The Great Crossover Crisis

Discalaimer: Ranma and company are not mine. I think that says it all. What? 
You were expecting a grand production?

[" "]: Chinese Language
< >: Thoughts
(* *): Computer responses
D-Ranma: Dragon Child (Draco)
P-Ranma: Fist of the Pikachu (Trainer, Ash)
T-Ranma: Ranmatech (Prototype, Tekno)
Kojiro: Cat Fist Fury
B-Ranma: Fighting Blind (Koga)
Ranma: The original
DD-Akane: Akane from Dual Destinies
Chapter 12
Making Some Changes

KABOOM!

"There they go again." T-Ranma sighed as he and Draco were stranding on the 
sidelines of the main training area. They were watching Koga and Kojiro leap 
at each other, each trying to outperform his opponent.

"This is their... what, one thousandth sparring session since they met?" 
Draco asked.

"One thousand and twelve." Prototype replied as he glanced over his shoulder 
and saw Trainer and Ranma walking toward them. Both were rubbing their eyes 
after awakening. As always, the Pikachu was perched on Trainer's shoulder.

"Hey guys. What's up?" Draco greeted.

"What's with all the racket?" Ranma asked. Usually, he could sleep through 
an earthquake, but with his senses attuned to ki energies, he was quickly 
awakened when Koga and Kojiro started throwing multiple blasts and used 
advanced techniques. It had been a week since he had been invited to stay 
with his counterparts in the complex. Naturally, Genma had voiced out his 
disapproval, but  with a few... convincing arguments from the other Ranmas, 
the panda soon came around to their way of thinking. Not that Prototype or 
his look-alikes gave him much of a choice.

It didn't take long for Ranma to move into the complex. He was all for 
living with his other selves, and it would be a welcomed change of pace to 
be with people who actually understood him. Then again, they were him after 
all. However, to his disappointment, they had yet to teach him any of their 
techniques, nor was he able to get a hold of Trainer's Water Stone Pendant. 
Whenever he asked about it, the Pokemon trainer and martial artist would 
just change the subject. Ranma didn't give up though. He was almost one 
hundred percent certain that the pendant was the key to solving most of his 
current problems. The trick was how to get his hands on it. He had 
considered sneaking into P-Ranma's room and just take it, but that idea did 
not have much merit. For one thing, though he had considerable thieving 
skills from his ten-year training journey, he wasn't very keen on stealing, 
especially when he later learned that those so-called innocent games that 
Genma had taught him were against the law and totally wrong. When he was 
young, his father had told him to take things from people and have them 
chase after him, as part of his training regimen. If they couldn't catch 
him, then whatever he took was his for the keeping. When he grew older and 
learned that what he had done in the past was criminal, he came to realize 
that he was actually hurting people and stopped playing those 'games.'
Ranma was no saint. Though he never stole outright from others since then, 
he had done a few things in the past which would cause one to question his 
morals. He had sunk to very low levels when he tried to con and later steal 
that magic wishing sword from Kuno. Then there was that so-called waterproof 
soap of Shampoo's and that instant nannichuan.  Then there was that map to 
Japan's Spring of Drowned Man. During those times, he had rationalized his 
actions, saying that Kuno and Shampoo had deceived him and caused him a lot 
of grief, so therefore they did not really count.  The same thing went with 
Ryoga. But, when he later thought about it, it was... deceitful and would 
probably be what Genma would have done.

The thought of him becoming just like his father often gave Ranma the 
willies. Genma was a greedy, self-serving idiot, who would and HAD sold out 
his son on many occasions to get what he wanted without earning it. He was 
also not above letting his son take the consequences and didn't think far 
enough ahead, being only concerned with the quick fix and instant reward.
At that point, Ranma remembered back to what his other selves said about how 
they felt about that panda and did not bother to hide their disgust about 
how Ranma had never gotten away from his father. Well, all except the oldest 
member of the group, who was polite and mature enough to keep his distaste 
of Genma to himself. At that moment, he began thinking about his future. Did 
he really want to end up like his father? At present, being anything like 
Genma was hazardous. Ranma's father had been receiving a series of beatings 
since the five other Ranmas came, but he had to admit that his father had 
been asking for it.

That time he tried to break into Prototype's ship should have been enough of 
a warning to Genma not to trifle with them. However, like the moron that he 
was, Genma just had to keep pushing it. He tried to get two of them engaged 
to Kasumi and Nabiki, which also met with extremely painful consequences. 

His most recent bonehead maneuver occurred just two days ago...

----------
Flashback...

"PIKA... CHUUUUU!"
ZZZZAAAAAAPPPP!
"MACHOP!"
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
"GOLDUCK!"
SPLOOSH!
"NEIGH!"
FWOOSH!
"PIDGOOO!"
"YOW!"
"SLASH!"
RIP! TEAR! REND!

We now see a bruised, frazzled, smoking, and very badly mauled panda lying 
on the floor as a couple of businessmen ran off with their briefcases of 
money. Surrounding the battered idiot of a martial artist were P-Ranma's 
Pokemon, all of which were powering up their auras for a second barrage. At 
that moment, Trainer stomped toward Genma, waving off his Pokemon to stand 
aside as he picked up Ranma's father by the front of his gi and shook him 
back to consciousness.

As soon as Genma opened his eyes, Ash shouted in his face while continually 
shaking him like a rag doll.

"NOW LISTEN HERE! I KNEW YOU WERE AN IDIOT, BUT THIS TIME YOU WENT TOO FAR! 
IF YOU TRY TO SELL MY POKEMON JUST ONE MORE TIME, THEN I'LL STUFF YOU INTO A 
POKEBALL! THE HARD WAY!"

There was a huge explosion of ki as P-Ranma used his Hyper Beam to send 
Genma soaring into the stratosphere. Half the roof was blown off, but by 
that afternoon, Care-Bot Unit Seven had it repaired. As for Genma, it took 
him until early the next morning to get back to Nerima.

End of Flashback...

----------

Ranma shuddered as he remembered how angry Trainer was when someone tried to 
take something of his. That was the second reason why Ranma did not try to 
steal the Pendant as of yet. P-Ranma was pretty powerful in his own right 
and his Pokemon were extremely protective of him and his property. Though 
Ranma had battled Mousse, Kuno, and Ryoga on a regular basis; and had even 
taken on more powerful foes such as Cologne, Happosai, Pantyhose and the 
dragon prince of the Musk Dynasty, Herb, the fact was that Trainer was no 
pushover.

Ranma winced as he remembered the pain he felt when Ash nailed him with that 
Thunderblast Bomb attack of his. The Pokemon trainer had also displayed a 
wide array of different techniques and seemed to always be creating more. 

What Ranma didn't know was that during the trip through dimensions, P-Ranma 
had been constantly battling and training with the others. His skills had 
substantially improved since joining up with his other selves. With every 
new challenge appearing nearly every day, the five Ranmas had no trouble 
with keeping their skills up and improving on them.

Ranma sighed as he thought back to how was going to get at that pendant. 
Stealing it was out of the question. It would feel like stealing from 
himself and he could understand how any one of the Ranmas would be upset if 
one of their own betrayed their trust. The fact that they insisted that 
Ranma stay with them in the complex said much of their faith in him.

The pigtailed martial artist did enjoy their company, but he would always 
feel uneasy when they started giving him advice on how to act and 
encouraging him to go out with the other girls. The situation between Akane, 
Ukyo and Shampoo was already volatile and he didn't want things to explode 
any further, but his other selves just wouldn't give up. And it wasn't just 
his girl problems that they kept on addressing. They seemed quite determined 
to educate him in things that did not involve the martial arts...

----------

A few days later...

"I don't know about this Koga. I mean, should we really be going to the Cat 
Caf?"

The blind fighter shrugged and replied. "Pardon the pun, but I really don't 
SEE why not. It's lunchtime and I'm in the mood for some good ramen. In any 
case, you don't have any lunch with you. That is, unless you were actually 
planning on to EAT that lunch that Akane tried to hand to you this morning. 
Well, were you?"

Ranma winced as he remembered the lunch that Akane had whipped for him. 
Emphasis on the word 'whipped' as she had beaten and slugged the gooey mass 
into the bento before holding it down while tying it up. His father and Soun 
were instantly on his case when he tried to turn down the meal, holding him 
down and shouting at him to eat whatever his fiance had made for him and 
like it, even if it killed him. In this case, it probably would have.

----------
Flashback to that morning...

Koga had just emerged from the complex and his sensitive nose instantly 
caught the odor of something extremely nauseous. His sense of smell was more 
acute than a shark's and could pick up scents as faint as one part per 
trillion. It was also developed enough to distinguish between different 
chemical compositions. It was like having a chemistry lab in his nose.

Judging from what he could tell Akane's lunch was composed of,  Koga 
realized that if Ranma ate that, then even the famous Saotome iron stomach 
and the blind fighter's impressive healing skills may not be able to save 
him. Sushi for lunch wasn't unusual, but blowfish? Akane should have known 
better than that. And the poisonous seafood was only part of the toxic 
concoction that the Tendo girl had created for her fianc. When his nose 
analyzed the rest of the lunch, Koga winced. Eating the blowfish toxin would 
probably be much safer than the rest of the bento. He had to act fast to 
save his counterpart.

The blind Ranma had to make it look like an accident, so he quickly made a 
tiny dart appear in his hand. He then reached out with his senses for the 
weakest point in the bento box. He charged up the dart with ki, and with a 
quick flick of the wrist, hurled the projectile toward his target. The dart 
was no bigger than a toothpick, but with the Delayed Breaking Point, it 
became a very effective weapon. The point of the dart made contact with the 
bento and delivered its payload of ki into the box, disintegrating into 
powder a moment after hitting it.

Just as a smiling and proud Akane was handing her reluctant fianc her 
masterpiece of culinary delight, it suddenly sagged in the handkerchief and 
a cracking noise was heard. Akane cried out as the bento broke open and the 
gelatinous mass erupted from within, causing her to drop it.

"Oh no! The lunch! I worked so hard on it!" Akane sobbed as she bent down to 
try and salvage it. However, the blob wanted nothing more to do with her and 
oozed away into the yard.

Ranma sighed in relief as he saw that  he had been saved from a face worse 
than death. "Aw that's too bad. Well, no use crying over spilled lunches. 
Oh, look at the time! I'm going to be late for school. Guess I'll have to 
wait until next time Akane, see ya!"

Without another word, Ranma bolted from the scene, breaking out of the 
stranglehold that Soun and Genma had him and left a trail of dust in his 
wake.

"Ranma no baka!" Akane shouted as she chased after him with the mallet.
Koga sighed as his senses tracked them both. Akane's mallet was painful to 
swallow, but his counterpart would at least live through that experience.

----------

End of flashback...

Ranma shuddered again as he recalled how narrow an escape it had been. Since 
then, he had been avoiding Akane to allow her time to cool off. However, he 
was now faced with another dilemma. He was broke and his stomach was 
growling. Fortunately, B-Ranma had offered to treat him to lunch. However, 
when he realized that his sightless other self was leading him to the Cat 
Caf, Ranma suspected that something was up.

"I really don't know about this. If Akane finds out that I went to Shampoo, 
she..."

"I can't understand why you're so against it." B-Ranma said with a smirk. 

"We're only going to have lunch, that's all. Besides, she can go without 
seeing you for one hour. You see her every day, so what's the problem? 
Besides, Shampoo is quite pretty, from what my fingers tell me and she is 
technically your fiance as well."

"That crazy chick ain't my fiance! It's only because of those stupid Amazon 
Laws and because that old ghoul of hers..." Ranma suddenly stopped short 
when he felt an icy sensation wash over him. He looked at Koga and though 
his eyes were unchanged, his brows were furrowed and his mouth straightened 
into a hard line. His arms were crossed and he was giving him a cold 
expression that made Antarctica look like a tropical paradise. "Er, I 
mean... ah, well, I didn't... you know... ah, heh, heh. I ... I..." His 
voice trailed off as he realized that he had insulted both his counterpart 
and people that he regarded with great respect.

Koga took a deep breath and remembered back to what Prototype said about the 
people in this universe being different than the ones in his own. "Just for 
today, I'm going to let that one pass. However, I will not stand by and let 
you address Elder Cologne or Shampoo with anything less than the proper 
courtesy. It IS considered good manners, after all. Did Genma teach you 
nothing of social skills? As I recall, Cologne has done much for you, and 
she does have more than two hundred and eighty-four years of experience than 
you do. You could learn a lot from that kind of experience."

"Well, I..."

Koga held up a hand. "As I said before, I'm going to let this one 
transgression pass. Remember though, her name is not 'old ghoul'. It is 
Cologne and my cousin's name is Shampoo, not 'crazy chick.' Understood?"

Ranma couldn't believe the intensity his other self was radiating and could 
only nod as they continued on their way to the Nekohanten.

----------

"Ah! Son-in-laws!" Cologne greeted as she hopped on her cane to the front 
door. As per usual, the Nekohanten was bustling with business as it was a 
popular spot to come for lunch. At the moment, Mousse was out on an errand. 
Shampoo waved to the two and bounced her way toward them. She was so 
ecstatic of seeing two images of her beloved that she leaped up and glomped 
onto the both of them.

"Airen!"

Ranma winced as he tried to push away from the Amazon's embrace while Koga 
chuckled a bit. When they finally disengaged, he spoke to this world's 
version of his cousin in Mandarin.  ["It's good to be here again, Shampoo, 
but remember, I only LOOK like Ranma. I'm Koga, remember?"]

Shampoo nodded as she apologized. ["Sorry about that, but I can't help it. 
You're just as cute as my darling here."] <Actually, you're even cuter.> 
Shampoo silently added as she led them to a booth.

Ranma sat down as Koga addressed Cologne. ["Honored Elder, if you don't 
mind, I would like to have a private word with you."]

["But of course, Son-in-Law."]

Koga wagged a finger at her. ["Ah, ah, ah. Koga, remember?"]

["Heh. Well, you can't blame an old woman for some wishful thinking, can 
you?"]

Koga gave her a warm smile as he addressed Shampoo. ["Shampoo, Ranma is 
starving and he could really use your best ramen. I'll be back in a few 
minutes to eat, so you can serve him first, okay?"]

The purple-haired girl nodded as she bounced off .

----------
A minute later, in the a small room behind the kitchen...

["So what can I do for you, Son-in... I mean, Koga?"]

["Honored Elder..."]

Cologne held up a hand. ["Please. You can drop the formalities. As much as I 
enjoy being called 'Honored Elder,' instead of 'Old Ghoul,' I would very 
much appreciate it, if you were to just call me Cologne. You are after all, 
Jasmine's son and in a way, you are a part of my family."] She then added to 
herself, <Though I would very much like to have you OFFICIALLY a member of 
my family. > ["So what is on your mind?"]

["What was your first impression of Ranma when you first met him?"]

Cologne paused for a moment as she remembered back to her first encounter 
with Ranma. ["Well, I will admit, he was not quite as I expected. He was 
young, cocky, brash and seemed quite sure of himself. However, I also sensed 
some serious potential within him and he did surprise me on a few 
occasions."]

Koga nodded as he began explaining. ["Elder, I mean... Cologne, my 
counterparts and I have observed your Ranma and, well.. .to put it bluntly, 
there's not really much about him that one could be proud of."]

["What do you mean? He's an excellent and talented warrior and is of a very 
strong bloodline. He'll make a welcome addition to the tribe and..."]

["Oh, I'm not saying that he's lacking in the martial arts department."] The 
blind fighter interrupted. ["I sensed great potential within him as well and 
he's destined for much greater things in the future. However, it seems that 
martial arts is the only thing that he thinks about. The only thing that is 
important in his life, and I fear that has made him woefully unprepared for 
the other aspects of the real world. I have a feeling that his upbringing 
under his father had a lot to do with his present behavior. When he becomes 
faced with something that is outside of the fight, he's about as ready to 
handle it as a fish is to mountain climbing. I'm certain that you are aware 
of his lack of social skills and his inability to be subtle?"]

["Well, Son-in-Law does tend to... express himself a lot."] Cologne replied 
reluctantly.

["In other words, he shoots off his mouth a lot, correct?"]

Cologne sighed and nodded. ["Yes, he is... quite rude."]

["And I take it that he has little to no experience with girls, despite the 
fact that he's half-girl himself?"]

["Well, I wouldn't say that..."]

["What would you say? From what the others have observed, Ranma seems to 
cling to outdated, chauvinistic ideals about manhood and about the opposite 
gender. He thinks of girls as weaker and won't cry. I also believe that this 
behavior is due to his upbringing under Genma. I on the other hand, do 
understand the strengths of others, regardless of gender.  And crying is not 
unmanly if one sheds tears for a good reason. That's what my mother Jasmine 
had taught to me, for which I am thankful for."]

["You seem to have much insight for one who is lacking in sight."]

B-Ranma nodded as he continued. ["In any case, I would think that Ranma 
might benefit from gaining the same kind of insight.  He is sorely deficient 
in much of the kind of education a person his age should have. He ignores 
the 'signals' that his body is giving him, thinking them as perverted and 
not fitting in with his narrow-minded views."]

["Signals?"] Cologne asked with a knowing smile.

B-Ranma nodded. ["He is far TOO immature and thinks that any thoughts that 
are.... ahem, shall we say of an intimate nature toward girls to be 
perverted and is to be avoided.  With so little experience in dealing with 
the... 'facts of life,' his father's influence, his girl curse and all the 
troubles he has now, it is no wonder that he is so against thinking of girls 
in any kind of..."] The blind fighter blushed as he tried to think of a way 
of explaining. He then said in a very low whisper, ["Well, I'm going to have 
to say it.... sexual content."]

The elder chuckled at Koga's obvious embarrassment over such a delicate 
subject. ["And I suppose you are more... educated in things of that 
nature?"]

The blind fighter's cheeks reddened even more as he replied while scratching 
the back of his head. ["Well, let's just say that I am quite aware of the... 
er, differences between males and females, both physically and emotionally. 

In any case, you have to admit that Ranma has not been exposed to any good 
role models or had any favorable experiences about that subject. You 
probably know more about Happosai than I do, and having a female body half 
the time would make Ranma unsure about his manhood. Then there's Akane and 
her abusive treatment of him whenever she sees him with Shampoo, Ukyo or any 
other girl. She's also calling him a pervert and inflicting severe physical 
injury whenever Ranma tries to be nice to her or has any intimate or sexual 
thoughts about the opposite sex.. Then there are the other suitors like 
Ryoga, Mousse and Kuno who keep attacking him whenever they see him with 
Akane or Shampoo. With so many negative results, I can understand why Ranma 
would prefer not to get involved with a girl. However, I can sense a great 
conflict that is occurring within him as all those repressed emotions are 
causing a heavy strain on him."]

["What do you mean?"]

["Well, Ranma is past the age of what people call puberty, but he is 
actively resisting the feelings and reactions, which goes normally with the 
changes his body is undergoing. I think it is because he is so afraid of 
what might result and the fact that he's half-girl, that he just pushes all 
those emotions aside and focuses only on the martial arts. That is not 
helping him in his current situation. He is totally at a loss when dealing 
with situations that don't involve a fight and he is especially unprepared 
when it involves girls. Have you ever wondered why Ranma has not responded 
to Shampoo? I mean, she is a beautiful girl and any other boy would be 
falling over himself to be near her. So why hasn't he responded? The answer 
is simple. He doesn't know how and he's afraid of what might happen if he 
does respond."]

["I see..."] Cologne had sometimes wondered why Ranma always acted so 
childish and immature. Back in the village, Shampoo had more than her fair 
share of admirers, and one did not have to mention Mousse. In Japan, several 
of the customers had asked her for dates. However, whenever Shampoo tried to 
any romantic overtures toward Ranma, the Saotome boy would cringe away from 
Shampoo as if she was carrying the plague. Now that she thought about it, 
Koga's words made sense and it was quite unhealthy for Ranma to keep such 
emotions bottled up for too long. ["Exactly what are you suggesting?"]

["Well..."] B-Ranma thought for a moment. ["I think Ranma would have an 
easier time if he were taught that thinking of girls in a more sexual 
content is not entirely wrong and that it's only natural. I'm not suggesting 
that we force him to go on panty raids or some such nonsense, but it would 
help him be more comfortable around girls if he knew that the word S-E-X is 
a part of life and that he shouldn't shun it, just because of the few bad 
examples that he has seen. In other words, he needs to be... educated more 
on the relationship between males and females. Furthermore, my counterparts 
and I believe that Ranma should spend less time focusing on the martial arts 
and more on his other social skills. He's got to get out more often and be 
away from such influences like Genma and the Tendos. They are NOT helping 
him in his development either. Soun Tendo is only concerned with uniting the 
schools. Kasumi, (bless her kind heart), does tend to ignore the bad things 
about people, but that in turn does not make any problems go away.  The 
Nabiki in this dimension has yet to learn that her mercenary actions are 
hurting Ranma, and you already know about Akane. What my others selves and I 
agree on is that Ranma needs some time on his own to sort out his life."]

["Hmmm, that does seem like a good start. But, exactly how would this 
benefit Shampoo and I?"]

["I was wondering when you would ask that question."] Koga said. ["My 
counterparts and I have agreed that Ranma should be given the choice of 
which girl he wants to be with. Though we all have our own preferences, 
(personally, I would think that Shampoo would be his best choice), Prototype 
has reminded us that this is RANMA'S life, not ours.  We are only here to 
help him grow, and I think that's what Ranma's needs the most, the chance to 
actually grow. That was the reason why we invited Ranma to stay with us in 
the complex. We are also going to give the other girls, including Shampoo, 
equal opportunities to spend time with Ranma, without anyone else 
interfering. That is the main advantage Akane has over the other girls, 
since Ranma lives at the Tendo home. Now what I want Shampoo to do is to 
ease back on her affection and let Ranma gradually get used to such 
emotions. I promise that she will have a good chance to catch him, just like 
all the other fiances. IF she plays her cards right, then she might the one 
walking down the aisle beside him."]

Cologne nodded as she considered the blind boy's suggestions. So far, all of 
her other schemes to get Ranma to marry Shampoo had ended in dismal failure. 
It couldn't hurt to try it this way. In any case, she had nothing better in 
mind and this venture was feasible.

["Very well, Koga. I will admit that Son-in-Law does need to learn a few 
things about life and this may also help Shampoo grow as well."]

["Thank you, Cologne. Oh, and one more thing. I would suggest that you 
refrain from calling him Son-in-Law. Technically speaking, he isn't your 
son-in-law as of yet, and it is very clear that the name makes him 
uncomfortable. His name is Ranma, so please use it. I have already asked him 
to stop referring you as 'Old Ghoul.' It's only common courtesy that one 
addresses another by his or her proper name."]

["All right. If he calls me Cologne or Elder, then I shall call him... 
Ranma."]

----------

Meanwhile...

As he had no classes to teach that day, Tekno found himself with some 
leisure time on his hands and decided to show the eldest Tendo daughter a 
good time. Care-Bot Unit Seven was already taking care of the daily 
household chores, thereby giving Kasumi a chance to actually go on her 
first, honest-to-goodness...  date.

Naturally, the shy and demure Kasumi tried to turn down Prototype's generous 
offer, but the technological Ranma wouldn't take no for an answer and was 
determined to get Kasumi to enjoy her freedom from the daily drudgery that 
had become her existence after her mother had passed away. Before she could 
protest, he gently nudged her into the mechanical hands of the other 
Care-Bots, instructing them to spare no expense in helping Kasumi prepare 
for an outing. He even had his Care-Bots create an entire new wardrobe for 
her, which contained articles of clothing that were a far cry from the 
housedresses and frilly aprons that Kasumi usually wore.

At that moment, Kasumi was strolling down the street while holding onto 
T-Ranma's arm. She was dressed in a simple, pale-blue frock with a sash 
around her waist. The skirt came down to below her knees, but still showed 
off a good portion of shapely legs. She had on her feet, low-heeled pumps 
which accentuated her calves, but were specially designed not to put any 
undue pressure on her feet. (I can never understand how women can walk in 
those things!). The new clothes easily molded to her body, hinting at lush 
curves, while still maintaining a sense of decency and modesty. It was just 
as well. If Kasumi had opted for the dress that T-Ranma had given to her 
that first time she was in the complex, she would have caused a stampede of 
male suitors.

Her hair was tied in a luxuriant, lush tail that was drawn over her right 
shoulder. The Care-Bots had catered to her every need in preparing her for 
her date with their master. She had been given a soothing bath that had 
special enrichment minerals, which caused all the calluses, dryness and 
wrinkles from years of housework to vanish, leaving only smooth, unblemished 
and healthy skin. Her hands, which had borne the brunt of her hard labors to 
care for her family, became especially smooth-skinned as the Care-Bots 
worked their magic. Her hair had been treated with a special revitalizing 
shampoo that removed all tangles and knots, as well as giving the strands a 
healthy sheen. She had been given another expert manicure and pedicure as 
well, and for the first time, was actually wearing make-up.

The Care-Bots had introduced her to a wide variety of exotic cosmetics and 
perfumes, some of which could not be found on Earth. Instead of making her 
look gaudy and over-made up, the Care-Bots instead went for a more natural 
look and only applied enough make up in the proper proportions to fully 
emphasize Kasumi's serene, yet angelic beauty. On her neck and wrists, they 
had applied a floral fragrance from a botanical planet that specialized in 
perfumes. The simple, plain and unassuming Kasumi that we all know and love 
became the beautiful and vibrant Kasumi that we all knew was there, but was 
reluctant to come out.

Kasumi had become overwhelmed by the attention she received and was more 
than nervous when she emerged in front of T-Ranma in the new ensemble. 
Prototype however, gave her an assuring smile while offering her his arm.
The two had gone to a very fancy restaurant for lunch, and then to a movie 
theater. The looks and remarks that they received from other people made 
Kasumi even more embarrassed, as some would comment on what a lovely couple 
they made. To their eyes they saw a very beautiful girl on the arm of a 
tall, handsome and dashing man. Those who knew Kasumi did a series of 
double-takes as they passed by. Several could not believe that beautiful and 
enchanting vision of loveliness was the same Tendo girl who passed by them 
everyday on her shopping trips. They were unaccustomed at seeing her without 
her arms full of groceries or in her usual attire of a plain housedress and 
perhaps an apron.  Many men liked what they saw and wondered how they could 
have missed such exquisiteness in Soun's eldest daughter. As for female 
watchers, they became jealous at seeing the Tendo girl hanging onto the arm 
of her handsome escort.

Kasumi couldn't believe that all this was happening and she felt a stirring 
of special feelings that she never experienced before. A feeling that 
everything was actually right and what she was doing was the most natural 
thing in the world. It was such a simple, ordinary act of going out with a 
companion, to eat, see a movie and now strolling down the streets. However, 
to her, it was a time of wonder. To be able to partake what other girls took 
for granted. And it was all made possible because of the boy, no... the MAN 
who walked beside her.

Kasumi gazed at her escort with a sense of amazement and curiosity. How 
could this person be Ranma? He was taller, older, broader of shoulder, 
charming, well-mannered and most importantly, far more mature than his 
native counterpart. And yet, when she looked into those blue eyes of his, 
she could see a small part of the Ranma she knew within Prototype. It was 
that love of life and devil-may-care attitude that sometimes scared her, yet 
also kept her fascinated. His face bespoke of great strength, integrity, and 
maturity. but still retained that spark of youthful mischievousness and 
rebellion that she found so endearing. It was if someone had taken out 
Ranma's best character traits and placed them into a more seasoned body. He 
was the dashing swashbuckler, the perfect gentleman, the heroic white knight 
and the lovable rebel without a cause, all rolled into one. He was like all 
those heroes in those trashy romance novels she secretly read when she was 
alone. Did Prototype represent what Ranma's utmost potential could attain in 
time?

Kasumi was still contemplating on this when T-Ranma pointed to a nearby 
dance hall. Naturally, she tried to resist, saying that she wasn't much of a 
dancer. However, when the technological Ranma began pouring on the charm and 
compliments, she melted like butter and let herself be led toward the dance 
floor.

----------

Meanwhile, in another part of Tokyo, in a secluded area of the park, a small 
portal shimmered into view for a moment, allowing a lone figure to step 
through it before it faded away into nothingness. The woman was tall and had 
long, black flowing hair. She was dressed simply in a blue and white kimono 
with matching sandals. She surveyed the area in which she had arrived in 
this world and nodded as she ascertained that no one had seen her entrance. 
She then began walking in the direction of the Tendo Dojo as she thought 
about the purpose of her being in this reality.

DD-Akane knew that this was not going to be easy as she remembered back to 
her own youth. She had not liked change or criticism, and it had been quite 
simple for her to deny everything when it did not suit her. She knew from 
what the Ranma twins had shown her that the native Akane of this world was 
petty and easy to enrage. She wasn't afraid to gloat when she had the upper 
hand and would ignore the plain truth when things did not go her way.

The alternate version of Ranma's fiance sighed as she wondered just how she 
was going to make this world's Akane change or at least consider that her 
current behavior was unacceptable. For DD-Akane, she had to lose Ranma to 
her two greatest rivals, die and then be tortured by demons of the Dark 
World before she finally realized that acting the spoiled and abusive brat 
was not the way. Occasionally, she had nightmares about that experience. 
However, with the passage of time and the support of a loving husband and 
family, those bad dreams had gradually lessened in intensity. They still 
made her shiver, but she had found the strength from her experiences 
afterward to face them.

The Akane of this world had not endured any of that and rarely, if ever had 
to suffer the consequences of her actions. She had not taken anywhere near 
as many lumps as Ranma had and would  add more every day. There were the 
times, in which Akane had acted decently and made DD-Akane proud, but 
compared with the amount of punishment she had given to Ranma because of 
jealousy, lack of trust and compassion for her fianc's troubles; that was a 
trifling sum. Akane took Ranma for granted, thinking that no matter what she 
did to him, he would always remain loyal to her. Well, even a martial artist 
with an insane amount of patience had to have a breaking point, With the way 
things were now, it was only a matter of time before that limit was 
exceeded. Even now, the alternate versions of Ranma were giving their 
counterpart new ways of thinking.

Recently, Akane's sister had told her about the theory of the Emotional Bank 
Account. DD-Akane had learned from Nabiki that a relationship was like 
maintaining two separate bank accounts.  One could think of it in terms of 
deposits and withdrawals. A deposit could be like a smile or giving a person 
the benefit of the doubt. A withdrawal would like hitting him, name-calling 
or getting mad. Though she and Ranma did that to each other many times, 
Ranma didn't do it nearly half as much as Akane did. And he had also made 
several huge deposits into his account, such as defending her, saving her 
almost every other day, letting her hit him to vent out her anger instead of 
fighting back, eating her atrocious cooking to make her feel better, and, 
even giving up a few chances to be cured. His account was firmly in the 
black.

DD-Akane sighed again as she remembered back to her relationship with Ranma. 
She wished that she had not wasted so much of her account. She shook her 
head as she remembered that she had made more withdrawals than deposits in 
her emotional account, therefore invoking penalties for going into the 
negative.  Penalties such as Ranma ignoring her, going off to be with other 
girls and insulting her. The biggest penalty of all was when he was split 
into twins, with love for Shampoo and Ukyo, and none for her beyond 
friendship. That was when the account was canceled.

The alternate Akane knew from what she had observed of her native version's 
life up to this point, was that her emotional account was dangerously deep 
in the red. She had yet to even say the word, 'I'm sorry' to Ranma. The 
native Ranma had thrown in a huge balance for Akane when he arrived since he 
was so desperate for friends after a long and lonely training trip with only 
Genma for company. Bonuses were also thrown in, such as family honor, and 
the support of the family, but all of that could only go so far to cover 
Akane's expenses of abusing Ranma. What good was it to offer ten yen when 
you had to pay a hundred yen and then start the process all over again? Even 
Ranma could only stand so much. It's a miracle that he was able to hold it 
in THIS long without exploding.

Yes, it was plain to see that with the alternate versions of Ranma giving 
their native self a boost, and with the native Akane remaining unchanged, it 
was likely that the account that Akane had would be so deep in the red that 
it would be canceled soon. Though the Ranma twins had assured DD-Akane that 
those other Ranmas would not interfere with him making a choice of whom to 
marry, the older Akane still wanted to see her younger self get a better 
chance. However, if the native Akane were to lose her chance, even with the 
advice and lessons that DD-Akane planned to give her, then she would have no 
one to blame for her misfortune but herself. ***

----------

***Author's note: I took this idea of an emotional bank account from 
Skysaber's story Mirrors Multiplied. Now that was a great idea! One that I 
agree with totally.***

----------

"Are you kidding?!"

"Oh come on, Ranma. Why not?"

"Because I wanna live to see the next day!"
Koga paused to take a deep breath as he and Ranma walked back to Furinkan. 

"I don't understand why you're so up in arms about this. I only said that 
since Shampoo IS your fiance and..."

"Only because of that STUPID Amazon Law and..." The cold look that the blind 
fighter gave Ranma made the brash martial artist stop in mid-rant and calm 
down. "Sorry about that, but what you're suggesting is just ASKING for 
trouble!"

"So what's wrong with taking Shampoo out on a date?"

"WHAT'S WRONG?! HAVE YOU GONE NUTS?! Do you realize what Akane and Ukyo will 
do if they see me with Shampoo?!"

Koga cocked his head to one side and then replied, "All right. So take Ukyo 
out on a date too. She won't have anything to complain about then, right? 
Come to think of it, since Kasumi and Nabiki are technically included in the 
pledge to unite the schools, it wouldn't hurt to take them out either."

"What about Akane?"

"What about her?"

"Huh?"

"Ranma... the reason why I suggested that you take Shampoo out is simple. 
She's your fiance, yet she does not get to see you often. The same thing 
goes for Ukyo. They deserve to spend some time with you. I can tell that 
they really do care about you. And my counterparts and I all agree that they 
deserve THAT much, especially with all the sacrifices they've made for you."

"Sacrifices? What sacrifices?"

<Oh boy! He can't be THIS dense, now can he? > "Ranma, Ukyo had been acting 
like a boy for ten years and lived only for revenge against you.  She still 
forgave you and lets you eat at her restaurant for free. She thinks the 
world of you and despite all those times you've treated her as just an old 
friend, she still hopes that it will be more. She's so hopeful that she'll 
be the one that you'll marry, she won't even consider looking at another 
guy. She's pinned her entire future on you. Now if you don't call that a big 
sacrifice, then I'm REALLY worried about you. And as for Shampoo, she's 
already made a lot of sacrifices and broken quite a few laws for you."

"Huh?"

"Ranma, do you remember when you told Shampoo that you were really a girl? 
She should have killed you, but she didn't! She simply left to go back to 
the village in disgrace! She received a Jusenkyo curse! She could have 
easily killed Akane, but since you cared so much about her, she instead used 
the Xi Fang Gao Shiatsu technique! She stood by you when Ling Ling and Lung 
Lung were hunting you. She helped you when Mousse tried to turn you into a 
duck! Open your eyes, Ranma! She CARES about you! It's a wonder if that 
concern is deserving!"

"Hey! Now don't you tell me about her! She's used potions, tricks, and 
blackmail on me and..."

"ONLY because you don't give her as many chances as you do with Akane."

"Huh?"

B-Ranma took a deep breath and said in a serious tone. "Ranma, the reasons 
why Shampoo did all those bad things is because she believes that those are 
the only ways she has to win you! She wouldn't even DO those things if she 
wasn't sure that you were worth it. Take it from me, I can sense it in her. 
No matter how many times you've brushed her off, she still cares a LOT for 
you. I'm surprised that you never noticed that."

"But..."

"Ranma, I don't mean to be insulting, since I KNOW you weren't born stupid. 
Did you just learn to be an idiot from Genma or did you just get 
brain-damaged from all those hits from Akane's mallet? Ranma, the signs were 
all there, but you just chose to ignore them all. Now I know that I'm 
sounding biased, but think about it. If you give Shampoo some respect and 
understanding, then perhaps she might lay off on the tricks and be more 
honest with you."

"Maybe..." Ranma said slowly. "But taking her out on a date wouldn't work! I 
just know that something will happen to spoil it, not to mention that 
Akane's dad and my Dad would get in the way and stuff."

"Don't worry about that!' My counterparts and I have discussed it and we 
agree that you should spend more time with the other girls to get to know 
them better. If you do take out Ukyo and Shampoo, then we'll make sure that 
no one will interfere. Prototype has even offered to foot the bill for 
dinner, dancing, movies, the works!"

"But how about Akane?"

"Well... you can take her out, IF you want to, but she sees you everyday and 
you live at the dojo. That's the main advantage she has over the other 
girls. I KNOW you're not staying there for her cooking or the daily blows to 
the head. That's the reason why we invited you to live with us. We wanted to 
give you some freedom and teach you to make your own decisions and lead your 
own life."

"Hey! I get to choose what I want to do with my life!"

"Oh really? So I guess the pledge to unite the Schools of the Anything Goes 
was your idea, right?"

"Well, no..."

"And choosing Akane as the your fiance was also your idea?"

"Hey! That's not what I..."

"And having all those troubles that your father had caused, by selling you, 
was part of your plan, right?"

"Wait a minute! My old man did that and..."

"Precisely. In other words, for the last sixteen years or so, you've been 
living by what GENMA had set out for you. All his plans, all his 
arrangements, all those promises that he had made and broken on your behalf 
had NOTHING to do with what you wanted or planned. So exactly WHAT decisions 
have you made, have had any real importance to your future? The answer is... 
NOTHING! A big, fat zero! From what I had learned from your past, you've 
been content to let that idiot of a father run and RUIN your life! And it's 
never going to change unless YOU do something about it!"

"Hey! It's not as easy as you think!" Ranma protested.

The blind Ranma nodded as he said, "True, but life is never simple! However, 
like the old saying goes, the kami only help those who help themselves! If 
you're just waiting for things to get better and just take whatever garbage 
that comes your way, then you're going to be up to your neck in crud for the 
rest of your life! Ignoring the bad things will just make it harder to 
handle when they get bigger!"

"So what are you saying I should do about it!"

"What I'm saying is that you should take long, hard look at your life and 
think about what you really want in your future. Are you certain you want to 
married to an abusive person who does not give you the benefit of the doubt 
nor listens to what you have to say? Do you want to constantly have to take 
punishment every time you wake up? Do you want to keep paying for your 
father's mistakes? Or do you want to take control of your life?"

"Well..."

"Ranma, I can't tell you anything else, except for this little bit of advice 
that I once heard a great space captain say during our journeys. He said for 
us not to live by other people's rules. Do what YOU want, the way YOU want 
it."

"Who said that?"

"His name was Justy Ueki Tylor. He was the captain of a space destroyer that 
we ended up on once during an intergalactic war. But in any case, what do 
you say?"

Ranma became silent as he started to digest the information that Koga had 
told him. A lot of it made sense. It couldn't really hurt to give his 
suggestions a try. And Koga did promise that he and the other Ranmas would 
keep the rest of the Nerima Wrecking Crew from interfering. Still, it 
sounded so unlikely that it would work. However, the words of the Captain of 
the Soyokaze came back to him. He did want to live by his own choices. 
Finally, he decided that this would be his first real step toward a future 
of his own making.

"Okay, I'll give it a try."




