Chapter 2

"Here's Ashura"

Or

"The New Beginning"

I was in uniform when I ran into the humanoid brick wall. This kid, about the same age as me, went flying as we collided. He slammed head first into the asphalt landing in the middle of the street. I heard a squeal as he rolled into the puddle.

Flinching slightly, I muttered a soft curse. Poor bastard shoulda watched where the hell he was going. I noted that he had a curse. Must have found some "Cursed Spring of Drowned Piglet" somewhere, because that's what he changed into. A little black piglet. But the really strange thing was the scarf wrapped around his neck. Then, as if God himself were laughing, the sky opened up and dumped about, oh, 2-3 inches on my head, and I "changed." I grimaced and picked up the kid, his clothing, and the heaviest umbrella I had ever held in one hand, and I took him home.

Now, before you try and figure out who I am, and it's not that hard if you've heard of my antics, let me tell you this. Not many know me when I'm not in uniform. That's the only way the student body recognizes me, usually. My close friends know my secret, but they'll never tell. They're more scared of me than of any torture device. And, there's another reason. Like the piglet, I also have a curse. It's strange in that my cursed form is more "aggressive" than my uncursed body.

Anyway, I looked down at my chest and sighed softly, noticing the placement of breasts instead of flatness. Made worse was that my clothes were clinging to my now curvy, sexy body. My breasts were huge, too… not conducive to fighting, but I had found ways to make it work. Running home would be no big feat, really, but I decided to walk the 5 miles or so. I had taken the time to switch into my street clothes, so I wouldn't be easily recognized. And blue hair wasn't so much of a big deal nowadays. Of course, that's not to say I wasn't noticed. My clothes, a black Chinese tanktop, that hung to every curve, plus baggy blue silk pants, stuck out like a sore thumb in North Miami Beach. Personally, I loved my clothes, but the guys at school couldn't get enough either, the fucking perverts.

Looking down at the piglet in my arms, I sighed. He was cute, in a way, but I had a feeling he was going to be a handful. Shaking off the unease of the moment, I continued walking toward the school, sighing. Besides, everyone in the city knows to get the fuck outta the way when I'm on patrol. Either he was new in town, or he was lost (Both of which I found out later were BIG understatements.).As I was walking up West Dixie, I spotted something that made me cringe in anger. Some thugs picking on a little kid.

I put down the unconscious porker and began walking towards the groups of punks. Their ages ranged from 11 to 21, a tight knit little gang.

"HEY!" My feminine voice called out.

One of them turned around, gun in his hand. "What do you want, puta?" The little bastard spit out venomously. He was obviously Cuban, his speech fast, too fast for Puerto Rican.

"Leave. Now. Before you start something that could get you into serious trouble," I stated simply.

The little bastard looked about, checking for cops. He needn't worry about them. My Shadow Dome Shield would keep people from getting involved in this.

"Don't worry, kiddo," I said, staring down the short man who seemed to be the leader of this gang of hoodlums.

"Why shouldn't he worry, puta maricon? My posse and me're gonna kill the lil' bastard. And you too, if you don't beat it. Rosco, Jordan, get dis bitch." Two extremely large, musclebound boneheads walked out of the bushes. There were more than I had originally thought. But, no matter. I stood my ground, a smirk on my face.

"Trust me, boys. Don't with me."

"Sorry bitch, but you've seen too much already," said the guy with the brass knuckles. The other guy had a chain and a bat in each hand. He thought he was hot , judging from the wicked smile he had on his face.

"Don't blame me when you lying on the ground in a world of hurt," I sighed as the little punk turned his back on me and went back to threatening the kid. The chain whipped out at me. I caught it on the forearm, letting it wrap around my arm. The chains made a nice little clink as they hit… "You have no idea who you're with, do you?" The punk then swung his bat at my head, which I met head on. The bat splintered into toothpicks, which fell to the ground. I snatched the chain from his hand and ended up wrapping it around his neck, throwing him and the chain out of the dome. Checking the other guy, I grinned, dimples in my cute lil' cheeks. His eyes were widened in surprise.

"H-H-How? How could you do that!" The leader looked up, noticing one of his main hitters were gone. The guy with the knucks swung at my head, hoping to knock me out. "I'll get you, you two-cent !" He was white, the other guy was black. Down here, you get all sorts of mixed gangs where I lived.

I dodged an overhead hammer punch, then two or three quick jabs. He'd have been a formidable fighter if he trained for another ten years. But he thought he was hot then. Taking a glancing blow, I grinned, and then fired off a double fisted punch to his gut, sending him flying. He hit the ground, hard, his head smashing into the building. Blood streamed down his face as he got back up, and then went down again. A muffled groan accompanied the sickening plop and his body dropped.

Smirking as I looked up, the leader glared at me. He stared at the guys on the ground, then smirks. "Get her." As soon as he said that, about ten guys jumped out of nowhere and bumrushed me. I sighed, knocking one upside the head. A song popped into my head as I started getting a little serious. Speed Master by Gackt. Grimacing, I blocked a double fisted blow to the head with one arm, and a kick to the chest with the other, then kicked both guys away in a 720 double spinkick. Lifting my legs high, I then landed on the ground, cursing lightly. Flashkicking backwards, I sent two others flying, grunting weith the exertion. Keeping it on a purely physical level was proving it be an event. I cursed silently, then grinned, mulekicking another two. That left four. Grolwing, I said screw it an d started circling them, grinning all the while.. They ran after me of course, a grin upon my face as I executed the move. "Hiryu Shoten HA!" A gust of wind came from the ground, surrounding the entire group. They all went flying As the gusts reached 100 mph, lifting them from the ground. As soon as the ki based tornado died out, they fell to the ground, knocking them all out.

"Oops, too much power," I giggled slightly, then looked at the guy holding the kid. He dropped the kid, and the child took off running I smirked slightly, then turned, my fist raised slightly. "You really wanna fight me? Well, then, let's go."

Licking my lips, I went forward, my fist still raised. Taking down my hand, I punched him in the face, knocking him back. But, I noticed, he took it rather well, flipping once, but landing on his feet. I smirked, finally glad tyo have an at least semi-formidable opponent, But then he had toi ruin it. He pulled out a .357 handgun. I Scowled as he fired the bullets. Jumping up as he fired, I caught one bullet, then another, and another, until the chamber was empty. Gritting my teeth, I flicked each bullet back at his feet, in a regular hexagonal triangle. Growling, I landed about ten feet away, staring at him. "If you can fight, why fire a handgun at me?"

"Heh… the name's Lou. Lou Blackhawk, and now's you time to die, you little bitch." He rushed me, which did catch me slightly off guard, especially after the punch to the head. I sensed some latent energy within him, which piqued my interest. Ducking an overhand blow, I jumped into the air, then rained down a multitude of punches at his head while whispering "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken", wondering if the young man had learned from someone I had met before. Taking a look above me on the way down, I scowled slightly. I lowered the Shadow Dome Shield as well, expecting to have the cops there any second. Then, I looked at my opponent. He had taken every single blow. I smirked. Oh, this was going to be very interesting indeed.

"BITCH!" He screamed, before I moved in closer. His power rating had gone up considerably, I noticed, by the thin aura flaring throughout his body. I upped my aura to match.

"Come on, Lou... I want a real fight." That angered him, sending his level up even more. I matched him yet again. But, I realized he was reaching his max. I sighed softly. Not as good as I thought. I yawned, then smirked again, before launching another volley of strikes to his face. He backpedaled, blinking before swinging at me with his own combination. I shrugged off the blows, and doubled my power in the next punch, which sent him hurtling towards the school building. He coughed slightly, blood on his lip. "Oh, you're gonna get it…"

"You say that as if you know me… do you..?" I smiled slightly, then went into my trademark stance, one foot slightly in front if the other, arms at my sides. There were no holes in this stance. I grinned slightly, then rushed forward, battering him with yet another volley of strikes about the head, knocking him down once more. I then smashed his ribcage, punching his once in the chest, then back flipping, catching his head. I grunted, then did a head scissors take over, flinging him again the wall of the building again. He finally collapsed, falling to the ground. "Now, it's my turn for an introduction. My name is Ashura Sentoki..."

"Better known as Ashura Ayanami… For being the coldest blooded fighter there is…And champion of the Shotokan Budokai." He shivered, then looked at me with a knowing grimace. He spit blood from his mouth. I took pityt and healed his broken ribs, then looked down at him.

"Get yourself taken care of, and if I see you around here again, I won't hesitate to kill you." I whispered softly down at him, smiling the entire time.

I picked up the piglet, who was STILL out cold. Shaking my head down at the changed boy, I sighed then headed home. Home was about 6 blocks away. Taking the long walk, I smiled slightly, looking about me. The date was October 25, and then sky was opening up, allowing the heavens to pour out the rain. I smiled at the water, since the change had already taken place. Taking a look in a nearby store window, I smirked at the longish blue hair in my Blazing green eyes. The smirk turned into a smile as I continued walking, passing 192nd street. Taking a left turn, then a right, I continued walking past the duplexes, watching as the rain fell. I shed the top, and flung it over my shoulder, letting the rain fall down on the large black a shirt I was wearing. Unfortunately, the boys in the duplex stared out the window. They all knew me, and also knew it was impolite to stare. But they did it anyway. I sighed, shot them a look, then walked on, heading through the parking lot. I turned another left, And walked down 193rd street, heading west. Taking a look up at the green house, I sighed again. I knew Mom was going to be pissed. But her truck wasn't out front, so I didn't have to worry about her now.

Walking through the front yard, I petted my dog, Wizard, and caught my cat, Cierci, as she jumped into my arms. She took a sniff at the piglet, then started gnawing on it's ears for a second before taking off. The piglet was starting to come to.I gave him a good measured rap on the noggin, knocking him out for another fifteen minutes. "HEY! Tadaima!" I called out, looking for anyone to be home.

"Asshole, no one understands you when you speak Japanese!" MY brother, Jason called out. "So you got wet again, huh?" He looked ast me then laughed. And you brought a NEW animal home. Oh goody, more of a mouth to feed."

I cussed at him, saying words that shouldn't go between brothers. "Listen you little shit. Just go turn on the shower. This pig ain't what he seems."

"Oh… another curse victim? What'd you do, run him down?"

I stared at him as if I wanted to kill him. But then I started laughing. "Yeah, in fact, I did. Could you get the shower ready for me? I want to change back… I hate this body." Shaking the water from my hair, I coughed, and then yawned again. I looked up at my brother. He stood 5'11", with bright, almost ice blue eyes, and dirty blonde hair. A handsome face, too, which he got from his mother more than his father. I stood at 5'2" In this body, and it madder me feel diminutive. I scowled as he went into the back of the house, getting the shower turned on. I sighed and sat down on the sofa, yawning softly. My eyes ran up the length of the wall in front of me.

On the wall was a clock with black ears, a Mickey Mouse clock my mother had picked up somewhere. The time was still early iin the afternoon, since school had let out early. I sighed again, then looked over towards the door that lead to the back of the house. Sniffing, I inhaled the damp smell of mildew and food cooking. My brother was making his famous brownies again. Not famous for the taste, but the effect they had on you. I chuckled, thinking that here we go again. Being 18 at the time sucked when you had no one or nothing to do. I then scratched the back of my head, and then laid my head back against the couch. The piglet was coming to again.

"So… who are you, I wonder..?" I whispered as I looked down at the young pig.

Laying down the umbrella next to the boy turned pig, I then got up, and filled a cup with hot water from the faucet in the kitchen. Coming back, I dumped the hot water on his head, resulting in the same humanoid brick wall staring at me as if I had a second head. Why, I couldn't figure out, since he wasn't speaking English.; But the gist of his Japanese was something like this; "Wild Stallion, what are you doing in Bangladesh? I'll kill you!" After staring at me for a second, he then said something like; "Why do you have blue hair?"

"Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" I asked him in my native tongue, English, scowling at him. Whoever this Wild Stallion was, he wasn't very well-liked by this young man. Cracking my knuckles, I looked up at him, not minding that he was naked. This body had strange tastes… He was well built, extremely well built, but not like a bodybuilder. Chiseled abs, lengthy muscle cords, but not big and bulky. My female mind was sizing him up as a potential partner, I realize now. But at the time, I wondered what was wrong with me.

He finally answered me in English. "Yes, I understand English. Who are you if not Ranma?"

"My name is Jesse Lawrence-Hayden. And right now, I think I need a hot shower." I muttered gently, looking at the boy. "What's your name?"

"Hibiki Ryoga." His voiuce was soft, and he was staring at my chest. I knocked him upside his heads for staring. "Idiot. I'm a guy." I stated simply, before getting up, shaking my hair out quickly, and heading towards the back. My brother took over as he came out of the back door.

"This is Jason. My younger brother. Look after this moron while I get changed."

Hopping out of the shower, I dried my now brown hair. Finally, stand at my original height of 6'1", I smiled down at my body. It was strong, powerfulk, yet lean, not unlike Ryoga Hibiki's body. I smirked slightly as my tail wrapped around my waist. Everyone thought I was a freak in this body, but what the hell? I thought it was perfectly natural to have a tail, since I had finally gotten it back a little while ago. That Kami-sama was going to get it when I got a hold of him. Piccolo, actually, but otherwiser I didn't care. I( sighed, then put on a pair of boxers and a t-shirt, yawning softly. I was almost always a little tired after a shower. I never knew why. Walking back up front, I looked at the boy again, the strange feelings finally gone. Dark brown eyes stared at the young man with green eyes, looking down into his eyes.

"This is my true form. Apparently, you have a curse as well. And funny how I've never seen it before now." I smirked slightly at him, my eyes staring directly into his. "So, where did you get it?"

"Get what?" He asked, looking dumb.

"Get your curse."

It's been a couple of days since then. I've found out where Ryoga Hibiki came from, Nerima, Tokyo, and h0ow he got his curse. Seems he was pushed into a cursed spring in the Qinghai province of China. I've never been there. I told him where I got my curse from, which in and of itself is a story I could share now, but am unwilling. The poor bastard was pushed into a spring by his arch rival, but I think there's more to it than that. By the way this kid tells his story, it makes me laugh.