"WAKE UP RANMA!" shouted Akane.
Ranma sat bolt upright clasping his hands over his ears. "Jeez Akane, did you have to shout in my ear."
"It was the only way to get you up. Well, almost the only way," she amended looking over at a bucket of water.
"And why exactly did you wake me up? Isn’t it Saturday?"
"Yes, but because of you I wasn’t able to finish my shopping yesterday. We need to go back to Juuban."
"I can’t go back there! Somebody might recognize me."
Akane picked up the bucket of water and threw it in Ranma’s face. "There, now no one will recognize you."
"You could’ve asked," grumbled a dripping wet Ranma-chan.
"Hurry up and get ready, I want to leave as soon as possible."
"Stupid, uncute, tomboy," mumbled Ranma-chan as Akane left, "I don’t see why she needs me to go with on her stupid shopping trips." Despite her mumbling Ranma-chan and Akane were on the buss and heading for Juuban in no time at all.
"Are you sure you want to go back there, Akane, with what happened yesterday and all. I mean, aren’t we shopping in Juuban to avoid strange incidents like that one."
"I’m sure that was just a freak occurrence Ranma. I seriously doubt anything like that will happen today. But if something does happen I want you to promise me you won’t cause any more property damage. I don’t want to have to rush home again."
"Fine with me. Next time I’ll just use my hands and feet."
"Oh that’s highly reassuring Ranma. It’s not like you don’t cause any damage with those."
"Well, what do you want me to do. Just let any monsters we might run into go on a murdering rampage."
"No, but maybe you could dispatch anymore monsters in a less destructive manner. Or maybe you could leave it to someone else. That girl in green looked like she knew what she was doing."
"Maybe, but that monster didn’t seem to have any problem dealing with her attack."
"What was that ball of energy she threw anyway?"
"I’m not sure. It wasn’t chi based or else I would have felt something. Whatever it was, I think I might look into exactly who that girl was and what she was doing taking on that monster."
"And why exactly do you want to do that?" asked Akane with a hint of jealousy in her voice.
"I figure it won’t hurt to find another really strong person before they find me," answered Ranma-chan totally missing the tone of Akane’s voice.
"So you’re not just looking for another cute fiancee this time huh?"
"Why would I want to do something dumb like that? I have enough stupid fiancee’s as it is."
"So I’m stupid! Is that it Ranma!" shouted Akane.
"That’s not what I meant, Akane"
"So exactly what did you mean?"
"You wouldn’t understand."
"Because I’m stupid, right! Just don’t talk to me anymore Ranma!" snapped Akane as she turned away from her.
"Ah c’mon Akane. You know that’s not what I meant," pleaded Ranma-chan. Akane just ignored her. "Sheesh, why does stuff like this always happen to me," groaned Ranma-chan as she turned to stare out the window. She hoped that Akane would be in a better mood by the time they reached their destination.
"Shouldn’t we be looking for information on that guy you ran into yesterday Serena?" asked Darien. He had been totally amazed at the story Serena had told him yesterday. He didn’t think a normal person was capable of doing what this boy had apparently done. He wanted to find out more about this "Ranma Saotome" person.
"We are," answered Serena, who was latched onto Darien’s arm. "It’s Saturday so I figure that if that guy lives around here he’ll be downtown shopping just like we are. All we have to do is find him."
"Uh huh. And pick up some new clothes while we’re at it, right?"
"Well, we might as well since we’re down here."
"Your logic never fails to amaze me Serena."
"And exactly what is that supposed to mean."
"Umm….well…." Darien was saved from answering when they turned a corner and he ran headlong into a red headed girl. The girl was knocked back a few feet but she managed to stay on her feet. "Oh man, I’m really sorry," apologized Darien.
"Yeah, well if you watched where you were going you wouldn’t have anything to be sorry about," snapped the girl.
"That was rude Ranma," scolded another girl standing next to the first. She turned to Darien; "I apologize for her rude behavior. I’m Akane Tendou and this is my fia…err… friend Ranma Saotome.
"Ranma Saotome!" exclaimed Serena.
"Does that name mean something to you?" asked a suddenly very worried looking Ranma-chan.
Darien took a good look at the girl and realized that, except for the red hair and fact that she was a she, this girl exactly matched the description of the guy the Scouts had run into yesterday. Right down to the pigtail and style of dress. Hell, even the names were the same.
"Well….um….no," stammered Serena, "the name doesn’t actually mean anything to me. Its just that, isn’t Ranma kind of a strange name for a girl."
"It’s the name I was born with," replied Ranma-chan in a defensive tone.
"Hey look," interceded Darien trying to head off a possible fight, "I really am sorry I ran into you. Why don’t I make it up to you by taking you two out for coffee or something."
Akane opened her mouth to reply, when suddenly a yellow blur came flying toward them. "Prepare to die Ranma!" shouted the blur. Ranma-chan leaped backwards as a boy wearing a yellow and black bandanna crashed into the place where she had been standing. The boy was wearing a yellow shirt and black pants tied with yellow cord at his lower leg. He was also brandishing a red bamboo umbrella with which he had made a small crater in the sidewalk.
"How is it Ryoga," asked Ranma-chan, "that no matter how lost you get you still manage to find me?"
"Shut up and fight!" shouted Ryoga as he thrust his umbrella at Ranma-chan. Ranma-chan sidestepped and the umbrella crashed through a stone wall behind her.
Abandoning the umbrella Ryoga threw a punch at Ranma-chan. Ranma-chan moved her head aside and Ryoga’s fist smashed into the wall. Leaving that arm where it was, Ryoga used his other hand to strike at Ranma-chan. She dodged this attack the same way, and Ryoga’s other hand smashed into the wall. Seeing that Ranma-chan was somewhat trapped between his arms, Ryoga decided to use his head. Ranma-chan ducked and rolled to the side as Ryoga’s head smashed into the wall.
Ryoga pulled his arms and head out of the wall and turned to face Ranma-chan. The fact that he appeared unhurt totally amazed Darien. How could someone be that strong, he thought? It just wasn’t possible. Serena just stood there with her mouth hanging open.
"I see you’re still good at running away, Ranma."
"Give it a rest Ryoga. I don’t want to fight you right now."
"To bad!" shouted Ryoga as he threw a powerful side kick. Ranma-chan was able to block it, but just barely. The force of the blow still sent her flying backwards. This time it was Ranma-chan who crashed through a wall.
Darien decided he had seen enough. As Ryoga began advancing toward the hole in the wall Ranma-chan had made, Darien stepped in front of him. He wasn’t sure what he could do against this living tank, but he had to try something. He thought it was to bad he didn’t have a chance to change into Tuxedo Mask.
As Darien stepped in front of him Ryoga stopped. "Get out of my way. This doesn’t concern you."
"Anything that threatens an innocent person concerns me."
"You don’t know what you’re talking about."
Before Darien could reply, a red blur shot past him and collided with Ryoga in a flurry of punches and kicks. Darien realized it was Ranma-chan, and he marveled at how fast she was. In no time Ryoga was sent crashing into a street lamp. As the lamp tumbled to the ground, Darien decided he would have to stop this fight. Not to protect Ranma, but to protect the city. Before he could say anything, though, Akane stepped between the two combatants.
"Stop it you two. This is no place for you to fight."
"Oh….uuhh…. Hi Akane," replied a suddenly nervous looking Ryoga.
"He started it," snapped Ranma-chan.
"I don’t care who started it. It has to stop now. Honestly, I don’t understand why you two are always fighting anyway." Both Ranma-chan and Ryoga began a very intense study of the surrounding area.
"Um…excuse me," said Serena. Everybody turned to look at her. "Does this kind of thing happen often with you guys?"
"Yeah," answered Ranma-chan looking around, "but this is kind of mild."
Kind of mild mouthed Serena.
"The people in Nerima have come to expect this sort of thing," said Akane, "but the people here haven’t. That’s why you two can’t fight here."
"So you’re from Nerima then?" asked Darien.
"Yeah," answered Akane, "we’re from the Tendou dojo. Hey listen, I appreciate the offer of coffee, but we have a lot to do before we go home."
"I understand. Maybe some other time."
"Bye then."
"Hey just a minute Akane," said Ranma-chan as Akane was turning to go. She turned to Serena and Darien. "You guys live around here, right?"
"Yeah."
"What do you know about a girl in a short green skirt that goes around throwing balls of electricity at monsters?"
"What’s this about Ranma? Are you looking for another fiancee."
"Shut up Ryoga."
"That sounds like one of the Sailor Scouts," Darien answered quickly, hoping to avoid another fight between the two super martial artists.
"What’s a Sailor Scout?"
"There a group five of really cool, brave, girls who protect the world from evil monsters," answered Serena. "The one you described sounds like Sailor Jupiter. Their leader is Sailor Moon, and she’s the coolest one of all."
"Why do you ask?" asked Darien.
"Just curious. I saw her the other day and I wondered who she was. Anyway, Akane’s right, we really need to be going. Thanks for the info."
"No problem," replied Darien as he waved to the departing Nerimians.
"That was really strange," said Serena.
"I’ll say. We did learn something though."
"I guess. So why did you invite them for coffee anyway?"
"I wanted to find out more about that girl. She had the same name and style of dress as the boy you described to me. She was also a powerful martial artist. That’s just to many coincidences for my taste."
"So what are we going to do."
"I think that tomorrow the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask should visit the Tendou dojo. I think we might find some interesting people there. Including the boy who helped you guys yesterday."
"I think you might be right."
"So what was that all about, Ranma?" asked Ryoga.
Ranma-chan and Akane answered Ryoga by describing the events of the previous day. "I think that those two girls we helped must have been Sailor Scouts too, Akane. They had the same style of dress as that other girl, and the one I helped seemed intent on attacking that monster. That’s also the only explanation as to how they survived that fall."
"I saw the Sailor Scouts fight once," said Ryoga. "This monster appeared and the Scouts and some guy in a tuxedo and top hat came out and challenged it. They fought real well and they managed to beat the monster. I would have helped, but I was a pig at the time."
"What do you mean you were a pig?" asked Akane.
"Hahaha. Did I say pig? I meant to say…um… big. Yeah that’s it, big. I had an allergic reaction to something and I was all big and swollen so I couldn’t fight."
"That’s to bad. At least you got better. So, what are you going to do now that you know who those people are, Ranma?"
"Probably nothing. They don’t seem like their going to come challenge me or anything, so I don’t have to worry about them."
"What if more monsters appear?"
"They seem to know how to handle those kind of things. Ryoga said they were good fighters."
"But you pointed out earlier that they seemed to be having trouble with that monster you destroyed. What if they need your help again?"
"Look, I’m sure they know what they’re doing, but if it makes you feel better I promise that I’ll help them if they get into any trouble."
"Thanks Ranma." "Yeah, well, I’m sure they’ll be fine. Hey," exclaimed Ranma-chan looking around, "where’d Ryoga go."
"He was right here a second ago."
"Idiot went and got himself lost again."
"Akane! Ranma! Where’d you guys go!" shouted Ryoga. "I know they were right here a second ago." Suddenly Ryoga was splashed with cold water.
"Sorry little piggy," said the women who had thrown her mop water on Ryoga, "I didn’t see you there."
"Bweeeeeee," squealed P-chan angrily. He then wandered off in a random direction looking for Akane. He hadn’t gone to far when he ran into someone’s ankle.
"Oh. Hello little one," said a girl with long blonde hair. "Aren’t you a cute little thing. Are you lost."
P-chan just looked up at her and squealed.
"You sure look lost, and I don’t see anyone around who looks like their missing a pig. You sure are cute though. How ‘bout I take you home with me until we can find your home?" said the girl as she picked him up. "My name’s Mina, and I know we’ll be good friends. When we get to my house you can meet my cat Artemis. I just know you’ll be good friends to."
P-chan just sat in Mina’s arms and listened to her jabber away. He knew from experience that struggling was useless, and that he would just have to wait to escape until he could find some hot water.
