Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Winds of Change ❯ The Reptiles Have Entered the Building ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Winds of Change

 

AN: I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Hope you guys like it!

 

Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Ranma ½ in any way I just like to play around in the sandpit created by Takahashi Sensei. I don’t make any money by writing this so keep your lawyers at bay!

 

Chapter 7: The Reptiles Have Entered the Building

 

The room was filled by the sound of money getting shuffled around. “Fifteen, twenty, twenty-two, twenty-four…” came the young girl's voice. On her face, she had a pleased grin. This was a good catch. So much money for so little work. Nabiki stopped her counting as she heard the familiar call. The distant cackle. She listened carefully. The jovial shouts that came from outside, the closed windows of the economics clubroom muffled the shouts to the point she needed to concentrate to make it out.

“What a haul! What a haul!” bellowed a voice outside.

Against all odds, the girl’s lips crept up even further. Her eyes darted to the notes on the whiteboard that dominated the wall across the room. More exactly to the numbers depicting the month's ongoing bets. The number of people betting on twelve panty-raids have just lost out. Now if she could only goat the old man to make another four raids. There would be no winners. It was tempting. Though, it would be cheating... If it came to light she could face a lot of trouble. She was no fool. If she got caught rigging the bets it would be disastrous. A businesswoman with a tainted credibility would be not a businesswoman for long. Small, lies and half-truths were okay. But outright lies, rigging bets... Nope! Too much a risk!

Once, having reaffirmed her ethics Nabiki turned to her two apprentices. There was money to be made after all. “Natsumi!” she called out. “Add one to the Happosai tally scratch one on the weekly pool as well, mark both as not yet confirmed. Sasako! Please verify it at the gym!”

“Yes ma’am!” responded a pair of female voices. The first years rushed to act on the orders they received. Both felt honoured to have the Great Nabiki Tendo as their guide on their first foray into the world of business.

Smiling at the eagerness of her newest disciples Nabiki returned to the customer at hand. The deal was rather... interesting in nature. A special order. A life-size, full-body, poster of a female Ranma. Naked. The request was full of dangers, but the money involved was more than enough to make it worth it. It also made it a lucrative undertaking. It was an order for which she could ask for just about any sum she wanted.

However, Nabiki was no fool. Catching Ranma naked and off guard was almost impossible. But there were other means to achieve the necessary goal. If one had the necessary equipment and materials. She happened to have both. Pictures upon pictures of Ranma in his cursed form she already had. With some photographic techniques and a bit of creativity, it was easy to create what was necessary to fulfill the contract. Cheap.

The girl resumed counting. “Twenty-six, seven, eight… Thirty, forty! Fifty!" The pay was all there. "Okay!” she said reaching for a rather large steel lockbox behind her. She fiddled with her keychain, looking for the right tool for the job. Soon she had the box and the padlock that kept it shut unlocked. Once within there was yet another obstacle. A dial. Something that could be usually only found on a safe.

"What's with all the security?" asked the customer curiously.

"Oh, this one? " asked Nabiki. "It's for the timer on the paint bombs. Imagine if this thing got into the wrong hands." The girl shuddered at the thought the customer followed the example suit. "Imagine if Ranma catches sight of this thing by accident!"

Both seller and buyer were horrified at the thought of the consequences such a thing could come with. They remembered the incident that cemented Ranma’s reputation as someone not to be messed with. There was a guy. A new student. Now ex-student as far a Furinkan was concerned. An absolute idiot who thought it was funny to pour cold water over his sex-changing classmate. He did so in the boy’s changing room. While everybody was getting dressed. Then the idiot also did some taunting. Daring a martial artist who was easily in the top ten percent of the profession to do something about it. Ranma’s reaction was quite an impressive sight. The would-be bully never fully recovered.

“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!” was all Ranma had said later on the matter.

Two hours dangling from the top of a tree, mostly naked, held up by nothing but his ever-tightening boxers. It was more than enough to get the message across. The guy transferred to another school rather swiftly afterward. The nicknames the idiot earned thanks to the incident; 'Boxer-boy' and 'Nutty'. They remained with the moron for years to come.

The steel box opened with a faint hiss. Nabiki pulled out the rolled-up poster handling it as if it was some sort of highly dangerous substance. In more than one way it was. ”Here’s what you’ve asked for Hiroshi! As we have agreed." she stated handing the merchandise over. "It’s the best quality money can buy. Though I suggest you unroll it somewhere private. If Ranma finds out he’ll have your hide!”

“Nice doing business with you.” responded the boy with a smile as he slipped out of the room.

The mercenary girl could only shake her head as he left. “If Ranma only knew what some of his friends get up to…” she muttered. Seconds later she shrugged and went back to business. It was not her problem! “Fifty-thousand yen. Almost pure profit!” she thought with joy. “Yay!” It was a large chunk of money. Even for her.

She was about to move over to the next task at hand when something came to her. A spark. An idea raced across her mind. If Hiroshi was ready to cough up fifty grand for this explicit material. There were two. Two exact, very, very, very rich members of society who would be ready and also able to pay much much more for the privilege of obtaining posters of this nature.

A devilish grin appeared on the girl’s lips as her eyes darkened. “Money, money, money! It must be funny…” she began the old song as she headed towards the door with the goal of seeking out an old friend. An old, rich, slightly crazy, friend, one who happened to be fond of poetry and swords.

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Hiroshi rushed out of the room clutching the poster in his hand. A grin on his face. He had done it. He had the picture. Just past Nabiki’s door, another male by the name of Daisuke joined up with him. The duo practically flew through the hallways of the school in order to get outside and to what they considered relative safety.

“Do you have it?” asked the other boy.

Hiroshi smirked and nodded. “We’ll make so much with this deal!” he called out. “I don’t know what that little bastard did to make Nabiki refuse to deal with him, but it's all the better for us!”

Both boys smirked. Their client. The little creep of a first year. He promised to pay the two of them handsomely for some explicit material. One-hundred-thousand yen! One had to be crazy to refuse that offer. Neither side of the duo knew what it was with rich people and a lack of common sense, but they didn’t care. That piece of paper would make them a fortune!

Down the stairs they went their steps, echoing across the hall as they passed fellow students. The front entrance of the school was getting close. Their destination was not far. The back of the schoolyard, behind the storage sheds. If they can get their pay they would be in the clear and most importantly rid of their extremely dangerous cargo.

“Hey, what are you two up to?” came a casual call. And there was the proverbial wrench on the apparatus. Hiroshi and Daisuke froze in fear.

Ranma. The last person on Earth they wanted to meet up at this exact moment. He was heading right for them blocking their path. Daisuke stopped dead in his tracks. Unable to speak. He gulped. This was bad. He was seriously regretting his choices.

Hiroshi kept moving, trying to make his way past the sudden danger. This was the moment of truth. He knew he had to go for it. If the poster gets past the martial artist now they would make a fortune. If not… he didn’t even want to think about that possibility. “Hi, Ranma!” he spoke trying to sound casual.

The martial artist came to a halt surprised by his friend's sheepish visages. His friends were not good at plotting. They were open books to just about anybody. It was obvious even to someone as dense as one Ranma Saotome. Those two were up to something. The rolled-up paper. The way Hiroshi’s grip seemed to tighten on it. It piqued his interest.

“What is this?” asked the martial artist snatching the poster from his friend’s hold. The pulse of the two boys skyrocketed.

“Nothing! Nothing!” stammered Hiroshi nervously.

“Yeah, just a blank piece of paper!” Daisuke interjected.

Ranma gave his friends a questioning look. The way Hiroshi’s hand was shaking, the slight twitch of Daisuke’s lip. It was a dead giveaway. “Okay what are the two of you up to?” he asked with suspicion.

The boys shook their heads. “Oh, nothing really!” assured Daisuke. He was shaking his fear. Eyes locked onto the poster in Ranma's grasp. Head working furiously to get out of this situation.

Hiroshi nodded most vehemently. “Yeah, just a little project! Nothing big!"

Now Ranma knew something was up. He glanced at the paper then at his friends. He could almost feel the waves of fear rolling off of the other two boys. His senses, while more developed towards martial arts than everyday interactions, were triggered. The two were hiding something. It was obvious.

Daisuke tried to grab the paper. He was too slow. Ranma easily avoided the attempt and all others that came. The martial artist's interest grew. The rolled-up piece of paper was the key. The two mundane students kept on trying to regain it.

After a few seconds of dodging and weaving, the Saotome heir's interest was at new heights. He decided to see what had his friend so riled up. He unrolled the paper. He barely got a third of the way before he realized what it was. The rest he could imagine, no problem. Ranma's hands trembled as he rolled up the paper with one swift move. His grasp snapped down on the offending work of photography, crumpling the paper. The sight that he had in front of him mere moments before, it was a familiar one, too familiar. He saw red. He wanted blood.

His eyes locked onto his so-called buddies. They tried to run. They weren't fast enough. Within a blink Ranma had Daisuke on the ground, whimpering in pain, begging for forgiveness. Hiroshi's feet were up in the air dangling, trying to reach the ground beneath. Ranma had him by the front of his shirt. Both boys knew they were in for a rough ride. They both knew that they had breached one of Furinkan's most sacred rules.

Do not mess with Ranma Saotome's curse!

"Care to explain!?" hissed the martial artist. His tone, the deep rumble of his voice. It was a sure sign of things to come. Hiroshi laughed nervously. Daisuke began to pray.

Ranma shook the one suspended in the air. "What's so funny?" he asked. Daisuke made a futile attempt to crawl away. His hope was to slip away and to book a flight to some remote tropical island. That idea got shot down when he felt the sole of Ranma’s shoe setting on his back. There was no escape.

"C...could I interest you in a partnership?" asked Hiroshi hoping against all odds. He was rewarded with a rough tousle. His head was starting to spin. His panicking brain didn't appreciate bouncing around within its home.

"What partnership?" yelled the Saotome heir as he shook the boy again.

"How does fifty percent sound. Is it good buddy? Are we cool?" asked Hiroshi, more begged. He knew he was in deep trouble. Not only because of Ranma's wrath. If the existence of the picture went viral, that it was him who had ordered it. He won't hear the end of it. Of that he was sure.

Ranma’s face slowly turned murderous. Students all around retreated to a safe distance. They did not want to be anywhere near the epicentre of the detonation.

"Fifty percent of what?" asked Ranma, furious.

"Of the money. A hundred thousand yen! Kenji, you know, the filthy rich freshman creeper, he asked us..."

Hiroshi didn't get to the end of his sentence. He got yanked around again. In a most violent fashion at that. He tried peeling Ranma’s hands off. It was more like a small child's attempt at trying to force the hold a hydraulic press.

Ranma lifted an arm, his hand was balled up into a fist. He was busy calculating the force of the punch that was sure to come. He was trying to guess the ideal amount of strength needed to assure the maximum impact and bruising that would be just light enough to keep the recipient's face from caving in. He wanted the two to be around to feel the pain.

The boy hanging in mid-air closed his eyes. Some of the witnesses turned away not wanting to see the gory results. Others observed with anticipation.

Out of nowhere, a rather large bag came hurling at a high speed. It was headed right towards Ranma. Driven by mere instinct the boy swatted it away. A moment later he found himself on the defensive. He deflected and blocked strike after strike. The attacker was good. The attacks, precise and powerful. Ranma relinquished his hold on his two captives, hard-pressed to defend himself.

Daisuke used his chance and ran for it. Hiroshi grabbed the abused poster and followed the example set by his friend. They were headed for the storage sheds at his best speed. More than ever they wished to be rid of their contraband quickly as possible. So far Ranma had only seen part of the poster. If he had seen all of it... neither wanted to know what that would have meant for them.

Meanwhile, Ranma was busy thwarting attacks, trying to open the distance between him and his ambusher. The style of attack was strange, unlike any martial art he had ever encountered, it was brutal yet effective. It didn't leave time for him to launch his own move. That part had him intrigued.

An attack came from the left, he blocked. Once more he tried to counter, but he simply didn't get the chance. Then another punch came flying in only to be followed by a kick. The other martial artist. A female with short raven hair kept pushing. He was forced to defend himself yet again. A punch aimed at his nose, another one at his chest, then one for the collarbone.

The air was filled by the noise of flesh impacting on flesh. The cracks and snaps. Their volume, their tone. It was not something one would expect when seeing two mortal beings engage in a hand-to-hand fight. After seconds of frantic fighting, it came to a sudden end. Ranma could hear the desperate rush of Daisuke and Hiroshi as they made themselves scarce around the corner of the school building. It intermingled with the dying echoes of the hectic fight that just ended.

Ranma took in the form of his attacker. She was tall. Towering above him by at least a head. Her hands were big enough to double as dinner plates. The length of her arms gave her a definite advantage over him. The only question was how much of a force her punches had. That part still had to be found out. Ranma’s guess was quite a lot as his hand was still numb from that initial strike when he didn't have time to re-direct the attack and had to block all of it.

"How does it feel to fight someone your own size!" she remarked the strange girl with a grin. Her voice carried a considerable amount of accent. "I never liked bullies!" she noted.

The boy grinned back at the girl. "Neither do I!" he responded.

"Really?" asked the girl. "Then why are you picking on two scrawny kids?" she asked.

"There are times when you have to make exceptions!" he replied.

"Oh, so the bully has reasons!" she countered with a smirk. "Bring it buster! I'm in the mood for a good rumble!"

"Is that a challenge?"

"It sure is Bully-Boy!"

The edge of Ranma's lips was getting awfully close to his ears. "You got yourself a fight!" he countered taking in her uniform which could be only loosely called one and broke more than half of the school's regulations. Skirt too short, black blouse instead of white, the list could go on. Ranma dismissed that part. He himself was notorious for not following regulations. He cared even less if others did the same.

"Any good place in mind?" asked the girl. "I want some room so I can really cut loose!"

Ranma's grin grew wider. This was promising to be a good duel. "There's a football field in the back!" he replied indicating the direction with his thumb. "We can get to the bottom of our little misunderstanding there."

"Rules?" the girl asked.

"No rules!" responded Ranma. Both grinned.

By the time the soon-to-be combatants arrived at the soccer field the economics club was already at it. For some reason, they have heard of the soon to be had spectacle and reacted accordingly. Stands that would be soon selling food were being erected and there were several girls running around carrying bundles of papers that looked suspiciously like betting vouchers.

Ranma did not really care about it. His focus was on his opponent, trying to gauge her abilities. She looked promising. Each and every movement she made was economical. She had the markings of a rather seasoned martial artist. He was looking forward to this fight.

A third person rushed to the female. The newcomer was blonde, the same short hair, but unlike the girl who seemed to hate rules and regulations, he was an image of the perfect student. One that went by to book no matter what. An example of outward perfection. Well kept uniform. Groomed features down to each strand of hair.

Within a blink of an eye, the two were knee-deep in a hushed argument. Words rapid and alien in nature were flying all around.

 "Ah... These must be the exchange students everybody's been on about." Ranma thought as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. His anticipation grew at the thought of witnessing and maybe learning new exotic techniques.

The verbal fight between the two giants started to die down. The female seemed to be the victor. She made her way towards Ranma. The boy was giddy. He was looking forward to this fight. "You ready for a spanking bully boy!" she called out.

"Can't wait to begin He-Girl!" replied Ranma.

"I hope you like bruises Bully-Boy!"

At the edge of the soccer field, a couple of economics club members were busy setting up a loudspeaker and its assorted electronics. The soon-to-be combatants paid it no mind. "You sure you know what you are getting into?" Ranma shot back getting into stance.

"Are you?" came the reply.

There was a deep ping and a loud whine. The microphone and its assorted electronics had been brought to life. The first of the meat hit the plates at the hamburger stand. The atmosphere was downright festive.

"Welcome everybody!" boomed Nabiki's amplified voice from the speaker. "Hope you are having a great time folks because today we have a special fight for you all! In one corner we have Furinkan High's undisputed champion, veteran of martial arts fights in the thousands, collector of brides, trouble, and rumoured pervert extraordinaire..."

"Hey!" Ranma protested turning to the middle Tendo sister with a glare. His voice was drowned by the ovation and the booming loudspeaker.

"... Ranma Saotome!" There was all around cheering with some booing in-between.

As if on a cue, Ukyo came rushing out the back of the school's building muttering about the pain of preparing delicate sauces. On her back, there was an immense bag. In the bag, was her portable grill, her tools, and enough supplies to feed a small army.

"In the other corner, we have the challenger! A warrior from the far west! Fresh from, Königsberg, Germany! Claiming to be an exchange student! Though I have my doubts about any of that. Master of a school of martial arts... I won't even try to pronounce its name, and triple fighter ace..."

"How did she get that info?" wondered the raven-haired girl aloud, shocked.

"Katja Mayer!" screamed Nabiki’s voice in a very good imitation of a professional boxing referee.

Ranma smirked. His grin was mirrored by the girl across him. " Let's do this!" he called out. The girl shifted into a fighting stance. Both were ready to unleash their skills.

"I'll be sure to visit you!"

"I'll wipe that smirk off your face in no time He-Girl!" he shot back as he too prepared himself.

Both fighters readied themselves to start. They were searching for openings, their muscles tense. Ready to unleash the power stored within. The soft breeze glided across the field, causing the top of the fresh grass to sway. Everything was silent. Ranma saw it. The opportunity he was waiting for. He lunged!

"Stop it right now!" came the shrill and somewhat angry voice of Ukyo as she threw herself between the prospective combatants. Ranma stumbled and fell landing face first in the grass. "I've had it with crazy people declaring themselves to be my Ran-chan's fiancés! First a tomboy, then an Amazon, a complete nutjob, some Russian hussy who runs around in her underwear! He's mine..."

She didn't have time to finish her sentence. A hatchet came flying at her. The girl dodged. The aforementioned Russian came flying from the crowd. Angry. Axe in the open she charged the chef. The two girls met at the dead centre of the soccer field. Emitting angry growls as they tried to push the other back, their weapons grinding against one another. A set of new betting vouchers made an appearance in the hands of the vendors.

"Looks like we have a pre-match event on our hands people!" commented Nabiki with glee.

"He's going to marry me!" growled Ukyo at her blonde nemesis.

"That's for him to decide!" barked the lumberjack. "He'll choose the best to be his woman soon enough!"

"Dream on! Some raunchy underwear won't make him choose you!" hissed Ukyo amidst strained grunts as she tried to push the Russian girl back.

"It's not my problem that you have no style!" hissed the lumberjack as she pushed against the oversized spatula. The intensity of the struggle skyrocketed.

As the back and forth between the females went on a strange, rather frequent, and somewhat alarming phenomenon started to rear its head. Petals, black blossoms started to fall from the sky. Ranma, who just managed to get up, resisted the urge to punch himself. Moments later his suspicion was confirmed as a shrill laugh washed across the crowd forcing many to cover their ears. Kodachi Kuno had announced her presence before she could be seen.

The girl, clad in only a green leotard came bouncing across the grass, and sometimes over students, in giant leaps. Her destination was Ranma's side. She latched onto the boy's arms and nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder before releasing another of her ear-splitting laughs. Ranma tried to pull away, but the gymnast wouldn't budge.

"Let him go!" demanded both chef and lumberjack at the same time. Their response was another ear-shattering laugh.

"Oh, you silly peons!" called out the younger Kuno with a haughty voice. "Why would he choose either of you, when he can have someone refined as me!?"

Ukyo glared at the gymnast with obvious contempt. Cursing silently. Elena stared openly. "This loon?" she asked trying to come to terms with the younger Kuno's brand of crazy. "Refined?" she questioned. "I've seen rabid wolves have move class!"

What ensued was a three-sided staredown. Tension, nerves on the edge, feelings, a cord stretched to the breaking point. Ready to snap oper into violence with one goal. To win the man they all wanted.

Ranma's gaze moved over to his opponent. The raven-haired giant going by the name Katja was staring at him with open expectation as if waiting for him to do something about the whole situation. Out of the blue, there was a sharp cry. Another familiar voice. He turned towards it knowing well who it was. Shampoo. "No! Not now!" hollered his inner self.

"What are you doing with my airen?" she yelled running towards the quartet. "Ranma mine!" she declared in her broken speech grabbing hold of his free arm.

Ukyo was on the ball. She rushed to the boy and grabbed one of his legs before pulling. Ranma lost balance and would have landed in the dirt if not for the other two who were latched onto his arms. "Ra-chan is my fiancé! We’ll get married as soon as we are out of high school and we will run our own restaurant together!" she declared trying to rip the boy from the other two's hold.

"No!" Shampoo called out. "Airen come with Shampoo to China and be good husband! Father many warriors and tend to home!" To emphasise her point she also pulled, hard. An audible yelp left the boy's mouth as he had become the unofficial rope in a game of tug-of-war.

Kodachi scoffed at her competitors' words. "Nonsense!" she cried. "It’s obvious what he wants! Why would he choose commoners when he can have my illustrious self and rule over you peasants at my side!?"

This was the point where the Russian girl joined in. Done with the absurdity of the situation she charged and grabbed the last of Ranma's unoccupied libs. "His father made a grievous error by arranging several deals for him!" she yelled yanking back hard on her prospective groom's limb, eliciting a grunt from him. "If he's half a man he'll choose one of us! Let him go and let him do what he needs to do!" The other girls weren't swayed by the blonde's declaration. Each made rather loud demands which were sprinkled by declarations of perceived ownership. Soon a four-way battle erupted with the unfortunate martial artist at the cente, who was too stunned to do a thing about it.

More vouchers were produced. "Place your bets, boys, and girls, place your bets!" boomed Nabiki's voice. She continued her commentary on the situation, spreading the state of the contest far and wide. The crowd watched with fascination.

One particular girl called Akane Tendo was probably one of the few in the crowd who was not amused by the turn of events. She was positively livid. Her patience was something of a short fuse, to begin with, and it was rapidly approaching its end. Once it did she too made her move. Determined to put an end to her groom's blatant flirting, or at least what she perceived as flirting.

She ran towards the arguing females, towards Ranma who was too far gone into disbelief to defend himself. She was determined to put an end to his lecherous ways once and for all.

"Look at that people!" commented Nabiki. Her amplified call echoing throughout school grounds and the surrounding area. "A fifth contestant has entered the battle. This pre-match showdown promises to be quite the spectacle!"

Akane's approach went completely unnoticed by the quintet. The girls were too preoccupied trying to wrench their prize from the hands of their competitors. The seething Tendo jumped high into the air, sailing towards her target. Her eyes were locked onto the boy in the centre who was getting pulled back and forth between the squabbling women and inadvertently kept in place for the imminent impact.

"How dare you flirt around with some other girl!" hollered Akane as her descent began. Her cry finally caught the attention of the other females who turned to look at the incoming girl. For Ranma, there was no escape. Akane did a backflip, then another. All he could do was to stare at the girl as she kept coming closer, her knee extended.

There was a crunch. A loud one. "Oh my!" screamed Nabiki in disbelief inadvertently making use of her elder sister's vocabulary. "Guys! If you weren't paying attention you missed something truly spectacular. Contestant Tendo has just performed a 'Double Shooting Star Knee Drop'! It was a beauty of a freestyle wrestling move and only the best of the best have the necessary knowledge to perform it." There was an abrupt halt in commentary as a club member stepped close to the president. Nabiki leaned closer as her lackey... I mean associate. The girl whispered into her ear. Nabiki's face brightened considerably.

"Good news people!" came the middle Tendo's announcement. "I'm being told that there are recordings and photos of my little sister's performance! We'll be having an auction for these artifacts later on today once they have been developed."

As this was going on, the fight over a now barely conscious Ranma didn't stop. The German girl's face went from surprised to shocked and was slowly turning downright appalled, even dismissive. The four, no five girls kept on fighting over her opponent as if it was an everyday thing. It was indeed an everyday thing! That much was starting to become obvious. She couldn’t believe it. For all of his bravado and grandiose macho posing... This guy... He was only a kid who somehow got lucky.

She relaxed her stance feeling disgusted by the scene playing out in front of her. This fight. A fight, with someone so pathetic. She wanted no part of it anymore. She felt only revulsion. Fighting someone had yet to learn the meaning of self-respect, the importance of standing up for themselves. The female shook her head in disgust. The adrenalin was gone. Replaced by a feeling of contempt.

"I can be such an idiot!" thought the giant of a female as she stared to approach the squabbling group of schoolgirls and one stunned male.

Kodachi saw the approaching stranger, the one who had challenged her beloved Ranma-samma. To her, it was just one more rival who had to be dealt with. She decided to spot the new rival before it had a chance to become one. The gymnast grabbed the lone ribbon she had hidden on her person for just such instances and lashed out. She was determined to punish this foreign interloper.

The thin sheet of fabric raced towards the tall female. The force behind it, enough to cause bruises and break the bones. To the gymnast's shock, the approaching westerner simply grabbed the piece of fabric and stopped the attack as it if was nothing. With one powerful jerk the dreaded Black Rose of St Hebereke was disarmed.

A low guttural sound escaped the giant's mouth. "Another attack like that and you'll be eating through a straw." It was not a threat. It was a declaration. The force behind that single sentence. Immense. Unbearable. Devastating. It traversed right through any delusion. Kodachi went silent. She didn’t know why, but this new girl. This barbarian. The immense pressure, the feeling of power eminating from her. It was something no woman should be capable of. At least in Kodachi Kuno's twisted world.

The fighting came to a sudden, abrupt end as all of the fiancés shifted their gaze to the giant approaching them. They stared not knowing what to make of the situation. For now, they waited and observed. The tall female stopped just outside of arms reach and stared at Ranma.

Shampoo took a step towards the giant. She did not like the way this stranger was staring at her beloved 'airen'. She wanted to set things straight. As the Amazon opened her mouth to speak the westerner's arm seemed to blur. It was only for a moment. There was a crack. Like steel hitting steel. Shampoo was sent flying. Over the school fence, out into the street and beyond. People winced all around.

"Ranma Saotome!" the female spoke. "You can stuff this fight in your cloaca!" she stated leaving many people wondering about her choice of words. "What was I thinking mixing it up with someone so weak. Someone who allows people to treat him like this! I quit! I refuse to fight a loser like you!"

The silence at the soccer field was total. Gone was the festive atmosphere. One could have heard a pin drop. The Saotome heir had been called many things over the years 'loser' was not one of them.

The female turned around and started to walk towards the main building. The male marched to her side, obviously irritated. He started to bark at her in some foreign tongue. It was positively alien.

A member of the Language Club piped up breaking the silence. "If that's German I'm a monkey's uncle!"

Ranma remained still. Shocked at the turn of events. He turned towards his former opponent. Staring at her back as she retreated.