Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Princess of the Moon ❯ Chapter 06 ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Notes - It has been a while hasn't it? Well this is then next chapter
and it finishes up the last chapter and introduces Nodoka as a main
character to the story. It took a while to get this chapter done because
I had to almost completely rewrite Nodoka's character and get White
Phoenix's permission to use an idea of his and develop it from there. I
left things a little vague in purpose and they will be explained in
future chapters.


**********
Princess of the Moon
Chapter 06
By Cory D. Rose
ertle2@msn.com
(c)2002
**********

Dealing with Nabiki had been an experience for Ranma, she was
very good at getting her to do what she wanted. Coming to Nerima was
about the last thing she wanted to do, but the girl had turned on that
super cute puppy eyed look for some reason and crushed all of Ranma's
resistance. Ranma cursed herself for a fool for giving in too, she had
decided that after talking with Ito for a little while that staying in
Jubaan was a better idea. So she had waited until the girl got out of
the bathroom and told her that she had decided not to go.

Then Nabiki had tried to bribe her with a new dress or manga,
whatever interested her if she would come. Ranma refused, she wasn't
that easy to bribe, the Amazon's had tried it on several occasions as
well. She had more than a enough pride left not to fall for that kind of
thing again. Then Nabiki had tried to use reason and Ranma dug her heels
in and refused even more. Then came that damned technique that always
worked, the tears and big innocent eyes that must have shattered her
will like a sledge hammer and melted her mind until she was babbling
anything to make the girl feel better. Ranma wanted to scream, that one
always got her to cave in no matter how hard she tried to not be
affected. Shampoo and the other Amazon girls had discovered this and
used it to make her do things that had been just plain weird. So with a
sigh she had given in, again, but by that time it was nearly midnight,
much to late for Nabiki to be walking the streets so she had spent the
night in Ranma's room. After a quick call home to let her sisters know
where she was, Nabiki was given the bed while Ranma curled up on the
floor in her sleeping bag.

The next morning had been a bit odd to sat the least, Nabiki had
wanted to get up early to make it to Nerima as soon as possible. They
had forgotten to take into account one little fact, neither of them were
morning people and when the alarm clock went off at five the next
morning, it's short life came to and end as Ranma crushed it and tossed
out the window into the bushes. They ended finally got up an hour later
as Ranma's years on the road woke her up at dawn for what would have
been a morning sparing match with the old man. Instead she had shake
herself to remember what was going on, spent twenty minutes waking up a
dead to the world Nabiki, and went out to train while she took a bath.
After that Ranma had gotten cleaned up and they had caught the but to
Nerima.

Nerima wasn't what Ranma had expected either as they got off the
bus the next morning at eight, luckily it was a Sunday and they didn't
need to worry about school. She looked around and stared at all the
different dojo's they walked passed. There were dojo's everywhere, one
or two per block at times, they seemed to be everywhere. Ranma had never
seen so many in one small an area of a large city like Tokyo, to her
knowledge most dojo's tended to hold large areas of land that they
supported and defended with brutal efficiency. A bit of curiosity made
her wonder how such a district could have come about, the odds of so
many different schools being in one place had to be nearly impossible.

Ranma's pack was weighing her down today, it had been nearly
three months since she last carried the thing around like this. She was
a bit surprised to not that she had already lost her body hardening from
the heavy thing. She rolled her shoulders and adjusted the weight of her
pack as they moved across a busy intersection, Nerima seemed to be a mix
of both old and modern society in Ranma's estimation, what a strange
place. Most of the land that supported dojo's also seemed to have an old
ancestral family homes built right next to them, it was just the
weirdest thing she had ever seen. Even the business seemed to be
designed to support the increased martial artists in the area, walls
were reinforced and streets were designed with an easily replaceable
material.

Nabiki pointed all this out to her as they walked, pointing out
something new and interesting every block or two as they passed by.
Ranma, if she had known Nabiki a little better, would have been a little
disturbed to find out that she was doing this tour for free. A strange
and rare thing for Nabiki Tendo, the Ice Queen of Furinkan and all
around Mercenary to the core. According to Nabiki, this entire district
was dedicated to those families that were martial artists and decedents
of the Samurai families like the Kuno and Takahashi families that at one
time ruled the entire area.

She explained the strange set up too, it seemed that at one time
there had been a war in the area. One of the ruling families had decided
that they wanted to know about or use all the different types of martial
arts in the world and invited all the warrior families to live in the
area and practice or teach as much as they wanted. Over time all these
school, who moved here for the low rent and multiple challenges, had
grown into a steadily growing district and proven that they could
actually live and work with each other. Nabiki even told him that the
district counsel had set up a number of empty lots through out the area
as places where martial artists could train and fight. At first these
lots had been clean and very usable for that very purpose, but over the
years they had become over grown and unused and were now just empty lots
that got little or no use.

"This is Furinkan High School where me and my sister Akane go to
school." Nabiki said as she pointed out the school to Ranma.

"What's with the all the holes in the walls along the entrance?"

"The Kuno family is a little...insane, a Tatawaki Kuno goes to
school here and has declared that if any of the boys in school wants to
date my sister Akane they have to defeat her in combat, so him and a
number of boys have a battle most mornings. The damage is from where the
boys end up when my sister kicks or punches them through the walls to
relieve her anger at the whole stupid situation."

"I take it these Kuno's are total idiots?"

"Completely, but good for a quick buck if one plays them just
right."

"What, you cheat them?" Ranma asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Nope, I just charge him for information. I make money off bets
and selling information, I use it to help support my family."

"Why would you need to do that?" Ranma asked curiously, this
Tendo family seemed to be just one surprise after another.

"Um..." Nabiki said, why the hell had she told Ranma that? It
was one of the few things she didn't like to tell anyone, it could ruin
her reputation at school if anyone heard or used it against her. Then
she shrugged, for some reason she wanted to Ranma to know the truth.
"Well, our father was...devastated when our mother died and he stopped
teaching and the money stopped coming in. Me and my sisters had to take
up the slack of keeping the family going."

"Oh?" Ranma said as they tuned a corner to walk the last few
blocks to the Tendo Dojo and accidentally runs into someone as they came
out of nowhere. They both go down in a pile, Ranma giving out a girly
shriek of surprise as she went down, someone heavy landed on top of her.
Ranma groaned and blushed at the unmanly reaction and sat up to see a
boy wearing a bandanna sitting up to look at her. His eyes tripled in
size and he turns bright red for a few seconds, then the most amazing
thing happens.

"Oh hi Ryoga..." Nabiki starts.

Ryoga's eyes rolled back and blood exploded out of his nose and
all over his shirt as he falls over in a dead faint. Ranma and Nabiki
blinked and gagged in disgust at the sight, though Ranma has learned
enough of her affect on men to know that she was the cause of this, she
just didn't know what she had done, this time, to make the poor boy just
pass out like that. Ranma looked down at herself, nothing was out of
place and since she wore double layers of clothing with her normal out
fit nothing perverted was showing.

"Is this normal for him?" Ranma asked as she flipped her long
braid over her shoulder.

"I have no idea, I've never seen him as a man before, I only
recognized him because of that pack and the bandanna. I've only met him
while he was in female form and that was a few days ago when my sister
dragged him home."

"...so round...so firm...oh...my god...heheheheh..." Ryoga
mumbled in his sleep and giggling lecherously.

"Well, that explains that, he's a pervert though and through."
Ranma said as she stood up and glared at the boy. She had found out
first hand just what a pervert was while she traveled across China
challenging various fighters. She'd found that she had to fight most of
the male fighters two or three times because they always thought she was
a weak girl, the only way make sure this didn't happen was to hit them
so hard that they shattered walls and took out trees with their flying
bodies. This seemed to make them rethink that assessment that all girs
were weak mentally and physically. They usually spent more time during
the fights and watching from the sidelines looking at her tits than what
they were doing and got pounded for it. Ranma didn't hold back all that
much when she fought anymore, it just made everyone think she was weak.

"No kidding, he better be careful of my sister, she has a
dislike for anything male that even gives a suggestion of perversion."

"Poor guy, he needs to get some better luck. He was always
obsessed with finding his way home, a family curse if I remember right,
he could spend weeks away from home looking for it. Back in school he
used to arrive at school for a few days, sleeping in a tent near the
front door to the school, then go and get lost for a few weeks before
show up again for a few days. Eventually we had to walk him to and from
school just so he could get an education even a bad education."

"You went to school with him?" Nabiki said, looking Ranma up and
down.

"Yeah, it was an all boys school and pretty rough to. Me and
Ryoga tended to get into two or three fights a day during the six months
I was in the area. It was the most fun I had during the entire stay
there, the guy has a lot of brute strength."

Ryoga suddenly groaned and sat up holding his head. "What
happened?"

"You took one look at my magnificence and passed out." Ranma
said and took a model like pose that showed off her chest while she
tried to look as innocent as she could.

Nabiki snickered and started at her own reaction.

Ryoga looked up and paled again, but this time Ranma's hand shot
out and grabbed him by the nose. This kept him from passing out again,
though he started to giggle nervously and rub the back of his head, his
eyes were a little glassy as well. Nabiki remembered Ranma doing that
while she was talking to her at the temple, it certainly made this Ryoga
really cute in a bashful kind of way.

"What are you doing out here Ryoga, are you having dinner at my
place tonight?"

Ryoga giggled some more and blushed as he stood up, holding his
own nose. "Um, yeah...I was just at the house went to use the bathroom
and ended up outside for some reason, I don't even remember leaving the
property. I know it has to be around her somewhere, I'm just not sure
where."

Ranma nodded, that was just how she remembered the idiot.

"Well lets get you back to the house, Akane is probably
beginning to worry about you by now. How long has it been since you
left?"

"Um...about half an hour."

"Well come on, were headed there too." Ranma said and grabbed
Ryoga by his elbow and started to drag him along. The Lost Boy turned a
solid read and started to mumble to himself as they moved along. Ranma
had to let go when he started to get a nose bleed again, what in the
hell was causing that? A few minutes later they were standing in front
of the Tendo Dojo, it was about like most of the other houses in the
area. A large family house with a larger dojo just out back with a good
sized back yard and a koi pond. They opened the front gate and made
their way inside just as the front door of the house opened and a cute
girl in a dress and apron stepped out to greet them.

"Oh hello Nabiki I see you brought home some guests. Ryoga,
where have you been, Akane was worried about you."

He lowered his head. "Sorry about that Kasumi, I got lost..."

Another girl came barreling out of the house and latched onto
the Lost Boy's arm, she was a little shorter than he was, had long
blue/black hair and carried herself as a martial artist Ranma noted. She
smiled at the boy and started to drag him back into the house, but
stopped as she noticed her sisters and Ranma. "Who?"

"Call me Ranma Mazaki, you must be Akane, your sister here told
me about you."

"Akane Tendo."

"Akane, this is the panda's son, the one that he turned into a
girl when he knocked him into on of those springs at Jusenkyo."

"So he is just like Ryoga?"

Ryoga gaped then narrowed his eyes at Ranma, maybe this wasn't
his angel. It must be a demon in disguise, he would have to find out the
truth, but if it was Ranma...

"No, pops turned me into a girl permanently. I left him when he
disowned me while I was staying at the Amazon Village just outside
Jusenkyo." Ranma explained quickly.

"Ranma is that you?" Ryoga said quietly, his rage starting to
grow just behind his eyes. He clenched his fists and growled.

"Hi Ryoga, it has been a long time. About three years if I
remember correctly."

Ryoga snarled in rage and his world turned red, he screamed
rushed forward in a blur that none of the girls could even see and
decked Ranma across the jaw so hard that she went flying back into the
wall. She slumped down, then rolled to her feet and growled at Ryoga.
"You had better have a damned good reason for doing that Ryoga."

"Why weren't you there at the appointed time Ranma!"

"The fight? It was 'appointed' to be Friday afternoon Ryoga, I
waited for you to show until Monday morning on account of your problem
with getting anywhere."

"You broke a promise between men Ranma..."

"I did no such thing you moron, I waited three days for you to
show up Ryoga. Why weren't you there on time, it was a challenge match
after all."

"Do you think I was wandering around Japan for my health?!"

"You set the time and place for the match Ryoga, you're the one
that didn't show up."

"Because of you I've seen hell and lost three years of my life
Ranma. I'm going to kill you for that!" Ryoga pulls an umbrella from out
of nowhere and charges Ranma with a massive a swing. Ranma drops and
rolls out of the way as Ryoga's swing impacted the gate and blew it
clean off it's hinges, reducing it to firewood. The sound of the
decimated gate echo's across the block as the Lost Boy turns towards his
enemy seeing nothing but a red haze of anger and depression.

"Ryoga calm down and think about what you're doing!" Ranma yells
as she motions for the Tendo girls rush into the house to get out of the
way.

"Ranma be careful." Nabiki yelled as they all ran inside, but
Akane and Kasumi were giving Nabiki a weird look.

"I showed up on the fourth day and you had ran like the coward
you are Ranma, I followed all the way to China and will continue to go
even further to make you pay for my suffering! DIE YOU BASTARD!!!" Ryoga
yelled and swung at Ranma again, but this time Ranma hopped upwards,
landing on Ryoga's umbrella and kicked him in the face, then back
flipped off of the strange weapon and landed in a crouch a few feet from
the boy. Then spun around and swept the boys feet out jus as she stiff
armed him in the chest, sending him flying back with a grunt of pain.

"Calm down Ryoga, you don't know..."

"DIE!!" Ryoga yelled when he had caught his balance, pulled a
number of bandana's off his head, and suddenly tossed out dozens of
spinning bandanna's that Ranma dodged and weaved around with ease. Ryoga
ran forward and tossed his umbrella like a spear, but it was dodged just
easily, though it did tear a hole in the side of the house when it hit.
As Ranma dodged, Ryoga managed to grab onto her ankle and hefted Ranma
above his head single handedly and slammed her down into the ground to
create a crater in the ground. Ryoga did this a couple of times before
Ranma was able to pull herself back together and retaliate. She rode a
swing and waited for Ryoga to slam her against the ground again before
kicking him in the wrist and rolling away when he clutched his hand in
pain.

Ranma grunted in pain and could tell that her left arm was
dislocated as she rolled to her feet and glared at the Lost Boy. She
grabbed it and with a loud crunch that everyone in the house heard,
reset it just as she exploded in an aura of blue power. Around her the
dust and rocks started to lift off the ground and fill the air around
Ranma. Ryoga, not expecting this kind of retaliation, backed up and
wondered if he had made a mistake. Then Ranma screamed and a crescent
moon appeared on her forehead and her aura turned a bright silver. Her
blue eyes lit up and started to glow with power as she glared at Ryoga.
Then she vanished in the blink of an eyes and a sonic boom rolled over
the area. Ryoga desperately looked around with his eyes and senses, but
there was no sign of Ranma or where she had gone.

Then his world exploded in pain as Ranma appeared, her fist
planted in his stomach as he slowly bent over from the shock of the
blow. Then his day got worse as Ranma started to flicker in and out of
sight all around him, punching and kicking faster than he could defend
himself, until finally Ryoga found himself lifted off the ground by his
throat with Ranma's pissed off silver eyes glaring into his own and he
knew he was finished. "Ryoga, I have some news for you, I have changed
since I was permanently changed into this body and no matter how much
you'd like to beat on me or blame me for your problems, I will never
allow you to hurt me for your own personal delusions." Ranma said in a
whisper that scared Ryoga so much he almost pissed himself.

His senses were telling him that there was a super powered
monster standing in front of him that he had ticked off. Then he started
to gasp for air as Ranma tightened her fingers around his windpipe and
nearly crushed his throat. "This was our duel Ryoga, it is finished and
I expect you to honor it as if it had happened years ago. I don't have
time to put up with this kind of crap, not from you or anyone else. Do
you understand me?" Ranma snarled.

Ryoga gasped for air and nodded franticly. This wasn't the Ranma
he remembered, the one that irritated him to no end, the one that
insulted and mocked him day after day, the bread stealer or the one that
destroyed the reputation that he had spent years developing to keep
others from making fun of him and his family curse. This was a fighter
of unmatched skill that Ranma had only been a glimpse of in those days,
this was a monster that could crush him with a single finger and not
even break a nail.

"Excellent. If you had attacked me when I was still a man, we
might have been more even in our skills Ryoga, but this change came with
powers that I'm just scraping the surface of and I don't have time to be
playing with you over a stupid bread feud." Ranma said as she dropped
Ryoga and stepped back. She flared her aura up several more times what
it was just to let Ryoga know she was still holding back and stalked
towards the front gate. She wanted nothing to do with this place if this
what she had to deal with. She hadn't wanted to come here anyway so to
come here again would never happen.

"Ryoga, are you alright?!" Akane yelled as she rushed outside
and started to examine Ryoga and was surprised to find that he had no
broken bones, just lots of bruises. Still this was Akane and she just
didn't know when she was outclassed and rounded on Ranma as she walked
to the front gate. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!!"

Stopping, Ranma turned around and looked at the girl.
"Protecting myself, he did attack me with lethal intent. I learned my
lessons from the Amazons in China, never let an enemy like him go unless
they know what you're capable of doing."

"I won't just sit back and let you beat up my friends!" Akane
yelled and took up a defensive stance.

Ranma smirked and noticed Nabiki step out onto the porch and
take in the situation, she rolled her eyes. "Akane stop this, you can't
take Ranma in a fight."

"I'm the best Martial Artist in Nerima, I can beat anybody."
Akane snarled.

"The best, Hah, you don't even know how to use your Ki yet. Even
Ryoga can do that, but I never gave him a chance to use it, or your
house would have been destroyed in the blast. How can you defend against
that when you don't even know how to use little girl?" Ranma said just
as an older man in a brown gi and Kasumi stepped up beside Nabiki. He
had his hands behind his back as if contemplating something. Kasumi just
looked worried and scared, she didn't understand quite what was going
on.

The man turned to look at Akane and sighed, then looked over at
Ranma and paled a little. "Are you, like my daughter has told me, Ranma
Saotome?"

"Ranma Saotome died in China when his father disowned him
publicly, after all Ranma was a man and I can't be that anymore."

"So you used to be Ranma Saotome?"

"Yes, I'm Ranma Mazaki now."

"Are you going to wait for your father to come back here in a
little while, he went out on an errand for my other daughter Kasumi.
Also what are you going to do about the promise between our families,
the schools must be united?"

"Don't ignore me!" Akane screamed and launched forward.

To Ranma, who had battled against the Scouts, several Youma, and
some super fast Amazons she was so easy to read it was pathetic. Still,
Ranma had learned her lesson about mocking weaker opponents, having been
on the receiving end of a lot of it while with the Amazons. Stepping
back Ranma took up an open stance and calmly blocked all of Akane's
punches. That didn't mean she wouldn't make an opponent mess up by
insulting them into a blind rage though.

"Don't over extend your punch, it places you off balance."

"Point your toes where you want to punch, it adds power to the
attack."

Ranma's hand flashed out and tapped Akane in the head, chest,
and stomach, then lightly kicked the girl half way across the yard.
Staying in position, Ranma slowly brought her leg up even higher and did
a standing split that had Nabiki blushing. She wondered why it was
getting so warm suddenly. "Finally, you need to work on your defense, as
demonstrated by the taps I did while you attacked me Miss. Tendo."

"You Pervert!!" Akane screamed and jumped forward, a Ki mallet
appearing in her hands.

Ranma just shook her head and wondered who had taught this girl
how to fight, she was making novice mistakes. Channeling a bit of Ki to
her foot Ranma snap kicked the mallet and popped it like a bubble, then
punched Akane in the head. She collapsed next to the frightened Ryoga,
who held her protectively, glaring at Ranma, but she ignored him as if
he wasn't worth it.

"Mr. Tendo, the only thing I'm going to do with pop is beat him
up when I see him. This whole situation is his fault anyway, he took us
to Jusenkyo and got both of us cursed. As for the promise, well are any
of your daughters lesbians?"

"W-what?" Soun said, suddenly blushing.

"Are any of them lesbians, my body is female, but my mind is
still male and that means I like girls. Two girls can not marry and
since my curse isn't reversible like Mr. Directionally Challenged here,
I can't marry any of them anyway. Sure we could make a couple if they
were interested, but I doubt any of them are." Ranma said, noting the
red faced Nabiki smiling at her, she waved shyly, Ranma began to sweat
nervously and backed up a few steps and bumped into something.

"Groghf!!"

Ranma turned around and jumped back as she spotted her idiot
father, in panda form and smirked at him. "Hey old fart, care to have a
'little' talk about what you did in China?" Ranma said and cracked her
knuckles.

*What are you doing here, you are no longer welcome around me or
my friends.* Said the panda's sign.

"Oh please, like you ever cared what I did before old man."

*Leave, or I will take you down permanently.*

"You don't have the power old man."

*Kasumi, can you get me some hot water, I have to take care of
this Ronin.*

"Of course Mr. Saotome." Kasumi said happily and went into the
kitchen.

A few minutes later a now human Genma Saotome was glaring at his
ex-son, the traitor that refused to change back to a man. "Explain
something to me boy, why did you give up your manhood?"

Ranma blinked. "What in the hell are you talking about you old
fool, I didn't 'give up' my manhood. The transformation was permanent,
you were there when the guide told us that, you were there when he
poured gallons of hot water over my head and I failed to change back."

"I recall no such thing."

Ranma just shrugged. "Kasumi, is there any hot water left in
that kettle?"

"Oh yes."

"Pour it over me would you, it seems the idiot here has a
selective memory when it comes to his mistakes."

The water poured over Ranma as Kasumi tilted the kettle, but the
change didn't happen and Genma backed up several steps. "What the hell
did you do to make it permanent like that, you did it intentionally!"

"Moron, you knocked me into a permanent spring. Just like you
made Ryoga there trip into a spring when you were trying to bash him in
the head. Why would you do such a thing old man, is there more to this
stupid marriage that you haven't explained to me?"

"Shut up 'GIRL' you are no son of mine while in that form! When
you go back to being a man I will acknowledge you again, but until then
you have no family, no name, nothing!" Genma snarled.

"It looks like you want to take another flight over the
surrounding country pop, come on now, let me give you a hand."

Nabiki was confused, Mr. Saotome seemed to have forgotten
everything he had told her when she set out to find his son. Sure he was
now female, but that wasn't any reason to act like this to one's own
child. Even as the 'Ice Queen' she knew this and took measures to make
sure she never hurt a child with her dealings. Then there was her
father, he was acting strange too, almost like he used to before mother
died. He usually cried at the drop of a hat, or wailed at his daughters
being in danger, this was different...it was almost like he had a plan
in mind. Then Mr. Saotome took a stance and she saw her father shift as
well and Nabiki's eyes widened. Her father had the family honor blade in
his hand, it's bindings removed.

"Wha..." The two fools were going to try and force Ranma into
something, but how would they know she was going to be here?

"Now Tendo!" Genma yelled and flared up in a yellow aura and
launched himself at Ranma.

Ranma just shook her head and shifted to block her old man, but
was caught off guard as Mr. Tendo jumped at her as well. He had a blade
in his hand as he pulled it from it's sheath, it was an attack she
hadn't anticipated on. So she did the one thing the old fart wouldn't
expect, he was used to dealing with his son, not the girl that had taken
his place because of the permanent change of gender. Ever since the
change her tactics had changed when it came to fighting, the Amazons had
helped as well. Ranma leapt for the ceiling and watched as her pop's
face go white as Mr. Tendo tried to alter the course of his cut and had
to twist the sword in his hand so that the flat of the blade smacked
down on the back of Genma's shoulders and drew a little blood.

Dropping down Ranma kicked Mr. Tendo in the head and sent him
flying into a wall, flipped and came up under her father and uppercut
him. It lifted the old man off the floor and left him open for kick that
Ranma was more than willing to do. The kick to Genma's side sent him
flying into the back yard and landed in the koi pond with a massive
splash that swamped Ryoga and the still unconscious Akane. Ranma smirked
as she saw Akane wake up in the arms of Ryoga's female form.

"PERVERT!!" Akane screamed and slapped Ryoga.

"Just like I thought, you were just going to use me just like
you always have, weren't you pops? Did you sell me to the Tendo's like
you did so many times before?"

"Groan..."

Ranma just shook her head and crossed her arms. "Would you
believe I showed up here today to possibly make up with you and see how
things could go between us? Nabiki here talked me into it, I figured
that since you were my father that we could talk things out and have a
little peace between us. Instead I find you freeloading off this family
and end up getting attacked by you, an old friend of mine, and some girl
I've never met."

"Groph."

"I'm out of here." Ranma said and stalked out of the yard, she
would let them deal with all the damage Ryoga had caused.

After several minutes she stepped walking and entered a park and
made her way over to a fountain. She shrugged off her pack and rubbed
her shoulders since she hadn't even had time to take the thing off
before she was attacked. The sound of the fountain was a comforting
sight and something she needed right then, she hadn't wanted to mention
it to anyone, but she was feeling weird too. That fight had been like
rubbing salt in an old wound, her abilities had been acting or feeling a
little weird lately. Ranma looked at her hands and went over the fight
in her mind, the attack by Ryoga had been a surprise to say the least
but nothing she couldn't handle.

She had expected it from her father, but not Mr. Tendo, had
someone told the old farts that she would be there today? Would Nabiki
had done something like that for some odd reason? Then there was that
other girl, Akane Tendo, she had potential to be a great fighter, but it
seemed that no one had ever bothered to teach her the true meaning of
Martial Arts. The defense of others, the control of one's own emotions
and body, and the ability to control every aspect of a fight.

Instead the girl seemed to have a lot of strength, but no
control over her actions. She was predictable and too set in one style
that she had lost the skills that were the very core of Anything Goes.
The unpredictability of the art, the ability to move from one style to
another without the usual consequences this usually caused. Then there
was that other thing that was bothering her, how she had reacted to the
fight in the first place. She had nearly lost control of herself, a
fatal mistake if it had happened.

Ever since Jusenkyo she had known she was a lot more powerful
than she had been, her Ki had grown almost exponentially for a few
months there. Cologne and several other teachers had taught her how to
focus all this power she had gained, but as time went on her control was
slipping for some reason. She hadn't really noticed it till now though,
what was happening to her? Why was she loosing her control over her new
abilities, the ones she had thought were so firmly under her control? In
the past she would learn a new technique and once she had it down it
just became easier and easier to do until she mastered it completely and
incorporated it into her style.

Surprisingly enough her Ki abilities were not the problem, they
were working perfectly, the power never once wavered in the slightest.
It was her other powers she was worried about, her magic, what she had
gained when she was first transformed into a girl, she clearly
remembered drop kicking her idiot father clear out of the valley without
much trouble. Later when took up being that stupid Sailor Sun identity
her magical power had grown even more. The stuff was unpredictable at
times and seemed to have a mind of it's own, there were times when she
had used it in fights that it seemed to hesitate before anything
happened. At the time she hadn't thought much out of it, but now she
wondered if she should have paid more attention.

"Ranma?"

She turned and noticed Nabiki giving her a worried look, Ranma
sighed and nodded at the girl. "Hi Nabiki, what's up?"

"I'm sorry about what happened back there."

"Don't worry about it, some good may have come out of it."

"Like what?"

"I nearly lost control of one of my special abilities back
there, one I had thought I had down. Instead I'm finding it harder and
harder to control, I hadn't really noticed until I had to fight everyone
at the compound there. I was just standing here trying to find a way to
get that control back."

"What have you come up with?"

"Nothing yet, just going over what happened when I lost control
of it. It only lasted a split second, but this has me worried about
using the ability any time in the near future unless it is an
emergency."

"You could always talk to Dr. Tofu."

"A Doctor, how would he be able to help with a magic control
problem?"

"Magic?!" Nabiki gasped, little dollar signs in her eyes.

"Yeah, it was part of what I gained when I landed in that
spring. I lost my manhood, but gained a lot of power in it's place.
Power is a pretty cool thing to have, but sometimes the cost is more
than what one is willing to pay. I would be willing to give all of this
up to be a man again, but that is impossible at the moment."

"Why is that Ranma?"

"The pools of Jusenkyo are a curse, something that is given as a
punishment. A curse can not be used to cure a curse, the damned things
mix together to make the punishment worse."

Nabiki paled as the thought of a half man, half woman that Ranma
could have become if she were to jump into a spring of drowned man.
"That's horrible!"

"I know, I lost my manhood in that spring, I don't want to be
even more of a freak as I am right now. I'm strange enough as it its."

"I like you as you are Ranma and don't think you're all that
strange, my family has always been a little strange too, you should see
my father and Akane when they are being normal."

"What was up with them anyway, I didn't do anything to even
provoke any of those attacks. The one with Akane was, maybe a little
warranted because of what I did to Ryoga, but she was jumping to all
kinds of strange conclusions and attacked me. Why?"

Nabiki sighed. "Akane has to fight off all those boys every
morning, she has a dislike of anything male, and Kuno has only worked to
make the situation much worse than it had to be. I don't know what she
sees in Ryoga, but with most boys she gives them the cold shoulder,
insults them, or beats them up when they show even the slightest
interest in her. That only fuels the interest in her at school and
around the area, she is also `Daddy's Little Princess' and gets pretty
much what she wants."

"Spoiled then." Ranma said as if that said it all, it wasn't
even a question in her mind.

"No, its more like she is over confident and out of control
since Daddy won't curtail her actions. She was also a little mad at you
because you were supposed to be her new fiancee, she is the heir to the
Tendo School after all."

"I don't like her attitude very much, she needs to be brought
down a few pegs. Just like I was forced to do by a teacher of mine."

"What do you mean?"

"I grew up on the road Nabiki, battling my father day in and day
out, from early morning to late at night. He was the only human contact
I ever had for months on end as we traveled, I was rude, arrogant, and
uneducated. The Amazons beat a good number of those things out of me and
forced me to learn and think instead just reacting to the situation like
I was used to doing with pop. It was a painful lesson, took me weeks to
recover my pride and self confidence again, but when I did I was ten
times more powerful since I could think my way through a battle instead
of just reacting to it on an instinctive level."

"You must have been quite a jock before the change."

"Not really, a jock is someone that has to...okay that does
apply to me." Ranma said and blushed. Nabiki just smirked and nodded.

"Well lets get you over to Dr. Tofu..."

"Nabiki, you do realize that it is a little early in the
morning, I bet he hasn't even opened up just yet."

"What...Oh, nope I never even considered the time, it isn't even
seven is it? I guess we'll have to do it some other time then. Maybe
later today or tomorrow."

"Maybe."

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Head back to Jubaan I guess, there is no reason to stay around
here anymore."

"I'm sorry." Nabiki said.

"It's not your fault, I had hoped things would work out too."

"I'll walk you to the bus station then and see you off."

"Naw, I'll walk back and save some money."

"What? It's over twenty miles between here and Jubaan Ranma, you
can't walk that."

"Its not that far and I need the time to think anyway, the walk
will do me good."

Nabiki pulled out a small note pad she always carried around
with her and wrote out her name, address, and a couple of phone numbers.
"Give me a call sometime Ranma. I'd like to help you out of this mess if
I can."

"You don't have to do that Nabiki." Ranma said hesitantly.

"I insist, your father used me and I need to make sure he
doesn't try and do that again without knowing the consequences of doing
that again."

"Don't do anything to bad to him."

"Moi?" Nabiki smirked, this was ground she could understand.
"Not to worry Ranma, it won't involve pain in any way, I'll hit him
where it counts, in his wallet."

"That I don't mind in the least. Good luck to you Nabiki." Ranma
said and waved good by as she walked off down the street.

**********

Usagi screamed as she ran around the corner and slammed into
someone and sent herself sprawling down on top of him. She heard and
explosion of air and they both went down in a pile. Groaning she shook
her head and opened her eyes and gaped as she looked into the most
beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Her heart stopped and she gasped as
little flowers seemed to flow behind her, she blushed. She could see
that it was a most handsome man with dark hair and from the feel of
things had quite a build as well. She smiled and wished her heart would
stop pounding, she wondered why she was feeling so much warmer all of a
sudden

"I...I'm s-sorry about that..." Usagi said as she struggled
against her hormones, she blushed.

"You meatball headed thug, who told you to run around like that
and run into people!" The boy yelled. "I could have been hurt or my
clothes ruined!"

Usagi gasped and stared at the most beautiful man she had ever
seen, her eyes filled with tears. "But...but..."

"You're a menace to society, do you always plow into people to
come to a stop?!"

Usagi's lower lip started to tremble.

"You're blonde too, don't you have any brains in that air headed
mind of yours?!!"

WHAM!!!

"WHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" Usagi wailed as she let go of the mallet
and ran off in tears. On the ground Mamoru twitched under the mallet
that had implanted his head and shoulders into the side walk, he
wondered where all those insults had come from.

He groaned and sat up slowly and noticed that ever girl in the
area was glaring at him, about half of them were holding glowing mallets
and he knew that his day had just gone from bad to worse. Then someone
tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around to see a red headed girl
glaring at him. He stood up and held up his hands to keep her away, but
didn't get a chance to say anything as she smirked at him.

"Usagi may not be all that smart at some things, but she doesn't
deserve to be insulted like that either."

"It just popped out, I didn't mean any of it!" Mamoru stuttered
out and backed up a step, this girl was giving him the creeps.

"Right, that's why she ran off in tears?" Ranma said as she sat
her back pack on the ground, stretched her shoulders, and cracked her
knuckles.

"No see here, we can talk this out..."

"You made Usagi cry, for that you're going down fast and hard."
Ranma smirked. "Take your punishment like a man."

Mamoru noticed a number of the mallet holding girls nodding. He
gulped and wondered if he should run for it.

Ranma threw out a slow punch to see how he reacted and confirmed
her thoughts that he had a little training when he blocked it easily.
She moved in and picked up the pace of her punches and soon had him
backing up. She had taken on Youma and even Jedite, this little peon was
nothing compared to them. Then he started to block more effectively and
she noticed that the confused look on his face had finally changed to
concentration as she pushed him at ever faster and faster speeds.

To Mamoru this was damned familiar and yet he couldn't ever
remember meeting this girl before. Her moves were slighly familiar and
yet far faster than anything he had ever encountered before. He knew
instantly that he would not win against her, she was just to fast and
her skill far above his own. He had to take her seriously or he would
not only lose, but lose badly. With narrowed eyes he went form purely
defensive to offensive in the blink of an eye.

Like that worked, Ranma just snorted, blocked the clumsy punch,
and kicked him in the stomach. She kicked him a little harder than she
had intended though and he went flying back with a grunt and slammed
into the wall of the arcade. Some of the stone actually cracked as he
hit and blew the air out of his lungs. He watched as the girl relaxed
slightly and glared at him, for a second he thought she was going to
continue the attack, but she crossed her arms instead.

"That will teach you to insult girls you don't even know, at
least with me I'll at least live up to some of the insults." Ranma said
with a grin.

Mamoru just groaned and lay there.

The red head walked over and picked up her pack again and glared
at him for several seconds. "If I catch you insulting that girl again
I'll break your legs boy, you watch yourself, or else." With that she
turned and stalked away in the direction the blond had gone.

"No problem." He muttered and groaned as the climbed back to his
feet and staggered into the Arcade where his friend worked. He sighed in
relief as he found an open booth and crawled in, that girl had only hit
him once and yet everything in his body hurt like she had been pounding
on him for hours. He had no intentions of tangling with that red head
again, though he did owe the blond cutie an apology for the way he had
reacted. He would have to keep an eye out for here the next time he was
here.

**********

Outside the irate group of women broke up and headed their
seperate ways, one of them was a rather tall young girl with long brown
hair done up in a pony tail. She had liked the looks of the guy the
instant she had seen him, then he had opened his mouth and been pounded
by the blond. Then the red head had shown up and kicked the crap out of
him in a matter of seconds. She had recognized the fighting style as
something she had learned a little of from some friends she had met a
couple of years back.

Makoto Kino frowned and wondered what the chances of finding a
practitioner of Anything Goes style at this time were. She took off
after the girl she wanted to meet and soon caught sight of her bright
red hair a couple of block ahead of her. That was the only reason she
had noticed the girl, that hair made her stand out in a crowd,
literally. She weaved her way through the crowded streets as fast as she
could, but had to gape as the red head jumped onto a fence and used it
as a short cut across the canal and over to a nearby street.

It was the most amazing feet of skill and balance she had ever
seen, but she hadn't studied under Natsumi and Kurumi for nothing. She
hopped up on the fence and took a step and blushed as she realized that
any pervert could look up her long skirt, then shrugged and hopped they
were at least cute. It took several minutes of slow progress to get
across, she wasn't surprised to see the red head waiting for her at the
other end with a smirk on her face.

"You should run along the fence, it helps you keep your balance
a lot better than the slow and cautious rout." Ranma commented and took
a fighting stance.

Makoto sweat dropped and shook her head. "Don't want to fight, I
wanted to talk to you."

"You don't want to fight...I thought that was why you followed
me?"

"Nope, just wanted to talk."

"About what?"

"That fighting style you are using, is it Anything Goes?"

Ranma nodded and smiled. "Yep, been training in it for over ten
years now."

"T-ten years?" Makoto gasped in shock.

"I started as soon as I could walk and have been training ever
since."

"Well I know some of the style, but the two girls that taught me
had to move on and I was wondering if you could help me finish training
in the style."

Ranma cocked her head. "You know some of the style? It is a
pretty rare and dangerous art form and as far as I know there are only
two families that practice the style. You said a girl taught you, did
Akane Tendo teach you?"

"Who?" Makoto said and shook her head. "It was a pair of
wandering martial artists named Natsumi and Kurumi, but they had to move
on before I could get much more than the basics down."

"I've never heard of them." Ranma muttered to herself. She had
thought she knew all the practitioners of her style and they could be
counted on one hand. Ranma added the names to the small list of
practitioners to look up some time later. "You want me to continue your
training? Why?"

"I really enjoyed the style and I saw what you did to that guy a
little while ago."

"I was just sticking up for Usagi's honor, that was nothing. As
for training you, I'm not sure if I should."

Makoto frowned and visibly went from hopeful to dejected. "Why?"

"I've never actually taught anyone before and if I was to put
you through what my father put me through, lets say you're just better
off not knowing the style."

"I'm willing to take the risks!" Makoto said stubbornly.

Ranma kept her face stern as she glared at the tall girl.
"Alright, for now I will train you, but you might not like some of the
insane training you will have to go through."

"I'm strong enough to survive it, I've survived those grueling
mountainous training grounds."

Ranma snorted. "Training grounds like those are for weaklings
and barely teach you what you need to. Training under me will be REAL
training and not that pansy stuff."

"Kurumi said something along the same lines." Makoto muttered to
herself.

"She was correct, to be a real fighter you need to train all the
time. None of this one or two hours a day crap, but all the time by
making the simplest things into training. Walking along fences to help
your balance and coordination, how to fall off a roof correctly, high
jumps, endurance training, the whole nine yards." Ranma said with
another smirk as Makoto gulped. "Well if I'm going to train you in
anything, I need to know your name."

"Makoto Kino."

"Excellent, I'm Ranma Mazaki and I'm the best fighter in the
world." Ranma bowed.

Makoto giggled and bowed back, with a squawk she fell off the
fence into the canal with a mighty splash, but surfaced a few seconds
later to hear Ranma laughing at her. Makoto swam to the edge of the
slow moving water and crawled out onto the sloped bank and glared at
Ranma as she cart wheeled across the fence and jumped off. She landed
right beside Makoto and helped her the rest of the way up the canal.

"Do you know where the Hikawa Shrine is?"

"Sure, were about a mile or so from it."

"Meet me there Saturday afternoon when classes are out. Where a
normal out fit and leave the Gi at home."

"Leave the Gi?"

"Where a jogging suit or shorts and a t-shirt, something
comfortable and not very restrictive. A Gi is useless in a real fight
and the called Anything Goes for a reason Makoto, you will be training
in everything from shorts to nothing at all (if you make it that far)."

"I've never done that before..."

"Have you gotten in fights at school?"

"Of course!"

"Did you run home and change into a Gi to fight them?"

"Of course not, that's stupid...OH!"

"Exactly, you need to be able to fight in anything, anywhere,
anytime."

"I see."

"Good, meet me at the shrine on Saturday."

"Okay Ranma!" Makoto said, hugged her new friend and ran off
happily, for once not in a bad mood and angry at the world.

Ranma stood there in a shocked position, her long pig tail
sticking nearly straight up. She hadn't expected her to do that she had
found that it felt really good, what an unexpected thing. She staggered
down the street trying to forget how Makoto's breasts had felt as they
pressed against her own. Ranma wouldn't admit it, even under torture,
but she had this silly little grin on her face...then she punched
herself for being a pervert.

**********

Rei wandered into the Arcade to buy some ice cream to celebrate
her getting an 'A' on a test at school. She was tired from having to
study all night before and put up with that Nabiki character trying to
get Ranma out of the temple for a few days. The peace and quiet had been
almost to much to bare this morning, Ranma was always up with the dawn
to practice. Out of habit of this she had woken up just as early this
morning the sounds of her practice hadn't happened, Rei had actually
missed it.

Still, her test had beckoned and she spent the time this morning
studying things all over again. She had only missed one question and it
had been on something she hadn't had a chance to study because it was
one of the those surprise questions that teachers tossed in from the
class discussions. Sigh, she couldn't even remember talking about the
stupid thing and yet it had been on the test. Just as she was about to
enter the Arcade she noticed that section of the wall beside the door
that was slightly caved in and cracked. If she didn't hadn't known
better she would have thought that someone had impacted against the
wall, but if that was so that meant that a Youma was around. The lack of
other damage make her thing other wise so she shrugged it off and headed
inside. Rei made her way over to the counter, tossing her long black
hair over her shoulder, and was getting ready to order when she stopped
and saw this tall, handsome, dark haired hunk sitting in a booth. He was
finishing off a hamburger and to Rei he looked yummy, she smiled.

As she got closer she noticed that the has several bruises
forming on his arms, neck, and face. She was a skilled martial artist so
she could detect the signs of a pretty good fight. Gliding over to the
table she edged up to him when he wasn't paying attention and sat down
across from him. He gasped and started to choke on his burger, but
managed to control himself a few seconds later.

"Hi!!" Rei said and smiled cutely at him.

"Um...hello, can I help you?" He asked.

"I'm Rei Hino and I was wondering what happened to you?"

"Mamoru Chiba I made a mistake of judgment and had to pay the
price so to speak."

"Did you win?"

"I'm afraid not, but I didn't want to hurt the girl that did it
to me so..." Mamoru said.

"A girl?" Rei gasped and wondered if this guy was some kind of
handsome wimp.

"Yeah, this little red headed girl, a little over five foot or
so, long red braid, red shirt and black pants..."

Rei gasped and narrowed her eyes, it couldn't be her, she had
left this morning and wasn't expected back for several days. "What was
her name?"

"I have no idea, she attacked me and slammed me against the wall
outside with a kick."

"I saw the damage, but..."

"That girl has some serious power at her disposal."

"Why did this girl attack you?" Rei said as she decided to use
the sympathy rout to his heart. She gazed at him while radiating concern
and caring feelings.

Mamoru shifted nervously. "Well this other girl tried to run me
down and I got mad at her and called her some names. I didn't mean to
say some of the stuff I did, but I was already having a bad day and then
she came along."

Rei nodded and silently wondered if this guy had actually
deserved what had happened to him. There were not very many martial
artists in the area with red hair in a long braid, Ranma was the only
one she had ever seen or met. From the looks of things Ranma had only
roughed him up for some reason so shrugged it off. She grabbed his hand
and patted it while smiling at him. He gave her a nervous look, but she
either ignored it or completely missed it. "It'll be alright."

"Hey Mamoru, who is your cute friend?" Motaki asked as he came
up and in his Arcade apron.

"This is Rei, she was asking about the fight earlier."

"What a hoot!" Motoki said and laughed. "Mamoru-baka here
insulted a girl to tears and this smaller one comes out of now where and
beats the crap out of him. He's been afraid to leave ever since!"

Rei glanced at Mamoru, he winced and looked away. "Who was it
that he insulted so bad?"

"Usagi of all people, the most gentle and peaceful girl I've
ever met..."

"YOU INSULTED USAGI?!!" WHAM!! Rei yelled and malleted the boy
through the floor as a bright red aura flared around her.

"That's what Usagi did too, just before that cute red head
showed up and beat him up." Motoki said happily.

"Humph!" Rei said as she stomped out of the Arcade. "Jerk!!"

Mamoru groaned and wondered when his life had turned to hell.
His friend just laughed at him and wandered off, but not after telling
him that he had to pay for the damage he had caused because of this. He
lifted himself out of the damaged seat and flopped down again, the
bruise on his face was even more noticeable now. It seemed that drowning
his problems in food wasn't working, so he had to find some other way.

Someone cleared their throat and he turned his head to see half
a dozen angry women glaring at him. They all lifted their weapons and he
tensed for a fraction of a second, then they charged and he leapt though
the already damaged window. The girls followed and all of them soon
vanished from sight, screaming insults, swear words, and other things
that other random acts of violence.

He wondered how one blonde ditz could have so many friends in
one place.

**********

Night had fallen by the time Ranma found Usagi and she stayed
out of sight doing something that the Amazons had taught her. Assessing
the situation and determining the best way to approach it to be more
specific, she had learned how to do this in combat and normal
situations. The breeze was blowing slowly through the park and ruffled
Usagi's hair as she leaned against a tree, the tears were still
streaming down her face. Ranma could tell that the girl was in pain and
kind of understood why, her reaction to her father's hatred was along
the same lines. She had learned to control the tears while traveling
after she left the Amazon village.

Even now Ranma was on the verge of tears, but it had been
several hours since she left that danmed dojo and her father. Those two
fools had pretty much ruined any chance she might have given for a
reconciliation now. For years she had wondered why her life was so harsh
and cruel and never come up with an answer. The only way she had even
survived the trip was to lock her real self away as she was beat to
within an inch of her life day after day on the road. Indifference and
uncaring had been comforting things in her life for years now, at least
when it came to the old fool anyway. When she was younger she had cared
for him, but that was gone now and only her hate for him was left.
Jusenkyo had been the final straw, he had ruined her life with one
simple hit and abandoned her for it because it went against what he
thought was right.

Then there was the fact that no matter how much she hated him,
she wanted him in her life again. He was constant that had been there
for years, the one she could take her anger out on when she needed to.
Now that was gone and she was stuck in this stupid body that brought her
self hatred to a new low. If she hadn't made those promises to the
Amazons she would have been gone a long time ago and left the funeral
expenses to the old man just to spite him and get in the last dig.
Instead she had to live this new life and she admitted that there were
some benefits to it and had some fun at times, but when would she lean
to accept this stupid form? That was the most pressing question, because
of it she had avoided making friends with the Scouts.

Ranma nodded to herself, her pain would be lessoned if she was a
little closer to the Scouts, they were a pretty close group of girls
after all. She moved forward to see if Usagi needed anymore help, or
just a good cry, as some of the Amazons had said. Usagi sniffled and
wondered what she had done to deserve that kind of treatment. It had
been a mistake, a bit of clumsiness that caused the problem, not her.
Usagi drew her knees up to her chin and tried to fight off the pain she
felt, she didn't even know why his words had hurt her so much. It should
have been like dealing with her little brother, but instead she felt
like he had broken some kind of trust or something. It was so weird.

She jerked as she saw a flash of red and looked up into Ranma's
eyes as she knelt down to look her over. "Are you alright Usagi?"

"Huh?"

"Are you hurt, any broken bones or ripped clothing?" Ranma asked
with a smile.

Usagi smiled back and was silently shocked at her reaction,
Ranma had the oddest effect on her at times. "I'm fine really, he just
insulted me, so no big deal."

"If his words hurt you Usagi then of course it's a big deal. I
have dealt with jerks like him before and their always too full of
themselves."

"I don't understand...I thought you didn't like me." Usagi said,
but it was so quiet that Ranma almost didn't hear it. Almost.

She snorted and patted Usagi on the shoulder. "You and me are
friends Usagi, I just treat you like I do all of my friends."

"You insult all of your friends?!" Usagi gasped out and wasn't
even able to understand what the girl in front of her was thinking.

"I haven't told you much about myself have I?" Ranma asked as
she scooted over and leaned against the tree next to Usagi.

"None of us know much about you since you're always avoiding us
for one reason or another."

Ranma was quiet for several minutes as she thought about what
Usagi was saying and she realized that even before she had arrived at
Jusenkyo she had been quite alone in the world. Sure she had her father,
but what had that gotten her? Nothing but pain and abandonment all
because the old fool wouldn't live up to his responsibility. "Alright
Usagi, I won't tell you everything, but some of it I suppose."

Usagi nodded and sniffled back some tears.

"I was taken from my mother when I was just five years old and
forced, not asked, but forced to learn martial arts. I haven't seen her
in over ten years now and don't even know what she looks like."

"That's horrible."

Ranma shrugged. "From right off the bat I was taught how to
fight, I was kicked out of bed at dawn and spent an hour being shown
this move or that. Then pop would proceed to pound on me until I was
bruised and out cold, he called it endurance training."

"That monster..." Usagi gasped.

Ranma let off a bitter laugh that scared Usagi. "Oh that was
nothing, he moved from that to throwing me off of two and three story
buildings or nearby trees to teach me how to fall right. When I failed I
got a beating and had to do it until I had it perfect, then when I got
that right pops didn't congratulate me or offer me praise. No, he moved
onto the next technique and pounded that into with a brutal efficiency."
There were certain subjects that Ranma wanted to avoid and the stupid
curse was one of them. "To make matters worse he decided that he didn't
want a daughter and raised me to be a boy, from the way I dressed to the
way I acted it was always be a man in everything. For a five year old
kid I could barely understand what was going on, but I learned some
harsh lessons on those first few months of the trip."

"Li-Like what?"

"The biggest one was that I had to learn what the old man was
teaching me or he would break every bone in my body until I did so. The
old man was always spouting off these sayings like 'the path of a true
martial artist is fought with peril' and 'those with the greatest amount
of honor shine like stars'. The first I believe, the second I think he
stole from a movie."

Usagi giggled a little and Ranma grinned a little more.

"Then came my hardest lesson under the old man, I wasn't allowed
to have friends of any kind. They would make me soft and weaken me, make
me vulnerable and easy prey for when I was in a dangerous situation. I
had this friend named Ukyo, he was a little kid that was learning the
ways of his family's fighting style and business. He was my first friend
on the road and I think he wanted to come with us on the trip, but the
old man tricked me." Ranma slammed her fist into the tree and made it
shake, some of the bark fell off as she pulled her hand back.

"Ranma?"

"Sorry Usagi, these are memories that I don't like to remember
very much, but they will help you understand me a bit. Okay, I didn't
find this out until later this year and that was completely by accident
when I was making my way here to Jubaan. It turns out Ukyo was supposed
to go on the trip with us, but pop abandoned him to die because he
didn't want me to have a friend. Because it would make me soft and
weak."

This time Usagi burst into tears and latched onto Ranma. She
really did like Usagi, but she was way to emotional for her tastes. "Did
Luna explain to you about the Neko-Ken training?"

"Only a little, she didn't get into anything very detailed."
Usagi sniffled out.

"I was seven when the old man put me through the Neko-Ken
training, it was the ultimate betrayal of my trust in him. He promised
that when I learned the technique I would be the most powerful martial
artist in the world, and it worked, but not in the way he had thought it
would. It drove me insane with fear, turning me into this cat like
creature that was nearly impossible to kill or even hurt. I nearly
killed the old man while in this state, but he managed to knock me out
and get me back to normal, but forever afterward I was afraid of cats.
That is until Ito showed up and locked the fear away as a type of cure
for the technique."

"No more please..." Usagi said.

"Sure, you don't have to hear this if you don't want to, talk to
Luna if you have to, I'm pretty sure that Ito has told Luna quite a bit
about me." Ranma said sadly. She had been taught to try and find the
best way to approach things, no one ever said she had picked up the
skill. In battle she was flawless and perfect, but in social situations
she was totally hopeless.

"It's not that...I want to hear all about you Ranma. Luna says
you're our Princess and you're so different from everyone else I know.
You have a way of looking at the world that is totally unique. I will
hear everything, but if this is just the beginning I fear what is going
to happen next."

"You don't have to Usagi..."

"Yes I do, we all need to know this...can I tell the others?"

Ranma considered it for several seconds before answering. "Sure,
Rei knows a bit of it and Luna even more."

"Thanks Ranma, that means a lot to me." Usagi said and hugged
Ranma again.

"Um...yeah." Ranma said and stepped away from the girl and moved
over to a nearby bush and thrust her hand in. She pulled Luna out and
smiled at the nervously sweating cat.

"Ranma..." Luna said as a sweat drop formed on her head.

"Hi Luna!" Ranma said happily. "You can tell the others about
me, the information might come in handy."

"Thanks..." She said sarcastically.

Ranma pulled the cat close and whispered to it. "The curse is
impossible to prove, leave that out. You heard what I said to Usagi,
improvise when you need to, got it?"

"Sure...Princess."

"Right, then that's all I need for now." Ranma said and tossed
the cat to Usagi with a grin. "Well then..."

Ranma was interrupted as the sky wavered and a giant image of
Jedite stood there glaring down at the city. He had his arms folded and
looked supremely pissed off, there was a dark blue aura around him that
seemed to light up his hate filled eyes. "SAILOR SCOUTS, I JEDITE OF THE
DARK KINGDOM OFFER YOU A SIMPLE CHALLENGE. I WILL FIGHT YOU LATER
TONIGHT AT THE AIRPORT, WINNER TAKES ALL AND THE LOSERS DIE. IF YOU
DON'T BELIEVE ME OR DON'T SHOW UP I WILL DESTROY THIS CITY." The giant
image yelled and spread his arms where twin balls of fire flared to
life, he threw them into the heart of the city where a blast very
similar to a nuclear blast took place and let everything in its path a
destroyed ruin. Then after several seconds Jedite snapped his fingers
and the destruction vanished.

"THAT WAS JUST AN ILLUSION, BUT IF YOU DON'T SHOW UP IT WILL BE
A REALITY. I WILL BE WAITING." Jedite said and started to laugh evilly
as he faded out and the sky returned to normal.

"Oh...my..." Thump!

Ranma spun around to see that Usagi had fainted and rolled her
eyes at the girl, she may have been a Sailor Scout, but she sure was a
fairly bad one. "Well that is a pretty typical reaction."

"I'll say." Luna said with an exasperated tone of voice.

**********

To Be Continued...

End Notes - I need to give a few thanks to my new prereaders who gave me
a hand with these two new chapter.

James Merritt
Rezantis
Sybersmilodon
Stephen Price