Ranma 1/2, its characters are a creation of Rumiko Takahashi,
and if I didn't give her proper praise (not that I wouldn't anyway), I
would be fed to a pack of wolverines, so thank you. Street Fighter and
its characters or storyline is copyright Capcom, and no offense is
intended.

Hey everybody, it's time to do it again! Chapter three time! All
C&C, MSTings, and Chinese fortune cookies are welcome at
yellope@norfolk-county.com. I try to write back everybody who writes
me, because without you, I'd have no audience. I might soon be posting
a couple of fics from a friend of mine shortly, but otherwise, this is
my sole intent right now. Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

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Ranma 1/2-Street Fighter Cross over "Iron Fist, Iron Warrior"

Chapter Three "Out Of Nerima and On the Road"
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The last twenty-four hours had been frantic to say the least.
While Ranma was used to life on the road, having traveled the globe
with his father, this was going to be a new and different experience
for Akane, who had never been away from home for more then two or
three weeks. Ranma usually had nearly all his stuff packed and ready
to go on a moment's notice anyway, but Akane had to pack and get ready
to leave, so Ranma decided to say goodbye to a friend first.

Ukyou was nearly out of her mind, as she cooked up an
okonomiyaki to try to distract herself, and to keep herself from
crying. How DARE Ran-chan leave for a whole year, especially after she
had just found him again after so long! So absorbed was she in her
cooking and her thoughts, that she didn't hear the bell that usually
announced visitors to her shop. Nor did she hear the person sit down.
It took the person clearing his throat to get Ukyou's attention.

Without looking up, she said "I'm sorry, the sign on the door
says we're closed right now" Once again, the tears threatened to
overwhelm her, and she bowed her head down to her cooking. Then to her
shock, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the stranger actually get
up, and move around behind the counter. Immediately all the sniffles
and the tears stopped. Was this stranger going to rob her? Or, (and
her heart turned to ice) something worse?

Her muscles tensed, as she thought to herself, ok, let's see
how well you do with a hot okonomiyaki in your face pal! She waited
until the stranger was a couple of steps away, then turned and flung
the okonomiyaki at the person, yelling. As the flying food left her
spatula, she recognized her "stranger" and noted with horror what she
was doing.

Fortunately for both their sakes, Ranma had seen a hint of
the movement before it happened and managed to duck under the flying
food, letting it *splat* against the wall harmlessly. Ranma looked at
Ukyou, who had dropped her spatula in shock.

Ukyou recovered slowly. "Ran-chan!! Sorry about that. Did I
get any on you?" she asked, mind still somewhat frozen from the shock
Ranma had given her.

"Nah, I saw it coming." Ranma said, picking himself off the
ground. He grimaced inwardly. He knew Uc-chan was taking this pretty
hard, but he shouldn't have surprised her like that. "You okay,
Uc-chan?"

Ukyou had pretty much recovered at this point, but all the
arguments, the pleas that she had thought up mentally left her mind.
All that came to mind was "Do you REALLY have to go for a full year
Ran-Chan?"

Ranma sighed, saying goodbye to Ukyou was not one of the
things he was looking forward to. Some of the other things could be
put aside. For example, saying goodbye to Shampoo or Kodachi. He was
quite sure they had probably concocted a couple mad schemes to get him
to stay and were just waiting for him to show up. He tried to put on a
smiling face.

"It just was going to be that this was something I had to do,
cause Pop said so. But I've learned a lot lately, and this is
something I want to do. The fact I'll miss you hurts a lot though."

Ukyou nodded, still somewhat confused by all of this. Ranma
continued, voice a little weak. "You know that you're my best friend
in all the world Ukyou. I promise I'll write every week or so. I wish
you could come with me and Akane, but I know you have your roots here
with the restaurant."

Ukyou closed her eyes. For a while, she had considered selling
the restaurant, and joining Ranma and Akane on their trip. But in the
end, she knew that she couldn't leave. It was a whole another world
from the one she was used to. She wouldn't feel comfortable. Also,
there was the growing friendship between Ranma and Akane.

Ukyou started crying softly. "Ran-chan, do you care for
Akane?" She needed to know. She needed to know if she had a chance, or
if her and Ranma would just be "special friends". Either way, she'd
still care for Ranma, but she wouldn't allow herself to love someone
whose heart was already claimed by someone else.

The question, coming out of nowhere as it did, floored Ranma.
If it was from anyone else, Ranma would have tried to "macho" it out.
But with Ukyou, one of his dearest friends, he felt like he would have
to tell the truth. Now if he only knew what the truth was. "Ukyou,
things have changed a lot over the last three weeks. I truly don't
know how I feel about Akane. She's a good student, and when she went
through some rough times over the last couple weeks, she came through
with flying colors. I guess what I'm saying is, I don't want to see
her hurt. If that means I care for her, I guess I do."

Ukyou sighed. It wasn't a full-fledged answer by any means,
but she guessed it would do. Maybe Ran-chan would know better when he
got home. The tears continued, and Ranma just brought her close,
holding her in a hug, letting the tears fall from both their cheeks,
as Ukyou silently cursed the spirits that had made her fall in love
with a martial artist.

Meanwhile, at the Tendo dojo, another sort of tearful goodbye
was being said. Akane was packing several bags with clothing and
mementos of home. Nabiki and Kasumi were helping her get everything
together. Akane felt somewhat weird, it was an odd mixture of
excitement and worry about the journey she was about to go on.

Nabiki tried to keep Akane's spirits up. "Hey it's not like
it's forever sis." Akane nodded, slightly, packing a second gi into a
bag. Nabiki continued, "At least you won't have to deal with Tatewaki
proclaiming his love for you every other minute. Plus, many girls
would love to spend a year with their fiancee visiting exotic cities."

Kasumi and Nabiki shared a giggle over Akane's protest that he
was a pervert. Nabiki noted that the protests had almost seemed
half-hearted. "She's finally falling for him, it sure took her long
enough" she mused to herself. Nabiki wondered what the changes a year
away from fiancees, curses, bad poetry (from Kuno-baby) and constant
interference from their well-meaning fathers would do for the
relationship between Akane and Ranma.

"It won't be that bad" Kasumi said. "After all, Mister
Nakajima gave us a list of some of the places you would be, so we'll
be sending notes and little things to keep your spirits up."

Kasumi had approved of this trip. Sometimes she wanted to try
to fix everything, to tell her dad and Mr. Saotome to stop meddling in
their kids affairs. And sometimes Akane and Ranma needed a reminder
that they cared for each other. But she had a feeling that they
wouldn't listen to her, so she had decided to work a little more
quietly.

She was the one, who when she had found out about some of
Genma's fights in the past, had asked about some of the stories. This
had led to the two fathers talking about the Street Fighter circuit,
and when Genma started thinking about going on a trip with Ranma to
show him the circuit, had suggested that Akane join in. After all,
this would be a great way for the Saotome and Tendo schools of
Anything Goes Martial Arts to get some publicity, and since the two
were engaged, after all... Then she sat back and let nature take it's
course.

Akane shared a special smile with the two closest people in
her life, her wonderful sisters, then finished packing. "All done" she
chirped, and sat back. The immensity of what she was about to embark
on hit her, and she started shaking slightly. The three sisters then
shared a big hug. They had been there for each other so long, now for
a year, one of them would be separated from the other two.

Later that day, Akane and Ranma stood at the boarding gate for
their flight to Italy. The entire Tendo family and Genma and Ukyou had
turned up to see them off. Ukyou had given Ranma one of her small
spatulas to keep as something to remember while he was away. Just as
the attendants announced that Flight 402 from Tokyo to Rome is now
boarding, Nabiki came up to Akane. "Kasumi and I pooled our funds, and
we decided to get this for you." She handed over a light golden
necklace. But it was the heart shaped locket that drew Akane's
attention. She opened it with shaking hands. Inside was a picture of
the three sisters, Kasumi on the left, Nabiki on the right, flashing a
victory sign. In the middle was Akane, brandishing an impudent grin
for the camera.

Akane was overwhelmed, she started crying again, and hugged
each of her sisters. "It's beautiful. I'm gonna wear it all the time."
she declared, slipping the necklace over her head, letting the locket
lie against the bottom of her neck. Ranma watched, a small strange
smile on his face. Ukyou noticed, and inwardly cried. She knew where
his heart would be eventually. But still she gave Ranma a hug,
clasping him to her. As she broke the hug, she said "Don't you get
hurt on me Ran-Chan. If you get yourself killed in some exotic port
I'll never forgive you." Ranma grinned.

"Well, we ought to be boarding", Akane said with a tight smile
on her face. After a last round of hugs, Akane and Ranma walked down
the boarding ramp to the plane that would take them far away from the
life they had known.

As the two sat in their seats, Akane turned to Ranma. "It's
only been a couple of minutes, yet I miss them already." Ranma knew
exactly what she was talking about. He looked inwardly, found that
familiar hurt inside, and winced as it was opened anew.

"I understand, Akane. I feel the same way about my mom. I went
away for years at a time because Pop wanted to train me as a martial
artist, then when I got cursed, I couldn't meet my mom as myself, due
to the fact she might be unhappy about my pop not making a "real man"
out of me. I've often wondered if I should just tell my mom the truth
next time I see her, just because even if she follows through on her
threat to make us commit seppuku, just so I can talk to her as myself
again. The only way I've been able to deal with it is to cry when I'm
alone, cause I don't think anyone would understand, and then lock away
the pain when I'm done." Ranma said, eyes downcast.

Akane took Ranma's hand in hers. "Thank you Ranma." she said,
smiling softly. Ranma looked up, and she could see a couple of tears
glimmering in his eyes, tears she knew he didn't want to shed. "Maybe
after a year on the tour, we can talk to your mom and explain
everything. After all, we're a team right?". She still remembered
Ranma's comment when he had told Genma that "the team of Tendo and
Saotome would set the Street Fighter world on it's ear."

Akane's words seemed to knock Ranma out of his funk, and he
looked up. "Right" But still, he sat back in his seat, and putting his
head back, closing his eyes, he started thinking about things.

The plane ride was quiet, Akane had fallen asleep in her seat.
For some reason, Ranma could never sleep on planes, so he spent his
time watching the in-flight movie and tried to relax. From time to
time, he snuck looks at Akane, who was sleeping peacefully, airplane
blanket covering her body. She understood what he went through, and
she had helped him.

He tried to run through his feelings in his head, and just
like when he was talking to Ukyou earlier, it was all one big confused
jumble of emotions. She was cute when she was happy, and she put up
with his ego, well at least usually (rubbing a spot on his head that
she usually smacked with that mallet of hers when he said something
particularly bad).

As he settled back into thinking, he thought that maybe if his
pop and Mr. Tendo hadn't spent all their time planning the engagement,
and forcing the two of them together, perhaps maybe they wouldn't have
gotten off on the wrong foot. He tried to think of how it could have
been. To his surprise, he found himself smiling as he dropped off for
a quick nap.

As he groggily tried to wake up.. he felt Akane lightly
shaking him. "Wha- wh- huh?" was all he could stutter out, as he
finally came fully to his senses. He had been having a dream, about
Akane, but the details fled his waking mind like the last shadow
fleeing the morning sun.

"We're coming into Roma airport. Mr. Nakajima's supposed to
meet us after we clear customs." Akane handed him a thermos with
coffee in it. Ranma took a cautious sip of it. Ok, it wasn't from
Akane, he thought to himself. If it was, it'd probably knock him right
back out.

As the two finally cleared customs, they spotted a limo driver
holding dual signs up, one said "Saotome", the other said "Tendo", As
the two came up to him, he grabbed their bags. "Mr. Nakajima's
apologies sir and madam, there's been a slight change of plan. Our
original site for our fight, was unfortunately raided by the Italian
police last night. Our fight has been merged with a tournament that
was being held today." The person hastily explained, in somewhat
passable Japanese

Ranma had been told that while popular, Street Fighter matches
were illegal in many countries, so this came as no surprise. He handed
his bags over and spoke for the two of them. "Let's go."

The two were quickly herded into a waiting limousine, which
immediately set off. After the long flight, Ranma and Akane wanted
nothing more then to take a nap to adjust their internal clocks, but
apparently, that was not to be. The driver seemed to think that
driving in Rome traffic was a combat sport. Akane and Ranma had all
they could do not to be thrown around the plush seats.

Ranma pressed the intercom button. "Why all the speed? I mean,
we just got here," then he had to hold on for dear life as the car
nearly went on two wheels and the tires screeched in protest as the
driver took a turn at 60 miles per hour. As the car settled back, he
could see the driver press his own button.

"You mean they didn't let you know before you left? It's a
series of 5 fights, and our normal 5th fighter broke his leg two weeks
ago. So if we need you tonight, the fight will decide who wins the
series, and a rather large bet. So I have to get you there in time,
just in case you're needed. Hold on, we're almost there."

The limo screeched to a halt next to what looked like a
natural set amphitheater. Rows of stone benches surrounded a wooden
stage. On the benches, high class Italians (the men were wearing
tuxedos, the women wore evening gowns) cheered and placed wagers on
their favorite fighter. On the well-lit stage, two fighters were
brawling, the larger man had several bruises on his body, while the
smaller man seemed to have the advantage as they traded fisticuffs.

The driver took in the scene, and cursed softly. "Jensen's
fighting already? The fights must be going quickly tonight. Ranma, can
you fight in those clothes?" Ranma looked down at his shirt and pants.
It wasn't the level of comfort or the ease of movement he was used to,
but yeah, he could fight, and he told the driver so.

"Great. By the way, my name's Ian. Ian Thompson. Limo Driver,
translator, Den Mother, and generally on loan from God to watch over
these misfits, the spirits know they need the help," the driver said
with a smile. "Hurry, we got to get down to the stage quickly". The
three ran down the stairs of the amphitheater. When they reached the
bottom, Ian said something to a dark, rugged Italian, who took a
discerning look at Ranma, then nodded.

The fight on stage quickened. The smaller man leaped several
feet in the air and brought his leg down in a smashing ax kick on his
opponent's head. The larger man stumbled forward, straight into a
power-packed uppercut that sent him flying backwards and off the
stage. He groaned as he hit the well packed earth, and just lay there.


Most of the crowd groaned, apparently the smaller man had been
the underdog in the fight, meaning a lot of bettors had lost money.

The Italian Ian had spoken to got up on stage as the smaller
fighter raised his arms in victory, and started announcing. "Sorry to
do this to you Ranma, but you're up next. Good luck and good skill, a
lot of money's riding on you!" Ian said, trying to project confidence
into his manner

Ranma groaned. It wasn't enough that he had just taken a multi
hour flight westward and his body said it was mid morning even though
it was the middle of the night here, but he shows up and two minutes
later, he's supposed to be fighting? And money's riding on it?

At Ian's nod, Ranma climbed up on stage, and stretched out his
sore muscles as best he could. Akane turned to the suddenly nervous
Ian and asked "How much money is being bet on Ranma?"

Ian sheepishly grinned, "I didn't want to tell Ranma for fear
of jinxing him, but approximately 217 million lira, which is about 17
million yen, or approximately 125,000 American." Akane's mouth dropped
open at the amount.

There are times when someone has the right to borrow a phrase
from somebody they know. This was one of them. "Oh, My." Akane said,
wondering at the amount. Briefly, she wondered what would happen if
Ranma lost, would their new teammates be *unhappy*?

Ranma briefly tested the stage, he liked the hardness, and he
could get good grip on it. He quickly took off his shoes, as to get a
better grip. Then a cheer announced his opponent's arrival, so he
looked over across the round stage.

And looked Up.

And Looked further Up.

And even Further up.

His opponent wasn't big. He wasn't even huge.

He was GIGANTIC. He looked like some bizarre cross of an
Ironwood tree and a human being. And he was almost as thick as he was
tall. If he had gone to an American high school, he probably would
have been voted, "Most Likely to be mistaken for a brick wall".


Ranma panicked for a second. With all that he had gone through
today, they wanted him to fight THIS MONSTER? Then he calmed himself.
After all, he told himself that he would just to have to avoid getting
hit. The guy had to be slow.

The Italian started announcing, there was some polite
applause, but the whole crowd seemed to roar when his opponent was
announced. Apparently, he was known as "Force".

Immediately people started placing bets, and it was apparent,
at least to Ranma, that the crowd considered him a heavy underdog.

The Italian looked at both fighters, nodded, and jumped down
from the stage. Apparently that was the signal to start. Force
immediately started moving forward, hoping to trap his opponent. Ranma
circled to his right, looking for a spot to attack. He tried a front
kick to his leg. It was like kicking a tree. Ranma hobbled back, leg a
little sore, and tried a punch to the stomach. The punch had little if
any effect on Force, who nearly decapitated Ranma with a backhand
swing, Ranma just barely ducking under the blow.

Then Ranma had an idea. He taunted Force, making rude hand
gestures, playing up to the crowd, even thumbed his nose at Force.

The crowd was silent for a few seconds, then the burst into
cheers. They approved of the impertinence of the challenger, but there
was an undercurrent of "Just wait till this punk gets his head ripped
off"

On the outside, Ian was flabbergasted. "What is he doing? He's
going to make that guy mad enough to really hurt him badly!" Akane
smiled. She had seen this before.

"It's a Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial Arts
technique. Do you remember the first rule of martial arts, Ian?"
Comprehension dawned on Ian and then he smiled, a big enough smile to
match Akane's, "Yeah. A fighter's no good unless he controls his
temper."

Force charged as fast as he could at Ranma time and time
again. Ranma played the matador to the bull of Force, tempting,
teasing, goading Force into a mad charge, then at the last moment,
skipping away. Any sense of fatigue he had, disappeared as he let
himself go. He was on the razor's edge. One false move, one false
step, and he was in for a lot of pain.

Finally he had made his way to the edge of the theater. He then
shouted at Force. A crude smile slowly made its way to Force's face.
He had his opponent trapped. Soon his pain would begin. He charged at
Ranma, 10 feet, 5 feet, Akane closed her eyes. And Ranma Leaped.

Jumped straight up into the air, in a forward flip that evaded
the outstretched arms of Force, who went hurtling off the edge and
down the four feet to the ground. Ranma landed, took a momentary look
behind him without turning, and then leaped in a backwards somersault,
sticking the landing like a gymnast, both feet firmly planted in
Force's stomach. Then to make sure the big man would not rise to
destroy him, he found the massive trunk that served as his neck, and
carefully smashed two fingers into the base of the neck.

Akane held her breath. Would Force know what Ranma was doing?
If so, he could break the hold in time. Force struggled weakly for a
few seconds, then the light of comprehension dawned in his face. The
grip was on the area that contained the carteroid artery, the major
supplier of blood to the brain!

Ranma dodged the few weak swipes that Force threw his way, and
kept it on until the big man had stopped struggling, then left in on a
few seconds longer to make sure the immense Force was unconscious. He
then stood up.

The crowd was silent for several seconds in awe of what they
had seen. Then they exploded in cheers, chanting his name. Ranma's new
teammates came out and congratulated him, lifting him up to their
shoulders.

Akane smiled. Brains over Brawn, every time.

Another person in the crowd smiled, but his smile held no
happiness, but a deep down predatory grin. This one has talent, he
thought to himself. He is a beautiful fighter, like me. Carefully, he
left without notice being taken of him. After all, it would not do for
the great assassin, the Spanish Ninja known as Vega, to be caught in
such High Society. They might wonder who he was there to kill. He
will either have to be co-opted, or he would be destroyed, he thought
to himself. One not working for his employer was one working against
it.