Disclaimer: Tattoon Master and Ranma 1/2 belong to their respective
creators and this all just for fun.

Note: Now this is probably one of the most offbeat stories I could come
up with. I REALLY liked Tattoon Master and saw so many similarities with Oh 
My Goddess, Sailor Moon and of course, Ranma 1/2, so I figured... why not? I 
was disappointed to learn that there were only two episodes available and 
hope that AD Video comes up with more. As for the main character acting 
totally OOC, well just read on! This story takes place somewhere after the 
anime episode of the Dragon's Whisker.

< >: Thoughts
#( )#: Panda signs

Chapter One
Another One of Genma's Deals.

One year after Ranma's birth, somewhere in the mountainous regions of 
Tibet...

"Here is the worm who dared to try to steal the sacred scrolls." The head of 
the guards said as he unceremoniously shoved Genma Saotome's back, causing 
the idiot of a martial artist to fall to his knees. Beside him was another 
of the guards, who was cradling a small bundle in his arms.

Inside his tent, Shiror, the High Priest of the Tattoon Tribe, glared down 
at the wretch who had taken advantage of their hospitality and attempted to 
make off with his peoples' treasures. Shiror was in his early forties and 
was the father of two girls. He had long, red hair that had a few streaks of 
gray. His build was a bit on the lean side, but his mind was sharp as a tack 
and his powers made him very formidable. His youngest child Balla, (or Nima 
as she was called by her mother), was about Ranma's age, while his eldest 
daughter was two years older.

A week ago, Genma Saotome and his infant son had come straggling into their 
hidden valley, begging for food and shelter. The dishonest martial artist 
had already sold out his son and stolen him back a few times already.
Normally, outsiders were not welcomed, but when they saw the baby on his 
back, they had taken pity and decided that it wouldn't hurt to give them 
some food and provisions. However, no sooner had the father regained his 
strength then his greed and thieving ways came to the fore. After seeing the 
amazing powers of the Tattoon Tribe, he began to snoop around their village, 
eventually breaking into their archives in search of the secrets to their 
abilities. He would have made a clean getaway if Ranma hadn't awoken and 
started crying.

That was all it took for the sentries to descend upon the thief and pounded 
him into submission. Genma was considered an exceptional martial artist at 
the time, but even he was no match for the elemental mystics and warriors of 
the Tattoon. Now Genma's fate and that of his baby boy rested in the hands 
of the leader of the Tattoon Tribe and he didn't appear to be in a forgiving 
mood.

"We took you in, nursed you and your son back from starvation, and this is 
how you repay us?" Already, the mystic symbol on his forehead appeared and 
glowed as the leader of the tribe fought to rein in his anger. "Give me one 
good reason why I should spare your miserable life."

Genma was in no condition to fight after being subjected to the elemental 
attacks of the guards, not to mention the intense beating he received 
afterwards. So he did the only thing he could do... the Crouch of the White 
Tiger.

Balla's father became disgusted as he watched the idiot grovel at his feet. 
He then made the symbol on his right hand appear and formed an energy blade 
to lop off the thief's head. He then looked over to the guards and his gaze 
fixated on the baby.

"Please don't kill me! I'm sorry! I'll give you anything you want! All that 
I have!"

<Hmmm... anything I want, eh? That child of his does have great potential... 
He looks to be about Balla's age.>

Balla's father then came to a decision and made the blade disappear. 
"Perhaps.... we can arrange something..."

----------

Sixteen years later...


Ranma Saotome of the School of the Anything Goes Martial Arts sighed as he 
saw doom approaching. And began running. Now with most people, approaching 
doom would be a one-time thing, but for the pigtailed martial artist, this 
was a daily occurrence. As he ran from the mob, he growled as he heard 
various voices calling from behind him, mostly female.

"RANMA NO BAKA! Come back here and eat the lunch I made for you!"

"Airen! Come each too, too delicious ramen!"

"Ranma honey! I made this okonomiyaki specially for you!"

"Ranma darling! Let us elope together!"

Ranma began to feel his anger boil at Akane, Ukyo, Shampoo and Kodachi. Why 
couldn't they just leave him alone? It was bad enough he was engaged to 
three girls against his will, all because of his stupid old man. Genma had 
engaged him to one of the Tendo daughters before he was born, and it was 
just his rotten luck that he ended up being saddled with an uncute tomboy 
who couldn't cook if her life depended on it. And he was pretty sure that 
his life would end if he were to eat Akane's toxic cooking.

The panda man was also responsible for his engagement to Ukyo Kuonji after 
promising him to her in exchange for her family's yattai as a dowry. Genma 
took the yattai and Ranma, but left Ukyo behind. And if he hadn't taken 
Ranma to that stupid training ground in China, then Jusenkyo would have
never happened and Ranma wouldn't have ever met the Amazons and gotten 
involved with Shampoo.

With three girls constantly fighting over him and Ranma always in the 
middle, the last thing he needed was for Kuno's psycho sister to take a 
shine to him. Unfortunately, she had formed an obsession with him and made 
life even less tolerable. Ranma had to look out for poisons, magic Amazon 
herbs, Akane's cooking and mallet, and whatever new fiancee that would pop 
up due to Genma's selling him out for food. Now that by itself, would be 
enough to drive anyone to madness, but it didn't stop there. Due to his 
curse and the fact that he had these girls fighting over him, other
problems had cropped up. Case in point, the other people who were pursuing 
him.

"RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!"

"HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY SHAMPOO!"

"RELEASE MY PIGTAILED GODDESS AND AKANE TENDO, FOUL SORCERER!"

Ranma's battle aura began to flare as the chase continued and the mob showed 
no signs of letting up. His emotions began to shift from depression, to 
tired, to resigned, to upset, to angry, and finally, he just decided to HELL 
with it all. Akane was always hitting him whenever something goes
wrong, even when it wasn't his fault. She never believed in him and he would 
always get pounded whenever he refused to eat her cooking or when one of his 
other suitors got close. She always blamed him for everything and would tell 
him to go off and die! Her sister Nabiki, would take advantage of their 
relationship and his curse to make money on him. Ukyo, his best friend from 
childhood was constantly reminding him of their engagement and was overly 
possessive. Shampoo was no better and treated him like a prize to be won: 
always deceiving him with false cures for his curse and drugging him with 
whatever magical potions and such. She had gotten her great-grandmother into 
the act as well. Kodachi... brrrr, he didn't even want to recall all the 
times she fed him paralysis potions, sleeping drugs and whatnot in her 
maniacal obsession over him. With Ryoga, Kuno, and Mouse also after him, 
there just seemed to be no end in sight. His problems with girls were the 
cause of all this and if this is what it's like, then he was going to have 
no more part of it.

"THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT! GIRLS ARE NOTHING BUT TROUBLE! I'M SICK AND TIRED 
OF ALL OF YOU GIRLS FIGHTING OVER ME AND YOU GUYS GOING AFTER ME BECAUSE OF 
IT! AS OF NOW, ALL ENGAGEMENTS ARE OFF!"

Ranma's aura suddenly flared like a supernova, causing the group to stop 
dead in their tracks. Ranma continued to build up his anger, and then glared 
at the three rivals at the front of the group.

He then began addressing the girls in a voice that they barely recognized as 
his. "I'm SICK OF YOU..." He pointed a finger at Ukyo. "AND YOU!" He then 
gestured to Shampoo. "AND YOU!" Kodachi flinched at the finger. "AND MOST OF 
ALL, YOU!!!" He glared at Akane as his anger hit the breaking point. He then 
turned to the boys.

"I NEVER ASKED TO BE ENGAGED TO ANYBODY AND I CERTAINLY DIDN'T STEAL ANYBODY 
FROM ANYONE! IF YOU GUYS WANT THAT UNCUTE TOMBOY, THAT CRAZY AMAZON OR THE 
OTHER GIRLS, THEN YOU... CAN... HAVE THEM!"

This caused the girls to gasp in shock, as they had never seen Ranma act 
this way.

"Ranchan, you don't mean that!"

"Airen!"

"Ranma, darling!"

"RANMA NO BAKA!"

The boys saw this as an opportunity to attack.

"Ranma! How dare you insult Akane!"

"Prepare to face my blade, for your foul words against the beauteous Akane!"

"I won't have you say bad things about my Shampoo!"

Ranma couldn't believe it. Even after telling them that he had given up all 
claims, they were STILL after his blood. As he dodged the chains, bokken, 
umbrellas and bandannas, Ranma's battle aura began to grow even more 
intense. The pressure began to build and build, and finally... Ranma could
stand no more. His ridiculously high limits for tolerance had finally been 
exceeded.

"LEAVE... ME... ALONE!"

Nerima then suddenly shook with a huge explosion as a blast of pure, 
anger-driven ki suddenly flared and reduced a square block into a smoldering 
crater.

----------

Some time later, at the Tendo dojo...

"HOW DARE YOU BREAK YOUR ENGAGEMENT WITH AKANE!" Soun said as he went into 
his Demon Head. However, Ranma was unaffected this time as his red battle 
aura began to flare again.

Nabiki and Kasumi looked on with interest and bits of uneasiness as Ranma 
faced up to her father's dreaded attack with absolutely no fear whatsoever. 
Akane was in her room and refused to see that baka.

In the past, Ranma always cringed at the sight of Soun's Demon Head, but not 
this time. In fact, Ranma seemed to be showing nothing but disdain as he 
growled at the Tendo patriarch.

"I don't see why I can't break off the engagement. Akane does it all the 
time."

"FOOLISH BOY!" Genma said as he rushed up to support his friend. "IT IS A 
MATTER OF HONOR THAT..."

WHAM!

Nabiki and Kasumi were shocked as Ranma backhanded his father out the patio 
door and into the koi pond. Genma came up in his panda form with a look of 
utter disbelief. He was very surprised at the force in which his son had 
displayed. He had swatted him like an annoying gnat as he continued to
glare at Soun's monstrous appearance.

"I repeat," Ranma growled as his red aura intensified, causing Soun's Demon 
Head to shrink. "I ain't nobody's fiancee. In fact, I'm giving up girls all 
together as they aren't nothin' but trouble!" His expression softened a bit 
as he looked at Kasumi. "Though there are some exceptions."

Soun took this sudden change as a sign to salvage the Tendo-Saotome pledge. 
"Does that mean that you want Kasumi..."

"NO! I SAID I'M GIVING UP THIS WHOLE THING COMPLETELY! AS OF NOW... I QUIT! 
DO YOU HEAR? I QUIT!"

Without another word, Ranma then stomped up to the guestroom and slammed the 
door behind him. The Tendos and Genma were in a state of shock for a few 
minutes, then Soun started toward the stairs. He then felt a paw on his 
shoulder and looked over to see Genma holding up a sign.

#(Let him be for now, Tendo. Give him some time to cool off. I'm sure that 
he'll come around in a bit. After all, where he can he go?) #

----------

Up in the Tendo's guest room...

Ranma however, was not going to get over it. Not this time. He didn't know 
where he got the power to level a city block, but at the moment, he didn't 
care. After a year and a half of non-stop insanity, the pigtailed martial 
artist had finally come to the conclusion that his life in Nerima was just 
not worth it. It wasn't ever going to change, no matter how much he tried to 
make things better. It was a losing battle and even Ranma had a limit to how 
much he could tolerate. And he knew just who to blame for all the misery he 
had endured. His father... and girls!

It was his father who had engaged him to an uncute, violent tomboy without 
ever asking him! It was Genma's fault that he took Ukyo's yattai in exchange 
for engaging his son to her! It was Genma's fault by dragging Ranma to China 
where they got mixed up with those crazy Amazons! Furthermore, because those 
girls had other suitors chasing after them, Ranma felt as if he had a sign 
on him that said, 'Hey! Your girl wants me! Kill me and you get the girl!'

And then there were the girls themselves that gave him grief! Shampoo and 
her potions and that old ghoul! Ukyo and her over-possessiveness! Kodachi 
and her poisons! Akane and her damned temper, mallet, horrible cooking and 
always jumping to conclusions!

Enough was too much! If this is what it meant to be Ranma Saotome, then 
forget it! With this last thought, Genma's only son went to the closet and 
pulled out his backpack.

----------

Later, at dinner time...

"I'm worried." Kasumi said as she sat down to eat with the others. "Ranma 
didn't come down for dinner."

"So what?" Akane snorted as she ate. "It's not like that I want that baka 
down here. Let him go without dinner. We'd all be better off if he'd just 
leave."

Soun turned to Genma, who was wolfing down his share and Ranma's like a 
vacuum cleaner. "I am getting concerned Genma. Do you think Ranma really 
meant what he said, about the engagement?"

Genma waved it off. "Oh don't worry about it Tendo. That boy of mine won't 
ever go back on his honor. You'll see. Things will be back to normal and all 
of this will blow over by tomorrow."

"Speaking of things blowing over," Nabiki said. "What exactly happened this 
afternoon? The news said that some kind of bomb went off near the shopping 
district and a whole square block was leveled!"

Akane became silent at this as she recalled that incident. Ranma had let off 
some kind of blast that took out Kuno, Ryoga and Mousse and sent them to the 
hospital. Ukyo, Shampoo, Kodachi and herself had taken cover and escaped 
with only minor scratches. Akane had no idea that Ranma was capable of such 
a feat.

Soun then made up his mind and addressed to his youngest daughter. "Akane, 
don't you think that it's time you made up with your fiancee and admit your 
true feelings to him?"

This got Akane raged as she recalled his harsh words to her before the 
blast. "I TOLD YOU! HE'S NOT MY FIANCE AND I COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT HIM!"

Soun then turned to Kasumi and started weeping, "Wah! Kasumi, she yelled at 
me!"

Akane winced as she went stomping up to Ranma's room. "Oh, all right! I'll 
go talk to that insensitive jerk!"

When she knocked on the door and shouted for Ranma, there was no answer. She 
became angrier by the moment as she knocked on the door again and called for 
him. There was still no reply. Finally, she decided to just barge in and 
flung open the door.

"RANMA..."

The sight that greeted her made her stop in her tracks. The closet door was 
open and Ranma's backpack was missing. The window to the guestroom was open 
and on the windowsill was a piece of paper with two words written in large 
kanji.

I QUIT!

----------

A few months later, in Hiroshima...

Ranma was feeling good about himself as he entered the apartment that he had 
just leased. He was confident that none of the Nerima Wrecking Crew would 
ever find him. He thought back to the time he left the Tendos and Genma for 
good.

----------

Flashback...

As Akane and her family were eating dinner, Ranma quietly crept into 
Nabiki's room and began rifling through her private files. Contrary to 
popular belief, Ranma was not quite the naive, easily manipulated and dumb 
jock that the middle Tendo daughter had pegged him for. He knew that if he 
were to leave right at this moment, the others would surely hunt him down. 
That was the reason why he was in Nabiki's room and scanning though the 
listings of certain people.

Ranma had decided that the best way to throw everyone off his trail was to 
totally remake himself. However, since he had no prior experience in 
creating a new identity, it made sense that Nabiki would have the resources 
to achieve such a goal. Ranma then smiled as he came across certain names
and places and committed the information to memory. He then carefully 
pocketed the files, a large number of photo negatives, and a few computer 
disks into his pack, then crept out of the room via the window. Being with 
Genma had taught him one useful skill, the art of thievery.

----------

End of flashback...

Ranma then went to the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror. He 
smiled at the effort he had put into making his new identity and though it 
had cost him everything he had, it was worth it. After stealing the files, 
Ranma then contacted the Furinken Computer Club...

----------

Flashback, late one night, a few days after Ranma had deserted the Tendos...

"Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, we're not just talking about a 
change of name here. We're talking a whole new life and... if you do this, 
then you'll never be able to go back."

Takuya Shibana looked up from his seat at the high school's computer room. 
Beside him, Ranma nodded.

"I'm sure. And remember, you do owe me for saving you and your friends from 
those bullies last month."

"I'll say! If it weren't for you, we'd all be in traction right now."
Ranma then reached into his pack and pulled out a couple of computer disks 
and a folder. "Here."

"What are these?"

"All the blackmail information Nabiki has on you and the rest of the 
Computer Club. I made certain that these were the only hard copies in her 
house. And the disks have all her computer security codes."

Takuya smiled as he got Ranma's meaning. His fingers began to dance on his 
keyboard as he logged onto the Internet. Inserting a disk into his drive, he 
began hacking his way through the modem to Nabiki's PC. When he obtained the 
files which concerned him and the rest of the techno-nerds, he made a grand 
gesture with his right index finger and gleefully pressed the key marked 
'delete.' In an instant all the data was wiped out. He then took out a disk 
from his desk and showed it to Ranma.

"A little something I whipped up for just such an occasion. My own, 
specially-made computer virus that I call the Cyber-Snake!"

"Cyber-Snake?"

"Yep! I thought that the best revenge against a snake like Nabiki is to use 
a snake! Until now, I wasn't able to get this into her computer's mainframe, 
but since that you've given me the access codes..." He then switched disks 
in the drive and punched in certain code sequence. Immediately, his virus 
was launched directly into Nabiki's computer. He gleefully laughed at his 
computer monitor. "Heh! Take that Nabiki Tendo! Let's see how well your 
blackmail business goes when my Snake slithers through your operating 
protocols and swallows up those numbers! HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

<Oh boy! This guy needs to get out more often.> Ranma sighed then got 
serious again. "Okay, Shibana. You've had your fun. Now about that other 
favor?"

The computer nerd composed himself and nodded as he then began accessing the 
National Register of Japan. He then did some fancy hacking and five minutes 
later, brought up the file concerning Ranma Saotome. Looking up at the 
martial artist, he asked, "Last chance Ranma. Are you sure you want to... 
destroy yourself? Once this is gone, then it's more than likely that no one 
will ever find the hard copy. You know how the bureaucracy is here in 
Japan."

The former fiancee of Akane Tendo, Ukyo Kuonji and Shampoo's 'husband,' was 
silent for a very long time, then finally nodded. "Do it."

Takuya took a deep breath, then punched in the codes to terminate the file. 
A moment later, there was a beep and all traces of Ranma Saotome, save for 
the person himself... was gone.

"Okay, Ranma... I mean..." Takuya found himself at a loss. Technically, the 
person before him was now without an identity.

The martial artist nodded as he began instructing his friend to create a new 
identity for him. He had thought long and hard on who he would be and it was 
time to make his new self into a reality.

A few hours later, Takuya and his friend exited the computer room. The 
computer hacker turned to face the person who had helped him and his fellow 
students.

"Well, this is it, Ranma."

The pigtailed teen shook his head. "Don't call me Ranma. He's dead... we 
killed him, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess we did. So where are you heading?"

The former son of Genma shook his head as he hefted his pack. "Can't tell 
you. The less you know, the less Nabiki or the others can get out of you if 
they ask. Thanks a lot. You've been a great help." He held out his hand.
Takuya took it in his own hand and shook it. "I hope you find what you're 
looking for."

"Maybe. In any case, it's a sure bet that what I'm looking for ain't here. 
Goodbye, Takuya Shibana."

As Ranma walked off toward his new destiny, Takuya nodded as he watched him 
leave Furinken and Nerima itself.

"Farewell... Eric Koboyashi."

----------

End of Flashback...

Eric Koboyashi nodded as he held up a pair of shears. The new identity had 
been working so far. People who had met him since then knew him as a 
half-American whose parents had been killed in a plane crash overseas. He 
had chosen the Western name Eric and the common surname of Kobayashi to 
throw off anyone who would try to learn about his former life. He was now 
living in Hiroshima, working as a waiter in a small caf. One of the most 
noticeable changes in his life was the absence of craziness when he was 
Ranma Saotome. That was the part that he liked the most. There was only one 
thing that still reminded him of his old existence and he was now ready to 
destroy that final link to his past.

With one deft movement, the length of hair that comprised his pigtail was 
sheared off and fell to the floor of the bathroom floor. Eric looked down at 
the mass of hair and nodded. Now he could truly move on.

----------

Another month later...

"That will be 50 yen please."

Ranma nodded as he handed the shopkeeper the money and took the green onions 
he had purchased. However, as she took the money, the old woman also took 
the cigarette in his mouth and said, "Your lungs will thank me for it."

Ranma frowned at her as he walked away and said, "Yeesh. You women think you 
know everything, don't you?" He then trudged off to the small apartment that 
he was renting. As he walked, he began thinking about the past few months 
since he had abandoned his life as Ranma Saotome.

It had been a hard life, to be sure, especially since he left with barely 
any money and only the clothes and camping supplies in his backpack. But for 
the first time in his life, Ranma was free to do what he wanted and when he 
wanted. Ranma Saotome could never do what he wanted, but Eric Koboyashi was 
free to do as he damned well pleased and he liked it!

In addition to his new hairstyle and identity, he also changed his clothing 
style and was often seen wearing a white dress shirt that was half-tucked 
into his school uniform's dress pants.

The biggest change of all was Ranma's personality. Since his declaration to 
totally distance himself from females, Ranma had become an angry loner and 
outcast. And... he was happy with his image. He had later taken to smoking. 
Whether this was due to being with Soun Tendo or it was to fit in with his 
new identity, Ranma didn't give it a second thought. He found the taste of 
nicotine to be very relaxing, even though he knew that it was bad for his 
health, especially for a martial artist. He wasn't a heavy smoker like Soun, 
only smoking one cigarette every few days or so.

However, most people at school that knew him were under the impression that 
Ranma was a bona fide woman hater. Even with a new appearance, that certain 
something that always attracted women to him still drew the opposite sex to 
him like a magnet. Many schoolgirls had come to him asking for dates, but 
Ranma would always shoot them down without any compassion or subtlety. He 
would often state that women were useless and he'd rather stick his head 
into a blast furnace than commit to any girl. Since his experiences in 
Nerima, Ranma had decided that the less he had to do with girls, the better 
off he was. His language had become more profane as his bitterness 
increased.

This did not go well with the others, especially with a certain girl named 
Lisa Fujimatsu, who happened to be the class president. Many of her peers 
thought of her as somewhat of a mental case and she made no secret of making 
her opinions and disgust known to all, especially with Ranma's
woman-hating attitudes. That suited Ranma just fine as he was reminded too 
much of Akane in her. Lisa was short-tempered and more than ready to use 
that longbow of hers on any that crossed her. There was a time in which 
Ranma thought they could at least be friends, when he helped her early on
in the semester with her bicycle, but when she found out about his distaste 
toward women and how many hearts he had already broken, it all went downhill 
from there.

Though he was known to be a woman-hater and often rumored to be gay, the 
students of the High School also knew him to be the toughest guy around and 
an unbeatable fighter. Ranma had kept up with his martial arts training and 
even developed some new techniques during the time he left the Tendo Dojo. 
These skills had gotten him notoriety and even gained him a couple of 
admirers. In fact, as Ranma walked home, he saw the two he had saved from a 
vengeful football team.

The adolescents were accosting a young schoolgirl of about fifteen years of 
age. She was very nice looking and had long brown hair.

"No Stop! I will scream!"

The first teen, who had his black hair shaved close smirked as he put his 
arm around her and said, "Sure! And you can show us what other noises you 
can make!" Behind him, his friend also chuckled. The second teen had brown 
hair that was down in a kind of bowl cut. Both were wearing the school
dress shirts and pants.

Just as the first boy was about to take certain liberties on the girl, he 
was suddenly sent sprawling as a foot connected with his face. The boy 
clutched at his face in pain as he fell on his rear. "OW!"

Ranma glared down at him and grunted. "Maybe that kick jumpstarted your 
brain! Hmph! And here I thought you couldn't get any more pathetic Brody."

Brody looked up at Ranma and grinned sheepishly. "Oh, hi Eric." He then 
gestured to the girl. "She and I went to Junior High together and I was just 
asking her to go to the reunion with me."

"I'm still in Junior High!" The girl said out loud, only to have her mouth 
covered up by the other boy. She jabbed an elbow into his side, making him 
release her.

Ranma knelt down at Brody and gave him a disdainful look. "Why waste your 
time in asking some girl for a date?"

"Hey there?" The girl said as she approached Ranma. "Wanna date me?"

Ranma snorted as he got up and gave her the once-over. She had quite a 
slender and enticing figure, but...

"Why? So you can flash your ass to every other guy when I'm not looking? 
Sheesh." He then turned and walked away without another word.

The girl then gave Ranma's retreating form a gesture with her middle finger 
and said, "Hey! I should have known that you would have a BOYFRIEND! You 
jerk!"

As Brody got up and stood with his friend, the other boy, whose name was 
Deiner by the way, shook his head and said, "Man! He's got some way with 
women. Deep down, he's a hopeless romantic."

"Yeah. It's too bad that every female that meets with him, wants to kill 
him." Brody remarked as he rubbed his sore nose.

High above the streets, a lone and garbed figure suddenly appeared on a 
rooftop and looked down on the people below. The stranger then focused on 
Ranma as he walked home and was not fooled by his different-looking 
appearance, or attitude.

"I finally found him."

It was near sunset as Ranma approached his apartment. As he trudged along, 
he thought back to his encounter with that girl and then to his previous 
life in Nerima. He then shook his head and thought. <Why would I want to 
complicate my life with something as unstable and useless as a woman?>

It was then that an abrupt wind was swept up, catching Ranma off guard and 
made him drop his grocery bag. He immediately went into a fighting stance as 
a cloud of dust appeared before him and then a mysterious person in a robe 
appeared before him.

"Who are you?"

The figure raised up a hand and the former heir to the Anything Goes 
glimpsed a strange glowing pattern on the back of her hand.

"I found you." The figure said quietly.

"Who are you?" Ranma repeated. "Show me your face if you want something from 
me!"

It was then that a bright yellow light appeared in her palm and then 
elongated as she clenched it. It become a long shaft of light and the figure 
then leapt up to swing it toward him like a kind of sword. Ranma, being long 
experienced with opponents with swords (Kuno and Mousse), dodged the swipe 
and lashed out with a roundhouse kick. The stranger leapt over the kick and 
Ranma used the opportunity to grab at the flowing robes. The garment came 
away easily, but was empty as Ranma looked up at whom was diving at her from 
above.

He found himself frozen at the sight that was silhouetted against the light 
of the full moon. He felt a bit of a nosebleed as he saw that the gaijin 
girl was like an angel from above, wielding a brilliant sword of light.

She was dressed in a skimpy green outfit that resembled a bikini with a 
halter-top that supported her more than ample bosom, even more so than 
Shampoo's (and that's saying a lot). Her long slender legs wore wrapped in 
green leggings that ran up to mid-thigh and she wore calf-length sandals. 
Her long blond hair was done up in a lush topknot-like style and tied with a 
red ribbon. Her slim waist was also wrapped with a red sash. She had lengthy 
sideburns done up in braids that reminded Ranma of Akane when he first met 
her. Her lush buxom figure seemed to radiate a kind of sensuality
and power that made Ranma drop his guard and hatred for women for just an 
instant. However an instant was all that Balla, the High Priestess of the 
Tattoon Tribe needed as she swooped down and made an X-motion with her 
hands, splitting her light blade into two and leaving a crisscross pattern 
on Ranma's forehead.

Ranma stumbled back a bit as he felt a slight trickle of blood from the 
wound, which instantly sealed itself up. The girl then landed before him 
with a delighted sigh as she glanced at her handiwork.

The former Nerima resident felt his body tingle as if some weird power was 
now coursing through his limbs and he found himself unable to move as the 
girl then moved up to him and framed his face with her hands. She then 
leaned over and gently kissed the mark on his forehead. She looked into 
Ranma's dumfounded expression and gave him a small smile.

"In keeping with the laws of the Tattoon Tribe, you have just become my 
eternal husband."

"I'm your HUSBAND?!" Ranma eeped as he began having flashbacks of his 
experiences with a certain Amazon.

Balla smiled as she continued. "I have searched long and hard for you. 
Looking for you is like looking for a drop of water in a desert. Now I 
finally found you..."

Balla finally gave into exhaustion and fell forward. Ranma instinctively 
caught her before she fell flat on her face and wondered what to do with her 
next, when a slip of paper fell out from her top and floated to the ground. 
The former fianc of Akane, Ukyo and Shampoo glanced down at the paper. He 
began to have a sinking feeling about this.

----------

Later on...

"GENMA NO BAKA!"

Ranma clenched the paper that was in his hand and was so tempted to go back 
to Nerima and kick that stupid panda so hard that he'd better like life on 
Jupiter! Apparently, Genma had stumbled across the Tattoon Tribe when Ranma 
was still an infant, and used him once again as a bargaining chip for his 
life.

----------

Some sixteen years ago...

"W-W-What?!" Genma gasped as the High Priest offered a bargain in exchange 
for his freedom.

"Genma Saotome, I shall spare your wretched life... if you are willing to 
betroth your son to my daughter."

"Huh?!" Genma looked up in surprise as the High Priest produced a sheet of 
paper and made some magical gestures. Words written in the Tattoon language 
appeared on it as the High Priest stated his terms.

"If you wish to leave this valley alive, then you shall pledge your son to 
my daughter Balla. She will become the High Priestess of our tribe some day 
and will need a strong husband by her side. You will be allowed to go with 
full provisions and to raise your child, but sixteen years from now, Balla 
shall come to collect her husband. All you have to do is sign and let your 
child place his handprint here. Do you agree to this?"

Genma saw a glimmer of hope as he nodded. Of course, he had no intention of 
fulfilling the pact. Ranma was already promised to one of Soun Tendo's 
daughters after all. Like the deal he made with the Daijkoku clan, Genma was 
going to welch on the bargain and these people will never get their
hands on Ranma. After all, they would never be able to find them with just a 
signature and his son's handprint, right?

What Genma did not know as he signed the paper and put his child's handprint 
on it, was that the Tattoon Priest had cast a spell on the document which 
recorded Ranma's spiritual energies. The contract itself would lead Balla to 
her future husband. And it mattered not what the child was calling himself 
at the time, for the contract specifically promised the child whose 
handprint was on it, making it totally binding once Balla found her 
lifemate.

----------

Present time...

Ranma snarled as he looked at the contract again and then stomped to where 
Balla was resting.

<I thought I was finally over that engagement thing, but Pops just had to 
sell me out one more time! >

As he threw open the sliding door, he found that Balla was awake. She then 
looked up at him with loving eyes.

"Hello."

"Did.. you ... have a ... nice sleep?" Ranma was just barely holding in his 
anger.

"Yes, thank you. And now my husband..."

"I'M NOT YOUR HUSBAND!" Ranma shouted. It was like talking to Shampoo all 
over again.

"But... according to tribal law... I'm supposed to..."

"GET OUT OF MY HOME!" Ranma shouted. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

It was then that a sudden wind was suddenly swept up inside of the apartment 
as Balla stood up in a bit a huff.

"OH NO! I WON"T GO AWAY!" Balla's forehead glowed with an eerie light as a 
strange symbol appeared. "I MARRIED YOU, SO COME HERE AND BE MY HUSBAND!"

"OH CRAP!" Ranma exclaimed as he started raising his own battle aura. The 
energies that the Tattoon Priestess was emitting began to interact with 
Ranma's ki. "OH BLAST!"

"OKAY!" Balla exclaimed.

KABOOOM!

The apartment shuddered as the conflicting energies collided with one 
another. By some miracle, the building remained intact as only the windows 
were blown out. Inside of the domicile, Ranma and Balla were on the floor, 
breathing hard after discharging all that power, as they looked at one 
another in shock.

Ranma was the first to speak.

"Well... if you put it that way, then... stay."

To be continued...

Author's Notes

Now I know that a lot of you are saying that Ranma is acting way out of 
character, but with all the stuff that happened to him in the original 
series, can you blame him? I always did like the rebel without a cause 
personality of Eric in the OAV and I thought that if Ranma was pushed to the 
limit, then he might start hating girls as well, right? This was written on 
a dare when a friend challenged me to try and combine Ranma 1/2 with Tattoon 
Master and I think I didn't do a bad job with it. Where could I go with 
this? Well, I suppose that Ranma might learn how to use Tattoon
Power, and I have some ideas of the Nerima cast showing up. The scratch on 
Eric's head in the OAV allowed him to defeat Hydra, right? Maybe that mark 
on Ranma's head might cancel out the Jusenkyo curse? So many crazy ideas, so 
little time.

Well, I've finished with the rewrite and I like it. Basically, the story 
hasn't changed, but I felt the need to fill in some gaps and make it more 
fuller. The first chapter did seem like it was just repeating the Tattoon 
Master Episode 1, so I added some extra scenes. I never thought that Tattoon 
Ranma would receive so many responses and I'm glad that it's developed so 
much.

I'm going to revising some of the other chapters as well, but I still will 
be continuing it as it goes along. I have about fifteen chapters planned for 
this fic with a possibility of some more, so stay tuned!



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