On Sun, 25 Oct 1998, Jurai-Knight wrote:
Quantum Destinies
Chapter 13 - Turning Points
away from the body, one hopes...
solid blow would hurt quite a lot. By her appearance, Ranma was
sure that she was from somewhere in the American Prefectures.
She had probably been taught by one of the Buddhist missionaries.
Hmm...
attention to them. One of them was Tarou. Ranma studied him
for a few moments as the Chinese boy worked out with weights on
the far side of the room. The expression on Tarou's face was one
of total focus. Nobody went near a weight machine while Tarou
was on it.
Due to the extreme body odor.
Ranma let his eyes roam around the room some more. He
noticed a strikingly beautiful girl practicing powerful-looking
high kicks and roundhouse kicks a short distance away on the
mat. She was wearing a plain black T-shirt, a pair of beige gi
pants, and a pair of black, fingerless gloves. Ranma judged her
style to be a combination of several Korean styles, mainly Tae
Kwon Do and Hwarang Do. She had an impressive figure to
Ranma's eyes.
Whoops, don't go there, dude!
Mina noticed that Ranma was looking at her, and she smiled
inwardly. She had managed to catch his attention after all.
*Hah! Take that, you Amazon bitch!* She pretended not to
notice that he was watching her, but she put a little more bounce
into her routine. His eyes continued to watch her, and each
moment of his attention fed the flames of her ego.
Not realizing that being near this boy was incredibly bad for her health.
Ryuu Kumon eyed Ranma while waiting his turn at one of the
punching bags. Envy filled his heart. Even though they were in
similar positions here, what waited for them in the world outside
the Arena was quite different. *Ranma Saotome,* he thought
slowly, as if savoring the mental feel of the name. *Your father is
a well-respected scholar. Your family has money and a good
position in society. Your life should have been _mine_.* Ryuu
clenched a fist tightly. The memory of his father's death filled
him.
*You* have unlimited numbers of righteous babes lining up to
stroke your body. Oh yes, and more enemies than you can shake a stick
at...
"Mark my words, boy," his father had told him after warming
himself with some sake as they sat by the campfire. "Genma
Saotome is the cause for my fall from grace. He was always
jealous of my brilliance! His work on quantum mechanics was
_pirated_ from my own work! He always denied it when I
accused him, but it's still true!" His father had paused to take
another drink from the sake bottle and had stared into the
campfire for a time.
Uh-oh...
"The accident wasn't my fault," his father had said while
staring into the fire. "Genma was afraid that I would show him
up, and he must have sabotaged my equipment. That's the only
reason why it could have failed. He wasn't content with stealing
my life's work. He wanted to destroy my credibility, and it cost
your mother her life."
And I've had to wear *shhss-shuk* this mask ever since!
The accident had happened while Ryuu was a young child. His
father had been stripped of his credentials. The money from
savings ran out, and father and son were forced to take to the
road. The elder Kumon turned his back on academics, and he
found new purpose in making his son into a warrior. It became
his only purpose in life, and he trained Ryuu mercilessly. They
had traveled around the Empire as his father taught him the
family style of martial arts. It was a hard life, but it had made
Ryuu strong.
Hmm...wonder if his quantum gizmo was entirely unsuccessful?
Could be he got his brain a little scrambled with Band 16 Mr. Kumon...
The fight had been very close. Shampoo was a supreme test of
his abilities, but he had remained confident that he would defeat
her. Then he had felt some sort of sting on the back of his neck.
His movements had begun to slow, and Shampoo had turned into
a berserker before his eyes. She savagely pummeled him into
unconsciousness. He had managed to avoid serious injury, save
for a separated shoulder.
Hmm...suspicious that.
among themselves. Several had ganged up on him two nights
after his second fight with Shampoo. Tarou had been the one who
had administered most of his injuries from that night, and they
had left him in a deserted corridor.
Jerks.
Then fate had finally decided to throw him a scrap of good
fortune. The son of his father's enemy had been delivered into his
grasp. Ranma Saotome would pay the ultimate price for Genma's
misdeeds, and his death would make Genma Saotome suffer as he
so richly deserved. Ryuu smiled slightly as he savored the thought
of killing Ranma with his own hands. Using the skills his father
had taught him, Ranma Saotome would die. It was all too perfect.
So obviously it won't work.
"He?" the Director asked in a puzzled tone. "He who?"
"J... Jun Fan Lee is here... sir," she said in a quiet but urgent
tone. "He has asked to see you. What should I do?"
Bruce?
Jun Fan Lee was born in China's Kowloon Prefecture almost
sixty years ago, in the Year of the Dragon and the Hour of the
Dragon. He had been brought to fight in the Arena when he was
fifteen. For over four years, he had fought and bled in the Arena
as hundreds of young warriors had before him. The man who
would become known around the world as Master Lee was
different though, and he emerged at the end of his contract time as
a legend. His record for the fastest knockout still stood to this
day.
Yep, definitely Bruce.
"Master Lee," he said as he bowed respectfully. "This is a
singular honor for me. To what do I owe the pleasure of your
visit?"
I wish to engage my daughter to Ranma.
"You are here to discuss Ranma Saotome?" asked Director
Sasaki in a surprised tone. *Does he suspect something about the
fight?*
Yep.
"Quite an exciting fight, wasn't it?" asked the Director with a
smile. He leaned back in his chair. *He knows something!* his
mind yammered at him. "Miss Shampoo is one of our finest
warriors. Young Mister Saotome put up a surprising fight, but he
was simply no match for the girl."
After the drugs, anyway.
"Indeed?" asked Jun Fan Lee as he nodded absently. "Perhaps I
might be allowed the honor to oversee his training over the next
two weeks?"
Woo-hoo!
"Yes," said Jun Fan Lee with a slight smile. "I found his
combat techniques to be somewhat rough, but there was a strong
core of skill there that I would like to see if I might be able to
polish somewhat before the rematch." *It is also past time that I
began seeking an heir for my skills. Young Ranma may be just
the student that I've been seeking. He would also be a perfect
match for my adopted daughter, Chun-Li. It would secure her
future as a Citizen of the Empire.*
I knew it! Hey...Chun-Li? Does this mean crossover time?
Prefectural Governor was a reasonable man, and Khu Lon was
confident that he would see her point of view if he knew what was
good for him.
He usually only needed one finger broken...
"<A true Amazon can endure any discomfort when in pursuit of
a goal,>" said Khu Lon loftily. She smiled at the sour look that
I've decided to become a fake Amazon then...
beating him up as an alternative means of passing the time, but
that would be difficult in the confined area of the back of the
truck. *How can I get him to notice me instead of Xian Pu?*
Dye your hair purple and speak in pidgin.
what he would do. His beloved would expect nothing less in a > husband,
so he must force himself to look at her as simply another > opponent.
*Oh, Xian Pu, soon you will be all mine.* > > Per Fum knocked him
unconscious when he started to laugh out > loud at his thoughts. It made
her feel a little better. > > ****************************** > > Ranma
And us too... To be continued...
SKJAM!