Time for another fancition from the old rusty factory of my mind. Would anyone who has any C&C (anything from grammar and spelling to plot loopholes) please send it the address above. That way the mailing list doesn't get all clogged up. Thanks, Jonathan Lavallee ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yes you know the drill, All characters and locations mentioned in this story belong to Rumiko Takahashi. They are used without her expressed permission, yadda, yadda, yadda and so on and soforth. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "I want you and your curse to go strait to *HELL!!!*" a voice screamed and then the sound of a door slamming shut rang throughout the house. Ranma cringed, this was not shaping up to be a very good day and it only showed the promise of getting worse. He had never seen his son so angry and who could blame him . . . certainly not Ranma. Ranma had been the cause of his son's anguish and this knowledge hurt him more than anything. Yes. . . he wish that he and his curse would go to hell just as long as it spared his son. . . but it didn't. Ranma slammed his fist down on the dojo floor leaving a small dent. A sinister chuckle came out of Ranma's lips. A small dent, that was all his punch had made. . . he was getting soft. He looked out of the dojo and gazed at the rain cursing everything: himself, his father and in the end his curse. Yes the curse that had now passed on to his son. There came the sound of a door opening and in came a woman Ranma knew well. It was the one of the woman he cared about the most, Akane. Time had barely touched her, her features had softened just a little and her eyes were a little wiser but that was the extent of her aging. She still wore her hair in that bob cut that Ranma had always thought was cute on her and a old dress that was filled with memories of old time. However, all thoughts of old times vanished as Ranma look at Akane's face and noticed her anguished expression. "What were you two fighting about this time?" Akane asked. It hurt her every time she saw those two fight. She couldn't understand why they couldn't get along if only for her sake. "Akane. . ." Ranma hesitantly started. "What Ranma?" Akane asked. "Do you remember how reluctant I was to get married while I had this curse?" "Yes I do." Akane remembered it well. It had taken her years to tell him that it didn't matter to her. All she needed was his love, once they had been able to admit that it was love. Finally he had accepted her decision to get married despite the curse but he never liked it. "Well, now I know why my fears were justified." Ranma looked down at the floor his shame and his sorrow written as plain as day on his face. Suddenly Akane knew what they were fighting about, Ranma ashamed of his curse, their son's departing words 'I want you and your *curse* to go to hell'. Their son Musuko had inherited Ranma's curse and Akane could feel nothing but anger at this. "You idiot, why didn't you tell me this in the first place!!" Akane screamed at Ranma. "You're the one who didn't want me to go away to find a cure!" Ranma shouted back starting another argument. "Well you should go away now you jerk!" and with that Akane kicked Ranma outside into the rain. He went through the wall and seemed to disappear in the vision blocking rain. It looked as if he had simply vanished. Akane was breathing heavier but her anger drain slowly away as she waited for Ranma to come back inside . . . five minutes . . . ten minutes. . . no one came in. What have I done, Akane thought to herself, I just yelled at him and missed that he was already feeling horrible about it. I was just being stupid, like always. Akane ran to the opening in the dojo wall with "RANMA!!! RANMA WHERE ARE YOU?!" Then she fell to the floor crying, what a fool I am. . . what a fool. Akane picked herself up, still in tears, and walked back inside the house. *~*~* "Why do you keep torturing father like that?" Musume turned and asked her younger brother. Her voice had a small hint of steel that showed how very angry she was which would have been slight anger on anyone else. She took after her aunt Kasumi in that respect, she seemed to never get angry at all. "Don't you realize that you hurt him and mother more than any punch they've every taken?" "I don't care what I do to that old fool," Musuko replied the anger evident in his voice, "he's done everything to me that I didn't want him to." "Like . . ." Musume left her sentence trailing. "Like teaching martial arts, and always looking over my shoulder to see if I was in trouble, and now I have *his* stupid curse." Musuko could hear the in drawn breath coming from Musume. He smiled, I scored one there didn't I dear sister. "You know", Musume started, "one day your going to do something really stupid and it just might make you think differently." Musuko snorted, "Not very likely." A younger voice called out from behind them, "Whatcha' guys doin' out here sittin' on the steps?" Then the sound of footsteps revealed the youngest daughter, Sakura. "None of your business you little twerp now get out of here you stupid snot nosed brat." Musuko snobbishly dismissed Sakura. "Musuko decided to start another argument between himself and father. . ." and Musume voice trailed away as she saw the state of rage that Sakura was in. Sakura was a mix between her father's love of martial arts and speech patterns with her mother's happy attitude and anger. "Why you idiot!" Sakura was yelling at Musuko. "Why do you keep doin' that. . . why I aughta' . . . " "Aughta' what Sakura," Musuko was yelling at Sakura in turn, "try to beat me up. . . your so much like that old fool out there that you make me sick." With that Musuko walked upstairs in a huff and Sakura mad as ever started walking up towards him with fisted clenched and murder in her eyes when a restraining hand was placed on her shoulder. "Sakura", Musume's calming voice called, "there is no need to go after him." Then she smiled, Musume had a smile just like her Aunt Kasumi, one that could drain away any anger. The fact Musume was a lot like Kasumi in her mannerisms and actions really astonished Akane. Sakura sighed and sat down next to her, "Girl, you seem to know exactly what to say to me." "Don't I always?!" Came Musume's reply to that observation. Suddenly their lips curved upwards in a smile as both of them enjoyed a little chuckle. *~*~* Ranma walked down the street, ignoring the rain and the fact the he was now a girl. He. . . now she was lost in thought not noticing where she was going. Her thoughts were about her life and what had happened to get her this life. *~*~* Ranma fidgeted nervously as he stood there in his tuxedo. That thing had been uncomfortable but he wore it because he knew what was coming and tuxedo's were what was expected. He looked over at his best man, Kuno . . . no wait he didn't like to be called that anymore. . . it was just Tatewaki. Ranma couldn't believe how much Ku - Tatewaki had grown up lately. I guess that's Ucchan's, she's really doing wonders with this guy. A year ago you couldn't bring my name up without him being in a state of very articulate rage and now he's the best man at my wedding. It so strange how quickly some people can change. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the wedding march. Ranma looked up and saw Akane walking down the aisle, he had never seen such a beautiful sight. She had opted for a western style wedding dress and it looked absolutely stunning on her. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off her (not that he really wanted to anyway). Apparently everyone else thought that the ceremony seemed to drag on and on but Ranma hadn't noticed that. All he could really remember was being lost in Akane's beauty for a time out of mind. Ranma chuckled a little as he remembered that Tatewaki cleared his throat as the ceremony came to the part where he had to answer. He did passably, not well, but passably. Finally his heart jumped a little when those words were said, "You may kiss the bride." Never had Ranma felt so happy. *~*~* During this sojorn into her memories Ranma had come up to the park which was one of the landmarks between the Tendo dojo and Fuurinkan High School. Tired of walking Ranma sat down on the swings in the well groomed park. The rain had let up but Ranma didn't feel like coming home. She had too much on her mind and she needed to sort things out before she apologized to Akane. She liked to remember her wedding day whenever they had a fight. I made her think of all the pleasant times and happy moments that she and Akane had shared. In fact it was perhaps the happiest moment of her life, without match. Then as more thoughts bombared her mind she realized that there were three times that could match that day. Those were the days that her children were born. *~*~* Ranma remembered when Akane went into labour during the quiet evening that was being shared among friends. Ukyo, Tatewaki, Akane and he were sitting around the Tendo residence enjoying each others company when suddenly it hit. That first contraction that would change their lives in a very drastic way. Ranma remembered that he could hardly do anything but act like some complete baboon so Tatewaki ended up driving the two expecting parents to the hospital and left Ukyo at the house waiting for Kasumi and Dr. Tofu. So that was how he and Tatewaki ended up waiting together in the waiting room. He remembered the irritation that Tatewaki showed as Ranma continually paced the room. He didn't know what to expect, he finally gotten used to the fact that he was married. Now he was going to have to get used to being a father, and damn he was going to be a good one, well . . . at least try to be. "Quit pacing," Tatewaki had irritably growled at him, "you're starting to make me nervous." At that statement Ranma calmed down enough to sit down, which got a grunt of satisfaction out of Tatewaki. Ranma remembered that to calm himself down he had spent his time focusing on Tatewaki. He had focused on his changes and all of them were for the better. First off he wasn't calling himself "Upper classman Kuno" all the time. In fact he had people stop calling him even Kuno after what happened to his sister. That was scary, she had spent most of the family fortune hiring assassins who would in turn try to kill Akane. Upon hearing of this he immediately call the police, who apprehended Kodachi and sent her to jail with a nice long prison term for attempted murder thus bringing disgrace and shame to the family name. The second thing that Tatewaki had changed was the fact that he acknowledged the fact that his Pig-Tailed girl was actually Ranma's cursed form. Not to mention that he dropped his arrogant attitude and became more relaxed and outgoing. That had been Ucchan's work, she had done amazing things with him. She loved him, cared for him and supported him whenever he fell. Tatewaki did the exact same thing. There was a lot of love in that unlikely pair and Ranma always wondered why they had gotten together. That pairing though was really good for him unlike Nabiki who, when finding out the effort needed to change him, had simply dumped him very abruptly. Not only did she drop him like a ton of bricks she also had his son and over the years brought him up to share her prejudices so Tatewaki never got to see him often if at all. Nabiki was one of the subjects that was never talked about in his presence. Anyway he and Ucchan were enjoying their marriage and Ucchan due date was fairly close to their first child due date. Ranma couldn't wait until their roles were reversed and this time Ranma had to calm Tatewaki down. *~*~* Ranma smiled, that scene had been almost identical for every other one of his children. With Musuko it had been Ucchan that had stayed with him, and Tatewaki was there when Sakura was born. They were good friends and Ranma was glad that she could call them that. Ranma thought about where she stood in life. She had a great marriage, good friends and family. Ucchan's two kids, Kokku and Sareta, were great; while Nabiki's kid was even more devious then her, Kasumi and Dr. Tofu had a child that was a saint, while Shampoo and Mousse's daughter, named Rinse for some reason Ranma couldn't get Shampoo and Mousse to explain why, who was as charming as her mother and fought like her father. These people had made Ranma's life happier, more enjoyable. Ranma was jolted out of reverie by a familiar female voice behind her, "I thought I might find you here." Ranma turned around and saw the face of her dear friend Ukyo staring right back at her. "Hi ya, Ucchan." Ranma changed the tone of her voice, trying to hide how depressed she actually was. "What are you doing out here?" "Well Akane was so afraid that you had left her, the dojo and Nerima for good that she called out everyone but the national guard to go look for you." Ukyo chuckled nervously at her own joke trying hard to break her friend of this deep depression. Ukyo could tell by the way Ranma was sitting that humour would have no effect on her desolate friend so she became serious. "Why didn't you walk back into the house, Ranchan?" "Isn't it obvious?" Ranma stared down at her feet overcome with guilt. He just couldn't meet Ukyo's gaze as he finished her thought "I gave my son my curse." Ranma wasn't surprised to see the shock on Ukyo's face. Even she couldn't hide the surprise on her face. Suddenly Ukyo bonked her fist on her open palm. "So that's why she was so worried." Ukyo had understood why Akane was not to anxious to explain why Ranma had run off, she was worried that Ranma would leave and it would be all her fault. Ranma suddenly jumped up in anger, "What's that supposed to mean!" "Don't worry about it sugar," Ukyo smiled sweetly at Ranma, "it's a girl thing." Ukyo saw Ranma's head fall down in her hands and she felt some sympathy for her best friend. Why did we ever try to break those two up, it's obvious that she's hurting because she thinks she hurt Akane. "Come on Ranchan . . . let's go back to the dojo 'K." "Sure, why not." And with Ukyo leading Ranma they both headed back towards the dojo. Neither one spoke but Ukyo knew that her presence was helping Ranma immensely. The road they travelled was littered with puddles and the air had a perpetual chill that always seemed to follow a storm as if it was waiting for something to happen. Ukyo and Ranma ran into two more of their friends on their way back to the dojo, Shampoo and Mousse. It made Ranma smile a bit more when he realized that so many people cared about him. There were hugs and handshakes dispensed as they came into contact with each other. However, there seemed to be a bit of tension in the air a palpable feeling that you could almost taste. "Ranma," Shampoo suddenly asked the tension mounting, "when was last time you saw Ryoga?" Ranma smiled as she listened to Shampoo remembering what she sounded like when she had first come to Japan, her Japanese had improved since that time but she still got disjointed when she was worried or scared. . . worried or scared . . . worried or scared. Ranma's smile faded. "Not since after the wedding," Ranma paused uncertain if she wanted to know the answer, "why do you want to know?" "Well Shampoo saw Ryoga and . . ." Mousse left his sentence hanging as he leaned closer to Shampoo and supported her more. Shampoo seemed to be limping. Physically Shampoo hadn't changed much since she was 16 -- probably because of the legendary longevity of the Joketsuzoku -- she still sported her purple hair and had not changed the style. Her favourite clothing was still of chinese cut and she still had to same bouncy personality. However that personality seemed to have been dimmed a bit today under the overcast sky. Mousse followed the Joketsuzoku tradition of longevity as he too looked no more than 16. He had some corrective surgury on his eyes -- the money came from the Cat Cafe -- so now his glasses weren't as thick and when he didn't wear them he no longer mistook things and people. His long glossy black hair had grown longer, it now reached down to around the back of his knees. His robe was of the same style loose and flowing to conceal any weapons he might have been carrying from sight. "What happened to you guys?" Ranma asked them. Well. . . *~*~* Shampoo was walking down a road in the Nerima district, umbrella in hand, looking for Ranma. Akane as usual had gotten angry and chased him out of the house. Well that's what Shampoo was guessing because Akane wouldn't tell them any specifics of what had actually happened. They had met at the Tendo dojo, Ukyo, Tatewaki, Mousse and herself after a tearful phone call from Akane begging their assistance. Since they were all friends it was the least they could do. When they had arrived at the Tendo dojo there was a quiet household and a tearful Akane waiting for them. All Akane would tell the group was that Ranma was gone and that they had to find him. Shampoo guessed that there must have been another fight between Ranma and his son Musuko. After walking the streets of Nerima for a little while Shampoo found herself outside Fuurinkan High School were all their children now went or had gone to get their education. The building had the same no nonsense business look to it, the same principal, the same problems. It had looked as if even time couldn't affect that old whethered building. Some little part Shampoo had wished that they all could have been immune to the call of time and go back to a time where they were the most important things they could think of was themselves. A time where death threats were the norm and a race was on to see who could get Ranma. A time when they were more innocent. Caught in the nostalgia of the situation Shampoo had not noticed the man trying to get her attention from across the deserted road. The rain let up as soon as this man started to make his way across the road to grab Shampoo's attention. He came and tapped her on the shoulder and Shampoo heard a voice that she hadn't heard in a long time. "Excuse me miss," the voice began, "do you know where the Tendo dojo is?" Shampoo had turned around, and there stood Ryoga. His style of clothing had not changed, nor had the bandanna that remained tied to his head, he only looked stronger and a little ominous. "Miss . . ." Ryoga's voice had trailed off in sudden recognition, "Shampoo . . . what are you doing here?" "What am I doing here . . . " Shampoo could help but get angry at that statement, "What is stupid doing here?" Shampoo replied curtly. "I see like your manners, you language hasn't improved much." Ryoga's eyes glinted in the dark evily. "Now listen to me Shampoo," he said her name with so much venom she thought that the ground beneath her had corroded, "Take this to Ranma, tell him . . . it's a belated wedding gift." At his personal joke Ryoga started to laugh, not a pleasant laugh. . .you know the kind that can brighten any day, but a evil laugh. . . one that sent a shiver throughout Shampoo's body. Ryoga had never been like this before, why is was he like this now? Knowing that she was in a very undersirable situation Shampoo started to run. Up one alley down the side road and doublebacking on herself, using every trick her Amazon heritage could supply her with. Running . . . Running with Ryoga's mocking laughter ringing in her ears. Finally almost unable to take another step Shampoo stopped running. She didn't even need to look up to know where she was -- she had of course used every side street in her youth when delivering for the restaurant -- approximately one kilometer west of Dr. Tofu's clinic. As far as she knew she was safe, unfortunetly she couldn't see all that far. "Nice try Shampoo." said Ryoga appearing behind almost out of nowhere. "I'll admit it was a nice try, thinking that I couldn't find my way to my bedroom unless I was brought in hand. Almost worked too if I hadn't been following you closely I might as well have gotten lost." Shampoo knew that she was in trouble, Ryoga had gotten very good during his sojourn away from Nerima. She never could match him strength for strength, her asset had always been her superior speed and she tried to use it to dodge to her right. Before Shampoo knew it Ryoga swung his right arm out and grabbed hold of her in a vice grip in between his two hands. "I've got a message for you Shampoo, for Ranma." Shampoo tried to act as if she didn't understand but all the achieved was a cuff on the side of her head which snapped her head with such force that she almost lost consciousness. "Don't pull that dumb bimbo act with me!" Ryoga screamed at her his grip get tighter and tighter, "I know you still hang around with him and I want you to give him somthing for me. Can you do that Shampoo?" Shampoo nodded her head, in her position what else could she do. Ryoga let her her go a bit and looked up and down her body. "Could you do it with only one leg, Shampoo?" Ryoga eyes reacquired the evil gleam that had so chilled Shampoo. His face reflected evil, pure and simple. Shampoo, unable to just stay complacently in Ryoga's grip, lashed out at him with her a well placed kick to the solar plexus. It contacted solidly and perfectly and should have winded Ryoga enough so that she could have escaped. All Ryoga did was smile, hold her still with one hand and with the other grabbed her leg and wrenched it to the side. Shampoo nearly swooned from the sudden jolt of pain running up from her knee to her hip. Then Ryoga tossed her contemptuously and the ground. "Hah!" Ryoga sneered, "I thought that you would have provided more of a challenge than that. I mean I know that you have trained just as hard now as you did when that old ghoul was alive. I mean come on, it was about time that the hag kicked the bucket." Shampoo could feel her fury mounting as Ryoga spoke, he was mocking her ancestry, "Then I can't believe that you married that idiot Mousse. Even though he got his stigmatism fixed to an extent he still looks like some freak off of a side show. He still fights like that to." Now he mocked her husband that she had come to love, "I know! Maybe you spent too much time bearing that snot nosed brat that you call a daughter. She's ugly like her father, pathetic as her mother and she's too curious for her own good. By the way, she's one of the worst martial artist I have ever seen, who trained her you or Duck boy?" Finally unable to take this lashing against all she held dear Shampoo launched herself at Ryoga screaming in rage. Here was Ryoga the one who was mocking her family, here was Ryoga the one who had hurt her, here was Ryoga disdain written all over her face kicking Shampoo in the head. That was the last thing she saw for a while. *~*~* "I'm sorry Ranma," Shampoo began, uncertain how to comfort this person she had come to call friend, "I was too scared to read this before you. I'm too worried about what it could say." She finished handing Ranma the letter with a trembling hand. With agonizing slowness Ranma opened the letter, and read it out loud. HELLO RANMA, I HOPE THAT LIFE HAS BEEN QUITE KIND TO YOU SINCE WE LAST MET RANMA. THAT WAY IT WILL BE ALL THE MORE ENJOYABLE TO TAKE EVERYTHING YOU LOVE AWAY FROM YOU BEFORE I KILL YOU. IT IS MY SINCEREST WISH THAT YOU DIE KNOWING THAT YOU ARE TOTALLY ALONE, LIKE I HAVE BEEN FOR ALL MY LIFE. BEST WISHES RYOGA HIBIKI Ranma finished reading the last line, shock evident all over her face only to be replace with a look of sheer fury. Yelling in anger Ranma started to make her way back to the Tendo dojo screaming "OVER MY DEAD BODY!" over and over again as if it was some sort of mantra. The rest of the group was keeping up trying to calm down this enraged Ranma. They knew that they couldn't physically hold Ranma back, they had tried it and failed miserably. The only possible hope, and a slim hope at that, was that they could talk Ranma out of her rage. "Ranma," Shampoo began her voice filled with pity, "listen to me. You do not need to accept this challenge." Upon hearing this Ranma stopped, and turned with exaggerated slowness. Her fists clenched in barely controlled rage. It seemed that she was going to lash out at Shampoo but before she could say or do anything Ukyo interrupted. "Listen to her sugar," she said, "there is no reason to accept this challenge, you won't lose anything. We all outgrew that stuff a long time ago . . ." Ukyo's voice trailed off as she caught a glimps of the letter in Ranma's hand, "well most of us anyway. Ryoga's just going to get lost and if he does show up you can just show him to door. After that if he still needs some persuation we can help with that." Ranma looked around and saw her friends nodding their heads in agreement, their faces masks of determination. Even Shampoo who had lost handidly to Ryoga was determined to help Ranma through this. Ranma thanked whatever power there was out there for giving her these good friends. Finally Ranma allowed herself to relax, unclenching her jaw and her fists. Shampoo, Mousse, Ukyo and Tatewaki all calmed down as they saw their volatile friend calm down. Ukyo sighed, contented to see that her friend was taking her advice to heart.. Tatewaki nodded his head towards his wife, love in his eyes, amazed again by her ability to calm down people. Shampoo smiled at the sight of her friend returning to the personality that they all knew. The group of five friends made their way towards the dojo walking side by side, as they always have. *~*~* Ranma opened the door and was met by an over enthusiastic Akane. Akane flung her arms around Ranma and cried desperately on Ranma's shoulder. "You idiot, Ranma don't you ever do that to me again." she berated her spouse, her voice saying one thing but her body betraying her as she didn't let go. "All right all ready," Ranma tried unsuccessfully to get out of Akane's bear hug, "let me go get some hot water." Finally breaking free for a moment Ranma walked out of the room towards the kitchen were the sounds of water being put in a kettle could be distincly heard. The warthm Akane felt at Ranma's return showed plainly on her face as she turned towards her friends. "Thanks you guys I don't know what I do without you." She gave them all a hug in turn, thanking them profusely for finding her husband. "You know you guys better stop fighting," a voice called out from behind, "or one of these days you might knock him into orbit." The owner of that voice stepped out into view. Nabiki still wore that severe bob cut but it was speckled with gray. Nabiki wasn't that old but the pressures of business had started to prematurely turn her hair gray, she didn't mind, she thought it made herself look more distinguished. Nabiki chuckled and slowly stopped as she saw who was at the door. She then turned to Akane "Dear sister, I know you called everyone but was it necessary to bring in the dogs." her tone was one of superiority, a tone that almost everyone despised. "Nabiki," Akane rebuked in a whisper, "don't do that to my friends." Nabiki chuckled wickedly, "You always take me so seriously, lighten up. Oh! And I see that the clock is telling me that I have to go," she paused, "I left Zurui in charge of the business while I was out and I'm dying to see how much we've improved. Goodbye all of you who deserve a goodbye." That parting shot was still on the wind when Nabiki left. They were all disgusted at Nabiki's total lack of kindness and nobody missed the sheer look on Tatewaki's face nor his clenched fist. He hated it whenever Nabiki flaunted herself in front of him. What they did so long ago didn't matter anymore but she kept rubbing it in his face. Akane believed that it was her coping mechanism, she still hadn't gotten over the fact that her and Tatewaki had a child. Akane shook her head at her disgusted friends and told them to sit down. Ukyo, Tatewaki, Mousse, Shampoo all went into the living room. "Shampoo you limping!" Akane exclaimed noticing her friends slight limp, "What ever happened to you?" "Well Akane it all happened when --" Shampoo was cut off by a male voice the had made his way from the kitchen. "Akane," Ranma's voice had dropped a little, "Ryoga's back." "Really where is he." "I don't think that you want him to show up." "Why not?" Ranma showed her the challenge letter and saw her face pale. "You see what I mean Akane, Ryoga isn't stable right now and I think that if he were to show up here he would do something that could harm you or my family and I don't want that. He probably got lost and won't find this place until who knows when but if he comes he does not come in this house. I don't want to lose you." Ranma's final line was said in a whisper which was barely adible but clearly understood by the rest of the group. "I know," Akane whispered, "I don't want to lose you either." and slowly she kissed him, passionately, and he returned that with all the love in his heart. Unfortunately their moment was broken by someone clearing their throat. "You guys make me sick," Musuko commented, "why do you have to do that in front of me?" He roughly pushed his way between them and walked outside. "Where are you going?" Ranma asked his son, a question that most fathers would ask in that situation. "None of you business!" Came the shouted reply. You know, Ranma thought to himself, I am really going to have to talk to that boy. *~*~* Musuko walked down a lonely road in Nerima. He didn't care much were he was just as long as it was away from his father. Why did he keep foisting things off on him, things that Musuko didn't want. There was the martial arts thing, Musuko hadn't wanted to learn that. Now there was the curse, no his curse. Thunder boomed from the sky, "Great," Musuko said out loud, "now it looks like it's going to rain. I used to never have to worry about this. *DAMN HIM!!!*" With that he kicked a rock that was on the ground, some unoffending rock that was happy were it was lying and didn't appreciate the fact that he was kicked. What the rock didn't appreciate even more was the fact that he hit a man. And by the way the rock bounced off him it seemed that this was a strong man. "Now why did this rock hit me all of a sudden?" a voice called out of the alley where the rock had flown. Musuko suddenly froze. "I'm sorry sir," He quickly turned and apologized, "I didn't mean to hit you with the rock sir." "Don't worry about it," there was a pause, "why were you so angry before?" "Well, my damn father gave me this stupid curse . . ." "I see," the voice said, "by the looks of you your probably Ranma's son." There came a long silence after and Musuko wanted to run into the alley asking how that man knew his father but the aura emanating from the alley made Musuko's blood run cold. It may have been a trick from the light or lack there of but it seemed to Musuko that a red glint appeared for a brief second. The light was dismissed as soon as the stranger started talking. "Well do you want to get back at your father?" The voice asked in a whisper. He has said something that was close to Musuko's heart. Revenge. Musuko smiled, ever so slightly and replied, "More than anything." "Then come over here . . ." *~*~* That's the end of Part 1, I hope people enjoy this, I'm trying desperately to get my stuff in order (essay, seminar, yadda, yadda, yadda) and will try to finish this at another time (Well hopefully before school finishes). Anyway remember send C&C to newranma@hotmail.com, Thanks again.