Brothers in the Art - chapter 2
--------------------------------

Rights to Ranma 1/2 owned by Rumiko T. (I'm a wimp who can't spell her last
name)
Rights to Street Fighter II belong to Capcom.



"OK Ranma, the secret of the 'Ha Do Ken' is to draw in
energy from life around you.  You concentrate all the energy
between your hands and just let it go."  Ken explained  as the
two martial arts stood alone in an empty park.  

It was the day after Ken had arrived at the Tendo home, and
everyone had decided to go on a picnic. Kasumi and Nodoka had 
packed a huge lunch, and everyone headed off to the park.  The
group had spent most of the afternoon eating and relaxing, then
Ranma asked Ken about his ki attack.  Since it was becoming
fairly obvious that the two men were going to be talking shop, the
rest of the family decided to return home.

Ranma copied Ken's stance and tried in vain to feel the life force
of everything around him.  He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
After a few minutes he grunted and opened his eyes.  

"Nothing."

Ken laughed and clapped Ranma on the back, "You didn't expect to
get it right on the first try, did you?  It me over a year to learn
that technique.  Relax and keep at it, you'll get it eventually."

Ranma grinned a bit sheepishly and then jumped back away from Ken.

"I'll practice later, what do say we work off that lunch?"

Ken moved back into a fighting stance and said, "You're on!"


              *****************************************


Ryu walked throught the deserted fallow field.  The bottomless pit that
was his stomache grumbled for the third time in as many minutes.  *Man that
last fight made me hungry!  I haven't had a decent meal in....*  Ryu
stared at the sky as he started ticking off hours on his fingers.  *in almost
8 hours!*  Ryu was a fighter who was ALWAYS hungry.  His hyper-matabolism
coupled with his intense physical training, led to his constant search for
the perfect meal.  This search for great food often became at odds with
his spartan life style.  Ryu did not have a lot of money.  He used what he
had to travel so he could enter tournaments all over the world. 

As Ryu's stomache growled yet again, he noticed something in the field
that made his heart soar and his mouth water.  *Food!  At last!*


P-chan walked morosely through the grass.  The last two weeks had been heaven;
he had spent the time at Akari's sumo pig ranch.  He was very careful not to
wander off anyplace, and it looked like he was going to be able to stay there
for a while.  *I just HAD to volunteer to milk that stupid pig*  Ryoga thought
to himself.  He had felt guilty that he was staying with Akari, but not
helping with any of the household chores.  * How DO you milk a pig, anyways?*

Before Ryoga could continue this line of thinking, someone suddenly grabbed
him from behind.

"Bwee!  Bwee!"

"Ah, lunch!" 

Ryoga was turned around so he could face his captor.  Ryoga big-sweated
as he stared at the drooling face of a well-built man in his mid-to-late
twenties.  

"Hey there little guy."  Ryu said, trying to calm down the little pig.

"I really hate to do this to you, but I'm starving...and some nice fresh
pork would really hit the spot!" Ryu said as he rubbed his stomache.

"Bwee! Bwee! Bwee!"  

Ryoga tried to break out of his captor's grasp.  *Why can't I ever
run into a nice healthy vegaterian?*

"I guess I should set up camp first, but I'm too hungry."  Ryu said to Ryoga.  

Ryu set up a camp fire and placed a pot of water over it.

"By the way, my name is Ryu.  Hey what's this?"  Ryu asked, finally noticing
Ryoga's bandana.  

"Heh, you didn't put this on yourself.  Are you someone's pet?"

"Bwee!  Bwee!"  Ryoga happily said, nodding his head up and down.

Ryu laughed and said, "HA!  What a stupid idea, no one would want a pet PIG."

Ryu casually tossed P-chan into the pot of now boiling water.

"Bwee! Bwee!"  P-chan squeeled in futile denial just before he landed in the
water.

"YEOWWWWWWW!"  Ryoga yelled as he jumped out the pot.

Ryu just dumbly stared at the naked, angry young man who was standing in
front of him.

Slowly, Ryu peeked into the pot.  "HEY!  WHERE'S MY PORK!  MAN...I was
hungry too..."

As Ryu continued to rant, Ryoga quickly got dressed. (Don't ask me where
he found his clothes, I don't know)

"WHAT KIND OF IDIOT ARE YOU?!"  Ryoga screamed, interrupting Ryu in mid-rant.

"Did YOU steal my lunch?"  Ryu demanded.

"Are you blind? I WAS your lunch!"  Ryoga retorted.

Ryu stepped back and gave Ryoga a blank look.  "What are you talking about?"

"Enough talk, let's fight!" Ryoga said as he launched a right jab at Ryu.

Ryu stepped back and to the side, then nailed Ryoga with a left hook.

"Whatever you want.  Its been a few days since I had a good challenge."

Ryoga smiled and said, "It's amazing you got anywhere at all with a weak
hit like that!"

Ryoga charged towards Ryu and his foot snapped up in a jump kick.  Ryu ducked
under the kick, turned around, and swept Ryoga's leg as he landed.  Ryoga
quickly
jumped up and hit Ryu with a right jab to the face.  

Ryu reeled back as Ryoga's fist connected.  *Damn, he's strong!*  Ryu stepped up
to Ryoga and hit him with a triple-kick, upper cut combination.  All four blows
hit, but Ryoga just grunted and backed away a few feet.  

Ryoga charged towards Ryu, his fists held high.  Ryu went totally defense
and was
able to dodge all of Ryogas swings and kicks.  

Ryu took a deep breath and smiled.  *Well, good...time to get serious*   

The two fighters charged towards each other.

"Sho Ryu KEN!!!!"  Ryu yelled out as his Dragon Punch upper-cut connected with
Ryoga's chin. 

As Ryoga was picked up off the ground by the force of the attack, he snapped
his foot up quickly and kicked Ryu under the chin, hard.

Ryoga and Ryu flew in opposite directions and landed on their backs, about
thirty yards away from each other.  The two of them slowly got up into a
sitting position, both rubbing their respective jaws.  Ryu glared at Ryoga
for a moment, then started laughing.  After a while, Ryoga joined in; Ryu
was too charismatic for anyone to stay angry with him for long.

"That's an interest technique you have Ryu, that punch kinda hurt."

" 'KINDA' hurt?  What are you, some kind of a monster?"

Ryoga grinned then slowly stood up.  Ryu followed his example
and asked, "So, what's your name anyway?  And what happened there with
the pig and stuff?"

"My name is Ryoga, and as for the pig, well..."


			********************************

"So you and Ryu trained together, huh?"  Ranma asked Ken as they walked back
to the dojo.

The two of them had finished sparring and decided to call it a night.  They
had not
realized that how long they had stayed out and by the time they left the
park, it
was already dark.  

"Yeah...He's one of the best fighter's I know.  They two of us never really
fought
against each other.  I've always wanted to know who was better.  That's why
I came
back to Japan."

"Well-"

Ranma's reply was cut off by a battle cry.  "RANMA!  PREPARE TO DIE!"

Ranma jerked his head around and saw Ryoga running towards him.  There was
another man in a tattered white gi that had been standing next him.  

Ranma jumped back and got into a fighting stance.  "Excuse me for a sec, Ken..."

Suddenly, Ken could see a light go off in Ranma's eyes.  Ranma twisted to his
side and pulled his hands back, forming a circle to his left side.  He closed
his eyes as a faint blue glow started forming between his hands.  

Ken started wide-eyed as Ranma gathered in the Ki around him. Then he looked at
Ryoga and saw Ryu in the background.  *That's impossible...*

As Ryoga got came closer, Ranma yelled out, "Ha Do KEN!"  And a small,
relatively
weak fire ball flew out of his hands.  It flew straight towards Ryoga and hit
him on chest.  

Ryoga skipped a few steps back and started rubbing his chest.  "What the hell
was THAT, Ranma?"  


Ranma just grinned and said, "Thanks Ryoga! You always seem to provide me
with the right motivation to learn new techniques..."

"Ranma, you-" Ryoga began but was interrupted by Ryu's hand on his shoulder.

Ryoga glanced at Ryu, but the other man was looking straight the westerner
who was standing next to Ranma.

"Ken."

"Ryu."

The two old friends slowly walked towards each other and wordlessly grasped
each others hands. They stood like that for a few moments, reliving their
time together as fellow students.  

"Uh...if you guys wanna come inside the house, we can get something to
eat..." Ranma
said, feeling uncomfortable in the silence.  

Ryu immeditately let go of Ken's hand and turned towards Ranma.

"Food?"  He said hopefully, with tears in eyes.

"Yeah...let's go inside."

Once the four martial arts got inside the Tendo home, they immediately raided
the kitchen and were able to find some leftovers from dinner.  Ranma was eager
to hear about Ryu's and Ken's time together and their training, but waited
patiently
while Ryu devoured every bit of food he was able to get his hands on.

After he finally became full, Ryu sat back and sighed.  The four of them were
sitting around the dinner table.

"So, Ken, what are you doing here in Japan?" Ryu asked.

"I came here looking for you."  Ken replied quietly.

"Oh?"  

"Yeah...I wanted to invite you to my wedding... and see if I could kick your
ass."

Ryu laughed and said, "Congratulations Ken...Our fight will be my wedding
present
to you."

"It's lucky that I ran into you...I thought I was going to have search all
of Japan..."

"Yeah, it was lucky.  I just came back from China.  I got a message from
Chun Li to
meet her in Tokyo. I ran into Ryoga here today, and he said he was looking for
the Tendo Dojo. Since it was in the same general direction, I led him here."

"Chun Li? Why did she want to meet you here?  Why not in Hong Kong?"

"I don't know, guess I'll find out when I see her."

"What were you doing in China?  Was there a tournament there that I didn't
hear about?"  

"No, nothing like that.  Actually, I was just training.  In a place the two of
you should know a lot about."  Ryu said looking at Ranma and Ryoga.

"The...the cursed springs?"  Ranma asked weakly.

"Yep.  The guide there told me they were cursed, but I didn't believe him, not
until I met Ryoga here, that is.  I even fell into one of the springs; Spring
of Drown Man, if you can believe that!  Lucky, eh?"

"You fell into the spring of Drown Man?"  Ryoga asked incredulously.

Ranma started laughing, and soon the others joined in.

"How long have you been here Ken?" Ryu asked after he calmed down. 

"Oh...I just got in yesterday."

"I guess you knew Ranma before, right?  When did you teach him the 'Ha Do Ken'?"

Ken suddenly remembered what had happened outside.  He turned to Ranma and said,

"How the hell did you do that?  I just taught you that technique this
afternoon!"

Ranma grinned and said, "Like I said, Ryoga always provides the incentive I need
to learn a new technique."

"The two of you are like us, aren't you?" Ken asked.

Ranma started laughing as Ryoga snorted.

"I hate Ranma!  Because of him, my life has been hell!"  Ryoga said vehemently.

Before Ken could ask what Ryoga meant, Ranma stood up.  

"Well, I'd better get to bed, Pop likes to train bright and early.  Ryoga,
Ryu, you
guys can sleep down here if you want.  Good night!"  


			***********************************


The next day, Ryu called Chun Li and told her that he was back in Tokyo.
Chun Li 
immediately agreed to meet him at the Tendo Dojo.

As they waited for her arrival, Ken and Ryu decided to spar in the Dojo as
Ranma looked
on.  Ryoga had wandered off somewhere, and was of course, lost.  

Neither fighter was sparring very seriously.  They expected Chun Li soon and
did not
want to start a fight that would be interrupted; so they talked as they
fought.  
In the past, most of their conversations started during a casual sparring
session;
it was the easiest way for the two of them to express their feelings.  

"So...You looking forward to seeing Chun-Li?"  Ken asked as he dodged a kick.

"Yeah, She's a great kid."  Ryu replied as he followed his kick with an
upper-cut,
barely missing Ken's face.

"Heh.  You'd better change your line of thinking buddy, Chun-Li's NO kid..."

"Yeah, what of it?"  Ryu asked as he blocked Ken's round-house with his
right arm.


"Are you blind, or what?  She's had the hots for you since-"

"Excuse me, Ryu-san.  Your guest is here."  Kasumi said as she entered the dojo.

The three martial artists turned towards Kasumi as Chun-Li ran past her and
jumped
into Ryu's arms.

"Ryu!  It is so good to see you!"

Ryu gave her a hug then said, "It's good to see you too, Chun-chan."

Ranma started snickering, *Chun-chan?*  he thought, amused.  Ken walked up
to Chun Li
and said, "Hey beautiful!  Don't I get a hug too?"  

"Ken! "  Chun-Li exclaimed, and laughingly threw her arms around him.

"So the two of you managed to find each other."  She said after releasing him.

"Yeah, just yesterday, in fact."

"Well, I'm glad you're here.  Maybe you can help too."

"Help with what?"  Ryu asked, interested.

Chun-Li's mood became serious and she said, "Let's sit down. This might take
a while."

Ryu and Ken led Chun-Li over to the dojo wall where Ranma was sitting.  

"Oh...By the way, Chun-chan, this Ranma Saotome."  

Chun-Li smiled at Ranma and said, "It's nice to meet you."

"You too...Well, you guys want me ta leave ya alone?"

Chun Li gave Ranma a speculative look.  After a few moments she said, "No,
you can stay."

"So what's up, Chun-chan?  Why did you want to meet me here instead of Hong
Kong?" 

"Ryu, I-  I found out who was responsible for my father's death.  I wanted to
meet you here, because I didn't want to take the chance that anyone from the
Hong Kong underground knew that I was talking to you." 

Ken inhaled sharply and Ryu just nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"There is an organisation called Shadooloo (don't know if I spelled that right)
 that deals in drugs and illegal arms trades all over the world."


"Apparently my father was investigating one of their operations when he got
too close and...was killed.  Anyways, you guys know that I've been spending
all my time trying to find out who killed him.  A few weeks ago Interpol
finally got a break in the case.  Shadooloo is run by a man named Bison and
his base of operations is in Thailand.  Unfortunately, Interpol does not
have enough data to make any kind of frontal assault against him.  That's
why I need your help."

Without hesitation, Ryu smiled and said, "What do you need me to do?"

Chun-Li smiled gratefully and said, "Our sources tell us that Bison is
sponsoring some big street fighter tournament in Thailand.  Ryu, if you
could go to that tournament and just get any kind of information you can
about Bison and his base, I'd appreciate it.  I want to go myself, but my
superiors think that I am too close to the case right now so..."

Ryu laughed and said, "You want me to be a spy?"

Chun-Li smiled and nodded, "Just look around.  Don't make yourself stand out
and under no circumstances should you confront Bison."

"Ok, Chun-chan...When do I leave?"

Chun-Li suddenly grabbed Ryu in a tight hug, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Ken smiled as he watched Ryu and Chun-Li together.  

"Count me in too.  SOMEbody's got to watch your back!"  Ken said.

"Don't forget about me guys!  I've never fought in a tournament before...Sounds
like fun!"  Ranma chipped in.

Chun-Li released Ryu and looked at Ken and Ranma.  

"Thank you Ken, I was hoping you would help." Chun-Li then turned to Ranma,
a doubtful
look on her face.

"Ranma, I don't know about if I should involve you in this.  You ARE a bit
young..."

Ken spoke up before Ranma could protest.  "Don't worry about Ranma,
Chun-Li...he's
ALMOST as good as I am..."

"Hey!  Ken, I could-" Ranma started.

Chun-Li held up her hands and started laughing, "Ok Ranma, you can go."

"Well?  What are we waiting for?  Let's get ready!"  Ranma said impatiently
as he got off the floor and ran out of the dojo, the others following after him.

*************************************
END chapter 2
*************************************

Coming up next time:

Enter Thailand!
Tournament Fight 01:  Ranma(-chan) vs. Cammy

Ok... I want to address a couple of points here...

After part one, many people wrote me saying that Ken's HaDoKen could
not break through Ranma's Ki attack...  Now, I've never played the
SFII video game, but I have seen some of Street Fighter II V and the
Ryu's HaDoKen looked pretty powerful... I don't know either way,
but somehow I just couldn't write a scene where Ranma beat Ken...Oh well,
at any rate a Ken/Ryu vs Ranma fight is not going to happen.  

Secondly, about how I characterized Ryu.  The SFII Anime movie and the
video game seem to portray him as a stoic warrior who has no emotions,
but in some the Manga I've read and the SFIIV anime, he seems somewhat more
relaxed and just LOVES food...So I guess depending on one's point of
view, he could be considered IC or OOC...

Finally, It might be a while before chapter 3 comes out.  I need to 
get my ass in gear and write the second part to my Lodoss Wars fic...
sorry for any delays that might occur because of this.

thanks, 

-anand







=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Anand Rao
anandr@earthlink.net

6th Disciple of Eriond Keeper of the Eye of Torak
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=