Ryouga and Akane stared in shock at the front of Ukyou's restaurant. The door was in splinters at their feet and the proprietor was nowhere to be found. A quick investigation inside revealed Ranma's schoolbag. He had been there as well, but he too was nowhere to be found. Ryouga ran upstairs to see if anything had been stolen, or if he could've found some clues as to what went on, leaving Akane outside pacing back and forth wracked with worry.

What in the world could've happened? Could Ranma and Ukyou have gotten in a fight? True, Ranma did have the abrasive personality to set anyone off and Ukyou had lashed out at him before. But then what? Where were they? There wasn't enough damage to the surrounding areas for a protracted struggle...nor were there any damage roofs to signify a boot into the air scenario. Something out of the ordinary had to have happened.

Ryouga came back downstairs and shrugged. "Her huge spatula is still inside too, but I couldn't find anything else." Now that made Akane really worried. It couldn't have been a fight between them, then, because Ukyou would never willingly go into a fight without it.

Even though he put on a brave front, Ryouga was worried too. He strapped her huge spatula to his back and continued to look around, hoping he missed something. He couldn't help but figure it was all his fault. If he had heard her out from the beginning instead of walking away in a huff, chances were good he would've been there for her to stop whatever it was that happened to her. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if anything happened to her. Looking at the debris on, Ryouga noticed something that didn't fit. "Akane, what's that by your feet?"

"Hmm?" Akane looked down and noticed for the first time the balled up pieces of paper by her feet. She picked it up and unfurled it. "Ryouga! This looks like a challenge letter...to you!"

"Me?" asked Ryouga. She handed him the crumpled papers, which he read. He didn't recognize the handwriting, nor did he have any idea whom he could have unfinished business with, save Ranma. And Ranma wasn't the type to do challenge letters. Nor was he the type to, as the note indicated, kidnap someone. He studied the map that was attached to the note. "Akane, can you lead me to this place?"

She looked at the map, "That's not too far from here. Let's go!"

-

Dreamweaver Studios Presents

Ranma½

And the Beat Goes On

"Hi! My name is..."

-

What a strange dream. Ryouga was upset with her because of some stupid misunderstanding that lead to he fighting Tsubasa. And while she was alone, some stranger broke into her home and kidnapped her. That was, of course, stupid. Akane was always the damsel in distress in that area. With the amount of times she got kidnapped, everyone managed to see the world...twice. Such a thing wasn't even unheard of for Shampoo. Of course, no one alive would ever want to deal with that purple haired hussy...except maybe Mousse. Even he got tired of her and went to someone else. She had to have some ghost cat take her.

But Ukyou? No way. Ukyou was the strong one. She wasn't one of those fair maidens who would get whisked away by a villain, waiting for some knight in shining armor to rescue her. Any villain tried to play that with her would get a mega-spatula in the face for their troubles. She wouldn't even use that as a ploy to ensnare a guy she liked; she wouldn't even dream of doing those kinds of games...usually.

That little mix-up with Ryouga and Tsubasa still played havoc with her mind. She had no idea what possessed her to run behind Ryouga like that to fight her battle for her. More than that, what was with that hug-press-"oh honey" thing? Now that she thought about it, that was way over the top. With the way Ryouga was, doing stuff like that could give him the wrong idea. She had to admit, Ryouga was a decent guy and all, but with everything that she had been through with Ranma, she really didn't want to get involved in another romantic mess. Of course, if she were to go down that road again, she supposed Ryouga wouldn't be a bad guy to...

Woah! Hold it! Stop right there! Don't even think about anything stupid like that! Let's just wake up from the dream and go on about the day, hmm? Slowly, her eyes fluttered open and she immediately regretted returning to the land of the awake and aware. The world seemed to be spinning out of control around her. Not only that, but there seemed to be this awful scent in her nose and taste in her mouth that made her want to gag.

"Hello, sleepy head. Enjoy your nap?"

Her eyes flew open at the unfamiliar voice, catching the sight of her abductor. Crap, so it wasn't a dream. "Who are you?" she demanded, her voice slurring slightly.

"I am your host for the moment. By the way, I must apologize for that. I think I used a bit too much chloroform when I put you to sleep. I don't have much experience in this whole kidnapping thing."

"What do you want with me?" she asked, going down the list of standard kidnapping victim questions.

"You? Nothing. You're merely the bait for my true prey!"

Ukyou felt a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, and she was sure it wasn't from whatever chemicals he used to render her unconscious. "Bait?"

"Yes. Bait. Soon, your lover-boy, Ryouga Hibiki, is going to come valiantly to your rescue. But what a surprise it will be for him to find me, a blast from his past standing in the way, ready to settle an old, festering grudge. I'm sure he's going to do everything in his power to keep you safe from harm...in fact, I'm counting on it. I happen to know that Ryouga has grown stronger since our last encounter...a lot stronger. Of course, I know I could beat him easily still. But it never hurts to have an insurance policy. That would be you. You are his weakness and I intend to use that advantage to its fullest!"

While he was jabbering on and on, Ukyou took in her surroundings. It appeared they were in Nerima's central park. The sun was deep into the western horizon, which meant she had been unconscious for quite a few hours already. She also noticed she was leaning against a pole of some sort...from what little she could make out from her vantage point, it was probably one of the support poles for the monkey bars. She figured she wouldn't be able to power her way out of this situation. It would require a bit of finesse for everything to turn out right. She reached into a hidden pocket of her school uniform, pulled out one of the mini spatulas she kept there and began cutting away at her bonds.

It was then she noticed her kidnapper waving his hands in front of her. "Hello!" he said. "Have you heard a single thing I said?"

"Yeah, yeah. Kidnap me, hold me hostage, use me against Ryouga, blah blah blah. What makes you think Ryouga is even going to come for me?"

"Pfft. He'd be even less of a man than I gave him credit for if he wouldn't come for his woman."

"Excuse me? What exactly do you mean by 'his woman'?"

Her kidnapper looked at her, confused. "That's what you are, aren't you? After all, you've been married for four years and have two kids, right?"

Ukyou would've facefaulted if she weren't tied down. "Let me guess; you've been spying on us in school and while you were there, you overheard some rumors about us, right?"

"That's right."

"Heh, that's wrong. Ryouga's an employee and a friend. Nothing more. And as far as I know, he's not even in town anymore. You've just gone through a whole lot of trouble for nothing."

"I don't think so," he said. "I've been tracking Ryouga for a very long time. I've never gotten this close to him before. Usually, by the time I reach a town where I think he is, he's usually packed up and moved on. There's something rooting him here to this infuriating town. Even if he's not here now, I have a feeling he will be back. Of course, you will have to remain my guest until the time comes when he does show up again. I mean, friend or lover, if Ryouga doesn't come for you, he wouldn't be much of either, would he?"

This guy just didn't know what he was talking about. Ryouga was gone. Even if he did come back, there was no guarantee he would try to rescue her. No doubt he would still be upset about the slight she committed against him. No, she was going to have to get out of this mess herself. Ukyou checked the rope that tied her hands to the pole and found she had cut through it well enough that one good yank would free her. All she needed now was a distraction so he wouldn't notice her getting away.

Ukyou smiled. This guy was quite longwinded. All she needed to do was get him started and he should be able to distract himself. "Who are you? What in the world do you have against Ryouga anyway?"

"What do I have against Hibiki?" He scratched his chin, "My dear, that's quite a list. I could go on for quite some time with the amount of grievances I have against him. However, what started it was the time we spent in the dojo...I was the crown jewel in that school. All who challenged me fell to my hands...everyone there feared me...even a few of the instructors. But that all changed when HE showed up. Once he appeared, everything changed. I fell from grace. All of the fear everyone had for me turned into contempt. Even after he left, I could never emerge from his shadow. But that wasn't the worst of it...oh no! It was because of him, something far worse happened...a bane to my existence that haunts me even to this day! But I won't get to that now. It's far to infuriating to mention.

"As for who I am...well, that wouldn't matter to you much, would it? But the least I could do, as a proper host, is introduce myself. My name is-" He stopped long enough to notice that during his long speech, Ukyou had broken free and was already turning the corner out of the park. "Hey!"

'That must be how he intends to exact his revenge,' Ukyou thought as she ran. 'He's going to talk Ryouga to death!' She ran down the sidewalk next to the brick wall that separated the park from the street. Obviously, her restaurant wasn't going to be a safe place for her to stay, she already having been kidnapped from there. As much as it may hurt having to go to him, the only person she could think to ask for help now was Ranma. Hopefully, she should be safe from the chatterbox with him and the Tendos.

Just before she reached the end of the block, the brick fence exploded in front of her, with her kidnapper jumping out of the dust cloud. She got into a defensive position, instinctively reaching behind her for her mega-spatula. "Tsk...I forgot it's not with me."

He stalked up to her, "You ask for an introduction and you run off before I could give it? How rude."

"What can I say," retorted Ukyou. "You kept droning on and on. I just got bored and left."

"Hmm...I see your point. I do have a bad habit of rambling, don't I?" He leveled his umbrella at her, with the bladed tip glowing and pointed dangerously close to her throat, "Well then, what say we cut to the chase?"

Before he could do anything, there was a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to get rid of the person interrupting his business and was met with a fist to the face that propelled him back through the wall into the park. 'What in the world was that?' he thought, as he picked himself up off of the cool grass. 'It looked like a fist, but it felt like I was hit in the face with a car!' He looked up and saw a familiar looking man with a red Chinese shirt, a pigtail and a very mean looking snarl.

"That's what you get for sucker punching me!"

"Ranma!" cried Ukyou.

"You okay, Ucchan?" Ranma asked her.

"Yeah," she answered. "You came just at the right time."

The kidnapper stood up and brushed himself off, cursing at the patches of green that refused to budge from his suit. "Damn it! Do you have any idea how hard it's going to be to get these grass stains out?"

Ranma cracked his knuckles, "You got a lot more to worry about than grass stains, buddy. Just who in the world are you, anyway?"

"A person who wasn't interested in a fight with anyone else but my intended prey. However, if you insist, I'll happily oblige you." He brought his umbrella to bear again, infusing it with his ki. "And remember my name, as you will be repeating it over and over again in agony once you're lying broken at my feet! It's -hurk-!

Ranma grabbed him by his tie and sneered. "You know? Now that I think about it, I don't really care what your name is." He punched the kidnapper in the face again, causing him to slam into a nearby tree.

The kidnapper pushed himself up on his elbows and shook his head clear. 'Just great. Not only is he incredibly strong, but he's fast too. I had no idea there was anyone else this powerful around.' He looked at Ranma again and his eyes widened. His tie was still in the pigtailed martial artist's hands, ripping apart after his last attack. A smoldering rage filled the newcomer. That was his favorite tie and now it was ruined. He didn't care how ridiculously strong that guy was. He was going to pay for that.

He stood up again and charged, stabbing and slicing at Ranma with the glowing edge of his umbrella. Ranma, however, managed to dodge every one of his strikes. The pigtailed martial artist seemed to be reading his movements, instantaneously predicting where the umbrella was going to go and reacting accordingly. With that in mind, the newcomer feinted towards Ranma's face hoping for a particular reaction. Ranma gave it to him by leaning towards the right and back slightly, which left his abdomen wide open.

"REIKI TSUUDAKEN!"

The hilt of the newcomer's umbrella was enveloped by the newcomer's ki and he struck Ranma in the midsection again, causing Ranma to crash through another section of the wall and across the street, embedding him in the building on the adjoining block. The newcomer chuckled to himself. This Ranma guy was pretty good, but clearly, he was nowhere near as advanced as he was. Time to put an end to this. "KIHAKU SETSUDANKI!" With the hilt of his umbrella in hand, he swung the bladed end in an arc, making a razor sharp crescent shaped energy attack.

Seeing this new attack coming, even while embedded in that wall, Ranma willed his confidence to the surface, leaving not one trace of doubt he would be able to defeat this guy. Whoever he was, he wasn't going to get away with that sneak attack earlier, nor would he get away with kidnapping Ukyou. His own ki now bursting from the seams, Ranma dislodged himself from the wall and returned fire, "MOUKO TAKIBISHA!"

Ranma's beam destroyed his opponent's crescent attack and struck him full on in the chest, knocking him backwards through two more trees, finally coming to rest in a sandbox. The newcomer rolled over on his back and stared up into the growing dusk. Looks like that Ranma guy was at a more advanced level than he gave him credit for. How could he have underestimated this guy that badly?

As Ranma gingerly made his way back to the park, Ukyou ran up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Ranchan, you okay?"

"Sure. I've taken a lot worse before." It was only half true. With that last hit striking the same place as before, he was having trouble catching his breath. This guy may not hit as hard as some of Ranma's previous opponents, but he seemed to make up for it by knowing where to hit.

Great. That guy was coming for more. The newcomer picked himself back up off the ground and readied himself for the next assault, cursing his luck. 'Damn it all!' he thought. 'So close! I was so close to finally facing off against Ryouga in battle again. I was so close to beating him to a pulp for what he did to me! It figures I'd run in to someone like this before I even got to Hibiki. Damn it, what else could go wrong?'

"Look! They're over there!" Well, that answered that.

Turing around, Ranma and Ukyou found Ryouga and Akane climbing over the debris of the wall to enter the park grounds. For her part, Ukyou was nearly moved to tears seeing that Ryouga, indeed, had come for her. Of course, she'd never embarrass herself by breaking down like that in front of anyone else. Still, she couldn't help letting out a long sigh of relief. Ryouga went up to her and asked, "Are you okay, Ukyou? You weren't hurt or anything, were you?"

She shook her head and smiled, "I'm fine. Thanks for proving me wrong."

He gave her a confused look, "Huh?"

"Forget it."

"Erm...okay. Oh, I almost forgot. Here you go." He removed Ukyou's mega-spatula from his back and handed it to her.

"Thanks. This is just what I needed to pay a certain kidnapper back for his...'hospitality'." Ukyou grinned evilly at him. He cursed again. That's what he got for asking such a stupid question.

"So, Ryouga," Ranma started. "This guy's here for you. Mind filling us in on who he is?"

Ryouga gave the newcomer a once over. "Hmm...To tell the truth, I don't know who this guy is."

The newcomer raised an eyebrow...one of the few spots on him that wasn't sore. "Are you sure you don't recognize me, Hibiki? Take a good, long look."

Ryouga looked him over again. Now that he thought about it, the guy did look familiar. The sneering attitude, the suits and the umbrella with the blade on it...he just couldn't place where he could've seen him before, though. In all of his journeys, he had met so many people, so it was difficult for him to pin down where or when he could've met this person. Beyond that, the only thing he had on his mind at the time was revenge against Ranma. Ever since they were in middle school, Saotome had tormented him and from that time on, the thirst for vengeance fueled Ryouga, spurring him on and shutting everything else out.

Wait...school...he could feel a connection being made. He must've met this guy in a school someplace. He could vaguely remember stopping off at various martial arts schools during his initial journey to pick up some techniques he could use along the way. Ryouga was sure that at one of those schools, he met another rather arrogant martial artist that liked to lord his superiority over the other students. And if he remembered correctly, that other guy's weapon of choice was an umbrella with a blade on the end. Not only that, but when classes weren't in session, he also liked to parade around in expensive looking suits.

Ryouga looked him over one more time. It couldn't have been the same guy, could it? If he remembered correctly, that other guy was rather portly. But it had been so long since those days; he could've changed a lot. Couldn't hurt to enquire. "Your name wouldn't happen to be Oswald Cobblepot, would it?"

The newcomer sweatdropped. "Please. Don't insult me by mistaking me for that bird brain."

Okay, so that wasn't his name. Made sense too. No plastic surgery in the world could've fixed that Cobblepot guy's face. Still, if that wasn't him, then who? Ryouga's eyes widened. There was another one he knew of nearly as arrogant, nearly as sadistic, but without the bird fetish. "But...but it can't be," Ryouga said to himself.

"So, you finally remember?"

"You-You're not Ryo Muhoshin, are you?"

The newcomer facefaulted, "NO YOU IDIOT!"

"Well then, I give up," said Ryouga with a shrug.

"After everything you've done to me, you don't even have the decency to remember my name?"

"Look, I've had a lot on my mind, especially recently," Ryouga said, defensively. "You have no idea what I've been through."

"What YOU'VE been through?" Ryouga's nemesis repeated with a snarl. "I seriously doubt anything you've been through can compare to what I've been through. Because of you, my life has been a living hell! You'd better get yourself ready, because soon the day of reckoning will come and I will pay you back a hundred fold for every indignity I've endured!" He really wanted to attack Hibiki right then and there, but since he was so beat up from his encounter with Ranma, he knew he wouldn't stand a chance. So, after making his threat, he leapt onto what was left of the brick wall to make his escape.

"Wait!" called Ryouga. "I still don't know your name!"

The newcomer turned back to him. "It's Hayate Kurogane. Remember it this time!"

Hayate Kurogane? Ryouga snapped his fingers, "Hey! I remember you now!" But by that time, he was gone.

Putting the spatula in its place on her back, Ukyou walked up to Ryouga's side, "So, do you know who that guy is?"

Ryouga nodded. "I can't believe I ever forgot that guy, but yeah. I know him. I'll tell you about him later. Right now, I'm just glad you're okay. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if anything happened to you because I stormed off over some misunderstanding."

"I'm just sorry I caused that whole misunderstanding."

Akane smiled, "Well, it seems as though they're getting along well again."

"Good for them," went Ranma, holding his midsection.

"Ranma, you okay?" asked his fiancée.

"Nothin' a few helpings of dinner won't cure. I just hope pop doesn't help himself to mine." Ranma walked over to his rival, "Hey Ryouga. I don't know the story between you two, but I wouldn't take this guy lightly if I were you. He may not look like much, but he's a tough one."

Ryouga nodded again, "I know."

"'You've made my life hell! You've made my life hell!' I don't know about you, but that sounds awfully familiar to me," Ranma said with a grin, nudging Ryouga in the ribs.

"Oh, shut up!" he returned.

----+----+----+----+----

----+----+----+----+----

-Dedicated to the fanfics The More Things Change and The Pursuit of Happiness...ended well before their time.