Ranma/Shampoo idea- viable? And oneshot or serial?

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

This idea for a side/sequel to my "Another Rainy Day in Nerima" serial story came to me recently, and like the title says I decided to ask here if it'd be a viable idea for me to pursue. By the 'side/sequel' application, I mean that this story is envisioned as a sequel, in that it refers to the events of Another Rainy Day, but it's also a side-story, in that it isn't the 'official' sequel.

If you've seen the story of mine which I refer to, you'll know that there are a lot of Ranma/Shampoo oneshots (written and unwritten) in it- this isn't due to my feelings on the couple, it's simply because Shampoo is the other fiancee who gets the most attention in the anime. Anyway, this idea came from the possibility, after the events of Another Rainy Day, of Ranma commenting that his life probably would have been simpler if he'd just hooked up with Shampoo from the beginning, due to seeing so many timelines where he did get together with her as the 'chosen girl'.

Then, through a bit of applied phlebenotium, the precise details of which I don't know yet myself, he finds himself waking up in a sleeping bag on the side of a road in deep rural China. He has no mirror, he's dressed in his gi rather than his Chinese ensemble, and he has no curse- he's basically been sent back through time to when he and his father were just entering the Byankalas. He has only advanced knowledge, not advanced skill, and only the increased knowledge of the past will be a useful tool to him due to the fluctuations his advanced knowledge causes. In other words, he knows about places and people and stuff, which will help him deal with them (for example, he knows Ukyo's a girl, and why she's mad, so he won't be surprised when she shows up), but he can't predict the future.

Anyway, it doesn't take Ranma long to figure out why he was sent back, and he decides to go along with it. Partially because he knows full well that he and Shampoo can work, partially because if he "takes steps" here, he should be able to avoid getting the Jusenkyo curse. Right now, though, I'm not sure if he convinces Genma to go to Joketsuzoku, describing it as a village full of powerful martial artists, or if he simply runs off (not with any intention of abandoning Genma, who does give chase, but because Genma won't give up on his thickheaded idea of going to Jusenkyo until someone else tells him the truth), or even if he tries to convince Genma to change courses, then leaves and forces Genma to go there by chasing him.

On an aside, Genma is naturally going to be very confused and possibly even concerned about how Ranma is acting. Having lived with all the proof of Genma's misdeeds, Ranma can't help but treat him the way he does in canon- however, canon at least implies that Ranma and Genma actually got on much better until Jusenkyo; it was the curse that put such a serious knot in their relationship, and all the sleazy things that Genma did catching up to him in Nerima didn't help matters.

Anyway, the Saotomes arrive in Joketsuzoku. Now, Ranma can't go off and propose to Shampoo immediately- he's not stupid enough to not realise that doing something like that won't make everyone in the area think he's, at best, as foolish as Mousse and, at worst, utterly mad. Instead, he leads Genma to Cologne, where he acts respectful and basically spins a lie about having heard on the road about the "Great Master Khu Lon" and how he and his father are journeyed here to train under her. I'm not sure what would convince Genma to go along with it, but I think the semi-oblique references to the fact Cologne fought and defeated Happosai, as well as mention of powerful special techniques, would at least give him incentive to play along, yes?

Cologne, of course, is suspicious, particularly at Ranma's reference to techniques that are quite closely guarded (Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, for example), but that's a good part of her motivation for accepting Ranma as a disciple- to figure out how he knows such sensitive knowledge. A minor incentive is the prospect of training a promising student, and perhaps setting up her great-granddaughter with someone other than that quack-head Mousse.

Hmm... just out of curiosity; while no Adonis, Genma Saotome isn't really a bad-looking fellow, and he is a decent martial artist. Thusly, is it possible that some of the older unmarried/widowed women in the tribe might start flirting with him? Also, as Ranma knows that he has a mother back in Nerima, waiting for her husband and son (emphasis on those two words) to return, would he support Genma in trying to avoid their attention, or would he decide that Genma deserves to sweat and innocently 'encourage' one or more of Genma's suitors?

From there, I was thinking that Ranma and Shampoo would basically have a few days to a week to know each other, and then, disaster occurs: the annual tournament. Now, while Ranma knows that the feast being laid out is the first prize, Genma doesn't, and probably wouldn't care anyway. I do admit that I'm worried this is a weak point in the plot, though. Anyway, in a weird case of deja vu, Genma eats the prize after Shampoo wins her final match. Naturally, this outrages the girl in question and the other Amazons, and naturally Genma demands/begs Ranma to save his hide. Possibly with a murmur to himself about fate, Ranma does so, winning the match with perhaps a little less ease than he did the first time around.

Naturally, Shampoo goes to deliver the "kiss of marriage"- however, she's startled as all hell when Ranma meets her midway into the kiss and repeats her declaration of love back to her. Genma, naturally, is outraged/furious; how dare his son allow himself to be seduced when he has an arranged marriage waiting for him! Particularly when Genma's not getting anything out of it! The new couple barely has time to enjoy the congratulations of the other Amazons before Genma charges in, knocks Ranma out cold with a sucker punch, then slings him over his shoulder and heads for the hills, one pissed off blue haired girl in hot pursuit.

As the title implies, I'd like people's opinions on whether I should cut it off there, leaving this as a oneshot, or follow on with it and do a serial where Genma and the other Nerimites try to pull Ranma back into his 'place', while Ranma tries to escape Nerima and marry Shampoo.

On a side topic, I was thinking of having it that the Saotomes get back to Japan without getting cursed. As he's heard of what Jusenkyo does to a person now, and possibly seen demonstrations of its power for proof, Genma wouldn't be stupid enough to head there, and with Shampoo out for his blood, he wouldn't have time anyway. Secondly, while the curses did cause a good deal of chaos in canon, there is just as much chaos in Ranma arriving without a curse, but with preconceived 'facts' on how the people around him are going to react... based on a situation which he is no longer in. For example, Nabiki is likely to be his 'default' Tendo fiancee, as she was the one most interested in the idea and even found him attractive until she found out what he was. Without her canon disappointment, it's possible that she might actually be less mercenary/callous to Ranma in this timeline- she basically treats Ranma the way she does in canon at least partially out of annoyance at his dashing of her hopes. Akane, meanwhile, is probably going to be even ruder or maybe even nastier than she was in canon; no "Ranko" means no switch to sympathetic nice-girl mode from her previous mood, and it also means that she has neither reason to feel sympathy for Ranma, nor reason to start considering that Ranma might be less of a pervert than the other boys.

[SpaceKnight of Chaos]

I've definately started leaning towards a serial story, now, courtesy of some new thoughts for possible twists... but I'm not entirely certain that all of them work. Thoughts, please?

*Ryoga is going to end up at Jusenkyo anyway, as that's where he was heading in canon. Here, however, he has no blindly furious Ranma-chan to push him into the Drowned Piglet spring. Would it, however, be valid to have him fall in the Drowned Girl spring (or some variant thereof)? Jusenkyo punishes carelessness with curses in canon- the slightest goofup results in a transforming bath. But does it feel too forced if Ryoga gets a curse just because he went to Jusenkyo? I do feel that giving him a Girl (or at least Girl-based, like drowned little girl, or drowned magical girl, or whatever) curse would be better than the Pig curse for two reasons:
A- Ryoga canonically mocked Ranma for considering his girl form a curse (admittedly, he had some justification, as at least Ranma's form leaves him human)... now, don't you think that there's a delicious irony in making Ryoga put his money where his mouth is and see how well he handles switching genders?
B- it distorts the 'expected' turn of events, which means Ranma is kept off-balance and thusly gives more opportunity for chaos.

*Would Ryoga fall for Akane in this story? In canon, he had no interest in her at first- it was only after she was so kind to "P-chan" that he fell head over heels for her. Without that happening, is it possible he'd simply ignore her like he did when he first showed up in canon?

*If the above happens, could I justify Ranma trying to pair up Ryoga and Kodachi (if not neccessarily succeeding)? Setting them up on dates, leaving presents for each and claiming it's from the other person, basically trying to get them out of his hair by giving them to each other?

*In relation to my first thought, would it be out of character for Ranma, upon finding out Ryoga has a Nyanniichuan curse, to set about gathering the three urns for the Japanese Nanniichuan when Ryoga gets himself lost again? He knows where the urns are already, he knows where the spring is- he does know that, by the time he found it the "first time around", it had run out of power, but he has no idea when it happened, so it's possible that, this early on, it still has the power to give a Jusenkyo Man curse (FYI it doesn't, but it makes a nice plot point)... so would he try and get together what he thinks is a potential cure for Ryoga in an effort to try and get on Ryoga's good side?

*Similar to the above, either as a consolation when the Japanese Nanniichuan turns out to be a bust, or from some other motivator, might Ranma tell Ryoga that the Tendo koi pond can be turned into a Nanniichuan in about 6 or 7 months?

*Would it be possible to justify having Ranma come up with the idea of trying to get Mousse to go after Akane, so as to remove both from his hair? If yes, do you have any suggestions for how Ranma might try to get the two to start looking at each other? I have my own vague thoughts involving a challenge/wager, but I'll keep those to myself for now.