Ranma ½: A New Beginning

Episode 4: Ukyou, the Lovely Ninja

Notes: Just to clarify a bit, I usually only make a full paragraph when I'm changing scene or time, so it helps to keep that in mind when reading this. I refer to Ranma as Ranma-chan when transformed, Genma as Genma-panda, Shampoo as Shampoo-neko. Also ( ) = Chinese, ' ' = Means someone is thinking.

Suddenly, the door to Ranma's room burst open, heralding the entry of Genma Saotome, a bucket of cold water in his hands.

"Ranma!" He shouted as he threw the water, dousing Ranma and activating the curse. Ranma-chan looked about the room, a dazed confusion evident in her sapphire blue eyes. Before she could notice Shampoo-neko, Genma grabbed the cursed cat and ran out of the room. "Get out of here you filthy cat!" Genma said as he flung her out a nearby window. Shampoo-neko, relying on the superior reflexes her cursed form afforded her, grabbed onto the edge of the dojo roof, desperately trying to stop her flight. Her claws scratched across the terra-cotta tiles until one of them found a niche, and she came to an abrupt halt. Hanging just over the edge of the low roof, Shampoo-neko retracted her claw, and dropped silently to the patio below. 'What is going on?' She wondered as she walked gingerly into the house, favoring her other paw. She managed to find a cup of hot water on the table, a yet to be used tea bag next to it. She knocked it over onto herself and changed back. Now back in human form, though still naked, she ran quickly up the stairs, hoping to get her cloths before someone saw her. But, as she reached Ranma's mostly closed door, she heard whispering coming from within.

"How could you let yourself be afraid like that?" Shampoo looked through the crack to see Ranma-chan cowering on the floor, her eyes shut tightly in fear. "A true martial artist never feels fear!"She whispered constantly as she rocked back and forth. Shampoo decided to ignore the situation, at least until she got her cloths back. But she paused, her hand already reaching past the door frame at her abandoned shirt, as she heard a sniffle, then several full-blown sobs. 'He's crying!' Forgoing her quest for clothing, Shampoo moved in, sitting down by Ranma-chan on the floor. She jumped, quickly wiping her eyes and turning to face Shampoo. "Yes?" She asked, a forced looking smile on her face. But Shampoo saw the moisture gathering in the corner of Ranma's eyes.

"What wrong Ranma, why you act like cat and be so scared?" Ranma-chan remained silent for several moments, unable to bear the idea of losing her composure in front of someone else. "Ranma can tell Shampoo what wrong." She whispered as she snuggled a little closer to the red head. Ranma-chan sighed.

"Alright, that was the aftershock of the Neko-ken technique." Shampoo frowned,

"Neko-ken?"

"It's a technique where a person loses themselves and basically become a cat, with enhanced reflexes and greater strength, it only activates for me when I'm very afraid, and after it, I'm just a little bit disturbed." Realization dawned on Shampoo.

"That what happen!" Ranma-chan nodded. "So, why Ranma afraid of cats?" Ranma-chan shuddered.

"Well, Pop taught me the Neko-ken by wrapping me in bacon and other assorted food stuffs, then throwing me in a pit filled with hungry cats." Shampoo shuddered as well.

"That horrible!" Ranma-chan laughed bitterly,

"That's not the worst of it, I didn't learn the technique the first time through, so he threw me in again after he got some more food."

"How you live with evil man!" Shampoo yelled, completely disgusted by the actions of the Saotome patron.

"He is my dad." Ranma-chan said simply. Shampoo reached down and grasped Ranma-chan's hands between her own,

"Being Pop not good reason for hurting child." Ranma-chan blushed and looked down at her lap, which was when she realized that both of them were still naked.

"Aw, shit!" She leapt up, and ran behind a chair.

Shampoo looked down at herself as well.

"(Shit!)" She quickly covered herself with the sheet from Ranma- chan's futon. From behind the chair, Ranma-chan quickly began to apologize.

"I'm sorry Shampoo! I didn't realize . . ." Shampoo cut her off.

"It okay Ranma, Shampoo no realize either." She stood, wrapping the sheet around herself and went over to get her clothing. Ranma-chan turned away quickly, blushing furiously as Shampoo dressed herself. After several moments of rustling clothing, Shampoo said. "Ranma's turn now." Ranma looked to see Shampoo with her back turned. Ranma-chan quickly dressed.

"Okay Shampoo, I'm decent." Shampoo turned back around, looking at the sopping wet Ranma-chan.

"Ranma need to dry off and get hot water." She commented. Ranma-chan agreed and they both went downstairs. Right as they took the last step, the lights went off.

"What the . . ." Ranma-chan whispered. Then a swish came, followed by a dull thud and a grunt of effort. The lights turned back on, revealing Ranma-chan on one knee, blocking a blow from Ukyou's giant spatula. Shampoo stared over at Ranma-chan, her muscles corded as she tried to force the ninja girl back.

"You will pay Ranma!" Ukyou said through gritted teeth as she pushed against Ranma-chan's block. But she retracted her weapon when she noticed that she was attacking a red-haired girl with a startling resemblance to Ranma. She stepped back and bowed deeply. "Gomen nasai young lady, I thought I was attacking someone else." Ranma-chan bristled.

"I'm not a girl." Ukyou started, noticing something familiar in the denial.

"Ranma?" She asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Yeah, it's me." Ranma-chan answered, her head hung dejectedly. Ranma- chan heard a swish of loose cloth, and looked up at Ukyou, now a few feet away with her combat spatula held before her.

"I don't care what you are, you will pay!" Ranma-chan threw up her arms in a combat stance.

"I'm going to fight you if you insist on attacking me." She said simply as Shampoo stepped away. Ukyou smiled, then flashed into movement, zipping with almost preternatural speed. Before Ranma-chan could even try to attack, Ukyou was upon her, bashing and slashing in her full, furious glory. Ranma found it impossible to block all of the attacks, feeling several painful hits explode throughout her body. Ukyou jumped back, breathing a little hard and smiling at the cut she had inflicted on Ranma's cheek. Ranma's ire rose at the smile, and he charged Ukyou. She expected the attack, and jumped back, then lunged forward, hoping to impale him. But rather then trying to dodge to the side, he ducked under it to uppercut Ukyou. As she came up for the blow, Ukyou made it even easier for her by swinging her spatula in a horizontal ark, the kind of blow she'd use to hit him if he'd dodged to the side. Ranma's blow hit hard, knocking Ukyou's head back with a sharp "crack", and she flew through the air, landing several feet away. Ranma moved over to Ukyou's dazed form, "Dammit Ukyou! If you'll just give me the chance to explain . . ." Ukyou snarled up at Ranma.

"You had your chance to explain Ranma, now you die!" Ukyou swung her giant spatula, one handed, aiming for a neck blow, and the sheer ferocity and unexpectedness of the attack left Ranma defenseless. Ranma-chan shut her eyes, not wanting to see the end coming, but rather then feeling Ukyou's spatula take off her head, she heard the clang of a metal weapon blocking another weapon. She opened her eyes to see Shampoo's fine chinese sword holding Ukyou's spatula in a lock, her toned Amazon muscles straining to hold back the ninja's attack. Ukyou locked eyes with the smiling Shampoo.

"No one kill Ranma while Shampoo around." Ukyou grimaced.

"I have no business with you, stay out of this." She whispered unconvincingly. Shampoo's smile widened, and in one masterful move, she whipped her sword out of the lock, and slashed it across Ukyou's cheek.

"Eye for eye." She whispered, then pushed Ukyou back. The ninja girl stumbled back, only stopping when she bumped into a wall. She reached up and placed two fingers on the cut, wincing.

"You'll pay for this Ranma!" She whispered fiercely, then leapt through an open window.

"Crud." Ranma-chan said. "I can't beat her, she's just too fast, and that uppercut barely fazed her." Shampoo looked back at the kneeling Ranma. She crouched down beside her, wrapping her in a reassuring hug.

"Shampoo know Ranma can beat ninja girl." Ranma smiled.

"Thank you Shampoo." She stood up. "I will find a way to beat Ukyou!"

The next day at school, Ranma sat in class, unaware of much of what was happening around him. That is, until he heard the name "Ukyou." Mentally at def. con 3, he returned his attention to the class around him.

"This is our new student, Ukyou Kuonji. Please endeavor to treat her with consideration and respect." She pointed Ukyou to her sear, unfortunately next to Ranma's. She sat down without a fuss, her eyes closed, a look of calm on her face. 'Maybe she forgave me!' Ranma thought happily, but then Ukyou's eyes snapped open and she threw a menacing glare in Ranma's direction. 'Maybe not.' He thought unhappily as he sank away from her glance. 'This is going to be really long day.' He mentally wailed as the teacher continued.

Ranma was already out of the class room when the bell rang, 'I really don't need another fight with Ukyou, especially since I still can't beat her!' He thought frantically as he ran down the halls. Then, of course, he ran into something with at least the I.Q. of a brick wall. Ranma fell to the ground, groaning as he realized that he had run into Kuno.

"Ranma Saotome." Kuno began with a sneer. "I feel not joy at the sight of your evil face. For as I learned this morning, you imprison the pig tailed girl and Akane Tendo in your home, using them for your own sick pleasures, and taking pictures of them to sell!" Ranma irked. 'Where does this guy come up with this stuff? And what does he mean pictures?!" Ranma was violently taken from his thoughts by the realization that Kuno was about to hit him with his bokken. Ducking the slash, Ranma reached up and grabbed Kuno's bicep, using it as leverage to pull his elbow up and smash it into the annoying sempai's face. Kuno stumbled back, a bit of blood dribbling out of his smashed nose. "You have a powerful punch Saotome, but my bokken of justice will defeat you!" But when Kuno opened his eyes, having finished his heroic a poetic outburst, he only saw the sole of Ranma's shoes, which then connected with his face and sent him flying down the halls.

"Sorry Kuno, but I don't have time for that, see you later!" Ranma shouted to the unconscious young man as he continued his mad dash down the halls of Furinkan high. Though he was rather angered when all o his martial arts training didn't allow him to avoid the pail of water the janitor had carelessly left out in the middle of the hall. But when she finally reached the back door to the school, Ukyou was already waiting for her, arms crossed across her chest. Behind her stood most of the school, waiting impatiently for the show to begin. In particular, Ranma's new friends Hiroshi and Daisuke were standing in the front of the line, popcorn bags in hand.

"Ranma Saotome." Ukyou began, her rising ire evident in her voice. "I challenge you to ritual combat, for my honor. It will be at this place, tomorrow." She uncrossed her arms and moved closer to the grimacing martial artist. "It will be a fight to the death!" She whispered fiercely, then spun and left the premises of the high school.

"What the heck am I gonna do?" Ranma-chan asked as she drifted in the direction of Shampoo and Akane.

"Ever the popular boy, or is it girl now, eh Ranma?" Akane commented before she turned and left as well. Shampoo glared at the tactless girl as she left, then turned to Ranma.

"Ignore angry girl Akane Ranma, it be okay, you smart and strong, you figure out how to beat ninja girl Ukyou." Ranma-chan focused on Shampoo's concerned face.

"Even if I do figure out how to beat her, she's dead set on either killing me or dying herself." She hung her head, seriously worried about the outcome of this problem. But he found Shampoo with him the whole way, she grabbed his arm and put it across her shoulder.

"I was going to kill Ranma, and you still convinced me that it not what I really wanted, Shampoo think Ranma can do that for ninja girl Ukyou too." Ranma-chan looked over at Shampoo, and noticed how her lavender eyes seemed to glimmer.

"Thanks Shampoo, you always know how to cheer me up." Shampoo smiled.

"Shampoo try." Ranma-chan turned to look in the direction of Ukyou's exit.

"I won't let you die, my old friend."

Darkness had fallen upon Nermina, and most of the inhabitants were sleeping peacefully in their comfy bed. Except one.

"Aiiee-ya!" The karate yell tore through the otherwise silent night in the dojo, drawing attention to the shadowed figure, moving like a panther among sheep, swiftly and silently. But for him, it was not fast enough, he was to face someone with the preternatural speed that only lightning possessed. 'How can I possibly do it, not only is she faster then me, but she's also got her combat spatula, that gives her an extra four feet or so of reach.' He continued through several kata, all the while analyzing his past two battles with Ukyou. Ranma kicked forward, but stopped when he noticed a darkened form. The form, Shampoo, blinked as she stared at the sole of Ranma's foot, not more then a few centimeters from her face. "Shampoo!? What are you doing up this late?" He lowered his foot, placing it back down on the floor softly.

"Shampoo worried bout Ranma, came down to make sure Ranma okay." She explained quickly. Ranma smiled, happy that Shampoo was worried for him, although happiness quickly lost out to hopelessness as reality set back in again,

"How am I gonna do it Shampoo, how am I going to fight Ukyou when she's that fast?" Shampoo said nothing, just placed her head on Ranma's shoulder.

"Shampoo no know, but Shampoo know Ranma can beat her." Ranma took comfort from Shampoo's confidence in him. Then it hit him. He thought back to when he had fought Ukyou, how when she thrust forward at him, rather then dodge, he went under it. She saw him, she knew he was there, but she couldn't hit him.

"She's a prisoner of her own speed!" He whispered as the realization truly dawned on him. "She moves so fast that she can't vary her moves in the middle of one!" Shampoo clapped happily as Ranma discovered how to win the fight. But Ranma's mood fell. "But still, her spatula gives her too much reach, how can I get enough hits on her to win?" Ranma wondered aloud as he slumped up against the wall and slid back down to the floor, now it was Shampoo's turn for a revelation.

"If she have reach, then we give Ranma reach too." She said as she stood and reached over to the wall of the dojo, which just happened to be lined with weapons.

"But Shampoo! I don't know how to use any weapons, and Ukyou's been training with hers for most of her life!" Shampoo smiled like a Cheshire cat,

"Shampoo teach you, and in return, you teach Shampoo to fight better with no weapon." Ranma smiled at the clever Amazon.

"Alright Shampoo, I can do that, hell, I'll even throw in a free lesson on how to speak Japanese." He said as he reached over to the wall. Shampoo, still smiling, whispered,

"Now fun begin."

'Rain, it had to rain today.' Ranma-chan thought sullenly as she stared across the school yard at Ukyou, her expression set, and her hands wrapped tightly around the haft of a long staff. Ukyou on the other hand, had an expression of anger on her face, and her hands shook from the sheer force of her grip. Gathered around them were most of the students from Furinkan high, including Kuno, who was at the moment babbling on about how the two girls had no reason to fight over him, since he would date them both. Nabiki, as always, was on the side lines taking bets. Finally, one of the male students came forward wearing a referee's uniform. Wordlessly, he put his hand between the two fighters, and he felt as if he could feel a palpable line of tension between them. Then he brought it down, severing the line. The sound of rain splashing on the ground was the only thing that could be heard, a deathly silence had fallen across the crowd as the two combatants charged each other.

They met halfway, Ukyou going for her quick draw slash, but Ranma blocked it with the high end of the staff. Ukyou pushed against her with all of her strength, and it looked like she might break the lock, until Ranma-chan dropped her higher up hand to the middle of the staff, then used the leverage created by Ukyou's assault to sweep the lower end across and take the Ninja's feet out from under her. She fell, face first into the hard concrete. Ranma-chan leapt away from the fallen ninja girl, wary of the possible counter attack. Ukyou got up slowly, her face red from its rough contact with the ground. She regained her feet, her pained face twisted in anger. She charged Ranma-chan, the gigantic cooking utensil turned weapon raised above her head. Ranma held her ground in the face of the charge, until the last moment. She jumped, springing into the air and flipping over Ukyou's lightning swing. She landed, extended the staff, and spun, crushing it into Ukyou's side. Amazingly, she was unfazed by the blow, she shook it off, and did and abrupt about face, brining her combat spatula with her.

Ranma-chan barely blocked the attack in her surprised state, and was quickly pushed back as Ukyou went into a flurry of slashes, cuts and thrusts. The intensity of the assault was incredible, Ukyou's spatula blurred from the speed of her attacks, and Ranma was barely blocking all of them. Then her defense broke. She tripped on a rock that had been partially cover by the slightly overgrown lawn, and lost her footing. Ukyou smiled in triumph and swung with all her might. The spatula impacted Ranma-chan's side with a bone breaking crunch, shattering two of her ribs. She flew through the air, and landed several feet away from Ukyou, rolling through the soaking grass until her momentum ran out. The crowd gasped, even to the most unobservant, it was obvious that hit had been a battle ending blow. Ukyou moved over to Ranma's unconscious body. She raised her weapon above her had with a reverence one reserves for the most holy of items or acts, in a finishing blow, then brought it down, almost to Ranma's head before it stopped. Ranma-chan had flipped over, and was now straining to hold back Ukyou attack. Ukyou's eyes went aflame with anger, and she pushed against Ranma with all of her strength, throwing her weight into it too.

But Ranma-chan held, pushing Ukyou back ever so slowly. Then she did something amazing, she let go of Ukyou's combat spatula, rolled to the side as the point buried itself in the space her head had previously occupied a moment before. She grabbed her staff up from where it had landed after the hit, then performed a full back flip into the air and behind Ukyou from her crouched position. Before the ninja had time to react, Ranma-chan threw her staff over Ukyou's head, then pulled it into a choke hold on Ukyou's tracheae.

"Do you yield?" Ranma-chan whispered into Ukyou's ear, the first spoken words since the battle began. Ukyou said nothing, only glared, and Ranma pulled the staff tighter against her wind pipe, making it very difficult for Ukyou to breathe. This continued for another few, tense moments, the rain coming down even harder then before. Ukyou cried, the tears mixing with the rain water as they made their way down her face. Ranma-chan was caught off guard by the sudden mood swing, and loosed her choke hold on the girl. Ukyou slipped out of it, falling limply to the sodden grass as she cried her eyes out. Ranma-chan stood there, looking down on the pitiful form that was her best friend, her only friend from childhood. Then she knelt down by the sobbing girl, kissed her gently on the cheek, and whispered something into her ear, too quietly to be heard over the downpour of rain.

Ukyou looked up, the rain washing away the traces of her tears. She smiled, whispered something back, then got up and left with all the speed possible. The crowd dispersed, many of them happy to have seen such a good fight, though several were unhappy about having to pay out to Nabiki again. Ranma-chan moved over to where Shampoo and Akane stood, a slight wince scrunching her face. "C'mon, let's go, I need to get out of this rain." Ranma said as she waited, her arm holding her side, over her broken ribs. Shampoo was absolutely bursting with pride at Ranma's incredible display of skill and prowess, particularly considering it had been his first real battle. Akane on the other hand, was awestruck. She stared at Ranma blankly, having barely even noticed that she had moved from her original spot. Comprehension returned to her eyes as she noticed something floating in the rainwater at Ranma-chan's feet, blood.

"Ranma!" She shouted, concern entering her expression. "You're bleeding!" She exclaimed as she ran over to her and pried her hands away from her side, exposing the bloody gash in her side. Ranma-chan winced as the rainwater hit the wound again.

"It's nothing, I'll be fine . . ." But Akane would hear nothing of it.

"No, this is a serious injury and it needs to be tended to." She ripped some fabric from her skirt and tied it across the gash. "There, that'll do until we can get you to Dr. Tofu." She said as she stood. Ranma- chan couldn't help but smile as he looked at the Tendo girl in a new light. Then Shampoo came forward, concern painted on her own pretty face.

"Are you going to be okay Ranma?" Hearing Shampoo talk brought Ranma's attention to her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine Shampoo." Shampoo paused a moment, figuring what she wanted to say in her mind.

"If that hit from spatula girl Ukyou caused that wound, how were you able to beat her?" Ranma looked off in the direction Ukyou had escaped by.

"She let me win."

Author's Notes: Well, that's my fourth addition to this series and I still have more to write. Thanks to everyone who reviewed my fic, you were all very helpful, I'm just sorry that this one couldn't be very long, though I expect the next to be much longer. Oh yeah, if anyone happens to know Ukyou's last name, I'd be happy to know, sadly I haven't been able to watch Ranma ½ in a while. So, see you next time in

Episode 5

The Coming of the Amazons!