Ranmatech

Disclaimer: To disclaim or not disclaim? Disclaim of course.

< >: Thoughts

(* *): Computer responses.

Chapter 3

Having a Blast

In a small Amazon village near the Bayankala Mountain Range in

the Quinghai Province of China, the elder known as Cologne watched

closely as her great-granddaughter Shampoo overpowered her

sparring partner, the giantess Dowel, with almost no effort at all. The

seven-foot tall Amazon was thrown backward twenty feet and landed

on her posterior after she tried to block the smaller girl's bonbori with

her heavy battle staff. Dowel was breathing hard as she got back to

her feet. She had been going at it for more than an hour, but Shampoo

wasn't even working up a sweat.

Cologne was more than surprised at the sudden increase in

performance that her protégé had exhibited in the last few days. After

that mysterious and powerful stranger had healed her, Shampoo had

displayed increased strength, reflexes and overall hand-to-eye

coordination. The maces that she was using at the moment were five

times heavier than what she normally wielded. The purple-haired girl

had commented that her old weapons were too light and had the

weaponsmith Razor, create a new set for her.

The three hundred-year-old matriarch had also noticed other

improvements within her great-grandchild. Shampoo's sense of

balance was perfect and acrobatics were so easy for her, that she

could do a complicated gymnastics routine that would put every gold

medallist and circus performer to shame. Her learning aptitude for

fighting techniques had also increased. She was already far above

the skill level of her nearest rival and had already mastered several

advanced techniques that would have taken her months to learn. Her

reflexes and agility were now at a point in which she was fast enough

to easily dodge machine gunfire. She had recently come across a

couple of soldiers from the Chinese army that had been snooping

around the area. Despite the fact that they fired at her with fully

automatic weapons at less than twenty feet, not one of their bullets

had come close to touching her. She dispatched the two intruders

with no problems.

After that incident in which one man destroyed an entire regimen,

the Chinese government had become more wary and pulled back in

its attempt to bring the area under its rule. As of now, only scouting

groups were sent out to observe the village and report for signs of

the powerful individual that had destroyed a mountain. For now, the

Amazons were left in peace.

Cologne knew that it wouldn't last though. When it would become

apparent that the Amazons' mystery savior was not coming back

anytime soon, the Chinese Army would attack again and even with

Shampoo's increased abilities; the village would not survive another

assault from those damned war machines. No, to ensure the safety of

their ways and the future of their people, the warrior women needed

whatever or whoever had saved their village a mere week ago.

The elder silently shook her head again as she remembered how

close they had been to getting such power. All it needed was just

one defeat of her great-granddaughter or other Amazon and a single

kiss. Cologne sighed as she watched Shampoo effortlessly pound the

living daylights out of Dowel. They had no idea on where the

stranger may be and without any more information about him, the

Amazons had to chalk it up as a loss.

At Furinkan High…

Ranma Saotome nodded as he watched the students run laps

along the track. It had been a relatively quiet week since he took up

the position of assistant coach and martial arts instructor at the high

school and so far, the nanotech warrior had no troubles fitting in with

his new environment, other than a few… nuisances.

Tatewaki Kuno was bound and determined to make Ranma's stay

at Furinkan as big as a headache as possible. After his humiliating

defeat at the hands (make that the baby finger) of Ranma, the

wannabe samurai had been the subject of ridicule, especially when it

was revealed that Ranma was the new assistant coach and martial

arts instructor. The thought of him, a mere peasant, teaching the

great Blue Thunder how to fight was simply appalling to Kuno.

When Ranma showed up at the Kendo Club to observe their

progress, Kuno thought it would be a good opportunity to show this

newcomer his prowess and reestablish his standing as the greatest

fighter in school, no the world, no the universe! That little stunt that

Ranma pulled on him couldn't have been anything more than black

magic! A fluke! The sun got in his eyes! That was it!

Monday

"So you think that a mere peasant such as yourself can even

presume to teach the great Blue Thunder of his art?"

Ranma's brow furrowed as he said, "That is no way to address

your sensei, Kuno."

"Sensei?" Kuno gave a short laugh. "As if I would ever bow down

to a mere commoner! And a gaijin at that!"

"I'm here as an instructor to the martial arts as well as an assistant

coach." Ranma calmly said. "This school has not won any

competitions in the last five years. After what I saw when I got here,

I'm not surprised. The sporting teams need a lot a work, and judging

from what I've seen of the best fighters, so do the martial arts clubs.

If you and Akane Tendo are the best that this school has to offer,

then I've got my work cut out for me."

"You dare to mock the great Blue Thunder and the beauteous

Akane?! I will not have it!" Kuno struck forward with his wooden

sword, but to the amazement of all those present, Ranma's form

blurred and disappeared before the bokken even started its

downswing. Kuno found himself swinging at empty air. He then

turned his head and saw that Ranma was now behind him with his

arms crossed. "What manner of sorcery is this?!"

"I am getting tired of your bluster Kuno. As far as I can tell, you're

almost all bark and no bite. You say you are the best? Well then,

would you like to try and prove your superiority in swordplay?"

Kuno smirked as he said, "You?! You think to challenge me?!

Don't make me laugh. Why you must be insane to think that you

have any chance against my prowess with a sword!"

Ranma was unaffected by Kuno's scoff and said, "Why don't we

make this more interesting? Say a little wager? We'll have a duel right

here and now, and we shall see who has the greater skill with the

blade. If you lose, then you will resign as captain of the Kendo Club

and allow me to train the other members. Furthermore, you will also

call off the morning attacks on Akane Tendo. I have learned that you

were the idiot who started that mess. I find that decree to be pointless

and it doesn't help the sports teams or the martial arts clubs. They

will not be able to improve if they get badly injured every morning

before I can train them. It is also a bad distraction and is disruptive to

the other classes. If you wish to challenge Miss Tendo, then you will

do so after class and off the school grounds."

"Who are you to dictate terms to the great Tatewaki Kuno?"

"The only thing 'great' about you is that big mouth that you keep

flapping around. I couldn't care less if you dated Miss Tendo, but

this is a place for learning and I won't tolerate these disruptions. I

was hired to teach and it looks like I'm going to have to start with

you. We're going to settle this here and now. Do you accept my

challenge?"

"And if I should win?" Kuno asked.

Ranma shrugged, "Then I'll turn in my resignation and leave

Furinkan. It's as simple as that."

"Very well, I accept your challenge!" Kuno was confident that he

had no equal with the art of Kendo and this upstart would soon learn

the folly of his presumption.

A few minutes later, in the center of the training area, Ranma and

Kuno were facing off against each other, each with a bokken in their

hands. The other kendo members surrounded them in a wide circle.

They looked with interest at what would decide the fate of their club.

As Ranma waited for the match to begin, his biocomputer was

analyzing Kuno's power rating and skill levels.

(*Opponent's power rating still at 25. Threat level STILL less than

negligible.*)

<What's the quickest way to take him out?>

(*Saridian swordplay techniques. Tenth level ranking.*)

One of the club members that were acting as the referee signaled

for the start of the match. "Begin!"

As soon as the word was uttered, Ranma's form blurred forward.

An instant later, the telltale sounds of a bokken swishing through the

air was heard and Ranma reappeared behind Kuno with his bokken

slung over his shoulder. Ranma stood casually while Kuno was still

standing in his ready stance.

The club members were stunned beyond belief at the speed in

which Ranma had moved. They were also surprised that Kuno had

not moved since the match started.

"Huh?"

"Is that it?"

"Did you see that?"

"I couldn't follow it."

"Is it over?"

Ranma gave the members a smile as he said, "It's over. It's just

that Kuno is too stupid to realize that he already lost. Just give him a

few seconds."

A few moments later, Kuno gave off a series of moans and groans

as large bumps sprouted from his head. His robes became tatters as

large rips formed. Small red cuts appeared all over his body. His

wooden sword fell apart into seven neatly sliced pieces. He then

keeled over and landed face first on the ground and was

unconscious.

The other kendoists collectively gasped in disbelief. Kuno had

lost in less than a second! Unbelievable! They all turned to Ranma

who was calmly walking toward the exit. He stopped at the door and

turned around, a smirk was on his face. "When ex-captain Kuno

comes to, please inform him that I expect him to uphold his part of the

wager. I also expect the rest of you to be here bright and early

tomorrow to begin your training. Am I making myself clear?"

After seeing their leader get so badly beaten by the newcomer, the

other members weren't stupid enough to try and get revenge for

Kuno. In fact, many of them were actually glad that Tatewaki had

finally received his just reward, since the pompous jerk had been

using intimidation to keep them in line. After seeing Ranma's skills, it

dawned on them that they could get better under his tutelage, maybe

even better than Kuno himself. The thought of being able to show up

the high and mighty Blue Thunder appealed to them. This newcomer

may be a gaijin, but he was a gaijin that could teach them a lot of

things.

The entire Kendo Club gave Ranma a collective bow and said in

unison, "HAI SENSEI!"

Back to the present…

Tatewaki had proven to be a sore loser and Ranma frowned as he

thought about the following days. When word got out on how easily

Ranma had defeated him and his loss of his position as captain of the

Kendo Club, Kuno had lost much of his prestige and respect (not

that he had very much to begin with). As a result, Kuno had steadily

attacked Ranma since that time, still maintaining that he was the

greatest warrior and that his loss to the nanotech soldier had been

the work of darkest sorcery, and therefore did not count.

Unfortunately for him, Ranma had proven to be a far tougher

opponent than he had ever imagined. Even though it was against

school rules for a student to continually attack an instructor, Ranma

made no effort to stop these daily assaults. He had decided instead

to use Kuno's foolishness as a way of demonstrating techniques to

the members of the Kendo club. The teaching methods were a bit

unorthodox to the students, but Ranma had long since learned that

teaching by example was a very effective method to educate

youngsters.

Tuesday

"Prepare to taste the wrath of…"

WHAM!

"Now then students. Did you see how open Kuno was when he

tried that downward slash? With just a simple twisting maneuver, I

used my own bokken to disarm him and deliver a solid strike to his

most vulnerable area, his head. Don't worry about it, since it's not

like he ever uses it. You may have also noticed that he extended

himself too far, thereby inviting me to strike him. Don't let me catch

you doing the same mistakes."

"HAI SENSEI!" The young boys took Ranma's advice to heart as

they continued to spar with one another. Kuno was face first on the

ground with a large lump on his head.

Wednesday

"And now the great Blue Thunder will…."

SMACK!

"Kuno's mistake was that he swung in too wide an arc, which

made it very easy to evade and parry. He's using his weapon like a

bat and swatting with it. The sword should be like an extension of

one's own arm. He's putting no effort whatsoever in building up his

defense. I expect you all to do much better than that."

"HAI SENSEI!"

The insane wannabe samurai was seeing birdies as he was

sprawled on the ground.

Thursday

"Prepare for your final reckoning you foul…"

WHACK! SMACK! KICK!

"As the Americans are so fond of saying, talk is cheap. One must

also remember that it is a distraction. Do it after you have defeated

your opponent. Furthermore, the way he is telegraphing his moves,

he may as well give his opponent a written declaration of each of his

attacks. Now, continue on with those forms that I showed you."

"HAI SENSEI!"

Kuno was once again in la-la land.

Friday

"Now you shall pay…."

WHACK! SLASH! SLASH! CRASH!

"Unfortunately for Kuno, he still has not learned that a good

defense is just as important as a strong offense. He left himself wide

open for low cuts toward his legs. He's always leaning forward,

thereby leaving his head open to attacks. He may have practiced the

classic forms of Kendo, however he has made no room for the

unexpected. He is also gripping his weapon too hard, thereby making

it easy for his opponent to knock it out of his hands. A blow of

sufficient force is all one needs to disarm his opponent."

"HAI SENSEI."

Kuno's head was now stuck in the far wall after Ranma had

shoved him.

The present...

Ranma shook his head. At this rate, Kuno was going to spend

most of the school year in the nurse's office. He had thought that

after a few days, Kuno would realize that his fighting abilities needed

some serious improvements and attend the practice sessions with the

others. However, the dope seemed to be bound and determined to

defeat him outright and refused to listen on any commentary or

advice on how to improve his techniques. Whether it was pride,

stupidity or a combination of both, Ranma knew that Kuno would

soon be behind his fellow kendoists. Within a week, the nanotech

warrior had already analyzed the overall skill levels of the members

and had started a regimen to increase their techniques. The new

training methods had proven effective and they had already begun to

correct the many deficiencies in their combat abilities, including some

hand to hand techniques in case they were disarmed. One of the

problems with having Kuno as the team captain was the fact that the

vain and obnoxious upperclassman would use intimidation to keep

the others from reaching or surpassing his own skills. There was so

much untapped potential, but Kuno wanted none to exceed him. He

liked the title of best fighter, as did another student.

Akane Tendo had already resented him for interfering with her

usual morning battles. Ranma couldn't understand why she would let

it happen in the first place. He had heard that she hated boys. If she

hated to fight those idiots every day, then why didn't she say so in

the beginning? Her hostility toward him had become even worse

during PE class.

Monday

"Hello students. I'm Ranma Saotome. I'm the new assistant coach

and martial arts instructor."

As Ranma looked over the class, several of the students began

whispering among themselves over the new teacher.

"Wow! He's a hunk!"

"Watch it Sayuri, you're drooling!"

"I hear that he's from America."

"Wow, really?"

"Did you see him take out Kuno this morning with one finger?"

"He must be one really good martial artist to be able to do that!"

"Hey, he's way better than that dope Kuno. I'll even bet that he's

better than Akane Tendo."

It was that comments like that, which got Akane's temper started.

How dare they presume that someone was better than she was? She

was supposed to be the best in Nerima! The attention that this new

teacher was getting, especially from the girls, was irritating. First this

outsider shows her up by interfering with her own fights. Secondly,

she had heard that Kuno had been ousted from his position as the

Kendo club's captain and that the morning fights were no longer to

be tolerated. Now he's going to teach HER how to fight in the martial

arts? A gaijin to boot! Well, she'd show him!

She also didn't like the fact that he was getting more and more

attention. If there was one thing that Akane hated as much as boys, it

was not being the center of attention. So what if this new teacher was

good-looking? Kuno was handsome and look how he was. This

teacher may be only a few years older but that didn't mean that those

other girls had to go drooling over him!

Ranma was already aware of the comments as his superior hearing

picked up each every whisper. He smiled at the group before him as

he began answering questions.

"Mr. Saotome?"

"Yes? Your name please?" Ranma replied to a boy with short

brown hair.

"Daisuke sir. Are you going to teach us stuff like that trick you

used on Kuno this morning? That was really cool!" The other boys

and many of the girls nodded in agreement.

Ranma smiled as he replied, "Well, I'm afraid that particular

technique requires a great deal of hard work and training. It's not

something that one can learn overnight. <But then again, it only took

me two minutes to learn it.> I'm here to teach mostly self-defense

classes, assist the head coach, and to help the sports teams and

martial arts clubs. I thought for today, I'd give a few demonstrations

and start you all on some simple exercises." Ranma gestured over to

some stacks of bricks that were set up and a large practice mat.

The students went and sat around the training mat as Ranma

stood in the center. "Now then, since my expertise falls within the

martial arts category, I think that I can be able to teach all of you the

basic moves and exercises, which will not only help in self-defense,

but also allow you to attain focus in your daily lives. Now who

among you have had some martial arts training?"

In one smooth motion, everyone pointed to Akane.

"Step up, Miss…?"

"Akane Tendo." Akane said with pride as she quickly joined

Ranma on the mat. "Heir to the Tendo School of the Anything Goes

Martial Arts!" She then looked up at the instructor and began

assessing him. She had taken down larger opponents before and

didn't think Ranma wasn't anything special. "I really don't need any

lessons. I'm already a martial artist!"

"Ah yes, you're the same girl that Kuno had declared that no one

could date you unless they manage to beat you." Ranma's

biocomputer began gauging her overall skill.

(*Power level rated at 16. Second dan Kenpo level. Threat to host,

nonexistent.*)

"No one can beat me, and I really don't think you can teach me

anything that I don't already know." Akane stated with pride. Her

many victories over Kuno and the morning mob had given her

somewhat of an inflated ego. She was also proud of the title of Heir to

the Tendo Anything Goes

"Would you care to prove it?" The nanotech warrior gestured to a

small stack of bricks. "Can you shatter those?"

Akane shrugged. "No problem." The young girl walked over to the

stack and took a ready stance. There were five slabs and each were

about two inches thick. Akane began her breathing exercises to get

her focus. After a minute, she raised her a hand and made a few

practice chops at the pile. Then she let off a 'hiyah' and brought the

side of her hand down on the center of the top brick.

There was a small, sharp noise as a thin crack appeared at the

point of impact. The crack split though the slabs, causing a small puff

of dust to appear.

Akane frowned as she withdrew her hand, which was throbbing

slightly. The five slabs were a little more than what she usually

practiced with. The Stonebreaker technique that she used at her

father's dojo allowed her to break through to break through two

cinder blocks with ease, but those targets were not as thick and had a

space between them. The other students were impressed however,

since they didn't have the capability to break one slab, never mind all

five. They began applauding her. This comforted Akane as she

looked back in triumph. "See? I told you that I didn't need any help."

Ranma wasn't impressed as he pointed to the stack. "That was

cute. However, you did not do as I asked."

Akane became miffed at these words. "What do you mean? I broke

all five!"

"As I recall, I asked you to shatter them, not split them. You

weren't really focused on the task. You just used brute force to break

those slabs. A real martial artist wouldn't leave a task half done."

Ranma had no idea that his casual words were irritating his pupil, but

then again, tact wasn't his strong point. As a former bounty hunter,

he had been straightforward and didn't mince words. It was always

go in, beat up the bad guy, drag him back and collect the bounty. As

a result, he really didn't have much in terms of social skills.

Akane felt her temper begin to rise. How dare he say something

like that? "Do you think you can do better?"

Ranma walked over to another stack, which had ten slabs. He then

glanced back at Akane and the class. Without bothering to prepare,

he casually brought down a fist on top of the stack. It looked like he

was putting no effort whatsoever into the blow, but the effect was

still devastating!

BOOOOOOM!!!

In an instant, the slabs and the support table were pulverized into

tiny pieces. Ranma looked back up at the dumbfounded expressions

of his class and especially Akane's. The noise of the impact echoed

throughout the gymnasium, which caught the attention of the other

classes.

"Whoa!"

"That was awesome!"

"He IS better than Akane!"

"Looks like there's a new champion!"

"No wonder he beat Kuno so easy!"

"I think Kuno got off easy!"

The youngest Tendo daughter couldn't believe that the new

instructor was that powerful. She also did not believe that someone

could be better than she was. The various comments being made by

her fellow students were not at all encouraging. He had just shown

her up in front of her class and she didn't like it one bit. She quickly

smothered her displeasure as she said, "Okay, so you can break a few

bricks. Big deal. Anyone can do that with the right training. Besides,

breaking a stack of bricks isn't like going up against a REAL

opponent!"

Ranma did not like the way she was addressing him. <Hmmm, the

natives of this world do get angry very easily.> "Well, I will agree

that bricks don't hit back. Would like to spar with me then? As I

recall, you fight a mob of boys every day."

Akane puffed up a little at the statement. "I can even beat that jerk

Kuno. I am the best of course."

"If you say so. Then again, I haven't seen you fight yet."

"Well, let me show you what a true martial artist is capable of!"

Akane took a stance at one end of the mat. "I promise that I'll go

easy on you." Akane gave him a smug grin.

Ranma assessed her stance and then stood in a neutral pose with

his hands behind his back. "All right, Miss Tendo. Show me what

you've got. Mind you, I would prefer if you went all out. I can't

properly assess my skills of my students unless they give me their

best efforts."

There was a long moment of silence as the two prepared for the

match. The rest of the class, in fact all the students and instructors in

the gym stopped in their activities to watch the battle. There was not

a sound in the building as the two fighters faced off.

"Hiyaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Akane charged at the nanotech warrior.

WHAM! WHUMP! POW! THUMP! CRASH!

There was a huge, collective gasp as the audience stared in utter

disbelief. Ranma was still standing in his non-aggressive stance with

a calm expression his face. Behind him, in a pile of fallen sports

equipment, was a pair of slender legs that were sticking out in an

ungainly fashion.

Ranma shook his head as he walked over to the pile. He also spoke

to his class as he began extricating Akane's dazed form from the

mess. His bioscanners had already determined that she had suffered

only minor bruises and was just stunned.

"As you can see class, Miss Tendo had made several errors.

Number one, she underestimated her opponent. Number two, she

overextended her body and left herself wide open. Number three, she

attacked with anger. Martial arts may be a form of combat, but one

must remember that it is also a 'discipline.' One must remain in control.

It is much more than being able to throw punches and kicks. If there

is no control, then there is no chance to succeed. Do you all

understand?"

The class nodded dumbfounded, as the shock of seeing Akane

Tendo so easily defeated was still akin to a miracle. The nanotech

warrior had moved so fast, that all they saw was his form blurring

momentarily when Akane charged. In the next instant, she was sent

flying through the air.

Ranma nodded as he carefully set Akane down on a bench.

The present…

Ever since that humiliating defeat in front of the class, Akane's

pride as the best fighter in Nerima had taken a bad beating. When

Kuno heard of her defeat, he began attacking the new teacher.

Unfortunately, his assaults were nothing more than jokes to Ranma,

and he was soundly trounced each time. What was worse was that he

was teaching the members of the Kendo club, and they were steadily

improving. It wouldn't be long before they reached her skill level. The

thought of those boys beating her was too much to bear for Akane.

Even though the deal Ranma made with Kuno was supposed to end

the morning fights, Akane still didn't like the thought of those

perverts being better than she was. She was the heir to the Tendo

School of the Anything Goes Martial Arts! She was supposed to be

the best! She had to be the best! It was her true calling! Kasumi had

her cooking skills; Nabiki had the talent in moneymaking. Akane had

worked too hard to get to her status as a martial artist, and she wasn't

about to let some know-it-all instructor take that away from her! She'd

show him!

While Akane was planning on how to get back at Ranma, another

Tendo girl also had her thoughts on the new teacher. Nabiki wasn't

the only one though. Nearly all the girls in school and even some of

the female faculty members had their eyes on the tall and ruggedly

good-looking new assistant coach and martial arts instructor. Ever

since Kuno had made that stupid declaration, nearly all the female

students were left without any date prospects, since the boys started

chasing Akane. Now this mysterious and talented teacher had come

and the girls at Furinkan High were turning their heads and running

into things. Crushes began to run rampant, which gave the mercenary

sister of Akane's, many opportunities to turn a sizable profit. She had

her lieutenants secretly take photos of him and try to find out as

much as possible about him. His foreign origins and that air of

mystery only enhanced his appeal. The photos of him were sold at

top yen prices.

If there was one thing that intrigued Nabiki more than money, it

was a mystery. It also didn't hurt that the mystery was 6' 4', had a

body that was firm and muscled in all the right places and didn't bow

and scrape to her spoiled princess sister Akane. This was no

immature boy. This was a man!

As she counted the day's latest take, she silently thanked the

Kami for answering her prayers.

Meanwhile, just outside the orbit of the moon, a familiar spacecraft

was hovering in space. Inside the command center, Nagi was going

over the latest data and looking over recorded Earth transmissions.

"So there hasn't been any report of Vorak arriving on Earth?"

"Ciao!" Ken-ohki replied.

"Hmmm, why would someone like Vorak come to this backwater

planet?"

"Ciao! Ciao!"

"Maybe. Ranma and Vorak do have some bad blood between

them. He could be seeking revenge against him and following

Ranma's quantum trail. But if that were the case, then wouldn't he

already be raising hell on Earth? I mean, following a quantum trail is

hard but not impossible. I would think by now, Ranma would be

slugging it out with him and blasting away with that Annihilator

cannon of his." Nagi shuddered a bit when she thought about

Ranma's previous battles with Vorak, which had torn up nearly a third

of the outer quadrants. Vorak would always start the fights and the

ensuing planetary destruction of several systems has made him high

on the wanted lists. There was one thing that you could always

count on Vorak though.

"Ciaooooo!"

"Oh yes. I forgot about that part. Vorak couldn't find his way out

of an empty room with a proton-powered pathfinder with that sense

of direction of his. Could be that he got lost on that planet when

Ranma's ship landed. Guess with the bounty on him, he wants to

keep a low profile."

"Well, I guess we're going to have to do the same. The inhabitants

of this world are pretty skittish. Last I heard, the only non-terrans on

that world were the Jurai royal family, Ryoko and Ryo-ohki, Washu,

those two Galaxy Policewomen, the Oni, the Salusians and the Kyrn.

"Ciao!"

"Yes I know about those surveillance satellites. Probably Washu's

work. Looks like its time to see if that new cloaking device I got last

week was worth the five hundred thousand zentrees."

"Ciao!"

"No I haven't forgotten my promise. You'll see your girlfriend

soon enough. First, I want to know where Ranma is."

A minute later, Ken-ohki's ship form vanished from sight as Nagi

began her search for the fugitive.

Meanwhile, on the continent of Asia, Vorak was currently

brooding in his cloaked vessel, as it was parked thirty miles north of

Peking. Despite the fact that he had access to advanced technology,

his bid to find Ranma's whereabouts was akin to the proverbial

needle in a haystack, due his biggest problem; his utter lack of

direction.

Ironically, Vorak shared a similar origin to Ranma's. Some time ago,

another alien scientist, one that was a rival to the genius who

reconstructed Ranma, had tried to accomplish the same goals and

infuse a living being with nanites, thereby turning him into a living

bio-weapon. He had abducted a young boy whose name was Ryoga

Hibiki. Unfortunately, the nanites that he had been infused with were

primitive at the time and highly unstable. Due to a flaw in their

programming, the nanites carried out their orders to enhance the

subject's greatest traits, literally. Ryoga, who was later renamed

Vorak, was given superhuman strength and near-invulnerability. Like

Ranma, his memories of his previous life had been erased. However,

his greatest trait was the ability... to become hopelessly lost! The

nanites enhanced this trait to the highest degree. Vorak no longer

just wandered around Japan or perhaps China. Now he was planet

hopping!

Despite given high-tech weaponry and other enhancements, Vorak

was ultimately deemed a failure. With his utter lack of a sense of

direction and the mood swings toward depression, Vorak was later

discarded and the project had been abandoned. With no where to go,

literally, Vorak began wandering the cosmos. Eventually, he became

an interstellar bounty hunter to make a living. He did a reasonable job

of it, despite his tendency to get lost, which made him lose several

customers. With his new powers and weaponry he soon became very

famous among the local systems as a powerful fighter and someone

to be reckoned with.

That all changed when Ranma appeared on the scene. Vorak soon

found a tough rival in him and it wasn't long before Ranma was

taking all the best-paying bounty jobs and leaving him barely able to

eke out a living. Whenever he tried to collect on a large sum, Ranma

was always there to beat him to the punch, capturing the fugitive and

getting the reward. Things were made even harder due to Vorak's

ability to become hopelessly lost. By the time he would reach the

right world and was ready to apprehend the fugitive, Ranma was

already counting the bounty after delivering the prisoner. With each

bounty taken from him, Vorak's bitterness toward the nanotech

soldier grew. It wasn't long before the two of them were trading

blows and laserfire. Unfortunately, the worlds in which they fought

suffered from massive planetary damage whenever the two would

clash.

After a few months of this, Vorak decided to settle things by

challenging Ranma to a duel. He had managed to arrive on time for

the fight; however, he had arrived on the wrong planet! Ranma had

been waiting for him on Cyrex IV, but Ryoga had misread the

coordinates on his navigational computer and ended up on Nigral,

which was more than one hundred thousand light years away! It took

him a week to find the spaceport where his ship was parked, then

another eight days to get the coordinates to Cyrex IV, then a full

month of aimlessly wandering the gamma quadrant before he had

finally programmed his navigational computer with the correct

coordinates. By the time he arrived on the planet, Ranma was long

gone.

Vorak took this as an insult and blamed Ranma for running out on

their fight. He began an obsessive search for the nanotech warrior,

traveling through more than a billion worlds. In his journey, he

suffered through intense meteor showers, supernovas, and plasma

storms, which only served to make him angrier and caused him to

blame all his troubles on Ranma. Whenever something bad happened

to him, Vorak would always assume that it was Ranma's fault. If he

was caught in a super acid storm, it was Ranma's fault. If he was

trapped on a world with hyper gravity, it was Ranma's fault. If a

Draraxian Leviathan swallowed him whole, it was Ranma's fault. As

one could guess, the nanites within his brain also affected his logic

centers.

The final straw came when his ship had been caught in a black

hole. The intense gravity had torn his ship apart and Vorak had just

barely escaped suffering the same fate by causing a quantum

explosion near the center of the vortex. He was forced to undergo

suspended animation to survive the airless vacuum of space. He had

drifted for over a month before landing onto a garbage transport

drone. When he came to, he found himself buried under a mountain

of debris and sewage. This was the final indignity and Vorak erupted

in a rage and destroyed the entire recycling complex, while screaming

out, "RANMA! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Incidentally, Vorak's search for Ranma had caused incredible

amounts of damage to several civilizations and it wasn't long before

he himself was on the hit list of many worlds. The citizens of those

destroyed colonies deemed Vorak as a destructive force that was too

dangerous to roam free. As a result, Vorak blamed Ranma for his

having a price on his head and it became an obsession for him to

destroy the bane of his existence.

Now, Vorak was on Earth, ready to deal out immeasurable amounts

of pain to Ranma for all his suffering. There were some problems

though. He had lost Ranma's quantum trail when he entered Earth's

atmosphere. There were more than six billion people on the planet.

Though it would be an easy matter to just start tearing up the place,

Vorak couldn't take the chance. His ship's information systems had

discerned that there were members of the Galaxy Police in the system

and that the sector was now monitored by the intergalactic law

enforcement agency. With the outstanding warrants for his arrest for

causing planetary destruction on several worlds, (they never charged

Ranma since he maintained that Vorak would always attack first and

he was acting in self-defense), the former Ryoga had to maintain a

low profile. Furthermore, he didn't dare try to leave his ship, for he

would become hopelessly lost within the first ten seconds!

No, if he wanted to find Ranma, he would have to employ other

means. With that in mind, he touched a few buttons on his console,

which activated several probes, which were loaded with scanning

devices and miniature cloaking shields. They would scour the planet

in their search for his foe and transmit his whereabouts back to him.

When they found him, then Vorak would get others to track him

down and bring Ranma to him, thereby avoiding any chance of his

own presence alerting the Galaxy Police. He had recently plugged

into the so-called Internet and had come across several ads about

private investigators and bounty hunters. Vorak found it an amusing

idea for a former bounty hunter to use another bounty hunter to

catch a rival bounty hunter. It would be a simple matter to manipulate

the primitives of this world into doing the dirty work. Though he

didn't have much in terms of wealth, he did had a sizable amount of

gemstones and metals that were considered valuable on Earth, but

dirt cheap on the intergalactic trade routes. He did wonder why these

natives would put such a high price on a useless metal such as gold.

Meanwhile, at the back of Furinkan High, near the track…

Ranma turned to pick up some of the gym equipment after the

students had left for the day, when his biocomputer began alerting

him.

(*Ranma. Proximity sensors have detected a non-Earth lifeform

nearby.*)

<Huh? Are you sure?>

(*Affirmative. Life readings indicate that it is fifty meters to your

right.*)

Ranma looked in the indicated direction and sure enough, there

was the furry little animal roaming around the soccer field. It was

sniffing at the ground, as if it were trying to pick up a scent. The

nanotech warrior dropped what he was doing and began to slowly

approach the creature. When he got to within twenty meters of the

animal, his eyes widened in recognition. <A cabbit? Here on Earth?>

The little white cabbit looked up and caught sight of Ranma. It

immediately let off a happy sound and bounced toward him. Ranma

looked down as the cabbit smiled as it began nuzzling its head

against his leg.

"Ciao! Ciao!"

Ranma was a little surprised that this creature was being so

friendly with him, then his eyes widened even further as he

recognized this particular spaceship.

"Ken-ohki? Is that really you?"

"Ciao!" Ken-ohki happily pranced around him before hopping into

his arms.

Ranma stroked one of Ken-ohki's ears and said, "What are you

doing here? Where's… Nagi?" Just as he said that name, his

proximity sensors detected someone nearby. He whirled around and

saw the athletic and attractive bounty hunter standing before him.

Nagi gestured for her cabbit to return to her side. Ken-ohki

hopped out of his arms and stood beside his mistress. Nagi then

slowly walked up to her former acquaintance and without warning

gave him a hard slap to his cheek.

WHAP!

Ranma hadn't been expecting any hostility from his sometime ally,

so he did not try to block the blow. They had parted on good terms

the last time they were together. Though the slap hurt him about as

much as a flea ramming into a whale, he was still surprised. He

thought that they were friends. He raised a hand to his cheek and

said in confusion, "N-Nagi? W-W-What was that for?"

Nagi's eyes narrowed as she said, "Shadaria."

Ranma gave her a sheepish look as he said, "Hey… I was just

doing my job."

Nagi surprised him yet again as she grabbed the front of his jacket

and pulled him forward, locking her lips with his in an act of

osculation that made the facehuggers from Alien seem noncommittal.

Ranma's eyes bulged out to the size of saucers at the unexpected

kiss. When the kiss ended, Nagi's face was wearing a smile.

"N-Now what was THAT for?" Ranma gasped as he tried to suck

in some air.

"Mentoka." Nagi replied.

Ranma gave her the same sheepish look as he said, "Hey… I…

was just doing my job."

Nagi gave him a small laugh as she released her hold and said,

"Ranma, it's been a long time."

"I… guess… it has. " Ranma started scratching the back of his

head. "So… what brings you to this neck of the galaxy?"

Nagi's expression became serious as she replied; "Vorak is here."

Ranma's expression matched Nagi when he heard that name.

Some time later, the two of them were sitting in his office and

sipping tea.

"So this is where you've been." Nagi commented as she looked

around the simple surroundings. She then turned back to Ranma who

was sitting behind his desk. "One of the best bounty hunters in

seven galaxies reduced to teaching adolescents on a backwater

planet. Bounty hunting not paying enough?" The female bounty

hunter smirked as she took another sip of tea. On Ranma's desk, Ken-

ohki was happily munching on a carrot.

"Actually, I'm here for a different reason. The teaching job's just a

cover. In any case, you just said that Vorak is on this planet? I find

that hard to believe. Last I heard of him was in the Gerudox sector,

and I thought he went into a black hole."

"Yeah well, he did get out. I've been tailing him for about a week

now, in between my other jobs, and I imagine he's after you again."

Ranma sighed as he said, "Well, if he is here, then I'd better make

sure that he doesn't end up trashing this planet like all those others."

"Just what IS his gripe against you? Don't tell me that he's still

mad at you for taking all those bounties from him. Or is because of

that duel you were supposed to have with him?" Ranma's supposed

fight-to-the-finish with Vorak had been big news in the quadrant and

more than a thousand worlds had betted on the outcome. All the

beings that had wagered on the battle were more than disappointed

when Vorak had not shown up for the fight.

Ranma sighed and said, "It… goes a little deeper than that. The

bounties weren't the main reason, but they did start our feud. It…

was about a few months before we met… and I really don't want to

talk about it."

"Ranma…?"

The nanotech solider waved it off. "I don't want to talk about it."

Nagi was about to press further, but she then saw the sadness in

his eyes. The sight was a bit surprising to her, as she had rarely seen

him in such a state. Out of respect for him, she decided to question

him about it, for now and changed the subject. "So, what have you

been doing since you got to this planet?"

Ranma began telling his onetime ally of the events that occurred

when he landed on Earth. After finishing his tale, Nagi was a little

alarmed.

"You used the Annihilator?!"

Ranma shrugged and said, "Hey, I'll admit that it was a bit extreme

but I only used one billionth of its setting and it's not like this planet

has the technology to detect an anti-matter blast. With all the

primitive nuclear plants, fission warheads and magical sources on

this world, my Annihilator wouldn't have shown up on their

sensors."

"They may not be to detect it, but I have a feeling that Washu and

the Galaxy Police would have been alerted to it!"

"Washu? The Galaxy Police? Here?"

Nagi nodded as she said, "You may not have known it, but the

Earth does have several non-terrestrial races on the planet."

"Sounds like you've been here before, Nagi. Just how did you

know that Washu and the Galaxy Police are here."

This time, it was Nagi who became a bit uneasy. "Uh… well… it's

because I was tracking Ryoko at the time."

Ranma smiled, "Ryoko? She's here too? Does that mean that you

still haven't…"

"Oh shut up!" Nagi said in an irritated voice.

Ranma gave a soft chuckle as he said in a teasing tone. "Now this

is ironic! Here you are chiding me about my problems with Vorak

when the one person that you have yet to defeat is on the same

planet!" Ranma's snickered.

"SHUT UP!" Nagi yelled as she suddenly got up and had her

particle-disrupter sword aimed at Ranma's face. Ken-ohki was startled

from his meal when he saw his mistress get angered. Ranma stopped

laughing but still had a slight smile.

"Now, now Nagi. There's no need for that. I didn't mean anything

by it. I'm sorry. I won't mention it again, okay?" Ranma knew just how

touchy she was about her relationship with the infamous space

pirate.

Nagi stood there with her weapon pointed at her fellow bounty

hunter. As she gazed into Ranma's deep blue eyes, she felt her anger

melt away. Try as she might, she could never stay mad at him for very

long. Eventually, she put away her sword and sat down.

Ranma nodded as he began discussing with his former

acquaintance over their current situations.

To be continued…

Author's Notes

Well I wasn't really too sure as to where to go with this, so I

thought I'd end this chapter here. For now, Ranma and Nagi will be

seeing each other as they help one another and this may cause some

questions and suspicions. Give me some suggestions on some future

chapters and I may just use them.