::The preceding omake has little to nothing to do with anything of any sort of relevance::
::Really, I can't even remember why I wrote that::
::And now, back to the massacre::

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

Standard disclaimer applies. Do not sue me, or I'll sic an Orochi Clansman on you. KoF belongs to SNK... I think... Ranma is Takahashi's work. Characters may be mauled, killed, or even vivasected (I don't know what that word means... but I like it!) during this chapter. But probably not. Violence level is high, but it's just writing, so this can still pull a PG rating. To any Ryoga or Nabiki fans: I'm sorry. To any Akane fans: I'm not sorry.

Chapter 4
Firestorm
**********************************************************************************

Ryoga ran.
Really, retreat was the only option that made sense. Ryoga had a fair bit of ego-one sometimes has a tendency to think highly of himself when one can punch through most light metals-but the thing behind him was simply beyond his league. Even someone of Ryoga's arguably limited intellect could all too easily decide to throw pride to the wind and run like a frightened squirrel. It was beyond anybody's league, really. Ryoga doubted that there was anything mortal that could bring down a berzerker Ranma. Well, okay, there were those Amazons, but he had his suspicions concerning the "mortalness" of those wrinkled old hags, and besides, there were three of them.
Ryoga kept running.
The lost boy felt sorry for Kuno, he really did. But he didn't know the kendoist for long enough (or, for that matter, like him well enough) to face certain death in a suicidal attempt to help him. It was okay though; he had gotten a quick glance at the kendoist after Ranma had finished with him. The wounds didn't look fatal. At least, they wouldn't be if Kuno regained consciousness and sought help before he bled to death.
Ryoga had turned and ran as Ranma was busy tearing into Kuno. The problem was, Kuno apparently hadn't interested Ranma's feral, psychotic mind for very long.
Ryoga was now desperately praying for his lack of a sense of direction to kick in and get him VERY LOST, VERY FAST.
*Ka-kroom!* Ryoga yelped and turned to avoid the pillar of purple flame that erupted from where the fireball hit. Ranma had found him again!
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
Ryoga whimpered as he tried to pour more energy into his legs even as he felt waves of heat wash over him, followed by sprays of debris.
"GRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
The entire lower half of Ryoga's body would've been more than just sore by now, but right now adrenaline was keeping any thought of fatigue as far from Ryoga's senses as possible.
"Shyaaaa!" *Boom!* *Boom!*
As he ran for dear life, Ryoga took some time to reflect on all his misfortune, and how it all Ranma's fault. Getting lost in China was bad enough, especially when he was trying to trail someone. Getting beaten up and then tossed off a cliff into a cursed spring majorly sucked as well. Then there was the multiple times he had almost been eaten. Not to mention all the times he had been carried away with a horde of pigs. Once he had gotten to Japan, it only got worse. Ranma had beaten him with little trouble, and completely dismissed his threats to end his life. He had gotten lost again, and was then forced to ally with the clueless moron who had divulged Ranma's "weakness". And then, with the moron's help, he had finally beaten Ranma as he so richly deserved... only to have the jerk go psycho and turn into a feral killing machine capable of ripping him to so many little bloody shreds.
*Kroom!*
Ryoga grunted as the small fireball impacted his back, sending him onto the ground, hard.
This was just not his year.
The fleeing lost boy quickly flipped away, using one hand to push himself from the ground before flipping upright. A cursory glance behind him nearly got shrapnel in his eye, as Ranma's flying kick dug into the ground and blasted the concrete walk apart from the force.
Having done a physical attack instead of simply throwing a fireball as he ran, Orochi Ranma was forced to extricate his foot from the ground and begin running again, giving Ryoga a few precious moments to jump onto a house and accelerate to I'm-gonna-die-please-help-me speed. People in Nerima knew trouble when they saw it, and calmly but quickly evacuated Ryoga's path across the various roofs, even if they didn't see the humanoid figure encompassed in purple hellfire.
Ranma jumped onto a roof himself, and empty yellow eyes watched as the lost boy jumped around at random, perhaps hoping that a zig-zag course would confuse his attacker (he wasn't in the right state of mind to realize that Ryoga was trying to run in a straight line, but failing). A maniacal grin slowly formed on Ranma's face. The purple aura that surrounded him began to build, and ribbons of fire snaked upward from the roofing around him, winding around him as they rose.
"Hraaaaaah..." pale, yellow steam wafted from his mouth. Ranma raised his hands slightly in front of him, his gaze always centered on Ryoga.
His flame aura reached its peak, and the tendrils of flame suddenly bent to flow into Ranma's raised hands. Within moments, both fists were swallowed by dark, fiery spheres.
"SHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Ranma slapped his fists together, pointing them at Ryoga.
*Shoooooooooooooooooom* A huge purple beam of energy blasted forth from Ranma's hands, tearing up the street far below its path as its head impacted the closed-up bathhouse just behind Ryoga.
*Ka-krooom!!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!*
A series of explosions followed the initial blast, completely decimating the bathhouse and lighting most of what surrounded it aflame. The explosions continued as the beam moved to the side, sweeping across Ryoga's path.
*Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!*
Ryoga jumped just in time, and landed behind the antique shop just as the energy beam annihilated everything that kept the roof up. Ryoga looked behind him in fascinated horror as it continued to do the same to the structures past the antique shop.
'I think I have to run faster...' and he did.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Ooh! How you can actually like that creep is beyond me!" Akane fumed as she played her last encounter with the pigtailed boy, and planned what she would do differently the next time he was within strangling range.
Nabiki rolled her eyes. "I know you won't believe this, but he CAN actually be a nice guy. Really nice, actually."
"Hmph." Akane crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, it's not like it would kill him to be a nice guy around me."
'Actually, it'd probably kill him to be around you at all.' Nabiki suppressed a snicker at her own mental joke. "Don't worry about it Akane. I'll talk to him, okay? Even if it is fun to watch, we can't have you two destroying things all the time."
Akane sighed and paid for her new bookbag. After thanking the cashier, she and Nabiki walked away from the store along the sidewalk, Akane occasionally knocking on her bookbag to insure its ability to withstand punishment. "Anyway, I wonder where he is?"
Nabiki shrugged. "Probably out fighting or something. He'll turn up."

*Shoooooooooooooooooom* *Ka-krooom!!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!*
Akane and Nabiki blinked, then looked over in the direction the noise was coming from to see multiple explosions of purple fire tear across a line of buildings.
"Yeah, a REAL nice guy," Akane deadpanned.
Nabiki frowned. That was way too much power for Ranma to be using on Kuno... what was going on?
"OH GOD!!! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!" a marginally familiar boy wearing a yellow and black bandanna jumped from the roof of the shop they were just browsing, only to land near the other side of the street, and run straight THROUGH the brick wall separating it from a mall parking lot. The other spectators stared at the sight for a moment, then quickly and calmly fled the area.
Nabiki blinked. "Wait... he's that guy from the ice cream shop. Who-?"
Her rhetorical question was cut off by a feral roar, followed closely by a humanoid figure jumping high above their heads, eclipsing the sun even as it cast its own violet light on the shadowed ground.
"SHYAH!!! HAAAAAAUGH!!!" swarms of purple lights appeared from Ranma's hands, then slowly accelerated downward to rain explosions on the innocent commercial district below.
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
Nabiki was staring open-mouthed in shock even as Akane tackled her to the ground. Waves of heat and small rubble washed over her, and she squeezed her eyes shut as Ranma let out another piercing roar.
'Oh my God... Kuno did it... but how did that moron manage to... I mean, how could he...' Nabiki continued gaping even as Akane stood up amongst the smoke.
"I can't believe that idiot! How could he just toss around that much power like that? That maniac could hurt someone!" Akane growled and started running, making sure to avoid the blackened craters. "I'm going to teach that jerk a lesson!"
Nabiki's eyes widened. Akane was going to try and stop him? After he casually destroyed an entire street? But then, Ranma had never really defended himself against Akane before, and Akane didn't exactly know that he wasn't in his right mind.
'If she attacks Ranma, she's dead.' "AKANE!!! NO!!!"
"Don't worry Nabiki! I'll take care of it! You can stay here!" Akane ran through the section of the destroyed wall.
Nabiki grimaced, then got to her feet and started running, wishing for the first time in months that she had her sister's devotion to physical conditioning.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma grunted sporadically as he surveyed the parking lot before him. It was peppered with craters now, and a few cars were still burning with violet fire. He turned, then surveyed the massive stone wall that marked the side of the mall.
He had lost his prey. Momentarily. He would find it soon enough.
Ranma leapt onto the wall before him, and his fingers dug into the stone easily, creating finger holes where there were none.
He was about to began scaling it, when his sharpened senses detected an object flying toward the back of his head at high speed. Ranma freed one arm for a defense.
*Whack* *Thwoom* The bookbag went flying to the side, engulfed in fire. By the time it hit the ground, it had already mostly collapsed as ash.
"Hey! That's two bookbags you've destroyed!"
Ranma turned his head lazily to look at the little girl below. Said "little girl" proceeded to heft a sign that had been blown out of the ground and throw it at him like a javelin.
Ranma pushed off the wall, then backflipped to land in a crouch two meters from Akane.
"I can't believe you just rushed through and tossed all those explosives like that!! What do you have to say for yourself?!"
"Shyaaaah!"
"What did you say?!" Akane shouted irritably.
"Graaaaaa!"
Akane blinked. "Uh... do you have a cold or something?"
"Kyaaaaa! Shyaaaak!!"
Akane blinked some more, then snarled. "Hey! You're making fun of me, aren't you?!"
"Kraaugh!!"
Akane cocked back a fist. "Yeah? Well TAKE THIS!!!"
Ranma, predictably, didn't take it, and Akane almost fell forward as her fist didn't meet anything to stop its momentum. Luckily, she was saved when Ranma slipped past her fist and grabbed both her arms.
"GRAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!" Ranma leaned his head back, then smashed his forehead against Akane's, sending the youngest Tendo daughter flying from the force.
Ranma stared impassively as Akane's unconscious body slid across the pavement. This one was weak. Not so weak as the other common creatures that walked this place, but still weak. It did not deserve his time.
Ranma turned back to the mall, the last place he had seen the one with the bandanna. That one was strong, and filled with hate and anger. It was worthy prey; it was deserving of death. It would die, and then it would burn, and he would bathe in its blood.
"Akane! Are you all right?"
Ranma turned suddenly at the voice, and Nabiki stopped in her tracks to stare at him in return.
'Oh geez. Kuno really did do it. He's all hunched over, like he said, and those eyes...' Nabiki gulped and took a step back, then returned her gaze to Akane's body. 'No blood. That's good. She's also not on fire.'
Then her blood froze as Ranma let out a puff of steam from his mouth, before his mouth very slowly formed a grin.
Yes. This one. This one was the betrayer. Still weak, but still worthy of death. It's death would have to come slowly though; otherwise there was no sport in killing weaklings.
Nabiki trembled slightly as Ranma took a step toward her. 'Okay, easy girl. This is Ranma. He wouldn't hurt you.' She glanced back at Akane. 'Okay, so maybe he'd hurt you a little. Just be calm, and don't make any sudden movements.'
Orochi Ranma started walking forward slowly, one step after the other, before raising his arms as if to grasp Nabiki once in range.
*Fwoom* Those same hands lit aflame.
Nabiki let out a choked gasp, and her eyes began tearing up as she felt the heat of the flames coming closer. She couldn't run. Ranma was many times faster than her, without taking into account his Orochi form. He'd cut her down instantly. Fighting him off was even more ridiculous.
Nabiki slowly stepped back even as she inhaled a bit of the dense, sickly fog that Ranma exhaled. It smelled decrepit, like rotting flesh. She was going to die.
A whimper escaped her lips as Ranma grabbed her shoulder fiercely, the woolen fabric warming quickly from the heat of Ranma's aura, and searing her skin underneath.
*Kshk!* Nabiki shouted incoherently as Ranma's fingernails cut easily through the soft skin of her other shoulder. Nabiki fell backward onto the ground, clutching her arm as blood seeped from it and stained her sweatshirt.
"Hyaaaaaaa...... raaaaaugh..." Orochi Ranma stalked forward, regarding her with a maniacal grin of an insane killer. But it was more than that really. This wasn't simple insanity. Nor was Ranma a simple killer.
Nabiki's choked sobs had no chance of reaching Ranma. The betrayer lay before him. It's blood flowed. Sweet blood. There would be more blood flowing before the flame was put out.
Ranma raised his arm in a savage clawing gesture. "KYAAAAAUGH!!!"
Nabiki was hypnotized as she watched the hand descend. A hand that could, and by all indications, would slice her to ribbons. She was far too occupied to hear the screams from off to the side, much less notice them as she squeezed her eyes shut, preparing herself for the final blow.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" *Pow!* "Oof!"
Nabiki cracked an eye open, even as the rest of her body was trying to overcome its shock and terror. Ranma was stumbling slightly, and that guy with the bandanna was on the ground behind him.

Ryoga rubbed his head, annoyed, and wondered just what was going on. He had continued running in sheer panic after he had finally managed to lose Ranma, in the hopes that his terrible sense of direction would land him in a far-off place, when he had run into something. That in itself was not strange at all; what was odd was that it wasn't knocked aside like a bowling pin.
Opening his eyes and looking up, everything became clear.
'I just ran harder than I ever have in my life to get AWAY from Ranma, only to come full circle and run back into him,' he thought. And then, out loud, "Mommy."
Ranma's empty, lifeless eyes gazed into his. A hand rose, and gripped Ryoga's shirt, before lifting him into the air.
Ryoga panicked and threw a hard right hook to his tormentor's jaw.
*Thwack!* Ranma's head was knocked to the side from the blow, and just as quickly snapped back to face him, giving no indication that a hit was ever taken.
Ranma exhaled noisily, blowing the strange mist into Ryoga's face. The lost boy breathed it in for a moment, then started coughing from the scent. It smelled like death. If death could be said to have a scent, at least.
"I... will... teeeeeear... you... aparrrrrt......" Ryoga looked into Ranma's soulless eyes, shocked beyond action. Then Ranma straightened his arms, holding Ryoga out at arm's length.
*Ka-BLAM!!!* The explosion blasted Ryoga across the parking lot, spreading violet embers as the lost boy skidded along the pavement.
Ryoga coughed as the flames ate at his shirt and skin, and rolled his entire body out of the area where he landed.
*Smash!!* Ranma's fist sunk into the pavement of the lot, missing Ryoga completely. Ryoga managed to get to his feet, and then flip himself over a car, simply to put something between him and Ranma.
*KABOOM!!!* Ryoga didn't look back as the car's fuel tank exploded, and ignored the metal pieces flying into his back. All it was was another distraction for Ranma.
Ryoga kept running through the parking lot, trying to put vehicles between him and his pursuer. He reached the street, and ran right through another brick wall separating it from the street. Hesitating only a moment, he chose a direction at random (something he was very good at) and started running again.
"Graaaaaugh!!"
Ryoga let a few tears fall from his eyes as twin fireballs exploded to either side of him. He spared a glance to his rear, to see Ranma crouching on top of the brick wall, both fists aflame.
"Why can't you leave me alone?! Go away, you psycho!!"
Ranma barked out a short... exclamation of some sort, and then leapt high into the air, releasing more swarms of purple lights that slowly gave way to gravity and plummeted downwards.
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
Ryoga got caught near one of the blast areas, but hardly let that stop him. By now a good portion of his shirt had been burned off, and his pants would have been blackened if they weren't black to begin with.
Leaping over a fence, Ryoga bounded off onto a street with several pedestrians on it, all of whom gave him questioning glances as they noticed his state of disarray. When a figure appeared overhead, encompassed in purple, the spectators decided to throw the "quick and calm" evacuation to the wind and opted for the more common "panic and run" type of evacuation.
Ryoga was nearly knocked over by the scattering people, which was rather frustrating to someone who had enough trouble going in a straight line when there was nothing in his way.
Arrows of violet fire blasted the ground, and Ryoga's heart seized in his chest. Until he realized that he was unscathed, standing alone in the middle of a ring of craters blazing with guttering purple flame.
Amidst his relief, Ryoga jumped, and the ground he was standing on was torn and smashed by Ranma's dive as the pigtailed boy's tackle missed its target. Ryoga didn't look back this time as he jumped off the roof of a wrecked car and over another building, and Ranma's glowing eyes narrowed as he picked himself off the ground slowly.
"KRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
Ryoga kept running.
Run, Ryoga, run.

The lost boy looked around the gas station frantically, then ducked behind an SUV next to a pumping station.
The man refueling his car blinked, and then craned his neck to look at the young man cowering next to the engine.
"Something wrong?"
Ryoga looked at him, still gibbering in terror. "Hello. I'm going to die. It's been nice meeting you."
The man blinked, then turned as some other people nearby shouted. Then his eyes widened upon seeing something that was obscured from Ryoga's view by the SUV. The man did the instinctual thing and ran, completely forgetting about his vehicle.
Ryoga was frantic. He didn't want to die. Not like this. Not at Ranma's hands. But then, it really wasn't up to him, was it? He stared at the bucket of soapy water next to him, complete with squeegee and sponge. Cold, soapy water. Inspiration hit him like a tomboy's mallet.
*Splash*
The small black piglet shook water off of it, glad that for once his head had come in handy for something other than a place to hold his bandannas.
"Kyaaah..."
Ryoga went still. Then, ever so slowly, he raised his little head up to see Ranma squatting on the hood of the SUV, his purple aura only slightly thinner than before, and his soulless gaze as cold as ever.
"Bwee?" Ryoga sweatdropped as the young Yagami stared down at him.
Then, to his desperate relief, Ranma broke the gaze and searched from side to side, probably looking for his human form. Ryoga started to slowly walk away, so as not to draw attention to himself.
*Drip* *Drip*
Ryoga spared a moment in his sneaking to watch the gasoline drip from the nozzle that the man had been holding before he had fled.
Gasoline.
He was at a gas station.
With a strange, psychotic version of "the human torch".
Oh $#!+!
"Bweeeeeeeeeee!" Ryoga ran for all he was worth, pumping his short piggy legs as hard as he could. It was rather difficult; changing didn't rejuvenate you any, so his body was just as tired and beaten as it was before. Adrenaline truly could do wonders, however.
Ranma threw his head from side to side as he stood up on the hood of the SUV. His prey has escaped. But how? There was no sign of him. Where?
"Raaaaugh... Raaargh! RAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!" Orochi Ranma's purple aura exploded outwards.
Contact.
*KAAAAABLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!*

Ryoga didn't quite get far enough. The detonation lifted him clear off the ground, and he succumbed to unconsciousness in the air, even as the fire charred his porcine hide.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Across from the gas station, a lone figure shook its head at the explosion, a huge flash of typical yellow flame, with a core of purple embers.
So, it happened again. With luck, he'd still be all right. Ranma was a tough one, after all. Even tougher when he's gone berserk.
Still, the figure hesitated to step closer. The other people had all fled, and for good reason.
Wait; there was something coming out.

Orochi Ranma slowly trudged away from the center of the crater that used to be a gas station, hunched over and bleeding. There were several burns all over his body, though nothing serious, and hardly what one would expect from someone who had survived such a huge explosion. If Ranma was in the state of mind to think about such things, he would be thankful that his own aura protected him as much as it did from the flame.
Ranma fell to his knees, and his breathing started to slow as his entire body suddenly acknowledged the pain and stress it had endured.
Someone was coming! Ranma snapped his head to the side, and his empty eyes took in a sight that they found familiar: a teenage girl with long, violet hair. She was obviously afraid, and approaching carefully.
"Ranma?" The girl spoke tentatively, "Is Shampoo. Is you okay? Ranma?"
Ranma fell to the ground, submitting to the void of unconsciousness that lay beyond the flames of the blood riot. There was nothing to be afraid of. The caretaker was here.
__________________________________________________________________________________

*And so we'll have clear skies over Okinawa, Kyoto, and most of Tokyo all through the week.*
The female newscaster continued droning on about the weather. Nodoka finished chopping the carrots, then slid her knife across the cutting board to sweep them into the pan.
*The only exception is the Nerima district, which has been inexplicably experiencing bizarre and totally unpredictable weather patterns for two days so far. Inhabitants are encouraged to be prepared for anything, from sudden, heavy rain, to a concentrated meteor shower.*
"Hmmm, hm-hm hmm hmmm." Nodoka continued humming to herself, and poured some soy sauce into the stir-fry.
*Rrrrrk* *Bam* "Mom! I'm home!"
Nodoka smiled as Yurumi skipped into the kitchen. "Hello dear. How was your day at school?"
The nine-year old giggled, setting down her book bag at the door. "It was great!"
*Statisticians are predicting a 40% chance of monster attack in the general Tokyo area today, with an elevated 65% chance in the Juuban and Nerima districts. In addition, they predict a 70% chance of alien invasion in the Nerima and Okinawa districts, with an additional 20% chance of random supernatural phenomena for these regions. In other news, minor maintenance problems in the Tokyo subway stations will be causing delays and canceling-*
"You didn't start any fires, did you?" Nodoka asked with a slightly worried tone.
Yurumi lowered her head and blushed. "No. I remember what happened last week."
Nodoka smiled again, and rubbed her daughter on the head affectionately, scattering her vibrant, fiery red hair. "That's good, dear." Nodoka twisted a knob on her stove, then backed off, taking the frying pan in her hand. "Could you light that, please?"
Yurumi grinned, nodded, then pointed to the stove with only her thumb and index finger sticking out, like a gun.
*Fwoom*
Nodoka nodded and placed the frying pan over the violet blaze, then started stirring the dish. Yurumi sat down next to the TV, then took her homework out of her bag.
Nodoka was glad they had come to Nerima. It seemed like such a nice place. And the people were very understanding of the extraordinary. Which was simply a must when Yurumi's abilities had begun to manifest.
Burning down most of the school in Juuban was quite unfortunate, she agreed, but they wouldn't even listen to her when she tried to explain what had happened! Imagine, grown men and women, cowering behind a conference table from a little girl trying to hide behind her mother's legs in embarrassment! They should really be ashamed of themselves!
Nerima's Katonawa Elementary School took the incident in stride though, and the principal even asked if Yurumi's unique pyromania required any special attention. He had been just as understanding when she explained that it wasn't pyromania, though she suspected he didn't really believe it. Besides, Yurumi had gotten the hang of her powers after she had burned down the house; Nodoka had really started to put some of what her husband had told her to use, and the number of Yurumi's "friendly fire" incidents had tanked considerably.
So she had used some of Iori's savings, as well as the fire insurance coverage (absolutely essential in any Yagami household), and found a nice home in Nerima. It had surprised her just how cheap the land was; apparently Nerima was a place of extremely low property values.
*This just in! There's been a major disaster surrounding the commercial district of Nerima! We have reports of several explosions of some type of purple energy... no, my mistake, that's purple fire. More reports are coming in.*
Nodoka stopped cooking her stir fry, and frowned at her daughter, who was staring at the television wide-eyed. "I thought you said you didn't start any fires."
Yurumi shook her head at her mother. "But I didn't! I didn't even go shopping today!"
*The reports are in. It appears that there are only two casualties; a young man found at a partially destroyed portion of a small park, who was injured but is expected to make a full recovery. Paramedics, however, were forced to heavily sedate him soon after he had regained consciousness, for reasons that are unclear. Something about "annoying rants".* The newscaster shrugged.
Nodoka turned off her stove, leaving the vegetables to cool as she took a seat beside her daughter, eyes locked on the set.
*The other casualty was another young man that was apparently being trailed by the source of the explosions, and ran a large course through the commercial areas of Nerima. The destruction apparently reached a peak with a massive explosion at a local gas station. Neither the young man nor the cause of the explosions have been found at the blast site. Here we have some eyewitness reports of the incident.*

*Yeah, it was real crazy. I just saw this kid with a bandanna run through a wall, so I just took off. Didn't even look back when all that purple lights started flashing about.*

*It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen! I didn't get a good look at whoever it was who was running away, but I saw this really cool pillar of purple fire on top of a roof! Then it blasted out as a beam that swept across a row of buildings and demolished them!*

*Some kid with black hair wearing a bandanna ducked in front of my car. Said something about dying... then I turned around, and saw this other... thing... surrounded by that purple fire.*
The reporter held her microphone closer to the man. *Can you tell us what it looked like?*
The man stared at her incredulously. *What, are you crazy? I didn't hang around to watch! I may have lost my car, but my life is worth more than that!*

*As a martial artist, it was my duty to help out when the explosions started. The civilians needed a leader, so I bravely took charge and heroically led them out of the danger zone. Things were looking bad. At times I even needed to use force to keep things under control, and keep the non-combatants safely behind me.*
The reporter sweatdropped as the heavy set man in a white gi nodded sagely to himself, then paused to push his thin glasses firmly back onto his nose. *So... was there any encounter with the cause of the destruction? Did you attempt to stop it?*
The man grunted and self-consciously tugged on the knot holding the bandanna that was tied onto his head to conceal his baldness. *I'm heroic, not suicidal. Give me a break.*

Nodoka's spoon fell from numb fingers. "Oh dear. Is it...?"
Yurumi looked back and forth from her mother to the television. "Mom? What's wrong? Are Daddy and Ranma back?"
Nodoka stared for a moment, then got up and picked up her purse from the counter. Reaching into it, she placed several thousand yen notes onto the table. "Here. Yurumi, order something for dinner, please. I'm going out."
Yurumi looked up nervously, but nodded. She knew better than to argue when her mother got serious like this.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Iori walked the streets of Nerima cautiously, avoiding the crowds of spectators and the investigators that surrounded the area with as much prevalence as the blackened craters they were observing.
He had heard the explosions and seen the purple flashes. He had his suspicions right there, but discarded them. What were the chances that Ranma had experienced another riot of the blood?
Looking at the line of collapsed roofs sitting atop piles of charred debris, he had to rethink those chances.
'Damn. How did this happen? If Ranma killed anyone then he'll never get over it.' Iori looked from side to side, then entered an alleyway.
He shrugged his hands into his pockets as he watched a teenage girl with long, violet hair gently place a wet towel onto his son's forehead. He couldn't actually see if it was Ranma, as she had positioned herself to be as inconspicuous as possible, but he knew this girl, and couldn't imagine who else she would be tending.
*Ahem*
Shampoo jumped up in surprise, then whipped around in a defensive stance. Only to deflate completely once she saw who it was.
"Oh. Is you. You know what happen?" Shampoo gestured to Ranma, and Iori got his first look at his son's condition. Not too bad; the burns would take a little more time to heal, but the various abrasions and bruises were already disappearing.
Iori shook his head in response to Shampoo's question. "No. Was he...?" he left the question unfinished. Shampoo knew what he meant.
She sighed and nodded slowly. "Yes. Shampoo see him walk out of explosion. Hurt very bad, and pass out."
Iori nodded. "Thanks for taking care of him. Though why are you here?"
Shampoo blinked rapidly, and a sweatdrop rolled down her head. "Uhhh...... Shampoo... Look! Ranma wake up!"
Iori turned toward his son, much to Shampoo's relief. "Ranma? You all right?"
Ranma groaned, and his eyes blinked rapidly. "Huh? Wha...? What's going... oh no..." Ranma sat up suddenly, then clutched his stomach suddenly as pain shot through his body.
"Ah man, I think I'm gonna be sick!"
He grimaced, then blinked when he saw a feminine hand on his arm. "Ranma is okay?"
Ranma blinked some more, noticing for the fist time that he wasn't alone with his father.
"Shampoo? What are you doing here?"
Shampoo blinked nervously again. "Ah... Shampoo come visit Ranma in homeland! Arrive just in time! Very bad hurt!"
Ranma apparently accepted this, and turned to his father.
"Ranma. How did this happen?"
The pigtailed boy grimaced and turned so that his back rested against the alley wall. "Kuno and Ryoga ganged up on me. And, well... they said some stuff as they beat me, and I... sorta lost it."
Ranma reflected upon the actual reason within his mind. Nabiki. He had told her the only secret he had that was bigger than his curse, and she sold him out a day later.
"Ryoga was at Jusenkyou, Pop. He said he got cursed. I think I did that to him." Iori's expression didn't change, but it didn't need to show anything. Ranma could just as easily imagine the older Yagami's shame like this than if he had shouted it in his ear through a loudspeaker.
It wasn't Ryoga's fault, or Kuno's, or Nabiki's. Bottom line was, he had lost control again. This time in a heavily populated area. As much as those three contributed to that, it was still his responsibility.
Shampoo started to get worried as Ranma's expression began to sink further and further into despair. "Ranma be okay?"
He glanced up at her, and flashed her a grateful smile. "Thanks Shampoo. I'll be all right. I guess." Ranma felt his strength return, and lifted himself off the floor of the alleyway, before leaning against the wall. Then he stared hard at the wall on the other side of the alley, avoiding eye contact with his father.
"Pop? I didn't...... hurt anyone, did I?" Iori knew this was coming. Whatever damage had been done, Ranma would try to take responsibility upon himself; this he knew. It was admirable, but really took its toll more than the whole blood riot itself, which should have been Ranma's main concern. But then, Iori didn't have half of Ranma's inhibitions when it came to defending himself.
"No. Nobody important anyway. Who's Ryoga?"
Ranma sighed. "It's a long story. Let's get outta here." He stood up, then stumbled slightly. Shampoo caught his arm, then slipped it around her neck to support him. He gave another grateful smile, and then turned back toward his father, who was already heading out ahead of them.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Kasumi gasped in surprise as soon as she got back from shopping and immediately dropped to her knees next to Akane, who was lying prone on the couch with a wet towel on her forehead. Soun, who followed his daughter through the front door, had somewhat less conventional methods of dealing with sudden stress.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! MY BABY GIRL IS DYING!!!"
Kasumi refrained from calming her father in favor of checking on Akane's injuries. She took off the towel, and winced slightly at the extremely conspicuous bump parting her hair.
"She's going to be okay, right?"
Kasumi hesitated, then nodded at Nabiki, who was descending the stairs. "She'll be all right. It looks like she took a nasty hit to the forehead, is all. Possibly a slight concussion." Soun kept crying, albeit he'd stopped declaring his youngest daughter's wounds fatal.
Kasumi frowned slightly. Nabiki was coming down in a clean, blue sweater, but her pants were very dirty. "Nabiki? What happened?"
Nabiki could have cursed as she realized that she had kept the same pants on. Ordinarily she wouldn't have dismissed little details like that, but she had been rather shaken up by the day's events.
"......... It was... an accident..." Nabiki really wasn't sure how much more she could say. Then she noticed her sister's hand moving. "You can... ask Akane. She's coming to." Nabiki sat down on the edge of the couch miserably. This was going to be a long night...
"Akane! Akane! You're all right! Oh, thank the heavens!" Soun clasped his hands around hers, and cried desperately into them.
"Wh-What? Dad? Where am I?" Akane sat up slowly, and freed a hand to rub her head as her brain seemed to throb inside her skull. She opened her eyes, and then blinked until the fuzzy images cleared up.
"Akane, are you all right?" Kasumi asked with a worried expression.
Akane smiled to reassure her older sister, even as she rubbed her head. "Uh-huh! I'm fine! Just a bit of a headache..." she turned an annoyed frown to her father. "Dad! Would you cut it out? You're getting my dress wet!"
As Soun backed off slightly, Kasumi laid a hand on her youngest sister's shoulder. "Akane, how did this happen to you?"
Akane blinked, then frowned again. Then she scowled. "It was Ranma!"
Kasumi and Soun gasped, while Nabiki sighed. Well, the cat was out of the bag now.
"That jerk said I had no self-control, then called me a klutz and ran off! ... I must have tripped chasing him."
Kasumi and Soun blinked. Nabiki leaned over slightly, then fell completely off the couch with an unreadable expression on her face.
Akane scratched her head, then winced at the sensation that created. "Wait... there was something else... after that..."
Nabiki sat up, then squatted by the couch.
Akane nodded, then pointed to Nabiki. "Yeah! I went with you to shop for a new bookbag... and then... I don't remember."
Her family stared.
"You don't remember?" Nabiki deadpanned.
Akane shook her head. "No. It's a total blank."
"MY LITTLE BABY HAS AMNESIA!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" The Tendo daughters all sweatdropped, but didn't turn toward their father.
Akane looked at Nabiki. "Why? What happened." Kasumi also stared at the middle daughter, who stared back.
"It was...... There was an explosion. A pretty big one, but I don't think anyone was seriously hurt. I didn't see exactly what happened to Akane, but when I found her, she had that bump on her head."
Akane blinked again. "Oh. An explosion? ... Sounds right, I guess."
Kasumi put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my! It's a good thing you only got a bump on the head, then."
Akane nodded, Soun's crying fit started to wind down, and Kasumi started to examine the injuries more closely. Leaving Nabiki with her thoughts.
Akane had taken a hit to the head, and didn't remember a thing. She'd recover just fine, if what Kasumi was saying was any indication. Nabiki idly scratched her shoulder irritably; bandaging the wound didn't exactly make it hurt much less.

"Yo."
The entire Tendo family turned toward the direction of the front door. Then they blinked collectively, as one by one they took in a face they hadn't seen before.
"Ah! Yagami! ...... Uhm, who's this young lady?" Soun got up and scratched his head.
Ranma stared for a moment, then nodded toward Shampoo. "This is Shampoo. She's a friend of mine from China."
Shampoo smiled happily and bowed. "Nihao! Shampoo come visit Ranma in Japan! Is okay?"
Kasumi smiled warmly and put down the cloth. "Oh! You need someplace to stay? We have an extra room; it will be no trouble at all!" Kasumi got up and left for the second guest room, not noticing how Ranma's eyes had locked onto Nabiki's as soon as Shampoo had been introduced.
Iori had noticed, and left for the kitchen, motioning for Soun to follow him. Soun was a little reluctant to leave Akane's side, but followed anyway.
Shampoo stared worriedly at Ranma, casting occasional suspicious glances at Nabiki.
Akane stared worriedly at Nabiki, casting occasional suspicious glances at Ranma.

Ranma stared hard at Nabiki, unable to read her expression. Not that he was trying very hard. He was never good at that sort of thing.
Nabiki, however, was. Ranma knew. She didn't exactly know how he had figured it out, but he knew that she had told Kuno and essentially set up that episode. So now the question was, what was he going to do about it?
"Hey, Akane, maybe it's best that you let Dr. Tofu take a look at your head. Even if it's not serious, if you can't remember what happened, it's probably best to make sure."
Akane blinked suddenly, and stopped glaring at Ranma. Ordinarily she would've said something by now, likely around the lines of "You pervert! Stop staring at my sister!" and pounded him, but didn't want to alienate his friend just yet, since she was a girl. "Oh! I guess you're right." Akane got up unsteadily.
Ranma hadn't taken his eyes off Nabiki, and Shampoo had started poking him in the side to get his attention.
Then, he blinked.
__________________________________________________________________________________

*Kshk!* Nabiki shouted incoherently as Ranma's fingernails cut easily through the soft skin of her other shoulder. Nabiki fell backward onto the ground, clutching her arm as blood seeped from it and stained her sweatshirt.
"Hyaaaaaaa...... raaaaaugh..." Orochi Ranma stalked forward, regarding her with a maniacal grin of an insane killer. But it was more than that really. This wasn't simple insanity. Nor was Ranma a simple killer.
Nabiki's choked sobs had no chance of reaching Ranma. The betrayer lay before him. It's blood flowed. Sweet blood. There would be more blood flowing before the flame was put out.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma's expression hardened, and Nabiki's emotionless facade slipped as she flinched back.
Akane, whose dizzy spell had passed almost instantly, blinked at her sister.
"Nabiki?"
Ranma finally moved forward, and turned toward the stairs which led to the bathroom. He felt dirty.
"You should probably go see the doc too, Nabiki. That cut on your arm is pretty deep; it could get infected."
Ranma never glanced back to see Nabiki's panicked expression as he ascended the stairway, Shampoo following hesitantly behind him.
"Nabiki? You were hurt too? Let me see, it might be serious!"
"No Akane, it's all right..."
"Stop squirming! I can't-*Gasp*-This IS deep! Are you okay?"

Akane and Nabiki's conversation faded away as Ranma walked down the hall and stopped in front of the bathroom, contemplating.
Shampoo didn't like this at all. Ranma was acting sullen and depressed, just like at the Amazon village. It had taken her over a week to cheer him up then, and restore his normally warm and carefree attitude.
Had Shampoo had a little more instruction in psychology, she would have known that it takes an extremely strong mind to get over a traumatic event of such magnitude in a week, especially when in the midst of people who wanted to kill you because of it.
"Ranma is okay, yes? Nobody hurt. Ranma just be careful!" Shampoo smiled.
Ranma sighed, and cracked a small smile. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks Shampoo." The girl had a type of bubbly cheerfulness that made it impossible to be sad around her. He had mostly that to thank for getting over the whole incident in China.
Still, he wasn't in China anymore, and this incident was a little more complicated than the other.
Ranma entered the changing room. 'Nabiki... I can't believe I hurt her... but after what she did... damn! What am I gonna do?'
He started to take off his shirt, then stopped.
"Er... Shampoo? Could you wait outside or something please?"
__________________________________________________________________________________

Nabiki was in her room nursing her injured shoulder, and flipping through her ledger.
Dr. Tofu had given her some stitches and herbs to help the cut heal faster and keep it from being infected. The real problem, however, had been explaining how she got a cut that deep in her shoulder from an explosion, when he couldn't find any trace of sharp rock or metal, and the rest of her was fairly unscathed. But Nabiki had managed to dodge the question long enough to get out the door, regardless.
She flipped the page in her ledger.
"30,000 yen, huh? Well, at least it's not cheap to buy off your integrity."
Nabiki almost fell off her bed, and slapped her notebook closed as she sat up and turned toward the window.
Ranma squatted just outside, balancing easily on the narrow sill that would have tested a cat's agility.
Nabiki crossed her arms over her chest, but kept her gaze even. "Did you want something, Yagami?"
Ranma's expression didn't falter. "Oh, just wanted to chat, that's all." The nonchalance of his expression was, Nabiki admitted, really unsettling. "So, you made quite a tidy little profit out of all this, huh?"
Her eyes narrowed, and she rubbed her shoulder conspicuously. "Yes, for what I paid for it..."
Ranma snorted. "What YOU paid, huh? You have no idea how lucky you got off......"
Nabiki shifted into a full glare. "I thought you couldn't remember what happened when you're like that."
Ranma grimaced. "Sometimes I do. I still don't know how Akane got hurt, but I can imagine easily enough."
Ranma broke eye contact, then refocused his gaze. "Why?"
"Why what?" Nabiki snapped.
"Why did you do it? I trusted you!" Ranma growled, and his balance shifted slightly on the window sill.
Nabiki turned away. "It's MY job to take care of the finances, Ranma. I'm sorry if you can't control your temper, but you can't pin this on me. Frankly, I'm surprised and rather disappointed that you let Kuno get to you like that."
Ranma ignored the jolt that her statement sent through his body. "That's not the point, Nabiki! You told them! I trusted you and you told the first person that offered you enough cash!"
Nabiki turned back toward Ranma, her face a hardened mask. "We've got to eat somehow, Ranma. I don't know if you've noticed, training out in the wilderness, but living in Japan isn't free." She lowered her head. "Besides, since you obviously remembered, you already got me back for telling Kuno."
Ranma hopped into her room. "You have the GALL to say that I paid you back with that little scratch? Don't you realize I could've KILLED you? I would've killed you!"
Nabiki was taken aback by the steel in his voice, and backed up away from the bed that Ranma was now standing on.
"You really have no idea, do you? My life is just an item, something to be pawned off to whoever has enough money? My weaknesses? My secrets? Do you have ANY idea to what could've happened? How many lives could have been destroyed, just like that?" Ranma stepped forward, and Nabiki stepped back again.
Nabiki grasped for something to say in return. Got it. "Because of YOUR weakness, not mine, Yagami. It's not MY fault that you can't control yourself." Bullseye.
Ranma's body seemed to freeze, and Nabiki started rethinking what she had said.
Ranma twitched. Nabiki flinched back, and let the first trace of fear enter her eyes as her gaze slipped to Ranma hand momentarily.
"You think I'd hit you." Nabiki blinked, and focused on Ranma's eyes. They were... different now. Steel had been replaced by rust. There was despair in his voice. "You really think I'd hit you... I'm a monster to you, aren't I?"
Nabiki gulped, then reached out for him slightly. "Ranma... I don't... I mean-"
Ranma turned away. "Feh. Forget it. Goodbye Nabiki. I guess I'll see you in school tomorrow." Ranma leapt out the window, careless, of course, that it was on the second floor. Nabiki stared from the center of the room, looking out among the rooftops of Nerima.
'Okay, so maybe I could've handled that a little better... still, it's not like it's that big a deal.' Nabiki sighed and rested back on her bed, only now aware of how hard her heart was beating. How could someone, even Ranma, have this kind of effect on her?
"Well, damn. This whole thing was a bust." Nabiki started to sit up.
"Hiss!"
Nabiki blinked. What was that?
She stood up next to her bed, then located the source of the noise, hidden next to her waste basket.
"What the...? A cat?"
"Mrowr!"
"YAH!!!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Oh, Ranma. I just finished making up Shampoo's room. Have you seen her?"
Kasumi's voice startled Ranma out of his stupor, and he turned to her from where he leaned on the door to his room.
"Er... no, actually. I was kind of wondering where she went myself."
Kasumi frowned slightly as Ranma stared down at the ground. She wasn't quite sure, but there seemed to be something... off about the young Yagami. He looked as if someone had died.
"Well, let me know if you find her. I think I'll go to bed."
Kasumi blinked as Ranma entered the room and closed the door behind him, and adopted a worried expression on her face. Ranma was going to bed now? She hadn't even served dinner yet!

Then her attention was diverted when she heard a loud thumping noise from down the hall.
"Hey! Cut it out! Ow!"
Kasumi walked up to Nabiki's room, and stared at the door curiously.
Then she was almost smacked in the face as the door burst open, and Nabiki tore through the hall, running wildly down the stairs.
"Get away from me!!"
"Myowr!"
Kasumi stared as a pink and purple blur streaked after her little sister. Within seconds, both had descended the stairs, and more noise reached the second floor as the chase continued on lower ground.
"Oh dear. I do hope Nabiki's careful. She should know better than to take in wild cats." Frowning worriedly, Kasumi left to find the first aid kit.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Shampoo sat on the sill of Ranma's window, irritably cleaning her sleek, light pink fur with her tongue. For someone who wasn't a martial artist, that heartless tramp of a girl still had a mean kick when you had her cornered.
She stretched lazily, feeling the soreness in her muscles fade away. Idly, she turned her head toward the night sky, filled with bright clusters of stars, and a shining half moon.
Shampoo really would've preferred to go at Nabiki as a human, but after what she heard while eavesdropping (which she probably couldn't have accomplished as a human), she could hardly have waited to tear into the little witch. In retrospect, turning human first would have raised a few unwanted questions as to how she heard, not to mention that Ranma may not appreciate Nabiki being attacked, even if she did deserve it.
Giving a soft, whining yawn, Shampoo jumped off the sill and into the darkened room.
Identifying Ranma was easy, as Iori's larger frame rose and fell soundlessly. As Shampoo approached the pigtailed boy, he winced in his sleep, and he turned over.
Shampoo padded up to him curiously, her tail swaying from side to side. Lifting a paw, she poked at Ranma's shoulder.
"Meow." Her soft cry was ignored, and she nudged her head against Ranma's body, trying to elicit a reaction.
Shampoo had to keep from crying out suddenly, and jumped back just in time to avoid being pinned beneath Ranma's shoulder as the slumbering Yagami rolled over yet again.
Giving a little cat frown at her friend, Shampoo shrugged best she could, then curled up about a foot from Ranma's head and quickly fell into a deep slumber.

Ranma turned over again, and fidgeted in his sleep. Cold sweat gradually began building on his face, and the thrashing became more desperate.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Yagami! I shall-"
*Shrak!*
"Urgh!" *Wham*
The fool lay on the ground. Its blood flowed. Sweet blood.
"D-Damn you... Yagami... I fight... on..."
*Shick!*
"Ugh!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!"
*Wham!*
The fool lay still. It's blood flowed. Sweet blood. Sweet, red life. The other was running. This one was a waste of effort. The hunt was on.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma swallowed deeply, though he did not wake.
__________________________________________________________________________________

The strong one ran. It ran quickly, it did. The kill would be that more entertaining.
"Leave me alone! Ranma! Snap out of it!!"
"Shyaaaaaaaa!"
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
The Earth burned. Fire. Fires consumed all. Fire wasn't enough. Blood was needed. Sweet blood...
"KRAAAAAUGH!!!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma turned over in his sleep, and his breathing became labored.
__________________________________________________________________________________

*Smash!*
*Thud*
The other fool lay on the ground, comatose. Weak. Pitiful. This fool was even more a waste of time than the other.
Blood. Strong blood. Sweet blood...
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma curled up, his sheets coming off his body in his sleep.
__________________________________________________________________________________

*Kshk!*
"Aaah!! Argh..."
The betrayer fell backwards, clutching its injury. It would die. It would die slowly. They would all die!
Everything, dead! Everything, burned!!
"Hyaaaaaaa...... raaaaaugh..." The blood flowed. Blood...
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma turned again in his sleep, knocking the covers completely off as he started sweating more profusely.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Fire. Fire everywhere.
The destroyer... fire destroyed all... It did not matter.
The strong one... it mattered. The hunt was not yet over. The fanged one would suffer and die.
The fire burned... flames of red and orange and yellow...
......Blood......
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma's breathing slowed slightly, and his thrashing seemed to calm down.
He slowly stretched out from his fetal position, his eyes screwed shut. His body suddenly tightened.
And then it relaxed, and Ranma once again drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Sometime around midnight, Nodoka arrived back home, wrapped in a sweater and carrying several documents with her.
Her son and husband were back in Japan. Why they hadn't come straight home was beyond her, but she had found some leads as to where she could find a man and his son, both with the power to throw purple fire. The fact that people didn't really treat it as anything more than odd was aggravating, but Nodoka hardly let that stop her.
As she headed to her room, Nodoka stopped for a moment to peek into Yurumi's room, to see her daughter fast asleep on her bed, snuggled against a large stuffed panda doll. Nodoka couldn't help but smile brightly at the sight.
Her stop at Ranma's room was far more somber, and Nodoka felt depression creep up on her as she stared at the [Danger! Fire zone!] sign tacked to her son's door.
With determination, she hurried to the room she had shared with her husband over a year ago. If Iori was or Ranma were back in Japan, she WOULD find them. It was only a matter of time.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma stirred slightly at Iori's touch, and started mumbling as he blinked his eyes open.
"Wha? 'S it mornin' 'ready?"
Iori just shook him harder. "Come on kid, time to get up."
Ranma eventually stood up drowsily, and rubbed his eyes. "Good morning Pop," he greeted absently, and was about to get dressed when he heard something below him.
"Meow."
Ranma blinked and looked down. "What the? A cat? I didn't know the Tendos owned a cat."
Iori looked down at the small light pink feline with purple stripes on its feet and tail as it stared up at Ranma. "I don't think they do. I woke up and found it sleeping next to you."
Shampoo walked up to Ranma and nuzzled her head against his ankle affectionately, purring loudly.
Iori shrugged and walked out, having already cleaned up and gotten dressed. If Ranma wanted a pet, he didn't care.
Ranma leaned down as the feline continued to wrap around his ankle contentedly, and ran a hand over her.
He smiled slightly as the purring increased, and the cat arched up to force its body into his hand.
"Well, aren't you a cute little thing. Huh. Where'd you come from?" Ranma was hardly expecting an answer, and Shampoo didn't feel fit to give one. She allowed herself to be pushed onto her side as Ranma started scratching her neck behind her ears.
"Hey, you're female, huh?"
Ranma stared as the cat's hind legs flinched closed, blocking his view. He shrugged and continued to pet her gently.
"Hmmmm... no collar or anything. So are you a pet or what?" Ranma frowned to himself, then stood up and stretched.
Shampoo protested the sudden end to the attention, but Ranma ignored her mewing as he took a change of clothes and exited the room, heading for the furo.
Looking behind him he could see the cat following him, and briefly wondered why this creature had formed such a fixation on him when he'd never seen her before. He dismissed the thought immediately as he entered the changing room, then held the door open long enough so that the cat could get through without being crushed, since she seemed intent on following him in.
It kept up with the meows until Ranma began to strip off his undershirt and boxers, at which point it became totally silent.
Ranma threw the sweaty, soiled articles in the laundry with a disgusted grunt, then turned to see the cat staring intently at him.
"And what are you looking at?" he asked, smiling slightly. She meowed happily in response, but her gaze didn't waver.
Ranma grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it around himself, then entered the bath area, once again holding the door open for the cat. To his surprise though, she hesitated, then sat back on her haunches, staring at him.
Ranma shrugged, then closed the door.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Kasumi frowned as she watched Nabiki pick at her breakfast in disinterest. For some reason, Nabiki seemed to be depressed today.
'I wonder if it has anything to do with the way Ranma was acting last night. Akane did say that they had gone out on a date.'
Most people that met Kasumi assumed she was an airhead. That she was totally clueless and utterly naive, and that she couldn't see anything wrong with anybody or anything without the aid of a huge neon sign. They were wrong.
'Or maybe it's those scratches. They probably irritated her and kept her up late.'
...... Well, okay, mostly wrong.

The middle Tendo daughter continued poking her sausage with her chopsticks.
The scratches actually had itched during the night, but that was hardly what had kept her up.
Ranma had invaded her dreams the previous night. Visions of the pigtailed boy wouldn't stay out of her head.
Eyes haunted her thoughts, even as she squatted down before the table. Murderous, crazed yellow windows, tearing her apart. Angry, sharp blue sapphires, boring into her with their pain.
Just about everyone outside Nabiki's family assumed she was a cold, heartless mercenary who would sell out anybody if she got the chance. That she considered others only as tools for her own ends, and that she had absolutely no conscience. They were wrong.
'Damn you, Ranma. You think you can talk to me like that, do you? And after YOU attacked ME? You've got a lot to answer for, Yagami.'
...... Well, she'd had a rough night...... oh, the hell with it.

"Good morning." Ranma's general greeting failed to rouse Akane, Soun, or Iori from their meals. Kasumi quickly greeted him, and Nabiki turned and frowned as she realized he was quite pointedly not looking at her.
Annoyed that he'd try something so childish as ignoring her, she decided to test how far he'd take it.
"So Ranma, where's your friend? What was her name? Soap?"
To her surprise, Ranma didn't hesitate in answering, and she was further interested to see a reasonable imitation of Iori's emotionless face in his stare.
"Her name's Shampoo. And I don't know where she is. She goes where she wants." His tone was perfectly even. Far too even. It was blindingly obvious he was angry at Nabiki, and for some reason that made the mercenary girl feel even more irritated. Ranma, for his part, only wondered why Nabiki had several little band-aids on her arms before pushing her existence out of his mind and concentrating on breakfast.
Her eyes followed Ranma as he sat down next to Akane, and she finally noticed what had followed him into the dining room.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Get it away from me!!"
Ranma, Akane, Soun, and Iori all stared as Nabiki leapt up from the table, and backed herself up into the corner farthest from where Ranma was sitting.
"Uh... get what away from you?" Akane asked slowly.
"That!! That... demonic cat!!" Nabiki screamed hysterically.
Ranma blinked, then looked down as said demonic cat hopped onto his lap and rubbed her head against him, purring.
Akane noticed the creature for the first time. "Awwww... it's so cute!" Akane smiled and started stroking the creature's back.
Ranma nodded absently as he watched Nabiki, concern momentarily overcoming his anger.
Nabiki gasped and yelled out to Akane. "No!! Don't touch it! It's evil!!"
Ranma turned to Akane as he started scratching the feline around her neck. "Do you have any idea what she's talking about?"
Akane shook her head. "Nope. He looks fine to me. Where'd you find him?"
"Her," Ranma corrected. "I just woke up, and she was in my room. I thought you might have seen her before." Ranma smiled down at it, and it meowed up at him. "I think I'll call her Maya."
Akane nodded absently, and continued rubbing the cat's back as Nabiki continued gibbering.
"Kasumi! That's the cat! The one that attacked me!"
Kasumi gave the cat a worried look, even as it leaned against Ranma's stomach and rumbled contentedly.
"Oh dear. It looks okay now, doesn't it?"
"Come now, Nabiki, it's just a cat." Soun agreed.
Nabiki stared in disbelief at her sister and father, then glared down at the small animal rubbing herself against Ranma. If she didn't know any better, she'd have called the look it was giving her smug.

Once they coaxed Nabiki into sitting back at the table, breakfast had gone mostly as usual, with the minor exception that Nabiki would leap back every time Maya yawned.
School also went more or less as usual, though Ranma nearly choked on the lunch Hana had brought him when he heard two other students wondering aloud why Kuno hadn't come to school that day.

Meanwhile, Kasumi got a small surprise when she tried to take a bath, only to find Shampoo already in the furo. Which was odd, as there was no indication of her entering the bath-such as discarded clothes, missing towels, or the "occupied" sign-but naturally, Kasumi only apologized for not checking first and didn't give it another thought.
About the same time, a traveler asked a random passer-by for the name of any prestigious dojos in the area. The passer-by had only blurted out the Tendo Dojo as a joke, really, but the traveler had seemed interested, so he had given the young man directions anyway. Young fool, really. Anyone who would challenge, learn from, or for that matter, go near, the Tendo Dojo was either stupid or crazy.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Get back here Ranma!"
"Aw, c'mon Akane! Knock it off! I'm sorry already! Geez! Stupid tomboy..."
"What did you say?!"
"Gyah!" Ranma dodged the hurled bookbag (Akane's third one that week), and then backflipped overhead as Akane herself charged through the space he had been occupying.
Releasing yet another scream of frustration, Akane leapt to the attack. Ranma hopped backwards as he blocked each strike, making sure to keep his pace even with Akane's advance.
Before long Akane was breathing hard with her wasted effort, and they had almost reached the Tendo Dojo.
Smirking in a particularly aggravating manner, Ranma stuck out his tongue at the youngest Tendo daughter, then backflipped over a corner of the wall, putting himself on the same street as his temporary home.
He jogged up to the front gate, only to slow down as he saw someone staring at it.
That "someone" was a young man, about his age, with messy, shoulder-length blond hair. He wore a simple outfit of black jeans and gray sneakers, coupled with a faded t-shirt. Over the shirt, he wore a denim jacket with a black "omega" symbol on the back, as well as a medium-sized backpack; he was obviously used to traveling. However, the thing that immediately caught Ranma's attention was his hat, which was a red baseball cap with a metal plate on the front.

The newcomer noticed Ranma staring, and put a hand to the back of his head. Grinning, he waved hello, before saying rather awkwardly, "Hello there! Is this the Tendo Dojo?"
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, who are-"
*WHAM!!!*
Akane lifted her mallet up off the ground with a satisfied smirk on her face.
"Ha! Serves you right, jerk!"
About then she noticed the newcomer, whose eyes were currently trying to overtake his entire face.
"Huh? Who are you?"
The young man stared at her in shock, then slowly tore his gaze away to look at her hammer, before moving again to stare at Ranma's flattened body.
"Is... uh... is he going to be okay?" A sweatdrop rolled down the back of his head.
Akane snorted and kicked Ranma's prone form, eliciting a groan in response.
"Yeah, he'll be fine. Unfortunately."
He stared at her uneasily, and then slowly answered her question. "Uh... my name is Tomas Bogard. I'm here to challenge this dojo..."
Akane's expression hardened, and she nodded decisively. "All right then. Go around the back, and me and my dad will be around in just a moment. But I warn you, it's not gonna be an easy fight!"
Tomas smiled slightly, though he still cast a glance at Ranma, who was just starting to peel himself from the concrete walk. "I certainly hope not. I didn't come here for target practice." Giving a good natured grin, he opened the gate, and then hastily stepped aside as Akane stalked through toward the house.
Ranma's vision had just cleared up enough so that he could tell the fuzzy gray of the sidewalk from the fuzzy gray of everything else when a strong hand gripped his arm and hauled him to his feet.
"Hey, are you okay man?"
Ranma shook his head to clear it, then chuckled. "Yeah, it's all right. She does that a lot."
Tomas stared at him. "She does? Why?"
Ranma shrugged. "Either 'cause she's crazy, or 'cause it's that time of the month. Either way, I lose."
Tomas gave him another odd stare, then turned around and walked through the gates before heading around the house to the dojo.
Ranma watched Tomas go, then started walking toward the dojo himself. This might just get interesting.

Ranma leaned himself up against the inside wall of the dojo, watching as Tomas put his backpack down and looked around a bit.
"Nice..." Tomas pulled off his cap for a moment, rubbed his head, then slipped it back on before turning to Ranma. "You live here?"
Ranma shrugged. "I'm staying here for a little while. My dad knows the owner of this dojo." Ranma looked to the side, and saw the shadows of Akane, Nabiki, and their father approaching the dojo. "Good luck, by the way."
Tomas was nodding and facing the door that was opening, but still caught what Ranma muttered much more softly after that.
"Not that you'll need it..."
Tomas raised an eyebrow at Ranma, and then refocused on the two girls and the man entering the dojo.
He walked up to them, then bowed respectfully.
"Mr. Tendo, I wish to challenge your dojo. I will fight one battle, no holds barred. First one unconscious or incapacitated is the victor. If I win, then I request only a meal and a room for the night. Do you accept?"
Akane and Nabiki stared quizzically at Tomas, while Soun quickly nodded. Tomas stepped forward, then blinked as Akane did the same.
"Er... hold it. What are you doing?"
Akane glared at him, guessing the source of the young man's confusion. "I'm your opponent!"
Tomas blinked again. "You? Are you sure?"
Akane's glare intensified. "What? Do you have some problem with fighting a girl?"
Tomas gulped and chuckled nervously. "No! No! I'm just... uh, surprised, that's all. I mean, isn't he the master of this school?" Tomas pointed to Soun.
Akane shrugged as Soun put a hand to the back of his head in embarrassment. "Dad's been out of practice for a while. I'm the heir to this school!"
Tomas looked around somewhat desperately, then pointed at Ranma. "What about him?"
Ranma grinned as Akane started to fume. "I don't practice their school."
Akane growled and got into an offensive stance. "Stop stalling! Don't you underestimate me just because I'm a girl!"
Tomas shook his head. "No, that's not it at all! If you're the best there is around here, then I'm ready when you are."
Akane's teeth clenched. "What do you mean 'the best there is'? Just try me!"
Tomas nodded, and he sighed wearily. "All right, all right. Come on, let's get this started."
Akane was thoroughly annoyed that her foe didn't seem to be taking this very seriously, but managed to put a reign on her temper as Nabiki walked up to them.
Nabiki stuck her arm out between the two combatants, and took a quick glance at Ranma, who was leaning against the far corner of the room. He looked totally disinterested in the battle; his head was down, leaving his hair eclipsing his face, and his arms were crossed under his chest.
Pushing the thought aside, Nabiki raised her arm up and jumped back. "Begin!"

Akane was soon sweating from the effort as she pressed her attack relentlessly.
She threw a haymaker that was blocked, then tried a legsweep. The sweep hit, but without much force, and Tomas rolled easily with the blow onto the ground and back onto his feet.
To the average observer, namely Nabiki, it would appear that Akane was doing fairly well. Soun was a different story. Akane hadn't landed one good hit, and all her glancing blows didn't seem to be bothering Tomas at all. Also, Tomas's own attacks had been few and far between. To Soun, it was obvious that he was holding back, though he couldn't tell how much. And Akane was tiring quickly. She had a knack for ending her battles quickly, which had been enough with those weaker than her, or Kuno when he was holding back. However, it stunted her endurance when it came to an even fight against someone with good defense, and Soun found himself being thankful that no more than a meal and a room was at stake.
"Hyah!" Akane tried an uppercut, but Tomas moved quickly, avoiding the blow and grabbing Akane's elbow before slamming his other arm into Akane's side. She staggered backward, and took a moment to reassess her opponent as he stayed in a ready stance a meter or so away from her.
Ranma's voice was completely unexpected.
"You might as well stop playing around with her you know. It's not helping anything."
Akane blinked, then growled at Ranma. "What do you mean 'playing around' with me?! Take that back!"
Tomas's voice came next. "Well, I didn't want to make her feel bad..."
*Crash*
Akane reflected on how sturdy the wooden floor of the dojo was as she hit it with her face.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!!" As Akane got up, she realized that Tomas wasn't even looking at her anymore, but at Ranma.
Ranma chuckled, his head still lowered so that his hair covered his eyes. "She'll feel bad no matter what you do, and then try to take it out on you later, so you might as well not go so easy on her. The more you hurt her pride, the more she'll hurt you later. I speak from experience." Ranma nodded sagely, then dropped to the floor right before a barbell smashed into the spot where his head had been.
"Shut up! What do you know!" Akane glared fiercely at Ranma, then turned her death gaze toward Tomas. "And you! Are you really holding back on me?!"
Tomas bigsweated heavily. "Well... yeah... I mean-"
"WELL STOP IT!!!" Akane's shout blew the hat right off of Tomas's head, and he nodded frantically.
Akane released a deep breath, then settled into a stance, then charged with her trademark hammer punch...
Right into Tomas's foot.
Akane wasn't sure what happened after that, but by the time it stopped, she felt the hard wood of the dojo floor under her back, and her body hurt all over.

"Waaaaaaah!! Akane! Speak to me!" Three guesses who that was. And the first two don't count.
Akane groaned, then started to get up. "Dad, I'm fine! Calm down!"
Nabiki shook her head at the pathetic display, and then turned toward Tomas, who looked rather embarrassed.
"All right... Bogard, was it? You win. Dinner's at seven, and Kasumi can set you up with a room in the house. Check-out time is at nine tomorrow; if your stuff isn't out by then, you're paying room and board."
Tomas blinked in response, and was about to say something in return, when Akane launched a sudden protest from her position on the floor.
"Hey! It's not over yet!" Akane started to get up, then winced and fell back into a sitting position, ignoring her father's renewed sobbing. "You said the match isn't over until one of us is knocked out!"
"Or incapacitated," Ranma cut in suddenly, walking up to Tomas, but addressing Akane. "There's a difference between determination and stupidity, just like there's a difference between getting in over your head, and literally asking for a beating." Ranma ignored the sudden reddish glow from Akane's side of the dojo, and addressed Tomas, who was staring at Akane nervously. "You must be kind of disappointed. Care for a real fight?"
Tomas gave him a guarded expression, and idly adjusted his cap. "Sure. You think you're up to it?"
Ranma ducked under another hurled barbell, then nodded as he stood up straight again. "No problem. My name's Ranma Yagami, by the way."
Tomas blinked. "Yagami? As in... uh... Iori Yagami?"
Before Ranma could nod, another voice behind Tomas made itself known. "You know me?"
Tomas froze, then slowly turned around. He hadn't detected anyone behind him, and there were very few people who could sneak up on him.
His eyes widened to nearly take up his entire face when he beheld what was behind him. The same person that he had seen numerous times in his father's old collection of photographs from the King of Fighters tournaments. The same person that had defeated his father in combat every time they had fought.
Tomas gulped. "You're... you're Iori Yagami... THE Iori Yagami......" Tomas backed up slightly, and then turned to look at Ranma. "Which would make you..." Tomas stared at Ranma as if the pigtailed boy had grown horns and a forked tail.
Ranma smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Something wrong, Bogard?"
Iori raised an eyebrow. "Bogard, huh? So that would make you Terry's kid, right?"
Tomas nodded mutely.
Nabiki watched the whole scene in confusion and frustration. She HATED not knowing what was going on!

Ranma clapped Tomas on the shoulder, bringing the young street fighter out of his astonished trance. "Well, how about that fight?"
Tomas stared at him for a moment, then glanced around a bit, as if considering a break for the exit.
After a moment though, his resolve hardened, and he nodded. "Right. Let's do this." Tomas got in a ready stance.
Ranma shook his head. "Not here. This place'll fall apart. Come on outside." Tomas stared quizzically as Ranma walked out of the dojo, but followed without further hesitation.
Iori's expression hadn't altered, as usual, but he soon followed the two young fighters.
Nabiki didn't really have anything better to do than watch two people beat each other senseless, and was rather curious as to just how strong Tomas was, so she too followed, after warning Akane not to move too much.
Akane protested loudly and tried to follow as well, only to have her father grab onto her fiercely and beg her not to aggravate her injuries.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, the only two people in the Tendo household not aware of the events in the dojo were busy preparing a feast fit for an emperor.
"How this? Shampoo put in too much?"
Kasumi glanced over at the boiling pot, then smiled and shook her head slightly. "That's perfect Shampoo. It's so nice of you to help me like this!"
Shampoo giggled. "Is okay! Shampoo know how much Ranma eat! He eat all you food if you no careful!"
Both women shared a slight giggle at that, and Shampoo went back to stirring the broth as Kasumi went into the pantry to look for spices.
The teenage Amazon couldn't help but admire the lovely view from the kitchen window, with the cloudless sky offering an unshadowed view of the surrounding gardens. Kasumi just kept everything so neat and tidy, Shampoo was already starting to feel her slight homesickness fade away. Home was home after all, and just because she had lived in a wooden hut rather than a modern house most of her life didn't diminish that. Kasumi did, however.
Shampoo started humming as she added some more sauce to the broth.
*Sheeeee-BOOOOM!!!*
Then she gasped and dropped her spoon, as twin lances of red and purple erupted into the sky.

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End Chapter 4