HOKUTO RANMA Max Krugman Disclaimer: Etc. Chapter 1: In the Eye of the Storm Ranma Saotome slipped through the mouth of the cave, soaking wet but trying to keep the firewood he was carrying dry. He - she, at the moment - was used to being wet a lot these days, and a fire was more important. It had actually been several days since he last changed back to male form, but he didn't really care. After all, it was no big deal compared to other stuff. Besides, out in the mountains where he'd found the cave, no one could see him, and that was the point, right? Ranma had nearly forgotten the intense dislike of the curse he'd once had. It made him faster, so reducing his strength didn't matter. And as long as it didn't interfere with his fighting ability, it wasn't important. His mother wasn't threatening him with seppuku anymore, which was... a shame, really. "Suicide could be a way, I guess..." he mused. Then he laughed bitterly. He wasn't really sure what was happening to him, but he definitely wasn't thinking clearly. For some reason he'd been very depressed lately, and even contemplated suicide several times. It seemed sort of childish to him... after all, his rivals didn't really want to kill him these days, not even Ryoga.The girls were the same as usual, but then they usually were. That was no big deal. Which was why he was confused about his actions. Ranma Saotome didn't think this way, ever. He considered the last few days as he walked on, unconsciously scouting out the area to make sure the cave was safe. He had run away from Nerima - he told himself he was on a training trip, but that wasn't the real reason. That was... well... he supposed he was just getting weak. His amorous troubles had always been annoying, but these days he just felt drained, tired, unable to deal with it. The fiancées weren't annoying anymore, they just depressed him. Sometimes it seemed that everything was just that, depressing. Ranma realized, dully, that he hadn't felt any emotion other than depression for a while now. A brief smile crossed his face as he recalled how happy Ryoga had been the last time Ranma saw him. The positions, it seemed, had been reversed. It wouldn't last long, though. Ranma had killed a god recently, so beating a bout of depression shouldn't be too hard. Focusing, Ranma summoned a sickly greenish light that illuminated the cavern. Ranma blinked emotionlessly as he saw a pallet at the end of the cave, in a small rock alcove. So, this place was occupied. He had almost begun to leave the entire place when he realized that the bed hadn't been slept in for a long time. The massive accumulation of dust and the yellowed skeleton on the remains of the futon were fair indications. Shrugging, Ranma lit a fire and began to set up his things. The cave was sheltered, probably quite isolated, and a good place to work out his problems. He might even be able to put in some training before an unknown fiancée or rival showed up - that was how these things worked, after all. It really was strange, decided Ranma as he laid out his own portable pallet, almost thin enough to be transparent. It had all gotten to him as it never did. There wasn't any drastic event leading up to this, no big fight with Akane and no powerful and/or annoying new challenger. He'd gotten malleted by Akane once in the morning, beat up Kuno and Mousse, Ryoga had been lost again - Ranma had seen him vanish around a corner while screaming "RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE!", and he'd eaten an okonomiyaki at the Ucchans. Then he'd gone to the Tendo dojo, packed a few things and just left. Towards the moutains he'd come from, with his father, and to a cave he recalled feeling an interest in while heading towards Nerima the first time, what seemed like several years ago. Everything was a lot calmer these days, very predictable. It had been a lot easier when everything was a surprise and a challenge, sometimes a deadly one. These days, though, there weren't really any more serious challenges. This allowed Ranma to take a good look at his life for the first time in... well, for the first time ever. And he didn't like what he saw. He felt somewhat satisfied, in a twisted way, at the realization that he was stuck in a loop. It didn't seem like he was getting out of it anytime soon, particularly without any help. He'd never been very good at making decisions, much less important ones, and he would have to make those soon or... well, something would happen. Something very, very different. Which might be a good thing, but would probably not be. Things didn't often turn out well, not at all. Not since Jusenkyo. Not since he left on the training trip with his father. Or rather, not ever. He realized that the training trip had been fun. most of the time, and the curse could be much worse. In other words, it was his own fault for being too weak to deal with what the world threw at him. Genma would appear to have been right about that much. A glint of metal caught Ranma's eye. Spying a large metal box half-hidden in the shadows cast by his fire, he stepped over to it. The box was elongated and fairly wide. It probably contained a demon, or some sort of cursed item. Ranma almost left it alone, but then realized that if Ryoga or another rival opened it it would almost certainly contain some sort of super-powerful weapon or martial arts technique. He smiled sourly as he considered the paranoia inherent in what he had just thought, but then shrugged and bent over to open the box. It came open easily, which was confusing considering the fact that, judging by the box's thick coating of dust, it hadn't been touched for a very long time. Probably magical, thought Ranma as he decided that it was probably a cursed item or demon after all. Oddly enough, all the box appeared to contain, after checking thoroughly, was a few dozen scrolls. Ranma raised an eyebrow. Was it possible that, finally, it was his turn to find a new technique on his own? It seemed that way, considering the figures in fighting positions and pressure point diagrams on the surprisingly undecayed scrolls. Looking to the top of the scroll, Ranma read a exceptionally archaic set of kanji reading "Hokuto Shin Ken". ************************************** Whatever, I'll post this and soon chapter two, then probably nothing for a long time. I know this is a very small post, but I want to see people's reactions first. I dunno, though... I will at least try to finish this fic, unlike my never-to-be finished WOT crossover (Ten points if you've ever seen it). Anyway, I hardly know a thing about Fist of the North Star, so if I make any drastic mistakes blame the mexican government for not giving me enough money to buy the series. A few things: First of all, no, Ranma is not overreacting. He is obviously very insecure about a lot of things, mostly because of his abusive fiancée (No, this is NOT a R/A matchup) and the way his father brought him up, especially when you add the curse into the equation. He seems fine because of, at least in my fic: The confidence inducing Moko Takabisha, the front he puts up, and the constant death threats and challenges he must strive to surpass. Now, if you take away all that, Ranma has a very empty life. He is besieged with differing demands on his honor, which he has been brought up to believe is the most important thing in the world, and he doesn't know what to do. I'm frankly surprised that so few fanfics portray him as having a partial or complete nervous breakdown. Oh, yeah... In the anime and manga he obviously loves Akane; well, here he doesn't. 'Kay? HOKUTO RANMA Max Krugman Disclaimer: Etc. Chapter 1: In the Eye of the Storm Ranma Saotome slipped through the mouth of the cave, soaking wet but trying to keep the firewood he was carrying dry. He - she, at the moment - was used to being wet a lot these days, and a fire was more important. It had actually been several days since he last changed back to male form, but he didn't really care. After all, it was no big deal compared to other stuff. Besides, out in the mountains where he'd found the cave, no one could see him, and that was the point, right? Ranma had nearly forgotten the intense dislike of the curse he'd once had. It made him faster, so reducing his strength didn't matter. And as long as it didn't interfere with his fighting ability, it wasn't important. His mother wasn't threatening him with seppuku anymore, which was... a shame, really. "Suicide could be a way, I guess..." he mused. Then he laughed bitterly. He wasn't really sure what was happening to him, but he definitely wasn't thinking clearly. For some reason he'd been very depressed lately, and even contemplated suicide several times. It seemed sort of childish to him... after all, his rivals didn't really want to kill him these days, not even Ryoga.The girls were the same as usual, but then they usually were. That was no big deal. Which was why he was confused about his actions. Ranma Saotome didn't think this way, ever. He considered the last few days as he walked on, unconsciously scouting out the area to make sure the cave was safe. He had run away from Nerima - he told himself he was on a training trip, but that wasn't the real reason. That was... well... he supposed he was just getting weak. His amorous troubles had always been annoying, but these days he just felt drained, tired, unable to deal with it. The fiancées weren't annoying anymore, they just depressed him. Sometimes it seemed that everything was just that, depressing. Ranma realized, dully, that he hadn't felt any emotion other than depression for a while now. A brief smile crossed his face as he recalled how happy Ryoga had been the last time Ranma saw him. The positions, it seemed, had been reversed. It wouldn't last long, though. Ranma had killed a god recently, so beating a bout of depression shouldn't be too hard. Focusing, Ranma summoned a sickly greenish light that illuminated the cavern. Ranma blinked emotionlessly as he saw a pallet at the end of the cave, in a small rock alcove. So, this place was occupied. He had almost begun to leave the entire place when he realized that the bed hadn't been slept in for a long time. The massive accumulation of dust and the yellowed skeleton on the remains of the futon were fair indications. Shrugging, Ranma lit a fire and began to set up his things. The cave was sheltered, probably quite isolated, and a good place to work out his problems. He might even be able to put in some training before an unknown fiancée or rival showed up - that was how these things worked, after all. It really was strange, decided Ranma as he laid out his own portable pallet, almost thin enough to be transparent. It had all gotten to him as it never did. There wasn't any drastic event leading up to this, no big fight with Akane and no powerful and/or annoying new challenger. He'd gotten malleted by Akane once in the morning, beat up Kuno and Mousse, Ryoga had been lost again - Ranma had seen him vanish around a corner while screaming "RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE!", and he'd eaten an okonomiyaki at the Ucchans. Then he'd gone to the Tendo dojo, packed a few things and just left. Towards the moutains he'd come from, with his father, and to a cave he recalled feeling an interest in while heading towards Nerima the first time, what seemed like several years ago. Everything was a lot calmer these days, very predictable. It had been a lot easier when everything was a surprise and a challenge, sometimes a deadly one. These days, though, there weren't really any more serious challenges. This allowed Ranma to take a good look at his life for the first time in... well, for the first time ever. And he didn't like what he saw. He felt somewhat satisfied, in a twisted way, at the realization that he was stuck in a loop. It didn't seem like he was getting out of it anytime soon, particularly without any help. He'd never been very good at making decisions, much less important ones, and he would have to make those soon or... well, something would happen. Something very, very different. Which might be a good thing, but would probably not be. Things didn't often turn out well, not at all. Not since Jusenkyo. Not since he left on the training trip with his father. Or rather, not ever. He realized that the training trip had been fun. most of the time, and the curse could be much worse. In other words, it was his own fault for being too weak to deal with what the world threw at him. Genma would appear to have been right about that much. A glint of metal caught Ranma's eye. Spying a large metal box half-hidden in the shadows cast by his fire, he stepped over to it. The box was elongated and fairly wide. It probably contained a demon, or some sort of cursed item. Ranma almost left it alone, but then realized that if Ryoga or another rival opened it it would almost certainly contain some sort of super-powerful weapon or martial arts technique. He smiled sourly as he considered the paranoia inherent in what he had just thought, but then shrugged and bent over to open the box. It came open easily, which was confusing considering the fact that, judging by the box's thick coating of dust, it hadn't been touched for a very long time. Probably magical, thought Ranma as he decided that it was probably a cursed item or demon after all. Oddly enough, all the box appeared to contain, after checking thoroughly, was a few dozen scrolls. Ranma raised an eyebrow. Was it possible that, finally, it was his turn to find a new technique on his own? It seemed that way, considering the figures in fighting positions and pressure point diagrams on the surprisingly undecayed scrolls. Looking to the top of the scroll, Ranma read a exceptionally archaic set of kanji reading "Hokuto Shin Ken". ************************************** Whatever, I'll post this and soon chapter two, then probably nothing for a long time. I know this is a very small post, but I want to see people's reactions first. I dunno, though... I will at least try to finish this fic, unlike my never-to-be finished WOT crossover (Ten points if you've ever seen it). Anyway, I hardly know a thing about Fist of the North Star, so if I make any drastic mistakes blame the mexican government for not giving me enough money to buy the series. A few things: First of all, no, Ranma is not overreacting. He is obviously very insecure about a lot of things, mostly because of his abusive fiancée (No, this is NOT a R/A matchup) and the way his father brought him up, especially when you add the curse into the equation. He seems fine because of, at least in my fic: The confidence inducing Moko Takabisha, the front he puts up, and the constant death threats and challenges he must strive to surpass. Now, if you take away all that, Ranma has a very empty life. He is besieged with differing demands on his honor, which he has been brought up to believe is the most important thing in the world, and he doesn't know what to do. I'm frankly surprised that so few fanfics portray him as having a partial or complete nervous breakdown. Oh, yeah... In the anime and manga he obviously loves Akane; well, here he doesn't - or, at any rate, not anymore. 'Kay? ************************************** HOKUTO RANMA Chapter 2: All Things Must End A ragged figure stepped softly through the door of the Tendo dojo on a saturday night, managing to avoid notice for several moments despite the fact that the entire household was just inside the door and eating dinner. Finally, though, someone saw him, and a voice exclaimed: "Ranma, you jerk! Where have you been? It's been almost three months!" Ranma turned wearily and appraised the speaker dully. Akane Tendo, now bright red with anger, growled. "How dare you ignore me, you idiot?" Ranma opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it without speaking. He shrugged and began trudging towards his room, pausing slightly as Akane shouted after him again, but soon continuing. Akane was completely speechless, her mouth working silently. "Oh, my," Kasumi said, "He's never done that before, has he?" Akane turned towards her usual allies when accusing her erstwhile fiancé of something unsavory; Ranma's father, Genma Saotome; and her own father, Soun. Surprisingly enough, neither one of them had attempted to marry Ranma yet, their usual procedure after any considerable absence. Instead, both were simply frowning confusedly in Ranma's general direction. Akane snarled at them: "Now what? Are you two going to just let him ignore me like that? Go do something! Never mind, I'll do it..." She began stalking towards Ranma's room, but was stopped by Genma's voice. "Akane, wait. Something is... wrong." Akane looked towards the speaker, and simply raised a quivering eyebrow. Genma shrugged. "I don't know what he's been doing, but his aura is different. He has far more chi than ever before, nearly three times the amount he had before he left. And his aura is... darker. A lot darker. Reminds me... well, of that Hibiki boy, frankly." Akane scowled. "What do I care? I've always been able to beat up that jerk before." As she once more turned towards her fiancé's room, her father placed himself in front of her. "No, Akane. Genma is right. I don't know what's going on, but his chi feels... angry. Ranma never gets angry, ever. I have no idea why he's in such a... poor mood, but it would be best, I think, to let him cool off for a while." Akane found the display of her father's usually hidden backbone disturbing enough to stop in her tracks. She frowned, about to push her father out of the way, but then stopped, sniffing. "Fine, then, it's not like I can't beat the jerk up later. I'll go train in the dojo." She left the room hurriedly. The two older men looked uncomfortably at each other. Soun spoke worriedly: "Do you think it's finally gotten to him, Saotome?" Genma shrugged. "It never has before, but there's always a first time. He never stays angry long, you know... so I guess we should just leave him alone until tomorrow." Soun nodded. "You must be right, old friend. Care for a game of Shogi?" The board was soon out, Ranma's uncharacteristic ill-humor almost forgotten. After all, it really was true that Ranma never got angry, so even if he was he would calm down soon. Ranma had fallen asleep instantly, his mental and physical exhaustion intense enough to almost floor him before he reached his bed. Even in the deep sleep he had suffered since beginning the Hokuto Shin Ken training, he dreamed, as he had since... well, since he'd found the scrolls. The dream was, as always, very indistinct... the only clear thing being what he had remembered on waking up every morning for the past few months. War, blood, and fighting. Ranma mumbled vaguely as he turned onto his side and then remained motionless. Akane smashed another cinder block into small pieces, sighing satisfiedly as she straightened. She would have used one of the Ranma-shaped training dummies, but none were left. She frowned as she remembered that moron's insulting behavior the night before. How dare he!, she silently raged. Trating her like she wasn't important enough to talk to! And not answering a direct question. In fact, she was so mad that she'd go give him a piece of her mind right now - he hadn't sparred with Genma who was playing his eternal Shogi with her father, and as tired as he'd seemed the night before, he had to still be asleep. Stomping into the Saotome's room, she found it empty except for Genma's belongings and a small backpack lying on the floor. "Where is that jerk?" she asked angrily as she saw Kasumi walking past the door. Kasumi turned with her usual look of peaceful surprise. "Ranma? On the roof, where he usually goes, I think." Akane curled her lip in disgust. "Probably hiding. Thanks, Kasumi." She walked out the door of the room and stepped out of her house, craning her neck and squinting through the sun to see the dojo's roof. Sure enough, she could see Ranma's figure, legs crossed, silhouetted against the light, his pigtail obvious to anyone who knew him. Climbing towards him with some difficulty, she stood over him with her hands on her hips. "Ranma, you jerk!" she shouted in righteous wrath. "Why are you hiding from me?" Ranma didn't look up at her. "I wasn't hiding," he muttered. "I was meditating." Akane laughed condescendingly. "You, meditating? Yeah, right. Now tell me, why were you being such an idiot last night?" Akane readied her mallet, prepared to knock Ranma's head off when he stuck his foot in his mouth. Ranma blinked confusedly, turning towards her. "What do you mean?" He asked slowly. Akane stared at him. "Well, you ignored me, like a real jerk!" she almost screamed. Ranma noted in passing that she seemed to be running out of insults, resorting more and more to "jerk" or, if possible, "pervert". He considered her words, finally answering. "I was tired, I'd been training and walking all day." Akane nearly swung at him reflexively before realizing that he hadn't said or done anything wrong. She stood still in shock as Ranma slowly got up, pausing to look at her. "I guess I'm done meditating," he said. "I'll go get some breakfast." As he jumped down from the roof, Akane's thoughts swirled chaotically as she realized what had just happened. Ranma, talking slowly? As correctly as her? Wait a minute... he hadn't EATEN? Akane's confusion was great enough to keep her in the same position for nearly an hour, while she slowly worked out what had just occurred and came to a conclusion unique to her own worldview: Ranma was being a pervert! "Ranma, you pervert!" yelled Akane, jumping awkwardly to the ground and running into the kitchen. No perverts appeared, Kasumi currently being the kitchen's only inhabitant. "Where is he now?" Akane growled. Kasumi blinked. "I offered him breakfast, but he refused... he was saying something about not wanting to put me to any trouble. I think he went to that nice okonomiyaki place." Akane snarled. Here was the proof: Ranma had already gone to see one of his whores! In fact, that was probably why he'd been so tired the other night... he had to have gone to "visit" Ukyo or that Chinese bimbo before coming to see her! Muttering obscenities, Akane started towards the Ucchan's, a furious expression on her face. Ukyo Kuonji sighed. Life was always sort of boring without Ran-chan around... of course, it was also kind of annoying, having all of these princes and demons showing up, but they usually left her alone. It was strange, how they all went after Akane. It just got them into trouble in the end... and as bad as the girl's temper had gotten lately, the next kidnapper was in for a very nasty surprise. Ukyo sighed again, thinking of her Ran-chan. Or rather, Akane's Ranma - it was pretty clear that there wasn't a chance in hell that Ranma was going to pick anyone else. She blinked away a sudden tear or two, and turned to face the sound of the opening front door. "Hello, Ucch... Ran-chan?" she asked, amazed. "You're back!" Launching herself over the counter, she hugged him, backing away quickly as it was best not to press one's luck when Akane might be around - especially if Ranma had just returned from another of his endless trips and training journeys. She smiled. "So, what've you been doing?" Ranma smiled back, dimly. "Training, nothing special, really. I really just came here for something to eat, though." Ukyo blinked, surprised at his unusual tone of voice. "O-kay... the usual, then?" she asked doubtfully. Ranma nodded. At that moment, of course, Akane walked through the door. "Ranma, you PERVERT!" she screamed. "Just what do you think you're doing?" Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Eating." "I knew it, you... what?" "I didn't want to give Kasumi any trouble, she already cooked once today. Didn't she tell you?" Akane and Ukyo gaped at him. They had, of course, been expecting something more along the lines of "Staying away from YOU, ya uncute tomboy!" "But I guess if it makes you so mad, I can go somewhere else. I... don't want any trouble." Getting up, Ranma left. Akane was, again, dumbstruck. Ranma hadn't argued with her? Ranma had backed down? Ranma was... going somewhere else! Of course! The bimbo! "Ranma, you jerk!" shouted Akane. Ukyo watched her take off after him. "That was... disturbing." Ranma walked slowly through the door of the Nekohanten. It was getting tougher and tougher to avoid pissing Akane off, in fact it had been for quite some time now. Ranma mused over this and several other issues as he attempted to ignore Shampoo's furious glomp. "Oh, Airen! You have come back for Shampoo!" Ranma finally reacted. "Shampoo, could... could you please get off?" he asked quietly, being completely ignored by the girl. A long stick of wood levered her off shortly, though. Shampoo's grandmother stood perched on her everpresent wooden staff next to Ranma. "What have you gone and done now, Son-in-Law?" she asked shrewdly. "Your aura shows that you have been doing some very odd training." Ranma shrugged. "I guess. It was a little strange, I guess... or at least I suppose it would be for an average martial artist. You need a whole lot of chi, much more than I had before. I've always been good with chi, though, as you should know know, ol... Cologne." Cologne nodded. "Yes indeed, that is why you will be such an asset to the tribe. Now, are you ready to come back to China and your rightful place?" Ranma sighed. "I'm here to get some food. I've told you many times, Cologne, I'm not interested in-" "RANMA! I thought I'd find you here, with your Chinese whore!" Obviously, Akane had entered the building. Ranma stiffened, and Cologne's eyes grew hard. "I already told you, Akane, I just want something to eat. I like the food at the Nekohanten and the Ucchan's, but I can go somewhere else if you want. I told you, I don't want any-" "Ranma, you pervert!" Akane was beyond reason now, and clearly hadn't heard a word her fiancé said. Stepping forward and arcing a mallet towards Ranma's head, she overbalanced when the weight on the mallet's head was abrubtly lessened. Looking forward, outraged, she saw Ranma's face in front of her, a mask of pain and rage; and his fist, glowing with an odd dark blue chi, coming at her. It was certainly the last thing she saw for a while. Cologne looked at Ranma, truly shocked for the first time in over a hundred years. "Son-in-Law..." she asked slowly, "What kind of training have you been doing?" Ranma had regained his composure, now obvious as coming from use of the soul of ice. "Found some scrolls, seems to be some weird martial arts school. Mostly about getting physically stronger and faster, before any techniques, and meditating to increase chi." He shrugged, as if nothing had happened. Cologne frowned as if trying to remember something. "Nightmares...?" she asked tentatively. Ranma nodded slightly, then left. Cologne blanched. "Hokuto Shin Ken!" she gasped. Shampoo turned towards her, confused, having been silent throughout the conflict. "Great-Grandmother, what...?" Cologne shook her head. "Don't ask, child. You'll find out soon enough, I think." Shampoo nodded, trusting the old woman... who, for the first time in many years, truly felt old. "Ranma, boy... you have no idea what you've gotten into this time..." she whispered. ************************************** 'Kay, what do you think? A reviewer said "Wow... Ranma learning Hokuto Shin Ken from scrolls, never seen that before..." which sounds sort of sarcastic to me. This makes no sense, since the only fic of this kind I've ever seen was Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, not Hokuto Shin Ken. Anyway, I think it was in the same review that the guy said something about leaving all my fics at one chapter. Huh? There was one that I started, posted a chapter of, and abandoned. The rest are spamfics, not series or long fics. I DO intend to finish this, but we'll see what happens. Oh, and yes, all of the chapters will probably be very short. Comparatively, anyway. P.S. Please, If you want me to respont to your comments, send me reviews to MaxCarlos88@yahoo.com ************************************** HOKUTO RANMA Chapter 3: The End of the Beginning Word spreads quickly in Nerima, especially when you take into consideration that Nabiki Tendo, blackmailer and information broker, considers it her duty to let people know that SOMETHING is up, even when nothing is actually happening. This is why, when there really is something going on, most of Nerima knows about it within a couple of hours. In other words, Ranma was being avoided. Neriman Combat Veterans (NCV's) know certain things. Once the rule was "Avoid Akane Tendo", a rule which was mostly obeyed by anyone under sixteen and over eighteen, or anyone not in the "Akane Tendo Fan Club". In these latter, more... exciting days, the rule had become "Stay away from Ranma Saotome". It was, effectively, very painful to be anywhere in the martial artist's near vicinity, as explosions and large, falling objects were common near him. This was quite normal. An annoyed Ranma Saotome was far more dangerous, under those circumstances chi blasts and possibly tornadoes were also frequent. A pissed off Ranma Saotome... was something unknown, as in similar situations it was best to leave the district, or better yet, the country. Ranma's problems had a way of involving everyone close to him, and he had a habit of causing massive amounts of property damage when fighting, aside from a habit of getting into several fights a day. Most of Nerima's inhabitants can confidently say that they knew what was coming. After all, it really did seem inevitable. It had to happen someday. These are the more normal people. Those... "in the know", so to speak, will tell a different story. It seemed impossible, at least the way it happened. The Lost Boy, maybe, or even Mousse, that crazy blind guy. Hell, even Akane. But never Ranma. That was inconcievable, Ranma was too careful. Still, these were the same people that would have bet anything that Ranma was not capable of anger, at least not true anger. When Ranma went beyond irritation, all bets were instantly off. Soun Tendo stood next to his front door, decked out in full samurai regalia, holding a naginata in one hand and gesticulating wildly with the other. "Where is that boy! How dare he hurt my daughter? I'LL KILL HIM!" As Kasumi and Nabiki attempted to keep him from running into the street, presumably to look for Ranma, Genma spoke wearily. "You won't find him even if you look for him, Tendo. If he was actually willing to hurt Akane, he would also use the invisibility techniques of the Umi-Sen-Ken without a second thought. I... didn't think him capable of hitting a woman, much less his fiancée... it goes against what he is. Ranma is... not acting right." Nabiki, shrugged as she held on to her father's arm. "I don't know that I'd go that far, but I wouldn't look for Ranma right now. Hear that, Dad? You trust your old friend Genma, right?" Soun gradually stopped struggling. He spoke somewhat petulantly: "But he hurt my baby! I can't let that go unpunished." Kasumi frowned. "Oh, I think that Ranma is probably punishing himself far more than we ever could. You know how he hates to fight girls." she said. Soun muttered something indistinct, but noticeably started calming down. "Yes, well... I'll still have to punish him when he gets back here." Kasumi patted his arm. "Yes, whatever you say, father." Ranma Saotome sat under his favorite bridge, staring at his hands as he listened to the sounds of the river. Luckily, it was a quiet day around here - he hated it when there were a lot of people walking overhead, and he really wanted to be alone at the moment. He had hit Akane... hit her as hard as he'd ever hit Ryoga, hard enough to knock her out with one punch. And he didn't care. Objectively he knew that by now he should be almost ready to commit seppuku, but he really only felt... empty. As if something important had been taken from him. He remembered Akane's shocked face as his fist swung towards her, and the incredible fury he'd felt. That was... another of those things. Things that he shouldn't have done, that simply weren't like him. Sure, she'd been following him around, bitching about his other fiancées as usual... why couldn't... no, wait - it was happening again. Whenever he let his... well... control slip slightly, while thinking of any of his rivals or fiancées, he felt an overwhelming rage flood through him. Ranma guessed that he'd simply snapped from the tension, or something, because he wasn't what he used to be. "So, Saotome, you're hiding the way you always do!" Well, Ranma though wryly, some things never change. Automatically dodging one of Pantyhose Taro's kicks, Ranma hooked his arm under the edge of the bridge and swinging himself over, beginning to dodge every attack aimed at him out of habit. "Well, fem-boy, it seems that you may be a slight challenge after all! Of course, this is without really trying..." laughed Taro as he attempted to hit the dodging martial artist. Ranma almost faltered, thinking. Why was he fighting back? Wasn't this what he'd been afraid of returning to? The endless combat, and insults, and attacks... wasn't this what he wanted to stop? And if he was beaten, truly beaten, something might - something had to change. And he didn't see how anything could change for the worse... Ranma was about to make a very drastic decision, one that would have permanently altered the functioning of Nerima in a certain way. This never came to pass, as the choice was, in a sense, taken out of his hands. "This is getting boring, crossdresser... I guess I'll just finish this now!" Taro had been fighting an oblivious Ranma the entire time, and would have won if not for Ranma's unconscious dodging and increased speed. Getting annoyed, he decided to use his one invincible weapon: Pulling out a small thermos of cold water, he prepared to transform into his monstrous cursed form. Placing one hand around the cap, he jumped back and began unscrewing it. Ranma knew that Taro's cursed form was very, very dangerous. When the thermos had come out, Ranma had consciously realized what the boy was doing, and his body had reacted according to his ten years of martial training: a preemptive strike to diminish the danger, removing the thermos. This much was expected, or would have been if Ranma had been thinking clearly. The truly novel thing was Ranma's method of attacking. Ducking under his opponent's last kick, Ranma followed him backwards, both of his hands flowing smoothly across Taro's left arm - the one holding the thermos - and past, as Ranma jumped past the boy to spin in mid-air and land in a crouch, facing his enemy. Taro dropped the thermos, staring at suddenly unresponsive fingers. "What- what did-" Taro suddenly screamed, high-pitched, a cry of pure pain. Falling to his knees, he gasped, unable to make a sound, as his left forearm exploded gruesomely. Ranma's expression was a cold mask, a strange fire burning behind his eyes. When he saw the spurting blood, though, his face fell into confusion. "I-" he began too late, Taro had already fainted. Ranma, dumbstruck, took a step backwards and almost turned, before cursing himself and picking up his injured enemy, beginning to sprint towards a doctor as fast as possible and trying to slow the bleeding with what little he knew of healing. Doctor Ono Tofu was sitting in his clinic, as usual. When Ranma and Akane - and, of course, Kasumi - weren't with him, his home was one of the more quiet in Nerima. As usual, some spice was brought to his life when Ranma burst into his office. It was possibly overkill to bring in a boy with a severed forearm, though... "My god, Ranma, what-?" Tofu gasped, as a white-faced Ranma covered in blood was not a common sight. Ranma seemed to pale even more, and Tofu began to strike strategically placed shiatsu points on Taro's body with blurring speed. "I...attacked me, but...only I don't know that much Hokuto...and he...didn't mean to..." Abruptly Ranma stopped talking, his mouth shut tightly and his face whiter than before. He held his head in his hands and his lips quivered, his face twisted into an absolutely hellish expression, one which dissapeared as abruptly as it had come. Ranma looked up, shakily, at the doctor's feverish movements. "Doc, what... what's happening to me?" Ranma fainted. Blood, as usual. Fire and smoke, as usual. The unique smell of steel, also as usual. The whispers were fairly recent, but they were a constant of late. The more distinct ones were quite new, though. we know you want it we can smell it, the desire the thirst the bloodlust and we can slake that thirst and once more as we once were as it must be we will grow... strong grow... STRONG! ***************************************** From here on the chapters will be longer, much longer. I promise. This was just the setting for the bigger picture. Not great, but hey, practice makes perfect, right? Oh, yeah. Someone complained about my grammar and spelling. The next one who does that... well, could he please tell me just what the problem is? My work isn't THAT riddled with errors, at the most they should be, I think, three or four (not counting typos). I enjoy flames, but only helpful ones. Okay: Ranma was OOC? No. Check Mike Noakes' fic "Choices" for my view on it. I read "Choices" after beginning this fic, but the idea is basically what I think about it. Akane bashing? I hate the bitch. Sorry, but it's my fic, and if I want her to be an evil nazi she will be. OOC Tendos? Yes. I agree. I need more experience, that's why I'm writing this. If anyone has any suggestions, tell me and I might change that part. Flames and comments to: MaxCarlos88@yahoo.com (If you want a decent reply).