Subject: [FFML] [FFML][Ranma/DB] Goku 1/2 Chp 7
From: "Logan Hoffert" <laguna_blade@hotmail.com>
Date: 9/8/2000, 10:58 AM
To: ffml@fanfic.com



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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: gok7.txt

Goku 1/2

Chapter 7

Disclaimer:  None of the characters in this fic are mine.  However, that 
hasn't stopped anyone else, and I'll be damned if it will stop me.  
Especially since I'm already at Chapter 7.  ^_^

A yellow car sped down the road narrowly missing several pedestrians.  The 
panicked driver accelerated even more, seeking to escape the danger he was 
fleeing from.  He skidded around a corner and then floored the gas pedal, 
almost fishtailing the car into a building.

"I'm dead if those guys ever catch me!"  Oolong exclaimed as he continued 
his flight.

Oolong was being pursued by some of the most dangerous, ruthless, and cruel 
people on this planet.  They were the repomen.  After discovering that 
Oolong could not pay for all the merchandise that the pig had bought to 
appease the demon child Nabiki, the repomen came after him to get the stuff 
back plus some interest.  Not having enough money to pay for either, Oolong 
was forced to run as the repomen gladly accepted organ donations in the 
place of money.

The pig glanced over his shoulder.  "Thank God.  I think I gave them the 
slip."  He said, while breathing a sigh of relief.

Returning his gaze to where he was going, Oolong was shocked to see that he 
was heading straight for a pedestrian, who was crossing the road looking 
completely lost.  The pig slammed on the brakes, but he was going way too 
fast to stop in time.  The car crashed into the man, crumpling its front.  
Oolong's face smashed into the steering wheel as the vehicle came to an even 
more abrupt halt than he was expected.  The man stood there unmoving; the 
car lay in a wrecked heap in front of him.

Ryouga stared curiously at the vehicle, then his rage took over.  "What the 
hell do you think you're doing?  Hitting me?  How dare you?"  He shouted.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"  Oolong screamed as he climbed out the window and scurried off 
down the street.

"Huh?"  Ryouga said, surprised.  His anger drained away upon recognized the 
fleeing form of his friend.  "Hey!  Oolong!  Stop!  It's me, Ryouga!"

"What?"  Oolong stopped in his tracks and turned around.  "Hey, it is you!  
Ryouga.  Ya gotta help me.  There's these guys at my house and they're 
taking all my stuff."

"Hmmmm."  Ryouga paused, considering his friend's predicament.  "Alright, 
fine.  But after that, you'll take me to this address.  I just can't seem to 
find it."  He held up a slip of paper.

"Ok.  Ok.  Anything you say, buddy.  Now, let's go."  Oolong patted Ryouga 
on the back.

A black car screeched to a halt in front of them.  Men wearing black suits 
poured out of the doors and surrounded them.  One stepped forward and 
grinned.

"Well, well, Mr. Oolong.  It looks like the end of the road for you.  Give 
up like a good little pig and come home."  He said, while advancing.

"Aaahh!  It's them!  Ryouga, help me!"  Oolong whimpered, as he dived behind 
the lost boy's back.

"Nobody picks on my friend."  Ryouga snarled at the leading man.  He took 
his umbrella out and waved it threateningly.  "You don't want to mess with 
me right now.  I'm in a bad mood."

"Oh.  So you got a friend, Mr. Oolong.  Doesn't matter though.  We got 8 
guys here against you two.  You might as well give up."  The leader said.

"Enough talk.  Time to fight."  Ryouga shouted while charging forward.  An 
umbrella strike caught the leader in the stomach, knocking him backwards 
into the van.  The impact crumpled the side panel, and a loud crunching 
sound came from the leader's ribs.

One of the repomen threw a punch at Ryouga, who easily sidestepped it and 
sent his umbrella crashing down on the guy's head.  The lost boy 
straightened and twirled his weapon above his head, taking down three men 
advancing from behind and the sides.

A man reached into his blazer and pulled out a gun, but before he could even 
aim the thing, Ryouga had snatched it away.  The lost boy grinned evilly at 
the man before crushing the gun in his grip.

"Holy @$#%!"  The man screamed.  He started to backpedal furiously, knocking 
down another one of the repomen.  "Let's get outta here!"  He turned and 
bolted down the street.  The two conscious men decided to follow his sage 
advice and ran after them.

"Yeah!  Take that ya bullies!"  Oolong shouted after them.

Ryouga threw down the remains of the gun and turned towards the pig.  "Take 
me here now."  He demanded, while passing him the piece of paper.

Oolong gulped, then nodded.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Try it again."

Akane nodded and stood up.  She got into a battle stance and concentrated.  
A blue glow formed around her, and she grunted with the exertion of focusing 
her energy.  Akane brought her hands to her side and cupped her palms.

"KAMEHAMEHA!"  She shouted while thrusting her hands up towards the sky.

Nothing happened.

Akane dropped to her knees once more, panting heavily.  "I'm sorry, Ranma.  
I can't do it."  She said with despair in her voice.

Ranma knelt beside her and put his arm around her.  "Don't worry, Akane.  It 
isn't an easy move by any means.  It took Goku and me a long time to master 
it, and Master Roshi can still do it a lot better than we can.  So don't be 
discouraged.  You'll get it eventually.  It's just a matter of time.  Now, 
get some rest.  You look exhausted."

Akane smiled and nodded.  "Thanks, Ranma."  He helped her to her feet and 
into the house, before returning to the yard.  Akane went upstairs, fell on 
her bed, and was instantly asleep.

"So, what do you think?"  Ranma asked Goku, who was perched on the balcony.

"It's going to be awhile before she'll be able to do the Kamehameha wave."  
Goku said, while hopping to the ground.  "Akane just doesn't have the Chi 
level to do it yet."

"Just give her time.  She's still nowhere near as good as we were when we 
first did the Kamehameha, but it's a good way to get rid of her excess Chi."

"Yeah, once she learns that, all she has to do is fire a shot or two a day 
and she won't need to exercise as much as she is now.  She still should is 
she wants to improve more."

"She has been getting pretty amazing results, doncha think?  I never thought 
someone's Chi could be repressed that much.  I wonder just how strong Akane 
really is."

"No idea.  She'll be a great sparring partner once she reaches full power 
though.  She might even be able to beat us regularly if we don't improve 
too."

"Probably.  It's just that..."

"Ranma, prepare yourself!  It's time to die!"  A voice growled, interrupting 
Ranma.

"Wha?"  Ranma muttered while looking around.  He caught sight of Ryouga 
standing on top of the statue in the koi pond.

"You'll pay for what you've done to me!"  Ryouga shouted.

GLOMP!  GLOMP!

"Ah!  Let go of me!"  An exasperated Ryouga screamed when he found himself 
embraced by the two Saotome brothers.

"Ryouga, you're alive!"  Ranma exclaimed.

"Get offa me!"  Ryouga continued to bellow.  He pulled out his umbrella and 
shoved it in between Goku and himself and managed to pry the young saiyan 
off.  Then he shook Ranma off and jumped away, landing in a ready stance.  
"Fight me, Ranma."

"Fight you?"  Ranma asked, confused.  "I already did, and you almost got 
killed.  I don't want to hurt you, Ryouga."

"Like you could ever hurt me.  It was his fault!"  Ryouga snarled and thrust 
a finger at Goku.  "If you'd had fought me fair and square, that wouldn't 
have happened."

"I'm sorry."  Goku said while bowing.  "I really didn't mean to blast you 
and all, but I'm very protective about my tail."

"Good.  Now stay away!  This is Ranma's and my fight."  Ryouga shouted and 
then charged.

Ranma dodged several umbrella strikes before leaping on top of the Tendo's 
roof.  "Ryouga, I don't want to hurt you."

"Then just come here and die!"  Ryouga hopped to the roof and renewed his 
assault.

Ranma backflipped to avoid the blows, but one caught him in the side, 
flinging him off the roof and onto the ground.  He rose to his knees, 
clutching the injured spot.  "That hurt."  He spat. "Alright, Ryouga.  Have 
it your way.  Hyyaaaa!"

Ranma leapt up at Ryouga just as the lost boy jumped off the roof.  They 
collided in midair, with Ranma delivering a vicious kick to Ryouga's head.  
Ryouga smashed into the ground, but got up unfazed.

Ranma charged and the two martial artists exchanged a flurry of punches and 
kicks.  Very few made it through their defenses and struck home, but 
eventually Ryouga landed a solid punch that sent Ranma through the fence and 
into a neighbour's yard.

Ryouga grinned as he pursued his foe.  "What's the matter, Ranma?  You're 
not doing as well as you did last time."

Ranma wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth.  'Man, what's wrong?  Ryouga 
was never this fast.  Looks like I'm going to have to get serious.'  He rose 
to his knees and delivered a sweep kick to Ryouga's legs.  The lost boy 
jumped over the attack and struck downwards with the umbrella, but Ranma 
flipped away from the blow, which exploded the ground on impact into a 
shower of dirt and rocks.

As soon as he landed from the flip, Ranma sprung at Ryouga, catching him off 
guard as his arm was still extended from the attack.  Ranma launched a 
volley of kicks to Ryouga's head, each one landing, and then followed with a 
devastating uppercut that threw the lost boy into the air.

Ryouga recovered in midair and landed on his feet, with several bandannas in 
hand.  He tossed them at Ranma, who easily dodged them while charging 
forward.  The pigtailed martial artist swung at Ryouga, but the lost boy 
sidestepped and drove his knee into Ranma's stomach.  Ranma doubled over in 
pain, leaving himself completely open.  Ryouga took full advantage of the 
opportunity by delivering a double-handed blow to Ranma's back.  Ranma's 
knees gave out from underneath him, and he collapsed to the ground.  Ryouga 
kicked him in the ribs, sending Ranma rolling away.

Ranma continued the roll and used his momentum to swing up onto his feet and 
into a battle stance.  "Okay, Ryouga.  You really asked for it now."

He launched himself forward and underneath a clumsy swing by Ryouga.  
Straightening slightly, Ranma drove his fists repeatedly into the lost boy's 
exposed stomach, before finishing the combination off with a kick to his 
chest.  This propelled Ryouga backwards, but he managed to avoid falling 
over.

"Ah.  Nicely done, Ranma.  You've given me a good fight, but it's time to 
end this.  Nothing you can do will be able to stop this attack.  Hah!"  
Ryouga widened his stance and began to concentrate.  Energy started to build 
around him, and the air crackled with power.

Ranma's eyes widened even further than Ryouga's stance had.  'Is he going to 
launch a Chi blast?'  He grinned.  "Don't think I can stop it, eh?  We'll 
see about that, Ryouga."

Ranma summoned power for his own attack.  The combatants stood there, facing 
each other as they gathered their energy.  Ryouga's dark energy flowed 
easily from his hatred and despair.  Ranma's energy came with ease due to 
the practice he had at preparing the Kamehameha wave.  A blue glow 
surrounded him and clashed with the green glow being emitted by Ryouga.

"Wow!"  Goku said to no one in particular.

A faint humming sound had become nearly deafening now as the two attacks 
neared full power.  The air crackled and spat as the excess of energy poured 
off the two opponents.  Ranma cupped his hands and brought them to his side, 
while Ryouga brought his hands together in front of him.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile in the front yard of the Tendo's, Oolong finally got his mouth 
working.  "T-th-this i-is w-w-where S-S-SHE lives!"  He whimpered.  Then he 
realized that Ryouga wasn't with him anymore.  "Ryouga!"  He shouted.  "I'm 
outta here!"  And with that, Oolong fled down the street.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"SHISHIHOKODAN!"

"KAMEHAMEHA!"

The green and blue blasts launched from their respective owners and smashed 
into each other in the middle of the two.  Energy spilled off the sides of 
the impact, obliterating everything within a 2 metre sphere.  The blasts 
themselves had stopped cold when they encountered each other.  Neither moved 
an inch as the attacks were equally matched.

Their owners continued to pour all their energy into them, trying to force 
it through the other's blast and to its target, but they failed.  Ryouga's 
anger drained away, and Ranma's energy reserves were spent.  The blasts 
ceased at the same time; the energy storm in the middle pulsed before 
subsiding.  Ranma and Ryouga were knocked backwards onto the ground.  They 
lay there gasping heavily and gazing at each other with new respect in their 
eyes.

"That was pretty good, Ryouga.  Where did you learn to do a Chi blast?"  
Ranma said, while grinning.

"I picked it up in my travels.  You weren't so bad yourself.  I didn't 
expect you to be able to counter that."  Ryouga said, as he rose to his 
feet.  "I guess we'll have to settle this the old fashioned way."

"Works for me."  Ranma said, as he got up.

"Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!"  A new voice shouted.

"Huh?"  Ranma and Ryouga exclaimed, looking around for its source.

"It's time for you to pay for what I've gone through, Ranma.  You'll regret 
you ever heard of the name Yamcha, the desert bandit."  A figure on a roof 
said.  He jumped off it and landed facing Ranma and Ryouga.  The figure was 
dressed in brown pants and a green shirt with white markings on it.  He had 
long black hair and a mean expression on his face.

"Yamcha?"  Ranma asked in puzzlement.  He frowned as he tried to recall 
where he'd met this man before.  "Um...ah...and you are?"

A sweatdrop formed on the back of Yamcha's head.  He shook his head and 
glanced at Ryouga.  "Well, well, Ryouga Hibiki.  You're here too.  Talk 
about killing two birds with one stone.  Quite literally in fact."  Yamcha 
said as he adopted a battle stance.

"Huh?"  Ryouga sputtered.  "Me?  What did I do?"

"Wait.  Hold on, Yamcha, or whoever you are.  Can you please explain what's 
going on?"  Ranma insisted.

"I'm hurt that you don't remember me, Ranma.  Then again, it was a long time 
ago, so I'm not too surprised you've forgotten all about me.  Same with you, 
Ryouga."  Yamcha said, while smirking.  "It was well before I became a 
desert bandit, back when I still lived with my family.  My dad owned a 
restaurant here in Tokyo.  I always visited him at work and helped out by 
working in the kitchen or waiting tables.  Every Sunday, we had an all you 
can eat dinner special.  It was our busiest time, and we always made money 
off it.  Until, that is, the Saotomes showed up."

Yamcha took a deep breath before continuing.  "They descended on our 
restaurant like a swarm of locusts, devouring everything in sight.  Not a 
single morsel of food was saved from their voracious appetites.  Our entire 
stock was eaten, preventing other customers from eating that night.  The 
combination of the loss of customers and the emptying of our stock of food 
was enough to drive the restaurant out of business.  On that day, I swore 
vengeance on the young Saotome boy."

Yamcha pointed a finger squarely at Ranma.  "That boy was you, Ranma.  Even 
though I was a few years older than you, you had ruined my family, and I 
wasn't going to let you get away with it.  When I challenged you, you said 
you were already going to fight another boy named Ryouga Hibiki and that I 
would have to wait my turn.  I gladly accepted.  A few days made no 
difference as I still would be able to claim my vengeance.  Then, Ryouga 
didn't show up for the fight, and you insisted on waiting until after your 
battle with Ryouga before you fought me.  Something about him challenging 
you first and your honour.  Anyway, after Ryouga didn't show on the third 
day, you took off with your father on a training trip to China.  This robbed 
me of my chance to fight you.  Then, Ryouga showed up on the fourth day 
looking for you.  He was outraged that you had left, and I was outraged at 
him for being late for his fight.  I swore vengeance on him as well and 
pursued him as he chased after you, Ranma.  Following him was more difficult 
than I thought, as before long I was completely lost.  I found myself in a 
hostile wasteland, where few men feared to tread.  There, I met a hermit who 
trained me in the art of the wolf and the use of a variety of weapons.  I 
became a desert bandit and terrorized anyone foolish enough to cross into my 
territory.  Then, I discovered that Ranma had come back to Nerima.  So at 
long last I can have my revenge on both you, Ranma Saotome, and you, Ryouga 
Hibiki."

Yamcha grinned evilly.  "Now which one shall I pick first?  How about you, 
Ryouga?  You have no idea the horrors I went through while following you.  
I'm sure you deliberately got me lost so that you could have Ranma all to 
yourself.  Now you DIE!"

Yamcha charged towards the lost boy and launched several attacks.  Ryouga, 
already weakened from his fight with Ranma, only managed to dodge or block a 
few blows, and the rest struck him.  He was far from beaten though, and 
quickly executed a counterstrike, which crashed into the overconfident and 
unprepared Yamcha like a tidal wave.  The desert bandit was thrown backwards 
as Ryouga brought his tremendous strength into play.  Yamcha landed on his 
feet and then dodged out of the way as Ryouga continued his assault.  Ryouga 
lunged forward to strike him, but Yamcha leapt over him and kicked the lost 
boy's head, sending him sprawling to the ground.  Yamcha landed behind him 
and turned around.

"Well, you're not bad, Ryouga.  You're a lot better than I would have 
thought.  But you're still no match for me.  POWER OF THE WOLF!"

Yamcha bared his teeth and widened his stance.  He raised his arms and 
curved his fingers in an imitation of claws.  The wind howled as he stood 
still and posed.

"HHYYAAAAAHHHH!"  Yamcha shouted while running forward and moving his arms 
in a hypnotic pattern.  Ryouga was paralyzed, as the image of a charging 
wolf filled his mind.  When he was close, Yamcha lashed out with a kick that 
sent Ryouga flying.  The lost boy was knocked directly into a nearby house, 
bringing a section of it down on top of him and raising a large cloud of 
dust.

When the dust settled, Yamcha stood triumphantly facing Ranma.

"One down, one to go."  He said while smirking.  "It's your turn to die now, 
Ranma."

"Alright, I've had enough!"  Goku said as he hopped down from where he was 
watching.  "Ranma, it's my turn to fight now.  You already got to fight 
Ryouga, so I should fight this guy."

"Hey!"  Ranma protested.  "That's not fair, Goku.  Yamcha wants to fight me 
specifically, not you.  Besides, I didn't even get to finish my fight with 
Ryouga because Yamcha interfered."

"But Ranma..."  Goku whined.

"So, Saotome, you have an ally.  It doesn't matter, I'll take you both on.  
But first I should find out whom would dare to side with my enemy.  Who are 
you, little boy?"  Yamcha asked.

"Me?  I'm Goku, Ranma's younger brother."  Goku replied.

Yamcha's eyes grew wide with shock.  "T-there's TWO Saotome boys now?!  Oh 
my God!  This could mean the end of the world.  I can't let the pestilence 
that the Saotomes represent spread any further.  I must stop them!   Prepare 
yourselves!  Hah!"

Yamcha leapt at the two brothers, kicking at Ranma and punching at Goku.  
Ranma dodged the kick, while Goku blocked the punch and floored Yamcha with 
a counterattack.

"Hey!  This is my fight, Goku!"  Ranma protested again.

"Is not!  He said he wanted to fight us both!  So it's my fight too."

"There's only one way to settle this, Goku."  Ranma placed his fist behind 
his back.

Goku nodded and copied his brother's movement.  "Right."

"Ready?"

"Yep."

"On three.  1...2...3!"  Ranma thrust his hand forward with his palm flat.  
Goku brought his hand in front of him with it balled into a fist.

Ranma grinned.  "Looks like I win."  'Poor Goku.  Always picks rock.'

"Damn."  Goku pouted.  'Rock let me down again.  Could he be reading my 
moves?'

"YYAAAHHH!"  Ryouga shouted as he broke through the wreckage of the house 
and advanced towards the trio.  His body was bruised and beaten, but he 
didn't seem to be affected by his injuries.  "I'm not out of the fight yet."

"What?  You survived my attack?"  Yamcha exclaimed in disbelief as he stood 
up and rubbed the spot on his cheek where Goku had hit him.

"Feh.  It'll take more than that to defeat me."  Ryouga said while brushing 
some dust and debris off his shoulder.

"Looks like we have a three way battle royal here."  Ranma said.  He cracked 
his knuckles as his eyes darted between his two opponents.

Goku fumed.  The saiyan boy had already said he wouldn't fight Ryouga, and 
he'd just lost the privilege of fighting Yamcha.  Now, Ranma got to fight 
both of them while he had to sit there and watch.  He was not a happy 
camper.

The three martial artists leapt forward at each other, and a fierce melee 
began.  Blows were exchanged between the warriors, but no one held an 
advantage over his opponents.  If one concentrated on a foe and tried to 
press their advantage, the third would attack his unprotected flank.

Ranma's endurance was wearing down fast.  He had already been weakened from 
his fight with Ryouga and couldn't last too much longer in this intense 
battle against Ryouga's superior endurance and Yamcha's freshness.  He 
jumped away from the two in order to buy himself some time to rest, but 
Ryouga wouldn't have his opponent retreat.  The lost boy flung himself at 
Ranma, and they collided in midair while punching and kicking at each other. 
  The two fell to the ground, right into the koi pond.

A loud boom sound and a cloud of smoke quickly followed the splash that 
resulted.  Ranma was momentarily disoriented as one bulge of his disappeared 
and two more were created, and Ryouga had to pause to shapeshift from pig to 
human.  The pigtailed martial artist was further disoriented as she swore 
that Ryouga had just turned into a pig before getting blinded by the smoke.  
This allowed Ryouga to recover first, and he took full advantage of his 
situation by slamming his fist into Ranma's face.

Ranma was sent flying, and she landed right in front of Yamcha.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"  Yamcha screamed and froze in place.  His face turned beet 
red, and he tipped over backwards, landing on the ground still rigidly 
locked in the same position.  After a moment, he recovered enough to start 
scrambling backwards.

"Master, what's wrong?"  Puar said as she leapt from her vantage spot on the 
Tendo's roof and landed beside Ranma's prone body.

"A-A-A G-GIRL!"  Yamcha continued to scream while backpedaling away from the 
girl in question.

Puar glanced down at Ranma, who just happened to open her eyes at the same 
time.  The pigtailed girl found herself staring into the eyes of one of the 
most dreaded and feared creatures on this planet.  A cat.  Even worse, a 
floating blue cat with a really big mouth.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"  Ranma screamed and bolted away from Puar.  She continued 
yelling as she plowed through anything that got in her way, which included 
Ryouga.  "CAT!  CAT! CAT! CCCAAAAAAAAAATTT!"

The lost boy was sent flying into the same house that Yamcha knocked him 
into before, bringing the rest of it down on him.  Ranma smashed into a 
telephone pole, which stopped his flight.  The pole cracked and came 
crashing to the ground.

Yamcha was able to come to his senses now that the cause of his mental 
freeze had taken a trip out of the area. Ryouga burst out of the wreckage in 
a leap that carried him high in the air.  Seeing that Ranma wasn't around 
anymore, the lost boy targeted Yamcha and delivered a kick as he landed.  
Yamcha brushed off the blow and counterattacked with several kicks of his 
own.  Ryouga alternatively dodged or blocked before going on the offensive.  
They traded turns attacking and defending until Yamcha's fist, which 
connected with Ryouga's chest, was enveloped in a cloud of smoke as the lost 
boy's transformation time expired.

The desert bandit spun around furiously looking for his opponent before 
noticing the small black piglet on the ground in front of him.  He grinned.  
"A shapeshifter, huh?  You could've picked a better form though, Ryouga.  
Hah!"  Yamcha said, as he punted the piglet into LEO.

"Puar, did you see where Ranma went to?"  Yamcha asked as he walked up to 
the koi pond.  "He disappeared when he and Ryouga fell into the pond.  
Someone transformed there as well.  It could be that Ranma knows how to 
shapeshift too."

"Maybe, Master.  Those two did seem to know each other, and if Ryouga could 
transform, Ranma might be able to as well.  Maybe he turned into that girl?"

"Could be.  Saotome seems to have no honour at all.  He'll do anything to 
win.  Changing into a girl certainly would stop me from attacking."  Yamcha 
balled his hand into a fist.  "But how did he figure out my weakness?  I 
can't fight him as long as he's a girl.  Puar, I want you to distract him 
until he changes back.  Then I'll finish him."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Oolong was hit in the back of the head by a black piglet, 
knocking him off his feet.  "OW!  What's the big idea?"  He snarled while 
trying to figure out who had thrown the animal at him.  Then he took a 
closer look at the stunned piglet.  "Hey, Ryouga?  That you?  Man, what 
happened?"  Oolong, not getting a response, picked up Ryouga and headed 
home.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Goku bonked Ranma on the head, jarring the older Saotome brother awake.  
"What are you doing, Ranma?  If you're not going to fight, you should at 
least let me."

"It's not my fault!"  Ranma protested.  "Yamcha has a c-c-cat with him.   
You know I can't stand cats."

"For Pete's sake.  Just let me fight him."

"No!  I won the rock, paper, scissors contest.  It's my fight!  Just get the 
cat out of there and I'll be fine."  Ranma ordered.

Goku sighed and gave in.  "Alright, fine.  I'll get the cat."

"Get him, Puar!"  Yamcha shouted, as the blue cat flew towards the two 
Saotomes.  Ranma was just about to freak out again, but Goku intercepted the 
cat with a flying kick.  Puar was knocked back from the force of the blow 
and was slammed into a wall.  The impact forced her to lose consciousness.

"PUAR!"  Yamcha shouted.  "You'll pay for that!"  He yelled while striking 
at Goku, but the saiyan dodged.  "Nobody hurts my friend!"

While Goku was avoiding Yamcha's blows, Ranma got to his feet and joined the 
battle.  The sudden reappearance of a girl was enough to send Yamcha heading 
for the hills again.

"Huh?"  Ranma said, stunned and still in mid-punch.  "Why'd he go?  Hey!  
Come back here!"  She chased after the fleeing desert bandit.  Not wanting 
to be left out, Goku followed.

'Ah!  She's following me!  What do I do?'  Yamcha thought as he sprinted out 
of someone's yard and onto the street.  He ran for a nearby market, hoping 
to lose her in the crowd.  'Is that actually Ranma?  He couldn't stay 
shapeshifted for this long.  It's been way over five minutes.  Curse you, 
Saotome.  Where did you go?'

Yamcha continued to run, until he found himself heading straight for a very 
healthy, purple haired girl wearing Chinese clothing and carrying two large 
maces.  He froze in mid-stride and came tumbling to a halt in front of the 
girl. She looked at the strange man lying at her feet before noticing his 
pursuers.

"Ranma, you I kill!"  The girl shouted as soon as she recognized the 
pigtailed martial artist.  "Shampoo find you at last!  KILL!"  Shampoo waved 
her bonbori at Ranma threateningly and advanced.

"Oh no."  Ranma muttered.  "What a day.  Goku, let's go."

"What?"  Goku asked, puzzled.

"RUN!"  Ranma yelled as he grabbed his brother's arm and took off with 
Shampoo in hot pursuit.  Buildings and people fly by as they sped down the 
street.  "Damnit!  I don't have time for this.  I'm supposed to be fighting 
Yamcha."

"He didn't seem to eager to fight you."  Goku commented.

"Shut up and run."  Ranma shouted and released Goku.  The saiyan landed on 
his feet and kept pace with his older brother.

"So what's your plan?  Why don't you just fight her?"  Goku asked.

"I can't!  She's trying to kill me!  And who knows what her weird laws will 
say if I beat her again?  Maybe she'll have to kill my entire family or 
sumpthin.  I know you can take care of yourself, but Dad and the Tendo's 
can't protect themselves.  So we gotta run and keep away from the dojo.  
NIMBUS!"

The yellow cloud shot out of nowhere and picked up the two boys before 
heading back into the sky.  Shampoo stopped running as she realized there 
was no way she could keep up with the strange cloud they were riding.  She 
showed her displeasure in this by smashing a nearby store to pieces.  
Standing admist the broken display, she remembered the man that Ranma had 
been chasing and followed her trail back to his body.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at the Tendo's, Akane and Kasumi slowly slide open the door leading 
into the backyard.  They were confronted with a scene from a disaster movie. 
  Several fences were missing, a telephone pole had been knocked down, there 
were many holes in the ground the shape of fists, feet and faces, and one 
neighbour's house had even been completely destroyed.

"Good thing you came and woke me, Kasumi."  Akane said to her older sister.  
"It looks like a major fight happened out here.  I'm surprised it didn't 
wake me up.  I must've really been tired."

Kasumi nodded.  "Yes, Akane.  You've been training so hard with Ranma and 
Goku.  You deserved your rest.  Sorry to interrupt you."

"Don't worry about it, Kasumi.  This is more important than rest.  I just 
want to know who came and attacked, and what happened to Ranma and Goku.  
They wouldn't do all this damage if they were sparring, would they?  I mean 
they've been pretty good at keeping their matches from destroying anything 
nearby."

"Oh look.  How cute."  Kasumi said and pointed at a cat that was lying on 
the ground in front of a wall.  Above it was a cat-sized crater complete 
with tail and ear holes.

Akane facefaulted.  "Cute?  What's cute about all this destruction?"  Akane 
almost-but-not-quite-yelled-since-no-one-ever-yells-at-Kasumi-with-the-possible-exception-of-when-she-is-transformed-into-her-violent-counterpart. 
  Then she saw the cat.  She ran forward and cradled the animal in her arms. 
  "Oh my God.  Who could do this to a poor little cat?  It'd better not be 
Ranma and Goku.  I'll make them or whoever did this pay.  Hey, I don't think 
this cat belongs to any of our neighbours.  I'm sure I would have noticed 
before, especially with such an unusual colour."  Akane commented while 
staring at the injured animal's curious blue coat and light gray underbelly.

"Let's get it inside."  Kasumi said as she went about using her expert 
medicinal knowledge to care for the cat.  "Oh dear."  She gasped suddenly.

"What?"  Akane asked, very concerned.

"I just remembered that I used up the last of the bandages two days ago when 
Ranma had the accident with the bath, the toaster, the leftover chow mein, 
and the west wall.  We're all out of them right now.  I'll have to go to Dr. 
Tofu's to get some more."

Akane winced at the memory of Ranma's accident.  'That had to hurt.'  "I can 
go instead of you, Kasumi.  I don't know what to do with the cat.  You can 
probably do something even if you don't have bandages."

"That's a very nice offer, Akane, but there isn't anything I can really do 
without bandages.  All that's happened to the cat is that she got banged up. 
  Nothing besides bandages will help her.  And don't forget, Akane, that 
you're still tired from your workout with Ranma and Goku.  I'll get there 
and back a lot faster than you can right now."

Akane was about to protest when she realized that her sister was right.  She 
had trained to her limit, and probably past it, and so was in no condition 
get to Tofu's and back with any amount of speed.  "Okay, Kasumi, but please 
hurry."

"I will, Akane.  Bye."  Kasumi said as she left.

Akane examined the cat's injuries and tried to do whatever she could to make 
it more comfortable.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yamcha was still frozen in spot.  The concept of one cute girl on each side 
of him was more than his fragile heart could take, and it overloaded, 
shutting him down.  He lay in the middle of the road; his battle with Ranma 
and Ryouga forgotten.  Yamcha just decided to enjoy the feeling of sunshine 
against his face and be glad that there wasn't any danger right now.  Then, 
a shadow obstructed his sunlight.  The desert bandit looked up to see what 
was blocking it and was faced with the same girl as before.

"Shampoo want ask you question."  The girl said with a thick Chinese accent.

"Not again."  Yamcha moaned as his heart went into overdrive again.   
"AAAAAHHHHHH!  A GIRL!!!" He seemed to find more than enough energy to move 
as he leapt to his feet and took off. Shampoo, not understanding anything 
except that the person she wanted to talk to was getting away, broke into 
hot pursuit.

Yamcha hadn't made it too far before Shampoo planted her feet firmly on the 
top of his head, sending him face first into the ground.  The impact knocked 
him out like a light.  Shampoo hopped off the desert bandit's head and 
picked him up by his collar.

"Now you tell Shampoo where..."  She trailed off as she realized that he was 
unconscious.  The amazon sighed and dragged him to where she was staying.  
She could question him when he woke up.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hi Penny!"  Goku said as the young girl opened the door.

"Goku!"  She exclaimed happily and threw herself into his arms.  "You came 
to visit!  "Oh, and your brother's here too.  Hi Ranma!"

"Hi Penny."  Ranma said with a smile plastered on her face.

"Uh, Penny?"  Goku gasped.

"Yes, Goku?"  Penny inquired.

"Y-you're choking me."  The Saiyan muttered as his face turned blue.

"Oh!  Sorry."  Penny released her death grip on him.  Goku collapsed to his 
knees, gasping for breath.

'Maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea.'  Ranma thought.  'Goku still 
hasn't told Penny that he doesn't want to marry her.'

"Goku!"  A booming voice exclaimed.

"Fred!"  Ranma and Goku returned the greeting.

"Huh?  Who's this girl?  I don't remember meeting her before."  Fred said 
while peering down at the female Ranma.

"Yes, you have, Fred.  This is my brother Ranma."  Goku supplied helpfully.

"Brother?"  Question marks begin popping into existence above Fred's head.

"Goku, you idiot!"  Ranma shouted.  "He hasn't seen me in girl form before!"

Fred leaned down so his mouth was level with Goku's ear.  "Is your brother a 
crossdresser?"  He whispered.

"Only some of the time."  Goku whispered back.

"I heard that!"  Ranma yelled, while twitching in a very unhealthy way.

Goku quickly clued in.  "Actually it's a curse."

"A curse?"  Fred asked.  "I wasn't aware that Ranma was cursed."

"Yeah.  Ranma changes into a girl whenever hit by cold water.  I change into 
a namek, and Pops changes into a panda.  Hot water will change us back 
though.  It's not really that big of a deal."

"Speak for yourself."  Ranma spat.  Goku just couldn't understand why Ranma 
hated his curse so much, especially when compared to himself and their 
father.

"So...what brings you two here?"  Fred asked.

"No reason."  The Saotome brothers replied simultaneously.

"We just came to visit."  Ranma continued.  'There's no way I'm telling him 
that there's a psychotic amazon out for my blood.'

"Oh, come to see your fiancee, eh boy?"  Fred said while giving Goku a 
friendly elbow to the ribs.  This was quite a feat considering the height 
difference between the two.

Goku and Ranma began twitching.  "Uh...you see."  Goku began but was cut 
when Ranma smacked him on the back of the head.

"Don't say it, Goku."  Ranma whispered.

"What?  Why not?"  Goku retorted while keeping his voice down.

"Do you like Penny?"

"Well, yeah.  I guess, but..."

"But nothing!  You saw what happened with me and Akane.  We hated each other 
because we didn't want to get engaged.  Don't make the same mistake with 
Penny as I did with Akane."

"But..."

"Shut up!  You're way too young to get married, so don't worry about it.  
But if you say you don't want to get married, Penny will hate you, so keep 
quiet and go along with it, okay?"

"Okay."  Goku whispered.  Then he raised his voice to its normal level and 
spoke to Fred. "Yep.  That's right."

"Uh...can we go inside?"  Ranma urged, remembering the reason why they were 
here in the first place.  He was pretty sure that Shampoo couldn't have 
tracked exactly where the Nimbus had gone, but she could easily see the 
direction they headed.  Although she wouldn't be able to pinpoint their 
location, she could search the area, which made staying outside dangerous.

"Of course.  Of course."  Fred said and ushered them inside.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Nihao!"

The door to Dr. Tofu's clinic was thrown open and Shampoo walked in, still 
dragging the unconscious desert bandit behind her.  Dr. Tofu looked up from 
the notes he was studying and greeted her.

"Hello, Shampoo.  I see you've got a patient for me."  He said warmly when 
he noticed Yamcha.  "Bring him over here."  He patted the examination table.

Shampoo stopped in her tracks.  She hadn't intended for Tofu to get 
involved.  "No doctor.  Is not patient.  Is...yes, is patient.  Shampoo find 
on street.  Man hurt badly.  Need doctor help."  'If doctor heal man, then 
man tell Shampoo where Ranma is.  Then Shampoo kill Ranma.'  The amazon 
lifted up Yamcha and placed him on the table, and Dr. Tofu began his 
examination.

"Hmmm.  Looks like this boy was in a pretty serious fight.  He's got many 
bruises and scrapes from blows.  Cause of unconsciousness appears to be from 
having his face slammed into the pavement.  Do you know who he is?"

Shampoo shook her head.

"Oh well.  Let's get to work then."  Dr. Tofu began to work his wondrous 
healing abilities when someone else entered the room.

"Hello, Dr. Tofu."

"Kasumi?"

KRACK!

A sharp pain jolted Yamcha into consciousness.  He looked at the source of 
his pain and saw a strange man holding his arm, which was twisted the wrong 
way.  He screamed loudly.

"Aiyaaa.  He awake."  Shampoo grabbed a nearby metal tray and brought it 
down hard on Yamcha's head, knocking him out again.  Then she stared at the 
curious display Dr. Tofu was putting on.  He had pretty much frozen in 
place, and his glasses had fogged over.  His lips seemed to move as if he 
was saying the word "Kasumi" over and over again.  Shampoo turned to the 
girl who had walked into the room.  There was nothing particularly special 
about her.  All Shampoo could see was that she was a cute girl a few years 
older than she was and with long black hair.

"Doctor?  What wrong?"  Shampoo asked, curiously.

"W-what c-can I d-do for y-yo-you, K-Kasumi?"  Dr. Tofu gibbered.

"I seem to have run out of bandages at home and came to get some from you.  
There's a poor cat that got hurt in our yard.  We think it's a stray as it's 
such an odd colour that I'm sure we would remember one of our neighbours 
owning it.  So could I please borrow some bandages?"

"N-no p-problem, K-Kasumi.  Nurse Shampoo, will you please fetch some 
bandages for Kasumi?"

"Yes, doctor."  Shampoo said and walked to the cupboard.

"Acthoo!"  Kasumi sneezed.  Her black hair shifted colour to blond and her 
demeanour changed just as drastically.  "Oh doctor..."  She purred 
seductively and ran a finger along her front.  "I think there might be 
something wrong with my body.  Maybe you should examine it, just to be 
sure."  Kasumi breathed while pushing Dr. Tofu against the table and drawing 
close to him.

Shampoo blinked.  Quite loudly in fact.  "Who new girl?"

"Ah..."  Was all Tofu could say as his face turned bright red and a small 
dribble of blood came out of his nose.  As Kasumi drew even closer, the 
small dribble became a large flood, and he passed out.

Kasumi turned towards Shampoo sharply.  Her expression had gone from one of 
seduction to one of hatred.  "Do you mind?  Get out of here so we can be 
alone!"  She snarled.

Shampoo got angry.  She didn't take kindly to being ordered around by some 
blond bimbo.  "You no tell Shampoo what to do.  Shampoo have important thing 
to find from him."  She growled and thrust a finger at Yamcha.  "Need doctor 
to wake him."

"Tell someone who cares.  Now LEAVE!"

Shampoo leaned forward and grabbed Kasumi's chin.  She twisted it sideways 
and kissed her on the cheek.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?"  Kasumi screamed.

"Shampoo challenge bimbo-girl.  Bimbo-girl insult Shampoo so we fight, yes?" 
  Shampoo said while brandishing her bonbori.

Kasumi grinned evilly and adopted a battle stance.  She still had her 
martial arts training from childhood, and she also kept in practice when she 
wasn't busy robbing banks.  "Bring it on."

Shampoo charged and swung with her mace at Kasumi, who ducked underneath the 
strike and planted her fist into Shampoo's stomach.  The amazon gasped and 
staggered backwards.  She grew frustrated at being trapped in this small 
room, which was poorly suited to fighting.  This made her unable to use any 
jump attacks and limited the use of her speed and maneuverability.  Deciding 
to take the battle elsewhere, Shampoo opened up the nonexistent door in the 
wall behind her.

"You follow.  We fight outside, yes?"

"Doesn't matter to me."

Shampoo ran out into the street and faced her opponent.  Seeing an 
opportunity, she attacked while Kasumi was still climbing through the hole 
in the wall.  The unprepared Tendo sister was caught off guard, and the blow 
knocked her to the side sending her into a mailbox.

Kasumi got to her feet and shook her fist.  "You'll pay for that."

Shampoo smiled.  "I no think so.  Hiyaa!"  She dashed forward and renewed 
her assault.  Kasumi was unable to match the skill, speed or power of the 
blows and was forced to jump away from the amazon.

"Take this!"  She screamed while taking something out and tossing it at 
Shampoo.  The amazon was surprised to see a projectile being used, but she 
wasn't caught off guard and swatted the item out of the air with ease.

Big mistake.

The grenade exploded as Shampoo's bonbori hit it, destroying the weapon.  
The blast flung Shampoo back and into a parked truck.  Her hair and clothes 
were singed, and the explosion and the impact had hurt her, but not 
seriously enough to keep her from continuing the fight.

Kasumi laughed.  "Dumb Chinese bitch!  Now you die!"  She pulled out an Uzi 
and unloaded it at Shampoo.  The amazon jumped away just in time, and the 
spray of bullets hit the truck.  The gas tank was hit, and the resulting 
explosion destroyed what was left of the truck and propelled Shampoo further 
into the air.

The amazon came down on top of Kasumi and delivered a devastating blow with 
her remaining bonbori.  The weapon slammed into her skull and knocked her 
out cold.  Shampoo stood over the Tendo girl's body and smiled triumphantly.

"Shampoo win.  Bimbo-girl not good fighter.  Use cheap attacks against 
Shampoo, but you can no beat Chinese Amazon like that."  Shampoo said before 
turning and heading back to the clinic.  There she found one very confused 
Dr. Tofu and a still unconscious Yamcha.

"Nurse Shampoo?  What happened?  I remember Kasumi..."  Dr. Tofu trailed off 
and his glasses began to fog over.  "What happened to her?"  He said 
nervously, looking around the room frantically.

"She got bandages and left."  Shampoo lied.  She didn't know exactly what 
bimbo-girl was to doctor, but she didn't want to risk making him upset.  He 
still had to fix unconscious man so she could find and kill Ranma.

"Oh.  That's good."  Dr. Tofu said, obviously relieved.  "Uh.  What happened 
to the wall?"

Shampoo sweatdropped.  "Uh...she left through wall?"  She suggested, 
truthfully this time.

"Oh.  That's not like Kasumi.  But then again, she was acting differently 
this time.  Anyway, back to work.  Now, where's this young man you brought 
in?"

"You sitting on him."  Shampoo pointed out.

Dr. Tofu looked down and discovered that he was indeed sitting on his 
patient.  "Oh.  Where did this bump come from?"  He said upon seeing the 
large lump on the back on Yamcha's head.

Shampoo simply shrugged her shoulders while innocently kicking the dented 
metal tray underneath the table.

"It doesn't really matter.  Let's fix him up."

Dr. Tofu went to work on Yamcha, and not before long, he was good as new.  
Which included being conscious.  Which included being conscious in the same 
room as a girl.  Which included screaming like a lunatic.  Which included 
trying to run like his life depended on it.

This time Shampoo was prepared.  She didn't why this man was so emotional, 
but she had to find out how he related to Ranma.  The amazon threw a rope 
around him as he tried to run, and before he could get himself oriented 
enough so he could decide which direction the door was in, she had him tied 
to a post.

Dr. Tofu adjusted his glasses.  "What an odd man."  Just then the door 
chimed as someone entered the clinic.  "I'll be right back, Shampoo.  See if 
you can calm him down."

"Yes, doctor."  Shampoo nodded happily as he left the room.  Then she turned 
viscious, slapping Yamcha hard.  "Quiet.  Shampoo need know things from 
you."

The slap jarred Yamcha out of his girl panic, and he stopped screaming.  He 
found that he was trapped and couldn't break free of the ropes.  There was 
no escape for him, and so he was forced to deal with being near a girl.  
Yamcha tried to do anything to get away, but the ropes held.  He tired to 
close his eyes and avert his gaze, but Shampoo grabbed his head and forced 
him to look at her.

"Where Ranma?"  She demanded.

"Ranma?"  The name was enough to drive the remaining panic out of him as it 
was replaced with rage.  "I don't know where Ranma is.  He ran off and hide 
from me, but he can't run forever."

"Aiyaa!  You fight Ranma too?"

"Hmmm?  Yes, I fight Ranma.  I want to kill him for what he did to me!"  
Yamcha shouted and struggled against the ropes.  "Now let me go, so I can 
find him and kill him!"

"No.  Shampoo must kill Ranma."  Shampoo stated flatly.

"Whose shampoo?"

"I called Shampoo."  The amazon declared proudly.

Yamcha paused for a second before he burst out laughing.  "Yeah right, lady. 
  And who's your boyfriend?  Mousse?"

"HE NO MY BOYFRIEND!"  Shampoo screamed, using a megaphone for added 
emphasis.

"Oww!  Keep it down.  You're going make me go deaf."  Yamcha said while 
trying to cover his ears.  Then he realized something when she was done her 
little temper tantrum.  "So you want to kill Ranma too?"

"Yes.  Ranma tarnish Shampoo's honour.  Shampoo must kill to avenge 
herself."

Visions danced through Yamcha's head of how the Ranma must have tarnished 
this girl's honour.  The visions were not pleasant, and they didn't raise 
Yamcha's opinion of Ranma any.  In fact, they did just the opposite.  "The 
BASTARD!"  Yamcha snarled.  The ropes holding him snapped as his battle aura 
flared.  "How dare he?  How dare he?  How dare he do something so foul when 
I can't even ask a girl out?!  It's not fair!  He'll pay for that too."

"You take Shampoo to Ranma, yes?"  Shampoo asked, not sure of what the man 
was talking about.  She could swear that he was saying that Ranma was a guy, 
not a girl, but she dismissed as either an insult or due to her 
unfamiliarity with the Japanese language.

Yamcha smiled.  "Yes.  Of course.  I'll make him grovel at your feet before 
I finish him off."

"No!  Shampoo must kill."

"Very well.  I'll let you have that honour.  Ranma Saotome shall fall!"

"We go now?"

"Yes."  Yamcha and Shampoo left through the wall and started to walk down 
the street.  "Uh. Where are we?"

"We at Dr. Tofu's clinic."

"Dr. Tofu's clinic, eh?  Now let's see...that's...uh..AAHH!"  Yamcha banged 
his head against a wall.  "I don't know where we are!"

Shampoo sighed.  'This guy is idiot'  She thought before remembering that 
she had left bimbo-girl lying on the street.  'Doctor seem to like 
bimbo-girl.  Best not leave her here. Doctor find her, then Shampoo be in 
trouble.'

"Idiot-boy."  She called to Yamcha and showed him Kasumi's unconscious body. 
  "Fetch bimbo-girl and we bring her to home."

"W-What?"  Yamcha exclaimed, his face turning red again.  "W-We c-can't!"  
He couldn't bear the thought of being near a girl, let alone touching one.  
Being forced to be near Shampoo had gotten rid of his fear of her 
specifically, as he had to learn to cope, but other girls still scared him 
to death.

"We can.  If doctor find bimbo-girl here and he think that Shampoo beat 
girl, he be made at Shampoo.  Shampoo no want doctor mad at her, so we bring 
bimbo-girl home."

"Uh...okay, but you have to carry her."

"Is deal, idiot boy."

"What did you just call me?"

"Idiot-boy.  You no know where you are in own city and act crazy around 
Shampoo.  So you idiot."

"My name's Yamcha, the desert bandit."

"You still idiot."

"Why you..."  Yamcha started to get angry, but then he realized it was 
useless.  He was barely able to stand in front of Shampoo and talk with her. 
  Getting close enough to her to land an attack would be more than he could 
bear.  He also didn't believe that men should strike women unless they were 
defending themselves, and so wasn't going to start a fight just because some 
dumb Chinese girl who couldn't even speak Japanese properly insulted him.  
The desert bandit sighed and shook his head.  "Fine.  Call me whatever you 
like.  We're only working together until Ranma Saotome is dead anyway.  Now, 
could you please get her purse so I can find out her address?"

Shampoo scooped up the desired object and threw it to Yamcha.  She then 
picked up Kasumi and slung her over her shoulders.  "We go now?"

"Just a second."  Yamcha said as he rummaged through the purse.  "Aha!  
Here's her address.  Hmmm..."

"What wrong?"

"I could swear this is the same address as Ranma's.  I found his through the 
phonebook, although it was a pain to do.  You see, his address in Nerima is 
different from where he is staying.  The Saotomes are listed at an address 
where only one women lives.  When I went and asked if Ranma was there, she 
said that Ranma had gone off to China on a training trip.  However, I had 
proof of his return.  I have a Nerimian newspaper that has a picture of him 
and a girl on the front cover.  The girl's name is Akane Tendo, and I 
checked her address.  There, I found Ranma and fought him, but he fled.  
This girl's name is Kasumi Tendo, and she lives at the same address as 
Ranma.  How...interesting.  We get to kill two birds with one stone."  'I 
love saying that.'

"Aiyaa!  Is great news.  We return girl and kill Ranma at same time."

"Yeah, I just have to get my bearings and we'll get there in no time.  We 
shouldn't be too far away from the Tendo Dojo."

The amazon and the desert bandit set off down the street, trying to find a 
familiar landmark or street.  It wasn't too long after that before they were 
heading straight for the Tendo's.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How long do you think we should stay here for?"  Ranma, now in male form, 
leaned forward and whispered in Goku's ear as Penny went to fetch some 
snacks.  Fred was attending his garden, so the brothers were alone for the 
moment.

"How should I know?"  Goku whispered back.

"Well, give me a guess."

"I'm not sure.  Shampoo's been pretty persistent at tracking you down.  She 
even followed us all the way to Japan.  I wouldn't be surprised if she 
didn't give up until after dark."

Ranma sighed.  "I don't have time for this.  Hey!  I just got a brainstorm.  
Goku, take Penny for a ride on the Flying Nimbus.  That way, Shampoo will 
follow you two, and I can get back to the dojo."

"Yeah, but what do you want me to do if she catches us.  I don't want Penny 
to get hurt, but I also don't want to have Shampoo trying to kill me."

"Don't worry. Shampoo hasn't seen you or Penny before.  If she catches you, 
she won't do anything because she doesn't have a reason to attack either of 
you.  And how do you think she'll be able to catch you?  You'll be flying."

"Oh.  Right."  Goku said.

"Here she comes.  Go and ask her."

"Uh...Penny?"

"Yes, Goku?"  Penny asked happily.

"Uh...I was wondering if you wanted to go for a ride on the Flying Nimbus?"  
Goku fumbled.  He didn't know why he had trouble talking all of a sudden.

Penny just stood there with a blank expression on her face.  "The flying 
what?"

"Oh."  Goku said.  "I thought you'd seen Nimbus before.  Hold on."  Goku 
went to the nearest window and opened it.  "NIMBUS!"

Not before long, the yellow cloud shot out of the sky and screeched to a 
halt in front of the window.

"See?"  Goku said.  "This is Nimbus.  It's a magic cloud that lets you ride 
on it if you have a pure heart."

"Oh!  Cool!"  Penny exclaimed.  "Is it safe?"

"Yep."  Goku said, and to prove his point, the saiyan leapt onto the cloud.  
"Go ahead.  Try it."

"Okay."  She said, a bit of caution in her voice.  The young girl climbed up 
on the windowsill, and then jumped onto Nimbus.  "Wow!  It works!  And it's 
so soft!"

"Have fun, you two!"  Ranma called from the room.  "Don't worry about me, 
Penny.  I'll just let myself out.  See ya later."

"Bye!"  Penny and Goku both waved as the yellow cloud began to climb into 
the air.  Then it speed up and flew off into the sky.

"Wow!"  Penny exclaimed again.  "This is so neat!  Everything looks so tiny 
from up here."

"Yeah.  It's great, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh."

The Nimbus sailed away seeking to distract Shampoo, who wasn't even paying 
attention to the skies as she got closer to the dojo.

"Time to go."  Ranma said to no one in particular.  He burst out of the 
house at top speed and headed straight for the Tendo's.  Jumping from 
rooftop to rooftop, he put all his energy into getting home before Shampoo 
could possibly spot him, or so he hoped.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Akane sat at home, cradling Puar in her arms.  "What's taking so long?  
Kasumi should be back by now.  I shouldn't have let her go."  She said, 
slightly angry.  Akane had been able to do very little for the cat, only 
inspect the large lump on the backs of its head and the nasty bruise on its 
stomach.  She had made it more comfortable, but couldn't do anything else.  
"We probably should have brought the cat to Dr. Tofu's.  He'd have been able 
to heal it in no time."

The door to the house opened and slammed shut. The sound of someone 
breathing very heavily filled the house.

"Kasumi?"  Akane called.  "Is that you?"

"Huff...No...huff...it's...huff...huff...Ranma."  A desperately out of 
breath Ranma replied.

"Oh."  Akane said, deeply disappointed.  "You haven't seen Kasumi have you?"

"Not...huff...since..huff...this...huff...morning...huff."

"Oh.  By the way, what happened to you?  Why are you so out of breath."

"It's a...huff...long story."

"I've got time.  I especially what to hear what the hell happened in the 
backyard.  And where's Goku?"  Akane began to shout and anger crept into her 
voice.  "And what did you two do to C-chan?"

"C-chan?"

"Yes, C for cat and chan for little."

Ranma realized what she was saying just a little too late.  He had already 
rounded the corner in order to talk to Akane face to face when she said the 
dreaded word, cat.  Upon seeing the creature, Ranma's eyes bugged out and 
his mind drove into a panic.  He leapt back from the animal, taking him 
straight into a wall.  That didn't stop him as the wall crumbled as he hit 
it, making a nice Ranma shaped hole.  The pigtailed martial artist stopped 
running as soon as he got a good distance between the cat and himself.

"Kitty, go away!"  He shouted at the cat, while whimpering.  It was not one 
of Ranma Saotome's better moments.

Akane sweatdropped.  "Ranma?  Uh...what is your problem?  It's only a cat."

"Only a cat?  ONLY A CAT?"  Ranma screamed back.  "Don't you know how 
viscious those things are?  Have you seen their claws?  Or those fangs?  
They could bite you in half with one chomp.  They're dangerous animals, 
Akane.  So, please, get rid of it before it goes berserk and kills us all!"

"..."  Akane didn't know what to say.  She'd never seen Ranma act like this 
before, and it didn't suit him at all.  Nevertheless, she put the cat down 
out of Ranma's sight.  "Alright Ranma, joke's over.  Now quit fooling around 
and go find Kasumi.  She went out to get bandages for the cat because we 
used up all of ours on you two days ago."

Ranma shuddered.  "Don't remind me."  'What was I thinking?'  "Okay, I'll go 
find Kasumi.  See ya later."

Ranma climbed through the hole he had made and walked to the door.  He 
pulled it open and was about to go outside, but he was left facing two 
people carrying a third.  He recognized all three immediately, even though 
he never expected to see them all together.

"Ranma!"  Yamcha snarled.

"Ranma?"  Shampoo asked, slightly confused.

"..."  Kasumi said, as she was still unconscious.

"S-Shampoo?  Yamcha?"  Ranma said.

"Now, fight me like a man, Ranma.  No more running for you!  I'm going to 
make you pay for what you did to me and Shampoo!"  Yamcha said and charged 
forward.  His attack was interrupted by Shampoo tripping him, sending him 
face first into the ground.  "What was that for?"  He shouted at his 
partner.

"What going on here?  You call Ranma man."  She peered closer at the 
pigtailed boy in front of her.  She slowly reached forward and patted a very 
nervous Ranma's chest.  "Is man.  Is no Ranma."  She grew angry.  "You say 
Ranma live here, but this no Ranma."

"It is!"  Yamcha shouted as he got up.  "He's a guy.  What did you expect?"

"Ranma female."  Shampoo stated.

"No, he's not."  Yamcha countered.  "If he was, then how could he have 
violated your honour in the horrible way you said."

"Ranma beat Shampoo in combat.  That tarnish amazon honour.  Must kill to 
avenge self."

"B-beat you in combat?"  Yamcha stuttered, completely taken off guard.  
"Then what were you saying earlier?"

"Idiot-boy really idiot.  I no say anything like what you say.  Ranma I must 
kill is female. Have red hair, not black like this one."

"Fine."  Yamcha grumbled.  "But this is the Ranma I want to kill, so we 
finish him first.  Then I'll help you find and kill your Ranma.  Okay?"

Shampoo considered that.  "I no need your help in beating Ranma, but Ranma 
is difficult to find and you know city so okay."  The amazon turned to 
Ranma.  "We fight now."

Ranma didn't like the direction this conversation had headed.  Yamcha and 
Shampoo were both out to get him in his different forms on their own.  Now, 
they had teamed up to kill him in either form.  Things were not looking 
good.  This should've made him more cautious and careful of what he said or 
did, but this was not the case.  Ranma had his own reason to get upset.  
Very upset, in fact.

"What did you do to Kasumi?"  He stated flatly and without emotion.

"Who?"  Yamcha and Shampoo chorused.

Ranma pointed his finger at the blonde haired women lying behind the two 
warriors.  "Her.  What did you do to her?"  His voice was straining to 
control his rage.

"Bimbo-girl lose.  Not good fighter.  She use very cheap fighting tricks.  
We bring her here."

"What did you call her?"  Ranma snarled.  A red aura formed around him as 
his anger built up.

"Bimbo-girl."  Shampoo replied.

Ranma had had enough.  Calling Kasumi a bimbo made him angry.  Attacking 
Kasumi deserved a very severe beating if Ranma had any say in it.  Seeing 
her knocked unconscious tipped his anger over the edge, and he lost control 
of himself.

"DIE!"  He shouted and slammed his fist into Shampoo's stomach with all his 
strength.  The amazon's body shuddered with the force of the impact.  She 
doubled over and dropped to her knees.  Gasping for breath and crying from 
the pain, she curled up into a ball.

Ranma wasn't through yet.  His foot shot out and smashed into Yamcha's face, 
sending the desert bandit flying backwards.  Yamcha was dazed by the blow 
and didn't recover in time to land with any amount of grace.  Instead, he 
plunged face first into the ground.

Him being out of commission for the moment, Ranma turned his attention 
towards Shampoo once more.  Tears were rolling down the amazon's cheeks as 
she clutched her belly, trying in any way possible to make the hurting stop. 
  The sight of her was so pitiful that Ranma's anger began to drain away.  
He forgot all about the fact that she was trying to kill his girl half and 
probably now his guy half.  Ranma knelt down in front of her and placed his 
hands on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Shampoo."  He said softly.  "I didn't want to do that, but you 
gave me no choice.  No one is allowed to hurt Kasumi.  No one.  Even though 
she's tried to kill me in the past, she's still the sweetest girl I ever 
met.  I know her blond form can be dangerous, but that doesn't mean you can 
hurt her!  I can't forgive you for what you did but...ah!"  He was 
interrupted by Shampoo's sudden action.

"Wo ai ni."  She exclaimed happily as she embraced him and kissed him full 
on the lips.

Akane couldn't have picked a worse time walk out the front door.

"RANMA!"  She screamed while whipping out her mallet and cracking it over 
his skull.  "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"Akane!"  Ranma fumbled, searching desperately for an explanation.  He was 
caught off guard both by Shampoo actions and Akane's appearance.  "It's not 
how you think.  I wasn't doing anything, but Shampoo..."

"Shampoo?  What kind of a dumb bimbo name is that?  And she was doing what?  
Doing everything?  You're just blaming the whole thing on her.  You men are 
all the same.  You PIG!"  She ran back into the house, slamming the door 
behind her.

"Akane, wait!"  Ranma yelled.  He tried to go after her, but was anchored 
down by Shampoo once more.  "Get offa me."

"Wo ai ni."  Shampoo repeated and hugged a bewildered Ranma even tighter.   
The pigtailed martial artist had no idea what to do, so he just sat there 
stunned.

While Ranma and Akane were arguing, Yamcha had pulled his head out of the 
dirt, and looked around.  No one had ever hit him that hard before, and he 
still hadn't recovered fully from the blow.  He was also distracted by the 
presence of something loose in his mouth.  Curious, he spat it out onto the 
ground.  It was a tooth.  Panicking slightly,  Yamcha probed his mouth with 
his tongue and found a gap on the right side of his mouth, presumably where 
the tooth had come from.

"AAAAHHHH!  Now I'll never get a date!"  He cried out in despair.  "Ranma, 
you'll pay for this!"

Yamcha turned to find his adversary, his anger flaring.  He made out the two 
forms of Ranma and Shampoo in front of the door to the Tendo's.  Shampoo 
appeared to have Ranma in some sort of a bear hug.

'Good.'  Yamcha thought while grinning.  'She's pinning him down so I can 
hit him.  Nice work, Shampoo.'

The desert bandit stood up and sprinted towards the two.  He jumped into the 
air and prepared to delivered a flying kick to Ranma.  However, his head 
still rung from the blow he received, making his aim less than perfect.  
Yamcha sailed over the heads of Ranma and Shampoo and crashed through the 
door and into the house.  He landed sprawled on the ground with a chunk of 
door covering his face.

Akane stared at the strange figure lying at her feet.  After slamming the 
door and storming off, she picked up C-chan and was going to go up to her 
room and cry.  Just as she was passing by the door, Yamcha came smashing 
through it.  She looked up to see Shampoo still hugging Ranma, and turned 
her head away sharply.  Her gaze rested on the desert bandit.  She knelt 
down and lifted the piece of door covering his face.

"Are you okay?"  Akane asked.

Yamcha's world went from being dark to light as the object blocking light 
from reaching his face was removed.  This resulted in him staring directly 
into Akane's eyes as she was right in front of him.  A combination of the 
blow to his head and the sudden flood of light made Akane seem like a vision 
of perfect beauty.

"Am I dead?"  He asked dreamily.

"I don't think so."  Akane replied, unsure of who this man was or why he 
just came crashing through her door.

"Oh."  Yamcha muttered, while still admiring the vision before him.  Then 
the wheels in his mind began to turn.  He realized that one if he wasn't 
dead, then this person was not an angel, despite how beautiful she may seem. 
  Two, if she wasn't an angel, then she was a girl.  Three, if she's a girl, 
then he was two feet away from a girl.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"  Yamcha screamed once more and scrambled away on his hands 
and feet from the youngest Tendo daughter.  He backed up until he bumped 
against the wall.  Then he just sat there staring.  He recognized from the 
picture he had that led him to Nerima.  Yamcha notice that she was pretty in 
the picture, but she was much more attractive in person than he could have 
possibly imagined.

Akane was also staring, but for a different reason.  "I'm sorry if I scared 
you."  She said.  "But what exactly are you doing in my house?"  Ordinarily 
Akane would be quite upset at this point, especially since she wasn't a very 
happy person when Yamcha first came flying through the door, but there was 
something about this guy's actions that made her wonder.  Most guys always 
tried to attack and beat her so they could get a date.  Others tried to get 
a date by non-physical confrontation.  Then, there was the one who had been 
engaged to her through their parents meddling and who was now snuggling with 
some strange purple haired girl in the front yard.  No one had ever run 
screaming from her before, even when she was mighty angry and the person 
soon wished that they had turned tail and ran.

"I...uh...ah..."  Yamcha fumbled for words.  He searched wildly for an 
explanation of why he had come sailing through the door other than he was 
trying to kill a guy who had ran out on a fight years ago and had caused his 
dad's restaurant to go bankrupt.  He quickly found words when he noticed 
what Akane was holding.  "Puar!"

"Huh?  What's a Puar?  Some kinda fruit?"

Yamcha pointed to the cat Akane was cradling and repeated himself.  "Puar!"

"Oh.  Do you mean C-chan?"  Akane said while holding up the cat.  "Does Puar 
mean cat?  Do you speak a different language?"

Yamcha finally got over his shock at seeing his old friend again and at 
being in the presence of a woman.  "No, Puar's her name.  You found her.  
Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you."  Yamcha said graciously as he went to 
grab Puar from Akane.  However, the Tendo daughter kept the animal just out 
of reach.  She wanted to find out the whole story first.

"So, C-chan is your cat?"  She asked cautiously, not wanting to lose her new 
pet.

Yamcha nodded eagerly, then grew serious.  "I got separated from Puar when I 
was fighting a man named Ranma Saotome earlier today.  He hid from me for 
some reason, and then had his younger brother attacked Puar.  She was no 
match for him, and in the ensuing fight between myself and his brother, I 
lost track of her.  Ranma has an ally, I think.  A redheaded girl who chased 
me away.  I couldn't fight because I'm scared of g-girls."  Yamcha realized 
as he finished his sentence just how close he had gotten to Akane when he 
was trying to reclaim Puar.  He quickly jumped back against the wall.

"Scared of girls."  Akane repeated.  'How weird.  Then again, Ranma seemed 
to be deathly afraid of cats.'  "So how did you end up back here?"

"That's a long story.  I need to kill Ranma for what he's done to me and to 
Puar."

"Kill him?"  Akane asked, shocked.  Yes there were times when Ranma made her 
so angry, like right now, but they got along really well most of the time.  
She had never even considered killing him when they first got to know each 
other, even though they had hated each other.  Giving him a severe beating 
or two, yes, but never killing him.

"Yes.  He's done horrible things to me and...It's really not your concern.  
Don't worry about my problems, but thank you for caring anyway."

Akane sweatdropped.  "What?"

"I said thank you for caring.  No one has ever cared for me before except 
Puar and my parents, before Ranma got through with them that is.  After that 
night they got very depressed, and I haven't seen them in years."

Akane wasn't sure what to do.  On the one hand, this guy was starting to 
seem more and more like the hordes of boys who were after her.  On the 
other, she really wanted to know what Ranma had done to his family to 
deserve all the hatred this man seemed to show for him.

"Excuse me a second."  She said after a moment.  Akane walked up to where 
Ranma was still sitting and trying to figure out what to do and stepped down 
hard on his head, driving it into the ground.  "Alright Ranma, playtime's 
over.  Just what do you think you're doing with this girl and what exactly 
did you do to that poor man to make him hate you so much?"

"Mmmph."  Ranma said, as talking through dirt doesn't work very well.

"Who you and what you do with my airen?"  Shampoo demanded.  She wasn't too 
happy about her groom to be being smashed into the ground, particularly if 
she had been holding him at the time.

Akane turned to face the amazon.  "I'm Akane Tendo, and I'm beating the 
stuffing out of him until he tells me what I want to know.  I'm also engaged 
to him, but I really don't think he cares about that anymore given the way 
he was acting with you."

"Aiya.  You engaged to another girl?"  Shampoo asked Ranma, who was feeling 
mighty uncomfortable at this point.

"What do you mean another girl?  Ranma, you can't mean that..."  Akane 
trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

"Akane!"  Ranma said as he tried to defend himself verbally.  "I don't know 
what she's talking about.  She's actually trying to kill me!"

"How?  By suffocation?"  Akane spat.

"Shampoo no kill Ranma.  Shampoo marry him."  She said as she glomped him.

"M-M-Marry?"  Akane and Ranma said together.

"Yes.  If male outsider beat amazon in fight, amazon must marry outsider.  
If female outsider beat amazon, then amazon must kill outsider.  So Ranma 
marry Shampoo, yes?"

"What?"  Ranma said, still not having recovered from the shock of finding 
out that he was engaged to TWO girls.

"What kind of a stupid law is that?"  Akane demanded.

"Is no stupid law.  Is way of amazon to marry strong men into tribe."

"Really?" Akane said, her eyebrow twitching.  Then she relaxed and grinned 
broadly.  "Then what, pray tell, are you going to do about this?"

As Akane finished her sentence, she brought a bucket of water and dumped it 
over Ranma's head.  The transformation took place, turning Ranma into his 
buxom, redhaired female form.

Shampoo's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as she saw what and, more 
importantly, who she was now hugging.  Yamcha's eyes also grew wide and he 
backed up a couple steps but fought off the urge to turn and run.

'So Ranma was the girl from before.'  He thought.  'But how can he change 
without the explosion?  Something to do with water?'

"RANMA!"  Shampoo screamed.  "You female?"

"I'M A GUY!"  Ranma shouted.

"You should take a look in the mirror then."  Akane said.  "Shampoo, just 
look at him.  He's a girl."

Shampoo nodded her head.  "KILL!"  She lashed out at him but stopped 
centimetres away from his face.  She recalled a legend of the fabled springs 
of Jusenkyo that her great-grandmother had told her about.  One where things 
that fell into them turned into whatever had drowned there last and how 
water could affect the curse.  She remembered the clump of black hair she 
had held which changed into red hair when a raindrop had hit it.  Everything 
fell into place.  "Ranma, you boy or girl?"

"He's a girl."  Akane said.

"I'm a boy!"  Ranma countered.

Shampoo stood there, her fist still right in front of Ranma's face.  After a 
good 10 seconds of complete silence, she lowered her arm.  "Shampoo 
confused.  Shampoo no know what to think.  Shampoo not sure if Ranma boy or 
girl and no one give Shampoo straight answer.  I go now."  She turned around 
and ran off down the street.

Yamcha was the first of the remaining three to move.  "Hey, wait!  Shampoo!  
We had a deal!"  He sprinted after her, but she didn't stop.  Ranma and 
Akane watched them disappear from sight before doing anything.

"Oh no!"  Akane exclaimed.

"What?  What's wrong?"  Ranma asked worriedly.

"The guy forgot his cat."  She said while holding up C-chan.

The hairs on the back of Ranma's neck stood straight up.  He bolted directly 
away from the cat, which took him right into a telephone pole.  Like the one 
before, the pole cracked and fell over.

"Oh.  That explains the telephone pole in the back.  Serves you right, you 
insensitive jerk."  Ranma and Akane had been giving each other mock insults 
when their parents were within earshot for awhile now.  This was the first 
time since the fight with Ryouga where Akane really meant it.  Her anger was 
quickly dissipated and replaced with worry and concern when she saw her 
sister lying unconscious on the ground.

"Kasumi!"  Akane cried.  "What happened to you?  If this is your fault 
Ranma, I'm gonna...I'm gonna...I'm gonna have to think very hard for your 
punishment.  Or just ask Nabiki."

Ranma groaned from his position lying prone on the ground.

Akane picked up her sister and carried her inside.  She laid her down on a 
bed and began examining her injuries.  Akane was relieved to find that 
Kasumi had only suffered a blow to the head that knocked her unconscious.  
It hadn't been a hard enough hit to do any serious or permanent damage.  All 
Kasumi needed was rest.

Which meant that Akane got to cook dinner.

End of Chapter



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