Chapter 2: The Four Lessons

"I know I can, Pops." Ranma stated without boasting. "I'll prove it to you later. We can go somewhere and rip the ground apart. Right now, I want to work with Akane."

"We will do this now, boy," Genma pushed. "I am your Master. If you don't back up your words right now, or apologize, I'll throw you out of my school," Genma rumbled. Soun rolled his eyes and shook his head. Up on the porch, Nodoka and Soun were joined by Kasumi, Nabiki and Happosai, who had been woken by Genma's yelling.

Ranma motioned to Akane to join the others. She was about to object, but Ranma shook his head. She closed her mouth with a snap (and with a glare) and went to the porch. "Actually, Pops. It's not your school. Happosai's not dead. The school's his and he never authorized a Saotome branch or a Tendo branch. There was no splitting of the school to require a joining," Ranma told him coolly.

He went on needling his father: "Happosai reappeared and offered to make either you or Soun his heir. You rejected the offer, and so did Soun. Happosai made me his reluctant heir, despite the fact I never acknowledged him as my Master." Ranma turned to face Happosai, evading the underhanded punch Genma threw at him without a thought. Ranma addressed Happosai with a raised eyebrow, "Are you naming another heir? I still refuse to call you Master."

"Hah!" Happosai laughed maliciously. "You'll not escape me that easily, my boy. You're still it. The beatings will continue until morale improves."

Ranma shrugged and turned back to his father dodging a kick without seeming to. "It was worth a try. So you see Pops, when Happosai dies, you and Soun become *my* disciples. You cannot throw me out of anything."

"No offense, lad," Soun called out. "But I'm going for Disciple Emeritus. You have to earn your own disciples." Ranma threw a grin at his father-in-law-to-be. Genma forgot himself and absolutely hit the roof though.

"YOU ARROGANT PUP!" Genma roared not needing to enhance his voice. Genma leaped at his son, determined to absolutely crush him.

Ranma stepped back and touched Genma on the forehead. Somehow, all of Genma's forward momentum vanished and he crashed to the ground. "Damn," Happosai said quietly. "I didn't think he knew that one yet."

"Ranma only has to see a technique twice to learn it," Tofu said behind the group. The Doc had arrived unnoticed until now. He had sensed the disturbance from the clinic and hurried over. "As soon as you used it on him a second time, he had it. I've lost a lot of good techniques to him that way."

Happosai shrugged. "Oh, well. It only works if someone is rushing you," he said.

Ranma kneeled down to where his father was sucking sod. "Face it, Pops. You're just like the rest of the manipulators. You have no idea who I really am or what I'm capable of. I'm not you and I never will be. I am finally in a place where I'm happy and I'm not leaving. If you want to leave because you're unhappy or don't want to follow the local rules, I understand, but I'm not going with you. I'll take care of Mom. The Tendos and I have already made arrangements regarding classes starting in the Spring once school ends." Up on the porch, Nodoka had turned to look at Soun, who only nodded his head in acknowledgement of Ranma's statement.

Genma froze for a second. Ranma knew him that well? Genma shook himself and stood up, then slipped into a stance. Ranma just sighed. "School?" Genma taunted. "When have you ever cared about school? See how low you have become?" He launched a kick hard at Ranma. Ranma side-stepped it and started to drive the leg into the ground. Genma saw what was happening and pulled the kick, immediately starting a backfist strike to break Ranma's nose. Ranma's head was too low though. The boy was still tracking Genma's foot, following through with the downward motion. "What the hell is he doing?" Genma thought. "He can't inflict any damage on me from that position." Suddenly, Genma felt a tiny snap on his little toe.

"Huh?" Genma thought. "O.K. it hurts a little, and I suppose it counts as first blood, but really?"

Meanwhile, Ranma was talking: "I suppose I don't really care about school, Pops – too much of you has rubbed off on me. But enough other people do. More importantly, they like to see proof; proof that can be verified. They also like to see that they have some common ground with who they do business with."

"You are trying to become a martial artist, boy," Genma said in a low insulting manner. "You're not even a tenth of the way there," he mocked. He launched a combination strike while saying: "You should have no common ground with any of the unclean masses, even so."

Ranma absorbed the strike with a clean block, not bothering to counter-attack. "I'm human, Pops. Or at least I was. Hopefully, I still have some humanity left."

"You are doing fine," Nabiki called out.

Genma paused in shock. Nabiki? Nabiki said that about Ranma? He never should have paused though. Ranma ended the block with a slight twist, breaking Genma's pinky. Again, Genma was confused. Why, that wasn't even worth mentioning for damage – what was Ranma up to? Genma threw a short groin kick at Ranma intending to disable him. Ranma leaped up on Genma's leg and made a palm strike at Genma's nose – the first real strike the boy threw. Genma blocked it with ease, expecting a second palm strike to follow, but Ranma surprised him by retreating with a kick to the belly. However, not before reaching out and breaking Genma's other pinky.

"Going to school gets me the credentials I need, Pops. It also teaches me the things I need to be a businessman, and to be a responsible husband and father. You should try it some time," Ranma told him.

"Good lord," Akane said. "He actually listened to me." Ranma made kissy lips at her.

"I don't need school to make me weak," Genma sneered. He had been able to shake off the belly strike easily. He was a real martial artist after all.

"I wasn't talking about school just then," Ranma countered. It took Genma a couple of seconds to recognize the insult. "Once I complete college, the community will see me as someone they can trust because I followed through with something. They won't have to wonder if they will wake up to find me gone."

"I don't think you'll have to wait that long," Tofu called out. "It's still a good idea though."

Genma saw red again when Tofu said that. He knew that Ranma called Tofu "Sensei" in those Sunday afternoon sessions. Ranma should never have any teacher but him. He was about to launch a kick when he realized the flaw. Ranma was waiting for it. He knew Genma inside and out, having been with Genma ever since Ranma was born. Suddenly, the three tiny strikes made sense. Ranma's next strike would be to Genma's other little toe. Ranma knew how Genma would have to respond to the damage. He knew that Genma's stance would become predictable to shift pressure off of the damaged areas. Certain combinations and attacks would be impossible. Ranma could choreograph the fight all the way down to Genma's glorious defeat.

Instead Genma backed up, retreating away from Ranma. Ranma broke out in a smile. "Even my father can be taught. Amazing," the boy said.

Genma didn't like the look of that smile. "What are you talking about, boy?" Genma blustered as he concentrated on speed healing the three breaks.

"Don't you see, Pops? Big things are made of little things. Four tiny breaks, and the wall comes down." Ranma began to laugh. "Details, Pops. It's all in the details. It's listening to the locals before entering an unknown area – maybe even learning the language, or at least how they think. It's reading the instruction manual completely before starting a project. It's taking into account consequences. I was hoping I could teach you that before you left us. All your scams failed because you didn't pay attention to details and you made no back-up plans. You failed the training Happosai gave you – you're not a true Anything Goes Martial Artist," Ranma said as insulting as possible.

Genma saw red again as Ranma touched all his raw nerves. He had to stop himself from charging the laughing boy. He had to concentrate on healing the breaks before Ranma turned them to his advantage. Trying to do both took all his energy for a fraction of a second, and, in that fraction, Ranma attacked. He saw Ranma blur and felt a hundred fists in his face. Genma caught a glimpse of Ranma's foot driving toward the remaining little toe and shifted to protect it. In doing so, he dropped his left guard and Ranma's fist slammed into his elbow shattering it. Genma ignored the pain driving his right fist into Ranma's chin trying to break the boy's jaw, but Ranma "rolled" with the punch and then touched a rock at Genma's feet. The boy didn't bother yelling "Breaking Point." Genma had to cover his eyes as the rock exploded and sent shards everywhere.

When Genma uncovered his eyes, Ranma was nowhere to be seen. "Where are you, you little coward?" Genma yelled.

Ranko's laughing voice answered him although he couldn't see her: "This from the man whose favorite technique is the 'Crouching Tiger'? Give me a break." The girl then continued: "Actually, you should have used the Crouching Tiger to buy time instead of trying to taunt me. That's your second lesson: You can't beat your son (or daughter) in an insult contest – you taught him (her) too well." Ranko sighed then and went on: "The insults won't buy you any time, so now you have to pay a penalty. You should have used another method to buy time to heal your arm, Pops. It's time for lesson three."

The young woman's voice firmed up: "You remember another key lesson you taught me, don't you? 'Girls are weak and powerless – not worth training' you told me. That one gave me lots of problems in life. Let's see how it really holds up." Suddenly Ranko appeared in front of him and touched the ground again. Another rock exploded, but Genma didn't shield his eyes this time because he knew it was what Ranko wanted. Genma was able to fend off Ranko's blows, despite the increased speed. Unfortunately, one of the shards caught his eye, temporarily blinding that eye with blood. Incredibly, Ranko then upped her speed and attacked the blinded side. Genma was only blocking two of three shots as his ribs took a terrific pounding. Despite the padding Genma naturally had, he felt one rib break. Ranko vanished once it snapped.

"For shame, Pops. I didn't even attack the side with the broken arm." Ranko's voice seemed to come from everywhere. "You let a weak and powerless girl break one of your ribs. Maybe girls aren't so weak after all. Maybe they are worth training. Heal up, Pops. We are not done yet, you still have one big and painful lesson to go. Both of us are going to get hurt here; how badly will depend on you. You might like to admit you were wrong and concede defeat."

Genma couldn't concede, he needed to cow his son and get his life back on track – he hadn't even used his secret techniques yet. He scanned the people around him while he healed his arm and rib first. Ranko suddenly appeared in front of him and waited for Genma to make his move, a resigned look on her face. Soun and Nodoka watched him, shaking their heads – Genma could tell they wanted him to back down. The three sisters looked stonily at him – even Kasumi. They obviously thought he was being an idiot. Happosai looked at him with amusement, not caring about the outcome of this contest. The only glimmer of sympathy he saw up on the porch was from Doctor Tofu, the one who knew him the least. That only made Genma furious. "How dare they doubt me!" he thought. He finished the healing and made sure to fix the three small bones.

He stood up and glared at the girl. "You should have never given me the chance to heal up, fool," he told Ranko. "Now face my wrath!"

"Get a new script writer," Ranko told him.

Genma began the attack on Ranko by using the Fierce Tiger Gate-Open Blast, the kick ending up in Ranko's stomach. The girl didn't make a block or even grunt because Genma was so fast. He followed up with a palm strike to the chin snapping her head back. Finally, he used the Fanged Fingers of Steel Welcome-Gate strike causing her to collapse. He stared down in satisfaction until he realized that there was sawdust pouring out of her side. "What?" he thought as he stared at the training dummy.

"You are slow as molasses," Ranma's voice sounded to his left. He turned to see his son leaning against a tree. "Really, Pops. Unsealing the Yamasen-Ken and the Umisen-ken will not help you at all. I've already taken them both apart and seen how far they will go. They're clever, I'll grant you, and they certainly have their uses (some of which I'm very fond of), but when it comes down to it, they are still a thief's tools. Never mind that I already know all the counters."

Genma launched a blade of air at Ranma and another one at a tree limb above Ranma's head. Ranma's eyes widened as he shouted "No!" Both blades shattered at the shout to Genma's astonishment. Then Ranma snapped his fingers and quickly stretched out his hand towards his father. Genma recognized that the hand was glowing just before a ball of Chi slammed into Genma stomach, throwing him ten meters.

Genma got back to his feet to see Ranma stalking towards him. "I like that tree, old man. And that branch is a great place for a nap. Kimiko's mother planted that tree."

Genma seemed confused for a moment and then let contempt show on his face. "Weak and sentimental, just like your female side," Genma sneered. "Why should you care? A true Martial Artist distains such attachments! Unlike you…" Genma launched his own Chi ball at Ranma. Ranma hit the ground and let the ball fly over him. "Didn't know I knew that one, little snot, did you?"

Ranma ignored the last comment and followed up on the previous one. "This from the man who professes to follow Bushido?" Ranma shot back.

Genma laughed. "Bushido is a means to an end, boy. If forces those below you to honor you and makes those above feel secure until you can take them down. In the end, you only have yourself, and that's all that matters."

"Just wanted to hear you say that, Pops. You never intended to follow through on the Seppuku Pact if you failed, did you? It was just another scam to keep Mom quiet. So much for family honor," Ranma said.

Genma heard Nodoka suck in her breath. Genma realized too many bridges were about to go up in smoke and tried to backtrack. "You misunderstand, boy, as you always have," he said awkwardly.

Ranma struck while Genma was mentally off-balanced. Genma blocked the kick but couldn't stop the two elbow strikes to the face, one of them slamming his jaw shut and rattling his brain. Ranma began to grimly pummel his father. Most of the strikes were pulled, but the speed and the frequency were keeping Genma off-balanced. Because Ranma was not putting his full strength into the strikes, the young man was not wearing down and continued to speak: "Oh, you are right there, Pops. I misunderstood many things about you. All of your philosophy was complete bull. Much of what you said was garbage, and the few worthwhile things you did say, you never believed or practiced. You kept me isolated so I could never learn the truth, but it's over. You brought me to Nerima, and the walls fell down. I learned who you truly are. More importantly, I learned who I truly am." Suddenly, Ranma began applying his full strength. Methodically, he broke the lower three ribs on both sides, then knocked the air out of Genma's lungs. Genma collapsed on the ground.

Genma felt the pain stab inwards from the ribs. He resisted the urge to get up and counter attack. If he moved, he'd puncture a lung. Instead, he played possum and started to heal himself. Ranma stood over him, and started to speak again: "It's time for that fourth lesson, Pops." Ranma sighed and went on: "I have outgrown you, Pops. I've learned all that I can from you. Now, I'm working on correcting the damage you did, but that doesn't matter. What matters, is that I am no longer your Student. You have nothing left to teach me. How bad things get is still up to you though." With that, the young man turned away from him and started to casually walk towards some towels he and Akane had left in the yard. Had Genma thought about it, he should have recognized that Ranma was moving a little too casually. Those on the porch did not move and said nothing – they knew this was not done yet.

As Genma laid on the ground healing, he began to gather his Chi. "Outgrown?" he thought. "You know nothing, child." His hands began to glow. "I'll show you how little you are compared to me. I never taught you the final end of the Yamasen-Ken. I never wrote it down. I never showed it to anyone." Genma continued to lie there and build up power after the healing was finished. Ranma had picked up the nearer towel and was heading toward the further. Genma continued thinking: "The modern day thief has to contend with electric eyes and cameras, and automated systems that rely on electricity. These systems all have one vulnerability in common that can disrupt them completely. You are tough; I'll give you that. You will survive this, because you are my son. But a lightning strike is still a lightning strike…"


A/N: Sorry...no hints.


12/10/13: Quick correction courtesy of Taechunsa. My first use of 'casually' was correct in the second-to-last paragraph, the second use was wrong (unfortunately, 'causally' is also a word).