Title: A Legend reborn

Author name: Trugeta

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ as well as Akira Toriyama and many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story.

This story takes place after Movie 10 of Dragonball Z and at the beginning of the Ranma series. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

Chapter 10: Lost and found

After things had calmed down Ranma accompanied the Tendo sisters to Nabiki's classroom, which was nearest. Once there Nabiki smirked at the other two. "I'll see you later; and of course I'll tell you how Kuno reacted. For a fee." she said, for the first time in long not meaning it, which was conveyed by her joking tone of voice.

Ranma just smirked. "I'm gonna bust your business ops then, Nabiki. I'll see firsthand how bokken-in-ass will react."

"Huh? What do you mean?" a confused Akane asked. "Aren't you in my class?"

"Yes, your father had claimed to have registered you for class 1F, Ranma." Nabiki added. "Probably in an attempt to push you two together."

"Baka oyaji might have planned that, but according to the placement test I took I'm gonna be in your class, Nabiki." Ranma said.

"Placement test?" both Tendo sisters asked in unison.

"Did ya train for that much?" Ranma asked with mirth. "Yeah, I took a placement test to bust one of oyajis stupid plans. I saw right away what he wanted to achieve, and I’ll bust every last plan of the moron. No offence meant, Akane, but you said it yourself, you ain’t interested in me as anything more than a friend. Thus I let myself be placed in Nabikis’ class, as she might be interested in more." concluded Ranma.

Akane nodded in understanding of this logic, and she vowed to punish a certain perverted panda for his meddling. No one tried to push her together with a boy (regardless if the boy was actually alright), No One!

Nabiki for her part appreciated that Ranma was obviously really clever and quick-thinking; how he'd counteracted his father was impressive. Add to it that he’d be in her class! A win-win situation in any case, and the middle Tendo daughter loved such situations. "But how were you able to overcome the age difference between classes?"

"Turned out from my original birth-records that I'm nearer to seventeen than sixteen. And due to the test results they deemed it okay to place me in your class, Nabs." Ranma said.

Nabiki smirked. So it was Nabs now, was it? Good, that'd make it easier to make him hers. "I see. That's a nice surprise."

"And that coming from someone who hates surprises!" Akane exclaimed with a laugh.

Her older sister pouted while Ranma hid his grin. "I do like surprises. Just the good ones."

Now Ranma grinned outright. "I take that as a compliment."

Some light bantering later the bell rang and Akane waved her sister and Ranma good bye. Easily bantering Nabiki and the Saotome youth entered the class, and all conversations stopped. Several girls shot Nabiki looks of surprise and envy, but those bounced off of her shields like nothing. The middle Tendo daughter took her customary seat, and Ranma plopped down in the seat right next to her; incidentally this was Kunos desk, how Nabiki noticed with amusement. The next Kuno-encounter was practically guaranteed.

-.-

Nabiki was, as so often, right; Ranma was just giving his introduction to the class under the drooling stares of the female half of the class while the male half glared, when Kuno burst into the classroom, looking quite worse for the wear. The Saotome youth had just stated that he was staying at the Tendo dojo where his father and the Tendo patriarch could be found teaching his style and the Tendo sister style.

"Vile sorcerer, how dareth thou to stay at the heavenly home of the virtuous Akane Tendo! I forbid it!" Kuno exclaimed pompously.

Ranma sighed, and his look at Nabiki conveyed the message ‘who does the idiot think he is?’. "Where would I as the sensei of the Tendo sisters be staying else?" he asked slowly, so as if talking to a very slow child; in truth that was a side-effect of trying to talk as correctly as possible. "And what is it to you, Kuno? Should I stay at your home? Is that it? Get this straight, I am straight, dumbass! Thus my answer is no and never! And haven't you misused Akane Tendo enough already to hide your preferences? Can't even admit that you're gay?"

Here the teacher wanted to interrupt to bring the lesson back on track again (or in the first place), but a shake of the head from Nabiki Tendo stopped him in his tracks. Thinking to himself that they didn't get paid enough around here for him to go up against the Ice-queen he sat down and leant back in his chair; anyhow, maybe he'd be witness how that idiotic son of the principal finally got what was coming for him.

And truly, in face of this assault Kuno started sputtering. "How dareth thee to spread such vile lies about my heroic persona, vile sorcerer? Have at thee!" he exclaimed.

Ranma sighed again. "So sad. He's obviously deluding himself." he said to the class at large, eliciting several snickers.

"Nothing new there." said one class member.

"Yeah. And after what Keitaro told me he can't deny it. Come outta the closet, Kuno, you're as gay as they come!" exclaimed another.

Kuno was redfaced. "Silence, thou lowborn peasants! The mighty Blue Thunder doth not indulge his persona in such unnaturalness!" he practically yelled.

"Sure, Kuno. That's why you threw two roses at Ranma. Of course, that was just a coincidence." Nabiki drawled lazily.

"But it was! These tokens of my affection were intended for the virtuous Akane Tendo!" Kuno practically screamed.

"Just listen to yourself," Ranma said with that practised infuriating smirk of his, "you sound just like a sissy! Come on, have the guts to admit your prefs!"

By now steam was billowing out of Kunos ears, and just like a bull who had been infuriated by a red cloth he charged; obviously his blind rage had made him forget how soundly he'd been trounced by Ranma not one hour ago. "I attack!" Kuno yelled once more and was intent on beheading Ranma with his bokken.

Considering the pressure the delusional kendoist could put behind his strikes he might even have succeeded. But Ranma had reacted in a flash; in one smooth motion he had gotten up and had whirled around with his right hand already in motion.

He caught the bokken one-handed, and Kuno noticed soon that regardless how much he pressed, his bokken didn't move one iota. While Kuno tried to overcome the unmoving object that was Ranma, the Saotome youth looked decidedly bored; to the female half of the class he looked like a dream come true, however. His thick arm muscles were on display for everyone to see, and his pose nearly gave a lot of girls a nosebleed.

Even Nabiki was watching Ranma spellbound, and the middle Tendo girl was suspiciously holding her nose. 'Damn, that's only supposed to happen to guys. But he's so... so strong and sexy. Nabs, we're going to make him and those gorgeous muscles of his ours!' she thought with a determined and hungry expression.

Those who saw her look sent prayers to Kami-sama for the poor sod she was going to rip off, but in contrast to public belief Nabiki Tendo was in the process of cutting down on her mercenary activities; she had realised just how much honour meant to Ranma, and was willing to pay the price of giving up on her money-grubbing activities as to gain him. Besides, if her strong husband brought home the money she could always keep the books; opportunities to have a fulfilled life would surely present themselves with Ranma in her life, she was sure.

Meanwhile the object of Nabiki's contemplations had had enough. "This gets boring." he stated, and snapped the bokken in half in his next move.

Kuno looked at the remains of his bokken in utter astonishment; the class and Ranma watched as the delusional boy tried to process what had happened. Unsurprisingly his clouded mind drew the wrong conclusions. "Vile sorcerer, how dareth thou to ensorcel my trusty blade to fail me in my time of need! I..."

Whatever Kuno wanted to say would never be known; Ranmas patience with the certifiable idiot had finally run thin, and his itching right fist had lashed out in a strong upper-cut that blew Kuno straight through the roof. "Next time ya point yer stick at me I'm gonna do worse, bokken-in-ass." Ranma yelled after him for good measure.

Then he turned to the teacher, a smirk on his face. "Now that that's outta the way start teaching, teach." he said as he sat down.

An astonished Mr. Yamasi could only nod dumbly and did what Ranma had suggested. It really seemed as if he'd have to bring something stronger to class, like say that gaiijin stuff, vodka...

-.-

After Kuno had finally returned to class and had once more disrupted said class he’d been ordered to bucket-duty for the remainder of the lesson. It then seemed that at least a semblance of peace and quiet had returned, until

"RANMA SAOTOME, PREPARE TO DIE!" rang through the school compound.

Ranma just looked at the ceiling as if asking himself what the heck had happened now. Mr. Yamasi just sighed, sat down and reinforced his decision. Vodka was definitely called for.

"Ranma, do you know someone with a huge backpack, tall, raven-haired, with a bandanna?" asked Nabiki from the window.

The Saotome youth stood up and racked his brain while he walked towards the window where Nabiki was standing. His memory search had only brought up vague recollections of someone who fitted this description. But he hadn’t seen him in many years. "That can't be..." he muttered as he surveyed the newcomer.

"What can't be, Ranma?" asked Nabiki while their classmates tried to get a good look too.

"This is... Ry... Ryoga Hibiki! Damn, I haven't seen lost boy in years! Wonder what happened to him."

"Hmm, from his battle-cry I deduce that it can't be good. Have you or your father done anything to him?" Nabiki asked.

Due to the fact that this question came from Nabiki Ranma didn't mind its potential offending nature. "We only ever fought over bread in our junior high time. Other than that, I've got no idea what could've ticked off the lost boy."

"Why do you call him the ‘lost boy’?" someone asked.

Ranma smiled. "That's due to a family curse Ryoga's family suffers from. They can literally get lost in a broom cupboard. And nope, that ain't a joke. But I better find out what he wants."

That said Ranma opened the window and jumped out; Mr. Yamasi nearly had a coronary at the sight. "Did... did he just..."

"Yes," Nabiki confirmed, "he jumped out of the window."

"Oh. Okay." the teacher said and fainted.

Nabiki smirked. "Maybe I should have mentioned that he landed safely." she said with a shrug as she walked out of class to watch her love interest do whatever he'd do.

-.-

Ranma, who had landed right in front of his childhood friend, surveyed the surprised young man in front of him. He was smaller than him by nearly a head, but very broad-shouldered and muscular. As Nabiki had said, he was wearing a huge backpack not unlike the one he'd worn on his training trip; an umbrella was tied to said backpack, but it was no ordinary one, but a weighted combat umbrella. Ranma had heard of these weapons on his travels and knew how much damage they could inflict; cautiousness was definitely called for.

The pigtailed martial artist saw the surprise slowly fading and decided to act. "Ryoga Hibiki, is that really you?"

"At least you remember the name of the one whose life you ruined!" Ryoga snarled, baring his fangs.

While Nabiki made a mental note to look into the file of a certain Ryoga Hibiki Ranma looked confused. "Me? Ruinin’ yer life? Whatever did I do?"

"Stop pretending and shaddup! Because of you I've seen hell!" he yelled and retrieved his umbrella from his pack. "And now prepare to die!" he screamed.

While everyone, Ranma included, asked themselves what Ranma could have done to warrant death Ryoga leapt forward and attacked. His combat-umbrella thrust forward like a spear he was obviously intent to spear Ranma like an insect. Said Saotome youth was only initially surprised, but this was overcome fast and he evaded the slow attack (in his opinion) with ease. The tree standing behind him was not so lucky and was cleanly cut in half. Shouts of surprise could be heard from the watchers, and Nabiki, who'd followed Ranma outside, yelled "Be careful, Ranma, he has the strength of a monster!"

Ranma threw a look over his shoulder and made a quick re-evaluation of the threat-level Ryoga posed; for being able to do that he had to be darn strong. But so was he, and Ranma was quite sure that he was the superior in regards of strength and endurance. Ryoga on his part followed his initial attack up with several umbrella-strikes, but the Saotome youth dodged every single one handily. This served as an evaluation of Ryoga's skills, but it also served to infuriate the lost boy immensely.

With a snarl he bared his fangs. "Fight me, you honourless bastard!" he yelled, producing a sickly green aura.

Ryoga didn't see the fist coming that impacted his face with enough force to send him flying into the wall with enough force to indent said wall deeply.

"Was that really necessary, Ranma?" Akane asked from behind him. Obviously she had come down from her classroom, like a lot of students and even some teachers.

Ranma turned around. "He attacked with intent to kill, Akane. Friend from childhood or not, I don't take lightly to that. I..."

Before he could say another word his instincts kicked in and Ranma performed a sideward roll. The source of the danger, a ki-charged bandanna how Ranma noticed, missed him clearly. That could however not be said about Akane. Her older sister and Ranma barely had the time to yell out a warning before the bandanna hit Akane. To her immense luck the makeshift weapon only touched the youngest Tendo girl lightly, but that touch was sufficient to shear off her long hairs on the right side entirely.

Akane seemed to be in shock, and when Ranma saw that Nabiki was handling the situation he glared daggers at Ryoga; he'd tried to keep his temper in up till now due to the fact that he was an old friend, but enough was enough. "How dare ya use weapons in close proximity ta innocent bystanders! What kinda martial artist are ya? Ya nearly killed Akane!"

"That was all your fault, Ranma! Had you stood still nothing would have happened!" Ryoga yelled.

"Have you heard yourself talking lately, you idiot?" asked a frosty voice from the sidelines. "You very nearly beheaded my younger sister, and you dare claim that Ranma is at fault? For that I’ll sue you so bad that you will be paying until you're a thousand years old!"

"Yeah. ‘sides, which martial artist would have remained rooted ta the spot ta get killed? What's yer fucking problem?" asked Ranma.

"You!" Ryoga yelled and charged again, his fist lashing out at Ranma.

The pigtailed boy caught the fist without any effort, and Ryoga found his fist encased in a relentless steel-grip from which he could not escape. In an effort to break free he threw a left-handed punch at Ranma that would have shattered concrete, but this fist was caught without effort, too. Ryoga then tried to kick Ranma repeatedly, but the pigtailed boy blocked every single attack with ease.

Then he began to counter-attack, and to Ryoga Ranma seemed to vanish in a blur. The next thing he knew was massive pain as he was suddenly assaulted from seemingly everywhere at once; even his superior endurance could not cope with so much duress, and his knees buckled.

A snarling Ranma looked into his pain-contorted face. "I dunno what yer friggin problem is, but next time issue an honourable challenge before attacking! Next time ya act like this I won't be so lenient with ya!"

Akane was rapidly overcoming her shock in the meantime, and the shock changed into anger. Here she had spent months in an effort to grow her hair out in order to impress her crush, and some boy went and sheared it off just like that without a care. "Damn, you cut my hair off! Do you have any idea how long it took to get them to that length? Are you even sorry? If so I didn't hear a word, buster! For ruining my plans, DIE!" she exclaimed and malleted an extremely surprised Ryoga off the compound.

While Ryoga went off flying into the direction of the canal Akane valiantly tried to calm herself, using the meditation techniques she had learned. Nabiki and Ranma left her well enough alone, fully aware that she'd have to do it herself; that was also why Nabiki deflected Akane’s best friends Sayuri and Yuka. After two minutes Akane had calmed herself enough and cursed inwardly for using the mallet again. But that... that boy had deserved it.

Nabiki was of the same opinion. "Even though that jerk deserved it, you must stop using the mallet. Remember what Ranma said, imoutochan. I don't want that to happen."

Ranma nodded and was about to say something, when the recently established peace and quiet was disturbed yet again. "RANMA SAOTOME, PREPARE TO DIE!" rang through the compound once more, this time uttered by a distinctively female voice.

"What now? What kami did pops piss off to curse me thusly? I know it's all your fault, pops! GENMA NO BAKA!"

-.-

Ranma had just uttered these surprisingly cathartic words when the originator of the battle-cry landed within the perimeter of the school compound. To say that Ranma (along with the others) was very surprised would have been a massive understatement. But his surprise changed fast into something different; as he surveyed the lithe but muscular body of the newcomer he felt the compulsion to do naughty things with that female.

Mysteriously that was not only caused by the fact that she was a major looker. She stood estimately 5'' 8' tall, had the figure of a super-model, a beautiful face, expressive coal-black eyes that glinted in anger and spiky black hair; add to it that she had a certain aura of power about her.

Needless to say that nearly every male present was drooling a river; the girls on the other hand were glaring both at the boys and at the new girl. Even Nabiki was glaring, indeed at Ranma who didn't seem to be able to stop tracing the new girls figure; but looking into his eyes caused her worry, for she saw something in his eyes that scared her, something animalistic.

Akane on the other hand was confused; had Ranma done something perverted to the girl that warranted his death? Or was it because of something Genma had done? Due to Ranma's prior actions option B seemed more likely, but looking at Ranma and how he behaved she was not so sure. And looking at the girl it seemed as if she was mysteriously afflicted in the same way.

The youngest Tendo daughter was just trying to arrive at a conclusion, when the girl shook her head and seemed to regain her senses. "RANMA SAOTOME, DUE TO WHAT YOU DID I'VE SEEN HELL!" she exclaimed and lashed out.

Her sudden right hook was too fast to be seen by the naked human eye, but normally Ranma would have been able to block or counter the blow. Only that he had been slightly... distracted. Thus he was sent into the wall with enough force so that the section he hit was destroyed on impact and crumbled upon him.

Meanwhile Nabiki was puzzling over why the battle-cry of the girl sounded so familiar and whatever Ranma (or more likely Genma) had done to her; the rest of the spectators were utterly stunned. That girl had demonstrated the same strength and speed Ranma had displayed in his 'fight' with Kuno! Unsurprisingly mutterings started.

Those were ended abruptly when a low growl could be heard from under the debris. Suddenly a yell could be heard and the debris was either blasted away or incinerated. Amidst a cloud of dust stood the tall figure of Ranma, surrounded by the largest battle-aura yet. He didn't know why, but he had to show the wench her place; and if it was the last he did! With an angry snarl he bared his teeth and flexed his muscles; the challenge had been received and understood, which became obvious when the girl brought out her own battle-aura.

Nabiki proved once more just how much common sense she possessed. "People, lets all retreat into the building! We're in over our heads here." she said with all the commanding authority of her ice-queen persona.

Looking at the two glowing figures the others could not really fault her analysis.

-.-

The energies the two combatants were emitting could clearly be felt on Kamis lookout, and two Nameks, one kami and one warrior, were raised out of their meditations.

"Two new Saiyans?" Piccolo asked, analysing what he felt. "First the male and now a female. Most peculiar." he said as he got to his feet in one swift motion.

Dende remained seated. "Indeed. I assume you want to investigate?"

"Yes. Tell the others I'll handle the situation personally." Piccolo answered, and his cape materialised behind him. "The same reasons as before apply. These Saiyans are extremely... excited, and it wouldn't do for Vegeta to barge in on them. The situation is... delicate."

Dende nodded. "I'm sure they'll listen to me, Piccolo-san."

Nodding curtly Piccolo concentrated and then did something he'd reserved for emergencies. First he suppressed his ki and made himself invisible, then he pictured the power-levels in his mind and correlated their positions from that; he then put two fingers to his forehead and used Goku's technique of Instant Transmission he'd figured out in the time after the Cell Games and teleported away, leaving a surprised Dende behind. Last time he'd wanted to enjoy the flight to Tokyo, but this time haste was called for.

He reappeared nearly instantly in front of something that looked like a highschool. Scanning the adjacent area for the best possible and unobstructed view on the combatants Piccolo decided on the rooftop of the school-building. A short teleportation-jump later the Namek stood on the roof with his arms crossed over his chest, completely invisible and curious as to what he'd witness here.

-.-

Ranma was in full battle-mode and attacked immediately. The female reacted too and their punches met repeatedly; the Saotome youth had the impression that their punches were creating sonic booms, and he'd probably have been surprised to learn that that was indeed the case. Growling Ranma pressed on and used his superior physical attributes to their full extent; he knew that he was stronger, and he'd show the wench!

He shot forward like a bullet, running so fast so that it seemed he was flying. To the naked human eye he seemed to disappear and reappear in front of the girl. His fist lashed out and returned the favour he'd received moments before. Only that the girl was cleanly blasted through the wall.

Perched on the rooftop Piccolo watched the fight; he didn't regret that he'd revealed his knowledge of the Instant Transmission technique to Dende, even considering the relatively low power-levels of the two battling Saiyans. They might not have much power-wise at the moment even though the male Saiyan had nearly doubled his power-level since yesterday, an extraordinary achievement indeed, but the skill-level both displayed was superior to anything the Z-fighters could employ.

Once those two had raised their power-levels sufficiently they would indeed be worthy of induction. And he'd ensure that they'd have challenges on their way. But the fights among them that'd result from their apparent... mating behaviour would ensure a fast increase in power. Yamcha and the other weaker Z-fighters would do theirs after he'd convinced them. Two Saiyans with that level of skill and backed up with the power the levels of the Super Saiyan offered would be a great asset to the Z-fighters indeed.

But those were plans for the future, the immediate future indeed. For now he'd observe.

-.-

A hundred miles away at Capsule Corp. a certain prince of all Saiyans emerged from the concentrated state he'd been in; the gravity of 300 times above normal did neither bother nor tax him at all. What did was the fact that he'd still not been able to reach the level Kakkarotts' brat had reached years ago.

Vegeta growled as two flaring powers assaulted his senses. They were unmistakably Saiyan in nature, and the Prince nearly facefaulted as he sensed something he'd thought he'd never sense again: a Saiyan female! What in Kami-samas name was going on here?

First a new male Saiyan and now a female. And came there hell or high water, he'd investigate and find out; only the respect he held for the Namek after all the battles they had fought together had stopped him from confronting the male Saiyan the first time.

But not this time. Ignoring Dende's mental recommendation to stay out of it Vegeta exited the GR and contacted his mate. 'Woman, I'll be gone for some time. Just so you know.' he sent over the mental link they shared.

'Okay, monkey-boy. Just be careful. Love you.' Bulma sent back.

Vegeta snorted as he powered up to Super Saiyan level, then he took off; he'd probably have pounded everyone else for calling him that, but the woman was the sole exception. Smirking to himself about the payment he'd invoke for this later Vegeta changed course towards the source of the ki-signals, his approximate destination Tokyo.

-.-

The female Saiyan, Ryo-chan, was utterly confused. She was fighting her arch-nemesis, and not only was he stronger and tougher than her and able to soak up even her strongest blows, but she felt some kind of animalistic attraction to him. And that must not be! Ranma had to pay for what he'd done! But... but her instincts were so confusing! With an irritated growl she jumped back to her feet. She'd suppress those damnable urges and concentrate on punishing Ranma.

Her opponent was regarding her with an intent stare, the challenge obvious in his eyes. A challenge she took up all too gladly. In a flash she covered the distance separating them, and soon blows were traded at a super-fast pace. Ranma blocked everything thrown at him with ease, and suddenly lashed out faster than Ryo-chan could follow; the girl was caught at the chin and catapulted right into the wall of the school-building.

"Damn, what is Ranma doing there? He'll kill the poor girl!" Akane exclaimed, looking out of the window with worry prevalent on her face.

Nabiki who was standing beside Akane shook her head. "Something tells me that it'd need a lot more than that, sis. And besides, it was that girl who attacked first. But there's something fishy going on here. Ranma's behaviour is odd."

"Yeah, he's acting like a pervert!" Akane exclaimed.

"Akane, stop that. Something unexplained is going on here, but you can't automatically assume that it's perverted. No, there has to be a rational explanation... hmm, there seems to be some kind of... attraction between Ranma and that girl. Maybe they've met before and Genma arranged something between them when he noticed that they'd hit it off. But then he might have acted true to fashion and made a run for it after he had received payment. It's solely speculation, but maybe she wants revenge for being set up." Nabiki said.

Akane nodded slowly as she contemplated that; it seemed to be much more probable that Genma had fouled up again; Ranma's prior behaviour indicated nothing perverted at all, so maybe her sis was right. But Nabiki had hit the nail on the head, something fishy was going on here.

-.-

On the battlefield Ranma waited for the wench to get up again. He knew that the fight was not over by a long shot, and that was how he liked it; ever since his change into a Saiyan (whatever that was) his drive for battle had been greatly intensified. And here was that wench who was a formidable opponent, and something else.

The pigtailed young man watched how the girl jumped to her feet once more, and his eyes grew large as suddenly something brown and furry uncurled from around her waist. "I'll be damned..." he muttered in complete astonishment, and that state of surprise cost him.

A straightforward blow to the face sent him flying upwards despite his considerable body mass, and the Saiyan girl snorted. That had showed him. Now to the follow up.

-.-

Piccolo was impressed. Those two seemed to be passionate, natural fighters. Unlike Gohan, who had to overcome his reservations at first and who still hadn't become a true warrior thanks to his harpy of a mother who insisted that he studied.

Granted, knowledge was necessary, but not at the expense of training. And with the potential Gohan had he needed to train to use his potential to its fullest, for he was one of the most important fighters of the Z-gang due to his intelligence and power. His relationship with that human girl Videl had helped somewhat, but he needed the right incentive to train satisfyingly again. Maybe those two Saiyans around his age would prove to be just that.

He watched as the male Saiyan who seemed to be called Ranma Saotome impacted the wall hard; the force behind the blow had been strong enough to indent him deeply into the wall surrounding the school-building, but seemingly it had not fazed him much. 'This young Saiyan is tough.' thought Piccolo as this Ranma climbed out of the man-sized indention he had left in the wall.

With a smirk he dusted himself off. "Was that supposed to hurt? Sorry. Ouch."

Before the female Saiyan could answer Ranma cracked his knuckles. "Time to get serious." he said, and disappeared in a blur.

Only Piccolo's eyes were fast enough to keep track of him, but the female Saiyan never stood a chance. Ryo-chan had no opportunity to react at all, and before she knew what was happening she had been kicked into the side; the powerful kick sent her flying over the school compound, but instead of letting up Ranma followed his attack up and used all of his speed in an attempt to overtake the girl.

This was only partially successful as Ryo-chan managed to get her uncontrolled flight under control; she bounced off the wall and their attacks met in mid-air. To herself Ryo-chan had to admit that it felt as if she'd hit a steel wall, and her kick apparently had as much effect. She ignored the pain from Ranma's punch and pressed her attacks, eternally thankful for her natural strength and toughness, which had only been reinforced through what had happened to her.

With a snarl she aimed a feint attack for Ranma's stomach, only to go for her real target, the head of her adversary. As she soon noticed said adversary was seemingly too clever to fall for it, seeing as he blocked both attacks with ease. And ever so slowly Ryo-chan began to wonder if she'd be able to enact her revenge upon Ranma Saotome, even with her new body.

She countered his attacks on autopilot while racking her brain to come up with a sound battle-strategy; she had planned on using her superior strength and toughness against Ranma, and even her birthform should have been superior to him, seeing how much she'd trained during the course of the past years. But her opponent was a monster strength-wise, and as much as she loathed admitting it, Ranma did not only seem to be stronger, but also tougher.

That only left speed as an option; maybe, if she could just land enough blows, maybe she'd be able to wear him down then and get her revenge. As sad as demolishing such a good looking guy was… 'Bad Thoughts!' she chided herself, forcing herself to concentrate on the fight again. This was her enemy, and she had to defeat him!

Executing a back-flip that brought her away from Ranma in a wide arc she landed on the partially destroyed wall. From there she jumped high into the air and landed several feet behind the pigtailed boy, in his backside. Ryo-chan then used every ounce of speed she could coax out of her body, but it just wasn't enough. Despite his considerable muscle-mass her opponent managed to whirl around and blocked her attack.

-.-

Ranma was really thriving in this fight, and the song of battle filled his veins. Fighting this female was the greatest thing he'd ever felt, and her tail clued him in on the fact that this might be a fellow member of the race he was now a member of. But how she knew his name was a mystery to him.

Even as his brain was acting on auto-pilot like a super-computer tuned to fighting Ranma had time to analyse the situation. The female quite obviously had a tail, and she seemed to have similar physical abilities in comparison to him; this made it more than likely that she was indeed a member of whatever race they were, and this might also explain why he felt attracted to her. Pheromones.

Granted, she was physically attractive, but heck, he'd only met her some five minutes ago, and that under less than favourable circumstances. Under normal circumstances not the ideal situation to create feelings and urges like those he was presently feeling.

While he blocked a particularly vicious blow to his abdomen he absently wondered if his stupid pops had something to do with it. Had the old fool made a deal with aliens and had run out on them after ripping them off? He wouldn't put it past him.

With that his brain caught up with the situation just in time to see that the girl was trying to punch him into the face, thus he blocked said punch and returned the favour. He then cupped his hands to his side and released an energy blast of medium strength at point blank range.

At least Ranma thought it was of medium strength, until he saw that it had blasted the girl clearly over the school compound and through yet another section of the wall. 'Hmm, the construction companies will surely have a field day…' Ranma thought as he jumped over the wall to finish the fight.

However, when he landed on the wall he found no one. The mysterious girl was gone.

-.-

In the classrooms most of the student population was standing at the respective windows with their mouths hanging open; classes had long since been cancelled as even the teachers had abandoned their rightful duties to watch the fight. None of them had ever thought of stopping the fight in order to prevent any more property damage; the nutcase who 'owned' the school just didn't pay good enough for them to risk their hides.

Now this fight straight out of a movie or a video game seemed to be finally over, but every single teacher realised soon that it wouldn't make much sense to continue with classes; the students were either sitting or standing huddled together, engrossed in talks about what had happened, and that in every classroom. And the consensus was that the new guy, Ranma Saotome, was definitely way hot!

Everyone wanted to know everything about him, and in her classroom 2E Nabiki was making a killing with selling all the official information she had on Ranma. Even Kuno was buying information, and Nabiki could not resist a jab. "Kuno-baby, how often do you need to hear it? Ranma is straight and absolutely not interested in you."

"How doth thou know that, heartless mercenary?" Kuno asked, apparently trying to question Ranma's sexual preferences as ways of revenge.

However, Nabiki interpreted the question differently. "Oh, so you are interested in Ranma?"

"Seems so, sis." Akane said, who was still standing beside her sister; she was slowly overcoming her stunned state of mind, thanks to Kuno. "You jerk, can't you finally admit it? You practically just said that you're interested in Ranma!"

"That was not what the mighty Blue Thunder meant, my fierce tigress." Kuno said, and ignored the mutterings and laughter around him. "How doth thou know that the vile beast is not interested in such unnaturalness?"

Nabiki feigned ignorance. "Whatever unnaturalness do you mean, Kuno-baby? Heterosexual relationships? As a matter of fact, I can tell you in what Ranma Saotome indulges in. For a fee of 10.000 ¥."

"What! 'Tis outright robbery, I say!" Kuno exclaimed angrily.

"Everything has its price, Kuno." countered Nabiki, and only Akane noticed that it was not said with as much conviction as usual.

Ultimately Kuno sighed. "Here." he said, and handed a wad of cash into Nabiki's outstretched hand. "May your black heart shrivel from it. And now tell me what I paid for."

Nabiki smirked. "Very well. Let's begin with definite proof for the fact that Ranma Saotome is indeed perfectly straight. Well, firstly there is the contract that has been drawn between our families, the Tendos and Saotomes, mind you, that states that Ranma is entitled to marry one of us after the course of a year. Both my sisters and I as well as Ranma have agreed to this contract."

"WHAT!" Kuno exclaimed.

Inwardly the middle Tendo daughter laughed out loud. "Then there is the fact that Ranma seems to like all three of us, and that apparently a lot. As of now neither Kasumi nor Akane nor I are able to decide who of us will take up the engagement, but we're quite confident that a decision will be found within a year. After all, a year is more than enough time to come to know someone with whom you're living under one and the same roof, isn't it?"

"Yeah." agreed Akane, who had caught on to what Nabiki had in mind. Making Kuno jealous so that he would attack Ranma would surely lead to a situation which could be used to their advantage; Kuno's rep had already suffered greatly today, but some more humiliation couldn't hurt now, could it?

Kuno reacted predictably. "Such travesty can not be allowed! I forbid it! That cur Ranma Saotome living under the same roof as my fierce tigress Akane Tendo and trying to ensorcel her with his vile machinations! I will not stand for it!" he yelled and charged out of the classroom with his bokken raised.

Akane and Nabiki smirked at each other for a job well done. Still smirking the sisters sat down and discussed what each had observed and concluded from the fight.

-.-

Outside Ranma was still trying to find a trail of the female, but he had no luck. Growling he turned around and jumped from the half-destroyed wall, only to see Furinkan's resident nutjob charging at him. With a growl and a glare Ranma regarded the delusional Kuno boy. "Damn it ta the deepest hell, when will ya get it? I ain't interested!"

Kuno on his part charged ahead, intent on punishing Ranma for living under the same roof as Akane. "Vile sorcerer, how dareth thou to live under the same roof as my beauteous Akane in an attempt to ensnare her in your vile claws! I ATTACK!"

"Idiot!" Ranma yelled, "I won't move in with ya, ya sicko!" he exclaimed. "And point yer damned stick somewhere else!"

That said Ranma blurred from vision and used his speed-advantage to deliver over a hundred blows in one second, effectively hitting Kuno in every single vital spot and then some. The delusional kendoist swayed like a tree in a storm, before collapsing unto the ground, facefirst.

Ranma scoffed. "Idiot. Even if I were gay, I could do a lot better than ya. And I'm not." he stated.

Snickers could be heard from above as students had clearly caught every word that had been spoken, and Ranma grinned inwardly. Their campaign to ruin Kuno's rep was going splendidly. If that continued to work out as well as today the Hentai Horde would be disbanded sooner than thought…

Ranma's head suddenly shot up as his senses were assaulted by a feeling of immense power. Damn, that was more power than he'd ever felt before in his whole life, and it seemed to be concentrated in one person! How in Kami-samas' name could a single person be that powerful?

And then he saw the source of that power; it was a golden streak in the distance, and it was coming nearer! Whatever it was, it was not only insanely powerful, but also very fast! And there, from north, he could feel another power-level, which was even stronger still! What the hell was going on here, and were those powers friendly or not? Questions over questions, but regardless, it looked like he'd get answers soon…

to be continued…

Thanks for reading. Also, thanks to everyone for helping me out with suggestions, comments, ideas and c&c in general. Special thanks go to the people at Shinjis board.

Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter:

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