I really enjoyed this so with Metro-Anime's permission. Here
is the second OMAKE in this series.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



this is planned as the omake for chapter 25 of A Soldier's
Duty

___omake_omake_omake_omake___

"What if someone *else* had fulfilled Genma's role," mused
Toltiir.

"With Ares, we saw a capable martial artist who frankly
didn't take much
crap off anyone," reminded Bast. "Unfortunately, or
fortunately if you
prefer, he had little in the way of traditional Western
morality."

"Yeah, none of this 'don't hit girls' or 'let other people
push me around'
sort of thing." Ares felt that he'd done a pretty darn good
job there. And
it had been strangely fulfilling to take on the role of
father-sensei. Much
better than he'd done with his two real sons.

"I disagree, Genma did a much better job of raising Ranma,"
argued Fleece.
"Look at that Ranma! Anybody who jumps him shouting 'Ranma,
prepare to die'
is gonna get killed! Heck, if the Nabiki in *that* world
tried half the
stuff I did with *my* version of Ranma, she'd be lucky if
she didn't end up
in the hospital!"

Ares considered the idea briefly. "Nah. More likely he'd
just contact the
local Yakuza and tell them that this little girl was
poaching on their
territory. Once he did that..."

Fleece flinched at the likely consequences of *that* sort of
thing. "You see
what I mean? THAT Ranma is going to have even more social
problems than the
original."

"So. You're saying you could do a better job?" Bast purred
as she regarded
the Nabiki Tendo that had dared to cross path with the gods,
and had ended
up becoming a minor goddess herself due to the whims of
Toltiir. There were
times when Fleece was in serious danger of being demoted as
per Titania's
suggestion - to tooth fairy.

Nabiki *almost* said "Yeah, right." The grins around her
were enough clue.
"NO! NO WAY! I am *NOT* going to play the part of Genma
Saotome!"

"Spoilsport," said Ares. "Put your money where your mouth
is."

"Well, who do *you* think would do a better job of being
Genma?" Toltiir
blinked at the girl, yellow eyes gleaming. "Keeping in mind
the following
points typical of Ranma timelines:
a) Ranma must be a highly ranked martial artist, it may not
be his only
focus, but it's got to be in there.
b) His orbit must intersect the Tendos. He may not end up
engaged to any of
'em. Maybe neither group knows about the arrangement, but
they'll at least
meet. The test point is Ranma meeting them, and how
different it is from the
original.
c) The person who does the raising has to spend at least ten
years
subjective in the simulation."

"This ain't another Bet, is it, Toltiir?" Bast glared at the
cat.

"Heaven forbid, no. Just a possibility of related omake."
The cat waved a
paw.

"Well, in that case," suggested Nabiki with her own catty
expression.

Almost everyone traced her gaze to the side where a visitor
had been
preoccupied with other concerns. More smiles.

The old man looked up.

----------

"He'll be here any moment," said Soun, smiling at the
prospect of joining
the two families. Though the calligraphy was much more neat
and precise than
he'd expect from Genma. The wording had been odd too.
"Tendo- I will be
bringing Ranma on Mar-11. We shall discuss the engagement
then. -S"

"So is he cute?" Nabiki asked, not quite as mercenary as she
would later
become. In an unaltered timeline, that is.

"How old is he. Younger men bore me," said Kasumi, not quite
as oblivious as
she would later become. Were everything to remain normal, of
course.

"Hmmmph, boys," Akane grumbled. Boy=pervert=target. Math
wasn't her best
subject but some things were obvious. The entire gender
could be deleted
from existence or chained into dungeons and she'd be a lot
happier. She
hated boys. She loathed boys. Boys had ignored her most of
her life, and
then suddenly she couldn't literally beat them off. Boys
were beyond icky.

There came a knocking at the door as if someone had not
gotten into a fight
on the way to the dojo.

"That must be Ranma!" Nabiki hoped for cute. Rich would be
even better. Cute
and rich? Too much to hope for. But she would certainly
settle for cute.

"I do hope he's older," sighed Kasumi.

"ACK!" Soun made a warding sign. There was no paunchy Genma
present, just
Nabiki (who had somehow got out the door before him) eyeing
a tall and
broadshouldered young man. That wasn't the ack part. An old
man, still
standing straight and proud, was eyeing him as if judging
him on his entire
life experience and deciding that he was just barely worth
continued
existence.

"Oh my," Kasumi looked over the boy. Tall, strong, lithely
muscled,
immaculately dressed in a nice dress shirt, slacks, and
boots of some kind.
Very nice if a bit Westernized in appearance.

"hmmmmph," hmmmphed Akane, then turned around and walked
back into the
house. Okay, the boy was fairly good looking. THAT didn't
mean anything.

"Genma couldn't make it," said the old man. "May we come
in?"

--------

"So Genma died and you took over his training," Soun said,
nodding.

"Yes, he fell into a pit of starving cats. Terrible tragic
story." The old
man didn't look as if he thought it was terribly tragic. "So
we've been
wandering back and forth, hither and yon."

"Yes, well, these are my three daughters," Soun said,
indicating each girl
and her age, then turning back to Ranma, "pick any one you
like. She'll be
your new fiancee."

"Geez, they're not bagels, Mister Tendo. Pick one? None of
them seem
interested. Besides there are other more pressing concerns."

"AH?! It's a matter of family honor." Soun glanced over the
three. "Akane is
a martial artist, she'll be your fiancee."

"Oh my," said Kasumi, who was too old and housewifeish to be
chosen. And was
regretting it. Ranma was polite and had a cute... he was
nice.

"WHAT?!" Nabiki and Akane reacted with entirely different
reasons.

"You see?" Ranma gave a helpless shrug. A beeping from a
pocket caused him
to consult a pager. "Ooops. Gotta go. Old man, you handle
this?"

The old man nodded.

"But but but but but...?!" Soun was going into shock. If
only Genma were
here to back him up!

Nabiki, Kasumi, and Akane blinked. Ranma had gotten lost by
going off into
their backyard. Their reactions were quite different. Nabiki
was intrigued
by the boy's butt... err purposeful stride. Akane was
wondering what the
pervert was up to. Kasumi wanted to make sure there were no
hard feelings,
sometimes her father made a rather poor first impression.

Ranma ducked around the side of the dojo. This really got
the three curious,
as there was nothing back there. As one they approached from
a different
angle. Yes, there was that fiance. He was standing still,
looking
heavenwards, and his mouth opened as he said a single word.

"SHAZAM!"

*BOOOM!* Thunder answered.

Nabiki had just realized that she'd leapt up and was being
held by Kasumi as
all three sets of eyes watched a major hunk fly up and away
in a high speed
blur.

"That was *Captain Marvel*..." Nabiki said to Kasumi.

"Oh my, oh dear," said Kasumi who had little hearts floating
in her eyes.
Not a boy at all. Oh heavens no. There had been a nobility
and maturity in
the Captain that just did not fit any of the categories she
placed younger
boys in. Nope.

Akane stood where Ranma had stood, took an identical pose,
and tried
something. "Shatsamu. Shatsam! Sha- tsa - mu! Damnit, why
won't it work for
me?"

Kasumi let Nabiki go, her arms were getting heavy anyway,
and considered.
Captain Marvel seemed very mature. Perhaps she should speak
up.

Nabiki thought about this. Let anyone know she knew who
Captain Marvel was?
Oh yeah, duh! The moment she even advertised something like
that, she'd be
kidnapped by supervillains and tortured for the information.
She was
allergic to being tortured. Not to mention she'd be
alienating someone who
could wrestle Godzilla and any friends he happened to have!

Akane sulked. If some stupid boy could transform into
Captain Marvel, why
couldn't she? Twenty years ago there had been a Mary Marvel,
there was a
girl named Aoi Marvel who'd briefly appeared in Osaka, so
why not Akane
Marvel? She was noble and worthy and nobody could say she
wasn't a great
fighter! Dang it.

Three girls found their father alone, crying to the extent
that there was
going to be no answers from that quarter.

Nabiki mused. Captain Marvel made headlines. When he was in
China recently,
he made headlines. All she had to do was wait for him to
start appearing in
a particular area, then track him down. She was sure that
she could make a
good press manager.

Kasumi thought. It seemed to her that if the Captain was off
saving Japan or
the world, he'd need someone to cook and clean and maintain
a home. Well,
what an amazing coincidence that she currently had no
suitors or prospects.
Look for where the trouble is, he'd be nearby, then she
could grab him and
make mad passionate... uhm apply for a job and get to know
him.

Akane glowered. She'd catch that boy and make him tell her
the secrets of
whatever martial arts technique he'd used to transform! Then
she could go
assist the Senshi!

Soun wailed. Prior engagements?! "Waaaaaaaaa!"

-------

Ranma sped across town so quickly that he was just a blur,
and smiled. THIS
was living. Everything that was so confusing was suddenly
clear, the world
was his rice bowl, he felt a thousand times more alive than
as plain old
Ranma Saotome.

One didn't need the Wisdom of Solomon to see the dangers in
staying as
Captain Marvel for too long. Black Adam was still around,
somewhere, a
wonderful advertisement of how power could corrupt. Then
there was that
mysterious Juggernaut who had appeared in China. Someone who
could hurt
*him*. But here was the thing that had drawn him.

Captain Marvel came to a halt to observe the battle before
he weighed in. It
looked like he should do something...

Now.

------

Usagi shrieked like a little girl (which she was actually -
being fifteen
years old) as the big yoma prepared to bring that gleaming
claw down and
reduce her to the consistency of fish paste. Her Moon Rod
had been knocked
out of reach and the others had been scattered about with a
few swipes.

"SAILOR MOON!" Several young girls cried as they watched
what was about to
be a gruesome scene.

Tuxedo Kamen prepared to throw a rose despite that the past
three had
bounced off the armor plating on the creature.

"Excuse me, may I cut in?"

Everyone blinked. Some guy had popped out of nowhere, and
was lifting the
yoma up into the air by a grip on its outstretched paw.

Tuxedo Kamen dropped the rose, feeling completely
inadequate.

The yoma roared and tried to swing at the caped man holding
it.

"Shall we dance?" The man threw the yoma straight up, giving
the crowd a
good look at the chest emblem of a stylized lightning bolt.

"CAPTAIN MARVEL?!" Venus, Mars, Mercury, Moon, and Tuxedo
Mask exclaimed.

"My new sempai..." Sailor Jupiter said dreamily.

The yoma came down, Captain Marvel stopped its progress with
an uppercut.
The yoma disintegrated.

"Well, Sailor Senshi," said Captain Marvel, floating
slightly above head
level. "I've wanted to make your acquaintance. Shall we
arrange a meeting to
discuss pooling our resources?"

Seeing that Mars was too starstruck, Venus was drooling, and
Jupiter was
repeating something about a sempai every so often, Mercury
quickly set up a
meeting for after school the next day on the roof of her
mother's hospital.
(Which had the benefits of being remote and accessible.)

There was a group sigh as the Captain flew away.

"I don't trust him," said Luna as soon as the fellow was out
of earshot. "He
wasn't present in the Moon Kingdom after all, and... why is
everyone looking
at me like that? HEY! LET ME OUT OF THIS! WHAT ARE YOU
DOING?! USAGI!"

"Where'd you get a mailing box anyway," Venus asked Mercury.

"Oh dear, ha ha, I just happened to have one handy," Mercury
said, blushing
furiously. After all, the Captain was said to be quite
intellectual, and
well, Ryo hadn't been around for over a year, and well...

Venus smirked. She knew one way to make sure he was
considered part of the
group. And if Sailor Venus had to drag the stud off by his
cape, she was
gonna make sure he knew she was willing to be his... friend.
Or something
like that.

Jupiter was already gone. She had to make sure she had
plenty of cookies
baked so she could bring them along and introduce herself to
her new sempai!

Mars wanted to check the sacred fire and see if Shinto
priestesses and
Divinely empowered superheroes were a good match. She was
sure they were,
but maybe a horoscope would be good too.

Tuxedo Mask waved his hand in front of Usagi's face and
sighed. Well, at
least he knew that he'd end up with Usagi. And maybe the
Captain could
deflect some of the looks that had been heading his way
lately from the
other Senshi.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Luna called from inside the box marked
"To: somewhere
far far away".

"You weren't going to really mail that were you?" Venus
turned to find
Mercury running off. Wait a minute! She had to get things
ready for meeting
her new boyfriend tomorrow!

Tuxedo Kamen became Mamoru and picked up the boxed kitty.
Looked like their
current adventure had gotten more complicated.

============


-----------
"Darn it. Forget the transformation pens and
 cutesy attacks. It's a life-or-death struggle,
 I want a 'Venus High Calibre Cannon'."
    -Minako Aino, "A Soldier's Duty"


http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com
http://www.geocities.com/mamoru_tengoku
http://www.geocities.com/studio_vanir
metroanime@mindspring.com



--
Rick Robinson
RICHARDROBINSON@prodigy.net


If violence is not solving your
problems you're just not using enough of it.

     Misato

"I guess I'm just an old-fashioned sentimentalist at heart.
I refuse
 to accept a no-win scenario.  I hate the thought of a
universe without
 justice.  If the maneuverings of dark powers can't be
exposed and
 defeated by the pure of heart, then there's no point in
anything.  I
 can't believe that."
                               -- Benjamin Hutchins


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