My Life's Stranger Than Yours
Return to Kame House; The Turtle School's New Student
Videl's iconic aircraft sped above the ocean, Ranma and Akane accompanying her. Her grip on the throttle tightened as she recalled her last meeting with her partner.
"What do you mean you're not coming with us?" asked Videl.
"Exactly that. I told Dad about what happened with Taro and the Cranes yesterday and they were insistent on helping me get over that little…hurdle," he awkwardly admitted.
Videl raised a suspicious eyebrow as Gohan continued. "The long and short of it is, it's a Saiyan thing and they want to make sure that it wont be a problem in the future. If someone like that Taro guy could put me out of commission so easily, think how bad it would be if an actual threat appeared."
"Okay, okay, I get it," Videl conceded with a sigh.
"Oh! Before I forget, I also did mention Happosai to them, and Piccolo said to ask Master Roshi about the Mafuba."
[]
"Videl?"
"Hm?"
"Yo, you still there or is this thing on auto-pilot or somethin'?" joked Ranma.
Jarring from her mild flashback, Videl noted that they were quickly approaching Kame House Island and proceeded to take the aircraft down. Moments later, they came across the sight of a sleeping Master Roshi, a magazine draped over his face.
The girls merely sighed at Roshi's typical display while Ranma glanced from afar with a look both agreeing and partially ignoring their notions.
"Master Roshi?" Videl called. She was met with snoring. "Master Roshi!?" Again, no response. "MASTER ROSHI!"
"Oh yeah Baby!" darting up from whatever dream he was having, Roshi leapt at a startled Videl but was met with a couple of shoes to the face courtesy of Ranma and Akane.
As Roshi hit the sand, Videl breathed out a quick, "Thanks guys."
"Plenty of practice," Akane bragged.
"Uggghh…what hit me?" Roshi groggily picked himself out of the sand, replacing his discarded sunglasses as he turned towards the teens. "Oh, it's you kids again."
"What's goin' on out here?" The gang all turned to the house to find Krillin viewing the scene from the top floor. "Oh, what's up you guys!?" he waved.
"Hey Krillin," Videl greeted as the Nerima pair waved.
"Not that we aren't glad to see you all again, but what brings you back to my old abode?" asked Roshi.
"Let's just say…we've got a problem," Videl said sternly.
[Elsewhere]
Son Gohan has battled everything from aliens, to androids, to death itself, to embarrassment from his mom, but never since his battle with Cell had he felt more pain, fatigue, and shame than what he was currently experiencing.
"To think, this is all it takes to bring down the mighty hero who saved us from Cell," smirked Piccolo. Currently, the Namekian master had his arm wrapped around Gohan's waist, his long fingers pressing deep into the stub that used to be his tail. With Goku's help, Gohan attempted to simply rise to his feet, but with the intense sensitivity of his tail spot, even that simple mundane action took a herculean amount of effort to even attempt…and fail at.
"Hey lighten up Piccolo. Even I had to go through the same sort of thing when I was around his age…except my tail actually grew back," Goku laughed.
"Even so, having such an easily exploitable weakness is inexcusable. Though I can't say I wouldn't have welcomed this actually being effective when we fought Vegeta."
"You call this…easy…?" Gohan panted out. Despite the support from Goku, the numbness shooting through his body ultimately won out and Gohan was forced to a knee.
Piccolo shook his head. "This is getting us nowhere." Unwrapping his arm, Piccolo reeled it in, allowing Gohan to regain his normal strength and get to his feet.
"Agh…that…wasn't pleasant," Gohan groaned.
"Training rarely is," Piccolo snapped.
"Says who?" Goku jokingly challenged.
"You know what I mean. I can handle intense training, and can enjoy it from time to time but that? That just felt like some kind of torture!"
Piccolo couldn't help but smirk. "It's almost like you've become a child again Gohan. I haven't heard you complain this much since you were four."
"I'm not complaining I'm just…a little overwhelmed," Gohan coyly replied.
"Don't be too hard on yourself son," Goku eased. "Like you said last night, none of us even knew you still had feeling there, and to top it all off, you don't even have your whole tail, so even compared to what I had to go through, you have it much harder. Just have to keep at it and eventually it won't be a problem anymore."
"Are you sure about that Goku?" asked a skeptical Piccolo.
"Mostly. What I did was try to constantly use my tail whenever I could like say, doing pull-ups with it. If my tail is strong enough to support my whole body, even if I was smaller back then, then surely it has to be able to get strong enough to not be sensitive to touch anymore. Since Gohan doesn't have his, replicating the situation that put him in this mess is probably our best bet for getting him out of it. We just need to keep at it, but it may take more than just a day."
Gohan took a deep breath, calming himself before tightening his belt. "Okay…I just needed a minute, but I think I'm ready to try again."
"That's the spirit son, but what do you say we take a quick lunch break?" asked Goku.
"I think I'm game to try once more before lunch," Gohan's claim was suddenly broken by a low growl. "Then again…it'd probably be best on a full stomach."
Piccolo crossed his arms. "Tsk, you Saiyans and your insatiable appetites."
"Well we're going fishing at your favorite stream today Piccolo so even you'll have a chance for some of your favorite water," Gohan informed.
Piccolo's ears twitched a the mention of the stream. "…It's my second favorite. Northern runoff is still the best." He replied with a grin.
[Elsewhere]
"Well, that's the gist of it," Videl finished recounting the tale of their encounter with the Crane Masters and their new pupil. Roshi was understandably stunned by the ordeal.
"Well…I've got to say, that's quite the story you lot have brought me," he said, stroking his beard. "To think that little shrimp would actually get that ol' Crane geezer to work with him…though I'm a little more surprised Tao went along with it."
"Speaking of…" Ranma interjected. "You have any idea why the old metalhead guy was so scared of Gohan?"
"Yeah, he mentioned they met before," Akane added.
Roshi chuckled. "Well, I can't speak for Gohan's own meeting with him, I know he's terrified of ol' Goku for not only knocking him senseless in a rematch I assume for the ages, but also kicking a bomb in his face! Ha!"
"Goku did what!?" the trio asked.
"If you want more details, you'll have to ask Goku himself, but let's get back on topic," Roshi cleared his throat, regaining focus. "Ahem, now why don't you tell me more about this…ehehehe…Pantyhose Taro feller," Roshi guffawed.
"Well…" Akane was about to explain when an impatient Ranma cut her off. "He's pretty strong, but he's a dumbass. Though it kinda doesn't matter since his true power comes from his cursed form."
"Cursed form?"
Ranma and Akane explained how Happosai bathed him in the Jusenkyo springs as a baby and gave him his name. Though he revels in having the strength of a monster, he despises Happosai for giving him his ridiculous name.
"If you ask me, it's not that silly of a name," Roshi replied.
"You would think that," Akane replied sarcastically.
"No I'm serious. While not exactly, it sounds like a name not unlike a relative of Bulma's or something."
"Look Gramps, the point is, we gotta take the old freak down once and for all!" Ranma interjected.
Roshi sighed. "I admire your passion and I agree Happy needs to be dealt with, but I don't think there's much I myself can do."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I do believe I could beat Happy in a fair fight. You've always dealt with him by preying on our common weakness, but then what?" Roshi asked.
"What do you mean 'but then what'?"
"What would you do with Happy once he's taken down?" Roshi added.
"I…guess we trap him again like our fathers did?" Akane suggested.
"Wouldn't he just break out again?" Ranma noted.
"What if we drown him!?"
The pair continued to list off ideas leaving Videl and Roshi to discuss amongst themselves. "Master Roshi…I know there's a point you're trying to make, but I'm not sure I know what it is."
"Anyone can fight Happy until either party loses, but either way, he'll just recover and be back up to his old tricks in no time. There's only two ways to deal with Happy for good."
"And they are…!?" Ranma asked impatiently.
"Happosai can't be contained through traditional methods, so if you truly wish to be rid of him, you'll have to either end his life…or your own." Roshi challenged.
"…" A tense silence fell over the young fighters. They'd expected Roshi to take this seriously, but this was far beyond what they'd expected him to say. "What do you mean his life or ours?" asked Akane.
"I said Happy couldn't be contained through traditional methods. There is however, a way to seal him away for good. The method to do so however, is quite risky if you aren't fully prepared for it," Roshi warned. "Other than that, the only other way to permanently be rid of that old bastard is to kill him, which while I don't personally condone, I also wouldn't blame you for doing so…assuming of course you've got the stomach for it."
None of the three said a word. Videl obviously had no real killing intent, and despite the constant death threats from Ranma, Akane, and their rivals, more often then not they amounted to little more than heated, but ultimately hollow threats (except maybe for the Amazons).
"That's what I thought," Roshi figured.
Breaking the tension once again, an incredulous Videl spoke up. "By any chance, would that other method happen to be called, 'The Mafuba'?" she asked.
"Ohh, so you've heard about it, have ya?" Roshi chuckled.
"What's a Mafuba?" asked Akane.
[]
Piccolo hummed as a sea of memories began to flood back. "The long and short of it is, it's an ancient sealing technique that can trap even the most malevolent of beings, as long as it's done correctly. Master Roshi's old teacher once used it to seal away my predecessor, the Demon King Piccolo many years ago. Hell, before your father and I fought, Kami tried using it on me at the World Tournament Semi-Finals."
"I remember that," Goku chimed in while chewing. "You actually reflected that back at Kami, didn't you?"
Piccolo replied with a smug grin. "Feeling nostalgic?"
Breaking up the potential match between his father and teacher, Gohan chimed in. "That's very intriguing Piccolo, but why'd you have me tell Videl about it?"
Piccolo crossed his arms. "I don't know much about this old master, but from the way you described him, he sounds like nothing more than an extreme nuisance at best. However, if he's able to rally Roshi's old rivals, then he can't be completely ignored either. Knowing you however, neither you or Videl are the type to just kill an old man, so I figure the best way for you to permanently be rid of him is to seal him away. The Mafuba seemed like the perfect technique to do so."
[]
"So you're sayin' we can trap the old freak and he actually won't be able to escape!?"
"As long as the seal doesn't break, yes," Roshi answered.
"Gramps, you GOTTA show me how to do that!" Ranma exclaimed.
"Hold your horses boy! Like I said, that technique is dangerous if you aren't prepared for it!" Roshi rebutted. "I give you this warning because it requires an astronomical amount of energy to even attempt, especially if the target is more powerful than the user. Using this technique just once cost my master his life, many years ago."
The tension returned at Roshi's tale, the young trio once again caught off guard by Roshi's heavy handed past. Once again the awkwardness was sliced apart when Roshi forcefully thrust his staff towards Ranma. "Before I even attempt to teach you this technique boy, you're gonna have to toughen up quite a bit if you want to live another day."
"What do you mean toughen up? I'm sure I can handle this Demon Seal Blast or whatever it's called," Ranma boasted.
"No, you can't," Roshi plainly replied.
"How do you know," Ranma challenged.
"Don't forget, we've crossed fists before. Though neither of us were going all out, I could get a general gauge of where your power and skill landed," Roshi explained stroking his beard.
"You sure about that Old Timer," Ranma replied.
A swift flash shone across Roshi's shades as he gave Ranma his own confident smirk. "Ohohohoho, so you want to show me what you're really made of eh?"
"Anytime!" Ranma confirmed.
"Ranma, are you sure you should be…?" Akane spoke up to interject, but Videl stopped her.
"Actually Akane, maybe we should let this play out. It's pretty obvious they both want to do this and I'm actually curious to see what Master Roshi can do when he's serious."
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of…" Akane deadpanned.
[]
The girls stood aside while a curious Krillin and his family watched from the roof. Though they'd all been silent, they're curiosity kept their eyes viewed on the scene. Krillin more so than Eighteen and Marron.
In a familiar scene, Ranma stood poised to strike while Roshi stood completely unguarded. "Fair warning, if you intend to beat me by usin' the same trick you pulled last time boy…!"
Ranma nodded before cutting him off. "Not this time Old Man. I'm gonna kick your ass properly this time!"
"You've certainly got the bravado, but let's see if you can really back it up." Extending a hand, Roshi gave Ranma the 'Come at me gesture', prompting him to leap in and strike with a swift punch.
Roshi merely ducked under it and flipped backwards, countering with a kick to Ranma's chin. Quickly shaking off the blow, Ranma, followed up with another punch which Roshi swayed away from and countered with a spinning blow from his staff. Ranma was able to deflect the attack this time and retaliated with a twirling side kick. Roshi once again ducked the attack before striking Ranma in the ankle with a knife-hand strike.
"Eeegh…!" Ranma hit the sand as his foot gave out and Roshi followed up with a flying drop-kick. With a hearty yell, Ranma lifted himself with his hands and struck Roshi with a fierce donkey-kick, dead on to the chest.
While Roshi took the moment to dust himself off, Ranma dashed in before striking with an overhead punch that blew away the sand as Roshi rolled away. Getting back on his feet, Roshi struck with his staff, thrusting rapidly forcing Ranma back on the defensive. Thankfully, he was able to keep pace with his attacks with the Amaguriken and any attack that slipped through his wall, he was able to dodge. Sadly there was little to know room for Ranma to counterattack so for the moment he had to just take the assault.
"Wow…" marveled Akane.
"Yeah…this is my first time seeing Roshi fight too," said Videl.
'Guess that makes three of us,' Eighteen mentally added.
"Wow…Gramps is pretty strong!" Noted Marron.
"If you think that's good, you ain't seen nothin' yet," Krillin assured with a grin.
After careful observation, Ranma found his opening by catching Roshi's staff. His run in with Tao's knife hand made blocking and dodging a wooden staff seem easy by comparison. With Roshi off kilter, Ranma was able to kick the old master away, stealing his weapon all the while.
Roshi recovered to see a smugly smiling Ranma twirling his staff before brandishing it menacingly. "You do realize that the weapon doesn't make the fighter, right?"
"Oh I know, but that doesn't mean I won't take any advantage I can get." Twirling it above his head, Ranma brought it down to his side before thrusting it forward, attacking with a sideways twirl that Roshi merely hopped over before landing gently on the staff.
"Care to be a gentleman and help an old man get his cane back?" Roshi taunted.
"Do I look like a gentleman to you?" Ranma deadpanned.
"You're the polar opposite of a gentleman," Akane teased.
"Hey, I ain't that bad!" Ranma countered.
"An opening, boy!"
Ranma cried out as Roshi chopped him square in the skull, causing Ranma to drop the staff and clutch his head.
"Dehehehehehe…I'll say this much, I haven't had this much fun in over 20 years!" Roshi guffawed.
"And I'll say, you're the first old timer I've actually had fun fighting," Ranma replied.
"Alas, the time for fun is over. I think it's best if we stop here for today. I've gotten a better understanding of where you stand and while you're certainly a bit better than I anticipated, you've still got quite a ways to go before you'd be able to handle the Mafuba," Roshi stroked his beard.
"Aww come on, I still ain't show you what I got up my sleeve!" said Ranma.
"Is that a fact? Okay then, enlighten me boy. Show me what you got, and I'll take it."
"Huh?"
"I want you to literally hit me with your best move. I won't step away from this spot, just come on and throw everything you've got at me!" Roshi once again gave the challenging hand gesture, though despite his overwhelming confidence, Ranma hesitated. 'If he means my absolute best…then I can't. If he won't move, I can't do the Dragon Heaven Wave…even if I could, I don't wanna destroy the whole island…guess we'll have to go for option two…but with a twist.'
The air around Ranma grew dark as his energy began to rise, but with a strange heaviness to it. This didn't go unnoticed by Akane who recognized the sensation. 'The Shishi Hokodan? Why is he…?'
"Combined Lion Roar…" Ranma began chanting as he cupped his hands together and his energy began to expand. "Prideful…Tiger…!" Raising his hands up, he thrust them forward as they shone a yellow-brown tone, releasing a bright wave of light. "BLAST!" Ranma's amped up blast flew straight for Roshi who merely cupped his hands together sideways and braced himself.
The moment Ranma's attack made contact, Roshi let out a yell and blocked it, causing it tosplit apart and strike the water behind him. Despite that though, Roshi was unable to keep himself from sliding across the sand as Ranma kept firing. Finally before long, Ranma's attack ceased, the pigtailed fighter panting as his smoky hands fell to his sides.
"Wehehell, that was truly impressive. Nothing I haven't seen before, but impressive nonetheless," Roshi backhandedly praised. "But now…it's my turn."
"His turn?" asked Akane.
Roshi brought his fists to his sides and let out a strained yell. All but Videl could feel Roshi's energy rapidly increase. 'What's that old man doin' now?'
"Hrrraaagh!" With a final grunt of effort, Roshi's body bulged, his small, fragile looking fram immediately being replaced with a large mass of pure muscle, shocking all but Krillin.
"What the-!?"
"Whoa-!"
"Hmph…not bad old man."
"What…the hell…?"
Ranma's tired, but still confident smirk disappeared in the face of Roshi's Full Power. His worried look only worsened as he saw Roshi bring his hands together. "Kaaaaa…Meeeee…"
"Wait isn't that…Whoa!?"
Akane's question was quashed by Videl grabbing her and bringing them to the Kame House roof.
"Haaaaaaaaa…meeeeeeeee…!" As Roshi brought his hands back, a blue sphere of light began to form.
Ranma recalled the technique vividly as the image of a miniature Goku making the same stance reappeared in his mind. His pride ultimately won out in the end and Ranma decided to match Roshi, crossing his arms in front of his chest, bracing himself to take the blast.
A small glimmer flashed on Roshi's shades before he smirked at the young heir and finally unleashed the attack, thrusting his hands forward. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Ranma let out a yell as he closed his eyes and braced himself for impact. To his surprise however, the attack never came…at least, not at him. When he reopened his eyes, Ranma could just barely see the remnants of Roshi's blast soar right past him and into the ocean, splitting the sand and seawater into back to back waves. What truly caught Ranma's eye though, was the pure size of the blast itself. It was MUCH larger than what Goten had done during their little bout. Even if that's to be expected for an older, more experienced fighter, the difference was night and day. Then it hit him, 'Wait…did Gohan use the same move to beat Pantyhose Taro?'
Ranma turned back to see a winded Roshi shrunk back down to his normal size. "Whew…it's been a long time since I've had a workout like that…I gotta get back into proper fighting shape myself."
"That wasn't proper fighting shape!?" called a spectating Akane.
"He's been takin' it easy since all his students have surpassed him and he's had no new ones to warrant training again," Krillin explained. "Until now I presume," he snickered.
[]
"Sheesh…that's gotta be more Chi than the old freak's Battle Aura…how the heck…?"
"If that impressed ya, then you should know that all of my students have already surpassed me in terms of raw power. If you wish to learn the Mafuba, then you've got to at least be able to match me at my eased level." Roshi noted.
Ranma stared down at his hand before clenching his fist. He'd seen some crazy feats of energy before, but in just a few days, many of them had been clean blown out of the water. It was both frustrating, but also intriguing. Never one to let himself stay put, Ranma turned to Roshi and with a confident grin, nodded. "If it means we can get rid of the old freak, then I'll do whatever it takes!" he declared.
"I'm so glad to hear you say that," Roshi replied with a grin.
"I…don't like the look on his face…" noted Akane.
In the next instance, Roshi popped a capsule and in the brief puff of smoke, a clearly female voice shrieked out, "Yaaa~! That's cold!" When the smoke finally cleared, Roshi could be seen holding a dripping water pistol before a now female Ranma.
"We really should've seen that coming," deadpanned Akane.
"If you're gonna train with me, you'll do it like this!" Roshi declared.
"Whoa, whoa, hold up, I didn't agree to this!" Ranma rebutted.
"You just said you'd do 'Anything' to get rid of Happosai. You'd think this would be a simple request!" Roshi argued.
The two would continue to argue back and forth while the others watched with waning interest. "This will probably take a while," noted Krillin. "You girls want a snack?"
"Sure."
"Sounds good."
[]
Moments later, Ranma and Roshi stood before the others as the Turtle Elder cleared his throat. "Krillin, Eighteen, for the foreseeable future, we're going to have another houseguest," he announced.
"Huh…so you actually agreed to go through with it, eh?" asked Krillin.
"We reached a compromise; I'll stay in female form around the house, but change back to a boy when we're actually training," Ranma explained. "Figured that'd be enough to keep him off my back for the time being."
"As long as you don't forget the rest of our bargain," Roshi added.
"What is the rest of your bargain?" asked Videl.
"I'd…rather not talk about it…" Ranma shyly replied.
Krillin and Eighteen exchanged a look, the former's face turning a bluish tint. 'I'm getting some bad flashbacks….'
"You know…it's always customary for the turtle school to accept two students at once, so if one of you two would like to…"
"Declined," Akane and Videl simultaneously replied.
"At least let me finish!"
"Give it a rest old man. You should count yourself lucky Ranma even agreed to it," Eighteen deadpanned.
"I won't lie though…knowing a move to seal Happosai away is a pretty tempting offer…" Akane softly admitted.
"Well, if you're still interested in learning the technique, then might I direct you to Tien Shinhan?" Roshi added.
"Tien…oh wait, wasn't he the three-eyed guy from the Capsule Corp Party?" Videl realized.
"Wait what?"
"Pardon?"
"He's a friend," Krillin clarified. "And if you're still referring to him as 'the three-eyed guy' then…now that I think about it, you really haven't met with him that often, have you?" noted Krillin. "Still, I didn't know he knew that technique."
"Evidently, he taught it to himself after seeing me use it. I swear, between the Kamehameha and then that, you latter generations are determined to outshine me in every conceivable way. Regardless, if you do decide you want to learn the technique, he's your best alternative." 'Truly. There's no way these girls can handle Piccolo's training.'
"Where is he?" asked Akane.
"Tien can be quite the nomad when he wants to be but generally, he and Chiaoutzu spend most of their time in the Eastern Mountains."
"Hmph…I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask at least, and it is still pretty early," Videl shrugged.
"Well, I'll wish you girls luck. Tien's not harsh, but he can be extremely stern."
[]
Later, Videl's plane could be seen jetting off of the small island, the pilot and her passenger waving down to the house patrons. "Bye-bye!" squeaked Marron.
Akane flashed the young girl a jovial grin before her gaze shifted to Ranma. The two locked eyes, unsure of how to really respond. Ultimately, the two silently broke eye contact as Videl flew away. Unnoticed by Videl, Akane clenched her fist.
'Just you wait Ranma. I won't be left behind this time.'
Back on the island, Ranma sighed. Despite the silent exchange, Ranma couldn't shake the feeling she should've said something, anything to Akane. But then again, she'd probably say something wrong and set her off, and now was not the time to be distracted.
"Okay Gramps, what's the first order of business?" asked Ranma.
"First…" Roshi pulled out another capsule and opened it revealing a large, purple, turtle shell. "Put that on," he ordered.
Ranma incredulously stared at the shell before asking, "What kinda sick cosplay are you trying to get me to do old man?"
"Ranma, just do it, trust me," Krillin interjected. "It'll all make sense soon enough."
Taking the short fighter at his word, Ranma bent over and hoisted the shell up and let out a marveled, "Oh…it's a little heavier than I expected…."
Roshi guffawed. "Alright then boy, now let's get that shell up on your…" The Turtle elder paused as the red-haired girl was casually spinning the weighted shell on her finger like a basketball, all while Marron gave a small applause.
"Sorry Gramps, what were you saying?"
Turning away from the others, Roshi pulled out a notepad and wrote down, 'Note to self; get some heavier shells for training.'
[Meanwhile]
"Hmph…so Tao's bowing out, is he?" asked a light, raspy voice.
"Part of me can't blame him, but the other part of me wants to give that useless brother of mine what for!" replied a similarly raspy voice.
"Never mind him, how's the boy?"
"Angry, but still determined. I don't think he's ready to call it quits yet."
"Good that's what I like to hear, cause he's only getting one more shot at this. If he doesn't succeed well, not only will he not get his desire, but I take it you'll also be short a star pupil," the diminutive elder chuckled.
"Taunt me if you dare you filthy raisin, I can still destroy you." Replied the mustachioed elder.
"Can you Shen, can you really?"
While the two old men stared each other down, their young compatriot stood alone, clenching his fist in pure aggravation. 'One more chance huh?'
"Boy!" called Shen. "Come. It's time you got accustomed to one of the Crane School's more…dangerous techniques," Shen said with a twisted grin.
(A/N: We've returned to Kame House and Roshi gains a brand new student in Ranma Saotome, but Ranma's not the only one getting trained. Both Gohan and the girls will have their own trials to overcome in the coming days. Question is, who'll have it harder (probably Ranma). Also, before anyone asks me about the Lion/Tiger blast attack, look up the It's a Rumic World animated short featuring Ranma, Inuyasha and Urusei Yatsura [Last I checked, there's a damn good fandub of it too]. Ranma does it there and while that technically isn't canon, I figured it'd be a nice way to boost his normal Ki Blast attack since the simple Takabisha is probably small potatoes in comparison [Side note, I wanted to keep things on the Ranma side Manga Canon which is why I've avoided some events and characters like Sasuke, but going forward, I'm just gonna use everything. I kinda already did with the Ranma v. Devilman fight and the horizontal Hiryu Shoten ha (that's from an OVA), but just a heads up. I am still primarily following manga lore by including Nodoka]. And speaking of, we're busting out the Mafuba. Soun and Genma may not have been able to keep Happosai sealed away, but this certainly can. Also, in response to the reviewer who pointed out Happosai's too young to be one of Mutaito's students I'll just say, you may be right, but then again it's Happosai, so who even cares. On a more serious note though, I did a little research and learned that in the anime canon, he is in fact 300+ years old [Another instance of something unplanned just falling into place. I didn't intend to say "screw it, include everything" just for that little nugget alone, but low and behold, it fits] so he, in a way, is old enough to have been one of Mutaito's students. Next time, Gohan continues with his tail, Ranma begins training with Roshi, and the girls meet up with Tien. Stay tuned)
[PS. This will be updated before the actual day of the anniversary, but OH MY GOD! I've been writing this thing for four years now. FOUR FREAKING YEARS! I know there've been some breaks in between but sheesh, I didn't think I'd still be doing this thing. Guess this shows you what raw passion and a bit of free time can get you.]