Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma, though I'd figure that that's a given.

Author's Notes:

RubberNeck: Um what is going on? Don't tell me that somehow Ranma had managed to unlock the curse and found out she was both genders but still couldn't remember anything?

Nope! I intentionally made it look that way since I'm evil, but that isn't the case at all. I suggest you brace yourself for the mother of all plot twists. I doubt anyone will be expecting what's going to happen in this chapter.

Pariah2: Very good so far. I'm eager to know if it was really Ryouga or...Another Ranma who was in China.

…I stand corrected! Someone did expect it. Well, hope you enjoy the chapter. And I thank you for your post towards gato. I'm sure you will like my more thorough response.

gatodepatasblancas:

I'm not going to write what you wrote, since you put a lot, however you are totally wrong. The umbrella means nothing. Ryoga wields the umbrella one handed, as does Ranma. I can lift a 20 pound weight without trouble and curl it, so can a body builder. Does that mean I'm as strong as a body builder? Fuck no. Ranma may have been able to lift and wield the umbrella, but Ryoga tore it in half with his belt. (No, he didn't cut it. The belt clearly wrapped around the umbrella and then Ryoga tore it into two pieces.) Ranma is stronger than the average man, yes. He has amazing strength and can do many things normal people can't, yes. But Ryoga can do so much more. Ranma has lifted three ton boulders and hurled them at people. Ryoga has uprooted telephone poles and used them as spears. Ryoga can also poke holes in solid concrete with his fingers (prior to Bakusai Tenketsu,) put massive craters into solid rock and earth with his fists, split trees in half by punching them, so on and so forth. The biggest example though, or at least the easiest to quote, was during Ryoga's first fight with Ranma. He leapt 10 feet in the air while Ranma was sitting on him with his arm. One arm. Saying that Ranma wouldn't be able to beat Ryoga while being weaker than him is ridiculous. There is a lot more to winning a fight than physical strength. Ranma is a hell of a lot faster than Ryoga, and he uses that to overwhelm the boy. If you notice, Ranma doesn't actually get hit all that often when they fight, but Ryoga gets pummeled, especially after the Bakusai Tenketsu. Ranma uses speed and skill to beat Ryoga. Besides, who's to say Ranma can beat Ryoga anyway? Their first fight ended with a draw since Akane's hair got cut. The fight after that Ranma won because he hit Ryoga somewhere in the range of a thousand times with the Amaguriken. Ranma actually lost quite a few fights against Ryoga after the Shishi Hokodan, and in the end Ranma had to use Ryoga's own Perfect attack against him to win, and then he collapsed immediately after. Ranma and Ryoga are about equals, I'd say. As I said before, they are polar opposites, thus they balance each other out.

Anyhow, I'm done ranting. On with the fic.

Ranma's expression changed slowly, from the look of surprise to a sudden arrogant smirk that Ryoga was all too familiar with.

"I heard you're little catch-phrase and figured I could sneak up on ya, P-chan. Looks like I wasn't quiet enough." Ranma said, laughing a bit as he flicked his nose. "How'd you know it was me?" Ranma glanced at Ryoga with a hard look that defied his tone and his words. It was like he was studying him, watching him. Ryoga was still too surprised to speak.

"H…How? The curse…" He managed to get out, pointing at the boy standing across from him. He looked almost identical to the way he did three years ago. He hair was longer and he looked like he acquired a little more muscle, but this was definitely Ranma. There was something off about him though; a sense of wrongness seemed to radiate from the boy. Not only that, but there was a hard look to his eyes that just didn't feel right.

"Interesting, isn't it? Herb knocked me off Horaisan and the next thing I know I'm a guy again. Funny, eh? Even when I lost I still won." Ranma said it arrogantly, a familiar cockiness to him. This was the Ranma Ryoga remembered, but he couldn't help but feel that this wasn't Ranma. Someone was wrong here, very wrong.

"So how'd you know it was me sneaking up on you, Ryoga?" Ranma suddenly asked, glancing at him with that odd hard look to his eyes.

"You didn't, did you?" He said, not giving him enough time to replay.

"You weren't expecting to see me, were you?" The accusing tone to his voice was sending Ryoga for a loop. What the hell was going on!

"You thought I was a different Ranma, didn't you?" His voice became deadly serious as he finished his sentence. Ryoga barely blinked before the pigtailed boy had his hand around his throat and was holding Ryoga against a tree, applying enough pressure to his windpipe to break a brick.

"Where is she?" He said it with a cold tone, his features hardening. Ryoga's danger sense was screaming at him, that sense of wrongness overcoming him. A sickly black aura began to rise from Ranma's body as his fingers tightened around Ryoga's throat. It was an icy cold aura, chi so cold that Ryoga could feel the humidity in the air collect as condensation on his skin. He could practically see his breath. The intensely cold glare of unadulterated rage that Ranma was sending him sent a shiver across Ryoga's spine as his hand gripped Ranma's wrist. He was having trouble breathing.

"Where. Is. She." Ranma demanded, tightening his grip again as he tried to crush Ryoga's throat. Ryoga wouldn't allow that.

"You egotistical bastard." Ryoga growled out, his feet on the ground again and Ranma's hand off his throat. Ryoga was gripping the pigtailed boy's wrist in one hand, squeezing it so hard that he was cutting off circulation to his fingers. "Since when were you ever strong enough to strangle me!" Ryoga shouted, punching the pigtailed boy in the stomach and releasing his wrist in the process, sending him flying back a few feet.

"I'm glad to see you've still got some fight in you, Ryoga." Ranma said, chuckling as he got to his feet. He arrogantly wiped his shirt off with the back of the hand, acting as if the punch hadn't hurt. "I'd hate for this to be boring. I'm only going to ask you one more time: Where is she?"

"Why should I tell you?" Ryoga growled, leaping at the arrogant pigtailed boy. He just smirked, not even looking at the boy lunging at him with his fist cocked back and ready to punch.

"Because if you don't tell me…" Ranma said, vanishing from sight just as Ryoga punched, his fist hitting only air. "…I'll kill you!"

Lost Manhood, Lost Memory

Chapter 6

The Evil Dead

Ranma sighed a bit as she sat on the roof of her cabin, a few tears still in her eyes. She couldn't believe Ryoga had said that to her. She had been hoping that he wouldn't be like Isamu. She wanted to believe that he wouldn't just up and leave her like the blue haired boy did. She hugged herself as she gazed out over the horizon, the sun still hanging overhead and shining its light on the world.

"Damn you Ryoga." She muttered, bringing her knees up to her face to hide her tears in her pants.

'Why did it have to be this way?' She thought. Ever since Isamu had found her at Horaisan she had doubts about her gender. A little voice in the back of her mind just wouldn't stop bugging her. 'What are you doing? You're not a girl. Don't act like one.' It would keep telling her. No matter how much she didn't want to believe it, that little voice just never went away. It kept telling her she wasn't a girl; that she shouldn't get comfortable like this, that she shouldn't get close to boys. It was infuriating.

'Then Ryoga showed up.' She thought, her mind returning to the memories of Ryoga's arrival. He had known her before Horaisan. If anyone knew who she was, he did. He had been so kind to her; he seemed to like her so much. She had hoped that maybe the little voice had been wrong all along; that she really was a girl. Or at the very least, that Ryoga didn't care. That he would love her regardless of what she used to be.

'BECAUSE YOU'RE A MAN!' Those words echoed in her mind, causing her to flinch. She had been a fool to think he could love her. And now she knew the little voice was right all along. She wanted to be comforted, she couldn't handle this herself. Her thoughts went to Yamakujira, the boar that had been following her around for the last two years. He had always been there when she needed him before. Where was he?

'I haven't seen him since Ryoga showed up.' Ranma thought, getting a bit sadder. Even the boar had left her. The only comfort she had was Ryoga's shirt that she still wore, but that only brought her pain. Still, she didn't want to take it off. Isamu, Yamakujira, Ryoga. Was she doomed to be lonely forever?

'It's not fair.' She thought, another tear falling from her eye. She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts by a bright light shining in the distance. With a gasp Ranma looked up and watched in awe as a pillar of greenish blue energy erupted out of the forest and rose into the sky. It collected there briefly before falling back to earth as a giant orb, hitting with a mighty crash and sending up dirt and dust.

"What the hell was that!" She shouted out loud. She didn't bother to stick around and contemplate it though. Instead, she jumped off the roof and ran towards it to see it for herself.

"Dodged that, did you?" Ryoga asked, standing in the shallow crater of his attack and glancing at the pigtailed boy standing on the side of a tree. "That's so depressing. I guess I'll have to do it again." Ryoga muttered in a monotonous voice, his heavy green blue chi coming to life around his body.

"You think I'm going to let you do that again!" Ranma shouted out, leaping off the tree and heading straight for the Hibiki boy. Ryoga didn't care much. There wasn't anything Ranma could do to stop him from performing another Shishi Hokodan.

"Ryu-zan!" Ryoga's eyes widened in surprise as a blade of black ki erupted from Ranma's forearm in mid jump. He was forced to stop his follow up blast and leap away or risk getting impaled. Ranma was faster than him though, much faster. Ryoga wasn't able to escape the attack as Ranma merely twisted in midair and slashed at the Hibiki boy. The bandages Ryoga had been wearing fell to the ground and a thin cut ran from his shoulder to his hip, a line of blood seeping out slowly. The wound was cold, very cold. It felt like he had been cut with an icicle.

"What the hell was that?" Ryoga asked, standing up slowly as Ranma turned toward him. The blade dissipated and the pigtailed boy just smirked at him, a hard look still in his eyes.

"Surprised? It's just a little trick I picked up from Herb." Ranma confidently strode from the crater of the Shishi Hokodan and stood across from Ryoga, thus far unmoving but obviously ready for a fight.

"Herb? Why the hell would Herb teach you anything?" Ryoga asked. He was still glaring at the other boy, a little confused about him. It was obvious that he and the female Ranma were two different people, and yet they were both Ranma. What was going on?

"That bitch? Of course not. But she used it so many times it was easy to figure it out." Ranma said arrogantly, shrugging his shoulders in a nonchalant manner. "She was especially surprised when I made an amputee out of the wolf boy with it. He didn't look like he needed that arm anyway." Ranma was glaring at him again, a cold look in his eyes. "Didn't look like he needed his eye either, so I took that out too." Ranma chuckled, watching the anger steadily rising in the Hibiki boy.

"Are you angry that I crippled an enemy, Ryoga?" Ranma asked, clearly amused. "If you think that's bad, you should have seen what I did to the Tiger man. It wasn't pleasant." He said, chuckling again.

"Damn you Ranma!" Ryoga shouted, his aura shining around his body as he leapt at the boy and punched at his face. Ranma dodged to the side, a smirk on his face and his hands in his pockets. He just looked at Ryoga with that arrogant little smirk of his and continually dodged his attacks, much to Ryoga's extreme annoyance.

"Gee Ryoga, I never would have expected this reaction from you." Ranma said, still smirking as he dodged a particularly powerful back fist. "Showing sympathy for the musk? How funny. I should tell you what I did to Herb. I'm sure that'd get you really angry." Ranma casually leapt over a round house kick and twisted in mid air to dodge a punch. He landed on one hand and bounded back to his feet, dodging a sweeping kick in the process.

"Stand still and fight like a man!" Ryoga bellowed, aiming a punch at Ranma's face that was sidestepped. This was getting him nowhere. Ranma was just dancing around in circles. He couldn't touch him.

"Do you want to hear it, Ryoga?" Ranma asked, dodging a few more blows. "Do you want to know what I did to Herb?" He was still smirking, still arrogant, still looking through hardened eyes as he just dodged and evaded.

"Shut up and die!" Ryoga punched, missed, extended a fingertip and blew a hole in the ground. The resulting explosion sent up a cloud of dust, one Ryoga hoped would blind Ranma long enough to get a good hit in. Ryoga thrust forward for a punch and nailed the pigtailed boy across the cheek, sending him flying into a tree and cracking the bark.

"You bastard, you broke my spiral." Ranma growled out, rubbing hit cheek. Spiral?

'Damn it! He was going to use the Hiryuu Shoten ha. I almost fell right into it.' Ryoga thought, calming down as his aura decreased a bit.

'Oh no you don't, I need your hot aura, pig-boy.' Ranma thought, glaring coldly at Ryoga. "Ryu Sei Hisho!" Ryoga could only gasp in surprise as Ranma leapt into the air and glided through it in a complete disregard for the laws of gravity. He wasn't prepared for the orbs of chi that he was dropping across his flight path, each one bouncing off the ground and striking Ryoga from a different angle.

"Herb did that one constantly!" Ranma shouted, landing and rushing at Ryoga with a jump kick. The Hibiki boy was still reeling from the chi blasts and couldn't do anything as the kick struck him in the face and sent him skidding across the ground on his bare back. It hurt. If only he weren't burnt he wouldn't have even felt it.

"Bastard…" Ryoga grunted, getting back to his feet.

"I didn't let him do it many times as a man though. It really hurt when Herb was male." Ranma muttered, glancing at Ryoga. "It's a good thing they brought the ladle with them. I took care of that problem real fast." Ranma smirked. The realization on Ryoga's face just made this all the more entertaining.

"You bastard…You locked his curse!" Ryoga growled out, glaring at the pigtailed boy.

"You're damn straight I did! That was vengeance! Herb locked my curse, so I locked his! He beat me into the ground while I was female and helpless, and I did the same! Herb humiliated me on Horaisan, I was returning the favor!" Ranma growled out, his arrogance replaced by anger as he leapt at Ryoga with his black aura glowing.

"Hito Ryu-zan ha!" Ranma shouted out, hurling the chi blades at Ryoga. The Hibiki boy was forced to jump out of the way as the black blades reduced a few trees to kindling behind him. Ranma was expecting him to dodge though, and Ryoga was knocked out of the air by a jumping kick that hurled him into a tree.

"I did more than just return the favor though. I wanted more than just vengeance. I returned the humiliation Herb gave me 100 times over!" Ranma said, his voice suddenly rising as he stopped attacking. It seemed like he was too busy bragging about his victory over the dragon prince to bother with an attack. His arrogance was so infuriating.

"I gave Herb the worse humiliation possible. The absolute worst thing I could think of, I did! The absolute worst thing you could do to a man that had become a woman." Ranma had a crazed look in his eyes as Ryoga could only look at him in horror.

"Do you know what I'm referring to Ryoga?" Ranma asked, a smile working its way up his face. It was an evil smile with a mischievous quality to it. No. It wasn't possible. Ranma wouldn't. He couldn't. Yet Ryoga could tell just by looking at him what the pigtailed boy was talking about.

"You…son of a bitch…" Ryoga clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, his aura blasting into existence in a sudden inferno of power. Ranma merely smirked and readied himself, placing his hands in his pockets and prepared for the spiral.

"Ryoga?" The words caused both boys to turn their heads violently toward their source. Ryoga's aura died away in an instant as he looked at the redhead, seeing Ranma smile so widely his teeth were showing. In an instant Ranma pulled his hands from his pockets, his hands already trailing his icy black chi.

"Hito Ryu-zan ha!" He shouted, swinging his hands through the air and hurling a blade of black chi as he did so. Every blade shot out from his body and went straight for the redheaded girl. Ryoga could only watch in horror as the blades flew, being too far away to stop them.

"No!" He shouted, watching as the redhead brought her arms up to protect her face. The blades struck, exploding violently against the girl's body and sending her flying back, screaming in pain.

"What! That should have cut her into pieces!" Ranma shouted out, confused. Ryoga was already running, heading straight for the girl as Ranma stood there shocked for a few more seconds. Ryoga scooped the girl off the ground while running and held her protectively to his body, running as fast as his legs could carry him.

"R…Ryoga? What's going on?" The redhead muttered, confused. She had been rather surprised to see Ryoga at the sight of the explosion, also surprised that he had been fighting somebody. But then out of nowhere the other guy tried to kill her!

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. Please forgive me, I wasn't thinking." Ryoga suddenly said, still running. He could hear Ranma chasing him. He knew the boy was gaining. He didn't have a chance of outrunning him.

"But I don't have time to talk right now, so…" Ryoga said, skidding to a stop and hurling the girl skyward. "…Run!" Ryoga turned to face the approaching Saotome boy, horrified to see he was a lot closer than he had expected. Ryoga didn't even have time to put his arms up to block before he was pummeled by multiple kicks and punches.

"Out of the damn way, Ryoga! You're useless to me!" Ranma growled, tossing the boy aside after he was done hitting him. Ranma immediately leapt after his double, seeing the redheaded girl landing nearby.

"Hey sis, fancy meeting you here!" He said cheerily, betraying his actions as he attempted to take her head off with a punch. The girl dodged easily and leapt to a near by tree branch, unable to stay there long as a barrage of black ki blades forced her to leap away from the spot.

"You're pretty quick. Not surprised." Ranma said, leaping at her with intent to break her skull. Much to his annoyance, she dodged the blow. "What I'd really like to know is how you stopped those blades." A kick aimed for the throat and she dodged yet again, jumping back and landing near the trunk of the tree he had thrown Ryoga into. The Hibiki boy in question was getting to his feet at that moment and was glaring at Ranma, standing protectively in front of the redhead.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Ranma asked, pointing at her male double as he just smirked at her. Ryoga shook his head for a second, feeling confused. There were too many Ranmas around. He needed a way to differentiate between them.

"Who am I? I'm you you stupid bitch!" Ranma said cheerfully, pulling down an eyelid and sticking his tongue out at her.

"What did you call me?" She growled out, leaping from behind Ryoga and at the Saotome boy.

"I called you a stupid bitch! Jeez, you're really dense! Only a weak little woman like you could forget me." Ranma taunted, angering his female counterpart as she growled and threw a punch at her double's head. He dodged to the side, his hands in his pockets. He had to admit he was surprised by the heat of her aura. He had actually felt its heat on his cheek when she punched.

'Wait, this is bad.' Ryoga thought, watching the female Ranma attempting to beat the male one into the ground. He could tell from Ranma's stance and the way he was insulting the girl what was going on. He was leading her into a Hiryuu Shoten Ha. Hell, with the way the male's aura was constantly icy and the female's was constantly fiery it was like a Hiryuu Shoten Ha waiting to happen.

"Ranma-chan, look out!" Ryoga shouted, tackling the girl out of the spiral, much to the surprise of both Ranmas.

"Ranma-chan! You disgust me Ryoga! (1) Hiryuu Shoten Ha!" Ryoga wasn't completely out of the spiral when Ranma decided to complete it. With a rush of wind both he and Ranma-chan were dragged into a torrent of wind and chi, being constantly bombarded by the power that had gone into creating the massive tornado that rose into the sky. Ryoga tried his best to shield the girl with his body. He didn't really know why. She was better protected from the attack than he was. She was still wearing his shirt, after all. And it was a good thing, too. Those chi blades would have killed her if she hadn't been.

'Damn it!' Ryoga thought, grunting as his body was pummeled incessantly by the winds. After a few moments he was thrown clear, introduced to a sudden silence and a feeling of freefall as he and Ranma-chan plummeted. Grabbing the redhead in his arms and righting himself in midair, Ryoga managed to get himself to hit feet first. This didn't stop him from digging a trench into the ground though, as both he and the redhead were soon lying on the ground in pain.

"You're so sad, Ryoga. I figured you'd give me a better fight than this." Ranma gloated, walking towards the two fallen martial artists.

"Who the hell are you?" Ranma-chan screamed. She got to her feet and prepared herself to fight, watching the pigtailed Saotome heading towards her confidently.

"I already told you, wench. I'm you. You could say I'm your evil twin." The male Ranma said with a smirk, still walking towards them.

"You're my brother? Why are you doing this then! Why do you want to hurt us?" Ranma-chan got out, looking on the brink of tears as she stared down her 'brother.'

"Jeez, I just told you I was evil! How dense can you be?" Ranma responded, looking at the redhead like she was crazy. Ranma-chan glared at him, not sure what to do at this point. Ryoga was still struggling to regain his feet.

"How did this happen? Why did you two split?" Ryoga got out. Maybe if he got an explanation out of the male Ranma he'd have enough time to recover from the Hiryuu Shoten Ha.

"Silly me," Ranma said, smacking himself in the head, "I completely forgot the protocol. Well, you look like you're on the brink of death. Time to monologue at you, revealing my origins and master plan in the process."

"Protocol? Do you have some kind of bad guy handbook or something?" Ryoga asked, annoyed. To his surprise, Ranma pulled a small book from his shirt. The title read 'The Tricks of the Trade to Modern Day Villainy.' If Ryoga wasn't already on the ground, he would have face faulted. Ranma just slipped the book back into his shirt.

"Anyhow, I think I'll start with a little story. You see, there's a rather interesting legend about Horaisan." Ranma began, looking like he was ready for a very long speech. "Hundreds of years ago, there was a powerful priest that had angered a mighty demon. The two battled for many days, neither looking like they would get the upper hand. Their battle took them all across the countryside of Japan, eventually leading them to Horaisan. While there, the demon got a lucky shot and knocked the priest into the chasm surrounding the mountain. The priest hit the water feet first and broke both his legs. The demon followed to finish him off." Ranma paused for a moment, clearing his throat.

"Knowing his death was near, the priest cast the most powerful spell he could manage. He blessed his own bones. This caused the waters at the bottom of Horaisan to become sacred, purifying. The demon was already knee deep in the water and was trapped in the priest's dying spell. The purifying waters stripped him of all negative chi. All of his negative energy was forcefully removed from his body and became trapped on the mountain. The demon lost all of his memories and became a saint. He traveled from village to village, helping those in need and doing goodwill toward man. Of course, his chi was horribly out of balance. Thus with time, his negative chi eventually returned, and he became an evil demon again." Ranma stopped his story, turning towards Ranma-chan and Ryoga now.

"Do you understand what I'm getting at here? This sound familiar at all?" Neither one of them answered. Ranma just sighed in frustration.

"You were purified, girly. When you hit the water at the bottom of Horaisan the sacred waters purified your chi. All your negative, dark chi was forcibly removed from your body, along with your memories." Ranma-chan gasped at that, suddenly looking at this boy in a new light.

"I am the result of that purification. I am the embodiment of the negative chi stolen from your body at Horaisan. All your evil thoughts, intentions and energy. I even have your memories. And thanks to Jusenkyo, I have a body to misuse and abuse. Apparently the water thought the male form was evil. Can't say I'm complaining." Ranma chuckled, staring at his female counterpart.

"So you're just an evil spirit created at Horaisan." Ryoga growled out, looking ready to jump back into a fight when a blast of chi struck him in the legs and caused him to crash back into the ground.

"Quiet, I'm not done monologuing!" Ranma growled out, clearing his throat again.

"Anyhow, there's one little problem with me. When the little redheaded bitch got purified, we were both given only half of the normal balance of chi." Ranma said. "In other words, she was pure good and I was pure evil. Of course, she has a functional soul. I'm just the byproduct of an exorcism gone wrong. Unlike that demon and her, my chi can't balance itself. She has almost returned to normal and I'm still giddy at the thought of devouring small children. I have evil chi and evil chi only. Incase you didn't know, that's incredibly unhealthy." Ranma stated. Almost as proof to his words, he coughed a few times in his hand, blood dripping from between his fingers.

"And that brings me to my current mission." The evil look returned to his eyes. His mouth set in a frown and a cold glare found its way directed at the redhead. "I will die unless I return my chi to balance. I think that old Chinese monk I talked to gave me about another 2 months, tops." As he said this, he pointed at Ranma-chan. "I had two options. One: Recombine myself with you, returning us to one body and regaining the curse." Ranma's mouth turned into a smirk. "And two…"

Ryoga never saw the blow coming. Before he was able to blink Ranma had rushed forward and unleashed an Amaguriken directly into his sternum at top speed. The resulting blow looked like one punch but sent shockwaves throughout his entire body. The Hibiki boy was hurled a good ten feet by the brutal attack, sliding across the ground.

"And option two would be killing you and absorbing all of your positive chi." He said, catching the girl with a sidekick that launched her into a tree. "Incase you can't tell, I prefer option two!" He shouted, rushing forward and punching at the tree. Ranma-chan just ducked the blow, watching Ranma's fist smash into the tree and crack the bark a little.

"Shishi Hokodan!" Ranma was struck in the back with the wave of chi and smashed into the tree he just punched, uprooting it. He hit the ground with blurred vision, annoyed that he let Ryoga get the upper hand on him.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!" Ryoga grabbed Ranma-chan's hand and started running through the forest. She could hear that male version of her chasing after them. He was so much faster than Ryoga. How could they get away? Suddenly, she felt something odd. A weird sensation of freefall for the briefest of moments, as well as an odd pulsation coming from both Ryoga and the shirt. She couldn't hear him following them anymore.

"Ryoga stop!" They stopped, the both of them looking around. Ranma was nowhere to be found. He was gone.

"What just happened?" Ranma-chan asked. Meanwhile, Ranma was running around the forest in extreme annoyance. He had lost them. How the hell did he lose them?

"That bastard Ryoga got lost on me right under my nose!" Ranma growled, clenching his fist. He struck a tree beside him with all his strength, putting a sizable crater in its surface.

"Of all the Deus ex Machina bullshit…" he grumbled. Ryoga couldn't have gotten far. Even with his ridiculous sense of direction. Sure he frequently traveled obscene distances and even crossed oceans while on foot, but that didn't change anything.

"Ah damn it, he could be anywhere!" Ranma was not about to let Ryoga run off on him with his only chance for survival. He was going to steal that redheaded bitch's chi if it was the last thing he did.

To Be Continued…

(Author's notes)

Now isn't this an interesting turn of events! Yes, this has been planned from the beginning. If you look the Prologue actually mentions the purifying power of the water at the bottom of Horaisan. There's only about 3 chapters left of this, so stay tuned for the dramatic conclusion.

(1) The –chan honorific is often used by boys when talking to their girlfriends, hence Ranma's reaction.

Ryo-Wolf