Ranma 1/2: StarMage Alt reality Andrew Norris Co-authored by Kevin D. Hammel Disclaimer We are writing this in no hope or prayer of making a profit... Ranma 1/2 is owned by others who are not me or Kevin. Some of the Spells and other information come from TSR's ADD owned by Wizards of the Coast, and some of the starship techology is based off of Ideas from David Weber's Books... owned by Baen Books and David Weber, no infringment is intended of any of the copywrites. Prologue Scene: Ranma-chan has just defeated Xian Pu of the Amazons, and She is about to give Ranma-chan the Kiss of Death. For this scene <> is spoken Chinese, Mandarin, Amazon dialect. "" is Japanese. Called a Voice. Xian Pu turned around and looked at the voice. Xian asked. Dedire Moate replied (She might be an Amazon by adoption, but she is Western looking) As Dedire strode towards Ranma-chan, Ranma noticed a few things about her. Dedire appeared to be about 5'8", 25-30 years old and wore a version of what Ranma herself was wearing, but the shirt was green. Also there was a star shaped pendant on a necklace around her neck. Dedire asked Ranma. "Yes, I fell into a spring, Spring of Drowned girl, why do you ask?" Ranma replied to Dedire. "Humm, Nipponese? What is your name child?" Derdire asked. "Saotome Ranma. Heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Art." Ranma replied, with a tone of pride in her voice. "The Panda is your father correct?" While Ranma and Derdire were talking Derdire had cast divination spells on the panda and Ranma to find out what they really were BEFORE the curse, and also to find out if Ranma would make a good mage. "Saotome-san, I must, for the tribe's law, adopt Ranma as my own child and at least train her for a year, or I will allow Xian Pu to deliver the Kiss of Death to Ranma, and she will hunt him down and try to kill her. I promise at the end of a year I will find you and deliver her back to you. Those are your only two options. And Xian Pu will also try to kill you too, because you are the one who started eating the food FIRST." The Panda was about to disagree, but then he noticed that half the villagers were holding weapons and looking VERRRRYYYY unfriendly at him, along with Derdire's stare that said I CAN kill you. Not I am going to kill you, not that I want to kill you, but a stare that said, I know what you can do, and I AM NOT worried. The panda sweated. {Okay, See you in a year Son} Genma-panda held up a sign and then flipped it around {Meet me at the Tendo Dojo, Nerima, Tokyo, Japan} With that Genma-panda took off running. "POPS. Get back here!!!" Ranma-chan turned to run after him but was stopped by running into a wall of force that Derdire cast. "Sorry about that but the law here is the law, so what I did was save you a lot of headaches with dealing with Xian Pu. UNLESS you DO wish to Marry her. Plus I Will train you in advanced martial art techniques and magic." With this statement Derdire picked Ranma up in a Telekine Hold and took him off to begin Fading sounds of "Pops you Traitor, let me GOOOOOOOOoooooo" could be heard from Ranma-chan. Fade to black. End Scene End Prologue. Chapter One One year later, Genma's time Location Nerima Tokyo Japan. {} signs "" Nihon-go/Japanese spoken Language <> English spoken ** thoughts transmitted ## personal thoughts. Opening Scene: A street in Nerima, Daytime, and it's raining (Hey this IS Nerima) A portal suddenly opened and two women stepped out. Both were redheads, with hair reaching down to their hips. Both wore Chinese fighting clothing (Ranma's shirt, black baggy pants, and battle slippers.) The older of the two was a strawberry blond, 5' 8" looked to be in her late twenties. Her shirt was a light green and she wore a cloak of white with green trim, with the hood thrown back, however when she noticed that it was raining she put her hood up, covering her long curly (wavy curls) strawberry blond hair. The younger of the two, was Ranma-chan, who looked just about the same as she did in the prologue. However there were a few changes. Her hair was now in a long braid down her back and her shirt, instead of red was a midnight blue in colour. She was also wearing a cloak, white with midnight blue trim, and like Derdire (the strawberry blond) she also put the cloak's hood up. However the most striking change was her eyes. Before, they were the eyes of a sixteen-year old who had immense confidence in herself and some pain from the curse... Now they showed a much older soul who was still confident in her skills, but with a maturity far older than her apparent years. < Why is it ALWAYS raining whenever we go to a new world???? Is EVERY planet out to get me, Derdire???> Ranma-chan asked Derdire "Don't know, Ranma-chan, but since you really don't care which form you're in, now that you have gotten that change clothing spell down perfect, why care? After all if the change bothered you, you would have made a copy of Ryoga's ring, right?" Derdire replied, cocking an eyebrow at Ranma. "True, but his case is kinda different, you know. He turns into a PIG, I at least, STAY human. And the amount of magical energy I would have to have spent to MAKE the ring wasn't worth it, in all, After all, he still had to lock the Subspace Storage in, and some other spells that we both share locked on us. IF I did turn into a non-human form, I would have spent the energy necessary to make the ring, but since I just change sex, why bother all that much with it." Ranma replied, smiling at her companion, and added "Now where is this Tendo Dojo?????? After all I would like to meet the woman I am supposed to marry by Giri BEFORE you drag me off to the church......" The two strode off towards the Dojo, giggling over the last comment. Tendo Dojo. Porch (where Soun and Genma play their board games) "Today is the Day that Ranma should return from his year of training and then we can unite the two clans, Saotome." Soun told his fellow friend, crying as he did it. "True Tendo, just remember, WE told the girls that Ranma didn't have a curse and they are waiting to meet him today." Genma replied to his friend. Upstairs, Akane's room, Nabiki and Akane talking. "So, today is the day we meet this Ranma. Akane, if you take him you could get all the boys off your back....." Nabiki told her younger sister adding "He IS well off, with those trust funds, which come to him on his 21st birthday, marriage, or Graduation from college, whichever comes first. Plus that picture we have of him does make him look cute." " 'Biki, is that ALL you think about, He's just a boy like all the rest of them, and you know I hate them..... Plus he's probaly just like the rest, boorish and just controlled by his hormones." "Nabiki, Akane, please come to the family room we have visitors." Kasumi's voice called. Family Room. Just as Genma is showing Ranma and Derdire in. All Three Tendo girls were seated behind the table. Kasumi was Kasumi. Nabiki wore a full kimono, while Akane wore her gi and said "I will not go along with this." "Hello, I am Saotome Ranma." Ranma-kun (before entering Ranma pulled out a thermos of Hot water and poured it on himself, triggering the change) as he bowed. "And this is my Sensei, Moate Dedire. I do know that, by Giri, I am to marry one of you three, and I wish to know who it would be. However I must ask, were you aware of my Jusenkyo curse?" Nabiki replied "WHAT curse?? Your father said that you didn't fall into the pools..." she trailed off. Ranma-kun shot a look at his father, which said, you and me WILL talk about this later. "Allow me to show you the curse." With that statement he pulled out, seeming from nowhere, a thermos, marked in English, COLD water. He then proceeded to pour it over himself, and the change occured. In Ranma-kun's place there was now Ranma-CHAN. All three girls gasped and turned to look at Genma and Soun. "See, I TOLD you he was lying to us, Daddy." Nabiki told her father. "I'm NOT going to marry a freak pervert." Akane yelled at her father. "Oh, my" Kasumi replied. Ranma looked at Derdire. Derdire replied Soun opened up with tears and started crying. "Hold IT. " Ranma-chan replied. "One I DID NOT lie to ANY of you... my father might have... but I did not, and you, Akane is it? A. I am NOT a pervert. B. I'll grant you the freak.... But you might want to think about watching your choice of words with an opponent that you have NOT faced... .for all you know I could have taken THAT seriously and want to kill you for it. However I really don't care about being called names. And I am used to the change.... After all I had no choice about this, nor is there a way to remove this." Ranma stated. Everyone looked at Ranma. Nabiki noted the fact that the CLOTHING that Ranma wore still fit perfectly, while when Genma (Remember Nabiki has seen Genma change form) changed his clothing no longer fit. While Ranma's change in size due to the gender shift wasn't as bad as Genma's the clothing Ranma was wearing should not be fitting the way that it was now. "Wait a second here, how did your clothing change size like that, As far as we know ONLY the body is affected by the curse NOT clothing the person is wearing." Nabiki said while staring at Ranma. "Heh, caught that, neh? Simple, Derdire, besides teaching me many, many moves and chi attacks and powers, also taught me Magic. I have a spell that I made permanent that changes my clothing to fit my body, and add makeup plus jewelry to me when I change into a female, or remove it if I change into a male due to hot water. Also the spell will make sure the clothing fits the situation I am in. For example: Let's say I am at a formal Dance wearing a Tux, and am hit by cold water, all of the sudden I will be wearing a Evening dress with appropriate makeup and accessories. Second most useful spell I know." Ranma-chan grinned at Nabiki. "Oh, by the way FATHER, did you also tell them of all the OTHER arranged marriages that you made for me OR the Seppuku promise?" Ranma-chan just looked at her father with a look that seemed to say ' What, you think I am THAT dumb?' "Errrr, Ummm, how did you find out about that, son?" Genma replied sweating bullets. "Simple, I cast the spell Legend Lore on myself to find EVERYTHING out. That spell is the MOST useful spell I have learned. Father. You can't hide things from me, nor expect me to trust you anymore. In fact I almost DIDN'T come, with all the things YOU have done to me, and all the agreements that you have made for me, I really do NOT trust nor like or respect you whatsoever. I am holding to THIS agreement, ONLY because both you and My mother made it with the Tendos. However there is TWO versions of this agreement. The one you and Tendo-san made was between ANY son of the Saotomes and ANY daughter of the Tendos, while the One that My mother made with the Tendo Kimiko (Soun's deceased wife) was between me and Akane specific. Considering YOUR honor, I consider ONLY my mother's agreement to be valid." Ranma paused and then continued. "However if Akane does wish to be out of the arrangement, I would consent to that, but I do think we should at LEAST try to uphold the agreement between the two families. I do NOT want to dishonor my mother. Oh, by the way FATHER, Mother will be here very soon to meet me." Ranma stopped and smiled at her father (Side note: This was not a NICE smile though.) Genma was just about to take off running until his child said "Sleep" and he fell over and went to sleep. "That should keep him until Mother arrives and I see what I can do to repair this situation." Ranma paused and looked at Akane saying: "Do you wish to go somewhere private and discuss this?" Five Minutes later. Tendo Dojo, Dojo Ranma looked at Akane and asked, "Mind if I change back to male? While I do not mind being female, I suspect for this conversation, that it might be better if I am male while we discuss our possible future together, if we are to have one. I wish to point out that A. I did NOT make this arrangement. B. I COULD have just demanded that we go though with it due to Giri and last but NOT least. C. Both our Mothers wished for us to be engaged, and used the most formal way of doing it. There MAY be NO way out of it for us, unless I fake my own death, which really would NOT bother me, I could travel back to Maticore and live there, after all I do like that system." Ranma paused and then she continued on, "Still, before we pick an option that drastic, I do think that we should at LEAST try to uphold family honor." With this Ranma paused and looked at Akane. "Humph, you are just like the rest of the boys, always trying to get a date or sleep with me. I don't care WHAT you do, I will NOT marry you, and you can just die FREAK PERVERT." Akane looked at Ranma with an expression of disgust. "Why me? Look I told you This ONCE before and now I think I made this point really clear to you. A. I AM NOT a Pervert. B. WATCH you who call names. I'm taking it lightly, but I should warn you, while I LOOK sixteen, I'm really in my Fifties, and I will live a LONNNNGGGGGGGGGG time. Also BEFORE my father tossed me to Dee, I had trained in Anything Goes for TEN years every single day and for most of those days that was ALL that I did. Dee added MORE skills, magic, chi manipulation, and more knowledge, plus made me an ADULT, something you are not acting as. Therefore, I think I will teach you the SAME lesson that Dee taught me, how to watch what I say, the HARD way. Come to think of it, that's how I learned it, too. Therefore I challenge you to a duel. If You win I'll leave right now, and not come back. However IF I win you agree to be MY student until I say you are trained, not just in the Arts, but in social skills. You might be good with some people, or even MOST people, but attacking one person with insults BEFORE you even meet that person is EXTREMELY stupid. Also you will also agree to keep the engagement for two years, your time." With that Ranma cocked an eyebrow at Akane. "Hah. This won't take long." Akane grinned and then said "I'll wipe the floor with you, you perverted freak." Ranma sighed and said" Wait here a sec. I want to get witness to this." Ranma went out, got ALL the Tendous, her father, and Dee. While they were going back to the Dojo, Ranma told them what the duel was over. Genma and Soun told her to win at all costs. Dee commented as she walked in. "Ready FREAK?" Akane asked Ranma. "Let's do it." Ranma waited for Akane's Attack. What follows next was the BIGGEST and MOST painful slaughter this side of the US Army up against a rabbit. When it is done, Akane had bruises all over her body, and she had been tossed like a rag doll many many times. Even with Ranma for the first part of the fight allowing her to attack, Ranma hadn't even been hit. (Kinda like the show, but far far worse.) Needless to say, Akane was on the verge of fainting when Ranma walked over and healed her, back to the way she was BEFORE the so called fight Started. (Ranma in this Universe will fight women and is not above causing some pain, esp. to make his or her point CLEAR. Since Ranma can heal her, Ranma see NOTHING wrong in causing that many injuries to her. Ranma later admits that she did go a wee bit overboard, but she was annoyed at Akane calling her a pervert.) Hour later, Tendo living room. "Akane, you agreed to the terms, plus Mother DID make the engagement between you and Ranma. So honor DEMANDS that you keep it." Kasumi told Akane. "The pervert set me up, and he or she is scum, just like everyone else, out to beat me up so that they can date me." Akane replied with a Humph type sound. Ranma sighed and told Akane, "Akane-san, I DO not believe in the Amazon code of combat for marriage, nor did I want to beat you up to date you. I have had far more headaches with men chasing ME, than you can imagine, and I have found ways to deal with it, and I will teach you on HOW to deal with most, if not all, men who are trying to chase you. Worked most of the time for me, except once, when I was too drunk to make it work, and that led to something I did not except to happen, and also changed my life big time." Ranma paused and continued, "Akane, YOU did agree to the terms. It was your overconfidence that lead to your defeat, not your skills. Like I said in the FIRST place, I have had far more training than you and I also have honed my body to the best that it can possibly be. I did try to tell you that fighting me was a bad idea, but you did not listen to me. I do NOT like fighting people as a rule, but your overconfidence and arrogant behavior demanded, esp. when you began to insult me sight unseen, an answer. However I expect that you will be able to hold your own against me after I train you to get to my level. That WAS part of the agreement." Ranma looked at Akane, while Akane fumed over her defeat. "Hello, is Ranma here?" a female voice asked. Ranma spun up and splashed hot water over herself, reverting back to her birth gender. "Hai. I am he. You are?" Ranma asked the lady, who appeared to be an older version of his female side. The lady walked up to Ranma, studied him for a second and then hugged him. "Oh, my son you have returned." She cried. #Humm, guess this is my mother. Time to deal with the Seppuku agreement.# Ranma thought to himself. "Mother, I do know about ALL the agreements and the Seppuku agreement My father made for me. I ONLY consider the arrangement that you and Tendou Kimiko made to be valid. I did NOT know about any of the engagements, nor the Seppuku agreement until about 2 years ago." Ranma paused and Nodoka was about to interrupt, but Ranma continued first. " While we were training in China we ran across a place called Jusenkyo and both me and father fell into pools there. When you fall into a Jusenkyo pool, you 'gain' the ability to change into a other form, based off of what or who last fell into the pool. Father fell into the pool of Drowned Panda, while I fell into the Pool of Drowned Young Girl. I do not know of any cure for these pools, and I have searched for one for quite a while. I have come to the conclusion that the 'curse' is PERMANT with no cure, and that all that I can do is deal with it, and learn what it can teach me. If you feel that the Seppuku agreement is to be upheld, I do wish to know." Ranma paused, and then continued "I would like to tell you all that has happened to me BEFORE you make your decision, however. TO do this and make it believable, I need to show you, and the others if they are willing, something and a person. With your Permission, I will open a portal to my ship, where all the information that I need to show you is." Nodoka looked at Ranma and then spoke "Permission granted." Ranma went over to the doorway, studied it for a moment and then began to chant. As he chanted the doorway took a witchfire type glow and then he spoke "I open the Portal." A Portal opened and on the other side of it, instead of the Tendou yard was a day cabin of a ship, with a viewport looking on Terra. Ranma walked though the portal and said, "Please walk though the portal, no harm will come to you." Everyone crossed the portal but Genma, who was still scared stiff with fear that Nodoka would not find Ranma a man among men. Nodoka noticed this and walked over to prod Genma in the back with her Katana, and he crossed over. After Genma and Nodoka have crossed over, Ranma shut the Portal. Ranma pulled out a thermos filled with cold water and poured it over himself, triggering the change. While the change happened, Ranma seemed to be concentrating on something. When the change was over, Ranma-chan was dressed, instead of a female sized version of what she was wearing, in a Formal Kimono and Obi, appropriate to her new Gender, the colours of the over-Kimono were a green base with a gold dragon pattern. Everyone gasped at the change. Nabiki hummed, "So that's what you meant when you said the spell will cloth you appropriate to the situation. Niceeeee." She whistled. "Not quite, I had to tell the spell to go with this outfit, normally it would have just pulled the female version of what I was wearing out." Ranma grinned, and continued "Before I start the story of my life I wish to show you someone." With that statement, Ranma walked into a cabin connecting to the day cabin. When she came out, she carried a blanket wrapped child, approx. 8 - 9 years old who clutched in her sleep a six limbed stuffed furry critter. The child had the same hair as Ranma and the same general face as Ranma. It was clear that this was at least a close relative of Ranma's. Ranma sat down and spoke, "Thank god that she's as deep of a sleeper as I used to be. Everyone I would like to introduce you to Saotome Ryoko, my daughter. This is the person I wished to show you before I started my story. We are on HMS Gold Dragon, my ship, an Alpha synth ship. She is self aware and is watching all of us right now, but I disconnected her speakers into this room." Ranma then proceeded to tell of her nearly sixty years, going over all the points in some detail. She left NOTHING out, both the good and the bad. Genma for the first ten years of this tale was basically slammed hard, while the time Ranma spent with Dee was better mostly, but not always. By the time Ranma was done, everyone was stunned and looked at Ranma like they couldn't believe this four hour tale, even with the proof of some of it being held in Ranma's arms. When she was finished, Ranma turned to her mother. "Mother, after hearing my story, has the commitment a five year old been fulfilled?" Nodoka had held her tongue throughout her... child's story. Though her voice had been stilled, her mind had not. She was not long in answering the young woman. "Ranma, you have obviously made every effort to live up to the agreement. Though mistakes were made..." She cast a quick glance at young Ryoko, who was beginning to stir. "You lived up to the responsibility your carelessness thrust upon you. I will not deprive *another* child of its mother." As Ranma bowed to her mother, their gazes met for a moment... Each woman's eyes speaking to the other of love for her child. Nodoka turned to Genma. "How fortunate... you abandoned our child to a *better* parent. Though the Art is a poor substitute for love, your duty has been fulfilled." Genma offered a mute bow of thanks. Finally, she looked at Dee. " Moate Dedire, thank you for raising my child to be a Man among Men and a strong woman. I am proud of all Ranma has done." Dedire gave Nodoka a bow of acknowledgement. "It was both my honor and pleasure, Mrs. Saotome." Nodoka smiled, "Please, all my *friends* call me Nodoka." Dee smiled at the Saotome Matriarch. "Nodoka, it is! And all *my* friends call me Dee!" Ranma hesitantly walked toward her mother, a tentative smile on her face. "Thanks, mom..." Nodoka ran to her child and almost gobbled up the much smaller woman in an embrace. Those honor had separated, love now united; neither woman could restrain tears of joy. After a decade for one, and a half century for the other, each was *whole* again. Breaking the embrace at last, Ranma walked over to Akane, offering a serious look as she spoke. "You see Akane, I do understand what boys want... and the price of giving it to them. On my honor, I will never take advantage of you the way I was." Akane looked at Ranma with a tiny smile. "Thanks, Ranma. I really appreciate that, and I understand why you can never be like the boys at school... But, let's just start as friends, OK? How 'bout you, me, and Ryoko go shopping for some real clothes when we get back? And I promise I'll *never* call you a pervert again, because you really *are* a girl when you... change." Akane looked down, drawing patterns with her feet in the carpeting. "But... I don't think I'm ready for a boyfriend who's also really a girl right now, so..." Ranma gave her... friend a smile. "Sounds like fun, Akane-chan. We've got to start somewhere!" Akane looked up from her floor-art, her expression much brighter. "I know *all* the cool dress shops..." "And... I'd really like to see how a dress changes when you become a guy." Nabiki added with a smirk. Ranma turned to Nabiki, a bit exasperated. "It's really not very interesting. It usually ends up being my Chinese fighting clothing, unless I have a outfit that fits the situation 'prepped', or I force it to go to a outfit that is in the spell's 'storage' area. Normally when I change and am wearing the fighting outfit, it just switches to a different sized version." Nabiki hoped her comment hadn't dug too deep of a hole for herself... If Akane slipped up, maybe *she* would get a chance with Ranma. Dee spoke, "Ranma I'll scoot over to 'Hammer and get ready for tomorrow. Remember, have Dragon set you up with records and for Ryoko. Remember that. Suggest you decide on WHAT gender to go with." With that Dee opened a portal to her ship and left. Ryoko stirred and rubbed her eyes. she asked. Ranma looked at her daughter and replied Ryoko asked looking around. Ranma replied pointing at her mother. Ranma pointed at each one in turn. Ranma paused and smiled at her daughter. "Hello Grandmother, Grandfather, Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane, and Mr. Soun." End Chapter One 11/24/98 Andrew Norris Kevin D. Hammel (Co Author, {the Nodoka scene} and many many comments that made the story much much better) Author's Note(s) Andrew's No I still haven't come up with a good Title for this story (God, I have a readable fan fic... but I can't NAME it... Well, at least I came up with the fic...) I came up with this idea for the simple fact that it just occurred to me... No I do NOT have a long term plan in mind... But A few things are clear in my head. One. Ranma WILL marry one of the Tendous. (Kevin and I haven't QUITE decided which one... I am leaning towards Akane, but Nabs is running a close second.) Two. There will be a cameo or two with the Sensei (quite possibly with my Sensei stories' indv.) Three. Ranma will be going to school as a guy... Haven't decided if Ranma will wear a school uniform or not.( At first I had slated Ranma to go as a girl but Kevin came up with the idea that he should go as a guy.) Four. Ryoga will appear in the story but not for a long time (this Ryoga is just as different as Ranma is.) Five. There WILL be at least one side story covering Ranma and Ryoko... esp. the FULL story How Ranma gave birth. Six. I will go into full details on Ranma's powers and skills at a later date. Comments at : mage2099@dtgnet.com Kevin's Notes... Its amazing how little work one needs to do to get a co-author credit :^). Andrew e-mailed me a few comments on some of the stories I've written, then sent me a draft of this story. Nodoka may *seem* to come to a conclusion quickly, but don't forget that she just heard her child's life story, over the course of four hours, weighing each point Ranma made. You can say almost the same thing about Akane's quick acceptance, Akane heard everything, and made her decision based on all the facts, not emotion alone. Thanks for reading! Please send comments to: khammel@mail.geocities.com My website is at: http://www.geocities.com/~khammel/ff/ There you can find this and other stories I've worked on...