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Yagami 1/2
A Ranma 0.5/King of Fighters Crossover
by Black Dragon
revcoll@peoplepc.com
https://www.angelfire.com/anime2/fanficlair/index.html

Ranma is the most grandiose creation of her majesty Rumiko Takahashi. KOF belongs to SNK, or whoever they were bought out by. Are they still making their own games? Oh well. This fanfic contains exteme violence, tremendous explosions, explicit nudity, lots of meaningless sex, and a penguin toting a machine gun.
(Author's Note: I lied!)

Chapter 3
Trial by Fire
**********************************************************************************

"Where on Earth am I now?!"
The various farmers tending the fields of rice looked up from their work to view a sight they had in fact viewed on previous occasions, though those were rather few and far between.
The young man of 16 looked back and forth randomly as he jogged through the rice fields, occasionally changing direction, seemingly at random, and eventually crossing a path he had previously made through the rice plants.
The boy wore black pants and a yellow shirt, and had a black and gold bandanna tied around his head to keep his raven black hair from his eyes. He toted a large leather backpack, with a red umbrella on top.
Approaching a random farmer, the young martial artist we all know as Ryoga Hibiki composed his speech in his head before speaking.
{Excuse me, know you way to Japan?}
The farmer blinked, then cocked his head to the side. "Lost again, sonny? What language is that?"
Ryoga blinked, then realized that the farmer had spoken in Japanese. "I... I'm not in Russia anymore! YES!!!" Ryoga raised a triumphant fist to the heavens, and several farmers shook their heads and returned to their work.
Ryoga looked back at the farmer. "You wouldn't happen to know the name Ranma Yagami, would you?"
The farmer sighed. "Boy, you ask someone that every time you come around these parts. No, we don't know anyone named Ranma Yagami."
Ryoga sighed. "Oh well. Wait, you said I've been here before? Where am I?"
The farmer lowered his straw hat slightly. "Why, you're in Okinawa, sonny."
Ryoga contemplated that for a moment. "Is that anywhere near Tokyo?"
"Would it make a difference if it was?"
The lost boy gave an embarrassed chuckle. He had definitely been here before. "So, uh, which way to Tokyo, sir?"
The farmer sighed and retrieved his hoe. "Just pick a direction. I've got work to do."
Yes, these people had obviously spoken to him before.
And so, Ryoga picked a direction, and started jogging once again.
'Ranma, I swear I'll pay you back for everything you've done to me.' Ryoga's eyes squeezed shut as he remembered that fateful day at Jusenkyou. 'Everything!'
__________________________________________________________________________________

Flashback sequence...

"Damn you Ranma! Where are you hiding now?!" Ryoga trudged along the top of the cliff, searching among the trees and patches of bamboo for his hated rival. After so long, he had almost found him!
Ryoga came to a clearing, then sighed and sat down. He couldn't move very far; everything indicated that the Yagamis would be staying at that training ground that was somewhere around here, or perhaps a village nearby, and if Ryoga spent to much time searching, he'd inevitably miss Ranma and head out of the country. He couldn't let that happen! It had taken him years to finally find Ranma's trail!
Ryoga started to take off his backpack, when he heard the most peculiar sound.
*Kaboom!*
This distant rumble was accompanied by the oddest thing: a bright purple flash and an eruption of dark, violet fire out among the trees. Ryoga blinked at the sight.
*Kaboom!*
Odd... that one seemed closer.
*Kaboom!*
Nobody had ever accused Ryoga of being terribly bright, and for good reason. Ryoga didn't make the connection between the strange purple flame and the same energy his eternal rival used until far later.
*Kaboom!!*
Okay, that one was DEFINITELY closer.
*KABOOM!!!*
Dark fire poured out of the forest and into the clearing, leaves and bamboo snapping and shriveling at its touch. Ryoga pulled his umbrella from his backpack, and pointed it at where he could best guess was the threat.
Whatever he was expecting, Ryoga was utterly flabbergasted when a shaking, hunched-over, slack-jawed, redheaded girl stepped out of the dark firestorm. The flames quickly began to recede, and as the background dimmed, Ryoga could see the blazing purple aura around the girl.
The redhead looked up at him, and Ryoga gulped as he stared into the bright yellow eyes. Bright, but empty.
The girl seemed to chuckle deeply, and pale smoke wafted from her mouth. Then she grinned and staggered forward, regarding him almost curiously.
"Shyaaaaah......"
Ryoga stepped back, alarmed, and moved his umbrella into a striking position. The girl looked to be around his age, with her bright red hair done up in a ponytail, and her body cloaked within a large black jacket of some unknown material. Ryoga did some quick figuring. The way she looked and acted, and the way she was throwing otherworldly fire around, she was either a demon of sorts, or...... she had been bitten by a rabid animal.
Ryoga shrugged. 'Either way...' The lost boy attacked.
The battle was short and painful, just as he had intended. Well, not quite in the way he had intended.
*Thwack* Ryoga gaped as the girl slapped away his umbrella, sending it bouncing over the edge of the cliff.
Ryoga launched a simple punch, and recieved his second shock as the girl howled, then ducked under the blow and grabbed his arm.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!!" *Poom!* *Poom!* *Poom!* *Poom!* *Poom!*
Ryoga grunted in pain as she drove a loose fist into his gut repeatedly, each blow striking with the force of a battering ram. Ryoga tried to punch with his free hand, but she simply leaned back and let the fist pass before slamming Ryoga back with a shoulder charge.
The lost boy staggered backwards, completely shocked that such a slight girl could muster the strength to actually hurt him. After a nanosecond of thought, and quite a few seconds of clutching his stomach, he reevaluated his initial conclusion; she was even stronger than he was!
He wasn't given enough time to recover from his shock, however, physical or mental.
"Graugh!" The redhead slammed the heel of her heavy boot into his left shoulder, then twisted around the retaliatory punch. Ryoga grunted as she backhanded him with her left hand across the jaw, then fell backwards as she followed up with a punishing right hook on the same spot.
He grunted pathetically as she grasped his neck and slowly hauled him off the ground. Was this the end? Would his quest for revenge be stopped by some possessed teenager?
"Ranma!" The deep voice echoed from far beyond the trees, and Ryoga's vision started to get fuzzy as the girl held him over her head. But for a moment... the girl lessened the pressure on his throat, and the yellow light of her eyes dimmed. She hesitated...
Ryoga connected his first blow for the entire fight, and was dropped on the ground as his haymaker smashed into the demon girl's jaw. Grunting as his bruised torso absorbed the short fall, Ryoga felt with no small amount of satisfaction that warm, moist blood and spittle had wet his knuckles.
"Kraaaaaaaaaaugh!!!"
For all it was worth, anyway, since the girl recovered quickly, and made her annoyance known by grasping Ryoga again, this time around the face, and lifting him once more into the air.
*THWOOOM!!!* Purple fire engulfed the lost boy, and Ryoga let out a muffled scream as energy seared his skin.
*Whump!* A physical blow on his right side was followed by a new burst of flame, and Ryoga tumbled to the side, rolling helplessly toward the edge of the cliff.........
__________________________________________________________________________________

Tears threatened to leak out of Ryoga's eyes as his legs started shaking. He didn't know how long he fell, or how far, but when he had finally landed in the spring...
Well, at first he was glad, but then, he was on fire at the time.
Ryoga held up a fist in front of him, and saw that it was trembling. To be cursed to turn into a pig... was an insult too grievous to bear! And then, to wander in sorrow and misery for three days, to stumble upon the Amazon village and hear an abridged story from a disgruntled village guard... how an outsider male named Ranma had gotten cursed and manifested a type of berserk state... how the curse turned the boy into a redheaded girl, as Ryoga's own turned him into a black piglet...
The lost boy's eyes burned, and his fist was encompassed by a bright green halo.
And then, with the end of his quest in sight, he got lost trying to enter the village!
"DAMN YOU RANMA!!!"
*SMASH!!!* The considerably thick trunk of a tree that had simply chosen the wrong spot to grow in was blown to splinters by the incredible strength of the blow. The lost boy retracted his fist as the tree's head of branches and leaves fell to the ground before him, his face twisted into an expression or imperceptible rage.
Ryoga paid the unfortunate plant no mind, and the fallen branches were torn apart as Ryoga heedlessly trudged through them. Ranma was still out there. And he would pay!
"YOU!!! WILL!!! PAY!!!!"

The farmer sighed and rose from his work. "Keep it down, would you boy? And stop knocking down trees!" The farmer returned to his hoeing as Ryoga blushed sheepishly.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma Yagami whistled to himself as he walked along the top of the fence on his way to school. He was in an unusually good mood today, because Nabiki had offered to walk with him to school before Akane left. Ranma figured he might as well accept, seeing how Akane apparently hadn't gotten over the incident of the previous night.
'Sheesh. It wasn't like I did it on purpose. And it's not like she didn't beat me to within an inch of my life for it.' Ranma sighed.
"So Ranma, how do you like Furinkan so far?" Nabiki could see that Ranma was caught off guard by the question, though he tried not to show it.
"Eh, it's all right, I guess. An awful lot of weirdos though." Ranma shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't a big deal; he could qualify as a weirdo himself quite easily.
Nabiki laughed. "Yeah, Kuno is a piece of work." Ranma went back to contemplating uncute tomboys, and Nabiki frowned. She considered herself very good at reading people, and she was reading that Ranma wasn't the type to open up to people easily. Which was unfortunate, since getting others to open up and similar touchy-feely stuff simply wasn't her forte. That was what Kasumi did.
She decided to cut to the chase. What was he going to do, refuse?
"Hey Yagami, I was thinking, there's a nice Italian place down the street. Why don't we stop by after school?" Nabiki let a playful smirk cross her face as Ranma frowned nervously and rubbed the back of his head.
'Oh, right. She's supposed to be my girlfriend now. What does that mean for me, anyway?' "Uh, sure, I guess. My treat?"
Nabiki grinned. "Why, naturally, of course!"
Ranma turned away slightly as they approached the school. Several of the boys who had recovered from yesterday's beating were getting into their regular groups and arming themselves.
Ranma frowned as one boy in particular apparently took offense at his presence.
"Ranma Yagami, I shall vanquish thee!" Students dove out of the way as Kuno charged the pigtailed boy, and Nabiki walked past them to get a good spot to watch from in front of the building.
Ranma crossed his arms as Kuno approached. Then his right fist lashed out, and Kuno found his weapon yanked out of his hands. Ranma made a display of smashing the bokken apart, and then made an even bigger display of doing the same to Kuno.
*Pow* *Thwack* *Smash* Kuno went reeling onto the ground from Ranma's backhand, and stayed there.
Ranma remained in the same position, with one arm outstretched and the other in his pocket. He smirked. "There. See how much more smoothly things go when we keep speeches to a minimum?"
Kuno declined to reply, presumably because he was unconscious at the time.
Someone in the crowd started clapping, and others began to join him. By the time Ranma had reached Nabiki again, the front yard of the school was cheering him on.
Ranma blinked, and looked back at the applauding mass. "Weird."
Nabiki smiled, then shook her head and entered the school.
Ranma was about to follow her, when a wordless battle cry erupted from across the front yard, Ranma turned his head tiredly to watch as Akane started plowing through the groups of sports jocks.
He idly regarded that they seemed to be putting a lot more effort into their attacks then yesterday. Not that it helped any single one of them very much, but apparently seeing that Akane COULD be taken down had given meaning to what was once a futile exercise of routine.
Ranma shook his head. Considering how good Akane really was, that spoke volumes about how sadly this crowd was doing.
Still, she at was at least frustrated. Which gave Ranma a not-very-nice idea. His bored expression slowly broke into a smile. A small purple spark ignited in his palm, and grew slightly before the young Yagami thrust his hand flat onto the ground. The nearly invisible spark streaked across the ground on a precisely calculated course, based on Akane's progress through the horde of fighters.
Contact.
"Ack!" Akane cried out in surprise as a jolt of searing pain shot up her leg, and she stumbled as a small detonation below forced her off-balance.
The advancing boys all froze in disbelief, and stared as Akane hit the ground and grunted at the impact. Then they decided that they weren't going to let an opportunity like this pass.
Akane's eyes widened as the various jocks commenced a major dogpile. She tried to defend herself, but her disadvantageous position, combined with the fact that her opponents were truly ganging up on her for the first time, proved to be her downfall.
Ranma clutched his sides to keep from laughing as he entered the school. The boys were now getting off the fallen Tendo girl, and had started fighting each other to decide who had actually beaten her.
The crowd was eventually scattered by a revived Tatewaki Kuno, who proceeded to declare rather elegantly that since he was the only one remaining where Akane had fallen, that the victory was in fact his.
After a brief burst of triumphant laughter, Kuno gathered his love in his arms and headed for the nurse's office.

Up in a classroom on the fourth floor, Nabiki hit the ground in a facefault as one of her classmates informed her that her little sister had just lost her usual morning battle, with Kuno as an illegitimate victor.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma allowed himself a smug smile as Nabiki questioned her little sister about the morning's fight. It was lunch time again, and he was leaning against the side of the tree opposite the irate Tendo as she fumed not-so-silently.
"I'm telling you, it was a fluke! Someone cheated somehow!"
Nabiki stared at her flatly. "Do you realize how lame that sounds?"
Akane fumed, then rubbed her leg. "It was odd... it felt like a... an explosion! Yeah! A small explosion!!"
Nabiki frowned at this. "One of the guys I asked said that there was a small burst of dirt near your leg before you fell. Maybe that was it?"
The middle daughter suddenly found herself being stared at very closely by Akane as the younger girl gripped her shoulders and held her. "YES!!! Exactly! See? I didn't lose!!"
Nabiki nodded slowly and backed away from her sister's slightly frantic expression. "Okay Akane, you didn't lose. It sounds to me like the guys in the chemistry club are trying their luck in your fights with their land mines." Ranma muffled a loud snicker.
Akane growled. "Those jerks! Can't even fight me like a man!" Then she frowned. "If they planted it, why weren't they there?"
Nabiki shrugged. "Got me. They might have figured they'd just wait around till after the battle, then reveal themselves and pick you up, but then Kuno came around and got you." Akane shuddered, and her battle aura shined briefly as she recalled fending off Kuno in the nurse's office. "More likely though, they just didn't think things all the way through. Even mathematics geniuses can be idiots."
"ALL boys are idiots," Akane muttered.
'Not only boys,' Nabiki thought. "Regardless Akane, that's twice in a row you've lost your morning battle, officially or not." Akane opened her mouth to deny it, then stopped, and shut it with an audible *click*.
Nabiki lowered her eyebrow and continued. "What I'm trying to say is, a lot of guys who had the brains to decide you were unbeatable and to lay off are planning to rejoin the fight to date you. Some people are actually asking me to take bets against you. A few groups are even organizing to beat you."
Akane blinked at that. Nabiki hadn't taken a bet on her morning fights in a little over a year, since she had never lost. Well, not until yesterday. And that didn't count!
Wait... organizing?
"What do you mean they're organizing? How would that work if they beat me?" Akane stopped, then quickly added, "Not that they will, of course."
Nabiki shrugged. "That depends on who you ask, though I did hear the word 'fivesome' once, and I'm certain it wouldn't involve more than one girl."

Ranma clutched his arms around his stomach. It was currently taking all his strength and and concentration not to laugh until he died, and he didn't want to give himself away. Who knew that spiteful, petty, practical jokes could be so much fun?
By the time he wiped the tears from his eyes, he realized that he had stopped in front of someone.
Upon further inspection, that 'someone' was a short, busty brunette standing shock-still with her arms locked straight and her hands claspsing something behind her back. She was wearing the standard girl's uniform and a pair of large, wire-rimmed glasses, and her dark brown hair was worn long down to the middle of her back.
"Uh... can I help you?" Ranma scratched the back of his head, wondering what she was doing just standing there and staring at him.
Her face seemed to glow red for a moment, and she opened her mouth to speak.
Ranma waited. Nothing came out. She closed her mouth, then swallowed and opened it again.
"I... I'm... I mean... my name is... Hana..." Her face turned an even brighter shade of scarlet, and she lowered her head, mortified.
Ranma blinked. "Oh. Uh, well, my name's Ranma. Nice to meet you, Hana." He started to walk past, and she panicked and stepped in front of him.
"Wait! I thought you might be hungry!" She thrust a small box into his arms, and his nostrils picked up the enticing scent of chicken tempura. Hana almost swooned at Ranma's smile.
"Wow! Thanks!" He gave her a polite bow, then took the box and squatted right down on the ground and started eating.
The girl stared in wonder at the sight of Ranma shoveling the food into his mouth at a pace that was more suited to a serving ladle than chopsticks. In some bizarre fashion, this made him seem all the more desirable.
She gulped, and opened her mouth again. Whether or not anything would have come out would remain unseen, as that was when Nabiki located her boyfriend/client.
"So there you are. I thought you finished your lunch." Nabiki frowned as she watched some freshman girl sit down across from him as he turned toward her. She put two and two together, and raised an eyebrow at her.
She didn't notice, apparently, so engrossed was she in Ranma's meal.
"Did you like it? I... I made it! It's my mother's recipe actually, but I cooked it myself! You see, it's very hard to get the batter just right, so-" She continued babbling happily, as Ranma turned back to his meal and resumed eating.
Nabiki coughed. Then her expression became annoyed when Ranma didn't even slow down in consuming the food. Giving a mental sigh, she addressed him anyway. "So Ranma, we never discussed a time for our date."
THAT got the other girl's attention immediately. "What?! Date?!" She stared at Ranma, horrified, only to realize that he was concentrating on picking the last bits of food out of the box.
Nabiki blinked innocently as the girl turned toward her again. "Yes, date. Not that it's any of your business, but Ranma and I are a couple. Why did you think he didn't want to date Akane?" She fluttered her eyelashes and smiled so innocently that any jury would find her guilty from the gesture alone.
Hana looked ready to cry for a moment, but then her expression hardened and she glared at Nabiki fiercely. Well, as fiercely as she could manage. Nabiki had to admit, the girl was seriously cute, and wasn't able to pull off menacing very well.

The abrupt staring contest was brought to a premature halt when Ranma let out a very satisfied sigh, and turned toward Hana.
"Thanks a lot for the tempura! That was really good!"
Hana blushed and stuttered something as she accepted the box, and Ranma stopped to try and figure out what she was saying. She took a deeper breath, and continued in a calmer voice.
"Well, if-if yo-you like, I... I could bring one for you tomorrow too!"
Ranma smiled, and she lost herself in the infinite depths of his blue eyes.
"Really? That'd be great!" Then he frowned. "Well, I mean, I should do something for you too... how about we stop by-URK!!!" Ranma's speech was very abruptly stopped as Nabiki grabbed the collar of his jacket from behind him and pulled toward her.
"Ranma, could I speak to you over there, please?" Her voice was perfectly sweet, without a trace of malice. Ranma just KNEW he had screwed up big time.
"Help..." He whimpered, as the middle daughter of the Tendo family dragged him away.

Hana couldn't do anything but frown in dismay as Nabiki hauled Ranma off by the jacket, her serene expression only ruined by the occasional twitch of her left eye.
Once they were out of sight, however, Hana fell onto her back and sighed happily, a rosy blush coloring her cheeks. He had actually talked to her! He had eaten her lunch! And he had (almost) asked her out!
She wiggled in the grass slightly as a warm, fuzzy feeling enveloped her insides.
And, judging by his response, he was either "a", not as deeply involved with Nabiki as she claimed, "b", totally clueless, or "c", an unfaithful, vile playboy.

At an ice rink roughly eight miles away, Mikado Sanzenin sneezed violently in the middle of the Golden Pair's Couple Cleaver maneuver, causing major injury to himself, and the Golden Pair's first loss ever.

Naturally, the answer was, of course, "a", with "b" as a remote possibility. There was simply no way such a perfect specimen of manhood like Ranma could be the kind of person to lure hopeful girls into his arms, only to use them and then throw them away like spoiled goods. What kind of person would do that, anyway?

Back at the ice rink, Mikado Sanzenin sneezed violently a second time, causing him to fall off the stretcher that he was being carried on and onto a pile of ice skates. The paramedics began to lift him up, only to drop him back onto the skates in order to chase after Azusa Shiratori, who had named the cute stretcher "Juan" and ran off with it.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Nabiki sighed and looked up at a nervous-looking Ranma who was stood up against a tree.
This whole deal was going to be a problem, and she knew it. She was a reasonable person. She knew that she had absolutely no right to keep Ranma from seeing other women. Just as she had no right, and no real desire, to keep those other women from him.
But Nabiki Tendo had never failed to keep her end of a business contract, so such trivial problems simply couldn't be allowed to get in the way.
The problem was going to be convincing Ranma of that. So far he had just stood there looking like a puppy that was wondering if it would be kicked.
She sighed, and put on an encouraging expression. "So, Ranma, you apparently were too busy eating back there to hear, but I was wondering, what time did you want to eat?"
Ranma blinked, then apparently decided that there was nothing to worry about. "Uh, well, I don't have anything to do after school, except for this dumb challenge that Kuno sent me." Ranma held the folded piece of paper up, and Nabiki blinked.
Ranma shrugged. "No big deal. The moron had some little guy in a ninja costume give it to me. It'll take a minute, tops. Well, maybe five minutes if he insists on pre-fight speeches." Ranma frowned, as if that was truly the only thing of consideration in Kuno's threat.
Nabiki cocked her head to one side. "You really do take Kuno lightly, don't you? You might want to be a little more careful; he's the best fighter in the school, you know."
Ranma smirked. "WAS the best fighter in the school. I could take that blockhead any day." He flexed his hand to hold the challenge letter straight up, and it suddenly burst into purple flame. Nabiki blinked, impressed despite herself.
Then she smiled. "All right. I've got some stuff to do after school anyway. Let's say 4:00, okay? Be there; I don't like to be kept waiting." Giving him what could only be the dreaded female 'warning glance', Nabiki turned and headed back to class, moments before the bell rang.
And as Ranma bounded to his classroom's window with a single leap, the ashes of Kuno's letter fell to the ground, forgotten.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma spared a glance at Nabiki as she merged with the crowds leaving the school grounds, and their eyes met briefly, relaying nothing but a simply confirmation that they knew of each other.
Nabiki nodded at him, and he bounded off, a few of the students giving appreciative murmurs at the casual display of agility.
It still made her wonder why Ranma had accepted a date with her so quickly. Not that she thought he would refuse, but the way he had accepted so casually and without any kind of anticipation or thought made her suspicious.
But, overall, he seemed like a nice enough guy, and he was paying for the meal. Shrugging, the teenage mercenary left for her house, idly wondering what the evening would bring.

Ranma leapt atop a nearby roof, easily hopping from rooftop to rooftop as he made his way through the streets. Why did Kuno have to host a challenge in some park on the far side of town?
Shaking his head at the stupidity of it all, Ranma jumped atop a passing taxi, his moon-embroidered jacket swaying in the wind of his passage.
Eventually the driver asked him not so politely to get off his car, and Ranma hopped onto another roof as the man shook his fist at the pigtailed boy.
He had just jumped back into the street, when he heard a frustrated growl behind the brick wall lining the sidewalk. This was followed by a rather odd shout.
"DAMN YOU RANMA!!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!"
Ranma frowned at this. "Is not!" He retorted to the wall.
There was the sound of someone stumbling, followed by the sound of a heavy weight hitting solid concrete face-first.
Feeling that the situation had been rectified, Ranma continued walking on his way.
*Boom!* He winced slightly at the sound of a stone wall blowing outward behind him.
He sighed and turned around, to see a boy about his age staring at him with a look of disbelief in his eyes.
Ranma frowned. Didn't look like anyone he knew. "Hey, what's up?"
Then the look of disbelief turned to one of absolute hatred. "RANMA!!! DIE!!!!"
Ryoga launched himself forward, with both arms outstretched to rend his enemy to itty bitty pieces.
*Moosh* Ranma planted his boot in the boy's face, stopping the charge with himself just out of reach. "Um, out of curiosity, who are you and why do you want to kill me?"
A muffled growl came from behind the sole of his shoe, and Ryoga stepped back. After rubbing his face for a moment, the lost boy focused his hateful eyes at the cause of all his suffering.
"You dare to act as if you don't even remember me?! The man whose life you ruined forever!!" Ryoga sneered at his foe, then took his umbrella from his pack.
Ranma cupped his hand over his chin, considering. "A man whose life I ruined forever... nope, doesn't ring a bell. Can I have another hint?"
"I will destroy you!!" Ryoga screamed, and thrust his umbrella forward. Ranma jumped back, declining to go to the offensive until he had at least figured out who this guy was.
"Well, can you at least tell me what I did to you?"
Ryoga trembled in rage as Ranma continued staring at him curiously. How dare he take handle his death so calmly?
"My name is Ryoga Hibiki!!" the lost boy shouted, "And because of you Ranma, I have seen HELL!!!"
Ranma jumped aside as Ryoga's umbrella created a small crater in the sidewalk. "Ryoga Hibiki! Now I remember you! You were in my class when I was six! How have ya been man?"
A vein popped out on Ryoga's head. "I JUST TOLD YOU!!!!"
Ranma blinked. "Oh. Hell. Right. So, uh... why's that my fault?"
Ryoga growled, and then tore a few bandannas from his forehead. Oddly enough, he was still wearing a bandanna even as he held three more in his hand. "You think that mere words can convey the depth of my suffering?!?!" He started twirling the bandannas in an arc over his head.
Ranma sighed. "This isn't about the bread, isn't it? Or maybe the duel? I waited for FOUR days for you to show, and then I won fair and square!"
"SHUT UP!!!" Ryoga launched his bandannas, and Ranma frowned as they converged on him, cutting deep gouges into the terrain around them. "What I've endured because of you is far worse than you could possibly imagine! I'm going to bury you!!"
Ranma grinned suddenly, then slammed his hand onto the ground, his palm landing flat against the concrete. A purple explosion erupted from the ground before him, lancing upwards into the air before slowly settling and fading back into the ground. Two of the bandannas landed as little more than black ash, while the third was forced away from the force of the explosion and imbedded itself in a brick wall.
Ranma lifted his hand and frowned at it. "Hmmm... not quite right. That's gonna need some revision. And a name. Hey Ryoga, how does 'Hellfire Explosion' sound to you?" Ryoga declined to reply, and Ranma blocked his punch with his wrist, then countered with a sweep that Ryoga flipped over.
"Stop playing around and fight!" Ryoga grinned as his next punch hit home on Ranma's shoulder, but was then hit with an elbow jab that stunned him for a moment.
"Shikyo Hana!" The fire punch sent Ryoga spiraling backwards, trailing violet flame from his travel-worn clothes until he impacted a telephone pole.
Ranma shrugged his shoulder irritably. Ryoga sure packed a punch, even if his defense still sucked. "Look, I'd love to fight, but I've got this other challenge right now. After I trounce Kuno, then I can beat you up."
Ryoga snorted. "Well I hope this 'Kuno' wasn't a friend of yours, because the next time he'll see you, it'll be at your funeral!!" Ryoga slashed with his umbrella, and Ranma leapt up and rebounded off his head, putting all of his weight onto his kicking foot. Ryoga staggered, then glared as Ranma jumped off a rooftop and into a mass of trees that marked the boundaries of the public park.
Ryoga too jumped up and dove into the mass of trees. Ranma would not escape him!

Ranma was resting in front of the park fountain, trying to recall where in the park Kuno was waiting for him.
He gave a mental sigh as he side-stepped the hurled umbrella. "Well Ryoga, either your sense of direction has improved or you got lucky."
Ryoga stepped into the clearing and snarled at him. "Keep it up Yagami! Now you die!!"
Ranma shook his head. "Ryoga, look, I'm really getting tired of this. I've gotta fight Kuno now, so take a number all right? You can extract vengeance or kill me or whatever later. Now do what you do best and get lost."
Ryoga seemed to glow as anger overtook him, and he stepped forward with his hands open in front of him as if to grab Ranma's throat and strangle him. Then, oddly enough, his eyes widened and he jumped back.
Ranma started as a wave of cold water overtook him. Groaning as she felt the change occur, she turned around to see Ryoga's umbrella twirling away from the wreckage of the park fountain.
"Great, just frickin' great." Ranma looked down at herself, then turned toward Ryoga.
To her surprise, he was sneering at her, rather than looking totally shocked that she was now a woman.
"So it's true!! You are that girl!! You will pay Ranma!!"
She blinked in confusion. "You... you knew about my curse? How?"
Ryoga swung at her, and Ranma ducked and returned with a series of kicks to Ryoga's stomach. The lost boy staggered backwards, and Ranma hit him hard with a roundhouse to his jaw before backing off and sticking her hands in her pockets. "Slow as ever, eh Ryoga?"
Ryoga grinned, oddly enough, though his eye twitched and he was feeling his jaw. "Heh. You aren't as strong as before. I thought so."
Ranma blinked. "What do you mean? Last time we fought I was SIX, and I'm way stronger now! Even as a girl!"
Ryoga simply cocked back a fist and attacked. "DIE!!!"
Ranma crouched and then launched herself forward in a shoulder charge. Ryoga grunted at the impact, but his strength and weight advantage kept him from moving more than a couple of inches from Ranma's blow. Ryoga's arms encircled the petite redhead, and Ryoga grabbed onto each of Ranma's shoulders.
As the lost boy was grinning in anticipation of literally tearing his rival apart, Ranma was grinning too. She ducked, and Ryoga found himself holding onto the shoulders of an empty black jacket as Ranma slipped easily from its confines. Ranma grabbed onto the collar of her jacket with one hand, then swept the other in an upward arc as she jumped herself.
"Oni Yaki!" Ribbons of purple fire flooded from the ground and twirled around Ranma, paying no heed to the boy that they casually blasted away.
Ryoga hit the ground hard, then groaned as he forced himself up. Even if he had trained to be ridiculously tough, Ranma's hits had taken their toll. Even the ones he made as a girl. But that was still almost negligable compared to the strange power that Ranma wielded. Burns were burns, after all, and having the constitution of a rhino on steroids could only help one so far. For the first time, Ryoga considered the possibility that he might lose. He didn't like that thought at all.
Muttering a curse, Ryoga stumbled away as Ranma casually slipped her jacket back on. The lost boy grabbed a handful of his bandannas, and started twirling them around in his hand.
"Take this!" Ryoga let the projectiles fly.
"No, YOU take THIS!" Ranma smirked, then her body was encompassed by a sudden flash of light as she crossed her arms above her head. "Ya Otome!!"
The bandannas passed overhead harmlessly as Ranma ducked low to the ground, and her body blurred into a series of afterimages as she seemed to slide across the ground at high speed toward Ryoga.
'Crap,' was Ryoga's last thought before his world exploded into pain.
*Pow* *Wham* *Pow* *Thwack* *Poom* *Smash* *Toom* Ranma removed her fist from Ryoga's gut, and her hands snapped together onto the lost boy's collar.
*Slam!* Ryoga was thrown against the ground hard, and Ranma leaned over him and pressed her palms against his chest.
*Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *BLAM!!!* Ryoga bounced away due to the force of the explosion, and stopped to lay in a smoldering heap next to a tree.

Ranma smirked at her handiwork even as she shook her hands in the air to wave off all the smoke coming from them. Then she frowned.
'I really need to come up with a finishing pose or something,' she thought, 'nothing cliche, or really complex... the fight just doesn't seem to conclude without one, really.'
"Hold Yagami! At last you show your cowardly self! Now face your punishment, heathen!"
Ranma's eye twitched, and she slowly turned around.
Tatewaki had seen a flash of purple earlier, and immediately connected it to the unnatural sorcery of the fiend Ranma. Once he had reached the clearing, he had dismissed the charred body on the ground in favor of the figure in the telltale moon-embroidered jacket. The cowardly sorcerer had of course neglected to appear at the appointed time, no doubt fearing his inevitable defeat, but now that the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High had found him, justice will be administered at last!
Wait a minute. Since when did Ranma have red hair?
Ranma finished turning around, and suppressed a sigh of annoyance as Kuno's eyes widened at what could be seen clearly with Ranma's jacket open.
"You... you are not Ranma!"
Ranma gave him a flat stare, and then shrugged as she removed her metal cup from her jacket. "Yeah, whatever." She walked towards the fountain's remains to collect some water for heating. If Kuno thought that his girl half was a different person, let him.
Of course, Ranma was understandably surprised when the kendoist stepped in front of her, blocking her way to the fountain.
"You must forgive this case of mistaken identity, miss. It was simply your mode of dress, which is so peculiar and yet very similar to that of the wretch I seek. Do understand that it is entirely my fault. I myself shudder to think how I could have confused such a terrible, lowly cretin with yourself."
Ranma growled, and planted her foot in Kuno's face. "Who you calling a cretin, jerk?!"
Kuno pulled his face from Ranma's boot. "Why, none but the foul thug that I had somehow taken your lovely visage for!"
Ranma blinked. Lovely?
"It is my most grievious error to have mistaken such robust beauty and grace for the fool Yagami. Please accept my most humble apologies." Kuno bowed deeply.
Ranma was now on full mental alert. This guy was FLIRTING with her!
Kuno spared a glance at the metal cup that the redhead was holding, and then looked toward the busted up fountain, still shooting water into the air and covering the entire clearing with a light mist.
"Ah, but I cannot allow a lady such as yourself to drink so crudely! It would be ill fitting of me to allow such a thing!" With a very satisfied air, Kuno snatched away Ranma's metal cup and replaced it with a plastic bottle of water.
She stared at it, nonplussed. If she heated this, the plastic would melt and all the water would fall out. What good was it?
*Bonk* Kuno blinked as the bottle bounced off his head.
"Look moron, just give me back my cup and I'll be on my way. Ranma will be here soon, and then you can get your little challenge over with." Ranma growled as the kendoist smirked at her and squared his shoulders.
"Ha! You needn't worry about the fool Yagami. No doubt he has fled in fear of prowess. My skill in battle is legendary, and a lowly fool like Yagami will be crushed before my might like the weak coward he is!" Kuno laughed and thrust a fist in the air.
Ranma shook slightly, then jammed her own fist into Kuno's stomach, doubling him over.
"You insult me... er, him again, and I'm gonna beat you so bad that your grandkids will feel it!" Ranma retracted her fist, then glared as Kuno straightened painfully.
"Why do you defend that coward Yagami?" Kuno blinked at her curiously as Ranma stared at him disgustedly. "Can it be that he holds some power over you? Not that it's below one such as him. Why, the fool accepts a challenge, and then flees! That man is no man! He is not a man at all!!"
*WHAM!!* Ranma took her foot off of the back of Kuno's head, then stared down at where the kendoist's face was planted in the dirt, her eye twitching. "I warned you..."
*Tha-WHACK!!* *Crunch* *Smash!* There was a resounding creaking noise as a tree slowly collapsed, its roots unable to hold against the force that was applied against it.
Ranma stalked off to the geyser of water, her recovered metal cup in hand.

Back near the blast site, and currently resting flat atop the trunk of a fallen tree, for the good of his abused spinal column, Kuno contemplated the woman who had just beaten him quite severely.
'She is formidable. As skilled as Akane Tendo. No! More skilled!' Kuno thought such a thing was impossible. Surely the beautious Akane Tendo was the pinnacle of feminine perfection, none could surpass his fierce tigress!
And yet, there was one who had, in beauty, grace, power, and skill. Surely he was truly blessed to have such a wondrous angel do him grievous bodily harm!
'I shall find this pigtailed girl, and I shall date with her! Truly, this can only be fate, written in the stars above!'
Kuno's mental rant was cut short by the male Ranma Yagami's unwanted visage leaning over his line of sight.
"So you come hither at last, coward! Now I will deliver your proper punishment!" As soon as he could move, anyway. Kuno struggled for a moment, and soon he was on his feet, and in rather intense pain, as his spine protested heartily to the slightest movement.
Seeing Kuno lock up and bite his tongue, Ranma shook his head and poked the older boy in the chest. Kuno fell right back down, his back hitting the ground perfectly flat, straight as a steel rod.
Ranma shrugged his hands into his pockets. "Kuno, get a clue. You've already taken enough of a beating for one day, so I'll make this quick." Kuno opened his mouth, and Ranma's hand flashed out, stuffing it with one of Ryoga's bandannas that he had found embedded in a tree.
The pigtailed boy smirked as Kuno's speech was muffled to soft incoherence. "Good. Now. First off, there's no way you're going to beat me, at least not without some kind of power-up or serious training. So stop wasting my time with these stupid challenges."
Ranma's victorious expression melted into a glare. "Second, you remember that girl that was here a second ago? The redhead?" Kuno's accusatory look told him the answer. "Stay away from her if you know what's good for you. Believe me when I say she 'AINT interested. Got it?"
Kuno mumbled something else, which was thankfully muted by the bandanna.
Ranma nodded in satisfaction as he left, stepping on top of a forgotten Ryoga in his passage. "All right then. See ya around, loser."
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Ah, right on time Yagami." Nabiki smiled at Ranma as he landed next to the table she was sitting at and seated himself. Then she frowned as he muttered something under his breath, apparently ignoring her.
"Something wrong? No trouble with Kuno, I hope." Nabiki poked him to get his attention, and he gave a start as he noticed her for the first time. Ranma didn't look like he had gotten hurt, and his clothes were completely intact, so it didn't make sense that Kuno had managed to pull through and win.
"Huh? Kuno? Uh..." Ranma scratched his head, wondering if he should tell Nabiki about the challenge, and what it brought about. Eventually he sighed, and spilled the whole story.
"Well, ya see, when I got to the park I was in girl form, and I was about to get some water to heat up, when he suddenly found me, and then..."
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma reflected that he really should have just kept his big mouth shut.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!! I can't believe it! Ha ha ha!! That is so rich!!" Nabiki tried to stop herself but failed, collapsing into another fit of laughter, rocking her chair back and forth.
Oh yes, definitely should have just kept quiet.
'One of these days I'm going to learn when to not open my mouth, I swear,' Ranma thought miserably as Nabiki's heaving chuckles died down.
"I'm *snort* sorry Ranma! But it's SO funny! Imagine, Kuno hitting on you like that! And he has NO idea you're a guy!" Nabiki rolled around in her chair, giggling like a madwoman.
"Yeah. It's a scream. Hardy har har." Ranma deadpanned, then waved to a waiter.
"Are you ready?"
Nabiki was still fighting to get enough air into her lungs, so Ranma went ahead and ordered.
By the time he had finished, Nabiki had regained enough control to smile politely. She ordered her food, and the waiter bowed and left.
Ranma and Nabiki stared at each other for a moment, and that moment seemed to stretch into minutes as their eyes met...
And then Nabiki snorted and started chuckling again. Ranma let his face fall flat on the table and groaned.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You don't have to be such a grouch about it." Nabiki smirked at him.
Ranma glared. "How would YOU like it if he were chasing after YOU?!"
Nabiki's smirk grew, and she was about to point out that she was a real girl, when she stopped and thought about the question.
"Good point. I apologize." Nabiki's expression was completely sober. That WAS a revolting thought.
Ranma looked uncomfortable for a moment, then leaned forward. "So... uh... you have any hobbies or anything?"
Nabiki smiled. "Oh, I do a little bit of everything. Computers, occasionally I play some tennis or soccer, read, shop..." she grinned at him, "though my favorite past time is making a profit."
Ranma blinked. That was a rather odd hobby, if nothing else.
"So how about you?" Nabiki leaned back in her chair and watched.
Ranma shrugged. "Well, there's my martial arts of course, and I also... uh... well... sometimes I......" Ranma scratched the back of his head and tugged at the collar of his jacket. "Well... I mean, I do other things besides martial arts, I'm just not, uh... I... I just can't think of any right now." Ranma blushed a bit.
Nabiki's eyes squeezed shut, and she giggled.
Ranma's hands clenched into fists. "It's not that funny!! If Kuno ever tries that kind of thing again I'll stuff him in a trash bin!!"
Nabiki chuckled lightly. "It's not that, Ranma. You just look so cute when you stutter like that." She smiled, and that smile grew as she watched Ranma redden.
He chuckled suddenly and deliberately. "Yeah, well, uh... you're pretty cute too!"
She snickered, and Ranma face fell. "I'm making a fool of myself, aren't I?"
Nabiki grinned. "Yes." Ranma's expression fell further. She giggled again. "Oh relax, would you? Hmmmm... small talk isn't exactly your strong point, is it?"
Ranma blushed some more and tugged on his pigtail self-consciously. "Ah... no. I guess it's not. Sorry."
Nabiki couldn't help but smirk. He just looked so adorable when he was vulnerable like this. She more preferred confidence in a partner, but it would be fun to have someone who she could knock off-balance when she felt the whim. Besides, Ranma had shown plenty of confidence before.
"Well then, why don't you tell me about your training?" She had SOME interest in the martial arts, as she had trained a bit under Soun before her mother had died. Besides, it didn't look like Ranma would be able to discuss much more than that.
Ranma took up the discussion with a strange bit of determination, and Nabiki found herself wincing in sympathy at some of the rougher training exercises. Then their food came, and Ranma was far too occupied to bother with any type of conversation.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Nabiki was smiling in genuine enjoyment as she walked out of the theatre with Ranma on her arm. The evening had been surprisingly enjoyable once Ranma had finally relaxed a bit, and he was laughing as they walked home arm in arm.
He had turned out to be surprisingly timid when it came to affection, and she found a certain pleasure in teasing him with suggestive gestures and such. He really was cute when he was squirming like that.
All this, and she got paid too!
However, there was something that had been bothering her since before dinner.
"Ranma, were you expecting me to ask you out?" The question was perfectly timed, and asked in a perfectly casual tone of voice. Ranma tripped on nothing, and barely managed to catch himself before he fell flat on the pavement.
"Wha-Wha-What? Er... what makes you think that?" Ranma bigsweated as Nabiki raised an eyebrow. Nabiki almost smirked. Ranma was so easy to read.
After a moment of fidgeting under the mercenary Tendo's stare, Ranma hung his head.
"Well... I kind of heard the whole thing. I was right outside the window when Pop was talking to you. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard my mom's name, so I stopped to listen." Ranma winced at her expressionless look. "Am I in trouble?"
Nabiki suddenly smiled, amused. "No, no." Her smiled slipped. "You don't mind?"
Ranma blinked. "Mind what?"
She chuckled. "That your dad paid me to act as your girlfriend."
Ranma scratched his head. "Why should I mind? Dad paid for it, and he's just trying to see mom again." Ranma looked very uncomfortable suddenly. "Uh... actually, I kinda wanted to thank you for doing this for us. I mean, pretending to be my girlfriend and all."
Nabiki smirked at him. "You're welcome. Though it probably isn't as hard for me as you think." She continued walking along the road as Ranma slipped into silence, contemplating her response.
"However..." Ranma's head jerked up, and he blinked at Nabiki as she continued.
"As long as I'm doing this, maybe you could shed some light on something for me." Nabiki smirked. She wasn't going to pry until later, but as long as he felt indebted to her...
Ranma blinked again.
"You see... you mentioned something earlier... you said there was something about you even more dangerous than your flame..." Nabiki watched with detached interest as Ranma's entire body seemed to lock up, and he drew his coat tighter to himself, as if he was trying to disappear inside of it.
"There was also that bit about your curse. Was there something after that that you maybe... neglected to mention?" Nabiki noted that Ranma shivered suddenly, and knew that she had hit paydirt. It was strange, really. How could Iori be so expressionless and hard, yet bear a son who showed his emotions like a neon sign?
Ranma walked in silence for a long time. "I really don't want to talk about it," he stated softly, and suddenly. The cheerful, nervous persona was gone, now replaced by a pleading voice of dispair and loss. Nabiki frowned, and stopped walking.
'Oh no you don't, you're not going to get out of this so easily.' Nabiki crossed her arms as Ranma started to slow. "What, you don't trust me?"
Ranma winced. "Well, yeah, I trust you, but... it's just not the sort of thing I just tell people."
Nabiki wasn't convinced. "If you trust me, then you can tell me. I think you'll find it hard to hold together a relationship without trust." Nabiki put just the perfect amount of warning into her voice.
Ranma tensed again, then sighed. "All right... it goes like this. You see... after I got cursed, I really thought that I was going to live the rest of my life as a girl, and, well, I sort of lost it."
Nabiki blinked. "Lost it? This is the horrible secret? I can't blame you for being upset, but-" Ranma stopped her with a look.
"I'm not finished yet. As the Amazons put it-we were training around their territory when it happened-I went berserk. But something happened to me. I just went crazy."
Ranma sighed. "I totally lost control, and slipped into a different state of mind, called the 'riot of the blood'. I can't remember what I did when I was in that state, but from what I was told, and what I saw afterwards..."
Ranma shuddered. "Entire stretches of forest had been burned to ash. Almost everybody who had tried to stop me had been hurt. Some seriously, others less so. Nobody had been killed. Luckily."
Ranma heaved another sigh. "A good part of the Amazon village had been totaled from when they tried to stop me. Apparently, it took three of the Amazon elders, who're the most powerful fighters in the village, to finally take me out. They were discussing how they should execute me and how soon when Pop arrived to explain everything." Ranma turned away from Nabiki. "Not that I can blame them," he added bitterly.
Nabiki stared at him. "So... how did you do all this? What's this 'riot of the blood' thing?"
Ranma turned back toward her. "It's a really long story. The short version is that my ancestors made a pact with a powerful clan of warriors a long time ago, and gained the blood and power of the legendary Orochi. That's the source of our power." Ranma flexed his hand, and a purple ember lighted in demonstration.
"That's not all though. While we drew strength from Orochi, Orochi drew life from us. Like I said, this stopped when my Pop and some other guy killed a resurrected Orochi a while ago, but something happened......"
Ranma was silent for a long moment, until Nabiki tugged on his jacket, urging him to continue. He looked at her for a moment uncertainly.
"Pop says that it happened to him before. He said that before he fought Orochi, when he got really angry, he would sometimes fly into a rage, and then he'd wake up with blank spots in his memory. When he fought Orochi, he gave in fully to the riot of the blood, like I did. The Orochi state brings out our true power, but we totally lose control. Pop said that we act sort of zombie-like, but tear into anything around us. We're stronger, faster, and pain doesn't seem to slow us down at all."
Ranma frowned suddenly. "But that's the odd thing. Pop said that we shouldn't be able to experience the riot of the blood since Orochi is dead, but I did, and there was some other time where he almost gave into it before. Not only that, but he said that I shouldn't have been anywhere near as powerful as I was." Ranma shook his head. "I just don't know what's going on."
Nabiki frowned. "So you don't remember anything when you were like this?"
Ranma scratched his head. "Well, bits and pieces. Occasionally, when I was looking at something I did, I'd suddenly get a flash of memory of me doing it. Sometimes a scene comes to me in my dreams, and those tend to stand out when I wake up." Ranma shrugged.
Nabiki nodded absently. "How dangerous is it?"
Ranma flinched. "Really dangerous."
Nabiki looked at him, then smiled slightly. "Oh, come on, don't be so hard on yourself. Nobody was permanently hurt, right?"
Ranma's face darkened. "I said that no one was killed. Some of the Amazons that got in my way were still in pretty bad shape when we left."
Nabiki bit her lip. "Oh. I... see..."
Ranma turned away from her, and stared at the sunset as the neighborhood around them darkened. "It happens... with extreme emotion, I think. Bad emotions. With me, I just felt so depressed and helpless. With Pop, he was apparently just really angry."
Nabiki walked along next to him as he went silent, apparently lost in thought.
"Well, that's not so bad."
Ranma turned to her and growled, surprising her.
"Not so bad?! I could've killed someone! I almost did! I lost control! Don't you get it? I'm a monster!!"
Nabiki just shrugged. "Not much of a monster, if you ask me." Ranma got a bewildered look on his face, and stopped to watch as Nabiki continued walking toward the dojo. "Thanks for sharing! And thanks for dinner! I really had a good time!" She winked at him for a moment then turned away before reaching the gates of the Tendo home and entering.

Ranma stared after her for a moment more, then turned away. He had some thinking to do.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Nabiki looked up and blinked as Kuno stared down at her, a determined, yet reluctant expression marring his usual imperious manner.
She sat up straight in her desk. "Something the matter, Kuno-baby?" As a matter of fact, something was obviously the matter with him. He had been grunting with every movement ever since class had started, and he was holding his back perfectly straight, as though his spine had been replaced by a steel pole.
Kuno's lip twitched. "It has recently come to my attention that you associate with the fiend Ranma Yagami in... intimate... matters."
Nabiki stared up at him. "We went on one date. Now did you want something, or did you just want to ask me about my love life?"
Kuno snorted. "While I was of the opinion that you had higher tastes, Nabiki Tendo, it is indeed fortunate, for your help may be instrumental in bringing about the foul sorceror's downfall."
Nabiki blinked at him. "Kuno-baby... you're asking me for help?" She smirked suddenly. "So the big, bad, Blue Thunder needs help to vanquish evil, huh? I never thought you had it in you to be so humble, Kuno!"
Kuno jerked forward angrily, and then his teeth clenched as his backbone protested, and his torso snapped ramrod straight again. After the jolts of pain passed, he stared down at Nabiki arrogantly.
"The fiend refuses to fight honorably, and continues to hide behind black sorcery! If he will not fight me with honor, then I am forced to strike at his weak spot!" Kuno coughed. "Also, this was done to me not by the fool Yagami, but by the most lovely vision of fiery-haired beauty that I encountered while waiting for the scoundrel to appear and accept his punishment!"
He started to look up to the heavens, but a sudden jolt through his back kept his neck straight. "Ah! The wonderous pigtailed girl! To think that such a beatific flower of feminine purity should be fouled by the taint of the evil Ranma!"
Nabiki was staring at him blandly now, her arms crossed over her chest. "Come again?"
Kuno let a stream of overdramatic tears wash down his face. "It is true! The dishonorable fiend himself has forbidden me to see my love! No doubt he holds her by force; and for that he must be brought to his knees by any means necessary!"
Nabiki thought about bringing up Akane at this point, but decided against it; Kuno's mental capacity was obviously already stretched to the limit if he was actually admitting that he couldn't beat Ranma on his own, and she didn't want to give the kendoist a stroke or anything.
"So... you mentioned striking at Ranma's weak point. How are you going to do that?" Nabiki smirked slightly. 'As if I don't already know.'
Kuno nodded slightly, making sure not to aggravate his neck. "This is where you come in, Nabiki Tendo. I have need to know the fiend's weak point, and as you are a reliable source of information, no matter your reputation for trickery, I thought you might have such information for sale."
Nabiki's eyes flashed back and forth quickly enough so that Kuno didn't notice. There were several students eavesdropping; it could only be expected, as Ranma was currently the big news at Furinkan, and much of that news involved his connections to Kuno and herself.
"So you think I'm going to help you beat my boyfriend?" Nabiki shot him a look.
Kuno blinked. "So, you too have fallen for his trickery. And the fact that he holds the pigtailed girl in his vile grasp does not warrant your betrayal of his evil ways?"
"No, not really," Nabiki said dryly.
Kuno snorted. "Very well."
*Slap* A stack of notes fell onto Nabiki's desk.
"Is 2,000 enough?"
Nabiki stared impassively at the money. People were definitely watching now. Kuno was SUCH an idiot.
"You know Kuno, I'm really quite insulted that you think so little of me. Did you really think that I'd sell out someone that close to me?"
Kuno looked confused for a moment, but then a light of understanding came into his eyes. "Ah! Of course! Name your price then!"
Nabiki's expression got a tad colder, and Kuno flinched. "Look, Kuno-baby, if you insist on bothering me like this, then meet me at the usual place AFTER school." She shot him a contemptuous glare, and several students that were eavesdropping decided that nothing important was going on and found things to do elsewhere. "Oh, and before you meet me, go see Dr. Tofu, all right? He can fix your back for you."
The mercenary Tendo stood up as the bell rang, and leaned in towards Kuno slightly as she passed him.
"And you'd BETTER bring more than a measly 2,000 yen." Making sure that no one had overheard, Nabiki passed into the hall, walking among the other student to the next class.

*Whump*
A sudden dull noise got Nabiki's attention, and she looked out the window with several other students to see Ranma leap out of the school building and onto a tree branch.
"Ranma you jerk! Get back here!" There was no need for Nabiki to see who spoke; the voice and tone were all too familiar to her.
"So you can hit me again? Fat chance!" Ranma stood up on the tree branch. "If you're such a great martial artist, come out here and get me!"
There was a scream of frustration, and Nabiki shook her head as Ranma jumped to the window of his next class, then moved on through the hallway.
Then she stopped, and frowned at the spot where Ranma had been a moment before. Several students gave her curious glances as they passed by, but none had the guts to bother her.
Eventually she seemed to reach a decision, and nodded her head once before rushing off to her next class.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Nabiki smirked mentally as she watched Kuno squirm in his seat, and sighed dramatically as she savored the spoonful of chocolate fudge for an unnecessarily long time. Kuno twitched at the sight. His patience had been drawn out far beyond its limits, but this was Nabiki Tendo; you either waited, or you went home.
Eventually torturing him by stalling wore itself out, and Nabiki polished off the "complementary" sundae.
"So, you want-" the first line of her business pitch was unceremoniously cut short by an anguished cry to the heavens.

"Where on Earth am I now?!"
Nabiki looked behind her, irritated, to see some guy with a bandanna and traveling backpack come out of the door to the freezer near the back of the ice cream shop.
The manager looked at him, bewildered. "How... how did you get in there? Who are you?"
Ryoga stared at him. "You speak Japanese? Then I'm not in Siberia after all!" Ryoga thrust a victorious fist upwards. Then he turned toward the manager of the shop. "So... where in Japan am I?"
The manager stared at him. "Look, either take a seat or get out of my store, but either way, stay out of the back! Employees only!" Ryoga allowed the older man to shove him toward the booths at the other end of the shop, figuring that this way, he at least didn't have to worry about ending up back in the vast maze somehow contained within the 6' by 8' freezer.

Nabiki shook her head, annoyed at the interruption, and unwilling to work out how bizarre it was. She turned back to Kuno, ignoring the fanged boy, who took a seat in the booth behind her, not really having anything better to do.
"As I was saying," she began dryly, "you want to know Ranma's weakness, right? Well, I'm not going to sell him out just like that."
Kuno nodded, glad that he had taken Nabiki's advice and seen her family chiropractor. He had never before been able to fully appreciate the simple flexibility of the human body. "Yes. Name your price! Any price to see Ranma Yagami brought to his knees!"
Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Doesn't work that way. How much is this information worth to you?"
Kuno twitched, then slammed a stack of bills onto the table.
Nabiki raised an eyebrow.
"15,000 yen." Kuno frowned at her. "Keep in mind, Nabiki Tendo, that I have other resources at my disposal. Yagami will know defeat, it is simply a matter of time."
Nabiki yawned. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. I want twice that."
Kuno fell down. Nabiki cocked her head to one side as the kendoist stood up, sputtering angrily. "Why don't YOU keep in mind, Kuno, that I'm selling information about someone rather close to me. If you want to beat Ranma with money instead of power, don't expect it to be cheap." She smirked as Kuno fumed silently. He stared down at her in frustration for a moment, before sitting back down and shelling out another wad of notes onto the table.
Nabiki looked at the money with detached interest. "Hmmm... okay, here's the deal. Ranma's only weak point, as far as I know, is that sometimes he can't control himself."
Kuno leaned forward. "What do you mean?"
Nabiki leaned back. "What I mean is, if you get him excited enough, he tends to lose control of himself. I guess he'd be easier to defeat then." She smirked. Kuno was falling for it, hook, line, and sinker.
He frowned at her. "Excited?"
Nabiki nodded. "Yeah. In a bad way, I mean. If you get him angry enough, or depressed enough, that sort of thing. Then his rational mind kinds of shuts down, and he'll be easy to beat."
Kuno nodded, and rubbed his chin in interest. "I see. How might I accomplish this?"
Nabiki shrugged. "Got me. Try making fun of his masculinity or something. I told you what his weak point is, my end of the deal is done." Nabiki gathered the money into her purse, then got up and left the shop, smiling all the while.
Kuno would challenge Ranma, make him mad, and then get flattened. She'd seen what had happened when Akane made fun of his curse; if Kuno tried the same thing after challenging Ranma to a fight, the Blue Blunder would be lucky if he didn't come out with third-degree burns. Even on the off-chance that Kuno actually managed to trigger this "riot of the blood" thing, it couldn't possibly as horrible as Ranma described. Iori had said so himself.

Kuno stared down at the parlor table in contemplation. Ranma's weak point wasn't anything like he'd expected. A certain point of his body susceptible to attack perhaps, or maybe a phobia of some sort. But to simply hear that he loses control when he gets angry... well, he was already out 30,000 yen, and the evil fiend wouldn't defeat himself.
He had just gotten up and turned around, when he came face to face with the young man who had been wandering about in the back of the shop earlier. The youth was now staring at him hopefully, with an odd, determined glint in his eyes.
"I... I couldn't help overhearing your conversation. You want to beat Ranma?" Ryoga had only caught bits and pieces of the conversation, but he definitely knew that this guy wanted to see Ranma beaten, and that he had also purchased knowledge of Ranma's weakness.
Kuno blinked. "Though it is of no concern of yours, yes, I will soon see the fool Yagami fall before me. Why do you wish to know?"
Ryoga nodded. "My name is Ryoga Hibiki. Maybe I can help."
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma leapt over the roof of another restaurant as a cry of incoherent rage erupted from behind him, and ducked down to other side as a poor, innocent mail box went flying overhead, missing its target by a good ten meters. Another incoherent cry, this one composed mostly of frustration, followed the object.
Ranma shook his head and started walking down the new street.
"Sheesh, what's she getting so mad for? I was just telling her the truth. She DOES lose focus when she gets angry. She's the one who started it, anyway." He continued muttering to himself as he walked down the street, not really knowing where he was going, or particularly caring.
This proved to be a problem once he stopped, and picked up a mild case of "Ryoga syndrome". Undaunted, he observed his surroundings, and got directions from a man tending a sushi stand.

"All right, I turn left here... ah! Here's the street! Now I just-"
"RANMA!!! PREPARE TO DIE!!!"
Ranma stumbled forward at the cry, then jumped away as several bandannas dug into the concrete where he had been moments before.
Sighing in annoyance, Ranma turned to see the fanged lost boy leaping down from a wall, umbrella in hand.
"Geez Ryoga, you're still around? What's your problem, anyway?!"
Ryoga growled and rushed forward, jabbing with his umbrella. "Shut up and die!"
Ranma blocked the strike, then backflipped upwards as a different weapon slashed through where his back had been.
"Know this, Yagami, that today you face defeat! Your evil trickery may have brought you victory before, but now the virtuous shall band forth and punish you!"
"Nice to see you too, Kuno," Ranma said dryly. "Fine, if you guys want to play two-on-one, then I'm game!"
Ranma spread his legs apart slightly, and balled his hands into fists. "Well? Let's go!"
"Hyah!" His opponents rushed forward together, and Ranma smirked.
"Take this! Yami barai!!" Ranma tossed two blasts of purple onto the ground, which rocketed toward his opponents while digging a small trench in the ground.
Ryoga jumped high, and evaded the blast while pointing his umbrella downward to spear into his foe. Kuno wasn't as lucky, and got clipped by the blast and knocked aside from the explosion.
Ranma quickly shifted positions, and swept his arm up. "Oni yaki!" The purple fire streamed upwards from the ground as Ranma jumped up, and Ryoga was forced to open his umbrella and use it to shield himself from the flames.
Ranma landed, and punched Ryoga in the shoulder before the lost boy could recover.
Ryoga ignored it, and responded by jabbing his umbrella straight into Ranma's chest. Ranma took the blow straight on, and Ryoga grinned as Ranma grunted heavily and clenched his teeth in pain. The lost boy's success was short lived, however, as Ranma's arms rose up and grasped the umbrella pressed to his sternum, splintering the materials within his grip. Ryoga tried to pull his umbrella back, but was surprised to find that Ranma's hold didn't give way. Ryoga put more effort into it, and Ranma slid slightly across the ground.
"HYARGH!!!" *BOOM!!!* The umbrella blew apart into splinters of bamboo and slivers of various heavy metals as the explosion of fire erupted from Ranma's hands, and Ryoga found himself flying backwards from both the force of the detonation, and his own efforts to take his weapon back.
Ranma let out a breath of irritation, and then turned just in time to avoid the full brunt of the bokken swing. Ranma managed to dodge the next one completely, then planted a foot in Kuno's stomach before backhanding the kendoist away, and just managed to twist out of the way before a hail of razor-bandannas cut through where he had been moments before.
'Shoot! I don't know if I can take both of them at once!' Any of his special techniques would leave him open to attack from behind, so he couldn't really let loose with his powers. Ranma decided that he'd take out Kuno first; he was the lesser threat, and would go down far more easily than the fanged lost boy.
Ranma dodged two thrusts from Kuno, then back kicked him in the shoulder, knocking the kendoist to the side for a moment, but leaving himself open to Ryoga's hammer punch. Ranma took the hit full on in the back of his head, and rolled with the blow along the ground to gain some distance. He got up again a little ways away, and lauched two more fireballs, not bothering to shout the name of the attack.
Kuno and Ryoga dodged to the side, but didn't attempt to attack, much to Ranma's surprise.
Kuno smirked at him, and rested his bokken against his shoulder, only to wince and lower his weapon as pain lanced through the bruise that was forming there. "So, the coward Yagami cannot face his superiors in battle, as I expected! Instead he hides behind spells and trickery!"
Ranma eye twitched. "Who's a coward?!"
Ryoga smiled at him. "Feh. You really are no man. It's not surprising, really, with that body!"
Kuno's smirk grew as Ranma's teeth clenched, even though the words did not make sense to him. For some reason, the dull-witted peon who had asked for his alliance insisted that the pigtailed girl and the fiend Yagami were one and the same. Of course, such a thing was impossible, and he truly pitied the poor fool for his delusions.
Ryoga didn't let up. "Aw, did we hit a nerve? Are you gonna cry now? Just like the girl you are!!"
"SHUT!!!" Ranma's fist suddenly blazed purple. "UP!!!!" Ranma slammed his hand on the ground, and an unusually large fireball rocketed toward Ryoga, who barely dived out of the way before the explosion of purple annihilated a large section of brick wall directly behind him.
Kuno looked surprised, and vaguely disturbed, but he continued where Ryoga left off, ready to dodge if the need should arise. "Well, he certainly has the temperment of a woman." Seeing Ranma flinch, Kuno continued in a louder voice. "He's exactly the monster you described, Hibiki! Hardly even human!"
This time, Ranma stumbled, almost falling down. "Wh-What?"
"Oh! You don't remember?!" Ryoga snarled, "Well I do!! I remember what you did! I was there!! You're less than a monster!! You're just a worthless coward!!"
Ranma shuddered. Ryoga was there? What was going on? "NO!!!" Ranma rocketed forward as his aura surrounded him. "Koto tsuki in!!" Ryoga only had time to attempt a block as Ranma grabbed onto his face and slammed the lost boy's head into the cement below.
Ranma focused, in preparation for the deadlier part of the attack, when a direct hit from Kuno sent pain stabbing into his side. Ranma staggered away from Kuno, and managed to block his second slash, but Ryoga's foot came up and doubled him over, and Ryoga's uppercut sent the pigtailed boy sprawling away.
Ranma groaned as he hit the ground, then spat up a little bit of blood before slowly getting up.
Kuno laughed. "Ha ha ha! So the fiend at last samples the humility of defeat! You are not worthy to call yourself a man!!"
Ranma growled, and started to move forward, when another jolt of pain triggered a convulsion throughout his body, and he leaned over and coughed up more blood.
Ryoga rubbed the back of his head as he glared at Ranma. "Now, Yagami! I will pay you back for everything you ever did to me!! At last, I'll have justice for Jusenkyou!!"
The shock hit Ranma like a hammer, and his pain seemed to fade away instantly. "Ju... Jusenkyou? What? Yo-You... were at Jusenkyou?"
Ryoga snarled, and charged. "YES!!! I saw what you did! For my curse, and my humiliation, YOU WILL DIE!!!"
Ranma didn't even attempt to block Ryoga's haymaker, and was sent flying into a brick wall that separated two different levels of ground. Cracks spider webbed outward from Ranma's body as it hit the wall, and several bricks shattered and burst outward from the force.
Ranma groaned and pulled his body free of the impression in the stone, to see his foes staring contemptuously at him.
Ryoga had a curse? He was at Jusenkyou? He knew. He knew it all. And Ryoga had been cursed too, probably because of something he had done while under the influence of his Orochi blood. No wonder Ryoga hated him.
Ranma collapsed, and his entire body shuddered. Anger, pain, misery, and shame all warred within him. They were right. He was no man. He wasn't even a woman. He was a monster. It was so hot. His blood felt as if it was boiling.
Ranma grit his teeth as his vision began to blur. 'NO!!! I will not lose control again! Focus! FOCUS!!! I won't lose!!'
Ryoga and Kuno walked up slowly as Ranma fell to his knees, then got up again, with seemingly Herculean effort.
Kuno would have none of that, and struck him over the head with his bokken. Ranma fell back against the ground, groaning. The kendoist grinned. "Well, this is not what I expected when Nabiki Tendo said that he would 'lose control', though I'd have to say my funds were well spent. Do you concede defeat, fiend?"
Ryoga growled. "Concede nothing! I'm going to ground you to a pulp for what you did to me Ranma!!"
Ranma's form was absolutely still for a moment. "Nabiki? Wh-What?"
Ryoga sneered. "Aw, did your girlfriend tell on you? Boo hoo!" Ryoga punctuated the last comment by kicking Ranma in the ribs, and sending the young Yagami sprawling across the pavement, to come to rest at the base of a telephone pole, the crescent moon on his back facing the open sky.
Kuno shrugged to himself. "Do not think too ill of Miss Tendo, villain. She may be mercenary and of low morals, but she brought about your downfall for the good of all."

Ranma was beyond listening to Kuno by then. He felt his mind slowly crumble as anger and shame ate away at it.
'Nabiki! She... she told them! She sold me out! I....... I trusted her...' Ranma's hands clenched into fists, and he felt the blood fill his mouth as his body seemed to burn up from the inside out. 'It doesn't matter.' The anger and shame were suddenly consumed by the flame that burned within him, that pulled at his mind. 'I can't hold out. They've won.' Ranma kept his eyes staring blankly at the concrete as his vision went, blurring to white. 'Now... they will pay.' The last of his will faltered, and his mind was consumed by the taint of the blood boiling within his veins.

Ryoga and Kuno were currently contemplating what to do now that Ranma was helpless before them. Kuno wished Ranma to release his hold on the pigtailed girl, but the young Yagami seemed to be slipping into unconsciousness, which would make such a demand futile. Ryoga was currently wondering whether he should crush Ranma as he had planned. He had waited so long for revenge, and dreamed every night about the different ways he would end Ranma's misery, but now that the opportunity presented itself, he found himself hesitating. Could he actually take a human life? Well, he had fully intended to the whole time he was battling Ranma, but like this? When his foe was lying on the ground, helpless?
Ryoga shook his head. This was all Ranma's fault! Even lying on the ground in a heap, he still managed to complicate his life!
"Rrrrrgh..."
Ryoga and Kuno both blinked, and looked over at Ranma's body, to see the pigtailed boy slowly pushing himself off the ground.
"Fuh... fuh... fuh..."
Ryoga frowned as Ranma slid one foot in front of him, then used that as leverage to lift his hands from the Earth. "Don't you know when to give up?!" Ryoga stepped forward.
"Hooooooh..." Ranma exhaled noisily, and a pale mist poured from his mouth. Ryoga's body locked up at the sight.
Kuno blinked. "What odd affliction is this? You are defeated Yagami! Surrender the pigtailed girl, and cease your petty sorcery!"
Ranma turned to face them very slowly, his black hair obscuring his eyes.
Then he looked up, and Ryoga's breath caught in his throat as he saw the empty yellow eyes of his rival.
"Graugh! GRAAAAAAGH!!!" Ranma stepped forward, and the ground under him erupted in purple flame, showering concrete around him.
Kuno growled and charged.
Ryoga simply gaped. THAT'S what Nabiki meant by Ranma "losing control"? They had triggered his berserk state?
"Oops," Ryoga muttered.
Then all hell broke loose.

**********************************************************************************
End Chapter 3

A short explanation of Ranma's Orochi capabilities:
Obviously, Ranma's stronger, faster, and more resilient in his Orochi state, but to a far greater degree than Iori ever was. The reason why will probably not be explained for several chapters, mostly because I don't feel like it.
Orochi Ranma is far more proficient with the Yagami flames, and tends to use them more destructively and indiscriminately.
Mentally, Ranma's Orochi state is similar to that of the neko-ken state, though far more violent. He loses control of his faculties and attacks somewhat at random, but tends to focus on those he has strong feelings towards. Whether those feelings are good or bad usually determines whether or not the subject survives.