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    Ranma 1/2

    The Three Saotomes

    Part 24 Tournament: Round 3

++++++++++

    Ranma faced off against Matin and smirked. His opponent merely
scowled at him angrily, not particularly caring about Hakama's signal
to start the battle.

    "Aw, he beat me to it," commented Ranma as he glanced up at Hakama
for a moment.

    "You've got other concerns," commented Matin as he spread his feet
apart and frowned.

    "Right, let's see what you've got," agreed Ranma as he followed
suit casually.

    "Come on!" snapped Matin as he launched himself into the air.

    Ranma followed him and they clashed in mid air, punching and
kicking each other as they passed. They landed opposite one another
and stood still for a moment, until Ranma clutched his side and fell
down to one knee.

    "Not bad."

    "You're finished this time," snorted Matin in reply as he turned
to face the boy.

    "Don't get cocky, you're don't have as much of an advantage as you
seem to think," replied Ranma as he slowly rose to his feet and
cracked his knuckles as he turned to face the boy again. He took up a
stance and smirked lazily, eyeing Matin coolly.

    "Changing styles won't save you," said Matin with a small frown.

    "Maybe, maybe not. We'll see," commented Ranma lazily as he took a
slow step forward.

    "Come on then!" snapped Matin as he charged towards his opponent
on the ground this time.

    Ranma sidestepped and put his knee into the boy's belly. Matin
managed to get an elbow into his hated rival's chest. They both were
thrown back by the blows, and skidded to a stop on the concrete,
raising a cloud of dust as they did.

    "You're better than I thought you'd be," commented Ranma with his
smirk never fading away.

    "You haven't seen anything yet," snarled Matin as he spread his
feet apart again.

    "Let's turn it up a notch then," said Ranma as he attacked again,
rushing forward and spinning into a kick aimed at Matin's head.

    The boy deflected the blow with his arm and countered with a
sweeping kick of his own; Ranma hopped over the strike and sent a
short kick out towards the boy's exposed chest. It was blocked by an
open handed strike that spun Ranma around in the air.

    Matin jumped back as Ranma twisted in the air and landed in a kung
fu stance with his arms spread wide and his chest lowered slightly.

    "This should be a pretty interesting battle, you've earned my
respect," commented Ranma with his eyebrow arched slightly.

    "I'm glad to hear it," deadpanned Matin as he leaned back on his
rear leg and put his fists up. "Come on, let's not take all day."

++++++++++++

    "That bastard! How dare he use my style!" snapped Xianghua as she
noticed the stance he had take up. She stood up and clenched her fists
angrily.

    "Calm down," said Tofu as he pulled on her hand and forced her to
sit down again. "You'll get your shot at him, I doubt if this one is
enough to beat Ranma."

    "How would you know? He seems to be doing well," commented the
woman as she glared at him for a moment.

    "Ranma isn't even trying, I haven't even seen a hint of his battle
aura yet. I'm ashamed to say it, but he was able to beat me without it
as well."

    "Oh, that," grumbled Xianghua. "Ranma doesn't ever use his, I've
fought him to near death before. He's never once used it against me,
he has something else. Something better."

    Tofu narrowed his eyes at her for a moment. "What do you mean?"

    "I can't say what it is, I'm not sure," she replied calmly.

    Tofu merely nodded at this and remained quiet.

+++++++++++

    "Akane trained you well," commented Ranma as he blocked a quick
jab. "But you're missing the basis of the Anything Goes School."

    Matin jumped back as his attack failed and frowned. "What do you
mean?"

    "You're a skilled martial artist, I'm sure you'll catch on. Like
all other styles, Anything Goes has a basic style that is its core.
However, the prime tenant of the school, is to learn all you can from
other styles, and use the best components as the situation fits. Akane
never understood that, and it is her most basic weakness. That's the
reason your plan will fail."

    Matin took up a more defensive posture and nodded. "I figured as
much. You don't think that's the only trick I've learned do you?"

    "I hope not, I've always enjoyed these fights," replied Ranma
coldly as he rushed forward again.

    "Ha!" snapped Matin as he moved to intercept him.

    Ranma waited for him and kicked at his head, the move was blocked,
but Ranma managed to hop back and kicked him in the gut with a short
snap before he could react. Matin staggered back clutching his belly
and snarled. Ranma rushed forward, pressing his momentary advantage,
punching at the boy and scoring a few hits before he recovered. Matin
slashed out and punched Ranma's fist after a moment and the pair
locked, pushing against each other's arms.

    "Not bad," commented Matin with a smirk appearing on his face.

    "You haven't seen anything yet," replied Ranma as he mirrored the
expression. They jumped away from one another and moved back into
combat stances once again.

    Matin ran towards Ranma again after a moment and attempted to push
him back with a punching combination. Ranma jumped over him
completely, kicking back with his leg and catching the boy in the back
of his head. "Phoenix defends from sky!" He spun in midair and blocked
the kick that was meant to retaliate against the move as Matin fell
forward.

    "Ha! You'll have to do better than that!" snapped Ranma with a
smirk.

    "Fine then!" snarled Matin angrily as he pulled the boomerang from
his back and spun it on his palm for a moment. "Let's see you deal
with this!"

    Ranma jumped back and smiled broadly. "You don't think that will
work again do you?"

    "You haven't seen anything yet!" screamed the boy as the metal
blades suddenly lit up with a blue flame. "Silver Flash!"

    Ranma's eyes went wide as he jumped up to avoid the impossible
speed with the boomerang moved as it cut through the air towards him.
"Damn!" he muttered as it curved back towards him, forcing him to tuck
into a ball and roll across the ground. He kicked his legs out as
Matin punched at the ground in front of him, barely missing. Matin
pressed his attack, punching and kicking at the boy, forcing Ranma to
jump back as the boomerang suddenly cut through the ground between
them.

    "That's a good trick," commented Ranma with a frown as he moved
farther away from both the projectile and his opponent. "But you have
to concentrate, and it's costing you speed."

    Matin chuckled as the glowing disk hovered directly beside his
head. "You're just blowing off your mouth now. You can't beat me."

    Ranma cupped his hands at his sides and frowned. "We'll see about
that." A low buzzing noise filled the air, as Ranma suddenly began to
glow with a blue energy field that sparked against the ground. "Come
on." His hair began to rise slowly into the air.

    "That won't work on me again!" snarled Matin as he pointed towards
his opponent. The boomerang swooped towards Ranma, forcing him to jump
back. It missed and sailed high into the air, curving upwards.

    "Eat this!" screamed Ranma as he thrust his hands forward,
blasting at Matin with a ball of energy.

    The boy crossed his arms in front of him, and Ranma's eyes went
wide as his energy blast was intercepted by the spinning boomerang,
only to disperse harmlessly into the air. "What the?"

    "Surprised?" said Matin with a small chuckle.

    "Come on then!" cried Ranma as he rushed forward. The projectile
spun away from Matin, moving into the air above the battle.

    "Ha!" cried the boy as he attempted to intercept Ranma. He punched
out at him and his opponent didn't even attempt to block the strike.
He felt his hand strike flesh, and suddenly an intense pain raced
through his body.

    Ranma smirked as Matin began screaming as the energy that
surrounded him coursed through the boy's body. "What's the matter?
Can't touch me?"

    Matin managed to pull his hand away and gasped for a moment with a
look of shock on his face. "You..."

    "Gee, I wonder what would happen if I hit you?" said Ranma as he
held up his fist and allowed the energy to crackle across his knuckles
for a moment.

    "I won't be beaten so easily!" cried Matin as he jumped back away
from the boy. The boomerang dove towards Ranma, forcing him back as
well as it cut through the air around him, narrowly missing him at
numerous points as it circled around him, twisting and turning through
the air.

    Matin wasn't finished though, he stood back and watched for a
moment, before snapping his arms straight down revealing two slim
metal objects. They almost looked like rods of metal. With a flick of
his wrists, two more smaller boomerangs appeared in his hands. "Die!"

++++++++++

    "What the hell is that?" screamed Akane in shock as she watched
Ranma glow with power.

    Genryu and Taro looked at one another with almost exactly the same
frown on their faces. Ukyo just looked shocked and confused, not able
to say anything. She found herself feeling greatly relieved that she
had changed sides all of a sudden.

    "What is that?" repeated Akane firmly as she looked at Genryu.

    "That? That's nothing, just residual static electricity he's
collected over time," replied the boy calmly.

    "Collected?" gasped Akane in shock as she stared at him.

    "Great Grandmother wrong, is not impossible," said Shampoo calmly.
Mousse looked at her in confusion for a moment and said nothing,
before returning his gaze to the fight again. Ryoga had a similar
expression on his face and merely nodded.

    "Keep watching," said Taro calmly.

++++++++++

    "Come on then!" screamed Ranma as he moved across the field at an
amazing rate of speed. His arms thrust out, and another ball of energy
shot from his hands, only to be deflected once again by the now
glowing smaller boomerangs.

    "I won't lose!" cried Matin as he launched both of the weapons at
one time. Ranma twisted and ducked as he was assaulted from three
different angles, finally ducking under the largest of the boomerangs
and rolling across the ground.

    Matin screamed as Ranma rolled out of his trap and ended up
directly in front of him, sending his fist into the boy's gut. He
stood there, screaming in pain as the electric energy coursed through
his body, preventing him from moving. Finally, the scream stopped as
the blades fell to the ground from their hovering positions in the
air. He slumped down onto the concrete and lay still.

    Ranma stood up, huffing for breath. The crowd was completely
silent and did not make a single sound as he walked out of the ring.
Even Hakama was looking at the scene in silence. His face was a cold
scowl though. Remembering exactly what he had felt as a result of this
strange power.

    "I'll make sure you suffer for that Saotome."

+++++++

    Nabiki was shaking, she didn't know why. Her camcorder was still
pointed at the ring taping the silent scene for a long moment. She
tentatively lowered the camera and flicked the power off, stopping the
tape. "My god."

    Nodoka said nothing, merely watching the scene in shocked silence.
"Nabiki, tell me what that was," she managed finally.

    "I..." stuttered the girl quietly.

    "It seems my husband has much to answer for," said Nodoka solemnly
after another short silence between them.

++++++++

    "Did you see that?" stammered Tofu as he looked over at Xianghua
with worry etched on his face.

    "Indeed I did," replied the woman calmly. "I have seen this once
before."

    "And you still want to fight him?" muttered the man. He was
looking at her as if she was crazy.

    "No. I have to. You let me worry about that now," said the woman
coldly.

    Tofu merely nodded and said nothing else.

+++++++++++

    It was several minutes before the crowd collected themselves.
Hakama stood up and spread his arms once again.

    "As I said. We will find out who is the strongest after all."

    The crowd responded at last, cheering wildly. No one had expected
anything close to this.

    He waited calmly as they settled and picked up his clipboard once
again. "The next battle is an interesting one indeed. Ryoga Hibiki,
versus Akane Tendo!"

    Akane stood up and walked into the ring. Ryoga followed just
behind her, and cursed to himself.

    "What was that about?" said Genryu as he looked towards his
brother.

    Ranma looked tired and shook his head for a moment. "Huh? Oh,
that. He's just mad cause he has to fight a girl, that's all."

    "Why is mad?" said Shampoo in confusion.

    "That pig," muttered Ukyo under her breath. She was giving Ranma
nervous glances on occasion and clinging to her husband's arm. Genryu
looked slightly annoyed by this, but did nothing to stop her.

    Ranma chuckled at the reactions. "Ryoga is good, he might actually
win this fight."

    Taro looked at the boy for a moment and smirked. "Not giving your
student much credit are you?"

    "Heh. You've fought Ryoga, don't act like you don't know he's
easily a match for her. Who knows, she's improved a lot. She may be
able to pull it off."

+++++++

    "Back out now. I don't want to hurt you," said Ryoga as he stared
Akane down in the middle of the ring.

    "Don't be stupid, I'm going to hurt you," replied Akane angrily.

    Ryoga looked at her with a small amount of surprise at that
announcement. "Look lady, you don't know what you're dealing with."

    "Heh, I know exactly what I'm dealing with. Genryu can't beat me
as fast as he took you out jerk."

    "Why you dirty little..." muttered Ryoga under his breath. He
hefted his umbrella up onto his shoulder and spread his feet.

    "That's more like it," said Akane darkly as she smirked at him.

    "Fight!" cried Hakama as he slashed his arm down and signaled the
start of the battle.

    Akane took the initiative immediately. Jumping towards Ryoga and
punching him dead in the face.

    The lost boy staggered back and grunted in pain. He stepped back
and growled. "You'll pay for that!"

    "Stop talking and fight!" screamed Akane as she kicked him in the
gut.

    "Damn you!" cried Ryoga as he finally rushed forward grabbing for
the girl.

    She easily evaded the attempted grapple, and grabbed one of his
extended arms, flipping him over her head. He landed sprawled out on
the ground and rolled back onto his feet as she released him.

    "Damn it!" cried Ryoga as he brought his umbrella up across his
chest as Akane pressed her attack. The girl jumped back as her strikes
were blocked.

    "Not bad," she said with a small chuckle as she cracked her
knuckles by flexing her fingers for a moment.

    "I won't be beaten by some girl," snorted Ryoga, more to himself
than her.

    "What makes you think I'd let a boy beat me?" replied the girl as
she rushed forward and attacked again.

+++++++++

    "So...that's it," muttered Nabiki as she watched her sister fight.

    "What is it?" said Nodoka in surprise.

    "A comment like that would have sent Akane off the deep end a few
months ago. I get it now, all that he's done too her..." she looked
over at Ranma with a scowl on her face. "It's still not good enough to
forgive him," she told herself.

    "I see, he is a good teacher then?" muttered Nodoka to herself not
really hearing Nabiki's final comment to herself.

++++++++++

    Akane performed an axe kick that took Ryoga in the jaw, he
staggered back and frowned as he regained his balance punching as soon
as he did so. Akane was forced to step back to avoid the strike and
spun into an elbow strike. Ryoga did the same, and the pair locked up,
pushing against one another.

    Ryoga grit his teeth and stared into the girl's eyes. He wasn't
moving her, despite all his strength, she was still pushing just as
hard as he was. "No way..." he muttered to himself. Finally, with a
grunt of effort, Akane was forced to break the lock as she found
herself being pushed back.

    "You're stronger than you look," commented the girl as she rotated
her shoulder for a moment.

    "So are you," replied Ryoga with a frown. He tossed his umbrella
aside and put up his fists.

    "Giving up?" said the girl with a small smirk.

    "It's just a dead weight against you," he replied with his eyes
narrowing suddenly.

    "Come on then!" snapped Akane as she charged forward again.

    "I'll overpower you little girl! You don't stand a chance!"
snapped Ryoga as he met her charge head on.

    The pair collided, Ryoga had a fist pushed out in a punch, but
Akane merely shifted to the side slightly, and brought up her knee
into his gut. The boy lurched forward, but remained standing. Akane
was far from finished though. She elbowed him in the back of his head,
forcing him down further, and then performed a quick hop back.
Spinning on her heel she spun around in a spin kick style maneuver,
and caught Ryoga's neck with the back of her knee, applying a choke
hold as she continued spinning and forced him back and onto the
ground.

    Ryoga's eyes went bloodshot as he felt his air supply cut off and
struggled for a moment. Finally, he regained his wits and grabbed the
girl's leg, pushing up with all his strength, it was barely enough. He
took a quick gasp and pushed himself up by kicking his legs out and
sliding his head under her leg.

    Akane was not even phased by the maneuver. She spun around as soon
as he was free and performed a sweeping kick that caught him across
the knees, sending him back onto the ground, continuing her spin, she
leaned into a punch that hit him dead in the face as he landed on the
concrete again. The ground behind his head shattered under the force
of the blow, and he stopped moving.

    Akane stood up and dusted off her dogi absently. "Not bad at all,"
she commented looking the boy over for a moment. Finally, she turned
towards her companions and started to walk back over to them.

+++++++++++

    "She won," commented Taro.

    "Ryoga was holding back. She would have lost had he gone all out,
like he did against Mousse," said Ranma lazily.

    "Well, she did good I thought," said Genryu with a small shrug.

    "Yeah, she did," agreed Ranma quietly as he watched her approach.

    "Well?" said Akane as she sat down next to him.

    "Well what?" replied Ranma obliviously.

    "Aren't you going to say something?" she snapped irritably.

    "Um...nope," said the boy with a shrug.

    Akane suddenly remembered why she hated him. "Jerk."

    "All this exercise is making your chest smaller," commented Ranma
absently.

    Akane's hair bristled slightly and she glared at him for a moment.
Finally, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her nose up at
him. "Fine! Be that way!"

    Ranma shrugged and looked over as Ryoga was brought to the
sidelines again. "Man, out cold. How hard did you hit him?" He poked
the lost boy in his chest absently for a moment.

    Akane blushed, but continued to ignore him.

+++++++++

    Hakama stood up as the cheers of the crowd died down once again.

    "The battles are far from over my friends! Next up! Genryu
Saotome, versus Pantsuto Taro!"

    "That bastard! I'll kill him!" said Taro as he jumped to his feet.

    "Calm down Taro," muttered Ranma lazily.

    "Yeah, we got a match Pantyhose boy," said Genryu with a small
snort as he stood up.

    Ukyo looked at him in shock for a moment, and then back at Taro.

    "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this Fem-boy," snapped Taro as he cracked
his knuckles.

    "Nah, I don't think you will," said the younger boy confidently.

    "My condolences on your husband," said Taro as he looked at Ukyo
for a moment.

    The girl looked towards Ranma and frowned. "Aren't you going to do
something? I don't want Genryu to die!"

    "Huh? Don't worry, Taro and Genryu like each other...sort of,"
said the boy with a shrug.

    "Sort of?" muttered Akane as she looked at him.

    "You people worry too much. They'll be fine, I guess..."

    "You guess?" snapped Ukyo with complete terror written across her
face.

+++++++++

    TBC...


C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com

Previous parts can be found at Http://www.fanfiction.net and R&C Books
International Fanfic Company at Http://www.rcbooks.org

Ja!


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