Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and all associated licensers. The King of Fighters and it associated series are the property of SNK-Playmore and all associated licensers. This is not a work for profit. I claim no rights to the characters. This is a work of fiction.

Continuity for Ranma is mostly derived from the manga, with some of the anime sprinkled in for good measure. Continuity for the King of Fighters is a modified form of the current story, how that is should be explained in story, but I am willing to explain for those with further questions.

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki reached Nerima Station by nine-thirty in the morning. Nabiki had hoped they could have arrived even earlier, but the bus had shown up five minutes late, and the stupid driver had taken his sweet time getting to the station. She should have demanded some of the bus fee back, but did not want to waste more time than she already had.

The best way to get to Odaiba from Nerima was by train. Unfortunately, there was no direct line connecting the two wards, and Nabiki knew that to get to their destination, she and her companions would have to make multiple transfers to Route 11 (the line that led directly to Odaiba) in Central Tokyo. Transfers would take time, and the event at the Tokyo Big Sight was scheduled to start at one in the afternoon, give or take a few minutes. Three and a half hours would probably give them more than enough time to arrive in Odaiba, but that still did not take into account the time it would take to walk over to the convention center, or that thousands of other people were heading towards the same destination. It was going to be a close call by any measure, and if they screwed up, Nabiki knew full well another opportunity like this might never come. So if she had to play the bad guy to get her sister and Ranma there on time, so be it. She never really cared what others thought of her anyway.

Thankfully, the trip went far smoother then the bus ride. The small group made their transfers smoothly thanks to Nabiki's superb time-management skills. They reached Odaiba a quarter before noon. Now all they had to do was reach the Big Sight with enough time to gain admission before the convention hall filled up past capacity.

"We doing good on time Nabiki?" asked Ranma.

"It would have been better if we had arrived even earlier, but there was no way we could leave our neighborhood before a certain hour without raising suspicions. Let's just hope that the report I read online about the hall not opening before twelve-thirty is true, otherwise this is already a bust."

"Well then, I guess I have to speed things up for us." Ranma said with a gleam in his eyes. Before Akane and Nabiki could even reply as to what he meant, he picked both of them up, one on each of his shoulders. "Ranma Saotome, taking off!" and with that he ran at full speed towards the convention center, the map precariously hanging from his lip. Needless to say, more than a few of the pedestrians looking at this spectacle were left speechless. After all, this was not Nerima.

After only a few minutes of high speed travel via the Ranma Express, the three teenagers reached their destination. Ranma put both Akane and Nabiki down gently, earning a playful sock from the former and an annoyed stare from the latter. They all took a look at the Tokyo Big Sight in all of its glory, the gleaming steel and glass construction rising far above them.

"It's far larger then I imagined it would be." Akane said in awe.

"Your tax dollars at work." Nabiki quipped.

"We don't pay taxes, and even if we did, you'd find some sort of way to weasel out of it." Ranma said in a rather annoyed tone.

"Details, details. Now let's get on line while we still can."

The line was huge, just as Nabiki had worried it would be. It would not be so bad when she channeled all of the money these fans had into her pockets of course, but right now it was a major hindrance to Ranma getting close to Kyo Kusanagi. There had to be something they could do.

Suddenly a voice boomed out over the speaker system lining the walls of the convention hall.

"Doors will be opening in two minutes, please proceed in an orderly fashion into the building. Admission will be free, but the doors will close if the building reaches beyond safe capacity as determined by staff. Thank you for listening and have a wonderful day."

Nabiki became even more worried. Did they get here early enough? Or would they be shut out when the hall reached capacity? She looked over to Ranma, and saw not a glimmer of doubt on his face.

That guy really thinks that this is all going to go down without a hitch, Nabiki thought. She had to admit, for the first time since she met Ranma, she actually envied him. Not many people had that kind of confidence and conviction when things looked down. Or maybe he was just stupid; Nabiki could not discount that option.

The doors to then convention hall opened up quickly. The trio entered the hall as quickly as they could. Huge crowds of fans had completely mobbed the place, and progress quickly bogged down despite the efforts of the hall's staff to keep things orderly. Nabiki realized there was simply no way that they would be able to get a good seat for the conference, and that was as bad as being shut out. She looked over to her sister and Ranma again, but was shocked to see the pigtailed martial artist was gone.

"Akane!" Nabiki yelled.

Akane responded in a panic. "He just leaped over the people in front of us, Nabiki! I didn't have time to react."

That Ranma, Nabiki thought as she smiled to herself. He really was prepared to do anything to accomplish his goal. Good, because it just turned what could have been a bust into a gold mine.

With a combination of graceful movements and a little brute force, Ranma was able to quickly cut through the mass of humanity towards the front rows. He moved so quickly that the convention hall staff did not even notice him cutting. The Tendo sisters were left behind, and while Ranma regretted leaving Akane like that (especially with Nabiki), if he had any hope of pulling this off it needed to be this way. As he got closer to the center of the hall Ranma could start to see the main stage set up for the conference.

A quick glance seemed to confirm that Kyo Kusanagi had not yet come onto the stage, which meant Ranma had at least a little bit of time to figure how he was going to issue his challenge. Looking around himself, Ranma noticed there were relatively few security guards stationed around the hall. Not too surprising, seeing as this was a news conference for a martial artist. Ranma decided if Kusanagi had been too afraid to confront his fans without an army of bodyguards, then he would not have been worth the effort to confront in the first place.

There were several other people already on the stage. One was a middle-aged man with graying hair, a neat black business suit, and thick rimmed glasses right out the 1950's. He was sitting near the center of a long table set up for the participants in the conference. He seemed to be some sort of official, shuffling a small pile of papers in front of him on the long table. There were two other guys sitting at the table as well, both looked like foreigners. One was a White man with blond hair, and the other had a swarthy look to him with long dark hair tied into a pony tail. Both were dressed rather informally and Ranma was not quite sure who they were. Maybe the opponents brought in to fight Kusanagi in that exhibition match? Who knew, and at any rate that was not Ranma's concern.

Some stage techs were making last-minute adjustments to the lights around the stage. The official finally stopped fidgeting with his papers and brought them up with him to the microphone located on a small podium located just in front of the table. After clearing his throat and waiting for the audience to settle down, he began to speak.

"Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a pleasant time getting here, and that the conditions in the hall are bearable. I am Masuharu Kuroki, the commissioner of the Japanese National Committee for Mixed-Martial Arts. I am extremely honored to be here with you today for the official contract signing of what promises to be a most memorable event for Japanese martial arts!

"As I am sure all of you are aware, our four-time World Champion, Mr. Kyo Kusanagi has returned to his homeland after several years of absence. During that time he pursued his training, as well as continuing to appear in a number of martial arts tournaments to represent our nation. But now, for the first time in almost five years, Mr. Kusanagi will be holding an exhibition match for the benefit of his Japanese fans right here on our home soil!"

Thunderous applause broke out as Kuroki finished his introduction, and Ranma was taken aback by the reaction. Was Kyo Kusanagi really that popular? It seemed hard for Ranma to accept that some guy who he not even heard of until a few days ago was this famous, and he felt more than a little twinge of jealousy that some street fighter was held with such high esteem. While Genma had sometimes tried to prod Ranma into fighting for money in underground martial arts competitions in seedy halls in Okinawa and Hong Kong, among other places, Ranma always refused. If Genma was a screw up who often got the both of them into financial trouble, Ranma was not going to become some sort of gladiator to get his daily bread, at least if he could help it. It was bloodsport after all, and Ranma had no use for that. Yet here he was about to challenge a street fighting champion! This was not about money though, decided Ranma, this was a question of honor. The world had to learn about the strength of Musabetsu Kakutou Ryu, even if it meant risking it all in this situation!

Kuroki adjusted his glasses, and spoke once again.

"Now, it is with great pleasure that I introduce to you our champion, Mr. Kyo Kusanagi!"

The audience broke out into wild applause once again, and some sort of music started playing over the speaker system in the hall. It sounded like some sort of corny J-Rock track to Ranma, but he would be the first to admit he was no expert on such matters. Besides, his attention was fixed entirely on the man who was now coming out from the back corner entrance of the hall, heading his way up to the podium. Kyo Kusanagi had arrived.

Now having a chance to look at him in person, Ranma revised his impression of Kusanagi towards a more favorable view. He was rather tall and solidly built, and he carried himself like a true martial artist; relaxed, but ready at a moment's notice to spring into action. He had a calm and confident look in his eyes and seemed well aware of his strength, but not conceited about it. He would make an excellent opponent, no doubt about that.

Kyo stepped up to the podium as Kuroki graciously stepped aside to let the fighter give his speech. Kyo looked appreciatively at his fans, well aware that he had not had a chance to interact with them in quite some time. It had been hard on him to stay away from Japan for such a long period. Of course, he was an Osakan boy by birth, but Tokyo was alright in his book too.

"Greetings, Tokyo!" Kyo shouted out to the crowd. They roared out once more in approval.

"Been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that, things just kept coming up, you know? But I'm really glad to be home!" More applause accompanied these remarks.

"I'll admit I don't know how long I'm going to be able to stay this time. But hey, as long as I'm here, let's make the best of it right?" Kyo continued as fans in the crowd continued to scream out in joy.

Ranma had been standing right near the front row the whole time, and he could not agree with Kusanagi more. He had been carefully waiting for the moment when he could issue his challenge, and now seemed as good a time as any to do so. He cleared his throat, and summoned his ki into his chest in preparation for a shouting technique that he had observed and learned from more senior martial artists in Nerima, like Soun and Happosai, over the past year. It would definitely get Kyo Kusanagi's attention, even with all the sound filling the hall.

"Yo! Kyo Kusanagi! I, Ranma Saotome of the Musabetsu Kakutou Ryu challenge you to a match!" Ranma screamed at the top of his lungs, projecting his aura outward. The hall came to a dead silence from the declaration. Kyo's attention was immediately directed toward the powerful new presence he detected no more than a few meters from him. Whoever had just shouted at him was strong, and meant serious business.

"I have to say Konatsu; you sure know how to cook." Ryoga said as he rubbed his belly, "I'd say your food is as good as Ukyo's!"

"Well thank you Mr. Ryoga!" the ninja beamed. He had been practicing quite hard to improve his cooking skills. "I consider that a compliment of the highest order!'

"Don't mention it. Hey, what time is it anyway? Is Ukyo getting back soon or what?"

"Let me see," Konatsu said as he looked at the clock behind him, "It's just after twelve, Mistress Ukyo should be on her lunch period by now. I would say she should be checking in on us at any minute."

"That's good. Hey Konatsu, is that a TV set over in the corner?" Ryoga said, pointing at a black box bolted into the ceiling. "I don't seem to remember there being one in here."

"You are correct. We just bought it last month, while you were still traveling. Normally we only turn it on when we formally open for business, for the benefit of the customers. Why? Is there anything you would like to watch?"

"Kind of… see when I get lost, I often find it hard to keep track of the news. I guess I'd just like to see what's going on in the world before Ukyo gets here."

"Ask and you shall receive Mr. Ryoga." Konatsu walked over to the set and turned it on to one of the local channels with the midday news. The image flickered on and the sound began to blare from the set. A news anchor sat behind her desk with a serious expression on her face.

"We have breaking news now out of the Odaiba. A strange young man has crashed a news conference involving former martial arts champion Kyo Kusanagi and is trying to engage him in a fight. A local film crew is bringing in live footage from the incident now."

"Wow, sounds serious over there." Ryoga said thoughtfully. "What kind of maniac would do that sort of thing anyway?"

"It is a strange and sad world that we live in Mr. Ryoga."

A second later, images of the scene began to play on the TV screen. Ryoga and Konatsu could see the conference was packed with people looking on with awe at something. Then another image flashed on the screen; this one had two men staring each other down on a small stage. Ryoga looked at their faces.

"Well I guess one of those guys is that champion." Ryoga said out aloud. He scanned his eyes over the screen more carefully "The other one… Holy crap, it's Ranma!"

"It is Mr. Saotome!" Konatsu concurred.

At that moment, Ukyo Kuonji walked back into her restaurant after having left Furinkan High for the lunch period. She had tried looking for her beloved Ranchan before leaving, but she could not find him or Akane anywhere. The whole thing troubled Ukyo greatly, and she was not in the best mood.

"Hey Konatsu, you would not believe the day I've been having so far." Ukyo said as she walked past the door. Konatsu looked at her somewhat anxiously, and Ukyo noticed Ryoga was in the restaurant as well, his eyes fixed on the TV screen in the corner of the room.

"What's going on here you two?" Ukyo asked in a very annoyed tone.

Ryoga turned around with a wide-eyed expression on his face. Ukyo was concerned, Ryoga looked badly shaken, and that was a rare thing.

"Ukyo, you might want to sit down and watch this with us."

Meanwhile, a few hundred feet back, near the entrance to the hall, Akane was standing in a state of mortification at what had just happened. This was how Ranma was going to challenge Kyo Kusanagi? In the middle of the damn conference? She figured he would show a little bit of commonsense and wait until he could approach Kusanagi during the after-session meeting with the fans to politely ask him about a potential sparring match, but this? And then Akane remembered that this was Ranma she was talking about, and she should have assumed from the very beginning he would do something this crazy and brazen. For Pete's sake, his name meant wild horse!

"Ah yes, just as I expected, this is going to be huge!" Nabiki beamed, "The gambling fees and potential merchandising opportunities are limitless!"

"Nabiki! Please!" Akane screamed at her sister, "Ranma's about to get arrested and we might be going to jail with him!"

"Well I'm not paying bail, I'll tell you that right now. And if he fails I'll disavow any knowledge of how he got here." Nabiki said nonchalantly.

"Do you really think that's going to work?" Akane replied in an exasperated tone.

"Who are you again?"

"Nabiki!" Akane screamed as she entered a full-blown panic.

While the Tendo sisters were still in the midst of their argument, Ranma and Kyo continued their tense showdown. Ranma suddenly made a quick and powerful leap towards the podium, landing gracefully on both feet. He was suddenly very close to Kyo, and for his part Kyo could start to assess this young warrior who had come seemingly out of nowhere to fight him.

He's strong, I'll give him that, thought Kyo. This kid with the pony-tail dressed in Chinese clothing did not look all that impressive compared to some of the downright monstrous opponents he had faced over the years, but experience had taught Kyo not to underestimate an opponent by their outer appearance. After all, Yagami looked pretty damn silly the first time Kyo had met him, and look how that turned out…

"Hey are you going to answer me, Kyo Kusanagi?" Ranma said, finally breaking the silence, "A true martial artist would say something one way or the other."

Meanwhile, standing off to the side was Kuroki, utterly stunned at the spectacle that had emerged at what was supposed to be a straight forward and happy event. Never a man who enjoyed his plans being tampered with, he gathered up his wits and quickly took action to see that this impudent young thug who had dared to disrupt the ceremony would be promptly ejected from the building.

"Security! Security! Restrain that man there and call the police!" Kuroki roared, "This breech of protocol will not be tolerated!"

"Police?" Ranma acted with surprise. "They're going to arrest me? That never happens in Nerima!"

"Nerima?" Kyo responded, "You're from Nerima kid?"

"Yeah, and I'm no kid pal, the name is Ranma Saotome and I'm seventeen!"

"Funny, I was still a kid when I was seventeen."

"Maybe that's because you were a dork!" Ranma smirked. He would just have to goad Kusanagi into this fight.

Kyo almost lost his cool on that remark, but again the past couple of years had taught him not to succumb to his anger so easily. "Well, Ranma was it?" he started as he took a better look at the teenager, "I guess if back then I had your brilliant fashion sense, I would have been one of the cool kids, but I was too busy winning martial arts competitions to be concerned about my grooming!"

"Don't mock my looks Kusanagi, this is serious."

"Then why are you acting like an impulsive brat?"

"To show the strength of my fighting style, and to show people you aren't all that!"

"Well," Kyo began, "At least you're honest. That's a good trait, if rather annoying. I'll be glad to take you up on the challenge!"

Kuroki was shocked by this turn of events, "Mr. Kusanagi! This is unacceptable, what about your exhibition match? How can you put that aside to fight some delinquent? Your fans will be crushed! And what about the money for the charities! Please, security will escort this boy outside where the police can handle him, just leave it at that!"

"Don't worry about it Mr. Kuroki," Kyo said, "Besides, this "boy" is a little out of the league of your security, or the police for that matter! But I'll handle him, and once I do, I will honor my obligation and have the exhibition match, after all I wouldn't want to disappoint Sak…"

"You seem to be pretty confident there guys, rescheduling my fight like that. But I've got an opinion on this too you know."

Ranma, Kyo and everyone else's attention were now taken by that comment. Ranma scanned quickly to see who had said it. His eyes quickly settled on the blond foreigner at the table who had been until now silent. On closer inspection, the guy had a weird look to him, with his face having a vaguely Japanese look to it, and his bright golden blond hair making him look like some kind of street punk. Ranma had an instant dislike for him.

Ranma quickly snapped back at the foreigner, "Why don't you butt out of this pal? I'm talking to Kusanagi here."

"I'm Mr. Kusanagi's opponent for the upcoming exhibition match, so excuse me if I have an issue with you wanting to fight him first like it's your God-given right!" The foreigner angrily retorted.

"I'd probably give him a better fight then you anyway." Ranma replied, giving the blond man a sly glance.

"You trying to say I'm weak kid?"

"I'm saying you're some no-name foreign fighter. I'm only interested in fighting the champion, and you aren't him."

Great, thought Kyo, that punk really did it now, insulting Sakazaki like that. This was going to turn into an all-out brawl any minute, and for once Kyo didn't start it!

"Sakazaki" started speaking once again, "You know, I've been told Japan is a nation where the people pride themselves on their manners, but I guess there's always some wiseacre who wants to prove himself the exception to the rule, right Robert?"

"Don't bring me into this Ryo, I'm just an innocent spectator to all this." replied Robert, the swarthy man with the long pony-tail.

"Some best friend you are!" replied Ryo, "Geez, remind me not to get you a Christmas present!"

"You never get me a Christmas present! You're always broke!"

"And you have to go rub it in my face again! Way to go Bob!"

"Don't call me Bob!"

"Then stop calling me poor, and stop dating my sister!"

Robert rolled his eyes as his friend brought up that issue. "Again with that? Yuri and I are both adults, and we can do what we want without you and your big brother complex getting…"

"Hey!" screamed Ranma, furious that these weird guys had derailed his moment of glory so badly, "Are you mocking me or something? Cut out the comedy routine!" He could hear the crowd snickering behind him.

"Hey, I was just having a lively debate with my ex-best friend here, Mr.… Uh… Samtami, was it? You don't have to get your panties in a bunch there, sunshine." Ryo replied in a calm, off-hand fashion.

That comment about "panties" cut into Ranma far deeper then Ryo could have ever known. For the first time in quite a while, the uglier, pettier side of Ranma emerged from deep within him. He knew as a martial artist there were certain rules of conduct you do not cross when extending a challenge, heated words aside. But this strange foreigner with the sharp wit had pushed him more than anyone since Saffron and the incident with Akane at Jusenkyo. It was petty to even compare the scale of the incidents, but still…

"You know what pal? I'll take a guess and say your school of martial arts must be the "Loud Mouth" style, 'cause it seems to me that's all you've got."

"Are you serious?" replied Ryo, "You break into here uninvited, try to steal my match, and now you've got the gall to badmouth my family's fighting style? You need a thrashing punk, a good thorough one. It'll help clear out those delusions in your head that you're something special, because I can tell you right now you're not!"

Kyo tried to defuse the situation as best he could, "Hey, Ryo, I can handle this, besides he challenged me first."

"Sorry Kyo, this isn't your fight anymore, he didn't insult your whole family and fighting style, and I'm always itching to show off my power to overconfident punks anyway."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to take you down first Loud Mouth, and then I'll move on to Kusanagi." Ranma looked at Ryo hard.

"Don't write that man off so easy, Saotome," Kyo interjected, "If you think he's some sort of second-class martial artist then…"

"I can introduce myself Kyo," Ryo said, "And "Mr." Saotome here better burn it into his memory. I'm the former North American Champion and current acting instructor of the Kyokugen School of Karate, Ryo Sakazaki. Some people like to call me "the Invincible Dragon", but I don't put much stock in fancy nicknames. Pleasure to meet you."

On opposite sides of the convention hall, Akane Tendo and Masuharu Kuroki were both in the midst of falling into full-blown shock. Nabiki just kept on adding up all of the money in her head.

End Chapter

Due to the holidays, I will not be posting the next chapter until after New Year's Day. I will continue working on the fic during that time however, so I promise you everything will be ready by then. Have a Merry (insert approved holiday name here) and a great start to 2010!