A Very Scary Bet, rough version
part 1c: A different spin and charge
various char owned by various other people, who may
or may not be able to recognize them by the time this
has finished spinning.
by greggsharp, metroanime@mindspring.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com
----------------December 24,1985--------------------
 "What wrong with you, Nabiki Tendo?" Shampoo
came running up beside the Japanese girl. "You look like you
just lost money."

 "Uhm, Shampoo. I...really don't want to talk about
this now." Nabiki thought a cold shower, and some time alone,
THAT was what she really needed right now.

 "What? You forget? Tonight big night!"

 "What, Gilligan's Island marathon on satellite?"

 "You do forget. Tonight very important event.
Nabiki must be there."

 "Not tonight, Shampoo," Nabiki moaned. "What
is so important that you have to have me there?"

 "Is visitor who expert on Jusenkyo curses. Is
visitor YOU request, remember? Is Ancient Traveler."

 "Oh yeah," Nabiki shook her head. "Kinda
slipped my mind after Cologne's little pep talk. I'll be
there, don't sweat it..."

 Shampoo stopped, puzzled. "<I don't understand
that girl at all sometimes.>"
--------------December 25, 1985--------------------------
 He was ancient by the standards of many races,
and he was known to quite a few of them as well. Some
called him a meddler, others called him a friend, more 
referred to him by the name he usually gave.

 He was the Doctor.

 Opening the door to a police call box, he was
greeted by the whine of servo-motors. "Any problems
while I was gone, K-9?"

 "Negative, Master." The robot answered from
the vast depths within. "Were there any problems with
the retrieval?"

 "No, and that's strange. Not that I'm questioning
my good fortune." He grinned as the little robot scooted past
him into the clearing. "Large village, the Dalek Space/Time 
Bomb obviously in a place of honor in a central hut, but there
were no guards to be seen anywhere."

 "Master," the roughly dog shaped robot interrupted.
"I am registering several lifeforms approaching this area at high
speed."

 "What?" The Doctor looked up and held the door to
the TARDIS open. "They must have discovered their idol 
missing. Quickly, K-9."

 "Aaaaaaaaaaa," said a nine year old girl as she
shot past the Doctor, pulling a similarly aged boy behind
her. The Doctor idly noted that the boy's feet weren't anywhere
near the ground from the speed the girl was managing.

 "Massive number of lifeforms approaching at high
speed, Master," K-9 said as he trundled back into the TARDIS.
"Shall I use a wide beam STUN setting?"

 "PONY TAILED GIRL!" A ten year old boy in what
appeared to be a kendo outfit shot through the still open door
of the TARDIS, managing to trip over K-9 and send both
tumbling inside.

 With a sigh, the Doctor entered, closed the door
in the face of a large crowd of enraged tribesmen, and looked
at where his K-9 unit had one of his ear-antennae bent again.
"No, I think that won't be necessary at the moment. I..."

 A sound that was a combination of a wheeze and
a grind, terminating in a thump began to sound.

 "Oh dear," said the Doctor. It was going to be one
of THOSE days. "Pardon me, get away from those controls."

 The assembled tribesmen blinked as the little 
phone booth sort of contraption vanished into thin air. After a few
minutes debate, they decided to get back to the village.

 They'd at least chased those evil foreign developers off.
----------------July 4, 1987-------------------
 Akane inhaled, centering her "wa" and
clearing her mind. She swept her arms through the
circular motions she had been taught.

 It had taken her years. She was confident
now that she was finally ready.

 "HADOKEN!" The eleven year old thrust
her hands forward, every move being flawless.

 Nothing. The target sat, untouched.

 Ken sighed and clapped a hand to the
younger girl. "I wouldn't worry about it. You've got
the hurricane kick down, you've got the basics down,
you've almost got the shoryuken. You'll master the
hadoken eventually."

 Akane nodded. She would get it eventually.
She wanted it NOW, though. She wanted to keep up
with Ken, not be some wimp...

 She didn't realize how much she resembled
Ryu in her singleminded pursuit of a technique.
-------------November 14, 1754---------------
 "Know that I, Tatewaki Kuno, known as
the Blue Thunder, shall ever carry thy wondrous
beauty in mine heart."

 "C'mon, Kuno, the Doctor is leaving."
Ranma smirked and slung her own sword over one
shoulder. She couldn't wait to get out of these
clothes and into something that didn't scratch so
much.

 "Ah, but how can I bear to part from
my adoring public?" Never mind that the adoring
public were four kids and a cat. His skills with a
sword were well appreciated in this era and THAT
was a powerful inducement to linger.

 "You really want to stay here and end
up dying before you were born?" Ranma shrugged.
"Suit yourself."

 "Thou speaketh the truth, fair maiden" Kuno 
bowed to the villagers, then entered the booth a little behind
Ranma. Maybe they would meet Musashi next!

 "Kuno," said Ranma as she stopped at one of
the doors in the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions
In Space) to look at the laggard samurai.

 "Yes, my love?"

 "Not fair. Not a maiden. Not your love. Keep
it up and I'll kick you outside the TARDIS doors while we're
in transit."

 "Ah, but my goddess..."

 "I'm not kidding, Kuno!"

 The Doctor looked on as Ranma threw her extra 
floppy hat on, adjusted her scarf, and went off to check the
library to see if there were any more martial arts books that
she hadn't read yet.

 "K-9?" The Doctor tugged unconciously at his
own scarf. Ranma was picking up entirely too many of his
own mannerisms.

 "Yes, Master?"

 "Keep an eye on her. Oh, and have you found Ryouga?"

 "Systems indicate that Ryouga is still on Deck 354, currently
subsection D, Room 12."

 "Lost in the botany section?"

 "Affirmative."

 The Doctor thought a moment. "The TARDIS incorporates 
many biological systems into its circuits."

 "Affirmative, Master." The mechanical dog extended a sensor
probe which chatted briefly with the TARDIS itself.

 "I was just wondering if the navigational computer could 
have been built with his DNA as a component. Hmmm. Just a thought."

 K-9 trundled off to the library. Young Master/Mistress needed 
him. The translation effect of the TARDIS could only go so far, after all.
Likewise, after Ranma had discovered the Teaching Machine, someone
had to be there to coax her out of it.

 The Doctor inspected the readings. It looked like the next
of the Dalek Space/Time Bombs would have ended up...
--------------------------
 Tatewaki Kuno was bored. Books and machines, 
that was all that was here in this vast Library within the TARDIS.
Nothing to hold the attention of the samurai, particularly now
that he had experienced firsthand an adventure in the era of the
samurai.

 He was still carrying the daisho he'd picked up there,
taken from a samurai who'd fallen in service to his Lord, whose
last whispered plea had been for someone to save his Master.

 Kuno had. Well, the ponytailed girl and that Doctor
person had assisted him. As a result, Kuno proudly wore a 
true samurai's swords. All this at the bare age of ten!

 The samurai's gaze found itself lingering on the 
odd device that his pony-tailed goddess had entered. Much
like a coffin, it had accepted her slight form and enclosed it.
Now, supposedly, the device gently nudged her mind and
imparted to her great secrets of times long gone and times
yet to come.

 "K-9," came the Doctor's voice over the intercom.
"Come to the control room, please, I could use your help with
these coordinates."

 "A-ffirmative. Master." The dog-shaped device
trundled off again.

 Kuno repressed a shudder. The dog-thing was
so unnatural that he was rapidly developing an aversion to
coming anywhere near it. On the other hand, Kuno smiled
as he realized that he was alone with the girl who haunted
his dreams. For all her claims of being a guy, Kuno knew
better.

 The device used cartridges the size of a hardback
book, which fit into slots in the lid of the device. Kuno read
the one that was in the device now, which was simply "Martial
Arts Special Techniques: Volumn II (Bootleg Copy)."

 Kuno approved, sort of. It was that fire in the soul
of young Ranma-chan that attracted him to her. Kuno's eye
fell upon the racks of other cartridges then over to the other
three empty slots in the machine.

 It would be dishonorable for a samurai to take
advantage of a maiden's inattention. Yet, would it not also
be part of bushido to assist another warrior with the...
shortcomings of her training?

 Kuno looked over the various cartridges. Ah,
just the thing. Clearly his fiery temptress did not know how
to dress or act in proper feminine fashion. And here was 
another. Did not the pony-tailed girl often complain about
her not understanding the various machines that they had
encountered? Why, and here was one dealing with various
traditional feminine skills such as cooking!

 Noting that all four slots were now filled, Kuno
stepped back and nodded. She would thank him for his 
insight and understanding. No doubt her own pride kept
her from using the machine to rectify her own shortcomings
in these areas.
-----------------
 A click and a light flashing off indicated that the
first cartridge had finished. Kuno looked up from where he
had been dusting his sword. Already? Hours had passed
while he had been silently contemplating the happiness he
would share with the pony-tailed girl.

 Kuno pulled out the first cartridge and thought
for a moment. Looking over the cartridges, he noted that
some were flagged in red, others with yellow borders, and
two were still wrapped in some flimsy clear packing material.

 Kuno replaced the first cartridge with one of the
yellow ones. Certainly the pony-tailed girl seemed to enjoy
martial arts training. There was a typo on the label though,
as it read "Marital Arts Training Vol III:Advanced Techniques."

 Kuno shrugged. There had to be something else
to do around here.

 K-9 returned, eight hours later (bringing Ryouga
had taken much longer than it normally would have taken
the little robot to manuever through the corridors.)

 The robot immediately noticed the odd choices,
but a moment of processing indicated that the Master/Mistress
was now of an age where curiosity of such things would be
expected. 
------------------October 9, 1990--------------
 A fourteen year old girl swept her hands through
a set of motions.

 "Draw strength from the earth," advised Ryu.

 "Let it flow THROUGH you," added Ken. "Don't
try to control it so much as gently direct it."

 "HADOKEN!" Akane thrust her hands forward.
The fireball slammed into the target.

 Akane held the pose for a moment before she
started shaking her hands. "Ouch ow owie, hot hot hot."

 "You tried to force it," accused Ken.

 "Overconfident," judged Ryu.

 "Oh YEAH, you can talk!" Akane yelled
at her fellow Japanese student, still wincing at the
burns. "Mister 'It Only Took Me A Week To Learn
The Hurricane Kick' thinks _I_ am overconfident?"

 "You mastered the manuever yourself,"
said Ryu with a shrug. "It just took you a little longer
to avoid the dizzy spells immediately afterwards."

 "You've got the hadoken," said Ken
gently to the little girl. "Now all you have to do is
master it the way you do any other manuever."

 "It's odd, though," Ryu said thoughtfully.
"When me or Ken do the manuever, it's just a ki
blast. We don't usually set the target on fire." 
 
 Ken and Akane looked at each other,
then looked towards the target which was still
smouldering.

 Akane blinked, then began to grin.
"So I learned a new manuever BEFORE you two!
Hah! Eat my dust!"

 Ryu nudged Ken as his sparring
partner walked closer. "Gracious winner, isn't
she?"
 "Ah, she's just used to being in our
shadow. Give her a chance at the spotlight for
once." Ken looked up to where Akane was now
laughing maniacally. "Just in case though, let's
cook her dinner to celebrate."

 "I don't wanna cook," Ryu glanced
up at his friend. "Oh, right. Better us than her."

 "Just in time, too. Tomorrow she's
supposed to go back and live in some place 
called Nerima..."
---------------October 10, 1987----------
 A phone booth-sized blue box
briefly appeared in the street. A door opened,
and a moment later a figure flew out of the
doorway to impact upon one of the walls.

 A young redhaired girl stood
in the doorway, dusting her hands off. 
"Kuno! If you EVER try anything like that
again, you will become 'Kuno the Sword
Swallower' ya got me?"

 "Kuno!" Ryouga came running
out of the booth to stand in front of the
kendoist. "How dare you take advantage of
a helpless sweet girl like Ranma!"  
 
 Ranma stared at the two, then quietly
closed the door.

 "Pony-tailed girl," mumbled Kuno.

 "How dare you..." Ryouga's head
snapped up. That odd wheeze-thump noise
sounded awfully familiar. He turned around to
see the booth fading away. "No... but I..."

 Realizing he was alone on the street
with a dazed kendoist, Ryouga tried to figure
out his next move. He brightened. All he had
to do was find the Tendo Dojo! He could meet
Ranma's mother, and eventually Ranma would
show up and he'd apologize to her!

 Nodoka Saotome came out of the
house a few minutes later and wondered why
there was an impact crater on the compound
wall.
---------------October 10, 1990----------------
 or...three years later.

 Nodoka invited the latest arrival
inside, half-bowing and directing her to the
low table. Four girls had shown up so far,
having served their apprenticeships.

 She inspected the girls over the
tea cup, giving all of them a chance to recover
from the chill.

 One had been a cat, another had 
been a fair sized but extremely cute dog, an akita
if she wasn't mistaken. They had been transformed
back into human with a simple application of hot
water.

 The girls were all somewhat nervous
about each other. Nodoka decided they'd fidgeted
enough.

 "So, would you please introduce 
yourselves to each other."

 The eldest, a seventeen year old girl
who radiated a calm confidance, stood up first
and bowed. "I am Kasumi Tendo, practitioner of
the Ju-ken style of Hokuto Shin Ken."

 The second oldest got up, a little bit
less confidently, and eyed the group before bowing
to Mrs Saotome. "I am Nabiki Tendo, huntress and
artisan of the Nichieju." She tugged on her braid in
an unconcious gesture. "Cursed by the Spring Of
Drowned Cat."

 The other two looked at each other and
then one stood up. "Akane Tendo, uhm, Fierce Dragon
School and, er,  Anything Goes Martial Arts."

 The last girl waited for Akane to sit before
she stood. "Ukyou Kuonji's the name, okonomiyaki's
the game. I'm the best there is at the art of okonomiyaki,
with the exception of my dad."

 Nodoka nodded. "Now, perhaps you can 
explain something to me? Two years ago someone came
by to tell me that HE was Ranma's boyfriend and that
they'd had a lover's tiff. Then ANOTHER boy came up
and said essentially the same thing, but denied that the
first boy was anything but a boyfriend. Oh, and that he
hadn't had a chance to talk to my DAUGHTER about 
their relationship."

 Nodoka's smile looked strained. It had been
strained for a long time now. "Tell me, girls, exactly what
do you know about the person who left my care as my
son?"
---------------------------------------------------------

now some people object to using the Doctor here, after 
all, he's British SF, not anime.
other choices i was seriously considering: Libra Lochi (Saint Saeya),
he ends up with his mother, tells the nice policemen about the training
techniques his daddy put him through and ends up being adopted by
one of the doctors or policemen that interact with him (Doctor Mizuno,
Ami's mom from SM was a choice here) or little Ranma runs into someone
who's checking up on her childhood friend. Ranma meets Belldandy?
         i went with the Doctor because of some scenes in the next segment.
we'll see if this worked, ne?
gregg