CHAPTER FOUR

"WHAT CHALLENGER?"

Ranma staggered back into the living room, he was light shade of green. He sat down, he felt heavy. His head collided on the table and it lay there. He couldn't move, Akane's food settled in the pit of his stomach and it stayed there.

Yoh looked at his host, 'Maybe he was tired.' He thought.

Akane came in the living room, she held a bowl with her mittens. She placed the bowl in the center, "It's beef teriyaki." She said. She filled her guests' bowls and handed it out to them.

Trey took his and sniffed it. It was the same smell earlier. "Ooohhh… smells great…" he dipped his spoon in the bowl. "I didn't know that beef teriyaki had this much… soup."

Len pushed his bowl away, "I am not eating this garbage." He said under his breath.

Morty poked at the floating pieces of meat. Anna looked at hers with disgust. Jun stirred the bowls contents, hoping too see something edible. Pilika stared at the bowl, "It does smell scrumptious…and well, looks aren't everything."

Ranma wanted to scream at them. It was poison. It was too late for him, he couldn't even lift his pinky. Then something rang in the kitchen. Akane stood up, "The timer for the soup!" she exclaimed as she ran into the kitchen.

"What! This isn't the soup?" Rio murmured. The gunk in the bowl bubbled. "Yeach…"

Akane walked back in, "False alarm, it rang a bit too early." She looked at her guests, "Go on ahead! Try it!"

Rio did not want to disappoint this pretty lady. He put a chunk that looked like meat in his mouth. "Delicious!" he mumbled as he chewed. He gulped it down. "Mmmm…" he rubbed his belly.

"You liked it!" Akane exclaimed. "Okay, I'll get you some more!" she ran back into the kitchen.

Trey looked at Rio, he was dumbfounded. Yoh raised a brow. Then the two took a big bite of the meat. Trey gagged, Yoh's eyes watered. They saw the solitary glass of water in the middle of the table. Yoh jumped for it, Trey elbowed Yoh in the ribs and took hold of the glass. Quickly he gulped down the water. Anna passed Yoh her glass, the shaman quickly drank from it.

Trey looked at Rio menacingly, "ARE YOU INSANE!" he pointed to his bowl, "That wasn't DELICIOUS!"

Rio opened his mouth and took the piece of meat on his tongue. "I didn't swallow it. But… I could feel it burning through my tongue." Rio exaggerated, but the burning feeling was true.

"Now we all know that the food is poisoned. I knew it was like that all along. I'm not that stupid to try such inedible food." Len scoffed.

Trey gritted his teeth, "Oh yeah!" he jumped at Len and locked his arms.

"Hey!" Len cried out.

"Come on, Yoh, help me!" Trey shouted at his pal.

Yoh took a spoonful of the horrid gunk, "Here comes the train." He said in a sing-song voice.

"I'm not a ba— !" Yoh jammed the spoon in Len's mouth. Trey jumped back as he let go of Len. Len sputtered and faced the ground. He spat out the gunk, "Bleah! It tastes like feet!"

Jun looked at Lee Pai Long, "Do you want any, Lee Pai Long? You are welcome to have my share."

Lee Pai Long shook his head, "I do not have the need to eat." He answered.

No one seemed to notice Ranma lying there. He was still conscious but he couldn't move at all. Then a chill ran up his spine. His eyes darted around, the 'feeling' was back.

Amidamaru appeared behind Yoh, "Master Yoh, are you alright?"

"I'm fine…" Yoh answered. He was sick on choking. It was getting repetitive.

Ranma could see a faint white blur behind the kid with the head-phones. He dismissed the thought, it might just be a side-effect of the food Akane tried to force on him. He already had two bowlfuls of the crap.

Akane walked back into the living room, now with a very disappointed look on her face, "Sorry, guys. I ruined the soup."

"That's fine!" Pilika said happily. She was relieved, although it did make her wonder… if the teriyaki isn't 'ruined' how would the soup taste like?

Akane looked at her guests' bowls. "You still haven't finished my teriyaki." She frowned.

Jun stood up, with the bowl in her hand, "Oh, it is very scrumptious! Although, I couldn't eat it in here. I prefer it out in the open so that I could enjoy it more." Jun said. She walked outside.

Pilika knew what Jun was doing, she followed her lead, "I'll go with her, and so we can enjoy the teriyaki better!" Pilika followed Jun.

"What's with them?" Trey asked out loud.

"What kind of idiot are you!" Len hissed. He grabbed his crutches and did his 'act'. "Good miss?"

Akane looked at Len, "Yes?"

"Could you tell me where my bedroom is? This day is very tiring for me that I have lost my appetite."

"Oh, your room is the one next to the stairs." Akane pointed out.

Len nodded, he hobbled out of the living room, but he managed to give a quick smirk to Yoh and Trey.

"Uhmm… You know what? Trey and I love eating up in the roof, don't we Trey?" Yoh looked at his blue-haired friend.

"What!"

Yoh grinned and he winked. "Ohhh!" Trey said. He nodded, "Yeah! I love to eat on the roof!"

Trey ran outside with Yoh. Rio stretched his arms and yawned, "I would feel a lot better if I had a comfy bed under me while I eat. Can I?"

"Sure…" Akane nodded with suspicion. "You have the same room with the British kid."

Rio squinted his eyes, "British who?" then he clasped his hands together, "Ah, yes… short-pants! OK!"

"Wait!" Akane called out to Rio. "You forgot your dinner…" Rio was already gone he left his bowlful of the 'teriyaki' behind.

Morty looked around, only the cook, the guy with the braid, Anna and Lee Pai Long remained. Anna was just sipping water from her glass. Lee Pai Long doesn't have to eat anymore after he died. He was out of excuses. "A-A-Umm… I- ahhh… I have this problem eating with strangers. I-I like to eat in the bathroom… alone… where no one can see me… eat." He smiled sheepishly. 'That was the lamest and weirdest excuse that I made up in my entire life!' he thought, he could feel his cheeks redden. Anna looked at him with a blank expression and so did Akane. "I LIKE IT IN THE BATHROOM!" Morty blurted out.

Akane raised a brow, "Uhm… Okay… The bathroom's over there…" Akane pointed.

"Thanks!" Morty scratched his head. He grabbed his teriyaki bowl and ran off. He was as red as a tomato with legs.

Anna knew that Akane was looking at her, "I'm full." She said coldly.

"What about the guy over there?" Akane referred to Lee Pai Long.

"I do not eat." Lee Pai Long answered.

Ranma managed to tilt his head to the left he was very annoyed at Akane and her being so clueless. He saw Lee Pai Long just standing there like a body guard. There was luggage resting by Lee Pai Long's feet. He could be a bodyguard, you know… those types of guards that do nothing but stand there and guard.

One Week ago:

The Celestial Martial Arts dojo is known to have the most disciplined students around. It has won several tournaments, using several chi techniques they are able to manipulate the air currents around them, blasting their opponents full force into a wall. No one who was right in the head would dare challenge them. They pummeled each willing challenger to a pulp… until……

"What do you mean a 'challenger'?" a man with a broad frame murmured. He was happily eating ramen. This man is Ryoho Nakamura, the current master of the Celestial Arts.

"Well," the student squeaked, "there's a guy waiting outside to fight you for the name of the dojo."

"Hmph… did you even ask him if he got the right dojo?" he took a sip from his sake.

"Yes, he really wanted to challenge this place."

Ryoho laughed. The student laughed as well. "Then I'll go outside and give this guy some common-sense." Ryoho placed his ramen on the table and walked outside. "Challenging the Celestial dojo… hah!" Ryoho murmured. "This guy must have been dropped on the head as a child."

Outside the challenger waited for him. The challenger sat lazily on the lush grass, his fingers ran across the blades. He had short silver hair. Ryoho cleared his throat, the boy looked up. He had silver flinted-eyes. The boy smirked, "Sure took you long, old man." He stood up.

"Sorry, I was busy eating my afternoon snack." Ryoho quipped. He noticed that the boy was holding a plush dragon. "Aren't you a little too old to be playing with stuffed animals?"

"I'm nineteen… it's an awkward age." The boy replied. He placed the plush animal on the ground. "So, are we going to start or not?"

Ryoho glared at the boy, and began to introduce himself, "I am Ryoho Naka—"

"Yadayadayada… I know who you are." The boy combed his hair with the tips of his fingers. "Let's cut to the chase, Ryoho. I'm Reiji Zephyr… I am no one's student nor anyone's master."

"I noticed." Ryoho said under his breath. "You lack a huge amount of discipline."

"I know." Reiji whispered sharply. "I just don't care what other people think."

"Let's begin!" Ryoho shouted. "Let's end this quickly. My ramen is getting cold."

"Alright." Reiji answered.

Ryoho placed his arms in front of him, strong gales began to pass by. He closed his eyes and began to chant. The dirt from the ground took to the air, it formed an eddy. Swirls of dust and dirt filled the air, no one could see anything except for the one who conjured the wind. He felt something weigh down his shoulders. Something grabbed both sides of his head. Reiji was sitting on his shoulders, "Too slow." The boy whispered.

Reiji walked out of the dojo carrying a wooden sign, a backpack was slung over his back. He laughed out loud. "That was too easy!"

A silver dragon landed next to him and walked on all fours, "That was amazing, Master Reiji. You didn't even need my assistance." The dragon said happily.

"Rakgi…" Reiji murmured. "How many times do I need to tell you, 'I am not anyone's master'. Don't call me that you know I hate it."

"Sorry…" Rakgi apologized. He passed through some oncoming civilians.

"Hwow!" one of the civilians shuddered. "That was cold!"

"Maybe someone just walked all over your grave." The other mused.

"Don't be so superstitious." They laughed and continued on, forgetting about the cold rush of wind.

Reiji looked back at the civilians then at Rakgi. He scowled at the dragon, "How could you pass right through them!" he hissed.

"I guess I didn't see them." Rakgi answered.

"Not see them? You're as big as an elephant! How could you not see them! What if they see you!" Reiji scolded the beast. He placed the wooden sign on the ground and opened his backpack. He retrieved the plush dragon toy, "Get in." he said to Rakgi.

Rakgi Oversouled into the plush object. Reiji placed the toy on the ground and picked up the wooden sign. He walked on as the little possessed stuff toy followed behind.

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(A/N) Heeheehee… I got the inspiration on the dinner thing from FRIENDS. Rachel cooked this Shepherd's Pie… she followed the instructions all wrong and mixed ladies' fingers, ground meat and whipped cream together. Now the whole gang tried to make up excuses to not eat the pie. Gawd, I liked that episode.

On chapter three, I kinda forgot that Jun existed there. I noticed that I was also a bit off on their personalities. I guess I was too focused on the Ranma side.

I noticed that I do use a lot of commas… yeah… I really don't like short sentences… I have this tendency to cram as much ideas in one sentence. I guess I have to fix that.

May the one who created that worm virus be plagued by whatever he hates! My diskette was attacked again so I had to write all of this again from scratch!

Well, you guys know the drill by now.

With love,

Pazaway- tiger