A quick note for my readers:
This is a completely different Ranma than the one found in Chaos Soldier Ranma, though it is roughly based on that character. There is no connection between the two stories, except that Ranma was recruited by the Chaos Empire after the Neko-ken training. You'll see the differences over time. Let me know what you think or how much background you're wanting to see. With that said, back to the story. Time to meet the Tendos!
Kasumi stood in the doorway looking out at the backyard, her eyes tracing the contours of their latest visitor. While she'd been willing to admit, if only to herself, that the younger Ranma was an attractive young man, she had never felt any type of desire towards the boy. Instead, she found him to be the younger protective brother she'd never had. A constant amidst that chaos that had come to surround the lives of her family. What she saw before her was definitely not a brotherly figure.
A small blush stained her cheek as she watched the man preen. That was the only way to describe the way he was standing, posturing with every subtle shift of his body. The way that the black fabric seemed to cling to his body left very little to the imagination, tracing the hard lines of his pectorals, hugging those broad shoulders. When he directed his smile her way it was all she could do to control her breathing. Shaking her head slightly, she tried to banish the images that suddenly blossomed within her mind. They certainly weren't lady like.
Nabiki struggled to understand what was standing before her. This early in the morning she still wasn't fully functioning. She'd never liked mornings and until she'd had her second cup of coffee generally was unapproachable by the outside world. She might be forgiven for not fully processing the sights before her, but while her mind wasn't registering the prime male specimen standing in her backyard, her body certainly was taking notice.
A fierce blush stained Nabiki's cheeks and warmth flooded her body. Her eyes were clued to the way that the muscles rippled beneath the exotic cloth. She couldn't recognize it either. From this distance, awake or not, she could usually tell if something was silk, cotton, or synthetic. Whatever the stuff was, it was obviously high quality, especially with the way it molded to his body. Her thoughts trailed off from there, running away from her while she was still partially out of it.
The reaction of the youngest Tendo was nearly opposite of her older sisters. Whereas her sisters were appreciating the sight for the delicious treat that it was, Akane was letting her familiar anger guide her. Every morning she tried to wake up before the Saotomes would spar yet no matter how early she set her alarm, she never managed to wake up before they did, instead finding herself disturbed from her slumber not by the alarm, but by the sounds of combat. Each day her annoyance at the daily ritual only continued to grow until she woke up automatically angry.
That same anger coursed through her, warring with the confusing array of feelings that were brought about by the not quite-a-stranger standing in her backyard. The heat of her anger was mixed with another heat that she didn't quite understand, but she knew that it had to be Ranma's fault. After all, wasn't it always his fault any time that she felt strange. Like when she felt herself growing hot around his female form, or embarrassed when he did something nice for her. All those thoughts and more proved to only add pressure to the volatile concoction of her emotions.
The younger Ranma watched the newcomer with a mixture of awe and tired wariness. He could feel the power flowing off the new guy and that much power shouldn't reside in one person. It put to shame any of his previous opponents or rivals and seemed to be wanting to absorb his own. Unsure of why he was doing so, Ranma drew all his power into himself, an aura of blue confidence bursting into existence around him. Almost immediately it was rebounding off a sphere of white light that surrounded the stranger.
Beads of sweat suddenly glistened on Ranma's brow as he fought against the opposing aura, struggling not to be swept away in the tidal wave of power. Gritting his teeth in concentration, he reached for even more power, recalling every victory against overwhelming odds. Fighting and winning against Herb, the dragon descendant prince. Saving Akane from Saffron, the immortal phoenix godling. Facing down the old ghoul, Ku Lohn, ancient matriarch of the Chinese Amazons. Finally defeating the old letch, Happosai, Grandmaster of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. In a sudden burst of power, Ranma's aura flared out, blowing away the sphere of white light until the entire backyard was swathed in the physical manifestation of his power.
Ranma blinked his eyes to clear away the sudden blindness inspired by his own technique. His labored breaths were the only sound in the backyard, for the moment. A quiet clapping drew Ranma's attention and he gaped at the sight of the stranger standing in exactly the same place, not disturbed in the least by the show of power.
Slowly stopping his applause, the elder Ranma threw a cocky grin at his younger self. That had actually been an impressive display and he doubted he could have managed the same at the apparent age of the boy turned girl. That had been many years ago and many wars ago though, more than time enough to grow and evolve.
"I have to say, Ranma, you're quite the little powerhouse aren't you? I bet you attract trouble like there's no tomorrow with an aura like that. I can feel the chaotic energy woven throughout everything you do. How many days does is it between challengers now? And each one stronger than the last, all coming to you as if pulled? Each announcing their desire to face your power?" Each word was delivered with a smile on the older Ranma's face, a sparkle in the vibrant sapphire eyes.
Ranma took a step back, confusion etched on his features. "How do you know that? Who are you?" The sometimes girl settled into a loose defensive stance, keeping his center of gravity low to the ground. It was a lot easier to do in his female form, allowing him to stay grounded better, even though he had far less mass than his male form.
Chuckling softly, the elder Ranma reached up and scratched the back of his neck, near the base of his ponytail, a move eerily familiar to the pigtailed warrior. "I'm you, in a matter of speaking. I'm what you could have become if you'd been brought up differently. My name is Captain Ranma Saotome of the Chaos Empire Marine Corp. As for how I know what you've been going through, no I haven't been spying on you, as I'm sure that is what your first thoughts were about. Instead, I have firsthand experience on what it's like having a powerful aura. On nearly every world I've been to I find myself surrounded by those who have felt that power, wanting to test themselves.
"I've learned that a true martial artist is one who embraces the art and always strives to go beyond themselves, improving, learning, growing, measuring yourself against those stronger so you can see how far you've come and how far you still have to go. I've been a warrior for the last ten years, even since I joined the marines at age fourteen, the youngest you're allowed to join."
Everyone in the household blinked in unison. He was still Ranma? Joined the marines? How was that even possible. No one was sure who asked the question out loud, but Captain Ranma seemed more than willing to provide the answers to that particular inquiry.
"On a world much similar to this one, I was found by a friend of mine. A man named Jonathan Avery. His job was to survey new worlds and see if they were worth colonizing. He arrived on my world just after I learned the Cat Fist. He took me with him back to the Chaos Empire, introducing me to others who could continue my training. For eight years I did nothing but train to be the best, learning from those with experience and pride in what they do.
"And now, after ten years in the military, I'm on leave. I asked Avery for an idea and he suggested I visit home, only I couldn't. Earth had been destroyed during a war with another race. So instead of the home I had left behind, he sent me to this one, along with some background information. That tricky bastard did always seem a little too knowledgeable. He pointed out your curse, though not where you got it or what else might be going on in your life. Just some of the major players. Speaking of which."
Captain Ranma paused in his narrative as he turned to face the unbridled wrath of the ever angry Akane. He whistled appreciatively at the strength behind the angry red aura that flared around her. Not bad for an amateur, though she was nothing compared to even this world's Ranma or his father. The Captain did take note that the sisters seemed to have backed away, as if well aware of the volatile nature of Akane's rage when she hits the boiling point. Soon she would be nothing more than a berserker, unable to distinguish friend from foe.
Relaxing into a ready stance, Captain Ranma watched his target, wondering just what type train of logic the delusional girl would ride to end up at the conclusion that he needed to be punished. He'd read up on the dossier that had been created on the girl and he hadn't been impressed. While it wasn't his practice to beat up on children, he knew he was going to enjoy this far too much to take his normal approach.
The sad fact of Akane's mind was that she only had one or two tracks on which she operated, all of which revolved around the same station, that of everything was Ranma's fault and she was the best at everything. Those two laws had evolved to completely govern her life and any deviation from such needed to be corrected. The most direct path towards correction was to ruthlessly squash any hints that something might be wrong about her perception.
Upon finding yet another Ranma in the backyard, she had at first thought it might be another person like Copy Cat Ken, who had the ability to mimic other people. The problem with that theory was that this Ranma was way different from the original. With that possibility eliminated, she moved onto the next likely suspect, an evil clone. Those tended to be slightly different that the original and always had evil perverted intentions. With the way this creature was making her feel, as if her entire body was flushed and all she wanted to do was squirm under his gaze, he had to be an evil force.
Stomping into the backyard, Akane called upon powers honed through years of beating on pigtailed martial artists. Answering the call of her anger, her ki gathering into her hands, manifesting into the shape of a large wooden mallet. With a cry of 'Ranma no baka' she swung for the hills, putting her entire strength behind the attack.
Captain Ranma just chuckled as he sidestepped, feeling the rush of wind as the instrument of doom rushed by him. "Nice speed and power on that but you need to work on your follow through." His observation was made as he simple tapped the girl on the back, sending her stumbling forward, unable to control the momentum from her swing and the added push from behind. She was however able to keep herself from falling face first into the grass.
Whirling with a growl, Akane took another swing at the taunting demon, knowing that there was no way for him to side step this time as she swung horizontally. Image her surprise as the target took a step back, slapping the back of the mallet to add more speed as she spun out of control. Trying to control herself just ended with her on her pajama covered rump, the mallet going flying from her hands in surprise. Free of her conscious control, the mallet faded away.
Ranma watched the entire exchange, trying not to wince in sympathy for the man about to be clobbered. He was about to jump in to save the poor guy, completely ignoring the fact that the man had an aura even more powerful than his own, when he found himself unable to move. It was as some inner voice held him in place, forcing him to watch as another Ranma was subject to the same treatment he had been receiving for the last two years. Only instead of a Ranma being launched into orbit, Akane was being led around like the rank amateur that she was.
Ignoring his father's protests that Ranma needed to go protect his fiancée, Ranma made his way over to the two Tendo girls still standing in the doorway, his eyes never leaving the completely one sided fight between Akane and his older incarnation. The fight was so different from his normal sparring matches. There was none of the blinding speed, the last second dodges. Each attack was instead redirected or deflected. Ranma could tell that the man was just playing with her. He had yet to use any ki in his limbs to strengthen or quicken, instead relying on pure skill and strength.
Captain Ranma was grinning at the girl, enjoying the chance to stretch his limbs. The girl had no chance of actually hurting him. From the hits he'd redirected he could feel the strength within the girl, power that could do some serious damage if one wasn't paying attention. She could probably take on more than her share of the people in the unarmed fighting tournaments back home, but she was way out of her league against the Marine Elite. The men and women in her squad would have had the girl broken and bleeding on the ground after the first minute of combat, then gone on to critic everything that she did wrong.
Finally tiring of the game, Captain Ranma reached out and caught one of Akane's punches, grunting slightly from the effort of absorbing the fist into his palm. Some serious power there. His opponent was panting in frustration, grinding her teeth loud enough for him to hear over her panting. Lips still curled into a smirk, he pulled and twisted, pulling the girl around until he had her arm pinned over her shoulder and down the middle of her back, pushing in slightly to add pressure to the arm. Ignoring the wince, he started the critic, pointing out the holes in her attack style as well as the folly of attacking someone before learning their style.
Akane's responses were to curse and fume, seeing every word as an affront to her senses. There was no way that this pervert was better than her. He had to have cheated. She tried to kick him between the legs even while forced to look away from him, except that every time she tried, he would put more pressure on her arm, lifting slightly until the pain in her shoulder forced her to try and push against the ground for leverage.
"You know what you're biggest problem is, girlie? It's not that you're angry, it's that you let your anger dictate your actions. Anger needs to be controlled, directed, channeled into the proper direction as to achieve your goals." Pushing her away at the last moment, Captain Ranma turned and drew bead on the man emerging from the house, the sidearm in his hand before anyone could even see him moving.
Soun pulled up short, his demon head attack poofing from existence in the face of some exotic gun. He could easily recognize a projectile weapon, even if he had no use for them himself.
Captain Ranma kept his gaze locked on the man, a flash of steel in his hard blue eyes. "And you must be Soun, the cowardly father. Trying to sneak up on a man when he isn't watching? Tsk tsk. And after I had been sure to be nice to your little girl. You see her over there, panting with rage? The only reason she's still conscious is because I didn't feel the need to disable her in this fight. Her skill isn't nearly good enough to get a hit in on me. You on the other hand."
Looking closer at the older gentleman, Captain Ranma grinned at the sight of the man's aura, a feral gleam in his eyes. "I can see that you can channel your anger, direct your rage. That aura you had projected was fairly substantial. If you'd taught that to your daughter, she'd have improved vastly in the martial arts. As it is, she's nothing more than a strong brute." He cut off as he sensed an attack from behind and sidestepped before slamming an elbow into the gut of his attacker.
Wind rushed out of Genma as he struggled to breath. That had been a disabling blow and only his experience with the dreaded Master had allowed him to take the blow. Backing away, he cast an eye at his friend, wondering what else he could do to keep the situation from spiraling out of control. Normally when dealing with a person holding a gun, you had to take them by surprise or things would get quickly out of control. Dodging bullets was way too hard.
Turning that same evil eye toward Genma, Captain Ranma grinned even broader. With the gun still trained on Soun, there was nothing to worry about from the long haired older gentleman. Greeting the new arrival with that same grin, he looked over Genma, noting the way the man was holding his gut but still standing in defiance of the pain.
"Glad to see that you're still standing, pops. I was hoping that I could thank you for some of the training you put me through. Does something called the Neko-ken ring a bell to you?"
Everyone in the immediate area gasped in shock. So this Ranma had been subjected to the dreaded technique as well. Genma took a step back, warring within himself on what to do. On one hand, his best friend was being held at gun point. On another, this Ranma seemed to remember the Neko-ken and that could on mean bad things for him. Eyes scrambling around the yard for any type of support, they fell on the female form of his son. Inspired by a plan, he set in motion gathering the support of the best martial artist her knew.
"Oh why have the Gods cursed me with such a useless son, to leave his poor defenseless father to the tender mercies of a gun wielding maniac." Genma struck a heroic pose, only to find a dainty foot in his face.
Ranma was not amused by the outburst. Flipping away from his father, he landed lightly on the ground, tossing his pigtail back over his shoulder from where it had fallen forward. Still in female form, he didn't have nearly the power he needed to take on this guy and he wasn't about to do it for his father's sake either. While seeing Soun held at gunpoint, he did have to admit that the man who looked like an older version of himself had a right to defend himself.
While Ranma was waging the internal debate on what to do, the elder Tendo daughters were going over their own options. One was trying to find out how to spin the information to the best profits and the other was wondering if she needed to make another place at the table, next to her own. To help him get settled in of course.
The laughter ringing through the backyard caused everyone to focus on the stranger once again. He stood there, weapon put away, clutching his sides as he laughed, a loud, boisterous sound that seemed to fill the area. Every time he glanced at the posturing elder Saotome, Captain Ranma would break into another set of laughs, unable to explain to the suddenly confused people watching.
Soun, no longer under threat of gun, rushed to his baby's side, gently running his hands over his daughter's shoulder to check for damage. Seeing his baby girl safe and sound if still a bit winded and with wounded pride, he stood and looked at his long time friend. Having trained together with the dreaded Master, the two men had grown very close, learning to communicate without having to speak. Catching Genma's eyes, Soun began to circle the laughing man. No one made fun of Akane without answering for it. Since his daughter wasn't up to continuing the fight, that left him and Soun to their own devices.
Genma slipped around the side of the laughing man, then suddenly dashed in, leading with a flying kick. Soun stomped in with a flurry of punches, all of them faster than anything Akane could unleash on a good day. Their target seemed unaware of his fate until the last moment, when the man lifted both arms, catching the attacks and slamming both men to the ground. Genma tried to clear the stars from his vision from Soun was trying to catch the breath that had been knocked out of him.
Akane tried to capitalize on the seeming distraction, conjuring another mallet and swinging overhead, trying to squash the pervert who was attacking her father. Just as she was about to clobber the man, he seemed to teleport away, leaving the dazed fathers in his place. Before she could pull up on her attack, her mallet smashed into both men, eliciting cries of pain and anguish.
Ranma boggled at the sight. A burst of ki had momentarily enveloped the man before he moved with a speed that rivaled Ranma's own. He barely tracked the movement to where the man was now standing next to him and the other two Tendo girls near the doorway.
Captain Ranma leaned against the house, chuckling in spite of himself. He hadn't had this much fun in months. Sure they were trying to attack him, but their efforts were so pitiful that it was almost laughable avoiding them. Turning to look at his local counterpart, he grinned. "Well, that was amusing, but I think the two men are going to be out of it for awhile and the girl isn't worth my time, though she is fun to torment. It's not every day that you meet a berserker like her. Anyway, time for me to find someplace to stay."
Flashing a smile at Kasumi and Nabiki, the elder Ranma leapt for the roof then disappeared into the horizon. Ranma watched for as long as he could before sighing. Things were definitely going to change around here.
Author's Notes:
So how did you like the fights, one sided as they were? If you think I got anything wrong, let me know. Also, what type of mayhem are you wanting Ranma to get into while on leave?