The Heart of Fire.

One is said to have a fiery temperament if one is goaded into anger easily. Usually, when this happens, a person is very prone to making careless, sloppy mistakes. That was the reason Ranma usually struck his opponents with insults along with his attacks. The angrier his opponent got, the more powerful, the more dangerous they'd become, but the less likely they'd be able to control themselves properly. While they would flail about filled with rage, Ranma, still cool and collected, would turn the fight to his favor and score and easy victory.

Usually.

The Heart of Fire would get rid of that malady. It would have the same result as the Soul of Ice, but going in the exact opposite direction to get there. The Soul of Ice was a technique to deaden your emotions. While you were in that state, no outside stimulus was supposed to rattle you. You became a cold, calculating warrior, luring your opponent into your trap, which was usually the Dragon Blast of Heaven. The other, major effect of the Soul of Ice technique was the lowering of the user's temperature. When his cold ki collided with his adversary's hot ki, it would explode in much the same way hot air mixing with cold air would cause violent thunderstorms.

However, a user of the Heart of Fire would welcome those 'hot' emotions. The anger, the rage, all of the range of emotions would be brought up to fuel the user, but the user of the Heart of Fire would still keep clear control, instead of allowing his emotions to control him. With clarity of thought still on his side, the user of the Heart of Fire would be able to focus his fiery emotions and use them to his advantage instead of his opponent using it; the equal yet exact opposite of the Soul of Ice.

Also, the temperature of the Heart of Fire user would increase dramatically, much more than anyone else with just a bad temper. Again, much like the Soul of Ice, the user of the Heart of Fire had a variety of moves he could use against an opponent once he was drawn into the user's trap. Wonder what Ranma would do if he knew the Dragon Blast of Heaven was just the third level Dragon move? But then, those were secrets to be left to the Amazons. At any rate, Ranma had taken that second level move and had done things with it even fabled Amazon matriarchs never did.

The Phoenix move that was the mirror to the Dragon Blast of Heaven was Dance of the Fire Bird where both opponents would move in a spiral until they reached the center point. Once there, the user of the Heart of Fire would ignite all of the boiling hot ki into a vortex of fire powerful enough to, hopefully, defeat the user's enemy. This wasn't a move to be used against one with the Soul of Ice, however, as the hot ki coming from the user of the Heart of Fire was just what would be needed to launch the Dragon Blast of Heaven, while igniting the Dance of the Fire Bird would be impossible. On the other hand, the user of the Soul of Ice would've been wise not to launch the Dragon Blast of Heaven, as the resulting explosion would've been enough to kill the user as well at the intended target.

Mousse stood in the middle of Autumn's backyard, small flames dancing on the grass at his feet. After many weeks of practice, he had finally gained mastery over the Heart of Fire. He didn't even flinch when what appeared to be a female ninja popped out of the shadows and goosed him on the rear end. His focus was on the challenge that laid ahead, the challenge he would soon deliver to Ranma to test out his new skill. The Dance of the Firebird clearly wasn't going to cut it. He would have to depend only on the first and second level Phoenix moves, the Phoenix Inferno and the Wings of Embers.

Disengaging the technique, he smiled. When they finally do battle, Ranma won't even know what hit him. Mousse was feeling good that he finally got the foundation of his future skill set mastered and wanted to push straight ahead into his next lesson, but the skies had grown dark. No doubt Autumn would have a few words to say about him staying up all night training making him too tired to help her run the store during the day. So he went back inside to unwind from the day.

As he closed the door behind him, he heard Autumn having a conversation with another girl. That was strange. Who in the world would Autumn be talking to this late? The store was closed, after all. Beyond that, she never allowed any customers in their living area, which was where he heard the conversation coming from. Making his way upstairs, Mousse entered the living area to find out exactly whom it was that could earn such an exception from his fiancée's house rules. He found Autumn in the living room sitting on the couch beside a girl with short, dark hair with the ends pointed upwards. The most interesting thing Mousse noticed about this girl was what she was wearing...a ninja gi.

"Well, well" the ninja girl started with a devious smile. "There he is! I've met some hot guys before but you...sheesh! My hand is still scalded." She shook the offending hand, trying to cool it.

"So that was you?" went Mousse.

"What can I say?" she returned. "I just saw you standing there and I couldn't resist, so I went after those cute buns of yours. Didn't know they were such toasty buns though."

Autumn sweatdropped. "Eh...I guess I have some explaining to do, don't I?"

Mousse nodded dumbly with his mouth agape.

-

Dreamweaver Studios Presents

Ranma½

And the Beat Goes On

"Story Time"

-

What a day. It was good to finally be home; even if home was in a crazy town with a stupidly named gang of girls beating down anyone they felt was guilty of some sort of perversion, some stupid idiots who fought using giant robots, and a ton of stupidly strong martial artists who liked to make nuisances of themselves. Hayate fumbled with his keys, trying to find the right one to unlock the door to his apartment. Doing so, he entered and locked up behind himself, dropping his umbrella, kicking off his shoes and flopping down on the couch.

Finally, he had found Ryouga Hibiki! Finally, he was going to have his revenge for everything Hibiki had put him through, only it never happened. He had been thoroughly thrashed before Hibiki even arrived to the scene of the fight. What was it that girl called him? Oh yes...Ranma. That Ranma guy ruined his plan, not to mention his suit and favorite tie. He was going to pay for his interference! But first thing's first...Ryouga was still number one on his hit list.

With what was left of his strength, he grabbed his remote control and clicked on the TV, trying to relax and recuperate from the day's activities, but relaxation wouldn't come easily. The thought of revenge against Ryouga consumed him. What that Ranma guy did was pretty bad, but it paled in comparison to Hibiki's crimes.

The grumbling in his stomach and the parchedness of his throat refused to let him sit and rest. He was so focused on his plan to trap Hibiki, he hadn't had anything to eat or drink since breakfast and his stomach was letting him know it didn't appreciate being ignored. Forcing himself back up, Hayate took off his grass stained suit jacket and threw it down on the floor next to one of his shoes and went to the kitchen. He grabbed an instant dinner from the freezer and popped it into the microwave. It was times like this when he would've preferred a home cooked meal. Perhaps when he felt better, he would go shopping for some good stuff and cook something.

As he stood there waiting for the microwave to complete its task, Hayate's thoughts returned to his adversary. He cursed Hibiki's luck. No matter how close he came to finally crushing Hibiki, something would always get in the way, robbing him of his vengeance; it never failed. Who knew when the fool stumbled into his life that he would've been such a thorn in his side...

-Flashback-

Deep within the secluded wilderness of mainland China, near the area of Cheng Du, the ancestral home of the Liu family of Shu, resided the Kongming School of Unorthodox Weaponry Martial Arts. Built nearly two thousand years ago, the school was constructed in honor of one of the greatest strategic minds of that century, Lord Zhuge Liang. While noted in history as a master diplomat and tactician, Zhuge Liang, by all accounts a man unassuming in appearance, proved to be deadly when the circumstance called for it. His weapon of choice? An equally unassuming fan of feathers.

While the tales of Zhuge Liang's exploits were merely stuff of legend, the school was very much real. Just as Zhuge Liang was said to, the grand masters of the school used fans of feathers as their weapons of choice and they proved to be nearly as deadly with them as Zhuge Liang was famed to. However, the specialty of the school wasn't limited to just fans. The school was broken into various different divisions, each one specializing in a different sort of weapon. The purpose of the school was to develop servants to royal families, political leaders and visiting dignitaries that would serve as a sort of invisible force of bodyguards. After all, the last thing an assassin would expect when commissioned to take out a target was a cleaning lady who could match their deadly skill with the sword and shuriken with a mop and bucket of water.

Of course, the housekeeping division was but one section of the school. There was the culinary division, where one could learn to make the most delectable dishes one could ever taste, as well as how to kill a person with a spoon. There was the gardening division, where one could grow the most beautiful plant life in between dispatching foes with a backhoe. And, of course, there was the inclement weather division, which was HIS domain.

In the practice arena where martial artists tested their skills, none were able to match Hayate Kurogane. He was the top of his class; more to the point, there WAS no class without him. With his specially crafted umbrella, he was able to give even the division instructors a run for their money. All of the students feared the day when they were called to spar against him...much like the poor sap that was called to face him that day. True enough, every one of them fought as hard as they could to defeat him. After all, what bigger accolade could they have garnered than the title of "the student who defeated Hayate Kurogane"? But there was always that lingering doubt in the back of their minds; always one speck of fear, knowing that all it took was one slip up and their fate would be sealed. Hayate could smell that fear. He could smell that fear now.

Tentatively, his opponent made his first strike, slashing away furiously. Hayate had to give the guy his props. His form was very good and he didn't leave as many openings as most of the other students did. But openings were there, any one of which Hayate could've used to score a hit, or even end the match altogether. Of course, that wouldn't have been much fun. Hayate liked to play with these poor saps. He'd hold back most of his abilities, let them get that glimmer of hope in their eyes, making them think they stand a chance of winning, then slamming them back into their place. It was the only thing that made these sparring matches interesting anymore.

As Hayate danced around his opponent's slashing attacks, he could tell he was nearing the edge of the battle arena. A 'ring out' was an automatic loss. He could tell by the look on the opponent's face that the guy felt it was going to be an easy win for him. No doubt, he thought 'that over confident fool is so intent on making me look bad by backpedaling and dodging all my attacks, he won't even notice going out of the ring until it's too late. Doesn't matter to me how I do it, but a win is a win.' Not a bad strategy to be sure, but Hayate knew this and every battle arena like the back of his hand. He wouldn't be done in that easily.

Hayate continued backpedaling until his heel was mere centimeters away from the arena barrier. That was when his opponent made a lunging strike for Hayate's torso, expecting him to hop backwards to keep out of his umbrella's range. Hayate, however, stepped over to the left, allowing his opponent's momentum to carry him forward. It was fortunate for the poor sap that he had enough control of himself to stop before he fell out of the ring himself. Hayate couldn't help but chuckle, seeing how easily they guy's 'strategy' nearly backfired.

His opponent got visibly upset; obviously not liking the way Hayate was making sport of him. He brought his umbrella to bear and it began to radiate with his ki. Hayate raised an eyebrow; it looked as though the instructors gave him an advanced student to make a fool of. The guy swung his umbrella in an upward arch. The burst of ki appeared to fall away from the tip of the umbrella to where it was snaking rabidly on the ground towards him. Rather foolish, Hayate thought. Such a ground attack was very easily avoided. He made a quick hop into the air, allowing the ki attack to pass harmlessly below him. He looked ahead to give his opponent one of his trademark smug 'this is just too easy' looks, but he was surprised to find that his opponent was right in his face in mid air. He slammed his ki charged umbrella into Hayate's midsection, knocking the wind out of the pony-tailed martial artist and causing him to land on the ground with an unceremonious thud.

As Hayate gasped for air, he could hear the gathered crowd come to life with chatter. Someone actually scored a clean hit on him. Someone actually scored a hit. On HIM! Not one person at that dojo had ever scored a hit on him in three years. He stood up and glared at his opponent with murder in his eyes. This guy was going to get taught a lesson he would never soon forget. His own ki flaring to life, Hayate charged. The fool tried to raise a defense, but Hayate's speed caught him off guard...leaving Hayate free to catch him with the ki infused handle of his umbrella in the sternum, a move he liked to call the 'aura crusher'. Hayate followed that with another aura crusher to the guy's jaw. It was fortunate for him that Hayate was only using a half of his full strength, otherwise, there'd be a huge hole where his torso and face were supposed to be. At any rate, judging from the look of agony on the other guy, who had dropped his umbrella and was clutching his face, Hayate figured it'd be a long time before he would be able to brag to anyone about the hit he scored.

"Okay, that was enough!" said one of the teachers.

Enough? No...not quite yet. There was one more thing he had to do before the 'lesson' was complete. With a cruel smile on his face, Hayate grabbed the handle of his own umbrella and swung the bladed end.

"HAYATE NO!" screamed the teacher, but it was too late.

Hayate's cruel grin grew wider as he admired his handy work. Now, only able to manage a gurgle, his opponent stumbled back, his eyes widened by the damage done by Hayate's attack. With what seemed to be a morbid curiosity, the guy looked down at himself to see just how bad the damage was and it was every bit as severe as he thought it was. The binding of his pants had been ripped to shreds, so with nothing holding them up, his pants were around his ankles, revealing his red polka-dotted boxer shorts. The crowd of students and even a few of the teachers erupted in laughter as the guy, using one hand to hold his aching jaw and the other to keep his pants up, ran out of the ring.

Hayate brushed himself off, "Feh. Better than those Spongebob Squarepants boxers the last guy had."

The teacher stepped into the battle area with him and shook his head, "I swear, I don't know what we're going to do with you, Hayate. I just hope you didn't embarrass this guy enough that he would want to leave too."

"It's not my fault you keep recruiting thin-skinned students with such low skill levels, Instructor Zhang Chao. Besides, he's lucky that's all I did to him. If I were anyone else, I'm sure it would've been a lot uglier." Hayate wasn't one for unnecessary cruelty. He felt that the emotional scars from such public humiliations would last far longer than any physical punishment he could dish out. So far, with the amount of students that quit the division because of him, he was right. "Maybe if you got a higher caliber of student..."

Just then, there was a rumbling noise that stopped everyone in their tracks. No one at the school could tell if it was the onset of a natural disaster of some sort, or if a rival school or hostile village were attacking them. Suddenly, the eastern wall of the school exploded and a young man wearing dark green pants, a yellow shirt and matching yellow bandanna stumbled in. "S-Saotome! W-Where are you? RANMA SAOTOME, WHERE ARE YOU?" the man cried before collapsing and losing consciousness.

----

Ukyou swept up the last of the debris of her splintered door onto the dustpan and she emptied it out in her trashcan. Meanwhile, Ryouga set down the hammer and nails he used to board up her broken doorway on the bar. Fortunately, everyone knew better than to try anything with one of Ranma's acquaintances, so no one came in and looted the place while it was empty and vulnerable.

After putting her cleaning utensils away, Ukyou washed her hands and grabbed a couple of drinks from the fridge. She put one in front of Ryouga and sank into one of the dining chairs. "So?" she asked before opening her bottle and taking a gulp of its contents.

Ryouga blinked, "Huh?"

"So are you going to tell me who this Hayate Kurogane guy is? Why is it he's after you?"

"Oh...that." He shrugged, "I really can't say why he's after me. Though, I guess it would be fair to say he's quite ruthless and isn't above doing whatever it takes to get at me."

"I would agree with that," said Ukyou. "But there has to be a reason. I mean, he wouldn't just start hunting for you for nothing, right? I mean, did you steal his girlfriend? Promise to marry his sister and wandered off on her?"

He blushed, "Geez, what kind of person do you take me for? I'm not Ranma, you know."

"No badmouthing Ranchan," she scolded, obviously harboring feelings for him still. "Besides, you're a pretty cute guy yourself. I'm sure you've left a few broken hearts behind during your travels."

Ryouga shook his head. "No, some of us don't have that kind of luck with girls. Though, I guess some of that is my own fault..." He could feel himself sinking again, kicking himself for not taking the numerous chances he was given to tell Akane how he felt before it was too late.

"Okay! Okay! Forget I brought it up!" went Ukyou, not wanting her houseguest to go boom with depression. At any rate, she got the information she wanted on that train of thought. "So, if it wasn't over a girl, then what else could it have been?"

Ryouga scratched his chin for a moment. "I suppose it was because I sort of ended his 'reign of terror' at the school we attended."

She raised an eyebrow, "Reign of terror?"

"Yeah. He was something of a bully back at the martial arts school we attended while in China. He loved humiliating the other students. It was his way of reminding them just how much better he was than they were. I stumbled onto the school by accident while I was searching for Ranma. I was in pretty bad shape, but they took me in and nursed me back to health. I was going to leave right away, but they insisted that I stuck around, offering to teach me some new martial arts techniques. Knowing what I would be in for with Ranma, I could hardly refuse.

"I trained there with their beginning class," he continued, "learning all of the basics of their style using umbrellas. But the lead instructor of the department, Master...Zhang Chao I believe, took me aside and gave me special training after hours. He taught me how to focus my ki in a way that would turn my clothes into weapons too."

"Wait a minute," Ukyou interrupted. "I've heard about this 'iron cloth' technique that could turn a handkerchief into a stiletto, but I've always thought that was made up. You mean to tell me you can really do that?" Instead of telling her, Ryouga finished his beverage and tossed the plastic container into the air. He, then, took off his belt, snapped it straight and sliced the bottle in half. "Wow...the technique is real! Maybe you can show me how to do that? If I had that ability, I wouldn't have been at such a disadvantage before without my battle spatula."

"Sure, it'd be no problem," said Ryouga. "Anyway, since I already had a lot of experience with martial arts at the time, it only took me three months to rise up through the ranks of the students. By then, students are required to craft an umbrella that's suited to their strengths, so I made that umbrella you see me with all the time. During my training there, Hayate never really paid me any attention until he noticed how quickly I was advancing. Once he did, he would torment me endlessly, trying to humiliate me, force me to quit. But that just spurred me on further. In the fourth month I was there, the time had finally come where I was set to have a sparring match against him..."

-Flashback-

The sun cast its rays upon the earth brightly that day. As the crisp air whipped about, the birds sang a happy tune with no real awareness of the goings on in the human structure below them. Ryouga eagerly walked into the battle arena where he waited for his opponent. With all of the garbage he was forced to endure, he was looking forward to finally being able to return the favor. All his life, Ryouga had despised bullies and that Kurogane guy was one of the worst ones he had ever encountered. The almost sadistic pleasure he got out of the humiliation of others made Ryouga sick to his stomach and the unbridled arrogance he exuded reminded him of the person he started his quest for. Both were reasons alone for Ryouga to throttle him good.

He tapped his umbrella to the ground impatiently as Hayate finally made his way out to the battle arena. It infuriated Ryouga even more being made to wait. Hayate saw the frustration on Ryouga's face and smiled. It looked as though it was going to be another easy victory for him. Hayate had been paying close attention to that Ryouga Hibiki fellow since he quite literally stumbled onto the compound. He was pretty good and he was a quick learner. But his anger got the better of him far too easily. In fact, in a few sparring matches Ryouga had in the past, his anger caused him to lose to some of the other, lower ranked fighters.

Master Zhang Chao walked into the battle arena and stood between them. He had been spending a lot of time with Hibiki for some reason. Hayate didn't like it one bit, but they were so secretive, he couldn't even figure out what was going on. When they went off into the wilderness to do who knew what, Hayate tried to follow. But he learned long ago that when the master didn't want to be followed, he wouldn't be followed. Zhang Chao looked first at Hayate, then at Ryouga, "Okay, you two. The rules of the match are: no hitting below the belt. No sand or spit to the eyes, no hair pulling and no kill shots. The winner will be the one who scores three points, a knock out, or the one who forces his opponent out of the ring. Now, begin!"

At the word go Ryouga charged, wildly swinging his bludgeoning umbrella. As he usually did, Hayate danced around his opponent's attacks with that smug grin on his face. Ryouga growled at not being able to smack that look off of his arrogant face, but then, there was more than one way to win a duel...er, sparring match. Since going out of the ring would be considered a loss as well, all he would have to do was continue attacking, making Hayate backpedal until he dodged himself right out of the battle arena.

Ryouga pressed his attack and Hayate raised an eyebrow. Was this guy really going to try that same 'strategy' he had defeated so many times before? That was fine with him. Hayate didn't know what it was, but there was something about this Hibiki fellow he didn't like. Honor was one thing, but Hibiki seemed to have a sort of sanctimonious nobility that just irked him to no end. This wasn't a guy he wanted to play with. No, rather, this was a guy Hayate wanted to crush under heel. This was a guy Hayate wanted to defeat quickly, just to show how inferior he was; just to show where all that nobility stuff would send you in the end...face first into the dirt, looking like a clown.

Hayate continued backpedaling until his heel was mere centimeters away from the arena barrier. That was when his opponent made a lunging strike for Hayate's torso, expecting him to hop backwards to keep out of his umbrella's range. Hayate, however, stepped over to the left, allowing his opponent's momentum to carry him forward. Instead of giving him the opportunity to right himself, Hayate made a swing with his own umbrella, intending to knock him the rest of the way out. Ryouga, however, raised his umbrella to block. The impact between the two made Hayate's insides shake.

"What the hell?" went Hayate. He stole a glance at his umbrella and noticed it was slightly bent where it hit Ryouga's. "What in the world is that thing made of?"

Sensing he now had an advantage, Ryouga charged again, swinging furiously. Hayate again dodged every strike, but with a little more urgency. There WAS something different about this guy. It looked like playtime was over. If Hayate were going to defeat this guy, he would have to fight a little more seriously. Ryouga lunged forward trying to strike Hayate's torso. Hayate dodged left, allowing Ryouga to pass by and, charging his umbrella with his ki, hit Ryouga in the back with his Aura Crusher, causing the bandanna clad warrior to fall to the ground. It shouldn't have been enough to paralyze him permanently, but it should be enough to where he wouldn't be able to walk for a day or two.

To his amazement, though, Ryouga stood to his feet and scratched his back, "Geez, that really stung!"

"Point to Hayate!" Zhang Chao said at ringside.

Impossible! No one had ever shrugged off one of his Aura Crushers like that before! Okay, since half strength didn't do that much to him, let's turn up the power. Seventy-five percent should do the trick. This time, Hayate attacked, swinging the bladed end of his umbrella. Ryouga, however, managed to dodge every one of his strikes. This proved very troubling as well, since no one had been able to match his speed before either, but Hayate kept focus. His primary target was his opponent's back, where he had struck the first time. There was a small imprint of his ki left to show where he should hit. No matter how strong he was, surely he'd weaken and succumb to the effects of the attack if he were hit in the same spot enough.

Hayate feinted a slashing strike at Ryouga's shoulder, which Hibiki attempted to dodge. Hayate used that opportunity to slip behind him and struck him with the ki charged umbrella again in the same spot. Once again, Ryouga was sent rolling on the ground, coming to rest right at the edge of the battle arena. Seventy-five percent...surely he felt it that time.

Ryouga had a little more trouble standing up, but stand he did. He put a hand over the spot on his back where he was hit and winced. "Damn! That really hurt!" This time, Hayate growled. Hibiki felt it, all right, but it would seem that's all it did to him.

"Another point to Hayate," said Zhang Chao.

Enough of this. All he needed to do was get one last shot on Hibiki and the match was over...either that or knock him out of the ring. Either way, Hayate was going to end this. He charged his umbrella the rest of the way, intending to hammer Ryouga at full power. "REIKI TSUUDAKEN" Ablaze in his aura, Hayate made his final assault, streaking across the ring like a ball of fire.

-WHAM!-

Hayate watched in horror as his umbrella flew end over end out of his reach. Ryouga, who held his own umbrella over his head, having knocked Hayate's weapon away at the last moment, mocked his opponent with a grin of his own. The lost boy brought his arm back down and, like a battering ram, slugged Hayate in the gut with the point of his umbrella. Hayate flew, bouncing off the arena surface twice, from one end of the ring to the other. When he came to rest, Hayate's head and shoulders were out of the ring, touching the ground.

"Ring out!" cried Zhang Chao. "The winner of this match is Ryouga Hibiki!"

The crowd erupted in a loud uproarious cheer, celebrating the end of Hayate's three year undefeated streak. If that wasn't infuriating to Hayate enough, there was an equally uproarious laughter that mixed in with the cheer. He didn't understand why the laughter was there too, until he noticed his pants had gotten snagged in a crack in the old arena floor, pulling them down...or up considering his vantage point, to his ankles, exposing his pink-hearted boxers.

"NOOOOO!"

-End Flashback-

Ukyou laughed as hard as Ryouga remembered the crowd doing that day. "You've got to be kidding me! Pink-hearted boxers? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Yep. To tell the truth, I couldn't help feeling embarrassed for the guy."

"Oh man, that was rich! I just wish I was there to have seen it myself!" She wiped away the tears that formed from laughing so hard. "So then what happened?"

Ryouga shrugged, "I left."

"You left? Just like that?"

"Well, Master Zhang Chao thought Hayate could use a lesson in humility. He trained me with the 'iron cloth' technique in return for being the one to teach it to him. My learning their style was necessary so I could face him on a level playing field, as only the techniques used with the umbrellas were allowed in sparring matches. Master Zhang didn't think it would work coming from a teacher. Since he had so much more experience he could've defeated Hayate easily himself. He felt the lesson would be more poignant if it came from a fellow student. After I beat Hayate, my job there was done, so I left to continue my own quest. I haven't seen any of them since...until now, that is."

"Sounds to me you should've stayed to teach that lesson a few more times, since it didn't seem to stick," Ukyou commented. "So, after all that time, he's finally tracked you down to pay you back for humiliating him in front of your whole school, hmm?"

"It would seem so," Ryouga said with a sigh. And, with the condition he found Ranma in when he arrived at the scene of the fight, it would seem Hayate has gotten a whole lot stronger since those days. He wondered what the week would bring. And now, unfortunately, he had his answer. Man, wasn't stuff like this only supposed to happen to Ranma?

A lesson in humility? Why in the world did he need to be humble? He was the best in his division...probably the best in that whole damned school. That was a feat to be proud of. Because of that little 'lesson', Master Zhang Chao ruined him. After Hibiki left the school, Hayate began another winning streak. He fought hard, not giving any of his subsequent opponents an inch, but the fear and respect the other students had for him had never returned. The unbeatable Hayate Kurogane was indeed beatable. If someone could come from the streets and beat him in three months, then anyone should be able to do it.

Hayate threw his empty frozen dinner tray out of anger and frustration. Where the other students once dreaded having to face him in a sparring match, they actually came up and CHALLENGED him. Everyone wanted a piece of him...it was as if he had a target on his back. The only way, he figured, to restore his rightful place at the school was to find Ryouga and defeat him.

Still, even though he wanted to find and defeat Hibiki at that point, it was just business. It didn't become personal until nearly a year later when he suffered the most grievous indignity at the hands of Ryouga Hibiki, when he found out he had returned to China. That was when...

Hayate stopped and looked at what had just flashed on the television. Were his eyes deceiving him? There was going to be a weekend matinee at a local theater tomorrow, showing the sequel to his all time favorite move, the Transporter! Finally, something good the town had to offer. He would forget about Hibiki for a little while and indulge himself. For now, he would rest and let his body recuperate. Then, to mentally recuperate, he would lose himself in the fictional world of the only other martial artist who could kick ass and look sharp & stylish doing it.

Yes, tomorrow was movie day!

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