RANMA 1/2  - FULL SALVO!


EPISODE 1 : ENTER SALVO - IT'S COLD COMFORT!


	By Paul "Happy Hentai" Ervi.  All characters portrayed
in this fanfic (save mine, who is a copyright of P-P-P-Chan
Productions, all rights reserved) are TM and copyright of the
great Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Video Inc., all rights reserved. 
Based on the incomparable world of Ranma 1/2.



CHAPTER 7: Battle time!  Rumble in Nerima.


	Nabiki couldn't have planned it better.  The turnout for
the fight was bigger than anything she had done before.  And
why not?  She had ten days in which she could make this the
most spectacular fight ever seen by the people of Nerima.  Who
could pass up the chance to see the great Ranma Saotome go
up against a foolish gaijin who dared challenge him.  "Welcome
everybody to the Rumble in Neirma!  Please present your
tickets at the gate and enjoy the fight.  All proceeds go to a
worthy cause", Nabiki yelled through a megaphone, "Me!", she
said under her breath with a smile.  Nabiki had made sure that
all the people who were important to her, Akane and Ranma got
the best seats in the house (for a small increase in ticket price of
course).  The Tendos, Genma Saotome (in panda form),
Ukyou, Shampoo, Mousse, Kuno and even Kodachi were all
present to watch.  Akane and Ranma stood in one corner of the
large round field that was to be the battle ground.  The large,
grassy space had plenty of trees and rocks, and the weather
was warm and pleasant here.  Nabiki had chosen well.  "I can't
believe that Nabiki did all this!", marveled Akane.  "Where is
he?", Ranma said impatiently, "he's the one who challenged me
and he doesn't even show up in time!"  "Probably robbing a
bank...", Akane mumbled.  "Welcome everybody to the main
event.  If you would please take your seats the fight is about to
begin!  Please note that bets on the fight are still being taken by
myself or my two assistants, Mina and Satome.  The current
odds are 5-4 in Salvo's favor.", Nabiki shouted through her
megaphone.  "WHAT!", Ranma shouted "Nabiki, are you nuts?! 
There is no way Salvo is going to beat me, especially with odds
like that!"  "I wouldn't be so sure about that Ranma.", Nabiki
smiled down at him.  "Why, what'd you......", Ranma began,
annoyingly.  "This contest is for the pendant that the lovely
Akane Tendo wears around her neck", Nabiki interrupted, "The
winner will get to keep the pendant with a promise that the other
will leave them alone from then on.  Now let's meet our
contestants, shall we?"  Nabiki swept her arm towards the area
Ranma was in.  "In this corner, weighing in at 130 pounds, the
master of disaster, the sultan of slam, the one, the only, Ranma
Saotome!" she hollered.  The crowd cheered wildly (especially
Ranma's fan club, minus Kuno) as Ranma simply laid back
against a post.  "Something isn't right here.", Ranma thought to
himself.  "Where is Salvo?", Akane asked.  "And in this corner,
weighing in at 170 pounds, the cold crusher from Canada, the
new frozen fighting sensation of Nerima, the one, the only, 
Salvoson Yukitora, a.k.a. Salvo!", Nabiki hollered as she swept
her arm in the direction Salvo was in.  Or at least should have
been.


	The crowd cheered wildly again, (except Ranma's fan
club, minus Kuno, who was cheering like a wild man) but
quickly died down again.  Nabiki looked puzzled as she turned
her head towards where she was pointing.  Quickly she noticed
that she was pointing at thin air.  "Hey where's Salvo?", she
asked.  "I could ask you the same thing", Ranma said, eyes half
closed, "Now, would you mind telling me what you meant by
'you wouldn't be so sure' about me winning?"  Suddenly a loud
roar was heard.  Everyone turned towards the source of the
noise only to see a small tornado of ice chunks swirling around. 
"I love to Ranma", Nabiki smiled, "But it looks like your
challenger is here.  Have fun!", she added as she jumped back
up on her podium.  Ranma and Akane both turned to watch the
'ice tornado' as it continued to grow.  Suddenly the tornado
exploded in a shower of ice that spread over the ground (and a
few crowd members)  Salvo stood where the tornado had once
spun, wearing a large ice cube strapped to his back.  "THAT'S
Freezing Point martial arts!  Pop never told me he could be
capable of that much power!", Ranma shouted.  Genma looked
sheepish as Salvo untied the large ice block on his back and let
it fall to the ground with a thud.  "Wow.  He strong!", Shampoo
commented, "Maybe he's not so bad....", she thought with a
smile.  "What's this about?", Ranma thought.  The crowd just
watched silently as Salvo proceeded to punch and kick the ice
block in several places, then rested and stared back at Ranma. 
"What was that all about?", Akane asked.  Suddenly, the ice
block began to crack, then shattered, revealing a flawless ice
sculpture underneath.  "Wow, did you see that!", someone from
the crowd whispered.  "He created an ice sculpture just by
hitting that block of ice!", someone else answered.  "Hey,
doesn't that ice sculpture look like Saotome?", someone else
said.  Ranma, Akane and the fan club all stared at the sculpture. 
Sure enough, it was a perfect likeness of Ranma, right down to
the pigtail on his head.


	"Hey, what's the big idea?!", Ranma shouted.  "I'm
giving you one last chance to give me the pendant.  I'd rather not
fight you, Ranma.", Salvo answered.  "Well, tough rocks pal,
'cause I'm gonna....", Ranma began.  "In addition", Salvo
interrupted, "You will release whatever hold you have on the fair
Ukyou, so that I may win her affection."  "Huh?  What're you
talking about?!", Ranma asked, stunned, "First, I have no 'hold'
on Ucchan.  She likes me of her own accord (Background:
Ukyou blushing, Akane steaming), and second, this fight is about
Akane's pendant, not Ucchan!" (Akane calms down)  "So I
decided to up the stakes a little.  I've taken a lot of abuse since I
got here, and I'm tired of having to take what I need.  So I ask
you again:  will you concede to giving me the pendant without a
fight?", Salvo asked.  "No way!", answered Akane before
Ranma could open his mouth.  "Then I guess we do this the hard
way.", Salvo smiled, as he quickly moved his hand into a
backfist punch that knocked the ice-Ranma's head off.  The
head fell to the ground with a thud, as Salvo quickly began
running towards Ranma.  Ranma was ready.


	Salvo began throwing a series of kicks and punches,
trying to find an opening in Ranma's defense.  Everything he
heard about him was true so far: he was quick, hard to hit, and
could hit like a wall of bricks.  Salvo preferred to not to learn if
the latter was true.  Ranma was trying hard to block or dodge all
the hits Salvo threw at him.  "I don't get it.  Salvo was so calm
when he fought Kuno, waited for him to attack, then made his
move.  So why is he attacking me?  Pop was right, these guys
are unpredictable.  Good thing Akane and I trained so hard.",
Ranma thought.  "This is hopeless!", Salvo thought, exasperated,
"I can't land a decent punch on him!  All right, if distance fighting
won't hit him, then it's time to get close!"  Salvo threw one last
punch, hoping Ranma would choose to block instead of dodge. 
He did.  Seizing the opportunity, Salvo quickly grabbed Ranma,
wrapping his arms around his waist.  "What are you doing!",
Ranma shouted.  Salvo managed to swivel himself around
Ranma so he was facing his back.  "SALVO SUPER AERIAL
SUPLEX!", he shouted as he propelled himself and Ranma into
the air.  Flipping both of them in mid-air, Salvo started to bring
Ranma down to earth.  Literally.  Ranma landed with a thud,
felled by the crushing suplex.  "Wow.  This guy is good!", Akane
observed.  "All right, that does it!", Ranma fumed, still upside-
down, "If he wants to play rough....."  With that Ranma leapt
back to his feet and charged Salvo.  Salvo simply dodged. 
Ranma was beginning to get angry.  Again he charged, this time
Salvo jumping out of the way.  Ranma was really beginning to
get mad.  "Hold still, will ya!", Ranma shouted.  Again he
charged at Salvo.  Salvo smiled as he jumped over Ranma and
kicked him in the back of the head.  That did it.  "Now you've
done it!  Now I'm really mad!"  "No Ranma!  That's what he
wants you to do!", Akane shouted from the stands.  She had
taken a seat with Ukyou when the fight started.  Ranma charged
at Salvo again, this time yelling like an animal (Ryouga would
have been proud).  Once again Salvo jumped up.  Exactly what
Ranma was hoping he would do.


	"MOUKO TAKABISHA!", Ranma shouted as a wave
of pure confidence erupted from his hands, catching Salvo in his
mid-air leap.  Salvo came crashing to the ground in a smoking
heap.  "He-he was faking it!  Ranma was FAKING IT!", Ukyou
shouted with a smile.  Ranma just looked back at his fan club
with a smile, "Hey, I'm not that dumb!"  "Could've fooled me.",
Akane said.  "Oh what would you know, you uncute tomboy!",
Ranma teased, sticking his tongue out and making faces at
Akane.  Akane was about to throw the stands at him (fan club
and family included) when Ranma heard a voice from behind
him.  "You tricked me.  You tricked me!", said Salvo, getting up
off the ground, looking furious.  Ranma had a look of shock on
his face, as it was very rare that someone got up from the
Mouko Takabisha.  "Cool!", Salvo said smiling, a cheerful look
on his face, "It's rare I get to fight someone so resourceful in
combat!"  Everyone just face-faulted.  "What!", Salvo said,
confused why everyone kept doing things like that around him,
"Nevermind.  Since we're using special techniques, I guess it's
time I showed you one of mine."  With that, Salvo leapt towards
Ranma, a blue glow covering his cocked hand, "Freezing Point
School of Martial Arts Special Technique: 
SHIROKUMAKEN!"  Ranma stood ready.


	The fist never landed on Ranma.  He had trained with
Akane to avoid Salvo's ice attacks, especially the
'Shirokumaken'.  Leaping into the air, Ranma executed a
flawless mid-air flip that brought him to land four feet from his
original standing spot.  The Shirokumaken landed on the ground,
causing it to instantly freeze and explode, showering Salvo with
the fragments.  "You call that a special technique!", Ranma
teased making faces at Salvo, "It looks more like a special
defeat!"  "Shut up!", Salvo countered as he leapt at Ranma again
with the Shirokumaken.  Ranma leapt again causing the punch to
hit a tree.  The tree instantly froze and exploded.  "So one of his
tricks is to get his opponent angry so that he makes a mistake. 
Let's see how he does when he's angry!", Ranma thought with a
smile.  "Can't you do any better?  My grand-mother could come
up with a better technique!", Ranma teased again.  "You dare to
mock the School of Freezing Point martial arts?!  I'll show you
the power of my 'grand-mother' technique!", Salvo shot back
angrily.  Repeatedly Salvo threw Shirokumakens while Ranma
dodged again and again.  The technique was taking it's toll on
the battleground, as trees, rocks, ground, posts, and even the
stands full of people were frozen and exploded.  "Man, for
someone who is so 'cool' he sure loses his temper fast.", Ranma
thought as he dodged the 35th Shirokumaken in a row. 
Suddenly he noticed something approaching him from the corner
of his eye.  Ranma turned to see a small bag fly towards him. 
Battle-sense taking over, Ranma dodged the back and watched
it connect with enraged Salvo.  The bag exploded in a puff and
covered Salvo with sparkling powder.  Ranma stared at Salvo
as he continued running at Ranma, but noticed it was like Salvo
was running through molasses.  "IIIIIIIII'LLLLLLL
GGGEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTT
YYYYOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU
RRRRAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNMMMMMMAAAAAAA
!", Salvo said in a slow-mo voice.  "What the hell is that stuff?",
Ranma asked out loud.  "Darn, it looks like that bag of slow-
motion powder hit the wrong fighter.", said a voice from behind
him.  Ranma turned around to see Cologne smiling at him atop
her cane.  "Great-grand-mother!  Nihao!", Shampoo waved
from the stands (one of the few still remaining), mysteriously
brandishing a rope.


	"What do you think you're doing you old ghoul!",
Ranma shouted.  He was promptly floored.  "Who's a ghoul?",
Cologne asked annoyingly.  Ranma just sprang right back up,
used to Cologne's blows.  "What are you doing interrupting our
fight like that!  This is between me and him.....", Ranma before
sudden realization hit him.  Quickly he turned back to the still-
slowly-approaching Salvo, "I thought you said you didn't accept
their help, you jerk.  Not only are you a thief, but a liar and a
cheater!"  "IIIIIII DDIIIDDDDNNN'TTTTT.....", Salvo began
in slow-mo.  "What he is trying to say", Cologne interrupted, "Is
that he didn't accept our help, much to our annoyance.  But we
decided to help him anyway."  "Why?!  What do you gain....",
Ranma began, picking Cologne up by her cloak, "Wait a minute. 
What do you mean we.... you're the only one here."  "Turn
around and find out son-in-law.", Cologne smiled.  Ranma
turned around to see Salvo closer than ever, having slow-mo ran
toward him, his fist cocked back in yet another Shirokumaken. 
"IIIII'VVVVVEEEEE GGGGOOOOOTTTTTT
YYYOOOOOUUUUUU......", Salvo said in slow-mo.  What
made him different this time was that Shampoo was standing on
top of his head, holding a small bottle that read 'Reversal
Liquid'.  The rest of the fan club were mysteriously tied up to
prevent them from interfering.  "Sorry, Ranma, but is for own
good.", Shampoo smiled as she uncorked the bottle and poured
it over Salvo.  "........NOW!", Salvo shouted as he returned to
normal, his fist rushing forward, blue glow surrounding.  Ranma
could only gasp as the punch landed square on his chest.


	An incredible wave of cold washed over Ranma as he
fell to the ground, dropping Cologne, who ran up into a tree.  "It
worked perfectly.", she smiled to herself.  Ranma clutched at his
body as every cell screamed in pain, their water nearly frozen to
the point of bursting.  Ranma released a scream that pierced
Shampoo's ears, as well as Ranma's fan club.  The sound of
Ranma's pain was enough for Akane to burst free of her bonds
and run towards Ranma.  "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM,
YOU JERK!?", she shouted as she punched Salvo into a tree. 
He landed with a crack, the tree snapping in two.  "Ranma, you
okay?", Shampoo asked as she nealt over Ranma.  "And you!",
Akane said as she turned to face Shampoo, "If you 'loved'
Ranma so much, why did you help Salvo...."  "Shampoo no
know Salvo use technique.  She no help if she know Salvo kill
Ranma", Shampoo countered.  "Kill....", Akane said in a small
voice, falling to her knees beside Ranma, "Ranma.... why did
you have to fight?  It wasn't worth it, you dummy!  Dummy! 
Dummy!  Dummy!", Akane cried into his chest while Shampoo
looked on sadly.  "He's not dead.", came a voice from behind. 
Akane and Shampoo turned to see Salvo standing over them,
his expression cold.  "What do you mean?", Akane asked as she
and Shampoo got into fighting positions, guarding Ranma. 
"While it is true that the Shirokumaken can kill if used at its full
strength, his death is not what I am after", Salvo explained,
crossing his arms, "I don't know why you people all see me as
some kind of monster, you never really gave me a chance to
explain myself, but I won't kill for that pendant.  I am not a
murderer."  "Pendant.  Pendant!  Is that all you care about? 
Fine!  You can have your stupid pendant!  Just leave
Ranma.....", Akane began shouting.  "No.....", came a voice
from behind her.  "Huh?", Akane said as she turned around. 
Ranma was slowly getting up of the ground, a look of defiance
in his eyes.  "Ranma, you okay!", Shampoo smiled as she flung
her arms around Ranma and hugged him.  She was promptly
orbited by Akane. "Akane, go untie everybody and leave this
fight to me.", Ranma said painfully.  "Are you sure Ranma.  The
pendant really isn't worth.....", Akane began.  "Trust me.",
Ranma smiled.  Akane nodded and ran off as Ranma got into
fighting stance.  "Impossible!", Salvo yelled in a state of shock,
"No one's ever gotten up from the Shirokumaken, even at low
strength!"  "Buddy, you're about to learn why my middle name is
Impossible!", Ranma smiled.


	"I made a big mistake in underestimating you, Salvo, but
now that I know what you're capable of, you better believe I'm
not going to go easy.", Ranma said as he pointed at Salvo. 
"Very well", Salvo said, recovering from his shock, "No holds
barred then.  Be warned though, I am not prepared to lose." 
"That's to bad, then, because that's all you'll be doing!", Ranma
countered as he ran towards Salvo.  Salvo lunged at Ranma,
and the battle began with a whole new level of intensity.  Ranma
and Salvo both unleashed a flurry of  savage punches and kicks. 
Each tried to block the other's moves, being successful most of
the time.  Still, some blows found their way though the defense. 
"We're getting nowhere like this", Ranma thought to himself,
"Well we agreed to no-holds-barred, right?  Time unleash my
secret weapon."  With that Ranma pushed Salvo away with a
well-placed side kick.  Turning quickly around, Ranma jumped
towards Salvo, who leapt to intercept.  "KACHUU TENSHIN
AMAGURIKEN!!", Ranma shouted as he released a flurry of
impossibly fast punches at Salvo.  Salvo had never seen anything
like it before.  In fact, he never even saw it.  All he knew was
that he suddenly hurt in several places where he didn't even see
a blow land.  Ranma landed neatly on the ground and turned to
watch Salvo's reaction to his technique.  "Whad'ja think of
that?", Ranma asked while he watched Salvo plop
unceremoniously to the ground.  Getting up, Salvo looked like
he was having a hard time standing up, wobbling from side to
side like a drunk person.  "Whadda ya say?  Had enough?",
Ranma asked.


	"Nuh-nice teh-teh-technique, Ranma", Salvo
stammered, as he fought to regain composure, "I never saw it
coming ('Literally', he thought)."  "Glad you enjoyed it.  Now
can we stop this fight before one of us gets really hurt?", Ranma
asked again.  "Sorry, Ranma", Salvo said as he stood up straight
and got into a fighting stance, "Like I said before I'm not
prepared to lose.  I need that pendant."  "I don't know why you
want it so badly, but it's your funeral.", Ranma said as he got
into fighting stance as well.  "Besides, I'm so impressed by that
technique of yours, Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken was it?, that I
feel compelled to show you one of my similar special
techniques.", Salvo smiled as he leapt into the air.   "FREEZING
POINT SPECIAL TECHNIQUE: ICE SPIKE FLURRY!", he
shouted as spikes of pure ice miraculously formed in his hand,
which he whipped at Ranma at machine-gun speed.  "Not as
fast as your technique, but it gets the job done, don't you
agree?", Salvo said as he continued his assault.  Ranma winced
as the first of the spikes grazed his arm.  Battle instincts taking
over, Ranma leapt away from the rest of the spikes.  A small
trickle of blood formed where he was cut.  "Geeez!  Those
things are razor sharp!  He wasn't kidding when he said no holds
barred!", Ranma thought as he dodged another volley of spikes,
"I didn't want to do this but I have no choice..."  Ranma dodged
yet another volley of spikes, then got into a battle stance. 
"SAOTOME SCHOOL OF ANYTHING GOES MARTIAL
ARTS FINAL ATTACK!", he shouted as ran towards Salvo. 
"Final Attack?", Salvo said to himself nervously, as he readied
another volley of spikes.  "Ready, set....... RUN AWAY!",
Ranma shouted as he suddenly turned and sped of f in the other
direction.  "Huh?", Salvo said, scratching his head with one of
the ice spikes.  "Not again!", Akane said as she looked at
Genma-panda in annoyance.  'I'm telling you it's a good
technique!', Genma-panda's sign read.  "Run away will you? 
Then I'll have to do something to make sure you stay put!",
Salvo said as he took of after Ranma.  Everyone followed. 
"FREEZING POINT SPECIAL TECHNIQUE : COLD
COMFORT!  SAMUI NAGUSAME!", with that Salvo
brought his arms toward his chest, causing a blue glow to form.  
Extending his arms outward quickly, Salvo generated a miniature
blizzard, instantly freezing the spot Ranma had leapt away from. 
"Hah!  You have to do better than that!", Ranma teased. 
"Nabiki, I'm worried.", Mina said as she ran alongside her boss. 
"What about?", Nabiki asked.  "Well, at this rate Ranma's going
to win.  Salvo can't lay any good blows on him, and if he doesn't
beat Ranma, we stand to lose all our money!"  "Don't worry,
Mina.  I thought this might happen, so I made a little insurance
policy.", Nabiki smiled.  "What do you mean?", Mina asked. 
"You'll see.", was all Nabiki would say.


	"C'mon Salvo!  You can't beat me if you can't catch
me!", Ranma teased as he dodged another gust of the ice-cold
wind.  The miniature blizzards blasted the trees and ground,
mysteriously freezing the area they landed instantly.  "Hah!  Hah! 
Hah!  Ugh!", Ranma grunted as he suddenly found himself
floored.  "What the.... Ryouga!", Ranma said as he looked up to
see Ryouga standing over him, "What are you doing!  You just
live to make my life miserable don't you?"  Ryouga just smiled
down at Ranma, "That's right.  And if I help Salvo beat you,
Akane will hate you and love me!", he shouted as he threw a fist
at Ranma.  Ranma ducked the fist, brought his feet up to
intercept Ryouga's hand, and by flipping his body and using his
hands for propulsion, managed to fling Ryouga into the air. 
Ryouga landed with a thump.  "You just don't get it do you?",
Ranma said as he rushed at Ryouga, "Akane won't like you any
better if you beat me, so why don't you just give it up?"  "Shut
up!  She will too love me and I'm going to make sure of it! 
BAKUSAI-TEN-KETSU!", Ryouga shouted as he leapt at
Ranma and plunged his finger into the ground.  The earth below
him trembled then exploded violently, showering the area with
stone and dirt fragments.  Ranma simply revised his Kachuu
Tenshin Amaguriken to catch the stone fragments.  Salvo was
not quite so skilled, as he was severely pummeled by the pieces. 
"Hey!  Maybe I could use this to my advantage!", Ranma
thought to himself.  Ranma quickly ran to the fallen Salvo.  "Hey
P-chan!  What's the matter, cant you hit me with your little
explosion?  You stink!", Ranma teased.  "Shut up!", Ryouga
said as he rushed Ranma again, "BAKUSAI-TEN-KETSU!" 
Again Ryouga plunged his finger down in the ground where
Ranma was, who simply flipped out of the way and caught the
fragments again.  "What hit....DOOF!", Salvo said as he began
to get up and was promptly pelted by stone fragments.  Down
he went.  "All right!", Ranma said to himself as he continued to
dance around Salvo while Ryouga continued his attempts to use
the Bakusai-Ten-Ketsu on Ranma.  Each time Ryouga's finger
hit however, Ranma would dodge and Salvo was pounded. 
"Man!  I could've dialed this fight in!", Ranma laughed.  In the
distance, the crowd could be heard approaching.  "Enough of
this!  Ranma, you've made me angry!  Big mistake!", Ryouga
shouted as he brought his hands up, "SHISHIHOUKOU-
DAN!"  A burst of pure anger aura erupted from Ryouga's
hands and caught Ranma in mid-leap.  Ranma fell to his knees,
breathing hard and staring at Ryouga with one eye closed. 
"Hah!  I got you now!  I told Nabiki I didn't need some gaijin's
help to defeat you.  He didn't even help at all!", Ryouga smiled
down at Ranma.  "Nabiki?", Ranma thought to himself, "What's
she up to now?"  "Time to finish this!", Ryouga shouted
suddenly, bringing his hands up, "SHISHIHOUKOU......" 
Ranma covered himself up for the blast.  It never came.  Ranma
uncovered his head and looked to where Ryouga was.  He
found Ryouga on the ground in a 'demon-warding-off' pose,
Salvo standing over him.  "If your done with your playmate here
Ranma, I do believe we were in the middle of a fight", Salvo
said with a slight smile, "Besides, I hear the crowd coming, and I
want them to be greeted with you defeated!"  "You really are in
a dream world!", Ranma shouted, "And why don't you stay
down?!  Nobody's ever gotten up after so many special
techniques!"  "Oh believe me, I hurt all over, but when I set
myself to do something, I make sure I get it done no matter what
the cost!", Salvo said.  "Then that's one thing we have in
common", Ranma said with a smile, "You might not be so bad
after all Salvo, but I still can't let you get that pendant, and
Ukyou still loves me."  "We'll see", Salvo smiled back, "Shall
we?"  "Let's.", Ranma answered.  With that they got into their
battle stances.


	Salvo leapt into the air again, this time coming into a
deep-angle kick.  Ranma jumped out of the way again, throwing
yet another Mouko-Takabisha as he ascended.  Flailing around 
in mid-air, Salvo just managed to dodge the blast, which blew
apart a nearby tree.  "Geez! We keep this up and Nerima gonna
need a face lift!", Salvo commented.  Suddenly Salvo found
himself face to face with Ranma.  Face to fist actually, as Ranma
unleashed a Kachuu-Tenshin-Amaguriken flurry over Salvo,
who managed to block 200 of the 500 blows this time. 
"So....you want....speed....again....do...you?", Salvo said with a
grimace.  He could feel a burning sensation in his left ribcage,
"Well, try this!" , he said as he leapt into the air once more and
unleashed a Samui Nagusame.  Ranma dodged the projectile,
and came in with a kick that sent Salvo to the ground.  "Give it
up already!  Akane doesn't want to give up the pendant and I
won't let you take it from her!  So why don't you just quit and
we can stop this?", Ranma said as he stared down at Salvo, "I
don't want to hurt more than I have to."  "Hurt?  Whose hurt?",
Salvo said as he sprang to his feet with a smile.  Tears filled his
eyes as he suddenly face-faulted to the ground, "Well, maybe
just a little.....", he mumbled from the ground.  'Brother....',
Ranma thought, shaking his head side to side.  Suddenly he
heard a sound approaching from his right.  "Hey, the crowd
finally caught up, just in time to see my victory!", Ranma said
with a smile.


  "Damn you, Ranma!", shouted a voice from behind him. 
"Ryouga!", Ranma shouted as he dodged a punch from Ryouga,
"I thought you were out of the fight?"  "Think again!", Ryouga
said as he leapt at Ranma.  Salvo slowly got up of the ground,
shaking off the cobwebs in his head.  He looked up to see
Ranma engaged in a fight with the strange boy again.  "Hmmm. 
Ranma's occupied with that kid with the fangs.  I could probably
sneak up from behind and nail him, but that wouldn't be right",
Salvo said as he got into fighting stance, "But he's too good. 
For all the power Freezing Point Martial Arts gives me, it's still
not enough for someone whose one step ahead of me.  Damn it! 
I have enough potential to wipe out a city, and it's useless
against this guy!  What makes him so good?  Maybe that's why
Ukyou loves him so....., Oh Ukyou..... all right!  It may not be
fair, and I have no idea why all these people are trying to help
me beat Ranma, but to win Ukyou's heart and to regain my
pendant, I've got to strike now!"  Salvo began to glow a blinding
shade of blue, ice crystals forming in his palms.  "Eat this
Ranma!", Ryouga shouted as he kicked at Ranma.  Blocking the
kick, Ranma grabbed Ryouga's foot and flung him into a nearby
tree.  "There, now stay out of this!  I'm having enough trouble
with Salvo without you inter....huh?", Ranma said as he suddenly
felt his feet go numb.  Looking down, Ranma noticed his feet
were encased in ice.  "What the?", Ranma began.  "Ranma!",
Akane shouted as she, her sisters and Ukyou appeared on the
scene.  The rest of the crowd still hadn't arrived.  Ranma turned
quickly to face her.  "Akane, get out of here!  Salvo's gonna....",
was all he could get out before he was bombarded with a gust
of ice-cold wind and ice particles.  "Hey, wait a minute?  This
ain't so bad", Ranma said, unshielding his face, "What's the point
of hitting me with snow, Salvo?  This is a fight. Not a
kindergarten game!"  "Ranma, don't!  Those blizzards....",
Akane started.  "Aren't doing anything, Akane.", Ranma
interrupted.  "Oh no?  Why don't you look down at your legs?",
Salvo said with a smile.  "Huh?", Ranma said as he looked
down.  His legs were covered in ice up to his waist.  "Whu...
hey!  No fair!", Ranma said as he cocked his fist back to smash
the ice, "No way I'm going to stand still and let you beat me!" 
"Oh no?  Samui Nagusame!", Salvo shouted as he pelted
Ranma again with the ice wind, freezing his chest and arms.  "C-
can't move", Ranma said through clenched teeth, "I've got to do
something, or Salvo's going to win!", he thought.  "It's over
Saotome!  I've won!", Salvo said with a smile as he leapt into
the air again, "Now it's time to finish this fight and reclaim my
prize!  Samui Nagusame!", he said, throwing the final volley that
would freeze Ranma completely.  "Akane!", Ranma thought as
he watched the ice particles approach, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! 
I've failed you..... Akane!"  "Ranma!", Akane shouted. 
"Ranchan!", Ukyou yelled.   "Goodbye, Ranma Saotome!  The
pendant and Ukyou are mine!", Salvo said as he watched the
Samui Nagusame fly towards its target.  "This is it!", Ranma
thought as he closed his eyes, waiting for the impact.