Hi guys, here's another part of the Into the Shadows series of ranma
fics. Take note that the previous parts of this don't really have to
be read for enjoyment of this fic, as each of them can pretty much
stand alone. And for those who are not familiar with this series.
Think of it this way. IMagine Ranma in the underworld. You can also think
of this as a Ranma/ Sanctuary Xover. But not really since the sanctuary
elemenst are more of a cameo.
Pls. send c and c to lynch@surfshop.net.ph 
other parts of this can be found at our
webpage:http://members.surfshop.net.ph/~lynch/LeeKingWorks.htm



LeeKing Works Proudly Presents:
A Glimpse into the Shadow:

He Shall Come from the Shadows

	by the KingKiller

	Somewhere in the quiet residential district of Nerima, a man named
Soun Tendo was cying tears of hapiness as he read the letter in his
hands. The morning sun shined brightly, lighting the Tendo Dojo in
all her majestic
splendor. Koi leapt up playfully in the pond in the yard and the wind
breezed through the small rock garden. All was right with the world. 

	His hard-chiseled features were definitely out of place as the tears
continued to stream down his face. It almost seemed comically silly
that a man his age and wearing the gi of a martial artist would cry
at such a
thing, but he had waited so long. He had to read the letter again
just to be sure he wasn't dreaming. 

Dear Mr. Soun Tendo, 

I have just recently become aware that my father, Genma Saotome, has
an agreement with you concerning the Tendo Dojo. I believe you two
have arranged for a merger. I shall be dropping by shortly to discuss
matters with you personally. 

							Yours Truly,

									Ranma

	At last! At long last the time had come! Oh, how he head waited for
this day.  

	Soun leapt up from where he was siting in the living room and ran to
find his daughters. They had to be told the good news! 

	"Kasumi!"

	A beautiful young woman stopped in the motion of preparing the
family meal to wonder what father was yelling all about. Silly
father. She undid her apron and calmly walked out of her kitchen. 

	"Nabiki!"

	A short haired teenager looked up from the textbook she was reading
and wondered what all the fuss was about.
	
	"Akane!"

	Silence.

	"Akane?"

	Soun hesitated at the door of his youngest daughter's room. He could
already hear Kasumi and Nabiki heading his way but there seems to be
nothing to indicate that Akane had heard him. Strange, maybe the girl
overslept? 		

	Soun opened the door and gazed into Akane's room. It was a typical
High school girl's room. There was a bed, desk and the assorted
clutter you would expect to find in any school girl's room. Only a
set of weights at the corner indicated that Akane was a serious
martial artist of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. The room
however, didn't contain Akane.

	Where was that girl? 

***

	Akane jogged through the streets of Nerima on her morning run. There
was a little rain earlier but now the weather was great and just
perfect for running. Her pace was quick but steady, and she ran with
a natural grace.

Her long hair trailed behind her as her steps speed her to her home.
She smiled to herself as she thought of how far her skill in the Art
had progressed.

	Taking a quick stop to enjoy the pleasant feeling of contentment,
Akane took a deep breath and brushed her hair out of her eyes. She
was very proud of her appearance and all the time and effort she put
into herself was showing off. She had patiently let her hair grow to the
length to
where it was now longer than her eldest sister's. Her body was in
great shape and the feeling of power within her gave her the
confidence that there was nothing the world could throw at her that
she couldn't handle today. 

	Then a red sports car blazed through the recently rained on and
filled with puddles streets to splash a generous amount of water on
Akane Tendo of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. 

	A shrieking mad, drenched and angry Akane yelled at the car with
very rude language but the car ignored her indignation and continued
at speeds that soon got it out of Akane's icy glare.  

***

	Tashiro considered himself to be a brave man. You had to be if you
wanted to join or get anywhere in the Hokushokai. In fact, his high
rank within his society was silent testimony to his nerve and daring,
both of which, were being tested as Ranma revved up the engine and coaxed
even more speed out of the car.

	The manic grin on Ranma's face wasn't helping calm Tashiro down any.
Ranma was a member of his society and he liked the kid well enough
but there a few things that he wished he could change about Ranma. Having
no fear was one of them. Tashiro knew the difference between being brave
and
being foolish and in Tashiro's book, maneuvering a sports car at over
a hundred miles per hour in a residential district with barely a years
worth of
driving experience was definitely foolish. 

	The car's tires screamed in protest at every high speed turn, the
engine roared with every iota of power it had as it poured on every
last bit of speed it could muster, then rubber screeched in agony as
Ranma made last second corrections that literally made the difference
between life and death. It was madness, it was dangerous, it was
incredible. It
was something Ranma did for fun.

	"Ranma I think you should slow down." Tashiro hoped his voice came
out steady because the last near collision with a brick wall was
making his left eyebrow twitch. This early in the morning people where
still absent
from the streets, except for that one jogger they passed by, the streets
were abandoned. That was enough reason for Ranma to let loose.  

	Ranma glanced at his companion as though noting him for the first
time. Gradually, he slowed the car down to a sane speed and Tashiro's heart
rate started easing down. 
		  
	"Sorry about that Tashiro-sempai, I got carried away." Ranma's voice
was honestly apologetic. His recent trip to China made him miss the
luxury of fast cars. "It's been a while since I had the chance to cut
loose!"

	"That's alright Ranma, just try to remember that driving the way you
do will get you into more trouble than it will get you out of." A brief
memory of the mercenary free lance driver that taught Ranma how to drive
surfaced in Tashiro's mind. "No matter what your crazy old teacher tries to
tell you!"

	They shared a quiet chuckle at those particular memories, the time
when Ranma was just learning how to drive. Good thing the boss had all of
the cars Ranma practiced with insured. 

	A few more minutes of driving and soon the car stopped. They both
got out of the car and gave the place a brief look. 

	"So this is the place huh?" Tashiro gave the place a quick
assessment and had to agree that the dojo was prime real estate. Land was
expensive in ever crowded Tokyo and from the size of the lot the Tendo Dojo
was
occupying, the Tendo Dojo must be worth a lot of money.

	"Yep, the Tendo Dojo of of Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. For
once, the old man may actually have given me a lead into something useful."
Ranma smiled as he saw the dojo. 

	"So, how do I look?"

	Tashiro took a few steps back and gave Ranma a critical look. The
white suit was very flattering on and made him look very handsome. Dashing
and sophisticated with just the right amount of arrogance. The kid was
dressed to kill.

	"Like the boss himself." Tashiro gave him a thumbs up, knowing that
Ranma adored their boss.

	"Thanks Tashiro." Ranma combed his hair with his hands and adjusted
his coat, slipping on a pair of dark reflective glasses last. His
demeanor changed almost in a twink of an eye. Where a playful young boy
once
was,now stood a dead serious young man. He reached into the car and
brought out a red umbrella. Tashiro raised an eyebrow at that but Ranma's
face gave away nothing. 

	"Time to take care of business." 

	Then as one, the two head for the Tendo Dojo.
	
***		

	Kasumi was still looking for Akane when she heard someone knocking
on the door. Since Akane wouldn't knock she surmised that they had
visitors.
How nice. She must go greet them. Opening the door she blinked in
surprise at the two men standing before her. 

	"Oh my," They were both dressed very nicely.  Perhaps these men had
business with their father? "Please come in."

	"Kasumi? Who is it?" Soun came to answer the door but it appears
that Kasumi had already answered the door and there were two men standing
at the gates. Neither of them looked like Genma but one of them looked
young
enough to be Ranma. So jumping to conclusions, Soun decided that
Ranma was now here. Oh Happy Days!

	Soun gave a happy yell and launched himself at Ranma, intending to
give the young man a hug. The hug never made because it was intercepted by
a red blur that managed to smash upwards into Soun's chin, lifting him off
his feet and flipped him in the air so Soun landed with a painful splat
on his face right at Ranma's feet.

	"Hiiiya!!!" Ranma spun around at the yell to see a soaking wet young
girl charge at him.
	
	Akane had just returned from her morning jog to see the same car
that drenched her park at their gates! Then went inside just in time to
see one of the two strange men in suits attack her father! Akane threw a
punch designed to knock the punk off his feet. Nobody messes with her
family while she was around! 

	Ranma saw the punch coming. Instantly he saw that the girl had lots
of power but poor speed and lacked grace. He could easily avoid the
clumsy blow. Ranma casually raised the umbrella and smashed it down the
girl's skull in a move faster than anyone but he could follow. Akane fell
with a heavy crash to the floor from the force of the blow, instantly out
cold. 

	"My name is Ranma," Ranma wiped his hair back, it had gotten a
little mussed up in the mini-melee. It wouldn't do to be less than
perfectly
groomed. "Sorry about this."

	At his feet, Soun and Akane were silent while further off a shocked
Kasumi could only stare. 

	"Oh my." Kasumi finally said after her third try.

***

	A little while latter once Soun and Akane regained consciousness,
the entire Tendo family and their two guests sat down in the living room.
Soun and Akane both had an ice pack, Soun used it on his chin while Akane
used it on her head. Nabiki, in a hastily donned kimono sat on one
side of her father opposite to Akane while Kasumi was at another side
of the table quietly making some tea. Ranma and Tashiro both remained
silent. 

	"So....you're Ranma." Soun marveled at the strength the boy
possessed. Why, Ranma could even be a greater practitioner of the art
than Akane! Such power! 

	"Yes, please accept my apology for my earlier actions. Now on to
business." 

	Nabiki raised her eyebrows at this, Ranma was a cool character,
she'd give him that. Also a highly skilled martial artist if the way he
took out
her father and Akane had been any indication. Definitely someone to look
out for. 

	"HEY!! Just who do you think you are!?" Akane was expecting a
profuse apology for the cheap shot the punk gave her. Damn it, hitting her
when she wasn't ready wasn't fair! Akane gave Ranma a glare that would
have made a rampaging wild boar run away. The ice pack on her head ruined
the
effect though so Ranma chose to ignore the violent girl, she was just a
nuisance here anyway. Best concentrate on the business at hand. 
  
	"As it was said before, I am Ranma, if there is any doubts to my
identity then here are some identification papers." Ranma formally handed
forward an envelope to Soun. Akane sputtered ineffectively in the
background
from indignation while Soun opened the envelope to examine its contents. 

	Nabiki's already high opinion of Ranma jumped up a few notches as
she noted the professional manner Ranma was handling himself. Still, his
presence here was a mystery. Guys like him just didn't drop out of
nowhere for no reason. "So tell me Ranma, why are you here?" 

	Ranma's glasses glinted as he gazed over at Nabiki, she couldn't
help but feel as though he was analyzing her. Trying to discover if she was
an
asset or a liability. Nabiki knew that gaze well enough though normally she
wasn't on the receiving end of one. 

	"Oh, that's right! I haven't told my daughters yet!" Soun stuffed
the various papers he found back into the envelope. Paper work wasn't for
martial artists like himself. 

	"The reason why Ranma is here today is because of an old agreement
between a good friend and I to unit the two Schools of Anything Goes
Martial
Arts. The Saotome and the Tendo schools shall be united!" Soun stood up
dramatically while proclaiming this, an act which caused Ranma to
tense as he forced himself to remember that it was bad manners to pummel
your
potential business partner over his bad habit of making sudden moves.
Tashiro edged away from Ranma just in case though. 

	"This is my eldest daughter Kasumi, she is 19." Soun stepped behind
the kind looking older girl making tea. Lovely.

	"This is my middle daughter Nabiki, she is 17." Soun went behind the
girl wearing the kimono. Hmm....

	"And this is my youngest daughter Akane she is 16." Soun went behind
the one with the ice pack on her head. Mad. Very mad. 

	"Pick one my boy and she's yours."

	There is a moment of strained silence as everyone in the room
regards Soun. 
	
	"Excuse me sir but am I to understand that you are going to *give*
me any one of your three daughters?" While Ranma wasn't too adverse to
having a woman, the fact of the matter was that he knew he wasn't in a
position to have women handed to him just like that.   
	
	"Of course my boy, I'm sure any of my daughters would make you an
excellent wife!"

	".....what?....."

***

	"I take it that you weren't expecting this?" Tashiro gulped as the
car nearly flew by the streets of Tokyo. Ranma was not in a very good
mood.

	"That old man is dead!" Ranma snarled each word out. 

***

	In some parts of Tokyo, there where places that ordinary citizens
never venture into. Places where mothers warned their children not to go
and where polite society ignored. A place for the lost and forgotten.
Home to those abandoned by the system. Misfits in a country as prosperous
and
neatly orderly as Japan. Swept aside to be forgotten. And because society
wished they did not  exist, they were invisible. 

	A stocky middle aged man downed another drink and nervously wiped
off the sweat off his brow. Closer inspection would reveal that the man was
sitting on the bar stool oddly. As though he was a puppet that was not made
quite right. His lone eye was red and bloodshot, the other eye covered in
an eye patch. An impressive collection of shot glasses were cluttered about
him. His clothes were finer than the average denizen that haunted the Dark
Horse bar, his cheeks not quite as gaunt, in fact the man looked like a fat
and soft old salaryman. The type that did not belong in the Dark Horse
bar, where street punks and society's rougher elements tended to gather.

	"Give me another!"  

	The bartender says nothing, giving the man an unreadable look as
another drink is poured with professional skill. The man takes it as soon
as
it hits the bar and swallows the hard drink in one gulp, letting the
alcohol
burn it's way down his throat and chase away his fear. It doesn't help. 

	"Give me another!" The man yells in a hoarse voice but the bartender
follows the order. 

	"Give me another!" Ranma would be back soon.

	"Give me another!" He would understand wouldn't he?

	"Give me another!" Hands shaking. Damn....
	
	He tries to lift the glass to his lips but the shaking of his hands
and his drunken state makes him fumble. The glass falls from his hands
and crashes to the floor, broken.  

	"You've had enough." The bartenders voice was calm, even. Balanced
between a stern order and a polite observation. 

	"GIVE ME ANOTHER!!!" The man lurches forward, intent on grabbing the
bartender but apparently the bartender expecting this. A quick swing
with a bottle to the face, smashing upon impact, throws the man off the
stool and he lands awkwardly on his rear. None of the others in the room do
more than give him a glance.

	"Sir, unless you can hold a glass without dropping it on the floor,
I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist that you stop drinking." The
bartender instantly goes about the task of cleaning up the mess on the bar.
A
more important matter than the drunk on the floor.

	"DAMN YOU!!! Don't you know who I am! I'm Ranma's father! I'm GENMA
SAOTOME!" Genma Saotome wiped the blood off his lip and glared at the
bartender. "The boy owes everything to me!"

	"The *boy* would like to have a world with you *old* man." A young
female voice said. 

	Genma turned around to see a small gang of street punks glaring at
him.

***

	Genma felt himself being pushed out of the van. He was still bound
and hooded as he fell to the dirty concrete floor. Hands roughly hauled
him to his knees and removed the hood and gag. Then Genma saw just how deep
in trouble he was. 

	He was in a dark warehouse somewhere, the only light came from a
single bulb above him but it gave of enough light to show Ranma standing
before him. There where other figures beyond the light, surrounding them,
observing, but Genma couldn't see past the gloom. Still he knew what
this was. A trial. His trial. 

	"I'm disappointed Genma. Very disappointed." Ranma stares coldly at
the kneeling Genma, his face unreadable. 

	"S..s..sir, what do you mean?" Genma looked up into Ranma's eyes and
shivered in terror. Ranma was very angry. Not a furious sort of rage,
more like a cold contempt for something beneath him that has managed to
make offense. Genma had no doubt in his mind that he would suffer greatly
if he couldn't make Ranma understand. 

	"The *estates* that you said I could claim? Well I just found out I
have to marry one of the owners daughters to get the half you said would
be rightfully mine." Ranma reaches in his coat and pulls out a
cigarette. He slowly lights it and holds it in his hands before he stares
back at
Genma. "You didn't mention this....requirement."

	"Sir, honor..." 

	A foot snapped out and kicked Genma in the gut so hard he was lifted
off his knees and sent him crashing back down curled in a fetal position.

	"You PROMISED there would be no tricks!" Another kick caused a cry
of pain as it slammed into Genma's side. 

	"YOU GAVE ME YOUR WORD!!!" More kicks follow, Genma can do nothing as the
kicks rain down on him, hard and fast. Each blow lands with enough
force to knock him around like a rag doll. Pain explodes as each strike
lands.
Blood seeps into his eye from a gash. His nose breaks from a vicious
kick. More kicks follow and soon Genma lost all senses, only conscious of
the steadily increasing pain. 

	Then abruptly, the blows stop. It takes a few moments for Genma to
notice this. A few more moments to pull himself together back to a kneeling
position and still more open his one eye. Ranma was still standing
above him, unruffled. A cigarette hanging loosely from a corner of his
lips. 

	"Why? You promised ME and deliberately misled me. Why?" The voice
seemed drained of all the rage that followed before but Genma knew you
could
never be sure with Ranma. The voice was puzzled though, as if his actions
were a great mystery. 

	Genma tried to think past the pain and the heavy blackness in his
mind. He knew he would be pushing it if he withheld the engagement business
from Ranma but he had to try didn't he? A martial artist's path is the
path of honor..... 
 
	"It was a matter of honor." Genma said at last. 

	The cigarette lit up in glow of red as Ranma stared down at him. 	

	Genma cringed as Ranma spoke.

	"Genma Saotome, I strip you of your place within the Hokushokai. I
strip you of any protection the Hokushokai has offered you." Ranma spat on
him.

	"What?..." Cast out? Him? At his age? 

	Two punks came out from the shadows at a silent signal and grabbed
hold of one arm, hauling him away. 

	"Wait you can't do this to me!" Genma vainly tried to struggle but
he was too weak from the pounding he just received to do more than thrash
about. 
	
	"Shut up old man, you're lucky he doesn't kill you!" the punk on his
right whispered fiercely while twisting his arm into a lock hold.  

	"Genma Saotome, you have disgraced yourself and shamed me with your
disloyalty and with your lies. Leave. Do not return. If I ever hear
of you again, I shall kill you." Then Ranma turned his back. 

	Genma stared in mute horror as he heard Ranma's words. The boy would
do it. Ranma really was going to kill him. After all he's done the
ingrate was just going to toss him aside! Damn the boy!

	Ranma stands motionless for a few moments as Genma was dragged away. Good
riddance. The old fool was much more trouble than he was every
worth. 

	He was surprised at how easy he had been on Genma. Before he
probably would have blinded Genma before sending off. This time he
even went so far as to make sure no bones would be broken. Heh, he
was getting soft. 




====
"I'm going to show you that there is a God."
                                        -Cameron Poe (ConAir)

If you like anime fanfiction why not check out our site? 
http://members.surfshop.net.ph/~lynch/LeeKingWorks.htm










====
"I'm going to show you that there is a God."
                                        -Cameron Poe (ConAir)

If you like anime fanfiction why not check out our site? 
http://members.surfshop.net.ph/~lynch/LeeKingWorks.htm