Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction / Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Fistful Of Omake ❯ Yet Another Alt Father ( Chapter 35 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Yet Another Different Father Omake:

He had come to ground here, wandering from place to place in his manner. He had finished a set of tough battles and had been left with some tough questions.

Had his time come and gone?

Now that mankind had turned to other forces, other figures, was his presence no longer necessary?

Or had mankind merely made a few childish mistakes and was now the stronger for it?

He pondered these points as he was drawn to a child's voice pleading in the native language. Pleading not to...?!

He strode forward angrily, entering the construction site as a portly man through his child into a pit of starving cats.

Here was his answer. By turning away from mankind, instead of humanity learning their own lessons and proceeding at their own pace - they were floundering around in the dark.

------

Genma saw someone coming forward, trying to interrupt the Catfist training and moved to intercept. The other fellow had an archaic weapon in hand. A weapon-user, and not even a decent martial artist from his stance. An experienced fighter, but without the grace of a true martial artist. How pathetic. This would not even qualify as a warm-up for a practitioner of Anything Goes.

Probably practiced Martial Arts Carpentry or something. Who else would be using a hammer of all things?

*crackle* *BOOOM!*

------

Ten years later:

Ranma gave a jaunty wave to Heimdahlr, a wink to "Uncle Loki", and leapt off the Rainbow Bridge.

Ten years of eating the right foods, getting the right exercise, and getting instructions from your functional mother - Sif the goddess of battle skills, was bound to pack on some muscle. Especially when some of those foods were enchanted. Even as nasty as Uncle Loki had a reputation for being, he had a soft spot as far as his "nephew" was concerned.

Heck, even the Fenris Wolf had been less than nasty. Scratch him behind the ears, bring by the occasional crate of milk bones, and the Wolf could be downright sociable.

There were *some* he never could get along with. Hel, for one. The Norn Queen had it in for him too. Ranma wasn't sure why. Oh, he had his suspicions. It *could* have been... but why dwell upon the past?

Ranma lightly landed upon the ledge of an office building and looked around. He was sixteen-and-a-half now, and he couldn't be a "coal chewer" any longer. He had to strike out on his own, have his own adventures, and check out his original family. Maybe there was something he could do before he went out to become a great epic hero!

------

Soun had picked up the phone, listened for a few minutes, then gotten all three daughters together to announce they were going on a little trip.

Along the way he'd revealed the nature of both phone call and trip.

Akane was *not* happy. An arranged marriage? To a *boy*?! Boy = pervert. Hmmmph.

Nabiki was intrigued. Unlike Akane, a cute boy did indeed have some appeal to her.

Kasumi was mildly disappointed. A younger boy. They were so boring!

Soun was concerned, more so as they got closer to Juuban. It looked like a storm brewing!

------

On arriving, the reactions were a little different.

Ranma was *not* a little boy. The aforementioned diet, exercise, and training had redefined Ranma.

Standing 6'8", the sixteen year old with the piercing blue eyes resembled his patron for the past ten years in overall musculature. He looked like he could rip the doors off of a bank vault (he could), crush bowling balls in his hands (that too), and play front four for an American Football League team.

Akane took one look and any comments about stupid boys and perverts went right out the window. Not only was she a guest in someone else's home, the easy smile on the boy's face didn't seem lecherous.

Of course, part of this was that if you hang around people like Freya, much less party like a bunch of Norse divinities, you learned not to start anything you weren't going to finish. Ogling strange women often had strange results.

Nabiki took one look and did a credible imitation of "Sylvester upon seeing the Tweety Bird" - acres and acres (figuratively) of lean tall muscular hunk? Wearing clothes that looked tough and serviceable and of very good quality? They weren't cheap clothes either, which didn't match the rest of the house (either in style or wealth level) but looked good on him. Hmmm. The whole arranged marriage thing didn't work well for her, but it *would* give her some tentative security and plans for the future. Besides, she could do a *lot* worse.

Kasumi was still trying to get her mouth working. She'd expected younger = shorter = immature = nothing interesting. This Ranma had a presence and his voice was *very* deep and commanding.

Nodoka just smiled. She not only had been reunited with her son, but he was proving to be very manly so far. Why, just the way he had reacted to Genma's announcement - picking his father up by the collar and giving Genma the best workout he'd had in ages - how wonderful! Of course Genma was still resting at the bottom of that deep Genma-shaped shaft after Ranma had gotten a little enthusiastic - but boys will be boys after all.

"So, uhm," began Soun a little edgy after it had been explained why Genma was not currently available. "Which of my three daughters will it be? Kasumi is 19, Nabiki is 17..."

Ranma had held up a hand. "Look, if family honor's involved, I'll go along with an engagement for now. Only for now. I've got other tangles to deal with. Besides, telling me their names and ages doesn't tell me nothing."

Soun hesitated, but he *could* see the point and his daughters hadn't been too keen on the idea. Besides, Soun thought if he tried a Demon Head, this boy would laugh at him. (He was right.) "Okay. This is Kasumi, she's nineteen. She took over the household after her mother's death and is an excellent cook and housekeeper."

Kasumi winced ever so slightly. Her father made it sound as if she didn't have any hobbies or interests.

Soun continued with the next daughter. "This is Nabiki, who is seventeen. She's... well... and then we come to Akane."

Nabiki didn't simply frown, she FROWNED. What, her own father couldn't think of anything nice to say about her?!

"Akane is the heir of the Tendo School of Anything Goes," announced Soun. "OK, it's decided. Ranma will marry Akane!"

*crackle* *BOOM!* Lightning struck something that had been coming out of that deep shaft in the backyard and the rain began coming down in sheets.

"No," said Ranma calmly. Everyone else was trying to get their hair to settle back down after the near-strike.

"Huh? What?" Akane yelled while holding her ringing ears. "Did you say something perverted?"

Nabiki, having wrapped herself around Ranma and clinging for dear life, had the grace to look embarassed. Not that she was immediately letting go, as she seemed to be slightly discomfited. As in her life passing before her eyes and not that happy with the results.

Kasumi tsked at where her father had hidden under the table, climbed out of where she had hidden in Ranma's shirt (somehow avoiding the parts Nabiki was still clinging to) and managed to look somewhat dignified by the time she reached her original spot at the table.

Ignoring the "roast pork" smell in the air, Ranma made a counter-suggestion. None of the three looked particularly like a devil-hunter or someone who could handle legions of undead or anything. "How about you consider something else. I'm going to go off and find some adventures. If one of your daughters wants to come along, fine. We can get to know each other, and if something develops - we'll talk about the engagement then. What do you say?"

-------

"Me and my big mouth," grumbled Ranma.

Kasumi adjusted her parasol as she walked, looking about her at the cute little birds and animals.

Nabiki hiked along, still examining the treasure map and comparing it to the translation.

Akane adjusted the straps on her backpack and tried to ignore the fact that she'd tried to wear sandals and a gi on this outing. Neither article of clothing was in particularly good shape at present.

Ranma swung across an alligator filled chasm, sure that the girls would turn back *now*.

Kasumi swung across delicately, tucked an errant strand of hair behind one ear, and bravely marched on.

Nabiki crossed a little less confidently, but then pulled out a field guide and identified the partridge berries as being snackable while they waited.

Akane swung across confidently. The vine snapped. Akane shrieked and vanished. Amidst snapping noises she climbed back out a moment later. "Nothing to it!"

Ranma shook his head. Actually, he was finding himself impressed despite himself with the three. Kasumi took everything in stride, Nabiki found a way to use darn near everything they came across, and Akane had this "never say die" stubborn streak going for her.

Nabiki checked the map again with her compass. "Okay, it looks like if your map is accurate, there should be an opening in that mountain that leads to the Citadel Of The Ancient One."

Akane's jaw firmed and she started marching forward. "Finallyyyyyyyyyyy?!"

Looking down at the hole Akane had found, Nabiki consulted the map again. "Hey. According to this, there's something called the Cyttorak Gem buried around here. You see anything, Akane?"

-------

Ranma walked along, shaking his head.

Kasumi walked along, looking concerned.

Nabiki walked along, looking at the big gemstone Akane had handed her. Not that she was willing to actually touch the thing after seeing what had happened to Akane.

Akane grumbled about none of her clothes fitting anymore.

"Well," offered Kasumi, "at least there should be a cure at the Ancient One's library."

Akane hoped so. Being a 7'9" Juggernaut with muscles even bigger than Ranma's was not fun. Not fun at all.

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