% Yay! More QD. That means more little asinine comments from me ^_^:


Quantum Destinies
A Ranma � Fanfic
By Steven Thesken (jurai-knight@home.com)

Chapter 8 - Sins of the Fathers, Part Two

         He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso
         confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

                                       King James Bible
                                       Proverbs 28:13

% Genma: That's a bit harsh. Everything I did was for the boy's sake, and
look how perfectly he turned out. Am I a great father, or what?


***** Earth  +1.612,+1.509

    The trek to their destination took up the remainder of Ranma's time,
but he had already made the decision to return as soon as he could reset
his equipment.  A digital clock on a nearby bank indicated he had only
one minute remaining.  He turned to eye the large greenhouse that sat
behind the shop.  Akane and Shampoo had simply wanted to charge
right in, and the part of Ranma's mind that belonged in this world had
wanted to follow their lead.  But he suppressed the urge and managed
to convince them to wait for a few minutes.  He turned to his father.

    "<Pop?>" asked Ranma in Russian.  "<I'm going to go away for a
few minutes, and you will have the other Ranma until I can get back.  It
should only take a couple of minutes to reset the system.>"


% You poor, deluded fool. Do you really believe it's that easy?


    Ranma watched the two clocks within sight, the one on the bank and
another one a little further down the street.  Both were digital, so it
was
easy to see the time from where he was standing.  They both clicked
over to the same minute at the same moment, and he closed his eyes in
preparation for the recall sequence.

    Nothing happened.

% Surprise!

    Ranma blinked, and the ice-cold gaze was back in his eyes as he
turned to look at Akane.  His voice was measured, but polite, as he
spoke and said, "I am looking at the possible entrances and exits from
the building.  Our enemies obviously seem to expect us to just walk in
through the front door, but I am weighing other options.

% Akane: You're...planning something in advance instead of just rushing
in? Just who the hell are you and what have you done with the real Ranma?!

 If you want to
help your family, you will let me finish thinking about this.  If you want
to just charge in there and risk getting captured yourself, then go right
ahead.  I will not attempt to stop you."  *Stupid tomboy,* came the
thought, *why can't she just be quiet and let me take care of this?*  He
shook his head at the odd thought.

    "People in glass houses..." murmured Genma.

    "What you say, Pop?" asked Shampoo.

    "Well, the greenhouse area is all glass," noted Genma, his head turned
to observe the building that was their objective.  "Why not simply stroll
over and take a peek through the glass?  Ranma?"

%Ranma: Duh! Because it's too easy. Nothing that is that simple could
possibly work.


    "What I wouldn't give for a good defoliant right about now,"

% You keep on thinking that boy. Wait until you see what's waiting for you
inside.

 said
Ranma as he came near the others.  "I can't see a thing through any of
that glass.  It's too fogged up.  Looks like we have to do this one the
old-fashioned way, go in and bust heads."

Akane and Shampoo: (Together) Yay! Violence is always the best solution to
any problem!


    Akane appeared displeased as she said to Ranma, "Why do I have to
go with Mr. Saotome?  I can take the middle path by myself."  She gave
every indication of being stubborn about this, so Ranma decided to try
something unexpected.

    "Because I don't think my father, being injured, should be out there
on his own," said Ranma, earning a surprised look from Shampoo.

% Yeah. Anyone openly showing concern about Genny should be looked at
twice. ^_^

  "I
also don't like the idea of you being on your own."  *But you are really
tempting me to let you wander off and get stomped on,* he finished the
sentence in his thoughts.

    "Oh," said Akane, looking at him with growing anger.  "So you don't
think I can handle myself?"

% Typical woman, twisting things around so it makes the man come out as
the bad guy.

 She put her hands flat against her hips and
glared at him.

    "Honestly, yes," admitted Ranma slowly, getting tired of having to
argue with Akane every step of the way whenever he made any sort of a
decision.

% Bad news. Almost everyone does that to you here. Get used to it.


    Ranma muttered something under his breath as he watched her stomp
off.

    Shampoo turned to Ranma and said, "It quicker if we all split up.
You no mind, Ranma?"

    Ranma blinked.  *Didn't anyone listen to a thing I just said?*

% Yes, but they aren't paying any attention to it, as usual. ^_^

he
thought with an internal grimace.  *So it takes a little longer to explore
this place.  Why divide our forces and risk getting picked off one by
one?  That's just idiotic.*

% That's the way it works here, boy.

 He frowned and shook his head.

    "Yeah, I do mind, actually," said Ranma, looking seriously at the
Amazon.  "I don't think it's very good strategy to divide up and risk
getting picked off one by one, if we have the option of pairing up.  We
can cover the same amount of ground almost as fast that way."  He saw
Shampoo frown at him.

    "You let Akane go by self," said the Amazon a little gruffly.  "You no
think Shampoo able take care of self?"

% Typical woman, twisting things around so it makes the man come out as
the bad guy.

% Whoa! It's deja-vu all over again. ^_^


    "I didn't say that at all!"

% Shampoo: What difference that make? That what Shampoo want to hear.


    "An interesting notion," admitted Genma with a faint smile as he
studied the miniature jungle.  "We should get moving though.  I think I
will be fine on my own though.  We really could cover more ground
singly."

    Ranma looked scandalized as he cried out, "Pop!  Not you, too!"

% Hehehehehe.


    Mousse was inundated by a hailstorm of blows from Ranma's fists,
caught completely by surprise at the sheer audacity of the other boy's
actions.

% Mousse: How dare Ranma attack without shooting his mouth off first!

 He lost consciousness somewhere between the two hundredth
to three hundredth blow from Ranma's fist repeatedly hitting him in the
face.  The Chinese boy slumped to the ground in a heap, a few of his
hidden weapons falling from his sleeves, unused.

    "Take that, you jerk," muttered Ranma as he got up off Mousse,
catching his breath from the level of exertion.  He grinned at an almost
gaping Genma and took a quick bow.  "Great technique, but it is kind of
tiring.  I guess he wasn't expecting to deal with an attack without first
going through the usual exchange of manly threats."

    "Impressive, Ranma," said Genma, smiling at him and nodding his
head.  "Most impressive."

    "Yeah," said Ranma, a sudden grin on his face.  Things seemed to be
finally looking up.  He stripped the robe off of Mousse and quickly tore
it into long strips to tie him up with them, binding the other boy's arms
together tightly, running a loop around the Chinese boy's neck and a
second one to bind his ankles.

% Anything Goes Bondage?

  At the end, Mousse looked to be in a
rather uncomfortable position, and the length of silk around his neck
would choke him if he struggled.  Ranma looked satisfied at the result.

    "I see you still remember the knot-tying techniques I had you learn as
a boy," said Genma approvingly.  That had been part of the wilderness
survival training that the Science Ministry had instructed him to ensure
that Ranma knew.  He nodded at the trussed up Chinese boy, seeing that
Mousse would have to be an escape artist to get out of such bindings.

% Too bad he sort of is.


    "OHHOHOHOHO!" came a chilling laugh from above Akane.  She
gazed upward to see Kodachi standing on a tree branch above and
grinning down at her.  "You have fallen into my trap, Akane Tendou.
No substitutes can save you this time.

% Not even if it was one of MacSpon's 'Replacement Ranma's'. ^_^


    "I hate this life," said Ranma-chan sullenly.  It was an odd sensation
to have his body shift like this into its alternate form, almost a faint
tingling occurring, but it passed in less than a moment.  She squeezed
water out of her shirt, the cold, damp cloth raising goosebumps on her
skin.  It was the work of a moment to adjust the clothes to ride a little
better on her shortened frame.

    "Fascinating,"

% Spock?

muttered Genma as he studied the result of the curse.
He had all of the memories of previous changes his counterpart had
witnessed, but first-hand experience was something else.

% Too true.

  "A complete
morphological reconstruction of your physical form.  It appears that
even your mass changes."

    "Yeah, I'm not sure what to make out of that one,"

% It's magic.

said a still sullen
Ranma-chan, still

% Two 'still's too close together. I'd drop the second one.

squeezing a few drops of water from her clothes.  "I
know it's called magic, but there has to be some rational explanation for
how it works.

% Yeah. It's magic. That's how it works.



    "OHHOHOHOHO!" chortled the gymnast, like a demented, female
Santa Claus.  "If it isn't the little philistine."

    "Shampoo not philistine!  Shampoo Chinese!" snarled the Amazon
cutely.

% A cute snarl?

    Kodachi sighed, "I forgot, you're intellectually impaired.


% This is the Politically Correct version of Kodachi, you'll note.


    "Your aim is off you purple..." but the rest of Kodachi's statement
was interrupted when a large coconut fell from the tree above and hit
her solidly in the head.  Kodachi's hands went to her skull as she
grimaced in pain, and her expression turned villainous.  "You wicked,
wicked girl!  I was going easy on you because I knew Mousse would
not approve of my harming you.  But I see you leave me no choice."

% Kodachi: It is now time to unleash the comfy chair upon you.


    Her arms held wide in an act of showmanship, Kodachi smiled in
ecstasy as she gazed at her revealed secret weapon.  "Witness the
awesome power of a genuine South American man-eating plant, or in
this case, a Ranma-Eating Plant.  Mousse-sama and I found him while
on our extended vacation.  He was shipped here just last week and
is very hungry.  Aren't you, precious?"  She made little kissing noises in
the plant's direction, then spoke to it, "Now, sic her!"

    *What I wouldn't give for a good defoliant,*

%Told ya' so. ^_^


    Ranma-chan evaded the first two attempts by the plant to devour her,
the second one missing by inches, then started looking for a way out.
She almost slapped herself at how long it took her to realize the most
obvious one.  "The damn thing's got roots," she said, dodging a third
strike.  "All I have to do is get out of its reach."

%As though it would be that easy.


    "That's no mere spider web," Kodachi informed her opponent with a
cold smile, "It is formed with razor wire.  Touch it, and be sliced to
ribbons.  Now, remain where you are and prepare to be devoured."

% Some choice, eh?

    Ranma-chan's thoughts were filled with dire imprecations

% Now if only I can work that word into a conversation.

for a few
brief moments.

    The plant continued with its relentless assault, which Ranma-chan
continued to nimbly evade.  However, after many leaps and bounds, she
eventually got backed into a tree with nowhere to run.  The giant plant
reached forward, mouth opened wide to engulf her small form, then
stopped, no more than a foot away from her.  It then curled back and
looked at Kodachi, quickly muttering something unintelligible to
everyone but its mistress.

    Kodachi sounded annoyed as she said, "What do you mean, 'Is she
white meat or dark meat?'"  The plant muttered again, and the Black
Rose answered once more, "I don't care what you are in the mood for.
Just eat her!"

    The plant looked at Ranma-chan, then turned back to Kodachi and
muttered something yet again.

    "I know she doesn't look like much," growled Kodachi sounding very
annoyed now.  She calmed herself and said, "I'll tell you what.  I'll get
you an entire cow afterwards if you are still hungry, is that all right?"

    The plant considered, then nodded its assent.

    *I can't believe this is happening,* thought Ranma-chan.  *I never
thought I'd go out this way, killed and eaten by a piece of ambulatory
greenery with an attitude.  I hope you choke and die, you damn thing!*

% Heh. Good ole' Ranma.

    "Good!  Now devour her!"

    Just as the plant moved forward once again, a loud noise was heard
from the other side of the web.  A sword suddenly cut through some of
the razor wire and Shampoo rushed quickly through the newly made
opening.

    A huge and still hungry tiger rushed through the opening hot on the
tail of Shampoo.  Kodachi looked displeased at the interruption.  "Why
hasn't Mr. Meow eaten that damned Amazon yet?" she muttered.  At
least Mousse wasn't here to witness this.

    Ranma-chan's attention locked onto the tiger, and she felt the first
wave of fear brush against her thoughts.  *C-c-cat,* she thought, as she
felt raw terror begin to grip her.  Ranma normally liked cats, though.
*S-so why d-do I feel afraid?*

% I...I...It's c...c...called a c...cat f...f...fist.

 Ranma-chan stared at the tiger with a
sense of mounting horror.  *C-c-c-cat,* the boy turned girl thought
stupidly, as her eyes remained locked onto one thing, and one thing
only, Mr. Meow.  The fear struggled to grip her mind as Ranma-chan
clutched her head, frowning in concentration.  *There is n-nothing to
fear.  There is nothing to fear!*  The vivid memories of the Cat Fist
training

% Two full sets of it now. Both the MainRanma and S 1/2 Ranma's now. Twice
as much fun! ^_^

washed over her mind like an incoming tide, and tears leaked
out of the corner of her eyes as she struggled to keep control.  *F-fear
is
an animal reaction.  I am a human being of intelligence and w-will.  I
will not feel fear.  I will not feel fear!*

    However, the terror, combined with the high stress of the situation
she was already in, was quickly overwhelming Ranma-chan's frantic
attempts to regain control.  The fear was ripping at her very sanity,
shredding through the young scientist's mental disciplines.  *F-fear can
be controlled.  There is n-nothing to fear.*  Memories of claws ripping
away at a little boy's flesh exploded across her mind.  *I c-can control
this.*

% Wrong.


    A rather severely battered-looking, half-naked Mousse stumbled into
the scene, lacking even his usual glasses, and Kodachi paused in the
binding of her plant's wounds.  After confirming that it would pull
through, she rushed over to assist him.

    "Mousse-sama," said Kodachi, checking him over for injuries.  His
face was the worst of it; a broken nose, multiple contusions, and a split
lip among the injuries.

% Aww. Poor Moussey. ^_^


   "Where's Saotome?" muttered Mousse, lisping slightly from the loss
of an incisor from his upper jaw.  He was intensely determined to have
his revenge on the pigtailed boy, as soon as the room stopped going
through the gyrations it was now doing, that is.

    "He's gone," said Kodachi, turning her attention to the remaining
people.  They were in the process of leaving the building, a grimly
thoughtful-looking Genma in the lead.  "I do believe we have been
forgotten, Mousse-sama."

    A fireball hit the pair and engulfed them in flames for a moment or
two.

    As the smoke cleared, the duo appeared singed, but very much alive.
A coldly furious-looking Minami stood alone at the top of the balcony,
having finally been untied by Genma before the others left.  She casually
discarded a gold scepter and began to form a ball of electricity between
her palms.

    "Let me assure you," said Minami in a conversational tone of voice,
"The two of you will soon be gone, but definitely not forgotten."  A
moment later, she released a brilliant lighting bolt at the duo, who
barely
got out of the way of the arc of energy.  The two took off, with Minami
following in hot pursuit, firing off spells of destruction as she ran
after
them.


% And the moral of the story is: Do not screw around with Ghost Sweepers.

                        ******************************

***** Earth  0.000,0.000


    Akira Kuonji, her father, had managed to surprise her with about the
very last thing that she would have expected from him.  Ukyou's lunch
now sat all but unnoticed before her, and she sullenly eyed her mother
and father as they sat there before her, calmly drinking tea.  They were
allowing her some time to absorb the news, very shocking news as far as
she was concerned.  When Ukyou finally spoke, her tone of voice was
one of quiet disbelief, "You want me to what?"

Akira: Star in pornos. Cross-dressers are in demand, you know. You'll get
top dollar.


    "You're going with your father and I tomorrow morning to meet a
potential husband for you," said Yukiyou Kuonji, her mother, quite
calmly.  The older woman's hazel-green eyes, identical to Ukyou's own,
studied her daughter for several moments before speaking once more.
"We've received word from one of the matchmaking services that we
subscribed you to.

% Yukiyou: One of the ones that didn't just laugh in my face when I gave
them your description.

They tell me that they've found a nice boy in Tokyo
who comes from an excellent family background.  We're going to meet
him and his parents tomorrow."

    Ukyou just sat there blinking, taking it in.  She finally asked,
"Don't I
have any say in this?"

Both parents: BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!


    "Listen to your mother, Ukyou-chan," said her father in a solemn
voice.  "It's high time that you started thinking about your future.  You
are to be the next leader of the Kuonji Clan, and you should be grateful
that we found you a husband.  You've already rejected all of the local
boys."

    "They're all perverts or weaklings," grumbled Ukyou.  "I think I'm
more of a man than any of the boys I go to school with."

Ukyou: I even date better looking girls than they do. ^_^


    "That's another thing, Daughter," said Yukiyou, velvet covering steel
in her voice

%Nice turn of the phrase.

as she reproved Ukyou, her eyes staring at the male disguise
that her daughter wore so disturbingly well.  "This continuing tendency
of yours to disguise yourself as a boy is becoming alarming to me for a
girl your age.

%Yukiyou: I stopped doing it when I was fourteen. Yet here you are,
sixteen and you still refuse to give it up.

 I know you did it because of your grandfather, but you
are really a girl.  Why do you persist in doing it?"  A note of
desperation
entered her voice.

    "It's good practice for my disguise skills, and it lets me see the
boys
as they really are,"

% Yukiyou: See the boys as they really are? You mean you peep on them when
they're in the school showers and such?

% Ukyou: Of course.

%Yukiyou: My daughter is such a woman among women!

% ( You have to admit, it is a scary thought. ^_^)

 replied Ukyou evenly, taking a sip of her tea.  "If
they think I'm a boy, then they talk to me like an equal.

% Ukyou: You know, like lying about all the girls we've shagged and what
great lovers we are.

The girls my
age that I've seen are all simple, flighty creatures, without any warrior
spirit within them.

% That attitude will be changing shortly.

If I have to choose between that, I'll act as a guy.
However, so far, all I've found is that all boys are perverts.

% Akane?

 There
isn't a
real gentleman in the entire lot."

% And you think she's going to find some in Nerima, JK? Tsk, Tsk.

    "Promise me that you won't pretend to be a boy around the Saotome
boy

%The two 'boys' are a little awkward to me. Maybe change the second to
Ranma Saotome, or something. I'm not sure.


at least until after you meet him," commanded Yukiyou,

% So she's saying it's okay for Ukyou to cross-dress afterwards?


    Behind Ukyou, her mother watched the departure of her daughter
with sad eyes.  Yukiyou got up from the table and went over to her
husband.  She softly asked, "Husband?  Do you really think Ukyou will
like this Saotome boy?"

% Wouldn't be much of a fic if she didn't.

    "Perhaps," said Akira Kuonji, watching his daughter walk off into the
woods to one of her usual training areas.  "I sincerely hope that she
does, but our daughter will get married and bear children to carry on the
bloodline.  This Clan needs her to do so if it is to continue, and this
boy,
Ranma Saotome, may be our last, best hope for the Kuonji legacy to
continue on.  Until I had received word from Mitsuma-san, I confess I
had almost given up on her.  After what she did to that boy from the
Moroboshi Clan," he trailed off, shaking his head at the memory.

% Whatever Ataru did, he probably deserved it.

                        ******************************

    Near the edge of the Kuonji Clan territory, a lone figure stood next
to
a tree, his hand resting lightly on a rope that ran far back into the
thick
woods, tied at irregular intervals to various trees.  He was dressed in
heavily travel-worn garb consisting of a long-sleeved brown tunic, black
pants laced up the shins with yellow lacings, and comfortable, black,
slip-on shoes.  His unruly black hair was held back out of his eyes with a
black-spotted, yellow bandana.  He wore a large backpack, the straps
resting comfortably on his shoulders, and there was a red and black
umbrella secured to the top of the backpack.

    He was

% Chuck D'Snarfenja

Ryouga Hibiki,

% Close enough.

and he was a man with a mission.


                        ******************************

    Nodoka moved through her kata with grace and speed, but her
thoughts were troubled as her bokken slashed through the air.  Her
skillful strikes alternated between decapitating and eviscerating the
imaginary foes that surrounded her.  *I hope that this first meeting
tomorrow goes well.  Ranma only seems to be doing it for my sake.*

% Yeah. Pretty much.


    "I only hope that I can find a girl to make Ranma so happy," said
Nodoka with a troubled look.  "The three prospects I was given all
come from fine families.  One is even of high nobility."

    "Just let events take their natural course, my friend," said Achika
with
a smile.  "Ranma is a fine young man, almost as good a catch as my own
son.  I'm sure that the women will be clamoring around him before you
realize it."

% Achika shows her gift of prophacy. ^_^



Ukyou smiled when she heard the distinctive sound of air rustling
against cloth rising behind her, and a distinctive battle cry.

    "UKYOU KUONJI!  PREPARE TO DIE!"

% The more things change...


    "Ryouga," said Ukyou with a strained nod.  "It's been a while."  Her
tone was pleasant, but the very determined look on her face did not go
away.  The soles of her shoes were leaving shallow furrows as Ryouga
muscled her back.  She felt a rather pleasant tingling running along her
nerves at Ryouga's presence, an odd excitement filling her body at
testing herself against him.  They were sensations that she had begun to
feel during their last few years of fighting against each other.


% Ah. Another Eve and Adam, I see.

    "Ukyou," growled Ryouga with a nod of his own, his expression now
darkening up even more as he felt a similar tingling sensation running
through his body.  These

% 'Those' sounds better to me

feelings only made him angrier.  *Damn you,
Kuonji!*

% Ryouga: How dare you make me into a homosexual!

%Heh. I really do like this angle. With Ryouga feeling attracted to a
'guy', that's really going to throw fuel in the fire, so to speak. And of
course when he finds out Ukyou really is a girl...


    Ryouga came leaping in as Ukyou took to the air as well, her jump
carrying her a little higher than his own.  She blocked his strikes in
midair with the spatula and managed to land a hard blow with the flat of
it onto the top of his head and making a resounding clanging sound.  He
plummeted face-first into the soft mulch of the forest floor as she landed
gracefully on her feet about ten feet away from him.  She stuck her
tongue out at him playfully when he pulled his head up to see her.

    "Why, you..." growled Ryouga softly

% Ryouga: Didn't your mother teach you never to stick out your tongue
unless you mean to use it?

as he charged her once more.
His umbrella strikes blurred by her head and body as she dodged and
blocked deftly with her spatula.  Ukyou was supple grace and strength
combined into one as she evaded his attacks like water.  Ryouga was
growing frustrated.  "Stand still and fight like a man!"

    "What was that?" asked Ukyou, somewhat angrily, in the middle of
another leap.  The amused look on her face had grown irritated.

%Typical woman. She probably blames Ryouga for not being able to see
through her disguise.


    Ukyou growled and redoubled her efforts to attack.  Now it was
Ryouga who was doing most of the blocking and dodging as edged steel
slashed and thrust at him.  He managed to slow up her assault a bit with
a couple of strikes that managed to connect, but they were off-center.
Ukyou shrugged off the pain.  *The nerve of this...this jackass!  Making
fun of my femininity like that.*

% Errr, what femininty?

    Ryouga managed to disarm her of her weapon with a very powerful
strike from his umbrella.  It flew off and embedded itself deeply into a
nearby tree.  Ryouga smirked at her again.  Ukyou leaped up and kicked
him hard in the face for the smirk.  Ryouga stumbled back, and his eyes
crossed for a moment.  Ukyou knocked the umbrella out of his hand
with another kick.

    Ryouga backed off, and Ukyou eyed him for a moment with a cool
smile.  She stepped gracefully over his umbrella and blocked his path to
it.  Ukyou smirked, eyeing her spatula for a moment.

    "I don't need a weapon to beat you," she said with a grin.

    "Come on and try it," said Ryouga with a serious look.  He gestured
for her to come forward with one hand.

    They leaped at each other in a blur of fists and feet.  Ryouga's
superior strength was nullified by Ukyou's greater speed and ability to
dodge.  He shrugged off most of her blows, but very few of his strikes
managed to even touch her.  Her punches slipped by his guard, but
Ukyou had to settle for trying to wear him down rather than a single
knockout punch.

% An Ukyou that's good at unarmed combat too. Nice change of pace.



    "That was a magnificent display, children," said the elderly man that
seemed to materialize from out of the nearby edge of the forest.  His
monk's robes whispered as he stepped closer and a faint twinkle was in
his ancient eyes.  "I see that you have done some improving since I last
saw you, Ryouga Hibiki.  You do your family proud."

    "Grandfather Kuonji," said Ukyou with some surprise.  "What brings
you out this far into the forest?"

%Grandfather Kuonji: My feet, of course. What kind of a silly question is
that?


    "Yes, Grandfather," said Ukyou with her head bowed.  A moment
later her head snapped back up.  "He started it though.  He jumped at
me from the trees."

    "You're the one that's always bragging about what a great ninja
warrior you are," growled Ryouga.  He pointed his thumb at his chest.
"I know for a fact that I'm more than a match for you, Kuonji.  I just
thought I'd prove it to you.  If you're so great, then how did I manage to
sneak up on you?"

    "What was that, you jackass?" snarled Ukyou right back.  "I can take
you in a fight any day of the week!"  She poked her finger hard against
Ryouga's chest, her anger letting her ignore the pleasant feeling she got
from being near him.

% Lucky for him he doesn't poke her in hers.

  "For your information, I let you get that close to
me.  The way that you stomp around, I'm surprised that you can sneak
up on anybody.  Some great martial artist you are."

    "Children," said Grandfather Kuonji sternly.  They both looked at him
guiltily.  He eyed them both, and the two of them wouldn't meet his
eyes.  He sighed gently.  *I wish I knew why these two felt it to be so
necessary to antagonize each other.  Still, it reminds me a bit of some of
the many glorious fights between me and that old ogre, Shiro, Ryouga's
grandfather.*

% Oh? They were attracted to one another too? ^_^


    "Walk with me, Ryouga?" asked the elderly Kuonji with a gentle
smile.  Ryouga shrugged and picked up his umbrella.  They walked out
into the forest on one of the small trails.  It was quite peaceful.

    "Where's he off to in such a hurry?" asked Ryouga, a little gruffly.

    "Ukyou's going to the capital," replied Grandfather Kuonji.  "I don't
know all of the specifics,

% Not that you would listen to them anyway, you senile goof.

 but I imagine that the boy will be gone for a
long time."  He turned away to watch the wind blowing gently through
the tree branches above.

    "He's... he's what?" stuttered Ryouga.  He stopped walking and
looked surprised.

    "He's going to the capital, I think to study the finer skills of our
Clan's
cooking arts with an aunt,"

% Grandfather Kuonji: Maybe I should give him the addresses of a few of
the bordellos there I used to frequent in my youth. Make a man out of
Ukyou yet, I will

    *The boy has a fine life ahead of him,* Genma thought as he took a
sip of sake.  It burned like sweet fire down his throat.  *I'll see to it
that
he becomes a great martial artist.  Ah, to have a chance to forget the
mistakes of the past.  This time I'll do it right.  No more mistakes for
this Genma, no sir.*

%Yeah. Right.


    *You were, and still are, the only woman for me, Nodoka-chan,* he
thought with a smile, the memories of the two versions of Nodoka
blurring together in his mind as he thought about her.  A tear formed in
one eye as he remembered his wedding day.  *You were so beautiful
that day, Nodoka-chan.  Married life was a difficult adjustment at first,
but it was so nice to have someone at my side, to warm my bed at night
on a regular basis.*  A rather lecherous grin appeared on his face at the
thought of his wedding night.

% You know, QD Nodoka might be surprised by her 'husband's' new found
passion. After all, S 1/2 Genma hasn't gotten any in over a decade.


    *Perhaps I could honor the agreement with Soun in spirit in this life,
using this more obedient Ranma,* thought Genma, staring into the
rippling liquid in his cup.  *Heh.  I'm sure that I can get the boy to
obey
me.

% And just how drunk is he to make himself actually believe that?

 After all, I am his father now.  Of course he will listen to me.
I'll
just tell him I was confused when I woke up on that couch, but I'm
better now.  Yeah, that should work.  I'll have to talk to the Dean in the
morning though.*  An evil grin appeared on his face as he thought,
*Such a shame that Ranma's experiments will have to end, but he's
going to carry on the Anything-Goes School now if I have any say in his
life.  He can forget about science.*

% I doubt that would go over well with the government. They have plans for
Mr. Ranma Saotome.

He took another deep sip of sake.
The taste was definitely becoming more palatable.  He waved the bar
maid over and told her to bring him another bottle.

    *Perhaps I can use Nodoka's desires to engage Ranma to my own
benefit,* he thought with a chuckle.  *After all, it is perfectly legal in
the
Empire to have more than one wife.  Think of all the dowries I could
collect that way,

% Yep. Good ole' Genma, there.

and playing them off against each other would keep the
issue of marriage in the distance....*  Genma blinked.  Maybe it was the
effects of the sake on his brain, but that idea didn't seem to be totally
without merit.

%QD Ranma is really going to be in for it now.


    "Greetings, Saotome-san," said Soun pleasantly.  He gestured at the
waitress to bring more sake without looking up.  "My name is Soun
Tendou.  I don't know if you remember me, and I hope that you do not
mind if I join you.  I have a rather modest proposition that I wished to
discuss with you that concerned your son."

    Genma was not as drunk as he must have appeared to Soun.  Brief
memories of his past in this life in regards to Soun Tendou surfaced in
his memories.  Theirs had not been a harmonious relationship, and
Genma chuckled at one memory of stuffing a belligerent Soun Tendou
into a garbage can for reasons that he could not recall at the moment.

% Hehehe.

He smiled inwardly and thanked the gods for granting him this boon.
This was going to take some careful handling.  *Ranma will thank me
for this.  I'm sure of it.*

% He'll do something to you, but it won't be thanking.


                        ******************************

***** Earth  +1.612,+1.509

    Shampoo found Ranma-chan after only a short period of searching.
Based on the angle of Akane's punt and her knowledge of the area, she
tracked her quarry to the rear of the local fish-market.  The target of
her
search had pulled a dirty sweater from a dumpster and was playing with
it.  As the garment shredded under the "claws" of the Cat-Fist, Ranma-
chan mewled with pleasure.

% Heh. Never thought of it being use that way.

 As Shampoo came closer, she clicked her
tongue to attract Ranma-chan's attention.

    Ranma-chan turned to look at the familiar shape, recognizing the
Amazon almost instantly.  Her thoughts were too primitive for words to
convey, but she saw the Amazon as a warm lap provider,

% Always a plus to any cat. ^_^


    Genma had separated from the group heading back to the Tendou
household shortly after emerging from the greenhouse, and his glasses
gleamed with reflected sunlight as he walked the streets searching for
his son.  As he searched, he reviewed his counterpart's life.  As much as
he hated to admit it, he came to the only conclusion he could: the man
he was in this tangent was both a coward and a fool.

% Two words that sum up Genma pretty darn well.

% Nice work, as always.

D.B. Sommer