Hello! I'm back with another chapter. Hooray!
Like I said in the last chapter, we're finally going to see some serious differences in the plotline. Which means you all can stop complaining about how similar to the manga this story has been!
Without further delay, here it is.
Spring of Drowned Nymph
Chapter Four: The Fanged One
"Nuh uh! No way! Not even if you paid me!" Ranma shouted as she ran away from Nabiki and Kasumi. Weekends were usually good days for Ranma because it meant he didn't have to go to school, but today was a different case. Ranma woke up that morning to find out that all his Chinese clothes were in the wash, meaning he had nothing to wear. Then Nabiki brought up the idea to make him wear girl's clothes until his were clean again. The next thing Ranma knew, he was splashed with water and was now being chased around the house by the two older Tendo girls.
Akane, her father, and Genma were all sitting at the dining table, trying their best to ignore the noise. It had been about a week since Ranma and his dad first arrived. In this time Soun learned to tune out the noise by shutting himself off from the world and reading the newspaper. Akane had not learned how to tone out the noise and she was getting irritated. "Will you keep it down Ranma!"
"I'll be quiet once your sisters stop chasing me!" She yelled as she ran past the dining room, wearing nothing but the boxers and tank-top she wore to bed, and of course the scarf.
It took a minute, but the two Tendo girls managed to corner Ranma in a dead end hall. The nymph backed herself against the wall. "I don't want to wear girl's clothes! Just because my personality is a bit different in this form doesn't mean I'm okay with acting girly."
"Ranma it's not very proper for you to stay in such a state of undress, especially since you're a guest here." Kasumi said in her motherly tone.
"I know, but…"
"And besides, you don't want to run around the house in your underwear all day, do you?" Asked Nabiki.
Ranma looked back and forth between the two sisters before lowering her head. "Fine."
Less than a minute later, Ranma and all three Tendo sisters were in Akane's room. The youngest sister had a scowl stuck on her face. "I understand he needs clothes to wear, but why do they have to be mine?"
Nabiki started explaining as if the reasons were clear as day. "Because Akane, most of Kasumi's clothes are dresses and most of my clothes are outfits I took from you when you weren't looking."
"You did wha-"
"Ooh. I know! Let's make her wear that Sailor outfit. You know, the one with the mini-skirt that Akane wore to that costume party, remember?" Nabiki said with a mischievous smirk on her face.
Ranma's eyes widened. "No way! Wearing a skirt is bad enough, but wearing one of those magical girl outfits? I'd rather die first!"
"Well technically, you ARE a magical girl. I think it would suit you well, and I can get some good photos while I'm at it." Nabiki said as she imagined how much cash she could get from those kinds of photos.
"I want you to stop taking pictures of me! I have a right to privacy y'know! I have half a mind to break that camera of yours after you sold pictures of me to that creep Kuno."
Nabiki cast a cold glare at Ranma. "You wouldn't dare break my camera Saotome."
"Try me." She released a few jolts of electricity from her body to show she wasn't kidding.
"Will you do your thundercloud impersonation somewhere else? This is MY room." Akane growled.
Kasumi stepped in-between the bickering teenagers. "I think I've found something that might work." She held up an orange T-shirt with the word 'china' written across the chest in red and a blue pair of pants. "Is this okay Ranma?"
"I guess so…" Ranma put the clothes on over her boxers. She had to take her scarf off in order to put the shirt on, but she immediately put it back on afterward. Once she was done putting on the outfit, the other girls stepped back to get a good look at her. Her scarf covered the top of 'china', but otherwise, they looked good on her.
"What do you think Saotome?" Asked Nabiki.
"They look very colorful on you." Kasumi said with a smile.
"I guess they look okay on you…" Akane said reluctantly.
"They don't fit well." Ranma whined.
"Hm? What do you mean?" Kasumi asked.
"It's tight around my chest." A blood vessel popped on Akane's head at the unintentional insult. "And it's really baggy around the waist."
Akane grabbed the wooden training sword she kept next to her bed. "Just what are you trying to say Ranma?" She growled.
Ranma put her hands up in defense. "No wait! I didn't mean-"
"Die you jerk!" She started hitting the nymph furiously with the stick.
Ranma didn't fight back, she just sat there and took the beating, hoping her fiancé would calm down after relieving some stress. That was her plan, but her body didn't want to sit still as it was mercilessly injured. Ranma screamed and shut her eyes as she unwillingly released a violent jolt of electricity from her body. When she opened her eyes, she saw Akane lying on the ground, motionless. Her sisters were staring at her in a mixture of fear and shock. "Oh god. I didn't mean to…it was…I didn't…what have I done?"
Kasumi snapped out of her state of shock and rushed over to her younger sister. She knelt down next to her to check for signs of life. Meanwhile, Nabiki was sending a death glare Ranma's way. "What the hell was that Saotome?! I swear, if anything happens to Akane, I will make your life a living hell! Do you understand me?"
Ranma stared at her own hands as if they were demons. "But I…I didn't mean to!"
Kasumi stood up. "It's okay, she's alive, but we need to take her to Dr Tofu quickly." She looked at Ranma. "Can I trust you to take her there?"
"Kasumi!" Nabiki snapped. "You want him to take her, after what he just did?"
"It was an accident. I would just make things worse if I showed up at the doctor's clinic, and Ranma's the only one of us who's strong and fast enough to take her either way." She looked back at Ranma and asked again. "Can I trust you?"
Ranma nodded her head in determination. "I'll do it. I'm not sure how, but I'll make up for this somehow. Martial artists are supposed to protect the weak, not harm them."
"You can start by taking Akane to the clinic." Ranma nodded again and gently picked up Akane. She walked out the door and softly levitated down the stairs in fear that too much rocking could be bad for the girl in her arms. She was still wearing the girl's clothes that she was trying on, but that hardly mattered at the moment.
Soun looked up from his newspaper to see the condition of his youngest daughter. He immediately stood up and ran towards Ranma. "Son, what happened to Akane?" He asked with a river of tears flowing down his face.
"It was just an accident father." Kasumi said from the top of the stairway. "Ranma is taking Akane to Dr Tofu. She'll be better in no time, so there's no need to worry." She smiled at Ranma.
Ranma smiled back and continued making her way out the door. Once outside, she took to the skies and flew towards Dr Tofu's clinic. She took great care in making sure she didn't accidentally turn into lightning while she was flying as she often did when she was in a hurry. She completely ignored any civilians who saw her fly by. Once she arrived at the clinic, she stopped flying and stepped inside. "Doc! Hey Doc! Akane needs help quick!"
Before she knew it, Dr Tofu rushed into the waiting room. "What seems to be the-oh my." He paused when he saw the state of his favorite patient. He gently took her out of Ranma's arms and stepped into the examination room. He placed her down on the bed and started checking her injuries. "These look like electrical burns. What happened to her? And just who are you?"
Ranma looked away shamefully. "It…it was all my fault Doc. It's me, Ranma."
A surprised look crossed the doctor's face. "Ranma? How did…never mind. We'll talk about this once I've taken care of Akane."
It took about half an hour for the doctor to treat the burns and bandage them up. When he finally finished, he wiped the sweat off his forehead and turned to Ranma, who had been waiting patiently. "She'll be just fine. She just needs time to heal up and she'll be back on her feet by tomorrow morning."
Ranma smiled. "Thanks Doc."
"Now that we have some time to ourselves, would you care to explain why you look like this?"
"Well, you may not believe me, but this is a curse I picked up in china a few months ago. It activates with cold water and reverses with hot water."
Dr Tofu rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That's right, I first met you in this form didn't I? So, this curse of yours turns you into a girl huh?"
"Not exactly. I turn into a nymph, a spirit of nature with great divine powers. Powers like…this." She held her hand out and created a crackling ball of electricity.
"So, you weren't kidding when you said YOU did this to Akane. But why…"
"It was an accident!" She replied quickly. "She got mad and started hitting me and I couldn't stop it. I don't know why, I just couldn't. I should've been able to control it!" She started rambling on about how worthless she was until Dr Tofu held his hand up.
"Calm down Ranma. Akane will be just fine and you didn't mean to harm her. Why don't you tell me more about your cursed form and tell me about some of your experiences in it. Maybe I'll be able to figure out why you couldn't control your power." Ranma nodded and started telling him about some of the things that happened in the past few months. When she finished, the doctor rubbed his chin again. "Interesting. From what you've told me, your body acts similar to an electric eel. Whenever it gets irritated or feels threatened, it will instinctively released a small jolt of electricity. Of course, eels don't care about who they hurt like you do. I'm sure you'll learn to control your power over time."
"Thanks Doc. I don't suppose you know anything about Jusenkyo or nymphs do you?"
Dr Tofu shook his head. "I can't say I do. I'll check some of my books to see if I can find anything, okay? For now, maybe you should go back to the Tendo's and tell them about Akane."
Ranma started looking downcast. "Yeah, I'm sure they'll be happy to know Akane's alright, but Akane herself is probably going to be pissed when she wakes up."
The doctor put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll have a nice, long chat with her when she wakes up."
"Thanks Doc, you really are the best." She turned around to leave.
"Hold on a moment Ranma. Before you leave, I'd like to take a blood sample of your nymph form. It would certainly help me get down to the bottom of your curse." Ranma agreed to his idea. The first sample he tried to take didn't work out so well. The moment he stuck the needle into her veins, he received a shock and immediately pulled his hand back. "It seems even your blood is electrified." He wore rubber gloves for his next attempt and successfully got the sample he wanted. "Thank you for dropping by Ranma. Have a nice day!" He called as she left.
"You too!" Ranma walked down the street and thought about the event that had just taken place. "I've really got to get these powers under control. I can't let something like that happen again." She was so lost in thought that she didn't take notice of the powerful presence that had just entered her range of sense. That presence came closer and closer to her at a fast pace. Ranma continued to obliviously stroll down the path until she felt something slam into her back and knock her over. She immediately hopped back to her feet. "Alright, who's the wise guy? Huh?"
Ranma blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing straight. Standing in front of her was a wolf with jet-black fur. As far as height went, he reached up to about Ranma's knees while standing on all fours. He had a piece of yellow and black cloth wrapped around his front right leg, making Ranma believe he must belong to someone. He growled at her for a few seconds, then stopped and looked at her curiously, as if he just realized who he was attacking. His green eyes stared at her like she was the wrong prey on his hunt.
While the wolf was staring at her, Ranma shrugged and kept walking. "Stupid dog. I swear, if I figure out who he belongs to, I'm going to have a few complaints." This comment seemed to anger the wolf. He started growling again in a 'take that back' kind of way. Ranma turned around to face him again. "You wanna start something Fido?" Her response was a bark from the canine. "Fine! Bring it on!"
The wolf charged forward at a speed that Ranma didn't expect, even from a predator like him. He leaped into the air and dove towards his target. Ranma sidestepped the attack and kicked the wolf before he touched down on the ground. He slammed into a brick wall and fell to the ground. Ranma turned around and started walking away with a smug expression on her face. "Looks like the fleabag didn't know what he was getting into. Guess that'll teach him."
But the wolf wasn't done fighting quite yet. He got back up and charged at Ranma while bearing his fangs and claws. Ranma sensed him coming and whirled around a second too late. She couldn't dodge the strike, so she brought up her arms in defense. The wolf bit her right arm while his claws bore into her right and left arms. Blood dripped out of the inflicted wounds. Unfortunately for the wolf, this blood was electrified. The beast howled in pain as it was shocked violently. He let go of her arms and attempted to stay standing while dealing with the pain.
Ranma stared at the blood dripping from her arms. She clenched her fists and glared at the wolf. "Grr. You're really pushing it Fido. I am NOT in a good mood right now. I suggest you scram before I start taking my stress out on you." Electricity was now being freely discharged from her body. Whether it was on purpose or instinct, even Ranma herself wasn't sure.
The wolf took several steps back before he turned tail and ran away. Ranma let out a sigh and slowly started charging down. "That was annoying." She took another look at her arms. She knew she should get them bandaged before she started spilling electrified blood everywhere, but she really didn't want to go back to the clinic. "Guess I'll just ask Kasumi if she has any bandages I can use."
When she got back to the dojo, she immediately went to the kitchen to find Kasumi preparing lunch. "Hey Kasumi, can I ask you something?"
Kasumi turned around to face her guest. "Yes Ranma, what is i-oh my!" She dropped the frying pan of food, which Ranma quickly caught and put back on the stove.
Ranma looked at the eldest Tendo sister sheepishly. "Can I have some bandages?"
(The next morning)
Ranma was doing something she barely ever did. She was eating her breakfast SLOWLY. She had spent all of the previous day and night in her nymph form for two reasons. First, her nymph form healed faster and she wanted to be able to take her bandages off as soon as possible. Second, she wanted to get her powers under control. This was something she couldn't do if she stayed a guy.
During mealtime, Ranma and her dad usually tried to steal food from each other for speed and reflex training, as well as just to have some extra food, but Genma knew better than to do anything that might anger his son while he was like this, so he left him alone…for now. Since Genma wasn't trying to steal her food, she had a chance to eat slowly for once. She used these moments to actually taste the food she ate. "This tastes great Kasumi!"
The chef of this meal smiled brightly at the nymph. "Thank you Ranma. I try my best. By the way, do you mind picking up Akane from the clinic? Dr Tofu called and he says she's recovered enough to go to school."
Ranma started looking uncomfortable, but she nodded her head. "Okay, I'll stop by there on my way to school."
"Thank you."
Soun was reading his newspaper intently when something caught his attention. "Hm, that's strange."
"What is it Tendo?" Genma asked.
"It seems there was a terrorist attack of some sort over in China." He explained. "Apparently a military base stationed in a forest was completely demolished. Whoever did it didn't leave any survivors, nor a trace of who they may be. The reporters believe it was some new type of weapon, but it looks more like a boulder ran straight through the place to me."
"Oh please Tendo, do you really think a boulder just came to life and attacked a military base? How ridiculous!" Genma dismissed.
"Yes, I suppose it was a rather foolish idea wasn't it?" He agreed. "In any case, let's be glad it was in China and not here in Japan."
"You said it Tendo." They both dropped the subject and continued their meal.
Ranma finished up her breakfast and headed out the door. She decided she would get some hot water at the clinic. As she was walking towards the clinic, she noticed a familiar presence following her. She turned around and saw the black wolf. He was standing on top of a nearby building and he appeared to be watching her. "Great, it's that dumb mutt again. What does he want?" She continued to mind her own business, hoping it would go away if she ignored it.
She made it about halfway to the clinic before she got sick of waiting for the wolf to go away, so she decided to turn into a lightning bolt to go the rest of the way. She didn't like turning into a bolt of lightning because it meant she had to go into the sky in order to travel without crashing into something by accident, and going into the sky means people might see her. She wanted to keep her nymph form a secret for as long as possible.
Trying to control herself as a bolt of lightning wasn't nearly as easy as it looked. She could slow herself down to roughly half the speed of lightning, but that was still much faster than she would like to go.
She made it to the clinic in about half a second. She turned back into solid mass and levitated the rest of the way down. She landed in front of the door and walked in. "Hey Doc! I'm here!" She immediately saw Akane sitting in the waiting room. The two met eyes for a second before awkwardly glancing away.
Dr Tofu walked in. "Oh good, you're here. Akane is healing nicely. She should be well enough to attend school, as long as she doesn't push herself. You won't, will you Akane?"
Akane blushed and looked away. "No Doctor, I won't"
The doctor nodded in satisfaction. "Good." He turned towards Ranma. "You make sure she keeps that promise okay?" Akane was about to protest about how she would keep it on her own, but Dr Tofu held his hand up. "Akane, I know how you are with the boys at school. I know you'll engage in a fight if you're challenged by Kuno or someone else. Taking it easy means no fighting, understand?"
Akane lowered her head. "Yes Doctor."
"By the way Ranma, why are your arms bandaged?"
"Oh, just got into a little fight. Nothing I couldn't handle of course." She took the bandages off to reveal that they were completely healed up.
"Wow. Your nymph form is something else. You're already completely healed up. You can get some hot water if you want. Have a good day at school."
"Thanks Doc."
Ranma got himself some hot water and left with Akane. Neither one of them looked at the other, nor did they speak to each other. They silently walked to school together until Ranma got splashed by the old lady again. "Oh come on! I just switched back!"
"Serves you right jerk." Akane muttered under her breath. Apparently, Ranma heard her though.
"Look, I'm sorry I shocked you okay?"
"Don't apologize. It's not like I'm going to forgive you." She grumbled.
Ranma crossed her arms. "Fine, don't forgive me. It WAS my fault for shocking you right? After all, I'M the one who got pissed off for no reason. I'M the one who gave myself this curse. It's MY fault all of this is happening to you right?"
Akane glared at her fiancé. "Just what do you want from me?!"
"What do I want? I WANT you to stop being such a heartless, self-centered, stupid, brat who thinks the whole world revolves around her and blames her problems on whoever's easiest to blame! THAT'S what I want!" Ranma stormed ahead towards the school, leaving her fiancé behind. Akane was too stunned by the sudden outburst to properly react, so she just watched as Ranma ran towards the school gates without her.
Ranma slowed down once she entered the school gates. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Dammit. Why have I been freaking out so much lately? I'm usually so calm and carefree when I'm like this." She looked around the courtyard. Some of the other students were staring at her, but she didn't really care much about that. "Where's Kuno? I could use a good punching bag right now." She gave up on looking for him and just went inside.
Up on the roof of a house outside of school grounds, the wolf was watching her once again. She was well aware of his presence, but didn't feel like dealing with it right now. She decided she'd deal with him if he was still around after school.
(Later)
After Ranma's outburst that morning, things had started to calm down a little. Akane hadn't talked to him since she arrived at school, she just ignored him and tried to avoid eye contact. It was now the end of class, the other students already left the room, so Ranma decided to try and patch things up with his fiancé. "Hey Akane. I'm sorry about shocking you yesterday, and about what I said this morning."
Akane just looked the other way. "Whatever."
"I'm trying to apologize here! The least you could do is look at me!"
"Keep your apologies. It's not like it actually hurt or anything." She denied smugly.
'Says the girl who had to be rushed to the closest doctor.' He thought.
"Just forget about it, okay?" She started to walk away, but Ranma hopped onto a desk in front of her in a crouching position. He looked her in the eyes while rubbing his chin. "What is it?"
"Oh nothing." He said. "I just think you should wipe that frown off your face. It's depressing."
Akane crossed her arms. "I'll smile when I feel like it, not when you tell me to."
"That's a real shame. You're kinda cute when you smile you know." A blush crossed Akane's face and her eyes widened slightly. Ranma smirked and poked her in the forehead, causing her to stumble backwards a few steps. "Got ya."
She glared at Ranma and clenched her fist. "Why you…come here!" She started swinging her fists at Ranma, who easily avoided them. "Stop dodging!"
"But then you might actually hit me." Ranma slipped through her defenses and poked her forehead again, this time with enough force to make her fall on her butt.
She continued glaring at him and got to her feet. "I'll beat you someday."
"Yeah right. If you ever want a chance to beat me, you'll have to practice the art a lot more." Ranma walked towards the door of the classroom. He stopped at the doorway and glanced back at her. "In the meantime, you should try to practice smiling. I was serious about that frown of yours. Your face'll freeze if you keep glaring like that."
Akane blushed again. 'Maybe I've been a little hard on him lately. He was just saying sorry.' She silently promised to be nicer to him from now on…as long as he didn't push it of course. She looked at the door he walked out of. "Hey! Wait for me!" She ran out into the hall and caught up with her fiancé. "Look I'm…sorry I was being mean to you earlier."
Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "Don't worry about it." They both fell into an awkward silence as they walked through the halls.
Akane started feeling uncomfortable, so she tried bringing up a subject she had been curious about since earlier that morning. "So, how did you hurt your arms?"
"Some stupid dog bit me." He grumbled.
A smug smirk crossed Akane's features. "Oh? A little dog was able to catch you off guard?"
Ranma crossed his arms. "It was tough alright? It must've been trained by whoever it belonged to. It was a lot tougher than dogs should be, it was able to endure a good jolt of electricity and still have enough strength to run. Plus, it's been following me."
"Following you?"
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, I noticed it this morning when I went to pick you up from the Doc's, and again before I stepped into the school."
"That's…kind of creepy." Akane said, uneasily.
"I'll take care of it today if it's still around, so it shouldn't be a problem much longer." The two walked out the front doors of the school. They made it about halfway to the gates before Ranma sensed danger. "Move!" He grabbed Akane and jumped out of the way of the weapon that came crashing down on the ground.
Akane struggled to break free from Ranma's grasp. "Let go of me you jerk!" Ranma put her down. "Good, now what's the big ide…" She paused when she saw the small crater created by the newcomer's assault. "Oh."
Once the dust cleared, they both got a good look at their attacker. He was a young man with short black hair, no older than sixteen or seventeen. He was wearing a long-sleeved yellow shirt and black pants. He had a yellow and black bandana tied around his forehead like a headband. Oddly enough, the weapon he used to break the concrete ground was a simple bamboo umbrella. He looked at Ranma with a pair of green eyes, full of both great confidence and great rage. He stepped out of the crater. "I've finally found you Ranma." The evil smirk he had on his face revealed a pair of canine-like fangs in his teeth.
Akane looked at Ranma curiously. "You know this guy Ranma?"
Ranma put his hand to his lip as he mentally went over anyone him or his father might've pissed off over the years. "Um…I don't think so."
The newcomer glared death at him. "Don't play dumb Ranma! You know damn well what you did to me!"
"Okay…what did I do again?" Ranma asked cluelessly.
"You seriously don't remember me?"
Ranma shook his head. "Nope, but that bandana looks kind of familiar."
"So try to remember where you saw that bandana and you should remember who he is." Akane suggested.
"Okay, let's see. Where did I see it last?" He pondered it for a few seconds, then he snapped his fingers. "Aha!"
"You remember?" The boy asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I sure do. That bandana…" He pointed at the piece of cloth. "…looks just like the piece of cloth on that dog from earlier!"
Akane and the boy face faulted. So did some of the students who had gathered around the courtyard to watch. The boy glared at him. "It's a wolf, not a dog!"
"So it DOES belong to you!" Ranma accused. "That little furball of yours attacked me! You'd better start keeping that thing on a leash."
"So, it was him after all." He muttered under his breath, then Ranma's other comments clicked into his mind. "Hey!" The boy's face was red with rage. "He…doesn't belong to me!"
"Really? Does he belong to a friend of yours or…"
"He doesn't belong to anybody, alright?!" He shouted. "It's apparent you're not going to figure it out anytime soon, so let me spell it out for you. My name is Ryoga Hibiki, and I'm here to make your life a living hell Ranma!"
Ranma stared at him blankly. "…Why?"
"You really don't remember what you did do me?!"
"This isn't about the bread, is it?" Ranma asked.
"You two were fighting over bread?" Akane asked incredulously.
"Yeah. Back in middle school, we used to fight over who got the last loaf of bread for lunch, and I won every single time." Ranma explained.
"This isn't about bread Ranma! It's about how you skipped out on our man-to-man fight!" Ryoga yelled.
"Now what's he talking about?" Akane asked.
"Oh yeah! Eventually, he got so mad at me for getting the bread everyday, he challenged me to a fight."
"And you skipped out on it?"
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, after I waited for a whole three days. Ryoga's the one who didn't show up!"
"Don't flip this on me Ranma!" Ryoga snapped. "I DID show up! On the fourth day!" Everyone present just looked at him with a half-lidded stare.
Akane was the first to speak up. "Four days?" Ryoga nodded. "Was the meeting place really that far away from where you lived?"
"It was the empty lot behind his house." Ranma stated flatly.
Silence
"How can someone take four days to reach an empty lot behind their own house?"
"Back in middle school, Ryoga was known for having the worst sense of direction in the world. Me and a few other guys took turns taking him from home to school and back." Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "Should've known he'd get lost on the day of our fight."
"Shut up! So I got a bit lost, the point is, you ditched out on our fight. I've seen hell while I was trying to track you down, and now I've finally found you." Another evil grin appeared on his face. "Now I'm going to destroy every last shred of happiness you have left in you." He charged forward and started swinging his umbrella in an attempt to hit Ranma.
Ranma dodged each swing flawlessly. He jumped back to gain some distance between them. "Look pal, if you want to settle our fight, then I'll be more than happy to have a match with you."
"This isn't about the fight anymore Ranma. Now it's about revenge!" He pulled out several bandanas from the one he usually wore and threw them. The pieces of cloth flew through the air like shuriken, slicing up nearby tree branches and even part of the ground.
Ranma was able to avoid them, but the students behind him screamed as they ran out of the way to avoid them. "Ryoga! Are you crazy? You could seriously hurt someone!"
Ryoga struck with his umbrella again. "Yeah, and that someone will be you!"
Ranma continued to avoid the strikes until he decided enough was enough. He slipped through Ryoga's defenses and kicked him in the face. "Listen pal, if you wanna fight, you're gonna have it in a match! Civilians could get hurt if you start swinging wildly."
Ryoga stumbled back from the kick, but otherwise, he was unharmed from the blow. "Fine! If it'll get you to take me seriously!, then I accept!"
Several minutes later, the two fighters decided to have their fight in the P.E. field. Many students were standing in the sidelines, eager to see if Ryoga could beat the new champion of Furinkan. Nabiki and her friends were taking bets on who would win. Once everything was set up, Nabiki stepped between the two martial artists. "Alright boys, let's have a clean fight. First down is the loser. Other than that, I don't really care what you do to win. Ready…Go!" She stepped back to let the chaos begin.
Ryoga wasted no time. He charged forward with his umbrella once again, and once again, Ranma avoided the strikes. "Hold still so I can clobber you!" He opened the umbrella and threw it. The weapon flew through the air just like his bandanas. Ranma ducked under it and continued to avoid Ryoga's barrage of punches.
Meanwhile, the umbrella fell harmlessly to the ground. Two boys walked over to it and tried to pick it up, but the tool wouldn't budge. "Geez, this thing must weigh a ton!"
Akane overheard them and decided to check it out herself. "Let me try." She mustered all the strength she could, but she only managed to lift it a few inches off the ground. "He carries this thing around with one hand? Just how strong is he?"
Back in the fight, Ryoga tried to hit Ranma with more of his bandana projectiles. The pigtailed boy avoided them and they kept flying, almost hitting a few of the students. 'He doesn't care who gets hurt in the crossfire! I'd better move this fight somewhere else.' Ranma ran over to the fence that surrounded the field. "Hey, Rocks-for-brains, you wanna fight, then follow me!" He jumped over the fence and Ryoga grabbed his umbrella before following after him.
"Come on! Let's follow them!" Nabiki shouted. Her and the crowd of students ran after them.
Ranma led Ryoga into a vacant backstreet. Once he decided this was a safe area, he stopped to engage in the fight again. "Come on Ryoga! Can't we talk about this? Maybe I could help you out if you just tell me what the problem is."
"There's nothing you can do for me Ranma!" He continued his assault, switching between using his umbrella and using his fists. He aimed a punch at Ranma's head, but the pigtailed boy ducked under it and he hit a streetlight instead. Cracks formed in the metal obstacle and it fell over a few seconds later.
Ranma did a backflip to get away from the fanged boy's next strike. "What is your problem?!"
"You want to know what my problem is Ranma?" He crouched down and lifted the streetlight with minimal strain. "It's you!" He swung it down on Ranma, who jumped out of the way. It hit the ground and the light part broke off, making it nothing more than a giant metal pole.
Ranma put his hands in front of him defensively. "Now hold on a minute! Can't we come to an agreement here?!"
Ryoga's only response was to swing at him again. "Die!" Ranma dodged and ran from Ryoga's rampage until they made it to a nearby park. Ryoga had swung around his makeshift weapon so much, it was merely a big metal stump now. The fanged boy swung his metal stump and Ranma jumped onto a nearby tree branch to avoid it. The sharp, broken edges of the stump didn't hit Ranma, but it cut the front of his Chinese shirt.
"Hey! That was my favorite shirt you jerk!" He yelled.
"You're complaining about your clothes? Stop being such a girl!" Ryoga mocked.
This statement hit a nerve for Ranma. "Take that back Ryoga!" He jumped forward and aimed a kick at Ryoga, who held up his stump in defense. The kick impacted with the metal and demolished it on contact. "I said take it back!" He aimed another jump kick. Ryoga dodged it and Ranma hit the ground. When his kick hit the ground, it accidentally hit an underground water pipe.
Water splashed everywhere. Ryoga quickly pulled out his umbrella to block the water, Ranma was hit directly. When the water stopped, Ryoga saw a blonde girl with a scarf standing where his opponent had been. The girl punched him in the face. "Take it back you jerk!"
The punch pushed Ryoga back a few feet. He just smirked. "Why should I? You look like a girl to me."
"What're you-ah!" She put an arm over her chest to cover up the cut that was exposing part of her chest.
At that moment, Akane caught up with them. "Ranma! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just got a tear on my shirt." She turned back towards Ryoga. "Well? You know my secret now. You happy jerk? You don't know how much trouble this curse causes me on a daily basis."
The bandana-clad boy just scoffed. "Pfft. I already knew about your little 'secret' Ranma. Let me tell you something, if you think having a beautiful body like that is a curse, then you don't know the meaning of trouble!" He threw some more bandanas at Ranma.
Ranma grabbed Akane around the waist and jumped out of the way. "Dammit Ryoga! What's your problem? Can't you see how much trouble you're causing?"
I don't care as long as it means taking my revenge!" He threw more of his projectiles at Ranma.
The nymph avoided them by jumping into a high up branch with Akane still in her arms. "Let go of me!" She yelled.
"If I do that, then there's a good chance you could get cut in half."
"Then just get down there and fight him!"
"If I fight him, I could lose control and zap him to death!"
"Well do something!"
From down below, Ryoga removed his black belt. "Are you done arguing with your girlfriend, or am I going to have to break you two up?" With a flick of his wrist, the belt became solid, like a sword. He swung it and cut the tree clean in half.
Ranma was starting to get irritated. She had to fight to keep her electricity under control. "You moron! I could seriously hurt you if you keep this up!" She jumped over to another tree.
"Why don't you go down there and zap him?" Akane asked. "He's trying to kill you! If you'd rather run than fight, then you really are a coward!"
"Stop ignoring me!" Ryoga cut down the next tree. This time, Ranma jumped down towards the ground.
"Well excuse me for not wanting to accidentally kill a guy!" She shouted at Akane. "It's hard enough to control my powers without your constant nagging!"
Once Ranma touched the ground, Akane slapped her in the face, causing the nymph to let go of her. "If I'm causing you so much trouble…then I'll leave! Will THAT make you happy?" She started running away from her fiancé.
Ranma reached out a hand. "Hey, hold on a sec will you!"
While she was distracted, Ryoga tried to hit her with his belt from behind. "I have you now!"
Ranma whirled around and kicked the belt out off his hand. "Buzz off!" She delivered another kick to his stomach, knocking him to his back. It was at that moment that she noticed the belt she had kicked. It was flying through the air, straight towards Akane's head. "Dammit, no time." She ran towards her, but she knew she wouldn't reach her in time.
She was going to use her powers to reach her, but then she realized the other students had arrived on the scene. 'You owe me for this tomboy!' She stopped running and flew to close the distance between them. She slammed into Akane from behind, knocking the girl forward half a second before the blade passed through the spot her head just was. However it did slice through her long blue hair.
Akane pushed Ranma off of herself and glared at her. "You jerk! What was that-" She paused in shock once she saw her blue hair fall to the ground. She brought a hand up behind her head to confirm the truth she didn't want to believe.
By this time, the rest of the crowd caught up with them. A few of Akane's friends gasped in shock. "Oh my gosh! What happened to your hair Akane?"
Ranma waved a hand in front of her face. When she didn't get a reaction, she tapped Akane's forehead a few times. Still no reaction. "I think she's in shock."
"Of course she is!" Once of Akane's friends said. "I would be too if I was caught in public with a hairstyle like that! You're a girl too, you should know how she feels!"
Once she was reminded of her current gender, Ranma put her arm over her chest again. "I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, my hair is short and I don't have a problem with it. She's lucky it was her hair and not her head."
"Just what kind of girl are you?" Another one of them asked.
One of the boys spoke up. "For that matter, what kind of human being are you? I swear you were flying just now." A few of the other students nodded their heads.
Ranma scratched the back of her head nervously. "Um…well…you see…"
Her thinking process was cut off when a strong hand grabbed her arm. "We aren't done yet!" Ryoga pulled his arm back to punch her, but Ranma struck him in the face first.
"Will you mind your own business for once?!" She grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder and into the nearby fountain. She looked back at Akane and held out a hand. "Listen Akane, why don't we go back to your house and have Kasumi even out your hair, kay?"
Akane mindlessly nodded her head and grabbed hold of the offered hand. They both walked away from the park towards home. Meanwhile, the crowd of students were left dumbfounded. "So, what now?" One of them asked.
Nabiki stepped in front of the crowd. "Alright guys, nothing left to see here. The fight had no conclusion, so just scatter and go about with your business." Everyone did just that. Not one person noticed the figure that rose out of the fountain.
Ryoga was growling with rage. 'Damn that coward! I swear I'll get my revenge one way or another. You haven't seen the last of me!' He ran off to find where he left his traveling pack. It would be useless to confront him right now, so he decided to track him to his house and attack later.
End of Chapter
Well there you go, chapter four. The updates are going to be slowing down a little bit. Mostly because an author friend of mine want's me to get off my lazy butt and work on some of my other stories. I'll try to get chapter five written up as soon as possible. See ya!