| Hello all.
|
| The author will now speak... :)

Waiwai!

| I honestly wasn't expecting confusion as to what happened, but
| here is what
| went down.  They WERE drug needles that hit both Ranma and Shampoo,
| flechette darts made of polymers designed to disolve quickly in the
| bloodstream.  Ranma got a dose of a mild sedative, enough to slow his
| reflexes down.  To make matters worse, Shampoo got a dose of stimulants, a
| sort of "battle drug" cocktail that is designed to increase aggression and
| stimulate the adrenal glands.

Sorry. The Science Guy in me took Occam's Razor to the fic.

Hmm. If those polymers went into solution... well, unless they go into
carbonic acid right away (which is HIGHLY unlikely, considering the fact
that most polymers have one or more aromatic rings in them somewhere)
they'll be floating around for quite a while. Kidneys don't filter out
hydrocarbons all that easily. So a blood test would reveal that a drug had
been administered, even though the drug itself may have been long since
metabolized.

Of course, thanks to his experiences with Kodachi and/or Akane's cooking,
(most likely Kodachi) that little bit of Martial Ranma inside Scholar Ranma
is going to wind up realizing he got a Mickey slipped to him. So when
Scholar Ranma's recuperating and "apologizing" to the Martial Ranma in him
for losing, he's in for a rude awakening. Speaking of...

We haven't seen Doc Tofu yet, have we? Somehow, he strikes me as someone
Soun might like to keep close to the heart of the Arena, as both a spy and a
physician. Particularly if he DOESN'T break down every time Kasumi shows up.
Or perhaps he might use the breakdown for cover. Anyhoo, when the good
doctor is typing Ranma's blood (after all, the boy lost copious amounts of
it) he discovers the traces of the needle, and puts two and two together to
get about six or seven. Fixing relatively unimportant matches is all well
and good, but impressing a free citizen of the Empire with a promising
future ahead of him Crosses The Line. Especially considering Soun asked the
Doc to be extra-sure Ranma came out okay. Of course, Ranma being Ranma will
opt for the rematch before revealing that the fight was rigged.

| It wasn't an automated system that did it, but a pair of snipers
| that could
| be assumed to be part of Arena Security.

Whoa. Shots that accurate, they could rule the world!

...why'd my Dramatic Irony Meter just peg?

| The current Director has used
| drugs to fix fights before, but nobody has cared enough to take a look as
| long as things were profitable for all the zaibatsu that get any money out
| of Arena-related matters.  However, the Arena Director has made
| an error in
| who he chose to play dirty tricks with this time, and it will come back to
| haunt him.

>From at least three different fronts. Four, rather.

1) Tendo Soun and the Security Agency. Perhaps a general audit of the
records is in order. *evil grin*

2) Cologne and Perfume and whoever else tags along. Outside interference in
what was essentially tribal business is not going to be looked on favorably.

3) Ranma. Do I really need to go into detail?

4) Shamps and her friends, when she finds out they rigged the match so she'd
win. Part of the rage she felt at losing a husband had to be justified. Now
she's going to take it out... if she can get past the safeguards.

| As to what the future holds.... Well, I don't want to spoil the surprises.
| :)  I am working on chapter 11 "The Path of The True Martial Artist..."
| right now, and I hope to have it done by Sunday.   Expect to see more of
| Cologne, more of Shampoo, and more action next chapter.  I also
| get to have
| fun introducing Ranma to Tarou and Mina, and their reactions to him.

If they're anything other than abject hatred (with a bit of lust, perhaps,
on Mina's part) I'm going to be very surprised.

And Shampoo IS going to find out what happened. Right?

Heck with it, I can wait.

--G. Falconar