"speech"

"radio or telepathic speech"

thoughts

/"different language or panda sign"/

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½. I make no money from this, nor do I plan on trying to. This is purely for fun.

Warning: There will be some OOC for some characters. It is an AU though, so that can almost be expected.

I lost. No, not just lost, but I lost badly. This is the second time in three days that's happened. The first time was to this cute girl with blue hair. And now it was some man with blue hair. Older brother or father, I'm not sure. What makes this time so much worse is that the man was clumsy as heck. He can barely walk three steps unless focusing on it. Yet he beat me so easily that I may as well have not trained in my family's style.

I'm the best, I know I am. So why is a clumsy oaf able to humiliate me so? It makes no sense. I've beaten a god. I'm Saotome Ranma, the best martial artist of my generation. Probably the best in the world. And yet twice now I've been treated like a rank amateur. I just don't get it. How could this have happened? Am I really that unskilled? Or is it my family style? I've heard over and over my style is nearly unbeatable. And until this week I'd had plenty of evidence that it's true. Now, I'm starting to wonder.

I also am wondering about my father. He's the definition of dishonor. Always selling me off to feed his belly. Running from his obligations and dumping all his problems on my head. After all the crap he's put me through 'for the sake of the art', I should hate him. But he's my father and I can't hate him. Disrespect him, yes. He hasn't earned any respect. But I can't hate him. Not even after the stunt with a magic lamp. I mean, geez! You'd have thought he'd figure out wishes never go as intended after all the magic that's been used against me.

Do I love him? I'm not sure. He's my dad, and he's been my only constant companion for ten years. But love, that's something I don't know much about. Unless it's martial arts I'm not good at most things. Blame that on my father. I do, and it's accurate. I've barely had any schooling. Anything not martial arts he deemed a distraction, and kept away from me. And he did it for so long I can't focus on most tasks unless it's in the frame work of martial arts.

You'd be surprised how many things are a martial art though. I constantly am. From martial arts ball room dancing to martial arts fine dining, I've seen it all. I've learned figure skating, dancing, tea ceremony, calligraphy, and countless other things all due to martial arts challenges. That's another thing about my family style. We aren't allowed to decline any challenges to our art.

And now I'm alone. For the first time in my life, father isn't here. He's on the run, again. He killed someone. Someone who apparently is kind of famous. The news keeps talking about the mysterious shape shifter that killed a known 'hero' named Bioblade. Even with how poor quality the video was, I recognized my dad. I'm not sure what to think about all this now. He always taught me it's a martial artist's duty to protect the weak. And yet now he's going around killing people.

He put several others in a hospital recently too. Including that green skinned man. Not sure what his name is. The man is rather tall. He also seems to be a friend to my new sensei. Bricklbuster-San was really upset when she learned what had happened. Guess I don't blame her either. Finding out a panda had put your friend in a coma is never a good thing. That weird girl was also badly hurt by father. Never saw anyone recover quite that fast. Within an hour she went from nearly dead to almost fully healed. Wish I could do that.

Sensei has another friend coming in a few days to spar with me. Once I'd have been sure this person would be no challenge. But now I'm actually worried. What if the last two spars hadn't been flukes. What if I'm not the best. Sensei tells me a ten year training period is normal. That any dedicated martial artist has spent at least eight years studying their style. What if instead of being the best, I'm merely average?

This fear only grew when Sensei demonstrated that my ability to use chi isn't all that special. She can vanish from plain sight using her chi. And not the way Father taught me to do so ether. It's as if she just vanished into thin air. The snap kick to the back of my head being all the proof Sensei hadn't actually left I needed. But if I'm not the best, then what am I? What was the point of the training journey if I'm not the best? My worries wont go away no matter how hard I try forcing the issue.

XxXxX

Well, today's the day. Not sure how I feel about this match. I'm told by Sensei that this person is an old friend and sometime ally. He looks like a complete loon. I mean, what's with the green outfit? And that mask looks ridiculous too. That cape is a serious weak point too. If he fights in that outfit, how's he still alive? He bows towards me and enters a stance I don't recognize.

I bow in return, after all this isn't like when Ryoga or the others ambush me. This is an honorable challenge. When I stand my legs propel me into the air. With a graceful flip I bring my foot down with the intent of planting it on this goofball's face. To my surprise he starts to rotate his entire body. His right arm windmills, catching my shin and pushing it to the side. My surprise is so great that I almost didn't notice the man's other hand coming towards my stomach in a palm strike.

I lean backwards to avoid it, only to find myself having to jump to the side. Damn this guy's fast. And what's with all that spinning? I barely saw him trying to sweep my legs out from under me. When I get to my feet again I witness the most unusual thing ever. This guy's not even stopping that annoying spin. After that leg sweep he's standing, the same foot now heading towards my face. How does he do that?

I lean to the side, only to have to contort again. This freak is crazy! That damn rotation hasn't even stopped, and already he's bringing a fist in to try backhanding me. Without warning the idiot then, and I'm not sure how exactly to describe it, but he sort of fell/flipped/rolled back ten feet. Which was a good thing. I was starting to get a bit winded. This guy's nearly as fast as Sensei.

That's when I sense something really odd. My opponent is standing before me. But my chi senses tell me there's two people fighting me. To my shock he then lifts a few inches into the air. I don't sense any chi being used. What the heck is going on? That isn't like when Herb started flying. Or Saffron either. This guy is just hovering in the air like it's the most natural thing in the world.

"What are you waiting for?" He asks me.

This guy, he's a lot more dangerous then I'd initially thought. And he's just busted out special techniques. Time to use my own then. I draw my hands together, and launch a sphere of pure concussive chi. Not sure how much raw power is behind it though. Already I can feel my confidence is shaken. It certainly looks powerful. One of the biggest I've generated so far.

And this guy merely waves a hand in a circle. My jaw drops as the chi ball disburses without any visible effect as it strikes the other guy's hand. What just happened? I seriously don't get it. Oh shit, now he's flying towards me. Why's his body spinning in a horizontal axis? Crap, foot coming towards face! I lean to the left to avoid it! Wait, where'd that palm come fro...

I come to laying on the ground. And man does my head hurt. The green clad fruit cake is standing nearby chatting with Sensei. What hit me anyway? The last few minutes are kind of hazy. This is the third time this week I've lost. Is everyone here better then me? This is getting crazy.