Title: A Legend reborn
Author name: Trugeta

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ as well as Akira Toriyama and many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story. So suing is senseless.

This story takes place after Movie 10 of Dragonball Z and at the beginning of the Ranma series. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

Chapter 5: Temper collisions

To say that Soun Tendo was surprised would have been a massive understatement. That tall, well-muscled young man before them should be Ranma? As far as he knew Ranma was around the age of… sixteen, wasn't it? Well, he was remarkably tall and very muscular for his age, so it was no wonder that he had mistaken him for a grown man. "Are… are you really Ranma?" he asked, when he had finally overcome his surprise.

The tall young man nodded. "Yeah, and I have come a long way." he said, trying his best to speak as correctly as he could manage, just as the several sensei at the shrines and temples they had visited had taught him.

Unsurprisingly it was quite hard to quit the habit of using slang as of now. "If you don't mind, I would like to drop that stupid panda somewhere. Not that he's getting heavy, far from it, but he annoys me." 'For various reasons'. was the added thought.

They had been two blocks away from the Tendo Dojo, when his father had once more practised his most powerful technique aside from the Saotome Final technique: the Saotome foot-in-mouth-technique, which had been sadly inherited by him, Ranma.

Not taking any shit any more from his stupid father he had knocked him flat and had then, to his annoyance, been forced to carry the stupid panda, seeing as he had made rapid acquaintance with a fire-hydrant in his flight-path. But it had been much better to carry his unconscious and most of all silent idiot of a father rather than to be forced to listen to his idiocy.

The people he had asked for directions to the Tendo dojo had stared at him as if he was coming from Mars. But only for a split second. Then they had surprisingly acted as if something like that happened every day and had told him what he had wanted to know. Ranma had shaken his head after this. Apparently this Nerima was somewhat… odd.

Switching back to the present, he was just in time to hear the man’s answer. Which consisted of a torrent of tears. "WAAAAAAAAAH! You have finally arrived, Ranma! Now the schools can finally be joined! Oh I am so happy!" Soun exclaimed, and had Ranma not carried the panda he was sure that the older man would have hugged him; which would have been very detrimental for the older mans’ health and life-expectancy.

‘Man, that guy is a wee bit on the emotional side, eh? Gonna watch him closely so I learn more about pops best friend.’ Ranma thought. "About the panda here, where can I drop him? If that’s okay with you..."

Soun visibly gathered his bearings. "But of course. Just drop him in the backyard. Wait, I'll show you the way. Oh, and as you will probably have guessed, I'm Soun Tendo, owner of the Tendo Dojo and Master of the Tendo Ryu."

Ranma nodded his head. He had indeed suspected it. "Pleased to meet ya. But it would be far better if I could dump him somewhere here in the house. And if I could get some hot water and a towel, you'd soon see why." he said straightforward.

Soun was a bit confused at the request, but nodded nevertheless. He looked at his daughter, who had politely remained in the background. "Kasumi, would you set a kettle on the stove and heat some water and fetch a towel? Good." He said at his daughters nod. "In the meantime you can drop your… panda over here in the living room, Ranma. Follow me."

The Saotome youth did just that, and moments later he had the opportunity to get the annoying panda off of his shoulder. With a thud he dropped him on the ground, and Soun Tendo asked him to sit down. Before he would call his other daughters he had some questions for Ranma.

When both men had seated themselves in the low cushions the Tendo living room offered Soun started the conversation. "So, what can you tell me about your training trip with your father? And where is your father? I was under the impression that you would arrive together."

"Actually, that is better explained once I got some hot water. Ya wouldn't believe it else. Trust me, I wouldn't believe it either, and I’ve seen it often enough. As for the training trip, I learned everything that there was to learn of the Saotome Ryu of the Musabetsu Kakuto, and here I am. And yeah, I know of the agreement." Ranma said with a stony face.

Soun's eyes lit up. Good! That would be one problem less. From his evaluation of Ranma he was sure, that the boy would have offered considerable resistance should he have been told here. If the boy was anything like Genma, he might have refused the whole idea flat out. And that must not happen!

The Tendo patriarch smiled fatherly. "Good, my boy. Then you already know that you have to pick one of my wonderful daughters as your future wife. Kasumi, my oldest, you have already seen, she is nineteen. My middle daughter is Nabiki, age seventeen. And finally there is my baby daughter, Akane, who is sixteen. You will come to know my two youngest shortly."

The pigtailed youth nodded. However, he had to voice some things he had had the time to think about after the panda had stopped being annoying and had joined the lala-land. "Good, Mr. Tendo. However, for this agreement to be accepted by me there are several conditions which can and will not be changed. First, I realise that this is an honour-pact between my family and yours, and I understand the importance for you; but I as an involved party have as much say. Second, I am not gonna marry a girl of whom I know nuthin about.”

“But…” Soun started to protest, and Ranma held up his hand. “I am sure, that all of your three daughters are lovely, but I don't know them and have never met them. And to demand of me to choose a fiancée after the first meeting is something I can and will not accept. So, there will be no engagement before I have not decided which of your daughters I like and could potentially love.”

Ranma stemmed the protest that was about to be voiced by silencing the other man with a hard glare. “It will only be decided after a given amount of time if any of your daughters and me are either friends, fiancées or complete strangers. I will not let myself be trapped in a loveless marriage, nor would I want that for any of your daughters. Besides, it does not say in the agreement which generation of the Saotomes and Tendos would have to unite the schools. You see, that are my conditions. If you have objections to this, well, I am sure that the Tendo-Saotome-agreement could be declared invalid because of some of my fathers’ actions in the past. And truth be told, if you'd force me to choose one of your daughters despite all that I'd just leave and never come back, honour be damned. Do you wish that?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest in a confident manner.

The last part was a big bluff on his part. Honour was what defined him and it meant everything to him, but Soun Tendo did not know him as of yet; and the man had no idea that he was nothing like his father. During their talk Ranma had analysed the Tendo patriarch somewhat, and he had realised that the older man did not take too well to pressure. The emotional outbursts a few minutes ago had been somewhat of a pointer.

All the more reason to get the man to do what he wanted before his father could influence his old friend in any way. He could not be sure, but he strongly suspected that his father had been the one who had suggested the agreement in the first place, with the ulterior motive to secure his retirement. Genma might think what he wanted, but Ranma was not stupid. Far from it. He had long since learned how the wind blows, and never again would he play by his fathers’ rules.

Soun Tendo on his part was deep in thought. At first he had been about to yell at the young man for the gall he’d demonstrated by dictating him conditions. Then he realised that the boy had a valid point; add to it that he was very intimidating and that he didn’t look like someone to fool around with.

Maybe he should really been given the time and opportunity to choose his fiancée. After all, he himself had not been the victim of a pre-arranged marriage and had married out of love. Wouldn't it be nice, if the one daughter who had to fulfil the agreement did not only do just that, but would marry out of love? Yes, it made sense.

He had been quite incensed at the part where the boy had mentioned that it might not work out, but again, Ranma had been right. The agreement had really not stated which generation would have to join the school; and as much as he tried, he could find no counter to this. And the way how the young man had spoken to him… it reminded him of the master; in short, the young man was a scary negotiating party and if he wanted a shot at joining the schools he’d have no other choice but to play by Ranma’s rules.

Then there was also the titbit that Ranma was right; he could just walk away and ignore the agreement. The young man did not look as if he’d care about honour and / or losing the Saotome name. With his physique he’d probably be able to make a name for himself in a matter of months.

He had to grudgingly accept it, for he was sure that the courts would follow Ranma's interpretation should the matter of the agreement ever go to court. But there was still the hope that Ranma would fall in love with one of his daughters. After all, they were all lovely in their own unique way.

But then when Ranma had mentioned the actions of Genma his temper had emerged once more. Employing his demon-head-technique he bellowed "WHAT ACTIONS ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WHAT HAS MY OLD FRIEND DONE? AND HOW COULD IT MAKE THE AGREEMENT INVALID?"

Ranma had been suitably impressed by the ki-manifestation, at least at first. Had he been his old self he might have been downright scared by it. But now, considering his own mastery of ki he was only mildly impressed. And quite sure that he could copy and improve it if he wanted to do so. "You would find out anyway at some point in the future, so I'm gonna tell ya. Pops engaged me to several dozens of young women, mostly in exchange for something to eat. I really dunno how many marriage agreements pop made for me, but that would shed a very bad light on his word of honour, eh? And if I am correct this pact was sealed with a word of honour."

The demon-head of the Tendo patriarch had deflated when he had noticed that the young man sitting in front of him was not scared in the slightest. Which was a feat in and on itself. Yes, apparently Genma had raised a fine boy. "Hmm, I'm sure that Genma had only the best in mind for you and your future. I am sure that it is all one huge misunderstanding which will be cleared up easily. Misunderstandings have happened in the past too, and there is no need to go back on the agreement, heh heh. And I see nothing wrong with the conditions you mentioned, my boy. How long do you think it will take you to decide?" he asked eagerly.

The human-turned-Saiyan stroked his chin. "I had thought a bit more than a year would be okay…"

"What!" Soun exclaimed, "So long?"

Ranma smirked. He knew that he was in the better position, and he knew that Soun Tendo knew. "Yes. It's the traditional span of time that is granted to the engaged parties anyway, and in the style of that I figured that would be long enough to get to know all three of your daughters before we, the girls and I, make a decision. Take it or leave it, Mr. Tendo. Leave it, and I’ll be out of the door and never come back. Decide now." he said, adding the right amount of command to his voice by adding his ki to it.

Soun looked as if he was about to cry, which was not far from reality; the way Ranma had spoken just now reminded him too much of the master. Finally he grimaced and nodded. "I agree, Ranma. On my word of honour." he said and extended his hand.

The young man took it and gave it a firm shake. "But I wanna have that written down and with your signature. I learned from wise men that the spoken word is good, but the written one is better for it is longer lasting and can not be contradicted as easily."

Soun grumbled. Damn! The boy should not have caught on to this! Now he really had no other choice but to give in. He had given his word of honour and in contrast to Genma his word meant a lot to him. In that regard he held it with the old Samurai. "Okay, Ranma. Follow me and we will set it up."

That he did and five minutes later Ranma was in the possession of a contract that stated what they had vocally agreed on before. The agreement would be honoured, even if only eventually, and everyone was satisfied. Should it, against expectations not work out, the agreement would be transferred to the next generation. Soun had never seen it this way but the schools would be joined at any event.

This gave the Tendo patriarch a feeling of calm, and he wondered why he had been so dead-set to join the schools as of now. In the end it would happen anyway, and now, through the contract it was practically assured. This son of Genma was remarkably clever, something he would not have expected from a boy who had lived on the road for ten years.

After they were seated again Soun voiced this. "I must admit that you surprise me, Ranma. You are not what I had expected." he admitted.

Ranma smirked in reply. "I can imagine. But I ain't gonna spill my secrets, Mr. Tendo. That would be telling and no fun."

At just this moment Kasumi came into the living room and graced Ranma with a beautiful smile; the Saotome youth felt himself smile back involuntarily. In her hands the eldest of the Tendo sisters was carrying a kettle, apparently filled with hot, steaming water. At seeing this Ranma smirked. He knew exactly that the water needn't be this hot but it was just too much fun to anger his stupid pops.

Kasumi continued to smile, and truth be told Ranma found this smile rather attractive, as well as the rest of her. She was quite a vision and had the most beautiful face he had ever seen. Sure, on their trip he had not seen many girls, but he was experienced enough to recognise true beauty when he saw it. And Kasumi was beautiful.

The only thing that put him slightly off about Kasumi was the serene and peaceful aura that seemed to surround her. For that was something that stood in stark contrast to himself. But he'd see and keep in mind that appearances were always superficial. He had one year and more to come to know the three Tendo daughters, and if each was as beautiful as Kasumi it would surely be an interesting year.

Meanwhile Kasumi had set the kettle onto the table, and was looking questioningly at her father. "You wanted hot water, father." She said and pointed to the kettle. "And the towel is right here."

Soun nodded. "Actually, Ranma here wanted hot water and a towel. What for, I am not sure."

Ranma smiled. "Before I show you, could you get your other daughters? I would like to give this demonstration only once."

The Tendo patriarch agreed. "Fine. NABIKI! AKANE! COME DOWNSTAIRS!" he bellowed.

Moments later shuffling steps could be heard from the staircase, but only one girl emerged. She was also quite a beauty, had brown eyes and short, brown hair, and was actually wearing a beautiful kimono. Ranmas first thought was 'Wow!', and both Soun and Kasumi were quite surprised that the else so cool and controlled Nabiki was actually wearing her best kimono. And she was smiling! If that wasn’t a sign for the impending apocalypse, what then?

Nabiki for her part had every reason to smile. When she had first laid eyes on who she supposed to be Ranma she had been hard pressed to keep her mouth from watering, laughing giddily and latching onto this prime example of what a male should be like; she was still fighting the urge to glomp onto him and yell ‘mine’. This boy, or should one say young man, was a real hunk! Or, as her business associates would say, a prime example of class A beef.

Looks to kill, broad shoulders and chest, muscled like you wouldn't dream of, damn expressive blue eyes and that spiky hair of his… yummy! Needless to say, Nabiki thought Ranma to be quite adequate. "You called me down, dad?"

Soun, who overcame the surprise just now, nodded. "Err, yes, Nabiki. Please sit down. I called you down so that Ranma," he said and pointed at said pigtailed martial artist, "who is the son of my old friend Genma, could demonstrate us something. Do you by chance know where Akane is?"

The middle Tendo daughter smirked. She hoped this demonstration would involve a good show of those gorgeous muscles. "Gauging from the lack of noises from bricks being broken I'd say she's still up in her room. Probably listening to loud music again and hasn't heard you. Should I go and get her?"

"Err, yes, that would be nice." the Tendo patriarch said somewhat carefully. He was surprised again; his daughter was offering something for free? Had the pod-people invaded and he hadn’t noticed?

Nabiki smiled and got up, leaving a confused Soun, a smiling Kasumi and a pleasantly surprised Ranma behind. The Saotome youth had not expected that someone who was as beautiful as Kasumi could exist, but he had been proven wrong impressively. This Nabiki was quite the looker, and that Kimono of hers had looked really good on her. Add to it that Ranma felt that she had spunk, in contrast to Kasumi.

There was something to this Nabiki, something that told him that she was quite the fighter, even if she did not carry herself completely like a martial artist. But from what he had seen he could tell that she had potential. Loads. "So this is Nabiki, your middle daughter, right? She is… nice."

Soun looked surprised for a moment, and then he nodded. "That she is indeed, Ranma. And I am sure that she would make you a fine wife."

Ranma raised a finger. "Ah ah, Mr. Tendo, don't even go there. Remember what I said, each of your daughters will get the same chance. I want to get to know them before I make any decision. So far I can say that both Nabiki and also you Kasumi," he said with a smile at said young woman, "are exceptionally beautiful and very interesting young women, and I am honoured to be in the presence of so much beauty."

Kasumi blushed, giggled and muttered a "Thank you.", while she drew her own conclusions from what Ranma had said. So each of them would get the same chance, which meant that nothing had been decided as of yet. Good! She’d love to get to know this attractive young man who looked much older than his physical age conveyed; as far as she could tell he didn’t seem to be boring at all. Instead of a bore he seemed to be more of a boar, Kasumi thought with a barely suppressed giggle.

Soun on his part realised that any attempt at manipulation would be quite hard. But he'd try. He hadn't practiced Anything Goes for naught. While Soun was scheming on how to advance the joining of the school, Nabiki came downstairs again with another young woman in tow.

This had to be Akane, as Ranma concluded through the process of elimination. And in contrast to Nabiki and Kasumi she was not looking happy or even positive at all. In fact she looked decidedly pissed off at something. "So I am here now. And what for? To look at another boy? I got enough of that at school already, so I’ll pass."

"Akane!" both Nabiki and Kasumi scolded. That Kasumi scolded her was no surprise, but that Nabiki did, was. Normally her sister could care less when she insulted some boy. Something was up here, and she’d find out what. Not bothering to give an apology as she was much to tired she surveyed the reason why she was here and not on her comfy bed, getting the rest she deserved after another hellish day at school.

So that was the boy. The one dad wanted one of them to join the schools with. She had to admit, he was not bad looking. Broad shoulders and chest, well muscled, tall… but still, he was a boy. And boys were perverts, that much she’d found out. And she would never marry a pervert!

"Hello." Ranma said, getting up. He chose to ignore her attitude for now. Maybe she was just somewhat reserved towards strangers and would de-ice later. "I am Ranma, heir to the Saotome Ryu and…"

That was at far as he got. "I know who you are." interrupted Akane. "You are that boy our father wants us to marry. But make no mistake, I won't marry you! I have enough boy trouble as it is. And don’t even think of trying to force me; I'm the best martial artist there is in Nerima and I won't hesitate to defend myself." she exclaimed angrily. "Boys, they're all the same. Perverts." she grumbled to herself.

Ranma had tried to stay calm in face of her attitude, but as his body was still adjusting to being a Saiyan, that was easier said than done. And when she called him a pervert by association for no reason his anger began to boil over. Had Genma been awake he would have fled for the hills. He would have known that particular look.

The pigtailed boy glared. "What gives you reason to think that I’d force myself on you despite that you don't even know me?" he asked coldly as he got up.

Akane stemmed her fists into her sides. "What reason do I need? I know from experience that all boys are perverts who only want to force themselves on girls so they can do perverted things with them! You are a boy, so add two and two!" she grumbled.

Boys! They were all the same. Ranma was a boy and no man, even if he was kind of attractive. She'd had handsome guys after her too in the past and she knew they were all perverts. Tatewaki Kuno was quite easy on the eyes, and look at how he behaved. This one was the same as the rest of them, she decided. Only her crush, Dr. Tofu Ono, was different. But sadly he was so far out of reach.

"Akane!" was once more exclaimed from Nabiki and Kasumi.

Soun just sat there and watched the events unfold. This was much to his liking. If he could he would engage his youngest and Ranma right off the spot. They were perfect for each other! So much spunk! Alas, if only Genma was here he’d open the sake and celebrate.

Ranma however turned to Mr. Tendo. "Mr. Tendo, before your daughter insults me any further and I lose my cool I would like to demonstrate what I needed the hot water for." he said, as he grabbed the kettle, ignoring Akane completely.

This was indeed something that suited the youngest Tendo girl just fine. She had had a particularly bad day at school as Kuno had tried to ‘shower her with his affections’ five times. She still had the vain hope that all the poundings he was receiving at her hands and mallet would finally convey the message that she was not interested. But it seemed as if Kuno’s skull was even thicker than Mt. Fuji.

She knew that she was probably treating this Ranma unfairly by lumping him over with all those other boys, but at the moment she could not help it. He was a boy, a boy like all those other idiots that were lusting after her, and from her experience boys meant trouble. “Do you really think you can appear here all of a sudden, burst into our lives and chose your bride? Do you?” she asked red-faced.

The pigtailed boy turned towards Akane and towered over her. "Do you really think that your ‘question’ deserves an answer? I’m only here because of my stupid father, not because I chose to. No offence meant.” he said with a bow and smile towards Nabiki and Kasumi, who smiled right back.

Turning back to Akane his expression grew hard again; he had no idea what was wrong with the girl but she’d not get away with taking her temper and problems out on him. The stupid teachings of his father on how to behave in the presence of women could go and screw themselves for all he cared.

Should the panda go and offer his other cheek, for he would not. “Now that that’s settled, don't interrupt me again." Ranma said and concentrated on the kettle, while Akane steamed.

Soun on his part was ecstatic. There was so much spunk between his youngest and Ranma. Those two were a match made in heaven!

Ranma and Akane were thinking way differently, of course; especially Akane. This boy really understood to get her temper past the boiling point; not that it would have been really difficult after the day she had lived through today. And Akane did something she always did when in the presence of boys lately: she lost her temper.

Then she did something that would prove to be a mistake. Seemingly without Ranma noticing she reached for her mallet. Nabiki raised a questioning brow when her sister did something she else only did at school. Her surprise changed to alarm when the mallet materialised in her little sisters’ hands and Akane swung it in a fluid movement, intent on bashing Ranma to deal out some justly deserved punishment; at least in her opinion.

Nabiki had no time to yell a warning, but she needn’t have. Ranma reacted in a flash; his aura flared and first the kettle was placed onto the table, then he whirled around and stopped the clobbering tool with one hand. Next he pushed lightly, overcoming the resistance Akane offered instantly, and the result was that Akane went down and landed right on the still snoring panda, an expression of great surprise plastered on her face. The mallet fell out of her hands, landing on the flooring with a thump.

The middle Tendo daughter was surprised too; she knew just how strong her little sister was, and that Ranma had stopped the mallet so casually and with so little effort was astounding! Just how strong was this wild horse? Damn it, this guy was getting more and more adequate by the second! She’d have to ensure that her father didn’t do something stupid and tried to hoist Ranma off onto Akane, her being the heiress to the Tendo school and all.

While Nabiki was scheming, the target of her scheming was presently glaring at a still surprised and sitting Akane. “If you don’t reign your temper in I’ll gladly do it for you. Else you’ll make acquaintance with my temper. And I can promise that you won’t like it.” he said darkly and reigned his aura back in with great difficulty.

Kasumi looked sternly at her younger sister. “That was most improper of you, Akane. Hitting an honoured guest is not nice.” she scolded.

The youngest Tendo daughter didn’t look chided at all, today she just didn’t care. She had lived through a day of hell, and the stupid boy had deserved it. Besides, she hadn’t even hit him. Scoffing Akane tried to get up from her improvised cushion again, but the panda that served as said cushion had decided to wake up just at that moment. Drowsily the pandafied Genma felt around in an attempt to orientate himself and accidentally touched the still developing parts of Akane.

The cry “Pervert!” rang out and seconds later a surprised Genma-panda went flying towards the koi-pond, courtesy of Akane’s mallet which had mysteriously appeared in her hands.

Ranma on his part could not hold in his laughter that had built up ever since the temperamental girl had landed on top of his pandafied father any longer. He had tried, but the last bit had just been too much. When he heard a huge splash the neo-Saiyan laughed his head off, and his laughter even increased in intensity when a growling and soaking wet panda waddled a few moments later through the door that apparently led outside.

# Very funny, boy. # Flip. # Laugh at your poor fathers’ plight, will you. # Flip. # Oh why have the Kami cursed me with such a dishonourable and weak son…#

The sign was cut short, seeing as Genma-panda felt himself once more dangling from the iron-grip of his now deadly serious son. A son, who was now surrounded by a large battle-aura and was looking like death incarnate. The four Tendos were impressed, even Akane. Each of them were asking themselves whatever could have ticked off Ranma so verily, for they hadn’t been able to read the signs, seeing as Genma’s scribbling had been quite unreadable.

The panda sweated verily as he was suspended several inches above the ground, and that was not just because of the heat the battle-aura was exuding. The threat in Ranma’s eyes was unmistakable, and Genma knew that he had gone too far.

Ranma’s eyes were drilling holes into his pandafied father and the scowl on his face would even have impressed the Prince of all Saiyans; the thick muscles of Ranma’s right arm weren’t even trembling from the intense weight of the panda and to scare Genma-panda even further he hoisted him higher into the air. Soun Tendo stared in awe. Ranma was really strong! Damn would he get strong grandchildren! Barely able to stop himself from doing the victory dance he watched Ranma’s next actions with all the patience he had acquired in years.

Nabiki and Kasumi were barely able to stop themselves from drooling, and both had stars in their eyes in face of the strength of Ranma while the pigtailed boy glared at his pandafied father. “Don’t you start harping about honour, old man, for you have none. And if you ever call me weak again I’ll pound your normal form so bad that even your own mother would think your new self an improvement. So let me make this perfectly clear, if you ever harp on me about honour or call me names again I will show you the true meaning of pain. Is that understood?” he asked the animal, much to the surprise of the Tendos.

And the surprise of the Tendos even grew when the fat animal started to nod vigorously. Nabiki, being the most rational of the Tendos waved this away as a hallucination, although she was curious what Ranma had meant with ‘normal form’.

But Nabiki was a pragmatist and looked at the facts; pandas were not intelligent thus the animal could not have comprehended what Ranma had said to it; thus Ranma talking to it and treating it like a person was suspicious. “Err, Ranma, this is a panda. I admit that it’s impressive that it’s trained to talk with signs, even if I couldn’t read them, but what are you trying to pull here?” she asked cautious.

“Yeah. And how can you treat a poor animal this way?” asked a steaming Akane, conveniently forgetting that she had bashed said panda into the pond moments before.

Ranma just glared at her. “Don’t talk about things you don’t understand.” he said to Akane and ignored her angry sputtering.

Then he turned to look at Nabiki while still holding his pandafied father suspended in mid-air in an iron grip. “This ain’t no poor animal. Heck, the baka is as much a poor animal as a hungry hyena, and about as innocent. No, that would do the hyenas of this world injustice. Every hyena on this planet is more innocent than him. And I’m gonna prove that I ain’t trying to pull nothing.”

With that he dropped the panda and fetched the kettle. The water had cooled down too much to be effective any more, but that was no problem. Concentrating, Ranma brought out his power, and the air crackled briefly with ki. Fact that astonished and worried the Tendos quite a bit, and that made Akane ask herself if it was a good idea to anger that boy. But in the next moment she threw that thought right out of the window. She was the best martial artist in Nerima, this perverted boy could do nothing to harm her!

But she had to admit, even she was as curious as the others what this jerk had in mind with the water.

-.-

While Ranma was using his ki to heat up the water, the usage of his ki in addition to the repeated flaring of his aura had alerted a certain Kami of the Earth; Dende, acting in his capacity as the guardian of the blue planet had been busy with analysing what he had felt some time ago anyway.

An odd power-spike had occurred some time ago, but at that time it had been obscured too much by an outside force as that he could have gotten a good look on it. All he had been able to verify had been that the spike had occurred somewhere in China.

Then, a while ago another spike had occurred, but there and then he had been much too busy with warning the Z-Fighters of an incoming threat, and he had forgotten all about it up till now. It had turned out that a member of the Cold Empire had been out for revenge for the deaths of his brothers, but the Ice-jin called Icer had largely overestimated his powers and had had his ass handed to him faster than he could blink.

Now, after everything had returned to normal, well as normal as it would ever get around here, he finally had the time to gauge if this new power was a threat or not. Coincidentally yet another power-spike was being emitted just now, which would make his job easier; or so he thought.

Going over how the power felt he quickly determined that it bore no ill will towards Earth or its inhabitants. On the contrary, he had seldom felt such a pure heart before. Only Goku could compare, and that was saying something. Interestingly the source of the power-spike seemed to be of Saiyan origin, but he could not remember that any Saiyans other than those on Earth were left. There had been no signs of others, and his superiors had scanned the universe quite thoroughly after the Brolly fiasco.

The situation was an enigma, and he would watch how events would unfold. Interestingly he could not get a clear lock on this new player; it was as if some force was cloaking the individual from anything but a scan for intentions. Over his telepathic link he informed the other Z-Fighters that a new fighter was apparently emerging, but seeing as the signal was quite weak he suggested that they should leave him or her be.

The presence was as pure-hearted as Goku and seeing as he or she posed no threat it was the best course of action to leave him or her be; it just wouldn't do if the whole Z-gang barged in on the individual and caused him or her to panic.

Dende left Piccolo with the job to relay the latest news, and he was sure that Piccolo would do it in his usual calm and composed manner that would so piss off Vegeta. Ahh, he loved yanking at Vegeta's chains.

With a satisfied smile he returned to his meditations, sure that he’d be witness to some funny scenes soon. However, little did the guardian of Earth know that Piccolo would do more than just inform the others.

-.-

At the Tendos Ranma had heated the water in the mean time, and the fact that the water was bubbling indicated to the others that it was sufficiently heated. Kasumi and Nabiki looked at each other; both Tendo sisters were getting more and more impressed by the young man’s abilities. Akane on her part had just scoffed; she still believed that this perverted boy had nothing on her, and should he try anything it would be kapowie to the moon.

Their father looked at Ranma in astonishment and awe. "Did you just use your ki to heat the water, Ranma?"

Said Ranma nodded. "Yes. After I had learned how to bring out my ki it was easy. But now to the demonstration." he said, and a dumbfounded Soun nodded.

Then Ranma upended the kettle filled with hot water over the panda who had hidden behind Akane, and a few moments later a tall, bald man was jumping through the living room. "Hot! Hot! Hot!" he yelled, while he tried to fan himself with his hands. Ranma smirked, and the Tendos sweatdropped in classical anime style.

Still wearing a smirk while his father glared at him, Ranma said "Say hello to my father, the panda."

to be continued…

Thanks to the ppl at Shinjis’ board for helping me out with suggestions, ideas and comments. You rock!

Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter(s):

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