Ranma ½ Exit, Pursued by a Bear

[Capito Celcior]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

The idea of Shampoo fighting any of the three Tendo sisters is hilarious. And entertaining.

This way, it is almost guaranteed that Soun will select Akane (his fighting daughter) as fiancee.

And she is going to get bashed. Shampoo is so much stronger it isn't funny. Well, almost isn't funny. It IS a little funny.

And thus Ranma is rid of a Tendo fiancee. Of course, it won't really be that easy, but I do like the idea of Ranma/Shampoo, and this relationship they already have goign seems to work somewhat.

 

[Lord Raa]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

If you go by the Flanderized interpretation, yeah. Nabiki's greedy and shallow, Akane is psychotic, Ryoga's pathologically bipolar and Ranma is either a mistreated hero or an insensitive jock.
If your aim is either parody or quick humor, this is cool. Otherwise, you may need something a bit closer to reality.

Ok, I am a bit of a fan of Nabiki, and I can agree that the character is shallow and Doesn't really goes beyond a few cheap jokes with her being a greedy bitch.

Are you sure that isn't you the one confusing her with the breadwinner Nabiki from fannon the hidden sensitive girl behind the cold bitch persona?

Because in the end both in the manga and anime she proved that she is a shallow, petty, cold bitch more interested in having fun than and screwing anyone just to have fun, and doesnt really cares about consequences than anything else.

So can you pleas elaborate and explain us how are we missing her real character, the complexity of this girl that se see often in fannon but rarely if ever in cannon?

This.

Remember that story arc she had when she bet 10 yen?

Everyone thought that she missed the guy she made a bet with, but she was thinking "I should have bet more than 10 yen".

She wasn't missing the guy, she was regretting that she got so wrapped up in the challenge (rather like Ranma), she didn't raise the stakes.

I thought that was the point I was making - that she didn't care about the guy, only the challenge.

But I have been drinking, so I might not be terribly clear right now.

 

[Lord Raa]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

           

 

[Sebazu]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

You know, i would have imagined that Ranma would have started pulling wooden signs with deadpan messages at this point.

 

[tudor.dediu]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Ok, I am a bit of a fan of Nabiki, and I can agree that the character is shallow and Doesn't really goes beyond a few cheap jokes with her being a greedy bitch.

Are you sure that isn't you the one confusing her with the breadwinner Nabiki from? fannon the hidden sensitive girl behind the cold bitch persona?

Because in the end both in the manga and anime she proved that she is a shallow, petty, cold bitch more interested in having fun than and screwing anyone just to have fun, and doesnt really cares about consequences than anything else.

So can you pleas elaborate and explain us how are we missing her real character, the complexity of this girl that se see often in fannon but rarely if ever in cannon?

If I know my tropes, Flanderization means gradually reducing a character to one dimension.
For Ranma, best examples are Nabiki going from "opportunistic middle sister" towards "greedy bitch" and Akane, that starts from "tomboyish yet girly, her cooking tastes bad due to an honest mistake" and lands on "psychotically violent, her cooking is toxic due to ingredients that have no business being there, yet she holds the delusion of being a decent cook". Hell, one might argue that Ranma is one of the trope codifiers.

Idea is, people can choose to interpret a character based either on their starting image (beginning of the manga, first few seasons of the anime), or the end result. In fanfiction, this can be an awesome tool, since the same character can be used in many settings (flanderized characters are perfect for fast, cheap comedy or parodies). It can be jarring, however when the flanderized version is played in a serious fashion, since it denotes an insufficient understanding.

No, Tony, I'm not confusing canon Nabiki with the selfless breadwinner created by fans. The term "complex" generally means "a character defined by multiple traits, some of them often being contradictory". Incidentally, many characters from Ranma can be seen as such, especially if you have experience with real-life family dynamics. Nabiki is one of the better examples, since she has the whole "middle child" baggage.

Anyway, good fic, Raa. I love your special brand of humor.

 

[Tonyloco]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Ok, I am a bit of a fan of Nabiki, and I can agree that the character is shallow and Doesn't really goes beyond a few cheap jokes with her being a greedy bitch.

Are you sure that isn't you the one confusing her with the breadwinner Nabiki fromá fannon the hidden sensitive girl behind the cold bitch persona?

Because in the end both in the manga and anime she proved that she is a shallow, petty, cold bitch more interested in having fun than and screwing anyone just to have fun, and doesnt really cares about consequences than anything else.

So can you pleas elaborate and explain us how are we missing her real character, the complexity of this girl that se see often in fannon but rarely if ever in cannon?

If I know my tropes, Flanderization means gradually reducing a character to one dimension.
For Ranma, best examples are Nabiki going from "opportunistic middle sister" towards "greedy bitch" and Akane, that starts from "tomboyish yet girly, her cooking tastes bad due to an honest mistake" and lands on "psychotically violent, her cooking is toxic due to ingredients that have no business being there, yet she holds the delusion of being a decent cook". Hell, one might argue that Ranma is one of the trope codifiers.

Idea is, people can choose to interpret a character based either on their starting image (beginning of the manga, first few seasons of the anime), or the end result. In fanfiction, this can be an awesome tool, since the same character can be used in many settings (flanderized characters are perfect for fast, cheap comedy or parodies). It can be jarring, however when the flanderized version is played in a serious fashion, since it denotes an insufficient understanding.

No, Tony, I'm not confusing canon Nabiki with the selfless breadwinner created by fans. The term "complex" generally means "a character defined by multiple traits, some of them often being contradictory". Incidentally, many characters from Ranma can be seen as such, especially if you have experience with real-life family dynamics. Nabiki is one of the better examples, since she has the whole "middle child" baggage.

Anyway, good fic, Raa. I love your special brand of humor.

thats a lot of words to explain something and then not explain a single thing, you seem to be tring to sound a lot smarter than you are.

And no need to be condescendent with us, we are big boys and can take the whole story if you manage to explain it.

Regarding this almost mitycal character growth I'm still waiting for sdome examples of it since it part of the complexity that seems to be eluding us unlike you.

You see IMHO the character actually got worse as the story went on, because Takahasi had only a few goals, to maintain the status quo, to make sure Akane was the only viable choice to Ranma, (to Avoid the whole Lum fiasco) and keep the comedy cash cow going.

Nabiki seemed a much more interesting character earlier in the manga than later on it when she and Kasumi became more cartonish and flatter as the story went on.

Few characters where allowed growth and even then they had to be backtracked in order to maintain the status quo as much as possible.

The Nabiki in the beggining of the manga was a girl who was interested in cute guys, willing to do some jokes for harmless fun and with some quick wit, the Nabiki of the end of the Manga was willing to sell the marriage of her sisters to her worst enemies, stalkers and suitors in order to get more marriage presents, and there isn't a single thing that makes us believe that she did it to help anyone or to stop the marriage since her sister waant ready like so many love to preach.

She did it because she was peety and wasn't thinking of the consequences, there are many examples or her petiness and lack of forethought.

Someone once said that Nabiki is the only really evil character in Ranma 1/2 and to be honest I do agree with them.

Now I still think she's hot and I stille njoy a good Nabiki centric story even if those have become almost extinct, I used to be Ranma/Nabiki shipper but the sad thing of growing up is that you start seeing things for what they are, and while Nabiki had a lot of potential, like most Ranma 1/2 characters fell flat of her face for the sake of the story.
:no:

 

[The Eromancer]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

-snip-

-snip-

-snip-:

if I'm not mistaken YOU are trying to sound more intelligent than you are, reading both your quotes the only one mentioning "character growth" is you Tony.

Now stop taking poorly concealed potshots at people.

 

[tudor.dediu]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

No, I was not trying to sound smarter, actually. This is simply the way I write. Blame having English as a second language and a lot of term reports
What you said is almost word for word what I said, actually. Nabiki's had a lot of potential as a character in the beginning, but all of it was snipped away, leaving her, as said before, shallower than a puddle.

I never said anything about any character growth. If anything, she regressed all the way to hell and back, along with pretty much the rest of Ranma's cast. That's a tendency of a lot of sitcoms.

Believe me, I share your opinion about how Nabiki was better in the beginning. What ticks me off is when I see an author trying to write a serious, profound story with the sketchy, comedic versions of the characters, as we see them at the end of the manga. That, or a fan who says that he hates one of the characters simply for having a certain role in providing a quick laugh.

P.S: Out of curiosity, I figure that spacebattles pretty much adopted the models and techniques from TVTropes. Is this valid here as well, or not as much?

 

[Genericrandom]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

We (sorta) try. We also just frequently end up with argument that amount to "No YOU!" too though, so take it as you will.

@Raa: It's been a while since I can remember a fic where Akane got picked in one of your stories (I think). This could be interesting. I also like this curse, but something tells me there's still a surprise or two left hidden about their time at the springs of sorrow.

 

[Lord Raa]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

           

 

[Capito Celcior]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Ranma wants things to be fair. That is very good. He has a sense of honor not yet curved by Genma (or not too much, at least).

I like this Ranma. Of course, a lot of the fun is still to be had with his bear curse.

 

[Lord Raa]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Ranma wants things to be fair. That is very good. He has a sense of honor not yet curved by Genma (or not too much, at least).

I like this Ranma. Of course, a lot of the fun is still to be had with his bear curse.

He's also seen how ruthless Shampoo can be.

 

[Tonyloco]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

-snip-

-snip-

-snip-:

if I'm not mistaken YOU are trying to sound more intelligent than you are, reading both your quotes the only one mentioning "character growth" is you Tony.

Now stop taking poorly concealed potshots at people.

Sorry man, I'm not taking potshots at anyone, just saying things as I see them.

Regarding trying to sound more intelligent I'm just trying to make my point it's up to you to like it or hate it.

And I'm quite aware that some people doesnt likes the way I post here.

And I can say it's too bad, I'm not expecting to be liked by everyone, that not taking potshot just trying to be brutally honest.

 

[zeebee1]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Nabiki's a speciesist. She has no problems with giant pandas and a bear that's probably not even a carnivore is a monster in her mind.

 

[tudor.dediu]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Nabiki's a speciesist. She has no problems with giant pandas and a bear that's probably not even a carnivore is a monster in her mind.

Yeah, how dare she react in a perfectly normal way when a three meter tall animal with sharp teeth, claws and a fearsome reputation shows on her doorstep?
Pandas, on the other hand, are regarded as harmless. No one ever expects to be mauled by a black and white fluffy thing, no matter how big it is. It comes as a complete surprise.

And Tony, brutal honesty contains a pretty unfortunate word. That's not "honest". It might be a reason people don't like your posts. There is also the fact that you grossly misinterpret someone's words due to treating "reading the whole post carefully" as something that should only happen to other people.

 

[Deathwings]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Nabiki's a speciesist. She has no problems with giant pandas and a bear that's probably not even a carnivore is a monster in her mind.

Yeah, how dare she react in a perfectly normal way when a three meter tall animal with sharp teeth, claws and a fearsome reputation shows on her doorstep?
Pandas, on the other hand, are regarded as harmless. No one ever expects to be mauled by a black and white fluffy thing, no matter how big it is. It comes as a complete surprise.

And Tony, brutal honesty contains a pretty unfortunate word. That's not "honest". It might be a reason people don't like your posts. There is also the fact that you grossly misinterpret someone's words due to treating "reading the whole post carefully" as something that should only happen to other people.

Please, tell me you did not just took Zeebee's blatant sarcasm seriously... :sweat2:

 

[Lord Raa]

Exit, Pursued By a Bear


By Lord Raa


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Disclaim-me-do: Scotch eggs don’t tessellate.


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Soun Tendo blinked in confusion at the black-furred bear that stood at the entrance to his home.

“What the…” Sweat drops started to form on his brow as he started to realise just how much danger he could be in.

“Calm down, Tendo-kun,” a bespectacled man said. “Stress isn’t good for a man of your age.”

“S-Saotome-kun?” Soun asked, turning his attention away from the bored looking bear.

“I am indeed, Tendo-kun. Now, if you’ll invite us in, we can quickly avoid any unnecessary danger.”

“U-unnecessary d-danger? T-there’s a b-bear in my doorway! He’ll eat my daughters!”

“No he won’t, Tendo-kun. While I can appreciate your concern for this unusual situation, my ursine companion here is in fact my son, Ranma. I will explain as soon as we’re inside,” the human Saotome said.

“What’s all the fuss, Daddy?” Nabiki Tendo asked, as she approached her father. “BEAR! Call the police!”

“There’s no need for that, young lady. If you get us some hot water, everything will be explained.”

“Y-yes, Nabiki… could you bring us some hot water,” Soun asked.

“Bear!” the middle daughter repeated before running upstairs and locking the door to her room.

“It would appear that your family require some basic training on how to deal with large mammals,” Genma commented. “I would be happy to provide this training.”

“Training? What are you talking about, Saotome? You’ve brought a bear with you!”

“I have filled out the relevant risk assessment forms, Tendo-kun. Here they are.”

Soun looked incredulously at the papers that his old training partner had handed to him.

Risk: Rampage. Control Measure: Ranma has had years of training and is regularly fed, reducing the risk of violent incident.

Risk: Poaching for trophy, meat or fur. Control Measure: Part of Ranma’s training has included evasion tactics. He has also learnt to seek out hot water as soon as possible in the event of the activation of his bear related curse.

“Wait, bear related curse? What are you talking about, Saotome?”

“Nihao!” a cheerful voice called out as a curvy young woman with purple hair and wearing a Chinese-style silk outfit approached.

“Ah, this is the unnecessary danger I mentioned earlier,” Genma winced.

“Nihao, Airen,” the Chinese warrior said as she hugged the bear.

The bear gave a disapproving shake of his head.

“What’s going on, Father?” another young woman asked as she approached the front door.

“Kasumi… I… I don’t know anymore. I thought I was talking with my old training partner, but there’s also a bear, and now there’s a girl… I… perhaps I should have a lie down for a bit?” Soun said, his voice faltering.

“Yes, you do that, Father. I’ll see to our guests. Please come in,” Kasumi smiled.

As the trio followed Kasumi, Soun Tendo closed the front door and finally fainted.


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“So, how do you know my father?” Kasumi asked as she poured out three cups of tea.

“We trained together for many years. Long, numerous hardships and many dangerous situations. We should never have been allowed to do such things,” the balding man added, sighing sadly.

“And what about the bear?”

“I explain,” the Chinese girl said, pouring her tea over the head of the hairy beast sitting to her right.

Kasumi’s jaw dropped as she saw what seemed to be impossible: a bear morphed into a young man.

“W-what?”

“I’m Ranma Saotome,” the young man bowed politely. It was then that he noticed his shirt was missing. “Not again…”

“It alright, no-one mind if you not wear shirt,” the Chinese girl said as she rested her head on Ranma’s arm.

“I’m sorry, but who are you, Miss?” Kasumi asked, turning her attention to the affectionate young woman.

“Shampoo,” the purple-haired lovely smiled. She clamped herself onto one of Ranma’s arms and let out a contented sigh.

“Could you explain things a little more, Miss Shampoo? Why are you travelling with the Saotomes?”

“Long story, I not want to tell it right now,” Shampoo said, closing her eyes as she felt the warmth of the man she loved calm her.

Ranma rolled his eyes. “We met in China, and she’s decided to follow me around.”

“That’s not all, Shampoo have to prove herself against Ranma’s fiancée.”

“Fiancée? Pops, is there something that you wanted to tell me? I thought we were just meeting up with your old friend…” Ranma said, glaring angrily at his father.

“I… calm down, Ranma. You don’t want to get stressed; it’s bad for your health…” Genma said, sweating nervously.

“Ok, Pops,” the pigtailed Saotome said, nodding calmly. “If you start explaining things, I might start to calm down.”

“Well, the thing is, we wanted to…”

“Wanted to what?”

“We wanted to secure the legacy of the Tendo Dojo,” Genma said. “And what better way than to have our children marry?”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Ranma nodded, visibly calmer. “But when were you going to mention this to me?”

“Well, part of the risk assessment for your being a bear is that I don’t antagonise a large carnivore with big teeth and big claws… I was waiting for the right moment.”

“I’m not angry, Pops. A little disappointed, perhaps, but not angry. Though, when were you going to mention it to me, Shampoo?” the pigtailed youth asked, his gaze narrowing.

“I was asked not to talk about it,” Shampoo shrugged, her breasts rubbing against Ranma’s arm. “You forgive me, yes?”

“… Yes, but I don’t like being lied to.”

“Ok, Shampoo not lie to Ranma from now on. Shampoo like it when Ranma no wear shirt.”

“There’s a difference between not lying to someone and not saying everything that’s on your mind, Shampoo,” Genma said, a hint of exasperation in his voice.

The Chinese girl shrugged again, causing her breasts to rub against Ranma. “Shampoo think it best to be honest in all things. No point in lying about feelings for Ranma.”

“So what now?” the pigtailed man asked, directing a serious look at his father. “We’re here at your friend’s house, and please don’t get me wrong – it’s a very nice house, but if he’s not here to discuss things, then I guess we should leave…”

“I’ll get Father,” Kasumi said, rising from the table.

When they were alone, Ranma turned to his father. “You are serious about this engagement, aren’t you?”

“Very serious, Ranma.”

“You’re not hiding anything from me are you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” the portly man scoffed. “And put a shirt on, you’ll catch a chill.”

“Fine,” the cursed teenager sigh as he went to pick a shirt out of his bag.

Shampoo pouted, but continued to watch Ranma dress. It was then that something occurred to her.

“Ranma, why you no have to change all clothes when you change from bear to boy?”

“I don’t know, Shampoo,” Ranma admitted. The constant need for a fresh shirt was irritating, but at least he didn’t need to find new trousers when he got caught in the rain.

“Hey! Who are you? What are you doing in my house!” an angry girl demanded.

“We’re guests of your father,” Genma answered. “I’m Genma Saotome, and this is my son, Ranma.”

“And what about you?” the girl asked, turning her attention to Shampoo.

“Shampoo,” the Chinese girl answered, barely giving the upset girl a second thought.

Soun entered the room with Kasumi, who immediately left again to make a fresh pot of tea. “Saotome-kun, I… is that your son?”

“Hello, Mr. Tendo,” Ranma greeted, bowing politely. “Sorry about the whole bear thing earlier, it’s complicated.”

“What happened to that bear?”

“Ranma is the bear, it’s a long, tragic tale that could have been avoided if proper health and safety procedures had been in place,” Genma answered; clearly dismayed by something that had happened in China.

“Akane, could please you get Nabiki from her room, something tells me that this is a story we should all hear,” the moustachioed man said, somehow finding some semblance of dignity.


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Akane knocked on the door to Nabiki’s room.

“Nabiki, are you alright?” she called out to her sister.

“Shush… the bear…”

“What are you talking about, Nabiki? There’s no bear here. I think we’d notice a bear in the house, don’t you?” Akane chided. “And open this door.”

“You didn’t see it earlier – it was black, but had a white crescent on its chest,” Nabiki insisted. “Bears don’t just disappear into thin air!”

“Whatever, Dad wants you to come downstairs and meet our guests. You remember that thing he told us about the other day?” the youngest sister asked. “I think it’s about that.”

The door opened and the middle sister peered out onto the landing. “What makes you say that?”

“There’s this boy downstairs.”

Nabiki perked up at that revelation. “A boy? What’s he look like? Is he cute?”

“I guess so…” Akane shrugged. “He’s got some girl with him though, so I don’t know what’s going on there.”

“You’re sure there’s no bear?”

“Very sure, Nabiki.”

“Fine,” the short-haired Tendo conceded. “Let’s see what’s going on then.”


@@@@@


The Tendos sat opposite the Saotomes, Soun and Genma were engaging in some small talk, the children were all silent.

Shampoo was observing the whole situation. She had found it hard to feel anything other than violent scorn for the older Saotome when he was in his original, uncursed from.

Untrustworthy, devious, light-fingered and a dirty fighter: Genma Saotome was the sort of person that you told stories about to warn people about why you shouldn’t reveal all your treasures to your guests, regardless of what they offered in exchange.

How he managed to sire the likes of Ranma, Shampoo had no idea.

“So, long ago, we had a plan to unite the Schools of Anything Goes,” Soun said in his most authoritative voice. “Kasumi, 19; Nabiki, 17 and Akane, 16; pick one to be your fiancée.”

“…”

Shampoo cleared her throat. She had appraised the Tendo sisters and found them lacking. “So when do we fight for Ranma?”

“What?” the moustachioed man asked, caught off guard.

“We fight for Ranma; is why I in Japan,” the Chinese girl explained. “I was promised the chance to prove myself the best choice for Ranma by him.”

Genma swallowed nervously as he became the centre of attention. “I… I can explain…”

“Please do,” Ranma said through clenched teeth. “I had a feeling that Shampoo wasn’t just travelling with us to see the world.”

“I happy to see the world with Ranma,” the purple-haired girl said.

“I see that we don’t need to bother with this engagement,” Akane said. “Ranma’s already got a girlfriend.”

“So you admit defeat already? You wiser than people our age normally are,” Shampoo said sagely.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the youngest sister demanded.

“You know not to fight when you cannot win; is ancient wisdom.”

Akane’s hand clenched, causing the teacup to crack loudly. “What makes you think that I can’t beat you in a fight?”

Shampoo smirked. “When do you want to prove me wrong?”

“The dojo, now!”

The balding Saotome panicked. “Wait, wait, we can’t just have people fighting! What about the risk assessment?”

“You mentioned those earlier, Saotome-kun, what’s with your health and safety obsession?”

“It happen in China; Mr. Saotome land in cursed spring in Jusenkyo. Ranma fall in spring, too,” Shampoo replied.

“Those pools are a nightmare! Who knows how many lives have been ruined by that place?” Genma asked rhetorically. “I knocked Ranma into a spring of cold water, and when he emerged, he had turned into a bear. He took me by surprise and I fell into another spring.”

“What? You’re trying to pull a fast one here,” Nabiki decided.

“Ranma, do you mind showing everyone your curse?”

“Fine,” the pigtailed Saotome sighed as he emptied a nearby vase over his head.

In the blink of an eye, Ranma turned from a toned martial artist into a black-furred bear with a white crescent near its throat.

“The bear!” Nabiki screamed as she scrambled to get away from the beast.

Ranma sat back on his haunches, and gave the ursine equivalent of a sigh.

“I understand your problem, Ranma. I see many people with curses. Could be worse – could be a piglet or duck,” Shampoo said, trying to comfort her beau.

Ranma sighed again, but smiled back at her.

“So, which one of you will be Ranma’s fiancée?” Genma asked, turning to look at the three sisters.

“N-not it…” Nabiki insisted. “What if he eats me?”

The bear rolled his eyes and yawned, showing his fine collection of pointy looking teeth.

“See, he’s thinking about eating us now!”

Kasumi frowned. She didn’t anyone want to be eaten, it would make a terrible mess.

Akane looked on in amazement. How could someone turn into a bear? It had to be a trick.

“I see that Akane seems to be the most enthusiastic about this,” Soun said in a tone that he felt carried a suitable weight.

“Yes, he wants Akane,” Nabiki quickly agreed.

“Don’t I get some say in this?” Akane protested.

“Don’t worry, all Akane need to do is lose in fight for Ranma,” Shampoo smiled.

“Fight? What kind of fight?” the youngest Tendo asked.

“Prove that you good wife for Ranma,” the Amazon replied. “Prove that you have skills to make good home.”

Soun nodded sagely. “Then it’s decided, Ranma and Akane will be engaged. I know that Akane would make a good wife.”

“Then we start contest tomorrow. We fight after breakfast,” Shampoo decided. This would stop all the nonsense from Ranma’s idiotic father.

After a few contests with Akane, Shampoo could prove that she was the best suited to be Ranma’s bride and they could live together happily ever after.

“It’ll have to be properly monitored,” Genma said. “I don’t want anyone to be hurt.”


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That evening, the Saotomes were sharing a bath before dinner. Ranma wasn’t terribly impressed with his father’s plan, but at least it had been concocted by him when he’d been under the influence of his curse.

Normally, Genma would have just blundered in and tried to force him into an engagement with the nearest Tendo girl.

“So, old man-”

“You should show more respect, boy!” the portly man interrupted with a smack round the back of his son’s head.

“When you earn it, you’ll get it. Didn’t you teach me something like that?”

“…” Genma couldn’t come up with a suitable reply immediately, so waved Ranma on to continue with his point. “What was it you wanted to ask?”

“What sort of contest were you thinking of holding for Shampoo and Akane? And what are you going to do if Shampoo wins? Mr. Tendo isn’t going to let us stay if his daughter loses.”

“Play dirty, of course!”

“Shampoo will cut your balls off if you try to cheat her,” Ranma said as he calmly inspected his fingernails.

“You’ll be the one who does the sabotaging,” Genma insisted.

“I’m not going to cheat Shampoo. And if you try to make me, I’ll confess everything to her,” the pigtailed man looked at the disapproving look on his father’s face. “Don’t look at me like that – you’re the one who wanted me to play dirty.”

“That’s not what I had in mind, and you know it!”

“Doesn’t matter, I’m not going to interfere with anyone’s fight,” Ranma said as he stood up out the bathtub. “Now, let’s get dressed before dinner.”

“Fine,” the balding man sighed. “Do you think Akane has much of a chance against Shampoo?”

“Depends,” the younger Saotome shrugged as he towelled himself off. “Is Mr. Tendo as good a teacher as you?”

“So you finally admit that I’m a good teacher! At last, my son shows his father the respect he deserves!” Genma declared happily.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a good teacher. Now, how do Mr. Tendo’s skills stack up?”

“… I might need a plan for tomorrow…”


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Elsewhere the younger Tendo sisters were questioning Shampoo about her relationship with Ranma.

“Ranma come to Shampoo’s village,” the Chinese girl said. “Panic ensue, but someone spot Jusenkyo guide and we find that bear actually Ranma. Shampoo make marriage challenge to Ranma.”

“Marriage challenge?” Nabiki repeated.

“In my village, if man want to marry woman, he have to beat them in fight. If you no can beat them, you not worthy husband,” Shampoo explained.

Akane was somewhat unsettled by the parallels between the small Chinese village and her own situation in Nerima. “I… but what if you don’t want to marry the guy, but can’t fight him off?”

“In my village, everyone learn to fight from early age, but know what you mean. Talk with village elders and they help out.”

“Do girls get to make their own challenges?” Nabiki asked, curious as to what sort of fighting skills the purple-haired girl had. “And what happens if you don’t declare your challenge?”

“Woman not normally challenge man, but can do when man outsider. Sometimes, challenge not issued, but when outsider of opposite sex defeat Amazon warrior, they get engaged. If same sex, they fight to death,” Shampoo sighed. “Shampoo lucky Ranma not fall into Nyanniichuan…”

She noticed that she was getting blank looks, “Spring of Drowned Girl.”

“Oh,” Akane replied. “So if Ranma had fallen into a different spring, he could turn into a girl?”

“Yes. Or cat, duck, piglet or any of hundred different things. Whatever fall into spring take form of what last drowned in there. Is very cursed place; used only for punishment.”

“Wow… you have some… interesting things in China,” Nabiki commented diplomatically.

“Yes,” Shampoo nodded. “Japan nice, too.”

“Thank you, Shampoo,” a male voice said from the doorway. “You can see why I wanted to come home.”

“Ah, Ranma, you finished in bath,” the Amazon observed. “Shampoo use it before dinner, ok?”

“Yes, of course,” Akane nodded. “I’ll show you the way.”

Nabiki suddenly felt a little uncomfortable at being left alone with Ranma.

“Something wrong?” the cursed martial artist asked.

“N-no,” the brunette replied. “I… I’m just going to see how long until dinner’s ready.”

“Ok,” Ranma shrugged as Nabiki rushed into the kitchen. “Strange girl…”


@@@@@


Genma found his old training partner looking rather despondent about things.

“Tendo-kun?”

“Saotome-kun… why did you allow your son to get a girlfriend in China?”

“It’s a long story, Tendo-kun,” Genma said as he sat down next to his friend. “Over the years, Ranma and I found ourselves in so many scrapes. Perhaps the most serious one was when we were in China. After our incident at Jusenkyo, we found ourselves in Shampoo’s village.

“Things were going well. At first they assumed that I had a pet bear, when Ranma’s hunger got the better of him.”

“Ranma’s hunger got the better of him?” Soun repeated sceptically. Then it clicked that Ranma had arrived as a bear, and so would require more food than a normal teenager. “What happened? Did you eat someone’s banquet?”

“Well, sort of. They were having some contest and we accidently ate some of the winner’s prize...” the balding man admitted. “But before things got out of hand and Ranma was skinned alive, I splashed him with some hot soup. That got everyone’s attention and we were able to calm things down.”

“Ok, so then what happened? How did you get from everyone wanting to kill you and Ranma to you allowing him to get a girlfriend?”

“That required some quick thinking on my part, Tendo-kun. Shampoo decided that she liked the look of Ranma, but their local traditions are a little backwards. It seems that they have to trap outsiders for strong mates,” Genma embellished. “So she challenged him, and Ranma being the man he is, he accepted. It was only then that I discovered their trickery and plans to keep him there.

“I couldn’t allow Ranma to be kept there, not with our sacred pledge, I tried to tell them that, but they were adamant that their laws took precedence. But I’m nothing, if not cunning.”

“Indeed, Saotome-kun, your cunning rivals that of many politicians on the Nerima council,” Soun nodded, having experienced said cunning on more than one occasion. “What happened next?”

“I told them that Ranma would only marry the most suitable candidate, and that Shampoo would have to prove herself against your daughters.”

“Dinner’s ready!” Kasumi called out, ending the discussion for now.


@@@@@


Over dinner, Soun was casting worried looks over his three children. While he expected his youngest to give it her all, he couldn’t help but be worried for her.

‘Akane has never fought someone like this before. And the stakes are so high…’

Kasumi looked on, having decided that it was nice that her father had one of his friends around. He had looked lonely over the past few months.

‘Father doesn’t look as happy as I would have thought… Perhaps he’s worried that Ranma’s bear curse is unsettling Nabiki? I don’t know why though, he does look rather cute…’

She blushed before quickly turning her attention back to her meal, hoping that no-one saw it.

She was in luck, as everyone was focused on their own thoughts.

Akane didn’t think that the stakes were particularly high. Aside from her own pride, what would she lose if she lost to Shampoo?

She wouldn’t have to marry Ranma. Why would she want to do that? She had only just met him.

‘That said,’ she mused, ‘if I did win, I could use this to get Kuno off my case…’

Nabiki was hoping that Akane just gave a token resistance to Shampoo. She knew that Akane wasn’t terribly enamoured with the male gender as a whole, so the odds of her wanting to be engaged to Ranma were astronomical. Plus, the sooner she lost to Shampoo, the sooner Ranma would be gone.

Bears’ reputation as a dangerous species was not undeserved. And the way Ranma seemed so calm about things gave her the creeps.

Shampoo had already appraised Akane and found her lacking. Not that she was going to take her lightly. She’d seen what had happened when one of her peers had been overconfident during the tournament.

It was almost certain that Lotion’s nose would never look the same again.

Ranma wasn’t too bothered which way the morning’s fight went. Sure, he didn’t want anyone to get hurt, but if Shampoo won, he’d move on to find his mother. If she lost, then he’d stick around and see what Akane was like as a person.

‘I wonder what kind of cook she is…’

Genma Saotome was too busy eating to think about anything else; Kasumi’s cooking rivalled Shampoo’s for quality.

‘Om-nom-nom-nom-nom-nom.’


@@@@@


To be continued….

 

[tudor.dediu]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Please, tell me you did not just took Zeebee's blatant sarcasm seriously... :sweat2:

I'm not sure.
What I say is generally intended as blatant sarcasm, and depicted as such.
His, it's a much more subtle form, one that I, with an IQ so low that I need to make myself sound smarter, have no chance of grasping.

 

[Lord Raa]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Take the arguments elsewhere, or I'll find something else to write.

 

[tudor.dediu]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Sorry, man.
I was working on the principle that no fic is truly good unless its thread is derailed at every opportunity.
No disrespect intended.

 

[Lord Raa]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Sorry, man.
I was working on the principle that no fic is truly good unless its thread is derailed at every opportunity.
No disrespect intended.

 

[Revan]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Is it going to end up being a cooking battle between Shampoo and Kasumi? Cause that would be awesome, IMHO.

 

[Lord Raa]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Random update for people:

I've started the second chapter, and at the moment it's got boring scenes where people are just waking up.


Also, I've decided that the title is too long.

I'll keep it as the description for FF.net, but the title will be something shorter.

Feel free to make suggestions here.

 

[FinalMax]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

Simple idea for a name: "Why is that bear wearing boxers?"

 

[sworded]

The Only Thing Worse Than a Wild Horse is a Wild B

How about, "That's not a panda".