Prologue:

It had been 10 years since Ranma and Kasumi had vanished. At first, Genma thought he would be able to find his son and his friend's oldest daughter, but after a year he began to lose hope of ever finding his son again.

Nodoka had been too angry with him to allow him to return home after he was forced to move from the Tendo dojo. Alone, broke, and hungry Genma had turned to Happosai for help.

Happosai agreed to help Genma if he would help train another heir for the school, Genma had agreed on the stipulation that only if the student he found had the potential to surpass Ranma in skill.

Thus Genma was introduced to Ma Kensei of the Ryōzanpaku Dojo and former student of Happosai.

Kenichi: Anything Goes Martial Arts

Chapter 1: The Replacement

Nine years at Ryōzanpaku had changed Genma. He was still a lying, thieving coward but due to the requirements of the dojo he had become as strong, if not stronger, than he was in his youth. His hair had started to return. Truth-be-told he had never been happier.

The Dojo's master, one Fūrinji Hayato, was a gentle giant whose good nature had a habit of rubbing off on people. His granddaughter, Miu, was also the same, very sweet and soft spoken hiding her true power behind her angelic personality.

The other masters of the dojo included one Sakaki Shio a 100th-dan karate master, a large powerful man covered in scars from past battles, with a love for beer and action he dressed little like a karate master and more like a man in a biker gang.

Then there was Apachai Hopachai, The Death God of Muay Thai, and also a practitioner of the ancient boxing style of Muay Boran the style that Muay Thai had been born from. His good nature and somewhat naïve behavior threw Genma off during his first match. In the ring, Apa was a killer. Genma wished he didn't have firsthand experience of the man's skill.

Kōsaka Shigure was the weapons master at the dojo. Her skill with any martial weapon made her a force to be reckoned with. She was also the main reason of Happosai's more recent visits.

Kōetsuji Akisame, philosopher and Jujutsu master, with a mind as sharp as his skill he could see 100 steps ahead in both battles of skill and knowledge. He was also the doctor of the dojo putting poor Genma back together on more than one occasion.

Lastly there was Ma Kensai, former pretty-boy and Happosai's student from China. His skills in Kempo were far beyond what Genma thought was possible. But he had picked up habits while training under the Grand Master of Anything Goes that gave Genma the willies.

About a week ago Miu had started acting strange. She claimed she had made her first friend and he happened to also be a martial artist that needed some help with an upcoming match. Genma had chuckled at this. He knew it was a boy. He had seen the look she wore on the faces of many of his son's fiancés. Poor kid probably didn't know what he was getting into.

It was the day after the boy's match that things in the dojo had changed.

Kenichi stood at the gates of the dojo that the map had lead him too. "Is this the right place?" he wondered aloud. Kenichi looked up at the sign and read it to himself, "Ryōzanpaku dojo?"

Determination filled him, "Shit, I've come this far I can't just chicken out now!" Pushing on the door he was surprised it wouldn't move. "HELLO!" he called out. "Damn this door is heavy. Are the hinges rusted or something?" He began to push even harder. "Damn it!" he cried.

Just then, the doors flew open and Kenichi's face found its way to the ground on the other side of the door. A shadow went over the downed boy's body and he turned to see a large man dressed in green with a long, blonde hair and beard. Kenichi's brain only had one thought, "danger!"

"What is the purpose of your visit to this dojo?" The large man asked with a slight grin forming on his face.

Kenichi knew he was about to die, that look, it was like that of a predator looking at its prey just before the kill. "I..um..well..." Kenichi jumped to his feet and ran. "Sorry wrong place!" As he rounded the doorway, he hit someone in the chest and fell again. "Sorry about that..." he looked up and saw the bearded giant standing in his way. His jaw dropped. "I uhh..." he managed to say.

The giant's smile widened. "Back so soon?" he asked.

Kenichi was looking back and forth between where the man was and where he had been less than a second ago. "What the hell?!" he cried.

"What's with that look? Are you alright?" the giant asked.

Kenichi thought about it for a moment before a forced grin appeared on his face. "Are you by any chance a Martial Arts master?"

The giants face became a gentle smile. "Hoho, I wouldn't call myself a master but since the days of my youth I have never lost a fight."

Kenichi jumped to his feet and bowed. "I am Shirahama Kenichi, Fūrinji Miu recommended I come here!" he nearly shouted.

"Hoho, you are very polite for a young man." the giant said with his smile still on his face. "Miu you say? Good, follow me." The giant walked past him and towards the dojo.

Kenichi followed behind him and said, "Yes sir." While walking through the dojo Kenichi decided to break the silence. "So, you teach martial arts here?" he asked.

"Yes, we do teach martial arts here."

"Great." Just then, a large crash sounds from the yard. Kenichi looks over and sees another giant in red trunks and boxing gloves with silver hair beating the stuffing out of a punching bag. "What the hell is that?!" Kenichi asked, panic-stricken.

"Oh, that man is Apachai Hopachai, a 28 year old Thai. Kenichi's panicked sounds grew louder. The more panicked the boy became, the more destructive Apachai was becoming. Destroying the punching bag he moved to a tree and then the wall. Both exploded with his punches. The old giant placed his hand over Kenichi's mouth. "Calm down. You are getting him excited!" Looking at the other giant, the old man shouts, "Cut it out, will ya!"

As they walk off, Kenichi wonders what kind of place he has entered. They continue to walk and Kenichi notices a door cracked slightly. He decides to take a peek. Inside the room, a beautiful woman dressed in a very revealing set of ninja attire with her dark hair tied into a high pony tail stand in the center of a ring of swords on poles. She draws her sword and cuts all of the swords around her in half with one single swing. Kenichi's face did not hide his fear or amazement. "What business do you have with me..." she begins.

"No..nothing... I was just" Kenichi managed to mutter.

"...Kensai Ma?" With that she stabs her sword into the floor. A man dressed in a green Kung-Fu outfit and a bowler jumps out of the floor, lands softly and innocently says, "I was just passing by." He then begins to walk towards the door but is stopped when the woman's sword is placed on his neck.

"Wait, what sort of pictures where you taking with that camera of yours?" she asks in a cold voice.

"Just...THE SCENERY!" the man then makes a run for the door while the woman begins to throw shuriken at the man who dodges them with ease. While she is distracted, Kenichi sees a small, old man dressed in a purple outfit and a bandit mask jump out the window with a large bag over his shoulder.

"What a haul!" the man calls as he dashes off.

Distracted, Kenichi doesn't see the shuriken headed for his face until it is caught by the old giant. "You can't walk around here without caution like that. That was very close."

"What the hell is this place?!" Kenichi thinks.

They get to a door and the old man smiles "The men in here are martial arts teachers, they have some issues but..." he leaves the rest unsaid as he opens the door. Inside a man dressed in a white dogi is sitting next to a man in blue jeans and a black leather jacket. Both of them appear to be drunk. "Genma, Sakaki, I have someone I want you two to meet."

The two men look up. "Hey Hayato, what can we do for ya?" the man dressed in white asks.

"This is Shirahama Kenichi. He will become your disciple." The giant Hayato pushes Kenichi in front of him.

"What?!" the two men cry.

"I don't take disciples!" Sakaki, the man in the jeans, shouts. "Thats my motto!"

"That shrimp?" Genma asks "He would be dead in a week!"

"Heh, a week? Genma, if the old man were to give me a disciple he would be dead within 3 days!" Sakaki proclaims as he stands and begins to punch holes in the training bags hanging from his ceiling.

"Well if that's your motto, I guess it can't be helped. I'll be going now!" Kenichi turns for the door and opens it, only to see a man standing there with his aura flaring around him. The boy allows unconsciousness to take him and falls to the floor.

"What a rude child" the new man states.

"Look at that ass he just fainted!" Sakaki commented.

"There is no way he would make a suitable heir to my school!" Genma cried.

"Will it really be ok to train him?" asked Sakaki.

"Well, Miu did send him here."

"He seems like an innocent boy." states Hayato.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." Genma says reluctantly. If Miu had the boy come here, there must be something special about him. Genma only hoped Miu was thinking with her head and not something else.

As Kenichi began to wake up, he saw Miu sitting over him. He jumped up, "MIU YOU ARE IN DANGER WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" He went to grab her shoulders but she dodged and slammed him into the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she cried out. "Our masters like to tease people a lot!" she said.

"Our masters?" Kenichi asked.

"Oh yes, the truth is this place is my home." She then points to Hayato sitting next to her "and he is my grandfather."

TBC...

Next time: The Disciple