History's Most Chaotic Disciple

by Nobody of Note

Ranma finds himself right in the middle of the fighting involving Ragnarok, the Shinpaku Alliance, and Yomi.

2. First Meetings

Ranma wasn't quite certain how he could find Ethan, as the other martial artist had always been the one tracking him. Ranma just hoped he hadn't lost him completely at the Sea of Japan. But then again, he had known Ranma intended to return to Japan, and having followed all the way from India, it was unlikely he'd have given up.

Ranma just needed to provide a trail for him to pick up again, and the best way he could think to do that short of tearing up Tokyo would be to keep visiting dojos. After all, there was still a chance he could find another place to train here. There was, of course, the risk that showing up so many places would let those back in Nerima find him, but he just had to hope Ethan caught up first.

As far as his own search went, he just kept running into dead ends. All roads seemed to lead to Ryozanpaku. In the twelve dojos he'd visited, that name had come up three times, and he'd yet to find a single other place worth training at. The said, his thirteenth dojo at least had some people taking their training a little seriously. Enough that as bored as he was he figured it would be worth getting a little exercise.

So he challenged the entire dojo to attack him at once. They were sure he was kidding at first, but after a few taunts they were all too eager to oblige, even surrounding him and rushing as one. Ranma dashed toward one particularly dense group, and used one hand each to take advantage of their forward momentum, simultaneously flipping both of them over his back.

Only when he was mid throw did he realize that there was someone else standing behind them, already sending a fist of his own toward his now unprotected midsection. Recognizing Ethan instantly, he began to twist his body to throw off any attempt at a pressure point. How the large martial artist had hid himself so well behind the two smaller men, he didn't know, but he was too happy to see him to care.

Whether planned from the start, or just a reaction to Ranma's own dodge, it wasn't a pressure point attack, but a fist that collided with him. Ranma continued his twist, changing the angle of the attack so it didn't hit him quiet straight on, but still hit hard enough to force a small bit of air from his lungs.

"Nice one, Ethan," he told him. "Oh, and I'm glad you're here too. I was looking for you."

"Oh, what for?" Ethan asked not letting up on his assault.

"What should we do about him?" one of the guys Ranma had been challenging asked.

"As long as he's not attacking us, just ignore him?" One of his companions answered. "If he helps us shut that brat's mouth, I'll thank him for it after."

"I changed my mind regarding your master's offer," Ranma informed Ethan, while dancing away from him and taking out a few of the men who were little more than distractions now. "So I was wondering if it was still open."

"I'll try to get in touch with him to check," Ethan offered, as he shoved aside the martial artist Ranma had just flung at him.

"Great, how long will that take?" Ranma queried, once again backpedaling away from Ethan, taking the time to slam an elbow into the gut of the guy trying to sneak up on him, following up by raising that same arm and smashing it into his chin, lifting him off the ground and sending him toppling backward.

"It shouldn't," Ethan answered, timing his next charge to coincide with two of the other martial artists trying to catch Ranma in a pincer attack from behind.

"Well then, I'll be waiting in a park just west of here," he informed Ethan, as he rolled backward and once again out of Ethan's range, kicking outward, connecting with each of the pair of nobodies' chests, and launching them several yards away. He then finished he roll by pushing off with his hands and twisting around so his back was to Ethan.

From that position, Ranma started running directly away from Ethan and toward the exit. He could hear him giving pursuit, not willing to let Ranma run off just yet, which wasn't surprising considering Ranma had yet to even engage him properly during their fight. Ranma had wanted to make sure he was still in good enough condition to converse, after all. Timing his own speed to be just right, he let Ethan gain on him. Waiting until his senses were warning him it was the last possible second to dodge the attack coming from behind, Ranma launching himself straight up and grabbed onto the top of the door frame leading to the exit.

Using his arm strength, he instantly stopped his forward momentum, while curling up into a tight ball so the attack would pass underneath. Ethan's arm shot up after him in reaction, actually grabbing on to his foot briefly before Ranma yanked it away. Ethan really was getting better at reacting quickly to Ranma's less predictable moves.

But it wasn't going to be enough, as Ranma was already pulling his body back inside the dojo until he was almost parallel to the floor. A floor that was too smooth for Ethan to come to an instant stop as his momentum continued to carry him forward. As soon as he was far enough, Ranma swung back forward, planting his feet in Ethan's back and sending him flying out the door.

"Let me know as soon as you get a reply," he called out, as Ethan landed and turned back to Ranma.

He thought at first that Ethan planned to continue his attack. He often did so up until Ranma was forced to put him down hard, regardless of if he'd lost whatever advantage his trap had given him or not. And despite the good job at the initial surprise attack, this was one of his weaker ambushes overall. Maybe he'd just been overly eager after having lost Ranma's trail for a while. Thankfully, he just shook his head and walked off.

With that taken care of, Ranma turned his attention back to the dojo. Some of those who were still conscious were pulling themselves back to their feet, and there were several who hadn't yet engaged him that were in various states of cowering against the wall and trying to sneak toward another door in the back.

"I guess I should finish up in here," Ranma announced cheerfully, loud enough to make sure they could all hear.

---

Reiko had mixed feelings about Ranma's recent disappearing act. She'd have fully support him running off indefinitely, if he'd only waited until after she'd gotten her rematch. Hopefully with him out of sight, her parents wouldn't have a reason to blow up over him again. And of course she wouldn't be pressed into marrying him as much. Even still, a strong part of her just wanted him back as soon as possible so she could pound that smug look off his face.

"I still can't believe he just ran off like that," her mother announced, as she worked together with Reiko and Cologne to prepare the Nekohanten to open for the day.

"It's really not too surprising," Cologne responded. "He's been through a lot and he never was the most socially well adjusted individual. A training trip is exactly the sort of way I'd expect him to deal with his problems if he got overwhelmed."

"Well, seeing as he's not here, I guess there's nothing I can do but forget about him," Reiko all but gloated, trying to get a little payback for what the other two had put her through regarding Ranma.

"I'll have you know that I tracked Ranma all the way from China," her mother reminded her. "I doubt he's even left Tokyo, so there's no reason we couldn't find him now."

"Yes, but your overly aggressive pursuit of him only hurt your chances back then," Cologne admonished her. "Let him have his space for now. We can always find him later if he dawdles too much in returning."

"Of course, great-grandmother," her mother answered, looking properly chagrined.

"Really," Reiko mused thoughtfully. "I'm beginning to think I might have to look for Ranma after all." Getting her rematch and poisoning him against her seemed win-win to her.

"I'd like to see you try," Cologne answered the smile and light tone not at all disguising the fact that Reiko was being reprimanded. "Shampoo is an excellent tracker. You barely put any effort into your lessons when you could be convinced to participate at all."

Her own sheepish look now made her a nice match for her mother. Realizing she was letting Cologne start to push her around again, she rallied herself for another act of defiance.

"You do realize you're never going to convince me to go along with this whole marriage farce, right?" Reiko asked sharply, but Cologne just laughed, not at all the reaction her baiting had been intended to elicit.

"Perhaps so," she answered with a smile, "but I should warn you, more than one of Ranma's most determined pursuers first came to Nerima seeking his life rather than his heart. In fact, Shampoo here can be counted among them."

Reiko raised her eyebrow in surprise, looking over at her mother and seeing no sign Cologne was lying to her. That was a story she'd never heard before. She could see why someone would want to kill Ranma, even if his attitude didn't personally bother her nearly enough to take such a drastic action. Still, what would cause such a dramatic shift in opinion?

"Just give him a chance and you'll see what he's like yourself," her mother suggested, as if reading her thoughts. Reiko wasn't interested in following the advice, but she had to admit she was now curious. What was it about Ranma that had attracted so many people to him?

---

Ranma was seriously getting frustrated. He'd spent the night in one of the park's trees in order to keep out of view. It had successfully prevented an encounter with a police force that generally didn't appreciate people sleeping in the parks, but the uncomfortable perch hadn't helped the poor mood brought on by there being no sign of Ethan.

He'd been doing what training he could to keep himself occupied. For the most part he'd been focusing on refining his Moko Takabisha. That included working on more powerful blasts, firing them off more quickly, and even straining how much chi he could fire off before he needed to rest. Still, he was eager to have someone actually directing his training, and now it wasn't too far from when he'd have to start considering staying another night. So he was thrilled to see a figure approaching him, even if it wasn't Ethan.

"Sehrul," he called out to ensure the tall man had spotted him. "What are you doing here? I thought you couldn't leave India."

"I couldn't at the time," he answered, "but that business has been taken care of. When I'd heard you reconsidered, I took the first flight I could get out here."

"Just like that?" Ranma asked in surprise. "You fly all the way out here simply because I'm interested in training?"

"I'm part of an organization called Yami whose main goal is to preserve martial arts as a way of a life," Sehrul informed him. "There are few things more important than finding and developing new talent. Yami also has a number of resources available to it, so a flight to Japan isn't particularly troublesome."

"Works for me," Ranma told him amiably. "So how about you get started on my training? I figure you owe me quite a bit for how much I helped you out with Ethan."

"True enough," he answered with a nod. "Just follow me to where we'll be staying, and we can start immediately."

He supposed moving from the park was a wise idea. Ethan may have switched to clothes that didn't stand out in Japan, but Sehrul was still wearing that crazy loincloth thing, which was starting to draw a lot of attention. Regardless, things were finally beginning to go Ranma's way. He couldn't wait to see what tricks the martial arts master knew.

---

"I still think we should look for him," Ranko's father insisted while playing with the dinner he'd hardly touched. And he had been the one cooking tonight, so he didn't even have an excuse for turning his nose up at it.

"Let him have his space for now," her mother argued back. "He's determined to train himself up to beat you. If you, of all people, chase him down, it's only going to make him more stubborn."

"I'm just worried about what he might do," he replied. "With everything that happened, he can hardly be thinking straight. Someone should be there to help him through it."

"Trust in Ranma," her mother responded. "He's not the type to let anything keep him down for long. He'll pull through this. And don't even think about conveniently getting lost. I looked the other way all these years, but I won't put up with it now."

"It wasn't always intentional," her father muttered sheepishly.

Ranko was a little disappointed that he'd just run off so quickly, as she still hadn't solved the particular puzzle around his reappearance. Her parents were proving very stubborn about sticking to their story, so that front was quickly turning hopeless. She'd be more likely to get her grandfather to talk, but she was worried if she pestered him about it that he'd take it as a sign that she was interested in Ranma.

For that matter, she was grateful both her parents were opposed to any arranged marriage, as she certainly didn't want to share Reiko's predicament in the least. As sorry as she felt for her friend, Ranko knew she'd be even more miserable than Reiko was if someone were trying to push her together with Ranma. He seemed nice enough, but there was just no way it would ever work out romantically with a guy like him.

---

Even being told that Yami had resources at its disposal, Ranma was a bit blown away by where he was taken. It was nothing short of a mansion. Sure it might not be quite as large as Kuno's place had been. Still, that was his home, not a random property to be put to use by anyone who happened to be in the area. They even had security guarding the entrance. Ranma couldn't let himself get distracted by the place for too long though. Still, he would at least spare time for one question before he got down to business.

"So, is Ethan around?" he asked. "I'm surprised he didn't come with to get me."

"I sent him on a mission," Sehrul answered. "Yami requires you work from time to time, and he's had a fairly extensive absence from such things."

"What kind of work?" Ranma followed up curiously.

"Protecting the rich and powerful is a common task," he answered. "As I already told you, we make martial arts a way of life, and that includes a source of funding."

That actually didn't sound half bad, assuming they got a little action. Ranma wondered briefly how it would compare to running a dojo, as he'd always imagined himself doing. Anyway, he was already getting further off course than he'd planned.

"So, let's get training," Ranma declared eagerly. "I've got a real martial arts master I need to surpass as quickly as possible. For that I'm going to need to be stronger, faster, and better in any way possible. What have you got for that?"

"I wouldn't concern yourself overmuch with your strength and speed," Sehrul told him. "It varies from person to person, but every body has a physical limit beyond which you can take it no further. You're sure to hit that limit while you still have much room for your skills to grow even without focusing on them. In the long term, it's best for your training to revolve around the mental aspects of martial arts and let the physical side grow naturally as you train."

"I don't care about the long term right now," Ranma insisted, annoyed by the advice. "That could take more years than I'm willing to wait. You must know something that will make me a stronger fighter sooner rather than later, right?"

"There are certain shortcuts available if one so desires," Sehrul admitted reluctantly, "but there are very few I would actually recommend."

"Perfect," Ranma told him, ignoring the warning completely. "What's the biggest shortcut you know?"

"The biggest shortcut would all but certainly kill you at your level," Sehrul told him with a frown. "For which reason I refuse to teach it to you."

"You only think it'll kill me because you don't know what I'm capable of," Ranma boasted. "Just tell me what I need to do, and I'll make sure I survive it."

"Prove it to me then," Sehrul challenged. "Trap all your body's ki at its source as firmly as you can."

"No problem," Ranma declared confidently, as he directed his ki just as he'd been told to. If Sehrul thought he hadn't been taught how to manipulate his ki yet, he was in for a serious surprise right now.

"As I thought. That's not nearly enough," Sehrul told him, catching Ranma off-guard in his criticism. "If you're so determined, I can show you some training that will speed along your physical development, but we'll start with something a bit less suicidal."

"Hold on just a minute," Ranma protested. "I didn't expect you needed more than that, but I was hardly doing my best there. Have a look at this and tell me if you still think it's hopeless."

So saying, Ranma began to draw on the lessons he learned practicing the Umi Sen Ken. He wasn't using the sealed ability itself, but much of hiding his presence did resolve around suppressing his ki, so he was able to do so much more thoroughly by employing some of its tenets.

"Hmm, with that level it might be possible, but it's still far too risky," Sehrul declared after a careful examination. "It's a series of pressure points that completely rearrange the body's natural flow of ki. It will cause it to press forward unrelentingly in every direction, attacking your own body in the process. If you fail to control it, it will burst through your skin, tear through muscles, and even destroy your own internal organs. Even a brief lapse in control can be fatal. This was meant as a killing technique long before anyone was foolish enough to even consider it for training."

Whatever he said, Ranma could already see the potential of it in just that manner. It would be like wearing weighted clothes for your ki. Force you to struggle day and night, improving your stamina, strength, and most significantly, control where your ki was concerned. Having heard of its existence, he now felt he had to try it.

"Look, you're not going to be able to talk me out of this," Ranma declared stubbornly. "So if you're not willing to work with me, I'll go find someone who will take my training seriously."

"I suppose I could agree on a few conditions," Sehrul finally said doubtfully. "First, you're to do nothing but contain your ki once I start without my express permission. Even when I have allowed you to progress in your training, you won't ever practice it further without my supervision. Finally, if you fail to control it, I'm undoing the ability. If you somehow survive the experience, there will be no second chances."

"I agree," Ranma said solemnly, wanting to hurry him on but afraid he'd back out if Ranma didn't seem to be taking this seriously.

"Then hold still, and no matter what, don't release your hold on your ki for a moment," Sehrul ordered.

Ranma obeyed immediately, and Sehrul walked up to him and began to quickly press points all around his body. Ranma felt nothing at first and was beginning to wonder if it was actually working. Finally though, Sehrul gave him a look that Ranma knew immediately meant to steel himself and then pressed one final point. Instantly Ranma could feel his ki roar up against him. It felt as if there was a bomb going off inside him trying to burst its way out.

Ranma held firm, but the feeling didn't get any lighter as time progressed. He could see now why Sehrul had been so against this. It was a constant battle of will not to just give in to the extraordinary pressure and release it. Ranma, however, just renewed his determination. He needed this, and wasn't about to fail now.

As such, the rest of the day wasn't too hard to make it through, but the real struggle was only just beginning. When night came, he saw what the true challenge this would be as he tried to get some sleep. Every time he dozed off, his grip on his ki would slip just a little and Ranma would be woken by agony as tendrils started to force their way free. He'd snap it back shut instantly, even before Sehrul, who was watching over him the entire night could use it as an excuse to undo the technique.

Despite getting virtually no sleep that night, he got up anyway, spending the day mostly in meditation, practicing increasing his control even further. He had a good deal of success, which was a great relief in how much less strain he now felt from the technique. It had been little short of torture at first, and even Ranma had been worried his resolve would eventually fail him.

That night, Sehrul prepared to watch over him again while he prepared to sleep, but if he was still worried, he was seriously underestimating Ranma. His old man had been training him to react to threats in his sleep for as long as he could remember. Now that he was starting to get the hang of this, he figured his training would apply to keeping his ki in check as well. He'd figured right, as he was only woken twice during the night, and it wasn't nearly as bad as any of his episodes the previous night.

His third night he slept like a baby, and his fourth night, Sehrul didn't even bother to watch over him. The following day, he also began training Ranma in other areas, teaching him some of of his Kalarippayattu style along with the basics of pressure points. It turned out there was a reason he'd never been able to duplicate some of the pressure points Cologne had used. Most of the good ones weren't as simple as pressing a certain spot on the body. They actually required you inject a bit of ki in just the right manner to get the desired effect.

What that manner was varied from point to point. Ranma was currently incapable of actually practicing it, but as long as he knew the theory, he was convinced he could put it into practice once he'd finished this training. As for the rest of the style, he was already running through ideas in his head for how to incorporate it into Anything Goes.

After he'd finished his training for the day, Ranma decided to take his first bath since he'd arrived here. He wasn't normally so lax with his hygiene, but relaxing in hot water was the last thing he needed before he'd gotten a proper reign on his own out of control ki. Now, however, he was confident a little hot water wouldn't be an issue.

It turned out it was the cold water he should have feared. The activation of his curse, as he rinsed himself caused a small fluctuation in Ranma's ki that caused her control to slip. She clamped back down as quickly as she could, but it was the largest mistake she'd made since she'd started this training. A combination of surprise and pain brought on by the damage as some of her ki ran amok caused her to cry out. With the crisis passed, she quickly checked for damage. Thankfully it appeared to be little more than a few minor internal injuries. Nothing critical, and it should all heal within a day or so. Regrettably, her cry had been heard, as the door to the bathroom slid open behind her.

"Who are you?" Sehrul demanded to know.

"It's Ranma, actually," she answered, keeping her back to him in some small nod to modesty. "I picked up a Jusenkyo curse a while back. Changing did a little something with my ki that caught me off-guard, but it shouldn't be a problem again, now that I'm ready for it."

"You've had poor luck with magic, haven't you?" Sehrul replied with a sigh.

"You're telling me," Ranma muttered back.

"Make sure you return to your male form when you're done," Sehrul ordered. "I'll minimize the staff's access to the building to help, but I'd prefer you do whatever possible to keep your curse a secret from them."

"Don't worry," Ranma told him, "I'm not exactly thrilled with this curse, and I prefer to let as few people as possible in on it."

"Good," he said simply. "Then let me know when you're finished. I have some additional training planned for you."

Ranma waited for the door to slide shut again before continuing to wash. He barely even dipped into the hot water long enough to return to his guy form before leaving. He enjoyed a nice soak, but it wasn't worth delaying training over. That training progressed over the next few days as Sehrul began allowing him to try to control small amounts of ki as it moved through parts of his body. It was slower going than he'd have liked, but it was progress.

Sehrul also brought in several sparring partners for him to try out some of the stuff he was learning on. They were way below his level, but as severely handicapped as he was without the use of his ki, it at least had some value for training. That said, after about a week of this, Sehrul pulled him over, to discuss something with him.

"I've notice you have some of the best instincts I've ever seen for someone your age," he told Ranma, a statement that stirred up pride in him even if it wasn't exactly news to him. "However, that could prove to be a weakness."

"What?" Ranma complained. "How can good instincts be a weakness?"

"Because you've never needed to rely on strategy," Sehrul answered. "And any skill you don't train won't improve."

"Hey, I've used strategy plenty of times," Ranma argued. He understood that simply duking it out wasn't always enough to deal with strong opponents, and he'd beaten more than a few thanks to his wits.

"On a very basic level, I'm sure," Sehrul answered. "However, there are those who fight without using their instincts at all. Planning out every move and potential counter-move like a game of chess. Similarly there are those who have reached master level using nothing but their instincts. Regardless, each has their strength and weaknesses, and you'll be strongest if you learn not to rely on only one."

"I'm still not convinced," Ranma declared stubbornly. "If my instincts aren't enough, it just means I need to work on improving them."

"Perhaps a demonstration then," Sehrul declared, pointing a single finger at him, and before Ranma could even ask him what he meant, his instincts started screaming at him to dodge.

Doing just that, he sensed another attack, and another, and another. Ranma had completely lost track of where Sehrul actually was, the master's attacks pushing him to his limits as he was dancing all over the place trying to avoid a constant stream of blows headed for vital areas. It was then that Ranma backed up only to feel something poke the back of his neck. Jumping forward, he turned around, no longer sensing any incoming attacks, and saw Sehrul standing in a very familiar position.

"Yes, I haven't moved an inch that entire time," he answered without Ranma having to say a word. "That was a high level technique to turn your own instincts against you. Of course there are other ways as well. A clever opponent might feign a weakness in dealing with a certain type of attack, letting you repeatedly exploit it to get in minor blows. Then, once you've been fully trained to take advantage of the situation, he can hit you with a counter he's been planning for that entire time, knowing now that you would have committed instantly."

"I guess," Ranma admitted sullenly, displeased with the poor performance he'd just given.

"At the very least, practicing devising such strategies will better prepare you to identify them before you're caught," Sehrul continued. "Not to mention that you seem to pride yourself on the variety and unpredictability your style offers. I think you'd see the value in additional ways to approach a fight."

"Fine," Ranma agreed. "So what do you want me to do?"

"In your matches, I want you to ignore your instincts completely," Sehrul told him. "Think through every move before you make it. Try to predict your opponent's actions and determine how you'll react in advance, if possible. Eventually, the goal will be to combine the use of strategy and instincts. But before that, we'll need to see how far you can go with strategy alone."

Ranma's mood did improve a little at that. After all, he enjoyed a challenge and seeing how quickly he could improve himself. That eagerness faded somewhat after his first few sparring matches. Trying to predict what someone else was going to do was not an easy proposition. Sure the guys Sehrul was getting for him to fight against weren't terribly skilled, so if he just fought defensively for a while and took note of their patterns he was eventually able to make it work.

Against someone who was actually a challenge, however, he didn't see how he'd get enough time to really figure out their moves. Not to mention the penalty for guessing wrong. Then again, if he was able to watch someone fighting other people, that might give him exactly what he needed. He could certainly see the value of a few detailed plans for getting the drop on Ryoga whenever it came time to butt heads again.

So he persevered in that in addition to his primary training. As the weeks turned into months, he did almost nothing but train. Ethan only made brief appearances between missions, but they did get to chat a bit during those times. Mostly Ranma learned a bit about Yami, and its sub-group, Yomi, of which Ethan was a part. He hadn't realized Sehrul had been such a big shot in Yami, but it shouldn't surprise him considering it did revolved around martial arts and the big guy was very impressive in that regard. He'd love to see an all out fight between him and the old ghoul some day. He was sure he could learn a lot just watching that.

Ethan wasn't the only person he got to chat with either. Sehrul helped him get Ukyo's number so he could keep good on his promise to stay in touch. He enjoyed those talks whenever she wasn't trying to convince him to go visit Nerima again. Lately she'd been dialing it back to just trying to get him to call someone else. He was actually considering doing that much, but hadn't quite worked up the nerve. Maybe if he started slow and called Dr. Tofu and Kasumi first or something.

On the training front, he was finally making some worthwhile progress in his ki control. It was easily one of the most difficult obstacles he'd ever tried to overcome, and there was no end to his frustration with the pace he was overcoming it. Still, he could now recreate the flow of ki throughout his entire body, instead of only parts at a time. Only at a tiny trickle of what he was normally capable of, and it took too much of his concentration to be of any use in battle, so he was still going dry during his sparring sessions.

Overall, his situation was almost too good to be true. More days than not, he was enjoying personal training from when he woke up until when he turned in. A great way to keep his mind off other things. As a bonus, everything he needed was being taken care of, free of charge. He had to wonder though how long it would last, especially with Ethan always being sent off on missions. So one day, he finally decided to ask Sehrul about it while they were training

"You ever going to send me off on a mission?" Ranma questioned. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all the training and stuff, but it's hard to believe you'll keep providing it for free. I mean I haven't even officially signed on to your little group."

"Interesting timing," Sehrul replied. "I was actually just considering sending you on one. Albeit a personal one rather than one officially sanctioned by Yami."

"Oh yeah?" Ranma asked curiously. "And what's that?"

"I've received information that the Saint Fist has been training a disciple but has not yet brought him into Yomi," he answered. "Instead, this Odin, as he'd going by, has started his own organization, known as Ragnarok. Perhaps Ogata simply wishes to look for other talent that might be worth bringing in to Yomi. Regardless, I'd like to investigate yourself. If any of Ragnarok's members do have talent, I may even be able to snap them up before Ogata does."

"You mind if I check some of the talent personally?" Ranma asked hopefully, looking forward to the potential of a good fight.

"Not at all," Sehrul said. "That's actually one of the main reasons I wanted to send you. This could be a good opportunity to find opponents the right level for your training."

That had been a problem lately. One thing Yami didn't have a surplus of, was martial artists still on a low level of strength. Masters took a few disciples, but other than that, they generally only recruited those who were already beyond what Ranma could do in his handicapped state. Even for those few disciples that might be the right level, most masters didn't just hand them out freely to help another master's disciple train. So mostly they'd just been grabbing people from local dojos, all of whom had so far been beneath him.

"Oh and one more thing," Sehrul continued. "Once you leave the facility, I want you to change to your cursed form and stay there for the duration of the mission."

"What, why?" Ranma protested.

"Plenty of the staff here has seen you in your current form," he explained, "and they don't work for me directly. It's certain the rest of Yami already knows of your existence. Us masters are somewhat competitive, and pending what you discover, I'd prefer the Saint Fist not be able to tie you back to me."

"Fine, fine," Ranma said in reply. He supposed it wasn't as bad as actually being locked, and he'd survived that more than once. Besides, as great as the training was, he'd honestly been getting a little stir crazy. So he'd put up with it for a little while if he got a chance at a little excitement.

---

Takeda was just leaving the school property for the day, not even bothering to meet up with the Shinpaku Alliance today. With four of Ragnarok's eight fists defeated, and Kenichi out training, things had actually been pretty quite lately. Nijima was planning a party tomorrow to welcome Kisara to the Shinpaku Alliance, but without Kenichi, Miu wasn't showing up, so he had little reason to do so himself.

Although it looked like his day would have at least one brief high note, as he spotted a red-haired, blue-eyed girl walking in his direction. That blue short sleeved shirt and black pants she wore didn't exactly make the most flattering outfit, but it couldn't hide her impressive figure. And now that he looked at it closer, it did offer the intriguing possibility of untying those knots holding the front of her shirt together and seeing what was underneath. As lost in his inspection as he was, it took him a bit to realize the girl was approaching him.

"You look like you know a bit about fighting," she said to him. "Do you know where I can find a group called Ragnarok?"

"Why would you be looking for a bunch like that?" Takeda asked in surprise. "The Shinpaku Alliance has already half destroyed that group, and as a member, I can tell you that we're a lot nicer to be around."

He put on his most winning smile, hoping to entice her into following him back to headquarters. As much as he liked Miu, a little extra eye candy never hurt. Especially considering he wouldn't be stabbing Kenichi in the back if he made any moves on her. Sadly, his efforts didn't have the desired effect.

"Interesting if true," she said doubtfully. "Still, I have business with Ragnarok, so do you or don't you know where I can find them?"

"Couldn't tell you where the survivors are hiding out," he admitted honestly. All the divisions he could have identified from his time in Ragnarok had already been disbanded.

"Thanks anyway then, guess I'll keep looking around," she said, walking past him and continuing on her original path.

"Wait," he called after her. "Can I at least get your name?"

"Uh … Tendo Ranko," she said after a moments hesitation.

"Well, I'm Takeda," he informed her. "Don't hesitate to stop by again."

Rather than continue the conversation, however, she simply sped off without another word. Tendo Ranko, huh? That was one girl he wouldn't mind seeing more of.

---

Ranma was still kicking herself for giving her old alias out to that silver-haired guy. You'd think she'd have thought far enough in advance to realize she needed a false name. Ah well, she wasn't planning to stay around for long, so she doubted she'd stir up trouble for the real Tendo Ranko. Anyway, she wasn't having much luck finding this Ragnarok group. Most people she asked seemed to have heard of them, but no one wanted to say anything. She was getting tempted to start trying to scare it out of them.

However, it was just then she spotted five girls wearing a strange uniform approaching her from down the street and all brandishing weapons. Finally, she might be getting somewhere. When they met, the only one wearing a non-standard uniform, hers being pink instead of blue, stepped up to address her.

"So you're the one who's been asking around about Ragnarok?" asked the brown haired girl bearing a tonfa whom she could only assume was the leader.

"That's right," Ranma confirmed. "I take it I've found them?"

"Yeah, now the question is, why were you looking for us?" the leader asked.

"Did you want to join the Valkyries?" added the one wearing a bandana and wielding a pair of sai.

"I haven't even heard of the Valkyries," Ranma answered. "I'm just doing some scouting to see if any of you are good enough to join Yomi."

Actually, she wasn't sure she was supposed to mention Yomi. Ah well, Sehrul had only said to hide his ties to him, not to Yomi in general. Besides, it was too late to worry about it now.

"Well you can take your scouting elsewhere," the leader answered sharply. "We serve Freya-sama, and we're not going to abandon her."

"Don't get so worked up," Ranma told them. "It's my understanding that Ragnarok is basically just a farm league for Yomi to begin with. And if you work under one of their members, you're probably bench warmers even there. So it's not like you're going to be good enough to begin with."

"We'll show you bench warmers," the leader spat back angrily. "Valkyries, attack!"

If they wanted a fight, that was fine with Ranma, but given her current condition, it might not be wise to just charge into a group a weapon users like she normally would have done. Besides, she was supposed to be practicing her use of strategy. So instead she danced back, constantly moving around to ensure they were never able to surround her. Whenever she got in a good position, isolating one with the rest stuck behind her, she'd charge in, give them a few good blows, and dance back out before her friends could help out.

One on one, they weren't terribly impressive. A little more dangerous than the people she had been fighting, but that might just be the weapons. Regardless, her strategy was working beautifully, and she was outright embarrassing them to the point where this was getting boring. So she decided to try to get some information out of them instead.

"So, you know where I can find this Freya of yours, or someone else who can actually fight?" Ranma asked them.

"We'd never betray Freya-sama," their leader insisted, "and you're too quick to underestimate us. We'll defeat you yet!"

"Please," Ranma said with a snort. "I've just been testing to you to see what you can do and still none of you have managed to so much as land a blow on me. You five, on the other hand, look as if you can barely stand. If you're going to hold your silence, then I'm done with you."

"Don't you dare run off!" the leader shouted angrily at her back as she'd started doing just that.

"Oh," Ranma said pausing for a moment, "and make sure to tell your bosses to send someone with some actual skill after me next time. I'll be around."

With that she hurried off, ignoring their protests. Ranma figured she'd stirred the hornets' nest enough that even if no one wanted to tell her anything, Ragnarok would find her.

---

Loki was shocked to hear Odin use the latest meeting of the remaining fists to call for the destruction of the Shinpaku Alliance after he'd been stonewalling it all this time. The loss of four of their eight fists must have rattled him. But now was not the time for this, and Loki needed to put a stop to it.

"I would advise against that," he told Odin.

"Why?" Odin asked suspiciously. "This is exactly what you've been asking for all along."

"Surely you've heard about the humiliation of one of Freya's Valkyrie squads?" Loki asked, seeing Freya's eyes narrow harshly at his choice of words.

"Yes, but their strength is hardly needed for this effort," Odin replied. "Berserker alone should be sufficient."

"I'm more worried about who their adversary was," he explained. "She claimed to be affiliated with Yomi, and my sources indicate that Yomi could be far more dangerous than the Shinpaku Alliance. If they've already made their first move against us, I would advise caution. If we move against Shinpaku, Yomi could use the opportunity to strike us while we're distracted."

Odin was taking his time considering these words. If he made the wrong choice, Loki might have to consider putting into action his plan to replace Odin. He hoped it didn't come to that, however, as Yomi truly did worry him, and Odin would be a useful tool in that particular battle.

"Very well," Odin finally said. "We'll use caution for the moment. Use this opportunity to learn everything you can about Yomi and their movements, Loki. My patience in this matter won't last forever."

"Very well," Loki answered in relief. Between the existing forces and the new fists he'd been gathering in secret, they would hopefully be able to handle Yomi. Whoever was left after that battle should be more than enough to wipe out the Shinpaku Alliance.

---

The Elder dropped Kenichi off right in front of the Shinpaku Alliance headquarters, landing him next to Takeda, who had been hurrying toward the complex himself.

"So what's happening with the attack?" Kenichi asked him worriedly as soon as he landed.

"What attack?" Takeda asked. "Nijima said he was calling an emergency meeting, but didn't mention anything about an attack."

"Che," Kenichi muttered out loud. "It looks like that alien has manipulated me again."

Not only had he had to interrupt his training with the Elder, but he'd been put through the terrifying experience of clinging to the man as he ran him back here.

"Well, why don't we at least find out what this is about?" Takeda suggested.

"Might as well," Kenichi agreed. "Besides, I need to give Nijima a piece of my mind."

As they reached the entrance to the building, a red-haired girl hurried out, clutching a piece of paper in her hand and wearing a feral grin. She paid them no mind as she rushed off into the distance.

"That was the girl I met yesterday who was looking for Ragnarok," Takeda announced, making Kenichi even more curious. So the two of them entered the building, spotting Nijima right away.

"Perfect timing you two," Nijima announced. "I just set the final piece in motion, so now we move into the final stages of my master plan."

"Did it have anything to do with that girl?" Takeda asked him.

"Yes," Nijima confirmed. "It turns out she's an agent of Yomi, an organization that my sources say has even Ragnarok spooked. Anyway, she just left because I delivered her a challenge to Yomi from Ragnarok."

"Ragnarok actually gave us a challenge message to pass on to Yomi?" Kenichi asked in confusion.

"Not really," Nijima replied, "but then again, Yomi wasn't really behind the similar challenge I ensured was delivered to Ragnarok. I was actually beginning to worry I wouldn't be able to find her in time, but everything is set now. Ragnarok and Yomi will wear themselves out, and the Shinpaku Alliance will be there to annihilate whichever one survives!"

"What? You can't do that," Kenichi protested, grabbing Nijima by his shirt and lifting him into the air. "Yomi hasn't even done anything to us, and you're trying to set them up in a war? We have to catch that girl and stop her."

"Don't worry, the challenge isn't set for several hours yet," the alien answered calmly. "I still think we should stick with the plan, but if you're that determined to stop her, I can gather the alliance together to fan out and try to stop Yomi before they arrive. Although you do realize that we'll be missing a great opportunity if we do, right?"

"Just do it," Kenichi ordered, setting him back down none too gently. One good thing about being brought back too soon was that he could actually try to keep Nijima under some semblance of control.

---

Having heard from her grandfather than Kenichi was back, Miu immediately went looking for him. She finally managed to track him down, spotting him walking toward some destination alongside Takeda.

"Kenichi!" she called out to him. "Where are you going?"

"Hey there, Honey," Takeda waved to her in greeting.

"Ah, Miu," Kenichi added. "We're just trying to deal with another of Nijima's schemes. He's trying to trick some other group to fight Ragnarok for us, and we're going to stop it before it can happen."

Miu was curious as to the details of that, but assumed she'd be getting the information shortly as Nijima was marching toward them with Kisara, Ukita, Siegfried, and the rest of the Shinpaku Alliance forces.

"Great. You're here," Kenichi greeted them warmly. "Let's spread out and do our best to stop this before it's too late."

"Keep it down," Nijima told him as he approached, before pointing to a hill a short distance from the road. "There should be enough cover in the bushes up there for everyone Vice-Captain rank or higher. The rest of you need to wait here for the signal."

"What are you talking about?" Kenichi asked, before his face turned into a frown. "You lied about the time you wrote in those letters, didn't you?"

"Of course," Nijima said with glee. "I couldn't let you ruin a perfect plan like that."

"So what exactly is going on?" Miu asked, still a little lost.

"What's going on is that Ragnarok and Yomi and going to destroy each other for us," Nijima said as he started crawling toward the hill. "While that goes on, we sit back and collect intel on their strengths. That's especially important if Yomi wins because I've found out next to nothing about them."

Miu followed him up the hill with Kenichi and Shinpaku's leaders doing likewise. Reaching the top, Miu peeked through the bushes from where she lay prone on the ground. She saw an impressive array of forces spread around a field that looked to be used for soccer, among other sports. Ryuto himself was included in those numbers. There was something odd about them, however, something she was sure Nijima had picked up on as well.

"They're all Ragnarok forces," he said, worry clear in his voice. "Did Yomi decide not to come?"

"No, look," Takeda pointed out. "That's the girl from before."

Miu directed her gaze to where Takeda was pointing to see a red-haired girl that did seem to be the center of attention.

"That fool couldn't actually have come alone, could she?" Nijima complained. "I know it took me a while to find her, but she should have had time to call the rest of her forces. Maybe Yomi is planning their own ambush?"

"You met her before, Takeda. Is it possible she's strong enough to take them on herself?" Kenichi asked hopefully, from his position immediately to her left.

"All I got out of her was her name," he answered. "It's Tendo Ranko, by the way."

"Let me check," Nijima interjected, as a couple of antenna popped out of his hair and he stared ahead with a weird look on his face for several seconds before giving his answer. "It's hopeless. She's at least above Ukita, but not really very strong."

"Hey," Ukita complained.

"We need to help her then," Kenichi insisted, moving as if to stand up, but Miu stopped him before he could. "Let's at least make sure we understand the situation before we rush in."

Kenichi didn't look convinced, but Ryuto started talking before could object further.

"I'm surprised you've come alone," he told her, thankfully projecting his voice so that everyone assembled could hear.

"Well, I'm surprised you have so many people in your organization," Ranko responded just as loudly as she looked around. "Although most of them don't look like much."

"Oh, and how does Yomi prefer to run things?" Ryuto inquired.

"I'm not exactly an expert, but basically there's nine guys at the top," she answered. "I've only met one of them, but he's pretty strong, so I expect they all are."

"And how strong is that?" Ryuto questioned.

"I don't know how to explain it," Ranko told him. "You haven't exactly sent anyone my way I could use for a fair comparison."

"That's a problem I believe I can solve," he declared with a smirk. "Freya, I believe you have business with her."

"Ah, so you're Freya," Ranko said cheerfully as a girl with short, dark brown hair approached her. "I hope you're at least a little more challenging that those Valkyries of yours were."

"What did she do them?" Kisara growled from where she was hiding.

"Calm down before you give us away," Nijima told her. "The Valkyries are all right over there, so she couldn't have hurt them too badly."

"Ah, so they are," Kisara said a bit sheepishly. "But I still don't like the way she's talking. Not that it matters much. Freya will make her pay for those words."

"I think you'll find I know a few tricks," Freya answered as a staff shot out and nailed Ranko in the stomach, sending her backward. It was easy to see from their angle, but the way Freya had concealed it, Ranko probably didn't even know what had hit her.

"A staff user, huh?" Ranko declared as she picked herself back up, proving her eyes were impressive at the very least.

Freya followed up her attack and quickly put Ranko on the ropes. The smaller girl was doing an impressive job of dodging, but Freya was clearly faster. Adding in the advantage of reach the staff gave her, and Ranko was completely on the defensive. Even in that regard she looked to be struggling.

"We have to help her," Kenichi insisted, seeing the uneven fight himself.

"Wait," Miu declared, stopping him again. "Something isn't right. Ranko's moves are far too skilled for how slow she's moving. I think she may be holding back."

He settled down, but Miu could tell he was still dying to charge in there despite how many opponents would be surrounding him. Of course, that was one of the things Miu liked about him.

"Your staff is really getting annoying," Ranko called out in frustration, before lunging for the weapon with her hand after Freya had used it to block a kick.

But then, to everyone's surprise, Freya actually pulled the staff apart into two equal halves, leaving Ranko to grab nothing but air. Quickly moving both haves to one side, she held the two of them together and swung them almost like a baseball bat right into Ranko's side. The force threw the girl several feet to the side in what must have been a painful manner. Freya then combined the staff back into one piece and pressed her assault on Ranko. Lifting her staff above her head, she prepared for a finishing blow against the girl who was just trying to crawl back to her feet.

Miu was surprised Kenichi hadn't made any other protests until she glanced over to realize he wasn't there. While Miu had been watching the fight, Kenichi had already run out from their cover. He'd left just soon enough to place himself between the two combatants and intercept the downward strike with a cross-arm block.

"He came from over there," one of Ragnarok's grunts called out, pointing in their direction.

"Look, there are more of them hiding in the bushes," another added.

"Curse that fool!" Nijima spat out.

"We're the ones who actually sent both challenge letters!" Kenichi called out loudly so everyone could hear. "So let Ranko go. She doesn't have anything to do with this."

"Stand down, men," Ryuto called out to where his underlings were starting to converge on Miu and the Shinpaku Alliance leaders. "It seems they were kind enough to host this little event for us. Let's not be rude. We'll deal with them after they've had the chance to enjoy the rest of the show."

Not seeing much of a point in hiding anymore, Miu stood up, the others near her doing the same. Most of them immediately got into defensive positions, not fully trusting Ryuto's words. Nevertheless, they'd seemed to stop his subordinates. Kenichi's own words, however, proved somewhat less effective.

"Whatever the cause for this, my fight with her is personal," Freya declared. "If you wish to stop me, you'll have to fight me yourself."

"I'm sorry, but I don't hit girls," Kenichi declared firmly.

Miu actually winced at that, considering his current position. Many female fighters didn't take kindly to those who wouldn't fight them seriously because of their gender. This point was only evidenced by Kisara's nearby growling.

"He's still going on about that?" Kisara complained angrily.

However, the reaction of the two girls in question, was much more muted by comparison.

"I have a weapon, so it's fine," Freya told him.

"I understand completely," Ranko added.

It seemed Kenichi had lucked out somewhat this particular time.

"Still, you shouldn't have interrupted," Ranko continued, planting a foot on Kenichi's back and shoving him out of the way. "I don't care who started this whole thing, but this is my fight and I'm going to finish it."

Kenichi looked ready to protest further, but Miu was already at his side, grabbing his arm and pulling him back to the group. "Kenichi, they both have their own reasons for fighting," she told him. "It would be wrong to get in their way."

"Okay," he conceded grudgingly, letting himself be led along.

"Now, I believe you were about to hit me with that strike of yours," Ranko declared once they were clear. "So get on with it. I'm not going to owe my win to his interference."

"You're sure of this?" Freya asked in surprise.

"Yeah, and don't you dare hold back," Ranko insisted firmly. "I want you to hit me every bit as hard as you would have the first time."

"Very well," Freya agreed respectfully, pulling back to do just that.

"She really is a good person," Kenichi said softly enough that the fighters wouldn't be able to overhear. "I wish she would have let me help her."

However, as resolved as Ranko looked to be to take the blow, when the staff actually swung down, she twisted to the side, avoiding it completely. Continuing her footwork, she dashed to Freya's side and spun into a kick that caught Freya in the back, sending her sprawling forward. Freya planted her staff in the ground to catch herself before she landed, then spun herself back around to face Ranko, holding her staff up defensively against whatever Ranko's next attack would be.

Rather than trying to attack her nearly downed opponent, Ranko reached out her right arm to make another attempt to grab the staff. Once again, Freya split it in half, but this time Ranko was ready, adjusting the course of her arm to the right and grabbing on the the end of the staff in Freya's left hand. She didn't have the best of leverage if she hoped to pull it away, but Ranko was already in motion, spinning herself counter-clockwise, and using the force of her spin to wrench that half free from Freya's grasp.

As if that wasn't enough, the angle was such that when it was pulled free, the released end was swung directly in the back of Freya's right hand. It smashed into it with enough force to cause Freya to release it involuntarily, which Ranko reacted to by knocking it toward her with the half she'd already stolen and grabbing it in her left hand.

"This is my defeat," Freya announced sullenly after seeing the situation she was in.

"Great," Ranko said cheerfully. "But just in case, I'm going to get rid of these things."

Saying so, she tossed the two halves of the staff over toward where the Shinpaku Alliance was gathered, which Nijima gleefully plucked them up, laughing loudly as he did. Meanwhile, Kenichi was holding both hands to either side of a wide open mouth.

"She's not a good person at all!" he finally declared in shock.

"I was right. She was holding back," Miu mused, ignoring his outburst. "Ever since the fight started up again, she was moving much faster than before. She just used Kenichi's distraction to help catch Freya off-guard before revealing that."

"Yeah, it's because of your stupidity that Freya lost," Kisara complained angrily, wrapping her hands around his neck from behind him and trying to choke him. "Don't think I'll forgive you easily for that."

"It's not my fault," Kenichi declared defensively, able to get the words out despite his position. "How was I supposed to know she would use a dirty trick like that?"

"I would hardly call it a dirty trick," Sakaki announced, causing Miu to turn and see that all of Ryozanpaku's masters save her grandfather had gathered around them. "You're simply too kind. Any martial artist should be willing to go at least that far."

"I tend to agree," Akisame added. "Martial arts is largely designed around deception and misdirection. Simply using your mouth rather than your fists to that effect hardly makes it unethical."

"When did you all get here?" Miu asked warmly, glad to have someone who might help Kenichi out if he got himself into too much trouble. Well, hopefully one of them would at least consider it.

"Apachai has been here all along," Apachai announced.

"We decided not to hide anymore," Shigure added in further explanation.

The masters were getting some very strange looks from the members of the Alliance who had yet to see them. Kenichi was giving them looks as well, but for a completely different reason.

"Forget about that," he snapped. "How can you two say that? It was clearly wrong of her."

"I think it's practically criminal of Ranko," Kensei interjected.

"See, at least Ma-sensei agrees with me," Kenichi responded gratefully.

"Not that, you fool," he berated Kenichi. "Her clothes. China has produced a plethora of styles that are highly sensual while still remaining easy to fight in. If she's going to wear Chinese clothes, it should not be clothing designed for a man."

"She's a girl now?" Apachai asked curiously.

"Of course she's a girl," Kensei replied. "Although in those clothes it's no surprise if you were confused."

It was then that Miu noticed Kenichi had turned to Ranko and was looking at her a little too closely for Miu's tastes.

"You're thinking awfully hard about what he said, aren't you?" Miu asked a bit icily.

"No, no!" he replied in a panic. "I wasn't thinking about what she'd look like in other clothing at all!"

Further discussion was postponed for the moment as Ryuto was speaking again. Only postponed though.

---

Ranma might have gone against Sehrul's wishes a bit in that fight, but her current sensei would have to be proud of the result. Her speed had proven itself insufficient at the start of the fight, so when that Kenichi guy had jumped in, she'd decided to risk running a bit of ki through her body for the remainder of the fight. Well, she hadn't lost control, and combined with her quick thinking, it had been more than enough to finish the fight decisively.

And how was that for strategy? The bit at the start may have just been the sort of cheap trick her father had long ago taught her to use, but everything after that had been planned out and predicted, and it had worked beautifully. So that was a major success in both areas she was working on.

"There, you've seen what Freya was capable of," Odin declared, jarring her from her thoughts and not sounding the list bit disturbed by Freya's loss. "So tell me, how strong are these leaders of Yomi?"

"Still not enough to say much," Ranma answered smugly. "Way above her level anyway."

"I admit you've caught my interest now," Odin declared. "Enough so that I'm going to have Berserker give you a little more to work with."

"Glad to hear it," Ranma replied, looking forward to more practice fighting while using ki, now that she'd proven she could handle it.

"Just try to leave her conscious long enough to give us a decent estimate," Odin told the large fighter with spiky blond hair as he approached her.

Ranma got herself into a defensive stance that was designed to make it easy to go into a fighting retreat once she was attacked. She had no idea what this guy's fighting style was, and wanted to get a bit more information on him before going on the offensive. Even so, she barely avoided the first punch headed her way as she retreated backward. This guy's speed was way above where Freya's had been.

On the positive side, there hadn't looked to be much skill behind it. If this guy was nothing but physical ability, then it should be fairly easy to predict his movements and counter them. She prepared to give that an attempt after getting some space. If he tried the same move again, he'd just be using his own momentum to increase the strength of the punch his face would be receiving.

Waiting for the instant she saw movement from him, she was in action. But rather than a punch, Berserker had leaped into the air, over her own attempted counter, and latched on to her shoulders with his hands. Ranma prepared herself for the throw she knew must be coming, kicking herself for having underestimated the guy after his first attack. Her preparations were in vein, as no such throw came. Instead Berserker balanced into a handstand, then fell forward again, kicking Ranma in the head and knocking her back.

That attack hadn't even made any sense. Ranma had to wonder if Berserker had just been mocking her with that. If he had, he kept it up. Virtually all his attacks were as crazy and unpredictable as that one. Even going completely into defensive mode and just trying to get space, she'd been unable to avoid all his attacks, and the damage was quickly building up. The only silver lining in this was that as she burned through her ki, it became easier to control, which allowed her to run more through her body at once. So she was in the odd scenario where the more tired she became, the faster and stronger she got.

If only she could fire off a few Moko Takabasha to really drain her reserves, she'd be all set. That strategy was unlikely seeing as there was no way she could manage one of those without tearing her arm to shreds. And she wasn't willing to give up an arm to win a fight. At least not when there were still other options on the table. To that effect, considering how the struggle caused her to burn through ki much faster than one would expect given the amount she was using, she'd already seen a significant increase in its flow.

That might not be enough though. She'd reach her peak far below her normal abilities, and as best she as could tell, she'd still be slower than Berserker at that point. Given his style, that simply wasn't going to be enough. She could watch him fight for days upon days and she'd probably still have no idea what his next move would be. How were you supposed to predict someone whose moves didn't follow reason in the first place?

Still, Ranma was determined to at least get one blow in on the guy. Her pride wouldn't let her settle for any less. But how was she supposed to do that? Maybe she needed to take a step back and look at it from another angle. What did she know about this guy? His attacks seemed almost random in nature. It didn't look as if he'd had any training at all. But his fighting instincts were incredible. Ranma had yet to see him miss that chance to exploit any openings his attacks created.

Maybe that was her starting point. If he always exploited an opening, then if Ranma deliberately made one, she'd know when he'd attack and where he'd be targeting. Even so, he'd probably do it in the most ridiculous way possible, so that still left far too many variables. She had to cut down on them somehow but … wait, she'd already said it. He'd attack in the most ridiculous way possible. So if she eliminated as many possible options as she could, she'd be left with something she might be able to work with.

Even better, this was one area the way he fought would actually aid her. His crazy moves often left him in positions that weren't exactly the most practical. His speed and natural talent had always prevented Ranma from taking advantage of that, but it should leave him with several parts of his body that simply were not capable of being used to attack the opening he would create. So now Ranma needed to do her best to get him in just such a position while still being in a state where she could take advantage of it.

To that end, she took a page from Sehrul's initial lesson and started leaving other openings, encouraging him to attack but in places less likely to put her severely off balance. After several failures where either his attack had left him in too strong a stance, or jarred Ranma too far from the position she needed to be in, she saw just what she was looking for. A midair punch from Berserker had forced her back, but done little more. Meanwhile, Berserker's landing was going to leave him in a very poor position.

He was turned sideways to her and leaning at a fairly steep angle in her direction. Just before he touched down, she dropped the guard from her left arm as if in pain, leaving a large opening she was counting on him being unable to resist. He'd be able to push forward with his legs, but leaned forward as much as he was, they were in no position to kick, at least not in a way that would reach the opening in her guard before she could dance out of range.

Similarly, turned to the side as he was, his left arm would be too slow. It was the same for everything else she could think of, up to and including crazy cartwheels forward. It just wasn't possible to complete them fast enough. The only viable attacks he had were right hand, right elbow, right shoulder, and head. Knowing the time he would attack, where he would attack, and such a limited range of possible attacks gave her a counter that should work for any of them.

She'd already been in motion the moment she'd dropped her guard, knowing he'd react all but instantly. Ranma had dug her foot into the ground, going in into a spin that took her toward Berserker's left while she simultaneously pushed herself toward him, rather than dodging back as she'd just been doing. It also went contrary to her primary reaction to any attack this entire fight. While she was in motion, she saw that Berserker was indeed charging forward off the foot that had just touched down.

However, rather than a simple straight punch any normal martial artist would have done to break through the guard as quickly as possible, he chose a fierce hook that had probably been aimed at her kidneys. This made for a much closer call than it would have otherwise, as she couldn't just dodge a hook cleanly to the side. Still, between their combined change in momentum, she made it inside the range of the punch just in time, feeling it brush her clothes as it went by.

Thankful she hadn't tried this any sooner, as she'd needed every bit of speed she had. Anyway, she continued her spin until she'd gone a complete three-sixty, using her momentum to slam her fist into the side of Berserker's head. He'd managed to twist with the punch to reduce its damage, but it had still been a clean blow. She'd reached her goal, and gotten one hit in. She was satisfied with that.

Now that she'd proven she could at least take the strategy Sehrul wanted that far, it was time to actually win this fight. She'd see just how well Berserker could do when she brought her own fighting instincts into play. Ranma figured she'd tired herself out to the point where she had more than enough speed to handle him. Now it was time for the fun to begin.

---

Kenichi couldn't help but cheer up a bit when Ranko got her first hit on Berserker. He still wasn't very happy with the trick she'd played, but seeing a guy beating up on a girl like that just didn't sit right with him at all.

"That last bit was well done," Akisame declared. "But I'm afraid she took more damage setting it up than she did as a result."

"It doesn't matter," Sakaki replied. "Losing is bad enough, doing so without even getting in one hit? Any price is worth it to get around that. Now, even if he kills her, she can have some peace."

"Don't say that!" Miu insisted loudly. "She's been getting faster the entire fight. She might still be holding back enough to win."

"She's been getting faster?" Kenichi asked curiously.

"How can you not have noticed?" Sakaki complained. "She's like twice as fast as when she started the fight."

"It's just like a frog being slowly boiled," Kensei cut in. "She's been increasing her speed so slowly that Kenichi's brain never notices."

"Don't treat my brain like it's a frog!" Kenichi protested angrily.

"Quiet," Nijima hushed him. "They're talking again."

"Now that you've gotten a taste of Berserker, will you tell us how Yomi compares, or does he have to beat that information out of you?" Ryuto asked.

"Sorry to say, but the one I know wouldn't have broken a sweat against Berserker," Ranko answered. "As for beating anything out of me, well, I've been practicing a couple of things, but I suppose it's time to take this fight seriously. So if anyone is going to be forced to talk, it's him."

"She has to be bluffing ... on both counts," Ukita declared worried. "But especially on the first. There's no way they have anyone that could beat that monster so easily. Much less nine such people."

"I still think there might be hope," Miu insisted. "We'll just see how much speed she was still holding back now."

They didn't have to wait long, as Ranko made her move, sprinting straight at Berserker. The larger fighter sent both fists at her simultaneously, but Ranko twisted to the side at the last second, slipping between his two arms with her lithe frame and firing an open palmed strike into his chest that sent Berserker staggering back several feet. The large fighter quickly regained his balance and went on the offensive himself this time, but Ranko again danced around his blows, this time getting him into a hold and throwing him painfully to the ground.

"I see," said Akisame. "That's it."

"What's it?" Miu asked. "How is she suddenly winning? Her speed hasn't gone up enough to cause such a sudden change in fortune. She's still quite a bit slower than he is."

"She was telling the truth when she said she was practicing a couple of things before," Kensei explained. "Before she was trying to outthink him. Now she's using her own natural talent."

"And impressive talents those are," Akisame agreed. "I'd say her instincts at least in the same league as Berserker, even if she doesn't quite match him."

"I see," Miu nodded, accepting that, but Kenichi was still confused. Thankfully Takeda asked the question he'd been intending to, so he didn't have to risk making a fool of himself again.

"But if her instincts aren't better than his, and Berserker is still faster, shouldn't he be winning?" Takeda queried.

"Ah, but you see, her instincts have been tempered by her training," Akisame clarified. "Berserker is wild and unpredictable, which can actually help against some people with training as they don't know how to react to him. However, there's a reason martial arts train you to move your bodies in specific ways. They're the most efficient and effective. Even when his movements are something Ranko has never seen her instincts tell her exactly where he's vulnerable and her training shows her the way to exploit that as efficiently as possible."

"Yes, to her, his techniques become little more than mistakes," Kensei added. "Situations not dealt with as well as they should have been. Taking advantage of that more than makes up for the difference in speed."

"Still, I'm impressed with her guts," Sakaki cut in. "Surrounded by enemies she lets herself get beaten half to a pulp just to get in a little extra training. Our own disciple could learn a thing or two from her."

"That's not guts; that's just stupid!" Kisara protested before Kenichi even got the chance.

"Whatever it is, we need to get her to join the Shinpaku Alliance," Nijima declared, his eyes already sparkling at the sight in front of him. That sight being Berserker as he continued to be handled in about as lopsided a manner as the fight had been in the other direction at the start.

Even as he flew into a rage that fit well with his name, it did little to help him. Finally the fight did come to a stop when Berserker seemed completely unable to pick himself back off the ground. Nijima immediately seized the moment to step forward and address the crowd.

"Surrender now, Ragnarok," he declared. "Two of your remaining four leaders have just been beaten, and the Shinpaku Alliance is still completely unscathed."

"There's going to be a third leader down for the count in just a moment," a new voice added, leading Kenichi to turn to where Tanimoto had just appeared behind the two remaining leaders of Ragnarok.

"Tanimoto!" he called out cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"

"Just came to pay back a debt I owe to Loki," he announced, and from the look that was in his eyes, Kenichi was glad he wasn't in Loki's shoes right now.

---

Ranma had been so caught up in the fights, it was only now, looking down on the defeated Berserker that she remembered the main goal of her mission. Checking out the talent in Ragnarok. Freya was maybe a bit of a puzzle. Her skill with the staff was the real deal, but she hadn't been doing a very good job of training her body. If she wasn't afraid of a little hard work to get her speed and strength up, she could become a decent fighter.

As focused as she was on the staff though, Sehrul bringing her in for training didn't make a lot of sense. She needed staff training, and as and good as she was, she probably already had someone teaching her in the regard. As for the physical side, a master wasn't needed for that, just good old fashion perseverance and effort.

Berserker, on the other hand, was a far more intriguing prospect. He looked to have plenty of natural talent. As long as he could take to actual training, he'd be perfect to bring in. You could even teach him whatever style you wanted since you didn't have much of anything to work around. Ranma wouldn't mind fighting him again if that were the case. She'd only been half listening to a bit of a commotion that was starting up during her analysis, since it didn't apply to her directly. But when she saw that new guy in the cloak attack one of the Ragnarok guys, she started to pay better attention.

"What are you doing, Odin?" Loki cried out. "Help me!"

"You only meant to betray me anyway," Odin answered. "I think I'll just let Hermit have his way with you."

Heh, Ranma didn't know what had gone on between the three of them, but that was seriously cold of Odin. Loki was clearly outclassed. Even when he called six other fighters he labeled the 'new fists' or something like that, Hermit just started demolishing them as well. The Hermit guy actually wasn't half bad. Probably stronger in a fight than Berserker, although Ranma still had her eye on her defeated opponent, if only for his potential. Odin didn't even wait for the fight to completely finish before he addressed Ranma.

"I do appreciate what you've done here," he told Ranma. "I know now that I need to take Yomi seriously. Still, I think I'll use you to send my own message back."

"I won't let you do that, Ryuto" that Kenichi guy declared, butting his way in again. "Can't you see how injured she already is? If you're going to fight anyone, it'll be me."

Ranma's first instinct was to protest, but she knew her own body well enough to know how rough of a shape she was in even before the adrenaline rush had worn off and left her at the mercy of her pain and exhaustion. She was badly bruised and battered with one of her eyes trying to decide if it wanted to swell shut. Even worse, she'd she'd just started to come down from her peak power a little at the very end of the fight with Berserker.

That might not seem too bad, but that was just because she couldn't even generate enough power to reach to maximum she could handle forcing through her body at once. She was basically running on fumes. Doing that when fighting a guy who was certain to be stronger than Berserker didn't sound like a wise idea to her. If Kenichi wanted first crack at him, she'd sit back, watch what Odin was capable of, and recover as much strength as she could. Then, if Kenichi lost, she could finish him.

"That's what I hate about you, Kenichi," Odin declared in a fury. "She's from Yomi. She's your enemy too, and yet you insist on protecting her? It seems another lesson is in order."

It looked like these two had history between them, which made her feel better about her decision. She wasn't one to get in the way of a man-to-man fight. Besides, now that she had a moment to herself, she wanted to find out what everyone she'd met at Ryozanpaku was doing here. Well, everyone but that stupid old man, but she wasn't at all upset about his absence. Still, she supposed there was no need to hold him against the rest of them. They'd all treated her well enough.

So she made her way over to the group, almost taking offense at the lack of reaction to her arrival she got, until she noticed that everyone was simply enthralled by the fight that had already started. It was enough to make her forget why she'd come over as well. The two of them were definitely both at a higher level than Berserker had been, and honestly she knew she'd have a tough time taking either of them even if she got a bit of rest. So she'd better keep a close eye on this fight and look for any potential weaknesses.

The fight started off fairly even, but then, for some reason, Odin took his glasses off, and after that, it turned completely in his favor. She'd thought at first they'd actually been hurting his vision until the folks around her starting tossing around words like inner eye. Looking at it more closely, she saw what they were talking about. Odin had simply learned Kenichi's movements and was now tearing the other boy to pieces.

"Kenichi really isn't very good, is he?" Ranma asked out loud.

"That's funny," a short-haired girl in a cap said angrily, "because from here it looks a lot more impressive than anything you did."

Ranma just ignored the jab, since if she'd seen herself fighting out there she wouldn't have thought she was very strong either. Talented and amazing beyond belief, yes, but not strong. Anyway, wasn't that the Takeda guy she'd identified herself as Ranko to standing near her? Did that make this that whatever Alliance thing he'd been talking about? And there was that weird looking guy who had given her the challenge letter. That's what Kenichi must have meant when he'd been going on about it being their fault. Ah well, he may have tricked her, but she got what she'd wanted out of it, so she supposed they were even.

"I just mean that his attack patterns are way too repetitive," she explained. "It's no wonder that Odin sees right through them, he's like a monkey just repeating something he was taught. For all the good moves he knows, it's almost a joke how ineffectively he uses them."

Despite her perfectly reasonable explanation, the girl seemed prepared to argue further, but Akisame made a motion to calm her. "No, he's quite right, I'm afraid." he declared. "Kenichi really doesn't have any talent."

Of course she was right. Ranma knew how to spot talent, or the lack thereof. That girl should have just taken her word for it without needing confirmation.

"Still, I am impressed with his execution," Ranma admitted. "His moves are very sharp. I haven't seem him get sloppy even when he's being beaten on. Whoever trained him must be a miracle worker to get someone like him to that level."

"It certainly wasn't easy," that short Chinese master whose name she didn't think she'd ever got declared.

"We did what we could," Akisame added.

"Apachai helped!" the largest of the group chimed in.

"Wait a second," Ranma said looking around at the group of masters and seeing the proud reactions her words had elicited even from those who hadn't answered. "You guys are training him?"

"That's right," the blonde girl from Ryozanpaku answered for him. He really should have done a better job at getting names, but he'd been too excited about the prospect of training. "Kenichi is the number one disciple of Ryozanpaku."

"Ah, it's like Apachai!" Apachai called out cheerfully, drawing his attention back to the fight and where Kenichi had taken a Muay Thai stance.

He continued to switch from one stance to another, much to the delight of the masters he was mimicking. His actions were again turning the fight to his own favor, as Odin seemed incapable of dealing with the constantly changing fighting styles.

"A bit late, but I guess he's a little better than I gave him credit for," Ranma admitted. She didn't have any trouble doing so herself, but she knew that few people were able to switch to a style other than their own and still fight at all effectively in it.

It looked like Kenichi was actually going to wrap this up himself until Odin went into a very Berserker like rage. Only in his case, it actually increased the speed and ferocity of his attacks dramatically. Kenichi was quickly taking a thrashing that put the worst of what she'd gone through in her own fight with Berserker to shame. She was surprised he was even still managing to pick himself up.

"He's using Dou and Sei at the same time," Akisame announced. "He's going to destroy his body if he continues that for long."

Dou and Sei? Ranma had certainly heard the terms from time to time. As far as she knew though, Dou simply meant using an aggressive style of fighting while Sei was a passive style. But how could you fight passively and aggressively at the same time? And why would it destroy your body to do so?

Whatever they were talking about, Ranma had to wonder if Kenichi were doing the same thing, as his own speed increased drastically without any more warning than when Odin's had. Although for Kenichi, he seemed to be keeping his cool and even his fighting skill looked to have improved. It was still nowhere near her level, but it was a far sight better than what he'd shown himself capable of before.

"Has he been holding back this whole time?" she asked.

"No," Akisame answered him. "At least not on purpose. Kenichi just has trouble going all out for his own sake. He's already realized that something is wrong with his opponent, so he's finding the strength to try to end it quickly."

It was working too, as this back and forth fight has switched back into Kenichi's favor once again. Even more, they may have been right about Odin harming himself, as he was slowing further than his injuries should account for. All too quickly, Odin seemed to begin to lose the ability to even move whole parts of his body. It might not be official yet, but this fight was over.

Ranma wasn't sure what to think of the winner though. Kenichi may give the impression of being incompetent more than Ryoga ever did at his worst, but he was certainly full of surprises. If she had to be thrown this far into the future, it was almost a shame it hadn't gone a couple of years further. She'd had loved to try her own luck against him when he was a little closer to her own level.

---

Miu's heart raced for a second when that man who'd suddenly appeared and gathered up Ryuto, immediately turned his efforts to collecting Kenichi as well. Thankfully, her grandfather finally made his appearance and stopped the man, forcing him to depart with only one teen. Meanwhile, most of the assembled crowd still seemed in shock from the defeat of their leader, but Nijima was quick to seize the opportunity.

"The eight fists have been wiped out!" he yelled to everyone. "Shinpaku Alliance, advance and annihilate all who don't surrender!"

A cheer roared up from behind them, as all the rank and file members surged forward, with Siegfried, Kisara, Ukita, and Takeda leading the helm, seeming eager for a fight of their own. Judging by the morale of the other side, she didn't expect they'd have much opposition, despite still being outnumbered. Nijima himself simply let them run past before turning his attention to Ranko.

"I'd like to thank you for your help and apologize if I might have taken advantage of you just a little," he told her graciously.

"Don't sweat it," she replied. "I'd have come even if I'd known the truth. It was definitely worth it."

"I'm glad to hear that," Nijima replied with a smile. "Because I was hoping I might talk you into joining the Shinpaku Alliance."

"Not interested," she said without any hesitation.

"You might wish to reconsider," he urged her. "You said you're not one of the nine leaders of Yomi, but I'd make you a Captain right off the bat. Under only myself and the Sub-Commander."

"Look," she replied firmly. "I take my training seriously. I enjoyed this fight, but I don't have time to be playing your little games or fighting over territory, or whatever it is you do."

"Yomi is different?" Nijima asked curiously before shaking his head and holding out an envelope. "Never mind that. If you won't join at least take this."

Miu was curious as to what it was, and Ranko must have been as well, as she wasted no time ripping it open and reading it.

"Sure, I can at least do that much," she said with a smile after she'd finished. "But the excitement is over, so I need to be getting back. So long."

"What are you giving her now?" Kenichi asked, as her grandfather dropped him off just as Ranko was hurrying off into the distance.

"Another challenge letter," he replied cheerfully. "This one against the Shinpaku Alliance."

"What?" Kenichi cried out. "We just got done with Ragnarok and you're already trying to pick a fight with Yomi?"

Miu was a little concerned with this plan as well. Kenichi had sustained quite a few injuries in his fight, and wouldn't be in any shape for another fight like that just yet.

"Don't worry," Nijima assured him. "If she came alone to this she's sure to do the same for us. Besides, I don't even want to fight her. I just needed to get her to show up again so I'd have more time to convince her to join. Now we have a week to learn about who she is and use that to our advantage."

"Why do you even need to know that?" Kenichi asked. "Aren't you just going to use your alien brainwashing waves to make her join?"

"Kenichi," Miu berated him lightly. "There's no need to say that."

"I'll use those of course," Nijima declared, apparently playing along with Kenichi's joke, "but I still need to trick her into staying long enough for them to take effect. So in one week's time Ranko should be our newest Captain. For now, I need to go have a chat with Freya."

Miu supposed it might be nice if he succeeded. Maybe a few more fighters around would make things a little less dangerous for Kenichi. At the very least, it was always nice to make new friends.

---

Notes:

First off, let me say that using two different pronouns for the same person is hard. Considering all the mistakes I caught when fixing up my drafts, I figure there must be at least a dozen or so I still missed. So I apologize for those. I prefer having the pronouns match the body, but it's almost enough to make me wish I'd just stuck to the male pronouns whenever I wrote Ranma's point of view.

Anyway, I kind of wish I'd been able to get more interaction between Ranma and the Kenichi cast this chapter, but there will be plenty of that coming up soon. For now, at least I got first impressions out of the way. Oh, and the whole ki training technique was a good way to keep Ranma from just overpowering all the non-masters in the Kenichi universe right from the start, but that doesn't mean I'll be keeping it around for the better part of the story or anything.

It's a story about Ranma though. Chaos, confusion, and misconceptions should be employed liberally, and I intend to do just that.