Banishment actually isn't so bad.
Saotome Ranma was an expert martial artist. A student of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts to be exact. Or rather, he was a student. Taught by his Father since he was a child, the black haired, blue eyed boy was no longer part of the school, and no longer part of the Saotome household. Why you may ask?
Because of his parents, the Tendos, and of course...the failed wedding.
So much chaos and violence that day. So many explosions, yelling, the blaming, pointing fingers at each other, etc. on all counts. It was only until everyone felt the need to blame Ranma did everyone seem to agree it was his fault. How was it his fault? He didn't ask for his "rivals" to attack during the wedding. He didn't ask them to make things explode and possibly injure people.
In fact, the only one who had been injured badly was himself. Both during and following the attack. The explosions caused him to be badly burned and Akane had been so angry over the failed wedding that she smashed him into a wall in his injured state with her trusty mallet. To make matters worse the crazy girl didn't stop until a good chunk of his bones were broken and was done yelling how she hated him.
Following that, Ranma was visited by his so called "parents", who, in their opinion, was a poor excuse for a son. Genma being the lazy fat panda in disguise ass that he was, stated no son of his would lose so badly to a girl. No matter the injuries he suffered. To Ranma, it was bullshit. His stupid Father knew as well as Ranma that it didn't matter how strong a boy or man were at the time, an injured body can only take so much punishment before someone comes along, and crushes it with a giant mallet over and over again until most of the bones are broken.
Ranma's Mother Nodoka was also ashamed because her supposedly "manly son" couldn't properly get married and keep his "rivals" back long enough to get married. Add to the fact she now knew about his curse didn't help him much either. Genma felt with his son incapacitated, he could tell her about Ranma's "problem", but (not surprisingly) failed to mention his own curse in turning into a panda.
Ordinarily, Nodoka would have called for the Seppuku pledge she made her husband, and son be honored for not being manly. But due to Genma having made quite a few mistakes since leaving with Ranma on their training trip, whether by accident or deliberate to stop the pledge from being honored is anyone's guess, it could not be honored without some other person picking up the tab.
The only way that the Saotome Clan and the Tendo Clan by extension could save their so called "honor" in all this mess without all of them committing Seppuku was to banish Ranma from their lives. And not just their lives, but from Nerima itself all together. To them, he was the dishonorable one despite the fact the boy had been trying to honor all of the commitments his stupid Father had made to others when traveling.
It didn't help that Happosai had paid a visit and stated he had officially removed Ranma from the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts registry. Yes, apparently Ranma had been in the records as a student of the school prior to Genma leaving with him on their training trip to make it all legal to do just about everything he did to Ranma during the time they traveled.
The whole Anything Goes teachings seemed to apply to how the student was trained in terms of quite literally "Anything Goes" on how it got done. As a result of being removed from the registry, Ranma was forbidden to continue learning the Anything Goes style, and would be put to the sword if he tried.
Then, to make things even worse, if that were humanly possible, Nabiki comes to pay him a visit, and demanded money from him to cover her losses from the wedding. Him? Pay her money? After all the crap she pulled. She was the reason the wedding got crashed in the first place! She got in contact with his "rivals", told them what was happening, and crashed the wedding as a result! Not only that, but she had taken pictures of him in his girl form, and was trying to have him underfoot in the process.
Surprisingly, the only one to visit actually him at the hospital on friendly terms was the old ghoul for a Chinese Amazon Elder Cologne. Unlike everyone else, she saw potential in Ranma to be great, and surprisingly admitted the Amazon way of doing things to get the boy into the tribe had been wrong. That the Saotome and Tendo families were both wrong in banishing him just to save their so called "honor" from being tarnished by the failed wedding one of their own helped orchestrate to fail from the start.
So she offered him a way to get stronger despite the looming threat the perverted old Happosai had loomed over the boy's head.
Namely by becoming an official member of the Chinese Amazon tribe. Of course, to do that, Ranma would have to marry Shampoo, or some other Chinese Amazon his age after besting her in combat. Ranma was unsure if he should accept her proposal given it was a way for the old ghoul to have him marry Shampoo and such a thing worked in the elderly woman's favor.
(Flashback-Hospital Room)
"You are skeptical of my offer. I understand. I would be too if in your position son-in-law after being put through everything like that. I know what Shampoo did and I'm not happy about it either. At the same time, I know Shampoo is ashamed as well since I explained to her this was exactly what the horrible Tendo girl wanted from the start. She is deeply sorry Ranma and wants to make it up to you,"said Cologne while watching Ranma from her position.
Ranma blinks with his one good eye in a form of communication to her and giving a knowing look.
"Yes, its true that I do get what I want in terms of you marrying Shampoo. But I also want you to be happy too my boy. And so does Shampoo. Its why she did what she did with the explosive food at the wedding in the first place. My Great Granddaughter never wanted you to get hurt either from her explosive food or the angry girl you were being forced to marry. Your family and the Tendos have put you through Hell and I must admit, my side had not exactly helped in that regard. So I wish to help you become strong again Ranma. I swear to you on the souls of my family's ancestors that I am here to help you know happiness. My seeing you marry my Great Granddaughter is merely icing on the cake if you will. Do you accept?" said Cologne while seeing Ranma close his one eye.
After thinking it over, Ranma gave her a single nod since he couldn't exactly talk back and give a verbal response. This was mostly due to his bandages currently covering most of his face and his jaw being wired shut. In fact, only one eye was allowed open since the other was badly swollen, and he was unable to open it.
(End Flashback)
Two days later, Saotome Ranma was gone from the hospital without a trace. No one knew where he went and those that wanted him gone no longer cared. To them, he was excess garbage. Deadweight. A dishonorable bastard not worth helping even if he was dying a dark corner of the world. Banished for all time or until they needed a reason to have Ranma back to use for their own purposes again.
Out of sight. Out of mind.
The next day following Ranma being declared missing, Cologne and Shampoo would not be seen in Nerima again for some time. They closed up the Cat Cafe and left town back for China with a secret guest stowed away in a box on a ship back to their homeland.
(Nerima Martial Arts Tournament-Four Years Later)
Genma wasn't happy. Here he was, at a Martial Arts Tournament here in Nerima, and he couldn't even participate in it. And it wasn't like he tried. Same with Soun. While his dear friend may have been a bit rusty (and by a bit he knew it was a lot), it didn't mean that they couldn't shake off the rust with good all fashion fighting other younger competitors.
And making sure Nabiki blackmailed the competitors to take a serious dive when facing her Father.
Sadly, it seems neither himself, Soun, or even Akane could participate in the tournament due to the powers that be in charge of it having them blacklisted. Them? Blacklisted?! It was unfair! Who were these fools from outside of Nerima, hosting a tournament here, and blacklisting both families from competing? When Genma demanded to know why they were blacklisted, the three judges, who Nabiki learned were spotless (and thus could not be blackmailed into changing their minds) in their reputation for making these decisions, had said a single name. One that made Genma and the others go pale in shock and even fear.
Saotome Ranma.
In the four years following the boy's banishment, the two families had seen neither hide nor hair of the long forgotten banished Saotome. Why would they? He was gone. Fell off the face of the world to never come back! The world and Nerima itself was far better off without him in it.
At least...that was what they thought at the time.
The first blow to the two families came approximately five months later and a few days before word got out about Ranma being banished from his family for his "failure to live up to expectations". How that happened was just about anyone's guess since the only ones who should have known this were the two families. Or so they thought. Ryoga, in his pig form no less, was being held by Akane when Genma had announced what had happened regarding their decision about Ranma in the Tendo home. Thus nullifying the arranged marriage between the Saotome and Tendo house (as well as just about every other illegal arrangement/debt Genma made/owed prior to this moment) for the time being. Nodoka and Genma even told stated how they had been planning to have another child together, and this time, the child they sired would be their one true heir to the Saotome name.
The plan this time was being that by the time their future child came of age, one of the three Tendo sisters would be married, and have a child of her own. Kasumi was already engaged to Dr. Tofu so it seemed she would be the one to make such a thing happen. in near future.
Unfortunately, tragedy hit twice over in the form of the Nodoka's doctor telling her that she couldn't have anymore children. That Ranma, her only son whom she had banished, and thrown out like yesterday's trash was the only child she would ever have in life. The second hit was Genma was attacked one night during his trip with Soun to the local bar to drink the night away, leaving a massive tab to be paid in the future for his banished, and declared dishonorable son should he ever show himself. His son whom no one outside of the two families knew had been banished and wouldn't be known for a long time if the fat man had anything to say about it.
In any case, the attack had left the man brutally beaten within an inch of his life, and to further shame Genma...the attacker removed his manhood. The investigation by the Nerima Police found the missing organ not far from where the attack happened, but also discovered the male...item belonging to Saotome Genma had been set it on fire. Genma was actually fortunate he was unconscious when that happened and the simple fact his attacker cauterized the wound to ensure no surgeon in the world could repair the damage.
As such, Genma was now even less of a man then his banished son was, and would have to live with the shame of it for the rest of his life. Even worse knowing that his bloodline would possibly die with him should Ranma ever die before siring a child of his own. Not only that, but unless Genma, and Nodoka rescinded their banishment on Ranma anytime soon, the panda changing Saotome could not unite the schools like he and Soun wanted.
The next blow came when Ukyo left Nerima, after she got a letter from her Father stating that she no longer had to hunt for Ranma, or honor the agreement made to marry the boy. Apparently, the man had gotten an anonymous letter heavily detailing all of the various dealings Genma made during his training trip with Ranma. How trying to get Ukyo to honor a deal made by a dishonorable man was not honorable in the slightest and would produce nothing in the long run. He was also told of her own actions during the failed wedding and would be having a few choice words with his daughter when she came back home.
Ukyo soon left Nerima without a word to anyone to head back home to help her Father and live a life as Master Chef/fighter of her home town.
It put a serious cramp in Genma's poor stomach because he loved Ukyo's cooking when he and the others visited her for the food while leaving a big bill for Ranma to collect later when the boy made himself known. After it was learned Ranma had been banished, Ukyo told both families their secret was out, and to expect all debts made in Ranma's name to be called in to be collected from Genma. She told them outright to pay the bill owed to her or she would go to court and let the judge presiding decide their fate. While Nabiki had quite a few police and other officials in Nerima in her pocket, the judges had to follow the law no matter what. Even if Nabiki could influence the judge presiding over the case, it wouldn't be enough to get the case thrown out, and even if it was she would have to make it happen every single time. Meaning she would have to cash in every favor owed to her by a judge for every single debt collecting case that went to court. Nabiki had come to the conclusion it would drain her dry given the debts the Saotome family piled on top of the Tendo Patriarch's own during their stay at the house.
So bill they owed Ukyo was paid (reluctantly mind you) and the woman soon left Nerima to never be seen by either Saotome's or the Tendo's ever again.
The next hit came when old man and pervert Happosai had been banned from entering just about every corner of Japan with the exception of Nerima. Why? Because someone had revealed to every government official and police officer in Japan that the one stealing women's undergarments when he wasn't spying on women was Happosai himself. It was made clear that these women had their rights and privacy violated with some of them being the girlfriends or wives of these powerful government officials. Many if not all of them wanted Happosai's head on a plate for this since their girlfriends, sisters, wives, and even Mothers had cried about it to them shortly after these events happened. The only safe place Happosai could stay now without being arrested or possibly shot on sight was in Nerima itself while staying close to the Tendo house.
Even Happosai couldn't participate in the fighting. The judges knew all about the man's perversions and claimed their honor demanded they not have such a violate of a woman's dignity enter the tournament.
The only one who could participate in this was Akane. But the girl had zero grace when it came to the art. She spent her days smashing bricks in the dojo. Going through a basic routine after all this time everyday, when she should have gone onto the more advanced training, and gotten stronger. Genma "tried" to convince Akane to do the harder stuff and by tried he gave half ass talk to the girl about improving her skills. Naturally, Akane said no due in no small part to her own pride as a Martial Artists, which wouldn't let her listen to him since she thought learning from Genma would make her weak like she though he had made Ranma. Of course, deep down Akane knew Ranma was stronger then her, and knew he was only crushed in their brief one sided never saw coming fight following the failed wedding due to his own injuries preventing him from defending himself.
"My daughter is doing well Genma. Already defeating three of the competitors and now facing the fourth one in the semi-finals," commented Soun happily while Genma was just nodding.
The latter didn't have the heart to tell the former that Akane had won the second match by a mere fluke, and the last match following it because Nabiki blackmailed the fighter into taking a dive. The only reason the girl won the first match was due to the fighter being more ill prepared then herself and that was saying something.
"At this rate, we will win the prize money, and pay off the rest of the debts we owe by the end of the week," said Nabiki while Soun nodded and Genma grinned at the sight of all that money he wanted in his hands for a night on the town drinking with his dear friend.
"And now ladies and gentlemen, our competitors for the semi-finalist shall take to the stage. Up first, born here in Nerima...Tendo Akane!" exclaimed the Announcer with the crowd booing the girl since they didn't see a Martial Artist when they saw her fight.
"Inconsiderate jerks," commented Genma while Soun glowered at the crowd.
"And our next fighter who will combat her, straight from deep within the heart of China, the male Amazon warrior...Ranma!" declared the Announcer to the tall lean figure with black hair in a long Chinese braid in the back and wearing a dark green Chinese martial arts uniform.
"Wait! Did he just say...Ranma? As is...Saotome Ranma?!" asked Nabiki while she saw the man for the first time since meeting him in the hospital all those years ago to tell him about his debts and the fact she owned him.
And boy was he different. And by different, she meant Ranma had become a man in the physical sense. His body had become more muscular, but still lean to allow flexibility to go with his clearly acquired strength. His eyes were sharp too. They no longer held any uncertainty in them or means to be manipulated by someone like her or Genma if they tried. This man standing in the same fighting arena as Akane had expanded his mind as well as his body and both were now well balanced in terms of strength.
Akane stood no chance in Hell against him.
"Oi! What are you doing boy. We banished you from our homes and from Nerima. You have no business being here!" exclaimed Genma angrily while what was left of his male pride, which (due to his condition) wasn't much, seethed in rage at the sight of his son, and wanted his embarrassment for a boy gone.
"How did they let him in when Daddy and Genma couldn't?" demanded Akane since she had been paying attention to the names on the competition board and didn't see Ranma's name there.
"I asked the Announcer not to reveal my real name until now. And the times I did fight, it was behind my mask I wore to help ensure you idiots didn't know it was me," explained Ranma while showing his Xiangdong Nuo Mask that Shampoo had given him.
"T-That mask! I saw him compete against three other fighters. All with exceptional skills and reputation to their names. He's Xiang Manchu!" exclaimed Nabiki, as she had been trying to dig up dirt on him, but found herself blocked at every turn, and even told by some of her contacts to leave the man alone.
As for Genma and Soun, they both paled at hearing the name since they saw Ranma fight under that name, and had been incredibly skilled from what they saw. The boy they had tried to remove from their hearts and minds had beaten three well known Martial Artists. All three whom could give even Happosai a run for his money in terms of fighting skill if they were honest with themselves. In fact, Soun had been tempted to approach the man to see if Manchu would possibly consider marrying Akane, or maybe even Nabiki to bring him into the fold of their Anything Goes School.
Only to find out Manchu was in fact Ranma.
"Like it? It was Shampoo's and Cologne's idea since they wanted to see the looks on your stupid faces when you realized it was me in the ring fighting Akane," explained Ranma while looking back at Shampoo and seeing his lovely wife waving at him and cheering her beloved on while Cologne was beside her with a smirk on her face.
It had been quite the effort to get Ranma healthy again and back into fighting shape once again. There were even some among the Amazons that thought the boy wasn't worth the time to repair was others had broken. But Cologne had not been around as long as she had and backed down from a challenge. Just like Ranma, she too thrived when given a seemingly impossible task. It was probably why the elderly woman liked him as a good fit for Shampoo and being her Great Granddaughter's husband. In any case, Cologne used ancient Amazon techniques to heal Ranma's broken body, and decided to teach the boy from the ground up due to the idiot Happosai removing him from the Anything Goes School.
It worked out better then even she expect due to Ranma's determination to learn from her allowed the elderly Chinese Amazon to teach the boy at an exceptional rate. If anything, Cologne suspected Genma had somewhat sabotaged Ranma's Martial Arts training when traveling. No doubt to make the boy reliant on him or maybe even Soun if necessary to prevent the boy from getting too strong for them to control. But Cologne didn't want to control the boy, as she saw how hard it was from her own experience when first meeting him, and seeing why Shampoo claimed him as her future husband.
When dealing with Ranma, you don't try to control someone possessing such incredible potential. No! Such attempts tend to blow up in your face when trying too hard and the individual resents you for it. Again, control was not Cologne's plan in dealing with the fighting skill and potential of Ranma. Her plan was to unleash him.
And unleash him on the world she did.
First, Cologne made sure Ranma was back up to par once again. It was only a matter of time before that idiot Mousse returned once hearing Ranma was banished and gone from Nerima. No doubt to claim Shampoo as his own per the laws of the Chinese Amazons if he bested her in combat.
Cologne couldn't have that. Oh no. Mousse was many things, but worthy of Shampoo? Not by a long shot.
By the time the glasses wearing boy returned, after taking quite a while to get back due to his lack of proper sight, Ranma was restored both in mind, and in body to peak condition. When Mousse found out, he went into a rage, and tried to best Ranma in combat with the intent of killing the boy so Shampoo could be his without opposition. Only for Ranma to crush Mousse in their fight and force the proper eyesight lacking male Amazon to make an attempt at stealing Shampoo in a dishonorable fashion.
Only for his eyesight to betray him yet again and grab a woman who was NOT Shampoo at all. But rather a skilled female Amazon, who proceeded to beat the boy stupid, and force the Elders of the villages to bring him to justice. When Mousse did recover from his injuries long enough to go on a rant at his trial, it was decided they could no longer keep the boy in their village. His clear obsession with Shampoo, his attempts to kill Ranma, and then the failed attempt to kidnap his desired bride after being beaten fairly did not sit well with them. Not only that, but Cologne stated she suspected if Mousse were set free, he would go back to Nerima, and tell Ranma's enemies there of his location. Even going so far as to lead them straight into the village and cause untold damage just to get at her future son-in-law. Mousse, in a fit of anger at seeing Ranma near Shampoo at the time confessed openly that was exactly the kind of thing he would do, and enjoy seeing his gender changing enemy crushed no matter what.
Seeing the boy was beyond hope of redemption or regaining his honor, a decision was made. Mousse would be put to death.
It had been a quick death of course. A simple beheading, but done in a way where the boy could be of use to them even in death. Hence why Mousse's beheading happened in his cursed form as a duck and after some proper cooking was sold to be eaten by some very nice traveling tourist who were being helped along by a tour guide.
After that, Ranma trained himself into a frenzy. He was determined to get stronger then ever before under the tutelage of Cologne and Shampoo. To one day return to Nerima and show his parents and the Tendo family just what and who they threw away. He even went so far as to find the Spring of the Drowning Man so he could fix his curse without risk of being turned into a women. Even his fear of cats had been removed, as Shampoo would use her cat form to help him get over his fear, and help him see the feline animal was not one to fear like he did thanks to his bastard Father's attempts at training.
Good for school and honor of the family his now long braided hair!
"Ready to taste defeat again you gender changing freak!" challenged Akane while Ranma smirked at her.
"I could ask and call you the same insult Akane. Honestly, all these years not seeing each other, and you are still an ugly girl. From a distance, people probably mistook you for a boy, and with your temper over the smallest things...I'm not surprised," remarked Ranma while Akane was grinding her teeth.
"You'll regret that Ranma!" exclaimed Akane while getting in her fighting stance.
"Doubt it," commented Ranma while getting into the Amazon fighting stance to the surprise of his former family and fiancé.
"What are you doing boy? Happosai banned you from fighting!" protested Genma while Ranma scoffed at him.
"This is the fighting style of the Chinese Amazons. Happosai only banned me from using the Anything Goes School fighting style. He has no power of this fighting style," replied Ranma with his former Father seething in anger.
"All the same, you are forbidden to fight for the rest of your life. As your Father I hereby command you to-AAAHH!" exclaimed Genma before he was hit in the head by a rock thanks to Cologne.
"Shut up idiot. Let the match start!" commanded Cologne while giving a glare toward the fat panda changing idiot.
"Right! Ready? Begin!" exclaimed the Announcer while bringing his hand down.
Akane wasted no time in charging at Ranma. She had won against three other fighters and could beat Ranma here today. He had been badly injured years ago and she doubted the boy turned man had gained any of his former strength by those Chinese Amazons. All Akane had to do was get in close, hit a few parts of his body she knew her trusty mallet had broken, and the perverted freak of nature would fall apart like brittle paper.
How wrong she was in her line of thinking.
Ranma dodge every single one of her attacks. She had the finesse of an intoxicated fool, who couldn't tell up from down, or left from right. Akane had stayed with the basics for so long that fighting and training against someone more advanced was totally lost on the woman. Not only that, but the Tendo in front of him was hot headed, easy to provoke, taunt, trick, and defeat with the proper strike.
And strike he did.
Moving faster then Akane ever thought was possible, Ranma crouched low within her guard, and performed a one hand stand crescent moon with such power behind it...his leg actually caught fire in that moment it left the ground.
It burned Akane's face something fierce when he made contact with her and the referee had to end the match due the burn on the woman's face. Not that it mattered since the force behind the attack sent Akane flying out of the arena and Ranma won the match with her on that alone.
"Four years and you're just as weak as ever. Maybe even weaker from the looks of things given how easy you got knocked down," remarked Ranma coldly before walking out of the fighting arena with his enemies watching in shock.
"How dare you do that to my little girl! I will crush you!" exclaimed Soun, who charged forward like his daughter to crush Ranma.
Only for Ranma to dodge the first three attacks before blocking the fourth and punched Soun right into the ground with incredible force that left a body imprint. Genma tried to perform a sneak attack on his banished son, but Ranma easily sensed him long before the eunuch for a man even leaped into the air to perform his mid-air attack. When Genma was close enough, Ranma grabbed his leg, broke it at the kneecap in such a way it would never be the same again, and threw the fat man using the same leg into a wall.
"Is there anyone else from either the Saotome or Tendo family, who thinks I should 'pay' for winning a legitimate match in this tournament?" asked Ranma while glaring at a now nervous Nabiki since she had bet heavily on her sister to win all of her matches before she was even placed in the assigned tournament section bracket.
"You are no son of mine," remarked Nodoka coldly with her sword drawn and pointing it at him.
"Put that thing away. You will only hurt yourself," remarked Ranma while walking away from his Mother.
"Stop where you are Ranma! Did you forget that banished or not, you are still bound to the Seppuku pledge? A pledge you are still legally bound to and make you take right here and now?" challenged Nodoka while Ranma did stop and look at her.
"You mean the one my so called Father is also bound to in terms of making me a 'man among men' as you put it? The one where you had him make me sign it when I was a child and had no idea what it was in the first place? Go ahead Mother. Call for it to be performed. But in doing so, I can challenge it in court, and I guarantee that no judge in Japan would honor such a thing. Not with all the scams, debts, and illegal actions your husband did while I traveled with him. Even if I had to perform Seppuku like you are no doubt threatening me with now, Genma has to do it too, and we both know the man is too much of a coward to go through with such a thing to redeem his so called honor. He'll run away in fear, hide in his panda form, and do everything in his power to make sure it is never honored. Its not the first time the idiot has backed away from his commitments when honor demands he pay up," countered Ranma before walking away.
"You...You dishonorable child!" exclaimed Nodoka while Ranma stopped again and glared coldly at his Mother.
"How am I dishonorable? How was I ever dishonorable? I put up with my idiot Father's actions for years. I never knew you existed or knew you were even alive until you came into our lives all those years ago. Your so called husband told me that you were dead. The Tendos tried to use me like an actual horse. 'Ranma do this! Ranma do that! Ranma protect Akane. Ranma do what I say or your girl form will be exposed for all to see!' I did everything asked of me by my family and the day I am to be wed by that ugly bitch being carried off in that stretcher behind you, the wedding is violently crashed by my enemies. All of which were drawn to the wedding for that purpose by the sleazy 'Ice Queen' for an information broker to your left so she could make a profit. I was badly injured through it all, and to make matters worse, my guard was down with my supposed fiancé taking out a mallet to beat me until most of my body is broken to the point of no return. And for what reason did she do it? Simply because she could and wanted to on the grounds I was weak enough to beat and didn't want to marry me. So tell me, Mother! Tell me how I am the dishonorable one? How was I dishonorable when I lay in that hospital with most of my body broken from the act of a dishonorable bitch and her family?" challenged Ranma with many hearing his words and whispering about how unreasonable the man's Mother, Father, and the Tendo Family as a whole had been unfair to the man.
It made Nodoka angry.
"You know nothing of honor Ranma. You were weak. Unmanly. You are afraid of cats! A mere splash of water and you will change gender!" exclaimed Nodoka with Ranma scoffing at her.
"Correction. I was afraid of cats. Past tense. And the reason I was afraid was because of the panda's idea of training me in the Nekoken. A fighting style every Martial Artists here knows should have never been taught to a child or to anyone at all!" countered Ranma with many in the room nodding since they heard of the Nekoken and how the manual for it was incomplete and highly dangerous to perform if the attempt to learn it was indeed made.
"You're still a gender changing freak!" exclaimed Nabiki knowing she could use those old pictures of Ranma to blackmail him into doing what she wanted.
"Not any more. I was in China for the last four years Nabiki. I learned many things beside the art of fighting. I learned how to speak the native language fluently. And I learned about the cursed hot springs there. The tour guide who takes people near it explained how one curse could negate another curse if done properly. Meaning, I just had to take a dip in the cursed hot spring of the Drowned Man, and my curse was cancelled out," explained Ranma with Nabiki going pale since she never told anyone Ranma was the girl in those photos she took of him.
Now Ranma could deny it all he wanted and claim that those photos could be of him since he was guy and they were of a girl. Even if Nabiki claimed otherwise, no one would believe her due to the key difference between male, and female looking Ranma.
"You are...cured?" asked Nodoka stunned by this news with Ranma nodding.
"Yes. I have been cured for nearly four years now of the curse my idiot Father knocked me into. Also, in case you are somewhat curious, I'm actually married now, and to Shampoo no less," said Ranma while glancing at the woman in the stands and winked at her.
"How dare you marry that Amazon bitch! Honor demanded you marry Akane to unite the schools!" declared Genma angrily.
"Difficult to do when you banished me from the family. I believe you made that happen while I was in a body cast at the hospital thanks to my former fiancé's actions against my person," countered Ranma with Genma seething in anger.
"Banished or not, I am still your Father boy, and I declare your marriage invalid. We are going to bring you back into the family and you will marry Akane!" demanded Genma before he was knocked down by Cologne.
"Shut your mouth fool. Son-in-law is no longer bound to you in any shape or form. He is a full grown adult now and legally does not need you anymore. Even if you brought him back into the fold, what makes you think Ranma would forget, or forgive your actions against him when growing up all the way until now? I wouldn't," remarked Cologne on her cane that was currently on Genma.
"In any case, your side lost the match. You have no reason to be here anymore. Leave and go back to that shack you call the Tendo home. Something tells me your troubles have only just begun," said Ranma before walking away from the angry families with Cologne and Shampoo right beside him.
(Tendo Home-Weeks Later)
And true to his words, trouble did come for the Tendo, and Saotome family in the form of the overall Nerima populace. Ranma had made sure that everyone Genma had screwed over knew exactly where the man was hiding out. Ranma also made sure these people knew how his Father would be hiding from them in his panda form when they all paid the Tendo family a visit.
And visit they did.
In the past four years since Ranma's sudden departure from Nerima, Nabiki had used her network of contacts throughout the city to originally hide Genma from the people he had (overall) screwed over. He could have done it sooner, but Ranma knew his Father all too well to know that the idiot would simply keep screwing people over, and hiding soon after people caught onto him. Nabiki's contacts and connections throughout Nerima were the only thing keeping these victims from getting their 10 pounds of flesh from Genma.
After four years of staying away from his former family and the Tendo's...Ranma decided he had waited long enough.
It wasn't long before a lot of angry people came to the Tendo house. All of whom were demanding Genma pay them financially what he owed. Of course, Genma tried to hide in his panda form when they showed up, but it didn't work. Nabiki tried to "convince" these people (via blackmail or intimidation using her reputation) to ignore Genma's debts, but she was out of her league with them. These people Genma owed were not pushovers like those Nabiki had dealt with in the past. Genma had unknowingly made deals, had debts, and other major problems with some very scary people. Or those associated with some very scary people. People who break legs. People who take pieces of the deadbeats who owe money as a form of compensation. People who also had friends in high places much higher then Nabiki did and were not afraid to make calls of their own should they have to get the point across.
And it wasn't just scary people too. Martial Art Schools and clans from all over Japan had been swindled by Genma in the past during his training trip with Ranma. He had stolen countless fighting style scrolls and the methods to use them from all over while staying at these places under the horrible pretense of being an only Father traveling with his son on a training trip. He played the poor Martial Artists of a Father trying to help his poor son become something of himself when growing up.
And played on the honorable hearts of others to exploit them to their fullest.
In short, Genma had brought down a lot of heat down on himself, his wife for marrying him, Happosai for training him, and the Tendo family for taking him into their home. The only one spared was Ranma ironically enough due to being a child at the time and then the banishment by his own parents. The boy, who would become a man, had been set free by the family, and thus was not part of the grievances his Father had made in the past.
As such, Genma found himself in a pickle of a jam with these angry individuals. He tried to talk his way out of it of course. Giving lame ass excuses. Mostly about raising Ranma being the blame. How Ranma was a lazy good for nothing and an embarrassment of the Saotome family. How he was trying to make sure Ranma would be able to help him pay off his debts when the time came and all that jazz. How honor demanded Ranma pick up the tab prior to the boy's banishment and even after it in order to remove the shame the boy brought the family.
Unfortunately for Genma, the people he fooled were not buying it. They basically told Genma to pay up with the money owed or they would see him pay it using other means of compensation.
And by other means, Genma knew they meant taking an arm, a leg, and anything else they could take from him that was of considerable value. Including his wife if need be should the agents from the Yakuza pressed the issue.
"This is all Ranma's fault!" exclaimed Akane angrily while wishing the man was here so she could smack him around with her mallet.
"I agree. Your banished son has much to answer for Genma. We need to bring him back to get him to pay off our debts and unite the schools. Honor demands it!" add Soun while Akane glared at her Father.
"I am NOT marrying him! Have Nabiki do it! She can blackmail him or something to keep him in line," said Akane while Nabiki shook her head.
"I can't. He's not longer cursed. Even with the pictures I have, they look nothing like Ranma," remarked Nabiki since she knew the pictures were outdated and chances are Ranma no longer cared about the pictures now that he was cured.
"All the same, we need to undo the banishment, nullify his marriage to that Amazon bimbo, and make him marry Akane. It won't be too hard to control Ranma once we get him back here," replied Genma while an amused laugh filled the room and the group as a whole turned to see Cologne there on her giant stick looking amused.
"What do you want? You're not welcome here!" demanded Akane while getting ready to swat the old woman with her mallet.
"I just thought I would stop by to see you all since our last encounter at the tournament. From the looks of things, you are all landing on hard times, and once again seeking out my son-in-law to bail you out...again," commented Cologne with the two families in front of her glaring.
"That boy's purpose is to take care of his family and honor demands he come home to pay his debts!" exclaimed Genma while Cologne looked amused.
"His debts? Or are you simply referring to your debts, which you gave to Ranma to pay off instead so you could live the easy life off of him?" countered Cologne while Genma seethed at her words.
"It is the duty of the son to take care of his Father," Genma shot back while Soun nodded in agreement.
"As you did yours?" questioned Cologne with Genma looking away.
"I don't have to answer that," commented Genma while Cologne slightly frowned.
"Meaning you didn't take care of your Father like you expect Ranma to do with yourself. Meaning you just want to live off your son's blood, sweat, and tears while he does all the work," said Cologne while Genma bristled with anger.
In truth, Genma never did take care of his own Father like he wanted Ranma to do for him. If anything, Genma's old man had been a believer in the whole do back breaking work hard kind of philosophy. To "Work hard in everything you do. Don't slack off when trying to achieve your goals. Be honest and you will be rewarded for it!" were all of his way of doing things, but not Genma. Genma believed in taking what you can from others. To run away from those you take from. Never apologize for what you do. Bring others down who do what you did when they do it back to you.
In short, live a double standard life, and make sure everyone but yourself gets the shaft without ever getting punished for it.
Which was probably why Genma was left nothing in his Father's Will when the old man died. He apparently saw the "ugliness" in his son and gave everything he owned to a few charity organizations to teach Genma a lesson in the price you pay for dishonesty. Sadly, it didn't stick like the old man wanted, and Genma rejected his Father's concepts further out of spite.
"Shut up you old ghoul! I am the Head of the Saotome family and I will treat and raise my son how I see fit!" exclaimed Genma angrily while Cologne was unfazed by this and just smirked.
"A son you banished. A son you scorned and abused. And you called yourself a man. I would think losing what made you a man between your legs would humble you. I guess not," remarked Cologne with Genma going red in the face.
"How do you know that?! No one is suppose to know that!" demanded Genma while Cologne just smirked.
"How indeed," remarked Cologne while Nabiki narrowed her eyes at the Amazon woman with sharp eyes.
"It was you. You attacked Genma that night!" said Nabiki while Cologne shook her head no.
"No. I did not do that to Genma. If I did, I would openly, and proudly admit it since the loss of his thing is the least he deserves for his abuse against Ranma. I do however, know the person that did," replied Cologne while seeing a certain pig with a bandana on his head moving onto Akane's lap.
"Who was it? Tell me!" demanded Genma while Cologne just smirked.
"Why should I? What's in it for me?" asked Cologne while seeing Genma seething in anger.
"What do you want?" asked Nabiki since she was more level headed in negotiating then Genma and everyone else in the room.
"Honestly? I want you all put to the sword, but I think that's asking for a bit much. No. What I want is for ALL of you to swear on your honor, the honor of your families, and the souls of your ancestors leave Ranma alone. To leave him, Shampoo, and any child they have together alone. To never lay a single hair on their head. This goes for any future children from the Tendo family your daughter's may have Soun. None of them will have their future offspring swear revenge against Ranma's future children," replied Cologne while Genma and Soun seethed at this since they had intended at the very least for any children Kasumi had with Dr. Tofu to learn how to fight to one day destroy Ranma's legacy.
"Done," replied Nabiki knowing her family would never honor the deal anyhow, but she doubted Cologne didn't know, or suspect that if she was willing to deal with them in the first place.
"Are you sure? Because the moment one of you breaks the deal on your end in any way, everyone in this room will be put to the sword. Meaning that everyone here will pay for the stupidity of just one of you," warned Cologne while casting a discreet glance at the pig and saw Ryoga in his pig form scowl at her.
He knew that she knew of his curse form and was binding him to this too. It wasn't like Ryoga could just say no or do anything that would reveal himself to the others. Akane would smash him to pieces or throw him into the oven to be roasted alive! Four years of being Ranma free and in Akane's arms at night in his pig form had been bliss!
"We're sure. Now who was it?" demanded Nabiki with Cologne still smirking at her like she had the upper hand in this deal.
"It was Ranma," was Cologne's simple response.
"What?!" exclaimed Genma while Cologne didn't blink at his outrage.
"Why so surprised? You were a fool to think Ranma would take what you did lying down or personally for that matter. After he had recovered enough thanks to Amazon healing techniques I used, Ranma discovered your new desire to have a second child. One you and your wife could easily mold into being the perfect heir to the family name. After all the 'mistakes' made with Ranma in terms of raising him, you just had to do the opposite at certain points, and the second child would supposedly be better then the first. Of course, it surprisingly wasn't the main reason Ranma attacked you, and removed your manhood before burning it," said Cologne while seeing Genma doing a pretty good imitation of an angry bull right about now.
"What was the other reason?" demanded Nodoka coldly.
"Why to ensure no other child went through what he did. Do you honestly think Ranma would sit by and let a possible brother or sister sired by the two of you go through the same Hell he did? Not a chance. Any child brought into the world by the two of you would know only misery, loneliness, and suffering," replied Cologne while Nodoka was getting angrier with each passing second.
"I would have loved my future child!" challenged Nodoka with Cologne smirking.
"The same way you loved Ranma? A child you didn't see for over a decade? A child you forced into taking a Seppuku pledge without even explaining what it was his Father had him sign? Would you have made your second child take said pledge too?" questioned a curious Cologne while Nodoka seethed further.
"How I raised my child or children is none of your concern you old witch!" exclaimed Nodoka angrily.
"But that's the thing Nodoka. You didn't raise Ranma. You left him in the hands of the irresponsible fat panda there. Considering all the misery he had piled up for you and everyone else to pay, I'm surprised you haven't divorced him yet," remarked Cologne with Nodoka narrowing her eyes at the elderly Chinese Amazon.
"Its called love," replied Nodoka while Cologne smirked.
"Oh I have no doubt you love him Nodoka-san. But does he love you just as equally?" challenged Cologne while glancing at Genma with an evil grin on her face and it made the panda changing man nervous.
"Of course he does," replied Nodoka confidently.
"Do you want to tell her Genma? Or should I do it for you?" asked Cologne with Nodoka looking from her to a heavily sweating Genma.
"Tell me what?" asked Nodoka angrily while glancing between the two.
"How he slept around while on his training trip of course. Genma traveled with Ranma throughout the world for years. You didn't truly expect him to have the willpower to stay faithful during that time, did you?" answered Cologne while throwing pictures of Genma walking into and out of what were clearly brothels while readjusting his pants and shirt.
"Those are fakes! It wasn't me!" protested Genma while Cologne never stopped smirking at him.
"You should know better then to play that card Genma. These days, the various brothels in the Red Light Districts you went to all had cameras for security reasons as well as for blackmailing ones depending on the client. Ranma remembered every stop you made on your trip with him and when you dumped in the wooded area near a city or town. Each time, you visited a brothel, and laid with several whores while promising payment later on in the form of your son. I have the video of the deals made if you continue to doubt me Nodoka. The various owners of these brothels did not take kindly to being cheated by the idiot," replied Cologne while Nodoka glared at Genma.
"How could you be unfaithful to me? I was faithful to you!" exclaimed Nodoka at the nervous Genma trying to explain himself.
"D-Don't get sassy with me woman! I am the man in this relationship. I can lay with any woman I want. I don't have to be committed just to you!" declared Genma while Nodoka looked even angrier.
"Did he have any children from these whores?" asked Nodoka with Cologne shaking her head.
"No. All of the women he was with were on the pill. After all, pregnant women are bad for business at a brothel. Even more so if they were carrying Genma's child. Not that any of the women at each place were impressed by his overall "performance" in bed," replied Cologne with her smirk growing at wounding Genma's pride further.
Shaking greatly with anger, Nodoka shot up from her position, and began walking out of the house.
"Nodoka! Where are you going?" asked Genma before he shrunk back at her cold look.
"I'm leaving you Genma. Figuratively and literally. I am going to file for a divorce and you will agree to it," replied Nodoka with Genma going pale since he lived off his wife when they were married like he had done with the Tendo's.
He would actually have to do work to stay afloat. He hated working!
"What?! No! I won't! You can't divorce me!" protested Genma while getting up from his seat and marching over to the woman to enforce his "I am the man and make the rules" way of thinking on her.
Only to get the tip of her sword pointed at his throat.
"I have had enough of this Genma. You told me you could make Ranma mainly on your training trip. I trusted you to carry it out. You told me Ranma was a failure as a son and did it on his own through his past actions regardless of your attempts at raising him. I see now that you only said this to get out of performing Seppuku as per the agreement of the pledge you and Ranma signed. You told me Ranma's curse was his own doing, which is why I agreed to the banishment in the first place. Only for me to find out you threw him into one out of spite for besting you in a spar and has been cured of his curse. Something you should have done before leaving China. Now we have debts that need paying, angry people from clans, powerful families, and even a few government officials all over Japan demanding we pay what is owed. To pay for what you stole from them and using our now banished son as collateral in some cases. And to make matters even worse, you had the nerve to be unfaithful during this entire time in the belief you could get away with it!" stated Nodoka while glaring at Genma and fought to keep the tears from running down her face and the guilt for what she had done to her son.
"I have needs too woman! You think I should be a monk all that time while raising the boy? Hell no! I have no delusions of honesty and doing what it right. I follow the way of Anything Goes School of Martial Arts and that means I can do everything and anything in my power to get away with my so called crimes. If I want to steal from someone, I will steal, and take everything. If I want to cheat to win, I will cheat to win. If I want to lay with a whore for a night or two, then my any God listening, I will fuck any woman in my sight willing to spread their legs for a few bills if it gets me off! I am a man and the man can do what he does in life without being judged by anyone if there is a way to get out of it!" exclaimed Genma, as he saw Nodoka narrowing her eyes further at him.
"Well you aren't getting out of it this time Genma. I am divorcing you. You will sign the papers. If you don't, I will personally put you to the sword. I will either have a signature with your name written with an inked pen...or I will have it written in your blood after you dab a finger into the sword wound through your fat stomach!" threatened Nodoka while she looked Genma right in the eyes.
"You wouldn't dare!" challenged Genma before feeling the tip of her sword pierce his skin at the neck just enough to cause a little bit to draw blood.
"Do I look like I am joking?" questioned Nodoka with Genma wisely keeping quiet.
"Well at least one of you has some common sense in all of this. It took a great deal of effort and nearly four years, but it was worth it," remarked Cologne while ignoring Akane trying to move silently behind her to hit the elderly woman with a giant mallet.
"DIE!" yelled Akane before swinging her mallet at Cologne.
Only for Cologne to dodge it easily and hit the woman at key pressure points to render her immobile. By that point, Ryoga in his little pig form tried to jump on Cologne to "avenge" Akane, but was easily knocked away, and onto the nearby table.
"Oh, one more thing before I forget. Your little pet pig, isn't really a pig at all," remarked Cologne before she took out some water and splashed it on Ryoga, who instantly turned back into a human.
A butt naked human to be exact. With Akane staring right at him in her paralyzed state to boot!
'What the Hell?! That's Ryoga! But what happened to P-chan?!' thought Akane while the cold hard truth started to kick in slowly, but surely in the tomboy's mind who P-chan really was, and what the pig had done during the last four years living here with her.
The pig always snuggled with her at night in her bed. Happy as can possibly be and Akane was glad to have him as a pet. She didn't even find it weird seeing Ryoga more often around the house then usual following Ranma's disappearance. She just assumed he had given up on getting revenge on Ranma since the jerk had been taken out by her and was banished forever!
Only to find out he had been the little pig she took in all those years ago. And he never told her!
"I will leave you all to deal with this new situation. As for you Nodoka-san, I suggest you think long and hard about your past decisions. Depending on what happens next, you may get a chance to see your son again in the future. Though I wouldn't expect to get hugs and kisses from him anytime soon if you do," remarked Cologne before she left.
"I need time. Time to think. Time to just be alone and reflect on myself," replied Nodoka before she left the house.
Neither Genma, Ryoga, nor the Tendo family would see Nodoka again.
In the few short weeks following Cologne's little visit to Ranma's former acquaintances, things had gotten worse for Genma, Ryoga, and the Tendo family. For one, Ryoga was arrested per Akane's enraged insistence, and the Lost Boy was done thanks to Nabiki's few remaining contacts in the police department to never be see again by anyone. There was a good chance he was in his pig form and had been eaten on his lost journey to get back to the Tendo house.
Sadly, following this act, Nabiki had burned up the last of her own currency with the police department, and got the attention of one Genma's scorned debt owners that just happened to be part of an influential Yakuza Clan. They soon swooped in and took over Nabiki's entire network of contacts, friends, and anyone else she could count on to get her information on people. With them gone, Nabiki had nothing. The Ice Queen of Nerima had lost her Kingdom and subjects to an outside force. Naturally, she tried to take it back, but was betrayed by one of her contacts from school who Nabiki had trusted since they were kids. What Nabiki didn't know until it was too late, was that her so called friend named Mikoto had never been her friend. Nabiki had put a lot of people under her thumb in Nerima during her rise to being its Ice Queen.
Mikoto's Father being among them.
The poor man had a gambling problem. A big one. Nabiki gave him money from time to time in exchange for information, favors, and errands she needed to have run. It all came to ahead one day. It was two years following the time Ranma disappeared and collectors for Genma's own large pile of debts came knocking. Mikoto's Father ran up a big debt. Bigger then usual. Twice as high to be exact. He needed a lot of money. Fast! The people he owed were the kind of people who killed you to make a point to other clients to pay up. That in some cases, you weren't worth more alive then dead, and it was cheaper to kill you then wait for the payday.
Hence why he went to Nabiki. Mikoto's Father needed some cash to give these guys as a good faith payment. They weren't unreasonable per se. They just wanted the money owed and were willing to wait for the whole amount provided they got some of it now while they waited for the rest later.
Only Nabiki didn't give him any. She had spent too much already covering for Genma and Nodoka living in the Tendo home for free. She was burning through money almost as fast as she could collect it from those that owed her in the first place.
The same day or rather later that night...Mikoto's Father would be found dead in an alley. A bullet to the back of his head with his arms and legs at the joints cut off.
Since that day, Mikoto vowed revenge. Not against Ranma of course. But against Nabiki for not helping her Father when he was in a real jam. Years of loyalty in doing everything he could to help the Ice Queen and the one time he really needed the woman's help...she said no to him.
And it resulted in his death.
Since then, Mikoto had been feeding information to Nabiki's many enemies, and growing competition to take a piece of Nerima. In the end, Nabiki met with a Yakuza Chief, who went by Goro, and saw Nerima a place of untapped potential. He had seen Nabiki's work with the town and it wasn't half bad, but it could have been so much better. Especially if his clan was running things. Yet he felt it would be stupid not to give the Ice Queen a chance to work for him and still have some form of power. After all, Nabiki knew the people, Nerima, how things got done, and with a little molding on his part could be a strong subordinate to his organization.
Sadly, for Nabiki anyway, her stubbornness had been the woman's undoing. She had told Mikoto prior to the meeting that nobody was going to force her into submission and was going to fight back when the Yakuza Chief least suspected it. How she would take back what was hers and no one could stop the Ice Queen from taking back her Kingdom.
And in turn, Mikoto told Goro what Nabiki told her.
At the meeting, Goro was polite, and civil as per his usual routine when meeting with people. He still offered Nabiki one final chance to join him as his subordinate to run Nerima in his name and funnel most of the profits to the Yakuza while Nabiki herself got a small percentage of what was left. Goro knew she would say no, but it didn't hurt to give the offer, and was his own way of giving the stubborn woman a way out with so many wolves at her front door. Nabiki was forced into servitude of Goro's Yakuza, but was a low level subordinate under the command of Mikoto, who for her loyalty to her new Yakuza friends was made "Operations Director" for Nerima. It was here Nabiki new Hell, as she was removed from the Tendo house, and relocated to a cramped sleazy motel the Yakuza owned in the Red Light District.
She was banned from all contact with her family and they never saw Nabiki ever again.
By this point, the Tendo family was bleeding heavily in a figurative sense. To their many enemies, the overall body of the Tendo family was ripe for the taking by these wolves, who smelled wounded prey, and wanted to sink their teeth into the flesh of those beyond the wooden door of the house they lived in. The only one who was saved from all of this was Kasumi. The woman, who despite everything her family had done was able to keep her marriage to Dr. Tofu, and leave Nerima had the good Doctor's insistence.
Not surprising given all of the heat on the Tendo family during this time. It was actually starting to affect Dr. Tofu as well. He had enough of Kasumi's family and the Saotome family too for that matter. The only way for him and Kasumi to live happily without this nonsense hurting them was to leave Nerima for greener pastures.
Kasumi was hesitant at first, but seeing how things were getting nasty, the poor woman feared for her life. No surprise since she was the eldest daughter of the Tendo family, but also because Kasumi recently discovered she was pregnant. The idea of her child being taken away by the Yakuza to make an example out of her Father and family frightened her. Fortunately, someone (Ranma) had put in a good word for Kasumi, and allowed her along with Dr. Tofu to leave Nerima safely.
Out of all the Tendo family members, Kasumi was actually the nicest, and Dr. Tofu had helped Ranma out on many occasions. The man had even come to the hospital to help in the boy's recovery prior to Cologne's visit four years ago. They deserved some form of mercy on his end. Especially with the kid they were having on the way. With any luck, they would raise the kid right, and the line of stupid, greedy, and boy hating Tendo would die with those living in the house in Nerima.
The Tendo family would never see either of them again.
As for Genma, the man fled the Tendo house knowing he couldn't stay there, and tried to hide from those pursuing him using his panda form. Sadly for him, it didn't last long for him to be found due to everyone looking for Genma were on the lookout for a clearly smarter then the average panda. Hence why every zoo was checked and watching for the extra panda that should not be there.
The eunuch for a man and panda ran away from Nerima in the hopes his pursuers would be stupid enough to believe he would continue to hide out there. His assumptions were proven wrong when the Yakuza, who ran a local bar just at the Nerima limits planted a trap of free sake, and food for anyone traveling with a panda. Genma, who was too tired, hungry, and thirsty at the time from traveling had easily fallen for it. He tried to play it off with himself being a panda with a sign stating his owner was already inside and to let him in where he planned to turn back into a human in secret. The fool had no idea he just walked into the place that would spell his doom by the end of the night.
No one would see Genma ever again from that day forward.
Happosai was no better. The man had been in hiding in Nerima ever since every other place in Japan had a "capture or kill on sight" order for his head. Now Nerima was no longer safe and the old pervert tried to get out of Japan oversees to China where he planned to not only get revenge on Ranma for his actions, but to get some pleasure in stealing women's panties there, and having more room to breathe.
Only to be caught soon after arriving in China thanks to the Amazons there recognizing him immediately since they were expecting him by this point thanks to Cologne. She knew how the pervert thought and acted so it wasn't hard to predict Happosai's next move when Nerima got to dangerous for him. The Amazon Elder also knew Happosai would be livid in knowing Ranma was not only strong again, but learning the Chinese Amazon way of fighting, and learning a great deal from her personally. Like Genma when it came to women, Happosai didn't believe the female gender was ever meant to be strong Martial Artists despite proof to the contrary with Cologne, or Shampoo being chief among the examples.
When Happosai learned Ranma was not only learning from the Amazons, but was cured of his curse, it sent the pervert into a rage. One of the reasons Happosai didn't want Ranma cured was because he wanted to use the boy's condition for his own means. When Ranma was in hi girl form, Happosai could use female Ranma for all of his own personal perverted fantasies of modeling risky women's lingerie, and even the shameless groping female Ranma's assets for free without risk of being beaten up in the process. His two idiot students didn't care if female Ranma was groped by him and Ranma was not strong enough to best him. Happosai even threatened Ranma that he would leave the boy turned girl powerless should things not go his way in getting what he wanted.
When Happosai arrived in China to destroy Ranma's strength, possibly curse the boy with a girl form again, and enjoy the pleasure of panty raiding throughout China...the man had failed to account for Cologne waiting for him. She and a few chosen Amazons along with Ranma arrived at the spot Happosai was intending to camp out near the village. The old pervert was clearly angry with Ranma despite Happosai's own actions being a crucial part of things playing out as they did since the boy was in the hospital.
In the end, Happosai was brought down by Cologne, and Ranma teaming up before they bound the old pervert in unbreakable bindings. Add in a few pressure points hit to cause further disabling and they threw Happosai into an ancient cave with more bindings and needles sticking into pressure points to keep the old man disabled until someone took them off. The cave was sealed with explicit instructions to NEVER unseal the entrance due to the "perverted little goblin" locked within.
No one would see or hear from Happosai again and the world was a better place for it.
As for Soun, even he eventually realized that with his life was falling apart, and he was in need of a way out for himself. Not easy when his only remaining daughter was still in his life and was looking at him for support on the problems befalling the family. Hence why, after much talking and arguing with a very stubborn Akane, he got his remaining girl to agree to eventually date, and even marry Kunō Tatewaki due to the fact the man came from an extremely wealthy. It didn't hurt that the man was also infatuated with Akane so it wouldn't be too hard to get the Shakespeare talking kendo user to secretly pay off the debts in exchange for his daughter's hand in marriage.
Unfortunately for Soun, the love Tatewaki had for Akane was no longer there. In fact, he had surprisingly distanced himself from her when a letter from Ranma arrived two days after Cologne's visit to the Tendo house. In it, Ranma explained the truth to Tatewaki about the cursed springs, how he fell into one thanks to his idiot of a Father, and would turn into a girl in the process. How Akane and the other members of the Tendo family knew this. How they tried to use it against Ranma every chance they could. Ranma even mentioned what happened following the failed wedding when Akane attacked him in his injured state while trying to defend her from the explosions that occurred during it. He continued on about the banishment by his own parents for things that weren't even his fault. Ranma even wrote down how Nabiki planned to get him to pay for the damage done during the wedding, even though it was the girl's fault in the first place, and had pictures of his girl form she took for blackmail purposes. How Genma and the Tendo family had racked up debt upon debt for him to eventually pay off in the future regardless of his banishment, which they wanted to be kept a secret for as long as possible to hold off in debt collectors coming to collect from them in the first place.
By the time Tatewaki finished reading Ranma's extremely long letter stating the sins of the Saotome and Tendo family , the man could no longer find himself loving Akane. Not only that, but it would stain the honor of the Kuno family, and drag them down into the dirt.
Kodachi also got a letter from Ranma, explaining the exact same thing, except it added how he married Shampoo, and was living a happy life among the Chinese Amazons. It was heart braking for her knowing her Ranma was no longer available, but the letter went on to say he didn't hate her despite everything that happened since their first meeting. He even mentioned how she had the potential to truly be great with her skills so far, but the cheating, scheming, and plotting to remove the competition before a match wasn't a sign of strength. It was weakness. Anyone could cheat if they wanted to, but true strength was fighting, winning, and even losing honorably. Cheating to win was considered the easy way out in Ranma's mind. True fighters take the long hard road. Face others against all odds and take their wins or losses in stride and learn from them. Ranma told Kodachi to compete in match honorably and don't be afraid to lose in the belief people will laugh at you for it. Losing matches can help you more at times then winning ever could because you learn from your mistakes and losses.
In the end, Kodachi understood his reasons, and embraced his advice while treasuring his letter with all her heart.
As for Soun and Akane, without any financial help to pay off the debts their family owed, (but had tried to put in Ranma's name for him to pay off) the house, and the dojo was seized by the bank. The family's assets were liquidated and the police had to be there to take Soun and Akane away when they refused to let the property be taken over. Akane had even been charged with assault, battery, assault with a deadly weapon (it was a giant hammer that can crush bodies), resisting arrest, and of course making murderous threats to people. Soun was in a similar boat, but with lesser charges. The two remaining Tendo family members were eventually thrown in jail via the influence of all their enemies, the assigned judge to the case, and the many charges thrown their way thanks to what seemed like all the people in Nerima testifying against them.
The judge presiding over the case threw the full extent of the law at them. Both would be in prison for most if not the remainder of their entire lives. Soun was already past what was considered his prime and the sentence handed down would ensure there was a good almost one hundred percent chance the man would die in prison if he lived to be a very old man.
As for Akane, she was sentenced to well over 50 years for her actions against Ranma, and everyone else she hurt back in school whom tried to ask her on a date. Contrary to what she believed, the boys at school were not perverts, but did actually like her, and wanted to ask Akane out. The level of damage she had done to them was always secretly covered by the Kuno family so they parents of all these kids wouldn't sue the school. But after school was over, Akane still hurt them when seeing one or more of them in passing in the belief they wanted to do something perverted to her. Nabiki's contacts, connections, and blackmailing information she had on them kept these people from going to the authorities in the past.
But now that no such protection existed, the power of the law in all its righteous fury had descended upon the woman, and it was not in the mood to be merciful.
Soun went to prison and stayed their for 30 years of his life. He had been let go due to his good behavior during that time and the secret fact the elderly man acted as a Confidential Informant for the Warden while behind bars helped too. He was relocated to an elderly home in Nerima where Soun spent the remaining 3 years of his life reflecting on his life as a man before committing Seppuku when the realization of how pathetic it was hit him full force.
Akane was not so lucky. She was actually killed in the Women's Prison at the hands of the inmates there. At first, the angry Tendo woman acted tough around the other female inmates, and the guards themselves. Trying make herself out to be the strongest woman there given her Martial Arts training in the Tendo version of Anything Goes School. Sadly, the prison had several former Martial Artists, who were locked away for murder on several occasions. They easy beat up the poor woman into the prison's medical ward and she quickly became their personal punching bag for the next 20 years. The woman had been beat so ugly, none of the guards with lustful intentions toward female prisoners wanted to touch her. Not even when desperate. Eventually, the years of being beaten up finally took their toll pm Akane, and one particular blow to the head disconnected her brain from the rest of her body.
Akane was buried in the prison's cemetery with only her prison number used as a means to identify her grave. Not that it mattered since no one came to visit her and all known family members were either in prison or unreachable.
As for Ranma, he was currently living in China with his wife raising their own children. A boy and girl. He still participated in many tournaments and even pushed for some key reforms on the traditions that would help the Chinese Amazons in the changing times. There was some resistance at first to the changes, but Ranma was determined, and his explanation for these reforms to the Elders helped them come around to his ideas. In the end, Ranma became a key figure among the Amazon tribe, and help teach many students both male and female in Martial Arts. He never heard from his Mother after Cologne saw her last at the Tendo house when leaving it once learning of Genma's unfaithfulness at the brothels when traveling with Ranma during those long years. The young man however, did hear of her dying in the Saotome family home after getting a newspaper that was at least a week old. The authorities saying she committed Seppuku with a simple message written down for her son, which was written in her own blood with the last of her strength before dying.
I am sorry my son. I was wrong. You truly are manly!
It wasn't the exact closure Ranma was hoping for, but took it nonetheless, and decided to completely forgive his Mother. At least she had the decency to apologize in her own way and perform Seppuku to restore the family honor that Genma had so easily destroyed.
As for Cologne, she was able to die a very happy woman knowing the Amazon tribe was in good hands. The elderly woman had died peacefully 5 years following her last visit to the Tendo house to reveal certain things to Ranma's enemies. She had been on borrowed time in fact, as the only thing keep her alive was sheer willpower so she could make sure her tribe would see a promising future. It had saddened Shampoo dearly when the elderly woman past away since the woman had known Cologne all her life growing up, and the loss had been devastating. Fortunately, Ranma was there to comfort her, and the two had made it their mission to keep the Chinese Amazons strong for years to come.
Their children and their children's children would help with that.
-FIN
(A/N: Hey everybody! I saw Ranma: Consequences by Snafu the Great and I got the idea to write this. I hope it was worth the effort.