A Ranma 1/2 fanfic
Based on characters and stories by Rumiko Takahashi.
Insert any other legal jargon I forgot -here-
Yes, it's my first fanfic.  
Insert standard "it's my first..." stuff -here-
Written by Rod M.

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(Beta Version)
(Still Looking for a title)
(How about this?)

                        The More Things Change...


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============
  PART VIII
  FALLOUT:  The Wanderers
============

***
I have climbed highest mountain
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you

I have run 
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire

I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

                 - U2, "Still haven't found what I'm looking for"

***

I went out riding
Down that old eight lane
I passed by a thousand signs
Looking for my own name

I went with nothing
But the thought you'd be there too
Looking for you

                 - U2, "The Wanderer"

-------------

[December 3]

   Gosunkugi walked along, minding his own business.  Life was pretty okay
nowadays.  He was no longer mugged or harrassed, which was great.  He started
to get over Akane, which was good.  He was finally getting some sleep, which
got rid of some of those dark ridges under his eyes, which helped with his
social life alot.  He tried to dig deeper into magic which was great for him 
mentally but was horrible in the eyes of his parents and the public in general.

   He strode by the waterway, taking in the sights.  Then he heard a sniffle.
And then another one.  He followed the sound to a bridge under construction
nearby and found a long haired girl with a titanic spatula sitting by the waters
and looking sad.  A tear was streaming down her face.
   "Hey, need this?"  he said, holding out a cloth tissue. [ednote hankerchef?]
   "Hm?" 
   "This," he said, holding it up again, "you've got some tears."
   "Oh, thanks."  she said, taking it.
   "So..."  he asked, still not quite comfortable talking with girls, "um...
what's got you down?"
   "Just... just thinking of a friend I lost recently.  Guess I kinda feel lost
without him."
   She thought about what she just said, and then laughed a little.
   They stayed out there for a while,  with her just staring out into the
waters and him standing next to her looking concerned.
   "Hey, c'mon, it's cold out here.  I'll buy you a coffee."  He held out his
hand.
   She turned, looked at it for a while, then took it and stood up.
   "I'm Hikaru Gosunkugi.  Nice to meet you."
   "Ukyo Kuonji.  Same here."  she answered.
   They walked down the street silently.
   "Say," she asked, "do you like okonomiyaki?"


---------

[Days later]

   Ranma and Akane walked along the river carrying bags filled with Christmas 
shoppig items they had just bought from the stores.  They enjoyed the sights 
and sounds of the Christmas holiday.  The night lights were sparkling, the 
crowds were all happy, and the stars were somewhat visible, making this night 
almost perfect for the two.
   "Ranma," Akane asked, holding onto his arm, "you're really sure?"
   Ranma sighed.  "Hey, I told you already.  Yes, we are going to get married,
yes I want to do this, and yes," he stopped, and kissed her, "I want to marry
_you_."  Ranma wondered what was bothering Akane so much.  Ever since a couple
of weeks ago she was becoming nervous about their relationship and was
repeatedly asking if he really loved her.
   "Hey," he said, "_you_ aren't having any second thoughts, are you?"
   "Um.. no, of course not, don't be silly."  She sighed and they resumed
their walk.  The mad rantings of Mousse haunted her to this day.  She was
afraid to face Mousse because she was afraid of the answers she might get.
Akane wanted her marrige to be real, not just some effect of a drug.  She 
didn't want to live a lie.

   As they passed a bridge that was under repairs they both stopped and 
looked solemly at a red umbrella planted upright into the ground in honor
of their fallen comrade.
   
   "Believe it or not," Ranma said, "I actually miss the guy."
   "Yeah, me too."  Akane wiped a tear from her eye.  "C'mon, we're gonna
miss dinner."
   "At least... at least he went down the way he wanted to... fighting."

-------

[Thurday]

   It was poker night once more, and Akane, Ranma, Ukyo, Gosunkugi, Nabiki, 
Mousse, Shampoo, and Kasumi were sitting around a table.  Nearby, a television
was playing.
   For once, Nabiki had joined in on the games.  She couldn't resist the
lure of easy money.
   Kasumi had merely asked to join in.  Nobody asked her why.  She was
well-liked by everyone, so nobody objected.
   Shampoo joined in because Mousse had persuaded her to go.  She wasn't
pounding Mousse as much as she used to anymore, and they were actually
beginning to get along, at least once a week.  She still looked longingly
at Ranma now and then, but did nothing more.
   Gosunkugi was there accompanying Ukyo.  They seemed to hang around together
more often nowadays.  Ranma was clueless, but Akane had guessed that it was
probbably something like a "rebound affair", when one dates just about anybody
right after they break up or loose someone they loved.  Ranma thought that
Ukyo couldn't be that stupid.
   Ukyo shuffled the deck expertly and dealt them out.  Everyone noticed
that she was still using one of Ryoga's headbands to tie her hair into a
ponytail.
   Everyone looked at their cards.
   Then Ukyo started crying.  Ranma and Akane reached out to comfort her,
Gosunkugi offered a box of tissue to her, Kasumi offered some tea, and
Nabiki shook her head looking at the messy scene before her.
   "I'm sorry, guys.  It's just that I still miss him," she said, stopping  
her sniffles. 
   Gosunkugi looked uneasy.
   "We used to play poker every night, y'know?  It was one of the few things
that cheered him up when he was down."  She sighed and looked at her cards.
"Okay, I'm okay.  Just lost it for a moment."
   "Okay then," Nabiki said, hoping to get things back on track, "everybody
ready?  Show what you've got!"
   Gosunkugi had a three of a kind, Shampoo had a pair, Mousse had a straight,
Ranma had junk, Akane had a pair, Nabiki had a full house, and Kasumi had 
a royal straight flush.
   "Oh my.  I won again!"  Kasumi giggled.  She dragged the pile of chips
to her already large stack of winnnings.

--------

   Somewhere, deep in a jungle area, a man wandered.  He was badly injured,
sporting many bruises and cuts.  He had been wandering for so long looking
for something that he couldn't remember.  He remembered a fight... an
explosion... but nothing earlier than that.  With all his injuries his
travel was painful but he felt that he had to keep on wandering, as if it
was a basic need, and looking for... looking for... what?
   
   He would have loved some hotel service right about then.

--------

[Friday]

   Ranma answered the knock at the door to reveal Mousse with a handy-cam.
   "Er... hi?"  Ranma said.
   "Hello Ranma.  I'm just here to take care of a minor technicality.  Where
is your dojo?"
   "Follow me," he said.
   They entered the dojo and Mousse set up his equipment.
   "What's all this for?" asked Ranma.
   "Cologne's getting desperate.  She's going to try and get you married to
Shampoo soon, despite your earlier threats."
   "Oh?  Is that so!" Ranma said angrily.
   "No need to panic.  We just need to clear one minor detail."
   Mousse hit the record button.
   "What's that?"
   "Argh!  Akane put on some clothes!"  Mousse yelled, pointing dramatically
behind Ranma with one hand while trying to cover his eyes with the other.
   "What the?  AKANE!"  Ranma yelled, turning around quickly.
   *WHAM* Mousse flattened Ranma with a concrete pillar.
   "Well now," Mousse said, slapping his hands together, "that's that!"
   "GET THIS THING OFF ME!"
   Mousse went over to the camera and turned it off while Ranma slowly rolled
the pillar off of himself.
   "Wha'd you do that for?" Ranma yelled, angrily stomping towards Mousse.
   "Somebody called?"  Akane asked, entering the dojo.
   "You're no longer engaged to Shampoo by Amazon law."  Mousse said, smiling
brightly.
   "Oh?"  Ranma said, frozen in mid-step.
   "So we don't have to worry about Cologne any more?" Akane said, smiling.
   "That's right!"  Mousse said.  Ranma smiled and shook his hand.
   "Congrats!" Ranma said, and then slammed him against the wall, upside down.
   "What... did... you do ... that for?"  Mousse weakly muttered.
   "That was for the pillar." said Ranma as he went back to the house.
   
***
   
   Mousse began to get up when suddenly he was grabbed by the neck by Akane.
   "*ACK*  What... what..."
   "It's about time," said Akane angrily, "that you answer some questions."
   {Uh oh} thought Mousse.  {Does she know?}
   "Exactly how much did you use?" said Akane.
   "What?  I don't *ack* know what you're talking about," said Mousse, trying
to stay calm.
   "Spice."
   {She knows,} Mousse thought, {does Ranma know too?}
   "Why did you do it?" said Akane, not letting go of his throat.
   "To get Ranma out of the way.  What's wrong?  Didn't everyone get what
they wanted?  Weren't you always in love with him?"
   Akane's look turned angrier.  "Thanks to YOU I'm doubting every emotion
that I have towards _him_, dammit!"
   "Oh.  You're worried that the spice is still..."
   "Exactly."
   Mousse smiled, and that made Akane squeeze harder.  "ACK... used... only
a... little... bit... only... worked... for... hour..."
   Akane let go.  Mousse started to breathe deeply.  {She IS strong.  No
wonder Ranma got beaten up by her all the time.}
   "Are you sure?" said Akane.
   "It wore off a long time ago.  Anything you've been doing since then was
because you wanted to."

--------

[Saturday]

   "Shampoo still not sure about this."
   "Please?  Just one date?"
   Mousse was begging Shampoo one more time.  This, he felt, was the final
hurdle.  After the apparent death of Ryoga, Mousse was the sole candidate
for Shampoo's hand.  The Amazon Legal council couldn't argue at all, and so
the obstinate roadblock known as Cologne was finally rendered ineffective.
Since there was nothing keeping them there except for the business, Cologne
had decided that she would leave for China at the end of the month.
   Only Shampoo's heart stood in the way.
   "Shampoo, we're going to get married anyways.  I don't want you to hate
me.  Please?  Come on, we'll go anywhere you want to go."
   Shampoo sighed.  She knew there was no way out now.  Her great-grandmother
could do nothing.  The law was on Mousse's side.  Ryoga was no longer there
to prevent Mousse from marrying her (although she didn't like Ryoga that much
either) and Mousse had _legally_ taken Ranma out of consideration as well.  
Cologne and Shampoo strongly believed their fight was staged, but technically 
it counted.  Might as well try to find something good about the blind idiot.
   "Fine.  We go later.  Now leave Shampoo alone."
   "YEEESSS!!!"
   "If Mousse does not shut up, Shampoo change her mind!"
   "Sorry!"

---------

   Shutaro Mendo, heir to the largest fortune in Japan, decendent of noble
blood, stood outside of his house, umbrella overhead to keep out the sleet and
snow, and surveyed the neighborhood.  He did this every now and then to unwind
from all the stresses that living in Tomobiki came with, like that pervert 
Ataru and those idiotic Lum Stormtroopers.  The beautiful sight of this town 
during night time was something he enjoyed looking at.
   Suddenly, his senses warned him of danger.  He readied his sword.
   Two red eyes appreared in the shadows.
   "SHOW YOURSELF!" he yelled, and was quickly knocked into unconsciousness
by a snorting, grunting blur.

--------

   "Hey, Juice!  Hey!  Over here!"  the reporters yelled as a man, flanked
by police was escorted to a police car.  "C'mon, Answer some questions!"
They yelled.
   The man stopped, faced the cameras, and began a short speech.  The
photographers got restless.  Finally, one of the cameramen yelled.
   "HEY!  You!  Yeah, you with the bandana!  Get outta the way kid!, you're 
ruining our shots!"

--------

[Sunday Morning]

   Ukyo sat in her room, slowly waking up.  It was time for the weekend
cleanup, which she hated doing.
   "Ryoga!"  She yelled.  There was no way she was going to handle this mess
alone.  After all, wasn't that why she let him stay here?
   "Ryoga!"  She called again.  Then she remembered.  Ryoga wouldn't be
helping her anymore.  She was alone in the resteraunt.  All alone.
   She sighed, got up, and went to the kitchen to eat breakfast.  She opened
the door, picked up the morning paper, and set it on the table.  Ukyo cooked
okonomyaki, set it on a plate, turned on the television, and sat down.
   While chewing on some okonomyaki she unfolded the newspaper.  She spat out
her food.  The headline read "VIOLENT PIG ATTACKS AGAIN:  MILLIONARE MENDO 
STRUCK DOWN!"  She read the story.  {Standing in the rain... felt danger...
beady little eyes... fast blur... pig noises... It can't be.  It CAN'T BE.}
   She put the paper away and resumed eating.  And then she spat out again.
The all-news network was on.  The newsman was broadcasting live from Hong
Kong about some story that she didn't care about.  She didn't care about
that.  Ukyo ran up to the television to get a better look.
   In the background, a ragged figure limped.  He had many scratches and
cuts, as if he had been in a fight.  Most importantly, he was wearing a 
yellow and black bandana.
   She screamed.

-------------

   The night was late, the stars were out, and Akane and Ranma were walking 
home from one of the more trendy dance clubs.
   They were both muttering all the way down the street and didn't look like 
a happy couple at all.  Akane was walking angrily, looking away from Ranma, 
while he was hobbling slightly and looking not too happy himself.
   "Stupid clumsy tomboy... uncute brute... foot masher..." Ranma muttered.
   "I said I'm sorry already!"  She yelled back.
   "Whatever."  He muttered.
   Then Akane stopped walking.
   Ranma hobbled a step or two ahead before noticing that she had stopped.
Then he hobbled back a few steps.  She turned her back to him and sniffled.
   "Aw, come on!  Don't start crying!"  he yelled.  She seemed so quick to sob
lately, alot like her father.  "I'M sorry, okay?  I should have let it go by
now, and now I am, okay?"  He reached out and she took a step back.  "Akane, 
please." he said.  He hobbled towards her again but this time she didn't move.
Then she put her head on his shoulder.  {Hey} he wondered, {why am I always
the one apologizing in the end anyways?}
   Akane was wondering if this was the way Ranma and her would always be.
Naturally.  Without any spice helping things out.
   "Y'know," she said, between sniffles, "I hoped we'd stop fighting like
this."
   "Yeah, I know, me too.  Maybe I overreacted.  Maybe you overreacted."
Akane was about to argue when Ranma interrupted her, "but that doesn't mean
we should just fall apart or nothin' like that.  I still wanna marry you,
even if you are a clumsy tomboy."  He smiled.
   "You know, I still want to marry you too, you jerk." she said, smiling 
a bit, and put her arms around him.

   Then they both sensed something.  A presence.  They looked around and saw
a figure hobbling in the far distance, a bandana on his head.
   "It can't..."  Ranma muttered.
   "Ryoga!"  Akane yelled.
   The man turned a corner into a busy street.  Akane and Ranma looked at each
other as if to see if each was thinking the same thing, then they chased after
the mysterios figure, but the crowds on the street were too many.
   "Hey, Akane, it couldn't have been... could it?"

-------------
[Monday]

   Jeanette Smith was sent off to another news story to cover for the paper.
It wasn't your typical 3-bodies-found-and-no-suspects kind of story that's
so common nowadays, so she was curious.  Especially because it happened in
one of the more popular nightclubs, and she'd been stuck getting assigned to
covering the kind of stories that get buried waaaay in the back of the paper.
   She entered a nightclub.  It was your typical "generation-x" type of dive,
with an industrial look and dark lighting.  She waded past the police officers
at the scene and looked at the damage.  It looked like there was a bomb
detonated right in the middle of the dance floor because there was a
considerably big crater occupying that space.  Something was wrong, though.
No burn marks, no scorches, no smoke.  There should have been something like
that if a bomb had gone off.
   She grabbed a passing officer.  "Hey," she asked, "any injuries?"
   "About a dozen people.  Got hit by flying debris."
   "That's it?  Nobody killed?"
   "Nobody even burned.  Strange, isn't it?" the officer said, and walked off.
   She went looking for a witness.  She found Eno Donnovan, lead singer of the
'Screaching Monkeys' who was playing on stage during the incident.
   "Hey!"  she said, grabbing his shoulder, "I'm Jeanette Smith from the Post,
what happened here?"
   "Well, um, we were doing our music thing and stuff y'know when suddenly
there's this Japanese dude, been working as a waiter or janitor or somethin' 
like that, well he was getting really pissed off in the middle of the pit.
Guess he didn't know that's how they usually dance *huh* anyways they were
bumpin' him and he was bumpin' back an then I guess he was packin' a bomb
or somethin 'cause this gigantic explosion happens BOOM!.  Dirt flyin' 
everywhere!  Me an' the band duck, and when I look up, there's this huuuuge 
crater in the middle of the dance floor and the Japanese dude is gone!"

-------------

   Kodachi was ready.
   She had spent endless hours in the lab trying to recreate the formula which
was lost in her first run-in with Ryoga Hibiki.  She knew that the original
batch was effective because she was living proof of it (She didn't mind being
under the spell of the formula, though, 'cause it felt goooood) and now was
hoping to spread her happiness around a bit.
   There was a problem.  The chemicals weren't reacting like the original mix
was.  There was something she did the first time... something different that
made all the difference, and it frustrated her greatly.  There was one outcome
that she wanted, the everlasting love effect.  But unfortunately it wasn't,
according to her research, the most likely effect.  There were however two
effects that were most likely to occur.
   One was that the subject would become overwhelmed with passion for a brief
moment, being unbelievably overwhelmed with desire.
   The other was a mild skin rash.
   She held up a vial filled with clear liquid.  This was the closest that
she'd been able to get to the original creation.  This was it.  She didn't know
if it would work properly, but there was only one way to find out, right?
   Kodachi quickly put on her Ranma-chan disguise and bounded out to her only
surviving beloved.
   She sighed sadly for a moment, thinking of the other one.  {Alas, my beloved
Ryoga, I miss you much, but life goes on!}

***

   Ranma sat in the park, feeling the breeze under the shade of a large tree,
looking doubtfully at the curry dish before him.  He and Akane were havinga 
picnic in the park because she felt they weren't having enough "quality time"
lately.  She seemed overly-worried about their relationship.  He didn't see any
emergency coming up, but if it made her happy, he figured it shouldn't hurt too
much.
   He forgot about the part of a picnic that involved lunch.
   "Um, Akane..." he hesitatingly said.
   "Hm?"  said she, turning to him with a hopefull look.
   {Aw heck, can't argue with a girl when they use the Cute Stare}  he
grudgingly thought.  "Akane, I need a spoon."
   "Oh!  Here you go!"
   High above them Kodachi lurked.  She had spotted them enter the park and
hurriedly followed them.  She would have gotten out of her disguise but in the
thrill of the pursuit she had entirely forgotten that she was wearing it.
   After observing the layout of the area, she had her plan all figured out. 
In one smooth motion, she would descend from the tree, pour the potion into
the curry (it seemed like curry anyways but Kodachi knew that with Akane's
cooking one never could be sure of anything) with her left hand, hammer
Akane with a mallet using her right hand, kick the bowl into Ranma's face with
the left foot (assuming his mouth would be gaping in surprise at her arrival as
it usually seemed to be) and landing neatly in front of him just in time for
the potion to take effect and *presto* love slave for eternity!
   She leapt from the tree.
   Ranma and Akane both sensed something wrong and looked up.  They were both
surprised to see Kodachi in a really bad Ranma-chan disguise.  
   "What the?" Ranma muttered, too surprised by Kodachi's appearance to notice
the splash of liquid diving into his curry.
   Akane was pissed.  She cocked her fists in a ready position and as Kodachi
swung her mallet, Akane caught it with one hand and slugged her out of the park
with the other, hitting her so hard that her wig came off.
   Akane noticed the wig.  She looked to where Kodachi was flying off. 
   Ranma shrugged and absentmindedly had some curry.  His face turned green.
He discretely turned away and washed off the taste with some megajolt cola.
   Akane suddenly figured it all out.  {Of course!  It was Kodachi that kissed
Ryoga, not Ranma!  Hm... too bad he never lived to find out the truth.} 
Suddenly, Akane's hand was grabbed and she was yanked down to the grass next
to Ranma.  
   "Ranma!  What-"  She was cut off, mainly because he was giving her one of
the most passionate kisses that they ever had.  For both of them, bells were
ringing, violins were striking up a romatic and dramatic number, doves were
flying everywhere, the sky was a romantic shade of pink, all the hearts were
shaped like clouds, and roses were blooming all around them.  
   It was that kind of a kiss.
   Then it stopped.
   Ranma sat up, slightly dazed.  "Wow.  Wonder what brought that on."
   Akane grabbed him by the ear, yanked him back down, and the violins resumed.
   ;^)

-------------

[Tuesday]

   "But Gosunkugi,  I'm telling you he's alive!  He's out there, lost, beaten 
up, but alive!"
   "Ukyo," Gosunkugi said, "it was just your imagination.  Please, calm down."
   "I'M TELLING YOU HE'S ALIVE!"  She screamed.
   He looked sadly at Ukyo.  {That's it} he thought, {she's snapped}.
She called him on the phone, sounding so panic-stricken, and said it was an
emergency.  He ran over immediately only to find her ranting like a madwoman
about Ryoga being alive.  "Listen, Ukyo, maybe you should go see somebody.."
   "You think I'm crazy?"  Ukyo glared at Gosunkugi.
   "Ukyo, let's go on a date!"  Tsubasa cheerily said as he revealed himself
to be a potted plant in the room.
   "Tsubaaasaaaa!"  Ukyo growled.  She whipped out not one, but two titanic
killer spatulas and proceeded to thrash Tsubasa far more violently than she
had ever done before.  Finally, she hammered him from both sides with the 
spatulas, tossed him up, and hit him like a baseball, right through the roof.
   She was beginning to look a bit psychotic to Gosunkugi.
   "Well, you're looking a bit stressed out.  I just think you need some
well deserved rest, okay?"
   Ukyo calmed down.
   Gosunkugi observed the conditions of Ucchan's.  It was very much unkept, and
dust was beginning to build up.  Ukyo's personal quarters were a bit messy
too, with lots of wet tissue paper and othe items lying around on the floor.
He noticed that the attic was locked up.
   "Ukyo, when's the last time you cleaned up this place?"
   "Not... not in a while."
   "C'mon, I'll help you clean up."
   Reluctantly, she accepted his help and they went about the business of
cleaning up the place.

----------

   The young man was extremely confused.  He was wandering around some damn
swamp area, full of mosquitos, and suddenly he found himself in some small
metal compartment, and to add insult to injury he was locked in.
   "Hey!"  he yelled, banging on the door, "Let me out!"
   Meanwhile, outside, something was happening.
   "TEN... NINE... EIGHT... SEVEN....HOLD COUNTDOWN... REPEAT HOLD THE
COUNTDOWN... INTERNAL SENSORS INDICATE A PROBLEM, DO YOU READ?"
   "Mission control, we read you loud and clear."

----------

   Somewhere, deep within a mountain, a man in a red military outfit was
looking at several monitoring screens.  A scrawny scientist stood next to
him.
   "As you can see, sir," the scientist began, "the readings on this one
are quite high.  We think that maybe you should consider recruiting him."
   "If you think so, go ahead.  I have higher matters to concentrate on."
   "Um.. we'll be needing some tracking equipment and some transport.  Our
target seems to be wandering around alot lately and at amazing distances."
   "Very well.  Go and find him."

---------

[Sunday]

   Manami Hinako looked at the young man sitting next to her.  She wondered if 
he felt the same way that she felt.  Tonight... tonight she would find out.

   It was several days ago when this mysterious man came into her life.
Being an Asian in San Francisco wasn't bad, but she had just recently moved
there with her family from Japan.  Her father had been promoted to overseeing
their foreign branch in California.  She was feeling sad one day, missing
all her friends back in Tokyo, so she took a walk in a nearby park.
   She was in an isolated part of the woods when all of the sudden several
men jumped out of the bushes and approached her menacingly.  One of them
grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth before she had the chance to
scream.
   Suddenly, the man holding her let go, and was sent flying over the trees.
She turned around to see a ragged figure in a fighting stance.
   "Get away from her!"  He yelled.  The muggers began to laugh at him,
mainly because they didn't speak Japanese.  They all closed in at once on
this upstart.
   To her surprise they were beaten badly, brutally, and within a minute.
   Her hero looked at her and asked "are you alright?"
   She asked, "yes, thank you."
   "Oh, good." he said.
   And he collapsed.

   She took him to a hospital later where they checked on him, re-setting
a broken leg that didn't mend properly and doing more cleanup work on old 
wounds that he had apparently gotten from some time in his past.  To their
great astonishment, they couldn't get the headband off.  Well, they could
get _a_ headband off, and another, and another, but just not the one covering 
his head.
   He went on to heal at an incredibly fast rate.

   Later, in a long conversation, she found out that he had very little memory
of his past, and had even forgotten his name.  {Isn't this so mysterious and
romantic?} she happily thought.  With the help of her parents credit card, she
proceeded to take him out for the next several days, replacing his ragged
clothes, taking him out to eat, and having fun in general.
   He still couldn't remember his name.

   And so it came to this time, with them alone on a romantic night, sitting
there so close to each other.  She decided to go for it.  Touching his chin
to turn his face to her, she moved in close for the kiss.
   Then he stuttered a name, but not hers.
   She stopped, shocked.  "Who?" she asked.
   He looked dazed.  "I'm sorry.  I've got to go.  I think... I think I
remember something."  

---------

[Monday]

   "Ranma, did you invite Ukyo to dinner yet?" Akane asked.  The couple was
worried about her since she had kept her store closed for several days now and
hadn't talked much to either of them at all.  Akane was hoping to tell her
about her run-in with Kodachi in disguise.
   "Yeah," he answered, "but Gosunkugi said she was busy."
   "Gosunkugi was there?"
   "Yup.  Said she was busy cleaning up the place."
   "Oh."
   Ranma looked disturbed.
   "What else did he say?" Akane asked.
   "Oh?  Um, well, he said Ukyo thought she saw Ryoga on television and she was
getting hysterical until he calmed her down."
   "I guess she really loved him."  Akane replied.  She went over and hugged
Ranma.  "Don't you ever dissapear on me, you got that?"
   "Hey," he said, smiling, "of course not."
   Akane tensed up for a moment and then let go.
   "Something wrong?"
   "Oh, no."  While hugging Ranma, Akane was facing the television.  They were
doing a story on the Great Wall of China.  She thought she saw someone familiar
in the background.
   Inside, Ranma was having lingering doubts about Ryoga's demise himself.  
No, they never did find Ryoga's body.  But he was in pig form then, and Ranma 
saw the bridge destroyed in the massive explosion afterwards.  If the shishi 
houkou-dan didn't kill Ryoga, the concrete certainly would have.  And then 
there was the river, which was high that night and flowing very fast.  Ryoga 
was either incinerated, crushed, or drowned.
   {But they never found the body}  He thought.  That fact tugged at his brain
for the rest of the night.

---------

   On an outside market in China, a ragged figure wobbled through the streets.
He still couldn't remember his name.  All he knew was that he had to keep 
traveling.
   He was still angry about that insanely long wall that somebody put in there.
He walked left.  He walked right.  The damn thing seemed endless.  This
infuriated him, and so he started punching it, which made a crack but nothing
more.  Then, seized by memory, he pointed a finger and yelled
"bakusaitenketsu!" while poking the wall.  It cracked, then exploded, leaving
a nice open walkway inbetween.
   At a marketplace he stopped.  Something caught his eye.  He reached down and
picked up a traditional Chinese umbrella that was for sale.  It had a straight
wooden shaft and red cloth.  It seemed very heavy.
   He held it in one hand, examining it carefully.  He twirled it.  He
swung it.  He opened it up and flung it into the sky, where it zoomed high.
   "Hey!"  the shopkeeper yelled.  "What the hell are you doing?"
   The umbrella did a figure-8 in the sky and returned to ragged figure's
hand.
   The shopkeeper was speechless.
   The ragged figure looked down at the umbrella in his hand.  He concentrated
on something.  And then he laughed hysterically.

-------

[Friday]

   Ukyo and Gosunkugi were playing poker late one night.  He was happy about
this, since Ukyo was the first girl to actually be his friend.  She had invited
him over for poker several nights in a row now.  It seemed like she couldn't
bear being alone.
   Ukyo was looking at the hand she had to work with.  A two, a three, a jack,
an ace, and a six.  Junk.  She looked up for a moment to think and so looked
briefly at the television which was left on.
   She gasped.
   "Ukyo, what's wrong?" Gosunkugi asked.
   She shook her head as if to clear it.  "Nothing, nothing."
   On the television, a newsman was doing a report on the economic summit
in Korea.  The reporter was speaking live from outside a rather important
looking building.
   Behind him, a rather confused looking figure was holding a map, upside down.

---------

[Days later]

   In a park somewhere, a young couple was testing the waters of romance.
   "Ayukawa, I..." the young man stuttered, and then suddenly held his head.
   "What's wrong?  You look so sad all of the sudden."  the girl said, 
looking genuinely concerned.  She took hold of his hand.
   The young man shook his head.  "That's strange.  For a moment I was really
depressed, and now it's gone."
   Meanwhile, a bandana-clad figure walked away down some nearby stairs,
idly counting "94... 95... 96... 97..."

---------

[More days pass]

   Deep in a forest area, a bandana-clad young man strode through, searching
for something but not quite not knowing what.  He had traveled endlessly,
and his endurance had finally run out.  He collapsed.
   "Young man, are you alright?" an old voice asked.
   He looked up.  "Help... me..."
   The old man dragged him into his house, where two others were in training.
"Ken!  Straighten your leg on that form!  That's better."  the old man 
snapped.  "Just because you win a couple of American tournaments does not mean 
you become lax in your technique."
   "Yes, sensei!" the blond young man yelled.  {Jeez} he thought {just came in
for a friendly visit and the old man turns it into boot camp!}
   "Ryu, help me bring this young man in!"
   "Yes sensei!" the other man said.

***

   "Tell me, have you found this young man that you had targeted yet?"
   "Yes, my lord." the scientist nervously said.  "He was in Seoul, 
Korea a week ago.  We're sending in a retrieval team to investigate now."
   "No."
   "No, master?"
   "I'll find him myself.  We've just lost our agent in Japan, and I wish him
to be our replacement.  It's become more important to obtain him now."
   "Yes master."
   The large figure of the commander glided out the door, his form glowing
with red, blue, and purple swirls of ki-power.

---------
   
   It was a Dark and Stormy Night...

   As it was standard practice in any Dark and Stormy Night, this one had 
something troubling brewing.

   Lightning flared and snaked it's way down to earth.  Of all the places it
could have struck, this surge of energy struck one particular spot and...

   Deep in an underground chamber, something stirred.  Monitor equipment,
warning systems, and other security devices long dormant sprung to life.
Red lights and loud horns activated, indicating an incident of the utmost
emergency.  Staff scrambled everywhere in their white medical coats manning
their stations.
   The head administrator, Shiro Fujimoto, stormed into the control room.  He
looked at all the monitors.  "Give me a status report!" he yelled.
   "Sir!  We lost power temporarily but the backup generators will be on line
in two minutes!"
   "That's good."  the administrator relaxed.  Then one of his staff yelled
in panic.
   "Sir!  Subject H has somehow escaped from his bonds and the ki-dampeners
have been overloaded!  He's still in his room but we don't know how much 
longer we can hold him back!"
   "Dammit!"  Shiro didn't want to deal with Subject H.  It was a worst case
scenario.  The kind of situation that ruins careers.  "Are the priests on 
their way?"
   "Yes sir!  But they're stuck in traffic!"
   "Damn it all!  Why now?!"
   "Sir!  He's broken out of his room!  Our forces are trying to hold him
in the corridor!"
   "Shit!  Close all the ventilation shafts!  Have guards posted around the
elevator shaft at all floors!  Secure the stairwells!"
   "Sir!  He's breached the corridore and is heading for the elevator!"
   Shiro paled.  "GET ALL THE WOMEN OUT OF THE BUILDING!  NOW!!!"

   In the distance the sound of exploding bombs sang alongside the thunder.

---------

   The old man looked upon his newest student with a bit of worry.
   "Ryu, tell me, what do you think of this new one?"  he asked.
   The young asian man next to him answered, "He had been in a tremendous
battle.  That much is obvious, since it would explain why he bears such scars
and has even lost memory of his past."
   "Indeed."
   "Fighting seems to come natural to him, as he executes basic attacks
with ease, and has surprised me by already learning the Shoryuken even though
he has been here only one week."
   "Go on."
   "He is abnormally depressed and contains much anger as well..."
   "You noticed this too, eh?"
   "I took him to the waterfall to train, but he seems to have a great fear
of water, especially cold water."
   "Oh?  I did not know this."  The old man wrinked his brow.
   "He says he does not know why."
   "Hm."
   "And furthermore, he has no sense of direction."
   "Yes, I noticed that too.  Must be brain damage from a past battle."

   In the outside garden, the young mystery man was practicing some basic
moves.  Fighting seemed to come natural to him.  Some of the moves here he
picked up easily.  
   
***

   The Shoryuken, the rising dragon punch, was easy for him to master.  He 
still spun out of control a little bit on the ascent, but it was still 
effective as a weapon in combat.  
   {Heh, a new technique to use against Ranma!} he thought.  Then he stopped.  
{Who's Ranma?} he wondered.  He got conflicting memories.  An image of a
young kid with a pigtail stealing bread came to mind.  Then the image of
a redhead with a torn shirt sprung up.  Then the memory of the girl giving
him a deep kiss unveiled itself and he shivered in disgust for some reason.
{Must be an old girlfriend I hated or something like that.} he thought.   
   He couldn't seem to master the other special techniques of this school,
such as the whirlwind kick or the Hadouken.  He did surprise everyone when on 
a whim he concentrated and yelled "Full Shishi Houkou-dan!", blowing up major 
parts of the forest in the process.
   The sensei seemed saddened at the fact that he displayed such power.
The blond student asked him, "why do you seem upset?  It seems to be a
strong technique."
   The old man replied, "to master the Shishi houkou-dan, one must be
dark, empty, or shattered in spirit.  For a young man of his age to already
master it would mean that his life is tragic indeed.  He must be getting
parts of his memory back, and they must not be very good ones at all."
   
***

   The young man stopped in his exercises once more.  He stared at a pond 
nearby, mesmerized by the ripples on it's surface.
   Something was nagging at him.
   Something just on the tip of his tongue...
   June...
   Junk...
   Junko...
   "JUSENKYO!"
   The two observers looked at him oddly.
   "I must go to Jusenkyo!"  He yelled.  He ran up to the old man.  "Sensei!
Do you know where Jusenkyo is?"
   "The cursed training grounds?  I do not think that this is wise!"  The old
man realised that this may explain his great aversion to water.
   "I must go there!  My past is there!"
   "Hm.  No wonder your ki is tainted with tragedy.  That place is never a  
good place to visit.  If you feel you must go.... it is 200 miles east of here.
I strongly suggest that you take a bus."
   "Thank you sensei!" he yelled.  The young man ran off.
   "He left," the young man said.  He seemed surprised.
   "You are surprised?"
   "You knew he would leave?"  the young man asked.
   "I suspect he is linked to another student that used to attend here.
Do you remember Dan Hibiki?"
   "Yes.  Come to think of it, they are much alike.  I wonder if they are
related in some way."
   The old man and his student stood there, watching the sun set.
   "Nah." both said, and went off to attend to other business.

-------

[Another week goes by...]

   Someone knocked at the door of Ucchan's.  Ukyo went to the front door to
answer, and opened the door to what appeared to be a large bush.
   "Tsubasaaa!"  She growled, grabbing her spatula.
   "FTD delivery m'am!"  The bush said in a panic.
   Ukyo took another look.  It wasn't exactly a bush.  It was a bouquet.
A rather big one.  Nice looking too.  "Oh, sorry."  She said.
   The overwhelmed delivery man brought the flowers in.
   "Put it by the window please?"  Ukyo asked.  "Um... who's it from?"
   "There's a card that came with it, m'am."  The man said, setting the floral
arrangement down.
   After the delivery man left, Ukyo looked at the card that came with the
jumbo-FTD arrangement.

***

      Dear Ukyo,

         How's things at the resteraunt?  I wonder if you've finally opened
      it to the public again, since you do make the best okonomiyaki in town.
      Anyways, I'm just writing because I'm already out of town for and will
      be stuck in California visiting relatives for the holidays.  I'll be back
      at the start of next month, hopefully.  I guess I was just worried since
      you always seemed so depressed.  Cheer up, okay?  Here's your Christmas
      gift!

                                      - Hikaru Gosunkugi

***

   "Well," she said, smiling a bit, "that was sweet."
   She looked at the flowers some more, and then moved them next to the front
door.  Then she flipped a sign on the door.
   Ucchan's was back in business.

-------

   A tired figure scrambled through the bush.  "Where is it... where is it...
*whack* stupid grass... *whack* stupid trees... I could swear it was around 
heeeeAAAAAAAAAARGH!!"

***

   The Jusenkyo guide looked up from his recliner chair and put down his
magazine.  He reached over and turned off his CD player.  He looked around.
   "Someone there?  Hello?  Anyone?  Nihao?"
   He could have sworn he heard something.  He resumed his reclined position
looking over several of the glimmering acursed pools, looked sadly at the
remaining devastation, and resumed reading his magazine.

-------

   "Hey, Ryoko," Kyoko asked, "how long are we gonna stay here anyways?"
She figited with a rather large television remote, squinting at a large
projection television and munching on caviar.
   The three siblings of the presumed dead Ryo Muhoshin were resting
comfortably in a rather posh hotel room.
   "As long as the credit card is still good.  It's a good thing I found his 
wallet in the rubble." Ryoko said, smiling a bit.  She was roasting a 
marshmellow on a stick in the fireplace.  
   "We definitely should run the card to the max.  The bastard didn't leave
anything for us, eh?" Megane added, while eating obscenely high priced room 
veal.  "Hey, Kyoko, go back a channel, I thought I saw something good."
   "Besides, I don't wanna be the one to tell our senseis that his two best
students killed themselves stupidly,"  Ryoko added, "and that they have to go
through the screening process again to look for a successor."
   The three nodded in agreement.  Their senseis may have been skilled and
wise, but they had notoriously short tempers, and took it out on whoever was
nearby.
   The three remained solemnly quiet for a moment.
   "It's too bad Ryoga died," Kyoko said, "'cause that guy was kinda cute.
Him and you woulda made a nice couple, Ryoko."
   "Y'know, Ryo... he..."  Ryoko said, looking sad.  She sighed.  "Ryo woulda
killed us if he found out we used his credit card this way."
   "He woulda tried to kill our senseis if he had known about what was
supposed to be done if he lost to Hibiki," Megane said.
   "Good thing he's dead, eh?" Kyoko said.
   "Here's to Ryo!"  Ryoko said, and all three raised a glass of stupifylingly
expensive soda in a toast.

-------

   Cologne was busy packing away things on the ship cabin they had obtained
as part of their return to China.  She looked a bit tired, and felt older 
than she was.  Shampoo, helping her with the luggage, noticed something was 
wrong.
   "Great-grandmother, what wrong?"
   "I just feel like I need a vacation.  Being stuck with Mousse as a 
son-in-law is trying on the nerves and I do not wish to deal with any more 
strangeness.  Not for a while anyways.  I guess it is good that we are 
returning home at last."
   Shampoo looked sadly at her great-grandmother.  "We really give up on 
Ranma, great-grandmother?"
   "No choice anymore.  I don't believe Mousse outschemed me.  Even though
we are returning home with a husband for you, I still feel dishonored.  If
he's to be my son-in-law, I'll make life hell for him."
   On the deck, Mousse looked out over the waters to the slowly dissapearing
sight of Tokyo.  "Goodbye, my friends," he murmered.

-------

   The young man angrily stomped through the thick foliage of the jungle,
limping and looking very much on the edge of madness.  Damn this green stuff!
He swore he'd join the "Pave the Earth" foundation if he ever got out of there.
And if he'd ever get his memory straight.  He was getting hurt, alot, because 
of some of the hazzards that the plants sometimes covered up.  He almost fell
off of a cliff once.
   Then there were the unexpected nuisances.  He was stomping around minding
his own business when a bunch of gaijin lunatics pop out of the bush and
start yelling at him about getting in the way of their cameras and the pandas.  
Who's stupid enough to want to make a movie out of wildlife anyways?  Sheesh,
some people.
   He swatted some tall grass with the red umbrellla he picked up in China 
angrily and stomped onward.  Suddenly, he felt a chill.  He turned around.
   A large figure, clad in a black military outfit and matching cape stood 
there.
   No, that wasn't quite right.
   He _hovered_ there.  He also was surrounded by a fiery energy that pulsed
blue, purple, and deep red.
   "You," the dark man rumbled, "have great potential.  I extend to you an
invitation to join my ranks."
   "Why should I?"
   "Join me, and I will give you wealth, prestige, and show you true power.
Psycho Power."
   "Psycho Power?"  the young man sneered, "I don't need any Psycho Power."
   "Oh?" The dark man began to flare.  He grinned evily.
   "Tell you what, though.  I'll make a deal.  I do you a favor if you do
me a favor."
   "Speak."
   "Fine.  You seem to be a powerful person.  Psychic abilities, yes?"
   "That is correct."
   "I want my memory back.  My _real_ memories.  I'll owe you, but I refuse to
be a slave, understand?"
   "Heh.  You are bold to deal with a demon.  I like that.  You have a deal."
   The young man put down his umbrella, stepped foreward and stood boldly.
   The military man reached forward quick as lightining and grabbed him by
the skull.  Dark flames flared around them.  
   Two voices were heard in the deep of the jungle.  One was laughing, the
other was screaming.

=====================================