gomen ne, minaasan, i'm told i never posted the full rewrite
to the FFML.

A Very Scary Bet, RAAC version (revised)
part 1a: A different spin and charge
by greggsharp, metroanime@mindspring.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com

-----------------Ymir's Well----------------------------
 Toltiir smirked at the reluctant incubus,
who was still visibly shaken by the events he'd seen
in one of the timelines visible through the scrying
pool.

 "Ranma...and..." Grey shuddered. Some
things were just WRONG. He'd seen timelines where
Ranma ended up with Akane<shudder>, or Ukyou, or Kodachi,
or Shampoo, or Hiroshi<shudder>, or Nabiki, or Kasumi,
or Kasumi AND Ukyou, or Tatewaki <shudder>, or even
Doctor Tofu <ick>. This one...the incubus had a light green
tint to his features that was not the result of lighting.

 "You see," the little god of mischief explained,
"it is not only where you put the change, but the spin and
the charge you put on it. You also have to consider the
timeline that you're altering. The way things turned out
originally shows the way that world works and will have an
effect on your change."

 "I see," Grey managed. "Oh man, who's was
THAT, anyway?" He wanted to avoid the person whose
mind came up with something like that. Even the one where
Ranma-chan married Happosai was less twisted and degrading
than THAT one.

 Toltiir ignored the question. He'd thought that
it had been different at least. "Look at what happens when
I make the very same change you did, but put the spin and
vector like this."
-----------------March 13, 1981-------------------------
 Nodoka had been called to the hospital to
visit a sick friend when the news had come in. Soun Tendo,
having one of his emotional collapses, had plowed his car
into a set of gas pumps. The resulting fireball, well, while
Soun was a trained martial artist and could absorb a lot of
damage, there were limits.

 Kimiko's dying wish was that Nodoka take in
at least one of the daughters. She was trying for all three.

 By the time various relatives found out, the dying
request had been recorded, and it was all over. None of the
relatives really wanted the children enough for a lengthy
court battle.

 Nodoka used the resources available to her and
tracked her errant husband down on his training trip. All
arguments to the side, this had NOT been foreseen when
she had signed the contract. She would have trouble making
ends meet with all three children, therefore Genma had to
come back and go back to work.

 Work. Shigoto. Genma considered it an unlucky
word, beginning with death and ending with a burglar. He
had been a thief many times training under Happosai. It
was a bad omen.

 Genma looked at the three little girls and came up
with one of those ideas that he would later regret. They were
also heirs to the Anything Goes school, and one of them would
be Ranma's wife eventually.  Nodoka would never go along with
his ideas for training so...
------------------March 11, 1982----------------
 "He's beating those kids because he cheats,"
observed Nabiki calmly. It had taken her all of twelve
seconds of observation from the shadows.

 The Gambling King frowned. "What do you
mean, calling me a CHEAT? Little girls should not make
up stories about their elders."

 "Oh?" Nabiki took in the looks of the parents
and the children. "And what about those
Jokers you've got stuffed up your sleeves?"

 "You must be ..." The Gambling King
looked down at where a thrown spatula had slit open
one of  his sleeves. Cards tumbled to the ground. His
eyes tracked up to the brown haired girl who was smiling
a cute little smile and winking at the shorter haired girl.

 "Smarter than the average kid," Nabiki finished.
"Now, we can do this one of two ways. Ucchan and Ranma
here can beat you until you look like sushi. OR..."

 "Or?" The Gambling King looked up. Why did
he think that he'd like this option even less? Why did he
have the sudden urge to say "I'd have gotten away with it,
if it weren't for you darned kids..."

 "That was a good throw, Kasumi!" Ranma smiled
at his big sister.

 "Hey!" Ukyou spoke up. "I coulda done that too,
y'know!"

 "Why do Ukyou and Ranma get to beat him up?
I'm a martial artist too, you know!"

 An hour later, at their campsite, Genma wondered
where all the money, extra clothes, and gambling equipment
had come from, but perhaps wisely didn't inquire.
------------------March 15,1982-----------------
 "So, Ranma," began Genma. "Which do you like
better, Ucchan or okonomiyaki?" The yattai was a powerful
lure, it would help him make ends meet for a little longer.

 "Uhm," Ranma began. Almost involuntarily, his
eyes flicked over to the side.

 "Ucchan is a good cook, isn't he?" Kasumi asked
innocently. She liked Ucchan.

 Ranma blinked. That's right. Ucchan made the
okonomiyaki. "UCCHAN," Ranma said enthusiastically as
he munched on another piece of the okonomiyaki.

 Genma sighed and covered his eyes. Well, that's
what he got for leaving the decision up to a child, particularly
one that kept looking up to his "big sister" for advice.

 Nabiki smiled and went back to practicing her
dice rolling techniques.
-------------------September 3, 1982------------
 Genma sat back and watched Kasumi and Ukyou
spar near the yattai. Sales had been brisk earlier that day, and
now he had the money to go get something to drink. He turned
slightly, watching Nabiki con some adults out of spare change.
Genma turned slightly again and watched Ranma and Akane
sparring.

 Too many kids. He had to get rid of some of them,
at least temporarily. He shuddered at the thought of dropping
by his home. Nodoka would likely take some of the children back
if he told her that they were simply too much for him to handle.
However, there was the bit about children who talked.

 They said the darndest things. Particularly when you
didn't want them to.

 Maybe he could find other senseis to pawn them
off on. After all, they already showed some skill in at least the basics.

 Ukyou had been revealed to all as a girl. Her engagement
to Ranma had also become common knowledge. That the Tendos
were ALSO engaged to Ranma had likewise become shared
knowledge. There were questions and recriminations, but now
Genma faced another problem entirely.

 All four of the young ladies considered Ranma to be
their fiance, and all had come to a simple truce on the matter. That
multiple marriages were technically illegal or at least objectionable
didn't enter into their simple worldview.

 That none of them really understood what an engagement
or marriage actually meant was something that Genma meant to
keep going as long as he could. Kasumi thought it had something
to do with taking care of someone's house. Nabiki thought it had
something to do with a financial merger. Akane thought it had
something to do with being allowed to take over the dojo. Genma
had no idea what Ukyou thought of the engagement other than
she seemed to really like his son.

 Whether Ranma returned as a man among men or not,
Nodoka would kill him. Not good. Very, very, not good. If she
found out about Kaori Daikokuji (fish and TWO pickles), or Biiko
(two bags of rice), or Kotono (protection from the temple guards),
or Megumi (cancellation of a gambling debt), well, maybe he could
get away before she got that sword unwrapped.(1)

 Genma thought about this. He also noted that the various
sparring partners seemed to help Ranma. Each of the various students
had their own strengths and weaknesses that could be exploited and
Ranma had to adapt to each.

 Kasumi was a gentle creature, reluctant to strike even in
retaliation. Ranma was reluctant to do more than poke her with a finger.
The two sparring against each other were more tests of manueverability
and agility than a battle. Genma found himself yelling at them both to
stop dancing on more than one occasion. Spatula vs spatula against
Ukyou seemed to bring a little more fight out. Having seen that, as soon
as he felt Kasumi had more basic moves down, he'd train her with a
variety of household weapons.

 Nabiki was a smart and tricky fighter. Not as strong as Akane
or as fast as Kasumi, she used terrain and taunts to keep her opponents
off guard. When she struck, it was precise and with a minimum of wasted
effort. In some ways she was the most challenge for Ranma to fight, as he
had to think about the tactics of the situation. She was teaching herself
tricks
using some of the gambling equipment they'd gotten, as she felt spatulas
were Ukyou's trademark and she wanted to establish her own identity.

 Akane was the storm. Strength and fury and raw emotion. She
fought quickly, all out, and was easily the strongest of the four girls. She
usually lost to her sisters, though. Kasumi would gently redirect the
violence
until Akane was spent. Nabiki would tease and dodge until Akane left herself
open, then unleash her own devastating attack. Akane was a purist, though,
no tricks or weapons use for her.

 Ukyou was still heavily reliant on her weapons. Without them,
she was becoming quite competent. With them, she was almost as good as
Ranma now. Her obvious reluctance to go all out against Ranma was going
to be a problem though. Against Akane, the match was much more
even. They didn't seem to get along well for some reason. Maybe it was
just that Akane didn't seem to care that much for okonomiyaki.

 Okonomiyaki. He'd thought of the yattai as a disposable
food source. He hated to admit it, but he had been wrong. Nabiki had
a talent for finding the best deals, Ukyou assaying their quality, and
now both Kasumi and Ukyou were nearly matched in the art of the
Japanese pizza. They weren't going to get rich, but they were eating
regularly off the profits.

 Nabiki running scams, gambling operations, and shaking
down adults for loose change further increased their net income.

 The real problem, Genma confessed to himself, was that
control of the situation was slipping further and further out of his
hands.

 Genma sighed and headed for one of the vending machines that
would take his change. Maybe he could think better in the morning, after
all, it HAD been a tiring day.

 And tomorrow he'd be ready for the training he'd always
wanted to put Ranma through, a training that would make him invincible.

 He needed it. Poor Ranma was getting henpecked.
-----------------September 7, 1982--------------------------
 Kasumi was the first to wonder where Genma had taken
her little brother/fiance Ranma. She crept up, wondering what great
secrets were to be displayed that Uncle Genma would only teach
Ranma. She'd had to patch Ranma up for the past three days and
dealing with all the little cuts, scrapes, gouges, long sucking flesh
wounds, claw marks, and bites had made Kasumi more than a little
curious.

 She was joined a moment later by her seven year old
sister Nabiki, who'd apparently seen big sister Kasumi sneaking off.
With the absence of two of their number keenly felt, Akane and
Ukyou had hidden the yattai and joined the other two just as the
Genma began tying something all over Ranma.

 "What's going on?" Akane blinked at the scene before her.
The six year old could see Uncle Genma tying something all over
Ranma. "Is this the secret training?"

 Nabiki held a finger over her lips and scowled at the little
girl. "Shhhh. It's a secret. We're not s'pposed to know about it."

 Ukyou and Kasumi nodded sagely at that.

 After a moment, Nabiki frowned. "Something stinks."

 "Fish," Akane whispered. "Smells like fish."

 "No. Smells like cat crap." Ukyou had been raised in
Kansai and knew the smell of fish quite well. The underlying
smell was also familiar to her from her Aunt Beru's house.
"Lots of cat crap."

 Genma reached over and opened a trap door, and
the smell of cats that had been cooped up for over a week
became quite a bit stronger.

 "Wow," Akane held her nose. "Must be a lotta
kitties in there."

 They could hear Ranma now, pleading with his father
not to throw him in. He'd been good, he hadn't told anyone. There
was the slap of flesh and they could also hear Genma berating
Ranma for acting weak and soft, like a dumb girl. He shook the boy,
threatening to make Ranma wear one of Kasumi's dresses.(2)

 Akane suppressed a giggle. Weak and soft? He didn't
know them very well, did he?

 Kasumi frowned. She only had the two dresses, and she
didn't want Ranma to ruin either of them.

 Nabiki frowned. Weak, soft, and dumb? She'd have to
make sure Ranma didn't take his father's words to heart. Fortunately,
little brother had learned to listen to his big sisters.

 Ukyou frowned too. She didn't want to see her Ranchan
all cut up and bloody again. She hoped this training would be over
soon. Her heart went out to her poor fiance.

 "He's tied Ranma all up? He's...throwing Ranma in?"
There was something about this which disturbed Kasumi greatly.

 "That weird." Akane tried to figure out how Ranma
could learn a martial arts move all tied up like that. Maybe it was
an escape technique or some ninja trick...

 Nabiki's jaw almost hit the bottom of the pipe she
was in. "That not weird. It crazy!"

 The yowling started as Genma slammed the lid
back into place and moved off to where he had a nice bottle
of sake warming in the ashes of a fire. Ranma started to scream.

 Kasumi began to back away. "Oh no. oh no. oh no."

 "What's wrong, Kasumi?" Akane looked up. Maybe her
big sister knew what kind of technique this was.

 "He's feeding Ranma to those cats!" Kasumi could
scarcely believe it. That explained all the claw and bite marks, but
it wasn't the sort of thing Kasumi had wanted to believe.

 All four of the young girls were petrified by the evil
ogre that must have taken over Uncle Genma. Usually he was
mean, petty, obtuse, irritating, and harsh...but this!

 "What're we gonna do?" Akane pulled back further
into her pipe. She didn't want to be fed to cats! She didn't want
to be fed to anything! She'd been begging Unca Genma to
learn special techniques, but now...

 "Maybe he'll just be satisfied with killing Ranma?"
Nabiki said hopefully. She'd miss little brother...

 "HEY!" Ukyou drew her spatula, finding Kasumi a
heartbeat later, drawing HER spatula. "That's OUR fiance he's
feedin' to those dumb cats!"

 "Hmmmph," Nabiki hmphed as she slipped out of
the pipe. What was hers was hers and she was gonna keep it
in the best condition she could!

 "R-right." Akane swallowed. She was a martial artist
and a martial artist defended the weak. Even if it was her annoying
brother/fiance.

 A moment later, four screaming young girls proceeded
to try to beat the stuffings out of a man who had just been leaning
back to enjoy some sake. Either the screams from the pit or the sake
seemed to have covered up much of the approach of the four.

 However, Kasumi was only eight (though she'd be nine
very soon). Nabiki a mere seven years old. Akane and Ukyou were
all of six. Even though they handled themselves as if much older, they
weren't that effectual. Genma had never gotten around to teaching them
teamwork.

 They didn't realize that attacking together like this, to
save Ranma from the evil ogre, that they were setting a precedent.

 When the screaming abruptly stopped, so did the fight
above the pit. Ukyou, dangling from where Genma had lifted her by
the scruff of her shirt, immediately started crying about Ranma being
dead.

 Akane started sniffling too, from her position of having
one of Genma's ankles in a scissors lock. Not that she would show any
sign of weakness like actually liking Ranma...

 Nabiki and Kasumi started to cry too, Ranma had gotten
eaten and now the ogre would be coming after them! They wanted
to run, but they couldn't abandon their sisters!

 Down in the dark, something awoke and heard the crying.
It responded. "Mrrrroooooooowwwwww!"

 Genma looked up from where he was trying to untangle
himself from the four girls when the trap door came flying off the
hinges. It started to rain cats.

 "Mrrrroowwwwwww!" The Cat moved out of the smelly
dark hole, then looked around at its surroundings. Some of those
watching could have sworn one of his ears twitched.

 "Could it be? Have you learned the Cat Fist?" Genma
started to analyze the odd pose the child had. Without thinking
about it, he kicked Akane loose and tossed Ukyou to the side
where she was out of the way. She'd taken worse falls during
training anyway.

 "Hisssssssss." Ranma leapt forward, eyes gleaming.
Genma landed a few feet away, having blocked and evaded.

 "That wasn't that impressive," Genma said with a frown.
He looked down, noticing the long cuts that had gone through the
front of his gi and made shallow lines across his chest. "On second
thought..."

 There was a loud clang as Ukyou managed to rebound,
bounce off a wall, and bring her spatula into play. Genma went
down at least for the moment.

 "Ranma's acting like a cat?" Nabiki blinked as she
watched her little brother/fiance. Uncle Genma had called this
the 'cat fist?' "Cat fist means acting like a cat?"

 Ranma hissed again as Genma began to rise. His
currently feline mind perceived the large male as a threat.

 "Here kitty kitty, nice kitty!" Kasumi smiled and
knelt down. "Nice kitty!"

 "Mrrrrrr?" Ranma noted that the Threat was staying
over there. Warm lap provider was over here signalling that she
wanted to commence grooming. Well, if she insisted.

 The three other girls weren't particularly jealous,
each wanted to be the next one to have kitty-Ranma in their
lap. How nice, now they had a pet!

 Kasumi started smoothing Ranma's hair as he
snuggled into her lap. Ukyou followed Kasumi's example, as
she usually did, stroking along the line of Ranma's spine.

 Ranma purred.

 Genma blinked. "Well, so much for the 'invincible'
cat fist." It had been quickly defeated by the dreaded Kasumi
charm attack. He turned his attention back to the book. Maybe
one of these other techniques...

 Hmmm. Maybe the dreaded Scorned Woman Fury?
-------------------January 3, 1983----------------------
 Genma immediately noticed that there was
one body too many at the campsite. Which one it was,
THAT was more difficult to tell. They'd all started
wearing each other's clothing, well except for Kasumi
who was still the biggest of the children. Ranma wouldn't
wear the girl's clothes, of course, but the unisex or training
clothes tended to make the rounds.

 "What's going on here?" Genma started
rubbing his temples. He was sure that this was why
he had gone bald. Or maybe it was when he had stolen
that ruby eye from that idol...

 "What do you mean, Uncle?" Nabiki looked
up from her textbooks. "We're just studying."

 Genma's eyes roved until he found an extra
Akane. "All right, who are you, and why are you here?"

 "She's here because she's running away from
home, where she was whipped and beaten by her mother."
Nabiki noted, turning another page of the Economics textbook.
That it was a high school textbook two years out of date was
of little import, she found the subject fascinating.

 "That's not any concern of ours!" Genma frowned.
He would NOT budge on this. There were FAR too many
children here as it was. Even with the yattai being a continuing
source of income, and Nabiki shaking the crowds down for money
and getting additional funds somehow.

 "She brought money," Nabiki continued.

 "I won't...how much money?" Genma shook
his head. "Absolutely not. No. My word is final on this!"
------------------March 9, 1983----------------------
 "Can I be engaged to Ranma too?" Kodachi
inquired sweetly.

 "Why me?" Genma asked of the heavens.

 "Look, you want to avoid the authorities, we
don't want 'Dachi to be hauled back in front of a mother
who'd do THAT to her." Nabiki winked at Kodachi, she'd
sell her a 'fiancee to Ranma' membership card later.

 Ranma, oblivious as he was used to getting
tag-teamed by the girls, was tonight's cook manning
the yattai. Under the watchful eyes of Ukyou and
Kasumi he was getting much better at the various
chores. Especially if he thought of it as martial arts
training.

 "Uncle Genma," purred Nabiki. As Ranma
wasn't around she could act somewhat feline. "You
should consider China."

 "China?" Genma paused. It was said that
there were secret martial arts techniques and styles
in China that were unknown to those in Japan. Then
there was Tibet, which had some pretty spiffy martial
arts masters...

 Nabiki had been one of those saying such
things. "Yes, I'll bet we could do really well in China."
She saw that their guardian was hooked, now she used
her ace to reel him in. "Just look at this brochure..."

 "Martial Arts Training Grounds, Secret, Mystic,
and Cursed," Genma read off the label. The label and a few
key points were in Japanese, the rest was in Chinese. He
looked up, the thought of learning special secret techniques
quite apparent on his face. "China, eh?"
--------------------November 3, 1983--------------------
 "That was NOT a nice thing to do, Akane!"
Kasumi scolded her younger sister. "You know Ranma's
scared of cats."

 "But I wanted to show 'Dachi." Akane looked down
and scuffed the toe of her shoe in the dirt. "Besides, _I_ never
got to have Ranma-kitty in MY lap."

 "Now we've got to get him out of that tree," said
Kasumi shaking her head, wondering what else could go wrong
today.

 "Don't worry, Kodachi's gotta idea." Akane smiled
and pointed at where Kodachi was getting ready to start throwing
large objects.

 Kasumi started running.

 "Mroo-ouuuchhh!"
----------------------February 19, 1984------------------------
 "Ooofff!" Ranma and someone else went down
in a tangle.

 "<Watch where you're going you stupid oaf!>"
The little girl picked herself up, noting how tough the boy
had been. Built much more solidly than Mousse, she guessed.

 "<I sorry. Not mean I to get in way.>"

 Shampoo hmmmphed and looked at the boy. "<You
are coward then, to come bump into an amazon and then go
bowing and scraping when you find that it is I that you have
tangled with?>"

 "<What mean? I sorry. Not understand very goodly.>"
Ranma had never gotten the hang of Mandarin beyond the
simple phrases used when selling okonomiyaki.

 "She called you a coward," said an old woman who
was watching the events unfold with a smile.

 "COWARD?!" The eight year old boy glowered at
the purple haired girl. "You take that back, you dope!"

 Cologne translated. "<He disagrees, and suggests
that you retract that statement quickly.>"

 "<Oh yeah? Make me, stupid boy!>" Shampoo
was in the boy's face, certain that this mere male would flee
with his tail between his legs. Just to start him off, she sent
a punch towards his stomach.

 Ranma blocked and counterpunched, landing a
solid blow to Shampoo's chin.

 Shampoo's eyes widened then narrowed. How
DARE he lay a hand on her!

 Cologne watched as the two began to seriously
go about the task of beating the other into a pulp. She allowed
a smile to crease her ancient face as she noted the skill level
that the boy was using. He was good, and Shampoo had very
few challenges in her age range. A sort of rival might cause her
to improve some of the holes she had in her repertoire.

 That thought ended after Ranma pinned Shampoo
to the ground. "I win! You gotta take that back about me being
a coward!"

 "<Shampoo, can you get free?>"

 Shampoo struggled briefly, thrashing around in the
dust, then looked with wild eyes at her great-grandmother. "<No.>"

 "<Then tell him he's not a coward. Then, when he lets
you up, give him the Kiss of Marriage.>"

 "<I've got to be fourteen to give the Kiss Of Marriage!>"
Shampoo shook  her head. "<I'm only eight!>"

 "<So it'll be a Kiss of Engagement, instead. At least this
is something you can use to eventually get Mousse off your back.>"

 Shampoo brightened considerably. "<Okay. I was wrong.
Stranger male person is NOT a coward.>"

 Cologne translated, then watched with bemusement as
Shampoo gave the Kiss of Engagement to Ranma. She was even
more amused when Kasumi and Ukyou came and dragged Ranma
off a few minutes later.

 Nabiki sold Shampoo a bright shiny membership card.
============================================
(1) this is based mainly on how quickly he acts to sell Ranma in
     the two anime episodes dealing with such actions. In the flashback
     with Kaori ("Martial Arts Takeout Race"), Genma's hesitation is only
     so that he could bargain for the extra pickles. In the flashback
dealing
     with Ukyou, his objections are immediately discarded when a profit
     (the yattai) is brought up. He goes into "sell off the boy" mode so
     quickly, you wonder how many other times he's sold him off.
 And no, i haven't seen anything to impress me with Genma's
     moral character or code of honor. He seems to live up to his name
     quite well.
(2) if threats and insults like this had been used against Ranma
     during his early training years, it would explain quite a lot of his
     attitude towards women later on, ne?

clip to 1b