
[*Elsewhere, just after the wedding*]
Ryoga Hibiki plodded along, his thoughts brimming with 'revenge against Ranma'.
Sadly, Ryoga did not realise where he just ended up, the anger from yesterday's attempted marriage had left him glowing red and green with rage and depression.
Where did he end up? Back to his main trouble's cause, Jusenkyo... now flooded from a battle which happened a few mere moons ago.
The chaotic nature of Jusenkyo had worked hard to repurpose itself, the single curse pools that had become a literally become lake now worked at random.
And it could feel an original curse...
With a little tug Ryoga's legs started walking in a different direction, but he didn't really care thanks to the bubbling cauldron of emotions he felt.
And then he took the plunge, yelping slightly as he fell in the water with his eyes closed
[*Jusenkyo Lake's Realm of Drowned Spirits*]
The lake's many lost souls started wrestling with each-other for a chance to curse the boy.
Soon enough the only ones battling for the chance of cursing the boy was a girl and a strong but young dragon.
"You know, we don't exactly need to fight now, just mix the curse up." The girl said while she dodged a blast of energy.
The dragon stopped its rapid fire attacks... and a few moments later it nodded.
"Let's do it." The girl said as she put her hand on the large reptilian being.
Both sent out their curses, which intertwined like lovers in a dance.
Moments later the squeal of a piglet was heard as the much stronger curse took its place.
All this happened in mere seconds.
[*The Visible Jusenkyo Area*]
Ryoga quickly attempted to pull themselves out the water and was quick to succeed.
"Odd, I would have thought with the drop I did the climb up would be harder in... what is wrong with my voice... why do I have a voice?"
Ryoga opened his eyes and looked down to find that the floor was much closer than it should be...
A few miles away the Jusenkyo guide and his child Plum heard a very feminine scream.
[*Tendo 'guest room'*]
Ranma sighed to herself as she lay on her Futon; the day was very much a struggle with Akane seemingly thinking that her cleaning up wedding mess with Kasumi was 'perverted'.
There was also the wining from Genma about him 'acting like a girl' and asking why he hadn't got any hot water to turn back into a boy.
He expected Nabiki to get them to pay for the information of her lock... but surprisingly Nabiki said nothing.
A sudden loud Panda-snore brought Ranma out her thoughts and let them drift elsewhere.
'It is only a matter of time before this ability I gained activates... so maybe I can pick up on some things from the book.' The locked girl thought as she pulled out the leather bound pages from her pack and flipped open to the front page.
It read as follows:
Hello there.
If you are reading this then you have gained my powers, if it was because you wanted them... thank you.
If something happened which prevented you finding a cure in time... I'm sorry.
Either way life is going to get crazy for you now.
Ranma snorted, life was already crazy
Anyway, if you heard information about me from the current guide of Jusenkyo you must be wondering how it works and how this book will help you.
Well let me explain.
When I was born the population of 'demi-humans' was extremely low and having trouble flourishing... mainly from fear and other things.
Earth's solution? Me. When I reached a mature age I found that with certain triggers my form would change to fit one of them... only with a slightly different way of repopulation.
I was somehow able to get a female... pregnant.
Of course it wasn't as simple as that, the female had to actually want a child... or it had to be a full moon (explained later)
And so that was how I lived my life, finding people who would be willing to help 'expand the gene pool for Earth'... but it wasn't exactly that simple. The time wasn't right.
So after I logged every possible form I could change into... I took the plunge.
And so you are left with my powers... my 'curse'. I hope you have better chances than me in the age you live in... And I hope life is as simple as it can be.
Thank you.
Gaea.
Ranma wasn't exactly pleased with her findings, the fact that her locked form was because humanity were fools.
But she could also understand it... fear caused a lot of problems.
Ranma flicked to the next page and found it conveniently as an index, and it marked a specific page to be titled as 'basic form'
The basic form is what you will be in naturally without any triggers; it is made to be entirely human and has other key things to help with life.
1: High intelligence... well at least I liked to think I was smart.
2: Peak physical strength. I trained very hard to keep my body strong to I expect you to do the same, might I suggest martial arts?
3: Beauty. Apparently Earth had a very naughty mind, because being sexy is in my DNA.
Of course there will be changes to this when you receive the curse. I was born with green hair like my own mother, but I get the feeling Jusenkyo will take some things from your own parentage to fit you in better after the changes are complete.
It certainly made sense to Ranma, her mother had said a few times that she looked like 'a better looking younger her', something that even she blushed at even as a boy.
Her reading continued for quite some time, most of it just skimming to see what she should expect, but eventually her own yawn made her realise she needed to sleep.
The next day was most certainly not going to be better than the current one.
[*The Future*]
Kuroko Smith's job had quite a few guidelines.
One of them was rather confusing to her though.
'Any rules placed are inactive in Nerima. Do not attempt entry into Nerima, only in extreme circumstances may a worker request entry into Nerima.'
She never particularly understood why this was exactly a guideline... but needless to say her interest was piqued when many demi-humans she dealt with went there in their spare time.
Of course the 'no-rule zone' was interesting to most...
But Suu?
What use would Suu have in Nerima.
And Kii most certainly hated cities... but went to the district too!
The list went on...
What was so special about Nerima?
[*Return...*]
The nostalgic feeling of slightly slimy Koi pond met Ranma's body as she woke up, the cry of "you've gone sloppy" from her father was also a common occurrence.
Her mood not recovering from the day before, she quickly disposed of him by tossing him into the koi pond too and hitting a pressure point which sent the Panda-formed martial artist into an unconscious state.
"Would you like some hot water Ranma?" The ever present lady of the house Kasumi asked as she walked back into the home.
"I'll pass today; do you want any help in the kitchen?"
Kasumi was rather surprised with the question, but nodded and smiled in a manner which made Ranma's rivals normally back down.
Around ten minutes later Nabiki came down the stairs dead to the world, Kasumi was quick to place her life-blood of coffee in front of her.
"I'm going out for a walk... I'll see you at school Nabiki." Ranma said a couple minutes later.
Nabiki, who was chugging half her mug and was uncaring about the scalding heat, let out a small noise of agreement.
And so Ranma left the Tendo home, completely contempt just taking a stroll around the town.
Well that was up until he heard an oddly familiar call.
"Ranma! Because of you I've seen hell!"
"Took you only two days before you actually got back to Nerima, Ryoga. I'm surpr-
Whatever Ranma was going to say drifted away from her lips silently when she looked at her rival's form.
Instead of the bulky male form, there was now a green haired, yellow eyed little girl swimming in his shirt, the yellow socks being the only thing on their feet. The combat umbrella normally carried by them was being dragged across the floor as the 'boy' tried to give a threatening look... which was failing as the scrunched up face only looked more adorable.
The thing that interested Ranma though was the green lizard tail, scaled wings and small ivory coloured horns that peeked out from under the 'boy's' head of hair.
"New curse? I suppose it's better than the previous one you had." Ranma commented as she watched Ryoga drag their umbrella towards Ranma.
Ranma wouldn't mention the idle thought of 'cute' that sprung up in their head to anyone.
"Gunna... kill... you..." The martial artist breathed out.
Ranma stood there, unsure what to do at that moment.
Finally Ryoga managed to get close to Ranma and tried to swing the weapon/rain blocker at them.
The swing wasn't much though and ended up falling short and hitting a little bit away from Ranma.
"You okay there Ryoga, it looks like you might needs some help."
"I won't accept help from the likes of you, Ranma!" Ryoga cried out as they once again tried another overhead swing, only to end up falling on the floor this time.
After two more tries Ranma finally took pity on the cursed individual and pulled them to their feet, removing the 'deadly weapon' from their grasp as she did so.
"Ryoga, I saw you two days ago as a... you know. I don't think you have had that new body long enough to swing your umbrella around long enough."
"S-shut up!" Ryoga's wings and tail twitch in annoyance, "I'll get you... even in this form."
"Good luck with that then. I'm going to be late for school so I can't dawdle. Good luck with trying to kill me I suppose."
With a couple pats on the tiny martial artist's head as her goodbye Ranma walked to Furinkan High, Ryoga's umbrella in hand.
Okay, I can't deny it now. I have problems.
I need to stick to a single story but I can't.
But just to let you know updates to some of my other stories are properly in the works... in the meantime, go watch Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid.
If you can read my sh*t and enjoy it, I'm sure you won't mind that.
Returning to orbit.
Cya.