Ranma and the Talismans chapter 3
I moved my response to the reviews to the end of the chapter if you guys and gals want to see them. However, first I want to thank you all for the all the wonderful support. The amount of attention this story has received is mind blowing and I want to thank you all for your support and hope you continue reading this fanfic.
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, Ranma 1/2 Is owned by Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications. Jackie Chan Adventures is owned by Adelaide Productions, Sony Pictures, and probably Jackie Chan.
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Jade's Training
In the dojo
"Ranma as you know the reason why me and Soun set up the arranged marriage is to unite both schools. Although, even if you marry Akane or Nabiki right now it won't technically merge both schools of martial arts. For phase 2 of this plan, we need both of our successors to teach both styles to a single person. However, the first person you and Akane teach must be practically a blank slate for us to see what a proper blend of both schools looks like. Luckily for us, Jade here is more than willing and able to be our guinea pig".
Ranma only had one thing to say to this, "So do you want me to train Jade? Then that would be no problem Pops. I was already planning on training her a little anyway". Genma simply smiled and nodded his head in affirmation.
Akane was slightly angry at these proceedings. "Hold up why is Ranma taking my star pupil"?!
However, Soun was quick to calm his youngest daughter down by saying, "Jade will technically still be your student as well. She needs someone to teach her the Tendo style after all. It's just that Jade needs special training from Ranma or his father for a little while to get a proper balance between both schools since you have been teaching her for a month now". Akane seemed to have calmed down after hearing this answer.
Ranma wasn't quite sure how to proceed with how to train Jade yet. As he technically never had a student before. However, he supposed The best way to handle this, is the same way he handles a fight. First, he must assess his target. "So Jade any questions before we start training"?
Jade on her end quickly asked, "What is the difference between the Tendo and Saotome Schools anyway? Aren't they both anything-goes martial arts, and were both Soun and Genma trained by the same person"?
Out of all the questions Jade could've asked she had to pick the one question he couldn't properly answer. However, this wouldn't stop him from trying to answer Jade's question. After a few good seconds of contemplating Ranma gave his answer. "Anything Goes Martial Arts, is based on learning and adapting many different styles of martial arts, taking what works and discarding what doesn't. This extends to both fighting style and philosophy. One of the coolest parts about anything goes is that one could even customize their fighting style to suit their personality and modify their techniques when the situation requires it".
Jade after hearing this replied, "so to someone who studies anything goes their fighting style is about as distinct as their signature or fingerprint then"?
Ranma nodded his head in affirmation, before continuing. "A true master of anything goes in my opinion should be able to adapt to any challenge or battle effectively. All the while having flexibility and unpredictability that very few martial Artists could compare to".
Ranma then reached a wall in his line of thought as he barely knew anything about Soun, or the Tendo branch of anything goes. Luckily for him, there was a method to get both of these questions answered without revealing The full extent of his ignorance." Yo Pops why don't you explain how the schools diverged, considering you were there when it happened".
The two fathers then began to sweat when they realized they had to describe some of their time with he who shall not be named. Soun was the first one who spoke up, "our master taught us in very unconventional ways. These ways forced us to develop our fighting style on the fly and not rely solely on copying our master's combat forms. He believes that the best way for his students to improve was not by copying his fighting style solely, but rather develop their martial arts in a way that best suits his students".
Genma figured it was his turn to relive the painful times with the master. "Indeed this was our master's most respectable quality. I preferred speed and avoiding our enemy's attacks. Meanwhile, Tendo focused on powerful strikes and taking out his enemies with as few hits as possible. However, despite diverting paths in our fighting style our synchronicity never faltered. For every weak spot, our fighting style developed the other covered".
Seeing her father and his friend were getting a thousand yards stare from their explanation Akane figured it was her responsibility to describe the Tendo school. "The Tendo school as you know Jade focuses on powerful strikes and well-grounded footing. Our school is most closely related to karate and Kenpo in terms of fighting style. However, this doesn't mean the Tendo school lacks aerial attacks or maneuverability when needed. Me, my father, and all the students he taught years ago prioritize strength and powerful attacks over speed. Why bother trying to avoid all your enemy's attacks, or stretch out the fight when you can finish the battle in one or two good punches"?
Akane took a breath and quickly gaged her fiancé's reaction to that jab, but he seems to be listening about as intently as Jade. Seeing she had Ranma and Jade's undivided attention she wasted no time continuing her explanation. "The Tendo school specializes in large groups of opponents rather than one-on-one combat. Meaning even if a member of the Tendo School were to be overwhelmed at all angles, or have to deal with waves of opponents back to back our defense and offensive will not falter until the end".
"The last thing worth mentioning is that the Tendo school is effective in learning different types of weapons. A master of the Tendo School of anything-goes martial arts like myself and my father can use any conventional armament at a level of skill that's short of a master. Our proficiency with weapons can even extend to less commonly used ones, like hammers".
Ranma then let out a light cough to get the attention back on him, before saying, "well we save the best for last, it's time to describe the Saotome style. My family style of anything-goes martial arts specializes in aerial combat and prioritizes speed, maneuverability, and evasion over pure power. Our fighting style is most closely related to Chinese martial arts such as kung fu. The Saotome school is also host to numerous offbeat diversionary techniques. These techniques can be used to catch an enemy off guard, evade a devastating attack, or simply buy time".
"Training for the Saotome School involves turning everything, even mundane events, into training exercises, as well as experimenting with many new techniques. However, this method can lead to some unexpected results". Ranma after saying this had to glare at his father.
However, it was Jade who spoke next, "I believe you talked a little about that earlier today, and based on you in Genma, that method of training sounds risky but definitely pays off".
Ranma wanting to avoid some of the other embarrassing training mishaps in his life attempted to switch topics, "the Saotome School also specializes in adapting to using unorthodox weapons. Except for footwear, we can use anything as a weapon as long as we see it being used effectively in combat at least once. However, this doesn't mean we can't use more conventional armaments. Me and Pops are skilled with the Bō, have some slight knowledge in Nunchucks, and know a little bit of Chinese swordplay."
Taking a deep breath Ranma prepared to talk about his favorite part and least favorite part about the Saotome school. "A skilled user of the Saotome school of anything-goes martial arts can effortlessly avoid most attacks from opponents of a similar level, and use every dodge as an opportunity to learn and predict their enemy's fighting style. All the while improving their own martial arts skills. The one weakness with our evasion fighting style is that even with a little bit of back up someone of notable skill could overwhelm the Saotome school defenses".
Akane couldn't help but laugh at this fact. "hehehe… so if you had to deal with the crowd of boys I normally fight every morning you'll get your butt kicked. Hahaha".
Ranma angered by this replied, "no way. Even if they all attack me at once I could take all those guys down with no sweat. The only guy among them that could even get on my radar is Kuno, and if I had to guess he rarely fights alongside his minions for him to exploit my school's weakness".
Jade not wanting to see her teachers fight and interrupt her lesson brought up an interesting fact she noticed about the Saotome style. "It sounds like my uncle Jackie's fighting style. "Ranma couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this and asked, "Who is your uncle Jackie".
Jade was more than happy to answer her new sensei's request. "My uncle Jackie, Jackie Chan was my first martial arts master. I trained under him for a few months when I was staying at my Uncle's shop, in America".
Ranma sarcastically said, "yay right Jade, if your uncle is Jackie Chan, then my dad created three different martial arts".
Akane at that moment decided to interrupt, "actually Ranma Jade's telling the truth, her uncle on her father's side of the family is really Jackie Chan." Ranma's eyes widened at this, but his jaw hit the floor when he saw the picture in Jade's wallet. The image was of Jade and Jackie Chan with the words "to my favorite niece, love Jackie Chan" handwritten on it.
Ranma just stood motionless in complete shock. His mind was frozen after trying to process this information. However, his father's mind was still active, and said, "Jackie Chan is Ranma's favorite actor. I am more of a Bruce Lee guy myself, but Jackie is still in my top five. I trained Ranma numerous times by having him watch some of Jackie chan's movies. His fighting style is surprisingly similar to that of the Saotome School. Now that I think about it the only movies we owned during our training trip starred Jackie Chan".
Ranma's mind had finally finished reloading and he grabs onto jades shoulders and frantically asked her, "Jade you have to get me Jackie Chan's autograph, or a sparring match with the guy! Jade can you actually do this for me?!".
Jade managed to get Ranma off of her and said, "sure Ranma. I have already given Soun and my cousins some of Jackie's autographs. Plus, I don't see why you can't tag along with me the next time I see uncle Jackie. Although you may have to wait a little while on getting your own autograph, as Nabiki has already taken and sold all my spares".
Taking a couple of deep calming breaths Ranma said, "let's get back on topic with your training. Since I now know what your training was like beforehand, it's time for me to see how much you know. For this, we're going to need to have a little sparring match with just the two of us".
Jade's eyes lit up with excitement at these words from Ranma. Soun and Genma simply nodded their heads in approval. The only one opposed to this was Akane, and she made her disapproval known. "You can't be serious Ranma Jade stands a 0% chance in a fight against you! She'll get hurt"!
Dismissively Ranma simply waved his hand and said, "trust me if I could survive sparring with Pops at Half of Jade's age she will be fine. Besides what I have planned barely counts as a sparring match". Akane could only blink in confusion at these words.
Ranma continued, "Jade stands no chance against me. So to make things fair I wouldn't even touch her during the fight. I will simply dodge every attack Jade throws at me. The match will end when either Jade gives up, passes out from exhaustion, or somehow lands a lucky hit". Akane's face seemed to have taken a more neutral but restrained look after hearing this.
The new master and student got into a fighting stance similar to that of Akane's and Ranma's first sparring match. The two remained perfectly still until Genma announced to begin. Jade immediately leaped forward with a flying kick, but Ranma effortlessly sidestepped it. She quickly switched to a spinning kick, but her Master simply hopped over it. Jade attempted to get close with some basic punches, yet Ranma avoided every blow like a swaying piece of bamboo. The adventurous girl even tried swapping between some kicks and punches talk to her by Jackie with some she learned from Akane. Ranma's movements did become more frantic after seeing this, but he still just kept on dodging every attack.
Eventually, Ranma began to look bored and in deep thought despite Jade's continuous advances. Every minute Jade's moves became more ragged and sloppy. Until the girl was officially forced to stop her attacks to catch her breath.
Frustration drenched Jade's face, but a smirk slowly began to emerge. However, before anyone can notice this smile it quickly disappeared with shock and worry as she looked in Ranma's direction and said, "Akane put the table down I'm fine"! Ranma quickly turned around and saw the Black haired Tendo was still calmly watching on the sidelines. Before Ranma could realize Jade had successfully distracted him he felt a punch on his side and was forced to take two steps back.
Ranma and Akane took a few seconds to realize what had happened, Jade had successfully landed a punch against Ranma. Akane in joy quickly ran to her pupil, lifted her up, and gave the girl a bone-cracking hug. "oh Jade I knew you could land a hit against that jerk".
However, all Jade could say to this was, "can't breathe. Hugging me too tight".
Ranma looked at his side in shock as an unknown feeling bubbled up inside of him. He was filled with rage that she managed to trick him. Yet this feeling was accompanied by pride that his student had successfully gone beyond his expectations.
Pride won out as he stepped closer to Jade and said, "well done Jade, you blew my expectations. In fact, I think you're a better sparring partner for me than Akane over here". Said girl quickly threw a punch a the young Saotome, but Ranma effortlessly avoided it. "this proves my point".
Taking a breath Ranma was ready to give out his assessment. "Jade I could tell from just our quick sparring match you're still a beginner in my books in every possible way. Despite this, you showed creativity and flexibility well beyond your level. I also think the Saotome School of martial arts is a great fit for you". Jade proudly grinned at her master's remark.
"However, that doesn't mean training will be easy. In fact, what I said means I'll train you even harder than what I was originally thinking of". Jade's smile disappeared as she took a deep gulp.
"I am going to set up some special training equipment while pop's over their start's showing you the basics of the Saotome style and some different one-legged balance stances".
Genma hearing this quickly shouted, "you are supposed to be the one training her today Ranma, not me"!
Ranma smirked at his father and said, "oh so you're finally admitting I have surpassed you Pops"?
Genma could only angrily reply with, "of course I'm a better teacher and fighter. I will prove it right now and show Jade the true power of the Saotome school of anything-goes martial arts".
With that Ranma whistled as he left the dojo while Jade began to listen to Genma's instructions. However, despite her excitement, she couldn't help but daydream at the events transpiring. "I went from having one teacher to 3 in one afternoon, and I am getting some special training equipment. How sweet is that? I might even be able to convince uncle Soun to show me a few moves if this keeps up. There's no way this can go wrong now".
—-—-
Half an hour later, Tendo's backyard.
Jade left the dojo with bruises all over her body, and the fact Genma is now her least favorite teacher evident on her face. The last half an hour was a blur to Jade she didn't know how you can get bruises all over your body just by copying a few stances, but Ranma's father found a way. The guy even put legos on the floor for extra motivation not to lose her balance. At least the guy got a taste of his own medicine when he occasionally stepped on them.
Jade's eyebrow quickly rose in curiosity at the site in front of her. There was a wooden post on the left side of the Koi pond, with ropes stretching to the opposite end. To add to this strange site there was also a plank of wood spanning the pond with red circles dotting all over its surface. The strangest but most normal thing about the scene was the fact Ranma was currently female and in no rush to get any hot water.
Ranma couldn't help but wince in sympathy after looking at Jade, "Geez Jade, Pops really put you through the wringer. Luckily what I have planned is just a slightly harder variation of skip rope".
Jade instantly made her irritation vocal after hearing this. "you put me through your father's training just so you can set up some jump rope.
Ranma rose her hands up in defense, before saying, "I thought my father would take it easier on you being a girl, but apparently, I was wrong. Besides what I have set up is not your ordinary skip rope trials".
Once Ranma was sure she had her pupil's full attention the young Saotome continued. "Your job in this exercise is to walk across the board to the other side while performing some jump rope twirls to knock you over. However, if you fall into the water, get hit, or step on a red dot you will be forced to start all over. I even set up special buzzers on those dots to make sure we know you stepped on one. Once you make it to the other side somewhat consistently I will move you up to a harder variation of this at least two more times. Once you complete the three phases of this trial you should be ready to follow me to school on the fence safely".
A confident look quickly got onto Jade's face as she got into position before saying, "if this is all you have planned I will be walking to school on that fence by the end of the week". Ranma couldn't help but giggle at this as Jade within the first three seconds stepped on a buzzer. Jade attempted it again this time more focused on her steps, but quickly got hit with the rope. The same thing happened two more times. However, the fifth time was different as she managed to fall into the water. The sixth time Jade successfully managed to get halfway over the Koi pond before stepping on a dot and getting knocked into the water by the rope.
A soaking wet, irritated Jade then asked, "is this how you were trained Ranma".
The redhead simply shook her head, and said, "no, but Pops did think about doing this training method with me. It gives me some exercise, gives you safe footwork, and balance training, and even some non-martial artists like Nabiki or Kasumi can help you train when I am not around. However, Pops thought this training was a little too girly for people as manly as us and decided not to use it".
Jade then hesitantly asked, "So what method did your father decide on"?
Nonchalantly Ranma said, "he threw me into a hole of spikes with a single bamboo pole, and whacked me with a Bō. If you want I could start digging the hole, but I might need some help in convincing…".
Immediately Jade fearing The pit of death training blurted out, "your training method is the best. Your training ideas are 1 billion times better than uncle Genma's". Ranma couldn't help but look prideful after hearing this as her student continued attempting to get on the other side of the board, and failed to reach the other side.
However, after a dozen more attempts an exhausted, completely drench Jade made it to the other side. Ranma then clapped for his first student's success and said "well done Jade. This should wrap up your training with me for the day".
Jade in relief then said, "good. Now if you excuse me I have a date with a hot bath".
However, before the young girl so much as took two steps forward Ranma grabbed Jade's shoulder and continued, "before you go I should probably tell you what our daily training sessions will be like. Tomorrow and every other normal day we will start with some light balance exercises and Saotome school katas. Following this, we will move on to the balance beam. Next, I will have you spar with someone. Finally, I will throw in some surprises here and there to mix things up. Now go take your bath, and I will be enjoying a hot kettle".
—-—-—-
The next day, the Second-year classroom
Nabiki was doing her normal routine looking for a quick buck and digging through the local gossip channels. Luckily for her, the wealthy downtrodden Kuno was always a sign that her wallet is about to be full. Sweetly Nabiki asked, "Are you looking for her"?
Curiously Tatewaki replied, "you know her"?
Knowing she has Kuno's attention Nabiki continued by saying, "sure I know her, she's like family to me. She has a pigtail, red hair, and Chinese clothes right".
All Kuno could say was, "don't trifle not with me, Nabiki. If the pigtailed one thinks she can humiliate me and simply walk away, methinks she thinks wrongly indeed". After this, he quickly handed Nabiki a note labeled 'To the tree born kettle girl'.
However, even after receiving the note Nabiki's hands still hovered. Quickly realizing what she meant Kuno quickly pulled out ¥500 and handed it to the betting ringmaster of Nerima.
—-—-—-
later that afternoon Tendo Koi pond
Jade was still struggling with the exercise, but Ranma mentally noted progress. Yesterday the resident hoodie girl was only getting a quarter of the way through before starting over, but today she was making at least a third of the way through the beam before walking back.
At that moment Nabiki put a letter in front of Ranma's face. Seeing this distraction Jade attempted to sprint to the other side. However, Ranma quickly regained his focus and managed to hit Jade at the last second with the jump rope forcing her to walk back to the start.
Ranma casually asked, "So that letter is from Kuno and It's for me"?
Nabiki then clarified by saying, "he has no clue about you and the redhead is one and the same". Excepting this answer, Ranma quickly read the note with Jade and Nabiki trying their best to take a peek at the letter.
"Dear tree-born kettle girl. Please come to the second field of Furinkan high school this evening at 5:36 PM"
Jade said, "it sounds like a duel".
The second oldest Tendo added, "Kuno baby just hates to lose. He's probably out for blood".
After hearing this Ranma confidently shouted, "even if he is out for blood I won't back down. I'm always up for a good fight and this one won't be any different".
Jade couldn't help but smile at these words before saying, "that's what I love to hear".
—-
Fields outside the school 5:42 PM
As soon as Kuno arrived the now female Ranma said irritatedly, "Your late pal".
Kuno in response calmly said, "apologies I waited to meet you when the sunset is at its most beautiful".
Still irritated Ranma replied, "you don't learn do you Kuno. By the way where's that stick you always wave around".
The still, unusually serene Kuno answered, "I have no need of it".
"Ha, pretty confident ain't ya"?
"Confident enough to give you this". With those words spoken Kuno swiftly polled an item out from a sleeve and through it at the girl in front of him. With years of martial arts training, Ranma grab the item in midair and saw it was a bouquet of roses.
After this Kuno began to walk into the sunset and uttered, "I love you Pigtail girl". Those simple words did something that all the swings of Kuno's sword could not accomplish yesterday, they planted a seed of terror firmly into the young Saotome's heart. Before sending Ranma down to her knees.
End of chapter notes: What did you guys think of this chapter?This chapter was mostly filled with original material and I hoped it turned out Ok. Before I go hears reviews.
Reviews:
Perseus 12- correct I have a pretty good prank in mind. All Jade need is a specific talisman to pull it off.
No worries all those guys and others will get a piece of Uncle, starting with Genma. Although I will say I'm looking forward to writing Akane be put in her place by Uncle when her temper gets out of hand.
I'll leave the first talisman Ranma gets his hands on a mystery for now. However, I will say the animal in question is fitting considering Ranma's namesake.
alucardd13- De nada. espero que les haya gustado el capitulo 3
AsheTDust- I will not make Ranma learn magic from Uncle. Although I will say Uncle will be taking a second apprentice and this character will be from the Ranma ½ end of the spectrum.
No worries Nabiki will be receiving martial arts training, among other things in the future.
Djinn- Yeah Soun is going to be low-key terrified to hear he will be seeing Uncle more often than what he first anticipated. Meanwhile Ranma will be happy that he finally has someone who could help him with the curse.
Phantom Thief of Heart- you're welcome, and glad to hear you liked Jade and Ranma's dynamic.
I took your advice and put the reviews at the bottom.
What can I say both series have a bunch of content and some of it can be pretty weird.
Thank you and I like your advice. I'll keep that in mind when writing Uncle's full introductory chapter. It's both accurate to how the Tendo family will react and entertaining.