.

Son Ranma
By: Tellemicus Sundance
#01: The Wild Horse Slips the Leash

November 2, 1990

The Tendo Dojo and the house were in a state of absolute wreckage. Walls were smashed in, rocks and statues were just pilings of rubble, trees splintered, windows shattered, the floor torn up and crushed, the roof shingles were torn off and broken, huge craters dotted the surrounding grounds all around the building, the outer walls having massive holes punched through them or entire sections reduced to debris. It was a scene that wouldn't have been out of place in a war zone or a battlefield of savage brutality. Which made the facts that because there was no such conflict going on and that all of the destruction was done by one person all the more unbelievable. Standing over the downed form of a black and blue beaten panda next to the koi pond in the rubble strewn backyard, Saotome Ranma was busy laughing his head off with an absolute childish glee.

He was the one responsible for all of the destruction, much to great annoyance, aggravations, and anger of the occupants. Although, the reasons for why he was on this destructive rampage were quite understandable. He had just spent the better part of a week inflicted with a shiatsu weakness curse by Happosai. The diminutive grandmaster of the Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū had given Ranma the shiatsu curse as a means of punishing him by sealing away all of his strength, leaving him as weak as a newborn baby. And after being beaten around and nearly killed by several of my antagonistic and malicious 'rivals', Ranma had predictably gone off to train and try to regain his strength. But with some much-needed aid from Cologne of the Chinese Amazons, he was able to learn the Hiryu Shoten Ha and used the technique to overwhelm Happosai in order to get back the shiatsu chart that showed the exact point needed to undue the weakness curse on Ranma. At first, he had thought that he'd failed because the chart had been accidentally shredded during the Hiryu Shoten Ha's use. Ranma had feared that he would be cursed to remain weak for the rest of his life. Thankfully, the last and most important piece of the chart had been found and Cologne was quick to reverse the curse on him. And ever since that point, now three hours later, Ranma was still relishing in having his strength returned to him. Because, in his own words, without his strength, he was nothing.

Finally calming down somewhat as he gasped for breath, Ranma dropped down and sat quite comfortably upon the bruised and twitching panda as though he were just a beanbag. Looking down at his hands as he started flexing them, Ranma couldn't stop the smile that crossed his face even if he wanted to. "Man, it feels good to have my strength back!"

'Not for me!' the panda below him 'said' as it held up a small sign in its claws. Flipping the sign over, it continued with 'We need to rework your self-control, boy!'

"Puh!" Ranma snorted, looking away in annoyed arrogance. "Ya would think that just because yur so weak, pops!"

The panda growled angrily from beneath him. But it was still too tired and bruised up to really want to move around too much just yet.

After a moment, Ranma returned his gaze down to his hands, flexing his fingers in contemplation. It was true that his strength had finally returned to him. But at the same time, he felt…different than he did before. He felt…much stronger for some reason. His whole body felt lighter and bursting with more energy than he could contain. It was like he'd been moving around in a river of molasses with two-ton weights strapped onto his back and limbs and then suddenly had them removed. The difference was that extreme.

"Have I somehow gained a strength boost from all of this?" Ranma wondered quietly to himself. Unnoticed by him, the panda froze for a moment underneath him, having heard his son speaking to himself. The fat creature glanced up at the boy with a careful, almost neutral, gaze of contemplation of its own.

Humming to himself, Ranma hopped off the bear and began a quick series of squats. Once the muscles in his legs had been suitably warmed up, he crouched deeply to the ground before launching himself upwards into the highest jump he could manage. Prior to this whole ordeal, Ranma could easily jump well over a five-story building in a purely vertical leap. This time, he went higher, much higher.

"WHHHOOOOOOAAAAAA!" Ranma cried out in surprise, joy, and childish excitement. "AM I FLYING?!" It sure felt it like! He could see for kilometers in all directions, even all the way to the distant coast! It was a truly spectacular view! "THIS IS SOOOO AWESOME!"

Reflexively, following some sort of instinct he couldn't quite explain, he looked off to his side, as if expecting there to be someone right next to him. But there wasn't. And this realization that he was alone left some kind of strange void in him, an ache of longing and loneliness that he just couldn't understand. It was easily enough to override the incredible joy he'd been feeling not even five seconds earlier. It was a very somber and solemn Ranma who landed back on the same spot he'd blasted off from.

"How did you do that?!" an incredulous voice asked from behind him. It was his fiancée, Tendo Akane, standing on the porch leading into the washitsu. There was a look of total disbelief and even bordering awe in her expression. Strangely, the look on her face didn't engender the normal burst of reluctant affection he usually felt when he saw her. Well, whenever she wasn't being her usual uncute tomboy self. Not with the strange sensation of emotional loss that he was still feeling so vibrantly.

"I…don't know," Ranma said, looking off to the side. His thoughts were focused on trying to figure out that weird feeling of loss he'd felt just moments ago.

"How can you not know?!" her expression changing quickly from awed disbelief to skeptic annoyance in an instant. "You just did it!"

"I don't know! Okay!" he shot back with a bit more heat than he'd intended. Quickly calming down, he turned to show her his back as he gestured to the spot that Cologne had hit. "Maybe the tenketsu that released my strength also boosted it? How am I supposed to know?"

Akane gained a thoughtful look on her face for a moment, before shaking her head. "That's stupid, even for you, Ranma." Then her expression hardened significantly as she thrust out her hand and pointed at him imperiously. "Now, if you've FINALLY calmed down, how about you get in here and clean up this mess you've made!"

Blinking in surprise, Ranma looked past the girl into the washitsu behind her. Upon seeing the state of absolute destruction and disrepair that he'd mindlessly caused in his bout of unbridled joy and vindication, a cold sweat started breaking out. Then Kasumi walked into view, dressed in a heavy apron, carrying a bucket of soapy water, dustpans, a broom and mop, and trash bags. Glancing up, the eldest Tendo sister's eyes met Ranma's for a brief instant and a tsunami of guilt swept over the teenager.

Shoulders sagging and his head dropping in resignation, Ranma could only utter out, "Fine, fine. I'm coming."

While Akane nodded and started speaking about 'how he should always clean up his own mess himself anyways' to him, Ranma glanced back over at Kasumi. She had saw and heard his agreement and sent him a warm, thankful smile. A smile that caused his face to heat ever so slightly and causing him to look away as he replied in annoyance to Akane's continued nagging.

November 9, 1990

Loud whacks of flesh on wood echoed through the backyard of the Tendo home as one black-haired pigtailed martial artist was busy punching it hard enough to violently rock its foundations in the ground. He was doing this in order to toughen up his fists. However, as seen by the look of annoyance on his face, Ranma was very frustrated.

That was the simple truth of the matter. And the cause of this frustration was ironically the cause of his unbridled joy a week earlier. In that time, he's since discovered that his strength and speed and overall physical abilities had essentially doubled, if not tripled, since having his strength returned to him. This meant that he had to completely relearn his self-control. Holding a glass of water without accidentally crushing it had become a chore for him in recent days since he was constantly misjudging how much pressure he was applying to it. In fact, he was racking up quite a large bill for the Tendo household in how many he was breaking and needing to replace.

But that wasn't the only reason he was frustrated. Prior to the incident, Ranma had an established training routine that he could use to reach and then push his limits in as short amount of time as possible. But now that same routine could be considered as just a light warmup for how much it affected his growth.

Letting out a loud cry in aggravation, Ranma punched out at the log with what he judged to be maybe half his new strength. The log was instantly shattered into splinters while being torn out of the ground and sent flying back into the rock wall surrounding the property.

"Dammit!" he cussed angrily, dropping to one knee and punching the ground to vent his anger. "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" His last cry was accented by a particularly powerful punch that hit the earth like a freight train, making a crater roughly two meters wide and shaking the area around him for a moment.

Heaving for a breath, it took a long moment for him to calm himself. 'Why can't I seem to get anywhere? I've trained like this every day for years and it's always worked before! So, why isn't it working now?' That was when a new thought entered his head. 'I've been doing the same thing for years. But maybe… Maybe I've been doing it wrong?' Now that he thought about it, the routine he was following had been one that his father had taught him back when he was just a young boy. "Or maybe I need to try something different?"

"What's all the noise about?!" Akane snapped as she rounded the corner from the dojo, dressed in her usual yellow gi. Her angry expression only deepened when she saw Ranma standing in the center of a crater, knowing that he was the cause of it and feeling that all-too-familiar surge of jealousy towards him for it. "You had better not be about to go around destroying my home again, Ranma!"

Looking over at Akane, he opened his mouth to make one of his usual snappy comebacks that would've most assuredly only made her angrier. However, upon seeing her dressed in her gi, he stopped and blinked for a moment. Then, with clear hesitance in his voice and expression, he said, "Hey, Akane. Ya wanna spar with me?"

"Wha—Huh?!" Akane floundered, caught by surprise by the unexpected question. For just a moment, she felt her face flush with embarrassment at the thought of once again sparring with Ranma. But then her flush turned into a glare of annoyance. She snorted and turned away, partially to hide her still red face and partially out of anger, "Why should I? You never hit me anyway!"

Groaning lightly, Ranma moved over towards her as he said, "That's not the point of sparring, Akane. Ya know that. Still, do ya or don't ya?"

Glancing over at him from the corner of her eye, Akane stared at him for a long moment as she weighed the pros and cons of taking up his offer. "Ugh, fine. Something new would be nice to do than just the usual training, I guess."

Ranma couldn't help the delighted grin that crossed his face as she said. She understood his problem too!

A few moments later, the pair of them were facing one another inside the dojo, fists up in a classic opening stance. Akane was glaring at Ranma with a set expression that seemed somehow…expecting. "Ranma, you had better actually fight me this time!"

"If you can hit me, I probably will have to fight back at that point," Ranma remarked casually, a small smile of anticipation on his face.

That statement irked Akane and had her launching forward into a series of punches and kicks. Unlike her prior matches against Ranma, she didn't stop pressing the attack, constantly stepping and lunging forward, always trying to hit the boy. Yet he always managed to duck, dodge, or redirect her attacks with an ease that struck her as mocking in its implied simplicity. The most he did to 'attack' her was lightly tapping her in places on her shoulders, knees, and even once twisted her wrist slightly. Sadly, she failed to realize that what he was actually doing was trying to correct her stances and movements so that she could move through her sequences more fluidly.

No, all she was concerned with was that these weak 'attacks' that he was dishing out seemed more like he was mocking her, rubbing his superior skills and abilities in her face, and this just stoked her anger even more. As her anger and frustration rose, her attacks began to come faster, packing more power into her hits. She lunged forward yet again with another mighty right straight while crying out in frustration, "FIGHT BACK, YOU COWARD!"

Even through the red haze of her rage, Akane could see something flash minutely across Ranma's face. His formerly cool smile disappeared as a hardened grimace crossed his face and his eyes lost their former luster, gaining a much more dangerous edge to them than she'd ever seen before. Then, much to her great surprise, Ranma blocked her striking fist.

He didn't redirect it, dodge around it, or back away. He blocked it on his raised left forearm before knocking it aside. As she was recoiling from the surprise, Akane watched in seeming slow motion as Ranma's right arm cocked back before arcing forward towards her abdomen. The fist impacted heavily just under her sternum, picking her bodily off the ground and throwing her through the air about a meter as the air was forced from her lungs. Somehow, despite cradling her stomach area around the pain and gasping for breath, Akane managed to land on her feet. Unsteadily, it must be said, but still on her feet with one fist raised defensively in front of her.

Getting her breath back took a moment, but she was still unprepared for when Ranma suddenly lunged forward himself. In a burst of speed that she just couldn't hope to react to, or even barely see happen, he swept her feet out from under her in one easy swipe. Then, while she was still suspended in the air, he spun using the momentum of that same sweep to lash out with a backhand, striking her solidly in her sternum again and sending her careening into the wall some five meters away.

Collapsing to the ground, Akane gasped for air as her breath was knocked from her yet again. Raising her head, she glanced up with a pained grimace towards where Ranma had just corrected his stance. After a second of reorienting himself, he looked down at her with that same hard expression on his face. In spite of herself, Akane couldn't stop the slight flinch and shiver of fear that shot through her as she saw that look on his face. In the private recesses of her mind, Akane realized that that look on his normally excitable or very expressive face was more than a little intimidating and for that brief moment she was really and truly scared of Ranma.

But then, there was a faint flicker of life that returned to his eyes. Blinking hard, he shook his head for a second before looking down at her again. In that moment, Akane could literally see it happen as he seemingly came back to his normal self, the old Ranma that she'd come to know, as his expression instantly changed to one of alarmed realization.

"Gah! Sorry about that! I-I-I think I lost control of my strength again for a moment there! I'm sorry! I didn't hurt you too much, did I?!" he was making multiple gestures of wanting to rush over to her to help her up, but was visibly restraining himself, probably thinking she wouldn't appreciate the gesture.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Akane snapped, retreating back into her safety net of aggression to hide her fears. There was no way she was going to let him know that she'd been scared of him! She hated boys because they always were trying to control her or treat her like some of precious but highly breakable possession and she hated that. Pushing herself to her feet, wincing in pain as she leaned heavily against the wall for support, she sent a hot glare at Ranma's panicked form. "Are you trying to say that I'm some kind of china doll that might break if you hit it too hard?!"

"Well, yeah, a little bit," he replied instantly. But then, as Akane's angry expression deepened, he realized just what he'd said and how she was clearly taking it. "GAH! That's not what I meant! I mean I was—!"

"Ranma!" Akane yelled. Using a burst of pure wrath to fuel her body and ignore the pain that was throbbing through it, she summoned her trusty mallet and swung up at the Saotome boy with all of her raging might. "YOU JERK!"

A surprised cry of pain and a crash of smashed wood signaled Ranma's departure through the dojo's ceiling via Air Akane.

November 11, 1990

Humming happily to herself as she slid her bike to a stop in the backyard of the Nekohanten, Shampoo dropped the kickstand and grabbed the empty delivery box from the back of the bike. It was a Sunday today, so she only had half a day of work in the café scheduled. Tonight, she was planning on visiting her dear Airen again and give him one of the trinkets she'd brought back with her from China. Aside from visiting her village and grandmother, those magic bells were the whole reason she left in the first place.

Looking up at the bright blue morning sky, Shampoo's smile only widened slightly as she took in the atmosphere around her. She could feel it. There was a strange energy in the air. The city was coming alive again, even more vibrant and wild than it usually was. The promise of a new day, with new opportunities and new challenges, was strong. It sent a jolt of excited expectation through her. Today was going to be the day! There would be absolutely nothing that would ruin it for her. Today would be a good day!

"—aaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" a familiar girl voice was screaming as it rapidly grew closer. The purple-haired teenage Amazon had just a split second to look to the sky behind her before a red and white blur crashed into the dumpster in the alleyway that she'd just passed through.

Shampoo blinked for a moment as she stared at the slightly-convulsing body that just laid there amidst the trash and refuse of the dumpster. But then, a slender leg shot up, kicking a portion of the trash off of its form as low, angry grumbling began to ensue from it. "Stupid, uncute tomboy! …How is any of that my fault?!"

It took only a brief moment of staring before Shampoo recognized the feminine red-haired cursed form of her beloved, dressed in her usual kung fu pants and a simple white muscle, both of which were now heavily stained and filthy. Her smile widened automatically as she moved forward towards the redhead. Normally, Shampoo would have rushed up and completely glomped him in an effort to show just how much she adored him and yearned for Ranma's presence while she'd been away. But now, with her clothes stained and covered in smelly trash, Shampoo had to forcefully curb her natural instinct somewhat.

"Hello, Airen!" Shampoo greeted, smiling brightly over at the cursed girl as she dropped to the ground. "You come visit Shampoo?"

Looking over at the Chinese Amazon, the redhead shot her a momentarily wary glance before settling down somewhat upon seeing her not making any move to embrace, suffocate, and/or strangle her. "Oh, hey, Shampoo. Haven't seen ya in a while. Just get back from China, eh?"

"Aiyah!" Shampoo chirped as she nodded. "Just last night!" Turning a hopeful look at the girl, she asked, "Ranma want use shower? She smell like garbage right now."

Wincing somewhat at the unpleasant reminder, the redhead gained a look of painful concentration. Knowing her fiancée as well as she did, Shampoo guessed that Ranma was probably contemplating the pros and cons of accepting her offer, of which there were quite a few in each category. But, in the end, the rancid stink that was rapidly starting to permeate from her made up her mind. "I guess a shower wouldn't hurt. And… maybe… use your washing machine too?" That last question was asked very hesitantly, but with a noticeable edge of hope in the girl's voice.

"Of course!" Shampoo agreed without hesitation, smiling happily and lovingly down at the redhead. "Airen then tell Shampoo all about crazy adventure he have while Shampoo gone! Great-grandmother say about training Ranma! That great-great-great honor back in village! You too-too lucky, Airen!"

"Heh," Ranma awkwardly chuckled as she looked away while scratching the back of her head. It was strange gesture that Shampoo had never seen her do before. "Yeah, it was definitely…interesting, that's for sure." Visibly gathering herself, the Saotome heir perked up as she turned hopeful and way-too-cute eyes upon Shampoo. "But first! Shower! Please?"

Even without the lovable visage that Ranma was putting on, Shampoo would've agreed to her request easily. But since this was her fiancée, who's shining eyes were far too pleading to anything less than mind-blowingly adorable, the Amazon had no defense against it and couldn't suppress the slight squeal she had as she saw it. Needless to say, Shampoo had completely forgotten about the two enchanted bells still locked away in her luggage that she'd brought back with her, which was probably for the best.

It was about an hour later and a fully refreshed and redressed male Ranma was standing back out in the backyard of the café again. Standing a few paces across from him was Shampoo, now dressed in her usual combat outfit of pink pants, a light pink blouse, a red breast plate, and a pair of matching gauntlets. Settling into an easy ready stance, she was giving Ranma an interesting look that was a cross between an eager smile and grimace of concentration, but that strange look didn't diminish the anticipation and almost flirtatious gleam in her eyes.

"Ya ready?" Ranma asked, standing casually with his hands behind his back and a relaxed expression on his face.

"Ready!" Shampoo stated before launching herself forward with a sweeping jump-kick for his neck. Ranma easily ducked under the kick before standing up and using his shoulder to knock the Amazon's balance off as she passed over him.

As her great-granddaughter yelped in startled surprise as she careened to the ground, Cologne watched the little spar from her spot atop her walking stick near the backdoor of the café. This whole situation had come into being when Ranma had started asking Cologne some very interesting questions about tenketsu and the moxibustion. This was quickly followed by the unexpected revelation that Ranma had somehow gained a powerup once the moxibustion had been lifted. Wanting a demonstration, Cologne had requested that he sparred with Shampoo to demonstrate just how much of an increase this was. And thanks to the rather aggravating and (it must be said) disappointing time he'd been having with trying to spar with Akane these past few days, he'd readily accepted the request. Especially when Shampoo promised that she'd hold nothing back during the fight, not even for him.

What she was seeing now made Ranma's statements of receiving some kind of powerup seem all-too-true to the old woman. Prior to having his strength sealed, Ranma was only slightly better than Shampoo as a pure physical combatant, even though their levels of martial skill had far wider gaps between them. With the Bakusai Tenketsu and Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken training that she'd recently put her descendant through, Cologne had felt that Shampoo would've easily surpassed or at least negated Ranma's advantage. But from what she was seeing, he wasn't even trying as he dodged her kicks, redirected her punches, and teasingly adjusted her stances minutely to help her move her body more fluidly. Of course, while she knew her great-granddaughter was aware of what he was doing, it was also clear that Shampoo was faking not understanding he was doing in order to trick him into continuously getting close to and touching her.

'Sly move, my girl,' she thought with a repressed grin of approval. 'Still, this is going nowhere fast. We need to start trying to push him.' "Shampoo, start using the new techniques I taught you. Let's see how well your husband handles those."

"Okay!" the girl answered cheerfully. As she did, Ranma looked questioningly over at Cologne with a look of surprised interest on his face.

Using the opening provided by his distraction, Shampoo leapt forward and entered the Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken, throwing out hundreds of punches into his unprepared abdomen within a few seconds. For a few moments, Ranma reacted as anyone would when being caught off guard and assaulted in such a violent fashion. But then, his pained expression changed to one of annoyance and he quickly lashed out. Throwing Amaguriken-paced punches of his own, Ranma simultaneously blocked her attack while launching his own, pummeling her stomach. Shampoo quickly halted her attack due to this abuse, trying to jump away and regain her breath. However, Ranma pressed his attack. He lunged forward and thrust both his hands forward with his palms out and fingers curled as he slammed into her. It was a strange technique that neither Shampoo or Cologne had ever seen him use before. Whatever that technique was, it landed squarely on her breast plate, bending and twisting the metal from impact. The powerful blow sent Shampoo flying back to impact the wall with punishing force.

Watching his expression as he remained in that thrusting stance for a moment, Cologne stared hard at Ranma. His expression had changed from one of annoyance to focused intensity that she had never seen before on his face. In fact, she'd only ever seen such expressions on hardened warriors and war veterans. It had no place on the face of a young martial artist who treated all things not related to his hobby as mere annoyances and not to be taken seriously. But then, right before her very eyes, this hardened expression of his changed to one of horrified realization of what he'd done when he saw Shampoo slowly slide down from the crater she'd made on the wall.

"Gah! Not again. Shampoo! Are you okay?!" Ranma called out, rushing over to her to try and lend whatever kind of aid he could.

'I see,' Cologne thought to herself, only partially watching the young pair. 'It's much more than just a powerup that he received. If it was only him somehow accidentally unlocking some repressed potential, then it would be a simple matter of him relearning his self-control. But it doesn't seem to be that. There seems to be a more mental aspect that's somehow connected to it. Whatever it is, it's forcing him to lash out and deliver new finishing attacks… Could this be a result of some kind of training regime he'd once undertaken but had been forgotten or suppressed at some point? If so, how does that tie into his strength increase and why is it only appearing now?'

"Son-in-Law," Cologne called out, catching the young pair's attentions. "Spar with me. There is something I wish to see, personally."

Though suddenly looking understandably uncertain, the pigtailed boy nodded in compliance. "O-Okay. B-But don't blame me if I can't control myself."

"Kind of hypocritical to when I'm asking for it," Cologne couldn't help snarking back, earning uncertain grins and chuckles from the teens.

"Stuffy old mummy," grumbled a long-haired and rather good-looking teenager.

This was Mousse, a Chinese Amazon and one of the employees of the Nekohanten. He was just returning to the kitchen with a heap of used dishes that a large family of those grubby and annoying Japanese customers had left behind after finishing their meal. Since it was Sunday, the café opened slightly earlier to accommodate the slightly increased business they usually got. But since it was still somewhat earlier than the lunch rush, they'd only had a comparatively small number of customers so far. Enough to keep them busy but in a rather relaxed fashion. But that didn't stop the annoyed comments that the spiteful waiter and part-time cook that was Mousse from uttering. In fact, it somewhat encouraged him since there were fewer customers around, so he could be a bit more vocal in his displeasure.

Moodily dumping the tray of dishes into the soapy waters of the large sink, Mousse set to work washing and cleaning them for the next batch of customers. He did this mostly on autopilot, his mind wandering off as his thoughts took control.

The source of his annoyance actually wasn't the fact that he had to work on a weekend, but because his dearly beloved future wife wasn't around. She'd been sent out on a string of deliveries across the district while he'd been stuck indoors tending to the walk-ins. Well, that and he had to constantly put up with the scheming Elder who'd taken up residence here. Why did Elder Cologne have to be goddamn insistent on keeping him away from his beloved so much?! They were in Japan now! The village law dictating Shampoo's marriage to that barbarian and oaf, Saotome Ranma, were irrelevant now!

Not only that, Ranma had shown multiple times over now that he had no interest at all in marrying Shampoo. Mousse knew as an indisputable fact that Ranma fancied that Tendo girl above and beyond all of the others, regardless of how fervently he tried to deny it. That made the fact that he shamelessly and consistently flirted with and led Shampoo on all the more horrible to Mousse. Mousse could plainly see just how horrible a person Saotome Ranma truly was. He could clearly see that it was all an act. A means of bolstering his own pride and male ego. After all, most guys would've absolutely reveled in having so many beautiful women chasing after and courting them. As was clearly the case for Ranma! This was why Mousse hated Ranma more than mere words could possibly explain and why he was so determined to get his dearly beloved away from that narcissistic aqua-transsexual.

It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Mousse was positively jealous of the unconditional love and affection Shampoo often showered him with. Or the fact that Ranma was such an amazing fighter, even more so than himself. Or even the fact that he had such a harem in the first place! Nope, his reasons for saving Shampoo were purely self-less in that regard! He hated Ranma because he was such a scumbag of a person. Honestly!

'I swear, if I had the power to, I'd wipe that arrogant ass off the face of the planet!' Mousse hissed in his mind. 'The insolent bastard is like 10-year-old brat! He has no idea of just how lucky he is at having the attentions of so many women chasing after him! Worse still, he treats Shampoo like trash! How she can see him as anything more than the selfish, privileged, and honor-less thug that he is, is beyond me!' "AAAHHH! SHAMPOO, I SWEAR I'LL SAVE YOU FROM HIM!"

"QUIET, BOY!" a loud, annoyed voice snapped from the other side of the kitchen. It was Shampoo's father, the resident cook of the café. He glared over his shoulder at Mousse as he continued, "I have to listen to you ranting about that every day and I'm sick of it! Do it again, I'll send you back to China in your lockbox!"

This was no idle threat, Mousse knew. Though he wasn't in the top tier of his generation or had ever been a fulltime warrior, Shampoo's father was still a well-trained fighter who was stronger than Mousse. And the dislike he had for Mousse since he was a small child was a well-known fact. So, he wouldn't hesitate for a second to act on his threat. The only thing that had stopped him previously was the simple fact that Elder Cologne's presence had shielded Mousse, for whatever reason the old mummy might've had for keeping him around in Japan.

"Yes, sir," Mousse acknowledged quietly, turning back to his work with an angry pout and glare.

KKRRR-BBBMMMMMNNN!

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Mousse cried out, recoiling in surprise as the building shook from a nearby explosion. Much to his relief, he had nearly fallen to the ground but managed to catch himself on the edge of the sink, slightly warping the metal under his frantic grip.

"It came from out back!" his fellow Amazon stated, also looking surprised and quite on edge. And he had a right to be as a sudden series of smaller explosions and crashes soon filled the air, only being slightly muffled by the backwall of the building.

Moving together, the two of them rushed to the backdoor and flung it open, leaping out and landing in defensive stance, prepared to defend their home, livelihood, and lives. But before they could really take in the situation, another and much closer explosion of force erupted only a few paces away from them, the air pressure of it knocked both of them off their feet. Landing heavily on the ground from the unexpected attack, the pair of them rolled with the impact, coming up in low crouches while searching for the threat.

Darting here and there about the back alley of the café, bouncing of the buildings, skidding across the ground, and colliding in midair with numerous machinegun-fast explosions, two dark blurs could be faintly made out. The flashes of white hair, the glimpse of a familiar wooden staff, and a green cheongsam revealed that one of the blurs was in fact Elder Cologne. The other, not-quite-as-fast blur was substantially larger, wearing a red shirt, and—

'NO! Not him! It can't be him! ANYBODY BUT HIM!' Mousse screamed in horror internally. If ever there was a time that he truly wished he'd lost or not worn his glasses, it was right now!

The reasons behind Mousse's rapidly mounting horror were quite understandable when one stopped to think about it. Though he may bluster and rant like the best of them, Mousse was all-too-aware of the fact that his hated enemy and rival for Shampoo's heart was much stronger than he himself was. This was often why he had to resort to trickery and dishonorable tactics to try and fight him (not they never worked) while also routinely doubling his training in his own martial style. At this point, it was becoming increasingly obvious to him that he'd never be able to bridge the gap in strength or skill that existed between himself and Ranma. He just didn't have the potential or aptitude to make such tremendous gains as the Saotome heir did.

In a sort of defensive mentality to preserve his drive to win and to persevere against the mounting opposition, Mousse had started telling himself that Ranma's fighting ability was only the result of him constantly cheating, exploiting weaknesses, or any other innumerable means. And absolutely anything else that would allow him to not have to accept the fact that he was losing this war of martial attrition quite badly. But to see irrefutable proof that his hated enemy had suddenly somehow made yet another incomprehensible leap forward, far, far, far beyond anything that Mousse could've ever hoped to catch up to anytime soon…

"Aiyah!" The only thing that could've torn Mousse out of his mounting breakdown was that one voice that chirped out just then. It was Shampoo, his beloved future-wife! Finally managing to tear his gaze away from the clash of titans that was happening before him, Mousse's dark demeanor quickly started to brighten as his gaze fell upon the purple-haired angel who was bracing herself against another portion of the café not too far away. However, his momentary happiness was terribly short-lived as he spotted her watching the fight with wide, sparkling eyes that hid none of her rising desire. "Airen become too-too-TOO strong! Shampoo so happy!"

Something somewhere hidden deep inside Mousse cracked and broke when he heard her say that. And he'd never be the same person again as a result.

Fury, bloodlust, mind-numbing rage and hatred shot through the teenaged Amazon as he turned his gaze back to the red-shirted blur that he knew was the Saotome. In low voice that was lost among the crashes and explosions, Mousse growled out, "I will kill you, Saotome Ranma. I swear it."

Skidding away from Cologne with his arms crossed before him, Ranma took a second to wince at the stinging that the old lady's latest strikes caused. That damn staff of hers might've been simple wood, but when she channeled her ki into it, it struck like wrecking ball! Lifting his gaze, Ranma stared up at his opponent from her spot on the top of the café where she'd landed. His chest was heaving in exertion, his lungs burning, his arms felt like lead and legs didn't want to move anymore, his feet and fists were numb from the uncountable numbers of strikes they'd been dishing out, and his torso throbbed from the many blows he'd earned from missing or improperly blocking the elder's attacks.

And yet, despite all of the abuse and growing exhaustion he felt, Ranma's grin was wider than it'd ever been before. A sense of fulfillment had settled upon him. Finally, finally, he had an opponent that was pushing him to his limits! Someone worth fighting against! He'd not felt such a thing since…he wasn't sure when, to be honest. Only that he knew he had once felt this before and it had been several years now since then.

A happy laugh stuttered its way out of him. "Haha…hahaha… I gotta say… Cologne. This is…the most fun… I've had in a while!"

"I think I'd have to agree with you on that, son-in-law," the elder said, nodding in acknowledgement.

Then she flung herself down at him in a renewed attack but with nearly twice the previous speed she'd been moving at. Reacting on instinct, Ranma launched himself forward and brought a fist up to punch aside Cologne's incoming staff strike. But to his annoyance, the elder woman used his outstretched arm to dodge slightly to the side. Then, to Ranma's surprise, the old woman managed to capture his arm in a strong hold, locking his elbow joint in place by use of her staff. Before he could retaliate, she kicked him in his exposed side and sent him crashing to the concrete below.

Somersaulting in the air, Ranma was able to get his feet underneath him, landing heavy on the ground. Looking up, he had just enough to see Cologne rapidly descending towards him again. Bouncing to the side, he dodged her staff's strike that cratered the concrete where he had been. Lunging forward, he swung out a powerful sweeping jumpkick to knock her away like a football. But the old lady dropped fully to the ground and cleanly dodged him. Spinning around, Cologne swung her staff up towards his back as he shot overhead. Yet Ranma was ready for such an attack, using the momentum of his missed kick to carry him onwards and spin him around, bring up a knee and dropping his elbow, forming a strong line of defense that the staff bounced off of uselessly. Despite not penetrating, the blow still knocked him backwards through the air until he landed in a skid close to where the overawed spectators were watching and/or slightly cowering.

Rising and resetting his stance, Ranma was now visibly heaving for breath, his skin was glistening in sweat with his clothes noticeably stained in it, and his limbs were shaking very badly from the exertion. Seeing the state he was in, Cologne smiled tiredly as she landed on the ground and stood back up, no longer holding a fighting stance. "I believe that's enough. Well done, Son-in-Law! That was a most splendid demonstration! I quite enjoyed myself just now!"

Panting loudly as he dropped his guard, Ranma dropped to the ground with a heavy sigh of relief. Hands on his knees, Ranma sent the old lady a strained smile, "Th-Thanks for the…good spar, Elder… Can we…do it again…later?"

"Oh, most assuredly!" Cologne agreed easily, smiling slightly.

"Airen! That was amazing!" Shampoo squealed in excited awe. She practically teleported over to his side and started wiping his sweaty brow down with a wet clothe, babbling so rapidly and incoherently, it sounded to Ranma like she was speaking another language… Oh wait, she was, Mandarin specifically. With as exhausted as he was, Ranma didn't bother trying to push her away, especially considering her actions were actually kind of welcomed this time.

Meanwhile, Cologne was watching their interaction with a calculating gaze, her mind replaying the spar closely. As always, the Saotome boy was truly a rare specimen with unaccountably great skill. He had demonstrated this quite well during the spar by how well he'd managed to adjust to his new strength and speed once she'd started picking up the pace and pushing him harder. Truthfully, that had been the most challenging and lively spar she'd had in decades. At least since from before the time Happosai had vanished when he'd been sealed away by his two oafish disciples. "I don't know how it happened, but if I had to guess just how strong you've become, I'd say you're about half of my current strength."

"Only half?" There was no mistaking the rather blatant disappointment in his voice when he said that. "Dammit!"

"Is that a problem?" Cologne asked, eyebrow arching questioningly.

"Kinda," he said blandly. "It means I'm still not strong enough to send that old letch packing for good!"

"Ahhhh," Cologne nodded in understanding. "Well, if you keep gaining strength at your earlier pace, along with this boost, I'd say you could finally manage that deed in about twenty years, give or take." Seeing the rather sour look on the boy's face, she added quickly, "Before all of this, it would've taken you about another hundred years of hard training. The difference is truly that great, Ranma. Just give it time. You'll get there."

Sighing heavily, Ranma dropped his head in disappointment but didn't contradict her statement. Seeing his slight depression, Shampoo shot him a happy smile as she leaned forward slightly to catch his attention, "Shampoo think Ranma get there in five years! Just need right sparring partner!" Her vote of confidence caused a small but thankful smile to cross his face as he looked at her.

Then, in an act that was equal parts spontaneous and planned out, Shampoo suddenly leaned forward and gave her beloved a kiss on the lips. It was little more than a quick peck, there and gone between one second and another. But Ranma's reaction was as predictable as the rising tide with his face turning vibrant red and flailing wildly for a second before he finally managed to start scooting away from the Amazon girl in a slightly panicked shuffle, all the while stuttering out incoherent statements and questions. Through it all, Shampoo just remained where she'd been kneeling down, smiling demurely at his overreaction.

For some reason, that look she was giving him…it stirred something within him. A strange feeling that he'd usually associated with Akane, when she was in one of her rare good moods. But now he was feeling it for Shampoo? What was it? What was going on with him?!

But any further thought he might've tried to give that feeling was abruptly ended by a loud cry of total fury. Ranma had just enough time to recognize two distinct things. The first being that the voice was clearly Mousse and the second was he was right behind him! Then his world exploded into bright lights and sparkling stars.

"This outta be a good snack for us!" a small boy with wild, spiky black hair and strange brown monkey tail said, smiling widely as he dragged a large fish casually behind him. "Do you like fish too, friend?"

"It's…okay," he admitted, hesitantly, still pretty scared and feeling more and more lost with each passing moment. Where was he? Why was he here?

"DIE, RANMA!" Mousse was screaming, his fury empowering his arms to swing the first weapon he'd grabbed out of his ki-space with all of the strength he could summon. Much to Mousse's dismay, this weapon just happened to be a stunted mace, more wood than metal with only stubby little spikes. He would've preferred to have grabbed something with a blade, so that he could've hacked the bastard's head clean off. But, alas, he'd just settle for bashing his head in!

A speeding car came to a screeching, sliding halt. But despite the driver's best attempts, it still managed to body-slam the black-haired kid hard enough to send him flying several meters before crashing into a tree. Ranma had been a bit luckier and reacted quicker, jumping at least two meters straight up and just missing being hit. Landing heavily upon the roof of the car, Ranma could hear the panicked voice of the driver, a teenaged girl from the sound it, crying out in a slightly distraught voice, "Yikes! Are they dead?!"

Raising his mace for another powerful overhead strike, Mousse let loose another furious cry in preparation. But that was when a small foot buried itself into his side, sending him flying to the side while dropping his weapon and losing his glasses in the process.

"Mousse hurt Ranma!" Shampoo cried out in fury as she pulled out her chui from her own ki-space and lunging at him. "Shampoo kill!"

"This is for hitting me!" the boy yelled out angrily as he heaved the car up and threw it several meters away. Ranma could only stare in shocked awe. He would've never thought the kid was that strong! He looked like he was scarcely older than himself after all!

"Owww!" Ranma moaned out, rubbing the back of his head where he'd been struck. Thankfully, he didn't feel any blood, but it still felt like his entire brain was throbbing and his mind was on fire! "Wh-Wh-What was that?"

"They're called Dragon Balls," the blue-haired girl said as she held out one of her own orange orbs alongside the one his new friend apparently owned. "See?"

"Gah!" Ranma flinched again as another strong throb wracked his brain. Cradling and grasping his head, Ranma leaned painfully forward, face practically level with the filthy concrete. "Argh!"

"Pit stop? What's that mean?" Goku asked naively from where he and Ranma were still seated on the strangely-designed motorcycle.

"I need to pee, you lame-brain!" Bulma screamed back as she ran behind a large boulder.

"Son-in-Law?" Cologne asked, hurrying up to him with a worried expression on her face. Something was wrong. He wasn't reacting how he normally did whenever he got hit in the head. Most times he'd just brush it off, thanks to his high healing factor and remarkable pain tolerance. But now, it looked like he was really suffering. Could Mousse have somehow found an unknown soft spot on the boy? "Are you okay? What's wrong? Talk to me!"

"My-My-My head!" he groaned out, eyes clenching painfully. Somehow, he mustered up enough strength to push himself off the ground and sit upright. "Ooowwww! I think…Mousse got me…good this time…"

Jumping off the motorcycle, Goku looked off towards the boulder in confusion. "I don't get it. Why can't she just pee right here? Ranma, do you know?"

"Girls are weird like that, Goku," Ranma answered with all the wisdom a 9-year-old could muster. Goku just blinked back at him for a moment before nodding in confusion but also somewhat reluctant understanding.

"I don't think that's the problem," Cologne said bluntly, watching him closely.

"I-I-I'm fine," he gasped out, flinching as yet another strange image shot through his mind. Glancing painfully over at the old lady, he said, "You should worry… about Mousse instead…"

"Shampoo, wait! Let me—!" Mousse's voice cried out from somewhere close by. KKKKR-SSHHHHH! "AAHHHH! WAIT, SHAMPOO!"

"SHAMPOO MAD!" Shampoo yelled out, no doubt still pursuing her fellow Amazon.

"Yes, perhaps I should," Cologne said, glancing over towards where they heard the noise. But then she turned her attention back to Ranma.

"Go on," Ranma said before she could ask the obvious question. "I'll…manage…somehow…"

Sighing, Cologne nodded and then rushed off to restrain her great-granddaughter and severely discipline her part-time worker. She paused just long enough to acknowledge that Ranma was indeed climbing to his feet, if rather unsteadily, wincing badly while clutching his head.

'I hope this…trauma will pass, and soon,' Ranma thought as he slowly made his way back to the dojo. Flinching, he tried to push away yet another of the fragmented visions that were flashing through his head. Gasping as a particularly strong one made itself known, Ranma groaned. After a moment, he blinked and stared ahead blankly at the street in front of him. 'Goku…Bulma… Why does these people seem so familiar?'

(Author's Note) I know you guys haven't asked for it, but I figured I'd post this first chapter. Depending on the reception it gets, we'll see if I continue writing this story. That means that if you want more, drop me a review!

Power Levels:

Genma (age 41): 110
Ranma (age 16): 105 (sealed), 220 (full power)

Ukyo (age 16):: 85

Soun (age 41): 90
Akane (age 16): 60

Happosai (age…unknown): 330

Cologne (age…unknown): 380
Shampoo (age 16): 90
Mousse (age 16): 70

Ryoga (age 16): 95