DBZR1/2

Chapter 12: Ranma VS. Barsoum

At the Dojo…

"So, we ready to fight?" Barsoum cracked his knuckles, stretching out and basically warming up.

Ranma, having been fighting most of the day, was already stretched out and warmed up, so he simply nodded, taking up his trademark stance opposite the American-Egyptian. From the porch sat Goku, Tank, Cologne, Ryoga and Akane. Soun had dragged Genma inside, still out cold, while Kasumi made drinks. Nabiki left not long after Kuno had been knocked out, mumbling something about 'pictures' and 'fortune' or some-such-or-other. Goten and Trunks had decided to take a nap for awhile, at least until it was time to eat.

Cologne watched with some interest at Ranmas' opponent. He was someone she'd never seen before, but he was just as confident as Ranma was. His stance showed great skill and practice as he went into it with ease, twisting his head this way and that to loosen up his neck.

Akane turned to Goku, asking, "Who do you think will win?" Goku pursed his lips, contemplating for a moment before he made his decision.

"It's too close to call." He said. "Ranma has more energy, but this guy doesn't look like a pushover. There's also something strange about his energy…but I can't place it." He glanced at Tank. "It's not like yours either. It's something…different."

Tank turned to look at the Saiyan, asking, "What about my energy?"

Goku scratched the back of his head, "Well…it's nothing I've ever felt before really. You're pretty strong for being new to the martial arts, but what I felt earlier…it's something completely different."

Tank cocked an eyebrow, and then shrugged, deciding to file the comment away for later thought, as Barsoum and Ranma took a few jabs at each other, testing.

"He's not half-bad." Ranma surmised. "This could be quite fun." He smiled slightly in anticipation.

"Let's see how you smile when we really get into it kid." Barsoum thought, looking forward to a much higher class of competition than Tank had been able to give.

"Ready?" Barsoum asked, eyes narrowing.

Ranma nodded, saying simply, "Go."

Ranma charged quickly, going in for a crescent kick, but faking it and hitting Barsoum with a snap instead. It connected with his right forearm, short of Ranma's target. Barsoum then pivoted and fired a hard punch with his left, which was blocked, to be countered by shuto strike. Barsoum ducked it, going for a foot sweep, tripping the pig-tailed fighter down to the ground. Barsoum followed it up with a strike at Ranma's temple, but it missed at the last second as the cursed martial artist rolled away and rose, snapping off a quick roundhouse kick, forcing his opponent to back away for just a moment. The older man bounced around on the balls of his feet as Ranma came in with a flying kick, but was caught in mid-air and thrown to the ground. Ranma rolled onto his back, launching himself backwards onto his feet, once again in stance, now openly smiling.

"You're a lot better than I thought." He said.

Barsoum smiled slightly back. "So are you." Round two began following that quick break.

For nearly thirty minutes the two fought, neither really gaining an edge over the other as they used all the normal techniques they knew. Every so often, they'd score a hit on each other, but neither one had more hits than the other.

"This has been fun and all, but it's time I pulled out some of the more advanced techniques." Ranma backed away, avoiding a side-kick at just the last moment. "This had been one of the better workouts I've had in a long while. But it's time to end it."

"My thoughts exactly. Let's go!" Barsoum hopped around , changing his feet position several times, as well as where his arms hung.

"Alright, here I come! Kachu Tenshien Amaguriken!" Ranma launched his Chestnut Fist attack, fully expecting to drill the foreigner and end the fight.

Much to his surprise, his punches didn't seem to even touch his opponent! "What!?" He cried out in surprise, then flew backwards from a direct hit to his solar plexus.

He held the spot for a moment, slightly winded as Barsoum asked, "Surprised? You're not the only one with special tricks you know." Ranma chuckled.

"Ok…guess I underestimated you. But I'll get you this time!" He came in again, throwing his punches even faster than before, yet as before, none connected. Barsoum just looked at him with a smile.

"You can do that all day man. Won't faze me." This time Ranma flew backwards from a hard kick to his gut, knocking all the wind from him.

"Man! Why isn't the Chestnut Fist working? Why can't I touch him." He grunted with some effort, and then jumped back up onto his feet, closing in the blink of an eye and acted as if he was going to punch again, but kicked instead. He felt the leg touch Barsoum's blocking arm, and he instantly pulled out the Chestnut Fist attack as a follow-up.

This time, he felt a couple of his hits actually touch Barsoum, before once again passing through his form as if he wasn't there. They pulled apart, panting slightly.

"Nice one." The older man said, bowing slightly in respect. Ranma bowed in return.

"Pretty good trick you have there, phasing in and out. Never seen that technique before."

Barsoum shrugged. "Something I created on my own. But you haven't seen my best tricks."

Before Ranma could respond in kind, Tank called out, "Maybe later man. We still have other training to do." He walked over towards the two fighters, and said wryly towards his friend. "Still think he'd be a pushover?"

Barsoum shrugged. "Ok, you didn't lie. He's pretty good." He turned back towards Ranma, and held out a hand. "That was really fun. You moves are pretty polished. I can see why Tank has been improving."

Ranma took it, saying, "So are yours. We'll have to finish this when we have more time." Barsoum nodded as Goku, Ryoga and Akane walked up.

"Great match you guys!" Goku said. "Those were some really good moves. I couldn't tell who would win the whole time!" Barsoum did a little "Awww, shucks," in a very poorly done hillbilly accent, causing everyone to break out in laughter a bit.

Akane turned to her fiancé, and said, somewhat crossly, "I hope you saved some for tonight."

"Tonight?" Both Barsoum and Tank asked, glancing at each other.

"Yea, tonight we're going to a Martial Arts Techno Rave Competition." At this both men scratched their heads.

"How the hell do you have a martial arts contest as part of a rave?" Tank asked aloud. Barsoum shook his head, at a loss.

Akane and Ranma asked together, "You know what it is?"

The two men shrugged, as Tank replied, "Well…I know what a Rave is. It's where they play computerized music at a dance club for hundreds of folks to dance too. There are hundreds of different types of Techno music, but for a Rave I think they play the really fast-paced stuff. Hardcore, Jungle, things like that."

Everyone around him, except Barsoum, was lost. This fact wasn't misplaced on Tank, so he pulled out a necklace with some tags on it. He slowly swung it back and forth as he explained.

"See, regular music goes at a steady beat. The stuff you hear on the radio might have a beat that goes about this fast, like maybe thirty to at most sixty beats per minute. Now Hardcore or Jungle…it goes as fast if not faster than this." His hand almost against the tags, he swung the chain back and forth as quickly as he could. "Hardcore and Jungle goes as fast as one-hundred and forty beats per minute, and sometimes faster. Excellent dance music if you're a fast paced dancer."

Barsoum broke everyone attention away from the tags as he said, "Bet that's what they'll play then for the competition." Tank nodded, and the others could see the logic in that.

Well…all except Goku. "You mean we have to dance? Or fight?"

Tank shrugged. "Guess both."

Goku groaned, "Man…this is confusing." He chuckled a bit, his hand on the back of his head.

Ranma turned back to Tank, asking, "How about it? There's cash prizes for the winners."

Both men perked up, a cash register ringing almost audibly. "How much?" They asked simultaneously.

Nabiki called out, almost as if reciting a poem. "It's an American held competition, so they're paying in dollars. About $100,000 for first place, and $50,000 dollars for second, and $10,000 for third."

When the figures were bouncing around in their heads for but a second, they both exclaimed, "I'm in!"

"Great! This should be fun!" Goku exclaimed.

The rest nodded, and then Ryoga asked, "Goku, how about we do some more training?"

Goku smiled broadly. "You bet!" And with two new students, they all began doing more work on energy usage.

From the porch Cologne just looked at Barsoum and Tank with sharp eyes. "Those two are hiding more than they let on. There is no such technique that lets an opponents attack to pass through you. If there is, then I shall have to acquire it for the tribe." She nodded her head sagely, and then thought, "It'll have to be done after I return from sealing Goku's world from Toltir. Then, with my stronger Shampoo, it should be no problem to get the technique from the young man." She smiled slightly while watching the group train.

Later on the day…..

"Oooooh! Why can't I get this down!" Akane nearly cried in frustration. She'd been trying to get flying down on her own in private, but hadn't had anymore luck than she had earlier in the day. Granted, she still rose a few feet, but it still wasn't flying.

"I will finally beat Ranma at something!" She vowed, feeling her body tense up at the mere thought of beating Ranma. She could feel her aura slowly form around her, to which she cursed herself. "It's easy enough to bring out my energy for that. Why couldn't I do that for flying?" She calmed, seeing her aura die back down, when it struck her.

"Wait…Goku said that you take your energy and push down with it." She rubbed her lips a moment in thought, processing the tentative idea she had slowly. "It should work. I think." She looked up at her window, determined to test her theory.

In moments she was on the roof, feeling the breeze blow her gi about slightly. Her blondish bangs fluttered slightly, while she concentrated on her aura. She felt the golden-blue aura come to life around her, and at that moment she grasped the power, pushing down with all her will.

Her will was sufficed to say, quite strong, to which she found out herself in short order as she hurtled at high speed into the air. Her initial cries of surprise turned to cheers of joy, as she found herself hovering several hundred feet over her house.

"Finally! I beat Ranma!" She cried, nearly delirious in her joy, to the point that she almost didn't notice that she was falling.

"Oh no!" She cried, concentrating again, stopping her falling body just a few feet from the roof. She breathed a sigh of relief, when a voice behind her said, "Getting better Akane."

She dropped the last couple feet, concentration lost from the surprise. When she looked behind her, Ranma leaned out his window, smirking slightly.

Frowning, she asked, "What do you want?"

"Nothin. Kasumi just wanted me to tell you that dinner would be ready soon. We'll leave for the contest afterwards."

"Fine. I'll be down after a bit." She responded, a bit harshly.

Ranma cocked his head slightly, and then shrugged as he left, not sure what she was upset about this time. It's not like he saw anything for her to be upset about this time. She was only practicing on flying, and she'd only gotten a couple feet higher from what he saw when he got up there. "I'll never figure her out." He sighed to himself.

Akane though, was far from upset. She was ecstatic, but didn't want to ruin the surprise just yet.

She smiled a slightly wicked smile. "I'll give you the biggest surprise you've ever had Ranma."

To be continued…