Another Chance
Kenshin/Ranma Fusion

The Kenshin cast fought a demon to a tie. It was sealed for a century,
but Kenshin and friends were reincarnated to confront it. Unfortunately,
the demon brought back their enemies as well.

These character match too well to be anyone else.

Karou-Akane. Despite the people around her, she is a bit lonely.
Excessively jealous in regards to 'her man.' Cooking leaves much to be
desired. Driven to fits of anger for sometimes little reason. Rarely
waits for the full story before acting. Acts confident despite lesser
skill and self doubt.

Kenshin-Konatsu. Ignoring the nuturing of Konatsu into thinking he's a
girl, he is by far one of the softest spoken, polite, friendly,
trusting, and dangerous characters of the Ranma series as is Kenshin.
Looking at either of them, you wouldn't think they are the best fighter
of their generation. (According to Happosai- Konatsu has the natural
talent to be the best martial artist.) Konatsu does have the potential
to be Soujiro instead, but no one matches Kenshin nearly as well.

Sanosuke-Ryoga. Earning trust takes time for most people. Uses his
inhuman strength to try and prove his point, even if he loses sight of
it. Rough and tumble, refuses to fall down (or at least stay down).
Besides, Sanosuke got himself unbelievably lost while trying to get to
Kyoto from Tokyo. Ryoga could be Yahiko, but there is more of a strech
in characterization.

Megumi-Kodachi. Skilled in the knowledge of plants and potions. Enjoys a
good laugh, even if the others don't enjoy it or her odd sense of humor.
Knows her place but acts as if she is in a even higher status. The main
point to link them is that Megumi has had a sever humbling experience in
her life which Kodachi hasn't had. If she did, her characterization
might end up a LOT closer to Megumi's.

Other characters have a bit of a stretch. As such, not all mesh
completely.

Ranma.
        Saitoh can be made to work by explaining his past experiences. He,
like
Ranma, is a very private person and has an obrasive attitude. Unshakable
confidence in his abilities. Saitoh also will repeat an attack that has
proven to fail. Highly capable of analazying surrounding events and
understanding things. Makes enemies easily, and often later can count
the same enemies as friends. Kyoto and the events leading upto to the
beginning of the Meiji Era had obvious effects on Saitoh, and could very
easily been a lot more like Ranma before going off to war. However,
Ranma attracts a lot more friends and suitors than Saitoh. Not to
mention Saitoh is a lot colder and calculating than Ranma ever was.
        Aoshi attracts followers with nearly unwavering loyalty, no matter
what
direction he leads them. He is also very private, but is driven almost
entirely by internal motivations. While Ranma tends to take the easy
route, he never took the easiest route and ran off like Aoshi did
despite all the pressures of his current life.

Kuno.
        Yotaro (Rich brat) is self centered and needs things pounded into
his
head repeatedily. Obessive and wants to be a great fighter/samurai.
        Yahiko, the comic relief to the comic relief. Prideful and proud.
Desires nothing more than to be a samurai not just in name, but in fact.
Often bites off more than he can chew. Slow to learns certain things.
Dislikes being called 'chan.'
        Aoshi. Polite and aloof. Concerned with being the strongest and
follows
the motivations set by himself. However, Aoshi is just too damn
competent.

Taro.
        Jin-nei the hitokiri who never had enough fighting. Loner by choice.
Caustic attitude with a very foul mouth filled with insults. While a lot
more blood thristy than Taro, if Taro became obessed with being the best
(and proving it by fights to the death) instead of getting his name
changed, he might be a lot closer in personality.
        Saitoh attitude is also quite obrasive with strong attitude of
superiority. Makes enemies much quicker than friends. Saitoh is a lot
more stoic than Taro and there's something about Saitoh I don't see in
Pantyhose, but they are close enough to attempt.

Ukyou.
        Shura perfers life as a boy in terms of dress and attitude, but few
who
know her doubt her femininity. Alone in a crowd, and has maybe one or
two true friends besides those that follow her in blind devosion.
        Misao is eager to prove herself. Independant and out going. Obessive
in
pursuit of goals. However she's a bit too chipper for Ukyou.

Shampoo.
        Misao is eager to prove herself. Independant and out going. Obessive
in
pursuit of goals. Unlike Shampoo, she isn't as skilled a fighter;
however, in both heredity would make one assume they would be better
than they actually are.
        No one. Who said every character had to be someone reincarnated?

Mousse.
        Katsu is capable of hiding his lethal and explosive abilities up his
sleeve. Obsessed in goals where it takes a major event to cause him to
change tatics- but the goal won't change. Katsu's few appearances don't
give enough information to discount a match here.

Kasumi.
        Ayame the youngest sister is now the oldest. Just for jokes and
lighten
the tone.
        Soujiro (Scary boy) Always smiles and is a lot more capable than
most
would believe. And who said those being reincarnated have to be the same
sex. (Only if you want the series to get REALLY dark and twisted.)

Nabiki.
        Suzume if Kasumi is Ayame. Also to lighten the mood. Besides, Suzume
has gotten upset at wasteful actions.

Herb.
        Aoshi the capable leader driven to acts that force him away from his
people. Private and proud. Competent and has loyal followers.

Lime.
        Aoshi's strong man. Fiercely loyal to his boss and unbeleivably
strong.
Not the brightest thinker by any stretch of the imagination.

Mint.
        Nobody, just along for the ride with Herb and Lime.

Dojo Destroyer.
        Aoshi's fire starter.

Tsubasa.
        Kamatari (stick girl/boy). Confused sexuality with choice of
feminine
atire.

Yamane Ryujin.
        True, technically not a Ranma character, but the Yamanes are a
neighbor
to the Tendos. Ryujin is a ten year old precocious brat with a fansy for
herioc anime stories.
        Yahiko the precocious 10 year old brat of Kenshin. The reasoning of
why
Yahiko doesn't get someone in series is that his closest personality
matches are Ryoga and Kuno. Ryoga matches too well for Sanosuke and Kuno
doesn't quite work for Yahiko. By making him a younger member of the
cast he would retain Yahiko's odd defiance and oddly capable in
fighting.

Gosunkugi Hikaru.
        Hoji, the yes-man to Shi-Shi-O. Obessed with knowledge and gaining
power by riding someone else's coattail.

Roger Kroften.
        Also, not in series. He's an U.S. army grunt with a gun fetish. He
has
a collection of firearms that rivals Rally Vincient.
        Cho doesn't have any good matches since no one in Ranma is that
bloodthirsty and the only known collector is Azusa and I don't see her
taking his place. Ritsuko from Those Who Hunt Elves (think Asuka from
EVA with gun fetish) or Ohta from Patlabor could work fine though.

Some of the cast of Rival Schools.
        Ten Swords, since the Ranma crew isn't normally blood thirsty aren't
very good matches, however Rival Schools do have some potential.
In order of possibilities:
Hyo - Shi-Shi-O
Boman - Anji. The fallen priest.
Edge - Cho: looks, mannerisms, like sharp weapons.
Gan - the bouncing idiot.
Kyoko - Shi-Shi-O's lover.
Daigo - Usei.
More could be used as incarnates but the stretch gets more strained.

Yakuza Members.
        Remainder of the Ten Swords and Shi-Shi-O. Various members of the
Yakuza from all over Japan take over the Kyoto underworld. As many of
the Ranma cast members and normal Japanese society aren't nearly
bloodthirsty enough. The Yakuza elite are the most likely source of for
the new Ten Swords. Might have one or two Street Fighter styled members
instead of a couple of them, but Shi-Shi-O would most likely be a Yakuza
elite betrayed by his boss.

Plot:
Three Main Arcs:

Awakenings:

This story is character driven. I've listed mostly plot points in terms
of events since the characters may decide to go places that won't mesh
if a character's changes are also plotted.

On Ranma's eighteenth burthday Nodoka gives Ranma the family katana.
Despite having little training for it, he uses it expertly- in his left
hand. He even pulls off a new special move, mad dash straight forward
that took out the dojo wall and part of the Tendo outer wall, without
understanding where the idea for the move came from. Akane saw him and
was visibly disturbed for a reason she couldn't place. Many of the Ranma
crew start having half-remembered dreams mostly of sword fighting.

Later, Kuno gets upset at Ukyou or Konatsu and gets into a fight with
the kunochi. Ranma and Akane see the fight and notice something is off.
Kuno's style is different as it is far more defensive. Konatsu fighting
style also changes and is a lot faster and far more vicious and brutal.

Cologne hearing things from Mousse and Shampoo about weird dreams and
noticing odd behaviors, as well as comments from Ranma and the rest of
the crew about similar strangness, she decides to do something to
understand what's going on. She applies a memory herb to get Ranma,
Akane, Shampoo and Mousse to remember their dreams, however it came with
more than what they had bargin for. They discover they are reincarnated
from people who live in the Meiji era with most of the memories of their
past life and currently have problems remembering how they died (likely
some point in Kyoto cycle to just after).

The four are now very confused and try to sort out there new memories.
Their behavior becomes more of a merger of the two lives. Their 'new'
mannerisms start having an effect on several others, increasing their
odd behaviors.

At one point a threat comes by and threatens to hurt Akane and Ukyou
while Ranma isn't around. Konatsu moves to defend them, and Akane gets
more disturbed as the fight progress. Konatsu get angrier and less
demeur. Just before Konatsu was about to kill his opponent, Akane
instinctively screams out 'Kenshin, no!' Konatsu turns and looks at her
says, 'Karou-dono' and then blinks while trying to figure out what
happened and where his 'new' mememories came from. "Oro!"

Shortly afterwards Taro shows up to fight Kenshin, at first thinking
he's Ranma. He then goes to Ucchan's to fight Kenshin, since Ranma told
Taro where to find him. Konatsu's sakaba sword was very cheaply made and
broke easily against Jin-nei's katana. Ranma arrives with Saotome clan
sword and plans to get Taro arrested, however Akane followed Ranma and
Taro uses Jin-nei's ability to choke Akane. Ranma doesn't wait to see if
Akane could snap out of it. Before Taro can blink, Ranma plants the
Saotome katana into Taro's chest.

At times there will be references to someone hiding in the shadows
watching. Ranma seems to recognize the presence but apparently dismisses
him as not a threat. Later, the shadow is revealed to be a kid and
neighbor to the Tendo's, Yamane Ryujin, who Kasumi occasionally
babysits. He goes to Kuno, Kodachi, and Ryoga as Yahiko and is somehow
able to awaken their past-life memories. Ryujin then easily convinces
them to attack Saitoh/Ranma. Ryoga fights Ranma while Kodachi and Kuno
restrain Akane. Ryoga gloats about how much better he is, and Ranma
retorts, 'Thanks to Bakusai Tenketsu, you've finally got some defense,
aho. But I can end this fight in a second, if I wanted you dead. Be
thankful I don't.' Konatsu stops the fight before it goes too far (but
only after Ranma grabbed Kuno's bokken and rammed it into Ryoga's
chest). Ukyou, who is with him, suddenly remembers parts of Shura's past
and attacks Kenshin. Kodachi quickly unties Akane and wraps up Ukyou in
her ribbon. They then sit down and explain things to each other.

At some point from here to shortly after Cho, Akane awakes from a dream.
Unlike most nights, it wasn't a nightmare from her previous life that
awoke her. It was a dream of Karou's wedding night with Kenshin. Akane
is upset with the memory since Konatsu has made it know he's staying
with Ukyou, and Akane still has strong fellings for Ranma. She walks
around for a bit and runs into Ranma who gets her to explain what's
troubling her. He tells her not to worry about it, since he has to deal
with Saitoh's memories of being with three women: first wife who died in
childbirth, a prostitute he paid for after his first truly bloody
battle, and his second wife Tokio. Akane was NOT pleased with this and
helped Ranma go back to sleep.

Return to Kyoto:

Ranma, who has made a few friends from Nerima police, is asked to help
with a case that they have. They know it's out of their leauge, but they
need it handle quickly and quietly. They hope since Ranma could kill a
monster like Pantyhose easily that he can deal with it. It seems an AWOL
US soldier is going around attacking various places with the apparent
intent on aquiring guns, the more and greater quality the better. The US
government wants to keep a tight lid on it as it can explode into huge
political problems. One Yakuza group has tried to kill the guy but
failed. Ranma gets Konatsu and Ryoga and prepare to stake out a pawn
shop that is a Yakuza front. They recieve word from Ryujin that the guy
attacked a research instilation and Akane and Ukyou went to stop the
guy. They quickly run to the research instilation and are thankful Akane
and Ukyou didn't enter the place, but look shaken. Ryujin goes to help
them while Ranma, Ryoga and Konatsu countinue on to confront the guy.
Ranma calls out to Roger aka Cho and are answered with a M-1 Abrahrams
tank. Ranma and Konatsu distract Cho while Ryoga uses Bakusai Tenketsu
to reduce the tank to shrapnel.

Later Akane, while running an errand, is attacked by a vending machine.
It then is ripped to shreds from the inside by a huge scyth weapon as
Tsubasa exits from it. Tsubasa wants revenge for when Karou had
shattered his knee in his last life. Tsubasa retreats before either can
do permanent harm.

Ranma, upset about Akane being hurt, looks over the past few months and
realizes that something is amiss. Things had to be orchestrated by
someone. Considering two of Shi-Shi-O's ten swords have awoken, it is
resonable that others of the group may be awake as well. But who is the
master mind now and how to find him? While thinking strongly of the
possibility that either Shi-Shi-O, Soujiro, or Hoji has awoken and that
there is some indications the person is close- Ranma notices something
about Kasumi. Her smile. Kasumi always wore a pleasant smile and carried
a somewhat vacant look, but what he saw in her was far more malicious.
He accuses her of being Soujiro to which she replied, "I was wondering
when you would figure that out, Saitoh-san." Ranma attacks her but Soun
quickly moves to defend her. Kasumi grabs Yamane and holds him hostage
with a knife. She runs off across the roof tops while holding Yamane,
but was soon intercepted by Konatsu. Kasumi stabs Yamane in the gut and
toses him at Konatsu and is able to escape. Yamame is healed by Cologne.

The new Kenshin-gumi try to figure out what to do. Evidence left by
Kasumi points out that Shi-Shi-O is waiting for them in Kyoto. Soun is
VERY disturbed at what happened to his daughter, and wants her brought
back safetly to her old self. Kenshin et al don't give any promise but
to try. Things don't add up in Kasumi's personality to truly be Soujiro.
There is only a few trace things, but not nearly as much as every other
person who awoke. They come up blank as to an explanation as to why
Kasumi became Soujiro of the Ten Swords.

Finding Konatsu a sakaba sword becomes a priority, and Soun reveals that
he knows where one is. In the Tendo attic, Soun pulls out an old sword
and Konatsu calls out "ORO!!!" at the sight of it. The sakaba is
Sen-Uchi, the sword Kenshin picked up in Kyoto. Konatsu and Akane then
go through the house and point out how the house was originally was. The
guest room was Kenshin's, Soun's was the guest room, the main room was
Karou's.  They even notice an old mark on one of the support beams and
remark that it was made by Yahiko, Yamane gets upset and tries to
justify the damage. Akane finds out later she is a descendant of Suzume
and that she got the house after Kamiya Kenshin and Karou died.

Ranma and crew end up in Kyoto after a few distractions. They find that
the Aoiya still stands and Ukyou is related to the Onwia Banshu.
However, after Ukyou's cousin greets her, Jiya comes down and says his
hello as well. He has already awaken and knows of Shi-Shi-O's presence
through his Yakuza conections and is eager to help.

Shi-Shi-O's crew attempt a few things, but the Kenshin-gumi overcome
them. Eventually, the Ten Swords lure the Kenshin-gumi into the old
stronghold and Ten Swords are winning. But, when bat-man sets up to blow
up a couple of the Ranma crew for good, he's hit by a blast of fire and
explodes (he's dead Jim). The main group of Onwia Banshu arrive, led by
Herb and has at least an extra member, and they join the fight against
the Ten Swords. This surprise Shampoo who remembers nothing past the Ten
Swords attack on the Aoiya.

Shi-Shi-O demands that they fight honorable duels. Konatsu agrees to
avoid more death. Konatsu verses Kasumi. Ranma verses Usei, who is not
blind this time. Anji verses Ryoga. Then Kenshin verses Shi-Shi-O.

Anji wants to fight becuase when his past life awoke, so did the eldest
child, his beloved, he tried to protect before becoming the fallen
priest. She was so shocked at her memories, she yelled at Anji saying
she could never forgive him. He disappeared afterwards and she came to
regret her words. She ends up finding Jiya who helps her make it to Anji
in time to end the fight, which was going badly for Ryoga.

Usei gloats about his Shin-Gun and his ability to see, and asks Saitoh
'Why am I working for Shi-Shi-O in this life.' Ranma replies that his
lack of social life due to his childhood makes it hard to use Saitoh's
Shin-Gun; however, he has picked up a different Shin-Gun that had
improved since Saitoh awakened in him, mimic. He then activates his Soul
of Ice techniqu followed by luanching into a Gatotsu, bouncing off a
wall, and then continues with Ryu-Tsui-Sen.

Before Konatsu goes to fight Kasumi, a man who accompanied Jiya talks to
Kenshin. After the discussion Konatsu hands over the sakaba to the guy
to the surprise of everyone. The guy says he is really Soujiro and
Kasumi is an imposter. Both fight in the exact same style, however
Soujiro has some added moves- from Kenshin's school. Soujiro knows who
Hiko is but Hiko didn't see a point in showing up if 'baka deshi didn't
take the time to ask for it.'

The Demon Awakes:

Examining Kasumi, Cologne discovers she is certainly not Soujiro, but is
possessed. They free her of the demon and quickly slaughter it. Kasumi
awakens and excessively appologizes to everyone. She then calls Akane,
'onechan.' When asked about it, she reveals that she's Ayame and that
the demon had used her to set up things to his and his master's benefit.
The demon failed a the last time as it had possessed the assassin
Shi-Shi-O and Soujiro because he let the demon inside him to deal with
his tormented childhood. However, the demon tried to control both
Shi-Shi-O and Soujiro at the same time, weakening it's hold. Soujiro was
able to break his possession when Kenshin defeated him. Shi-Shi-O kept
on trying extend the fight to free himself as his body temperature would
cause him to combust. The demon being older, stronger and wiser was able
to enter Kasumi via her tendancy to withdraw from the stranger events.
When she returns home, she calls Nabiki Suzume-nechan and explains that
she is a reincarnate as well.

Through Kasumi, they discover the events leading to their death.
Apparently Sanosuke had stumbled across a demon and awaken a portion of
its powers. The demon set out to gain power to gain freedom. The Kenshin
crew discover his presence through circumstances and end up fighting it
to a draw. The demon was sealed for over a century but the Kenshin-gumi
all died in the process. The demon gains power as a reincarnate dies-
any of them. It was in the best interests of the demon to set up fights
to weaken his opponents while gaining strength.

The Ranma crew seek out the demon and fight it. Preferably to victory,
but a draw would suffice. Losing is NOT an option. They win, with the
non-reincarnate Mint being among the most effective of them, but not
without casualties. Thinking Kuno while proving he does truly love Akane
(maybe and/or onna-Ranma) and Yamane. Possibly Kasumi as she might aid
since she now has the ability to use a sword. Memebers of Onwia Banshu
are probable. Let the story decide, and kill at least one part of a
'done' couple.

Growing up, seperating, getting together and moving on. With the demon
behind them and colege ahead for most of them, they come to new terms
with themselves. The trials making them stronger and more sure of
themselves. They mourn the dead. A few even get married. Ranma and
Akane? Konatsu and Ukyou? Ryoga and Akari? Ryoga and Kodachi? Konatsu
and Akane? (-maybe if Ukyou dies and Akane can't reconcile Saitoh being
Ranma) And the misery of the one left behind.