Chapter 2: The Fiery Pigtailed One

   "Ranma? Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
   Ranma was walking, not on the fence as usual, but on the sidewalk. 
He was gazing down at the ground. There seemed to be a tangible aura 
of despair from him. "I'm fine Akane."
   "No, Ranma...you're not. Has it got something to do with that 
dream?"
   Ranma's head snapped up, and he glared at Akane. "Ah, what would 
YOU know about it? Just...forget it. Don't bring it up again, alright?
"
   Akane smirked. "Fine then, Ranma! See if I care!"
   Ranma sighed. After a moment, he murmured softly, "Akane...I'm 
sorry."
   Akane did a double take. Ranma? Apologizing? "Ranma...?"
   Ranma sighed, and began, "It's just....you got no idea..."
   Akane stopped walking, and placed a  hand on his shoulder. "Ranma..
.tell me."
   Ranma took a deep breath. As he was about to speak...
   ...Benshou-san, a local who had a bad habit of dumping water out 
of his window, did exactly that. Right on Ranma's head.
   "Sorry about that!" he called, before shutting his window.
   Akane watched Ranma expectantly. She wasn't sure if the slight 
redhead would continue her story or grumble about the unfairness of 
it all. Instead, she just sighed, and said, "We're gonna be late to 
class."
   With the discussion effectively ended, the two girls continued 
toward Fuurinkan.

   Ryouga grunted. This wasn't one of his worst days. Not one of the 
best, but it could be worse. At least he was back in Nerima. He knew 
that for a fact; he'd just seen Ukyou leave her shop, and was 
following her to the school. 
   Of course, things weren't incredibly good either. At the moment he 
was stuck in pig form...and he'd somehow managed to misplace his 
favorite bandana. How the thing came off, he had no idea. At least he 
had his spare, the solid yellow one he'd worn the day IT happened.
   Up ahead, he saw Akane, and Ranma. Akane was a plus. Ranma was a 
definite minus. 
   Oh well, he'd come this far. Might as well reunite with his 
beloved...
 
   "Buii! Bukii!"
   Akane turned to the source of the sound, and her eyes lit up with 
joy. "Look Ranma! It's P-chan! P-chan, c'mere baby!"
   P-chan trotted happily up to Akane. Ranma looked on with mild 
amusement. As Akane swept P-chan into her arms, she noticed something 
different. "Ranma, look! P-chan's got a new bandana! I wonder where 
he got it?"
   Ranma noticed this, and for a moment, her eyes lit up as well. "Oh,
 kawaii!" she enthused in a rather bubbly voice. P-chan's eyes 
widened. Akane glanced at Ranma in mild shock. "Uhh...Ranma? Are you 
sure you're feeling okay?"
   Whatever it was, it had passed. "Yeah Akane, I'm fine. Why do you 
ask?"
   "Well...it's just, you were acting kinda weird there for a second.
"
   Ranma blinked, then shrugged. "Eh, let's forget about it and get 
to school. I don't wanna have another run-in with Hinako-sensei this 
mornin'."
   
   As the group approached the gates of Fuurinkan, they were greeted 
by Kunou. As usual, he wielded his bokken. Upon seeing them, his eyes 
sparkled, and he launched into one of his patented rants.
   "Ah, on this beautiful and clear day, fortune doth indeed favor 
the noble scion of the house of Kunou..."
   "Well, y'know what they say...fortune favors the foolish," Ranma 
interjected. Akane snickered.
   Kunou paused in his rant, and shot a somewhat amused glance at 
Ranma before continuing. "And so the fiery pigtailed one indeed doth 
make jest at her love. From the lips of any other, the taunt would 
garner a severe thrashing. However, fair goddess, from thine lips it 
is not a barb, but an invitation to do honorable battle for the honor 
of DATING with me!" With that, Kunou launched himself at Ranma, 
bokken slicing the air before him.
   Ranma did a series of backflips, placing herself out of the range 
of Kunou's striking pattern. Akane expected this to be the moment in 
which Ranma downed Kunou with one kick. However, something most 
unexpected happened.
   Ranma's eyes glazed over. When she came back into focus, her eyes 
widened and she shrieked as Kunou's bokken almost tore her gut open. 
Diving wildly to the side, she sprang back to her feet. She seemed to 
be concentrating on something. Then, after a moment, she looked down 
at her left hand, as if something were missing. As Kunou's sword 
began raking towards her again, she rolled several feet to the side. 
Springing up once again, she raised her right hand over her head, 
palm up. 
   "What's that idiot doing?" Akane wondered quietly. P-chan, from 
his vantage point in her arms, was wondering the same thing. As much 
as he disliked Ranma, he knew this fight should have been over before 
it started.
   Suddenly, something FLARED above Ranma's right hand. Expression 
fierce, she shouted, "HONOU NO.....YAAAAAAA!!!" and brought the 
raised arm down, pointing straight at Kunou. 
   Several narrow streaks of bright flame erupted from Ranma's hand. 
Kunou's eyes widened, and he frantically tried to parry the fire with 
his bokken. The wooden sword was immediately incinerated by the 
flaming projectiles. One slammed into Kunou and knocked him across 
the courtyard, into the wall of the building.
   Akane and P-chan stared at this spectacle with wide eyes. "What on 
earth...?" Akane wondered aloud. P-chan bweed softly. If Ranma had a 
new attack like that...
   Suddenly, Ranma began blinking rapidly. She stared at her hand, 
then at the pile of smoldering ashes marking what once had been 
Kunou's bokken. Then her gaze traveled to the slightly blackened 
Kunou himself. 
   Akane rushed over to her. "Ranma?"
   Ranma blinked a few times, then said, in a somewhat hoarse voice, 
"Yeah?"
   "What....what did you just do?"
   Ranma shook her head. "I...I don't know. I...can't remember."
   
   Nabiki grumbled irritably as she trailed Sasuke, who hauled 
Kunou's carcass to Tofuu-sensei's clinic. "Idiot...both this one and 
Ranma...what the hell was that all about anyway?"
   Kunou groaned once in response.
   Dragging Kunou through the entrance, the small group was greeted 
by a rather concerned Tofuu. "What happened to him?" Tofuu-sensei 
asked, nodding at the unconscious kendoist.
   "Ranma happened to him, what else?" Nabiki smirked. "But this was 
different than usual."
   Tofuu-sensei raised an eyebrow. "How so?" As they talked, Sasuke 
lifted Kunou onto an examination table, and quietly slipped out of 
the clinic. 
   "Well," Nabiki frowned thoughtfully, "Ranma hit him with some kind 
of fire blast."
   "You mean a ki-blast," Tofuu-sensei corrected as he examined the 
burns on Kunou's chest.
   Nabiki shook her head. "No, sensei. I know a ki blast when I see 
one...hey, living around here you sure see enough of them, right? 
This was FIRE."
   Tofuu-sensei frowned, and began probing the burns. "Well, these 
burns will heal...but you're right. A ki blast wouldn't leave burns 
like these." Frowning, he picked up the phone. 
   "Who are you calling, sensei?" Nabiki asked.
   Without responding, Tofuu began speaking into the phone. "Shampoo? 
This is Ono Tofuu. Could you please send your great-grandmother down 
to my clinic? It's urgent. Thanks."
   Nabiki stared incredulously at the doctor. "What on earth do you 
want with that old Amazon?"
   Tofuu frowned, and sighed. "There's something about these burns...
I'm not sure what to make of them."
   That took Nabiki by surprise. "A problem you can't fix?"
   Tofuu slumped into a chair. "You have to remember, Nabiki...I may 
be good at handling a lot of the more...unusual situations that show 
up around here, but I'm still fairly young and inexperienced. Cologne 
is over five times as old as I am...and experienced with magic."
   Nabiki's eyes widened. "You're saying that what happened to Kunou 
was magic?"
   Tofuu frowned pensively. "I'm not sure. That's why I want to get 
her opinion on it."

   Ranma was unusually quiet at lunch. Akane was worried. Ryouga was 
too...he was watching Ranma closely. 
   Ukyou walked over and sat down with them. "Ranchan? I heard about 
what happened with Kunou this morning."
   "I don't want to talk about it," Ranma said. 
   Ukyou shot a glance at Akane, who sighed. "He's been like this all 
day."
   Suddenly, water rained down on the group, and a lecherous old 
voice called out, "Ranma-chan! Come let an old man comfort himself in 
your bosom!"
   Happousai attempted to glomp Ranma, only to be flattened by a 
spatula. "Leave Ranchan alone. He's had a rough day."
   "But...but I only wanted to comfort the sweet young thing!" 
Happousai protested.
   Suddenly, Ranma stood. Hatred smouldered in her eyes. In a dead 
quiet voice, she said, "Why can't you sick, evil people just leave me 
alone?"
   Everyone stared at her in shock. An intangible wind was stirring 
her clothing and her pigtail. Akane and Ukyou backed away nervously. 
Happousai examined her curiously.
   "But Ranma-chan...I only wanted..."
   "Who is Ranma?" she asked. "If that's some sick word for what you 
people treat me like...tying me up....doing...doing..." she shuddered 
visibly. Everyone was staring at her strangely now. With a scowl, and 
with undisguised hatred smoldering in her eyes, which seemed to have 
turned a dark shade of crimson, she snarled, "NO MORE! I'm not taking 
ANY MORE!" She extended her cupped hands in front of her, and a small,
 angry red nexus of energy formed between them. 
   Ukyou gaped in shock. Akane yelled, "EVERYONE GET DOWN!"
   Happousai could only stare like a deer caught in the headlights. 
<Masaka...what on earth is...this...power?>
   Sparks danced along Ranma's hands, fueling the energy between her 
palms, expanding it, making it brighter. Then, without warning, she 
brought her hands to her side, and with a shout of "SCARLET 
LIGHTNING!", she released a white-hot ball of energy, surrounded by 
an angry red corona. It tore into Happousai before the old pervert 
could react.
   Happousai was slammed across the courtyard and through the fence. 
He lay out in the street, clothing and what little hair he had left 
on fire. A long scorched gouge marked the passage of the fire blast, 
grass still smoldering in places. Ranma trembled, then slumped to the 
ground. Ukyou and Akane rushed over to her, while everyone else 
backed away nervously. 
   "Ranma!"  "Ranchan!"
   Ranma was unconcious.

   ***Interlude: China***

   :It lasted much longer this time, Father.:
   The Guide and Plum were standing over a small table, on which 
rested the white gauntlet. The gem in the handguard pulsed one last 
time, and then went dark again.
   :What do you suppose this thing is, Father?:
   :I have no idea. I've asked one of the elder Niichieju to take a 
look at it.:
   There was a knock on the door. Plum opened the door, and a tall, 
leathery old woman with graying yet dark hair stepped into the 
cottage. 
   :Show me this item.:
   The Guide presented the gauntlet to her. She examined it 
thoughtfully, frowning. 
   :This object...has tremendous magical power.:
   :Elder, what is it?:
   The woman shook her head. :I do not know.: After a pause, during 
which she continued to examine the gauntlet, she nodded decisivly. 
:Keeper of the cursed springs...I would ask of you to send this 
object to Japan.:
   :Japan?: The Guide was puzzled thoroughly.
   The elder nodded, her expression impatient, as though it should be 
obvious. :I would have the eldest of our tribe, Khu Lon, examine this 
artifact. She will more be able to discern its origin and its purpose 
than I or any other in the village would.:
   The Guide nodded. :Very well then. It shall be done.:
   The elder removed a few gold coins from the sash around her waist. 
:Use these coins to insure that the package will be delivered 
immediately. To the modern world, they are worth enough to buy many 
luxuries. You will be able to have the object delivered very swiftly.
:
   The Guide nodded and took both the coins and the item. :As you 
wish, Elder. Thank you for coming.:
   :It is I who would thank you for bringing this object to our 
attention. Such powerful magic as this is not something I would care 
to have lying around without knowing what its purpose is.:
   With that, the Elder departed for her village, and the Guide and 
Plum departed for the nearest town with delivery services.


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"If it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, and quacks like a 
duck...pour hot water on it."
Ryodachi Kouma
"The Eternal Lost Lurker"
squn29a@prodigy.com
http://pages.prodigy.com/EtLostLurker

no da.