Chapter 1: Tiger and Dragon Collide
This is an interesting topic for me because it's been a while since I visited the Ranma ½ manga and anime. I got back into it, and I was reminded how much I liked Ranma as an adaptable character. I really like Gekirangers too, and I wanted to try my hand at creating a Sentai Ranger Ranma using GekiRangers as a basis. I was a child when the two series were made so there is that. I make nothing from it.
Along with that, I ultimately decided to put this into just the Ranma fandom because only Sha Fu appears from the GekiRanger side in any prominence at least right now.
Chapter Begin
"What happened here?" A refined voice asked as it overlooked a seemingly ruined clearing. Trunks of trees were shredded, there was an unpleasant smell to the area, and there was a massive pit with a cover seemingly blown off of it. "Oh dear, please tell me no one tried to teach that technique." The man quickly jumped towards the path of destruction at great speed. Covered by some of the knocked over foliage, a balding man wearing a bandana and dirty gi groaned.
Faster than the eye could blink, the man flew through the trees. Around him, he could see that the damage was starting to lessen. Faint yowling tickled the man's ear so he started to move faster. It was at the edge of a town that he finally caught up to the source of the noise. It was a pig-tailed boy on all fours, dressed in a torn up, and bloody gi.
"You poor boy," the man said, stepping out of the trees. In the light, the man was revealed to be an anthropomorphic cat dressed in baggy clothes. "Come here. I won't hurt you." He followed the motion by making little clicking noises and pulling out some string. The boy started to visibly relax as he cautiously approached the cat-man. He cautiously batted at the string before it was pulled just out of reach. The boy jumped after it, and the chase was on. For nearly an hour, the two played with each other before finally, the boy fell asleep on the man's lap.
"Whatever fool thought teaching the Neko Ken to a child may just cause me to break my vow to never fight again," the cat man stated. He made a few movements with his hands and with a yellow glow, he placed them on the forehead of the cat boy. "Now, let's see what I can do to help you. Felis-Fist Geki Waza Slip Slip Swipe." A glow carried between the two bodies as an astral image of the master slid into the boy's mind. The man mused to himself about the nature of the Neko Ken as he traveled into the unfortunate boy's subconscious.
The Neko Ken was a creation of his sister school, the RinJyuKen, at the very beginning of the school's founding, with the purpose of instilling fear into new recruits. It utilized the hunger of feral cats to create Rinki inside the body through terror and trauma by forcing the victims to experience attacks on all sides. However, it was stopped when the mental trauma created uncontrollable berserkers that could only be triggered in the presence of cats.
He scowled as he beheld the landscape that was in front of the boy. It showed an open road with several pit stops along the way. The most recent one was with a traveling okonomiyaki cart and a little child waving at him. However, most of the pit stops, including the cart, were torn to shreds by what looked like a large wild cat. The only repeat seemed to be a man in a white gi that was especially torn up.
"I must hurry. The child doesn't have much longer," the cat said before he took off in a blur of movement. He kept following the road before he located the cause of the damage. A massive black tiger was thrashing against an equally-sized white serpentine dragon. Behind the dragon, the boy was huddled behind the image of a woman in a kimono. However, there was no other identifying information except for the kimono and the sword that she held.
"Bai Bai Bunshin Ken!" The cat man shouted. His body appeared to swell to a size matching the two beasts. He quickly moved forwards and gently separated the two beasts from each other. They comically resisted the oversized cat. "That is quite enough. Your fighting is causing too much damage to this young child's mind. If you keep this up, you will make it so the boy is lost forever." He quickly inspected the two beasts more closely.
"Interesting. The dragon is formed from Geki while the Tiger is made up of Rinki. The Neko Ken must have caused them to form as a result of the stress," the man observed. He turned a hard stare at both of the still resisting animals. "I'm trying to think of a solution. Both of you should quiet down." He rebuked gently. Strangely it worked as the Dragon and Tiger went limp.
"Very good," the cat said. He dispelled his technique and after dusting his clothes off, he gently approached the boy. "There is nothing to be afraid of right now. I've stopped the two from fighting."
"Are you sure? Da cats keep tryna' ta eat me. This lady is the da only safe space," the boy asked, timidly staring at the two beasts and the cat-man. He was visibly shaking at the sight before him.
"You shouldn't need to worry. I may not look it, but I am a very strong martial artist," the cat-man stated. He noticed that the boy perked up when he mentioned martial arts. "Now, where are my manners. I am Master Sha-Fu of the GekiJyuKen school of martial arts. What's your name?"
"I'm Ranma! Ranma… I don't know," The boy happily introduced as he fully stepped out from behind the woman. She disappeared as soon as he stepped away. "I want to be the best martial artist when I grow up. Can you train me?"
"Certainly, but first we need to deal with these two," Sha-Fu stated as he turned to two cowering beasts. "Here is your first lesson. There is training in one's livelihood. These beasts are based on your experiences in life. What can you tell me about these two in front of you?" Ranma took up a thinking pose as he observed the two animals.
"Mr. Dragon reminds me of training with Pops, though he's nicer. He was flying through the air like Pops tries to do. He makes me feel like I could fly," Ranma simply said as he pointed at the Dragon construct. It puffed out its chest proudly at the description. "He also reminds me how some days, traveling and training are really hard, like when it gets really hot or cold. Pops doesn't help with how much of a jerk he is." The dragon deflated at his host's words.
"Mrs. Tiger reminds me of how the Neko Ken and other training makes me feel bad or hurt. She scares me quite a bit." His words caused the Tiger to wilt in on herself. "But she also reminds me of the stars and the places I've seen as I've trained." This caused the Tiger to perk back up.
"Very good," Master Sha-Fu congratulated Ranma, placing a paw on his shoulder. "The Dragon is a representation of your Geki, the light in your heart, while the Tiger represents your Rinki, or darkness." Ranma considered his new sensei's words before something came to mind.
"If Mrs. Tiger is the darkness, doesn't that mean we want to get rid of her?" Ranma asked innocently. The Tiger let out a roar in response to that question while Sha-Fu shook his head.
"Not in the slightest. In life, there will always be good and bad. Think of your travels so far. You mentioned comfort in the darkness and harshness under the light," Sha-fu explained. "While my school of martial arts focuses more on the light aspects, that doesn't mean we won't learn from the darker aspects of life. The dragon and tiger are both parts of yourself. If you truly want to be the best martial artist, then you mustn't ignore any aspect of yourself."
"Ok," Ranma said. He blinked unfocused, with his head tilted to the side. Sha-Fu chuckled as he looked at the innocent face of Ranma.
"You'll understand when you are a little older, but we'll start with something simple. Your Ki Beasts are waiting for you," Shafu coached gently. He guided Ranma to hold out his hands. "I want you to just let them come to you." Ranma was shaking as the two beasts slowly approached, but he held his ground. As the two beasts approached Ranma, they slowly shrank until they were about the same size as Shafu. Gently, they laid their heads on Ranma's hands. A brief glow appeared around the three, but when it dissipated, the Ki Beasts were gone.
"I feel weird," Ranma groaned, rubbing his eyes. They were now slitted like a cat or a reptile.
"That would be because your body is acclimating to the two different Ki that you are now producing. We'll have to work on your training menu later. In the meantime, let us leave this place, and I will show you your new home," Sha-Fu stated. The world seemed to blur until Sha-Fu was back in his body.
"Ow, my head hurts," Ranma groaned. He rubbed his head as Sha-Fu helped him stand up. He stumbled a bit on his unsteady and damaged legs.
"There is no need to rush. You took quite a bit of damage from that flawed training. You'll need to recover before we can truly start your training," Sha-Fu lightly reminded, getting a whine from the boy. "In the meantime, we have quite the journey towards your new home. Once you've recovered, we'll see where you are and help you to train." The cat gently picked up the boy and placed him on his shoulders.
"Where are we heading, Fu-sensei?" Ranma asked. Sha-Fu chuckled at his newest student's new name for him.
"We are heading to the company I help run, SCRTC," Sha-Fu explained. "Here you will find all the best tools to help mold you to be the best martial artist you can be. Now, we will need a name for you. How does Ranma Hidehira sound to you?" Ranma maneuvered himself so he could look at Sha-Fu's face.
"What's that mean?" Ranma asked.
"Just about every practitioner of the GekiJyuKen has their own saying that helps define their style. You will be Extraordinary Balance which is what Hidehira means," Sha-Fu explained as they happily moved along the road.
"Why that? Extraordinary Balance doesn't seem that great," Ranma pouted. Sha-Fu chuckled at the childlike reasoning.
"In GekiJyu, there is always a focus on three different branches regardless of the style you use. Those are Heart, Technique, and Body. Heart focuses on continual training and putting your all into everything you do. Technique focuses on refining your movements and outmaneuvering the opponents. Finally, Body is all about a strong, unbreakable body that will overcome any obstacle," Sha-Fu explained. He drew a triangle on the ground as he said this.
"Most students have an inherent aptitude for one of these branches. However, there are some students who don't fall into this triangle. I was one of those students because I could excel in any of the branches. Based on what I saw, you will be like this too," Sha-Fu finished. "Though you will have a long way to go."
"Awesome. I can't wait!" Ranma exclaimed.
"We still have a long way to go, but I can pick up the pace. Are you ready?" Sha-Fu asked. He got a nod from Ranma who tightened his grip on his new master's back. "Then let's go!" In a blur, Sha-Fu took off running through the streets.
"Faster, Fu-sensei! Faster!" Ranma shouted over the wind. He grinned wildly as they ran through the countryside.
Chapter End
Originally, I was going to just make this one big one-shot, but I decided to get it out in parts. Here we see that Ranma is going to receive training under Master Sha-Fu. I will actually be skipping the majority of the training until about 10 years later so we can get into how this changed Ranma would stack up to Nerima. It will be quite different for certain. I'm still working out the kinks on Ranma's Ranger form and callout.