Ranma ½: A New Beginning

Episode 3: Shampoo's Return

Notes: ( )= Someone is speaking in Chinese, ' '= Someone is thinking. I refer to Ranma as

Ranma-chan when he is in his female form, Genma as Genma-panda when he is transformed, and Shampoo as Shampoo-neko when she is transformed.

"Already in love?" Genma asked curiously. Ranma remained silent, still disbelieving his own

words. Genma cleared his throat. "Ranma, you have to learn to set aside petty things like that, honor

always comes first." Ranma seethed.

"Petty!" His voice cracked. "Love isn't petty!" He veritably screamed.

"In this case, it is." That was the last straw.

"I can't believe you! I'm out of here!" Ranma coiled his legs and leapt out into the night. The

Tendo family came running out.

"What's going on Genma? We heard shouting." Soun asked.

"It's okay Soun, Ranma's just having problems adjusting." He narrowed his eyes on the roof top Ranma had jumped to. "He'll be back."

"What is he thinking?!" Ranma shouted aloud as he hopped across the roof tops. 'Honor comes before love my ass! That's coming from the ultimate thief and trickster.' Ranma stopped when he felt something grab his pig tail. "Who are you?" He asked quietly. The person behind him didn't answer, just let go and jumped back. Ranma turned slowly to face his newfound opponent. It was a girl, that was for sure, her lithe figure was easily distinguishable in the tight black suit, and her long hair glistened in the moonlight. But not much else was visible, only her hands and eyes were uncovered. Sticking up from behind her left shoulder was some sort of large weapon, probably a sword. "What does a ninja want with me?" The girl still didn't speak, just slid into a combat stance, her hand beckoning. Ranma smiled. "Fine then, I'll start." He charged forward, throwing all the speed he could muster into it. There was a quick flash of reflected moon light, and then the ninja was standing on the other side of Ranma, a giant spatula in hand. Ranma stood, shaking, with his eyes unfocused for a moment. Then he fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious. The ninja walked over to him, and held her weapon aloft for the killing blow. But then, she stumbled back, clutching her stomach tightly, Ranma's fist in the space she previously occupied. "That was a pretty good hit," He whispered as he regained his feet, "But I never go down that easily." He declared with a triumphant smirk. But his face fell when he noticed the ninja's weapon, a giant spatula. "Ukyou?!" He whispered. The ninja straightened herself, then reached up and removed her mask, revealing the face of Ranma's childhood friend.

"Yes Ranma, it's me."

"B-b-but why?!" Ranma stammered. A look of anger crossed her face.

"You pretended you were going to marry me, and then you stole my dowery!" Ranma paused, remembering back to his short visit with Ukyou only a few months ago.

"Ukyou, in case you hadn't noticed, I didn't move a muscle or say a word after I saw you in a dress, if you'll recall, Pop had to drag me over to the table." For just a moment, recognition left Ukyou's face, but then it returned with reinforcements.

"You're lying!" She attacked, quick as greased lightning, slicing her combat spatula into the

ground. Ground because Ranma had rolled to the side before the attack hit.

"Why exactly are you trying to kill me?" Ranma stopped as he dodged another swipe, "I can give it back to you, he never got around to pawning it." He then ducked an even more viscous slash.

"I don't care about the dowery!" She screamed. "You broke my heart," She paused, her white

knuckled grip on the spatula handle loosening as tears welled up in her eyes. "I thought you loved me!" The last was a strangled cry as Ukyou leapt away across the rooftops.

"Damn," Ranma whispered, "My life is really getting complicated." He sighed, and went back to the dojo.

"I knew you'd be back." Genma said from the bed in the guest room, now the Saotome

bedroom. Ranma growled.

"I'm not here for you, old man. I came back because I've got no other place to go." Genma

laughed evilly.

"Of course Ranma, of course." Ranma's anger flared, and he launched himself across the room, pinning Genma against the wall.

"Listen Genma!" Ranma whispered fiercely as he lifted Genma further up the wall. "If you don't stop playing the part of the evil bastard who ruins my life, I will kill you!" The last few words were spoken with such fiery conviction, that Genma did not think for one second that his enraged son wouldn't follow through on that threat. Ranma didn't give Genma a chance to say anything, just dropped him and walked over to the futon beds. "Guess what pop! You get to rough it for another night, because you're not sleeping on a bed tonight!" Ranma's voice was cheery, but Genma could sense the underlying steel in it, and understood that his son wasn't kidding. He whimpered, then dropped to the floor and curled up. Ranma, satisfied that he had revenged his indignities, went to sleep himself.

Ranma awoke slowly to the shouting and pounding at his door.

"C'mon you two! Wake up!" Screeched a barely recognizable as female voice.

"Alright! Alright!" He yelled to stop the incessant noise. "We're awake, you can go away now!"

But the pounding and yelling continued unabated.

"Oh no! If I go away, you'll just go back to sleep!" Ranma stomped over to the door and flung it open.

"Alright!" He growled. "I'm up, what's so important that you had to so rudely awaken me?" Akane smiled dryly,

"Breakfast." The instant the words had left her lips, both Ranma and Genma were racing down the stairs.

Meanwhile, at the breakfast table, Soun sat, patently awaiting the arrival of his friend and future son-in-law. He blinked, and when his eyes opened, the pair were at the table, half the food already gone. He blinked a few more times, then said.

"I see your speed and appetite have improved since I last saw you, Genma old friend." The only answer he received was a muffled "Uh huh." as Genma shoveled a bowl full of rice down his throat. Soun turned to Ranma, who was probably eating even more voraciously then Genma, "So my boy, which one do you want to be engaged to?" Ranma sighed, put down the miso soup he had been drinking, and said.

"Didn't you hear me yesterday, I can't be eng . . ." Ranma stopped midsentance as the walls shook violently. Genma stopped eating. "What was that?" Just then, the section of the walling behind the group blew in. Stepping through the rubble was Shampoo. Her face was frozen in a mask of vengeful rage, though it fell away when she noticed Ranma sitting at the breakfast table.

"Nihao Ranma!" She yelled musically as she tackled Ranma and gave him a bear hug that rivaled that of an actual bear.

"Shampoo!" Ranma yelled back, his joy obvious as he gave the enthusiastic Amazon a hug. But then her earlier expression returned, and Shampoo asked quietly.

"Which one father?" Without thinking, Ranma pointed at Genma. Shampoo stood, her long sword flashing from it's scabbard. "Genma Saotome, you very bad man." She pointed her sword at him, holding it inches from his nose. "You make stupid promises for Ranma, you lie, you cheat, you steal, and you abuse son." He visibly swallowed, looking down the bridge of his nose at the three feet of steel. "Not only that, but you kidnap him in the middle of the night and drug Shampoo! For actions, you will be punished." Genma began to sweat, and yelped when Shampoo's sword flashed up, then back down to . . . Stop an inch from his skull, Ranma's strong hands held it in place.

"Shampoo." Ranma whispered. "I know he's a bad man, but, he is my father and he hasn't done enough to warrant death by another's hands." He glanced at Genma, "At least, not yet." The man, visibly shaken by his brush with death, stumbled away from the breakfast table. Shampoo and Ranma both smiled, happy to have put a little fear in the pompous Genma. Ranma then turned to Shampoo, "So Shampoo, what have you been doing since pop kidnaped me?"

"Looking for you, Shampoo worried 'bout Ranma." Shampoo laughed and Ranma laughed right along with her.

"I didn't know you cared Shampoo." Before Shampoo could say something back, Ranma was gone, being dragged away by a screeching Akane.

"C'mon Ranma, we've got to get to school or we're going to be late!" She screamed as Ranma tried to free himself from her iron clad grip. Shampoo blinked a few times, then jumped up and gave chase.

"Wait for Shampoo!"

Shortly thereafter they were at the front gates to Furinkan high, Akane vigorously arguing with

Shampoo.

"Shampoo! You can't just come to school with us, you have to get registered, otherwise they won't let you into class!"

"Shampoo come to school whether loud girl Akane like it or not!" The two "humphed" and turned their backs on each other, miraculously managing not to run into anything as they continued to walk in that position. Ranma- chan sighed, feeling distressed by both the feud between Akane and Shampoo, as well as Ukyou's sudden and violent appearance. Plus, she was a little angry about the woman who was watering the sidewalk and not her flowers, and the fact that she couldn't find any hot water. Then, a voice rang out, catching the group's attention.

"Akane Tendo, we would date you!" Then a huge group of male students charged out from the school. Akane scowled and yelled to Ranma and Shampoo.

"You stay out of this!" She ran headlong into the group, smashing faces and other things left and right. Ranma watched with wide eyes. 'Wow! Her fighting style is pretty good against groups, though she'll be in trouble if one of them get's behind her . . .' As if summoned by Ranma- chan's thoughts, a Kendoist snuck up behind Akane and prepared to end the melee with a blow to her neck. But before the blow could land, Ranma was there, ready to block it. The bokken shattered on Ranma's wrist, creating a large cracking sound. Everyone froze, looking at the girl. Ranma cursed and shook her wrist.

"What are you trying to do?! Kill her?!" She shouted at the Kendoist, though he wasn't paying

attention to Ranma, he was staring at the splintered edge of his bokken. He stood quickly from his prone position, knocking Ranma over.

"You!" He hissed, pointing a single finger at Ranma-chan. "You have broken my prize bokken,

the very bokken which won me so many matches and has been with me through my entire meteoric rise to the position of the," He paused for a moment to strike a dramatic pose. "Blue Thunder of Furinkan High! I brought it here today in hopes that it would win me the heart and hand of Akane Tendo." The gleam in his eyes at that moment made one think that he would break into song at any moment. "But you had to some and break it!" He said, his mood changing drastically. "So I challenge you to ritual combat, we will meet here after school and settle this." With that said, the kendoist turned on his heel and left, as he was walking away from Furinkan High, Ranma-chan couldn't stop herself from shouting.

"You do realize that school's about to start?!" The kendoist paused, turned again, and strode

briskly through the front door to the school. As the rest of the students filed in after him, Ranma moved over to Akane. "Who was that idiot?" Instead of giving her an answer, Akane glared at Ranma-chan and went into the school. Ranma-chan looked at Shampoo, who shrugged and went in as well. Ranma-chan felt a hand on her shoulder,

"You made her angry." She looked back to see Nabiki standing behind her. "She hates it when people help her, it makes her feel weak. As for your other question, he's Tatewaki Kuno, the "Blue Thunder" of Furinkan High, the best kendoist in the school. He's an idiot, a womanizer, and a pervert of he highest order, he buys pictures of Akane from me weekly." Ranma scowled,

"What a nasty little man."

"Agreed. Anyway, good luck for your match after school." She said as she ran into the school. Then the bell rang.

"Oh crap." Ranma-chan said as she looked around desperately for some hot water.

"Well students, welcome back. Did you all have fun?" The teacher looked about at her students, who all nodded vigorously. "Good. Now, we have two new students joining us today," She gestured in the direction of Shampoo and a very wet and tired looking Ranma. "Shampoo and Ranma Saotome."

"Hello." They both said, though there were drastically varying levels of energy in their voices.

The teacher gestured for Ranma and Shampoo to sit.

"Now, let's begin where we left off yesterday . . ." Ranma choose to phase the teacher out at that moment. 'So, what am I going to do about Ukyou? She's a girl and she's in love with me. Kuno's going to be a major annoyance, and then of course, there's the engagement. Thank god none of them want to be engaged either, that'll give me a chance to squirm out of it. Now, let's see, which problem should I deal with first?' Ranma's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a splitting pain in his head.

"Owww!" He yelled aloud as he rubbed the quickly rising bump on his head. The teacher looked down on him with fury.

"Young man! You should pay more attention during class!" Ranma bowed his head.

"Gomen nasai sensi, I was just thinking about how to deal with some complications in my life." The teacher nodded,

"Fair enough, just please try to pay more attention next time." 'Have to figure this stuff out later . . .' He thought as the teacher continued.

After school, Ranma-chan waded through the crowd of people, all eagerly awaiting Kuno's battle with the upstart girl. She moved quickly, anxious to get the fight over with so she could go home and be a he again. Kuno was at the center of the crowd, leisurely leaning up against a tree with a new bokken at his side. Nabiki was busy taking bets by the sidelines, she knew who was really going to win and was planning on making a lot of money off of it. Once Ranma-chan finally made it through the throng of people, Kuno straightened up and took a breath.

"Now I shall punish you for your deeds against me." He whispered to Ranma-chan before he spun about to face Akane. "I dedicate my performance in this battle to Akane Tendo!" He yelled with a flourish, then blew a kiss in Akane's direction, which she ducked. A referee in training stepped forward,

"Let the match," He looked at both of the combatants, then dropped his hand. "Begin!" He yelled as he stepped back. Kuno ran at Ranma, bokken held one-handed, horizontally before him. Ranma-chan held her ground, ready to block. Kuno reached her, and struck, fast as a viper, slashing across Ranma three times. But Ranma-chan vanished before the assault, not seeming to move at all. Kuno looked about wildly, wondering what had happened to his cowardly opponent. He then felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned to face the offender. He was rewarded with a split second view of Ranma- chan's triumphant smile before he felt the kick to his stomach, and the powerful uppercut that sent him flying several feet into the boughs of a tree, which he fell from shortly thereafter. Ranma moved to his side, wondering if she'd killed the idiot. But, as soon as she came within a foot of him, he leapt and grabbed her hands.

"You have beaten me, but in beating me, you have stolen my heart with your immense skill and therefore, I would allow you to date me!" Ranma-chan looked down at the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High with a look of absolute disgust, some of it coming from the fact that she wasn't gay, and the other half coming from his idiocy.

"No!" She screamed as she smacked Kuno into the stratosphere. A few of the onlookers whistled, but most just grumbled as they payed out to Nabiki. Shampoo cheered enthusiastically as Ranma walked toward Akane and herself. "Let's get out of here, I need to get out of this body." Shampoo Akane followed, not noticing the rampant speculation that was running through the student body about this "Pig-tailed girl".

The group of young students arrived home slightly late, with a wet Ranma-chan in tow. "People aren't supposed to throw water out the window, they put it down the sink!" She ranted to everyone, who only nodded their heads in assent. But Ranma stopped when she felt something grab her. She looked over to see her father standing behind the door.

"So Ranma? Is the engagement a sure thing?" Genma asked excitedly. Ranma glared at him.

"I'm not going to be engaged to someone I don't love pop! Honor or not, I'm not marrying any of them!" Genma's face gained a sinister set.

"Oh, you will." He whispered as he left, "You will." Ranma-chan turned to the group of girls,

"I'm going to take a hot bath." She announced as she headed for the stairs. Akane glared, having just been about to say the same thing.

"Don't use all of the hot water, I'm going to take one too!" She yelled to Ranma-chan as she moved quickly up the stairs. Akane then stomped off to another part of the house, followed closely by Nabiki, leaving Shampoo alone by the door. Shampoo thought for a moment. 'I have to talk to Ranma, I'll wait for him in his room.' She ran quickly, quite anxious to speak to Ranma.

Having finished his hot bath, Ranma left the bathroom wearing no more then a towel. He went across the hall quickly, not wanting to drip on the floor. He entered his room, closed the door, dropped his towel and ran for the drawers. But he came to a screeching halt when he noticed the wide eyed Shampoo. 'Wow.' Was all she could think as Ranma blushed bright red and tried to cover himself. It suddenly occurred to Shampoo that she shouldn't be staring at Ranma, and she covered her eyes, getting up and stumbling toward Ranma's discarded towel. In her stumbling, Shampoo managed to get her foot stuck in a bucket of water next to the door.

"Aieee!" She screamed as she slipped and kicked the bucket into the air, spilling it's contents. Ranma closed his eyes, expecting the water to hit him, but when he didn't feel a drop, he opened his eyes. His last coherent thought was that he shouldn't have. In a pile of Shampoo's clothing sat a small, pink cat, fluffy and cute to the extreme. Ranma, quite literally, jumped onto the ceiling, his fingers breaking past it and latching onto a support beam.

"C-c-c-c-cat!" He screamed, his pupils dilating and a cold sweat breaking out across his body. The cat, Shampoo in her cursed form, looked at Ranma curiously, wondering what was the matter.

"Mew?" She questioned innocently enough. But the sound only shook Ranma further, his breathing came out hard and fast, and his fingers were actually digging into the wooden beam.

"N-n-no! Stay . . ." He paused, mid-sentence, his eyes losing focus. he let go of the beam, falling to the floor with a loud crash. Shampoo-neko moved closer, not having the faintest clue what was going on. Ranma moved to his hands and feet, crawling about the floor like a cat himself.

"Merowr." This time, it didn't come from Shampoo, the sound came from Ranma himself. He sniffed about the room, seeming to be looking for something. he paused, sniffed the air again, then turned to Shampoo-neko, a totally feline emotion shining in his eyes.

"Mew?" Shampoo took a step back from Ranma. 'What's going on here?' She thought frantically as Ranma stalked closer, his suddenly feline eyes following her every move. Shampoo-neko bumped into a wall and cringed, not knowing what this strange Ranma was going to do. He bunched his leg muscles and jumped at Shampoo-neko, screeching like a demon.

Author's Notes: So, what did you think of my first big-time suspense ending? C & C is appreciated.

immortalwriter@sailormoon.com and wait for the surprising conclusion in my next episode,

"Ukyou, the Lovely Ninja"!