Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ so don't sue please. I do own Z however he is all mine.

Note: This is my very first fanfic and I know I have bad grammar but I am working to improve it so pleasure bare with me when it comes to that. Otherwise hope you like it. Now on with the story.


Somewhere it is said that every single member of the human race has a purpose in life. Whether it be something grand and spectacular our small and seemingly mundane it is there waiting to be fulfilled by that someone that fate has chosen to complete the task or tasks that have been laid out before them. This has been a concept that has plagued the one known as Ryoga Hibiki for quite some time now, for here was a young man that if a person actually took the time and actually study him they would have to wonder if he actually had a purpose in life.

This young man who has been given the nickname as the eternally lost boy was someone who defiantly had the short end of the stick in life. A young martial artist who started life like any other individual who comes into this world, well at least those who had a good start in life. Two people coming together who loved each other and through their union produced a symbol of their love in the form of a child. One who was young and innocent to the world, who would learn from his father and nurtured by his mother, a child who's sparkling eyes showed he would was going to be a great man when he grew up. A laugh showed that despite everything that was wrong with the world there was still good things within it.

What the hell happened?

At first everything started to go so well. The young Ryoga Hibiki was starting off life so well. He would Explore, Play, make friends, get hurt, cry, laugh like any little boy his age all the while being watch over by his mother and father. When you are a child you don't think about the negative in the world…and you want to do is have fun and learn new things…..normally the hard way.

It wasn't until he was five years old when he noticed that things were beginning to change. Even if children want things to be perfect they are not stupid when things go wrong. His parents were around less and less often. At first the young Hibiki didn't think much of it as they always would give him stories like: "Oh Your mother is out with friends." "Your father is away on business and would be back in a few days."

Of course, being a kid you would trust your parents you know the right things and know what to do when something goes wrong. Kids are like that…they look up to their parents and trust them to handle things. But, kids aren't stupid, after all, how can a trip to the market last three days? Or going around the block to visit a friend suddenly takes a week. It go to the points where Ryoga was lucky is one parent remained home but even then that was worrying because he found himself having to hold their hands and lead them throughout the house in order to get to point A to point B.

It was getting to the point where even have one parent around was beginning to be a luxury. Ryoga would sometimes spend some nights crying himself to sleep wondering what was going on with his family, why weren't they around? Did he do something wrong…ok sure there was the fire incident but father grew his eyebrow's back.

It was about a year later when he noticed that weird things were happening to him. At first it didn't seem so bad really. He would go to leave his room after playing with his toys and would end up in the closet or he would go to the living room to watch some TV and only end up in his parent's room.

Weird?...Yes, but crap starts getting real when you find yourself running from your room to the bathroom because you have to go take a leak and find that it took you a whole 20 minutes, or when you go to the kitchen to grab yourself a snake only to find that you are on the roof of your next door neighbor's home. It was at this point where Ryoga had to seriously look at himself and wonder what the hell is going on. Besides his parents who else knew his home better than him but he found himself talking 5-10 min just trying to get to the next room and as time went on it was becoming harder and harder to find his way around. How could this be possible?

Whatever the reason maybe, thank God for his little puppy checkers. He remembered how his father got her as a present for him after being gone for so long. He also took this time to tell him about the Hibiki directional curse…well the gist of it anywhere. He didn't want to bother him with the details considering he was still very young.

Regardless of the news Ryoga was more than happy to have checkers in his life. Truth be told this cute little K-9 would be the best gift he would ever receive. Not only was she the young man's best friend the young pup would act as a seeing eye dog while didn't make sense because everyone who met Ryoga knows he had good eye sight but if anyone knew the Hibiki family they knew it made perfect sense. Although Ryoga found it odd that the young K-9 Had Black fur on her left side and white fur on her right but in the end did it really matter?

Despite everything Ryoga tried to make the best of things. With the help of Checkers he managed to get to school on most days, he loved it because it was practically the only time where he wasn't alone, and while his directional sense was bad it wasn't in full-fledge Hibiki mode. Sure, he would get lost at school but it wasn't quite at the boundaries of ludicrous yet. However, everything seemed to take a turn for the worst the moment he entered Junior High.

Nothing seemed to go right. In his younger years of school Ryoga was able to hide his curse to some degree but now it was working overtime. It was like the curse was trying to make up for lost time. Ryoga found it harder and harder to just to get to his class room never mind making it on time. Going to the lunchroom with the rest of the class would just end up with him being in the janitor's closet. A run around the track during P.E. would take him halfway through the city. Of course kids are always looking for the next interesting thing to gain their attention and his classmates picked RIGHT up on this.

At first it was simple, light teasing giving him the name that would forever be bound to him as the "eternal lost boy". Of course, as everyone knew kids can be so cruel especially is no one of author tells them to stop. So what turned out to be teasing grew into pranks and from there to downright cruelty. Now, this is not to say that Ryoga wasn't bothered by this, quite the opposite he was downright livid. But he tried to keep cool about it and pretend to ignore them, remembering the words of his mother telling him to not get into fights out of anger if he were to raise his fist it should be to help someone not hurt them, of course there were times where he broke his promise and chase after with the intend to inflict massive amounts of pain upon them but they always had the plan to scatter and before Hibiki could bring justice to them he would just end up getting lost…always getting lost.

Whenever he did manage to find his home after searching for days, weeks, even months at a time he would go inside and checkers was always there to greet him with a pounce and lick his face. With his parents always gone, the kids at school always teasing and picking on him or don't even do anything to help him. It was being home with his dog that he felt that things would be ok. He could endure as long as he had his best friend waiting to greet him every time he finally came home after each trip.

As Ryoga continued to grow and went through Junior High school things would be put into place for him. He realized that if he wanted the teasing to stop he was going to have to become strong...stronger than anyone around. His father taught him some martial arts but there was always room for improvement. His trips to being lost were suddenly turned into an advantage. Going to random locations he suddenly found himself observing various fighting styles. Sure he manage to catch some tournaments and watch some martial arts movies but he learned that some of the best fighters didn't need awards or to show off their skills for the approval of others…there was just the fight and ways to improve their skill and Ryoga was there to catch whatever he could. He normally would stay in the shadows and watch when masters each their students the art and practice what he saw or he would ask teachers directly to give him a lesson or two. While being lost made it easy for him to pick up some things it was also hard sometimes because he would stumble upon a martial art that he was interested in becoming a full time student over not to mention that a lot of masters often complimented him on his raw potential but, that was ok, he was strong and his school knew this.

By the 8th grade no one messed with Ryoga in fact, everyone feared him in some form or other. Of course, that is normally the case when you went a person into the hospital. After one of his longer trips the lost boy returned to school only to be greeted by some of the bullies that have been picking on him earlier. The group of bullies decided to throw rocks at Ryoga this time around. Considering the random nature of his directional curse it became too much trouble to play complex pranks only to get bored of waiting.

One of the rocks manages to his Ryoga on the side of the cheek but to their confusion it didn't even leave a mark. If anything it only got his attention and look upon them with annoyance. Of course not ones to be deprived of their entertainment one of the boys threw a bigger rock at the lost boy it was about the size of a fist and they knew if this didn't get him steaming nothing will. Imagine their surprise when he saw the lost boy actually catch it like it was a baseball.

It was by this time where they were drawing quite a crowd who all gasp as they watch Ryoga literally break the large stone in half. With a confident smirk Ryoga hurled the right half the stone at the same boy who threw it at him. The stone manage to catch the boy's right arm instantly breaking it on contact, he fell instant screaming in pain.

Everyone gasp over what just happened as they all looked at the downed bully and then at Ryoga who was holding the second half of the rock in his left hand. When it looked like the rest of the game was going to charge at the lost boy for hurting their friend. Ryoga just brought up the half-rock and crushed it with his left hand followed by a lock that just screamed. 'Just try it'

Needless to say that they took the hint rather quickly and ran off leaving their friend to be tended to by the teachers. Normally there would be serious repercussions at any other school for such an act but this was an all-boys school and boys had to be strong besides if anything it was self-defense. Even if it wasn't, what were they going to do? Ryoga's parents were never home and everyone knew it.

The boy of course had to be sent to the hospital for a cast. Everyone was looking at Ryoga as if he should be sorry for doing such an act but on the contrary, Ryoga couldn't be happier, everyone knew that he was no one to mess with. Every once in a while someone would try to show how tough they were by taking him on but after a foot to the face they went down quick. Sure, he would have loved to have been friends with them earlier on instead of them always picking at him but that was in the past, no one was going to make him be the fool anymore.

After that event life went on. Ryoga manage to earn himself a reputation as one to be feared and avoided. This however, did bring a bit of sadness to Ryoga because he would love to have some friends who were at least his own species. He hoped that after he took care of the bullies he would be able to get some friends but it seemed that was too much to ask. It was alright anyway because at least no one picked on him or made fun of him. He was just one of the students who went to the school. Sure, he didn't have any official friends but that was alright because no at least he could live his life without complication…..save for the curse of course. The boys around them noticed that he seemed to be happier and some even came around and began talking to him.

Sense before he could even remember things were finally starting to go right.

…Until HE ruined everything.

Ryoga was coming off a week long journey of being lost and just arrived at school just in time for lunch. He saw the rampaging crowd of young males inside the cafeteria all fighting, screaming, and clawing at each other in hopes to get some of the food that would be provided. He was tired, thirsty, hungry but through it all of it he had a smirk on his face. Sometimes he wondered why the school went to such lengths to enforce their "Only the Strong gets to eat" policy but it didn't matter to him. Despite his current condition he was the strongest one and everyone knew it, he would be able to snag a couple of pieces of bread and leave the rest for his school mates after all he wasn't greedy or anything but he had every right to be considering he hadn't even eaten in days.

Ryoga calmly watched the lunch lady as she threw the one piece of curry bread that ended up changing his life forever. He jumped higher than the law of gravity should have allowed. With his arm extended out to grab the last piece of curry bread, he was practically drooling as he closer to it. He could practically taste it now, that delicious…..rubber taste.

Rubber taste?

Ryoga landed back in the sea of boys as he felt a throbbing on his face. As he placed a hand on it in an attempt to lower the sensation he put two and two together and realized what happened. Someone just used him as a stepping stone in order to get the bread. Turning around he moved through the sea of students and found the perpetrator who had the one meal he had in three days already in his damn mouth.

There he was a young man just like him standing with such cool confidence. The lost boy took in his features very carefully. From his posture and the way he carried himself to the fact that the boy wasn't even really eating the bread yet. It was almost like a challenge unto it's self as if daring him to try to take back this piece of bread before he took a real bite. But, more than anything Ryoga looked this kid right in his eyes…those arrogant, ocean blue eyes and demanded to know who he was. He watched at the new comer calmly remove the bread from his mouth after taking a bite out of it and proceeded to answer his question.

Ranma Saotome

Ryoga listened to the named with the upmost intensity. He didn't know why, and he really couldn't explain it at first but there was just something about this guy that just made his blood boil. It wasn't the bread…after all it was just bread and as far as eating goes he has gone on longer without eating.

No, this kid was challenging him.

The next day at lunch Ryoga was standing just outside the rampaging crowd of boys who were waiting for the meal of the day…or rather screaming for their meal of the day. Ryoga had his hands pocket and calmly waited as the cook proceeded with her daily routine of yelling out the type of bread and tossing it at the abyss of JR high students but Ryoga didn't move instead he waited. He caught this Ranma calmly leaning against the wall with his hands on the back of his head looking like he doesn't have a care in the world. But what got his attention was the fact that Ranma wasn't going after the bread either and right after he figured this out Ranma looked over at him with an arrogant smirk placed on his features.

He locked eyes with the blue eyed jerk and discovered this theory was correct this wasn't about the bread…that was just the prize. This was about him….it was clear that Ranma was new and must have heard the rumors about him. Well if he wanted a competition he was going to get it there was no way he was going to back down from this punk.

When the lunch lady called out the latest piece of bread to be thrown Ryoga's eyes narrowed at Ranma suddenly launched himself at the bread and almost instantly he saw Ranma followed suit going for the same prize.

Ryoga manage to manage to grab hold of the bread and smiled gleefully that he was able to win this exchange but when he tried to pull it towards him there was resistance and he saw that Ranma had the other end of it. The lost boy roared at him to let go as he went to punch him in which Ranma quickly blocked. Not wanting to be the looser in this confrontation he proceeded to launch a side kick towards Ranma's chest unfortunately for him his adversary at the same idea and they were both launched to opposite sides of the cafeteria hitting the walls and sliding to the ground.

Some of the students actually took the time to look at the exchanged and were flabbergasted that this all took place in mid-air in what seemed like a split second of course they couldn't be distracted for too long or they wouldn't manage to get any food.

The lost boy didn't mind being hit because he could still feel the bread in his hand but when he looked down het saw that he only had half of it. It wasn't a complete victory but hell he will take it and he proceeded to scarf it down before getting up to see how this Ranma was.

To his surprise Ranma was just chewing away at the bread without a care in the world. He did catch a glimpse of Ryoga and gave him a cheerful wave at time as if telling him: 'good one'. This confused the lost boy to know end…just what was this guy's plan. Ryoga knew he was good...very good, perhaps as good as he was. He could just feel that they were similar, perhaps too similar and he didn't like that one bit. He worked his ass off to get where he was today, constant loneness, and wandering the word, learning what he could to be strong. Was he the most popular guy in school, no, but he was the strongest and after enduring the crap that was his life he finally manage to get a nice medium.

Now, here was this Ranma Saotome who was challenging everything he worked so hard to achieve. Ryoga heard about this guy earlier before lunch, he learned that like him he practiced martial arts, he was easy going and the kids at school like him. He was described as an all around fun-loving guy.

In a sense as a lot of people pointed out, he was the better version of Ryoga and that is what turns the switch in the Lost Boy's mind. He knew it was most than the challenge it was the fact this in a weird way this Ranma and himself were practically the same. Similar but different one positive one negative and that is why he would get mad whenever he saw him.

To him it didn't matter if he didn't have any human friends, he had checkers…it didn't matter if he only saw his parents when the planets aligned, as long as he was strongest and people knew it…as long as he could stand tall and no one messed with him, then he would get by was it perfect no, but at least he have a place in the world.

Didn't He see that….maybe he did and wanted that spot for himself. Maybe it was all fun and games to him. Well, whatever the reason that was irrelevant all he knew was that he needed to beat this Ryoga knew he had to defeat this man….. This Ranma Saotome.

"It all seemed like a life time ago to someone else."

Indeed it was years ago, and now here was The Eternal lost boy known as Ryoga Hibiki was sitting upon some grass in a forest clearing with his legs cross and his arms folded thinking about past events and everything that lead him up to this point in his life. The truth was that he didn't know why he was searching through his thoughts…perhaps he was searching for answers he couldn't find within all of his travels.

He was heading back to Nerima but he didn't know why? It was like something out of habit….sometimes he would end up there when he didn't even want to be there. There was nothing truly there for him. Sure the wedding between Ranma and Akane failed thanks to Saffron incident but that didn't mean that they weren't going to try again later.

~Oh Akane~ Ryoga thoughts went to the youngest of the Tendo girls. Her beautiful smile, her caring face, and the way she just seems to make the day even brighter. ~NO!~ He quickly shook his head to relieve himself of the images. ~No! Stop it Ryoga! There is no longer any point…Not anymore.~

He has already come to terms with the relationship between his arch rival Ranma and his love Akane. If he would have heard about the wedding second hand he would have called it a damn lie but after he saw the look in their eyes when they stared at each other after the battle with the phoenix. The look that they reserved for no else but themselves, the look that said more than words ever could. When he saw it with his own eyes…that is when he knew he lost the love of his life completely to Ranma Saotome.

Depression began to set within him again as he took a deep breath. He couldn't help but wonder why he was going back. There was nothing there for him to back to. Sure, like everyone else there he too was caught up in the maelstrom known as Ranma but even then everyone else had an anchor there too keep them in one form or another. Ukyo had her business to run and as long as the wedding wasn't final she would continue to pursue Ranma in to thinking that she is the only one for him. Shampoo being another fiancé would continue to chase her "Arien". With that old ghoul around to help her, of course Moose would always be around shampoo no matter what. But he didn't have such centers in his life especially within that place.

Ryoga closed his eyes and let a small chuckle escape his lips. It was almost ironic really…he originally followed Ranma in order to finish the duel for the simple fact that he felt that he was being erased by that arrogant jerk but in the end did he even really exist in the first place? After everything that happened after all the training, all the victories, all the defeats, all the training to increase his martial arts…what did he truly gain out of it all? He was still lost, and he still had that damn Pig curse.

Well perhaps one good thing came out of it. He will give Ranma this…he never would have gotten this far as a martial artist if it wasn't for Ranma always pushing him. At this point in his life he was Ranma equal and he knew it but if he challenged him and defeat him now what would he gain out of it? To say that he beat Ranma? Big deal, he has beaten him before no, he needed to focus on something else. His life didn't revolved around Ranma he would leave Ranma be…he would find his own place in the world…a new beginning if you will and finding a cure for his damn Jusenkyo would be a good start. But, for now Nerima was calling him, it was almost like some weird invisible force that compelled him to go back there for whatever reason.

A gust a wind suddenly picked up and which caused his hands to tighten around his arms which caused him to hear the crunching sound of paper. His Brown eyes wondered down upon his Yellow shirt and there nestled between his left bicep and his right hand was a small white envelop. It contained a letter he received about two and a half weeks ago from some mystery person…it was placed at his house about a month ago and whoever wrote to him stated that they wanted to meet at this spot stating that they had information regarding his family more specifically his mother. There was no return address and at the bottom it just was signed with the Letter "Z"

To say that the letter was vague to say the least was an understatement and to meet as such a mundane location was rather odd but he hasn't seen either of his parents for almost five years so any information he could get his hands on however small was always worth seeking out. In truth it was the only reason why he remained in one spot for this long rather than continue on his Journey.

The lost boy let out a deep sigh as he glances towards the sun. He didn't know how long he has been here but he knew it was a long time sense the sun was now setting and he was waiting at this spot sense mid day. He was known as the Lost boy but he knew this was the location, all the markers were there….a large tree that had fallen over towards the clearing and a single Tree stump right in the middle of it. He had to admit, he probably would have left a long time ago if he didn't take a trip down memory lane.

Just when he was about to grab his pack and leave out of frustration is when he felt someone approach him. He turns to match a face up with this sensation; the young man carefully took in the features of the stranger who was coming towards him.

He was a tall rather lanky man who stood at least a foot taller and him. He had slightly pale skin with short, deep emerald eyes, and strait silver/white hair that reached just past his ears. He was wearing a simple black suit with a dark blue shirt underneath, black fingerless gloves, and brown steel-toed shoes. He dons a pair of black trousers held up by a brown belt with a silver belt buckle complete with a long black trench coat and an ever present smile.

To Ryoga this man just reeked of Bad news but there was something about him that just chilled him to his very core, all of instinct were screaming at him to run as fast as his legs could carry him and put that lost curse to good use for once but, he decided to ignore it for now.

"Z, I presume? I am Ryoga Hibiki" He spoke in a polite manner and bowed respectfully towards the taller man. He found it odd that someone who address themselves as a single letter but in the end he figured it didn't matter."I have received your letter."

The man didn't say anything at first just bowed back and let his smile grow wider. "Ah, Mr. Hibiki. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I am glad you came."

"Yes you said that you have information regarding my parents?" Ryoga ask with curiousity in his voice.

"Oh yes, your parents are really hard to find, particularly your mother."

This rose Ryoga's curiosity even higher. "What about your mother."

"Well, you see the thing is your mother-"

Right when the man was finishing up the last word Ryoga found himself being sucker punched in the face causing him to fall back and land hard on the ground. The young martial artist was known to take a pounding and keep coming. But, this guy was different he actually rocked to the point where he was seeing stars. But, he manages to recover enough to roll out of the way as Z brought his foot down to stop him.

"Got to say Ryoga I am disappointed. If you were rock by that little attack I would hate to think what you would be like if I actually tried."

Ryoga quickly got to his feet and got into a fighting stance. "That's was an attack? That felt more like a Baby's Punch…."

Z's smile turned into a grin as he gave a mocking expression. "oooo….you wound me. Let's see how long that smugness last. P-Chan?

Ryoga stared at the silver haired man in disbelief. "Wh…what did you call me?"

"I called you P-Chan." The man looked at the Bandana boy with his grin ever present. "What? Did you think that was much a secret? Oh clear a 4 year old could figure you out in a heartbeat. I mean it is absolutely incredible that Tendo chick didn't figure you out…I mean seriously you practically transformed right in front of her more than once and she still hasn't gotten it."

Ryoga growled under his breath clenching his fist so hard they were shaking. The bangs went over his eyes so one couldn't tell the rage that was within them. "How….how do you know about me?"

"Oh Ryoga, Ryoga, Ryoga….We have been watching you for quite some time now. You and the rest of those martial art rejects."

"We?"

"Ah never mind that." Z calmly rubbed his chin as a thought cross his chin. "You know, considering that I am such a nice guy. I am going to go out of my way to help you be with your long lost love one more time. Just before I kill you I am going to transforms you back into that disgusting piglet you transform into. Then I am going cook you, gut you, chop you up and serve you to you lady love. Just think when she eats you...you wall finally be to-"

Z was unable to finish that thought as Ryoga gave him a taste of his own medicine by sucker punching Z in the face while he was on his dialogue. The lanky man rubbed his jaw and groaned in pain. "Oh…OH….THAT was CHEAP!"

Z didn't have time to regain himself as Ryoga was suddenly on him his fists connect with various parts of his mind and his battle aura set ablaze. Ryoga was pissed and nothing was going to stop him from giving his guy a first class ass-beating.

Despite the assault Z however slowly recovered from the attacks and it wasn't long because he was fighting on equal footing with the boy. Ryoga was surprised by the guy ability to recover quickly form his attacks it was like he wasn't even trying to block or dodge.

Even though and the two were now fighting on equal terms when it came to speed, and skill strength was proving to be a different matter. Ryoga quickly caught on that Z was clearly stronger than him.

With that knowledge the lost boy decided to take him out before the fight went on any longer and went to punch at Z's right in his arrogant face but, this place quickly backfired as the mystery man quickly grabbed the lost boy's fist and pulled him closer causing Ryoga to be put off balance. Once he was close enough he proceed to deliver three punches into the side of his ribs and one to the face and ended the combo with an open palm strike to his abdomen causing the air to be knocked out of the young man.

Ryoga moved back a bit and went down on one knee on the ground tried to suck some air into his lung. He watched as the smiling Z was slowly walking towards him. ~What is with this guy….I hit him with some of my best hand-to-hand moves as he keeps coming. In fact….I don't think I knocked him off his feet once and I hit him with moves that would have been Ranma in the hospital. Damn…he is stronger than lime but has speed behind that power…at this point Ranma would think of a way around his style...come on Ryoga think he is not invincible…in fact his best weapon seem to be counter-attacks…..~ The Bandana wearing boy blinked as he suddenly came up with a plan.

"Well I must admit…you lasted longer than most people would have in a fight against me. But you are your mother's son…" Z calmly waved his hand in a dismissive tone.

"Oh well, enough of that." Z casually crouch down to the Lost boy's level certain that he was finished and it would take just that one more blow to finish him off. "So are you ready to be sweet and sour pork? Because I know my taste buds are ready. SQUEEEEEEE PI-PI-PI-PI-PIGGY!"

Ryoga opened his eyes to look at the hyperactive mad man and gave him a weak but knowing smile. "Sorry….Dinner's cancelled."

"What?"

Ryoga proceeded to strike his index finger at the ground and yelled those famous words. "Bakusai Tenketsu!"

"What the?" Was all Z could muster as the ground suddenly explode right from underneath him sending him flying into the air. Ryoga took the blast and debris in full force and was unaffected by it. It wasn't anything he couldn't handle after all he experienced much worse than that. But it did have the desire affect he wanted. The lost boy didn't waste any time, he knew he had to take this guy out and take him out now.

He quickly got to his feet and jumped up towards the fallen Z…He saw that the man in black was about to get back to his feet and he didn't have a moment to lose. With a sound battle cry he focused all of his remaining ki into his fist and like a torpedo slam directly into his opponent with the sound of a Thunder clap announcing that he had indeed made impact.

After the act of desperation, everything around the surrounding area was quiet. It was as if nature it's self was holding it's breath wondering if Ryoga had manage to prevail over this mysterious figure in black. What seemed like a life time there was suddenly coughing be herd for in the middle of a newly formed crater Ryoga was on his knees and right next to him was the defeated Z.

~Damn, that took everything I had, but at least it paid off. If I couldn't get past his counter attack then I had to take him by surprise.~ After a few more Hacks the Bandana boy looked over at Z to get a better look at him. The stranger looked like he had seen better days. He was lying still his hair was ruffled and blood was coming from his lips. He couldn't really tell if the man was breathing or not but at that moment he didn't care, after all this Z was planning on killing him that much was clear, he saw it in his eyes. But the way he talked about his mother…..it was almost like this was a retaliation of some kind, part of Ryoga hoped the man was indeed still alive so he could interrogate him. Of course that means that he would have to take him to Dr. Tofu.

He reached down to check for a pulse when he suddenly felt pressure on his chest, At first this didn't seem to odd to him considering what he just went through but suddenly he could feel the pressure growing in his chest and after a few seconds he felt an intense burning sensation. He finally decided to look at and he saw Z's right hand at his chest, no…it wasn't exactly a hand this was something else. It had the shape of a hand but it was twisted and deformed….the moon that was now high into the air gave it's light to the clearing and Ryoga saw that what was around this hand was not skin….it was scales and those wasn't fingers digging in to his chest….those were claws.

Ryoga reached up and grabbed the scale hand with both of his own hoping to make an effort to pry them. But the moment he grab the scaly arm Ryoga suddenly felt the claws twist in his flesh and he finally realized how deep those claws were for in that one movement he could actually feel those appendages scrape against his ribs.

His strength suddenly left him as his arms fell to the side.

"Very Good Ryoga Hibiki…." Z said in a rather soothing almost fatherly like voice. The young martial artist's eyes suddenly snapped open and looked over to Z who was smiling….it wasn't that crazed lunatic smile he had sense the fight began…but it was that harmless innocent one. The one that gave him shivers to begin with. Just who in the hell was this guy...He couldn't be human it just didn't make any sense.

Z eyes opened for the first time sense he was down and aimed themselves directly at the lost boy. His eyes were now glowing slightly and contained snake-like slits for pupils. With a quick motion Z removed his claws from Ryoga's chest who quickly fell back clutching his chest in a vain attempt to make the pain stop.

"I must admit, you gave me more trouble than I anticipate." Z's words were all but lost to Ryoga as he was trying to regulate his breathing. The lost boy suddenly felt a hand around his neck and in the next moment he was lifted into the air with ease. The grip wasn't tight so he could get some air into his lungs and he also noticed that the grip didn't feel sharp so he must have been using his normal hand but it didn't matter. Normally he would have been able to pry himself away from this loose grip but he was spent, he used all of his power in that last punch not to mention having claws scarping your ribs didn't really help either. About, all Ryoga could do was look at Z and growl at him menacingly and hope the sweat he was producing would drown him somehow.

"Perhaps there is hope for you after all…Ryo. It too bad it is just wasted potential. After all, there were several times you could have truly beaten that transgender freak but it is what you are. You reek of failure, you are DESTINED to fail. YOU lose to a guy whose final attack is just running away like a coward! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM TELLING YOU? Your purpose in life is just to make him look better!" Z actually took in a deep breath considering he became winded with what little rant. He then looked at Ryoga with a very serious look on his person.

"Even though what I am about to do isn't entirely personal this is a bonus because this is actually doing you a favor. I mean just looking at you makes me depressed, but sense you are one of the few to actually knock me down I will make sure to send your corps to your parents so they can morn but I will be keeping the heart after all a guy's gotta eat." The Grin returned to Z as he raised his clawed hand ready to deliver the final blow. He did it nice and slow to make sure Ryoga would be able to see the end coming. "But don't worry; after they cry for you I will kill them too so you all can meet again in the land of the dead."

"No…" Ryoga couldn't even hear what Z was telling him anymore. But he had a feeling on what it meant. It was earlier today that he was excited about finding out information on the whereabouts of his parents and now here he was on the edge of life just a few seconds away from did I spend all that time working, fighting, loving, and hating only to have it end like this. He wasn't ready to lay down and accept death yet.

He has traveled the earth and kept going…..

He has fought won and lost times beyond counting and has kept going…

Shed so many tears and kept going…

Even when his dreams were crushed he has kept going….

Ryoga began to glow that famous emerald color causing Z to give a confused look. The young man looked at Z with a fiery determination he hasn't given to anyone with the expectation of Ranma. He reached out and grabbed Z's coat and with renewed strength forced himself closer to his adversary. He must admit he found amusement in the dumfounded look Z was giving him, he must admit he didn't know where he was getting the strength from but he would be damn if he wasn't going to put it to good use.

Once their faces were mere inches apart Ryoga gave Z a grin of his own. "As long as there is breathe inside of this body….Ryoga Hibiki will always keep going!"

Summon everything he had in his reserved Ryoga gave a sound battle cry and within that moment both combatants were enclosed in the towering Jade force of the Perfect ShishiHokodan and everything was encased within a green light of force and depression. When he heard Z screaming to the heavens Ryoga's gave a light smile and darkness overcame him.

As long as there is life…..there is purpose