A New Beat

Ranma surfaced from the pool and ignored the confused noises her freshly cursed panda father made as well as the usual explanation from the Jusenkyo guide. After hearing the same responses countless times she could have quoted them from memory. "Hot water normal, cold water cursed," Ranma summed up as she adjusted her clothes.

"Yes, Mister customer, that exactly right," the Jusenkyo guide agreed, relieved the cursed boy didn't seem upset. 'Maybe he's still in shock?'

"Is there a convenient cure or is this one of those karma based curses that takes a couple of decades before it lets itself be dispelled?" Ranma asked, wanting to get Pops in the correct mindset so he wouldn't be causing havoc making Ranma scramble for a cure every couple of weeks as he did in the normal timeline.

"Sir is very wise," the guide said surprised, "there no instant cure, but some find cure decades later."

"Come on Pops, let's go get some hot water so we can return to normal, until we get splashed with cold again," Ranma said retrieving their packs and following the guide. 'Wish I could prevent Ryoga getting cursed, but I know better.'

Even when he didn't chase his father around the training grounds Ryoga still managed to fall into the pool of drowned piglet and blame him for it and trying to prevent it just made matters worse. After his last dozen attempts had failed he'd begun to believe there were some fates that he just couldn't prevent… well, unless he was reborn early enough in the timeline anyway, but at this point in time it was simply Ryoga's fate.

"We're cured!" Genma exclaimed in relief as the hot water the guide had poured over his head had restored his humanity.

"You weren't even listening, were you?" Ranma asked rhetorically. "Any time we get splashed with cold water we'll turn into our cursed forms again until we can find some hot water."

"What?!" Genma turned to the guide. "Surely someone must know of a cure!"

Ranma knew better than to waste his breath, Pops never listened, but at least this way he got to say I told you so, which was at least some consolation. Really, if it wasn't for being able to annoy Genma he'd have gone nuts dozens of lives ago. 'It's the little things in life that make it worth reliving,' Ranma thought to himself as he made himself a cup of tea and listened to the two talk.

"Then it's settled, we'll go to this Amazon village and see what they have to say," Genma said finally.

Ranma rolled his eyes and sipped his tea. He could easily derail things so they never went to the village, but Shampoo could be fun at times, Cologne still knew things he didn't, and Mousse was… occasionally tolerable.

"Whatever you say, Pops," Ranma said before thanking the guide for the tea and getting some bandages from his bag to bind his chest for when he inevitably got splashed. It'd take at least a week for him to recover his reflexes so his breasts didn't throw off his balance, so binding his chest was the best way to minimize it while he adjusted.

As the three set off, he turned to the guide. "If you've got all these springs that turn people into animals, how do you know you're not eating someone?"

The guide shuddered. "Guide always wash food in hot water, no want to make that mistake!"

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, it'd suck if you decided to make sweet and sour pork from a piglet you found only to discover your mistake afterwards."

"Customer very wise," the Jusenkyo guide agreed, making a mental note to double check any animals he caught, just in case.

The three continued to the nearby village. A brief rainstorm turned Ranma and Genma into their cursed forms and Ranma winced as her breasts were compacted more than was comfortable in the bindings.

"Growlf," Genma complained and was ignored.

"Village holding big festival to see who is best warrior," the Jusenkyo guide announced as they reached the gates of the walled village and were let in by the guards, who were distracted by the tournament in progress.

Genma growled out something but as he was a panda it was ignored.

Already knowing what was coming Ranma considered how to play it. He could end up with Shampoo chasing him as normal, or he could arrange things so Genma was engaged to her instead, that was always good for a few laughs, before Genma and Cologne agreed that Ranma was an acceptable substitute. Of course in those timelines Shampoo was much more determined to marry Ranma after almost ending up with Genma which was a pain…

Ranma's stomach growled and she grinned, besides she was hungry and if eating a good sized meal now calmed things down later she might as well go along with it.

Ranma followed Genma who pushed his way through the crowd, following his nose to the table containing the first prize for the winner of the tournament. The two set down and started eating, watching Shampoo defeat several opponents in short order from atop the challenge log, before she was announced the winner and noticed them eating her prize.

Knowing what was coming, Ranma stopped Shampoo from destroying the table when she angrily swung her bonbori at the table to display her displeasure, deflecting her maces with a kick.

"Young sir, you have eaten the prize from tournament, amazon very upset!" the guide exclaimed worriedly.

"Well then, if I win the tournament, there'll be no problem, right?" Ranma asked cockily, knowing her lines.

The guide translated and Shampoo angrily gestured to the challenge log, a four foot wide, twenty foot long section of the tree trunk that was hanging a half dozen feet above the ground.

Ranma leapt onto the log with ease, still eating a pickle as Shampoo angrily squared off against her waiting for the signal to begin. The fight was over in less than a minute, Ranma drawing it out a little to help soothe Shampoos pride a bit, but it wasn't nearly enough to prevent what she'd do in response.

Ranma leapt down from the log and helped Shampoo to her feet which the lavender haired girl accepted so she could pull Ranma in for a kiss on the cheek. Ranma turned her head and caught Shampoo's lips sliding a hand down to give her ass a squeeze while the guide yelled about the kiss of death.

Genma grabbed Ranma and threw her over his shoulder before racing out of the village while a stunned Shampoo stood frozen not having expected that response and feeling a draft.

Cologne bounced over to the table, picking up a small leather bag Ranma had left there and examining its contents, ignoring the chaos from having an outsider win the tournament, the village champion giving her the kiss of death, and the outsider having taken liberties with said champion.

Shampoo recovered and hurried over to her great-grandmother. "That still counts, right?"

"Yes granddaughter, it still counts," Cologne assured her, wondering why the outsider had left a bag of uncut gems and where he had learned one of Happosai's techniques.

"Good!" Shampoo said firmly. "Then I… am going to go change and chase after them."

"You do that child," Cologne said with a smirk as Shampoo had just realized she was missing her panties.

0o0o0o0o0o

Ranma made camp while Genma heated up some water. He'd diverted Genma to a mountainous trail that lead to an abandoned military base. The jungle had reclaimed most of the ground, but there were a few solid stone buildings that still had roofs that would keep the rain off.

They were currently inside a garage where the red army had abandoned a few staff cars and a broken down half track. None of them were repairable with what they had on hand and the roads had been washed away years ago, but one had a bar that was still half stocked which Ranma planned on using to distract Genma while he retrieved a few things.

"Finally," Genma said as he wiped hot water off his face, relieved to be human once more. He offered the kettle to Ranma who waved it off. "Aren't you going to change back?" he asked, surprised.

"Nah, I gotta learn how to move right, this body is throwing me off," Ranma replied. "I'll change back before bed."

"Good point," Genma agreed, forcing himself not to show the pride he felt in his son taking the entire disaster in stride and not letting it shake him.

"Let's see if they left anything in the cars," Ranma suggested.

Genma finally took the time to look around the garage, noting the amount of rust and decay. "I doubt there's be much, but it doesn't hurt to check."

Ranma found decade old rations in the half track and just as he'd expected Genma was completely distracted by the alcohol allowing Ranma free range to poke around the base without the old man looking over his shoulder. Last time Ranma had been here he'd ditched his old man and ran off the night before they were supposed to go to Jusenkyo. He'd spent a week at this decades old abandoned base which the red army had once used to try and spy on the local tribes from. He wasn't sure which tribe they'd offended, but it had ended with the base being abandoned with the red army garrison fleeing with their tails between their legs.

Ranma entered a building through the gaping hole in the side, an obvious sign of the use of The Breaking Point, brushing aside vines as he entered an office, the birds nesting in the remains of the roof twittering about his trespass in their territory. Ranma flipped a massive oak desk back upright, uprooting a flowering bush that had grown around it and pulled out the bottom drawer on the right hand side. The wood squealed as he forced it to come loose, warped by over a decade of seasonal rain.

He pried apart the sides of the drawer revealing it'd had a false bottom containing a hidden metal box. It was made of galvanized steel and not very thick which made it easy to peel open, revealing a file written in code and much too faded to puzzle out as well as a silver necklace with a large emerald and an ivory dagger that looked to have been carved from a single piece, possibly a tooth.

He pocketed both items using hidden weapons techniques before pushing a filing cabinet aside to reveal a floor safe. He punched through the rotten wood around it and pulled it from the floor.

It took several tries before he remembered the combo, which had taken the better part of two days to discover the first time, and opened it up revealing half a dozen bundles of bills. He pocketed half of them before closing the safe and twirling the dial to go show Genma what he had found!

The Next Morning

Ranma woke up and stretched. He casually blocked Genma's kick, noting that his old man had gotten the safe open. Even after spending a couple of lives trying to master safe cracking he wasn't nearly as skilled as Genma who had an almost supernatural flare for it.

"You're improving," Genma said with some surprise as he noted his son's skills were noticeably improved over their spar just the day before.

"Using that other body makes being in my own form so much easier," Ranma lied. "I can feel my balance so much sharper and my limbs hit right where I want them."

Genma grunted and turned away to hide his smile. It was possible that the springs weren't the huge disaster he thought they were, though he was going to have to make sure his son was married and had a kid on the way before they saw Nodoka again. It was about time to join the schools anyway so that was no great chore.

"So, where to now, Pops?" Ranma asked as he started on breakfast.

"Back to Japan," Genma said, taking a seat by the fire, his stomach already growling.

"Good idea, it'll be nice to be able to speak to people," Ranma said, while going through a list of people to tip off where Genma was going to be for the maximum amount of amusement.

Genma perked up as Ranma handed him a plate full of food in record time and looking a lot better than his usual cooking. 'Maybe the curse helped with that too?'

Two hours later

Ranma leaned aside letting Shampoo's kick brush by her shoulder, shattering the branch she'd been sitting at. She gave the amazon an innocent smile, pretending not to understand what was going on while raking her eyes up and down the girl's body, causing Shampoo to hesitate and blush slightly.

Genma grabbed Ranma and threw her over his furry shoulder before fleeing at an impressive rate of speed for a sports car much less a panda. Ranma pouted and gave a small wave at Shampoo who reflexively waved back before they vanished.

The amazon pushed her hand back down and wondered at the girl's strange behavior. "Maybe she doesn't understand?" Shampoo decided she had to work on her Japanese.

A day later

"I kill!" Shampoo exclaimed in broken Japanese while swinging her mace at Ranma's head.

Ranma stepped into Shampoo's personal space, neatly avoiding her attack and smiled, reaching up to brush her hair back. Before the Amazon could respond the panda had snatched up and carried off the redhead once more.

This time Shampoo managed not to wave back… more than once.

Two days later

"I wish to commit violence upon your person!" Shampoo yelled in passable Japanese, before slashing at Ranma.

The red haired girl dodged each sword strike by the narrowest of margins as the amazon attacked again and again. Shampoo stopped to catch her breath and Ranma's shirt fell apart, causing the redhead's eyes to widen as she blushed, before licking her lips and batting her eyes at the amazon.

Ranma smiled and slunk forward with a swing in her hips that made Shampoo freeze unsure what to do. This was not the type of battle she had prepared for!

The panda snatching up the girl and her familiar pout was actually a relief to the conflicted girl.

Several more days later

"I, Shampoo of the Jusenkyo Amazons," the lavender haired girl said, making sure to enunciate her words properly, "have come to bring you death." She waited to see if the redhead understood.

Ranma put a confused expression on her face and tapped her chin for a few seconds before smiling like she understood. "Hehe, the little death, mi amore!"

Shampoo puzzled through the french language, which she did not speak, memorizing what was said so she could look it up later. She was unprepared for the readhead to attempt to remove her tonsils and put up no defense.

Two minutes later Shampoo found herself blinking in a hormonal haze as the now familiar sight of a disappointed redhead waving from over the shoulder of a giant panda met her gaze as they fled.

The ship carrying the two pulled away from the dock and Shampoo noticed there was a piece of paper in her hand and her panties were missing once more. Unfolding the paper she found a name and address surrounded by little hearts.

Typing by: fyrewolf5

TN: This is great, always nice to see loopers just saying fuck it and having fun.