DISCLAIMER: "Ranma 1/2" is the registered trademark and copyright of VIZ Video, Kitty Film, Fuji TV, and Rumiko Takahashi. "Star Wars: is the registered trademark and copyright of 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm Ltd., and George Lucas. All rights reserved. Any and all other characters belong to their respective copyright and trademark holders.
FOREWORDS: The only thing I can say about the response I've gotten concerning this story is...WOW! I did not realize how many people would like this story. I assumed a few would like it, and a few would jeer at the RanmaShampoo pairing since that seems to be rather unpopular (especially among the KOTF who are against any alternate pairings). Anyway, here is the long awaited second chapter. More will come, I promise. As for the name of this chapter, no Kuno is not a Sith Lord, its just a play on words. I had to make up a few things as I went along in this chapter so please don't be harsh if I stray a little.
THE WAY OF THE FORCE
by Michael "TheZorch" Haney
Chapter 2: Darth Kuno
One of the things about traveling with Abaru-sensei as compared to his father was the fact that Ranma's early morning wake ups were far less violent. No getting kicked out of windows, dropped into freezing cold streams, and especially no more buckets of cold water. Mornings were pleasant. Ranma was often awakened by the aroma of one of Abaru-sensei's breakfasts being prepared on their campfire. The Jedi Master was a surprisingly good cook. He had to admit getting used to the usual foods and spices of Earth took a little getting used to, but in time he managed to master several eastern recipes. Mostly just Chinese dishes which were similar to what he used to eat on his original home world. That morning Ranma was awakened by the aroma of something truly mouth watering. He followed his nose downstairs to the dinning room where he found his master enjoying a cup of tea. The wizened older man quirked up his eye brow as his Padawan reached the bottom of the stairs. He knew it was Ranma without even turning around to see who came down the stairs.
"About time you woke up." Tarin said teasingly.
Ranma knelt down at the table next to him. "I'm sorry for sleeping in sensei. You usually wake me up cooking breakfast at the crack of dawn." The Jedi smiled and gave a little laugh. It would certainly take them a while to adapt to this new environment. They were not living on the road anymore sleeping in tents or motels. They had a home, at least for now they had a home, and there was something else also.
"Ranma, while you are here I'd like you to attend school. As I said last night you should get a formal education." said Tarin.
Ranma sighed. "Of course. I have not been to school since the last time we were in the Tokyo area." Ranma recalled fond memories of that school and its students. He enjoyed being around other people his age, getting to know new people who became friends. He especially remembered one, a young lonely boy who had a tendency to get lost just trying to find his way of the boy's bathroom. He wondered whatever happened to that nice young man.
"You can use your old school bag from before. Nabiki had a few extra school supplies you could borrow." Tarin explained as he pulled the bag in question out from under the table.
Kasumi came out of the kitchen with a fresh pot of tea and quickly served Ranma some. "Thank you." he said before she went back. He was not certain but he could have sworn he saw a blush on the older girl's face as she left the room. Ranma enjoyed having her around. The aura of peace she projected around herself was soothing to his Jedi senses. It was too bad she did not contain the potential or she would have made an excellent Jedi. He could feel the other people in the house. There was no mistaking that dark brooding feeling of Akane's off in the dojo. Ranma wondered what the source of all of her pent up frustration and anger was. He made a note to look into it and perhaps ask Tarin-sensei to help as well. Nabiki was not so much dark as she was cool and calculating. Her presence reminded him of the sleazy shopkeeper they had to deal with once in Osaka. Mr. Tendo, he was hard to figure out. Ranma could tell he must have had a traumatic experience once in his life. Probably the death of his wife, or maybe that was just something else added on top of another even more traumatic incident. He could feel almost as if that second scenario might be correct. Again, it was something he would have to look into.
"This is very good tea. That young woman has a nice touch." Tarin commented after taking a sip of his own cup.
Ranma smiled. "I'm looking forward to breakfast, especially if her dinner is anything to judge it must be very good."
"A typical man, thinking with his stomach." came a very tired voice from the stairs. Nabiki stumbled to the table and plopped down across from Ranma. Her hair was sticking out in many different directions and she had small bags under her eyes. Not a morning person I see., Tarin observed humorously. His sister was like that. She detested mornings, called them the worst part of the day. If you woke her up too early in the morning she was as mad as a Gondar with an ear ache.
"There is nothing wrong with a Jedi having a healthy appreciation of fine food." Tarin replied with a friendly smile. Nabiki replied with a good natured smirk.
"Just be thankful we are not a pair of Huts." he added.
"Straw houses?" Nabiki looked at him a little bit confused. Tarin suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. He had gotten so used to this world that he forgot none of them knew anything beyond their own experience on this one planet.
"Sorry, no Huts are large gluttonous creatures indigenous to the planet Tatoween." he explained and as a response he good the most curious stair from the girl. Might as well get it out in the open now that I am not of this planet., he thought.
"Uh, ok." said Nabiki before taking a sip of tea she poured for herself.
"Sensei, do you think its best to talk about 'that'?" Ranma asked him in a whisper.
The Jedi just smiled at him and said in a reassuring tone, "I thought since we will be staying here for a while it might help eliminate some of the confusion if I got this out of the way. The fact about my origins that is." Nabiki, who had excellent hearing, heard this and her eyebrow did a Spock Maneuver. His origin?, she thought. Remembering the sparing match and those incredible swords of light last night she started and look up at the Jedi Knight with surprise. Is he implying what I think he's implying?, she asked herself.
"Looks like your iinazuke is done with her morning exercises." Tarin pointed. Ranma did not need to turn around as he felt Shampoo enter the room. The Amazon was dressed in the same kind of dress she wore at the tournament. She was sweating a bit but not too much. A towel hung around her shoulders.
"Airen, wo ai ni." she purred as she wrapped her arms about the pigtailed Padawan from behind. A goofy looking expression came to Ranma's face and a small trickle of blood peeked out of his nose. Shampoo could be very friendly in the morning. This greeting was rather tame compared to the one he got one morning in the wilds of China as they trekked towards the coast to catch a boat to Hong Kong. There was nothing that would wake a man up faster than having an amorous, naked Amazon cuddle up with you in a sleeping back made for only one person. There was one good thing that came out of that morning. Ranma discovered that Shampoo one hell of a kisser, and that her hair color appeared to be natural.
As they all left for school Ranma thought it would be highly advisable to give Akane some space. She did not look like she was going to be very sociable that morning, and the brooding vibes he got off of her warned him it would be a bad idea to cross her path right now. Nabiki had chosen to walked with them this morning which he supposed was not a common thing from Akane's reaction to her not leaving early after breakfast. Ranma took this time to looking around at the city. Most of the homes were surrounded by privacy walls, the streets were clean and he could not see any litter on the ground. The Japanese people, his own people whom he knew so little about, too great pride in their city and in keeping it clean. This much was evident in what he saw so far. A large canal ran through the city and he figured it probably spilled out into Tokyo Harbor. There were only a few shops on their route to Furinken High School, the transition from Nerima to Furinken could be seen in a subtle change in architecture of the buildings, their layout on the streets, and the increased number of shops. Furinken was for the most part a shopping district but a number of people did live there, and Ranma noticed that the buildings were not so tightly packed in Furinken then as in Nerima. In fact, there was a low mountain behind the high school they were now approaching.
Furinken High, from a distance, looked like any ordinary Japanese school Ranma had seen. It had an enclosed bell tower in the center of the building with a large clock, a rooftop deck for students to go to during break periods, but the school grounds were much larger than most other schools he had seen. Like most other schools it was surrounded by a wall with a main gate which they were approaching, and that was when Ranma felt that strange sensation he came to recognize as the Force warning him of danger. Then he saw them, a large group of boys in all manner of school sporting gear gathering at the front gates to the school. He watched with fascination as Akane quickened her pace to a full out run and plowed straight into the midst of them. Seconds later, he saw bodies flying into the air and heard loud screams of "Akane date with me" or "I do this for your love".
Ranma looked over at Nabiki who promptly shrugged her shoulders. "This happens every morning." she said. Nabiki checked her watch and growled, "Great, I should have left early, now we're both going to be late for school." He looked away from her and back to the crowd. Ranma could just make out Akane in the midst of them punching and kicking her way through. What the heck is going on here?, he asked himself.
"Perhaps not." Ranma told her with a smile. They reached the gates which were still packed with fighting boys. Nabiki ground her teeth, she knew better than to not get to school early but something compelled her to wait and walk with Ranma that morning. She suddenly noticed a strange feeling, a lack of weight pressing down her feet. She looked down and found herself rising in to the air. She looked over at Ranma whose eyes were closed. He opened them and raised his hand with two fingers pointing at her. Nabiki rose higher into the air, she suppressed the urge to cry out in panic but noticed where she was headed. She was rising above and over the wall that surrounded the school grounds. Her landing was gentle. Nabiki whirled around in time to see Ranma hurtle over the wall himself and land with a one point landing next to her.
She waited for her heart to stop racing, whether it was from suddenly flying over the wall or from being near the handsome young man she did not know. "You did that with the Force?" Ranma nodded. Perhaps learning this Jedi would not be so bad after all she realized.
"Uh, what is going on? Why are those boys attacking your sister?" Ranma asked her.
The fight in question was over. A very upset looking Akane stood in the middle of the destruction as dozens of bodies lay on the ground around her. She flung her long pony tail over her shoulder with a snort and said out loud, "Every single morning, you'd think they'd learn by now."
She made it only three steps before Ranma's keen senses detected something flying at her. Akane caught it as it passed her and brought the object up to her eyes. She frowned upon discovering it was a red rose. That was the moment when Ranma felt it. He had been taken to places by Tarin-sensei many times that were thick with the power of the Dark Side so he know what it felt like, and he could feel that same power approaching them now. Instinctively his hand went to the lightsaber he carried under his red Chinese tunic. A boy came out concealment behind one of the trees that lined the sides of the walkway towards the main entrance of the school. He was tall, at least six feet in height, and dressed in the traditional garb of a samurai. In one hand he carried bokuto or wooden training sword. He was handsome and Ranma could feel a aura of pride and arrogance surrounding this youth as well as the taint of the Dark Side. It was not very strong but he could feel it nonetheless.
"What a boorish lot, one would think that they would learn by this time that they cannot best the fierce tigress Tendo Akane in battle." the boy said speaking in an eloquent tone. He raised his bokuto towards Akane and fell smoothly into a fighting stance. "Would you do the honor of battling me, Tendo Akane?" Hmm, he has some skill., Ranma surmised from the boy's movements.
"Oh, Kuno, I don't have time for this." came Akane's reply as she tried to get past him but he blocked her way.
"Nay Tendo Akane, but I insist for if you defeat me I shall allow you to date with me." the boy said in answer to her reply.
Ranma looked back over at Nabiki who stood there watching the bokuto wielding boy with an expression that was a mix of humor and loathing. "Kuno baby has had a huge crush on Akane since her first year here. He's the one who organizes these attacks on her every morning." said Nabiki.
Ranma looked at her in shock. "He causes all of this, every morning?" He gestured toward the battlefield where the boys were just now picking themselves up off the ground. His protective instincts cut in at that moment and Ranma walked up to Akane. This had not gone unnoticed as the bokuto wielding Kuno boy looked at him with a deadly gaze..
"Akane, you should not have to go through this every morning." he told her.
"Stay out of it Ranma, this is my business." she growled back at him as she shifted into a fighting stance getting ready to fight the Kuno boy. The fight did not happen though. The Kuno boy shift away from Akane towards Ranma, focusing his full attention on him.
"And who are you to be so familiar with the beauteous Tendo Akane?" Kuno demanded.
Akane sighed heavily. "Kuno, he's just somebody who's staying at our dojo for a while."
Ranma felt the young boy's anger rise a few notches. "Living under the same roof as Tendo Akane!? So you've been hounding Akane have you!?" Ranma prepared himself for defense. He could feel the Dark Side within this person but he suspected he probably did not know of its presence . He certainly could not feel as if the boy was using the Force at all. One night Tarin-sensei taught him that the Dark Side can become strong a person but they will not be aware of its presence, thus these people can become corrupted by it. Perhaps that is what was happening to this boy.
"Who are you?" Kuno asked him.
Ranma began to speak but was suddenly cut off. "But wait, is it not customary to give one's own name first. I am the rising star of the high school fencing world, my name strikes fear in the hearts of those who hear my mighty name, my peers call me the Blue Thunder of Furinken High, Kuno Tatawaki, age seventeen." The wannabe samurai raised his bokuto into the air as a bolt of lightning shot across the sky followed by the rolling of thunder.
"I am Saotome Ranma, Jedi Padawan and heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts" Ranma introduced himself. Using a technique he learned from Shampoo for concealing weapons, Ranma withdrew a bokuto of his own seemingly out of nowhere. Where the heck was he hiding that?, both Akane and Nabiki wondered in surprise.
"It is you who has been harassing this young woman. She deserves to be treated with honor and respect, not as some prize to be won." Ranma said looking his eyes on Kuno's. He knew better than to try and influence the boy's mind due to the contamination of the Dark Side within him. A Jedi never used the Force for attack, only defense, thus he would rely on skill alone if he had fight the boy and rely on the Force only if he needed to use it. It was the duty of the Jedi to come to the defense of those who were being oppressed, however.
"Cur, you wish to have Akane to yourself! I won't allow it!" Kuno charged swinging his bokuto only to have it effortlessly deflected by Ranma's. They fight for a moment in a small area exchanging blows intended to feel out an opponent's strengths and weaknesses. After a short time Kuno came to the realization that he was facing an opponent who was not lacking in sword fighting skills.
Their swords locked together and used this time to speak. "Akane is not mine, she is her own and whom she chooses to be with is her own choice and not one you or I can make." he said. Akane blushed furiously at these words. She was also very confused. A boy was actually saying she had a choice in the matter of love? Every boy she met since coming to Furinken High tried to force himself onto her left and right as if having a choice was not an option, for her at least. Maybe, she wondered, she had misjudged this boy too harshly.
"Fool! Only my greatness is worthy to be paired with that of Tendo Akane! In time she shall come to understand this truth!" the samurai bellowed and pushed Ranma back. It was now clear to Ranma that the young man's reasoning was tainted by the Dark Side. He had no power that he could see, but his irrational behavior and way of thinking was a danger to others. Time to end this fight.
Kuno came at him quickly, Ranma easily recognized the lack of form the boy was using. Kuno was so enraged that he was attacking without any coordination. It was all too easy for him to get past Kuno's defenses and tap his sleep shiatsu point. Kuno staggered a few steps before collapsing to the ground. Gasps rose up from the school yard and from the students watching from open windows in the school and the roof balcony. Comments like "He defeated Kuno" could be heard. Akane and Nabiki both looked on in shock too.
The pigtailed boy slipped his bokuto back into concealment and picked the limp body of the Kuno boy up carefully.
"You interfered in my fight!"
Ranma could not really understand why Akane was so angry with him. He did what he felt was the right thing to do under the circumstances. They were now eating the bento box lunches Kasumi had made for them. The pigtailed Padawan had to admit the eldest of the three sisters was certainly a wonderful cook, and very beautiful as well. Following the anti-climatic battle with Kuno they went to the Nurse's station and dropped the wannabe samurai off to have his wounds treated before he woke up. That would not be the end of the matter though, Ranma surmised. The boy's mind was tainted by the Dark Side of the Force, and while he had no knowledge of the power he carried within the insanity it was inducing made him a danger to himself and everyone else around him. Above all, he realized the Kuno boy must never learn the nature of the Force lest he learn how to use the power within him and becomes what Tarin-sensei calls a Dark Side Warrior. From the description his sensei gave they were most formidable.
"I did what I thought was the proper course of action at the time." he replied calmly.
"I can handle him, I don't need you to protect me!" Akane retorted.
Ranma focused his eyes on her and said, "He's tainted by the Dark Side, he may not know of the power within him, but it does make him considerably dangerous otherwise." Akane looked back at him with shock. She had heard some of what was described as the Dark and Light sides of Force from what Ranma and Tarin told her father.
"The Dark Side of Force?" she said questioningly.
Ranma nodded. "Yes, I felt it within him. The power of the Dark Side had driven him to insanity, but he is unaware of the presence of this power and it would be best he never learns of it or he could become an even greater danger."
"What do you mean?" Akane asked him. Her face turned a little pale. Kuno had always been a major thorn in her side, but the idea that he could become a real threat frightened her. The last thing she wanted was a Kuno who could actually force himself onto her and have the power to do it easily.
"Tarin-sensei told me once about Dark Side Warriors, people with no formal Jedi or Sith training who have been consumed by the Dark Side. They are more like berzerkers rather than trained warriors and their powers make them extremely dangerous." he explained. Akane grew even more pale at this revelation, she remembered seeing what Ranma and his sensei were capable of doing in the dojo. The idea of Kuno having the same inhuman reflexes terrified the hell out of her.
"I must speak with Tarin-sensei immediately after school about this," said Ranma. "He also told me that sometimes there is a way to purge someone of the Dark Side's influence, and the sooner we neutralized the power within Kuno the better." Akane could only nod, she was not sure if she could speak past the lump in her throat.
Tarin-sensei sat in thought contemplating what Ranma had described to him. The Kuno boy was certainly a real and present danger that had to be dealt with. Hopefully he was not so beyond help that he had to be neutralized permanently. That was a last resort, the last thing they needed was to have a Kuno with knowledge of his Dark Side powers running around causing trouble and millions of yen in property damage. The only thing left to do was figure out how to deal with him. Ridding a person of the ability to use the Force went against everything in the Jedi Code, but it might be the best and only viable option. The two sat along in the guest room they shared at the Tendo home. Both Jedi were stretching their senses to make sure nobody was listening on their conversation.
"What we must do can be dangerous, one slip and he could become aware of the power within him and then we would have a real threat on our hands." Tarin explained. Ranma listen intently and nodded.
"There is a way to take away an individual's ability to use the Force which would free him of the Dark Side's influence, but it will take both of us working together to accomplish this." Tarin continued explaining. "Doing this will have us skirting the edge of the Dark Side ourselves, we must be cautious and not be tempted by it."
"I can sense that he is truly a good person within, or had been at one time," Ranma spoke up. "I want to help him, if not for Akane's sake because he is a major problem for her, but for himself since his current behavior is leading him towards self-destruction." Tarin smiled and nodded.
"Yoda-sensei would have been proud to meet you had you been born in the systems of the Republic." Tarin replied with a smile.
Ranma looked at the man who had been more than a father to him for almost ten years and asked, "Do you still intend to explain your origins to the Tendo family?"
"I feel it is necessary for it will help avoid future concerns in that direction." the Jedi Knight told him. "They are bound to realized that the technology to construct light sabers did not originate on Earth."
Ranma had to agree. "If anything I think Nabiki may realize that one. She is very intelligent."
"Yet she is also very secretive and I can feel schemes within schemes in her thoughts," Tarin replied. "For her to learn the way of the Force she will need to adjust her lifestyle or she could risk being tempted by the Dark Side."
Ranma nodded. "I would not like that to happen. She is a nice girl, and I do have to admit that I find her very beautiful."
"All of Tendo Soun's daughters are beautiful in their own unique ways beyond looks." said Tarin-sensei. "You have young Akane, her beauty is her strong will and desire to protect her family. You have Nabiki who's beauty is her dedication to her family and making sure they are financially secure, and you have Kasumi who's beauty is her ability to keep the family unit together and happy."
"Nabiki keeps up the family finances?" Ranma asked in surprise.
Tarin-sensei nodded. "I had a discussion with Kasumi today while I helped her with the yard work. Their mother passed away from ovarian cancer six years ago leaving their father alone to raise them. The man broke down emotionally and was unable to do anything to assist his family thus leaving everything to his daughters. Nabiki began to use her unusually sharp wits to raise money to keep the family fairly financially secure. They were not well off, but they did make do. Kasumi took over the duties their mother performed, cooking, cleaning, and making sure her sisters got up and were ready for school in the mornings. She has been more of a mother to them these past six years than a sister, I'm afraid. Even after all this time Tendo Soun is still an emotional wreck. I could not go so far as to say he is an emotional cripple though, he has a sense of honor about him, though it is a bit single minded."
Ranma asked him, "What do you mean?"
"He is obsessed with seeing the schools united." Tarin answered him. "He has an almost irrational desire to see it happen immediately rather than wait for a courtship. I dare say, if it did happen that you would decide to marry one of them he could demand the wedding take place immediately rather than wait until both of you had your lives in proper order beforehand."
Ranma nodded. "I sort of sensed that about him. I cannot help but feel there is another motive to his actions."
Tarin-sensei agreed with own nod. "That is most perceptive my young Padawan. Clearly there is something driving him to hasten the union of the two clans, but what that thing is at the moment eludes me for now."
"I do not loose respect for the man even though he has basically abandoned his children to take up the duties he should have been undertaking himself, but love can cause people to do irrational things and some people are more emotionally vulnerable than others." Tarin added. "Beside, I suspect he suffered severe emotional stress sometime in the past before the death of his wife. What that is I do not know, but it has weakened him emotionally and mentally. The only option I could possibly suggest that would help him is serious therapy which he should have had a long time ago."
"Perhaps he realizes the mistake he made and that has driven him further into the emotional state he is in, or he is in denial over his own actions." offered Ranma.
"That could be likely." said Tarin with a nod. "Perhaps we should endeavor to give him the aid he so dearly needs, but we are certainly not qualified professional psychiatrists."
Ranma laughed. "But to set him on the proper path would indeed be the Way of the Jedi."
Tarin returned his laugh. "Most astute. Now I know Yoda-sensei would have been proud to meet you."
Akane watched as Ranma and Shampoo parred together in the dojo. She could not believe how fast the Amazon girl was. Her body was actually blurring she was jumping and dodging so fast, but it was obvious that Ranma was much faster. The two exchanged punches and kicks and effortlessly blocked each blow. The youngest Tendo guessed that Ranma was not calling upon the Force to aid him in this fight since he was not moving at the immensely inhuman speed he had been the night she watched him and his sensei spar. The fight ended when Shampoo lunged toward Ranma with her bonbori mace leading the way. The pigtailed boy dodged to the side so quickly he left a ghostly after image of himself where he had been standing, leapt past Shampoo, and delivered a swift side kick to her rump sending her sprawling to the floor.
"Wow." was all Akane could say.
"Aiya! Shampoo not see that one coming." the Amazon said as she peeled herself off the floor.
"You're still too eager to charge in with your weapons without raising a good defense at the same time." Ranma told her. "A skilled opponent could recognize that weakness quickly and take advantage of it like I just did now. Swift, blind attacks like that do not often work and its best to be repetitive with them or they can turned against you."
"Hai, sensei." the girl nodded.
"You're her teacher?" Akane asked in surprise.
Ranma nodded. "Elder Cologne recognized my skill as a fighter and asked me to assist in filling in the gaps in Shampoo's training. She is already the preeminent warrior of her tribe, but there is still room for more improvement."
"I've never seen some of the techniques you two were using, what is the style called?" Akane asked him. She had seen many different fighting styles before. Akane was very familiar with the Anything Goes style, which itself was a combination of many different forms, but what she saw Ranma and Shampoo use was totally different from what she'd ever seen.
"It has no real name, it is a fighting style taught along with Jedi training." Ranma explained.
"So its a armed and unarmed fighting style." she guessed noting the fact that the two had not been using weapons when they began sparing.
Ranma nodded. "Yes, it does teach sword fighting when using a lightsaber, but it also teaches unarmed combat as well when deadly force is not necessary." Akane immediately remembered the fight at school. Ranma had been fighting Kuno on his own level with a bokuto, but then stopped using it to end the fight. That was where the non-lethal aspect of the Jedi fighting style came into play, she realized. He did not use the bokuto to defeat Kuno, he touched a pressure point. Ranma was able to easily read her sudden mood.
"Akane, I'm sorry about this morning, but you must understand that the Dark Side is not to be taken lightly." Ranma added.
"What happen at school?" Shampoo asked.
"There's this boy at school, a rich kid name Kuno Tatawaki. Its my own fault he's after me." Akane explained. Ranma's eyebrow did a Spock Maneuver.
"How is that?" he asked.
She sighed and sat down on the floor. "I didn't know him that well yet and I thought he was cute so I went up to him and talked to him. I thought his elegant speech was actually nice, boy was I a baka to think that. He got all obsessive after that referring to me as his girl and his alone. He started threatening any boy that tried to talk to me at school and before long none of the boys would come near me. All my friends were going on dates except for me. I avoid Kuno for a few months and then one day the school had a public speaking competition and Kuno announced to the school that any boy who can beat me in a fight will be allowed to take me out on a date. Thus, all that crap you saw yesterday started and has been going on for a year now." Ranma looked at her with an apologetic expression. He did not realize it was that bad for her.
"The girls at school started to resent me because all the boys they wanted to date start chasing after me and fighting me every morning. I have few friends as it is." she added on the verge of tears.
"Is Amazon way in China, woman looses to outsider man she must marry him." stated Shampoo.
Akane pointed at herself angrily. "I'm not an Amazon! And, this isn't China!"
"Nobody should have the right to choose who you can and cannot date. Did your father ever try to stop this all from happening?" Ranma asked her.
Akane shook her head. "At first he did, but then we found out that the Kuno clan has a great deal of influence in the Tokyo Public School System so everything he tried failed. Pretty soon daddy game up."
"The abuse of power is a terrible thing." Ranma nodded.
"I heard a rumor that Kuno's father is the principle of Furinken High, but nobody has seen him in years. Some of the stories I heard about the man are strange, but considering who his son is I tend to believe them." said Akane.
"Why did not your father go the authorities?" Ranma asked her.
Akane looked up at him with a sad expression. "That was tried too, but nothing came of it. Nabiki helped out in getting a restraining order against Kuno, but it was overturned by a higher court the very next day and we found out the Kuno lawyers were responsible."
"Kuno baby even went so far as to try and have us blocked from taking any more court action against the Kuno clan, but we won that fight." said Nabiki as she strolled in through the open door.
"Yeah, for all the good it did us." said Akane.
Nabiki looked at Ranma, her face a mask of concern. "If you and your sensei are going after Kuno baby you should know a few things. His family is rich, one of the richest in this part of town. They own the Nihon Police Department in this district, they control the school board in this area, and anyone who has been a real threat to them has mysteriously disappeared in the past."
"You are saying this family is Yakuza?" Ranma asked with surprise. Nabiki thought she also noticed a certain glint to Ranma's eye for a brief moment.
"Not quite, but close. They do have a few local Yakuza groups on their payroll as lackeys," Nabiki explained.
"In my business I gather information. Information is money, and I have a great deal of it on Kuno baby." Nabiki added. "His clan dates back to the early Edo period. They were samurai loyal to the Emperor of Japan and were a very powerful family in those days also. Kuno baby sees himself as a real samurai and he is so immersed in his own fantasy world that he can't see himself as anything else. He can do no wrong, in his own mind, anyone who is against him is evil, and there is no way any woman would not want him, or at least that is how he thinks. I've compiled a long list of young girls he's intimidated in the past. I didn't know about all of this until after he had been chasing Akane for a few months. Kuno intimidated and bribed families into forcing their daughters to date with him and even give up their innocence, if you know what I mean."
Ranma looked at her with an expression of shock. "He forced the parents of girls into letting him have his way with their daughters?"
Nabiki nodded. "Kuno baby isn't a virgin. He an underhanded low-life rapist, and I can't believe I was actually fueling the fire of his desire for Akane until I learned the truth of what he was."
"What you mean?" Shampoo asked.
"Nabiki used to make money selling photos of me to Kuno and the boys at school." Akane explained to him.
Ranma regarded the middle Tendo sister with a questioning stare. "I don't anymore. Not after I talked to one of the girls he'd been with." Nabiki told him. "She was a wreck, had to have a lot of mental therapy. He didn't rape her by physically forcing her to sleep with him, but the pressure he put on her was too much for her to take. The terrifying thing is Tatawaki doesn't see it as he's doing anything wrong. He actually believes that demons are influencing girls not to want to be with him, thus he actually thinks he's doing the girls a favor by forcing them to do what he wants."
"I did not realize how deep his corruption went. How long has all this been going on?" Ranma asked her.
Nabiki shook her head. "I don't know. He was like this in the middle school I attended with him, so its possible he was like this his whole life."
"His actions are a result of the Dark Side of the Force. It is within him." Ranma explained.
"I understand that's a pretty bad thing." said Nabiki.
"Maybe Shampoo use Xi Fang Gao on samurai boy." offered Shampoo.
Ranma shook his head. "That would not take away the influence of the Dark Side. Tarin-sensei and I are working on how to deal with that. Perhaps that technique will come in handy against him in the future, for even if we do purge the Dark Side from him he has been under its control for a long time so he may not change much once he is free of it."
"RANMA!" came a feral cry from the house. They could all hear loud stomping as someone came running towards the dojo. Tendo Soun shot through the doors and rushed the young pigtailed Padawan in a rage.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!? HOW COULD YOU BRING DOWN THE ANGER OF THE KUNO FAMILY UPON MY HOUSE!!" the man raged. Ranma noticed the man was carrying a scroll in his hand. Part of a Kanji character making up the name of the Kuno clan name could be seen, or at least his sharp Jedi enhances senses allowed him to see it.
"Mr. Tendo, please calm down and explain why you are so angry." Ranma said quietly, passing his hand in front of the man. Soun instantly relaxed. He noticed Tarin-sensei at the doorway with Kasumi.
"Please calm down and explain to you why I am so angry." Soun said in a suddenly calmer voice and handed the scroll to Ranma.
"Thank you, you can go back to the house now." said Ranma, passing his hand in front of the man again.
"I'm going back to the house now." Soun said and walked back to the house without saying another word.
Nabiki and Akane watched their father leave then turned back to Ranma. "What the hell just happened here?" Akane asked.
"A Jedi mind trick." Ranma explained as he opened the scroll and read the contents.
"Hmm. This is not good." he said and handed the scroll to Nabiki.
"Oh good grief. He's demanding that daddy sign an official document declaring Akane his iinazuke or he'll have the house and dojo confiscate out from under us." she said as she read it.
"Oh my! C-C-Can he do that?" Kasumi asked with a note of worry in her voice.
"As long as they hold the politicians and judges in this area in their pockets, the Kunos can do whatever they want, Kasumi." said Nabiki.
"It appears things are far more serious than we first anticipated, my young Padawan." said Tarin-sensei.
"Sensei, we cannot let this happen to them. What Kuno is doing to Akane is wrong." Ranma said to him.
The Jedi Knight nodded in agreement. "Then we have no time to waste. We do what we must tomorrow and do what we can to neutralize this legal threat against the Tendo clan."
"You can do that?" Nabiki asked him.
Tarin nodded. "If we act swiftly enough."
The mood the next morning around the breakfast table was uncharacteristically tense and somber. Akane had a worried, fearful look on her face. She was also angry, things were coming to a head for her. A year up putting up with this was getting to Akane and the two Jedi would sense that she like a pressure cooker on the verge of popping a gasket. Nabiki was really worried. She did not have the same influence and power the Kuno family had. She did have connections, but they were not like anything they possessed. There would be no way she could head off what they threatened to do to the house. It was not exactly legal what they would do but the Kuno lawyers would find loopholes that would make it legal. It was not like they did not do this sort of thing before. There was real hope though, hope in the form of the pigtailed boy and his older sensei. It was about time the Tendo family had powerful allies on their side for once against the power of the Kuno clan. Kasumi was worried but something in the back of her mind told her that there was light at the end of this dark tunnel. She had always been able to tell how something would come out when things happened. What she did not realize is that what she was experiencing was the Force speaking to her.
"How are we going to deal with Kuno, sensei?" Ranma asked his sensei.
"First, last night you said you felt some good within him, could you elaborate?" Tarin replied.
"I could have been wrong, sensei. He has been under the influence of the Dark Side for a long time." Ranma told him.
Tarin, though, urged him on. "Ranma, you must trust your feelings. Please, tell me what you felt from him."
"It was barely noticeable. It felt like a small frightened child trapped in a crowd of angry people." Ranma said trying to come up with the right words to convey what he sensed.
Tarin-sensei sighed, sitting down his cup of tea. "It is possible that he was stirred in the wrong direction at a young age, then the Dark Side took hold due to his gift to commune with the Force. That would be the most logical answer, and would explain why he has no knowledge of the power he possesses."
"If he were to discover his powers, how dangerous would he be?" Nabiki asked.
Tarin-sensei looked at her with a grave expression. "You saw how Ranma was able to influence your father yesterday. Imagine the boy being able to do that with anyone whose mind is not strong enough to resist the Force. He could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted and there would nothing anyone could do to stop him." Soun said nothing from behind his newspaper. Then his name and Ranma's influence were mentioned he just cleared his throat and said nothing more.
"You mean he could 'make' girls do what he wanted?" Akane asked, a horrified look covered her expression.
Ranma nodded. "And they would not be the wiser because they would see the thoughts as their own from their mental perspective."
"Oh my, that is rather insidious." gasped Kasumi.
"That is the nature of the Dark Side." Tarin said pointedly.
"If that is what is like to be controlled by it I don't want any part of it." said Nabiki.
The Jedi Knight nodded with approval. "Knowledge is the first step to avoiding the temptations of the Dark Side of the Force. Keep that in mind as you learn how to harness your own power with Ranma's assistance."
"Do you guys have a plan?" Akane asked Ranma and Tarin.
Ranma nodded. "Yes, we formulated one last night. In order to get within his mental and physical defenses we must use a distraction."
In their shared room that night Ranma and the Jedi Knight Tarin Abaru discussed ways to deal with the threat of Kuno Tatawaki. First they had to get within his defenses, fighting him while doing what they needed to do to purge him of the Dark Side would be dangerous. A distraction was needed, and what that would be they had to agree on. They were a few hours into their discussion when inspiration struck Ranma.
"Sensei, I can distract Kuno." Ranma quickly spoke up while Tarin-sensei sat in thought.
"Yes, but he will be trying to fight you. That is not the sort of distraction we are looking for." the Jedi said.
Ranma shook his head. "Not as I am now. He has not seem my alternate persona."
Tarin looked up at him with surprise and his eyebrow did a Spock Maneuver. "Do you think that is wise, you heard how he is towards women?"
Ranma shrugged. "The path of a Jedi is fraught with peril." Ranma said quoting a changed version of one of his late father's favorite sayings.
"It is also the wise man who takes the less dangerous path." Tarin countered.
Ranma countered back, "Sacrifice is the way of the Jedi."
Tarin looked at him, smiled, an shook his head. "Perhaps I have been training you too well."
"You only have yourself to blame, sensei." Ranma said with a smile on his face.
Tarin shook his head with a laugh and said, "Get some rest, tomorrow will be a very trying day for both of us."
"Yes, sensei." Ranma replied as he climbed into his futon.
They reached Furinken High School early that morning. The Hentai Horde was already starting to gather at the gates, a few boys from the Kendo and Soccer clubs. A small number of other students were milling about in the school yard also. These were mostly students who liked getting to school early in order to watch the fight, avoided it so they weren't late for class, or lived nearby the school. Tarin-sensei though it was wise if Akane and Nabiki did not come to school that day. It meant playing hooky for one day, but it would be safer for them. Ranma was a bit nervous, Tarin would sense it, as they walked through the front gates. Several of the boys who fought Akane each day gave Ranma an appraising look. She felt like they were sizing her up like a side of beef. More than one looked at her with visible lust in their eyes. She could sense that their thoughts were not very pure in the least. More than a dozen of the teenagers were undressing the redhead with their eyes when she and Tarin passed the gates.
The two Jedi stretched out with their feelings and sought out any source of the dark side they could find. Kuno Tatawaki, being the only source of the dark side of the Force in the area, stood out like a sore thumb. The wannabe samurai made his way from the club house for the Kendo Club and walked out into the front yard of the school. He scanned the area visually taking to see if the boys were gathering like they usually did. He smiled upon noticing the growing horde of young boys, then noticed that instead of watching the gates for the arrival of his beloved Akane they were looking somewhere else. His gaze then full upon a vision of loveliness with crimson hair done up in a pigtail and blue eyes as beautiful as gemstones. Ranma had even gone so far as to dress in Kasumi's old Furinken uniform. Altered of course to fit Ranma's more petite proportions. Tarin-sensei had to admit that Ranma really did look very cute dressed up like this. He hoped it would be enough to get the young Kuno boy's attention. He would soon discover that was exactly what happened.
"Hark, has thou an angel descended from heaven to walk among us?" Kuno swooned when he studied the newcomer with greater interest.
"Verily have the kami blessed this most worthy soul with such a beautiful apparition. To think, two such blessedly beauteous visions would walk the hallowed halls of Furinken High School." he want on and wiped a few tears from his eyes. "I weep at the sight of such unearthly beauty."
"I can see what Akane meant about his eloquent speech." Tarin said quietly with an amused smile. He kept true feelings hidden in his expression. Tarin could feel the power of the dark side within this boy. It was far stronger than Ranma had been able to express to him. The boy had never encountered someone under its influence before, but Tarin-sensei had many years of experience. If Kuno ever discovered the power he had he would most certainly be very dangerous.
"Hello sir, I'm a new transfer student here. Could you tell me where the office is?" Ranma asked Kuno in her sweetest, most feminine voice. He is very good at that., Tarin-sensei noted to himself.
"Be still mine heart, such outward beauty, and her voice is like the singing of angels. I, Kuno Tatawaki, called the Blue Thunder of Furinken High School, rising star of the high school Kendo world, would be honored if he could assist one as beauteous as yourself." the wannabe samurai bowed. Ranma focused her thoughts, calling upon the Force to control her own physical body as Tarin-sensei taught her over the years. A slight blush appeared on her face. She thought it would be a great added touch to her disguise.
Tarin-sensei reached out with the Force while Kuno was distracted by his Padawan and probed at his mental defenses. The Kuno boy literally had no psychic defenses to speak of in place. Of course, he had never had formal Jedi training and thus would not know how to erect such defenses in his mind. Doing what had to be done would require both of them to act at the same time. With the boy's mind wide open it would be easy, but it would also be dangerous. One misstep and Kuno would become conscious of his power or accidentally lash out with his unknown power and discover it.
"My name is Ranko, I just moved to the area, sempai." said Ranma.
"Ranko, surely it is such a heavenly name for such a heavenly beauty." Kuno swooned.
"Keep him distracted. I am attempting to locate the area of his mind that is his focal point for the Force." Tarin-sensei said via mental transmission using the Force to Ranma's mind.
"He is very easily distracted, sensei. I hardly said a few sentences and he has his entire mind focused on me." Ranma transmitted back.
"You would 'not' want to know what it is he is thinking right now, however." Tarin sent back to her, and blush a bit as he felt a particularly perverted thought pass through the Kuno boy's mind.
"Than, my dear Ranko, let this unworthy soul show you our fair city this day." said Kuno.
Ranma produced another blush, a bit stronger this time and said, "Why sempai, are you asking me for a date?" She smiled demurely and winked at him. Kuno was eating it up. She also noticed the disgusted looks she was getting from a few of the girls in the school yard, and the highly disappointed looks many of the boys were giving her.
"I found it. The dark side has rooted itself deep within the boy's mind. This will require both of us to release him." Tarin mentally transmitted.
"I am ready." Ranma sent back.
"Verily, I would be most honored." Kuno bowed. Suddenly, he felt something. He could not tell what it was, but he could feel it none the less. Kuno's danger sense went off and he had his bokuto in hand instantly. He grabbed Ranma's arm and pulled her behind him as he raised the weapon towards Tarin-sensei.
"HOLD! Mine righteous heart those sense darkness within thee! State thy name!" the wannabe samurai demanded.
"Ranma, reach within his mind. Try to reach that part of him that is still good. See if he can resist the darkness within him." Tarin said out loud as he drew his own bokuto.
"RAMNA!?" Kuno looked around in anger. "Where is that baseless coward!?"
'Forgive me, sempai, but this is for your own good." said Ranma as she mentally plunged into Kuno's mind. The boy staggered a bit grabbing his head and screaming out in surprise more than pain.
"Demons...trying my pure thoughts!" the boy cried out.
Ranma pushed her way through several walls of mental defense that suddenly sprang up around the center of Kuno's mind. Pushing through them was not hard. Her mental avatar slashed through them with a psychic lightsaber, a mental projection of her Jedi power, and moved on to the next wall. Bubbles floated around in the miasma of the boy's mind. She could see memories of his past, his father forcing him to get a buzz cut hair cut at the save of six, other boys picking on him for the way he spoke in eloquent speech, and the sadness at how girls tended to avoid him and he could not understand why. She also saw other thoughts. Perverted fantasies and memories of the girls he had been with or wanted to be with. She saw images of Akane in a few bubbles doing things that would make a truly righteous woman pass out from shock. She also was a few imagines of herself doing things to Kuno's body in a perverted fashion. Her mental avatar blushed furiously at the truly perverted thoughts the boy had about her body. She knew she was by regular standards a very attractive girl, and by Japanese standards she was extremely attractive. Large breasted Japanese girls were somewhat rare. Ranma was larger than most in female form.
She breeched the final defensive wall and feel into a vast, dark expanse where the only light was on the horizon in all directions. Ranma heard a whimpering cry on the light cool breeze that brushed past her. Looking around Ranma could see a tiny form sitting some distance way. It was a child, a little boy dressed in samurai garb, clutching at his knees and sobbing quietly.
"What is the matter little one?" she asked the little boy in a soothing voice. She knelt down next to the childlike form of Kuno Tatawaki and touched his shoulder. The child cringed away from her for a moment and screamed.
"Please don't hit me anymore daddy! I'll be a good boy!"
"Shhhh. You are safe. I am a friend." Ranma said in her most reassuring tone.
The childlike Kuno looked up at her with frightened eyes and suddenly they went wide. "You can't be here, he'll come and make me be a good boy!" he cried.
"Who will come?" Ranma asked him.
"My daddy, he'll make me be a good boy and do things." the little Kuno told her.
"Do what things?" she asked.
The little boy's face turned a shade of red that matched her hair. "Daddy says I gotta be a good boy and make sure girls know their place. I don't wanna do what daddy says, but he punishes me if I don't." Ranma's heart dropped as she looked at the young child's tear streaked face. The little boy pulled open the front of his tunic and she could see purple whelps all over his skin from beatings.
In the distance Ranma heard a sound, music, a small string instrument, she could not think of the name at the moment, but the sound was starting to get closer. The young child began to panic. "Daddy, he's coming! You gotta run away or he'll make me be a good boy and do things!"
"No. You do not have to do these things Kuno because they are wrong. No father should make their child do things that are wrong. You have to stand up to him." Ranma told him.
"But, he hits me and cuts my hair and says I'm not a man." little Kuno protested.
She looked him in the eye and said, "A good boy knows the difference between right and wrong and knows when to stand up for what is right. You are stronger than your father because you know what he makes you do is wrong."
"But, I'm scared." the little samurai said as he started to shake with fright.
"He cannot hurt you if you do not let him." Ranma said as a dark shadow fell across the two of them.
"Hey, keiki, what this wahini do'in here?" asked a towering man dressed in dark sun glasses and a grey business suit. "Why you not being a good keiki with her, eh?"
"B-B-Because its wrong." little Kuno said in a meek voice.
"WRONG!?" the towering man bellowed. "YOU IS A KUNO, KEIKI! THEM WAHINI WHO NO RESPECT YOU IS WRONG! YOU GOTTA SHOW THEM THEIR PLACE, YEAH!"
"And exactly what would that be?" Ranma asked the image of who was apparently Kuno's father.
"Bad wahini, talk'in back to da betters." Kuno's father said waving his finger at the redhead with disappointment. "Keiki, you better be a good boy now and show this wahini to show respect to da Kuno name, yeah."
"I don't wanna." little Kuno sobbed and laid on the ground in a fetal position.
"Bad keiki, here I show ya how to be a good boy." the towering man said. Ranma yelped in surprise as she suddenly noticed her top was gone, then her bottom was suddenly gone leaving her completely naked.
"Da Kunos is a honorable clan, yeah. The wahini gotta be crazy not to wanna be wit a Kuno. So ya gotta set them straight keiki." the towering man said with leering smile.
"I see, your father forced his own perverted ideals onto you so much that eventually you gave in and started doing what he wanted." Ranma said in sudden realization.
The little boy looked up at her, blushed furiously and nodded. The vision of his father standing over them did not like where this was going. "GET UP KEIKI! BE A GOOD BOY WITH THIS WAHINI NOW!"
"Get up, face your father. He cannot hurt you, he is in the wrong, you must stand up to him or you will be trapped her forever." Ranma told the little boy. Little Kuno nodded, wiped away the tears and stood up. Instantly, Ranma's school uniform returned in a puff of smoke.
"NANI!?" the towering man yelled in rage.
"No daddy, its bad to make me do that to girls! I don't wanna hurt girls anymore!" little Kuno yelled at the towering man. His father suddenly grew even taller than before and stomped his foot. The ground shook knocking the two of them off their feet. Little Kuno suddenly looked terrified.
"Do not be afraid, show him he cannot frighten you anymore." Ranma encouraged him.
"All wahini gotta respect the Kuno name! Ya gotta make them or ya ain't a man!" his father shouted.
Little Kuno turned into his teenaged equivalent and said, "A man who force himself on girls isn't a man, he's a rapist and that is lower than a man. For he is without honor."
"FOOL!" the towering man bellowed! "YA GOT NO HONOR IF THE WAHINI NO RESPECT YA!"
"If you treated girls like this when you were my age I can see why, father." the teenaged Kuno said. With that said he suddenly grew taller. His head was up to his father's knees.
"BE A GOOD BOY NOW KEIKI OR YA GONNA BE PUNISHED!" his father warned him as he took off his belt.
"No, you can't hurt me anymore father." teenaged Kuno said and stood his ground staring into his father's eyes.
"WAHINI, YOU DID THIS, YOU PUT THESE EVIL THOUGHTS INTO MY KEKI'S HEAD! YOU GOTTA BE PUNISHED!" Kuno's father yelled focusing his eyes on Ranma. He raised the belt over his head and prepared to lash out. A gargantuan bokuto suddenly blocked his path. Ranma looked up to see a teenaged Kuno now as tall as his father holding the weapon before him.
"The evil one here is you father." teenaged Kuno said with righteous conviction.
"I AM A KUNO! THE CLAN BLESSED BY THE KAMI WE IS! ALL WHO DON'T RESPECT THE KUNO CLAN IS EVIL AND NEEDS TA BE PUNISHED! WE IS THE KAMI'S CHOOSEN WE IS!" his father cried out in rage, but Ranma suddenly noticed the man's size began to dwindle. The light on the horizon started to shine a bit more brightly.
"You are nothing but a disturbed little man with delusions of grandeur. A man is gains not respect from whom his kin is, but from his own deeds." teenaged Kuno replied with greater confidence than before and real pride showing like a light on his face. His father shrank further coming down to the size of Ranma.
"It is shameful to force such impure ideals on a small child." Ranma told the now normal sized man.
"I hate you daddy!" a towering Kuno said now in the form of a little boy holding a bokuto. "I hated you for beating me, for forcing me to do those things to the girls at school. I don't want you to be my daddy anymore!"
"NOOOO!!!" the normal sized man screamed and quickly transformed into a hideous nightmarish thing. A twisted apparition of Kuno's father stood where the man had just been. It was inhuman in appearance and from it came an aura of the darkest evil. The mental representation of the Dark Side.
"This one belongs to US!" the thing cried in an inhuman voice.
Ranma ignited her psychic lightsaber and swung at the thing's head as she said, "Not anymore."
In the real world, Tarin-sensei was not even sweating with the effort of fighting the Kuno boy. He certainly had some skill, but they were nothing compared to a skilled Jedi Knight. A sizable crowd of students had gathered to watch the battle between Kuno and this man who had been escorting the new girl. Ranma awoke out her Jedi trance in time to see Kuno stagger a bit as he readied another bokuto strike, but he did not get the chance to follow through. The boy grabbed at his head, let out a soft moan and collapsed to the ground.
Ranma staggered some as she walked forward. Tarin-sensei grabbed her shoulders to steady her while she recovered. "Take it easy, doing that expends a great deal of energy. How do you feel?"
"Tired, and hungry." she replied.
"That sounds like 'my' Padawan alright." Tarin smiled.
"Why do you say that?" Ranma asked him.
Tarin-sensei smiled at her and said, "This was a test Ranma. I could have done this while you faced Kuno easily, but I had to test you to see if you were truly ready."
"Ready for what?" Ranma looked at her sensei with a puzzled expression.
"When doing this there is a danger of the Dark Side taking hold within you. That is why it was dangerous for both of us. But, you helped Kuno defeat the darkness within him, he fought it taking back what it had taken from him so you could deliver the final blow." her sensei replied.
Then the man gave her a bigger, prouder smile. "This test proves that you are ready for the Trials, my Padawan. There is little left that I can teach you."
"Sensei." Ranma gasped in surprise, then blushed as her stomach let out a loud protest that echoed across the school yard.
Tarin laughed, "Let us go home and get something to eat and rest ourselves." The two turned to leave then Ranma looked back at the boy laying on the ground unconscious behind them.
"What about him, sensei?" she asked.
Tarin-sensei thought for moment. Without saying a word he went over to the boy picked him up and carried him into the school. They left Kuno at the nurse's office. He was there so often in the morning after Akane's daily beatings that the woman did not ask what had happened to him. The two left laughing and chatting like old friends as they left the school yard and a horde of bewildered students behind.
The incident would become legend at Furinken High School from that day forward.
Coming up next...
Part 3: Chronicles of the Lost Boy
On their training journey around the orient Ranma and Tarin came across a boy without a sense of direction. After two years Ranma and Ryoga are finally reunited, but what kind of reunion will it be? Also, Kuno, though purged of the Dark Side, sets a plan into motion to make the Pigtailed Girl his.