Ranma 1/2: Unperfect
  cleaning out the ol' Hard Drive, and this
was appro for the season. Another Bet that
didn't make it. Enjoy, minaasan! Yes, this _is_
the flipside of Devil 1/2, submitted for Xmas.
setting and major char by Rumiko Takahashi
add'l char & situations by Gregg Sharp
webpage: http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/
----------------------------------------------
 Hel was unhappy. Hel had a tendency to take
this out on anyone in the vicinity. Unlike Toltiir, Hel was
neither particularly inventive or possessed of a sense of
humor.

 A Demon First Class, seeing an ancient enemy,
decided to get away from his mistress and go off into battle.
He wasn't aware that the whole thing was a setup, or that
Hel was manipulating events.

 Not in imitation of the Bet, but to see what could
be done to hurry off some of those alternate timelines into
darkness, destruction, and death.

 Hel _really_ hated happy endings.

 She watched the battle taking place over the 
area she had chosen and waited. Sure enough, a divergence
occurred. In each of the lines, the equally matched forces of
Darkness and Light saw a victory.

 In one timeline, it was the Darkness that rose
triumphant over a certain small body of water. In the other,
the Light was the victor.

 In either case, the victory turned pyrrhic when the
Doublet System activated with the loser drowning in the cursed
spring and the victor suddenly died in midair. (Midgloat in the
case of the demon, midsong in the case of the angel.)

 To Hel it didn't really matter. Either supplied pain
and suffering, which was her meat and drink. It WOULD matter
to someone else, however.
--------------------------------------------------
 "That must be Ranma," Nabiki ran for the door, her
father a moment behind.

 "Saotome, my old friend!"

 Nabiki opened the door and came to a complete
and abrupt stop, not even noticing that she was blocking
the door. Higher functions had gone offline and she was
quite conscious of her own heartbeat suddenly racing.

 "Are...are...you...Ranma?" Nabiki looked up
the tall figure in front of her, noting the lean muscles,
the bronzed skin, the perfect proportions, the dazzling
smile, the way those eyes looked into her...

 Wondering why he had steam rising from
his hair and was screwing the lid back onto a thermos.
Well, Nabiki decided she was a little steamy herself.

 There was no doubt in her mind now who
would marry Ranma. It was her Destiny. Everything
that had come so far, every sacrifice, every deal, had
been so that she could attain THIS.

 "Hi," Nabiki unconsciously straightened
up as best she could under the circumstances. The
Ice Queen had just moved to equatorial climes. Hot
and steamy was the forecast.

 Ranma moved slightly and Nabiki's 
next words died unspoken on her lips. She didn't
notice the panda, her attention was fully focussed
on those eyes, those broad shoulders, the lithe 
but firm musculature, the strong defined pectorals,
the sensuous mouth opening.

 The mood was shattered by Nabiki
fainting.

 "Oh....my! My my. Dear me."

 Kasumi cleared the doorway, accidently
slamming her father into the doorframe. "Hello there.
Are you...Ranma?"

 "Kasumi, I can't see. I don't see what all the 
fuss is about anyway, it's just a boy." The last word
was spat out as if it were a curse.

 "That's okay, Akane." Kasumi licked
suddenly dry lips. An angel. Just glancing into
those eyes so full of compassion and strength was
enough to convince her. All the sacrifices she'd
made for her family, all the duties and responsibilities
she'd had to shoulder. Now she knew, without the
slightest doubt in her mind. THIS was why she had
endured it all.

 Kasumi looked at the man as he moved
with such grace, and knew that the Heavens themselves 
had seen fit to reward her directly. She hoped that she
could be worthy of this great honor. "I'll take him.
He might seem to be a bit young, but I really doubt
he's boring."(1)

 Soun stopped struggling. One of his 
daughters had already made the choice? And it was
Kasumi?

 Akane frowned as she stared at her
sister's back and the sideways view of her father.
Kasumi was interested in a boy? "Well, better you
than me. I..."

 Kasumi moved aside to let Ranma pass.
Akane stared. It was a long moment before Akane
remembered to breathe. "Ah? So!"

 "Pardon me," Ranma carried the unconcious
Nabiki into the house, stepping past a flustered Akane
who was still trying to get her mouth to work.

 Laying Nabiki down on the floor, Ranma 
turned to find the other two daughters had followed
him and were giving him a close and thorough inspection.

 "Pardon me," Kasumi straightened. "Tea.
That's a good idea. I think I need to make some tea."
She needed to get the formal set out.

 "Uhm, so...you study kempo?" Akane
said, blushing and examining the floor. She hated boys,
but there was no WAY this could be considered a mere
boy. She knew there had been some great destiny 
calling her, it had been a feeling she had all her life. 
Now she knew what it was. When Kasumi understood 
this, Akane was sure her elder sister would step out 
of the way.(2)

 "A little," Ranma confessed.

 "Well, we have a dojo. Maybe we could
be a little match...I mean _have_ a little match."

 Unnoticed by anyone, a panda started
looking for the bathroom.
----------------------------------
 Kasumi hurried to the dojo to find 
Nabiki was already there in the doorway. The
two settled down to watch, unable to tear their
eyes away from the person sparring with their
sister.

 She kicked. He moved like smoke
around her. She punched, he leaned out of
the way. She began a windmilling series of
blows that he evaded with consummate grace.

 Akane started to get angry then
looked at the gentle smile, the caring in those
eyes, and realized that here was a guy who
would hesitate to do anything to hurt her.
Completely unlike the usual crowd at school.

 "Sugoi!" Nabiki watched the 
tight musculature, how the boy turned the
simple act of dodging into almost a dance
he was leading Akane into.

 "Oh!" Kasumi blushed prettily,
as Ranma flipped back over Akane with
such a lazy grace that Kasumi could not
help but wonder what else he could do
in such a manner.

 "Wow! You're pretty good."
Akane managed as she felt the lightest
of touches on the back of her head. At
last, she had a worthy opponent. Someone
she could spar with who would be enough
of a challenge she could hone her skills
against. He was nearly perfect.
-----------------------------
 "So, you fell in a Jusenkyo pool,
as well?" Kasumi blinked. "What do you
turn into?"

 "Well, I..." Ranma looked quite
unhappy. "That is, I..."

 Genma, without a word, grabbed
his son and flipped him out into the fishpond.

 "Oh, the shame," Genma stood
up and raised tear-filled eyes to the heavens.
"My own son, how humiliating..."

 The water erupted. Broad feathered
wings that shimmered an iridescent blue-green
snapped out, sending a spray of water across
the yard.

 The three Tendo girls gasped. The
same aura of compassion and strength flowed
from the girl who had stepped out of the pond 
and now looked with disdain upon her father.
The very qualities that had made his male form
so appealing brought an otherworldly sense of
beauty to the female half.

 "Father, that was uncalled for," Ranma
said, glaring at the one responsible for the 
transformation.

 "Were you not prepared to risk your
life for..." Genma found himself interrupted. The
interruption proved to be the table being slammed
into the top of his head by Akane. She lifted it and
brought it back down on him again. How DARE he
do something like that to HER Ranma...

 "You've gone too far, Mister Saotome!"
Kasumi actually showed some anger towards the
older man, guest or not. 

 "Would you like some hot water, Ranma?"
Nabiki smiled. She wouldn't even charge him for it,
he'd see that she was useful and intelligent, then he'd
be sure to choose HER.

 Akane glared at Genma some more. "How
could you do that to poor Ranma? What kind of father
are you?"

 "Ah, the life of a martial artist is fraught 
with peril," Soun Tendo folded his arms and looked
stoic. He glanced over at Ranma-chan and his jaw
dropped. Such inhuman beauty and grace hit him
like a meteor from an American disaster movie. His
stoic dignity seemed to deflate and vanish. "Gah?"

 "Oh, that I have such a worthless son..."
came a mumbling voice from underneath the table.
"Such a disappointment you are to your father...
OUCH!"

 Akane dusted her hands off from where
she'd picked the table back up and slammed it back
down again. "You did this to him, you...you..." Akane
paused, at a loss for an applicable insult.

 "Worthless excuse for a father," supplied
Kasumi helpfully.

 "Scumbag? Slimeball? Dirty rotten old 
@#*%#? Fiend? Pile of malodorous monkey muck?
Soon to be living punching bag?" Nabiki scowled
at the arms and legs sticking out from beneath the
table.

 "Thanks." Akane nodded. "What they
said!"

 Ranma suppressed a guilty smile at seeing
her father on the receiving end of some bad luck for
a change. But then, she'd never suffered from any 
delusions of being perfect...
----------------------------------------------------
 Where does this go?
 Ranma+Asuralle, instead of a fight for
dominance as with the "Devil 1/2" plotline, we have
a merger/accomodation being reached. Both of 
Ranma's forms are therefore influenced by the angel.
Slightly increased power level, with some heavy
disadvantages too.

 Powers? Giving the angel form a chi-sword
(something like Ryoko's from TM) certainly works from
a visual standpoint. Flight (also only in the angel form)
and possibly some healing abilities (some non-offensive
abilities would help balance him out.)

 Disadvantages? Without doing crossovers
this could have Gosunkugi actually succeeding in some
demonic incantation, as a demon would WANT to
interfere with Ranma. WITH crossovers, I can see the
Senshi wanting to sign him/her up real fast. 
--------------------
 "I am NOT wearing a fuku, and that's final!"

 "But it'd look good on you!"

 "NO! Absolutely not!"
---------------------
 There's also the personality merger, getting
flashes of memories and associations that don't belong
to the original Ranma. Eventually the two merge completely,
but if Ranma couldn't lie or steal, how different would his
life be from TOS (The Original Series)?

 All three Tendo daughters are interested in
Ranma. He can't choose one without hurting the other
two, and he REALLY doesn't like hurting people. He is
not into an "all the girls" ending though, and would only
choose ONE.

 Kuno will take one look at his winged goddess
and the usual subplot will develop. However he has a lot
of competition, especially if the singing career (idol singer
either or both forms) takes off.

This is just one of those ideas I was advised not to pursue,
and so it's just presented for those of you who might find
it amusing.

ja ne,
gregg




(1) you notice in TOS that Kasumi
NEVER complains about boring?
(2) So Akane's wrong. Like that 
never happens in the original series?