Private Bet #10 Chapter II
by Shade

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and affiliates are the 
property of Rumiko Takahashi, Rifts and 
Phase World are owned by Palladium. Other 
references belong to their respective owners.
~~~~~~~~~~
2d(Part 1): Now the fun begins.....

�WHAT?!� Four voices rang out.

�Oh my.� Correction, make that five.

Genma looked at him, this couldn�t be his son....could it?
This guy looked like he could tear Genma�s bear form 
apart without even trying. There was a faint resemblance 
to his boy, but this man looked older and possessed a 
confidence that he had never ever seen in his son before. 

Then he looked into his eyes.
Genma froze like a mouse staring up at a 
falcon diving toward him for the kill. 

This was Ranma, there was no doubt about it. 
An older, harder and much more dangerous 
Ranma but it was him, the eyes never lied.
There was no disguising the wild spirit burning 
within them, with terrifying certainty he knew that
whatever trials his son had gone through had only 
made him stronger and that Genma no longer had 
any hold over him. Fast on the heels of that realization
was the accompanying denial, he�d used the boy before 
and he could do it again. After all he was Ranma�s father, 
 the boy had still respected that even after he no longer 
respected Genma as an individual. He owned his insolent 
son, two weeks couldn�t have broken his control so easily.

Somehow that line of reasoning wasn�t 
as reassuring to him as it should have been.

Nabiki licked her suddenly dry lips, the room was 
feeling rather warm all of a sudden. This wasn�t at all 
what she had expected. A dumb jock this was not, 
she was looking at prime beef here. A flash of silver 
from his hand caught her eye. 

If he could afford a trinket like that he wasn�t exactly 
starving, she concluded.


Suddenly this engagement business 
didn�t seem so bad after all.

Akane snorted rudely, he was a guy even if he 
was kind of attractive. She�d had handsome guys 
after her too and she knew they were all perverted 
pond scum. Kuno was handsome and look 
at how he behaved! This one was the same as the rest of
them she decided. Only Doctor Tofu was different from 
the rest of the male gender. She HATED boys!!!

Although Akane was beginning to get a bit irritated that 
he hadn�t seemed to even notice her yet. If there was one 
thing that Akane hated even more then boys it was 
not being the center of attention. She was the most popular 
girl in school after all, why else would all those stupid 
boys being chasing her?

Soun was confused. So he did what came naturally to him. 
Take the first emotion that comes along and run with it.

�I�M SO HAPPY YOU�RE ALIVE SON!!!�

The Soun Tendo Glomp(tm), distant cousin 
to the Amazon Glomp(tm), was locked on target and engaged.

�Huh?� Ranma moved to the side to avoid being crushed by what 
appeared to be a hysterical water fountain. Soun found himself 
clutching only air.

�Is he always like this?� Ranma asked.

�Not all of the time.� Oh dear, she hoped he 
would forgive Father�s rude behavior. Kasumi wondered if 
Ranma would think her too forward if she asked him out now.

To everyone else it appeared as if he had 
just vanished and then reappeared at Kasumi�s side.

There was a synchonized blink. 

That finally snapped them out of their shock.

�You...YOU PERVERT!!�

How dare he try to take advantage of her sister like that!
Akane fumed, her mind lynching the mild sense of 
disappointment that she had unexpectedly felt.

Ranma ignored her, his attention focusing on Genma now 
that the immediate threat had been avoided. He did not 
look happy, in fact the chilling glare he was shooting at 
the overweight buffoon made a Siberian blizzard look 
downright cozy. 

�Excuse me, I�m sorry to trouble you but is there someplace 
that I can have a little *talk* with my father in private? There 
are some things that need to be resolved before we can 
finish introductions. �

�Well, the dojo�s available....� Maybe she could ask him 
after dinner, Kasumi drifted off a little as her long repressed 
imagination and hormones started to explore that line of thought.

�Thanks! C�mon Pop.� He grabbed his old man by the ear 
and dragged him out of the room despite Genma�s protests.

�Ow! Hey leggo!! This no way to 
treat your fath....Owowowow!!!�

�Hey!! I�m talking to you!!! Don�t you dare turn your back to me!!!�

Akane�s temper grew as her words had absolutely no 
effect on this boy. How dare he act like she wasn�t even here!

Nabiki�s eyebrow raised. 

{So the little princess finally meets a guy who won�t 
bow and scrape toward her...Interesting. 
This fiancee is looking better by the minute. I wonder 
what other goodies he�s hiding.}

If there was one thing that motivated Nabiki more then money it was
her curiosity.Nothing piqued her interest faster then a mystery, 
knowledge meant power and power meant control. Nabiki had been 
seeking control ever since her mother had passed away, the drive for 
answers and the order they provided had not dimmed through the years. 

A small feline smile crossed her lips. 
~~~~~~~~

In the Tendo Dojo a confrontation was taking place.

A flick of Ranma�s wrist sent Genma sprawling onto 
the hard wooden floor. Then he dropped his suitcase 
and backpack on the worn boards. Ranma wanted to 
have as much maneuverability as possible when he had 
it out with his Pop, even though it had been years since 
he�d last seen Genma he remembered all too well how 
sneaky the old man could be, especially when trying 
escape responsibility for his behavior.

Ranma waited a few moments for his father to pull 
himself together, taking the time to study Genma 
through eyes hardened by knowledge and experience. 

{Funny, I thought he was taller then that.}

His last memories had been of a man who had been 
an imposing master of the martial arts to be heeded, if not respected.
Despite his contempt for Genma as a parent Ranma still had 
acknowledged the old man�s skill as a fighter, so seeing him 
now was a shock, Especially considering he�d only been gone a 
few weeks in this world�s time. He hadn�t realized that four 
years of fighting against some of the most powerful beings
in the Multiverse had affected his standards. The young knight 
had become accustomed to beings possessing the strength of 
ten men as the norm, many of his own opponents had been many 
times stronger then even he was and Ranma�s own 
enhanced physical prowess was nothing to sneer at.  

All he saw now was the remains of a once formidable fighter 
succumbing to years of excess and sloth. The ironcorded muscles 
Genma had once been known for were steadily degrading into fat. 
The once proud frame of steel that had survived so many battles 
was weakening as it started to succumb to the first symptoms 
of age and gluttony.

�Ranma! You�re alive!!�

�About time that fact sunk in Pop. You looked like 
you didn�t even recognize me for a minute back there.�

Ranma had found it surprisingly easy to fall back into
old patterns, the roughness in his speech bore 
almost no resemblance to the educated
voice of Captain Saotome, hero of the Alliance.
It was a concession he had to make with his 
return home, if he used his regular voice here it 
would arouse suspicions he couldn�t afford
to have snooping around. 

Sooner or later he�d have to transform and it 
would be best if no one made the connection between
the recently returned Saotome and Earth�s newest protecter.

He especially didn�t want certain interested parties 
to find out that a certain irritating CosmoKnight 
was laying low in a backwater dimension that just happened to 
be his home. The Splugorth had long memories 
and they weren�t the only ones after his head.
It had reached the point where he had lost 
count of the number of beings that wanted him dead,
enslaved, or worse for ruining their nefarious little schemes.
Ranma just seemed to have a knack for pissing the wrong people off.

�At last you can fulfill the pledge made between our two schools!.�

�What are you talking about?� Ranma was caught off guard by 
this sudden change in the topic.

Genma had decided to exploit the old chink in Ranma�s 
emotional armor, his honor. For as long as his son had 
known about duty and responsibility he�d been using 
that to get Ranma to do what he wanted. It was the 
perfect weapon for someone without scruples, 
the boy might complain and bluster but in the end he always 
did as he was told. 

{This occasion shouldn�t be any different }
Genma thought as he explained the details 
of the engagement to his unsuspecting son.

�WHAT?!�

Just when he�d thought the old man couldn�t sink any lower.....

�So you see boy, it�s a matter of family honor. 
You must marry a Tendo.�

�No.�

�Good, so you�ll choose.....NO??? This is your 
duty as the Heir of the Anything Goes School! You can�t refuse!
Do you want to disgrace the Saotome name?! Oh the shame!! My 
son has no honor!!!�

�You�re the last person that should be 
talking to me about honor *Dad*.�

The emphasis on the last was dripping with scorn as Ranma
got over his shock and got down to the business he�d 
dragged his father in here for.

�Impudent boy!! I need to teach you to respect your father!�
For all his arrogant bluster Genma was unsure 
if he could still defeat his son. There was hard streak 
within the boy now, he couldn�t find any explanation for it 
but it made him nervous. But he couldn�t let him get away 
with that kind of disrespect! 

Genma�s Pride and Common Sense were at war with each other.
So far it was a stalemate, Genma tended to avoid situations where 
he might lose but he WAS a Saotome.

�Anytime you�re ready old man. You�ve got a lot of 
explaining to do and one way or another I�m going to 
get answers from you.� That cocky tone had been the 
doom of worse things then Genma. The pitch was 
calculated to cause the maximum amount of irritation 
and anger to Ranma�s opponents and was extremely effective as
several deceased beings could testify to if they hadn�t been reduced 
to their component molecules.

Pride won out. Genma went into his ready combat stance.
�This is for your own good Ranma, know 
that this will hurt me more then it will you.�

{You have no idea how right you are, Pops.}

The pigtailed young man looked unconcerned as 
he stretched his arms behind the back of his head 
and yawned. Ranma had been blessed with the opportunity
to study the several milleniums worth of combat techniques 
developed from all over the Multiverse and he had not wasted it.
Genma had no idea what he was getting into, the only real challenge 
for Ranma was defeating his relatively frail parent without accidentally 
killing or crippling him in the process. Even a pulled punch would 
probably splatter the old man across the dojo.
A quick review of his available styles found one that 
should work, advanced Tai-chi was his preferred 
choice when going up against normal humanoids 
he needed to take alive and unharmed.

Well....mostly unharmed anyway.

Still, his careless manner wasn�t quite 
as open as it seemed. Genma was still a master 
of the Anything Goes Style after all. Ranma�s seeming 
indifference to that was more bluff and deception 
than actual disregard. One of the most valuable lessons 
he had ever learned from his various sensei had been 
that sometimes a confident front was more effective then
striking a blow in achieving victory over one�s opponent.

And it was working, a fine sheen of nervous sweat 
covered Genma�s exposed brow as he tried to figure 
out what his son was up to.

�Your move, Oyaji.� 
~~~~~~~
-Dimensional Lab Pocket

Washu frowned thoughtfully as her fingers danced on her 
hyperdimensional terminal. That rip in the space-time continuum
that she had detected earlier had occurred in exactly the same 
spot where an unusual energy phenomena had taken place only 
a few weeks before the Rift had appeared. She�d only found that 
now while cross-referencing her backup files. Her main system 
was still repairing itself from the damage caused last month after 
Mihoshi had dragged Tenchi off to a picnic and somehow 
managed to get the two of them lost in her lab instead. 

That Ditzy Detective was just....unexplainable!!

The genuis scientist in a twelve year old�s body decided to 
stop thinking about that, it only made her head hurt. This new 
mystery was more of a concern. Washu didn�t believe in coincidence, 
she was the one who�d disproved it seven thousand years ago.

Any doubt she�d had about their visitor�s existence was 
laid to rest the minute her satellites had picked up a small
object moving faster then Ryo-ohki�s ship form traveling 
across the Sea of Japan. Unfortunately her equipment had 
lost track of the intruder soon after it had landed 
somewhere in Tokyo. This was going to take awhile, 
but she was WASHU!! The greatest genius scientist in the Universe!!!
Whoever had entered this dimensional plane of 
reality didn�t stand a chance against her.

Ryoko and Ayeka shivered as the sound of 
fiendish laughter rung throughout the house.
Hadn�t Washu promised that her door was 
soundproofed?
~~~~~~~

�The time-stream has been disrupted.�

�GAAAAHHH!!!! DON�T DO THAT SETSUNA!!!�

The Inners looked like they were 
about to have a collective heartattack. 
Couldn�t the Guardian of Time ever make a *normal* 
entrance for once?!

�I see the gang�s all here.�
A handsome mannish blonde leaned against the temple door.
Beside her were two other girls.

�Haruka! Micheru! Hotaru!�
Usagi looked happy to see her friends
despite the situation that had brought 
them all together again.

�What�s happened? How has the time-stream been altered?�
Ami went straight for the heart of the matter.

�A Rift has opened and let *something * into our Universe.
Whatever it is, it�s good at hiding and possesses an 
extraordinary strength. Its very existance has already sent  
ripples along the very fabric of reality, I can attempt 
to minimize the damage but this invader must be found and 
destroyed quickly before the effects of its presence become permanent.�

�Huh? Could you repeat that in simple Japanese?�

Makoto and Minako had gotten lost somewhere 
around the second sentence of Setsuna�s speech.
Their leader hadn�t fared much better, Usagi�s eyes had 
crossed from the sheer effort of trying to break down 
that giant mouthful into something she could understand.

Setsuna sighed. She sometimes forgot that they were just 
high school girls now, not the educated princesses from 
the Silver Millenium who had been well tutored 
on the subjects of Magic and Dimensional Travel. 

�Masaka....� Luna turned deathly pale 
as the meaning of those words sank in.

Artemis was already white as a sheet so 
it was hard to tell how much of it was 
natural and how much was pure unadultrated fear.

They remembered all too well what 
the potential consequences of this could be.

The shattered remains of the Moon Kingdom 
were a grim reminder of what had happened
the last time a Rift had appeared on Earth.....
~~~~~~~~

In a darkness beyond any hope of light,
three presences stirred. Their mistress had returned.

A chill filled the dimensions of the chamber, one 
that caused the blood to freeze and the soul to gibber in fear.

Metall�a was here.
 Bery�l dropped to her knees before her lord and master. 

Zois�te and Malach�te both stiffened, they secretly feared that this
 was only the prelude to a fate far worse then death. Alien Intelligences
weren�t known for mercy, their capacity of cruelty and sadism was
infamous throughout the Megaverse as being on par with most 
Greater Demons and Diabolic Gods. Metall�a in particular had 
little use for those who failed her, even though they be her own 
life essences. 

�Incompetents.......I AM SURROUNDED BY 
INCOMPETENT FOOLS!!!�

The psychic backlash from the entity�s telepathic 
temper tantrum caused barbed lances of icy hot pain to
shoot through its minions� temples, an agony they bore 
silently less they attract her attention.

How long had they been trapped here?
Time seemed meaningless in the Negaverse.
No sun lit the desolate skies, the denizens of this 
eternally static realm of dark nightmares were ageless, 
living only to feed and to hate. 

It seemed as if only yesterday that their 
physical bodies had been destroyed, banishing 
the life essences animating them back to the 
dimension they originated from. It had always been that way,
Queen Serenity had never realized that all the evil threats
 that had appeared time and time again within the Silver Millenium
had actually been only a single one that kept returning time and time
again. Each and every Youma, even the Generals and Bery�l herself were 
mere tiny fragments of Metall�a�s very life force. They could not be truly 
killed except here in the darkness that had spawned them, anything else 
merely sent them back to the Negaverse where their creator awaited.

�You cost me dearly Bery�l.�

The mighty selfproclaimed queen of evil 
paled as she was singled out. Metall�a had 
been raging ever since their defeat in the Arctic,
and her wrath had been truly terrifying to behold.
It appeared that she was finally finished and ready
to at last renew her eons long assault against
that pitiful third class dimension that had 
thwarted her at every turn.

The issue that interested Bery�l 
more was whether or not a certain 
red-haired villainess would live long 
enough to be a part of those plans.
She had sold her soul to this malevolent 
being, there was no turning back now or ever.

A giant dark crystal materialized in front of the black 
cloud that was the intelligence�s true form.
Within it was imprisoned 
a figure that was familar to all.

�Jedi�te!!� The three gasped as they looked 
up from where they knelt, surprise momentarily 
overcoming their fear.

�I do not appreciate losing my servants, more so 
when their loss costs me power!!!�

 Bery�l screamed as her mind was 
systematically flayed alive, the pain was 
excruciating yet left no physical marks on her.
The fact that it only felt real was no comfort however,
the mental rape was intense enough to make her want to 
die yet always remained just below the point of driving 
her totally insane. Torture was an art after all, and Metall�a was 
enjoying her meal with the finesse of a gourmet diner.

The diabolic entity was a Psychic Vampire to who 
pain and fear were meat and drink The stronger the 
emotions the sweeter they tasted and she proceeded to squeeze
every last drop from her servant. Every cry of agony was a 
choice morsel that she greedily devoured, the bursts of unremitting 
terror only whet her appetite for more, always more.....

At last the malicious cloud released its captive. Bery�l 
slumped bonelessly to the ground, too weak to even 
roll with the impact.

�You shall live foolish Queen. I have invested 
too much time and energy into you, to just destroy
destroy you now would only hamper my efforts. But 
make no mistake Bery�l, I will tolerate your bungling NO LONGER!!!
You will heed my every command or else what you have just felt 
will pale in comparison to what I will do to you. If you can not serve 
me in one form, you will serve me in another.�

Bery�l�s eyes widened  in stark horror at 
the sight of the jeweled sword that was revealed 
within the smoky tendrils of her Master.

A nearly complete Rune weapon that was lacking 
only its source of power.......

......a Soul.
~~~~~~~

The crystal prison shattered.
The last of the three Dark Generals 
was free once more.

Once there had been four of them, cruel 
and merciless agents of chaos and destruction.

Then the unthinkable had happened.

Somehow Nephlite had broken free from 
the Master. Instead of returning to Metall�a and 
a suitable punishment the traitor had actually 
managed to escape and became a human soul. 

A free human soul.

The Generals found themselves envying Nephlite.
~~~~~~~~~~

�How�d I get stuck with this?!� A tall, bronzed and well 
built white-blonde Goddess of the Past (On probation)
asked herself as she walked around the streets of Tokyo, 
already bored out of her mind. She had better things to do 
then search for some mysterious visiter from another dimension,
her favorite soaps were on now! 

*Flashback*

�Jan Ken Po!� Two hands swung back and 
forth to finally reveal an open palm and a closed fist respectfully.

�Hah hah! Paper beats rock!! Have fun Urd!!�

�Arrrrggghh!!!�

�Now Urd, Kami-sama needs one of us to investigate this.�

�Easy for you to say Belldandy, you�re not the one who�s 
powers have been suspended. It�ll take me forever!! �

�Tough luck sis!� Skuld raspberried her older sister in victory.

�I want a rematch!!�

�No way old lady!! You lost!!�

�WHAT did you call me?! Grrrr.....I�ll get you!!!�

�Oh dear.�

�Help!!�

�COME BACK HERE PIPSQUEAK!!!�

*End Flashback*

{Stupid anomaly! Unless the being that came 
through that rip is tall, handsome and knows 
how to show a girl a good time I�m gonna blast it 
into a million little pieces when I find it for getting me 
into this.}

�Hmm? I could have sworn I heard thunder.....�

{Must just be all those men collapsing when they see me, I guess.}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The strained silence stretched out between the two combatants.

A koi broke the surface of the pond.

�OY TO SHAH!� Genma opened with high punch
sweep kick combo that would have caught the old 
Ranma flatfooted and given him one heck of a bruising.
This older, wiser and much more experienced Ranma tilted 
his upper body a fraction of a degree to the side, the punch 
missing his face by a hair. A subtle shift of his shoulders and a 
redirection of Genma�s forward momentum sent the older man 
tumbling to the right, his aggressive style was being turned 
against him. This would be Ranma�s only freebie, a new unexpected 
and unwelcome discovery had been made him in those first cruical 
seconds. A tingle of danger that had started the moment his father 
had launched his attack, and that had been followed by the shock 
of actually feeling the impact of the deflected kick as he�d countered it.

Genma could hurt him. The young CosmoKnight realized 
that the damn curse must have somehow altered his father 
into a creature of magic in both forms, and 
unfortunately that was one of the few things 
that could actually injure or even kill him.

{Damn! So much for just a simple takedown, 
he�s got no compunctions about beating the 
crap out of me but I can�t use anything except 
my most passive styles. Well I wanted a 
challenge, looks like I got it.}

A few more testing strikes from Genma were 
all avoided or blocked, in return the bald man 
was slammed into the floor a few times but escaped 
relatively unscathed.

�Do you know why I tracked you here Pops?
Haven�t you wondered why I simply didn�t just 
leave and go off on my own when you left Jusenkyo?
I certainly would have been better off.�

Father and son circled each other warily, looking for 
any sign of an opening. Ranma had dropped his careless act 
and taken his old fighting stance with a few modifications.

�You�re my boy! You�d never desert your old man!!!�

�Hmph. Tell me Pops, does the name Li Zang ring a bell?
Or how about Kisaragi, Daikokuji, or the other dozen or so 
families that I can name offhand that you swindled? Not 
counting of course the several hundred stores and restaurants 
that you used *ME* as collateral to pay for your debts!�

{Uh oh, looks like he�s found out about them.}

�Uh....I can explain!!�

�Oh you�re going to be doing a lot more then just telling,
you�re going to be making amends for a LONG time.
 I�ll make sure of that.�

Genma started to sweat again, this was not good.
That was enough of a distraction for Ranma to close 
the distance between them before he realized it.
The fight ended rather quickly after that.

(Clip to part 2)
~~~~~~~

*$*$*$*

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
>From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

-Robert Frost

"a politician is an arse upon
which everyone has sat except a man"

-E.E. Cummings
 

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