Prelude: A new day

It was, Ranma Saotome decided as he sat on a tower overlooking a train station, a very interesting three months.

Everything had started out fairly simple, get thrown out of the window for an early morning spar, waking up the rest of the Tendo family except for Kasumi who always seemed inhumanly capable of waking up before Genma and Ranma to make breakfast.

And then, the letter arrived for him at school. Ranma shook his head as he remembered the meeting with the principal.

"Well now Keikei, it seems that you've caught the attention of some very prestigious people. Yousa been offered a job at Mahora Academy!"

Ranma shook his head, "A job…I never thought I'd actually be hired while still in high-school. Still, old man Konoemon seemed confident."

Ranma's thoughts drifted as he remembered the old man who had sent the letter and brought him here.

The door opened and Ranma turned in his seat, blinking at the sight of an old man dressed in robes, looking more like some kind of hermit than the principal of a school.

As the principal stood up to shake the man's hand, Ranma was thinking only one thing, 'Oh god, please don't let this guy be some kind nutcase or looking to make an engagement. I don't need any more crap in my life. Please, please just let him be here for a job offer.'

"Ohoho, there's no need to look so nervous young man, rest assured that me offer is genuine although I imagine that you would like to know the details?" The old man smiled in that grandfatherly manner which all old people seemed to possess, making Ranma relax despite himself.

"Uh yeah, about that, it's not like I'm ungrateful but what exactly do you need a highschool student to do at a place like Mahora Academy?" Ranma narrowed his eyes slightly, everyone heard of Mahora Academy, it was the kind of school that seemed so exclusive because of its location, regardless of the fact that they seemed to be entirely privately funded, meaning anyone could become a student, rich or poor. And that was ignoring the fact that it was an all-girls school.

"Ohoho, the answer is simple my boy, I have been looking for a P.E. teacher who is willing to help his or her" Ranma flinched at the knowing look in the old man's eyes, "students reach their athletic potential. Not only that, I wish to further ask that if any of the students are interested, you teach them basic martial arts for self-defence."

A twinkle appeared in the old man's eyes, "Not only that, if you accept this offer you will have my full support in closing this current chapter of your life and starting anew."

Ranma's eyes widened, before they narrowed, "You think you have what it takes to solve the kind of problems I have old man?"

The old man smiled, "Yes, I have what it takes to ensure that your past is settled and you can look to the future without any hesitation or regret."

Ranma studied the old man in front of him, before offering his hand, "You've got yourself a teacher, old man."

"Ohoho, I look forward to having you on board, Ranma Saotome. My name is Konoe Konoemon, and allow me to be the first to welcome you to Mahora Academy."

The Tendos weren't much of a hassle, particularly with the group of lawyers Konoemon sent to make it quite clear that a verbal agreement could never be used to bind Ranma into his current situation, although Ranma would admit that he felt some actual pity for Soun Tendo as the man sat on the front porch of the Tendo home weeping bitterly.

One thing he wouldn't miss was Genma.

"Boy! I demand that you take me with you!" Ranma turned and his eyes narrowed.

"The hell I should! In case it didn't sink in pops, I'm making sure that nobody from here drags all the crap we've done here to that school, and that means I sure as hell am not letting a fat bastard like you come along! You'd probably engage me to half the school just to get a quick yen and free breakfast!"

Genma folded his arms, "Then go back in there and marry Akane, I'm not going to let just walk out of an agreement of family honor!"

Ranma paused, before turning his head slightly, "Then I have no family." With that he walked off to deal with Ukyo and Shampoo.

Ranma paused in his reminiscing at the memories of Ukyo and Shampoo before closing his eyes and wiping away a tear. He didn't need to remember that moment, not now.

'No, that's something for another day, when I'm ready. At least the old ghoul decided to forfeit Shampoo's claim upon hearing who I'd be working for.'

Ranma paused at that. Cologne hadn't just been willing to forfeit Shampoo's claim. If anything, she was actually terrified of not doing so. Just what sort of power did that old man have to terrify Cologne of all people?

"Whatever that power is, it pales in comparison to me."

Ranma shook his head with a smile, "Almost forgot about you. I guess you want me to put you back on?" The teenage teacher reached into a pocket of his pants and pulled out a pair of black gloves with white lines tracing the fingers and palms, a pair of dark blue jewels on the wrists glowing with an inner light.

Ranma studied the gloves for a moment and smiled ruefully, this was the artifact that cured his curse and destroyed the influence of the Nekoken. And now forcibly a part of him for the rest of his life.

Ranma looked back at the memories.

"Man, this place sure is spooky when it's empty." Ranma whistled to himself as he walked down the rows of empty buildings during the late afternoon. The entirety of Mahora and the surrounds was emptied for a series of major and minor repair programs and other general maintenance and that meant a brief holiday for the students while the work was done.

For Ranma, it meant days of constant cram schooling to get his up to par in order to actually qualify as the new P.E. teacher. While most students from Furinkan could barely associate Ranma with studying, Ranma himself wasn't exactly an idiot; you couldn't be as a martial artist. With the madness surrounding Nerima however, it wasn't exactly easy to study, especially when it came to homework.

Besides, if he didn't perform to expectations, Ranma would lose his job before it began. The pigtailed teen shook his head, he couldn't think that way, not if wanted this job. There was no way in hell he was going back to Nerima, back to that madness.

Unfortunately, Ranma was too caught up in his thoughts to notice the open sewer grating until he dropped into the darkness. Blinking, Ranma looked around the shaft he was falling down and then down towards the bottom before raising an eyebrow with an incredulous smile, "You gotta be kidding right?"

Glancing around, Ranma spied a pipe and shifting his body, grabbed it and brought his fall to a halt, looking up at the manhole high above him, and the dark water of the sewer below with a grimace, "I don't need this." Another glance around allowed the teen to spot what appeared to be a doorway and he started climbing.

The doorway was sealed from the inside, but it was wood and badly degraded from who knew how many years of exposure to water and moisture, allowing Ranma to easily break it down and enter the corridor beyond.

"Huh, the architecture is certainly different here, kinda looks like a spookier version of the stuff down over at Library Island." Ranma shook his head as he remembered the giant library island that went down deep underground and how expeditions to find new sections and thusly new books were taken by one of the clubs.

But this was in the middle of Mahora, close to where the massive World Tree was situated and to top it off, there was a very distinctly…dark feeling to the corridor as Ranma walked down it, passing what appeared to be images of battles, kings and generals and more, while dominating the images were the presence of a pair of gauntlets, hovering over the scenes like some kind of god.

"Freaky, bet the old man would like to hear about this place." Ranma knew that Dean Konoemon didn't know the full extent of the ruins that ran underneath Mahora and there was a standing bounty for new information, a rather nice one as well.

"Heheh, money in my pocket and no Nabiki to steal my cash with her ridiculous fees, I'm starting to like this place already." Ranma laughed to himself as he reached the end of the tableau of increasingly violent imagery before reaching a massive set of doors and negligently pushing them open, exerting a little of his strength to do so as they swung open with a screeching of rusted metal, before the hinges shattered and the doors collapsed into the room with a deafening crash.

As the dust began to settle, a coughing Ranma stepped over the doors and into the chamber, managing to whistle at the expanse before him.

The chamber was white marble, light from a series of crystals set high in the roof reflecting off mirrors set into the walls to illuminate the dominating piece of the chamber, a pedestal with a pair of gloves set in place, secured by badly rusted chains.

And from the moment Ranma saw them, he instantly had the urge to put them on, to see how they fit on his hands. He was already halfway towards the gloves when he paused and shook his head, where the hell had those thoughts come from? Shrugging, he yanked off the chains and picked up the gloves.

If the condition of the chains had been any indication, the gloves had to be ancient. And yet they felt brand new, like time itself was afraid to even so much as glance at them, that was the kind of vibe the black leather gave off and were Ranma a more sensible person he would have never entertained the possibility of putting them on.

But even with the new sensibilities instilled in Ranma from his rapid tutoring, he was still Ranma Saotome and so he shrugged, and slipped the gloves on before inspecting them, "Heh, these don't look too bad."

"I'm glad you approve, because you are now mine."

Ranma didn't have time to even voice his confusion before pain engulfed him. The last thing the teen experienced was the sound of his screams.

Ranma shook his head as he slipped on the gloves, "Just wish you didn't have to be so…painful, about how you claimed a new owner." He shook his head at the familiar feeling of the gloves fusing to his skin and then tapping into his blood, the price for allowing him to take them off in the first place.

"You were weak then, and I cannot abide having a weakling as my possessor. The curses on you were chains preventing you from continuing on your path to higher pinnacles of power, pinnacles that I can bring you."

"And in return you claim the right to eat my soul if I try to get rid of you and I'm stuck with you for the rest of my natural life. Yeah, I get it. At least you helped me out when Happosai sent that letter to Dean Konoemon for that duel in the forest."

The entity that gave the gloves their life snorted, the jewels twinkling evilly, "Not much of a duel, for even after all this time, my power is still known amongst mortals, and rightfully feared."

"Ranma my boy, I hate to say it but for once I'm going to have to side with Genma and Soun here. Besides, I want to see my darling Ranma-chan!" Ranma sneered at the ancient grandmaster of the Anything Goes style as his hands clenched slightly in his pockets.

'Lecherous bastard, I'm going to enjoy the look on your face in a few minutes.' Ranma glanced over at his father and Soun Tendo; both had determined looks on their faces, 'Is it really that important to marry me off to a Tendo? Is it? Well, might as well get this show on the road.'

Without a word, Ranma dropped down from the streetlight where he had been sitting lazily and walked over to the three martial artists, stopping when he was fully in the light of one of the lights, and pulled his hands out of his pockets, revealing a pair of black gloves with dark blue jewels twinkling evilly on the wrists.

The effect was immediate, Happosai pale until he was bone-white, "R-ranma…where did you get those gloves?" Ranma made a show of looking them over, before pushing his Ki into them, the gloves reacting immediately as the white lines that stood out on the dark leather suddenly blazed with blue fire.

"Found them in the sewers underneath the school. Interesting pair, I forgot what they're called in the books I read by these things are pretty damn neat since they got rid of my curse and the Neko-ken."

Happosai gave a sickly smile, "Well then, that's something to be congratulated about. Let's go Genma, Soun, we're done here." Genma sputtered while Soun looked confused.

"But master, what about the agreement? The joining of the schools?" Happosai shot his student a withering look.

"Ranma-chan is gone, and with it my reason for bothering to be here. That boy is beyond your reach and your schools are not going to be joined so drop it Genma, because if you tried to force the issue, then this entire area is going to be reduced to a smoking crater thanks to those gloves!"

Genma actually whined at that point, "But master!"

Happosai whacked him as Ranma watched in amusement, "Don't give me that tone! Those are the Hands of Chaos! They've reduced entire cities to ash in the blink of an eye!"

"All the greater reason to have Ranma marry Akane!"

Happosai shook his head, "No it isn't." The old grandmaster turned to Ranma, "Ranma, I consider you free of any obligation to Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo, and I give you permission to continue practicing the Anything Goes as your own personal style."

Ranma smiled, his plan was working perfectly and he didn't have to throw a punch yet. Then he cursed silently, he had just jinxed himself.

A despairing shout of, "The schools must be joined!" proved him correct as Soun charged forwards and launched into an attack, forcing Ranma onto the defensive as the man attacked with strength and speed born of desperation.

'Man, I'll give Mister Tendo some credit, if this is the Tendo style then it's too bad he never bothered to teach it.' Ranma blocked the strikes before he whirled and landed a roundhouse, knocking the man back.

He twitched and bent out of the way of a strike from Genma trying to blindside him. A glance showed Happosai bounding away, obviously intent on going back to Nerima and avoiding whatever impending disaster was about to occur.

"Hey, you awake? Cause I think now is the time to show me that you're not blowing smoke up my ass." Ranma felt something shift in his mind as the intelligence inside the gloves woke up.

"Watch mortal, and know the power of the Hands of Chaos."

The flames on the gloves glowed brighter and Ranma winced as he dodged, feeling the effect of his Ki now being drained heavily to fuel what was about to occur. He definitely needed a lot more training if he was going to be able to fight with these things active for an entire fight.

He focused the surge of magic he was receiving from the gloves and cocked a fist back, causing the two fathers to back off, and punched the ground.

The blast of dark flame that knocked the two men backwards made Ranma gape in shock at the flames consuming the nearby mailbox and streetlight, sparks flying into the darkness as the metal melted, warped and finally the pole collapsed under its own weight, landing with a crash.

Ranma looked around, and sighed in relief at seeing the unconscious Genma and Soun lying nearby, clothes singed and some burns on them but they were breathing. Which was good, Ranma didn't want to have to go as far as killing someone to get his point across.

He looked around the ruined street and at the flames still burning cheerfully, giving off radiance and heat even though they were jet black, when he heard the sound of sirens, "Shit! Better get the hell out of here!"

As he left, he glanced back and to his surprise, felt himself smiling at the prospect of mastering the power now literally in his hands.

The sound of the bell in the tower jolted Ranma out of his musings, and a glance down showed the time to be 8 o'clock, it was nearly time for the first trains to arrive with students ready for the day ahead. Fishing around in a pocket, Ranma checked his schedule and the classes he would be having for the day.

After the fight with Genma and Soun and waiting for a week for Ryoga to show up, which he didn't, Ranma took the train back to Mahora and resumed getting his qualifications. Surprisingly everything had gone by smoothly after that, he had been expecting Shampoo or Kodachi to try and show up but he hadn't so much as heard a peep out of Nerima.

"Let's see, I have to meet up with Takamichi at the entrance and have a meeting with the Old Man about me helping out some new English Teacher. Ah man, I hate subbing." Ranma shuddered as he remembered some of the classes he had acted as a substitute for and thanked the Kami for all that tutoring, especially when it came to…algebra.

Shaking his head, Ranma remembered what Principal Konoemon had told him about the new teacher that was arriving, "Hmm, English teacher, supposed to be a real prodigy, but what else…ah, right, he's the new homeroom teacher for The Madhouse." Ranma knew that he felt the Hands of Chaos shudder at the memory.

Class 2-A, the class with the lowest test scores, the one where half the students appeared to be in their early twenties and had forced Ranma to review their files just to confirm that those girls were actually fifteen years old. But what had firmly cemented their nickname in Ranma's mind was their rowdiness, if something gave them the excuse to make noise then most of those girls would take it eagerly.

"Ranma-san!" Ranma blinked and smiled as he saw a ghostly figure floating towards him and smiled before waving.

"Morning Sayo-chan, here to watch the morning rush again?" Sayo Aisaka nodded with a bright grin as she floated next to Ranma and adopted a sitting position as Ranma smiled again, the ghost girl was pretty much the only student from 2-A that didn't act completely off the walls and that had to be because she was dead. Well there were others but it was a toss-up for them in Ranma's opinion.

A normal person would have likely been freaked out at the sight of the ghost girl, but Ranma did have plenty of experience when it came to spectral women, like Kogane back at Furinkan and the Scribble Panda's human form, so he didn't start screaming when he saw her while taking a walk at night. He had barely avoided laughing at her attempt to scare someone, but no screaming.

Still, the fact that Ranma could see her thanks to his senses and the fact that she was radiating Ki like a lighthouse smoothed over any hurt feelings considering the girl was not only lonely to the point of being literally starved for some kind of companionship, but incredibly depressed, Ranma swore that if Sayo knew the Shi Shi Hadoken, she could level half the school with the kind of power the depression from being invisible created.

And Ranma had always been a sucker for a sad girl so he befriended her.

Sayo cocked her head curiously as Ranma chuckled to himself, "Hm?" Ranma noticed and channeled some Ki into his hands to pat her head, eliciting a bright smile from the ghost.

"Just remembering how we met and how much of a help you've been, especially with the few times I've had to sub for Takamichi with the Madhouse."

Sayo blushed and glanced away, "It's nothing, really! You just looked so lost trying to get them under control." She turned another bright smile on the martial-artist turned teacher, "I'm glad to help you though!"

Ranma laughed again, "Yeah, you've been a great help, especially when it comes to my job." He chuckled at the memory of Sayo using her abilities as a ghost to create an obstacle course for one of his classes, throwing dodgeballs, lifting and dropping nets for the students to crawl under and even lifting up a few gym mats to create a wall that required team work to find a hole to jump through.

Who knew having a ghost as a friend would prove so...useful?

A glance at the distance allowed Ranma to spot the glint of an incoming train and Ranma got to his feet, Sayo following suit and smoothing out her skirt as the pig-tailed teacher stretched slightly.

"Well, time to get the show on the road." Reaching into another pocket, Ranma pulled out a stack of yellow penalty cards as the train came to a stop and tensed, ready to spring into action as Sayo drifted off towards class.

The bell rang, and a new day at Mahora Academy started as students rushed out of the train.

Little did Ranma know that the life he had so painstakingly untangled, was once again about to get much more complicated.

I bet this looks familiar to some of you. That's because you likely read it over at Rewind Gone Nut's profile. Welcome to Mahora Academy, its going to be a bit different from now on.