=========================
                      RELENTLESS
                A Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction

                   By Grayson Towler
               =========================

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                      CHAPTER ONE:
                       The Master
-----------------------------------------------------------

The Lord of Nerima surveyed his domain, and found it to be 
good.

Ranma had to laugh - that thought was a bit much, even for
someone of his ego.  From his perch on a high rooftop, he 
could see miles worth of homes, streets, shops, and parks 
that made up the Nerima district of Tokyo.  If he wasn't 
"lord," Ranma thought, then at least he was the champion.  
Nerima was his playground, his arena, and it threw new 
challenges at him almost every day.

One way or another, Saotome Ranma always came out on top.

A noisy growl from his stomach interrupted his thoughts.
Ranma grimaced, recalling that he had judiciously skipped
lunch at Furinkan today. Kunou Kodachi had made an 
appearance around midday, and Ranma was pretty certain
she had spiked the meal he'd intended to eat with one of 
her chemical concoctions. Discretion was the better part
of valor when it came eating anything touched by The
Black Rose.

Fortunately, he had other options for scoring grub. Ukyou
was out of town, so that meant his next best option was
the one currently pedaling at high speeds along the edge
of the fence below.

With well-practiced grace, he hopped from the rooftop down
into the Amazon girl's path. She skidded to a stop, the
heavy burden of the many delivery boxes she was carrying
perfectly balanced behind her bicycle seat.

"Ranma!" she exclaimed.

"Yo, Shampoo," he said by way of greeting. "Hey... those
smell great. Got one for me?"

She gave him a calculating look. "Most for customer,"
she said, "but there one you COULD have..."

"Yeah?"

"...if Ranma promise to marry Shampoo."

He grinned. That was just Shampoo's way of opening the
negotiations on a deal like this. If he could get her to
show him which box she planned to give him, he could just
swipe it and make a break for it. First, he had to play
the game.

"That's kinda steep for just one lunch," he replied 
casually, staring off into the sky.

"Then you go on date with Shampoo," she offered.

"How about I tell you how nice your hair looks?" he tried
by way of a counter-offer.

She sniffed and tossed her head. "Shampoo already KNOW how
good her hair look."

"What about your eyes? I can compliment those."

She didn't bother responding to that. "I give you lunch for
price of one kiss."

He was about to try another stab at negotiation when a new
tactic occurred to him. "Okay, sounds good."

Shampoo blinked in surprise, almost losing her balance for
a moment. "You... really?" She recovered her composure
fairly quickly, though there was a sparkle of real 
excitement in her eyes now. "Ranma give kiss BEFORE he
get lunchbox, yes?"

He shrugged. "Sure. Whatever you say."
 
A new voice suddenly rang through the air. "Saotome Ranma!  
You womanizing cretin!"

Ranma stepped deftly aside, hopping off the fence to avoid the 
spray of knives which accompanied the arrival of Mousse.  "Yo, Mousse.  
What's cookin'?"

The long-haired Amazon boy landed beside the two, his fists clenched 
with rage.  "How dare you, Ranma!  First you try to steal the heart 
of my beloved Shampoo, and now you steal my lunch as well?!"

Shampoo glared in rage at the bespectacled Amazon boy. "You stupid 
Mousse!  Go back to cafe and get other lunch!"

Mousse barely noticed all this.  His attention was fixed on his 
hated foe.  "Ranma... this time, I'll show you no mercy!"

Ranma shrugged and set his lunchbox down, dropping into a fighting 
stance.  "Ready when you are, Mousse old goose."

"Don't you mock me!"  Mousse was working himself up into a good 
lather.  "I have developed a technique even you can't hope to 
overcome!  Prepare to face... the Pinions of the Raging Kingfisher!"

With that Mousse threw his arms wide.  Suddenly, knives and spikes 
erupted from beneath his robes and his hair in every direction, 
flaring out across his body until he was almost obscured beneath 
the mass of keen steel.  Bristling with gleaming weapons, Mousse 
advanced on Ranma, laughing contemptuously.  

"I am like the Kingfisher, who fluffs out his feathers when faced 
with a foe to become larger and more intimidating.  But, as you 
can see, each one of my 'feathers' has a razor edge!  How can 
you fight what you don't dare hit, Ranma?  Ha ha ha!"

<Not bad, not bad,> Ranma thought.  Against a normal opponent, 
it would certainly be a terrifying technique.  But Ranma was no 
normal opponent, of course.  The most expedient way to deal 
with this would be with some ki-attacks, but Ranma was the sort 
who would never play an ace when a deuce would suffice.  

He dodged a couple of swipes from the charging Mousse.  The 
biggest drawback to this technique was that Mousse's mobility 
was severely limited by all the weapons sticking out of his body.  
Typical Mousse - an exceptional fighter in a lot of ways, but 
not a champion thinker.

"Hey, Mousse, I understand that ya like to name all your 
techniques after birds and stuff, but I think you're gonna have 
to bite the bullet and call this one the Porcupine, y'know?"  

Swipe, swish.  Mousse advanced clumsily on Ranma, lacerating 
the air with a hundred blades but never coming close to his 
foe.  "Shut up and fight!"

"Or maybe the Hedgehog?"

"Grrr!"  Swipe, swish, swipe.

"Hey, I know!  The Puffer Fish!"  

"Hold still, damn you!"  Mousse charged Ranma in a blind rage, 
intending to give his enemy a bear hug he'd never survive.  

Ranma, anticipating this every step of the way, took a gentle 
hop backwards and then bounced upwards off the trunk of the tree 
he'd been backing towards.  He cleared the steel-covered 
Mousse with ease, watching as the enraged boy charged underneath 
him.  With burst of simultaneous "ker-chunks," the blades along
Mousse's front buried themselves deep in the tree.

Mousse would not let himself be trapped for long.  He detached 
the weapons on his front side which had pinned him to the trunk, 
then whirled to face his opponent.  "Where are you, Saotome!?"

Ranma swung down from a tree branch, planting a foot squarely in 
Mousse's exposed midsection.  "An opening," he announced casually.  
The kick lifted Mousse off his feet and sent him sprawling backwards 
to the ground.  Countless blades and spines buried themselves in 
the soft earth, supporting Mousse like an inverted bed of nails.  
Mousse struggled to try to free himself, but he was completely 
suspended in the air by his arsenal and didn't have a scrap of 
leverage.  He was effectively trapped.

"Shampoo!" he cried.  "Help me!  I've fallen, and I can't get up!"

Shampoo rolled her eyes and sniffed in disdain.  "Stupid Mousse.
Serve you right."

Ranma bounded over to Shampoo. He had spotted which lunchbox
the two of them had been referring to, and might have swiped it
away if Shampoo hadn't grabbed it. "How about that lunch?" he
asked innocently.

"You give Shampoo kiss," the violet-eyed Amazon insisted.

"Okay," he agreed. "This... is a pretty special moment, Shampoo."

"Ranma..." she whispered back, leaning forward. She was still
cagey enough not to close her eyes, but she had pretty much 
dropped her guard.

The young Saotome took her free hand in his, then bent and gave 
her a quick peck on the fingers. The moment he heard her indignant
gasp, he snatched the lunchbox out of her fingers and bounded
away.

"Ranma!" the Amazon pounded her handlebars in frustration. "That
NOT a real kiss!"

He looked back, grinning. He knew she didn't have time to chase
him around, not with all those deliveries to run. "A deal's a deal,
Shampoo!" he sang back. With a twirl of the chopsticks, began to
devour the ramen in the box.

"Stupid Ranma," the Amazon grumbled. She tossed her head and began
to pedal off, irritated and disappointed.

"Great as always!" he shouted after her, polishing off the noodles 
before she rode out of sight.  Ah, the sweet, familiar taste of 
victory.  Life was good.

As he approached the Tendou Dojo, hoping that his glutton of a father 
hadn't done in all the leftovers this early in the afternoon, a sudden 
intuition made him pull up short.  Was he... being watched?  It 
happened often enough, to be sure, and he was pretty good at spotting 
it by now.  It wasn't something that got him especially worried, 
but he always liked to know who was keeping an eye on him.

No, it was gone.  Either he'd been imagining it or the observer had 
split.  

Ranma shrugged and carried on his way.  If there was really 
something to be worried about, he'd find out soon enough.  Right 
now there were leftovers to be scavenged.  The young martial artist 
cleared the Dojo wall with a deft leap, heading towards the promise 
of more food with hardly a care in the world.

- - - - - - 

<He's good,> the old man thought.  <He just about spotted me, even 
now.  But he's always been good.>

This would have to be convincing if it was going to work.  Ranma 
seemed to have a brain like a bowl of pudding sometimes, but it 
wouldn't pay to underestimate him here.  Certainly, there was nobody 
else on whom he could pull this particular stunt and expect to get 
away with it.  Soun and Genma were far too pitiful, and even he 
couldn't bring himself to do this to Akane.  It would have to be 
Ranma, and he would have to sell this act to even the sharpest and 
most cynical of observers.

What he was about to do would sting his pride for a bit, but when it 
came to a choice between pride and survival, there was no question 
about which road Happosai would choose.

<All right, Ranma m'boy.  Time to play your part.> 

- - - - - - 

Ranma was so busy trying to stuff as much squid jerky into his 
mouth as physics would allow that he almost didn't catch the 
flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye.  Something 
small, something dark... from the size of the blur which he had 
barely glimpsed, it was either Ryouga the Wonder Pig or that 
perverted old goat sneaking around.  Ranma took a moment to 
chew and swallow, then hopped soundlessly out the door and up 
onto the dojo roof. 

If it were Ryouga, he was probably just lost and trying to find 
his way around, but if it were the old freak, then he'd be up 
to one thing.  Ranma crept his way over until he was positioned 
above the window to Akane's room, then waited out of sight, 
listening.

He had to admit that the geezer could be damned sneaky when 
he put his mind to it.  He didn't hear a sound from inside the 
room, and was almost ready to give up when he finally heard the 
whisper of the window being opened by small, quiet hands.  Knowing 
Happosai's patterns as he did, he figured the old pervert's next 
move would be to hop to the tree, then to the wall, and then off 
once more to his demented rounds.  He allowed himself a small smile, 
took a stab at guessing the timing, then reached out over the side 
of the roof with blinding speed and snatched.

Perfect guess!  He was really on the money today, no question about 
it.  He came up with Happosai's bag of ill-gotten goodies in hand, 
plucked so deftly from the lecher's grasp that he took a couple 
of seconds to notice they were gone.  "H... hey?" came the querulous 
voice.  "My silky treasures!  Where did they go?"

Judging that the time was right, Ranma reached down with the other 
hand and plucked up the tiny old martial artist by the back of the 
shirt.  He grinned, dangling the bag of purloined panties out of 
Happosai's extremely limited reach.   "You lookin' for these, old 
man?"

"Ranma!" the lecher sounded startled and angry.  "How dare you!  
Those are mine!"  He scrabbled uselessly in the air for the bag.

"Now what've I told you about sneakin' around into the girls' rooms 
here, ya old pervert?"

"That's no way to talk to your Master!" Happosai snapped, still 
struggling vainly to get a hold of the bag.

"You ain't MY master, Gramps."  

Happosai stopped struggling, twisting to glare angrily at the boy 
who held him in this humiliating position.  "Ranma, you let go of 
me now and give me back my panties!"

Ranma was underwhelmed.  "Give it up, ya old goat.  You ain't gettin' 
these back."  With that he stepped lightly off the edge of the roof.  
As he descended, he tossed the bag of panties back in through the 
window, then flipped the glass pane closed in a single deft movement.  
He landed on the soft grass, still holding Happosai like a puppy 
by the scruff of the neck, and looked smug.

"Hey!" came the shout from above.  Ranma looked up to see Akane 
opening her window.  She was wearing a cross expression and a pair 
of panties on her head.  <Oops... she must'a just come in the room.  
Nice timing.>

"What's the big idea hitting me in the face with a bag of panties!?" 
she shouted indignantly.

"I was just returnin' what this old goat stole!" Ranma protested, 
flashing her a winning smile.  "You oughta thank me, ya know."

Akane "hmmphed," her face conveying distinctly that she'd rather 
gag than thank Ranma for throwing a bag of underwear in her face.  
She seemed not to notice that she still had a pair of striped pink 
underwear on her head.

"Love the hat, Akane!" Ranma shouted.  He couldn't help himself.

Akane blushed and scrabbled for her head.  Ranma began to laugh, 
but he was brought up short by a distinct sensation of heat coming 
from his hand.  He looked back at the old man, and was a little 
surprised to see that his battle aura was beginning to shimmer to 
life.  

"Hey, Gramps..."

"Ranma," growled Happosai with unmistakable menace.  "How dare 
you deprive an old man of his one joy in life?  How dare you 
treat your Master with such disrespect?"

Happosai's battle aura was a force to be reckoned with.  Ranma 
dropped the old man before he burned his hand.  <Geez, it's one 
of those times!>  Most of the time, Happosai would take his 
punishment when he was caught and go on his way, but every so 
often the old guy took it all personally.  There was no telling 
when the lecher would get all angry like this, but when he did, 
it always spelled trouble.  Ranma backed off into a defensive 
stance.

"Cool down, Gramps.  You're gonna give yourself a rupture or 
somethin'."

It wasn't the right thing to say.  

The old man's aura flared. While Happosai usually looked like 
some sort of pitiful lab failure, when the fighting spirit was 
upon him he was a terrifying sight to behold.  He appeared to 
grow in stature, menace radiating from his every pore.  The 
expression he wore as he glared at Ranma was filled with wrath.  
"Time to teach you some respect, boy..."

Then came the inevitable interruption.  Tendou Soun and Saotome Genma 
were suddenly in the yard, prostrating themselves before Happosai in 
a most pathetic fashion.  "Oh please, Master!  Please, I beg you!" 
they whined.

"What do you two want?" Happosai snarled.  "If you're trying to beg 
for mercy for that snot-nosed punk..."

"Who're you callin' snot-nosed?" Ranma snapped.

"No Master!" Soun wailed.  "But have mercy on my poor dojo!  Please 
don't fight here!"

Ranma rolled his eyes.  The way these two turned to quivering 
jelly every time the old goat gave them so much as a mean look was 
pitiful to behold.  "C'mon, Gramps.  We don't got all day, y'know."

<Oh yes, my boy,> the old man thought.  <I know that all too well.>

- - - - - -  

Any time Ranma squared off against a foe in one of the vacant lots 
around Nerima, it was sure to draw a crowd.  Happosai had been 
keen to get the fight started as quickly as possible - no long delays 
or formal challenges this time - but the word-of-mouth network around 
Nerima was effective enough to draw forth a fair-sized crowd even on 
such short notice.  Nabiki and her crew took the bets, and the 
onlookers gathered at a respectful distance to watch what would 
surely be a fine spectacle.

Akane approached Ranma, clutching P-Chan nervously.  "Ranma, be 
careful.  He seems really angry this time..."

"Ah, don't worry, Akane," Ranma said confidently.  "That old geezer 
ain't so tough.  I've taken him out before, I'll do it again. You'll 
see."

"Don't underestimate him, Ranma!" Why did he always have to be so 
arrogant?  Couldn't he see how dangerous Happosai was when he was 
like this?

"Ranma," Happosai announced.  "This fight is for real, you understand?  
I don't want you thinking you can get out of this by turning into 
a girl or throwing some underwear this time."

Ranma shrugged.  "No problem, Gramps.  You ready?"

Happosai answered by taking a mighty leap skywards.  "Face the 
terror of... HAPPO DAIKARI!"

With that, the old martial arts master launched a volley of fire 
bombs at Ranma, their short fuses hissing as they built up towards 
detonation.  With too many of them to catch and throw back, Ranma 
reacted by leaping directly into the spray, dodging the bombs as 
they came and letting them detonate behind him.  In mid-air, he 
closed the distance between himself and Happosai, launching into 
a flying kick as he dodged the last of the bombs.

<Not that easily, you don't,> Happosai thought.  He snagged 
Ranma's ankle in the crook of his pipe, whipping the young martial 
artist around his body in a single blinding arc and sending him 
hurtling to the ground below.  Ranma slammed into the turf, 
sending up a shower of grass and dirt.  Happosai landed, allowing 
Ranma a moment to struggle to his feet before he began his next 
assault.

"What's the matter, boy?  This old man too much for you?"

"I'm just gettin' warmed up!"  Ranma charged Happosai, who held 
his ground and waited.  

"So predictable," the old man lamented.  "HAPPO BEANJAM BLOWOUT!" 

Ranma barely managed to avoid getting caught in the midst of 
the miniature tornado that erupted from Happosai's outstretched 
hands.  The residual wind blew him backwards and away from the 
lecher once more, though.  The members of the crowd behind him 
scattered desperately as the tornado attack sailed by them, 
plowing into a wall and sending up a shower of debris.

Ranma regained his footing and whirled to face his adversary, 
only to find that Happosai had disappeared.

As Ranma cast about for his foe, he and the assembled crowd were 
startled by the sound Happosai's disembodied voice, seeming to 
echo from all directions at once.  "Recognize my Happo Dimensional 
Warp Technique, boy?"  The old man cackled madly, his ghostly 
voice reverberating through the air.

Ranma smirked.  "Yeah, sure.  But you can't attack while you're 
invisible, can ya?  That technique's worthless in a fight..." 
He was interrupted by a sharp pain from behind.  Happosai's 
surprise attack sent Ranma hurtling to the turf once more.

The old man was visible again.  "Maybe I can't attack while 
I'm invisible, but you didn't know where I was coming from, 
did you?"

Ranma snarled and rolled to his feet again, wincing in pain.  
The old guy could sure pack a punch when he put his mind to 
it.  

"What's the matter, boy?" Happosai taunted.  "Ready to give 
up?  Or maybe you're thinking of using the >snort< Saotome 
Secret Technique!"

"Not on your life!"  Ranma pounced towards the old man with 
blinding speed.  "KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"

"Oohs" and "aahs" arose from the assembly of onlookers.  This 
technique was always a real crowd-pleaser.  Ranma rained blows 
towards the dodging old master, his fists moving with impossible, 
blurring speed.  But Happosai's speed was equally astonishing - 
he slipped between each of Ranma's punches with such quickness 
that he seemed to be teleporting out of the way of the blows.  
For several seconds, the two maintained this relentless pace of 
attack and defense, until suddenly one of Ranma's punches connected 
solidly with his adversary's tiny body.  The withered form of 
Happosai rocketed backwards across the vacant lot, finally 
skittering to a halt on the turf.

<Well, well,> Happosai thought.  <He tagged me, and I didn't even 
mean to let him do it.  Someday, he might be good enough to 
actually beat me.  If he lives that long...>

Ranma was back in his fighting stance, a confident look on his 
face.  He felt a lot better now that he'd nailed the old man with 
a clean hit.  "You're slowin' down in your old age, Gramps!"

Happosai rose, his battle aura flaring to life around him.  He 
made himself look as angry and fearsome as possible.  <Time to 
show him something he hasn't seen before.>  "Ranma, you little 
brat!  Now you've really angered me!  Prepare to face... 
Anything-Goes Founder Secret Technique - Rage of the Drunken 
Dragon!"  

"Huh?"

With that, Happosai whipped out a bottle of sake, took a deep 
swig, and began to spit fireballs at the surprised Ranma.  

It was a simple trick, really - all you needed was some flammable 
liquid (preferably sake, though even kerosene would do in a pinch) 
and a hot enough battle aura to ignite it.  Happosai was pouring 
it on, using his ki energy to seem to grow to an enormous size, 
spitting blazing fire blasts towards his foe.  Ranma seemed to be 
totally unprepared for this - all he could do was dodge frantically 
as he was pursued by Happosai's searing attacks.  

For a while, Happosai thought Ranma was just panicking, or perhaps 
waiting for him to wear himself down.  He was disappointed - he 
had hoped for a better showing out of Ranma this time around.  At 
the last instant, though, he noticed that there was a method to 
Ranma's seemingly mindless retreat.  <Ah, he's drawing me into a 
spiral.  I almost didn't catch him doing it, with all the screeching 
and yelping he's doing.  A very nice act, boy, a very nice act.  
With all the heat I'm putting out, this should be most impressive 
indeed...>

"Ranma!"  Akane shouted in horror.  "Look out!"

Suddenly, Ranma whirled on his attacker, all hint of fear gone from 
his face.  "You lose, old man! HIRYUU SHOTEN-HA!"

The principle of the "Rising Dragon Hurricane" technique was to take 
the heat of your opponent's battle aura and turn it against itself, 
using the conflicting cold aura of one's own "Soul of Ice" to generate 
a powerful energy whirlwind.  Ranma executed the final move of the 
technique - a tremendous uppercut - and caught Happosai dead in the 
midst of the instantaneous cyclone.  The onlookers scrambled for 
support, almost blown off their feet by the intensity of the sudden 
wind.  

Happosai's tiny body was battered, buffeted, and generally 
pulverized by the immense forces of Ranma's attack.  After it 
finally subsided, he was slammed back into the ground like a small 
meteor, coming to rest in a crater that was over two meters 
deep.

Panting with exertion, Ranma made his way to the lip of the 
crater.  "Is it... is it over?"

Amazingly, Happosai had struggled slowly to his feet.  He didn't 
have to feign weariness - letting himself get caught with the 
brunt of that attack had been a painful sacrifice indeed.  To 
all watching, it looked as if the withered old being was barely 
strong enough to stand.  He kept his back turned to Ranma, as 
if in shame.

"You win, Ranma."  He sighed, sounding incredibly weary.  "I... 
I can't beat you."

Even Ranma was startled by the resignation he heard in Happosai's 
voice.  "Gramps..."

"I'm getting too old for this sort of thing.  It's clear..." 
Again, he sighed heavily.  "...it's clear that I'm no longer fit 
to be the Master of Anything-Goes Martial Arts.  Ranma, my boy, 
I pass the title to you."

Ranma wasn't the only one who was thunderstruck by this 
pronouncement.  The assembled crowd gasped and murmured at this 
unprecedented turn of events.

"Master, no!" Genma exclaimed.  "You can't!"

"You're the founder of our school!"  Soun cried.

"Perhaps, but I am no longer its greatest practitioner."  He 
finally turned to face Ranma.  This part was critical.  "Ranma, 
do you accept the burden of being the Master of Anything-Goes 
Martial Arts?"

"Uhh..."  Ranma's brain was overloaded for a moment.  "Geez, 
Gramps... d'ya really mean it?  You're gonna retire?"

Happosai nodded, slowly and sadly.  "My day is done."

"Then..." Ranma grappled with the enormity of the moment.  
"I'm the Master.  I'm the Master!"

<Success!> the old man thought.  Right now, all he wanted to 
do was take off in a sprint and put as much distance between 
himself and Ranma as possible, but there were certain appearances 
that needed to be maintained.  He turned slowly, as if burdened 
by all the sadness in the world, and trudged off into the 
distance.  

"Master!" called Soun and Genma.

Happosai paused for a moment.  He didn't look back, but only 
said:  "I am your Master no longer.  Goodbye, Saotome Genma.  
Goodbye, Tendou Soun.  Goodbye... Master Ranma.  Farewell 
forever."

With that, he shuffled slowly around the corner.  The moment 
he was out of sight, he took off like a bat out of hell.  He 
barely heard the sound of Genma and Soun beginning to celebrate 
their freedom as he left, bounding from rooftop to rooftop, 
escaping with all the speed he could muster.  There was a hunter 
headed towards Nerima now, and he didn't intend to be anywhere 
nearby when it found its prey.

- - - - - - 

Under the cover of night, the new Master of Anything-Goes Martial 
Arts was preparing to execute an operation which would require 
stealth, cunning, and absolutely perfect timing.  It was one of 
his most innovative and daring plans to date, but he had decided 
that it was his only chance of living to see the next sunrise.  
He was about to attempt, for the first time:  Saotome School Secret 
Technique - Celebration Cake Exchange!

Yes, of course, the only thing which could have put a damper on his 
success of the day had to happen - Akane got it in her head to bake a 
cake for the celebration dinner.  Why that girl could never get it 
through her thick skull that she should just stay out of the kitchen 
for good was beyond him.  As usual, she'd taken his efforts to talk 
her out of cooking all the wrong way, and she'd reverted to her violent 
self.  There was just no reasoning with someone like that.

But a new inspiration had struck him (several seconds after the 
mallet), and he knew what he would do.  All he needed was to go buy 
a cake, distract Akane while her monstrous creation was incubating 
in the oven, and switch the two while she wasn't looking!  A brilliant 
plan.  Never mind that the cake he bought came complete with icing 
and decorations, and would therefore look somewhat suspicious coming 
straight out of the oven.  This was the girl who still hadn't figured 
out why her pet piggy panicked and bolted every time she decided to 
give it a hot bath.  She'd never know the difference.

Ranma heard the ring of a familiar bicycle bell in the night, and 
hopped off the fence top just in time to avoid being run down by 
Shampoo's delivery bike.

"Nihao, Husband!" the bubbly Amazon squeaked.

"Yo, Shampoo.  What's up?"

"Shampoo running delivery," the girl responded.  "But she hear good 
news!  You now Master of school, yes?"

Ranma grinned, shrugging in a kind of "aw-shucks" way.  He was 
pleased that she'd heard already - it saved him from trying to figure 
out a way to tell her without sounding like he was boasting too much.  
"Yeah, well, no big deal."  

Humility was unconvincing on Saotome Ranma.

Shampoo noticed his bundle.  "What you buy?"

"Ah, we're havin' a little party back at the dojo, and this cake 
is for..." Ranma broke off.  He cocked his head and listened.

"Ranma!  You have party and not invite Shampoo?"

"Hold on a sec, be quiet."

The fact that Ranma had suddenly gotten serious was not lost on 
Shampoo.  She scanned up and down the deserted street, wondering 
what had gotten him so concerned all of a sudden.  "Shampoo not 
see..."

"Shh!  Listen..."

Ranma slowly set down his bundle, preparing himself for action.  
Something was awry here, something was not right.  He had an 
acute sensation of approaching danger.  

Both the martial artists jerked back in shock when a flock of 
small birds suddenly took wing in the distance, chittering with 
terror as they flapped away into the night.  A few seconds later, 
a dog yelped in fear nearby, and a cat screeched and bolted.  

"Ranma..."

They heard the sound of a baby wailing in fear.  The streetlights 
began to flicker, and one by one they went out.

"Ranma, I not sure..."

"Look!" Ranma shouted.  "There!"

It was barely visible in the darkness, cloaked in dusty black 
robes.  It appeared from the shadows at the end of the street, 
shambling towards them at a pace equal to a fast walk.  It was 
hunched over, making it hard to tell how large it really was, and 
they could see none of its features.  It was headed directly 
towards Saotome Ranma.

"Hey!" Ranma called.  "Who the heck are you?"

"Ranma..." Shampoo had a terrible feeling about this. 

"Hey!" Ranma tried again.  "What d'ya think you're doin', sneakin' 
around in the dark and scarin' people!"

It did not respond.  It continued to advance on him at the same 
even pace.  Its gait was strange and unsettling, an eerie shamble 
which hinted at a body horribly warped and twisted beneath the 
robes.  It was quiet as a ghost, darker than midnight, and it 
moved with a terrible sort of determination.  Ranma felt his heart 
thundering in his chest, but he held his ground as the being 
approached.  

"You better start talkin, buddy," he warned, his voice sounding 
strained even to his own ears.  "I don't feel like messin' 
around with weirdoes tonight... yeaaAAH!"

The attacker had closed the distance between itself and Ranma 
with a sudden burst of blinding speed, lashing out at the boy's 
head.  Even with his lightning reflexes, Ranma barely managed 
to evade the attack.  The thing's strike had come almost too 
fast for him to see, but he was pretty sure that it wasn't a 
normal hand.  It was like a paw, or a talon.  It was something 
with claws.

Shampoo began to advance.  "Stay back!" Ranma shouted.  "You're 
gonna get hurt!"

Shampoo was willing to obey.  Even her Amazon courage buckled
under aura of primal horror this thing generated. It was all 
she could do to keep from screaming.

The cloaked attacker advanced on Ranma, pressing the young 
martial artist with a relentless barrage of swipes and slashes.  
Sometimes, its attacks were so fast that it was hard to tell 
how many limbs it had.  Now, up close, Ranma could see its eyes 
peering out from beneath the hood.  They were perfectly round, 
smoldering with some deep, hellish flame... and there were three 
of them, set in a perfect triangle in the pitch black void 
where its face should have been.

<It ain't human... it's some kinda monster!>  Ranma's shirt 
ripped as he barely dodged another of its blows.  

He knew he couldn't just keep dodging.  The thing seemed 
tireless, and at the speed it moved it wouldn't be long before 
it started to tag him with those claws.  He wouldn't know if 
he could actually hurt it until he tried...

Ranma ducked in under one of its swipes and lashed out with a 
kick, not holding back an iota of strength.  His foot connected 
with something twisted and hard underneath the robes, like a 
bundle of coiled snakes, alive but almost as hard as a rock.  
It writhed under his touch, but it also gave.  The thing took 
a step back, paused for a split second to recover, then continued 
to press its attack.

<At least I can hurt it a little!> Ranma thought triumphantly.  
He was immediately rewarded with a surprising blow that seemed 
to come directly from the thing's chest.  It caught him in the 
abdomen, emptying the air from his lungs in a single gush, and 
sent him sprawling backwards.  

Breathless and acting entirely on instinct, Ranma rolled away 
from the thing as it leaped towards him.  It slashed through the 
space Ranma had occupied a split second before, burying a hand 
like a spiked mallet in the asphalt.  

He was bleeding where it had hit him, but not bad.  It had struck 
him with something armored like a lobster's claw, but covered 
with small sharp studs.  <Damn, it's strong!  And it's playin' 
for keeps here!>

Ranma's only hope was to go on the offensive.  He roared with 
battle rage, his aura flaring, and pressed the attack as the 
thing worked its limb free from the asphalt.  Without wasting 
his breath announcing the name of the attack, he launched into 
the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken attack, showering his foe with 
fearsome blows.   The thing staggered under the assault, giving 
ground under the fury of Ranma's onslaught.  Ranma could feel 
parts of it crack and buckle beneath the black robes when he 
connected solidly.  

The thing lashed out defensively, cutting a deep gash in Ranma's 
right arm mid-punch.  It followed with a backhanded blow that 
caught the martial artist in the head, breaking the rhythm of 
his attack and sending him staggering backwards.  Ranma tried 
to counter with a kick, and was met with another bone-jarring 
blow in the chest.  He flew backwards like a rag doll, slamming 
into a wall and shattering the brick with the force of the 
impact.

"Ranma!" Shampoo cried.  Once again, she moved in to attack.

"No!" he cried. Shampoo was a powerful fighter, but he didn't 
dare let her risk herself against a monster like this.  "This 
thing'll kill you!  I can handle it!"

The monster charged him again, but Ranma met the charge with a 
flying kick and took them both backwards.  Something crunched 
in the thing's chest as he landed on it with both feet.  Ranma 
pushed off and out of the way as it slashed towards him.  The 
boy did a back flip and landed, only to see his foe rising once 
more and moving to attack.

"What does it take to stop you!?" he shouted, charging once more.  
He gathered his energy, launching into the chestnut fist attack 
once more as his battle aura flared hot around him.  He hammered 
the monster, batting aside its reaching claws as he pressed his 
attack.  "Fall!" he howled.  "MOKO TAKABISHA!"

The ki-blast caught the monster dead-center, blasting it backwards 
half a dozen meters.  Still, it kept its footing and tried to 
advance.  

"FALL!" Ranma bellowed, his voice ragged.  He launched another 
ki-blast at the thing. The attack pounded into it like a glowing 
piledriver, slamming it backwards once again.  

"FALL!!" The third ki-blast connected with the monster, blowing 
it completely off its feet and carrying it through the air, until 
it finally smashed against a lamp post, shattering the concrete.  
Trembling with exertion, heaving for breath, Ranma watched its 
prone form warily, waiting for it to rise, praying that it would 
not.  He wasn't sure how much he had left in him after that...

The thing lay unmoving.  The glow of its eyes had died out.

"Don't worry," Ranma gasped to Shampoo.  "It's over."

He couldn't have been more wrong.

- - - - - -

Chip, chip, scrape.

Tendou Akane sighed, trying not to fidget.  She had a distinctly 
embarrassed look on her face as she watched her sister continue 
her patient and meticulous work.  Kasumi had not spoken a single 
word of admonishment, which had somehow made it all the worse.

Chip, chip, scrape.

She could hear the muffled sounds of her father weeping in the 
distance.  Nabiki was making a half-hearted effort to comfort 
him in his misery.  He really did take things so seriously...

Chip, chip, scrape.

The only bright spot of the whole thing was that Ranma wasn't 
here.  She'd never hear the end of it if he found out about this 
one.

Chip, scrape, chip, chip.

Kasumi was humming a soft little hammering-and-chiseling tune.  
It served to make Akane's humiliation all the more acute.  

Scrape, chisel, chip, chip, chip.

"It's coming along well," Kasumi chimed merrily. 

Akane sighed with resignation.  Kasumi was currently chipping 
away at the results of her latest kitchen disaster.  Akane had 
wondered why the cake batter had seemed so difficult to stir as 
she had mixed it, but when the handle of the wooden spoon she'd 
been using broke off, she'd lost her temper.  She'd reached into 
the batter to try to retrieve the remains of the spoon, and then... 
well, had Akane known the story of Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby, 
she would have found it hauntingly familiar.

She'd been encased up to her elbows when the batter had finally 
hardened into something not unlike concrete.  

Chip, chip, scrape. 

Kasumi took a deep breath and blew the dust off Akane's arm.  
She'd made her way down to the wrist on the right hand.  Akane 
bit her lip and tried not to squirm.  

She didn't know what was taking Ranma so long, but right now 
she wasn't going to complain.

- - - - - - 

Cologne sensed them coming well before they arrived.  She had 
known that something unnatural had come to Nerima, and the way 
things went around here it was a good guess that it would have 
something to do with Ranma.  But it wasn't until she saw Ranma 
and Shampoo dragging the inert beast on the end of a rope towards 
her restaurant that she realized just how bad it was.

<Oh no,> she thought.  <How could this have...>

But a moment later she understood.  She realized what the old 
pervert had done.  Now, it all made sense.  

<My poor Shampoo,> she thought bitterly.  <And poor Ranma.  You're 
a dead man now, and you don't even know it.>

- - - - - -

"Have any of you ever heard of the Reikoku?"

Cologne scanned the assembled Tendous and Saotomes before her, 
unsurprised by the general blank looks which were the only answer 
to her question.  "I thought as much," she sighed.  

"That's what that thing was?" Ranma asked.

"Is, boy.  Is.  You haven't even come close to truly defeating 
it yet, I'm afraid."  

Ranma looked confused.  The Reikoku, or whatever it was, had looked 
pretty defeated to him.  He winced a bit as Kasumi applied some 
antiseptic to another of his wounds.  Cologne had been in such a 
hurry to tell her story to everybody that she hadn't even given 
him time to tend to his wounds first.  She was sure worked up about 
all this...

"The Reikoku," she continued.  "Its name means 'The Relentless One,' 
or 'The Merciless One' perhaps.  It is a very ancient being, and it 
is called forth for the purpose of exacting revenge upon one who 
has committed a terrible, terrible crime."

Everybody stared accusingly at Ranma.  "What?" he protested.  "I 
didn't do nothin'!"  

"No, boy, I don't think you did," Cologne assured him.  "I believe 
it was Happosai who committed the crime for which the Reikoku was 
sent.  The cagey old devil managed to twist his way out of receiving 
the punishment... by making YOU the target of the Reikoku's 
vengeance, Ranma."

"Me?" Ranma gasped.  "How'd he do that?"

Nabiki nodded knowingly, suddenly understanding.  "I get it.  The 
old guy threw the fight, didn't he?" she asked Cologne.

"No way!" Ranma protested.

"I'm afraid so, son," Cologne affirmed.  "By making you the 
Master of Anything-Goes Martial Arts in his place, he somehow 
managed to transfer the Reikoku's quest for vengeance to you.  
Happosai is an expert at making other people suffer for his ill 
deeds," she turned to the elder Tendou and the panda beside him, 
"wouldn't you boys agree?"

"Growf," the panda commented pensively.

Tendou Soun nodded gravely.  "Yes, that's true.  His deviousness 
knows no bounds.  How amazing, though, that he would be willing 
to swallow his pride in such a fashion and relinquish the title 
of Master!  This... Reikoku must be a fearsome thing indeed."

"Hey, I already took care of it!" Ranma exclaimed.  "What's the 
big deal?"

"It's true, Ranma, you defeated it once," Cologne explained.  "But 
you have yet to understand the true terror of the Reikoku.  
Within a day, it will rise again and continue its hunt.  But 
this time, it will be far stronger than before when it faces 
you again."

Cologne's listeners digested this unsettling bit of information.  
Akane finally spoke up.  "We'll help him beat it then!"

Cologne chuckled.  "A brave gesture, but futile.  For more 
than a single foe to attempt to fight the Reikoku at once is 
an act of supreme folly.  If two people attack it, it will 
become twice as powerful as before.  If three people attack, 
it will become three times as deadly.  Whatever gods or demons 
crafted this being in ancient times did their job very well 
indeed.  An army of warriors could attack the Reikoku, and by 
the end of the day their bloody corpses would litter the 
battlefield, dismembered down to the last man."

"Oh my!" Kasumi gasped.  She wasn't used to that sort of 
talk.  Everybody else was looking a little pale too.

"So..." Ranma was thinking hard, trying to attack the problem 
from another angle, "can we, like, burn the body or something? 
Maybe weight it down and dump it in the sea?"

Cologne shook her head sadly.  "If you were to attempt that, 
it would only hasten the Reikoku's recovery.  Try to burn it, 
or submerge it, or imprison it, and the thing will rise 
again instantly and attack.  No, that is not the way."

"Well what IS the way?" Ranma pleaded.  "There's gotta be 
some way to deal with this Reikoku thing!  Right?"

"It is said," Cologne explained, "that the Reikoku can rise 
again three times after being defeated by a single adversary.  
So, if a warrior were to best the creature a fourth time, it 
would be destroyed forever.  That is the only way to defeat 
it, according to legend."

"All right then," Ranma said.  "So I gotta beat this thing 
another three times.  It ain't gonna be easy, but I think..."

"It will be impossible," Cologne said with absolute certainty.  
"Did you not hear what I said?  Each time you face the Reikoku 
after it has risen, it becomes stronger and deadlier than 
before!  It adapts to your fighting style and your techniques, 
it finds your weaknesses and exploits them."

"I can adapt too..." Ranma began, trying to stoke the flames of 
his confidence.

"Don't be stupid, boy!" Cologne snapped.  "You barely managed 
to defeat it when it was at its weakest.  On your best day, 
with the luck of all the gods on your side, you might be able 
to defeat it a second time.  But a third time?  A fourth?  
Even you, Ranma, don't have a prayer."

"But I..."

"NOT," Cologne repeated, "a PRAYER."  

Ranma looked stunned.  Cologne could tell that, even now, he 
didn't truly believe her.  <Ah, the pride of the young.  How 
can it match the treachery of the old?  You've really done it 
to the lad this time, Happy.>  

"So what do we do?" Akane asked plaintively.

"There is only one hope," Cologne said.  "I cannot guess what 
Happosai did to get someone to set the Reikoku after him.  I 
don't even really know who might have such power in this day.  
But you must find him, and discover what he has done."

"Yeah?" Ranma asked.  "And then?"

"I don't know, boy.  Perhaps you can force him to make amends, 
if the Reikoku can be called off after it has begun its hunt.  
Perhaps you can find the ones who summoned the Reikoku and get 
them to set it on its proper target."

"But..." Ranma looked worried.  "But if I do that, it'll kill the 
old geezer!"

"Better him than you," Cologne stated flatly.  "After all, he was 
the one who committed the crime.  If you're so willing to accept 
his punishment for him, then don't bother."

"No way!" Ranma snarled.  "That old jerk... doin' somethin' like 
this t'me just to get off the hook for somethin'!  There ain't 
gonna be nothin' left for that Reikoku once I get through with 
him!"

"Killing him won't suffice," Cologne reminded him.  "You must 
find out who summoned the Reikoku and go to them.  But before that, 
you must find Happosai.  Only the heavens know where he's gone to 
now.  Probably as far away from you as he can manage."

"It ain't gonna be far enough!" Ranma declared, rising to his feet.

"I'm coming with you!" Akane rose as well.

Ranma gave her a half-lidded look of doubt.  "Aw, get real, Akane.  
You heard what the old gal said about tryin' to gang up on that 
thing.  You're just gonna get in the way."

"You can't go alone!" Akane all but shouted.

"If you fight the Reikoku," Cologne warned, "you also become its 
prey.  Whoever raises a hand against it will be hunted unto death."

"Jeez, you hear that, Akane?  You gotta stay the heck away from 
this thing!"

"I'm a martial artist too!" Akane whined.  "I can handle myself!"

P-Chan squealed in protest and dismay, but he was unheeded by all.

Nabiki watched the scene unfold with a predictable familiarity.  
Ranma continued to tease Akane and tell her that she would just 
get in the way, Akane kept insisting that she could take care of 
herself, back and forth.  She knew how it would end up - Akane 
would end up going with Ranma.  Nabiki suspected that this was 
what Ranma wanted all along, and that the ritual was just a necessary 
step for both of them in maintaining the facade of their relationship.  
Tomorrow morning, the two of them would set off together, bickering 
all the way.

But Nabiki felt a chill as she looked at Cologne.  The old woman's 
head was bowed, as if in mourning.  The withered Amazon, sensing 
eyes upon her, spared a quick look at Nabiki.  It was an expression 
devoid entirely of hope.  

<She doesn't really think he can do it,> Nabiki realized.  <As far 
as she's concerned, Ranma's already dead.>


                    end of chapter one



-----------------------------------------------------------
                      AUTHOR'S NOTES
-----------------------------------------------------------

COMING SOON:  The Reikoku Attacks!  Akane in Peril! Ryouga 
Explodes!  Or it might be more accurate to say that Ryouga 
Initiates Explosions!  More power, gags, and intense vengeance! 
And so forth...

REVISION NOTES: One of the more heavily modified chapters. I never
did like the clichˇ feeling of the intro, and it was especially
out of character for Shampoo. So that whole first scene has been
fairly seriously rewritten.

COPYRIGHT STUFF:  All the Ranma characters belong to Takahashi Rumiko,
and are licensed in America by Viz Communications.    

GRT - May 1998
MODIFIED - April 2005
Thunderstruck_comic@comcast.net

All existing chapters of this story may be found at:
http://www.talesfromthevault.com/relentless