Ranma's Father >From the series, The Bet, initiated by Gregg Sharp, Metroanime@aol.com http://members.aol.com/greggsharp/index.html Original concept by Gregg Sharp under the name RANdom. Revised concept by Gregg Sharp by request Grey is copyright by ? A fan fiction based on Takahashi Rumiko's Manga and Video series, Ranma 1/2 Saotome Ranma, Saotome Genma, Saotome Nodoka, Tendo Akane, Tendo Soun, Tendo Kasumi, Tendo Nabiki, Kuonji Ukyou, Hibiki Ryouga, P-chan, Shampoo, Mousse, Kuno Tatewaki, Kuno Kodachi, are copyright 1987, 1998 by Takahashi Rumiko. Publishing rights: Japan: Shogakukan Inc. Tokyo Hong Kong: Jademan (Holdings) Ltd. North America: Viz Inc. Also based upon the Batman series created by Gil Kane Bruce Wayne, Batman, Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, Richard Grayson, Alfred Pennyworth, Commissioner James Gordon, Barbara Gordon, Catwoman, Selina Kyle, Joker, Two-face, and Jason Todd are copyright 1936, 1998 by DC Comics, and Time-Warner Entertainment. Publishing rights: North America: Direct Current Comics By Jessica Samolson and Ichinohei Hitomi *** It was over, and a final timeline had been chosen and stabilised. For some, it was a lot of fun, for others, it had been unnerving, and for a couple, it was downright devastating. While there were parties going on in the local pub, Bacchus having donated a _lot_ of mead for the 'closing ceremonies', several others were feeling out of sorts at how everything had ended. One of the beings who felt most out of sort was Toltiir, the one who had started the whole thing. He had thought it would be a lot of fun to challenge all of the other Deities that abounded the multiverses to make small changes in the timelines and see what chaos resulted. Sad to say, the one timeline that had won was, in his opinion, one of the most boring. After all, he had seen humans who had acquired the powers of Faerie before. It had been done so many times that he, The Oldest of All Old Things, had ceased to feel any wonder at it at all. It was generally considered a very bad thing when the Spirit of Ultimate Mischief was bored, and at this point, he was bored out of his proverbial skull. There was no one to play with because the rules stated he could not interfere with the newly established timeline. Sighing he looked around at the others who had decided not to join the party, and noticed Bast scowling at yet another timeline in which Ranma had died due to Genma's stupidity in trying to teach the Neko-Ken. Even when it worked, the boy had an intense fear of felines, and that was not pleasing to Bast at all. Perhaps, just perhaps... With a wink and a nod, the two moved the already dissolving timeline to parallel the methane breather's timeline, then... Toltiir decided to get mischievous as was his wont. Bast got tricky since she wanted to get rid of Ranma in a way that was satisfying, yet fun. The remaining Deities, all of them full of mischief of one type or another, or who hated Genma in some way, formed a small audience watch the results, and perhaps help out here and there... *** "...and so Kuno told the sword to grant the pigtailed girl a wish." Ranma stared in frustration at the sword in his hands, not quite believing all of the trouble that he went through for seemingly nothing, "I tried wishing for the sword to cure my curse, and it buzzed at me saying that there was a conflict." "I see," Kasumi said, a thoughtful look upon her face. "If you wished yourself free of the curse, you would not be the pigtailed girl, and therefore the sword would not have granted the pigtailed girl a wish. Oh my." Everyone stared briefly at Kasumi, who, for once, seemed to have made an excellent summation without being her normal oblivious self.. "Serves the pervert right," Akane said, sipping her tea and trying to keep her anger in. "Honestly, the way you acted around Kuno..." "Hey! It's not my fault! You see what it's like with a curse like this, and see how well you cope.", protested Ranma. "Geez, I got girls coming onto me in my boy-form, guys coming onto me in my girl-form, and nobody listens to me in either form!" "Humph," continued Akane. "You're always getting yourself into these problems, Ranma, and it's always your fault. Pervert." "Airen!" "Ranchan!" As soon as he heard those voices, Ranma's head slumped in defeat. It couldn't be happening again, not again. Why was it that everytime there was a chance, even the slightest one, something would happen to make it go wrong? And now Akane would take out her mallet and... "Oh no." "Ranma! How could you invite them over!?" Akane managed to give Ranma a hurt look. "I...But...I..." Ranma started, then gave up. It wouldn't matter in the long run anyway. "Actually, sis, I gave them the option of buying an info service where I call them whenever Ranma's about to go off on an adventure or do something that might impact their relationship with him." Nabiki smirked from where she was sitting. "This qualified." Shampoo smiled cutely at Ranma, trying to make him look at her, "Airen should wish for strong wife who doesn't get in trouble." Ranma gulped a bit. If he did that, both Akane and Shampoo would probably be picked, probably in the worst way possible. That was a bad idea, a very, _very_ bad idea. "Hey, Ranchan, if you're gonna make a wish, why don't you wish to marry the fianc�e that really loves you?" Ukyou smirked, knowing that neither Akane nor Shampoo could compete in that arena. Ranma looked up, that actually didn't sound too bad. He tried to think of what would be so bad about that one. Nabiki huffed arrogantly, knowing that she had to head this off before her favourite meal ticket disappeared Ukyou got her wish. The best way was to appeal to Ranma's best feature; his gullibility. "Oh, get it _over_ with, Saotome. There is no single thing that can solve all the problems _you've_ managed to accumulate. You _know_ that whatever you wish will just make your problems worse anyway. Why not just give it up?" Ranma looked downcast at the table. "Well, Kasumi?" "Ranma?" Kasumi asked confused at the question. "Everyone _else_ seems to have something to add, I just thought I'd give you an opportunity to throw in your bit as well, is all." Ranma's voice was bitter. Here he had something that could end his curse, and he couldn't get any help in figuring out how to do it. "Why would I do that, Ranma?" Kasumi asked as if she didn't understand. "BAKA, will you quit bothering my sister and GET IT OVER WITH!" Akane yelled, more than angry that he would consider consulting with everyone else instead of just talking to her about his wish. Ranma looked over at Akane, and paused, and was just about to make his wish when Ukyou spoke up. "Hey, maybe Nabiki's got something there." "Excuse me," Nabiki looked startled, and worried at the same time. She hadn't given away something for free, had she? And worse yet, something that might help Ranma escape from her clutches? Ukyou smirked, having been thinking the problem through, and coming to the conclusion that Ranma was really blameless for just about everything that happened to and around him. She decided to go for another tactic that solved the problem without solving the problem. "Look, if you wish for a fix to your current problems, you get too many at once with any number of them conflicting with one another. Maybe you should turn your attention to what CAUSED all your problems in the first place. Your father." Elsewhere, a panda sneezed and felt this awful premonition of doom. Everyone looked startled at that, then the comments began. "Oh, right, maybe if his father had been rich or related to wealth," Nabiki snorted. "...more mature, more intelligent," said Kasumi, but in a very polite manner. "and if he wasn't such a cowardly, freeloading, immoral wretch," said Ukyou, thinking of her own treatment at the hands of Genma. "...and if even stronger fighter who could teach Airen much useful techniques, so Ranma even better and more powerful fighter," Shampoo said, clasping her hands together and looking at this wonderful vision in her mind. "That could have been cool," Ranma agreed. "I wish I did have a father like that..." "GRANTED!" said a strangely doubled voice that seemed to reverberate, almost sounding as though they were two separate ones, answered the group. One from the sword and the other that sounded as though it was coming from somewhere off to the side. The sword faded away. *** "You're up!" the Toltiir smirked at the young man standing and looking on at the new timeline. "You're kidding, right? I mean, doing this is outside of every parameter that was set up for the bet" "Nope, you participated, and now you get to play. Think of it this way, you get to see what can happen without really destroying anything." The youngster fumed at that silently and left, muttering to himself, "One little mistake in creating a timeline and..." Toltiir chortled as hard as everyone else there already was, "Now for the fun part!" *** Before anyone could say anything or protest the actions, a guy of about average height with two slashes that almost looked like a second set of eyebrows walked in out of a glowing hole in the air. "Hello, I've been elected to explain what's happened." he said aloud, and then muttered low to himself, "Mainly because everyone else is laughing so hard." "Oh my, a guest." Kasumi got up to get a tea set. This was something that was normal and that she could deal with. "Well," Nabiki munched on a rice cracker and looked this guy over, wondering at the potential for profit on this.. "Are you here to kill Ranma, marry Akane, or kill Akane and marry Ranko?" "No, I'm..." "Here to challenge Airen because he best in world?" "Not at all, what..." "You were promised something by Genma and now you've come to collect." "That's not it at all..." "Let me guess, you're engaged to the Baka!!" "NOW CUT THAT OUT!!!" Screamed the enraged young man, desperately trying to calm himself, and smiling a bit because Kasumi chose that moment to pass him a cup of tea. "There now, I hope it isn't unpalatable." Kasumi commented while she presented the tray of rice cakes. Grey cleared his throat, "No, in fact I rather like it. What blend is this tea?" "Oh, it's a Darjeeling from India." Nabiki raised an eyebrow, "Now I'm sure that's all rather interesting, but how about we get back on the subject. You were here to explain something to us?" Grey blushed, "Ahh...Right." He stood up. "Actually, Saotome Ranma, this is your life!" Grey pointed to the wall where images began to appear. Pointing to a picture of Genma entering a house, Grey also pointed out the woman hiding behind a tree. "Who's that?" "Your mother, Saotome Nodoka!" Grey smiled, revealing fangs. "What you're seeing here is your father cheating on your mother yet again. She managed to trace him to this house in Kyoto, and decided that enough was enough. Not willing to take the life of her husband, but tired of Genma cheating on her, she decides to GET EVEN!" Ukyou blinked at the house in the image. It couldn't be...if that house was...it meant that she was...No. That was impossible. The image changed to the same woman at a party. It appeared to be a VERY posh social event with a mixture of foreigners as well as Japanese. Some of the people were recognisable to Nabiki from the history books since these people were financial giants and formulated the financial policies affecting the Home Islands. "So she goes to this party held in honour of the Prime Minister. Your mother can't hold her drink very well, and got more than a little bit...well...to put it politely..." "Smashed," supplied Akane. "Tipsy," provided Nabiki. "Drunk?" Ranma squeaked. "Enter this fellow," Grey made a motion and the picture changed again. "That's that gaijin maniac super-villain, the Joker!" Nabiki exclaimed in wonder. "She was at _that_ party?" "Indeed," Grey flicked the picture again. It showed a man and a woman, stripped, and being thrown into a broom closet. The door to said closet being sealed with Joker Glue immediately thereafter. "Oh my," Kasumi covered her mouth with one hand, slightly distressed at the sight. "How long were they stuck there?" Grey grew a bit uncomfortable at Kasumi's blush. "A little over six hours. During that time, Ranma was conceived." "Well, Ranchan," Ukyou nudged the apparently paralysed Ranma, "I always knew you couldn't be related to that damn panda." "So who is his daddy?" Nabiki took a deep drink of her own tea, almost smirking at how messed up the wish was making Ranma's life. "This man." Grey again changed the image, revealing a very well-dressed young man standing in front of a corporate logo. Nabiki drenched one wall with tea and immediately started a coughing fit. /Wonderful! I loved causing that reaction./ the Demon smirked to himself. "Wayne Enterprises?" Ukyou thought about it. "Oh, yeah, I've heard of them. One of the top 100 international megacorps, aren't they?" Nabiki was continuing to cough, her eyes tearing up, thinking about what she had given up, the MILLIONS that could have been hers if she had only taken Ranma as her fianc� that first day. "Ah, Shampoo hear about them. They own mining company near village." "Yes, and Bruce Wayne has just discovered evidence that his son is alive and well and living in Nerima Japan." Nabiki managed to stop coughing but was now looking at Ranma as if he had grown horns. That this uneducated, lazy, obnoxious, jackass was now the heir to a financial fortune measured in...in...Nabiki had to think about how much he would be worth... "There's more, but you'll find that out after you go to live with your father." The image changed again. "Such a big house," Kasumi exclaimed please and excited. It must take a lot of time to clean. Who knew what wonderful new things could be found? And the kitchen that must be in such a house... "That place bigger than entire village!" Shampoo blinked. "Airen could invite entire village over for wedding." Akane was still alternating between staring at the pictures, the guest, and Ranma. "Damn, sugar. You think Wayne Enterprises would be interested in a merger with a little okonomiyaki shop, maybe? I got some ideas for advertising..." Nabiki looked at the house, the helicopter landing field, the car in front of it, the various other buildings in the background. A quick estimate of the total value caused her eyes to roll up in the back of her head. Followed immediately thereafter by a crunch as her head impacted the little tray of rice cakes in front of her. "Sorry, I couldn't stay longer, but the Rival Relief Office keeps me on short notice and I don't exist in this particular timeline anyway." Grey smiled, handed a business card to Ukyou, smiled at Kasumi, and quite abruptly vanished. "Grey. Demon, fourth class, not affiliated with Hell. Rival Relief Office, Asgard." Ukyou blinked. "It lists a pager number for emergencies?" "Ranma...you..." Akane began to get angry at Ranma for screwing up everything once again, especially with Ukyou now hanging onto him and discussing all her plans for expanding her business. "You're not even pure Japanese!!! YOU BAKA!" Nabiki's eyes snapped open. That's right. Akane was too traditional to consider marrying an "Ai no ko" and the same thing held true for Kasumi! Images of bags of money flying away from her seemed to fill the air. There had to be something that she could do, and it had to be quick. *** In an area just outside the normal parameters of the space-time continuum... Grey reappeared and walked up to the small crowd of beings looking at the timeline. "So what happens?" "Ah," Toltiir smirked. "Look at what happens when Ranma discovers Bruce Wayne's 'hobby' and decides to indulge himself as well..." "Ah," Bast purred. "Look at what happens when Ranma meets Catwoman for the first time!" "Heh," laughed Loki. "Look at poor Ranma trying to explain how Spatgirl and Chinagirl ended up at the mansion." "Akane must care on some level," pointed out Susano. "Look at her trying to get to Stately Wayne Manor." "Nabiki's already there and is explaining to Bruce about how Ranma has to marry a Tendo." Isis shook her head. "Look at Genma trying to sneak in and getting run off again." "What's Ryouga doing in Gotham City? Oh, lost and looking for Akane again." "Oh my." Everyone's heads snapped up and they turned to see Kasumi standing behind them. She held up a familiar looking business card. "I just wanted to get hold of my sisters, and I thought this was an emergency..." "Call forwarding," groaned Toltiir as he looked over at grey who was now blushing at Kasumi's presence. Kasumi let a little sad look pass over her face. "You know, I wish that I could help..." Toltiir laughed. Perfect. "GRANTED!" Grey whirled towards Toltiir when Kasumi vanished, "HEY!!! SHE WAS HERE TO SEE ME NOT YOU!!!" Toltiir grinned, "Then you're going to have to follow her, won't you?" Grumbling, Grey walked off to where Toltiir had sent Kasumi into the timeline... Loki grinned, "Nice bit of manipulation shorty, but instead of looking at different sections that interest us in particular, lets take a look at how things turn out. After all, it's only a century or two of entertainment, and then we can watch the reruns." The remaining Deities smirked and sat down to watch the fun. *** Alfred Pennyworth, Foremost butler in the world, brought up in the old school of how to keep the master happy in every way, trained never to show surprise and to hold in his emotions as any proper Englishman, stated his worry over the upcoming changes to the household. "Are you sure this is the proper thing to do, Master Bruce. After all, the lad has already made quite a name for himself, and if any of these activities follow him here there could be some unwanted scrutiny towards the affairs here at Wayne Manor." Bruce Wayne, dilettante playboy, acknowledge womaniser, layabout, and generous business person smirked as he looked over the file on his son, Saotome Ranma, or as he would be called in this America, Ranma Saotome. Admittedly the boy was a fighter, having spent many years training in various places and in numerous Martial Arts, including some of the places that he had trained himself. The boy had already surpassed him in so many areas at such a young age, easily being the equal of Bruce in the pure skill of the Arts. No doubt the young man could teach Bruce many tricks, but not everything. He was also listed in many incidents, having made the newspapers in Japan and China. Apparently, Ranma had several suitors, all of whom wanted to marry him, despite the fact that they knew him to be virtually penniless. It appeared, from all reports that he had been able to get from his people, that the girls and people who surrounded his son were the cause of most of his troubles. He chuckled a bit. "I'm sure that he will be fine Alfred. Besides, when he comes here, such activities will seem to be normal, and the son of a rich socialite millionaire, sewing a few wild oats which his father has to take care of now and then will make a lot more people ignore what goes on here rather than attract attention." Jason heard all of this from the doorway. "I guess you won't want me around anymore then." Bruce's chair whirled around at that, "What do you mean by that Jason?" "Well, with your son coming, I wouldn't think there would be any room around here for me." Bruce frowned, "What gave you that idea. If anything, he would be more like an older brother to you, just like Dick. I already consider you one of my sons." Jason blinked. "You mean that?" Bruce nodded slightly. "Besides, what would I do without Robin?" Jason jumped, "Yeah!" "But as of right now," Bruce continued in his command voice, "You have some training to do with Batgirl in the Simulation area. Get to it." Jason nodded and then went to get his uniform. The one thing he was most proud of. "Alfred, make arrangements to have a company jet ready to take off for Tokyo, Japan in 30 hours. And pack suitcases for Barbara and Jason. I want them to accompany me." Bruce said as he pulled on his cowl and went towards the Batmobile. "Of course sir. And happy hunting." Alfred said as he watched Batman take off into the night. Cleaning up, he looked over the folder on the young man coming to live here. After all as a Gentleman's gentleman, it was required that he know the complete life story of his employers, and as such had to be able and willing to help whenever and wherever possible. And it was apparent that this young man would need tutoring in a proper language. Ranma's English marks were not all that good, despite his having travelled to countries where the language was necessary. He stopped suddenly and reread the passage to make sure that it was correct. "Oh my. This may cause a problem in making arrangements for the young master. I wonder if Miss Barbara will be doing anything tommorow. She may be the best one to ask how to properly prepare his chambers and to which school he should be sent to." He started back up the stairs to the Manor proper, taking the silver tea service with him. "Mater Jason will be in for a rather large surprise when he finds out about Ranma's abilities. I do so hope he will not be rude about it." *** Nabiki was dazed, looking over the books that she had. Ranma would leave. There was no question of that in her mind, especially since Genma no longer had a hold on Ranma. Ranma could now declare all the engagements made on his behalf by Genma null and void. She would loose _BILLIONS OF YEN_ because her sister was so insistent on _not_ marrying Ranma. She opened up her ledgers and took a look at the amount that she had stashed away. If she was careful, she would be able to afford a fairly good apartment, enough for her to finish high school and complete an American university program. And if she just happened to be in Gotham City, where she could claim her families honour would be ruined since Ranma was assumed to have been Genma's son...Well if Akane didn't want him, then she would marry him. Now, it was just a matter of making some arrangement with people she knew and checking for apartments over the Internet... *** Ukyou had a couple of problems to contend with because of what grey had shown her at the Tendos. The first dealt with Ranma. If everything went right for him, then he would be moving with his natural father to America, leaving everything he knew, and all his problems behind him. He would be leaving her. Again. She wasn't about to allow that. Already, she had packed up almost everything that she needed, with only the large items left to go. The big question now was should she sell her restaurant, rent it out to someone to operate, or make it into one shop in a chain? She had enough money to get there, and enough money to operate for a while, but not forever, and it was a lot harder to buy land in Japan than it looked. If she sold her restaurant, her life, would she ever be able to regain it? Was she willing to regain it? Because if she left for America, and if she was to acknowledge who Ranma really was, then it was time that she should acknowledge whose daughter she could really be. She shuddered, trying hard to erase the memory of seeing HER house, HER home, as the one Genma entered for his little affair. To be related to that lazy, no-good, cowardly furball would be a nightmare come true. In her dreams, she had always taken Ranma AWAY from that panda. If she was related to him by blood... That was too scary a thought to contemplate. That was when someone walked in through the door, and it wasn't a person she was expecting to see. "Hello Shampoo. What do you want?" Shampoo came up to the counter, in a rather dejected state, "Great Grandmother say Shampoo no can go to America. Say Wayne-san and any him children not bound by laws. Shampoo no care! Shampoo want Airen." Ukyou shook her head. "Well, what are you going to do then? You don't expect me to help do you?" Shampoo looked up, even more dejected than before. "Shampoo not know what to do. Shampoo no want to disobey great grandmother, but also cannot give up on Airen. Am not expecting spatula-girl to help, but wish to know if know solution. Shampoo willing to help if want." Ukyou grimaced. It was hard enough for her to stay mad at everyone, even harder to deny the feelings of others, but she had to. It was for Ranma's own good. She was the one who deserved him, the one who gave up the most the one...the...one...../Oh to heck with it all!/ "Shampoo, what if the two of us just happen to apply for school in America, say in Gothom City. We both have experience with restaurants, and we _could_ open a konzern in that city..." Shampoo's face lit up as Ukyou started to make a few Okonomiyaki, "Aiya!! Shampoo understand! We help other and be close to Ranma! Shampoo willing, but if do, must agree Ranma make choice, not us." Ukyou winked, "Well sugar, I think we should talk about this quite a bit. After all, as partners, we should plan for contingencies, and for what may happen. We both can't take off from the restaurant at the same time, and if we want Ranma to be better, we need to leave him along with his father more. What we should do now is dis..." *** The Nekohanten was closed to the public, something that had happened many times before and would doubtlessly happen again. Despite being one of the best places in Nerima to eat, anyone in the know knew that it was a place frequented by Ranma, and therefore subject to the unusual. It was actually expected. Inside, an older woman named Cologne sighed and smoked her pipe calmly, wondering at this revelation that came from divine sources. It was not hard to imagine that Ranma could be Wayne's offspring. Quite the opposite really, now that she knew that fact, so much that had been a mystery made sense. And there was so much more that she could end up teaching the boy. If he asked, which was doubtful considering the many things that she had done to him in the past. Ranma would learn a lot from his natural father, however, and the boy was worthy of taking over his fathers role in the world. She snorted suddenly, as if Wayne was really fooling anyone with his act. Anyone who knew him, who trained with him, would be able to recognise him instantly. His way was too obvious to anyone who was observant, such as all of his teachers. Hoping down from her perch, she went over to a table and poured herself some wine. Not the Sake which the Japanese numbed their senses with, but a proper Mongolian red whose body was much richer and more delicate than anything suited to the Japanese palate. Besides, it was time to reflect, celebrate, and give up at the same time, and what better way than in mankind's oldest tradition, the toast, even if it was to oneself. She raised her glass of warmed wine into the air, appreciating it's colour, "Here's to you Ranma, and to your father, Bruce Wayne. May you find the peace you desire, and the family you need. May the sins of the past be eased, and the safety and the future of the planet be bettered. And may the Knight of Darkness teach the Knight of Confusion." As she drank, the wine burning it's way down to an appropriately empty stomach, she thought of all the new adventures that Ranma would be having, and all of the villains that would be in for a shock as Batman's son...eh...child, went into his fathers line of work. *** "Nightwing." Nightwing didn't turn as he acknowledge the other person on the roof with him. "Batman." "I'll need you to watch over things for a few days, perhaps as long as a week." The young man with the long pigtail smiled grimly, "Where." Batman smiled slightly, "Japan, I'm bringing your younger brother home." Nightwing didn't turn his eyes away from his target, he had been too well trained for that, but he did stiffen. There wasn't any point in asking questions however, especially since Batman was long gone. Although he and the others had acquired that ability as well, it was annoying when it was applied to himself. *** Batgirl smiled at the young man in front of her, practising the same manoeuvres that she had been forced to do so long ago. "So, how's school going?" Robin huffed, "Aww. It's OK, I guess. I still can't understand that stuff on Civil Government, I mean, WE break the law every day, don't we?" The redhead rolled her eyes, "How many times do I have to tell you. We don't break the law, we may bend it a little, but we don't break it." "Yeah, right. Tell me another one." Batgirl fumed a bit and then turned up the TASER trainer up a couple of levels. "I admit what we do tends to intimidate some of the creeps, but then it's better to intimidate then, put the scare of superstition into them, rather than let them off the hook. Our guises, the martial abilities that we train in, the knowledge of our bodies that allows us to seem to be 'supernatural' or 'super- powered' are our advantages." "Huh." Robin replied as he avoided a needle to his back, "I suppose the fact that none of us never seem to die adds to the illusion." "Given the number of times Batman has been presumed dead from one threat or another, or the fact that we always seem to escape does lend itself to the illusion." "Well, I hope my elder brother won't be this much of a 'practicer.' I want to do something, like take some villains or something out." Batgirl, also known as Barbara Gordon, the daughter of the Commissioner of Police of Gotham City, called a halt to the practice. "Look, I know you want to do everything right away, but when Ranma arrives, he's not going to be able to know about this immediately. I do not want you to tell him about the cave, about what we do in our spare time, or what dangers we face. he's already going to be facing certain...challenges, this being a completely new country and all. It's going to take a while for him to be able to speak English, get used to America, and relaxing for the first time. He hasn't had the easiest of lives you know, and we don't want to scare him off." Robin shook his head, "His dad's the greatest guy on earth, and you say he might be scared off? Get off it, he's gonna love doing this as much as I do." Barbara groaned, grabbed the boy by the arm and led him towards the main part of the cave. "HEY!" "You know, kid. I think it's time you learned how I became Batgirl. It all started when my dad was accused of being in league with..." *** Nodoka was prepared to lose her son once more, perhaps permanently. Ranma's father was coming back to Japan, to reclaim his son as Genma failed to take care of her son. Of the young man he had promised to make a Man Among Men. She had failed in her duty to her family by allowing Genma to take Ranma with him. Thanks to Bruce-kun's resources, she had managed to read up on all of the adventures and troubles that her son had been in since Genma had taken him away. The Neko-ken, all of the fianc�es, the challengers and the dangers. She had even read up on Jusenkyu, and the problems that had created for her son. After Bruce-san took her son to America, she planned to regain her honour for failing so miserably. But there were some things that needed to be taken care of first. Mainly dealing with Saotome Genma. Dealing with the betrayal of her trust in him, and the way he had harmed her son. Most of all, dealing with a young girl named Ranko and her pet Panda. She could not hold Ranma to the promise made so long ago, but Genma would be held to it, and he would pay for the trivialities that he had made of their lives. He would pay for all of the broken promises, the pain and suffering, and for endangering her child without cause. He would fulfil his promise or she would chase him to the ends of the earth. Holding up her Katana and checking the surface, she decided that it's polish was complete. She placed it down and then powdered the length, knowing that it would be blood filled before her task was complete. *** To be continued... Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following Gregg for allowing me to do this. Hitomi, for the favour of doing a preread, and making amazing suggestions which changed this from something less than mediocre to great. Having sent her a mere six pages, she sent back about twenty two pages of writing and suggestions for plots and so on in less than three hours. I was a fan of her writing before, but now I'm in awe. This is more here work than mine, although I contributed some of the idea. After some thought, I decided to add Hitomi's name to the credits because I only added twenty five sentances, and she made it into this. Hitomi again for the disclaimer, probably the best that I've ever seen in any fan fiction.