Disclaimer: All characters that are used belong to their respective
creators. I do this for fun and do not take any money off of it. Please
don't sue me. The stories are mine, so please don't use them without
asking me.
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Inside the ruby that was her home, Ranma went over the book that Akane
had wished into existence. By concentrating on the fact that learning
the maneuvers would make her better able to protect her master, she was
able to pick up the moves almost instantly. Glancing to one side, she
used her power over her environment to make a statue of Hazid appear.
"DAMN YOU!" the genie shouted at the statue.
Ranma used a punching technique from the Kami-sen-ken on the statue.
Its translated name was Stone Knuckle Hammer. As the genie's fist hit
the construct, the statue shattered. She dropped her arm to her side
and breathed heavily.
"Pops, you are a coward," she muttered, as a golden cord appeared in
her hand. "You have this style and you let Happosai bully you."
The genie shook her head as she looked up at the sky of her world. She
slumped to the ground while clenching her fists.
"My curse is locked and I'm stuck as a female genie," Ranma muttered.
"I know Akane and Kasumi are going to try and undo this, but still...."
The genie moved from a sitting position to a prone position and stared
upwards, with one arm behind her neck. She sighed as she thought a bit
more on her predicament. She idly plucked at her silk pantaloons.
"Can I handle being a genie for the rest of my life? What are the
benefits of being a genie?"
Ranma produced a notebook and started writing down the benefits of
remaining a genie.
1. A permanent home
2. Privacy
3. No responsibility for actions
4.
She threw the book away in disgust and put both hands against her face.
"A wild animal or this. Pops really screwed up my life. All the time
we were on the road, he was denying me what I wanted. As a genie, I
have everything I've ever wanted."
Ranma leapt to her feet and summoned a full bodied mirror.
Straightening her outfit, she prepared herself.
Staring at her reflection, she muttered, "This is my idea of Heaven."
-------------------------------------------
Akane and Kasumi trudged along the wilderness of rural China. Akane
was amazed that her sister was not only able to keep up with her, but
wasn't even breathing hard.
Glancing down at her ring, Akane thought, *Ranma, I hope you're all
right in there.*
Shaking her head she looked forward and sighed. She wasn't sure if she
should get upset or not about Ranma's lack of teleportational skills.
Kasumi asked, "What is it, Akane?"
"Sorry. I was thinking about how far we are from what can undo the
lock and why Ranma dropped us so far away."
Kasumi looked at her younger sister with sympathy. "You're still
having a hard time giving Ranma orders, so he can improve. His lack of
skill is a reluctance on your part to make him your slave. Besides,
there was nothing in the area we appeared at that could have helped
Ranma."
"True. The only thing I saw was a building that looked like a temple."
Kasumi suddenly stopped walking and repeated, "A building that looked
like a temple?"
"Er. Yeah," Akane said, feeling a bit nervous. "What of it?"
Kasumi sighed as she explained, "Remember the wish of trying to
transport what could help Ranma to your house? He said it was too big.
The teleport dropped us off near the building."
Akane felt foolish at missing the obvious clues, but brought up another
point, "What about the third wish? He said that the object to unlock
the effects was far away."
Kasumi shook her head. "Two objects. One to help with the curse and
is too big. The other far away and unlocks Ranma's curse. You did
state your wishes differently."
"Err," Akane replied in an uncertain tone.
Kasumi turned around and pointed back the way they came. "Let's go to
that temple you saw."
Akane mutely nodded and followed her sister, who had just showed a new
side to her personality.
*Hmmm,* Kasumi thought, as she led a brisk pace for her sister to
follow. *That wish to make me a Cutey Honey has some added benefits to
my mind. Being an android is kind of weird though, but does have some
nice perks.*
--------------------------------
At the Tendo home, Nabiki bit her lower lip in thought. Walking out of
the kitchen, she saw her father and Ranma's discussing how to get Ranma
and use his genie powers for their own benefit. She closed her eyes and
tried to come up with and idea. Her eyes snapped open as she looked at
her father and Genma.
"Dad, shouldn't you read up on genies first? If Ranma is one, which I
highly doubt, wouldn't it be in your best interest to know a little more
about them first?"
"Err. What was that, Nabiki?" Soun asked. "It's just Ranma and he
shouldn't be a problem. We just have to make sure we have him under
control. Right, Saotome?"
"That's right, Tendo. My undutiful son will be made to uphold the
honor of the Saotome name."
*That did it. These two oafs don't realize that Akane and Ranma are
people. Not that I was any better,* Nabiki thought as she headed up to
her room. *It looks like I'm going to have to take drastic actions.*
Nabiki entered her room and sat down before her computer. She switched
the machine on and waited for it to cycle through its start-up sequence.
Shaking her head, she sipped at a can of soda. *Akane's moved out.
Kasumi is losing her shyness and I'm going to help the two of them go
professional. And even though we will be well off and respected, Dad
will still try to keep us thinking in that old fashioned way of his.
Genma's no better.*
Seeing the computer had finished powering up, Nabiki called up some
files and looked at them. She quickly connected to the internet and
updated her webpage. Nabiki stared at the computer and blinked back the
tears, while holding the soda can to her forehead. Nabiki sighed and
finished her soda. She scrolled through official declarations provided
by the government. She was about to turn off the computer, when a file
caught her attention.
Nabiki whispered in disbelief, "The marriage of Ranma Saotome and Akane
Tendo?"
She checked the date and time of the license and shuddered.
*That Hazid has really made a mess of things,* Nabiki thought with some
anger. A small bit of amusement passed through her mind. *Marriage
betting pool is closed for Ranma and his suitors.*
She shut off the computer and picked up the phone next to it. She made
several calls to her business associates to meet her at school. She
also noted that it was getting late and Kasumi hadn't came back yet to
make supper.
*She must have stopped at Akane's first. One problem down, but another
to deal with. Oh well. I might as well splurge a little.*
Nabiki grabbed her seldom used purse and headed out. As she left, she
saw that Genma and her father were anxiously awaiting supper.
*Let them wait. I think I'll try some of that foreign food. Spaghetti
is it? It looks delicious."
------------------
As the day waned, Akane and Kasumi realized they would not make it to
the temple before the sun would set. The sisters found a somewhat
defensible ring of boulders they could use as a campsite.
Looking around, Kasumi remarked, "It's not home, but it'll have to do."
"Right. I'm going to let Ranma out. We need to train."
After rubbing the ring and releasing Ranma, Akane waited until Ranma's
trance wore off. She then explained what was going on and that they had
time to train.
Ranma nodded her head in understanding. "Okay Akane. I guess we
should start training in Pop's Kami-sen-ken style."
The genie's eyes glowed red for a second and strips of lead were
attached to the pant legs of both the genie and her master. Two one
meter diameter lead balls appeared in front of the two girls.
Struggling a bit with the lead attached to her legs, Akane grunted,
"Ranma, what's with this stuff?"
Pointing to the lead ball in front of Akane, the genie replied, "Start
kicking that ball. This is how you train in one of the techniques."
"Technique?"
"Namari-ashi-utsu. Lead leg strike," Ranma answered and proceeded to
kick the ball in front of her.
Akane made a sour face and did as her genie instructed. Glancing out
the corner of her eye, she saw that Ranma was kicking the ball further
than she could.
"Right. He's been inside the ring with nothing to do, but practice,"
Akane muttered under her breath.
She bit her lower lip and started kicking the ball as hard as she
could, even though the lead strips prevented her from achieving much
force. After an hour, she collapsed exhausted. The furthest she was
able to kick the lead weight was about ten yards. Ranma's max distance
was about sixty meters.
Collapsing beside her master, Ranma stated, "I still need to get the
distance up."
"Up? How far do you have to kick that thing, before you master the
technique?" Akane asked in exasperation.
"About one hundred meters."
Akane shuddered for a second and stared at the ring on her hand.
Sighing, she said, "I wish I knew of a way for you to become a boy
again."
Ranma shook her head, focused her powers, and granted her master's
wish. "Wish granted."
Akane's eyes widened as new information was put in her head about
Ranma's new form.
Staring at her genie, Akane whispered, "Ranma, you can become a boy
again. It's part of who you are now."
"What?!" Ranma exclaimed in shock. "How?!"
"By using your ability to transform yourself. You can take other
forms," Akane siad, her voice still low. "It's just that when you are
in the ring or relaxing outside the ring, you are a girl."
"Relaxing? Why would relaxing cause me to change back?"
"Sorry, I meant asleep," Akane clarified.
Staring at her clenched fists, Ranma muttered, "I can change back into
a boy? But, it's not going to last."
"Ranma? Why don't you head back into the ring?" Akane asked. "You'll
probably need your strength for tomorrow."
Ranma nodded. Closing her eyes, she willed herself into red smoke and
was pulled inside the ring's gemstone.