Ranma One Half: Sadness and Hatred

by Justin Hollydale

Book 4 Final book up, I hope you like the ending. Ranma gets captured and needs to be saved. Plus a final battle with the rebuilt Justice.

2. SandH020406

Ranma 1/2 & Guilty Gear X/XX

Sorrow and Hatred

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I own none of these characters, I am just a humble

writer with an idea.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Book 2

Chapter 4

As he opened the door he saw Dizzy sitting in the corner on the bed, hugging her knees to her chest and her wings wrapped around her in a parabola, not totally engulfing her. She was looking towards the door with a worried expression when the two of them entered, an expression that changed quickly when she saw Ranma.

"So this is it," Ryouga said dryly.

Ranma groaned, "No,this is her, her name is Dizzy. There is no 'it' here."

The man snorted, "You are too soft to deal with this 'woman'. I could break her in half."

"You could try, she is surprisingly strong," Ranma said with a smirk, "and if you want to know why I protect her it's because I owe her my life. You know, that whole honor thing you don't have."

Ryouga sneered at Ranma, "Look you son of a bitch, you know what they did to Japan. You were there when they killed your family, why give her a chance? Just because she saved you once, she was probably trying to mislead you."

Ranma cocked his head to the side, "There is also one other fact I can not overlook, she is half human. It is true that Gears killed my family but there were no half-Gears there so I see no reason why I should attack her any ways."

The man had to admit that Ranma had a point, "Damn... Half-Gear?" he looked over at the girl who seemed unsure of how to react to his arrival, "Shit, well, I have heard of something like that," he turned back to Ranma, "I guess I am at fault then, I heard of a powerful Gear and was trying to stop a second Justice, but this will involve more investigation."

"We have to get moving, we fell from a ship and are trying to get in contact with it," Ranma said as he walked over to help Dizzy stand, "Do you know of a place where they have a radio like that anywhere near."

Ryouga rubbed his chin in thought, "There should be a restaurant near here, due west, don't know of a place with a radio but they might."

Ranma nodded, "Thanks Ryouga, I hope there are no hard feelings, it would suck to be your enemy again. Though I'm not sure we should trust your directions, what with your past history."

The man smiled crookedly, "Hey, you asked for the directions, remember that. As for the whole enemy thing, yeah it would, wouldn't it. I'm going to let this go, but I'll be watching to make sure she does not start rampaging. Take care Saotome."

Ranma nodded, "You too, Ryouga."

As the man left, Ranma turned to look at Dizzy, "So you two aren't enemies."

The man shrugged at her question, "It's a strange relationship, we are not enemies but we are not friends. We stand each other."

She did not understand, he barely understood himself, but it was not all that important any ways. As long as he did not try to harm her it was fine. Helping her stand, Ranma and Dizzy walked towards the door and in the easterly direction. There was not a lot of talking between them as they traveled, indeed the need for words was seldom, but eventually the travel got too tedious to not converse.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but I was wondering what your old life was like," Dizzy said to Ranma, when the silence became too overwhelming.

Ranma looked forward and studied the coming terrain as he continued walking. He did not answer immediately but held up a hand to let her know that a second was needed. They had been walking through some thick forest and the availability of an ambush kept him on alert constantly. Holding a finger to his lips, he motioned for her to keep quiet, she nodded in affirmation, and he crept slowly forward. Brush cracked at his feet as he broke twigs, he was a perfect target in this place but there was not much he could do to prevent that.

"I'm sorry," Ranma responded, "I'll have to answer that later."

He stopped suddenly and his hand flashed out to catch an object out of the air. It had been headed for his head, and he had caught it just inches away from its target. Throwing the thing away he narrowed his eyes and scanned the trees for an indication of a threat. His hand flashed again and he caught another sharp object aimed at his heart. This one had not even come close, but the strategy was easy to figure out at this point, whoever was trying to ambush him was counting on him wearing out. Reaching out with his senses, Ranma looked for the person using a kind of developed sixth sense. Then he heard the air whistle as another attack came, his mind traced the sound of the parted air back to the original trajectory and to his target.

After smacking the knife out of the air, Ranma jumped into the bushes. There was some scuffling for a bit, making Dizzy a little worried for his well-being, but he emerged a couple minutes later with a small scratch on his arm and carrying a woman in his arms. He looked slightly unnerved as he came out, but gently set her down and disappeared without a sound into the foliage again. When he returned he carried a sheathed Japanese sword over his shoulder.

He set the sword down next to the woman and sighed, "Shit, what the hell is going on. You have a lot of enemies Dizzy?"

The girl looked embarrassed, "Kind of, humans don't like me all that much because they are afraid of my power."

Ranma closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, "This is getting irritating, we are never going to find the ship at this rate."

Dizzy looked down at the woman, "Hey, I know her, we fought once before and she said she was trying to find 'That Man'."

"Whoever the hell that is," Ranma grumbled before sitting cross legged on the ground, "why do chicks have to be so complicated."

Dizzy kneeled down across from him, "I'm sorry, Ranma."

He let out a short laugh, "Seriously, stop saying that, I'm starting to think that's the only word you know."

They were both distracted as the woman started to shift and come back to the conscious world. She sat up and held her head in her hand as she shook it back and forth slowly. Looking up, Ranma noticed something he had not before, besides the strange tattoo and the pink hair, the definite Japanese build to her, and the kimono, she had one scar over an eye. She quickly jumped up when she realized he was standing near her, reaching instinctively for the sword that was not there.

"What?" her tone was that of anger as she glared at him with her one eye, "Where's my sword?"

The dark haired man merely pointed down at the ground where the woman's sword lay, "I really don't want trouble, I just want to know what the idea of attacking us was."

As she picked up the sword and replaced it where it had been before, she spoke, "I was told that you knew something about 'That Man'."

Ranma narrowed his eyes as if inspecting her closely, "I think you're bullshitting me, those were aimed to kill."

"Yes," the woman regarded him coolly, "I did not need the information from you, I wanted to send a message."

The man rolled his eyes and raised his hands in the air in a "why me" gesture, "Either way, I have never heard of 'That Man' and I sure as hell am not going to let anyone kill me. Even if I do want to die, it does not work that way."

"Ranma, I feel another Gear close," Dizzy suddenly chimed in, "we had better get moving."

The man looked back at her then back to the woman, "Look, can we discuss this later. I have to avoid a fight with a super powerful Gear right now. Do you think you can keep up with me, Dizzy?"

"I don't know," the blue haired girl said, "maybe if you do not run your fastest. But I do not even really have to run."

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked, "are you planning on flying?"

The pink haired woman suddenly spoke up, "She can float, dumb ass."

"Listen whoever the hell you are, I don't have time to pick a fight here," Ranma yelled suddenly, "I don't care how we do it, we need to get out of here right now."

With that the man and the blue haired Gear took off at a run towards any direction that would take them away from the approaching Gear, "Hey, stop running away coward!"

And of course the woman took off after him, being a magnet for trouble. Ranma's usual fast pace was slowed only because he wanted to make sure Dizzy could keep up with him. Surprisingly she was keeping up with him just fine. The forest was thick with brush and it slightly hindered his line of sight. With this being the case he could not see the drop as he stepped on a sudden slope and was sent sliding down. Of course Dizzy had little trouble as she did not even need to touch the ground, the pink haired woman on the other hand slid down the hill with little hesitation. The drop at the end was sudden and there like a waiting predator was a small lake.

Ranma had already gone under, the woman following him, the splash was enough to reach Dizzy as she came near. With her curse being activated there was a look of surprise as she lost the ability to hover. The surface was calm for a while, then it became broken by a red haired Japanese girl carrying a coughing blue haired girl in her arms. The red haired girl slowly waded towards the edge of the lake as she kept the blue haired girl on top of her to keep her from sinking. The two of them neared the edge and the girl with red hair placed her companion on the solid ground.

Through her coughing, Dizzy looked at the woman desperately, "Make sure the other woman's okay."

The girl looked at Dizzy as if she were crazy, "That chick can take care of herself."

"But she only has one arm," Dizzy pleaded desperately.

The girl smashed a fist through the water, "Damn! Wait here, I'll be just a second."

The girl disappeared just below the surface, leaving the blue haired girl to wonder just who she was, and where Ranma was. Looking at the surface of the water, Dizzy started thinking about the circumstances. Not only did the girl act as if Dizzy should know her, but she spoke roughly. Thinking back to a day ago, she remembered Ranma's reaction when she fell into that spring. The way he knew the path through the spring in the thick fog, and the fact that he knew instantly how to change her back. Though naive she was not stupid, there was few other explanations for what was going on. Ranma had a curse to change into a girl, the same way she did.

The surface of the water suddenly came to life near her and a few seconds latter a spluttering girl Ranma burst out of the surface. She had the pink haired woman in her arms, she was still conscious, still she looked a little water logged. Ranma put the woman up on dry land before crawling out herself and laying on the shore.

"Damn that sucked," the red haired girl said.

Dizzy looked at her with concern, "Are you okay Ranma?"

"Yeah I... So you know," Ranma looked down, "this is how I knew what happened to you. Like I said, trouble is drawn to me in many forms."

The blue haired girl smiled, "Well this is certainly interesting, I have not been around that much, but I think this is funny."

There was a moment of hesitation, "You know, I think you show your feelings more when your curse takes effect. Either way, I'm glad that you aren't disgusted by it."

"Why would I be?" Dizzy asked curiously.

Ranma sighed, "Someone like you would not understand, you have not been raised in a society where being a different gender than what you were born is not accepted."

"No, but I think I understand it," the blue haired girl said, "Generally it is not acceptable for one gender to act the opposite of what they are."

"That about does it," Ranma said as she stood, "How are you doing over there?"

The pink haired woman she was referring to looked at her as if she was crazy, "You saved me after all that, why?"

Ranma looked up over the lake they had just crawled out of, "Dizzy asked me to, there is not room for pointless deaths in a world where survival is hard enough as it is."

"Thank you," The woman stood and bowed, "I hesitate in giving you my name because it's not easy to trust people today, I'm Baiken."

"Another Japanese that escaped the Colonies no doubt," Ranma said with a serious edge to his voice, "don't worry about me giving you away, I escaped myself and would prefer that they not know of me either."

Baiken nodded, "Um, you do realize you have no shirt on, don't you."

Ranma looked down and covered her chest, "Son of a... What the hell am I suppose to do now?"

Baiken dug in the torn sleeve of her kimono and pulled out a small dark green tank top, "It's not much but it's all I have. Don't ask where I got it just go with it okay."

Ranma took the shirt and raised an eyebrow at her, "You wouldn't happen to know someone named Mouse would you?"

"No, why?" Baiken looked at him strangely.

Waving her off, Ranma put the shirt on, "No reason."

Dizzy stood to meet the two people already standing, "We should probably get going again."

"Yes, we should try and find that restaurant," Ranma agreed, "It looks like this is where we part ways."

Baiken nodded, "Yes, I will see you Ranma Saotome."

"How-"

"Let's just say a little bird told me," Baiken said as she casually walked away.

Shrugging, Ranma turned and started back through the forest in a roughly easterly direction. They had been running in the total opposite direction they had originally wanted to go. The noon sun was now burning through the canopy of the forest and the humidity was making them both sticky and uncomfortable. Ranma had a tank top so her upper body was not too hot, but her pants were sticking from the sweat and Dizzy was obviously struggling with the temperature. There was little variation where she had been and this seemed worse to her than it really was. It was still bad though. With the thickness of the forest alone there was no room for the wind to penetrate and cool them down. They could only hope that there was a brake in the forest soon so they could take a rest.

It seemed like forever but eventually the two of them reached the edge of the forest. There in front of them was a small town busy with people going about their business. The village was small in size, almost like how Ranma remembered the village of the Amazons. The roads were made of dirt and smoke curled up from the chimneys of some buildings. As the two women made their way through the village, they spotted a small restaurant with a dragon head sticking vertically out of the top. The dragon head was the chimney of the restaurant and made to look like smoke was coming out the mouth. There was only one thing wrong with the restaurant, and that was the fact that it was presently burning.

The fire had progressed too far for anything to be done, the restaurant was already lost. Ranma noticed a strange figure walking away from the fire, dressed in white and blue with blond hair. The weird thing was that the skin had a kind of metallic pallor to it. It occurred to Ranma that this figure may in all fact not be human. Then Ranma saw a Chinese girl running after the figure, yelling about the fire that was presently burning down her restaurant. She was the owner, so she would know best who to talk to about their problem.

"Wait here Dizzy," Ranma said quickly, "I'll be right back."

Without waiting for a response, the girl took off after the other two figures as they ran. The chase ended quickly when the Chinese woman lost the robot man in a particularly thick crowed. Growling the woman turned only to find a red haired girl staring at her. The woman pointed at the red haired woman and said something rapidly in Chinese.

"Say what?" Ranma said, "Look lady, I don't know much Chinese so could you slow it down a little."

The Chinese woman glared at her, "I said get out of my way, I have to find the person who burned my restaurant."

Ranma pointed behind her, "That guy is long gone, I was just wanting to ask you a question. Do you know if there is a radio near here, I need to contact the Captain of the Jellyfish Pirates."

"Jellyfish Pirates! Die!" The woman charged Ranma.

"Crap!" Though Ranma was sure that she could take the woman, she was not in the mood to fight right now.

The two took of running, the Chinese girl following just behind Ranma in the direction they had just came from. As they passed by the burning restaurant once again, Dizzy followed the pair. The two of them were running back and forth in front of the flame.

"Get back here so I can kill you!"

"Why me, why is it always me? Crazy Chinese woman, get away from me!"

As the blue haired girl watched the two run back and forth she spotted a familiar man in black with long hair. He was helping to try and put out the fire that was threatening to spread to other structures around it. Next to him as always was May, the pirate girl in orange who had a crush on him. Quickly she ran over to the two as they started to help throw water on the building.

"Johnny, May," The two turned from what they were doing in surprise, "We've been looking for you."

"Dizzy, I'm glad you're okay," Johnny said quickly as he threw another bucket of water on the fire, "can you help with the fire."

The blue haired girl nodded, "Yes."

As this was going on, Ranma's problem had gotten worse, not only was the Chinese woman still chasing him but he had lost track of Dizzy. Fearing the worst he stopped quickly which caused him to skid and kick up dust from the ground. Turning quickly, he ran back towards the woman who was surprised by his change in direction, to say the least. As the red haired woman got close she jumped up and flipped over the Chinese woman. As she passed overhead, she extended a finger and jabbed a pressure point on the back of the Chinese woman's neck. As the woman collapsed, Ranma turned and looked for Dizzy. Then she saw the blue haired girl running towards the burning building with two buckets of water in hand.

Running over to the girl, Ranma questioned her about it, "What's going on."

Dizzy stopped and nodded in the direction she was headed, "The fire is spreading."

He had totally forgot the fire, "Come on, I have an idea."

Taking one of the buckets, Ranma joined Dizzy as they ran to the fire. Heaving the bucket in the fire, the red haired girl started to circle around the fire. It was not a spiral but Ranma knew the basic principle of the attack and was pretty sure that it would work.

"Get everyone back," Ranma yelled over the roaring blaze, "Hi Ryu Shouten HA!"

The swirling wind launched upward, fueled by the soul of ice, and focused the fire in a tight spiral. The vacuum after the attack caused by the lack of air caused the fire to collapse in on itself afterwards and seconds later it was out. Ranma wiped the sweat from her head and sighed as she looked at what was left of the restaurant. The fire was out but what had not been turned black by the dancing flames was now shattered by the circle of wind she had created. Shaking her head at the destruction, Ranma apologized silently for her actions, she knew it was the only way to stop the fire but the outcome had almost been worse than the fire itself.

"You put out the fire," Dizzy said happily.

Ranma looked over at her for a second, "That was a bit more than I intended, I think I know now why the spiral needs to be so tight. It was a good thing that it did not damage any other buildings."

"Who are you young lady?" Ranma turned to see Johnny walking over to her, "I would like to congratulate you by name."

Ranma looked up at the man, "If you get me some hot water I can explain everything."

Johnny raised one blonde eyebrow over his dark square sunglasses, "If that will help I have some back on my ship, it's not that far from here."

The red haired girl nodded and started off in the direction of the ship that the pirate Captain was walking towards. It was all well and good that he was trying to help her but if he hit on her once during the trip she would knock him out, and not in the easy pressure point kind of way. Lucky for everyone involved neither of these actions happened. The three walked into the ship and at the request of Ranma went into a private room. Once in the room with a heated pot of water the red haired girl took the kettle and poured it over her head. As the water ran down her head she was replaced with a tall young man with a flat chest. The reactions around the room were mostly astonishment, except for Dizzy, for obvious reasons stated earlier.

"Hey, where did you come from," May yelled, "where did that girl go?"

Ranma mumbled something under his breath, "Look, if you calm down I'll tell you what's going on," there was a pause as everyone in the room nodded, "it all goes back to my early training. When I was young my... I guess I can call him my father though I have little respect for him, he took me to the Cursed Springs of Jusenkyo in China. Knowing almost no Chinese he thought it was a training ground and so we started training. I was the first one to draw a good hit and knock him into the pools. When a giant panda came out I was in so much shock that I couldn't move. The panda turned out to be my father and he hit me into another pool. It was the Spring of the Drowned Girl, and so whenever I get hit by cold water I turn into a girl."

There was a long pause where nobody moved, not knowing how they should react to this news. Ranma had come to expect this reaction from people when they heard the news. The simple fact that most people these days did not believe in curses and superstition was enough to put everybody on edge when they heard of his curse.

Finally recovering from the shock, Johnny looked at Ranma carefully, "So you are a girl and a guy, but not at the same time? Your father is responsible for this?"

The man nodded, "Yes, though it would do no good to blame him now, he isn't here to say anything in his defense."

May was angry at this man's father for such stupid acts, "Tell me where he is so I can pound him into the ground?"

"He's gone," Ranma said.

"So he abandoned you?" May asked.

Ranma said nothing at first, trying to restrain the pain that was threatening to sound through his voice, "I don't want to talk about it. Please stop asking me questions about him, I just... He's gone because of me."

The man turned and walked out the metal hatch that sealed the room, slamming it behind him he proceeded to walk. His direction was a mystery, he just needed to walk to clear his head. He needed to stop the feelings that threatened to overtake him. Those days were behind him but he had not found the courage to face them. He had spent his life fighting and so he did not deal with his problems. Or rather, that was how he dealt with his problems, by fighting.

Here in the air with these pirates he was safe from people trying to fight him. With no distractions around he now found time to think about his actions and was thoroughly disappointed in himself. He had just watched as his father died, he was too slow to protect the others. Now he was forced to look at these actions in light of what had happened to him. Stopping, Ranma felt his eyes starting to burn with held back tears of pain. Having bottled everything up during the initial happenings he felt it hit him at once. The emotional overload hurt him just like he had taken a physical blow to the stomach.

"It hurts," he said as he sunk slowly to his knees, his aura started to glow around him, "I never knew how bad it could hurt. It's all my fault, I could have done more, I know I could have done more."

"Ranma!" he heard a yell from behind him, "what's wrong?"

His vision was fading in and out, "I don't know! It hurts!"

Another person came running up, "Get him to the doctor!"

=======================================================================

End of Chapter 4

=======================================================================

Hatred and Sorrow

Chapter 5

A person came running up, "Get him to the doctor!"

It was the last thing he heard before the pain became too much and he lost total consciousness. When he woke up later he was laying on a table with his shirt off and a bright light shinning into his face. Groaning and putting a hand over his face he tried to sit up but he was too sore. He could hear people talking in the room, somewhere in the distance. Settling for laying down he started to listen to what the people were saying.

"I don't know what to make of this," one person said, "there is nothing wrong with him. It's almost as if his body is trying to rip itself apart."

The second voice spoke up, it was male, had to be Johnny, "How could this happen? We don't even know what brought this on."

Ranma tuned the talk out then and thought about what had happened before. The last thing he had remembered was them talking about his father before he ran out of the room to escape the sadness. He had not noticed it at the time but he was positive his aura had started glowing. His life energy had been surging with the emotion of depression and anger. That was what Ryouga based his attacks off of some time ago. After long use it could cause damage to the mind and eventually the body. Were his emotions trying to rip his body apart then?

"Looks like he's awake, let's see how he's doing," one of the voices said, "How to you feel Ranma?"

The dark haired man groaned, "Like someone hit me with a truck, in which case I would have to ask how the driver of the truck is," laughing lightly Ranma could not see the strange look the two gave him at his joke.

"I see," the said again, "so you feel well enough to make jokes at least. Do you know what caused this?"

Ranma took his hand away from his face and tried to open his eyes, but again the bright light thwarted his actions, "First could you turn that light off, it's giving me a headache."

"Sure."

Finally able to open his eyes, Ranma surveyed the situation, he was in a room of white. It was clean and bare of anything but beds for patients to lay on. On his left side stood an older woman in a doctors uniform and on his right stood the Captain of the Jellyfish Pirates.

"I have my theory," Ranma said after his evaluation of the room, "though it may sound far fetched. I think my negative energy was overwhelming my body."

"As in 'ki'?" the doctor asked, "I thought that was just here say."

Ranma smiled, "Yes, well most people do. There are very few people who can use this energy, and it can be hard to control. Unfortunately I have become so adept at using it that if I let it get out of control I could level a small city. And destroy myself."

"So you are that powerful?" Johnny asked.

Ranma shrugged, "Yes and no. I am powerful in the aspect of how much energy I can produce. I'm not some godlike man though."

"I see," the doctor said, "so you are powerful but you don't use your full power."

Ranma nodded as best he could, "You got it, humans don't have that much control."

"Hmm, well you can go, I have all I need," the doctor said, "there is little point in keeping you here if there is nothing wrong with you. Just try to keep your emotions in check, talk to people about your feelings to try and prevent future blow ups."

Ranma slowly sat up, "Yes, I will do that, thank you."

If truth be known, he was not feeling that good, the simple knowledge that he had almost ripped himself apart was not comforting. Had he built up anymore emotion he could have destroyed everyone on this ship, including himself. He imagined it would be like a nuclear meltdown if he blew like that. His steps were slow and aching as he made his way slowly to his room. Opening his door he saw some food on the stand next to his bed with a drink. Ranma did not feel like doing anything but laying down and resting. Sitting on his bed he took a quick drink and after setting it back down he leaned back on the bed at a perpendicular angle so his feet hung off the side. There was slight pain as his vertebrae realigned themselves with a succession of pops, proof of hardships his body had seen in one day.

There was a light knock on the door, causing Ranma to bend his head up so his chin was against his chest, "Come on in."

The door opened and Ranma let his head drop back to the soft bed, "I thought you might need some company. Everyone on the ship is worried about your breakdown."

Just by the voice he knew it was Dizzy, how long had he spent with her to know her so well? A Gear of all things... people, she was not a thing. He had progressed far enough that he could at least admit that she was not going to kill him. Under different circumstances they probably would have been friends from when they first met. Even if her appearance was strange, he had seen things that most people now would think of as myth. All things considered, Dizzy was probably one of the most normal people he had ever met.

"I'm fine, I just need rest," Ranma muttered, "I feel like I tore every muscle in my body."

The girl sat down on his bed on his left side, causing him to look slightly to the side at her, "The doctor says that you bottled up emotions caused this to happen. I came in my other form so you would not react so harshly."

"That was not necessary," Ranma said shortly, "the doctor told me I was antisocial basically."

There was a pause as the two just looked at each other, then a bright red color came to Dizzy's face and she quickly turned away, "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your rest."

As she started to walk out the door, she heard his voice behind her, "What were you thinking about just then?"

"Nothing, it was nothing," Dizzy said as she turned, quickly dismissing it.

Slowly sitting up, Ranma favored her with a crooked smile, "You know, I may be wrong but I think you're hiding something."

"Um, well, I just was wondering about you working out," her blush was almost increasing with every word.

Ranma looked like he just won a fight with a powerful enemy, he started laughing, "I'm sorry but you are just too fun."

The girl looked unsure of herself for a second then frowned, "You're mean."

"Oh come on," Ranma said trying to control his laughter, "I'm just having a little fun. Don't take it so personally."

"I still think you're mean," the girl said.

Ranma scratched the back of his neck, "I'm sorry, really, I didn't know you'd react like this."

"It's okay, your use to dealing with people who have been in society a while," Dizzy said.

"Not as much as you might think," Ranma said, "I have not been around people that much, the people I did meet usually wanted to kill me or marry me. Sometimes both."

There was a long pause between the two, the conversation having nowhere to go. All that could be heard was the droning of the airships engines as it propelled the vessel through the air. There was slight rocking as the ship hit turbulence but other than it was a smooth flight.

"Ranma, could you show me the world?" Dizzy asked as she finally broke the silence.

Surprised the man did not know quiet how to react to the question, "Um, sure, I guess. I hope you realize that you'll have to stay in your normal girl form most of the time. If you lose control of your power and people find out you're a Gear then there could be serious danger."

"I understand," Dizzy said, "I just would like to see what the world looks like without anyone worrying about me. Everyone is so protective that they don't allow me to go out anywhere."

Ranma nodded in understanding, "Honestly I can see why considering all of the people we met that tried to kill you in short time I've known you."

"If I stay in my full human form you think I will be okay?" Dizzy asked.

Shrugging Ranma headed for the door, "No idea but it's worth a try, let me talk to the captain about this. If anyone will have any ideas about hiding it would be him. Wait here for a second."

Walking out the door and down the long metal corridors of the ship, Ranma was thinking of what to do. He had not planned on being on this ship long but he had also not planned on taking this girl with him. The idea did not appeal to him as he knew well what it was like to travel with him. Usually it involved a lot of danger and eventual argument about what he did wrong. Ranma did not think that Dizzy was like that but he had not spent much time with her. He found the Captain lounging in the bridge and keeping a casual lookout of the actions of his crew.

"Yo, Johnny, I need to talk to you," Ranma called as he entered the bridge suddenly.

Looking surprised the blonde man quickly looked over at Ranma as he came in the door of the bridge. Smiling once he got over the shock, the man stood up and greeted Ranma with a nod. The two closed the gap as they quickly walked in each others direction.

"How can I help you, Ranma?" Johnny asked as he put his hands on his hip.

"Well I came because of Dizzy," Ranma said, trying to quickly get through with this, "she wants to go out into the world. I think she feels like she's been too smothered."

Johnny raised an eyebrow over his glasses, "Smothered? I had no idea she felt like this. I have only been trying to protect her, though I do admit she has not been able to get off the ship much. How long is this trip going to be?"

Shrugging Ranma answered, "I couldn't tell you, as long as she wants I guess."

The blond haired man seemed to think about it for a while before he spoke again, "We are going to stop for supplies in a couple of days, you two could get off then. My only reservation about this is that there is one of Dizzy's companions that may not like her being in the world like that."

"Who's that?" Ranma asked.

"Actually he's right behind you," Johnny replied nervously.

Turning, Ranma saw a tall pale man with long black hair down to the middle of his back, and wearing what looked like a skirt. On his shoulder sat a nasty looking crow and in his hand he carried a scythe with a blade made of red energy. Everything considered the only thing Ranma could see to worry about was his weapon and those had such a constricting effect against his style of fighting that it did not matter much.

Ranma just about matched the coolness of the man's emotions, "So are you going to try to stop me?"

The man reached up to pet the bird on his shoulder lightly, "That depends on what you are talking about. If it involves hurting Dizzy then yes."

"I see, well it doesn't," Ranma said, "she just wants to see more of the world."

The man fixed him with a hard look suddenly moved both of his hands to grasp the scythe, "No."

"Take it up with her," Ranma said waving the man off, "it was her idea to go. Besides, due to unforeseen actions it shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"Your going to have to let her go sometime, Testament," Johnny said from the side, "she's growing up. You think you can keep her locked up forever?"

The man made now sound but Ranma could see his anger as he lashed out with his weapon. Ranma needed no other action to dodge the weapon and mold smoothly into a fighting stance. Testament threw his large weapon out in an attempt to cut Ranma down, but the man just leaned back and let the blade pass harmlessly over him. As the blade was pulled back by Testament, Ranma leaned back up and jumped into the air about twenty feet. The movement was so quick that a slight trail was left behind him as he moved. Pausing in the air, almost floating, Ranma decided on his next move. With a yell he fell back to the ground with a foot extended toward the man.

Testament swung at a long upward angle to try and counter the kick, but Ranma had planned on this. At the last second he changed position and landed lightly on the extended handle of the large weapon before planting his hands on the man's shoulders and launching himself back into the air, launching a roundhouse kick at Testament's back as he became weightless once more. The blow forced the dark Gear to fly forward and land on his face, sliding across the metal floor of the ship.

"Weapons only hinder your true ability," Ranma said as he stood strait and watched the man get up, "if you want to continue this fight then I don't have anything against it. Just remember that this was never my idea."

"Ranma!"

The man turned toward the yell that came from the door to see Dizzy entering the room, "What are you doing here?"

"I felt another Gear enter," the woman said, "what happened?"

Ranma pointed a thumb over at Testament, "This guy comes barging in and starts attacking me. He said something about protecting you by keeping you here, when we tried to explain what was going on he started attacking me."

"You have it wrong," Testament said, "I will allow her to travel if she wishes. I just wanted to make sure you knew how to protect her and yourself. But I warn you, if any harm should come to her I will not hesitate to find you and punish you."

Ranma looked over at the man with something bordering on amusement, "Buddy, I don't know who you think you are but it's pretty hard to kill me. Besides, if anything happens to her then you have my permission to punish me."

Testament looked at the man darkly, "I hope for your sake that you can live up to that."

With that the dark man dissolved his scythe and disappeared the same way he had appeared. Once he was gone, the business on the ship again went back to the normal operation. Dizzy and Ranma walked off the bridge of the ship and allowed Johnny to go back to concentrating on navigating the vessel. As the two walked down the corridor there was a silence throughout the ship. With the time of day everyone was now helping to run the giant airship. The corridors where almost bare except of the occasional crew member passing on their way from the bride to their station.

"So he's your protector?" Ranma asked as they walked, "he seems like an overprotective parent in drag."

Dizzy looked over at him in surprise, "Testament really isn't that bad, he is just a little untrusting."

"Untrusting of what? It was the Gears who attacked us first, not the other way around," Ranma was irritated at the fact that humans were made out to be the bad guys by this Gear.

"You have to understand his past," Dizzy said, "he dislikes humans because they tried to kill him when he wanted to be left alone. Then they tried to kill me even though I had nothing to do with the war."

Ranma nodded, "There's more, you don't want to tell it to me though."

The blue haired Gear nodded, "Yes, it's too personal though."

The intercom suddenly squawked as it became active and a voice rang though the ship, male so it had to be Johnny, "ALL CREW MEMBERS OF THE AIRSHIP MAY PREPARE FOR LANDING IN SPAIN. LEAVE IS RESTRICTED TO TEN MILES FROM THE SHIP, EXCEPT FOR THOSE WITH SPECIAL PERMISSION FROM THE CAPTAIN TO GO FARTHER."

Ranma looked from the intercom to Dizzy, "Looks like that would be our cue."

The girl nodded and the two of them took the nearest seat in preparation for the landing. The ship started to shake as it hit the lower atmosphere, disappearing behind the clouds and then reappearing underneath them over a large body of sparkling water. The sun was just starting to sink towards the horizon, it was probably about six in the afternoon. Soon a large area of land came into view and the ocean disappeared behind them. The plan was to set down on the edge of Spain in a barren area so they would not easily be seen. The ship slowed and then came to a hovering stop over the landing area before slowly descending. There was a clunk as the landing struts absorbed the weight of the ship like a shock. The cargo door to the ship dropped outward in a giant metal slab and once it came to a rest on the ground the crew ran from the ship happily. Only five people came walking, instead of running, out of the ship: May, April, Dizzy, Ranma, and Johnny. The Captain was leading the group as they exited the ship, followed by Dizzy standing next to Ranma and May standing next to the blond pirate girl April.

"So I guess this is goodbye," The Captain said, "it was good to meet you Ranma, and the whole crew will miss you Dizzy."

"You better not let anything happen to Dizzy or you'll have to deal with me," May said.

Chuckling Ranma waved his hands in a warding gesture, "I'll be sure to watch out for her then. Wouldn't want to give you any reason to pound be with that anchor of yours."

"Come on, May," April said, anxious to see the town, "let's go."

"April, wait for me!" the pirate girl in orange ran after her friend.

Smiling, Johnny watched them go before turning back to the two people left, "You two have a good time and be careful. I hope you decide to come back to us Dizzy, but I'll understand if you don't. Just be sure to try and keep in touch," the man handed her a map of their landing points, "I hope to hear of your journeys."

Ranma nodded then bowed, "Thank you for being courteous, and sorry I couldn't be of much help because of being hurt so much."

The man grinned, bearing his teeth, "Don't worry, besides, if you come back I'll have plenty of work for you," the man laughed as Ranma looked nervous, "just kidding, now get going you two."

Ranma and Dizzy waved goodbye as they walked off, Johnny watched until they were gone and sighed. As the two disappeared he wished them a silent farewell and hoped the best for the blue haired Gear. Looking back at his ship he grinned and followed his crew out into the country.

=======================================================================

End of Chapter 5. I'm trying to do this in three chapter chunks so I apologize for the wait between "Books".

=======================================================================

Sorrow and Hatred

Chapter 6

"So where do you want to go fist," Ranma asked as they walked through the streets of Spain.

There was a massive crowd on the street so Dizzy was in her "cursed" form. Any unscheduled changes into her Gear self would be hidden by the fact that she could not summon any of her power. This also left her wide open if there was an off chance that she was found out, but they would deal with that when it came.

The girl looked at Ranma, "I don't know, this is so different from what I'm used to."

"You two, stop there," The two turned to see an officer in blue and white with blond hair walking towards them. He was thin and walked with an air of authority. His blue eyes were cold, not uninviting, but more along the lines of expecting an attack. At his side was strapped a white sword with a blue handle.

"Are you two with the Jellyfish Pirates?"

"Yes," Dizzy answered

Ranma began to look nervous, "We were, that is, we are trying to get away from that. We really don't want trouble officer."

The man was staring at Dizzy, "You look familiar."

"It must be a mistake," Ranma said quickly as he scratched the back of his neck, "can we be on our way?"

Looking over at Ranma the man nodded, "Yes, I was actually just looking for information on where the Pirates might be. I got a report that a certain member of their crew might be in danger."

"And who would that be?" Ranma was starting to grow concerned about this line of questioning.

The officer looked at Ranma with slightly suspicious look, "One of their newer members, a girl with blue hair, Gear traits."

Both of them knew who they were talking about, this clearly described Dizzy when she was in her normal form, "Well do you know who might be after her?

Ky slowly brought his hand down to his sword, "You're awfully curious for a casual passer bye. Who are you?"

Ranma cursed, "Look, can we do this in a more private place, if she is really in danger I would rather not make a scene in public."

The policeman removed his hand from his sword and nodded, "I agree, let us not make a scene."

The three of them walked off the street and into a dark alleyway so they could talk without anyone knowing what they were talking about. Ranma quickly checked for any kind of spying devices in before walking back to join Ky and Dizzy. Nodding he indicated that it was okay to discuss the matter more openly.

"Look officer," he began, "if you would like to know this is the girl you are looking for, next to me. It was her decision to come with me."

Ky looked over at Dizzy, "Is this true Miss?"

The blue haired girl nodded once, "Yes, how did you know that someone was after me?"

"Being in the police business gives one a certain... advantage when it comes to these things," Ky said, "any ways, I know you probably will not come with me but please be careful. The Assassin's' Guild is tenacious."

"Thank you for the warning officer," Ranma said, "we'll be extra careful."

With those words Ranma walked off back into the crowded streets to try and get lost among the crowed. It was best to remain scarce if someone was after Dizzy. In fact Ranma realized that they should probably get the girl a change of clothes as soon as possible. It was easy to recognize a girl in a pirate outfit within a town like this.

Back in the alley, Ky crossed his arms over his chest and looked outward toward the retreating couple, "God have mercy on those two. "Praying for a Gear boy," a voice said behind him, "and here I thought you hated them."

"Sol, please," Ky said without turning to the voice speaking from the darkness, "not now. I have a job to do."

In the darkness, Sol Badguy spit out his cigarette and walked deeper into the alley with his sword in its usual over the shoulder position. If this boy scout was too soft to deal with such a simple threat then he would have to. Besides, the boy might be fun to play with, and he needed a challenge after all this time.

Ranma and Dizzy had made it to a clothing store without incident in the time of Ky and Sol's banter. The blue haired girl was walking through the store in awe at some of the women's apparel that was hanging on the racks. There was so much and she had such a limited variety to choose from before, she was not sure what she wanted. Ranma fidgeted nervously next to her and looked around to see if anyone was watching them. Dizzy finally picked out a dress she liked and took it to the changing room to try it on. It was very similar to the one she had worn before she had joined the Jellyfish Pirates what had seemed like an eternity ago. The variations came mostly in the material it was made from and the style. It was black and long but the fabric was lighter and the dress was less frilly, more modern.

"How does it look?" Dizzy asked as she walked out of the dressing room.

Ranma had not seen her in a dress before, though he had seen her once for a short period in her fighting uniform. Where that uniform left little to the imaginations, the dress Dizzy picked out was modest and covered a lot of her body. However it accentuated the curved of her body and gave her the look of a the woman that she physically was instead of the little kid she had been perceived as before. Put simply the dress made Dizzy look beautiful.

"..." Was all that Ranma could say as he sat in the chair and stared at her.

The look was very unnerving and the girl was starting to get uncomfortable, "Do you not like it, I could get another one if you think this doesn't suit me."

"... That's not it, I've just never seen you in a dress before," Ranma said uncertainly, "Um, that is, it makes you look very...well... I mean to say... you look... nice."

Dizzy giggled at Ranma's reaction to her question, it was almost as if he was embarrassed of saying the dress looked good, "I'm glad you like it."

Blushing, Ranma stood up and headed for the register to pay for the dress. Of course he forgot about the fact that he needed the dress so the cashier could ring it up. Dizzy watched as he scratched the back of his neck and laughed nervously as the cashier looked at him suspiciously. Sighing, she went back into the changing room and changed back into her normal pirate uniform before taking the dress over to him and setting it on the counter. Once the dress had been paid for, she changed into it once again and threw the old clothes in a bag.

As they walked out of the store, Ranma bumped into a muscular man in red, carrying a giant rectangular sword with an ornately carved black handle over his shoulder. He had long brown hair, red eyes, and a inch thick metal headband over his forehead. His chest was bare except for a red and black vest, and he wore a moderately tight pare of jeans. He had a muscular frame and his attitude as he walked was uncaring. Bowing, Ranma said an apology and went to walk off when he felt the man grab his collar.

Narrowing his eyes, Ranma twisted quickly and caught the man with a kick to the face, thus making the man lose his grip. It was a kick that would have flattened a normal man but it only made this man's head snap to the side. Crouching in a fighting stance, Ranma looked around quickly to make sure Dizzy was not in any trouble. The man Ranma was facing slowly turned his head back and smiled at him.

"Good reflexes boy," he said, "a little soft on the hitting though."

Smiling cockily, Ranma tensed in preparation to move, "Hah, I made the mistake of thinking you a normal human. That's a mistake I will not make with my next hit."

Bringing his sword down in front of him the man tightened his grip on the handle and the sword started to glow red, "Boy, you don't want me to get serious with you."

"You keep calling me boy," Ranma's eyes flashed, "interesting, you don't look that much older than me yet I sense great wisdom in you. Fine, I always did like a challenge, come on old man."

The man growled and charged Ranma, intent on delivering a sliding kick to the younger man. Lunging forward over the slide kick, Ranma rotated in mid-air and eased back into a defensive stance. The man was not as fast as Ranma but he obviously had a lot of experience with dealing with various opponents. The biggest advantage the man had was the big sword he carried in his hand. Ranma had yet to get involved with the weapon but he was in no hurry to do so.

As Ranma stood in wait of an attack the man brought his sword down into the ground. There was a trail of flame traveling along the concrete in no time. Ranma was forced to jump into the air, only to be met by a uppercut of fire. Yelling in pain Ranma fell to the ground hard, the flames on his body being put out by the act of him rolling desperately on the ground. Slowly picking himself up, Ranma grinned despite the obvious pain he was in. His eyes were no more the eyes of a over cocky man, instead they seemed to be happy for the pain he was receiving.

"Well, you got me, this is great," Ranma brought himself back into a fighting stance, "fire may be your ally but it will be your biggest downfall."

The man just brought his sword up with the blade pointed downwards, "I guess we will see."

Charging the man started to follow Ranma around in a circle as he backtracked. The man in red continued to press his attack, thinking that he had Ranma on the retreat. For his part, Ranma was doing a good job of making it seem like he was out of tricks. The sword would swing down and Ranma would move just inches to the side to avoid it. It was all part of his ruse, with a scream Ranma ended his ruse was a uppercut that produced a tornado as it mixed with the heat being radiated by the man's body. Unfortunately he had miscalculated just how much heat the man was giving off and the tornado spread to engulf the city block. Realizing what was happening, Ranma knew he had to stop the wind funnel before it got out of hand. Relinquishing his hold on the Soul of Ice he flew into the wind to the apex of the move.

Down below the people in the town were scattering to get away from the sudden tornado. Dizzy had seen Ranma fly up into the wind, but had not known what he was thinking. For all appearances it looked like his own moved backfired on him. She wanted to try and help him but knew that in her current form she would only get in the way. She had to find some hot water and change, consequences aside, she would not let him die after he was just beginning to be her friend. Quickly she ran into a restaurant and grabbed a glass of hot water, upending it over her head. Without hesitation she ran into the torrential wind and followed Ranma and the other man.

Upon seeing this from the air, Ranma cursed, that girl was going to get herself killed yet. Reaching the top of the storm, Ranma used his hot aura and created the counter move to the Heavenly Dragon Ascending Attack. The funnel was canceled out by the downward spiral and Ranma fell back down. Seeing the surprised look on the two people who had been caught in the now ceased winds. Gritting his teeth, Ranma shot towards the ground with his body as strait as he could get it. He had a lot of distance to make up and his body was already worn by the physical strain of going through the spiraling winds the first time. The wind ripped at his body as he forced himself downward at terminal velocity towards the ground.

It was lucky for him that Dizzy had thought far enough ahead to change back into her original form before running after him. She may not seem that bright, but Ranma had figured out by now that this was an illusion drawn by the fact that she knew very little of the outside world. The girl was floating down to the ground with her wings extended, still her flight was a little unstable, Ranma had a feeling the Ascending Dragon had threw off her equilibrium. As he neared the girl, and subsequently the ground, he grabbed her in his arms.

Hitting the ground shortly after he got a hold on Dizzy, Ranma ignored the pain in his legs as the shock ran through them. The violence of his landing had caused the street they landed in to crater. Ignoring the surprised muttering of the people around the landing sight, Ranma took off as fast as he could. If what the police officer said was true then they could both be in some big trouble if someone saw the fight.

It was about three miles later when the pain in Ranma's legs caught up to him. With a yell he stumbled forward and hugged the girl in his arms close to him as they both rolled. It was the best he could do to take the brunt of the fall. When they came to a rest, Ranma was laying on the ground in too much pain to do anything but twitched. The stress of the fighting had been just too much for his body to take. Turning his head he looked to she Dizzy shaking her head to clear it, then she walked over to him.

"What happened?"

Finding the strength to barely utter a word, Ranma answered her as best he could, "I had to get us out of there... if there is... someone after you then... then..." Ranma was starting to trail off, pausing to gather his strength once more he continued, "you could have easily been attacked."

Ranma was starting to feel cold, there was something wrong here, he felt darkness. It was clear out and the sun shone bright, but he felt something in the back of his mind that reeked of evil. His sense for these things had developed so much over time that he could pinpoint the exact place someone was, no matter how invisible they thought they were.

"Shit, someone's here," Ranma slowly sat up in a lot of pain, "my leg is too hurt to move, damn."

Rushing to try and help him, Dizzy kneeled down to help him sit up, "You're injured, I can run and get a doctor for you."

"No!" He did not mean it to sound so rough, "someTHING is out there, it's just waiting."

Ranma had luckily received a genetic trait that allowed him to heal quicker than others. The actual trait was a mystery as not one other person in his family had it. Even the people who were on par with him in terms of the art did not have this trait. In any case he was grateful for it now, he could feel the pain slowly starting to leave as the muscle in his leg began to heal. Ranma had a feeling that even with the accelerated healing he would not be ready to fight for a while. It was not just his hurt leg that was preventing him from moving but his fatigued body as well.

Out of what seemed to be the shadow of a building a man walked forward. Over his eyes was a kind of blinder that prevented him from seeing with his eyes. However the black shadow looking figure that twisted around his legs made it evident that it was not with the eyes that this man saw.

"I SEE YOU ARE HURT," the man said with amusement, "DO YOU MIND IF I BARROW YOUR BODY."

Gritting his teeth Ranma looked with unbridled hatred at the man of shadows, "Bastard!"

Looking back and forth between the two, Dizzy slowly let go of Ranma and stood, "I will not let you hurt him."

Grinning the man cocked his head to the side, "YOU DARE TO CHALLENGE ME, GEAR? VERY WELL, YOU'RE BODY WILL MAKE A MUCH BETTER HOST THEN THIS FRAGILE HUMAN."

Dizzy developed a look that was determined, she had not fought in a while and she only hoped that her power was still enough. Bringing her wings out to their full length, she released the power inside them, Necro and Undine. The black wing, Necro, took the form of a reaper with a grinning skull for a face. The white wing took the form of an Angel looking girl with long white hair, Undine. The white girl reformed into a wing but the grim reaper seemed to pull a bow out of nowhere and charged it's energy into an arrow. Once fully charged the beams cut across the distance between Dizzy and the shadow man.

Calmly the man waved his hand and a shadow leapt up to absorb the energy. The black wing retreated and both original wings were now present on the blue haired girls back. The man seemed to flow forward on the shadows he controlled only to be stopped by a spear of ice from the ground in front of him. The white wing retreated and so did the stalactite of ice. The shadow man made another motion with his hand and a black saw blade formed in the ground, making its way towards Dizzy.

The girl jumped over it and extended her wings in the form of a bladed wheel surrounding her body as she spun towards the man. Being caught off guard the man was hit by the attack and flew back across the ground. Landing on her feet, the girl allowed her black wing to form into an axe and slam down on the downed shadow man. As the black axe retracted the man seemed to disappear into the floor before reappearing on his feet.

The man raised his hand in an upward motion and a black hand came from the ground. Dizzy was caught off guard this time and she was thrown into the air. Seeing this Ranma let out a growl of frustration, he should be protecting her right now. Instead she was fighting this shadow man and he could do nothing to help her.

"Dizzy," Ranma whispered, "you're afraid to use your power. You're major flaw is that you have too much human to use the full power of a Gear. You won't allow it, but in this case you have to."

Looking back at the fight, Ranma could tell that the fight was not going to go on much longer. Dizzy was holding her own but the shadow man was slowly wearing her down. He had to find a way to help her gain the upper hand, she was just reluctant to use the power. If only she could let go she would win this fight and give them enough time to escape. The man would survive the attack but they just needed a pause in order to make their getaway.

"Dizzy!" Ranma yelled, "you have to use your power! I know you don't want to but you got to. It's the only way you can win this."

The girl blocked another shadow attack as she listened to the man yell out to her. He was right, she really did not want to use the power but there was no other way. Jumping away she summoned the black wing into the form of a dragon head. A point of energy came to life in the jaws of the dragon and grew to the size of a normal person. The white energy shot out in a solid row and hit the shadow man before he had time to put up a defense. The backlash of the giant shot of energy shot Dizzy off her feet and caused her to fly back about five feet, landing in a heap on the ground.

Ranma gathered the little strength he had recovered to pull himself to his feet and stager over to the girl. Dizzy was in the process of getting to her feet as the man neared her. Noticing he was looking at her with a worried expression she brushed herself off and walked over to help support him.

"You okay, Dizzy?" Ranma asked as she grabbed him.

Dizzy smiled and nodded, "I should be asking you that."

"I'll be fine," Ranma looked over at where the shadow man had fallen and saw that he was gone, "we should get going."

"Yes, but where do we go?" Dizzy asked.

Ranma managed a shrug, "I have no idea."

"Looks like you have a dilemma, Saotome," a voice said.

Turning towards it, Ranma was shocked to see Ryouga leaning against a building, "Ryouga, how did you find us?"

"Simple, follow the trail of destruction," the man smiled and walked towards them, "come on, I'll let you stay in a place I have near here."

"Ryouga," Ranma waited for the man to get close to the two of them, "thanks."

The man smiled, "Hey, I figure we only have each other left. What with everyone dead from our town but us we have to look out for each other."

"What about Dizzy?" Ranma said suddenly.

The other man suddenly looked more solemn, "She can stay also, but don't you dare think I've changed my mind about Gears. The only reason I'm letting her stay is because I know you would whine and refuse to go if I didn't let her stay with us."

Ranma nearly fell over as he heard the comment, growling he tried to lunge for Ryouga but was held back by his blue haired companion, "How dare you take advantage of my weakness."

Laughing, Ryouga held his hands up in a warding gesture, "Hey, just joking, man."

Ranma smiled as he calmed himself down, "Sorry."

"No problem," Ryouga started to walk off, "this way."

=======================================================================

End of Chapter 6, and of Book 2. The third book might not come as fast as this one. I had to shoot this out so I could explain the wait. I am trying to decide whether Justice should come in the picture yet, if at all. Ranma's survival ability and healing ability (in this universe) will be explained in the next few chapters. For those who don't know Guilty Gear that well, the man in red was Sol Badguy, the officer was Ky Kiske, and the shadow man is Zato-1. Sol and Ky's role will be explained later and Zato hails from Spain so it would be natural to encounter him there.

=======================================================================