Private Bet-Shadow�s Stone

Disclaimer: Everyone belongs to whoever owns them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
�Amateurs.� Shadow was disappointed by the stones
cast so far, this was hardly going to be a challenge for him.

�I suppose you can do better?� The Bard was still
peeved at the treatment his neck had received from 
the arrogant cynic 

A gesture from within the folds of Shadow�s cloak
dissolved the view of the last entry.

�Remember the rules! No blatant darkfics!� 

�Would I do such a thing?�

�In a heartbeat.�

�Just watch.� A small flick of Shadow�s wrist
sent the marble-sized pebble into the still waters.

�Hah! you only got one ripple!�

�One is all I need.�

~~~~~~~~
Eternal Night -A Private Bet entry
by Shade

1a: Genma no Baka!

A distortion briefly shifted .0000517 cubic
inches of relative space-time.....

A horrifying cry of pure agony.....

Genma knew something was very wrong the
 moment he drew back the cover to the pit.
 
It was suddenly quiet inside....too quiet......

After a few moments his eyes adjusted to the lack
of lighting, despite  the cover being off the bottom
of the crude hole was still not illuminated.
Then Genma saw what had happened 
to his son, the damage that he had 
inadvertently inflicted on his sole heir.

Nodoka was going to kill him.

�RANMA!!?!!! NO!!!!!!!�
~~~~~~

�Ugh....u...h....� The Bard had turned a
faint shade of green after seeing what
Shadow�s change had done and was now
making a heroic effort not to be very very
sick all over the pool.

�This had better be good Shadow, inflicting 
something like that on Ranma ..�

�Relax, you�re too uptight Rowan. You seem to
forget that my sphere of influence is darkness 
and conflict, Ranma is definitely going to be 
heavily involved with both in this time-line.�

�We shall see....�

�Trust me. I know exactly what I�m doing.�

�That�s what I�m afraid of.�

~~~~~~~

At the hospital Doctor Mizuno broke the bad news to Genma.

�BLIND?!?!!!!!?!?!?!!�

�Yes, I�m afraid that the damage to his 
optic nerves was too severe, although
the cosmetic surgery will probably repair
his eyes the boy�s vision is permanently gone.
He�s lucky to be alive all things considered, 
I�ve never seen such a vicious animal attack
on a human body in all my years practicing 
medicine. Have you any idea of how such a 
thing could have happened?� She gave him a 
direct stare, suspecting that this weasely man 
knew more then he was letting on.

�Uhh...no..I just found him like that
and brought him straight here.� Genma sweated,
he didn�t think that a mere doctor(and a woman at that)
would understand the importance of the Art or the
sacrifices involved. But this was unacceptable, Ranma
would never be able to become the world�s greatest 
martial artist with a disability like this! 

�Surely you can do something can�t you? He has a duty
to carry on the Saotome School of Anything Goes School 
of Martial Arts! You�re a doctor, fix him!!�

�MR.SAOTOME!!! THIS IS YOUR SON WE ARE
TALKING ABOUT HERE!!!! NOT SOME TOY 
THAT CAN BE PUT BACK TOGETHER AFTER 
YOU BREAK IT!!!!! WHAT KIND OF A FATHER 
ARE YOU?!!!� With Mrs. Mizuno being only a normal
human it was rather amazing to see her do a Flaming 
Demon Head impression that Soun would envy at the 
now cowering Genma.

�I�m sorry, I�m sorry, I�m SORRY!!!� 

No matter what else could be said of Genma Saotome,
he sure knew how to grovel.

�.....You sir, are simply pathetic.�

~~~~~~~~~~~

In the intensive care ward 8 year old Ranma
Saotome was crying. His father had told him
that crying was weak and unmanly, but that
didn�t matter anymore. After all he couldn�t
even see his own tears anymore and if there
were no tears then he wasn�t crying. 

His last memory was of being tossed into
the dark pit with the hungry eyes. Then the
sharp scratches, a white-hot pain in his eyes 
and after that....nothing. 

He had awoken in this strange place. 
It smelled kinda like that nice old lady�s 
home he and pop had been living next to, 
waxy clean with a faint tinge of medicine
in the air. Without his eyes Ranma had 
been forced to explore with his other senses,
his hands told him he was in a bed, with 
bandages around his eyes and on his
body. He could hear a steady roaring in the
background as the hospital�s staff attended 
to the multitude of patients.

 And now he could hear the footsteps
 of someone coming towards him.

�Who�s there?!�  Ranma asked, quelling 
the slight quaver in his voice.

�A martial artist never shows fear�, the 
lesson had been drilled into him relentlessly 
and it was strangely comforting right now.

�hello.� It was a girl�s voice, Ranma could
barely make her words out.

�Who are you?�  

�My name�s Ami, Ami Mizuno. 

�....I�m Ranma...Ranma Saotome.�

�You want to be friends?�

�Sure.�

~~~~~~~~~














Author�s notes: Shadow�s change is that Genma is
now a complete idiot. Now granted he was stupid
and petty in TOS but here he reaches new lows in
morality. Rushes the Nekoken training, resulting
in a now blinded Ranma. Even after this tragedy 
he still sells him off to prospective fiancees,  
and unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it)
he wasn�t very choosy as to who he sold his son to. 
Result: Both Urd & Mara have legit claims on poor Ranma.
Among others....

On the other side Genma has taught Ranma both the Umisenken
and the Yamisenken techniques in order to make up for the Nekoken.
The old man �grieves� over the shame of having such a weak son. 
Treats Ranma even worse then in TOS, however due to the intervention
of bystanders Ranma has gotten a chance to learn that not everything
his pop does is right before it�s too late. The tougher training by 
Genma  actually helps to bring out more from Ranma, refining his
character like rough iron forged into pure steel. The karmic knife
swings both ways though, at Jusenkyo Genma winds up with not
one, not two, but THREE curses. Ranma manages to avoid a similar
fate but when he stumbles on the Amazons he winds up with more then he
bargained for.

Ranma is blind. Not Mousse vision-impaired but blind as in the darkness
as deep as death. Since it happens to him early on Ranma has found
ways to adapt and overcome his weaknesses. His other senses have
improved to a remarkable degree, relies on hearing and his danger 
sense a lot. Ranma�s �ki� sense has been refined into something similar
to passive radar. He can �see� the ki auras that are within all living things
thanks to a chance(*cough*) meeting with the priest of the Masaki temple. This
gives a whole new meaning to inner beauty, Ranma literally judges a person�s
looks by their heart. Kuno seen as a twisted troll,
 Kasumi as the heart that launched a thousand ships, possibilities,
possibilities.

Since Ranma was only in the pit once and he got help in coping with 
his experience he doesn�t learn the Nekoken and gets over his fear of cats.
Not as brash (having a handicap doesn�t do wonders for your ego). 
Very ignorant of the differences between guys and girls. �Sees� nothing 
wrong with touching a girl any differently from a guy although he does 
wonder about the weird swelling on their chests, maybe they�re sick? 
Not quite as unwilling to hit a girl as in TOS, especially if it�s in
self-defense. Ranma becomes quite good at hiding his disability, Ryoga
suspects nothing, neither do the Tendos at first. Akane is going to receive
several lessons in humility after first challenging then attacking Ranma when
he refuses to spar with her.
Many potential directions this can go.
Lots of seriousness mixed with a sick sense of humor, classic Shadow.

Till next time,
Shade(Finally getting back to business!)

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