Dual Destinies
 
Introduction: I was inspired to write this story after reading Stellarcraft, 
Mirrors Multiplied and the Long and Winding Road (I'm still waiting 
for Chapter 3). I am a great fan of Ranma ½. This story takes place 
somewhere around the time after Ranma had saved Shampoo from the 
Ghost Cat, which would make it around volume 20 in the manga. Ranma 
does not yet know about his mother's existence. I've tweaked the 
history a bit. (Hey, if Jared Ornsted could do it, then so could I!). The 
story takes elements from both the manga series and the anime. As 
always, the characters of Ranma ½ belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I write 
this series purely for the enjoyment of it. 
 
 Prelude
 
 In a place that was between places, where time had no meaning, two 
glowing, humanoid figures watched a scene unfold on what appeared to 
be a large view screen. In actuality, the screen was nothing more than a 
large, flat circle that hung in midair. It was displaying a scene of extreme 
violence. The two figures watched with interest as they saw a 
young, pigtailed boy battle another boy who wore a bandanna. It was an 
event that seemed to repeat itself every day…
 "Ranma! Prepare to die!!!" Ryoga shouted as he stabbed his bamboo 
umbrella at him.
 Ranma grabbed the umbrella and used it as a lever to catapult the lost 
boy over his head. Ryoga went flying and impacted face first with a 
concrete wall. "So what are you mad about now?!" Ranma asked as he 
took a stance.
 Ryoga got up, fuming with rage. "How dare you cheat on Akane!! I'll 
rip your stupid head off!!!" Ryoga charged at his rival and threw a 
furious barrage of punches.
 Ranma dodged each of Ryoga's blows with ease. "Hey! What are 
you talking about?!"
 "I saw you kiss Shampoo! You faithless bastard!" He threw several 
kicks, intent on knocking Ranma's head off.
 Ranma blocked each kick, then retaliated by letting loose with the 
Chestnut Fist. "KATCHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" Ryoga received 
475 blows to the face, chest and midsection, causing him to fly 
backward into the same concrete wall, this time cracking it. Before he 
could recover, Ranma pressed his advantage by initiating his chi attack. 
"MOKO TAKABISHA!" A bright yellow ball exploded from his cupped 
hands and impacted heavily against the lost boy's chest, smashing him 
through the wall.
 Ranma stood at the ready for Ryoga's next assault. A moment later, 
Ranma heard some splashing noises and the familiar cry of a certain 
black pig.
 "Bweee!!"
 Ranma stepped forward and looked through the hole in the wall. 
There he saw that Ryoga had been knocked into the Tendo's koi pond 
when he crashed through the wall. P-chan was splashing around toward 
the edge when Akane came onto the scene.
 "P-chan! What are you doing in there?" Akane rushed to pick up her 
pet and P-chan was soon blushing as she held him close to her chest.
 She then glared at Ranma who had just entered the backyard through 
the hole in the wall. "What did you do to P-chan THIS TIME?!" Akane 
shouted.
 Ranma's temper also flared as he tried to defend himself, "Hey! Why 
are you yelling at me for?! I didn't do nuthin but defend myself! The 
little runt brought it on himself!"
 "You're such a liar! My little P-chan wouldn't have ended up so hurt 
if you didn't constantly pick on him! It's bad enough that you flirt with 
that bimbo Shampoo, but now you have to hurt my little P-Chan!"
 "Now wait a minute! I told you before! Shampoo just kissed me 
because she wanted to thank me for saving her from that Ghost Cat! 
That's all! It's not like I encouraged her or nuthin!"
 "Yeah, right!" Akane responded, her voice dripping with sarcasm and 
contempt. "You'll use any excuse to get close to her!"
 "Why do you always have to be so unreasonable?! It's like talking to 
a brick wall! Why I got engaged to an uncute tomboy like you, I'll never 
understand!"
 "RANMA NO BAKA!!!" With these words, Akane made her mallet 
from hell materialize and promptly sent Ranma zooming up into the 
stratosphere.
 
 Back in the place with no name, the two observers looked at each 
other. The first figure, one who glowed with and eerie red light asked, 
"Hard to believe that he's the one!"
 The second figure, which had a blue glow about him, nodded. "Yes. 
He is the one. Time grows short and you know what will happen if we 
do not prepare him. The interdimensional contract will soon run out, 
and the portal to the Dark World will open. If Earth is to survive, we 
have to act quickly."
 "But, he seems to have too many problems as of now." The red figure 
said as he counted off. " A worthless father, multiple engagements that 
he never consented to, several enemies that are out for his blood, an 
abusive fiancée, the Cat Fist and a Jusenkyo curse as well! Do you think 
he could handle the training?"
 "He should be able to. After all, he did learn the Chestnut Fist, the 
Hiryu Shoten Ha and the Moko Takabisha in a few hours each! I think 
he'll be able to learn the techniques well enough, just like the others."
 "But you know that we need two champions to confront the Dark 
World. One must be trained to use magic, while the other is taught the 
secrets of nature. We can't have both in the same person! In the past, we 
have always had identical twins as our champions! Ranma was born an 
only child!"
 "You are just as aware about his condition as I am! That's the reason 
why Kami-sama deemed he be knocked into the Nyannichuan. It is his 
curse, which will be Earth's salvation this time. Now that both his male 
and female half have reached the skill level that we need him to be, it is 
time that we put our plan into motion."
 "Looks like we've got our work cut out for us!"
 The blue figure smiled, "That's never stopped us before! Besides, 
you have to admit Ranma Saotome is probably the most unique 
individual that we have ever observed! He'll do just fine!"
 "Shall I confront him, Taron?"
 The blue figure shook his head. "No Soren, I need you to monitor 
the continuum, in case the Dark World decides to ignore the terms of 
the contract and try something. I will see to our champion."
 With these words, Taron's body flared with a brilliant flash of light 
and then disappeared. 
 And so, destiny decides to focus its attention on Ranma Saotome…