A/N: Disclaimer I don't own anything in this story so don't label me for anything. Hello everyone, Hound Archon here and I'd like to start things off by saying thank you to everyone who hits this story. It's good to feel liked by everyone even if it's for my stunning good-looking mind I'll find a way to live with it. Now for the story to continue.
WARNING: this chapter is very long for me so if you don't like long chapters don't read. Thank you.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Chapter 6: The past revealed Part 1
After the incident outside the bar Raven didn't let go of Rich. Not for an instant fearing that he would disappear from her again. As Rich looked at her and deep into her eyes he saw the need she held from was almost as the love that he saw the day in his apartment after his attempted suicide.
As the two walked back to Raven's place and entered Raven turned on the lights to find that everyone was waiting for her in the dark, apparently to surprise her on a job well down at the mall but were a little surprised to see her walk in the door with a man and her arms wrapped around him with a loving look in her eyes.
" Ok so that is why you live alone and haven't been too upset about Rich not being around." Vic said looking like a disappointed parent scolding his kid.
" Well good to see you too Victor." Rich said giving him a glare.
Vic looked at him questioningly wondering how he knew him when it hit him, " Rich is that you?" and Rich just nodded in response.
Kori was the first to get up and walk over to them and enveloped him in a hug of death which would have normally crushed him where he stood but he took it in stride, " Oh Rich it's so good to see you again after all this time." She said letting go.
" Nice to see things haven't changed with you Kori, and the others as well." Rich said as he sat down on the couch.
" So where have you been Rich. I mean we haven't heard a thing from you for like four years, Why the sudden appearance?" Terra asked.
" Well I think we need one more person here before I give any explanations. Don't you?" he raised his eyebrow and looked out the window catching glimpsed of something he ran out the door and looked into the large oak tree in Raven's front yard. There was a slight movement in the branches but it was also windy and the others thought that was the cause but Rich knew differently and went rooftop jumping after the individual that he spotted. After a while he caught up to the black-capped man as he ran, Rich decided to move in front of him with his training with the people at the Kami house. To the normal eye it would seem that he disappeared and reappeared in front of him.
The man before him was in an odd looking costume. It had a black spandex body suit, a full head mask but what was interesting was that the face of the mask was a skull design with a red x on the forehead. Rich knew who it was and said, " So the infamous Red X has decided to come to Jump City and spy on my friends. I'm rather disappointed at this I figured he would be harder to capture than this." Rich said as the shadows of the night covered his face and he could tell that Red X was mad.
" Who the hell are you? And whom do you think you are insulting me like that?" the thief asked with a synthesized voice.
" What do you mean? I've insulted you for a long time Jack." Rich said with a smirk holding out his hand for Jack to shake it.
" Who the hell are you man? And how do you know my name?" Jack asked still not figuring out who Rich was.
" It wasn't that hard to figure out since I'm the one who gave you the name you use now."
" Rich?"
Rich nodded and Jack disengaged his mask and pulled down the cloth headpiece. At this point the others showed up and Raven was more than a little pissed off that someone was spying on her house. She was about to attack Jack when Rich pulled him into a hug. The group was taken back by this action and decided to wait for explanations before they did anything. As the two walked back on the rooftop to the others they came out of the shadows for everyone to see who the man with Rich was. Kori immediately latched herself onto him kissing him firmly on the lips. Gar and Terra let out a whistle and everyone else just chuckled and they went back to Raven's house for the explanation.
At Raven's house everyone got comfortable and the questions broke out. Gar stated first, " So where have you guys been? It's been like four years since any of us have seen you so spill."
Jack decided to go first, " Well I guess you figured that I'm the thief that's been hitting the government. At least I didn't go overboard like Rich did. Man I had to be really careful after that stunt Rich." He glared at Rich and the rest of the room looked at him questioningly.
" Alright so I blew up their complex. It was noting big." Rich said.
" Noting big!" Jack yelled, " I had to lay low with a bunch of homeless people just to make sure no one recognized me, it took me weeks to get the smell out."
" Sorry but you knew I had to do it. Besides I left them my calling card so they wouldn't have gone after you for it anyways so just let it go."
" So you just robbed the government?" Kori asked Jack.
" Yeah I never robbed anyone else. It was my way of getting back at them. I invented this suit to help me. It has a few nifty gadgets I think you would like Rich."
" Not as much as you would think Jack. While you used Technology, I decided to improve my arsenal with training to my full potential." Rich said cryptically.
" What do you mean by that?" Vic asked and everyone listened intently.
(A/N: From this point on we will be looking at Rich's past for the last four years with the occasional present day interruption. Thank you for your cooperation.)
After bombing the complex Rich decided to go around the world to improve his skills. He'd heard of a few places in Japan that would be a great benefit to him and he hoped on the first boat to Japan.
On the boat he helped out the crew with anything he could, machinery trouble, navigation, cooking you name it. After a while they regarded him as one of the crew and gave him a good send off when they landed by taking him to the bar and getting shit faced. After waking up with an extreme headache Rich set off to Tokyo. He'd heard of some strange goings on there and decided to see if he could verify any rumors he had heard.
He found himself in the Juuban district of Tokyo when he saw some flashes of light at a park a block or two away. Running to see what was going on he saw five girls who couldn't be over the age of 16 fighting off was looked like some sort of monster. Rich thought about helping them out but they finished off the monster before he started to move in . As the monster dissolved and the girls walked away he followed them to what looked like a shrine of some sort. The girls were at the top when he saw some more lights and after the lights subsided he saw another group of five girls come walking down the stairs of the shrine. Quickly hiding in the trees Rich stayed out of sight as they walked right past him. He took a close look at them and realized that they were the same girls that he saw dispatch the monster in the park. ' Damn it's some kind of magic,' he thought and tree bounced to the street and passed the girls on their way to a near by food cart. As Rich walked away he could hear one of them start shouting how hungry she was and the others moaning and yelling in annoyance at her appetite.
Felling hungry himself he decided to turn around and get himself some food. As he approached the food cart he saw the girls still their eating their beef bowls. Rich walked up to the cart vender and asked for a large beef bowl. The vender gave him the food and left for another corner leaving Rich alone with the five girls. Smirking to himself he decided to see what their deal was so he leaned himself against a tree he said, " Nice job in the park ladies." Immediately the tall brunette spun around to face him. She was the tallest in the group but Rich was still taller by a good four inches so she had to look up to look him in the eye. The others just looked innocently as they could.
" I don't know what your talking about sir. You must have us mistaken for some other group." Said the raven hair girl.
" I don't think so. I know a bit about keeping an identity secret and I must say that is one of the lousiest excuses I've ever heard. Although I must say the outfits are interesting. And to think you get away with wearing something that…revealing to fight in" Rich almost snickered to himself. The tall brunette raised her fist ready to knock him into the stratosphere when her fist connected with the palm of his hand. Shocked that she didn't kill him she stumbled back in shock not only at his strength but his speed as well.
" I'm sorry sir but we really don't know what you're talking about. Yes there is a group of girls that fight creatures; they're called the Sailor Senshi but you couldn't possible think we are they." The shy looking one in the back of the group with blue hair said in a timid voice.
To Rich she was the obvious brain in the group but her timid ness shocked Rich. He decided to pounce on the error that she made, " I never said anything about a monster did I?" and the looks on their faces said it all, they were busted in their lie and it was time to face the truth.
" So how'd you figure it out? I must say I've never seen you around her before and if I'm not mistaken your not Japanese, are you?" the black haired girl asked.
Rich chuckled, " Nope I'm not Japanese. I'm an American, names Rich. pleased to meet you." He said holding out his hand.
She shook his hand now knowing what else to do at the moment, " Rei, these are my friends Ami, Makoto, Minako, and Usagi." She pointed out.
" Pleasure to meet you, I suppose you're wondering why I've confronted you about this?" he asked them. All five of them nodded, " Well I'm sort of on a journey so to speak. I'm trying to confirm the roomers I've heard about some strange things going on in Japan, like odd fights with people that can do impossible things like getting hit by busses and walking away without a scratch. Stuff like that, and that's when I saw your fight. I must say I'm impressed at the way you girls handled yourselves was most impressive." They seemed to blush at his complements. " I don't suppose just anyone one can learn those tricks you do is there?" Rich asked knowing their answer.
" No I'm afraid there isn't but I can lead you to a place where you've heard those stories, in another district you might find what you're looking for." The one called Ami said.
" Really? Where?" he asked.
" The district called Nermia." She said and pointed out the direction for him. As he waved goodbye to the girls Minako turned to Rei and said
" Man was he a cutie or what?" Rei just blushed and looked at the ground hopping to see him again.
Rich was making his way to the train station to see when the next train to Nermia was. Looking at the schedule the next train was in a half hour so Rich decided to buy a ticket and sit down on a bench and wait for the train.
Rich noticed he was getting a lot of odd looks from the trains patrons. He also noticed that he had an admirer; it was the same girl from the beef bowl vender that tried to hit him. He almost missed her presence but managed to see her. Rich could tell that she was a fighter by the way she held herself and the punch she threw. He decided to play a little game with her, see what she was made out of so to speak.
After the half hour train ride Rich strolled off the platform and walked into town, with Makoto right behind him. He of course knew she was following him he just didn't know why. So he wondered around the streets looking for a shaded alleyway for some cover to question her from the shadows, something useful that he learned from Raven. So quickly ducking down the alley and grasping onto a ledge he waited for his follower to come around the corner.
Makoto rounded the corner to find the alleyway empty, looking frustrated she pulled out what looked like a cell phone and talked into it. " Jupiter here, I lost him." She said and a picture came on of the girl with a meatball/ponytail hairstyle.
" Well there's not much else you can do then. Move back and we can go and get dinner. Moon out." The picture faded and she put it back in her pocket.
" Does she only think about food?" Rich asked from his hiding place.
Makoto quickly turned around to see who was there. " Where are you?" she yelled.
Walking out of the shadows Rich came into the light by the corner. " Right here. Why are you following me?" he asked in a stern voice.
" Because you know about us. I need to know if you'll tell anyone."
" I know how to keep secrets I have many myself, ones that would shake your soul." He said sadly, " I've seen more violence than you could dream of girl so leave me alone. And stop following me." He added before walking away. Makoto stared at him as he walked away thinking, ' He's so hot it's scary.' And hurried to catch the return train to Juuban.
While Rich was walking around Nermia he came across a hotel. Seeing as the sun was down and he'd needed some sleep he decided to rent a room for the night
The next morning Rich heard some commotion outside his room's window. Stumbling out of bed Rich looked out his window to see two guys fighting, both close to his age fighting by a playground. Rich opened his window to hear what was going on.
" Come on Ryoga what did I do this time?" the tall guy in a red Chinese shirt and black pants asked as he dodged the bandana wearing guys attacks.
" Because of you Ranma I've seen HELL!" he screamed and threw a punch but the one called Ranma dodged it easily. Grabbing his wrist he spun himself around and kicked Ryoga in the back sending him into a jungle gym filled with kids. Seeing what he did Ranma tried to intervene but Rich laid his shoulder into Ryoga and knocked him out of the way and he landed next to the jungle gym and Rich landed on his feet grasping his shoulder in pain
' What the hell is this guy made out of?' Rich asked himself. Ranma walked over to Rich.
" Ah…Thanks for helping out there. I guess I didn't see the kids there or I wouldn't have done that" Ranma said rubbing the back of his head.
" That's alright I know what it's like to loose yourself in a fight but why did you have to do it so early in the morning?"
" Um.. It's like 2:00 in the afternoon. Where are you from anyway you don't look Japanese?'
" WHAT 14:00 how could I sleep in like that? I must have really been tired from the train ride from Juuban." Rich said looking into the sky in disbelief. " Oh to answer your question I'm from America. Names Rich Grayson." He held out his hand and Ranma excepted.
" Ah an American. So how long are you staying? If you need a place to sleep I think I can help you out but we'll have to ask the family I'm staying with if you can use the extra room they have." Ranma invited.
" No that's ok I'm sure I can find my own accommodations. I could use a guide around the area though it would be most appreciated."
" Sure, anything I can do after you helped out with the kids back there." Ranma smiled
" Yeah about that, what the hell is that guy made out of? I almost crushed my shoulder knocking him out of the way back there." Rich said rubbing is still hurting shoulder.
" Oh Ryoga, he's not that tough, he just went through the 'Breaking Point Technique'."
" The what?"
" The 'Breaking Point'. It's a technique that allows someone to find a weak point on a rock or shell like surface and with a poke of the finger make it explode. Like this watch." And Ranma walked over to a brick wall and poked it with his finger; suddenly a crater was formed where he poked it. Rich stared in amazement at what he just saw.
" So anyone can learn this technique? But that doesn't explain why the guys build like a brick shit house?" Rich asked.
" Well that's a side product of leaning the technique. You see, you need to learn it by being tied up and have a boulder hurled at you and the only thing you can move is your one finger to break the rock before it hits you."
As the two walked down the street talking about techniques Ranma had learned Rich heard the sound of a camera taking pictures close by. At first he thought it was just people out taking pictures but the sound seemed to follow them as they walked.
Sneaking around in the bushes was Nabiki. Grinning like the Cheshire Cat she continued to follow the two guys around town as Ranma showed Rich the town. " That guy is so hot! I'm going to get a fortune for these at school" she said to herself and hurried home to develop the film.
Meanwhile as Ranma was showing Rich around town when they heard a woman screaming for Ranma behind them. " Airen, wait for Shampoo." She screamed and Rich turned he saw a purple haired girl riding towards them on what looked like a delivery bike. As the bike drew nearer Rich moved out of the way but Ranma wasn't so lucky. The bike and the girl Shampoo hit him and stopped just after getting off him.
She quickly rushed to his side to help him up, " Airen come with Shampoo now and we get married." She smiled.
Rich being the nice guy he is tried to help Ranma up but had his hands batted away by Shampoo, " Tall pale man no touch Airen. Only person allowed to touch him is me." She said with a glare.
" Look I was just trying to help ok?" Rich said but it was too late Shampoo attacked Rich with her bonbori swinging high and low trying to hit Rich but he keep dodging her attacks. Ranma regained consciousness to see the fight. Shampoo swung at Rich's mid section but Rich launched himself in the air with his left his after pushing off the bonbori and kicked off the other one that Shampoo raised ready to strike and with the grace of his trapeze family background he landed a few feet back waiting for her next attack.
Ranma looked in amazement at Rich's movements, ' man this guys good. I wonder if he could beat Shampoo. Wait he shouldn't do that!' Ranma's head screams as he gets up to try to stop the fight.
' Well she's strong I'll give her that but not as strong as Kori I wonder if she has any other abilities, she's fast too better keep an eye out for that.' Rich thought as Shampoo charged at him. She shoved her bonbori at his stomach but Rich just disappeared and showed up behind her and placed his thumb on one side of the base of the skull and his index and middle finger on the other and applied pressure. These points chock off so to speak the nerve impulses from the brain to the limbs making the person as limp as a rag doll. After she went limp he karate chopped the base of her skull to knock her out. As Ranma caught up to them just as Rich did that Ranma screamed no.
Rich turned around to see Ranma running at him screaming, " She's fine. I just knocked her out. She'll be up in an hour of two depending on how strong she is."
" That's not the point," Ranma said, " Now you have to marry her."
" WHAT!"
" It's Amazon law that if they're beaten by a male outsider they have to marry them, I'm sorry but looks like you're trapped like me now."
" What do you mean trapped? Do you have to marry her too?" Rich asked.
" Yeah, and she's not he only one. My dad got me engaged to almost any girl he could get a dowry from on our world wide training journey. So far I have more than I want. Come on I'll take you over to my place and I'll let my dad explain everything to you and we can get some food in us." And the two went walking towards Tendo dojo.
" I'm home," Ranma said entering the dojo. Rich couldn't help but notice the sign on the door ' If you wish to engage Ranma Saotome to brutal combat use rear door.' As they walked in Rich looked around seeing a nice tidy house, " Hello anyone home." Ranma shouted again when a woman around 19 or 20 walked in the room.
" Oh Ranma welcome home. And I see you brought a guest," she turned to Rich, " Pleasure to meet you I am Kasumi Tendo." She bowed to Rich.
" The pleasure is all mine I am Richard Grayson." Rich returned the bow. Then Kasumi turned to Ranma.
" Will your guest be staying for dinner Ranma?" and he nodded, " Oh how wonderful, you know what they say the more people the better the meal." And she went to chopping up ingredients for the food.
" So what was it about having more than one fiancé Ranma? How can that happen, you said your dad engaged you to a lot of women but that can't hold a legal claim can it?" Rich asked.
" I don't know but tell that to the fiancé brigade. They're all obsessed about trying to marry me. It's ridiculous. I'm starting to lose my sanity with everything that's going on here." Ranma said sitting down, annoyed.
" Well why don't you move out or something?" Rich asked.
" No money."
" Ok I can understand that, so what was with that Shampoo girl that I'm supposedly engaged to now?"
" Well she's an Amazon, doesn't know Japanese very well, has a old ghoul for a great-grandmother they run a ramen shop together. Good food too, lets see what else. Oh yeah don't challenge the ghoul she's stronger than she looks a she looks like a shriveled up mummy."
" So I take it she's Chinese?"
" Yeah, Oh and the last thing is she can turn into a cat when hit with cold water."
" And why is that?" Rich asked.
" Now there is a long story," (A/N: For the sake of my sanity I'm not going to explain the whole Ranma back story, an for those of you who don't know it there are cursed springs that if you fall into them you turn into something when hit wit cold water and hot water turns you back, Ranma turns into a girl, Shampoo turns into a cat, Ranma's dad turns into a panda and Ryoga turns into a piglet)
" Ok, that's some pretty weird shit but not unbelievable." Rich said. Ranma looked surprised that Rich believed him so easily.
" You mean you believe me?"
" Yeah why would you lie about this, plus I've seen stranger things than people turning into animals, although you turning into a girl is a interesting feat." Rich raised his eyebrow.
"Very funny Rich so tell me about yourself." Ranma said and after a lengthy back-story on Rich's past it was dinnertime (if you want to know the back-story read the earlier chapters).
At the dinner table the whole Tendo family was there along with the panda that Rich realized was Mr. Saotome.
" Why do we have another guy at the table?" the one Ranma pointed out as Akane asked and looked at Rich with a murderous glare.
" He is Ranma's friend and I invited him to stay with us for dinner." Kasumi said and went back to eating.
" Actually I was wondering if Rich could stay in the guest room since he doesn't have a place to stay right now?" Ranma asked and it was immediate that Akane didn't like the sound of that but the one Ranma said was Nabiki kept staring at him the entire time with a mischievous grin on her face.
" Absolutely out of the question. We can't have another guy in the house. He's probably a pervert like Ranma." Akane yelled throwing her fist on the table.
" Who would want to look at a un-cute tomboy like you anyways?" Ranma commented. Akane stood up from the table and jumped at Ranma with a mallet that appeared out of nowhere ready to strike. Rich pushed Ranma out of the way and as Akane brought Mallet-sama down in his right hand caught the mallet and stopped it dead.
Everyone stared not wanting to move in shock that someone took a hit from Akane's mallet and didn't flinch or get shot out of the building. The mallet disappeared and Akane just stood there in shock at what Rich had done. Now Rich stood up and glared at Akane.
" I have done nothing wrong here so lets get one thing straight. I'm here as a guest and I find your lack of manners," he pointed to Akane, " disturbing to say the least. And to attack a man for making a comment is wrong, you've disgraced your family and yourself. Maybe next time you will think about your actions before you do them." And he walked out of the room. Once outside Rich grasped his right hand in pain, ' what the hell do they feed these people here that makes them so strong?' he thought and went to find some ice for his hand.
Back in the dinning room everyone was still in shock. Akane was contemplating Rich's words, the two fathers were wondering if he could take up training at the dojo, Kasumi was thinking about letting him stay with them, and Nabiki's eyes were turned into money signs at the amount of money she could get by selling his pictures at school to the girls. Ranma left the table to see how Rich was doing. Finding him in the hall he walked up to Rich but Rich caught him before he said anything.
" I know what you're going to say Ranma and you don't need to. I over stepped my bounds and I'll leave immediately," and Rich headed for the door when Ranma stopped him.
" I was just going to say thanks for helping me out back there. I've never seen anyone take Akane's mallet like that before. How did you do that?"
Rich held out his hand, " I grew up being shot at with live ammunition, and this hurt like a bitch, I didn't take it lightly, so for everything I've said and done I will leave. Don't worry about me I'll be fine so I'll see you around Ranma I'm sure of that." And he walked out the door.
Ranma stood there stunned at what Rich said, he took the blame on himself and walked away with it but that left Ranma with a taste of guilt thinking that he was the cause of his new friends departure, the guy took a hit from Akane's Mallet-sama for him it was an odd act of selflessness. There was definitely something odd about this Rich character and Ranma wanted him to stay, he noticed that Rich wasn't as tough as he was but he also noticed that Rich could handle himself and had more tricks up his sleeve than what he let on with the fight with Shampoo.
As Rich was walking away his path was obstructed by what looked like a shriveled old woman latched on a wood staff with a budge at the top.
" So you're the new groom are you?" she said.
" That depends on a few things. Who are you?" Rich questioned.
" I'm Cologne you've meet my great-granddaughter Shampoo and defeated her, so now you are engaged. I must say you don't look as strong as her other groom Ranma." She commented looking Rich over. " But there is a aura about you that interests me. Come and tell me about yourself and we will prepare for the wedding."
" And if I refuse?"
" I can convince you not to test me if you want but you don't seem like a stupid boy now are you?" she said and Rich decided not to push his luck.
As they approached a store Rich read the sign hanging above the door, " the Cat Café ." Interesting name, and as he walked in the girl Shampoo ran to him and wrapped her arms around his torso so he couldn't get away and tried to kiss him, but Rich pulled away, " I'm sorry but I have someone else in my life and she'd kill me if I did that." Rich said trying not to be two harmful but she just tried again and when Rich resisted she squeezed him tightly to break his resistance. That wasn't going to happen.
" Why you stop Shampoo from doing law?" she asked teary eyed.
" Because aren't you already engaged to Ranma?"
" That's not a problem Rich. Amazon law states that you can have more than one spouse." Cologne answered cheerfully.
" Well it's nice but I don't believe in that type of thing. I'm sorry" Rich answered.
" You don't have a choice Rich, our laws clearly state you must marry Shampoo." Cologne said.
" But that is in China if I'm not mistaken and since we are in Japan you're laws don't have a meaning here." Rich pointed out.
" But they do. Our laws are recognized by China and China's laws are recognized by the world so if we preformed a Chinese marriage ceremony it is legal. Is that not true?"
'Damn,' Rich thought trying to figure a way out of this situation. " Let me put it this way, I am not going to marry Shampoo even if you try to force me I might just surprise you with the level to which I can be resistant" Rich warned and stated out the door when Cologne hit him in the lower back and he stumbled to the ground unable to move his legs.
" Now where do you think you are going new groom?" the ghoul asked smiling.
" What have you done to my legs?' Rich asked annoyed, " and why do people think they have to force me to do things, it never works out in the end for them." This time with a little anger in his voice.
" Now, now don't get testy with me young man. You should listen to your elders boy, as for what I did lets just say you won't be walking out of here for a couple of hours." The old mummy cackled.
As Shampoo dragged him to the back of the shop where there was a couple of cots for sleeping, Shampoo laid him down on one of the cots. She was going to try to perform the kiss of marriage one more time when she looked into his eyes. She saw nothing but a cold angry stare at the ceiling and a void of all other emotion, the look scared her and she left the room to talk to her great-grandmother.
" Great-grandmother. I have a strange feeling about my new fiancé." She said in a worried voice in Chinese, (its easer for her to talk in Chinese).
" What is it dear?" Cologne wondered.
" When I looked into his eyes I saw no emotion there like he was shut off, I saw a void in his eyes." She said shaken.
" I find his presence different from other peoples I've noticed but I think we can teach him a lot about opening up if we are patient. I think I will help him with Ranma's training but that can wait till the morning" and the two women went to bed.
The next morning Rich woke up and could move his legs getting up and moved around to make sure they were working alright, after he did some stretches he reached up and looped his legs into the rafters and did him morning exercises forgoing the five mile run since he didn't know the area enough, but instead decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood. Since he didn't have to attend school anymore he didn't see many kids around the neighborhood as he walked he felt someone behind him ready for an attack. Barely dodging the attack Rich spun around to find out that Cologne was the one who attacked.
" What is your deal lady? First you stop me from leaving and now you attack me for no reason. What is with you people here, first Akane and now you. I'm starting to think everyone here is crazy."
" You have meet the Tendo's and said Akane attacked you? Is that how you came to be by the ramen shop?"
" No I walked there. She tried to hit Ranma with a mallet and I stoped her because he didn't do anything wrong. I've got to tell you she packs quite a punch with that thing, my hand still hurts from catching it."
' He caught Akane's mallet with his bare hands! Not even Ranma can do that. I've got to see what else he can do.' " Well I can train you to over come that pain with my training. Have you heard of the 'Breaking Point Technique'?"
" Yeah Ranma mentioned it before and also mentioned you with that but didn't say exactly what you had to do with it. Why so interested in me?"
" I'm interested with all my great-granddaughter's fiancés." She said.
" How many times have I told you people I'm not going to marry her. End of discussion!" his anger was showing for the first time anyone in Nermia had seen. Even Cologne was wondering what he could do if he was angry enough and that sent a shiver down her spine, something about him wasn't right.
" I'm sorry but even our laws must be upheld. I'm sure you understand that." He nodded, " But you are right, it was wrong of me to push you into it, and I'm sorry." She said, "by the way shouldn't you be in school?"
" No I finished school a month of so ago. Why need someone to help at the restaurant?"
" Yes in fact we do, while Shampoo runs deliveries I could use a hand around during the rush hours."
" Alright I'll do it but only if you let me stay at the café since I don't have a place to stay, Ranma offered to let me stay at the dojo but by the look of it it's crowded enough as it is." Rich said shaking Cologne's hand sealing the deal.
" Good but enough talk of work let us begin your training." Rich raised his eyebrow, " if you are you marry Shampoo you first must be stronger than you are so we shall start with the breaking point and then see how fast you are." And the two walked towards the outskirts for his training.
After half a day of being beaten within an inch of his life with a boulder Rich has almost got the hang of finding the weak spot it's just Rich was getting tired from the beating he was getting. After another 10 minutes they were interrupted.
" So ghoul this is where you are." Ranma said looking down on the two of them. " Come on Rich I've got a better way of doing this."
Ranma cut him down and took him to a construction site in town. " Ah Ranma what are we doing at a construction site?" and when Rich looked at the wrecking ball he had a bad feeling in his stomach. " You've got to be kidding me." But no Ranma tied Rich up with wire cable and did the same thing that Cologne did but with the wreaking ball. Lets just say it took a lot less time to learn the technique with the motivation of a wreaking ball than a boulder. It only took Rich a couple of hours to master the technique but the healing took a couple of days.
Afterwards Rich fell into his job at the Cat Café serving tables and a little cooking in between his training with Cologne. After the breaking point Cologne was going to teach him the 'Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire' a technique that allows one to attack with unbelievable speed.
" Come child and watch this technique." She said throwing the contents of a bag into the fire and all Rich saw was the blur of her hands and before he knew it she was holding all the nuts she dumped into the fire. Rich's face turned into shock, " Now you try." She said dumping another bag into the fire.
Rich tried for days to master this technique and for days he was frustrated by failure Rich worked day and night to get the nuts without burning himself by the flames. The days turned into weeks and Rich was starting to loose his grip, Rich barely eaten or slept, all he did was train to get stronger. The others tried to help him, getting him to rest but all he had to do was glare at them and they would leave him alone for a time. They even tried to have Akane knock him unconscious with Mallet-sama but that didn't work when Rich caught it for a second time, and this time the didn't hurt his hand. As Cologne watched him work she offered some advice. " If you force something that is achieved with grace you will only grasp failure." She said and walked away.
Then Rich had a thought, it's not just speed but grace as well something he was very good at, being graceful part of his families life and he forgot it. Rich tried it one last time for the day he threw the chestnuts into the fire and with the grace born of his heritage collected all the nuts at a rate that even Cologne was impressed with.
" Very good boy now take a rest. I expect you to be at work tomorrow if top shape." she said walking back into the café . Rich just smirked and followed her inside. That night he got the best sleep he's had since he arrived in Nermia.
It had been three weeks since Rich and arrived in Nermia and his life was as peaceful as it got there. He wasn't getting into any fights with the NWC (Nermia Wreaking Crew) with the occasional save for Ranma from Mallet-sama and Shampoo's bike of doom. Even Ryoga as toned down his attacks on Ranma after Rich took one of Ryoga's punches square in the jaw like it was nothing, it appeared that with all the shit training and experiments had almost taking his new techniques are strengthened to a degree that one would have to have continues training.
Along with working at the café Rich was also learning shiatsu pressure points from Cologne, Rich was incorporating it with his own fighting style thinking it would come in handy one day, especially being able to revert someone to the strength of a child and have there ki energies depleted. Although Rich wasn't exactly sure what ki was at this point so he asked Ranma about it.
Running to catch him after he left school Rich waited for Ranma to come around the corner. " Yo Rich what's up?"
" I was wondering if you could tell me what this ki stuff is?" Rich asked.
" Ki that's easy. Ki is the body's physical energy and to someone who knows how to use it they can manipulate this energy into an attack, we use our emotions to control it." Ranma explained.
" Well that does me a lot of good." Rich grimaced.
" Why's that?"
" I don't fight with emotion. I don't know how. Anytime I let emotion into a fight I lose focus and someone gets hurt." Rich said as the memory of Columbia came into view. Rich had lost his composure and went into the drug lord's complex fueled by rage and anger and got his squad killed and himself and Jack barely out alive. At the memory Rich gripped his chest as if in pain and he hunched over leaning against a near by wall for support.
" Rich you ok?" Ranma asked concerned leaning over him at Rich's reaction.
" Yeah," he said his voice sounding shaken, " Just a bad memory." Ranma nodded and understood after all Ranma had unpleasant memories himself about his father's training him in the Neko-Ken (Ok explanation time, the Neko-Ken or Cat Fist is a berserker state were a person becomes unstoppable with a cat's like reflexes, enhanced straight and the ability to form ki claws that can cut threw any substance with ease. Now back to the story.) Ranma shivered at the memory of it.
" Well I can help you with trying o control your ki if you help me with something" Ranma proposed.
" What do you need help with?'
" My studies, I was built for Martial Arts not school. So if you help me understand school I'll help you understand ki. Deal?" he said extending his hand. Rich grasped it in agreement. Thus the mass study tour began, the one subject that Ranma didn't have too much of problem with are English and Physical Education since on Ranma's Training journey took him to England and a part of America. However his other subject are less than terrible Math, Science, Japanese, History are all in the low D's Rich flinched,
' How could he have such horrible grades?' Rich thought looking over Ranma's homework, " Alright I can help you with this but we need to find a way to make you learn easier. What is something that you learn with ease?"
" New fighting techniques." Was the first thought in Ranma's head.
' Ok so I just need to make this into a fighting style.' " Alright we need to make these subjects relate to fighting," Rich smirked as an idea came to mind and they started work.
It took some time before Ranma's grades showed signs of improvement but with Rich's help Ranma was finally understanding his subjects and the same was true for Rich. Although Rich couldn't learn any attacks from Ranma or Ryoga since he felt neither confidence nor depression when fighting he couldn't learn from them but he could learn to control his own ki flow.
Now for those of you who are wondering about Shampoo's obsession with Rich let me get this straight, yes she is trying to marry him but after that first she backed off about it, Rich put off a dangerous aura that she didn't really want to test. Knowing that he could beat her before her great-grandmothers training. Nabiki was another matter. After her first photographs of Rich and Ranma walking down the street those weeks back she hadn't gotten a decent picture of him since. Good thing she made duplicates for herself after selling the first copy for a hefty price. The girls at school were going nuts that she couldn't get anymore pictures of the new hot guy they'd seen around town but when ever Nabiki got her camera out Rich conveniently disappeared or was at a indistinguishable angle.
Nabiki was getting frustrated that she wasn't making as much money as she liked off Rich or that her private collection was lacking, until she found out that Rich was tutoring Ranma and would show up at school occasionally but he and Ranma would disappear as soon as they would meet up.
A plan was forming in Nabiki's head all she had to do was make sure she got all the girls out of class before Ranma did and she could charge highly for the information on where Rich would be next. As she passed the word around for the girls to rush out of class and into the courtyard and Nabiki promised that Rich would be there.
Right on time Rich was waiting outside waiting for Ranma as usual when he heard the three most horrific words he'd heard since he arrived in Nermia. " THERE HE IS!" he heard a girl shout and as he turned around to see a swarm of hormone crazed girls sprinting at him. Well only one thought came to his head; RUN and he booked it as fast as he could for the forest. Rich needed cover and lots of it if he was going to survive this.
Watching from his hiding spot in the tree tops Rich waited for the sea of girls to pass wondering how they were able to keep up with him but chocked it up to adrenaline and hormones and left it at that. Making sure he wasn't being followed and went back home to the Cat Café .
As he entered the café he saw Ranma looking almost ashamed and as Rich as about to ask the uncontrollable flood of estrogen showed up at the door looking for Rich. He quickly turned to Ranma who said, " I'm sorry they followed me cause Nabiki told them to. I thought I lost them honest." He pleaded but Rich was letting his temper go for the first time since he came to Japan and with his new abilities it looked like the café wouldn't survive.
As Rich turned to the crowed and shot them a murderous look that would cause animals to die of fright but the girls saw it as the hottest thing they'd seen thinking he was a rebellious bad ass. Needless to say Rich got frustrated and jumped thought the roof and roof jumped away from the district to cool off a bit before returning.
Just on the outskirts of Nermia Rich sat on the top of bus stop shelter letting the cool night breeze calm his nerves and let his thoughts wonder. He didn't know how long he sat there when his mind turned to Raven, He missed her terribly and dropped his head letting his emotions out with a single tear. Letting it stream down his face and fall to the pavement he realized for the first time that he wasn't alone, Shampoo was there on her bike looking up at him. She had a questioning look on her face wondering why he let himself cry after the weeks of emotionless ness that he showed everyone. Then Shampoo saw it in his eyes, the sadness and horror of his life in a brief instant were shown to her and she understood a little better why he distanced himself from others. Until recently (meaning in the last four years) in his life he didn't know what happiness was or anything other than pain and suffering. She knew that Rich had demons that others didn't even Ranma so no one could understand what he was going through.
They reached an agreement that night, She wouldn't press the issue and he would try to be more open but there were no guaranties. Over the next several days the Cat Café seemed more popular than ever now that the girls new Rich worked there they had to hire on extra hands, male of course the girls only wanted to work there to stare at Rich and wouldn't do anything, lets just say Cologne got a lot of practice at firing people.
(Time Jump about a year)
Rich just got done with a shift at the café when he was walking out back of the café when he heard a camera shutter snap, looking into the bushes he groaned, " Nabiki!" and watched as he saw the middle Tendo child come out from her hiding place.
" How do you always know when I'm taking pictures Rich?" she asked innocently.
" I hear the shutter. How much have you made off me now almost a million yen or so?"
" More than that. I usually get than much from Ranma-chan with the guys but you. You're a gold mine with the girls. They ask for three copies at least and don't care how much they cost. You even have your own fan club as school." She said sitting on the bench next to the door.
" I know and that's why I think it's time for me to move on."
Shocked Nabiki didn't know what to say, " Wha… but…. why Rich. I thought you'd stay here. Why are you going to leave?" she asked sadly.
" I've got more training to do and I will eventually go back home."
" But I thought here was home Rich? If this isn't home where is it than?"
" America. I've got unfinished business there and people who worry about me. I'm going to have a hell of a time explaining things to them as it is but not coming back at all they'll think I'm dead. I can't do that to her… um them." He slipped.
" So you have someone special back in America?" she said almost heartbroken wishing she was the girl he thought of.
" Yes I do and I want you to know Nabiki that I care for all of you here in Nermia like family." He gave her a soft smile and went back inside and started to pack his things.
In the morning Rich woke to find the whole NWC waiting in the cafe to say goodbye. He shook hands with Soun Tendo, and Genma Saotome, kissed the Tendo girls and Shampoo goodbye, bowed to Cologne in gratitude and lastly shook hands with Ryoga and Ranma but before he left Cologne had one last thing to say, " You will always have a home her Rich remember that." And Rich waved to them leaving in the rising sun.
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
A/N: Damn that was a long chapter. I hope none of you got board reading it I tried to make it as action packed and funny as possible. R&R as always and a warning there is still lots more back story to go so don't think it's done just yet. I've got to give props to my buddy Rusty for getting me on this track thanks bud.