| Chapter 10 - The Chinese Amazon Connection

And the hits just keep on comin'.

|     Shampoo fidgeted in her seat.  The opening introductions were
| over, so she had nothing to do except wait for her own matches
| tonight.  She was fighting in two tonight.  The first was what the
| promoters insisted on calling the Amazon Challenge exhibition
| match.

No way.

| The purpose of the match was for her to accept a male
| challenger chosen at random from the crowd.

No freakin' WAY! Gyahahahaha! Of course, it's not going to be as random as
one would think.

| If that first man
| declined, a second would be selected.  If that man also declined,
| then she would do a solo routine that let her demonstrate her
| fighting skills.
|
|     The prize for winning was ownership of her contract for the
| remainder of her time in Japan.  The penalty for losing was forced
| conscription in the Arena for a period of not less than one year.
| The Amazon Challenge was a new promotion that had been
| started at the beginning of the year.  After the first three months,
| she had ceased to get any challengers that accepted the challenge.
| She had only gotten five challengers in that time, but she had
| defeated them all quite easily.  One of them had been rather cute,
| but he hadn't been skilled enough to defeat her.  *There just aren't
| any real fighters in Japan,* she thought with a sigh.

Uh huh. Sure. Luxury box 7-C, guy with black pigtail? That's irony staring
you right in your pretty little face.

|     The losers had the option of paying off their contracts at a hefty
| penalty cost, or a single re-challenge of Shampoo after two weeks
| time.

You know, this almost seems like foreshadowing. But Ranma doesn't lose.

And why did I just feel a chill run down my spine when I typed that?

| All but one of the previous losers had come from rather rich
| families, so they had simply paid the penalty and left.  The one
| that remained had accepted his fate with grace.  In all honesty,
| Shampoo could have thrown the fight, but her pride would not let
| her do that.  Since the Elders of her village watched every one of
| her matches, it would be a matter of great dishonor to herself and
| to her great-grandmother if she did less than her best.  Shampoo
| always wanted her great-grandmother to be proud of her.

Some things don't change.

|     The Arena promoters always played up her village and its
| Amazon nature in the programs to try to lure a challenger into the
| ring with her.  After the multiple broken bones she gave her last
| challenger when she misjudged his skill, the men accepting the
| challenge dropped to nothing.

Gee. I wonder why.

| Shampoo imagined that the
| promotion would be dropped by the end of the year.  To her
| annoyance, by Imperial law any victor over her was not
| automatically considered her husband, but had the option of
| claiming that right at any time before her contract expired.  As an
| Amazon, she could even be given Citizen rank by marrying a full-
| blooded Japanese man.

You know, this is making it even MORE attractive for her to hook up with
Ranma.

|     This was one of the few exceptions in the complex regulations
| regarding marriage in the Empire, but it had only been invoked a
| handful of times in the last century.  All female Citizens were
| forbidden by Imperial law to take any man as husband except for a
| male Citizen, and they were limited to a single husband.  On the
| other hand, male Citizens were allowed multiple wives.  However,
| one wife would usually be considered First Wife, and she would be
| considered superior to all others.  Mistresses were also allowed,
| but few Citizen women became such.  It was one of the last major
| holdovers of sexism that still remained in the Empire.

Ah, so, my earlier query has been answered. Of course most Citizen women
aren't interested in that strange blend of genius and skill which is Saotome
Ranma...

|     "So do you think any of these Citizen men will have the guts to
| try to fight you tonight?" asked Running Deer, in her usual mildly
| sarcastic tone, from where she was seated.  She wasn't fighting
| tonight, so she was just there to give her friend some moral
| support.  She leaned on the low wall that separated the fighting
| area from the waiting area.  She eyed the large crowd.  It was
| larger tonight than was typical on a weekday.
|
|     "Shampoo no think so," she replied with a smug tone.  She was
| mentally reviewing her performance techniques, and not really
| thinking about the possibility of anybody accepting tonight.  It had
| been over three months since the last one.  "Shampoo think
| Japanese men finally realize that Shampoo is too much woman for
| them."

Luxury box 7-C. He's seen you at your most kawaii and he's going to take you
on.

|     "It's certainly a big crowd tonight," observed Running Deer as
| she peered out past the high Plexiglas walls surrounding the ring.

You know, I should think they'd invent something a bit more sturdy than
Plexiglas, all things considered. Then again, it probably wouldn't come
cheap.

| "Perhaps your fan club is spreading the word."
|
|     "Uh huh," answered Shampoo absently.  She had her eyes
| closed, and almost appeared to be asleep.
|
|     "How do you feel about your fight with Akiko tonight?" asked
| Running Deer with a smile back at her friend.  She glanced over
| at Akiko when Shampoo opened her eyes.  Shampoo looked over
| and gave a soft chuckle.
|
|     "Akiko good, but Shampoo better," replied Shampoo simply.
| Akiko Asakawa was from a poor family, so she had enlisted in the
| Arena to provide money for her aging parents.  She was a very
| skilled Shotokan Karate fighter, and also quite good with a staff.
|
|     Shampoo liked Akiko.  The girl was friendly, and eager to
| improve.  She also had a level of competitiveness that made
| Shampoo consider her a spiritual Amazon sister.  She was a
| challenge for Shampoo's skills, but still not so good a fighter that
| Shampoo had any doubt as to the outcome.  Akiko was currently
| keeping herself limber by working out lightly with staff katas.

Hmm. She's cannon fodder.

|     "Shampoo is no expecting surprises tonight," said the Amazon
| girl with a smile.  She closed her eyes once more, and went back
| to her meditations.

Uh huh. Luxury box 7-C isn't expecting surprises tonight either.

|                     ******************************
|
|     Soun Tendo was working late in his office at the Security
| Directorate.  There were relatively few people left in the building
| by this time.  He stubbed out the remnants of his cigarette in the
| large ashtray on his desk, and immediately lit up another one.  As
| Assistant Director, most of the important problems fell on his
| desk, and the past few days had been no exception.  Unlike his
| nominal superior, Director Miyama, he had risen through the
| ranks on his own abilities, as many of his ancestors had before
| him.  The Director was a mere political appointee, and Soun had
| seen a dozen like him come and go during his career.  The real
| work of the Security Directorate was done by men and women like
| Soun Tendo, working in the shadows.

Whoa. Soun Tendo engaged in conspiracy. Whoever would have guessed?

Though he's probably a bit more circumspect over here.

|     Soun leaned back in his chair, and slowly rolled his head from
| side to side to relieve the tension in his neck.  It wasn't helping
| much.  He took a deep drag on his cigarette, and blew a ring of
| smoke up towards the ceiling.  He felt a little of his tension go
| with the smoke.  He rubbed his eyes with his free hand, and felt
| every year of his age.  This day had not been a good one.  If his
| sense of duty didn't hold him here, he would have considered
| quitting to work for one of the zaibatsus.  The pay would have
| been better, and they practically ran the Empire anymore anyway.
|
|     He had just returned from a late lunch when he had received a
| call about the massacre at the Jusenkyo Biological Research
| Facility.  Three of the scientists and twenty-six guards had been
| killed in a rather brutal fashion.  Every single container of water
| in the vaults had been smashed, and the vault door had been
| blown off its hinges by some massive force.  *What kind of power
| could break through a foot of reinforced steel?*

It's called Chi, my good man. You'll become intimately familiar with it in
the next few days. Whether any of that familiarity comes from personal
experience has yet to be determined.

|     Worst of all, three of the test subjects had escaped.  They were
| listed as dangerous in their files, but nobody had realized just how
| dangerous they were until it was too late.  If only his ancestor had
| _really_ killed off the last members of the Musk Dynasty, instead
| of holding them for research purposes.  That error in judgment
| had now crawled down through the decades and landed in his lap.
| It was threatening to give him an ulcer.

In his lap?

No, I know what you mean.

|     The telephone rang on one of his private lines.  Soun picked it
| up, hoping for some good news to come his way.  "Tendo here,"
| he said gruffly into the phone.
|
|     "Hello, sir," said a female voice on the other end.  "This is Otsu
| Mituma calling."  Soun immediately sat up.  *This could be just
| the good news that I was hoping for.*
|
|     "Hello, Otsu," he said in a mild voice.  "What do you have to
| report for me?"
|
|     "The Saotome family is scheduled for a meeting with the
| Kuonji family for tomorrow," replied Otsu.  "I hope that that is
| acceptable for your timetable?"  Her voice sounded a little bit
| concerned at his reaction.

*piku* Their schools WILL be united! Gyahahah!

|     "That is fine with me," answered Soun with a little more
| warmth.  "I trust that there is little chance that the Saotome boy
| will fall for that one?  I'm taking an uncomfortable risk by letting
| him meet other children of the Project before I have a chance to
| get him engaged to at least one of my two daughters."
|
|     "I wouldn't be concerned, sir," replied Otsu as she looked over
| the file folders for Ranma Saotome and Ukyou Kuonji in front of
| her.  "The computer models have given less than a five percent
| chance for them to find compatibility.  The personality profile for
| Ranma Saotome that you gave me last month indicated that a girl
| like Ukyou Kuonji would have next to nothing in common with a
| dedicated scholar like young Ranma has become."

Unfortunately, he's not JUST a dedicated scholar. He's got a case of Tenchi
Syndrome unequaled by all but its namesake.

|     "However," continued Otsu, "the models do continue to indicate
| a higher level of favorability for your middle daughter if she is
| presented after the first candidate meeting ends in failure, despite
| her current history with the subject.  Your youngest daughter, on
| the other hand, does not have much chance to catch young Mr.
| Saotome's attention unless something radical happens between
| them in the near future.  Their personality profiles do not mesh at
| all."  There was a pause on the other end.

Why am I not surprised?

|     "May I ask, sir, why all this subterfuge is necessary?  I would
| think that a scientist like Genma Saotome might be intrigued at
| the opportunity to match his son up with another child who has
| received the Genetic Upgrade Enhancement, like your two
| younger daughters have had."

So their schools (of sorts) are actually GOING to be united? Bizarre
parallels Mark II!

|     "Perhaps, but I do not wish to take the chance," said Soun in a
| thoughtful tone of voice.  "Genma Saotome is too much of a wild
| card for me to make such a deal with him.

Eh, a couple rounds of sake and a shogi board and/or the corrupting influenc
e of a three-foot-tall perverted martial artist will have you two the best
of friends in no time.

| His scientific curiosity
| could prompt him to refuse me in order to seek a better genetic
| match, and I know that there are several available.  However, I
| want this boy wedded to one of my two daughters.  According to
| test results, young Ranma has benefited from the Project more
| than any other male subject.

Gee. How completely unexpected.

| I wish nothing but the best for my
| daughters, so I will provide one of them with a husband that is
| almost genetically perfect.  I especially look forward to seeing
| what grandchildren he will provide me.  I would have even
| considered Kasumi, but she was already too old to receive the
| treatment when it became available."
|
|     "Wouldn't artificial insemination allow the same thing?" Otsu
| asked in a quiet voice.
|
|     "For children... yes," replied Soun in a mild voice.  "However, I
| also wish to have young Ranma's genius near at hand, so that I
| may properly guide it... for the good of the Empire, of course."  He
| stubbed out his cigarette.  He turned his chair to face the video
| monitor that imitated a large picture window, and placed a fresh
| cigarette in his mouth.  He lit it absently.

Ah. So that's why they're interested in finding out what Ranma's built. Not
because it could be useful, but because it's a barometer of his genius.

| <snip>
|
|     "I should have some free time available in three to four days,"
| answered Soun after a moment of thought.  "Please set up an
| appointment for then.  I will be bringing Nabiki at that time.
| Akane will be held in reserve should Nabiki fail to charm young
| Mr. Saotome after his expected disappointing meeting with the
| Kuonji girl."  Soun smiled.  The plan for his family's happiness
| had now begun.  The computer models were programmed with the
| latest information available.  Unless young Ranma had somehow
| experienced a radical change in his personality recently, an
| extremely low probability event, then his plans should all come
| together with a minimum of fuss.

Unfortunately, the wild card is being a bit more wild than you might have
expected.

|     "I will take care of it in the morning, sir.  Is there anything
| else?"  She set Ranma's dossier in front of her.
|
|     "Not at the moment, Otsu.  I'll call you if I need to make any
| changes to the schedule."  Soun hung up the phone, and swiveled
| his chair to face the front of his office.  He leaned forward, resting
| his elbows on the arms of his chair, and steepled his fingers in
| front of his face as he allowed himself a smile.  *Everything
| should come together as planned,* he thought with a chuckle.
| *Ranma's genius will be mine to control, and I will be ensuring
| the happiness of at least one of my daughters.  It is a good day to
| be a father.*

Hear that ominous rumble of thunder in the distance? Good. Think about the
implications.

|                     ******************************
|
|     Ranma watched the initial fights with a small portion of his
| attention.  He was mainly thinking about what he might do about
| Shampoo.  He didn't have the money to rescue her, and breaking
| her out of the Arena facility was an impossible proposition.  The
| Security Directorate took a dim view of anyone stealing a piece of
| valuable property from any of the zaibatsus.  Going on the run for
| the rest of his life was _not_ an option.  There had to be a way,
| but he could not see it.
|
|     The first fights were made up of the younger fighters, those
| who were having their first fight in the Arena.  It was designed as
| an audience appetizer, and most of them were done fairly quickly.
| It left the audience hungry for more.  Some of these younger
| fighters would go on to make names for themselves, replacing the
| fading stars of older fighters.  Such was the way that the Arena
| worked.  It was a glorious time for some, but it took a tremendous
| toll in lives destroyed to feed the bloodlust of the masses.

Oh yeah, THIS is an enlightened society.

|     Most of the fighters seemed to be conscripts from the outlying
| regions of the Empire.  They all fought with skill, and some of the
| younger fighters showed promising martial arts ability.  Weapons
| were not allowed in these preliminary fights, so it was a rather
| fine display of barehanded fighting techniques.  The most popular
| fights in the initial rounds seemed to be the ones pitting a boy
| against a girl.  Ranma watched a young Korean girl, who couldn't
| have been more than fourteen years old, take down a larger male
| opponent with a solid roundhouse kick across the face.

Anime Rule of Physics #1: A ticked-off female is more than a match for even
the best fighter in the world.

|     Kodachi sat next to Ranma, her thoughts focused on him more
| than on the fighting going on down in the Arena.  It felt good to
| be spending time with him, but she felt a little silly at times.  Her
| brother would most definitely _not_ approve of Ranma, and her
| parents would likely be horrified.  Her father was especially aware
| of the family's position in society.  The Kuno family wealth and
| position practically precluded her from considering Ranma for a
| relationship.

So elope with the boy!

|     At that moment, Kodachi didn't care.  She sighed happily, and
| leaned against Ranma's shoulder from her seat.  He turned to look
| at her, slightly startled.  *This has the makings of a wonderful
| evening,* she thought with another happy sigh.  *I wish that this
| moment could just go on forever.*

Gah. Tenchi Syndrome in full effect. Don't believe me? Have a look at Aikan
Muyo and tell me you can't see the parallels.

|     The last of the preliminary bouts ended.  The two fighters left
| the Arena floor, one carried off on a stretcher.  The house lights
| dimmed, except for a single spotlight that lit up the center of the
| Arena.  The announcer walked out to the center of the floor, and
| he raised his microphone to his mouth.  A second spotlight began
| circling through the crowd.  The crowd went a little quiet in
| anticipation.  Ranma watched with a little more interest.  *I
| wonder what's up?*  He started to flip through his program.

Heh. Boy are YOU in for a shock.

|     "Gentlemen and ladies of the Empire," called out the handsome
| announcer.  "Tonight we again bring you a special show, a test of
| courage to some lucky young man in our audience.  Coming into
| the center of the Arena now is Shampoo, one of our finest young
| fighters.  She remains undefeated in almost two years of martial
| arts competition under this roof."  A third spotlight followed
| Shampoo as she came out to the center in a series of graceful flips
| and jumps.  She gave one final leap, and she landed in the circle
| of light around the announcer as she came to a graceful stop.
|
|     "Who will be chosen to make the attempt to tame this beautiful
| girl?"  The spotlight continued to circle through the crowd.  "The
| lucky man chosen, if he is the winner of this match against the
| lovely Shampoo, gets to claim the remainder of her contract from
| Global Communications.  Not only that, he also gets the very rare
| opportunity of claiming this girl for a wife.  As all of Shampoo's
| fans across the globe know, any man who defeats an Amazon in
| fair combat becomes her husband by the laws of her village."
| Ranma felt his face twitch.

Warning! Warning! Worlds are colliding and your paradigms are reasserting
themselves! Bail out NOW!

|     "What man could resist such an opportunity?" asked the
| announcer with a large smile.  "Shampoo certainly seems eager to
| see if there's any man willing to try winning her."  The Amazon
| girl did a few skillful moves from her fighting repertoire.  "For
| those in our audience who may not be familiar with the Empire's
| views on the subject, Imperial law allows any victor over her to
| have the _option_ of claiming her as a bride at any time before her
| contract expired."  Ranma's face twitched again, and his thoughts
| were racing.

And some little hentai corner of his brain is contemplating a threesome.

|     "The penalty for losing, on the other hand," said the announcer
| in a dramatically quieter voice, "is to spend a year in the Arena as
| one of our fighters.  So... based on those terms, let's see if our first
| choice has the courage to join Shampoo in the ring."  The moving
| spotlight suddenly stopped and stabbed down on a young man in
| the audience.  His face was shown on all of the monitors, and he
| seemed to be very surprised.
|
|     Hiroshi blinked against the bright light.

No way!

| He smiled nervously
| in the direction of the spotlight.

Way! Yo Hiro, wassup?

| Yuka, on his right, gave him a
| punch on the arm, and she looked extremely unhappy when he
| turned to face her.  He knew what that look meant for him, if he
| chose to accept.  She seemed to be yelling something at him, but
| he couldn't hear her over the roar of the crowd.  With a rather
| embarrassed look, he finally held up his hands and waved them in
| negation at the camera.

Hmm. Wasn't he with Sayuri? Ah well, this is an alterniverse and I could be
wrong anyway.

|     "Our first choice has chosen to decline this honor," said the
| announcer in a disappointed voice.

Gee. What a surprise.

| The crowd quieted down a
| little bit.  Then, the announcer brightened again.  "We still have
| one more potential challenger to try.  Who will it be?  Who has
| the courage to go up against this lovely girl?"  Shampoo smiled
| into the camera.  Her beautiful face filled the monitors.

And, somewhere, a duck with glasses is muttering about what a lovely dream
he's having...

|     Ranma felt himself starting to sweat as he eyed the spotlight
| roaming over the crowd.  *What are the chances that it's going to
| stop on me?  There must be over ten thousand people seated in
| here,* he thought with a mental laugh.  *The chances of _me_
| getting picked are... *  The spotlight speared him where he sat.

Okay, who else saw this coming?

|     *I wanted to free Shampoo from the Arena, but _this_ was not
| what I had in mind,* he thought with a sigh.  *I have no choice
| but to try though.  This may be my one chance to free her, even if
| it costs me a year of my life.*  Ranma slowly got to his feet as
| Kodachi gasped.

Uh huh. He's lost it.

|     "Ranma!" Kodachi blurted out.  "What do you think you're
| doing?"

"Umm... I need to use the little martial artists' room?"

|     "This may be my one chance at helping out someone who was a
| friend to me on several other timelines," he replied as he bent
| down next to her ear, so she could hear.  "I can't stand to see her
| in a place like this."  He paused and then smiled at her.  "Don't
| worry.  I'll be back."

Hmm. Appealing to shared experience. Nice touch.

|     Ranma stood back up straight again, and leaped out of the box
| area to land on the stairs.  Three more long bounds brought him to
| the base of the Plexiglas wall surrounding the Arena.  The crowd
| had begun to cheer.  He gathered himself and leaped for the top of
| the ten foot wall.  One hand gripped the top of the wall as he
| swung his legs over.  He landed on the fighting area floor with
| both hands raised high.  The crowd went wild with anticipation.

Oh yeah. Someone's been eating his cross-dimensional Wheaties.

|     "Ranma, you idiot," muttered Kodachi as she felt tears in her
| eyes.  "Don't get killed."

Oh don't worry. He'll be fine.

There's that shiver down my spine again!

|     "Gentlemen and ladies!" screamed the announcer with glee.  "It
| looks like we have a challenger!"  The crowd loudly roared their
| approval.  Ranma took a moment and gazed out at the crowd, his
| initial impulsiveness was gone.  At that moment, he felt a little
| worried as to whether or not he could actually pull this off.  He
| snapped himself out of his daze, and headed out to the center of
| the Arena.  *I have no choice,* he repeated to himself.

Sure you do! Just leap into your old body again, take ninja training, and
break her out of a... heavily guarded facility... with hundreds of other...
fighters... umm. Yeah. You have no choice.

|     Shampoo eyed the strange boy who came to fight her.  She
| sniffed with disdain.  He didn't look like much to her eyes as he
| leaped down the stairs.  Her eyes did widen a little as he cleared
| the top of the wall in a single bound.  *Hmm," she thought with a
| sudden increase in interest.  *Maybe there _is_ something to this
| one.  I think I'll keep an eye on this one.  Besides, I guess he is
| kind of cute.*

Tenchi Syndrome strikes again.

| Shampoo did her best to look cute and tough at the
| same time.  It was part of what made her so popular.

That and the form-hugging bodysuit.

|     Ranma trotted out to the announcer.  He was glad that he had
| decided to get some new clothes on the way home from school
| with his father.  He was wearing them for his date with Kodachi.
| They should allow him sufficient freedom of movement to fight.
| On a whim, he had picked out a blue silk shirt with wooden ties
| and a pair of loose black pants gathered at the ankles and waist.
| He looked much like his counterpart, the other Ranma, now.  The
| announcer looked at him as he came up to them.

And it's deja vu all over again.

|     "The new challenger has entered the ring in a truly dramatic
| fashion!" called out the announcer.  "He even looks to be rather
| confident on the outcome of this match."  The crowd laughed a
| bit.  The announcer paused as Ranma stopped in front of him.
| "Please tell us your name, and what style of martial arts the
| audience will see tonight."  He held the small microphone up to
| Ranma's face as the cameras captured a close-up view for the
| television audience.

Oh dear. Plot Convenience Rule #1: Everyone important to the main character
will see him/her on television.

|                     ******************************
|
|     Kodachi could only watch as her perfect evening was ruined by
| Ranma's new impetuousness.  She could have cared less for some
| primitive Chinese girl, but apparently not Ranma's new sense of
| gallantry.  She sat in her seat and fumed.  *If that Amazon bitch
| harms him, then... then... I'm not sure what, but it won't be very
| pleasant.*  She saw Ranma standing larger than life on the
| nearest monitor, and she felt her heart swoon again.

Tenchi Syndrome at its most primal level. This ain't gonna be pretty.

|                     ******************************
|
|     Akane was lying on her bed, and she flipped through the
| channels to see if anything interesting was on.  Anime mecha
| show... *pass.*.  Evening news... *boring.*  Romance movie...
| *hmm... nahh.*  Another anime show... *ick... pervert stuff...
| pass.*  She paused on the Arena channel to catch the beginning of
| the 'Amazon Challenge' segment of "Arena Tonight."  *Now this
| is more like it.*

I wonder why Akane Tendo would be interested in a powerful female beating
males into the turf?

|     She chuckled at the first challenger as he declined.  *What a
| weakling,* she thought with a smirk.  She tilted her head to one
| side when she thought that there was something familiar about the
| second one, but the camera view was from too far away to be sure.
| She whistled softly in appreciation as the boy leaped into the
| Arena in such a brazen fashion.  *Now _that_ looks like a real
| man,* she thought with a smile.

Wait for the spotlight, lady. Are you ever in for a...

|     When the camera focused in on his face, her scream of outrage
| could be heard throughout the neighborhood.  *How dare Ranma
| do this to me!* she thought as she punched her pillow.  *What
| ever possessed him to want to fight that... that... Amazon?*
| Akane watched as the view pulled back to show the two fighters
| standing next to each other.  Akane discovered that she didn't like
| the way that Shampoo was studying Ranma.

...shock. Oh dear. Well, it's not as though you have any claim on him.

|                     ******************************
|
|     Nodoka was watching the small portable television in the
| kitchen while she cleaned up after dinner.  She was watching the
| Arena channel since it was the only interesting thing on during a
| Thursday night, unless she wanted to watch another episode of
| "Battlecruiser Macross."  Nodoka liked the show, but the romance
| plotlines were getting a little thick even for her.

Romance? MACROSS? Calm self... this is alternateverse...

| She had flipped
| on the Arena channel to have a little noise in the background
| while she put things away.
|
|     She happened to glance over at the television screen in time to
| see her son appear on camera.  She watched in amazement as he
| agreed to fight that Chinese Amazon girl.  Her face froze in shock
| at the thought of her only son getting hurt by some barbarian
| savage.

Oh dear.

| *He still has his meeting with one of his prospective
| brides tomorrow,* she thought with a nervous twitch in her eye.
| "What does that boy think he's doing?!" she shouted at the
| television.  "GENMA!!!"
|
|     Genma had laid down for a brief nap after dinner.  It had been
| an extraordinary day, but he wasn't as young as he used to be.
| Nodoka's shriek woke him up in an instant.  Not quite aware of
| what he was doing, he grabbed the pitcher of water off the table
| and splashed himself in the face with it.  He woke up when the
| cold water hit him, stared briefly at the empty pitcher in his hand,
| and set it down with a bemused look.

*pfft* *pfft* BAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA! The sign... where's the sign that says
"I'm just a cute panda!" That would be *GAHAHAHA* PERFECT!

|     "GENMA SAOTOME!" shrieked the light of his life again.
| "GET IN HERE AND SEE WHAT YOUR SON HAS DONE!
| HE'S GOING TO RUIN OUR FAMILY NAME!"  Genma
| marveled at his wife's volume as he trotted into the kitchen.  He
| gawked at what he saw on the small screen.
|
|     Nodoka turned to face her husband.  *Why is he all wet?* was
| her first thought upon seeing him.  The shock of that unexpected
| sight even cooled her anger a bit.

Believe me, you wouldn't want to know.

|                     ******************************
|
|     "<It looks like one of these barbaric Japanese is actually going
| to try and defeat Xian Pu,>" Per Fum said with a snicker.  "<How
| badly do you think that this one will lose?>"

Not that badly.

|     Matriarch Khu Lon watched the screen closely.  She sensed the
| rest of the Council of Elders as they all turned to watch the new
| drama that was being played out on the screen.  "<He seems to
| carry himself well, but it will take more than attitude to win the
| day against Xian Pu,>" said Khu Lon after a moment of thought.

"Hiryuu Shoten HA!"

*<WHAT THE?!>*

|     Per Fum was about to say something when Khu Lon shushed
| her.  The elderly woman's attention was focused on the screen.
| *Could this be the sign of change that I have been expecting?*
| thought Khu Lon with a frown.  *There is something strangely
| familiar about the way he carries himself.  Odd.*

Well, you did train the boy. Or, rather, an analogue of you trained him.

|                     ******************************
|
|     "My name?" asked Ranma with less than his usual wit.  He was
| feeling a little intimidated by all of the cameras.  "My name is
| Ranma Saotome... of the Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts,"
| he said reflexively.  He found a surge of pride to say that name.  A
| new pride in himself that he hadn't experienced before.  It was a
| heady experience.

Oh yeah. This is the Ranma Saotome we know and love.

|     "There you have it, Arena fans," said the announcer as he
| turned to face the cameras.  "Ranma Saotome is the name of this
| brave, young Citizen.  A challenger who may indeed represent the
| youth of this new generation, a new generation of strength for the
| Empire.  A boy who is willing to bet a year of his life on his own
| fighting abilities.  We will pause for a brief station identification
| break, and when we return... the Amazon Challenge will begin!"
|
|                     ******************************
|
|     Khu Lon blinked.  She turned to look at Per Fum.  The young
| girl was looking at the picture of Ranma that was frozen on the
| screen during the station break with a strange expression on her
| face.  It was a sort of half-frown.  Khu Lon tapped the end of her
| staff on Per Fum's head.  "<Per Fum?>"
|
|     Per Fum turned to look at Khu Lon.  Her eyes had an odd glint
| to them that Khu Lon did not like the looks of at all.  "<Yes,
| revered Matriarch?>" answered Per Fum politely.  She closed one
| of her hands into a tight fist, and then relaxed it back open.  It was
| a nervous gesture of hers.

Don't tell me she's falling for him too.

|     "<You seem to be troubled by the Saotome boy,>" observed
| Khu Lon with a frown.  "<What could trouble you so about a mere
| male?>"  Khu Lon pulled out her pipe, and she lit it up with a
| well-practiced gesture.
|
|     "<It... it is nothing, Matriarch Khu Lon,>" said Per Fum after a
| moment of hesitation.  *Xian Pu attracts handsome challengers
| and improves her skill while she is in the outside world,* she
| thought with a small amount of bitterness.  *I haven't had a male
| express interest in me in over a year.*  All of the village boys
| were intimidated by her position, so none of them would come
| near her.  *Oh yes, Xian Pu, your new suitor shows me again how
| jealous I am of you.  I will have to train harder, for that day when
| I force you to acknowledge me as your better.*

Hmm. Is Mousse after HER in this world?

|     Per Fum noticed Khu Lon studying her.  She schooled her face
| into a neutral look.  *Khu Lon must train me to be better,* she
| thought with a serious look.  *I must improve my strength for that
| coming day when I challenge Xian Pu.  I am the Enforcer of the
| Council of Elders' combined will.  No one should be able to stand
| against me when I perform my sacred duty.*  She relaxed her
| hand back open, and resumed her ready stance.  She mentally
| controlled her feelings with rather brutal efficiency.  Her duty was
| all to her, as was appropriate for one known as the Enforcer.
|
|     Khu Lon nodded as the young Amazon seemed to regain her
| composure.  Without Xian Pu around, Per Fum had been the only
| one that Khu Lon had felt was worthy of her teachings.  It would
| be interesting to her to see if Xian Pu would be stronger or weaker
| than her childhood friend when next they met.  Khu Lon hoped
| that Xian Pu had grown stronger.

I don't think she's gotten much weaker, grandma.

|                     ******************************
|
|     Shampoo did some quick stretching exercises on the floor while
| she waited for the match to begin.  Ranma had gone off to the
| opposite side to limber up.  Shampoo didn't think much of his
| form when she saw him working out.  She was anticipating a
| quick victory, but she was going to try not to break any of the
| boy's bones.  It would be a better test of her skill to prolong the
| fight a little for the audience before she ground him into the floor.

Boy are YOU in for it. Ranma Saotome doesn't lose!

...there's that chill again.

|     The announcer came halfway to the center of the fighting area.
| He had a feeling that this fight was going to be something special,
| no matter which fighter won.  He looked at both opponents.  Both
| Ranma and Shampoo appeared to be ready for the match.  He
| noticed that Ranma had a serious look on his face, like a man on a
| mission.  The announcer looked up at the capacity crowd.
|
|     "Welcome back, home viewers, to what may prove to be the
| most exciting fight for tonight!" he called out.  Mina frowned
| from her position on the bench, angered at being upstage by
| Shampoo again.  She tapped her right foot against the floor, and
| she hoped that this boy Ranma Saotome wiped the floor with
| Shampoo.

Oh god. The Evil Villain's rooting for him. This... this isn't good. He HAS
to win!

|     "In one moment, our two fighters will meet in a battle of the
| sexes," said the announcer.  He paused as the crowd erupted into a
| roar of excitement.  *These people are primed to see some blood
| tonight, it looks like,* thought the announcer with a grin.  "Who
| will emerge victorious in the Amazon Challenge?  Let the fight
| begin!"
|
|     The announcer trotted for the sidelines, and Shampoo moved
| forward.  She had decided to forego her bonbori, as they would
| give her too much of an advantage over an unarmed opponent.
| She did want to give the audience a show, and it would give her
| very valuable practice against an unknown opponent for her
| barehanded fighting abilities.  She was feeling confident that
| victory was already hers.  *A shame really,* she thought with a
| slight smile.  *It would have been nice to find a strong husband.*

Please please please let the needs for dramatic irony overome the needs of
showing up the villainess...

|     Ranma was still feeling a little worried.  He had only spent a
| single practice session with his new fighting skills, and here he
| was putting himself to a test like this.  *I better not screw this up,
| or I'm going to be seeing more of the Arena than I care to think.*
| He trotted towards the center of the fighting area.

Hmm. How exactly does that work? He gets to use the Arena as a training camp
for the two weeks before the second challenge, not living there until he
loses again? Or is he locked away right at the get-go? PLEASE let it be the
former. Or let somebody pull a few strings and MAKE it the former.

|     Shampoo leaped into the air to get an aerial attack advantage
| for her initial strike.  Ranma smirked and leaped into the air to
| meet her.  Shampoo was so surprised at the mid-air meeting that
| he almost managed to hit her.

ALMOST?! Wuh oh...

No. No. Ranma Saotome CAN'T lose...

Can he?

| They hung in the air for a moment
| and exchanged a lightning quick series of strikes and blocks.
| They plummeted back to the ground, still exchanging punches
| and kicks.  *He's better than he looks,* thought Shampoo.

Yup.

|     *This isn't going to be as easy as I hoped it might be,* thought
| Ranma with an inward grimace.  *If I really was the other Ranma,
| then this would already be over.*  Neither of them had managed
| to hit the other.  He sprang back as Shampoo followed her landing
| with a flashy assault of spin kicks and quick punches.  He heard
| the announcer commenting on their movements as if from a great
| distance, so focused on the fight he was.

Good. Very good. Stay frosty.

|                     ******************************
|
|     The crowd roared their appreciation for the action.  Kodachi
| couldn't tear her eyes from Ranma.  She alternated between
| watching the close-ups of the fight on the monitors, and watching
| the Arena floor directly.  She twisted the program in her lap
| tighter and tighter.  *I hope he doesn't get hurt,* she thought with
| a worried sigh.

Oh no. Now we have Foiling the Villainess and Shocking the Innocent Damsel
against fullfilment of dramatic irony and the alternate universe parallel...

|                     ******************************
|
|     Khu Lon watched the fight with interest.  The longer it was
| lasting, the better Ranma seemed to get.  His movements had been
| more awkward in the beginning, but they were smoothing out
| with every moment.  It was like watching a flower blooming.  If
| she didn't know better, Khu Lon would have said that Ranma was
| learning how to fight while he was fighting.  That was a patently
| ridiculous thought, so she dismissed it.

Really?

|                     ******************************
|
|     Akane sat and hugged her pillow.  Her eyes were held by the
| images on the television.  *Ranma is fighting even better than he
| was a couple of days ago,* she thought with a frown.  *Why
| hasn't he ever fought like that with me before?  How good a
| fighter _is_ he?*

I think Mr. Wong's put his final potential up around Ifurita levels.

|                     ******************************
|
|     Ranma took a hit to the shoulder, and he traded it for a kick to
| Shampoo's thigh.  He managed to block a rapid series of punches
| that Shampoo threw, and leaped back to get some breathing room.
| The noises of the crowd were almost deafening as they roared
| their approval.  Shampoo kept the pressure up on Ranma, and
| leaped at him with a flying kick.  Ranma ducked, and Shampoo
| landed behind him.
|
|     Ranma felt a powerful kick impact into his back before he could
| turn around to face Shampoo.  He almost flew across the Arena,
| and landed on his face just short of the Plexiglas wall.  His
| thoughts went fuzzy from the pain.  *I need a plan,* he thought as
| he tried to regain his senses.  He rolled over, and saw Shampoo
| leaping at him.  Her kick might have ended it right there if he
| hadn't moved.
|
|     Shampoo was enjoying herself.  *Ranma is a good fighter,* she
| thought with a slight smile.  *He gives back as well as he gets.
| He's fast, too.*  She blocked Ranma's kick a moment before he
| sprang back to his feet.  She was starting to feel doubt as to the
| eventual victor in their fight.  That was rare for her.  It gave her
| hope that she might have found the man worthy to be her
| husband.  Her smile broadened a little.
|
|     *Why is she smiling like that?* Ranma wondered for a brief
| moment.

So your libido will kick in and distract you, silly. Heck, pull him in for a
kiss and give him a couple of kneecap strikes while he's dazed.

| Shampoo's fist slammed into his chest during that
| moment of inattention.  Her leg whipped around in a spin kick to
| land a devastating blow into his shoulder.  He felt his left arm go
| numb from the shoulder down.  He forced Shampoo to back off
| from pressing her advantage by leaping over her head.  His foot
| tagged her across the face when she turned to face him while he
| was still in mid-air.  She never seemed to see it coming.
|
|     Shampoo felt pain explode across her face.  Ranma's mid-air
| kick had caught her solidly on one cheek.  She rolled with the
| blow as best she could, but she still felt staggered.  She reached up
| to feel her face, and her hand came away bloody.  She caught a
| glimpse of herself in a reflection off the Plexiglas, and saw a
| modest cut on her cheek.  *Now I finish this,* she thought grimly.
| This had ceased to be a game for her.  *As soon as my head
| clears,* she quickly amended.

You know, you do REALLY good fight scenes.

|                     ******************************
|
|     Kodachi felt her heart leap up into her throat when Ranma was
| injured.  The program she held was steadily being shredded as she
| continued to twist it in her hands.  A growing anger was building
| inside her.  *That Chinese bitch is going to pay for every injury
| that she has inflicted on my dear Ranma.  I intend to see that she
| suffers tenfold.*  Kodachi threw the program against the wall of
| the booth.  She continued to watch the fight with glittering eyes.
|
|                     ******************************
|
|    "...and it appears that both combatants have sustained injuries,"
| said the announcer.  Behind him could be heard the roaring of the
| crowd.
|
|     "I'm sure that Ranma is all right," said Genma.  They had
| moved to watch the event on the large television at Nodoka's
| insistence.  "He can take care of himself."
|
|     "How can you be so calm, Genma?" asked Nodoka with a
| worried look in his direction.  "Your only son is fighting with
| some barbarian Chinese girl!"

"Well, he pulled it off fine the first time."

"FIRST TIME?!"

"Err... remember that alternate universe project I was talking about, dear?
You see..."

|     Genma adjusted his glasses.  He put his arm around Nodoka's
| shoulders.  "Win or lose... Ranma must be doing what he feels is
| right.  I don't think he'll be hurt worse than you saw him a few
| days ago.  Maybe it's even Ranma's fate to be a warrior.  If it is,
| have confidence that he will win."
|
|     "What will we do if he does?"  Nodoka looked at Genma with
| another worried look.
|
|     "We'll have a houseguest for awhile," replied Genma mildly
| with a slight smile.  *Ah, Shampoo,* thought Genma as he smiled
| a little more broadly.

Just because Ranma's got Tenchi Syndrome something fierce doesn't mean his
dad's got to act like Noboyuki.

| *You may be just what my son needs in a
| wife to keep his life interesting.  If nothing else, your presence
| would keep him from having to make a choice for a little while.*

Oh. Wait a minute...

ABRUPT DIMENSIONAL ROLE REVERSAL ACTION! Genma wanting to give Ranma reasons
NOT to choose?

|                     ******************************
|
|     Per Fum watched the fight in some amazement.  Shampoo had
| never taken this long before to finish off a challenger.  "<Why do
| you think that this is taking so long, Matriarch Khu Lon?>"
|
|     "<The boy Ranma is a much better fighter than I originally
| thought,>" replied Khu Lon thoughtfully.  "<However, he isn't
| quite good enough to defeat Shampoo.  He's very close though.>"
| Khu Lon went back to watching the television.  *You won't win
| tonight, young Ranma.  Who can say about the next time though.*

No. No. NO! Saotome Ranma doesn't lose!

|                     ******************************
|
|     Ranma still couldn't feel much from his left arm, but it didn't
| seem to be dislocated.  Shampoo was recovering faster than he
| was.  His chances at victory were slipping away unless he could
| manage to turn the tide somehow.  He tried to force his left hand
| to make a fist, and felt a faint burst of tingling fire run up the
| length of his arm.  Ranma grimaced in pain, and tried again to
| force the stunned nerves to work by sheer will.

I don't think that's going to work.

|     *I wish that I could have had time to work out some of the
| special techniques before I did this, but tonight might have been
| my only chance to change Shampoo's fate,* he thought with a
| shake of his head.  Ranma's frustration burned inside him.  *It's
| not fair!  I shouldn't lose when it's this important!  I have to win!*

Yes! YES! Here comes the second wind, folks!

|     The roar of the crowd faded away.  He could see Shampoo
| coming towards him.  He could feel something tingling at the
| edge of his awareness.  Something that he had never felt before.
| A faint blue aura briefly flickered into being around him.  It was
| gone so quickly that not even Shampoo appeared to notice.  An
| intense surge of heat seemed to burn down his arm like molten
| lava in the moment that it existed, and suddenly he could move it
| again.  The numbness was gone.  It was just barely in time.

*piku* Whoa. It WORKED! Healing Chi, man, healing Chi!

|     Shampoo was going to finish Ranma off while he stood there
| stunned.  She ran towards him, and her feet were light on the
| floor.  *You were a good opponent, Ranma,* she thought with a
| little sadness.  She could tell that his left arm was useless.  She
| might have dislocated the shoulder with her kick.  For a moment,
| she thought she saw a flickering around Ranma.  She launched a
| punch into his head to put him down for the count.
|
|     Ranma's left arm snapped up into a block.

SURPRIIIIISE!

| Shampoo's eyes
| widened in surprise, and she barely ducked Ranma's right fist
| when it came at her face in a counter-punch.  She had arrogantly
| left herself open, convinced that Ranma was almost finished.  His
| fist narrowly breezed by her face, and they sprang apart once
| more.  Shampoo found herself smiling again.  *Ranma is a
| surprise.*

Hey, don't steal my schtick.

|     The announcer was loving every minute of this fight.  Both
| fighters were giving their all, and the crowd could sense it.  The
| cheers for both fighters could be felt through the floor.  "This is
| one of the best fights that this announcer has ever had the pleasure
| to see!" he shouted into the microphone.  "Young Ranma Saotome
| refuses to give up, despite Shampoo's best efforts to knock him
| down.  Ohh... that one had to hurt."

To who? TO WHO?!

|     Shampoo backed up, blinking her eyes.  She had traded a few
| more punches and kicks with Ranma again, and he had managed
| to tag her in the face again.  This time it was an uppercut into the
| jaw that would have left her spitting teeth if she hadn't managed
| to snap her head back with the blow.  She could tell that she was
| going to have some colorful bruises for the next few days.  She
| had given Ranma a few good shots in exchange though.

Ah, a nice move by the challenger living on borrowed martial arts skills!

|                     ******************************
|
|     In a darkened room elsewhere in the Arena, one man sat and
| watched the fight on a wall-sized monitor.  He was a large man,
| but lanky instead of muscular.  A fashionable pair of glasses
| rested on his nose, and the images from the monitor could be
| dimly seen reflecting off of the tinted lenses.  His elbows rested on
| the large desk that he sat behind.  His hands were folded in front
| of his chin.  He was Shido Sasaki, the Arena Director, and he was
| not a happy man.
|
|     *This Ranma Saotome is nothing like I was led to believe,* he
| thought with a frown.

And you have a problem with this?

| A single printout from the Imperial Census
| Database rested next to the phone by his right elbow.  A recent
| picture of Ranma Saotome and a listing of his vital characteristics
| were on it.  His physical statistics were very good, but his fighting
| ability was listed as Standard Academy Training.  That should
| have been no challenge to a fighter of Shampoo's caliber.  He
| shouldn't have even had any interest in climbing into the Arena.
| Saotome's personality profile, updated every month at the
| Academy, did not indicate anything like what he was seeing on
| the monitors.

Well, you see, there was this little incident where he spent the better
portion of a day in the body of an alternate universe duplicate with more
martial arts aptitude than Son Goten and enough Chi to level a small city.
But you have know way of knowing that.

|     *When I proposed this promotional event to the Board of
| Directors at Global Communications, I made sure that they would
| not have to worry about losing their new star, Shampoo.*  The
| "random" choices selected for the Amazon Challenge were not
| random at all, but carefully chosen such that most would choose
| not to fight.

So it WAS rigged!

| The few who would choose to fight were carefully
| selected based on their personality profiles, and individual
| abilities.  The system photographed every face that came in
| through the entrance doors, especially those that entered by means
| of the priority seating entrance.  Ranma Saotome was one of those
| faces.

Boy, did he surprise you.

|     The computers in the sub-basement would take those pictures,
| and they would run a match based on a specially selected profile.
| This was made easier since Global Communications maintained a
| duplicate of the Imperial Census Files.  The list of names would
| be culled down to two names, and their seat locations would be
| noted for the selection.  *Only Saotome isn't matching up to his
| profile,* he thought with a low snarl.

Oh, is da widdle tyrant mad dat his widdle monetawy empiwe is cwumbwing to
ashes?

|     He had expected the first choice to bow out, but young Saotome
| should have withdrawn as well.  When he had leaped over the ten
| foot Plexiglas wall surrounding the Arena, Shido had known that
| something was very wrong.

Yeah. Ten-foot vertical leaps are not performed by the faint of muscle.

| The surprisingly even fight between
| Saotome and Shampoo, which had lasted almost ten minutes now,
| _was_ proving to be a ratings blockbuster.

Yeah. I should think it would be. People tuning in to see extreme closeups
of Shampoo bouncing around in a bodysuit are getting the fight of the
century.

| *If that boy loses the
| fight tonight, then his unexpected fighting abilities would belong
| to the Arena.  The rematch fight would be quite profitable as
| well.*  Shido smiled.  *Time to ensure that young Saotome loses.*

No. NO! You can't do that! RANMA SAOTOME DOESN'T LOSE!

|     Shido picked up the telephone, and he punched in a special set
| of numbers.  It rang twice on the other end.  He heard a click.
|
|     "Yes?" asked a male voice on the other end.
|
|     "I want Ranma Saotome to become an Arena fighter," answered
| Shido.  "Hit them both with something that will give Shampoo a
| sure edge.  Make it fast."  He hung up the phone without waiting
| for an answer.  He folded his hands in front of his chin, and
| watched the monitor once more.  A smile appeared on his face.

No. Oh, kamis, no.

That chill in my spine...

|     "Now you belong to me, Ranma Saotome," he said in a cruel
| voice.

It's become a freakin' ICE STORM! No! It was all going so very well...

|                     ******************************
|
|     Ranma and Shampoo continued to struggle with each other.  As
| their injuries slowly accumulated, their movements began to slow.
| What had started out as a flashy display of skill had become more
| and more a test of endurance.  It was an unexpected drama, and
| both combatants found themselves caught up in it.  They settled
| into a rhythm of movement.  Fists and feet impacted against flesh,
| but neither could gain a decisive advantage.  The battle of the
| sexes had taken on a new meaning.

*sniff* Yeah. You've got a nice style here, you know that?

|     Ranma felt a brief sting on the back of his neck.  He briefly
| hesitated, and Shampoo almost took his head off with a powerful
| punch.  A faint tingling began to spread through his body.  He
| tried to dodge another one of her punches, but his body didn't
| respond quickly enough.  Shampoo's fist hit him squarely in the
| face, right between his eyes.

NO! NO...

//Mental stability compromised. Engaging backup emotionless module.//

Hmm. They are perhaps pumping a few millivolts of charge through the Arena
floor, enough to essentially lock all the neurons in the body into permanent
firing? Shamps has experience with massive doses of electricity and is not
affected so badly, one assumes.

|     Shampoo felt a sting on her neck, but ignored it.  She felt the
| tide of battle turning in her favor once more, and a savage feeling
| filled her.  Her lips pulled back into a grin.  She rained blow after
| blow into Ranma's shattering defenses, as her body got its second
| wind.  Her hopes that she might have found a man worthy of her
| blew away like smoke.  A rage seemed to replace those hopes at
| Ranma's failure.  He had brought her closer to a loss against a
| male than anyone ever had before, but he hadn't been able to beat
| her.

Dear me. Tenchi Syndrome seems to be losing its reality-bending integrity.
How... original.

|     Ranma felt like he was standing in mud.  His limbs didn't want
| to respond right.  His breath was coming in gasps.  *I... I can't
| take much more of this,* he thought through a fog of pain.  All he
| could feel were the impacts as Shampoo's fists hit him again and
| again in the face and chest.  He dropped to his knees, and his eyes
| weren't focusing well.  Blood welled from a cut over his right eye.

Yes. A minor neuroelectric pulse to reduce the range of motion of the limbs.
Which Shampoo can understand and compensate for, or just ignore.

|     Shampoo lifted him up with a contemptuous sneer.  She
| slammed Ranma back against the Plexiglas.  A small streak of
| blood was left behind as she dealt him one final blow across his
| face.  His body fell at her feet, and she raised her fists into the air
| in victory.  She felt more alive than she ever had before.  The
| crowd roared its pleasure, captivated by the animalistic fervor of
| the savage fight that had just taken place.

//Emotional stability restored to acceptable levels. Engaging.//

NO! No... *sniff*... Ranma Saotome... *sniff*... doesn't... LOSE!!!

*choked sobs* How COULD YOU?!

Great choreography, though. *sniff* Very well written.

|                     ******************************
|
|     Kodachi could only stare at Ranma's unmoving form in horror.
| Guilt filled her.  *If we hadn't come here, then Ranma would still
| be all right.  He wouldn't have been chosen.... He wouldn't be
| injured.... Oh, Ranma....*  Kodachi buried her face in her hands
| and cried.  The crowd continued to shout out Shampoo's name as
| Kodachi cried alone for Ranma.

Good to know some Tenchi syndrome is still left in the boy.

|                     ******************************
|
|     Khu Lon stared at the television monitor in shock.  The Arena
| attendants were checking Ranma over, and she breathed a sigh of
| relief when they carried the boy out.  She could see that he was
| still breathing.  She shook her head as Xian Pu left the Arena.
| *Something was wrong with her, as well as Ranma,* she thought
| with a troubled look.  *He was holding his own too well and for
| far too long to lose so easily at the end.  He might even have
| won.*

Ah, so the Amazon suspects something is up. Good.

|     Per Fum kept her face neutral, but inside she was puzzled.
| Xian Pu had never lost control like that during a fight, not even
| when they were children.  It was totally unlike her old rival.  She
| noticed that Khu Lon was trying to speak to her again when she
| felt the Matriarch's staff tapping her skull once more.  "<Yes,
| honored Matriarch?>"
|
|     "<Pack your things,>" order Khu Lon.  "<We are leaving in the
| morning.>"  Khu Lon turned around and quickly hopped out of
| the Council chambers, her thoughts troubled.  She left a puzzled
| murmuring behind her.  *It looks like it's time to call in a few old
| debts.*

Heh. Right smack dab into Ranma's life.

|                     ******************************
|
|     Nodoka had stormed out of the kitchen after watching Ranma
| get carried off.  Genma followed along behind her.  He tried to
| calm her down, but she was too upset to listen to rational thought
| at the moment.  He became concerned when he saw her reach for
| the Saotome family katana.  His hand darted out, and locked down
| on her wrist before she could pull it free.

Some things never change...

|     "This won't help anything, Nodoka," he said in a serious voice.
|
|     "Genma!" she cried.  "That girl brutalized our son, and now
| he's trapped as an Arena fighter!  I am completely justified in
| what I'm about to do!"  Her voice was raised in anger.
|
|     For the first time in his life, Genma struck Nodoka.

WHOA! Intense mold-breaking action!

| He slapped
| her across the face with the back of his hand, but not as hard as he
| could have.  Nodoka was so shocked that she let go of the katana,
| and raised her free hand to her cheek.  Tears were in her eyes.
| Genma let go of her wrist when she suddenly collapsed to the
| floor, and Nodoka began to sob.  Genma knelt down next to her.

Ah. Just enough to snap her back to reality.

|     "We have to be logical about this, Nodoka," said Genma in a
| calm voice.  "Getting all emotional won't help matters."  Inside,
| Genma's heart was heavy.  He had to remain a strong hold on his
| beliefs for his wife, but the urge to follow her down the path of
| violence against the enemies of his family was strong as well.  His
| wife continued to sob, and Genma put his arms around her.  "I'll
| think of a way to get him out of there, Nodoka-chan.  Just trust
| me."

Okay. I want to laugh at this, but I realize it's probably justified in this
case.

|     Nodoka clung to her husband, and her wracking sobs
| continued.  Genma continued to comfort her, and he briefly
| looked up at the sheathed katana.  "Ranma will come through this
| all right, Nodoka," he said in a soft voice.  "We just have to
| believe in him."

I believe in him! I BELIEVE IN HIM!

|                     ******************************
|
|     Akane stared at the screen, and her thoughts were chaotic.
| They had finished carrying Ranma off the floor, and the next fight
| was getting ready to begin.  *Ranma isn't going to be coming to
| the Academy anymore,* she thought with a strange sense of
| sadness.  *That isn't right.  He and I still have something to settle
| between us.*

Whether that something involves you grinding him into the ground or
smothering him with affection has yet to be determined.

|     Akane went over to the telephone in her room.  She picked it
| up and dialed a long string of numbers.  She listened to the phone
| ring a couple of times, and then it was picked up.  "Tendo here,"
| she heard her father say.
|
|     "Daddy?" she said with an unexpected quaver in her voice.  "I
| need your help with something."

"I want a mechanical exoskeleton and a few dozen heat-seeking missiles and
cases of ammo. No one's beating up Ranma but ME!"

****

In all seriousness, though, this chapter took a hard right from the
relatively minor setbacks and glitches I've come to expect from this series
and has gone, in not so many words, straight to Hell.

But that's a good thing. I was totally and absolutely unprepared for what
happened and my world-view was distorted, bent, and eventually snapped.
That's what you were doubtless aiming for, and that's what happened. This
was the Mother of All Plot Twists and yet makes perfect sense and draws the
reader in even MORE. This is how you write, folks. It don't get much better
than this.

Some of my own ideas on what might be happening in future chapters...

Running Deer noticed the crackling in the floor that heralds the whole
neuro-electric stunner effect. She, being Shampoo's true friend and also not
really liking what happened to such a cute boy, tell Shamps as much. That
the floor was rigged, not that Ranma's cute. This, preferably, occurs while
Shamps is smashing her dressing room in frustration. I'll leave her probable
reaction as an exercise to the reader. My personal opinion is a re-run of
Ranma's jump into the timeline where he marries Shampoo... but then I've
been reading Aikan Muyo and Sailor Mac and such lately...

Just to exorcise the spectre of bad MSTed hentai from my brain.

The two weeks between challenges serve a dual purpose. Week 1 sees the loser
tying up whatever obligations he or she may have in the outside world. Week
2 sees the loser trying to get acclimated to the hierarchy of combat which
controls the Arena backstage. Cologne shows up about halfway through Week 1
and starts training Ranma. Why? Simple. If he wins, her great-granddaughter
is no longer obligated to risk life and limb in the Arena. Perhaps Tarou
nearly beheads the poor dear early in Week 1 and Cologne decides that enough
is enough. Of course, Ranma takes to the training like a shark to water,
especially considering that he spends a bit of time... perfecting his
invention so that he can exit social life with a bang.

Of course, Ranma crosses paths with our resident villains during Week 2 and
manages to supremely tick off both of them. Perhaps he refuses Mina when she
comes on to him and tosses "Pantyhose" at Taro when Evilboy is retrieving
Mina's from the shower. Of course, it's because she promised that'd be the
only thing she'd wear for the next... oh... two hours or so, but Taro
doesn't like anyone implying that his "girlfriend" controls him.

And the arc winds up at the end of Week 2, with a much-improved Ranma going
up against not only Shampoo but also every dirty trick in the Arena's
repetoire and a couple of supremely ticked-off martial artists.

So... what do you think, sirs?

--G. Falconar

Sorry about the snips, but this text editor will only take so much before it
overloads.