How long had it been since he sat down to watch that dreadful movie? Two, three weeks? And yet, it went on and on and on. It put him to sleep once, but Ryouga woke him up, the jerk. He couldn't take how boring the movie was, though, and went to sleep again. That time, Akane elbowed him in the ribs to wake him up. As much as he didn't want to, Ranma would have to endure this form of torture conscious.

Akane sat next to him, watching the movie intently with stars in her eyes and little hearts dancing around her head. If he was reading her expression properly, he may be in for some...interesting times when they got back home. At the moment, though, Ranma fidgeted in his seat uncomfortably, wishing someone would show up in the movie and blow something up. With luck, it'd be the house those sappy lovebirds were in while in the middle of that lovey-dovey stuff.

Ranma looked at the empty seats to his left. Stupid Ryouga, he wondered what happened to the idiot. He said Ranma would have to sit and suffer through the movie if he would have to also. Well, there he was sitting and suffering, yet Ryouga was nowhere to be found. Same with Ukyou. What could have happened to them?

He turned to his fiancée and whispered, "Hey Akane? Don't you think Ukyou and Ryouga have been gone for a long time?"

Akane regarded Ranma and noticed, for apparently the first time, that Ukyou and Ryouga had indeed been gone for quite some time. She raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Heh, I knew this would work. After seeing a little of this movie, they probably needed some time alone."

Of course, Ranma was skeptical. "I dunno. It's more likely they used the whole bathroom thing as an excuse for..." Ranma's eyes widened as it dawned on him what they did. It was so simple, yet so perfect. Adding Ryouga's ability to get lost was genius and made it much more believable. Time to follow suit. He stood up, "Hey Akane, I gotta go to the bathroom! Be right –"

"Sit down!" she said, glaring at him.

Ranma slumped back down in his seat, "Aw man..."

-

Dreamweaver Studios Presents

Ranma½

And the Beat Goes On

"And Now...the Rest of the Story"

-

It was supposed to be a reinvigorating day off; a time away from the normal insanity that plagued the town. But things just refused to work out that way. For Hayate Kurogane, it all went to hell when that stupid troll showed up. He thought he handled it quite well at the time, actually beating him by using his vice against him, but the troll got the last laugh with that little bomb he left, blowing Hayate into the women's bath. Of course, that group of P.E.R.V.S had to be there too to get their shots in.

So now, Hayate stood poised to spread the chaos to the person he blamed for all of the misfortune that had befallen him; Ryouga Hibiki. Ryouga, whom had also hoped to take a day off from all of the random chaos that plagued the town. True, he could've picked a better way to spend the day than watching a romantic movie with the woman he loved and the other man she intended to marry. He thought the day was looking up, going to a late lunch with the new friend with whom he found a kindred spirit.

Now, again, there was Hayate, standing before he and his friend, Ukyou, looking to ruin the day. Being the hunter of someone you hated was one thing, but Ryouga found the life of the hunted to be very exastrabating. "Can't we do this some other time?" he asked, trying to diffuse the situation.

"You heard me, Hibiki," growled Hayate. "We're ending this, right here, right now!"

Ryouga shook his head, "I can't believe you're carrying this much hatred for me just because of what happened back at the school."

"Do you REALLY think this is just about the school? You must think me for a fool! You know full well my REAL beef with you is because of what happened AFTER the incident at the school!"

"After?" the lost boy repeated, thoroughly confused. "What are you talking about? This is the first time since the school I've seen you."

"I've had enough of your lies! DIE!" Flaring his ki, Hayate fired his crescent attack at Ryouga. Of course, with the tip of his umbrella bent, the trajectory of the attack was off the mark, slicing a passing car in half.

"Dammit! That's the third car this week!" lamented the driver.

Ryouga used the distraction to counter attack, wishing he had his own umbrella with him. He started low, trying to sweep Hayate's feet out from under him, but Hayate was quick enough to dodge. Ryouga followed with an uppercut, but once again, Hayate dodged. Unfortunately, the uppercut left Ryouga's abdomen open. Since the end of his umbrella was all but useless, Hayate settled for the handle, landing his aura crusher knocking Ryouga back, bouncing along the ground.

"Ryouga!" Ukyou called, helping him to his feet, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," he lied. That attack hurt more than it did back at the school. He figured Hayate would've been a lot stronger than those days, but to hurt him that much, even after his rigorous Breaking Point training meant he had some serious power behind those strikes. "LOOK OUT!" Ryouga shoved Ukyou out of the way and rolled clear as Hayate came down from above using the handle of his umbrella like a battering ram. With no one there to take the blow, the handle broke through the concrete sidewalk, leaving a sizable crater.

This was going to be like one of his fights with Ranma. Ryouga would lose if he tried to play keep away, since he wasn't fast enough. He would have to draw his opponent in so he could use his superior strength to his advantage. Hayate continued his assault on Ryouga, swinging the handle of his umbrella furiously. While it appeared he was wildly flailing it all over the place, Ryouga knew from past experience that he was really aiming for the spot he struck before. If the first hit hurt him that much, he didn't want to know how the subsequent strike would feel.

Ryouga pushed himself as hard as he could to avoid the quick strikes Hayate was throwing at him. Little did either realize, they were slowly making their way towards a bridge running over a gully with shallow running water. Hayate could tell Ryouga was nearing his limits from the look of fatigue on his face. How about that? A martial artist that strong, but with no stamina? It was sad, but Hayate wasn't one to let such things bother him in battle. He took advantage of his slowing opponent and struck for the spot he hit before to further weaken him.

Seeing the attack for his sore spot coming, Ryouga quickly lurched to the left, allowing the attack to go passed him. With Hayate in perfect position, Ryouga grabbed his arm and smiled. The chatterbox must've really thought Ryouga was getting tired already. But, just like Ryouga didn't know how much Hayate had improved until he took his best shot, he didn't know just how much Ryouga had improved either. With the pony tailed martial artist well in hand, Ryouga reared back and clobbered him with a head butt.

Hayate staggered back to the railing of the bridge, feeling as though a semi ran over his head. Ryouga tackled him, trying to put him in a submission hold to end the fight quickly. Hayate held his bent umbrella out between them to keep them apart so the hold couldn't be applied. As the two struggled, the railing of the bridge collapsed under their weight, causing both to fall into the gully.

Watching the fight unfold, Ukyou gasped in horror. With the water below, Ryouga would undergo his change and 'P-Chan' wouldn't stand a chance against his opponent. She ran to the edge of the bridge, hoping beyond hope that Ryouga managed to grab onto something so he wouldn't take the plunge. Unfortunately, seeing the lost boy's clothes floating in the water confirmed her fears. "RYOUGA!"

On the far side of the gully, a little black piglet pulled itself out of the cool waters and shook itself, letting the excess water fly off. Frantically, it looked around, trying to find the man who, just a few moments ago, was trying to kill him. P-Chan never did find the man. He did, however, find a very wet, very irate looking rabbit standing next to him.

----+----

A quick trip back to Ucchan's Okonomiyaki and one kettle of water later, the two farm animals were returned to their human forms. Ryouga's clothes were fished out of the gully and were drying in the back yard. The lost boy himself had put on fresh clothes taken from his room. Hayate's clothes were so far gone; they decided to let the current claim them. At the moment, he was clad in one of Ukyou's male school uniforms, which did not fit him well. While he fretted about his restricted movement while in the tight clothes, he swore to never again wear one of his good suits in that town. At his current rate, he was losing one a week and they were far too expensive to be destroyed one by one like that.

Ukyou, who was out of the dining hall to allow the boys to change forms and clothes, stepped back in. Just in case things got out of hand, she had her mega spatula strapped to her back. She was twice caught unprepared by Hayate's attacks and she wasn't going to let it happen in her home again.

"I see you've gotten the door fixed," Hayate commented. "That's good. I hated having to destroy the first one, but I couldn't let that Ranma fellow spoil things...even though he still did in the end."

"Ranchan has a way of doing that for jerks like you. And just in case you get any ideas, I have just the tool to 'spoil things' again," said Ukyou, patting her spatula.

Ryouga shook his head, "I can't believe you followed me all the way to Jusenkyo. Just what in the world were you thinking?"

"The same thing I was thinking when I abducted your girlfriend, there."

"She's not my girlfriend," Ryouga interrupted. Ukyou's eye twitched, but she said nothing.

"Yeah, whatever," went Hayate. "Anyway, I was looking for an edge against you for when we battled again to regain my rightful spot in the school."

"So this whole 'kill Ryouga' thing WAS about what happened there," Ryouga said. "I knew it."

"No," said Hayate. "I just wanted to beat you in a rematch. Ever since my defeat at your hands, things at the school were never the same. Sure, I started another winning streak after you left, but the fear and respect I had garnered there was gone. No matter how badly I beat my opponents, they just knew in the back of their minds that I was beatable. You did it, after all, after just three months of training. I decided the only way I could quell that notion was to find you and beat you, proving what happened before was a fluke.

But you were a very difficult man to track down. It took me another six months before I discovered you were even still in China. That was when I finally did find you..."

-Flashback-

Using his umbrella to hatchet his way through the thick foliage, Hayate trekked his way through the Chinese wilderness. After many months of searching, he finally found what he was looking for. A kindly old village woman had spotted a man dressed in all black, save for a yellow bandanna, hiking his way through the forest in this direction only a few days ago. This was a major break, as he was usually weeks behind his prey.

He couldn't wait to get another shot at Hibiki. That would show those fools back at school. What happened before was just an anomaly...Hibiki was supposed to be the one who lost his cool which, in turn, would cause him to lose the match. It was just...something about Ryouga that grated on his nerves and it got the better of him at the time. If he had an opportunity to battle the fang-toothed moron again, he just knew he would win. Once that happened, he would be feared again; he'd be the one everyone dreaded to face in combat.

Of course, he still had to find the guy. He may have been closer now, but Hibiki still had quite a long head start on him. He continued hacking his way through the forest until he came to a clearing. Pushing his way through the last of the foliage, he stepped out into the clearing and found himself peering over a steep ledge overlooking the most wondrous sight he had ever beheld. Below him, there were hundreds of pools of water blanketed in a thin mist. Each of the pools had at least one bamboo shoot implanted in the center.

Hayate's jaw dropped in awe. "I...I don't believe it! Could this really be it? The valley of the cursed springs!"

As his school was also deep in the Chinese wilderness, he had heard all sorts of fanciful stories about Amazons, strange bird creatures, the emperor of a dead dynasty with the powers of a dragon and the valley of cursed springs. While he was fascinated by those stories, he didn't think such things could've really existed. But the valley of cursed springs, Jusenkyo, was there, right before his eyes.

Before him was a singular opportunity that he would probably never be presented with again in his lifetime. With the springs, he saw power. From the stories he heard, the waters of the springs could magically transform a person from small, insignificant creatures to beings of incredible might, both mythical and mystical. Warlocks, gods, demons, dragons, the springs offered nearly limitless possibilities...if one could find the proper springs. If he had one of those as an alternate form, Ryouga Hibiki wouldn't stand a chance against him. But that was small time thinking. With one of those alternate forms, Ryouga would be beneath his notice. There would be no limit to the things he could do, both grand and perverse. Of course, he couldn't wait to try out the more perverse things...they were the most fun after all.

He made his way down the ledge and walked in between the individual springs. He couldn't wait to dive into one to see just what new form and abilities would be bestowed onto him. But doing such a thing would be foolish beyond measure. What if, instead of the spring of drowned war god, he took a dip into the spring of drowned cockroach? No, if he was going to do this, he had to think things through. He looked around and found a house at the far end of the valley. If the stories held true, that was where the Jusenkyo guide lived. Surely, as a guide, he would have all of the springs mapped out and cataloged someplace. Of course, the guide probably wouldn't share that knowledge willingly with anyone who just asks, so Hayate would have to obtain the information by...other means.

Hayate snuck around the back of the guide's house and peered through a window. He found the Jusenkyo guide in what appeared to be his kitchen. Looked like he was about to start dinner, as he was holding a little black piglet over a boiling pot. For a reason Hayate couldn't fathom though, it appeared the guide was having a conversation with a panda. Still, with the nature of the valley, such things were possible. So with a shrug, he moved on, trying another window.

Bingo! This looked like the guide's library. Surely, the information he was looking for was stored among the numerous books and scrolls that were strewn about. Using the bladed tip of his umbrella, he pried the window open. There was a scream that came from the kitchen and Hayate paused, looking to see if he had been caught. As it seemed no one noticed him yet, he continued onward.

Making no sound, he entered the library and took a quick look around. Most of the books on the shelves and everywhere else were marked, identifying themselves as useless. Mainly cookbooks, detective stories, a huge selection about Chinese history especially regarding the Three Kingdoms period and something about men being from Mars and women from Venus. Definitely no accounting for taste; though there was something about herbs used in tea to increase longevity...he'd have to look into that one later. Back to the matter at hand, since the books yielded little useful information, the scrolls would have to be where the good stuff was.

Near the center of the library, there were six cases with glass covers. Four of the cases contained fifty scrolls. The fifth looked to have thirty or so and the sixth was empty. All of the cases were secured with key locks. Once again, Hayate used the bladed end of his umbrella to pry the glass of the first case open, breaking the lock. He picked out a random scroll and began to read. He smiled as he was proved to be right. Going by what he was looking at, each scroll contained detailed information of five different springs, including the story of how the spring came to be and where exactly you could find it. He put that particular scroll back, not finding any spring of interest and took out another one.

He unrolled that scroll and once again, read off all of the springs it listed. The spring of drowned rat, the spring of drowned horse, the spring of drowned dog, spring of drowned chicken and the spring of drowned duck...once again, nothing of any interest. He replaced it, took out a third and began to read. The spring of drowned monkey, spring of drowned elephant, spring of drowned man, spring of drowned white tiger...Hmm, not a bad form to take actually. But he was looking for something nastier. If he couldn't find something else soon, he'd go back to that one. The last one on the list was a spring of drowned fish...he stopped and scratched his head. How in the world could a fish drown? He quickly wrapped up that scroll, replaced it and removed a fourth.

Hayate read the first spring and his eyes lit up with interest. Spring of drowned elf? Looked like he was finally delving into the more interesting creatures. Looking over the rest of the springs, he found a unicorn, pegasus, yeti, and dwarf. They were all interesting creatures to be sure, but he didn't think he could intimidate anyone with the form of a little pointed ear man who lived in a tree and made cookies. He put the fourth scroll back into the case and pulled a fifth. Slowly, an evil grin crept up upon his face as he read the third spring on the list...

Baijinjiaoniichuan: the spring of drowned platinum dragon. According to legend, the platinum dragons were one of the more powerful incarnations of the draconic race. This would definitely do the trick. Slowly, he put the top of the case back in place and exited back out the window.

----+----

Hayate studied the scroll carefully, not wanting to make a mistake. One little slip up, one wrong turn was the difference between becoming awesomely powerful and becoming an insignificant pest. He placed all of the landmarks that surrounded the spring and noted the other springs surrounding it. There was no question this was baijinjiaoniichuan. He couldn't wait to see Hibiki's face, not to mention everyone else at the school once they saw him in his alternate form. Every last one of them would bow down at his feet.

Carefully, he placed the scroll his umbrella and his backpack down in front of the spring, not wanting to lose any of his supplies. "This is it," he said to himself. "My normal, ordinary life is now over, to be replaced by a life of power and privilege! And to Ryouga, wherever you are, you'd better watch out! For when next we meet, you'll be facing a whole new man! HAHAHAHA!"

"HOW DARE YOU!"

"Eh?" Hayate paused, wondering if he had finally been caught. Through the fog, came three forms...a panda, a man in what looked like an old, Chinese military uniform and another man without any clothes at all. Wait a minute! That naked guy chasing the other two! Wasn't that..."Ryouga?"

"I'LL TEACH YOU TO TRY AND COOK ME!"

The first man and the panda ran passed Hayate, barely missing him through the fog. Ryouga, however, collided with him and both fell over, Ryouga landing unceremoniously on his unclad rear end. Hayate, however, fell backwards in another spring.

Ryouga shook his head and looked around, wondering who or what it was he bumped into. Not seeing anything, he stood back up, looking for his original quarry. "Damn it all, where did they go?" he wondered. He started off in one direction. The next thing he knew, he found himself out of the fog and out of the valley, surrounded by the dense forest. "WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW?"

Meanwhile, back in the valley, the waters of a certain spring began to bubble and a new form broke through the surface. A little, white hare took a gasping breath of the life giving air and trudged its way back to land. The older man and the panda, now out of danger, retraced their steps and found the soaked bunny as it gasped on the shore of the spring.

"Too too bad," the man in the uniform said. "You fall in tuniichuan: spring of drowned rabbit. There, very tragic story of rabbit what drowned there just fifty year ago. Now, whoever fall in spring take body of rabbit." He stopped and scratched his chin, "Hmm...now that I think about it, that story actually very silly. Rabbit was chased by short, bald guy who talk funny. Wanted me to be 'vewy vewy qwiet'..."

The panda picked up the rabbit by the scruff of the neck and held up a sign, "Can we eat this one?" The rabbit's eyes bugged out as it read the wooden placard.

"Oh no," the man said. "This one man. No can eat this one either."

-End Flashback-

Ryouga scratched his head, "I always wondered what I bumped into."

"Now you understand why I hate you as I do, Hibiki! If you hadn't bumped me into the wrong spring, I could've had the power of a dragon at my disposal! It was that, beyond everything else, that changed my quest from wanting to merely beat you to wanting your head," said Hayate fuming. "I have never forgiven you for giving me that useless and, quite honestly, very embarrassing form."

"Really?" Ukyou wondered, raising her eyebrow. "Sounds more like your mouth got the better of you again. If you just jumped into the spring instead of standing there talking to yourself, you would've had the power of the dragon."

Her argument was very logical and well reasoned. So, of course, Hayate ignored it. "Because of you, Ryouga, I was put through torments the likes of which no man was ever meant to experience. Do you have any idea what it's like having to run from wolves, foxes and the like because they see me as a tasty little snack? Or from chefs because they want to turn me into a gourmet dinner?"

"Hello!" shouted Ryouga. "Maybe you hadn't noticed, but I turn into a black piglet no bigger than you are in your cursed form. Of course I know what that's like!"

"That's not even mentioning that time just before I came here to this district..." He recalled having the misfortune of running into a certain extra bubbly girl with long blond hair and roller skates. When she saw him, she immediately scooped him into her arms and named him 'Philippe'. "She put me in her room," Hayate continued. "It was so...pink...and cutesy...and there were so many stuffed toys..." He shuddered at the memory. "It took me six agonizing months to escape from her."

Ryouga shuddered as well, knowing exactly whom it was he was referring to. "At least she gave you a guy's name. I was her 'darling Charlotte'." Ukyou listened to them going back and fourth, matching horror stories related to their cursed forms. When she discovered Ranma's curse, she thought it was cute and wondered what it would be like to have one herself. Now, she hoped she would never have to find out.

Hayate stood up, clenching his bent umbrella. "For everything I went through because of you, Ryouga Hibiki, I swear, I'm going to make you pay!" Ryouga and Ukyou stood ready to counter any attack he was prepared to make. "But not right now. I'm tired and just want to go to bed." The opposing couple facefaulted. "I tell you what, in three days, I will meet you in front of that school of yours. We can settle the score then. What do you say?"

"Wherever you want it, Kurogane," answered Ryouga. "I'll be waiting for you."

"Very good. I will see you there." With a nod of the head, Hayate turned on his heel and uncomfortably walked out of the restaurant.

Ryouga slumped back down into his chair and rubbed his stomach. Ukyou sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey hon," she started, "are you okay?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a little sore where he hit me earlier."

This drew Ukyou's concern. "You're built like a tank. I mean you took a full on shot from Tsubasa in that giant robot thing he was in and shrugged it off like it was nothing. You mean to tell me that he hurt you that badly with just one hit?"

Ryouga nodded again. "Looks like I have some training to do..."

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

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