Ahem, I've been reading a lot of C&C lately for my fics; and it seems
the thing I get the most praise for is not my ideas, but my technique. I
appear to have nearly mastered the art of taking a familiar situation;
i.e. a Self insertion, or a familiar story line, such as Ranma with a
permanent curse, and adding a small twist and taking it in a different
direction than everyone else would.
Most of my stories are anything but ground breaking ideas. They are
usually just small alterations on an idea that's been around for a while
that come out strangely unique, thanks in no small part to my writing
skills and my spell checker.
I'm not exactly novelist material yet, but I'm getting there fast. [I'd
like to think so anyway.] Hopefully within a year or so I should feel
confident enough that I can break away from fanfiction and expand my
ideas into books of my own, which will hopefully get published. I've got
my goals in sight anyway, but still I feel I am not quite ready for that
challenge yet.
So I decided to start another fic, this one will be relatively short and
stick to the formula I'm good at for the moment. It will run roughly four
parts and run off the basic premise of Ranma getting a challenge from
another martial artist. Yes, the challenger is American, and yes he is
very good, and finally...yes his name is Dan. I like the name, it's my
best friend's name and it's easy to type. It's formulated to be sure, but
hopefully I'll be able to pull of the magic I've been accused of using
again [apparently it's going to my head] and come out with something at
least readable. We'll find out soon enough...
On a last note, I've been accused of being a self-insertist author, to
be perfectly honest, I haven't written more than two self-insertion
fanfics. I tend to put original characters that don't act anything like
me into stories; I enjoy it more that way. The only true self-insertions
I've written are the Spirit Within series, and The Three Magic Knights.
In the latter of the two I play a villain, well sort of.
Now that the notes are over, here's my fic...
The Fighter.
A Ranma 1/2 fanfic.
Part 1: The storm comes.
Dan stood on the deck of the ship watching the waves hit the hull, as the
seas grew rough. He was dressed in a white cotton muscle shirt and loose
blue jeans that were slightly to long for him covering the cheap tennis
shoes that he wore. Slung over his shoulder almost, as an after thought
was a small white bundle kept together by a simple black belt. On his
forehead was a golden headband that flapped lazily in the wind keeping
his long brown hair in control and out of his eyes. Thunder rumbled in
the distance as the storm grew more and more threatening to the ship he
was riding on. Rain fell lightly as the boat rocked back and fourth
through the waves sending a spray as it rose and fell sharply through the
turbulent waters.
He stood calmly watching natures wonder like a pillar, never once did he
lose his balance or falter as the waves crashed into his feet on the
deck. One of the crew ran up behind him stopping several times to grab
for purchase against the rails along the cabins. "What are you doing
fool! Get inside or you'll be washed overboard!" The man froze as he
turned slowly and faced him walking calmly across the deck through the
splash and spray of the sea as if it was calm and flat as glass beyond
the deck.
"As you wish good sir," he said simply as he passed.
He sat calmly in his room with a bottle of water in his hand for a short
time before walking back out onto he deck again. Almost immediately he
ran into one of the crew; thankfully it was not the man he had met
before. He stopped the man as he desperately clung to the side of the
ship in an attempt to steady himself on the violently rocking vessel. Dan
merely looked down at him and smiled cheerfully. He was eighteen years
old, but could easily pass for sixteen from his young looks. He seemed
pleasant and almost always cheerful in his mannerisms. "Excuse me, how
far are we from Japan?"
"What?!" asked the man in shock. "Are you out of your mind? Can't you
see we are in the middle of a storm? Get back in your cabin!"
"Answer my question and I will leave you alone," replied the boy calmly.
"We're about a hundred miles off the eastern coast of Japan, I'm not
sure about that though, now get back in your cabin!" screamed the man
angrily.
"I said only that I would leave you, I said nothing of going back in my
room," the boy calmly stepped towards the edge of the ship with his roll
of clothes slung over his shoulder and jumped into the next surge of
waves to crash into the hull.
"What the! Nooooo!" screamed the crewmember in shock as he reached for
the man, before clinging desperately to the rail and quickly returning
his attention to staying alive as he started crawling along the wall to
report his morbid news to the captain.
Two days later...
A figure emerged in the sand on one of Japan's beaches. Dan smiled as he
crawled onto land and staggered far enough into the crowd of swimmers and
beach goers that he was certain he would be safe. Calmly he placed his
soaked roll of clothing onto the sand and lay his head across it before
lying down and passing out from exhaustion.
Several hours later he awoke on the beach, the sun was vanishing into
the horizon creating a beautiful soft light on the beach that was now
populated by a large number of couples watching it sink into the ocean.
He smiled to himself noticing he was only slightly burnt, his skin was
tanned from his travels across America and he had a good resistance to
the harsh rays. "Maybe I'll find a challenge here?" he wondered as he
stood up and stretched his arms out before walking towards the city he
had found himself next to.
He began his journey again moving slowly as the sky quickly darkened
behind him. He was in Japan, the land where his art had been practiced
for many generations before becoming popularized in his own country.
Three days later at the Tendo Dojo, Akane Tendo was going through one of
her katas in the training hall, it was a weekend and Ranma had gone off
to one of his various fianc�e's restaurants in search of a free meal. She
angrily punched and kicked at her invisible opponent growing faster and
more intense with each blow as she went through the familiar forms in her
mind. She slowed and finished the exercise with a carefully executed kick
stopping quickly she noticed a new sound that intruded onto her
meditation, a slow and steady clapping.
She spun around expecting to find Ranma standing behind her, instead a
boy of about her own age leaned against the wall smirking to himself and
eyeing her hungrily. She frowned at the flagrant shine of lust in his
eyes and stepped back into a defensive posture. "Who are you?"
The boy raised his eyebrow calmly and stood upright still smiling to
himself as he looked her up and down. "My name is Dan."
"Ranma isn't here," said the girl with a small amount of contempt to her
voice.
"Who is Ranma?" asked the boy never taking his eyes off her body.
Akane stepped back as surprise clearly became visible on her face. "What
do you want?" Clearly the boy was not Asian, he was much taller than she
was and probably European; though the dark color of his skin could easily
be misleading.
"I came through the back door," said the boy simply as he finally raised
his eyes to her face.
She quickly moved her stance back again reverting to a more solid stance
as her eyes grew wide in shock. "A dojo destroyer?!"
"I've no interest in your sign," the boy snorted throwing his bangs back
with his hand, his hair was now cut short in the back almost to the skin
while his longer bangs almost covered his eyes giving him an almost
mysterious air about him. He was dressed in a white dogi with a worn
looking black belt that had obviously once been white tied around his
waist. The uniform itself was clean and pressed, but well worn as well.
"I'm only interested in your skills, a worthless chunk of wood would only
be a dead weight to me."
His hungry stare bore into Akane with the same purposeful gaze as he
smiled lightly. The girl reddened in anger at his unintentional insult.
"So you've come to challenge our dojo?"
"Yes, I am Dan, of the Kirasama School of Karate. I have traveled far in
search of worthy opponents. You seem good, care to test the limits of
your skills?" His tone was very respectful and Akane stepped back in
surprise again.
"You've got a lot of nerve," she snapped bitterly.
"Nerve?" the boy's face fell slightly. "Why put a sign up if you don't
want challengers?" he seemed confused at her anger.
"Even if you beat me, I won't go out with you," snapped the girl in
warning. "Not that you will." She returned his gaze and smiled
confidently.
"Go out with you? You've got a serious ego problem girl," said the boy
with a shrug, his eyes never moved from her as he spoke keeping the
hungry almost vulgar stare on her body. He walked to the center of the
hall and bowed respectfully to the shrine on the wall before turning back
at her. Silently he put up his fists in a stance Akane didn't recognize,
it was obviously Karate though.
"Let's get this over with," snorted the girl as she took up her own
stance.
The boy raise his eyebrow again, it was obvious he didn't recognize her
style either and he made no move to hide his surprise; in fact he seemed
to intensify his stare a little.
"Stop staring at me that way you pervert!" screamed Akane angrily as she
charged him. It was obvious he was an admirer who planned to take up
Kuno's challenge from a while back. Perhaps a new student at Furinkan or
another weirdo who planned on trying to marry her or Ranma.
The boy simply side stepped her rush and jammed his foot into the back
of her knee sending her to her knees in an instant, his fist slammed into
the side of her head throwing her roughly to the ground. Quickly she
rolled away as his foot came down on the dojo floor with an audible thump
as he missed her by a hair. She continued to roll growling angrily at her
opponent before charging forward again in a kick aimed at his temple.
Instead of blocking the strike he grabbed her leg and twisted his wrist
locking her ankle up and sending waves of pain through her leg. She
started to scream in pain but was cut off as his free hand slammed into
her gut and then her face throwing her to the ground yet again and almost
knocking her out. She barely managed to move out of the way as he
attempted to strike her again and end the match.
She jumped away and staggered for a moment trying to get her bearings
back and moved backward away from him. Her vision focused yet again and
she sucked in a quick breath as she saw him rushing towards her, quickly
recovering she stuck her arm out to block the front kick aimed at her
chest. The boy retracted his leg and jumped into the air with the other
in a hooking kick as he spun around in the air and kicked her in the side
of the face. Akane staggered back angry that she had fallen for the fake
out as the pain exploded in her face.
He never gave her the chance to recover from the blow, the boy seemed to
explode in a fury of punches and kicks that assaulted her from every
angle. She fell to the ground unable to move from the pain of her
injuries. His style was brutal and painful, she had quite a few large
bruises and at least one broken rib, and her arm hung limply at her side,
probably dislocated. Her legs where almost useless and she could feel the
inside of her knee throb in pain from the first blow he had given her.
With a huge effort she rolled onto her back only to find the boy's hand
coming down on her neck for the killing blow, it stopped no more than a
hairs width away from her windpipe and stopped cold.
"That was a good match, you need to control your temper more and you'll
be much better than you are now." He turned away sparing her another
quick glance as he walked out the front of the dojo. There was no lust in
his eyes now, only the faintest hint of disappointment. "I hope to face
you again when I return someday."
Akane felt the tears well up in her eyes as she watched him leave
helplessly. It was not tears of shame or even pain. It was only then that
she realized that the look she had received had not been lust at all. He
had been sizing her up, watching her movements, and analyzing the kata
she had been performing. The boy was everything she dreamed of being, a
dedicated soul who thought of the art and nothing more. Yearning only for
the Zen of perfect battle. She whimpered quietly and struggled to sit up
causing a new wave of pain that sent her back onto the floor of the
training hall.
Dan walked by the back porch of the house and smiled as he passed a
young girl of about his age. She smiled at him and bowed, "Hello, are you
here to see Ranma?"
"No, your sister is in the dojo. She probably needs a doctor," replied
the boy as he continued walking out the gate. Another girl ran up to him
from behind and stopped cold just out of his reach. "What did you do to
my sister?" she snarled angrily.
"Go and see for yourself, I hope to challenge this hall again one day;
it was an excellent fight," he continued on his way whistling a cheerful
tune that Nabiki recognized as the theme to a popular anime from a few
years back.
She looked up at the wall and noticed the sign was still intact. "Akane
must have won..." The illusion was quickly shattered as she walked into
the dojo and saw her sister lying on the floor unconscious, she had been
beaten badly.
Dr. Tofu emerged from the girl's room with a tight look on his face.
"This was absolutely brutal! Who could have done such a thing?"
Ranma was sitting at the table absolutely seething with anger, his aura
was clearly visible and a strange fearful passion burned in his eyes. "Is
she gonna be all right doc?"
Nabiki ignored him and turned to face Tofu. "It was a strange martial
artist I've never seen before, he was a gaijin and very good."
Tofu nodded remembering the description, he turned to Ranma and smiled.
"Akane's injuries aren't serious, but they will take a little while to
heal completely. You've got to keep her out of trouble for a little while
Ranma."
The boy nodded silently and continued to glare at the wall with a hatred
the man had never seen in the boy before. It was obvious he was going to
try and find the man who had done this.
Soun and Genma sat near by, the elder Tendo was in tears while his
friend was doing his best to comfort him.
"Oh, Akane! My poor little girl!" sobbed the man pathetically.
Genma pushed his glasses up on his nose and smiled. "Don't worry, Ranma
will keep her safe! Besides, maybe this will push them closer together?"
"Which reminds me...where were you while this was happening Ranma?"
asked Soun with his demonic head filling the room and glaring down at the
younger Saotome.
"I uhhh..." stammered the boy pathetically.
"I hear he was at the Ucchan again," replied Nabiki slyly.
Ranma wisely took the opportunity to check on his fianc�e. "I'm gonna go
see if Akane's all right." He quickly dashed up the stairs followed by a
demonic Soun.
Ranma closed the door quietly behind himself and walked over to the girl
as she lay sprawled out on the bed covered in bandages with a great deal
of black marks on her face and arms. He couldn't see the rest of her body
as sheets and her pajamas covered her.
She turned and smiled at him lost deep in thought. "Hello Ranma."
The boy was taken back by her quiet demeanor and stepped away from her
gaze. "Why'd ya do it Akane?"
"He challenged the dojo Ranma, it was my duty as a martial artist," she
replied simply.
"I could have handled it, you don't need to get beat up! I could have
won that fight easy!" the boy turned and simply fell silent when he saw
the look on her face. It was quiet and wistful not angry at all.
"Maybe you would have won Ranma, but not easily. He's different than
Mousse or Ryoga. He won't be distracted or tricked. He's a real martial
artist, living for the next battle. Everything I dreamed about being when
I was little..." she trailed off and seemed to be ignoring his presence.
"What you like him or something?" Ranma blushed and got a frightened
look in his eyes suddenly.
"I don't think it would matter if I did Ranma," replied the girl simply.
"Don't be angry with him, I think I needed this," she rolled onto her
side and pushed her face into the pillow ignoring the small sharp pains
that ran through her body. "If you're angry like this when you fight him
you'll lose."
Ranma's eyes narrowed at her and he snarled involuntarily. "I don't lose
to nobody. Especially jerks like him who beat up on girls."
Akane raised her head slightly as a twinge of anger rose up inside her,
she didn't have the strength to deal with him at the moment so she simply
lay back down again. "Maybe you need it too."
Ranma looked at her oddly unsure of what to say as he turned out of the
room and walked into his own to start packing his traveling bag to hunt
the offender down.
Dan smiled as he walked through the streets of Nerima, he hadn't had a
fight that good for some time now. "Perhaps I'll find more skilled
opponents in this area." He looked down as his stomach growled and
frowned. Glancing around he noticed an Okonomiyaki shop and a Chinese
food place that seemed to specialize in Ramen. Looking between them he
decided to go for the Chinese restaurant. "I've never had non-instant
Ramen before," he mused as he walked through the doorway. The three
Chinese inside turned and looked at him oddly with appraising glares
while the patrons ignored him completely. He looked at himself and
realized that he had not yet changed out of his dogi.
"Who are you? What do you want?" asked the boy who was washing off the
tables lazily.
"This is a restaurant isn't it?" he asked warily.
"Of course is restaurant!" said the girl in confusion.
"Well, I'm hungry," he replied. The old woman at the counter rolled her
eyes and hobbled back into the kitchen on top of a long staff.
"Oh, then welcome to Cat Caf�," said the cute waitress as she indicated
a table for him. He quickly moved to the table watching the two young
employees with an increasingly interested stare. "What have we here? Two
skilled fighters it seems..." he smiled at the girl as his thoughts
wandered while ordering his Ramen.
TBC...
Next time: Dan continues his search for more skilled opponents, while
Ranma goes off in search of Akane's opponent with revenge in mind.
Meanwhile Akane contemplates her defeat while recovering from her
injuries. Plus we get a little background on Dan and his past.
I wanted to give the Ranma-verse an opponent that didn't want anything
from it. He isn't a self-insertist, he isn't a fianc�, and he isn't an
enemy of Ranma Saotome. All he is looking for is the perfect battle; and
he may have found it in Nerima.
The only question is how long will he last? And just how good is he?
He's got a few tricks up his sleeve that no one knows about just yet. I
won't say what they are though and they aren't Ranma-verse techniques
either. He's got a little way to go in this four-part story, once it's
finished I'll put out the next part of 'A Saiyan Tail.'