From: "phu" To: Subject: [FFML] [Ranma][Street Fighter] Warrior's Dreams Prologue Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 01:36:12 -0400 I'm posting this on the FFML for a friend who isn't a member. Comments can be posted on the FFML I'll just forward them to him, but any private comments about this fanfic should be sent to SSJSeinenTrunks@aol.com Ranma 1/2: Warrior's Dreams Prologue Concept by Chris Purdy and Phu Lam Written by Chris Purdy Ranma 1/2 is property of Rumiko Takahashi Street Fighter and Darkstalkers are property of Capcom Note: The prologue takes place about 8 years before the Ranma series begins, and before the tournament in the original Street Fighter. For the purpose of the story, the Japanese names for the characters will be used. ******************** -Somewhere in Japan- "Daddy, I'm hungry!" "Fool! You should have thought of that before we left Osaka!" "But that was three days ago!" Gouken thought he was hearing things. Surely, a young boy and his father wouldn't be out in the middle of nowhere, but sure enough, he saw a crying child and his white-clad, bald father arguing just a few meters away. Apparently, they were so preoccupied with their hunger that they hadn't noticed the clearing in the forest, containing a dojo and sizable exercise area. Noticing their sensei's distraction, Gouken's three students, Ryu, Ken, and Retsu, walked over to see what could have shaken their master's normally solid focus. "What's up, Master Gouken?" Ken inquired. Gouken simply pointed angrily at the scene taking place a few feet away. The two strangers walked ever closer to the confused fighters, the boy busy crying, the man scowling at his weak son. They took no notice of the four spectators until Genma unceremoniously bumped into Gouken. "Excuse me" Genma hastily offered before turning in another direction. Suddenly, Gouken grabbed Genma's gi by the back of his collar, stopping him dead in his tracks. "You call yourself a father?! Who would be so heartless as to starve such a young child?" Genma turned angrily toward the meddling stranger. "Look, you, I'll rase my son as I see fit! You don't have any business telling me what to do! Let's go, boy." Then, Genma noticed his son talking to Ryu, who grew angrier with each sentence the boy said. After a couple more brief statements, the enraged warrior marched up to Genma. "I challenge you." Genma was taken aback by the sudden affront he had received. "What?" "You're not a man! What kind of training is this 'Nekoken'?! What kind of inhumane monster would do such a thing?!" Ken was very surprised at Ryu's sudden show of rage. In all the time he'd known his sparring partner, Ryu had been the picture of serenity and calmness. Now, he had transformed into a fierce figure of a man, practically glowing with angry ki. "I challenge you for possession of Ranma-kun. If you win, I'll leave you alone. If I win, I'll take him and raise him as a _true_ parent should!" Genma was very confident in his abilities, plus the fact that his opponent was enraged, which always limited one's fighting potential. "I accept your challenge..." ******************** For what seemed like the millionth time, Genma recalled how he'd lost Ranma to that stranger. He had _not_, as Genma had anticipated, been unable to focus due to his rage. In fact, it had increased his strength many times over. That, coupled with that amazing rising uppercut technique, had lead to the fastest defeat he'd ever seen. However, he _had_ managed to convince Ryu to uphold Ranma's engagement to Tendo's daughter. At that moment, Genma recalled his wife. What was he supposed to do, say "Sorry, dear, but I lost Ranma to a martial artist in the middle of nowhere. How about we consider a daughter instead?" Genma found himself filled with an overwhelming desire to stay in China a bit longer. ******************** -Three years later, Thailand- Ranma watched from the guest's box as Ryu-otosan performed the Shoryuken attack, flinging his opponent onto his back with a nasty scar across his chest. There was an awful lot of blood coming out of that wound. Maybe the paramedics could get him patched up before anything seriously bad happened to him. The referee raised a white flag, announcing "Win to Ryu!" The crowd went wild, nearly rushing out of the stands and swarming the new Street Fighter champion. Fortunately, the guardrail prevented the people from leaving their seats. Ranma, however, was a special guest spectator, and hurried out to the battlefield, accompanied by Ken. "Amazing, Pop! He never stood a chance!" Ranma over-exulted his surrogate father's victory over the seemingly-invincible foe. "Yeah, Ryu. I'm sure Gouken-sensei's proud of you, wherever he is now..." At that, all three warriors felt a wave of sadness rush over them. It had been two years since they'd found Gouken's battered, lifeless body outside the dojo. Ken had also been injured, although not as severely. All of them, however, saw Gouken's assailant: a monstrous figure, clad in a black gi, with spiky, flame-red hair. He had said, before leaving, that Ryu's true path was not the mastery of the arts he sought, but the destruction of every living thing. Afterwards, the three students went their separate ways: Ken returned to America and made a name for himself in various tournaments and action movies. Retsu had become a monk, seeking the answer to why his master had to die that day. Ryu, with a confused Ranma in tow, left to wander the countryside, constantly training. They had all met up at the Street Fighter tournament, each one happy to see his friends for the first time in years. Ryu interrupted the lull in conversation with a brief "Let's get going, Ranma-kun." Ranma was shocked. "What about the awards ceremony? You deserve recognition for beating Sagat!" "Remember, a true martial artist seeks mastery of the art and himself..." "...regardless of personal gain," the teen finished. He'd heard that phrase quite a few times during their training. If anything, Ryu-otosan was an honorable man, much like a samurai: never seeking any personal purpose, only true understanding of human nature. He'd learned many things over the course of three years; after completing his training in Shotokan-ryuu karate, the two warriors had set off for the tournament, hoping to test their skills. Ranma was crushed to find an age limit of 18 on any fighters entering. Nonetheless, he felt that he'd done as much as possible in three years. "Okay, let's go. It was nice seeing you, Ojisan," he added, referring to Ken. "See you guys later, then." With that, the three fighters walked off into the proverbial sunset, leaving the tournament's organizers in a state of confusion. Without their number one fighter, what would they do? ******************** Ryu sat in the backyard of the Hibiki residence, looking at a scrap of yellowing paper in his hands. The paper had the name, Soun Tendo, and an address. He had promised the old man that, come Ranma's eighteenth birthday, he would take the boy to the Tendo residence and go through with the arranged marriage between him and one of Tendo's daughters. Ryu looked at Ranma as the youth set up a makeshift training dummy, then turned to his sensei. "Hey, Otosan, watch this!" Adopting the traditional Shotokan fighting pose, Ranma quickly crouched down, gathering his ki. In the blink of an eye, he reared up with his left hand, striking the dummy under the chin and knocking it into the air. Just as quickly, Ranma leapt up, focused his ki into his right hand, and performed a familiar rising uppercut attack, accompanied with a shout of "SHORYUKEN!" The ersatz dummy split in half, violently spraying sand in all directions. "How was that? I call it the Hakaiteki Shoryuken! I got the idea from your Shin Shoryuken!" Ryu smiled. Ranma was a fast learner. He had already invented enhanced versions of his fireball and hurricane kick. He was especially proud of the way Ranma had performed against that Ryouga boy just yesterday. As he looked down, Ryu saw the yellowed piece of paper in his hand, reminding him of his previous thoughts. "Say, Ranma, when's your birthday?" Thrown off by the abruptness of his sensei's question, Ranma thought about it for a second. "A week from today, I think." "Then we're going on a trip in a week." ******************** Well, there's the prologue. Pretty long, considering most of my works. In Part 1, the Tendo girls gets to meet their future husband/brother-in-law. If you're wondering what Ryu and Ranma were doing in Ryouga's backyard, that'll be revealed in a later chapter. SSJSeinenTrunks@aol.com Completed: 12:30 AM, 3/18/00 -- .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List---. | Administrators - ffml-admins@fanfic.com | | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@fanfic.com | | Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject | `---http://www.fanfic.com/FFML-FAQ.txt ---' === File Separator ============================================== From: "phu" To: Subject: [FFML] [Ranma][Street Fighter] Warrior's Dream Part1 Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 01:40:29 -0400 I'm posting this on the FFML for a friend who isn't a member. Comments can be posted on the FFML I'll just forward them to him, but any private comments about this fanfic should be sent to SSJSeinenTrunks@aol.com Here's Part 1: Ranma 1/2: Warrior's Dreams Chapter 1: Arrival Concept by Chris Purdy and Phu Lam Written by Chris Purdy Ranma 1/2 is property of Rumiko Takahashi Street Fighter and Darkstalkers are property of Capcom Note: This part of the story, and all subsequent parts take place during the original Ranma series, and during Street Fighter Alpha. For the purpose of the story, the Japanese names for the characters will be used. ******************** Tendo Soun cried with joy as he read the postcard. Since he and Saotome had been young men, training under Master Happosai, they had agreed to unite their two schools of Anything-Goes Martial Arts. He read the postcard once more: "Tendo, I'm bringing Ranma to your house to honor the engagement. We'll be there in a week." It seemed strange that Genma hadn't signed the postcard, but Soun dismissed it as excitement about the impending engagement. He gathered his daughters in the living room to make the happy announcement. Kasumi was preparing dinner, Akane was practicing her katas, and Nabiki...he was afraid to ask, but since she brought in large amounts of money, he kept his mouth shut. "Girls, I have an important announcement. We're going to be visited by my old friend, Genma Saotome and his son Ranma." Kasumi smiled pleasantly. "Oh, my! Company! I'll have to get the guest room ready!" Akane lacked her older sister's extreme optimism, however. "Why are they coming here?" Soun re-examined the postcard. It didn't have a return address, indicating that they weren't staying anywhere. One of the few good things they had learned from Master Happosai was that one's training goes much better when he doesn't stay in one place. However, since he had married, Soun had reluctantly decided to forget about the art. He wondered how Genma had convinced Nodoka to agree to this. Nodoka was a sweet woman, but stubborn as a bull. "They've been training all over the world. America, China, England..." Nabiki grinned. "Wow, so many amazing places!" Already, her mental cash registers were revving up. Since Mr. Saotome and his son had been out of the country for a long time, she could exploit them for a -lot- of money. Since they could travel around the world this must mean that they're rich! Kasumi stopped her preparations long enough to ask, "So, Father, what's Ranma-kun like?" "I don't know, I've never met him." The three girls facefaulted. ******************** Ranma was a bit surprised at Ryu's announcement. They were just up and leaving their campsite to go to some dojo. He didn't ask why, trusting in Ryu-san's reasoning, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. "Why are we going to this Tendo place, Ryu-san?" Ryu sighed. He had hoped that he wouldn't have to explain about the arranged marriage to Ranma, who had shown little to no interest in girls yet. Then again, wandering the world, searching for good fights and strong warriors didn't lend itself to dating. "This is probably going to bother you, but you've been engaged to one of the Tendo daughters." Ranma blinked. "Why would that bother me?" "Because arranged marriages are rather inconvenient, due to the fact that neither party knows one another." Ranma contemplated this bit of information for a second. "What do you know about the Tendos, anyway?" "Nothing, I'm afraid. By the way, let's not mention this to the girls. It'll be better if they don't know." "Oh well, a true fighter can adapt to any situation!" As soon as the words had gotten off Ranma's lips, it started raining. Ryu couldn't help but smile as Ranma, now female, looked up at the black clouds. "Can you adapt to that?" "Funny, it didn't look like rain..." ******************** Everyone was gathered around the table, waiting for the arrival of the Saotomes. Well, everyone except Akane. She had opted to practice more, rather than greet the Saotomes personally. The postcard had designated today as the day of Genma and Ranma's arrival. At that, there was a knock at the door. Kasumi stood up, smiling. "I'll get it." As she opened the door, the Tendos were greeted by the sight of a young, red-headed girl in Chinese clothing, a white headband, and a black belt, standing next to an older man, apparently in his mid-twenties, wearing a white gi. Soun rushed up to meet the pair. He looked questioningly at Ryu. "Are you..." "Yes, I am." Soun suddenly grasped the bewildered martial artist in a friendly bear hug. "It's Ranma-kun! Such a strong young man would make a fine heir to the Anything-Goes Tendo-ryuu martial arts." Ryu sweatdropped. "Um, excuse me..." Soun put Ryu down and got a good look at him, then he shifted his gaze to Ranma-chan. "Huh? Saotome didn't say he had a daughter too...oh well, the more the merrier! You can stay here too, dear!" "Um, excuse me..." "So, where's your father? I haven't seen him in ages!" "Um, excuse me..." Thankfully for the overwhelmed Ryu, Kasumi politely interrupted. "Father, this isn't Ranma. He's too old." "Huh?" Ryu put his hand behind his head and smiled. "Your daughter's right, sir. I'm not Ranma-kun." Then, Ranma-chan spoke up. "Actually, -I'm- Ranma. Soun passed out. ******************** As he recovered, Soun saw Kasumi and Nabiki sitting around the table with the fake-Ranma and a young man, dressed in the same clothing as the girl. "Um, who're you?" Ryu put down his cup of tea and took a deep breath. "Allow me to explain. Eight years ago, I met the Saotomes while I was studying Shotokan-ryuu Karate. After hearing about the horrible travesties he had committed upon his son, I challenged the elder to a fight. After I won, I took Ranma-kun on as a student and surrogate son, promising to honor the engagement you and he had." Soun was very surprised. Travesties? Genma didn't seem to be that harsh of a father. He had probably just trained Ranma in a manner similar to what Master Happosai had put them through. "And who's this young fellow?" "I'm Saotome Ranma. Sorry about this." "But you were a girl a minute ago." Ryu took another sip of tea before continuing. "You see..." ******************** -China, one year ago- The Joketsuzoku tournament had ended, Ranma having crushed all challengers.It had seemed a little strange that there were only male competitors, since most of the other tournaments he'd been in were co-ed. He was about to leave, when a withered old woman, standing on a walking stick, appeared in front of him. "How about one more fight, young warrior? My great-granddaughter fancies herself quite the fighter, and wants to challenge you." Ranma smiled. "Why not?" "First, though, let's go somewhere else, where you can have more room to fight..." A few minutes later, the group had moved to a large plain, filled with springs and tall bamboo poles. Ranma's opponent, an attractive girl with purple had introduced herself as Xian-pu. ******************** "Wait," Nabiki interrupted. "Did you say 'Shampoo'?" "Actually, Xian-pu. But to an English-speaking person, the pronunciation is closest to the word 'shampoo'." "Sheesh. How ridiculous can you get?" ******************** The fight had been a standstill for about five minutes, the two fighters wearing each other out. Suddenly, with an amazing burst of speed, Shampoo kicked Ranma in the jaw, sending him spiraling into one of the nearby springs. To everyone's surprise, he emerged a second later, albeit female. Focusing only on the fight, Ranma failed to notice his (her) change, lunging at his opponent, assaulting her with a quick flurry of blows. Seeing Shampoo was stunned, Ranma gathered a fair amount of ki into her cupped palms, thrusting forward just as her opponent recovered. "Hado-KEN!" The powerful blast slammed into Shampoo's gut, rocketing her backwards into a nearby cliff wall. The nearby spectators gasped in surprise as Shampoo pulled herself out of the body-shaped crater in the wall and struggled to her feet. "Enough, child," the old woman said suddenly. "He's beaten you." Then, unnoticed by anyone, the old woman winked at Shampoo. Barely standing, the defeated Amazon walked over to Ranma-chan, grasped the sides of her head, and planted a deep kiss on the boy-turned-girl's lips. Ranma-chan balked at her opponent's sudden action. "Um...I...what?" The withered Amazon spoke up. "You've defeated her, boy. Tribal law states that she must either marry or kill you." Ryu, remembering Ranma's impending engagement to the Tendo daughter, grabbed his student/son by the collar and ran. ******************** "You -ran-?!" Ryu looked a little embarrassed. "Well, I didn't expect such a law. Later, it turned out that the tournament was a sham, designed to get a strong male for Shampoo to marry." Nabiki muttered, "Talk about underhanded..." At that moment Akane walked in. "What's all the commotion about?" She turned and saw Ranma, quietly drinking his tea. "Are you this Ranma?" He nodded. Something seems different about this one, Akane thought to herself. He had an air of calm and serenity, barely masking his fighting spirit. However, his physical appearance was somewhat wiry and not too muscular. She could probably take him out in a minute or two. "Well, if you're a martial artist, how about a sparring match? I hear that you've spent a while training." Ranma quickly shot a questioning look to Ryu, who briefly nodded. "All right. I take it you don't want me to hold back." Akane got a little mad. Men! Always thinking she was weak. "Of course not!" "Alright..." With that, the two teens departed for the dojo. Soun noticed the empty silence and quickly entered into a new topic of discussion. "So, is the engagement still on?" Ryu looked up. "Have you decided which daughter it'll be?" "Yes, it's Akane, the one who just left. She's the only one with any interest in the art, and she's Ranma-kun's age, too. "Alright, but let's give her some time to get used to him. If you force it upon her, she'll just get angry. After they start liking each other, everything will fall into place." "SHORYUKEN!" All eyes turned to the dojo, as Akane's prone body flew through the thin wall and onto the table, breaking the teacups. Ranma looked through the new hole in the wall. "Oops, sorry. She said to go all-out." ******************** Akane woke up on her bed with a bandage on her head. The last thing she remembered was Ranma launching into a rising uppercut attack that seemed too cheesy to be for real. However, the attack had left her floored (or rather, walled). She had a screaming headache and wanted some ice for her head. Suddenly, something in her brain clicked. She rushed to her bookshelf, pulling out an old copy of Karate Monthly Magazine. She flipped through the pages until she saw the article. It bore a large picture of Ranma's "father" performing that same uppercut, this time on a massive Thai kickboxer. However, her interest was the background, where she saw a young boy, wearing a red Chinese shirt and black pants. Then, she noticed the headline: "WORLD CHAMPION STREET FIGHTER" "NO WAY!" ******************** That's Chapter One. In number 2, Ranma goes to school! The Akane Stormtroopers! Kuno! And more chaos! SSJSeinenTrunks@aol.com Completed: 5:46 PM, 4/16/00 -- .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List---. | Administrators - ffml-admins@fanfic.com | | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@fanfic.com | | Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject | `---http://www.fanfic.com/FFML-FAQ.txt ---' === File Separator ==============================================