New Tomboy
Part Nine
By Philip Weigel
The Disclaimer is in the first two parts.
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Inside the training hall of the Tendo Dojo, we see a rather beat-up and bandaged Genma shifting his weight back and forth on knees in discomfort. He and his wife were kneeling before each other with no one else around. Genma was sweating under the deadly scowl that covered his wife's face. He so wanted to look away, but couldn't. He was too afraid to look away, knowing in that split-second she might end his sorry, miserable, pathetic existence once and for all.
Continuing to look her husband dead in the eye, Nodoka spoke without emotion. "Husband. Of all the hair-brained schemes you've come up with, this had to be the craziest one of them all."
Gulping, Genma wanted to speak, but Nodoka continued.
"I mean, who did you think you were, to try and force people together?" Sighing, Nodoka said, "I admit, I too wanted to see Ranma marry Akane. Think of all the traditional Japanese grandchildren they would have had," glaring harder, "However, I would not have forced them together. Which is what I found is exactly what you and Soun have been doing. Throwing the engagement into their faces every five minutes, trying to force them together with nagging, and setting up dangerous situations that usually backfire..."
Watching Nodoka start to thumb the hilt of her katana, Genma found his throat go dry. He wanted to run away, or at least try to reason, but every time he saw Nodoka angry like this, and holding her katana... He felt as though his legs and bowels turned to jelly, and he would crap all over himself if he stood up.
Getting no comment from Genma, Nodoka continued. "And what did you think you were doing with all those other engagements, hmm? You wanted Ranma and Akane together. So what in the hell made you make OTHER engagements!? That would not have been so bad, if you stuck to 'your guns' and had Ranma marry Akane. However, you forced the problem you made on Ranma? How could you even think that he could form a relationship with Akane, when you made all sorts of problems for him, making Ranma waste his time trying to deal with the messes you created!?"
Genma finally found the courage to talk, "But Nochan-"
"BUT NOTHING!!!" Nodoka screamed, causing Genma to jump back slightly in mortal terror. Then speaking with an almost venomous voice, Nodoka continued. "So finally, after all your failed schemes to make my son fall in love with Akane, you get a powder that you had absolutely no control over and think to use it to get Ranma and Akane together. And, as expected, your plan fails, and instead of getting Ranma and Akane together, everyone in a lust-filled craze goes after someone else for sex!!!"
Whimpering, Genma tried to reason, "B, b, but-"
"I SAID NO BUTS!!!" Nodoka screamed at the top of her lungs. She smiled ferally upon seeing a small yellow stain appear on the front of Genma's white Gi pants. "Did you not realize that the powder would not have made them go together anyway? What if they were not close to each other? My manly son would have probably raped some poor girl! So it is lucky everyone was that way. THEY CAN ALL BLAME YOU AND SOUN!!!"
Genma was blubbering in fear. "N, Nochan... It's not my-"
"WILL YOU SHUT UP? Worse of all, you cheated on ME! AND WITH A MAN! You filthy bastard! Now I know WHY all those times we were together you wouldn't shut the hell up about your damn training and your times with Soun. Now I know why you specifically wanted Ranma to marry a Tendo girl. You didn't care about Ranma being happy at all! You just wanted to live off his hard work when he might take over the Dojo and then live in retirement with Soun! And of course, you wouldn't want me! No, why would you want your wife that you more-or-less abandoned, when you had SOUN!?"
Nodoka unsheathed her katana. "Genma, you are as unmanly as they come. I am thoroughly ashamed of having ever married you. The only good thing that came out of our relationship was Ranma himself. Now I DEMAND you fulfill the pledge you signed and commit seppuku, NOW!"
Genma, seeing his moments of life fleeting, shook his head fiercely. "NO! I WON'T! I WILL NOT CAST MY LIFE ASIDE JUST SO SOME PSYCHO-BITCH NYMHPOMANIAC CAN KILL ME! DAMN IT! IF I AM GOING DOWN, THEN I DEMAND RANMA FULFILL HIS PART OF THE CONTRACT AND LAY HIS LIFE DOWN AS WELL!"
Nodoka just chuckled. "Genma, you idiot. Ranma CAN be spared, for he has an option, which you don't. He is going to marry a woman he LOVES soon. I will tell him about this incident, and allow him to marry into that nice Jagwere girl's family. That way, he is not held to a contract for Saotome males." Deciding to then jab it into Genma a bit more, Nodoka added, "The name Ranma Silvear DOES have a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
Finding new courage, Genma roared in anger. How dare they do this to him!? Rushing to his feet, Genma ran out the Tendo Dojo. Using the sealed technique, Shooting Star Cloth, of the Umi-Sen-Ken, Genma made himself invisible so people wouldn't be able to track him so easily. He was now angry. All his hard work was for nothing, as that bastard son of his wasn't marrying a Tendo. Well, he'd get even. He'd get even on them both. He'd kill them. HE'D KILL THE TWO OF THEM AND THEN LIVE HAPPILY WITH SOUN!!!
Yes... Genma failed his intelligence test of the day.
Before Genma could get too far, he tripped and spilled onto the floor, his concentration lost making him reappear into plain sight.
"Alright who dar. EEK!" Genma screeched as a sparking spear-tip was put at his throat.
Looking down at him looking QUITE pissed was Gar & Nabiki.
"We heard every word said in the Dojo fat-man." Gar growled. "If you think we're letting you out of our sight so you can try and make things even more hectic FORGET IT! I haven't seen my sister so happy before in her life, and I damn intend not to let anyone ruin it, and knowing you, you'll try and do something to Sheila and Ranma just to satisfy your hurt pride."
Nabiki hissed at Genma, equally pissed. "You...You bastard! You and my Father were using your own children so you could live off of them and never lift a finger again?! How dare you treat my baby sister as a pawn! Hell you treat Kasumi and me no less! If Akane doesn’t work, then you'd substitute one of us in a pinch as long as Ranma married a Tendo! Now thanks to you both several people have become Werecats against their will. Not to mention Akane, Sheila, Kasumi, Britanny & Gina are now pregnant, hell Gina & Britanny don't even know the who the father of their child is to BOOT!"
Genma was shaking, he had thought Nodoka was bad.... but here he was facing two EXTREMELY pissed Werecats, and one had a Lighting Spear at his throat.
"You've ruined a lot of lives today bastard. Gar & Nabiki are very correct in their words, maybe I should let Gar execute you now." Julia said as she walked up to them, eyes hard and cold. "Two of my girls are pregnant and don't know who the father is, and the thought of not having her husband's child is not settling well on Britanny's psyche...nor does Gina like the idea of having a child out of wedlock, especially when she's not ready to settle down just yet."
"Ahh, I see you caught him. Any suggestions on a proper punishment to detain him, or shall we just go on with his seppuku pledge?" Nodoka said as she marched down the hall from the Dojo.
Genma whimpered.
Meanwhile, in the guest room upstairs Theo was having a 'chat' with Ryan & Thropan.
Of course, his head was a flaming skull, and the two aforementioned men were trying to not wet their pants under the hellish glare they were being given.
"Well, you two have REALLY stepped in it this time. Beyond anger and disappointment is the only way I can really put into words how I feel about what you two have done." Theo spoke in a calm, yet frightening tone.
"Dr. Diggers.... We HAD no control over our actions, believe me when I say neither of us intended to knock Gina up, much less gang-bang her." Ryan said, having dealt with Theo in this way before he had a little more nerve than Thropan did.
"Ryan is correct...If we had a ounce of control in mind or body we would have did our best to AVOID this outcome." Thropan said finally mustering his courage to speak to the flaming skull.
"Not to mention it isn't like Gina's a virgin or not, I mean she and I have done the deed at least a dozen or so time...oh shit I said too much huh?" Ryan gulped, as the room became as bright as the sun as the flames from Theo's headshot through the roof.
"Yes.... You did..." Thropan trembled.
(----)
The Tendo Kitchen was currently off limits at the moment to the others at the moment. Currently, Kasumi and Akane (having taken a break from her hunt for Romeo) had cornered their father into the kitchen. However, he was taking this more as a man than usual. The shame on his face was plain for all to see. However, just being ashamed of his actions was not going to be enough to save him this time. "Well, what are you two waiting for?"
"Why, we're waiting for Nabiki... Father." Kasumi said that last part in a strained voice. She was reaching her limit with the man. "After all, Nabiki deserves a chance to talk to you as well." Kasumi answered, somehow actually looking like she was angry, with her eyebrows narrowed into a rather cute 'v' on her brow.
Finally, after a few minutes, Nabiki entered the kitchen. "About time," Akane commented.
Nabiki sighed. "Sorry... I had to deal with," Nabiki narrowed her eyes, "our 'dear uncle' Saotome first..." Then staring at her father, Nabiki added, "And trust me, when I say that the old panda has been playing us all for fools... Especially you, 'father'."
Kasumi and Akane nodded their heads in understanding and also trying to get Nabiki to continue. They wanted to hear what their sister had to tell them.
Soun raised an eyebrow in curiosity. He still felt a chill go up his spine, as he was afraid of what Nabiki had found out. "What do you mean, Nabiki?"
Staring her father down, Nabiki said, "Father, I will admit that I do not know if you had prior knowledge of what Genma was planning, but I do know this. The only reason Genma wanted this whole engagement to uphold was because he didn't give two shits about the school. The bastard just wanted an early retirement so he could leech off of Ranma's hard work when he was forced to take over the Dojo. That way you and Genma would live peacefully without having to lift a finger to do a lick of work..."
Soun shook his head, almost in denial. "What Genma wanted to do doesn't matter. One of you has the obligation to fulfill the agreement. One of you are to marry to unite the schools of Anything Goes."
Nabiki snorted in disgust. "To take over the schools, you mean. As far as I know there's not a suitable heir for the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."
"WHAT?" Soun shouted
"HEY!" Akane protested. "I can too fight!"
Nabiki ignored Akane's comment; she wasn't done with her father yet. Leaning forward so that Nabiki almost had her nose to her father's she said, "It's too convenient, don't you think, 'father'? When mother died, you didn't give a shit about any of us. Your CHILDREN were forced to grow up and take over the duties. Kasumi had become the veritable mother figure, doing everything for cooking and cleaning for us. I became the one to handle the finances, because you couldn't bring yourself to do a lick of work anymore. And don't give me that bull-shit that you were emotionally unstable, I remember how you used to train me and other students before mom died of cancer."
Soun's left eyebrow twitched and he felt his lip curl into a sneer. "NOW SEE HERE, NABIKI! I AM YOUR FATHER, AND I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING! And further-more-"
"NO!" Nabiki interrupted her father with a shout. "YOU SEE HERE! Even as you didn't want to maintain the dojo, you still wanted Akane to be the one to take it over. However, the school lacks the proper heir, which is entirely your fault for not training Akane at all! You didn't even teach her in the basics of the Anything Goes." Narrowing her eyes and releasing a feline hiss, Nabiki continued. "But when Akane married Ranma, you would force him to take over an already dead school, in a dojo used only by a single person." Looking over to Akane, she then added "And not even seriously, either..."
Akane narrowed her eyebrows. She would have spoken out against her sister putting down her skill as a martial artist, but two things were nagging her in the back of her mind. First, her normally beaten down and chained 'common sense' was telling Akane there was a ring of truth to that. Secondly, her recently acquired Wererat instincts that told her to put at least 20 miles of distance between her and any Werecat, including her sister.
Kasumi shook her head sadly. Once she had been with Tirga, it was as if an old part of her long-thought dead had been released. She felt like a young woman again. Like a teenager ready to go to her prom, she had finally taken off her 'rose-colored glasses', and was reconsidering all that had gone on in her life. She knew she was a veritable slave, and what Nabiki was proposing was their father's intentions from the beginning weren’t all that unbelievable.
Soun looked between his three daughters. Very Akane-like anger was starting to come to the forefront. "HOW DARE YOU ALL SPEAK TO ME THIS WAY!? I AM YOUR FATHER! I AM PATRIARCH OF THE TENDO CLAN! AND WHAT I SAY GOES, AND YOU THREE SHALL FOLLOW MY WISHES! IT IS FAMILY HONOR THAT YOU DO AS I SAY!"
Nabiki didn't back down either. Unsheathing her claws and literally sticking then right against her father's throat, the middle Tendo sister said, Tell me one reason why I should respect you, the cowardly shadow of a man that abandons his family to fend for themselves when they need him the most!?"
Soun's eyes widened in fear and anger. He wanted to strike out at his daughter, but she had the advantage, with those claws to his throat. "You... You honorless..."
"STUFF IT!" Nabiki roared. "Honor? HONOR!? YOU DARE SPEAK OF HONOR!? Even after you all but ignored all those other engagements that fat bastard panda Genma made, which stained not only the Saotome clan's honor, but also the our clan's honor, and not to mention your own arrangement, engaging one of us to the Chardin clan so you could eat an expensive French meal, you DARE speak of honor!?" Pressing her claws against Soun's throat, she screamed, "YOU SIR, ARE THE MOST WORTHLESS AND HONORLESS MAN IN THE WORLD! YOU'RE JUST AS BAD AS THAT BASTARD, GENMA!"
Having his daughter throw the truth in his face threw Soun over the edge. "YOU ROTTEN WHORE! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, NOW! YOU ARE NO LONGER WELCOME HERE, NABIKI! DO YOU HERE ME? I CAST YOU FROM THE TENDO CLAN! YOU ARE NO LONGER MY DAUGHTER!!!"
Soun was then surprised as Nabiki switched to her human form, grabbed his throat, and slammed him down on the kitchen counter as hard as she could, breaking the counter and quite a few bones in Tendo Patriarch's body.
Nabiki smiled. "Cast me aside, eh? After all I did to keep this Dojo afloat? Sacrificing my innocence, my reputation, so that you could live fat and peacefully while I brought home the bacon? FINE! THEN THIS DOJO CAN ROT FOR ALL I CARE!" And she stormed out of the kitchen.
Though he was in pain, Soun groaned in triumph. "Ha! I showed-"
*KER-SMACK*! *CRACK*!
Soun howled in pain as Akane kicked him in the mouth, breaking more than a few teeth along with his jaw. Smiling triumphantly and viciously, Akane said, "HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO MY SISTER!? FINE, IF THAT'S HOW IT IS, THEN I AM NO LONGER PART OF THE TENDO CLAN EITHER! I'LL MARRY THAT WERERAT AND TAKE THE NAME ELLIS! FOR ALL I CARE, HE'S A MUCH BETTER PERSON THAN YOU'LL EVER BE!"
Soun's eyes widened in fear, Akane was the closest thing he had to an heir. He looked towards Kasumi for help. However, his eldest daughter, his first-born child just shook her head sadly. "I am sorry my sisters and I darkened your door-step. Good-bye... Tendo-san..."
And with that, Kasumi turned and left the kitchen as well, leaving Soun alone. More alone than he'd ever been in his entire life, as with one fell-swoop, he just destroyed his family with his useless, misbegotten pride...
The three Tendo sisters stood in a circle by each other, what they had just done was needed, but also a bit disheartening. They did love their father, at least before they realized that he was no different than Genma. The disguise of being a man never recovering from their Mother's death was gone now, in the beginning that was the case, but the true colors of Soun Tendo, as those of Genma Saotome were now on display for all to see.
The current situation was proof enough.
"Hey are you three alright?" The sisters turned their heads to see Gar, the Rats, Tirga, and Gina walking towards them.
"We like, heard yelling lots of it."
"And it was @%$#&*ing loud too."
"And one not going so well." Romeo added.
"Well since you heard, as of now the Tendo clan is minus three members, and we're officially ronin now." Nabiki sighed, shaking her head. "Should have done this years ago..."
"What are you three going to do now?" Gina asked, looking concerned.
"Pack our things and hopefully find a place to live I guess." Kasumi said. "But we don't have much money between the three of us, so that isn't an easy option."
"Well I got one! Kasumi, how about you come live with me! You're carrying our kid and it'd be beyond cruel for me NOT to help you!" Tirga said, walking up to Kasumi and taking her hand, his eyes and tone sincere in his offer.
"You mean that Tirga-san?"
Tirga gave her the lady-killer smile. "Yes I do, if you'll have me, I promise to, uh, 'reform' from my old habits."
Kasumi's response was to hug Tirga and shower him in light kisses.
Gar placed a hand on Nabiki's shoulder. "Hey Nabiki, you wanna come stay with us?"
"You mean the Edge Guard?" Nabiki raised an eyebrow.
"Kinda, but I mostly meant Sheila, me, and, well, Ranma too since those two are getting married, it'd be nice to have another family member."
Nabiki looked at Gar for a long while. "Heh...Nabiki Silvear...I like it."
Gar smiled and hugged Nabiki. "Welcome to the family Nabs."
Nabiki hugged back. "Thanks, 'Garfield'."
"HAHA! Your fitting in perfectly already! Sheila will approve with your line of thinking."
Nabiki just smiled and stayed in the hug a little longer.
Akane felt three hands, one on each shoulder, and the final pair was placed atop the other two, and their owner staring her in the face.
"Akane, I know we haven't gotten off on the right hand...but if you want you can stay with me, I mean well." Romeo blushed. "I wouldn't want to leave you in the lurch with our kid/s."
"I-I." Akane stuttered, then she gave one of those rare genuine smiles, like the kind Ranma said made her look cute and he wasn't kidding when he said that. "You mean it?"
"Like, yeah girl!" Moshia smiled brightly looking ditzy as ever.
Akane looked at Lydia who was grinning. "Welcome to the @%$#&*ing pack, that is if you accept."
"Its a deal then." She leaned over and gave Romeo a kiss on the cheek. Romeo's body flushed all over, maybe this COULD work out between him and the mallet-wielder.
"Hey everyone we're back!" Ranma's voice was heard as the front door opened.
"Hope we didn't keep anyone waiting." Sheila's voice followed Ranma's. Both Jagewere's voices were laced with the 'freshly laid and happy-go-lucky' tone.
"Hey what's up with the gathering?" Ranma asked seeing the spectacle.
"On nothing Ranma-kun, we're just tying up lose ends." Kasumi smiled and hugged Tirga.
"Hey sis, bro-in-law." Nabiki snickered.
"HUH?" Ranma and Sheila's expressions were confused ones.
"Oh yeah, Nabs got kicked out of the Tendo clan as did her sisters. Sheila, meet our new sib!" Gar laughed while placing a brotherly one-arm hug on Nabiki.
"Oh good you're both here, Gar, Nabiki please grab the Crybaby and bring him to the Dojo. Ranma, your mother wants to speak to you quickly, Gina gather everyone at the Dojo...It's time for the trial to begin." Julia said with a grin and evil glint in her eye.
At the same time, Soun and Genma felt shivers up their spines.