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 8

Part 1

Ranma and the Tendo girls had retreated to Nabiki's room after the youths had finished the meal. Akane was still watching the young man for any perverted behaviour, but it seemed as if he was one of the few exceptions in their age-group. Had Ranma been a pervert he'd have jumped at the agreement and the chance to claim one of them as his bride. The youngest Tendo had arrived at this conclusion after the Midol had taken effect, leaving her with a clear head. No, Ranma didn't seem to be a pervert, but she'd watch him just in case.

Said Ranma was at present sitting on the ground, trying to calm the anger he still felt for his father; the girls were sitting on Nabiki's bed, watching him. Both Nabiki and Kasumi noticed that their initial impression of Ranma had been correct; he was strong, tough, deathly handsome and knew what he wanted. In short, he was an alpha male and a prime specimen of class A beef; needless to say, that and his attributes made him very interesting. However, something would have to be done about the reason of his anger. To let Genma Saotome have free reign was not an option, best friend of their father or not.

Ranma was apparently of the same opinion. "I'm sorry for what my stupid father tried to pull. Had I known that he'd try to force-marry me to one of you like that I'd have done something about it."

The girls looked at him; Akane with a curious/cautious expression, Nabiki was unreadable and Kasumi looked empathic, but also angry.

"It was not your fault, Ranma." Nabiki said finally. "The only thing you could have done would have been to let yourself be declared an emancipated minor. That's a very complex process, and I'm not sure if you'd even have known of it."

The pigtailed young man shook his head. "I was thinking more along the lines of beating on him until he stopped moving. Works best for pops."

Akane understood where Ranma was coming from; it was the same for her with the stupid boys at school. Nabiki was thinking differently however. "Doing so is only a short-term solution, as cathartic as it may be. But it does not leave a lasting message, does it? That's also the reason why the Hentai Horde and Kuno attack little sis morning after morning without fail. Beatings are not very efficient in conveying a message, as satisfying as dealing out punishment is. Using law-suits however is."

"Then why haven't you done anything about the perverts and Kuno? Do you think its fun how they attack me or what?" Akane asked a little angrily.

"Oh my!" Kasumi exclaimed. "Akane is right, something has to be done about those dishonourable boys. Have you really done everything to shut them down, Nabiki? I'm still missing the progress report on your latest efforts." she said, and Ranma got his first glimpse on the woman behind the mask, the one that had raised her sisters without any help; and he really liked what he saw.

Nabiki sighed as all eyes were upon her. "Not much to report, sis. I have tried everything within the laws and then some. Due to the Kuno´s influence in the ward there is nothing I can do."

"Influence?" Ranma asked when Akane looked dejected.

"Yes. Tatewaki, Akane's delusional suitor and Samurai wannabe gets away with everything at school, seeing as his father runs that loony bin. Add to it that the Kunos are one of the richest and most well-connected families in Japan and you have a problem. As said, influence." Nabiki explained.

"So the brute-force-approach is out. Too bad." Ranma said.

Nabiki nodded. "He'd just keep coming for more. Sure, you can go ahead and punt him, but that idiot is tough. Little sis beats him up every morning, and as a matter of fact, he comes back for more. Every bloody morning. I swear, sometimes I think that boy is into masochism." she muttered.

"So we have to think of something else." Kasumi said, much to the surprise of her sisters. "Something with a more lasting effect. So be creative, sisters mine. I know you like to think up just punishments, don't you?"

"Y...es." said Akane and Nabiki, barely managing to conceal said surprise.

Silence ensued as the four teens tried to come up with a plan on how to neutralise the nuisance named Tatewaki Kuno. "Say, Akane, does Kuno still throw a rose at you every morning after you've laid out the horde?" Nabiki asked, the beginnings of a plan forming in her mind.

"Yes." Akane answered. "Why?"

"Because I think I just came up with a plan. And it would so undermine Kuno's status. Hell, it'd blow his reputation to stone age and back." Nabiki said with an evil grin.

"Do tell!" both Kasumi and Ranma said at the same time.

Surprisingly Akane was not as enthusiastic. "What is it to you, sis? Wouldn't you lose your income from the betting pools? And what about those 'nice' photos I heard about?" she asked acidly.

"Betting pools? Photos?" Ranma asked.

Nabiki sighed and explained where Akane was coming from. "But I only did that after everything had gone to hell anyway. Kuno was so obsessed about you, Akane, it couldn't have gotten any worse. You know as well as I do that I didn't do it to spite you; we had our last student three years ago, and dad has barely earned anything in over ten years. I had to do something to keep the dojo afloat. If you're angry at me I can't help it."

It was her middle sisters' bluntness and earnestness that convinced Akane to let it go; had Nabiki said that she was sorry she wouldn't have believed her one second. "You're right, I am still angry at you. But I will forgive it; forgive, but not forget. If you ever do something like that again, either to help the dojo or your own pockets I will have to evaluate you. Got me, sis?"

Nabiki barely suppressed a gulp. "Yes, sis."

Moments later the sisters hugged each other, and Kasumi smiled; Ranma shook his head imperceptibly. Women. Go fig. However, this exchange had been informative, although some questions remained. "Why didn't your father bring any money home for ten years?"

Instantly the girls looked sad. "It's because our mother died eleven years ago, Ranma-kun." Kasumi explained.

"Yes. Ever since then dad wallowed in self-pity." Nabiki added.

"Sorry." Ranma muttered, looking down. "I know how you must feel. According to pops my mom is dead too."

Kasumi managed a smile, and due to what Ranma had said the girls knew that he hadn't uttered empty words. "You couldn't have known, Ranma-kun."

"Before we get all sappy and teary-eyed here, let's get back on track. So Kuno still does follow his routine. Good. Yes, that might just work." she said with a grin.

"What?" asked Akane, now as curious as the others. "Don't stall and do tell!"

The grin transformed into a smirk. "Now what would happen, if Ranma caught the rose after you've downed the horde, sis? And if he would then question Kuno's sexual preferences?"

"Huh?" asked both Akane and Ranma, while understanding had dawned in Kasumi.

The elder sister giggled. "How... fitting."

Nabiki bowed. "Why thank you, sis. It's nice to see that my genius is appreciated."

However, one look at the younger teens told her that the yen hadn't dropped yet. "Oh come on. It isn't that difficult." Then she sighed theatrically. "We make it seem as if Kuno were gay. Simple enough? Ranma here catches the rose intended for Akane and asks Kuno something like 'Why the hell are you throwing a rose at me? You gay or what?'. Kuno is too stupid to manoeuvre himself out of that, and if we repeat it often enough his rep will go up in smoke. Poof." she said and made a gesture with her hands.

"But what will that achieve, sis?" Akane asked, beating Ranma to the punch.

Nabiki smirked. "Simple. If we pull that often enough people will start to question Kunos' rep. The horde will question their leader, and it will look as if Kuno only issued the challenge to deflect people from his gayness. Without him to egg them on and give them a focus, they'll fall apart quickly."

Ranma and Akane looked at Nabiki in admiration. "Brilliant, sis!" "A sound strategy!" was their opinion.

Nabiki grinned smugly. "Thank you, thank you."

"Too bad that we can't do something like that to your father, Ranma." Kasumi said. "He'd deserve some payback for treating you like a commodity."

To say that Akane and Nabiki were surprised at Kasumis statement would have once more been an understatement. Both sisters looked at each other and shared a smile. It was a good sign to see Kasumi more outgoing, to see her acting more like the big sister she had been before their mother had died. It had been a shame that their proactive and fiery sister had been forced into the role of the docile housewife. Maybe, just maybe, this was about to change.

Returning back to the present, Nabiki smiled at her sister. "I... see. Sis, after what you've seen of Genma, wouldn't you agree that he's not the… well, best example of a human being?" she asked.

Kasumi nodded instantly. Normally she did not like to judge people she knew next to nothing about, but this was a different case. After all, this Genma would probably live with them for up to a year minimum, and during this time they'd have to deal with him. If he was like what she'd seen of him and how Ranma had described him, they'd have to lessen his impact on the family.

Finally Kasumi nodded. "Yes. I really can't believe that father would be friends with someone like this. Oh my, no offence against you, Ranma-kun."

Ranma smiled, but the smile soon turned angry. "None taken, Kasumi. After what he did he deserves far worse than that, both verbally and physically. Thanks to him our family honour is nearly shot beyond belief, and despite that, he still has the gall to harp on me about honour. Hah! That fat panda would not know honour, if it kicked him in the shin!"

Nabiki nodded. "I will look into his file and see what I can dig up. Maybe we can find a way to remedy some of the things he did that might be affecting you. Say, Ranma, did he ever make marriage agreements where an actual dowry was involved?"

The youth thought for a moment. "I really dunno, Nabiki. When I was old enough to beat him, he suddenly stopped engaging me for food or anything else he wanted. I dunno if he didn't continue with that shit in secret, but I can't say if he ever got a dowry in exchange for a marriage promise. What I do remember is, that he is a thieving, conniving idiot. One time, when I was very young, right before the Neko-ken, oyaji somehow got his hands on a yattai. That yattai belonged to the father of my best friend Ucchan. He was a boy I sparred with, and as I won every single time I always got okonomiyaki as a prize. But suddenly pop ran off with the yattai for some reason, and he asked me what I liked better: Ucchan or okonomiyaki. Not knowing any better, I said okonomiyaki. And that was the last I saw of Ucchan, about ten years ago."

The three sisters looked at each other after Ranma had finished the tale. Especially Nabiki did not like the ring the story had to it, but all Tendo sisters agreed: Ranma's father was either a world-class moron who did not care about anything but himself and making his son the best, or a monster. Either way they'd have to do something about him.

Nabiki looked Kasumi in the eye. "So you see, we have to do something about him. He can't be allowed to meddle with our family, considering what he has already done to Ranma."

Ranma nodded. "Nabiki is right. There ain't a situation bad enough that he couldn't make far worse. And if it has gotten worse, he runs away and lets others deal with the fallout. Stupid idiot just doesn't care 'bout the consequences. But he ain't a monster, just a stupid, utterly moronic idiot who's ruled by his base urges. Which is bad enough."

Akane seethed. "I can't believe that he made you choose between your best friend and okonomiyaki. What answer did the idiot expect from a six year old?"

The pigtailed martial artist nodded. "When I was older and could comprehend what he had asked of me I got very angry with the old man. Sadly I had not been strong enough to beat him at the time, but it furthered my determination to become stronger and better than him. And when I finally was I beat him up so bad that he couldn't move for a day. That was really cathartic." he said, remembering that particular memory with fondness.

Everyone, even Kasumi, smiled at this. But Nabiki, ever the pragmatist, brought them back on track again. "Sis," she said, and looked at Kasumi, "I'd like to enforce a diet upon Genma. I know it is not unproblematic considering that he is a guest of the house, but we have to reduce the amount of food he consumes. It will both anger him and keep the costs down. And I'd like to force him to earn his own keep." she said, outlining the plan.

"Oh my!" Kasumi exclaimed, "I really should not force an honoured guest into eating less than he wants to. It would not be proper."

Nabiki nodded. She had expected resistance. She just wanted to give her older sister an incentive when Kasumi continued on her own. "But... after everything I've seen of Ranma's father I agree. If I offend you I'm sorry, Ranma-kun, but your father is no honoured guest in my eyes."

Akane and Nabiki looked at each other and grinned. Ranma waved Kasumi's comment away. "Nah, you didn't offend me. Pop is honourless, simple as that."

"Right." Nabiki said, and Akane nodded.

Then Nabiki lined out the rest of her plan to force Genma, and potentially their father to get some work.

Ranma grinned. "Now that we got everything planned, how 'bout we show that baka panda what we're made of?" he asked.

A round of three 'Yeahs' answered him, and the four teens were on their way. And soon the headaches of the fathers would get far worse than what they were now…

--

Ranma and the girls where just on their way downstairs when Ranma felt a baleful presence. The pigtailed boy held up his hand, and the girls stopped in surprise. "Damn," Ranma growled, "I've no idea who or what that is, but it's darn powerful. Probably someone pops screwed over, and I can take the rap for it. Just freaking great!"

"Huh?" Akane asked, "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that you should all stay in this house. It's probably going to get very hot very soon." Ranma answered.

"I wanna help too! I'm a martial artist after all!" Akane exclaimed.

"Doncha even think about it. Whoever that is, he could be even more powerful than I am, from what I'm sensing. Can't risk that any of ya get hurt. 'Sides, you'd probably be more in the way than of help ta me."

Nabiki and Kasumi nodded in understanding; even though both were curious they trusted Ranma's judgement. Akane however was not so easily convinced. "You arrogant jerk! How can anyone be so full of himself?"

Ranma was getting annoyed; the presence he'd felt was drawing ever nearer, and here he'd to deal with a girl with temper issues. "I ain't got no time for this, thus I'm gonna make myself perfectly clear. Someone with enough power to level this ward is coming to this dojo, and you think you can help me in stopping him? Or do so yourself?"

"The… the whole ward?" Akane stuttered, nearly falling on her backside from shock.

"You're making that up, aren't you?" Nabiki asked, searching for traces of humour in his face. When she found none she gulped.

"Oh my!" Kasumi exclaimed. "Ranma is right, we would only get in the way."

"I agree. Swallow your pride, sis, we better do what Ranma suggested." Nabiki agreed. "He's more experienced in dealing with matters like this."

Akane was still steaming, but under the stares of her big sisters she faltered. "Good. But this is not over."

Ranma groaned. "Whatever. Get the old farts and brief them on what is happening. A powerful entity approximately as strong as I am is headed here, and if they don't protect you three I'm gonna rip them apart. Now move!" he commanded.

The three girls did as he had ordered, especially due to the fact that he had added his ki to his voice. Nabiki, not used to being commanded felt an odd shiver run down her spine, and it confused her; Kasumi for her part liked the strength Ranma demonstrated, both in his actions as in his words. She liked strong men, and her liking for Ranma grew more and more. Akane, on the other hand, just grumbled and vowed to vent her temper at the next best opportunity. Kami-sama be blessed for a certain panda…

--

Assassin Tao Pai-Pai marched determinedly through the ward of Tokyo called Nerima; a strong compulsion had led him here, and his gut-feeling told him that he'd find a dragonball here. Eventually luck had to be on his side, and it looked as if today was the day. The gods where smiling down on him, he could feel it in bones.

The strange compulsion grew stronger and stronger until it reached its peak, and the General looked where it had led him. "Tendo Dojo, owner Soun Tendo. Martial Artists, eh? Well, the better. Maybe they'll offer me a good fight before I liberate the treasure from their dead bodies."

What the Assassin did not know was that the 'compulsion' he had felt originated from a clever manipulation by Kami; Piccolo had explained his plan to raise Ranma's power-level, and the little green god had immediately agreed to help. Earth needed strong protectors after all, and Dende had believed Piccolo when the fellow Namek had reported that Ranma had the vastest potential he'd ever felt.

The little green god, who'd always possessed a mischievous streak had subsequently manipulated one of the less dangerous 'acquaintances' of the Z-Gang with something akin to glee; finally he could use his abilities in something that was not roundabout boring; and the first challenger was someone who'd indeed present a challenge to Ranma, for in regards of power Assassin Tao even held an advantage thanks to his latest enhancements.

Thus the Assassin, the first challenger of one Ranma Saotome, even if totally unaware of said fact, found himself outside the Tendo Dojo; he was also blissfully unaware that someone nearly as strong as him was 'waiting' for him. Not knowing and not caring Tao jumped over the wall, intent on surprising the inhabitants of the Dojo. Why blast the gate and attract attention if stealth worked too? Besides, he could use his weapons also at close range.

His stealthy approach ended however when the front door was opened all of a sudden. Tao stopped dead in his tracks and surveyed the obstacle. It turned out to be a remarkably tall and muscular young man, and from the looks of it he'd expected him. "So," Tao drawled, "you're the guardian of the dragonball, eh? Better hand it over and spare yourself immense pain before I kill you."

"What are ya rambling about, tin can?" Ranma asked in true Saotome fashion, using his slang. "Yer a bit weird in da brain or what? If anyone's gonna feel pain it's gonna be ya."

"Is that so, you little punk? I think you've got no inkling with whom you're dealing. I am…"

"Don't care. Don't have all day, so let's get it over with. You want to get inta the house, ya gotta challenge me. And I ain't gonna lose." Ranma stated with a confident smirk.

"Very well, foolish youngling." responded the man in the black and purple gi, grinning under his cybernetic mask. "As for the challenge, take this!"

With that he shot forward, intent on bashing Ranma with his right cybernetic arm. The pigtailed boy surprised him when he managed to block, and Tao suddenly found a fist buried in his gut. Good that he was a cyborg, or that might have hurt. A smirk spread over Taos face. It seemed that an opportunity to field test his new equipment had unexpectedly popped up; now he'd find out if the enhancements he'd bought from an old supplier of the Red Ribbon army held up to what the vendor had promised. His smirk grew wider when Tao activated the enhancements, and with the power now flowing through him he felt more than ready to kill this upstart punk.

His opponent surprised him however when a feral smirk appeared on his face. Ranma was indeed happy, for it seemed as if he'd finally found someone against whom he wouldn't have to hold back, at least gauging from the considerable raise in his opponents powerlevel. Tao on his part ignored Ranma's attitude, took some steps back and changed his left hand into a sword.

Acting instantly Tao shot forward and began to slash at Ranma, but the pigtailed boy dodged and weaved around the strikes until they had reached the outer wall; Tao saw this as his chance and put all of his cybernetically enhanced strength behind an underhanded strike.

Ranma just smirked inwardly and somersaulted over his opponent, the result being that the blade was stuck in the concrete due to Tao's failed attack. The pigtailed boy attacked the pigtailed man immediately, and firstly snapped the blade cleanly in half; then he followed this up by an uppercut that blew the Assassin into the pond.

Tao didn't feel any pain, but his temper flared understandably anyway. "How dare you, punk! For that you'll pay!" he yelled. Suddenly his right hand came off, and with a yell of "Dadon Ray!" a purple energy blast was fired at Ranma.

The speed of the attack surprised the young Saiyan, and thus he was hit dead on; the force of the energy attack sent him into the wall, and inside the house two females screams and one gasp could be heard. Genma and Soun on their parts shared a worried look, and Genma began to lament about the 'poor performance' his son was presenting.

Just when Genma had uttered what a shame his son was the section of the wall Ranma had been blown into collapsed onto him, and silence reigned; Assassin Tao walked towards the debris, a smirk on his face expressing his satisfaction.

Said satisfaction was however short-lived when the rubble was suddenly blasted away with a yell. Amongst the dust Tao got the visual of a tall young man, and when he used his cybernetic vision he saw that his opponent was completely unharmed aside from some cuts and bruises. The arrogant youngling stood surrounded by an aura that looked eerily familiar, and a shiver ran down Tao's spine for reasons he could not discern.

Growling he fired two Dadon Rays in quick succession, but to his utter surprise the young man deflected them without even flinching, a very angry look on his face. His attacks exploded harmlessly in the sky, much to his utter frustration. 'Well, time to raise the stakes a bit.' thought Tao and raised his energy output; subsequently he changed his fists into the highest density mode.

Deciding to stop fooling around Tao started to put some serious power behind his attacks, feeling giddy that he could test out his new components so fully, Ranma found himself under duress. Due to his superior power Tao managed to land several blows, which didn't hurt much due to Ranma's Saiyan physiology, but which served to raise his anger. Without realising it Ranma sped up the pace and improved his defence thusly; his power-level began to rise without his notice just because he was thriving in battle.

--

This was also noticed a hundred miles away on Kami's lookout, where Dende and Piccolo were standing with looks of intense concentration on their faces, their eyes closed. Piccolo was ready to assist Ranma in a moments notice should things get out of hand, even if this meant revealing himself to the young Saiyan, but it seemed as if this was completely unnecessary. Fact that had also been noticed by the smaller Namek, who was incidentally the acting Kami of Earth.

"Do my senses betray me or did he just get stronger, just like that?" Dende asked with a confused and surprised expression on his face.

"No, I felt it too. It should be impossible, but somehow this Saiyan gets stronger just through battle; he does not seem to need just training or injury to raise his powerlevel, a fight seems to have the same effects. Intriguing." Piccolo mused.

Dende agreed. "He does indeed seem to have a potential as vast as you said he had, Piccolo."

Said Namek growled. "Did you doubt my competence?"

The smaller Namek sweatdropped. "No, no, Piccolo. I was just stating an observation, heh heh." 'No need to get your turban in a twist.' he added as a thought.

"Good." Piccolo stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "What further do you observe from the fight?" he asked like a teacher would a student.

"That Tao is in for a world of hurt? Jerk go boom?" Dende asked innocently.

Piccolo growled in answer. "Take your duties a bit more seriously, kid. A kami has to carry his responsibility with dignity. However, your assessment of the situation is quite correct. Tao will find himself in for a surprise or two, and most probably in a world of hurt too…"

--

The Saotome youth had just blocked a spin-kick and evaded a leg-sweep when he saw an opening; instantly using it his right fist lashed out and blasted Tao into the wall. However, the Assassin got to his feet fast, with a look of extreme annoyance on his face. With a feral grin he changed his hands into twin blades and raised his energy output once again.

Ranma felt the increase in power in his opponent due to his senses, and with a growl he unconsciously augmented his powers. Then, with a snarl Ranma shot forward, executed a leg-sweep and followed this up by a blow to the sternum. Tao crossed his arms, or rather blades in an X and thusly managed to deflect the blow.

The Assassin instantly slashed at Ranma with both swords and had Ranma in the defence, but even with his cybernetically enhanced speed he could not land a single blow. Growling in dissatisfaction Tao raised his energy output to critical levels. He wanted this dragonball, and to get it he'd do everything, even risk damage to his systems.

Ranma noticed the raise in his opponents power-level, and the Saiyan reached deeper into his reserves as he blocked new and stronger attacks. Even though it should have been impossible his core somehow provided him with the necessary energy to augment his powers to those of Tao.

The pigtailed Saiyan caught the right blade with one hand without receiving a scratch, much to Tao's surprise, and used the Assassins´ momentum to turn the sword arm behind Tao's back. A quick snap of the blade later Ranma had to deal with just one more blade, and he repeated the same feat as before, only this time he snapped the blade right after he'd caught it.

Tao realised that it wouldn't make much sense to use up any more of his internal energy reserves on regenerating his blades; maybe some Crane style martial arts in combination with some well placed Dadon Rays would achieve much better results. Initiating the switch in tactics Tao jumped backwards and switched into fist-mode.

Now adequately prepared he launched himself at Ranma, and blows were traded at a rapid pace. Due to the fact that they were evenly matched no one managed to penetrate the others defences; annoyed Tao leapt forward with a jumping side kick aimed for his opponents head. Ranma blocked the kick with his right forearm and sent a lightning fast left hook at Tao face that sent the cybernetic man straight through the wall. His involuntary flight was only stopped by a housewall of which he bounced off.

Even more annoyed he jumped to his feet and fired an array of Dodan Rays, not caring that he would also destroy the house if they hit. They were however deflected with something that looked like casual ease, and the look on Ranma's face promised massive pain. Tao realised his ineffectivity and took the risk to realign his cybernetic pathways, and to his joy it worked. His overall power had increased about 30 percent!

Acting instantly on his advantage Tao rained blows on Ranma, and quite a few hit their mark. The pigtailed boy staggered backwards, and four Tendos and one Saotome exchanged worried glances inside the Tendo home. Soun and Genma had just gathered enough courage to aid Ranma when the young man suddenly growled. Assassin Tao looked puzzled as all the muscles in the body of his opponent seemed to contract, and then, all of a sudden, Ranma flared his battle-aura to maximum and began to yell.

His muscles bulged and his aura increased in size, and in a flash Ranma shot forward and rammed his fist into the gut of Tao. This time it did hurt, but that was nothing on the follow up. The pigtailed young man uppercutted Tao straight into the air, used the wall that surrounded the Tendo compound as a springboard, catapulted himself upward and landed straight in the flightpath of Tao.

A brutal double-fisted axe-blow followed up behind which Ranma had put all his strength, and considering his powered-up state it hurt like a bitch. The Assassin flew towards the ground like a rocket and created a huge crater just beside the koi-pond. Dirt was sent flying everywhere, and a groaning Assassin Tao got to his feet wobbly.

The majority of Tao's systems were damaged and malfunctioning, and he just wanted to initiate repairs when he was kicked hard in the head by a roundhouse kick that sent him slamming into the already verily mistreated Tendo wall, where he was embedded head-first. To add insult to injury Ranma fired a very strong ki-blast that hit the rather sensitive backside of the cyborg.

This time he yelled in pain, but Ranma was not finished yet; the Saotome youth was now the clearly stronger fighter, and without a second thought he rammed the Assassin straight through the wall.

"Damn, he's brutal!" Akane exclaimed inside the house.

"Yeah," Nabiki agreed, "but that jackass deserves it. Consider, that freak wanted to kill Ranma! No one tries to kill my Ranma without paying the price!"

"Oh my, you're so right, Nabiki! This guy has to pay. Show him, Ranma!" Kasumi exclaimed, and Akane looked at her sisters strangely. 'I hope it's not contagious…' were her alarmed thoughts as she continued to watch the fight.

Standing at the other window a certain Genma Saotome was satisfied with the performance of his boy by way of an exception; Soun and he had the sake out and were celebrating what looked like a clean victory of the Anything Goes style.

At first it had not looked very good for the school and Genma had been ready to rip even the last of his hairs out because of the pitiful performance his son had delivered against this weak-looking tin can; but his clever boy had apparently lulled his opponent into a false sense of security, just like he, Genma, had taught him. It seemed as if the boy wasn't hopeless after all.

Ranma, who would have punched his father to the moon had he known of his thoughts was currently busy with what he liked best: winning a fight. This time he intended to end the fight by putting the dishonourable asshole that was his opponent into some severe pain; not only had he fought with intent to maim and kill, no, he had also hazarded the consequences of destroying the Tendo house with his energy attacks, which would surely have killed everyone inside. For that he'd pay dearly!

Tao, for his part, had just staggered to his feet, when the Saotome youth rushed forward and executed a punch-kick-roundhouse-kick-blast-punch-combo, and Tao, who was currently using all of his reserves to stay in the fight was not able to block anything but the initial kick.

The last punch drove the air out of his lungs completely, and due to the strength behind the blow he sunk to one knee because of the pain. Using the advantage Ranma shot a roundhouse-kick to Taos head, embedding him once more in the wall.

The Assassin was now in a world of pain, and he tried valiantly to remove himself out of the deep indention he had made; the dragonball was forgotten, all that counted was a tactical retreat, and that as fast as possible! However, Ranma was faster, and he had other plans. Seemingly covering the distance of ten yards in one step the pigtailed youth appeared in front of Tao, and instantly rained down blows over his whole body.

Tao groaned in pain as his systems were not able to compensate, and Ranma finally stopped the punishment with the result that the man keeled over forward. He landed on the ground with a thump, and barely registered how he was lifted into the air by the scruff of his neck.

Blinking Tao registered two icy-blue eyes fixed upon him, and he shivered involuntarily due to the intense anger visible in them. "If you ever come back to Nerima again, I'll do a lot worse than that; in short, ya will be pushing up daisies, asshole. No one, no one tries to kill the ones Ranma Saotome protects. Got that, jackass?"

"Y… yes." the Assassin managed to utter. However, one question was burning in his mind, "Are… are you related to Goku?"

Ranma shook his head. "No. And now get lost!" he exclaimed, and an extremely powerful uppercut which broke Tao's jaw in three places sent the already unconscious Assassin Tao into LEO.

Satisfied with himself and surprisingly feeling a lot stronger the Saotome youth popped his joints and returned to the house.

--

After the alarms and excursions had died down and after Ranma had received congrats for his victory he deemed the time right to enact their original plan, seeing as the fathers might be more agreeable due to the victory of the Anything Goes school. Genma had boasted how he had been the one who had made Ranma's victory possible, him being Ranma's sensei and all. However, a quick reminder just how sloppy his 'teaching' had really been shut the Saotome patriarch up fast.

Genma had unsurprisingly sulked and convinced Soun to get out more sake, while Ranma had cleared the air with Akane, who'd by now been a bit more accepting of what the Saotome youth had tried to make clear to her. The youngest Tendo girl, much as her older sisters, had been downright shocked at the amount of power both that Assassin and Ranma had exuded. They'd gotten their first glimpse upon how strong Ranma really was, and the three girls had agreed that none of them, not even Akane, who'd always claimed that she was a good martial artist, could and probably never would hold a candle to Ranma.

With the problems out of the way it had been deemed time to set some rules for the fathers that were more far-reaching than the contract Ranma had drawn up. It had been decided to leave the talking to Nabiki, as she had the most experience in dealing with 'problematic cases'. And at least Genma was as problematic as they got. Soun was expected to offer some resistance too, especially now, that he seemed to have regained his spirits once more due to the Saotomes' arrival. But resistance would be utterly futile.

As soon as the four reentered the living room, into which the fathers had retreated to celebrate, their noses wrinkled in unison. The whole room practically reeked of sake, but the fathers seemed to be still conscious as of yet. The amount of sake bottles on the table was surprising to the three girls, as they had never seen their father drink much. Obviously Genma had a certain talent to bring out the bad sides in people.

"Ahh, it is my lovely girls and Ranma, the saviour of the day!" Soun exclaimed, and he still sounded surprisingly sober. Which was impressive considering the amount of alcohol he must have consumed.

Then Genma turned around, and Ranma could tell just from the appearance of his father that he had drunken too much. Somehow Soun must have convinced him to drink the majority of the sake, and the bottles told him, that the Tendo patriarch had succeeded. "Ahh, 's is me worzless boy, Tendo! The one whoss desstroyed all me dreams. Ohh, wuzz fer a shame me own son is ta me!" he slurred; apparently he had consumed way too much sake, and it was now bringing out the frustrations he was feeling in face of the fact that Ranma had managed to regain control of his life.

Ranma looked at the girls. "You take care of your father and see to it that he sobers up as much as possible. I take care of that sorry excuse of a human being in front of him."

The girls nodded, and while Kasumi convinced Soun to accompany them to the kitchen Ranma took Genma by the scruff of the neck and lifted him out of his seat effortlessly. "Wuzz doya fink yer doin', boy?" he protested, but was ignored by Ranma.

Akane, who had stayed behind, looked at the display gleefully. "Ranma, can I come and watch?" she asked in a neutral voice, her former anger at him forgotten in face of the awesome fight.

She always liked to watch how just punishment was dealt out to perverts if she didn't do so herself, that is, and as far as she was concerned Genma Saotome qualified; she'd still not forgiven what he'd done to her in their initial meeting and was very glad that he'd never be her father-in-law.

Ranma on the other hand really did not seem to be a pervert, and he had proven that he was an exceptional fighter just moments ago; she'd give him the benefit of the doubt, also because he had not insisted on the fulfilment of the agreement, but had rather done everything in his power to make the situation as acceptable as possible for all of them. Add to that that he had not acted perverted in any way even once; it had been his father who had felt her up, not Ranma.

The pigtailed boy, now addressed by Akane with something other than contempt, nodded. "Sure. But stay a bit behind. Baka panda here will take his monthly bath." he said with a smirk that bordered on evil.

Akane nodded with a grin. She was once more impressed by the sheer strength of Ranma, who held a struggling Genma in a one-handed grip. Hmm, maybe she could really learn from him; after all, the fighting prowess he'd shown in the match with his father had really impressed her. And maybe he was really no pervert. After all, he wanted to help her, and hadn't he already by stopping the fathers from engaging them on the spot? Shaking herself out of her musings she followed Ranma out into the garden.

She arrived just in time in the garden to see how Ranma readied himself to throw his sorry excuse for a father into the Koi-pond. To herself she mused that this would indeed be the most effective way to sober the idiot up. Finally Ranma launched his father into the Koi-pond, utilising his superior strength for an overhead throw. And the bulky man landed in the pond with a huge splash that surely irritated the resident Koi greatly.

Ranma smirked, and Akane laughed her ass off at the sight of the panda which floated on the surface with his face-down. After several moments the cold water seemed to finally take effect, and the panda began to move. Turning onto his back and spitting out a mouthful of pond-water, Genma-panda looked at Ranma indignantly.

Akane snickered. "Look, it lives!" she exclaimed, quoting some Gaijin movie.

The pigtailed boy looked at her and grinned. "Not for long if he continues down the road of idiocy." he said.

The youngest Tendo snickered some more, and Ranma finally had had enough of the antics of his father. The panda had swum near enough the shore by now and was making threatening gestures, apparently forgetting with whom he was dealing.

Ranma just lifted him out of the pond by the neck when Nabiki appeared in the garden. "I see it has worked somewhat, Ranma. Kasumi is presently preparing her 'hangover special', so dad should be sobered up soon. If you're ready here we can return inside and initiate the business enterprise." she said.

The young man nodded, and with no apparent effort he carried the growfing and growling panda with his right hand outstretched out of the garden to avoid getting wet from the dripping panda. Kasumi was already waiting for them at the door, with a kettle of hot water and a towel at the ready.

Ranma could have sworn he noticed a devilish gleam in Kasumi's eyes just before she upended the kettle of water over the panda, which Ranma had dropped just outside of the hallway. Seconds later Ranma knew that he had seen the devilish gleam. "ITTE! ITTE! ITTE! HOT!" the once more human Genma exclaimed as he ran around in circles. It was funny to see how the bulky man tried to fan some cool air onto several places of his body, which seemed to be quite sensitive to hot water…

Kasumi smiled apologetically. "Oops. I did not realise that the water had been this hot. Excuse my oversight, Mr. Saotome." she said in a serene tone of voice, while she inwardly had harsh difficulties not to burst a gut.

The three other teens looked at each other and smirked. It was admirable how Kasumi had done it. Now Ranmas father was adequately 'prepared' and the talk could begin. Ranma, whose patience with his father had been running thin anyway grabbed him and dragged him into the living room, followed by two smirking Tendo girls. The next few minutes should get interesting indeed.

Once they had entered the living room, Ranma pointed at a chair. "Sit down, pop. We gotta talk." he commanded.

A now sobered up Genma bristled. "How dare you talk with your father this way, worthless boy? Who do you think you are to give me commands?" he demanded.

Ranma's immediate answer consisted of a steely hard glare that promised great pain. Genma had enough common sense to gulp before Ranma gave the verbal answer. "I talk with ya how ya deserve it. And in case ya forgot, I'm the one who can kick yer ass straight back ta China. I heard their zoos are always searching for pandas for their breeding programs. Considering that mom has passed away she wouldn't mind." he said with malevolence.

Kasumi, who had returned to the kitchen to return the kettle back to its proper place just returned to the living room, from where she had heard the voices of the others. In her right hand she was carrying a cup containing some liquid, and upon arriving in the living room she sat the cup before Genma. "Drink this, Mr. Saotome, and you'll feel soon better." she said politely.

Genma nodded and took the offered cup. After all, who could deny such a friendly and nice hostess anything? However, what he didn't know was that Kasumi hadn't been very 'nice' when she'd prepared her hangover special, and she just might have added a bit too much pepperoni to it, not to forget the wasabi …

The result consisted thereof that Genma's face grew red and redder by the second, until smoke billowed out of his ears. Moments later a literal jet of fire escaped his mouth, and after running to the fridge and draining a convenient bottle of milk Genma was back to normal; or rather better than that.

Kasumi on her part managed to look sheepish. "Oops, I fear I added a bit too much pepperoni to it, Mr. Saotome. Please forgive my oversight."

Genma just waved it away and some cool air into his mouth, sweat still pouring out of every pore of his body. "For… forgiven." he gasped.

Ranma looked his sobered up father dead in the eye. "Pops, it's time that we set some rules." he said, and Genma, who'd consumed some more milk, looked at his son; he noticed soon that his boy meant business.

"Rules? What do you mean, boy?" he inquired.

If possible Ranma's look hardened even further. "Firstly, to get one thing perfectly clear, there's absolutely no need for you to lament that the joining of the schools won't happen. In fact, you always lamenting about that might lessen this chance, seeing as it doesn't give me the time and opportunity I need to get to know Kasumi and Nabiki properly. Pops, I like them both, but I can't get to know them if you disturb us constantly with your incessant nagging. I know how important the joining of the schools is, but you'll have to trust me and the girls. This is a decision that pertains the rest of our lives, and it's our right to decide. Get this straight, for I'm growing tired of your attitude and my patience is wearing thin rapidly. Got it?"

His father, who had been torn between going ballistic and hugging his son for what he'd said that the joining of the schools was still possible decided to act like a honourable man for once. "Yes, boy. But you better make a decision by the end of the year."

The Saotome youth grinned. "I will. Though if you pester me in the meantime, I might be forced to engage… countermeasures. So pay attention to your own business and let me mind mine; in the meantime you can drown yourself in sake and try to cheat Mr. Tendo out of house and home, okay? But now to something else. Nabiki, if you would?"

A smirking Nabiki nodded. "Father, Mr. Saotome, lets talk business…"

That they did, and little later Nabiki, the mistress of negotiation, had talked the fathers into everything they'd wanted out of them. Genma had been convinced that he'd have to earn his keep too, which had been admittedly hard; in the end Ranma had succeeded when he'd threatened to sell him to a zoo, together with a note that explained that this rare-breed of a panda sadly suffered from a warm-water allergy.

It had been agreed upon that Genma would teach in the dojo with Soun, provided that the teens would bring in the students; that had been the agreement, and Ranma and the girls were quite confident that the students would start pouring in soon after Ranma's first schoolday. The Saotome youth had taken up Nabiki's idea for a job; taking his considerable physical strength into account he'd found his own demolition firm with Nabiki's help. After all, why not turn his right touch in regards of destruction into something profitable?

to be continued…

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

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Modifications in V 1.1: changed the name General Tao to Assassin Tao; also added wasabi to the recipe Kasumi used to cure the hangover of Genma; generally used the corrections of Borg Rabbit (didn’t have the heart to use your suggestion for the hangover cure; not even Genma deserves that). Thanks to everyone for pointing out mistakes.