PB #10 Chapter III
by Shade

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and affiliates are the 
property of Rumiko Takahashi, Rifts and 
Phase World are owned by Palladium. Other 
references belong to their respective owners.

(Cont. from part 2)
~~~~~~~~~
-Saotome Residence

�So when will we meet Ranma, Aunty Nodoka?�

�Chi! You and Azusa didn�t have to tag along!�

It wasn�t fair! How was she supposed to be able to 
spend any quality time with fiancee and get to know him
better when her manager and apprentice in training would be 
watching over her shoulder every minute!? 

�Very soon, once you�ve gone through the Anything Goes 
Bridal Training we�ll join my son and husband at the house of 
an old family friend.�

{Poor Soun, I do hope he�s recovered from the loss of his wife.
My son�s wedding shouldn�t be disrupted by one of his crying sprees.}

�Wha?! Anything Goes BRIDAL TRAINING???

�Of course dear, when I�m done you will be the 
perfect match for my manly son.�

Something sent a cold shiver running down the 
spines of the three girls. It might have been that 
eerie confident tone, the twinking sparklies shooting 
out from big eyes filled motherly love and pride, or 
the etchi double meaning of that statement.

The sudden crackle of thunder and lightning in the
clear blue sky had absolutely nothing to do with it,
nor did the flock of frozen black ravens crashing down
into a nearby temple, and it couldn�t possibly be due to
the fact that every chopstick in sight had just broken in half
for no concievable reason at all.

Heh. Hehehe...yeah right.

The three girls almost made it out of the house 
before the arms of well intended doom dragged them 
back in to meet their fate....

�Wait!! I�m not the one getting married!!!�

The fine wooden door slammed shut with a solemn finality.
~~~~~~~~
-Furinkan

Ranma Saotome was being given a warm 
welcome by the local athletes.

{Oh Fershlugger!}

While being attacked by an bloodthirsty mob was 
not totally outside of his experience this was the first 
time they used bats and rackets instead of guns and 
grenades. Japan was supposed to be a peaceful country 
after all, had things really changed that much in ten years?

He�d have to follw that line of thought later, as for now....

[Tactical Mode Engaged.]

[Multiple hostile contacts detected.]

[Threat value: 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000001]

[Options: 1. Attack -Unacceptable, Ethical conflict
	   2. Run -Unacceptable,  Honor conflict
	   3. Nonlethal Neutralization -Unacceptable, 99.9% certainty 
                   that hostilities will resume in 23.68 hours
	   4. Bluff -Loss of dignity within acceptable parameters 
                  Commencing with Style #37: Lee Kwan Choo
	      Initiating.....]

Hopping back a bit to get some room to manuver 
Ranma avoided no less then twelve different types of
sports balls, half a dozen training weights, and a javelin 
that some wise guy from the track team had borrowed.
Not to mention all the punches, kicks and miscellaneous
attempts to cause great amounts of bodily harm to him.

It helped that every one of them fought like individuals instead of 
as a team. That meant that their attacks often got tangled up as they 
tried to attack from the same direction at the same time. 

Akane watched this with a little shock.
The crowd that normally challenged her 
each morning had gone right past her today.

Why weren�t they attacking her?
They were attacking...HIM???!

Relief was the first thing she felt.
That lasted only for a moment before
Anger hit.

HOW DARE HE INTERFERE WITH HER FIGHT!!!
She was a martial artist too! No boy was going to upstage her!!
Ooohhh...She hoped that he got creamed, that would teach him to
stop butting in!

In fact she was going to give him a piece of her mind right now!

Akane started stalking over to the genral melee going on, the slower 
boys that had the misfortune to be in her way quickly learned of their 
error before heading to La la land.

�Ran....!�

If Akane had been able to finish what she was about to say the entire
course of the story might have been different. But that was the 
moment Ranma choose to make his move.....
~~~~~~~~~

A lot can happen in fifteen seconds.

In that short span of time battles can be won or lost.

Within that brief fragment of time a decision can 
be made that will have earth-shaking effects in the future.

In fifteen seconds a person�s opinion of another can 
be forever changed or set in stone for eternity.
~~~~~~

1...

The more observant ones closer to him spotted it first.
The new kid was starting to light up as a prismatic 
glow enveloped him right before their eyes. Ranma�s stance
had dropped into one that looked a lot like those super fighter
guys in the movies.

...2...

Those with a lick of sense in their heads hesitated in their attack
and began to find that the idea of a strategic withdrawal had 
considerable merit. The majority of the pack charged in heedless 
of the consquences. Ranma�s features hardened as a deadly gleam 
appeared in his eyes.

...3...

Now the rest of the boys noticed, even the most hardened of them 
were taken aback by the sheer force behind that chilling expression.
Some of the more superstitious found themselves remembering stories 
of the boogie man and the many demons of Japanese legend.

Now more of the jocks were beginning to reconsider this impulsive attack.
But it was already too late....

�KIIIYYAAAA!!!� 

The battle cry struck like a physical blow, stealing 
away their confidence and weakening their muscles with 
the first venomous drops of terror.

~~~~~~~
-Eyecatch 1
 
(Scene: Ranma is chasing a horde of monsters and 
villains from various Anime and RPGs (Use your imagination). 
They run from left to right and then offscreen for a moment. Then 
Ranma comes running back from the right side with a look of pure 
terror on his face. A moment later a *gigantic* mob of women with 
Kasumi, Tsunami, Urd, Ayla, Shayla Shayla, Misato, and Jaina Solo 
among them coming charging after him.)

-Eyecatch 2

(Ranma looks nervously to both sides, then breathes a sigh of 
relief when he sees that he�s alone. Then something makes Ranma 
look up. He does an impressive SD surprise face before a giant 
carrot falls on him. Ryo-ohki hops on and starts going all starry eyed.)
~~~~~~~

....15

Furinkan�s finest athletes were frozen in place by a combination 
of terror and disbelief. Growing dark stains on both ends of their 
pants along with a foul odor that started to fill the air 
were clear evidence of the effectiveness of Ranma�s 
chosen course of action. The entire student body (minus one)
was stunned by it, even Akane had to admit that she wasn�t 
good enough to pull something like that off.
~~~~~~

�Damn....�

Shadow let out a soft whistle of admiration.

�I don�t believe it! He�s not supposed to have
a horror factor unless he�s transformed!!!�

Zora dumped a bucket of ice water to end the
Guardian�s ravings quickly.

The screams of outrage were another story.
~~~~~~~~~

{How�d he do that?!} 

Akane wondered, if she 
could learn a trick like that......

Casually the pigtailed martial artist relaxed from 
his ready state and dusted off a few wood and 
metal splinters from his hands. 

�That�s the only warning you get gents. I strongly suggest that you leave 
both me and the Tendos alone or you won�t be so fortunate next time.�

Seeing that the gentlemen in question were incapable of even coherent 
thought at the moment Ranma started to head towrd the school building.

Akane blinked as he walked past her then went after him.
She reached out to grab him by the arm, as her 
hand encountered a solid array of muscle a small shiver
that wasn�t at all unpleasant in the least ran through the rest 
of her body and sparked a few emebers in her lower abdomen.
�Wait a second Ranma!�

�Who dares approach the fierce tigeress of my heart?!!�

Tatewaki Kuno�s rehearsed speech was forgotten as he beheld 
this affrontery to his refined senses. So immersed in his fantasies 
that he�d missed the fireworks earlier, the would be samurai
had strode out just in time to see his beloved Akane grab some 
strange boy�s arm!

{Unforgivable!!!}
~~~~~~~

It wasn�t fair. It just wasn�t fair.

{There�s always one more to deal with. The 
Universe never cuts me a break!}

What was next, giant singing fuzzy 
purple dinosaurs doing the Macrena? (4)

�Who are you Cur?� Not waiting for a reply Kuno ranted on.

�Ah! But it is the custom to give one�s OWN name first!�

{Is he for real?}

�Fine then! MINE I shall GIVE!�

The rumble of the approaching storm grew louder.

{This is ridiculous. I came back home to 
escape from the craziness, NOT make it worse!}

Ranma heaved a disgusted sigh as he looked up at the 
darkening heavens. It was going to rain any minute now
and he wanted to get inside his class, not deal with this blowhard. 

�My name is Upperclassman Kuno. I am captain of Furinkan Kendo club and the
undefeated rising star of the high school fencing world. But my peers call
me....�

{A loudmouthed idiot with more pride then sense by any chance?}

�The BLUE THUNDER of Furinkan!�

*KRAKKA**BOOM*

A perfectly timed bolt of blue lightning ripped across the sky.

{What a show off.....}

Several students watching the unfolding spectacle from 
the second story of the school building looked slightly puzzled 
by that last statement. Among them was Nabiki.
 
�Blue Thunder?�

�Have you heard about that Nabiki?�

�News to me, last I heard he was calling 
himself the Shooting Star or some such junk.�

The entire student body looked upon the poor doomed fool
who had attracted the attention of the school�s best fighter.
Even though he�d just beaten the rest of the male population,
 Kuno was in another class altogether. It was rumored that he
 might even be better then Akane! So everyone watched and 
whispered conversations sprang up among them. Those that 
were still conscious that is. Which meant that the 
crowd was composed mostly of girls. Lonely girls who hadn�t 
been able to get a date for weeks since Kuno�s stupid declaration 
had sent practically every eligible boy in school after Akane Tendo. 

�Oh no! Kuno�s going to kill our one chance for happiness!!�

�Maybe he�ll just break a few bones and be content with that?�

�Shhh...look! Something�s happening!�

Having decided there was no other viable way out of this Ranma
decided to just go along with this little farce until an opening appeared.

�I�m Ranma Sao......�

Trying to stop this Akane blurted out the first thing 
that came to mind without bothering to think of the 
consequences.

�He�s just staying with us, Kuno!�

{Oh swell, that really helped.....}

�What?!�

Kuno�s shock was nothing compared to the student body�s reaction.

�WHAT??!!!!�

Told ya.

An ugly red glow formed around the slightly shaking
son of the noble house of Kuno.

�Under the SAME roof as AKANE?!! I FORBID IT!!!�

The Insane Strike of Righteous Justice (patent pending)
came slashing down. Kuno might as well have sent his opponent
a formal letter announcing his every movement, he telegraphed his 
attacks like a professional wrestler.

Ranma merely jumped backwards, then continued on from his
new spot several yards away from the angered kendoist.

�As I was saying before you so rudely and dishonorably 
interrupted me...�

{Foul lowbred dog! You dare insult the noble House of KUNO!?}

Tatewaki growled like a feral animal at this base attack 
to his noble samurai heritage. At this point he wasn�t about 
to settle for anything less then this peasant�s head mounted
on a pike.

�I�m Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes 
School of Martial Arts. And to be completely honest,
you don�t impress me one bit.�

After that statement the betting tripled.
Nabiki found herself hard pressed to keep up, even she 
was astounded by Saotome�s guts to say something like that!

But could Ranma back up his bold words?

(To be continued.....Hehehehehehehe)
~~~~~~

(4) I�m a fanfic writer, not a sadist!

<>(All of the characters): What�s the difference?!!!

~~~~~

If you're going to kill a master vampire.....
MAKE SURE YOU GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!!

Never pull out a weapon unless you intend to use it.

Never use a weapon unless you're willing to kill with it.

Those who say they never lose will.

-Shade

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