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Chapter 9

Ranma Vs Happosai, and It's Not Going to Be Pretty!

"Eric?"

It was late that night as the Tattoon High Priestess found her beloved 
leaning against the railing on the balcony of their apartment, while gazing 
absently at the starry sky. Only a few short hours ago, the former heir to 
the Saotome School of the Anything Goes Martial Arts had gotten the 
mercenary daughter of Soun Tendo arrested on charges that would most likely 
result in a long prison sentence for her. At the time, it had felt good to 
have finally gotten back at her, but now he started wondering if it had been 
right to destroy her future. Then again, she wouldn't have hesitated to 
destroy his plans for a new life, by forcing him to return to his old one.

"Are... you all right?" Balla asked gently.

"Yeah... I suppose." Eric answered with a bit of hesitation.

"So, why are you looking so... unsure? Is it about what you did to Nabiki 
Tendo?"

"No... Yeah... well, that's part of it."

"What do you mean?"

"Everything is so... different from what I had back in Nerima."

"Are you saying that you want to go back to that?"

"NO! HELL NO!" Ranma stiffened up as he shook his head. "Why would I want to 
go back to all that crap?"

Balla breathed a small sigh of relief. "Then, what's bothering you? You did 
the RIGHT thing by calling the police, and exposing her for what she was. 
She's not going to cause trouble for you anymore."

"Yeah... it's just that things have changed so much, and I find myself doing 
things that I never did when I was just Ranma Saotome. I knew that things 
weren't going to be the same when I erased all my files at the National 
Register, and set myself up as Eric Kobayashi. Even though I completely let 
go of my past, it seems that my past doesn't want to let go of ME. Now, all 
of my troubles are coming back to me like a boomerang and..." He was a 
silent for a long time, as he thought back to the time that Ryoga had found 
him, and all the events that happened afterwards. "I feel as if I'm losing 
sight of who I am. I feel as if I'm starting to lose control again. I know 
I'm not Ranma Saotome anymore and I BELIEVE I'm Eric Kobayashi, but the 
things that happened to me are making me doubt that."

"Talk to me, Eric. Tell me all about it."

Ranma could only smile, as he was still amazed that SOMEONE was actually 
willing to listen to him; and a girl no less!

"When I fought Ryoga, I was so consumed with rage, that I didn't care about 
what I was doing to him. If you hadn't stopped me... I would've killed him. 
At the time, it wouldn't have made the slightest difference to me if he 
lived or died. I just wanted to pay him back for all the suffering and pain 
that he caused to me. I thought that by beating him to a bloody pulp, I 
could make all of that pain go away. Now that I've thought about it, I 
realized how empty I felt afterwards and how hollow that victory was. That 
pig had no right to have hurt Brody or attack me for those stupid reasons of 
his, but still..." Eric's voice trailed off as he sighed.

Balla nodded, then said, "I understand what your saying Eric. Up until now, 
the only you way you could fight back was with your fists. You've told me of 
your life and I have a pretty good idea of what you were like before I met 
you."

"Really?"

Balla nodded as she made the symbol on her forehead appear for a moment. 
"Remember, you and I have a very special bond. That bond allows me to 
understand you more each day. Before, you only knew of what your father 
taught you and you were never given a chance to decide for yourself. Now 
that you've abandoned those lessons, I think you're a bit uneasy at the fact 
that whatever choices you make now, will affect your future."

"I... guess." Ranma replied slowly. "Deciding for myself and doing what I 
want is a kick. It's just that I'm a bit afraid that the choices that I have 
made or will make may be the wrong ones."

"You'll never know unless you make them, Eric. That's what being able to 
make choices is all about. If you make some good choices then there's no 
sense in worrying about them. If they turn out to be bad ones, then at least 
you will learn from them and not make the same mistakes again. You did make 
some good choices after your fight with Ryoga. You could have killed Mousse, 
but instead you spared him and had him deported. If he ever comes back to 
Japan, he will be put in prison. You didn't lash out at that Kasumi person 
with fists, but with the truth about her family. And I'm especially proud of 
how you handled that Nabiki, by having her trap herself with her own words."

"Yeah. Though I'm still a bit... y'know, about this marriage thing? I wasn't 
exactly given a choice about that. Heck, I was only a year old when it 
happened."

"So was I." The Tattoon girl became a bit fearful as she asked, "So, are you 
still...?"

Ranma blushed a bit as he said, "Well, to tell you the truth... out of all 
the fiancees that I've had arranged for me, you're the only one that I... 
really like having around." <Even more so than I ever did with that bitch 
Akane!> He silently added.

Balla smiled as a bit of red tinged her cheeks.

Ranma then became serious again as he continued to stare out into the night 
sky. "The others are out there and I will have to face them, sooner or 
later."

"Well, you won't face them alone, Eric." She then quietly took his right arm 
and moved close to him. When he didn't flinch or back away, she moved closer 
and said quietly, "Like I said before, I'll ALWAYS be on your side."

The x-scarred martial artist was silent for a long while. Then, slowly but 
surely, he moved even closer to her as they gazed at the stars.

Balla then decided to ask him about what she had told her beloved earlier. 
"Eric? I was wondering..."

The former Saotome sighed and nodded. "You were wondering how I felt about 
her, right?"

"She is your mother, after all."

Eric shrugged. "Yeah, so what?"

"So... aren't you going to tell her that...?"

"That I'm really her son? No."

"Why not?"

"Why should I? I'm not a part of the Saotomes anymore, remember? Besides, my 
mother is just as dead to me as my so-called father."

"But Eric..."

"Ten years, Balla. It's been over ten years since I saw her and not once did 
she ever try to find her only son. Doesn't that tell you something?"

"But..."

"She left me to Genma. To me, that's even WORSE than being abandoned."

"Eric, you're being too harsh. I've met and talked with her. She appears to 
be a very nice person."

"Hmph! And what do you think she'll say if she finds out that her favorite 
waiter is really her son? She'll tell Genma and bring trouble down on top of 
me that much faster. I'll deal with him, but only when I'm ready and on MY 
terms."

"Still, you shouldn't deny your mother."

"What mother? She hasn't been my mother for over a decade. She was never 
there, when I was sad. She was never there, when I was lonely. She wasn't 
even there when I was hurt. She was never there, period. She just left me to 
Genma. I don't give a damn as to why she did that. As far as I'm concerned, 
she's nothing more than a stranger to me. I'm not going to make things more 
complicated by telling her the truth. Things were fine as they were, so I'm 
going to leave it at that."

"Eric..."

"And I don't want you telling her either. Promise me."

"I can't..."

"Promise me!"

Balla looked into his eyes and saw not hatred but absolute sadness. She 
couldn't stand to see him in that state, so after a long moment of silence, 
she nodded her head. This was something that her husband had to work out on 
his own.

----------

The very next day at school...

"Hey Eric, what's up?" Deiner asked as he and Brody came up to their 
sometimes friend.

"Nuthin' that I want to talk about." Eric growled, giving the two fair 
warning not to press their luck.

Balla sighed behind him and hoped that his current mood would change soon. 
She began to worry that he was again sliding toward depression and 
potentially explosive personality. She hoped that it wouldn't come to the 
same situation as it had been with Ryoga and Mousse. At that point, the two 
boys decided to change the subject.

"Hey Eric. Did you hear the latest news?" Deiner asked.

"What?" The former son of Nodoka and Genma replied with total disinterest.

"Someone has been stealing a lot of women's underwear for the past week." 
Brody said.

"What... did you say?" This had caught Eric's attention as he had a feeling 
that he knew who the culprit was. Who else could it be?

"A lot of women have been reporting to the police that somebody has been 
going around at night, and swiping the bras and panties off their 
clotheslines." Deiner related.

"Whoever this guy is, he must be one sick puppy." Brody remarked.

It was at that moment that Lisa appeared to join in the conversation.

"Whoever this pervert is, he's not going to get away with it." The 
bow-wielding girl emphasized her words by holding up her weapon. "I almost 
brought him down last night."

"What are talking about, Lisa?" Deiner asked.

Lisa gave the boys a smug look as she told them of the events of the 
previous night.

----------

Flashback...

Lisa was quietly meditating in her family's training hall. In front of her 
kneeling form was her bow. Her eyes were closed and her head was bowed down. 
A quiver of arrows was slung over her right shoulder. She had just finished 
a long session of target practice. On the other side of the training hall 
was a small target with more than twenty arrows stuck about its center. It 
had been a good night.

Down on the streets below, Happosai was cackling with glee. He was in his 
usual outfit for his nightly panty raid, and a large bag of unmentionables 
was slung over his back. Even though Ranma wasn't around to prevent him from 
his usual perverted antics, Happy had found that stealing women's underwear 
in a new city had its appeal. There were just so many new varieties and 
locations, that the ancient lecher couldn't resist and was hard at work, 
building a new collection. At that moment he caught sight of a very nice 
pair of pink panties that was swaying on an outside rack.

"WOO HOO! COME TO HAPPY!"

With one great leap, Happosai reached out to snatch his latest treasure.

FFFFFFTTT! THOK!

The old lecher stopped suddenly and pulled back his hand, just a heartbeat 
before an arrow suddenly appeared and embedded itself in the wooden support 
beam beside the clothes rack. If he had moved an instant slower, then his 
hand would have been skewered.

"Whoa! What's this?" The ancient pervert turned and saw a very angry heir to 
the Fujimatsu School of Short-Range Archery.

"So you're the Underwear Thief that's been stealing panties and bras for the 
last week! How dare you invade my home with your perversions?! Prepare to 
die!"

"Now wait a minute! Don't get so upset over one little pair of panties..." 
Happy began but was cut off when Lisa began launching arrows in rapid 
succession like a submachine gun.

Not expecting such a hostile reaction and being weighed down with his 
night's work, the Master of the Anything Goes Martial Arts was bit 
unprepared for the barrage. He evaded each arrow without getting hit. His 
large sack of unmentionables however, was not as lucky.

FFFFFTTTT! RIIIIIIPPPP!

"NOOOO! ALL MY PRETTIES!"

As always, Genma and Soun's sensei was a total slave to his perversions. As 
soon as all that underwear spilled out, he instantly forgot about his 
situation and went scrambling to retrieve them. Unfortunately for him, 
whenever he became distracted, he became an easy target for even non-martial 
artists. Lisa was quick to take advantage of Happosai's lapse in judgment. 
Even worse for him, was that his back was turned and he was bending over to 
pick up the underwear, presenting the girl with an irresistible bullseye. At 
that instant, she launched her special Thousand-Neck Rending Arrow.

FFFFFTTTTTTT!

The old martial artist tried to dodge... but he didn't quite make it.

THOK! THOK! THOK! THOK! THOK!

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!"

Happosai ran off in a flash, clutching at the seat of his pants and 
forgetting his bundle of purloined panties. Lisa was left standing with a 
smile on her face. Though her wash had gotten caught in the crossfire and 
had been shredded, the loss had been worth it.

----------

End of flashback...

"I'm sure that Underwear Thief got the POINT!" Lisa said with a smile.

Eric's mouth became a straight line after hearing this. There was no doubt 
about it. Lisa had encountered Happosai, though Eric could imagine that the 
old pervert was having a hard time of trying to sit down at this moment. 
However, this incident would probably have made the little runt even madder 
and Balla's husband could only expect more trouble.

----------

At a certain hotel...

"OW! OW! OW!"

Happosai winced as he gently lay down on his belly on the bed. He had spent 
the night removing the five sharp spikes that had found their way to his 
posterior. Even with his rapid healing, it was going to take him a couple of 
days to recover. He hadn't expected that arrow to explode into a swarm of 
metal, barb-tipped slivers. However, the most infuriating part of that panty 
raid, was the fact that he had been forced to abandon an entire night's 
work.

As the old lecher winced and groaned, while trying to think of a way to 
recoup his losses, Soun was bawling his eyes out. After hearing that his 
daughter was now in jail, the emotional martial artist had been crying 
nonstop over how the arrest was marring the Tendo name. Furthermore, there 
was no way that they could pay for Nabiki's bail, and the evidence against 
her was so overwhelming, that it was very likely that she was heading for 
some prison time. They were even more shocked to hear that Ranma was the one 
who had turned her in.

After hearing the news, Akane was blaming Ranma for their predicament, and 
was promising immense pain for when she caught up to him. As for Kasumi, she 
had tried to console her father, but with no such luck. However, unlike 
before, she was not saying that things would work out. After her encounter 
with Ranma... no, Eric, she had finally come to terms with reality. It was 
now obvious to her that he wanted nothing to do with her family and that it 
may be best to leave him be. She had suggested to her father to give up on 
the pledge to unite the schools and head back to Nerima.

However, both Genma and Soun proved to be more stubborn than a herd of mules 
and maintained that despite what had happened to Nabiki, the Schools must be 
joined. Genma was unwilling to abandon his dream of a long and luxurious 
retirement, and Soun was blinded by pride and obsession.

Things were now getting to the point of no return and dire consequences 
would soon be felt among the Tendo Clan.

----------

At this point, Eric had come to a decision. Instead of waiting for Happosai 
to find him, he decided to take the battle to the old lecher. With that in 
mind, he began to plan.

(incomplete)

* For those of you who are wondering, yes, Happosai is a good martial 
artist, but time and time again, his perversions have proven to be his 
undoing. Nabiki and even Kasumi have been able to deflect his attacks when 
he gets distracted, and the mobs of angry women have been able to beat him 
down, when he stops. Therefore, it's not all that unbelievable for Lisa to 
actually score some hits with that Thousand-Neck Rending Arrow, once 
Happosai let down his guard. In any case, I just couldn't resist that scene.
