Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2. The curses and names for them were made up by me as far as I know, but I still won't lay claim to them either.
All criticism is welcome, however, if you are going to try and flame me, at least be original. There are only so many times you can be told, "You Suck!!!" before it gets boring.
A/N: Only made this because even a pitiless SOB like me has pity for Ranma and want a little vengeance for him. Plus I couldn't continue my other story till I got this one out of my head… hate when that happens. Oh, yeah, this is based after the final wedding attempt stated in the manga. If someone appears OOC, eh, it happens.
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"Now, what say we talk before my sister arrives?"
While not ominous in itself, the way the demon said that caused everyone to shudder in fear. It seemed that everyone needed a spokesperson to ask the questions for them.
"Where are we?"
It appeared that Nabiki had overcome her fear. She had on her 'business' expression which had earned her the nickname 'Ice Queen.'
"We are in a dimension of mine and my sister's making. We are most comfortable here, and find it soothes us when we have necessary tasks such as this to take care of. This is the first it has been used for a purpose quite this…extreme, though. The table, the statue, all change appearance depending upon the person in the center. The statue takes the appearance of the soul of the person. In this case, a cat. Although this could be an after affect of being taught the Neko-ken. Never has a Pure Soul been taught that technique. Especially by a family member. Luckily, that is a technique that only a Pure Soul could learn with their sanity intact."
Nodoka looked puzzled when he mentions the Neko-ken.
"What type of technique is the Neko-ken? You speak as if just teaching it to someone is sentencing them to death."
"The Neko-ken is a technique in which the person taught has to be less than ten years of age. Said person is thrown into a pit of starving cats while covered in various fish products. The technique is learned on the subconscious level. Every time it has attempted to be taught, the person being taught has gone insane, acting like a cat and killing anyone they come across, usually starting with the person teaching the technique. The person, when acting like a cat, uses claws of pure chi, and can cut through anything. In the case of a Pure Soul, though, the technique only comes out when the Pure Soul is confronted with their fear, in this case cats. The Pure Soul will act like a cat until either a short time after all of the cause of the fear is gone, or until something shocks his or her system. Activating Ranma's curse seems to do the trick, in this case. The more he uses that technique, though, the less likely he will snap out of it, even with activating his curse. I think you can figure out which family member taught Ranma this technique."
After explaining that, Dimitrios stood up and began to slowly walk counterclockwise around the table. Nodoka was still in a state of shock from what she had heard about Ranma. He stopped when he was standing behind Kuno and Kodachi. Both were trying to look back at him, but couldn't turn their heads far enough.
"Tatewaki Kuno and Kodachi Kuno, neither of you seem to fully grasp what is going on. I'm not saying you aren't intelligent, you just do not seem to have the wisdom to apply said intelligence. So, I will grant you both wisdom."
With that, reaches between them and sets to thin necklaces with a small blue gem on each on the table.
"You will be able to move your arms now. But before you pick those up, remember that every gift has its price. The price for this gift will not be paid to me, but yourselves and those you have wronged."
Tatewaki and Kodachi, not seeming to listen to him, immediately grabbed the necklaces and put them on. As soon as they settled around their necks, they vanished. Tatewaki started to open and close his mouth without making a sound with a wide eyed stare straight at Ranma. Kodachi, meanwhile, was also wide eyed, but tears were slowly trailing from her eyes. Ryoga was looking at them curiously.
"What did you do to them? I may not have liked them, but I wouldn't want to see them hurt permanently."
Dimitrios started to speak, but was interrupted by Elder Khu Lon.
"He gave them wisdom, and with it, guilt. They have realized all the evil they have done to others in the past and are finally feeling guilt over it. That may be one of the worst gifts I know to give those two. Any other punishment, they wouldn't really understand, but that one gives them understanding. A very well thought out punishment for them, indeed."
"That is only part of the punishment. I needed to grant them their punishment before I moved on to the main event; otherwise it would have been wasted on them. Normally I do a group punishment, followed by individual specific punishments."
He looked over to his seat suddenly. Everyone, with the exception of Kuno and Kodachi, followed his gaze to see blue mist like energy floating up and coalescing into another human form. This time the person was a five foot tall female. She had blue hair down to her waist. Her eyes were blue/gray. She looked like a normal human except for blue hair. She was wearing very little clothing, but what little she did have on looked like armor. She had on knee length boots and matching waist protectors. Attached to the waist protectors were twin swords with out sheaths. They appeared to be attached magnetically or magically to the protectors. For a top, she had on a halter top with shoulder guards. She was also wearing gauntlets on her hands. All of her items were made of a dark blue metal. She also did not appear to be happy in the least.
"Ah, hello sister, how nice of you to jo…."
"Cut the crap. Are these the ones that drove a Pure Soul to commit seppuku?"
She had crossed her arms over her chest at this point and was directing her frown at Dimitrios. Dimitrios was starting to look a little nervous from the glare he was getting.
"Ah…yes…yes they are."
"Good, are you ready to hand out their punishments?"
"No need to rush, Sister, I was just getting finished setting up for it. Now, if you don't mind, can I do my job without interruptions?"
"Fine, just hurry it up."
With that she sat down in the empty seat in front of her, placing her swords in the empty space on the table. Dimitrios watched her for a while he walked around the table to his seat, but she didn't notice as she was too busy glaring at everyone seated at the table.
"This is my sister, Minerva, and she is an angel of protection for Pure Souls. Of the two of us, she has the harder job in that she must try and protect them from harm, although just guarding them from death is a task in and of itself. She had thought Ranma was going to be one of her few successes, but when he went to commit seppuku, well…"
He looked around the table, and it seemed all of them, including Tatewaki and Kodachi, understood what he was saying and were looking at his sister with more than and little trepidation.
"Now, before my sister decides to take matters into her own hands, I will explain the first part of the punishment you will be gifted with. Most, if not all, of you know about his past and what he has gone through. Well, now, you will get to live it through his eyes, body, and thoughts. But you will not be able to affect any of it."
As he finished speaking, he picked the sword hilt from the table, and held it with both hands at arms length in front of him as if the sword were pointing into the air. After a second, blue energy slowly left the hilt where the sword would be, traveling up like smoke, but staying in the confines of where the sword would be. It seemed to be forming a sword with the energy. After several seconds the energy stopped moving when it was in the shape of a katana with a 5 foot blade. As soon as the katana was complete, everyone blacked out.
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Nodoka could not believe what she was seeing. It was herself, but only younger, and she seemed to be a giant.
'Wait, she's not a giant, I'm a child! What's going on here?'
She felt hands pick her up and was turned around to see a younger Genma.
'I know what this is; this is when Ranma left with his dad on the training trip the first time. He was only five years old then.'
She felt how excited he was to be going on this adventure with his dad. He didn't want to leave his mom, but his dad told him it wouldn't be for long.
'I wish I hadn't let them go. I missed him so dearly since then.'
Suddenly, everything blurs…
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…and when everything refocuses, Ukyo sees herself when she was just a kid.
'This is the first day I met Ranma. I remember that day. I can't believe how mad he made me.'
She saw through Ranma's eyes how he would take okonomiyaki from the grill just as it was done cooking and run off with it. She couldn't believe it, but he actually thought it was all a game.
Everything fast forwards for a minute. Now she was sitting in Genma's lap and he asked her which she liked more, Ukyo or okonomiyaki. Ranma didn't understand the question, so he went with his stomach.
"Okonomiyaki."
Suddenly everything faded out again…
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…and everything refocuses for Ryoga to realize he is being held over a pit by his shirt.
'Who's holding me up? And why does this pit stink so much?'
Suddenly he hears a yowling sound come from the pit. And then more yowling, as if dozens of cats are in there. Next thing he knows, he's falling into the pit and the top is covered. It's dark and suddenly there is the hissing of angry cats. There all around him and coming closer. One claws his arm. Another bites his right hand. Now they are all over him, clawing and biting. After that, he passes out.
He wakes to find himself over the pit again, this time still wounded and hurting from the first time. Before he can speak or do anything, the hand holding him up lets go again. This time he manages to look up and see Genma as he pushes the boards back over the top of the pit.
'I don't believe it. He actually put Ranma through all this?'
As soon as the felt the claws start to tear into his flesh again, everything faded.
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As it goes along, it fades into and out of dozens of scenes of running from villages, stealing from people, starving while Genma either drank sake or ate all the food because Ranma wasn't fast enough to keep him from stealing it from him.
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As the scene faded in again, Akane saw many different pools of water, all of them with bamboo poles sticking to the air. Nearby, the guide was rattling on about how the pools were cursed, but her and Genma ignored him and jumped onto the poles. Once up there, the started to battle. She couldn't believe how fast she was or Genma either. Next thing she knows, she knocked Genma into a pool of water. She knew what was going to happen next, but to see it was still amazing. Out of the pool hops an angry panda.
Ranma is surprised and doesn't know how to react to this and is knocked into a pool as well. Akane feels a strange tingling and slight numbness throughout her body. Suddenly, she remembers that she swims like a rock. But the body reacts on its own and swims towards the surface. When she breaks the surface and climbs out, she finds she is in Ranma's female body and very disoriented. She jumps up and starts attacking the panda, chasing it around the pools of water.
As they are running along, they see a boy with a leopard print bandana in the way. He gets run into by the panda and further knocked of the cliff they were on by her. They hear a splash, but ignore it in favor of revenge on the panda. Shortly after, she loses sight of the panda.
Again, the scene fades…
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The scenes fade into and out of Ranma's life, leaving the viewers feeling as if they had lived that moment themselves. The constant attacks, the verbal assaults, the use of honor against him. All of it adds up in each of them. Finally the last scene appears. It shows Ranma sitting in an old abandoned temple facing the sunset with no shirt on. He is kneeling on a towel with a small tanto in his hand. As the last rays of the sun sink into the horizon, he plunges the knife into himself. They all feel the pain as it cuts the flesh. The scene suddenly fades.
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As they awaken, they see they are sitting at the table again. Xian Pu, Ukyo, Nodoka, and Kasumi are crying. Akane just has a shocked expression on her face. Tatewaki, Kodachi, Khu Lon, and Ryoga are all glaring at Genma. Suon is staring at Genma in shock. Even Nabiki looks disgusted at Genma. Genma is looking around at everyone nervously.
Minerva looked like she wanted to hurt all of them. Dimitrios was a mystery though, as his face couldn't be seen.
"Husband, when we get back, we are going to have a long talk."
The sheer venom in the voice even froze Suon in place. Genma turned pale.
"WAAAAA. What an honor-less boy, putting his father into such a predicament. WaaaaaURK."
Genma suddenly stops wailing when he feels a hand on his right should and a blade resting on his left shoulder. He looked over to see that Dimitrios was no longer at his seat, nor was his sword hilt sitting on the table.
"Genma, I see you have not understood the lesson involved here. That isn't really a surprise, since you did know most, if not all of it as you are a major cause. As you don't seem to understand the word honor, I feel it is my responsibility to teach it to you."
The sword leaves Genma's shoulder. Next he feels a necklace being placed around his neck. As soon as the full weight of the necklace settles, it vanishes.
"Wha...what…did you do to me?"
"That necklace was only symbolic of the curse I just placed on you. In this case, every time you attempt to use honor against someone, do something honor less, or call someone honor less, it will shock you. Every time you do that, it will double in power. Eventually, if you don't change your ways, you will die."
At this point, Minerva stands up and begins to walk over as well.
"I would like to add something to that, brother. Since this…person…seems to look down on women as weak, I believe that a little something extra is in order."
"What do you have in mind, sister?"
"Just this."
With that, she places her hand on top of Genma's head and Genma begins to shrink and change. Within seconds, a cute, eighteen year old girl is sitting in Genma's seat. She's dark haired and has Genma's spectacles on.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME???"
"I turned you into that which you despise. Fitting punishment, in my opinion."
"Fitting indeed, sister, but is his…er…her Jusenkyo curse still in place?"
"Yes, she will still turn into a panda with cold water, but it will also be female. On top of that, I sealed away all of her martial arts skills. Now she is nothing more than a normal human. If she wants this to be lifted, she has one year to learn how to be a proper lady. If, after that year is up, she hasn't learned her lesson, then it will be permanent."
"Well, since we have already started on it, we might as well explain and finish. As of this point, I will be going around and not only gifting you with punishments, but also explaining what you did wrong. Well, most of you, two, I have already punished, and certain ones will not be punished outside of what has already happened. Genma was cursed because he was using his son as a means to get a free ride from life. He learned a little too well from his master, Happosai."
Dimitrios began to slowly walk around the table until he was standing behind Ryoga.
"Ryoga Hibiki, you are"
"I understand."
"You do? What do you understand?"
"That I'm a hypocrite. Ranma has been through worse times that I can even begin to imagine. I have done nothing but make it worse for him."
"So you do understand the lesson. So what are you going to do about it?"
"I'm going to do my best to make it better for him, and I will apologize for my attacking him."
"Good. You, of course, know I will still be giving you a punishment?"
"Yes."
"Okay, your punishment will be an addition to your current directional curse. At the moment, you just wander around the planet at random, well, now you will also randomly teleport to other planets as well. Nowhere you can't survive. However, in your case, the way to break this curse is to make it to Ranma and ask his forgiveness. When he grants it, then your problem with directions will be completely gone."
With that, he places a small necklace around Ryoga's neck. When he releases it, it vanishes into Ryoga. After that he begins walking around the table again. This time he stops behind Happosai.
"Happosai, your punishment will be the most painful, psychologically. You gain your power from your lust for women's lingerie and groping women. Well, not anymore. Now you will lose power whenever you do anything like that. And to top it off, let's add this to it."
With that, Dimitrios snaps his fingers. Blue energy comes from the ground and envelopes Happosai. After a minute, it disappears, leaving a woman that could easily pass for a supermodel. She was very sexily dressed and appeared as if she were about to pass out from exhaustion.
"Don't worry, she's just exhausted from the affect of the curse, since she is wearing lingerie underneath the clothes she has on. She has the same amount of time as Genma to learn to be a proper woman and repent her actions when she was a guy. If she doesn't, it will be permanent as well."
With that, Happosai passed out. Dimitrios shrugs and begins to walk around the table again. This time he stops behind Suon.
"Suon Tendo, you have given up and let chaos reign in your family. Your oldest daughter had to give up her dreams to support the family. The middle child gave up her emotions and morals to bring in money for the family, and the youngest became a spoiled brat that believes that she is always in the right. You knew about the problems your family was having and you did nothing for them. You let your grief for your wife override your duty to your children. From now on you will have to earn everything you eat, drink, or enjoy. If you do not earn it, it will bring you no fulfillment. Food with taste like ash, drink will not quench your thirst. This punishment will last until you can go one year without activating it."
Suon just nods his head slowly. Dimitrios moves to stand behind Akane.
"Akane, your lesson will be, by far, the most painful physically. I have used this curse so often as a punishment, that I even have a name for it. Precognitive Karma. Normally, when you do something to someone, it is returned to you seven times eventually. This curse reads your thoughts and actions and punishes you before you can cause harm. Let's say you were going to hit Ranma with your mallet, instead, before your mallet would even appear, you would feel seven times the amount of pain as if you would have hit him. You won't die from it, but you may wish you had. This is so you will eventually learn to control your temper, think about your actions for you act, and hopefully become a better person. I would also recommend tasting your own cooking before you let anyone eat it. Even the best cooks do that and it will help to improve the taste of your cooking. Remember, Akane, no matter how good you are at something, there is always someone better. Everyone has that over them. No matter how powerful Ranma is in martial arts, if Khu Lon were to go all out against him, he wouldn't last twenty seconds. However, if Ranma were to lapse into the Neko-ken, then he would beat Khu Lon no matter what technique she used."
Akane looked over to see Khu Lon nodding along with what Dimitrios was saying. As she looked over, she felt Dimitrios put a necklace around her neck, which promptly vanished. With that, he moved to the next Tendo sister.
"Nabiki, while your intent was most admirable, your methods left quite a bit to be desired. You used blackmail, extortion, and, in essence, child pornography to make money for your family."
"What do you mean child pornography? I never did that?"
"Oh? So what do you call taking pictures of partially clothed underage females and selling them is called? 'A rose by any other name…' Many instances, you made things worse for Ranma by your schemes. Yes, they did make more money for your home, and, yes, you did need the money because those two were now living with you and causing more costs to your family. The last scheme did prevent them from being put into an unwanted marriage, but you could have gotten your sisters or yourself killed by the actions of the people you sold the information to. For a lesson, you will have a two part. Every time you do something that is morally wrong, you will be stuck unable to display emotions for a week. During that time you will be like a robot, no emotion, no enjoyment, nothing. The other part is during the night, you will dream and see the possible future for you if you don't change your ways. You won't remember details, but you will remember the ends you come to. The reason I am so light on your lesson is because you believed that the ends justify the means. Hopefully you will learn that that is not the case."
With that, he steps behind Kasumi, who is still crying from what she saw of Ranma's past.
"Kasumi, what have you learned so far?"
"That…that I could have done so much more for him. I knew everything that my sisters did, and my father, and I did nothing to stop them. Only once did I try and after that I never tried again. I could have made it safe for him in the home, but I didn't."
"It's alright, Kasumi. Your actions were what kept him stable as long as he was. You were the one person he knew he could come to if he needed something. He didn't want to burden you with his problems though. So your lesson will be one in taking charge of your life and those around you when they need it. For that, you will be in charge of both Genma and Happosai. You will be the one to teach them and train them. Their failure to learn will not reflect on you though. I only say that because I know you will try your hardest and if they do not change, it would break your heart. Take good care of them."
Kasumi wipes the tears from her eyes slowly as she nods her head.
"I will do my best."
Dimitrios pats her shoulder and begins to walk around the table yet again. He stops behind Khu Lon.
"Elder Khu Lon, you have let your great granddaughter and Mu Tsu act as they will and through their actions, have brought shame onto your tribe. You know right from wrong, and could easily have solved this mess. However because the way to solve it would not have ended with Ranma being part of the tribe, you decided against it. Your lesson is quite simple. You will be responsible for the actions of Xian Pu and Mu Tsu as well as teaching them proper bearing and actions as befit their tribe. If you don't do this, I will see to it that the tribe is disbanded. Their actions from now on will directly reflect upon you."
He turns to look at Xian Pu and Mu Tsu.
"Anytime you do something that reflects poorly upon your tribe, you will be stuck in your cursed from for two weeks. Hot water will not change you back, until those two weeks are up. Anything you do during that time that reflects poorly will add two weeks to the amount of time you will spend in that form."
He moves to stand behind Nodoka.
"Nodoka Saotome, you abandoned your child with a death threat if he wasn't a 'man among men' upon his return. In addition, your idea of a 'man among men' is looked down upon in this day and age. You never cared what kind of training your husband put him through during that time; all you cared about was grandchildren. You could have easily stopped the madness that surrounded your son, but didn't due to using honor against him as well. Furthermore, upon meeting him again for the first time since you abandoned him, you were ready to kill him for a curse he had no control over receiving. I have no lesson for you, as you have learned from the mistakes you made in the past and will not make them again."
He walked to stand behind Ukyo.
"Ukyo Kuonji, you were forced to live your life as a boy due to Genma and your father's deal. At first you were out for revenge on Ranma, but later changed to being a fiancé. Instead of the friend he needed, or asking him if he wanted anything like that, you, instead, forced your feelings and wants on him. He no longer had a friend he could ask for help, instead he had another fiancé. There is no honor lost if you don't marry him. Your families honor was lost and properly punished when Genma and your father made the arrangement and Genma stole the cart. Your father knew that Genma had already set up a fiancé for Ranma when he made the deal with Genma. Genma, although he didn't mean to do it, properly punished your father by stealing the cart which was set as the dowry. If you truly love Ranma, prove it by not treating him as a prize to be one, but as a person whose opinion and thoughts count and matter to you. This goes for all four of you."
He looks at Xian Pu, Akane, and Kodachi. After that, he walks over and sits down.
"Now to deal with the fiancé problem. I have already explained Ukyo's claim. Kodachi, there never was a real honorably claim for you. Xian Pu, when he defeated Herb of the Musk tribe, an enemy of your people, he was powerful enough to take on and defeat your tribe's most powerful warriors with the exception of the Elder's. When he defeated and killed Saffron, he became a blooded warrior with full rights within your tribe. In addition, he defeated a godling and with that level of kill he had full rights as an elder if he did come to your tribe. The first one alone freed him from any Kiss of Marriage or Death. The other two sealed the deal, so to speak. Khu Lon, would you rather have him as a full ally of the tribe or as an enemy?"
"An ally would be much preferred to having son-in…Ranma as an enemy."
"Good, I would hate to see your honorable tribe be destroyed, even with the actions of these two. Suon Tendo and Genma Saotome, your actions have dishonored the deal between you so many times that such a deal no longer exists. In addition, as there is no heir to your branch of the school, Suon, how can the schools be merged. Akane is far from even mediocre martial artist. You have never trained her in your style nor disciplined her attitude for the martial arts. At best she is a thug and a bully."
"I…I see."
Suon sighs deeply.
"Also, know this, Ranma was able to hear everything we said and did. So none of you will try to back out of any of this. And with that, I bid you farewell."
Dimitrios claps his hands and everyone passes out and vanishes. He looks at Ranma for a minute and, with a wave of his hand, dispels the cat statue surrounding him. Ranma's body floats down till he is sitting in the center of the table. The red line on his stomach disappears.
"Ranma, you now have a choice to make. While we can't completely remove your curse, we can give you control over it so you can change at will, we can separate you and your cursed form into two different bodies, we can let you die and move on, we can send you to a different dimension or timeline to live out your life, or any of the above. It is your decision."
"You can separate the bodies? How would that work?"
"Ranko, your female form, would have her own personality and soul, but she would only be as old as your female form is. Think of it as now having a little sister. She would be linked to you by blood so that is the best way to treat it."
"Would it be possible to send me back as I am now?"
This shocked Dimitrios and Minerva.
"Why would you want that?"
"Well, everything that has happened to me, has made me me. If I can now control my form or separate, I wouldn't be me anymore. If I die, it would break quite a few of those that care about me. Same if I went to a different dimension or timeline. So I would like to go back as I am right now."
Minerva looks at him for a minute, before smiling.
"I don't see a problem with this, brother. Do you?"
"Possibly. What are you going to do if things get this bad again?"
"I'll solve it myself. I can't let it get that bad again. It should have never gotten that bad in the first place. Problem is, most of that stuff I couldn't fix without hurting someone."
"I see you learned your lesson as well. We were more than happy with helping to fix your problems, even if the way you got our attention was a little on the dramatic side. One last thing before I send you back though. The Neko-ken is starting to take over more control of your mind. You need to master it soon, or it will master you. Goodbye, Ranma."
Minerva stepped onto the table and walked to where Ranma was sitting. Suddenly two white wings spread from her back, easily 5 meters in spread. Minerva leans down and kisses his forehead. With that, he vanishes.
"Do you think everything will be okay, sister?"
"Not really, brother, he will attract chaos to him, no matter how careful he is."
"I guess we need to keep a closer eye on him then, eh sister?
Minerva laughs.
"True, brother, all too true."
At that both laugh for a minute before vanishing.
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A/N: Looks like it's going to be a three parter…damn my long windedness. I'll even throw in an Omake Ending for it since this one won't get out of my head. Till next time…
24 Jul 2007 Edit.
Change of plans. After looking at it and thinking about it for several days, I realized that I can't end it any better than I have already. Blame it on my lack of skill at writing if you want, but anything else I do will actually make it worse. Like a running gag that ran for too long. I may do a sequel to it, if I have enough inspiration, but don't hold your breath. Later all and sorry for the way it ends if you don't like it.