Hi all! This is my first attempt at any sort of Ranma fanfiction. I've always had ideas swimming around in my head, but this is the first one I've actually had the balls to follow up on. This is a big time crossover here, but I'm not telling you with what just yet. That's up to you to figure out. If you get hopelessly lost in one of the crossover worlds, then I apologize, I'm sure not everyone that's going to read this will get them all. This is a fic that focuses on everyone's favorite Eternally Lost Boy, Ryoga Hibiki. So, those of you looking for your typical Ranma hijinks, don't look here, Ryoga's the only Ranma 1/2 character I really follow throughout the entire story. Now, time for the standard disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Takahashi-megami-sama, and everything I'm crossing over with belongs to whoever created it (you honestly think I'm going to give away who the other crossovers are? Puh-leeeze)
Timeline notes: This occurs right after the end of the Manga, after the failed wedding attempt. I've also taken liberty with the time this is set in; assume that it's set this year, the year 2000.
Warning: Lots of pseudo-science and liberties taken with reality, and such. If this bothers you, remember that THIS IS ONLY A FANFIC!!! HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR!!!! DROP THE PLATYPUS!!!! (Um.....where did that come from?)
Now, for your viewing (um, I mean reading) pleasure, Bad Smack Productions, in conjunction with Lots-Of-Caffeine-And-Sugar Distribution proudly present to you, the beginning of a saga......
The Dimensional Lost Boy
By: Alan Fernandez (AKA the Talk Of The Town)
Prologue: Watch that first Leap, it's a doozy!
It can be said, with much certainty, that there are many constants to life. One, is that the sun rises in the east, and sets in the west. Another, is that water is wet. Yet another, is that you NEVER eat Taco Bell and White Castle in the same night. And then.....
"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW?!?!?!?!?"
There's the fact that Ryoga Hibiki will always be lost.
*Well, the people are speaking English, so I could be in America....,* thought Ryoga. He was actually right about this, which is a minor miracle in and of itself. What was even more of a miracle, he wasn't directly blaming Ranma this time, for anything.
It was about a week since Ranma and Akane had tried to get married. Now, he had his small part in the disaster, as one of the male Jusenkyo victims who attempted to liberate the Nannichuan for himself, before that hentai Happosai had gulped the whole thing like so much sake. But, overall, he didn't cause Ranma and Akane too much grief directly; that was mostly Kuno (brother AND sister), Ukyo (he had expected better of her, after the amount that Ranma trusted her as a friend), and Shampoo. After the fiasco subsided and everyone went home to recover or sulk, he somehow found his way to Akari Unryuu's house. He needed someone to talk to after nearly having Akane taken by Ranma.
No, he was deluding himself, Akane wanted Ranma as much as Ranma wanted Akane. It was just nearly impossible to get them to admit it to each other, let alone other people. It was at that moment that he realized that his unhealthy obsession with Akane had to cease. And for once in his life, he had a stroke of good luck, and bumped into Akari. They talked long into the night, and Ryoga felt happy for the first time since the bread feud with Ranma.
After leaving Akari's the next morning to take care of a few loose ends before he began his life anew, Ryoga quickly got lost. Which, needless to say, was the last thing that he wanted to do. But, Ryoga being Ryoga, he kept on, certain that he'd make his way back to his Akari (God, it felt good to say that), and Ranma. He felt he owed Ranma an apology, for being such a constant thorn in his side since the engagement. Besides, Ranma was the closest thing to a best friend that Ryoga had. Whereas Mousse was a comrade-in-arms of sorts, what with both being cursed and all and both hating Ranma (or so they thought), Ranma had truly been there in the past for Ryoga. Ranma had honor enough to keep quiet about P-Chan, even when it ate at him inside to not tell Akane. Ranma was the only person that was more skilled than Ryoga, and even with his arrogance about that, Ranma at least admitted that Ryoga was the only martial artist that gave him any sort of challenge anymore, where the other Nerimans for the most part wrote Ryoga off as an annoyance that showed up occasionally.
But none of that changed the fact that Ryoga was still hopelessly lost. Well, maybe not so hopelessly this time......"Hmm, there's a mailbox there, I guess I should send these. The sooner they get to Akari and Ranma & Akane, the better," Ryoga said, in quite good English. One thing about being constantly lost in foreign countries, it sure helped your linguistic ability. Plus, English was spoken nearly everywhere, which made it doubly useful.
He opened the mailbox flap to place a postcard and a letter in. The postcard was addressed to Akari, asking her to wait for him until he returned. The letter was addressed to Ranma and Akane, and was very long. He figured it wouldn't hurt to tell Ranma about what he was thinking; that way it would be that much easier to talk things out, and set things right. As he dropped the postcard and letter into the mailbox, he noticed a large truck, drive by. What he didn't notice was the puddle it drove through...at least, he didn't notice it until he turned into P-Chan.
Dejected, but at least content that he got the mail off and didn't get spotted changing, he dragged his massive pack into a bathroom, where he promptly got his hot plate out, set a saucepan on it, and began to heat the water. Once it got warm enough to change him back, he turned off the hot plate, tipped the saucepan so as to spill the water all over himself, and once again join the world of the humans. He set about packing up his hot plate, then walked out of the bathroom. As he began to wander the corridor, he once again wondered where exactly he was. It seemed to be a scientific facility of some sort.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Samuel Beckett sighed. Why in God's name did he have to give Ziggy such an enormous ego? I mean, yes, it was an incredible achivement for science, and it did make her much more efficient...after all, she had a reputation to uphold. But, she could be SO touchy at times.
Take now, for example. Not 20 minutes until the first run of Project Quantum Leap, and she was having a hissy fit. "Ziggy, what do you mean that there's a huge improbability field in the mountain?"
If the supercomputer could huff itself up, it would have right then. "I detect a massive improbability buildup within the mountain, with a 97.4% chance that said improbability field will foul up the results of the Leap. All I'm telling you is that a Leap right now will be ill-advised."
"Well, tell that to the Pentagon ninnies that fund us," piped up Admiral Al Callavichi. "They want Sam here to test in 20 minutes, and that's going to happen. Improbability field my foot."
Sam nodded in agreement. "I mean, really Ziggy, are you afraid of some big spooky improbability that'll send me to unknown reaches?" he teased .
Ziggy let out a computeristic sigh. "It's your funeral, Doctor. Don't say I didn't warn you...."
Al looked disgustedly at Ziggy, then at Sam. "Why did you have to give that computer such a big ego? It's more annoying than working with a spoiled Hollywood actress."
"Only I have more talent," Ziggy stated arrogantly.
Sam and Al groaned simultaneously, and then set about prepping the Imaging Chamber where Al was to monitor Sam when he Leaped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Ryoga wandered around this unusual facility, he began to glow a sickly green. All the wandering around he was doing wasn't where he wanted to be right now. All he wanted was to be with Akari, and to set things right with Ranma. *Not that Ranma doesn't have alot to apologize for, himself.....there was all his mistreatment of Akane, and his causing me to be cursed, and the bread feud....but, I've caused him an equal amount of hell.*
All this was adding up to a fairly decent sized Shi Shi Hokodan building within Ryoga. He wouldn't have to shoot it off for a while yet, but once he started to fuel his depression, it gained momentum like a snowball rolling downhill. He knew he'd have to find a place to fire it soon, otherwise he'd burn himself out. The problem was, he didn't want to fire it off in this place, and risk damaging anything. *What is this place, anyway?* wondered Ryoga. *I haven't seen a single person in these corridors since I found myself here. Maybe they're all busy in a meeting or something?* That, we are about to find out, is something of an understatement.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"T-Minus 30 seconds and counting," stated Ziggy. "And might I add, I resent the fact that such a mundane task as the countdown fell to me."
Everyone ignored the computer's remark, as they were too focused on Sam in the Leap Chamber. So far, everything was running smoothly, and Ziggy's mysterious "improbability field" hadn't fouled up anything.
T-Minus 15 seconds......
T-Minus 10 seconds......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He couldn't hold it in anymore. Like a child who had held in going to the bathroom for too long, Ryoga was really backed up, only with explosive depression chi, not bodily fluids. Luckily, he stumbled upon a corridor that seemed to end in solid rock.
*Th-that looks good enough to blow up w-with this....* Ryoga thought, as he prepared one massive blast....
"SHI SHI HOKODAN!!!!!"
From that point on, all bets were off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"T-Minus 4...3...2...."
Just then, on the far wall of the Leap Chamber, as Sam began to make history as the first person to time travel, there was a hole, not much bigger than a mousehole, forming in the smooth wall. As the remnants of the Shi Shi Hokodan entered the Chamber and mixed with the quantum energies propelling Sam Beckett backwards in time, some of that self-same quantum energy spilled out of the Chamber, back into a corridor that held a certain Eternally Lost Boy.
While the Shi Shi Hokodan energies in the Leap Chamber were slight, and didn't affect Sam all too much (the major thing being that only Sam's soul traversed the void of Time, not his entire body), the Shi Shi Hokodan was still in full effect just outside that small hole, and a massive amount of it as well. This mixed with the quantum energies from the Chamber, and flooded back towards Ryoga.
"What....what's going on?!?!" shouted Ryoga as he saw the wall of bluish-white energy mix with the dark green of his depressive chi and rush towards him as if it had sentience.
As the -it can only be described as a wave- of light washed over him, he felt a slight tingling sensation. He noted that his entire body was suffused with bluish-green light. As he wondered what was happening, the light flashed bright, then vanished.
His last thought before he disappeared was "Ranma!!!! This is all your fault! I'll get you for this somehow......oh, who am I kidding? This isn't his fault......"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A blinding blue-green flash, and all of a sudden, Ryoga found himself face to face with the Busch Campus Center at Rutgers University. After thinking to himself, *How the hell did I wind up here? I don't even remember leaving that weird facility,* he shrugged his shoulders and started walking towards the building. Surely someone inside could provide him directions to the Tendo Dojo (though why New Jersey college students would know where a dojo in Japan would be, I have no clue).
Alan Fernandez walked with his quasi-little sister, Jaime Seltzer, out of the dining hall after a typical Saturday brunch. They had both risen from bed at around 10:30, got to the dining hall at 11, and had been stuffing their faces for around an hour. Now they were on their way back to the dorm to relax and enjoy a beautiful Saturday with nothing to do.
"God, I love the omlettes the D-Hall serves now! Who would have thought that they would actually learn to serve good food, and fresh too?" Alan stated to punctuate the lovely feeling he had of being stuffed like a Christmas turkey.
"Yes, well, they are better than last year, but not by much. And I don't eat omelettes, so I can't enjoy that part of it!" Jaime grumbled.
"Well, maybe you had......"
Jaime stared at Alan, waiting for him to finish the sentence. "Maybe I had?"
Alan just stared, dumbfounded, at the entrance to the student center. He then proceded to slowly point his finger at someone, and said to Jaime in a voice that was nowhere near as calm as it sounded, "Um, Jaime, please tell me who the person I'm pointing at looks like?"
Jaime threw him a look, then followed his finger....and proceded to let her jaw drop to the floor.
What shocked the two of them was a lad about Alan's height, with unruly black hair. Under said black hair a yellow bandanna with black spots was clearly visible. He was wearing a long sleeved green-and-yellow shirt and black breeches tied at the ankles, and had a HUGE backpack slung on his back. Sticking across said backpack was a red cocktail parasol.
In other words, it was Ryoga.
All Alan could manage was, "I've heard of being lost......but this is just ridiculous."
Timeline notes: This occurs right after the end of the Manga, after the failed wedding attempt. I've also taken liberty with the time this is set in; assume that it's set this year, the year 2000.
Warning: Lots of pseudo-science and liberties taken with reality, and such. If this bothers you, remember that THIS IS ONLY A FANFIC!!! HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR!!!! DROP THE PLATYPUS!!!! (Um.....where did that come from?)
Now, for your viewing (um, I mean reading) pleasure, Bad Smack Productions, in conjunction with Lots-Of-Caffeine-And-Sugar Distribution proudly present to you, the beginning of a saga......
The Dimensional Lost Boy
By: Alan Fernandez (AKA the Talk Of The Town)
Prologue: Watch that first Leap, it's a doozy!
It can be said, with much certainty, that there are many constants to life. One, is that the sun rises in the east, and sets in the west. Another, is that water is wet. Yet another, is that you NEVER eat Taco Bell and White Castle in the same night. And then.....
"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW?!?!?!?!?"
There's the fact that Ryoga Hibiki will always be lost.
*Well, the people are speaking English, so I could be in America....,* thought Ryoga. He was actually right about this, which is a minor miracle in and of itself. What was even more of a miracle, he wasn't directly blaming Ranma this time, for anything.
It was about a week since Ranma and Akane had tried to get married. Now, he had his small part in the disaster, as one of the male Jusenkyo victims who attempted to liberate the Nannichuan for himself, before that hentai Happosai had gulped the whole thing like so much sake. But, overall, he didn't cause Ranma and Akane too much grief directly; that was mostly Kuno (brother AND sister), Ukyo (he had expected better of her, after the amount that Ranma trusted her as a friend), and Shampoo. After the fiasco subsided and everyone went home to recover or sulk, he somehow found his way to Akari Unryuu's house. He needed someone to talk to after nearly having Akane taken by Ranma.
No, he was deluding himself, Akane wanted Ranma as much as Ranma wanted Akane. It was just nearly impossible to get them to admit it to each other, let alone other people. It was at that moment that he realized that his unhealthy obsession with Akane had to cease. And for once in his life, he had a stroke of good luck, and bumped into Akari. They talked long into the night, and Ryoga felt happy for the first time since the bread feud with Ranma.
After leaving Akari's the next morning to take care of a few loose ends before he began his life anew, Ryoga quickly got lost. Which, needless to say, was the last thing that he wanted to do. But, Ryoga being Ryoga, he kept on, certain that he'd make his way back to his Akari (God, it felt good to say that), and Ranma. He felt he owed Ranma an apology, for being such a constant thorn in his side since the engagement. Besides, Ranma was the closest thing to a best friend that Ryoga had. Whereas Mousse was a comrade-in-arms of sorts, what with both being cursed and all and both hating Ranma (or so they thought), Ranma had truly been there in the past for Ryoga. Ranma had honor enough to keep quiet about P-Chan, even when it ate at him inside to not tell Akane. Ranma was the only person that was more skilled than Ryoga, and even with his arrogance about that, Ranma at least admitted that Ryoga was the only martial artist that gave him any sort of challenge anymore, where the other Nerimans for the most part wrote Ryoga off as an annoyance that showed up occasionally.
But none of that changed the fact that Ryoga was still hopelessly lost. Well, maybe not so hopelessly this time......"Hmm, there's a mailbox there, I guess I should send these. The sooner they get to Akari and Ranma & Akane, the better," Ryoga said, in quite good English. One thing about being constantly lost in foreign countries, it sure helped your linguistic ability. Plus, English was spoken nearly everywhere, which made it doubly useful.
He opened the mailbox flap to place a postcard and a letter in. The postcard was addressed to Akari, asking her to wait for him until he returned. The letter was addressed to Ranma and Akane, and was very long. He figured it wouldn't hurt to tell Ranma about what he was thinking; that way it would be that much easier to talk things out, and set things right. As he dropped the postcard and letter into the mailbox, he noticed a large truck, drive by. What he didn't notice was the puddle it drove through...at least, he didn't notice it until he turned into P-Chan.
Dejected, but at least content that he got the mail off and didn't get spotted changing, he dragged his massive pack into a bathroom, where he promptly got his hot plate out, set a saucepan on it, and began to heat the water. Once it got warm enough to change him back, he turned off the hot plate, tipped the saucepan so as to spill the water all over himself, and once again join the world of the humans. He set about packing up his hot plate, then walked out of the bathroom. As he began to wander the corridor, he once again wondered where exactly he was. It seemed to be a scientific facility of some sort.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Samuel Beckett sighed. Why in God's name did he have to give Ziggy such an enormous ego? I mean, yes, it was an incredible achivement for science, and it did make her much more efficient...after all, she had a reputation to uphold. But, she could be SO touchy at times.
Take now, for example. Not 20 minutes until the first run of Project Quantum Leap, and she was having a hissy fit. "Ziggy, what do you mean that there's a huge improbability field in the mountain?"
If the supercomputer could huff itself up, it would have right then. "I detect a massive improbability buildup within the mountain, with a 97.4% chance that said improbability field will foul up the results of the Leap. All I'm telling you is that a Leap right now will be ill-advised."
"Well, tell that to the Pentagon ninnies that fund us," piped up Admiral Al Callavichi. "They want Sam here to test in 20 minutes, and that's going to happen. Improbability field my foot."
Sam nodded in agreement. "I mean, really Ziggy, are you afraid of some big spooky improbability that'll send me to unknown reaches?" he teased .
Ziggy let out a computeristic sigh. "It's your funeral, Doctor. Don't say I didn't warn you...."
Al looked disgustedly at Ziggy, then at Sam. "Why did you have to give that computer such a big ego? It's more annoying than working with a spoiled Hollywood actress."
"Only I have more talent," Ziggy stated arrogantly.
Sam and Al groaned simultaneously, and then set about prepping the Imaging Chamber where Al was to monitor Sam when he Leaped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Ryoga wandered around this unusual facility, he began to glow a sickly green. All the wandering around he was doing wasn't where he wanted to be right now. All he wanted was to be with Akari, and to set things right with Ranma. *Not that Ranma doesn't have alot to apologize for, himself.....there was all his mistreatment of Akane, and his causing me to be cursed, and the bread feud....but, I've caused him an equal amount of hell.*
All this was adding up to a fairly decent sized Shi Shi Hokodan building within Ryoga. He wouldn't have to shoot it off for a while yet, but once he started to fuel his depression, it gained momentum like a snowball rolling downhill. He knew he'd have to find a place to fire it soon, otherwise he'd burn himself out. The problem was, he didn't want to fire it off in this place, and risk damaging anything. *What is this place, anyway?* wondered Ryoga. *I haven't seen a single person in these corridors since I found myself here. Maybe they're all busy in a meeting or something?* That, we are about to find out, is something of an understatement.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"T-Minus 30 seconds and counting," stated Ziggy. "And might I add, I resent the fact that such a mundane task as the countdown fell to me."
Everyone ignored the computer's remark, as they were too focused on Sam in the Leap Chamber. So far, everything was running smoothly, and Ziggy's mysterious "improbability field" hadn't fouled up anything.
T-Minus 15 seconds......
T-Minus 10 seconds......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He couldn't hold it in anymore. Like a child who had held in going to the bathroom for too long, Ryoga was really backed up, only with explosive depression chi, not bodily fluids. Luckily, he stumbled upon a corridor that seemed to end in solid rock.
*Th-that looks good enough to blow up w-with this....* Ryoga thought, as he prepared one massive blast....
"SHI SHI HOKODAN!!!!!"
From that point on, all bets were off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"T-Minus 4...3...2...."
Just then, on the far wall of the Leap Chamber, as Sam began to make history as the first person to time travel, there was a hole, not much bigger than a mousehole, forming in the smooth wall. As the remnants of the Shi Shi Hokodan entered the Chamber and mixed with the quantum energies propelling Sam Beckett backwards in time, some of that self-same quantum energy spilled out of the Chamber, back into a corridor that held a certain Eternally Lost Boy.
While the Shi Shi Hokodan energies in the Leap Chamber were slight, and didn't affect Sam all too much (the major thing being that only Sam's soul traversed the void of Time, not his entire body), the Shi Shi Hokodan was still in full effect just outside that small hole, and a massive amount of it as well. This mixed with the quantum energies from the Chamber, and flooded back towards Ryoga.
"What....what's going on?!?!" shouted Ryoga as he saw the wall of bluish-white energy mix with the dark green of his depressive chi and rush towards him as if it had sentience.
As the -it can only be described as a wave- of light washed over him, he felt a slight tingling sensation. He noted that his entire body was suffused with bluish-green light. As he wondered what was happening, the light flashed bright, then vanished.
His last thought before he disappeared was "Ranma!!!! This is all your fault! I'll get you for this somehow......oh, who am I kidding? This isn't his fault......"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A blinding blue-green flash, and all of a sudden, Ryoga found himself face to face with the Busch Campus Center at Rutgers University. After thinking to himself, *How the hell did I wind up here? I don't even remember leaving that weird facility,* he shrugged his shoulders and started walking towards the building. Surely someone inside could provide him directions to the Tendo Dojo (though why New Jersey college students would know where a dojo in Japan would be, I have no clue).
Alan Fernandez walked with his quasi-little sister, Jaime Seltzer, out of the dining hall after a typical Saturday brunch. They had both risen from bed at around 10:30, got to the dining hall at 11, and had been stuffing their faces for around an hour. Now they were on their way back to the dorm to relax and enjoy a beautiful Saturday with nothing to do.
"God, I love the omlettes the D-Hall serves now! Who would have thought that they would actually learn to serve good food, and fresh too?" Alan stated to punctuate the lovely feeling he had of being stuffed like a Christmas turkey.
"Yes, well, they are better than last year, but not by much. And I don't eat omelettes, so I can't enjoy that part of it!" Jaime grumbled.
"Well, maybe you had......"
Jaime stared at Alan, waiting for him to finish the sentence. "Maybe I had?"
Alan just stared, dumbfounded, at the entrance to the student center. He then proceded to slowly point his finger at someone, and said to Jaime in a voice that was nowhere near as calm as it sounded, "Um, Jaime, please tell me who the person I'm pointing at looks like?"
Jaime threw him a look, then followed his finger....and proceded to let her jaw drop to the floor.
What shocked the two of them was a lad about Alan's height, with unruly black hair. Under said black hair a yellow bandanna with black spots was clearly visible. He was wearing a long sleeved green-and-yellow shirt and black breeches tied at the ankles, and had a HUGE backpack slung on his back. Sticking across said backpack was a red cocktail parasol.
In other words, it was Ryoga.
All Alan could manage was, "I've heard of being lost......but this is just ridiculous."