The Bet: Genma Ascendant
By LarryF

based on an original story by
metroanime@mindspring.com

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Author's notes:

Once again, one of my very rare forays into putting words on paper (so
to speak).

This is a reworking of a short story written by Metro. I liked the
story idea so much that I asked for permission to put my own stamp on
it. There were a number of interesting ideas in Metro's version that I
wanted to adopt, and others that I chose to drop because they added
nothing to the basic concept. (One of the more intriguing ideas was
that Ranma's mother was an Amazon instead of Nodoka; I decided to
change that back because the new mother was just a throw-away
character.) I am planning on adding new material and padding out the
existing scenes, as well as rewriting the dialog to suit my own
tastes.

This is an Alternate History story. It is not intended to resemble the
canon story much, so don't expect the characters to conform to the
usual standards except as it pleases me.

I will gladly listen to any comments and criticism that is offered in
the spirit of helpfulness, either listed or private, and of course I
encourage it! After all, that's what we post this stuff for.

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An eerie individual with a head completely out of proportion to his
tiny body was gazing into the Toltiir's scrying pool. Summoning the
image of a human male into the placid waters with a wave of his hand,
he intoned solemnly:

"I am Uatu, known to some as The Watcher."

A small demon that was standing off to one side of the pool blinked at
this.

"No, you're not. You're Toltiir using a magical puppet you got from
the special effects department."

The Uatu puppet paused, then pulled the end of a bow tied rope that
was attached to a wall of the chamber. A huge cartoon anvil fell down
directly on top of the demon's head.

An arm poked out from underneath the anvil and waggled one finger in
the air.

"And they did it better on that Star Trek episode "The Corbomite
Maneuver" too."

Another anvil was released to come crashing down, driving the first
anvil (and the unfortunate demon) several inches into the ground.

The Uatu puppet settled back into its role.

"Ahem. I am Uatu, the Watcher of Worlds."

"Among the myriad time lines, there are many where a man named Genma
Saotome, in his quest for the ultimate martial arts training,
repeatedly sold his only son for food. That he always kidnapped the
boy back did little to excuse his crime; if anything, it made it
worse. Genma sold him to gypsies and thieves, kind-hearted people who
saw a chance to help an unfortunate child, and lonely souls who had no
children of their own. Genma�s price for his son was often ludicrous.
At one time he went so far as to sell his son in exchange for two
paltry fish."

"And a pickle", exclaimed the demon from underneath his anvils.

The Uatu puppet shot the anvil pile a dirty glance.

"Genma never seemed to care who he sold his son to. In one infamous
incident, he even sold him to the Nymphomaniac Yak Riders of Planet
Playtex."

Toltiir, who was manipulating the puppet from beneath the rim of the
pool, blinked at that line and pulled a cue card out of nothingness.
Having confirmed that this was indeed what script said, he sighed and
tossed the card out of the chamber window, where it sliced through the
air and into the engine of a Sopwith Camel that was flying nearby. As
the venerable aircraft, trailing smoke, sputtered erratically off into
the sunset, the pilot shook his fist at the tower. In enraged
beagle-speak, he cried:

"Curse you, Red Baron!"

Toltiir puzzled over the doggy growls drifting through the window for
a moment, then with as close to a shrug as a cat could manage, he
turned back to manipulating his puppet. Toltiir wasn't very good at
foreign languages.

"And yet, things could have been different. Originally, Genma Saotome
was as virtuous as any man could claim to be. His scruples and moral
fiber were destroyed when he was apprenticed with his childhood friend
Soun Tendo to the slave driving Master Happosai."

"...Now I am the Master, Genma!" said a little black armored Happosai
marionette hanging from the Watcher's right hand.

"Only a Master of Panties!" a robed Genma marionette countered,
hanging from the left hand.

"Well, I _do_ have my priorities," admitted Happosai before the two
figures were banished back to stuffspace.

>From underneath his anvils, the demon sneered.

"Would you just bloody well get on with it? After all, Rumiko
Takahashi owns the Ranma 1/2 concepts, Marvel Comics owns the Watcher
and the 'What If' title, and the anvils are on loan from Warner
Brothers. Since you're ripping all this stuff off, the least you could
do is come up with a different take on it!"

A third, even larger anvil dropped down with a mighty clang, landing
atop the other two and causing all three anvils and the demon to be
buried even deeper in the ground.

Toltiir rose from behind the pool, casting aside the Uatu puppet.

"So "What If" Genma, instead of becoming an amoral, lying, thieving,
stinking, misbegotten bastard of an excuse for a rotten father,
rebelled against the depravity of his master? What if he chose instead
to become as UNLIKE Happosai as he possibly could?"

There is nothing quite as strange to see as a cat cackling like the
Wicked Witch of the West.

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The Bet: Genma Ascendant
Chapter One: In Which Genma Breaks Free

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Genma Saotome stood before the altar of a remote mountain Shrine. He
tugged on the rope, and was answered with the clattering of the
cluster of bells hung from the rafter. In the age-old custom, he
clapped his hands three times to summon the spirits before bowing to
show respect.

"Hear me, spirits of this Shrine. Today I stole food from a village.
It was far from the first time, but this was different. This time,
something happened that makes me wonder if perhaps... "

Genma stopped in mid prayer. He didn't really believe that any spirits
were listening. He was just using this as a way of sorting his ideas,
and this was a difficult thought for him to follow to its obvious
conclusion.

"I was running out of the village with a bag full of food over my
shoulder, and one of the villagers yelled out that he recognized me.
He told the others that I was the infamous thief Happosai."

"I needed the food! But to think that I could resemble the Master so
much as to be mistaken for him shamed me. Have I truly become so much
like the Master that I could be mistaken for him? Have I followed his
path so long that I am no different from him?"

Back in the chamber of the scrying pool, Toltiir watched as the image
of Genma brushed off the notion as absurd, and walked back to his camp
to rejoin his lifelong friend Soun Tendo. There, they got drunk and
went on learning the techniques of Happosai�s School of Anything Goes
martial arts. When they parted company after sealing Happosai in a
cave, Genma eventually met and married Nodoka (whose idea of a manly
man was not dissimilar to Happosai�s) and Genma raised their only son
in a rather� bizarre manner.

Toltiir smirked at this.

"This was the moment of decision. This was the moment that determined
Genma�s fate for all time. Now, let's say that he made another
choice�"

A stone landed in the pool. When the ripples settled, this time the
image of Genma showed him sinking to his knees in remorse.

Genma roused himself to face the altar again after a few minutes of
contemplation.

"In atonement for my behavior during the hell Happosai has put us
through, I must forever change my ways. If there are any spirits, if
my ancestors really can hear me, then bear witness as I make this
solemn vow: I refuse to be _anything_ like the Master! Instead I shall
surpass him in every way save his perversity. I vow on my very soul
that the Anything Goes style will come to stand for something besides
debauchery and panty raids!"

Lightning crackled through the clear sky and a stiff wind blew,
although the air had been still a moment before. The last few rays of
the sun seemed to focus on and spotlight the centuries old cabinet
behind the altar.

"A fine oath," said a gruff voice over his shoulder.

Genma jumped to his feet, startled in spite of himself. Someone had
managed to sneak up on him!

The Shrine priest looked deeply into the heart of the man standing in
front of him. He found much there that he disliked, but a flame was
burning now that showed promise for the future. Yes, this young man
might deserve a chance to prove his words. First, he would have to be
freed of the devil's chains that bound him.

"As I said, a fine oath. If you can keep that vow, you will always be
welcome at the Masaki Shrine."

"It is my intention to do so."

Genma stared at the ground for a moment.

"How I am to fulfill the promise is the hard part. The training I've
had at the hands of my Master was not conducive to a path of virtue."

A ghost of a smile played on the old man's face.

"Well then, perhaps you and your friend can stay here at the Shrine
for a time. There are many things we might speak of."

Genma was startled again. How had the old man known that his friend
Soun was waiting at the camp? It took a moment for him to get his mind
back on the discussion.

"Many things?"

"Yes. We might, for instance, speak of virtue and honor and the
difference between heroism and vainglory. We might even speak of the
code of Bushido, and of possibilities for rebirth and salvation."

Genma nodded. At the very least it would get them indoors out of the
cold and away from the Master for a while. And who knew? Maybe the
priest's ramblings _would_ give him an idea of how to proceed with his
new resolution.

By the end of the second day, they were friends with Achika and
Nobuyuki. Many months would pass before Soun and Genma finally left
the Shrine to split up and follow their separate destinies. Each was
accompanied by a new bride, having wooed and won the affections of two
girls who had come to the Shrine to learn swordsmanship from the old
priest. As they parted at the crossroads leading away from the Shrine,
the two men made a promise to each other.

"When we have children, we will see our two families united in
marriage to honor the years we spent together in adversity. Our eldest
son will marry a daughter of the other house, as the gods may bless
us."

After Genma left the Masaki Shrine, he spent long years on the road
with his wife. One day, he and Nodoka (who was faithfully carrying the
heirloom Katana of her husband's family, which she considered a sacred
duty) came to the Byankala Mountains of China. Genma was following an
elusive trail of hints that had eventually led them to a remote
village of warrior women. He felt that it was necessary for him to
consult with the village Elders to further his spiritual growth. As
they trudged up the final stretch of trail that would take them to the
valley of the Amazons, they were brought to a halt by the sudden
appearance of a small group of well armed and armored women.

"What do you seek here so far from your homeland, foreign scum?"

A tough looking, heavily scarred woman faced them, apparently unaware
of an old woman that blinked owlishly close by, balanced atop her
walking staff.

Genma squared his shoulders and tried to look the woman in the eyes.

"I seek the wisdom of your Elders."

The woman looked Genma up and down in disgust, as if viewing him for
the first time and seeing something best buried in the name of public
health.

"Speak when spoken to, MAN. I was addressing your master."

She turned her attention back to Nodoka.

"At least you have the guts to carry a warrior's weapon. For that
reason alone, I ask you again: why should we allow passage to Japanese
scum?"

The scarred woman, who obviously remembered the old animosity between
the Chinese and the Japanese that dated back to the Second World War,
suddenly snapped to a posture of attention. The old woman had hopped
forward on her staff to where she could be seen by the Amazons. A
simple glare was sufficient to stop the scarred woman from speaking
further. In fact, from what Genma could tell, it looked as if the she
were trying hard not to breathe. A sergeant, Genma guessed from the
reaction, who had just discovered the General's eye was on her.

"You forget the ways of foreigners. This man is the one who has lead
them here."

The old woman regarded Genma briefly.

"You may call me Cologne. I am a village Elder. What do you seek among
the Joketsuzoku? And how do you propose to pay for it?"

Genma frowned slightly. He knew that money was NOT a form of payment
that would be accepted in this situation, even if he had any to offer.
The villagers would demand a service of some kind, but what would it
be? Still, the time had come to lay his cards on the table.

"I am one who strives to put the horrors of my past behind me. I, who
once walked the path of self-indulgence, seek now to walk a path of
virtue and enlightenment. I am searching for knowledge of how to
improve myself and become a worthy warrior, despite my former Master's
misguided teachings."

He drew a deep breath. This was the risky part.

"I shall pay any reasonable price you name."

Cologne blinked and translated this for the women who did not
understand Japanese. Finally she regarded Genma again.

"You ask much of us, who would not normally teach such things to any
man. We of the village counsel will have to discuss this among
ourselves. The two of you will be taken to a house where you must wait
for our decision. You will be sent for when we have reached an
agreement."

Another four years passed before Genma and Nodoka left the village of
the Joketsuzoku. Genma had worked like a slave in the rice fields
during the daylight hours, and trained each evening under brutal
conditions, watched closely by the Amazon elders. At first, the
Amazons had thought that the harsh treatment would drive him away, but
his determination to succeed had only grown more dogged with each new
task. Far from discouraging him, the regimen had toned him to a wiry
toughness that made him almost impossible to beat. When the Elders
finally admitted that they had nothing more to teach him, he knew it
was time to move on. This time, however, they were not alone on their
journey. Nodoka proudly bore a second bundle beside the heirloom
sword; she also carried the heir who would one day wield it.

*****

Afterword:

This is just the beginning, of course.  I wanted to get this out to
see what people thought of this version.  Even this one chapter could
use a lot more writing.  There are so many elements that are just
glossed over!  Still, I do want to get the bones of the tale laid out
before I go back and do any serious expansion work, so it will
probably have to wait.

Anyone want more?

Ja ne,
Larry F