It was a bright, sunny day in the greater Tokyo area, and Ranma and Genma Saotome were making the most of it. They had been up training since sunrise; Genma's martial arts gimmick-of-the-day was martial arts log-rolling in the Tendo fishpond.

"Stay on your toes, boy! Unless you can learn Anything-Goes Martial Arts multi-tasking, you'll never be able to fight off a gang of ninjas!" Genma barked, as he started rolling the log and throwing punches at his pigtailed son.

"Shut up, old man! As many weird things as we have in this neighborhood, a gang of ninjas isn't on the list!" replied Ranma, trying hard to keep his footing.

"Foolish boy! That was just an example! Reap the fruits of your disobedience! Hyaaaaaah!" Genma launched himself toward Ranma with a flying kick, but to his shock, Ranma dodged!

Ranma grinned as he watched his father fly through the air past him and toward the cold, cold water.

"Guess it's panda time for you, eh, old man?"

"Maybe, but I know a cute little redhead who will be joining me!" he replied, and grabbed onto his son's pigtail.

With a shout, both men fell into the fish pond. A few seconds later, a dripping wet giant panda and a petite, bosomy girl sloshed their way out of the pond.

"Geez, Pop! That was a cheap shot, even for you!" the girl grumbled.

The panda held up a sign that read "A MARTIAL ARTIST MUST BE READY FOR ANYTHING! LIKE THIS!" He promply broke the sign over his son's (now daughter's) noggin.

A large bump came up, and steam started pouring off of Ranma's head. Her father, once again, didn't know when to quit.

Ranma shook for a second as she did her best to maintain control, then suddenly cooled down. "I think I understand the lesson, old man..." she carelessly remarked.

"At last I've made some progress with the boy!" Genma thought to himself.

"HYYYYAAAAHHH!" With one mother of a roundhouse kick, she sent her surprised panda Pop flying through the air, over the pond, and through the wall surrounding the Tendo residence.

"In other words, a true martial artist should be able to avoid something like that! Suck on that, Pops! Bwahahahahahaha!" she gloated.

To her surprise, however, not only Genma crawled out of the rubble, but also her rivals Ryoga Hibiki and Mousse; the three of them looked pretty ticked!

"Geh! What are you two doing here?" Ranma gulped as she took a step backward.

Mousse's magician's robe was covered in soup and noodles. "You fiend! I was running a delivery for Shampoo! This was the first time she trusted me to do the job, and now look what you've done to the ramen, not to mention my cloak!!!" He pulled out his trademark throwing knives menacingly.

Ryoga had tears brimming in his eyes as he clutched a broken porcelain doll in his hands. "I bought this doll as a gift for Akane in Hokkaido. I've wandered all over Japan, but managed to keep it safe just so I can see the look on her face when I gave it to her... YOU'VE JUST RUINED THAT!!!" His eyes filled with fire, drying up his tears and producing a pretty damn scary effect.

"LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE IN IT PRETTY DEEP THIS TIME, BOY! THIS'LL TEACH YOU TO HIT YOUR FATHER!" The panda gloated at his son's predicament.

"Don't think you're off the hook yet, Mr. Saotome," Ryoga glowered. "You're the one who actually broke Akane's doll and Mousse's delivery when you flew through the wall."

"GULP!" read the sign.

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Meanwhile, a few blocks away, the two ACROSS agents were making their way toward their goal...sort of. Actually, they were taking a break at the front gate of Furinkan High School.

"Hatchan," Excel asked sheepishly, "do you happen to remember if Lord Il Palazzo happened to say exactly where in Nerima these guys are because all Excel can remember is his saying something about Furinkan high school before she fell down the pit but there have got to be several thousand people in the neighborhood around this place!"

"That is true, Senior," Hyatt replied. "I do not recall him saying their exact location. Hmm..." All of the sudden her eyes lit up and a big smile came over her face. "Oh! I know! Perhaps we should split up in order to cover more ground!"

"Great idea, Hatchan! Between your quiet 'observer' approach and Excel's sophisticated deduction skills, we're sure to round up lots of these martial artists!"

"So glad you think so. In that case, I shall go this way, you shall go that way, and we will meet here again at 6:00 PM. Is that okay? Senior?"

Hyatt looked in the direction where Excel had been standing, but as far as the eye could see were only rubble and teenaged-girl-shaped holes in walls.

"Senior is always so enthusiastic. I must not let her down." With that, Hyatt turned and started walking in the opposite direction and toward trouble.

END OF CHAPTER 2

Oho! The plot thickens! So does my oatmeal. Mmmmmm, oatmeal.

Anyway, I hope you like it thus far. Although things could change, I doubt this thing will run over 5 chapters; we both have better things to do. Please review, or That Man will make you wish you had!