Due to the insane amount of reader requests I get for this one. I'm
picking it up again. You can thank the guys at Delphi for adding the
straw that broke the camel's back.

Ranma 1/2

Liquid Fighter Gold!

Prologue...

+++++++++++

Liquid fighters, the newest sport to take the world by storm.
Created by German scientist Ludwig Von Krugen in 1965, it involves
using special units that when attached to the nervous system of a
human give that person the ability to control the Liquid Units. The
Unit itself is a semi-solid holographic image that can perform feats
no human could possibly match; they can in any situation at any time
do tasks that are impossible for a human being to match, thus their
usefulness in both industry and entertainment.

These super powered Units can do no real damage to property and
cannot harm human beings in any way because of their semi-solid form
and incredibly complex behavioral programming that prevents them from
harming any living thing. However their versatility is not discounted
as various models are created for labor work and public service. The
result being their popular use in street fights and betting matches.

Unfortunately the superior units, known as Liquid fighters also
take a tremendous will and total concentration to manipulate beyond
very basic functions. People like this are rare, and the units
themselves are expensive keeping only a select few individuals who can
own one. These fighters often never reach near the potential of the
units, but on the very rare occasion that it does happen, and the
controller may attempt to prove his or her worth by competing in the
ultimate tournament, the 'Liquid Fighter Gold' competition.

With a cash prize of more than ten million US dollars, this event
is run by a US company and is held in a specialized mega-dome in Tokyo
each year. Legends are born and fall there as the brutal competitions
test the abilities of the contestants to the limit.

The year is 1982, now another legend is about to be born... Ranma
Saotome sat waiting for his father to return; he had gone into a
nearby town and left him sitting here on a rock, alone.
+++++++++++

"How long is he gonna take?" muttered the boy lazily as he licked
his fingers clean of the Okonomiyaki sauce. He snorted to himself as
he lay back staring at the sky through the treetops that lined the
side of the path. "I wish Ucchan didn't have to leave so soon."

++++++++++++

Genma Saotome walked lazily from a ramen booth patting his
stomach. "I would have brought the boy with me, but he has to learn
the hardships of the road if he wants to be a true martial artist."

The explanation was enough to quiet his conscience as he strolled
back towards the path out of town with a single apple in his hand for
his son. He had more money to buy food with if need be, but it was
unnecessary to tell the boy about it.

He passed by the window of a small pawnshop and stared into the
window for a moment as something caught his attention. "Is that what I
think it is?" he wondered out loud.

The proprietor of the store stopped sweeping and smiled to
himself. "Yea, it's a liquid unit. Combat model too, unfortunately
it's useless without the machine to put it inside of the body. I'm
sorry I bought the damn thing. Who would be fool enough to put it in
manually? You'd have to slice someone's back open and risk paralyzing
them. No self-respecting company will install one that they didn't
sell you either. It's just a worthless hunk of junk." He eyed Genma
carefully and smiled to himself as the man turned to face him.

"Maybe I can take it off your hands?"

++++++++++++++

Genma whistled to himself as he strolled along the path towards
his son, in his hands was a bottle of Sake and on his back was a
leather bag with the unit inside. "Tonight Ranma, you drink well!"
laughed the man cheerfully as he grinned to himself. Surely, if a
machine could do it, he would not have any problem installing the
unit.

++++++++++++

The next morning... Ranma Saotome lay in tears as his body refused
to move, he had been this way since he had woken up. All he remembered
was his father giving him some strange tasting drink and practically
forcing it down his throat.

After about an hour he had passed out, when he woke up, his entire
body was on fire and his head felt like it was about to explode. He
looked up lazily and realized he was moving, glancing down at his feet
he saw that Genma had created a stretcher of sorts and was dragging
him along behind him.

"Pop?" whimpered the boy pathetically.

"Oh, so you're awake son?" said the man merrily.

"Ow, don't talk pop, my back..." whispered the boy.

Genma roared with laughter that sent waves of aching pain into the
boy's head. "Don't worry about it son! It's just a hang over, it'll
feel better in a few days!"

Ranma's eyes went wide as he unwisely shouted out in alarm.
"DAYS?!"

"That's right son, take it like a man!" said the elder Saotome
with a dark look in his eyes. Genma cheerfully continued on his way
dragging the boy behind him.

In truth it would probably be another month before he could start
to train him again, but now they had a way to fund the training trip.
With Ranma possessing a real Liquid Fighter, they could easily make
enough money to travel around with. Once he got the boy trained with
it, but that couldn't take very long; besides, his son was sure to
have the mental abilities to control such a unit, he was a Saotome
after all.

"Pop, who's that following us?" said the boy groggily.

Genma froze and slowly turned around, "I hope it's not that Kuonji
kid again," he thought, the man had been pressing on him to engage
Ranma and the girl together. He didn't see any real incentive to do so
with the Tendo Dojo in his future, so he had taken the man's gift, and
simply left her behind. He blinked when he saw the girl, and frowned.
It was not Kuonji.

Standing behind them was a young red haired girl of about ten
years old. She stared blankly at them and stopped. "Who are you? Are
you lost?" said Genma gently.

The girl blinked and stared at him. "What is your designation?"

"What?" asked the man in confusion. The girl stared at him in an
unnerving emotionless daze.
"What is your designation?" repeated the strange girl calmly.

Genma stepped back and turned around with a shrug continuing
onward with the boy in tow.
The girl continued to follow them silently. Genma frowned as she
suddenly sped up her pace and walked along beside Ranma staying no
more than a few feet away from him.

The boy looked bewildered, but was not very upset by her presence.


Finally, despite the pain involved, Ranma spoke to her. "Who are
you? Why are you followin us?"

"Designation, Combat Unit 000371, you are designated operator,"
replied the girl in a soft emotionless voice.

Genma froze and slowly turned to look at her. "You're the Liquid
Unit?"

"Yes," replied the girl.

The older man frowned slightly at the sight of the girl. "I
remember now, you have to develop the unit! Train it!" he mentally
slapped himself and frowned at her. In time she would grow a
personality based off of her son's emotional pattern.

Suddenly, an idea formed in the back of his mind. "Oh, I remember
now! Son, this girl is uhh...Ranko! She'll be your sparing partner!"

The boy blinked and tried his best to pay attention despite the
pain in his back and head.

"He is suffering from the insertion of the unit more than normal,
perhaps anesthetic should be administered," said the girl looking up
at Genma expectantly.

"We don't have any," replied the man with a frown. "My son can
take the pain, it's training."

"I do not understand," replied the girl simply. She did not push
the matter any further though, and continued to stroll along beside
them.

"So, you're Ranko huh?" said the boy weakly offering his new
friend a smile.

"Is that this unit's designation?" said the girl calmly. It didn't
really sound much like a question.

"What a weirdo," muttered Ranma as he closed his eyes and tried to
go back to sleep while he could.

+++++++++++++++

A few months passed in the blink of an eye. Ranma Saotome jumped
into the air and was struck square in the chest as the girl performed
a complicated air punch that slammed into his chest. He felt a slight
pushing against his chest and frowned as he returned the blow with a
full force strike to the girl's head.

"That is another point for me," said the girl mechanically.

Genma noticed a small smile on her lips, she started doing that
after about a week of operation. The boy took some convincing in order
to get him to train with her, he didn't realize that she wasn't real
at first and still had some doubts. He thought back to the day for a
moment and frowned to himself.

++++++++++++++

"Pop, how come I gotta fight this girl?" snapped the boy a little
bitterly.

"Son, you know she isn't a girl, she isn't even real!" the man
scratched his head and sighed. "Besides, if you lose it's your own
fault, you're the one making her beat you."

The boy blinked and looked at the girl silently for a moment. He
knew every move she was going to make and yet somehow it still got
through to him. The old man smiled to himself as he realized it was a
wonderful idea to allow Ranma to train with the unit. He still sparred
with the boy on his own of course, but this way Ranma didn't have to
pull his punches no matter how good he got. The unit was easily his
son's better at the moment and probably would always be that way. It
still gave him a sense of pride that the boy could even keep up with
the base unit functions. He had heard that it was impossible to do so
for just a normal human.

"Get back to work boy! Don't be lazy!" snapped the man as he
realized his son had stopped training in order to inspect his partner
out of curiosity. Genma had turned around, only to see his son putting
his hand through the girl's chest and laughing to himself.

"It feel's weird pop!" he cried cheerfully before jumping back and
taking up a combat stance.

"Are you prepared?" asked the girl.

"Anytime!" retorted the boy as he rushed forward.

++++++++++++

A few days later, Genma Saotome stood directly across from the
group of construction workers holding Ranma by the shoulder. The small
red haired girl waited patiently nearby in clothes exactly like the
boy's with a blank expression on her face. One of the larger men
stepped forward and smiled at the boy slamming a wad of money on the
table.

"This kid? You're on old man!" A hulking man appeared behind him
dressed in a bright orange vest with a gaze that matched Ranma's unit
easily. He was probably around eight feet tall and appeared to be made
of nothing but muscle. The two older men realized that he wasn't
really made from anything at all, but the boy gaped at him in shock.

"Pop! Ranko can't beat him! He's huge!" said the boy as he pulled
at the bottom of his dogi.

Genma frowned and leaned next to the boy. "Ranma, Ranko can't be
hurt! She's not real. Now come on boy, she's just as strong as he is,
he just looks that way because he's a construction unit!"

Ranma got a determined look on his face as he turned back towards
Ranko, "You can do it!"
She looked at him blankly for a moment. "This unit is superior in
strength and stamina, our speed is the only way to win."

Ranma blinked and pat her on the back, "Right, how about we just
hit him?"

"That is acceptable," replied the girl simply. A moment later the
two units stood facing each other in the center of the construction
lot. Two round golden bars appeared in the air over the boy and the
construction worker's head. The older man sat cross-legged deep in
concentration as his unit put its fists up.

Ranma looked at him blankly and frowned. "What's he doing pop?"

"I don't know boy," replied Genma with a shrug. The man started to
get a strained look on his face as the battle began, while Ranma,
merely stood in a relaxed position and watched.

++++++++++++++++++

Ranko jumped aside as the much larger unit's fist slammed into the
ground creating a dust cloud. She pulled back and kicked him in the
face knocking a small amount of yellow away on the construction
worker's bar. It was replaced by a red portion of bar of the same
color. This continued for several moments while Ranko jumped around
dodging the construction unit's blows easily as it attempted to box
her. Her face was calm throughout the battle even after the unit
picked up a board to use as a weapon. Raising her arm she blocked a
strike from the unit's weapon and Ranma looked up to see a tiny
portion of his own bar was gone.

However, since the construction worker had picked up the board the
operator's face had grown red as he strained for some strange reason.
The boy jumped up and cheered as his unit punched the larger one in
the gut knocking off another small portion of it's energy leaving it
with a small amount.

Suddenly, the Construction unit lashed out with a powerful blow
that sent Ranko flying across the construction yard.

Ranma looked up in shock as almost half of his energy bar vanished
in an instant. "What? No way!" he growled and stared the man down
noticing a smirk on his face despite the amount of strain he was
putting out. Ranma felt a strange rage boil up inside of him and Ranko
shot back across the lot like a bullet. She sailed over the counter
strike into a kick that slammed into the hulking construction unit's
face sending it to the ground on it's back.

In what appeared like a wave of energy the unit vanished from the
field, and appeared behind the construction worker as he let out a
breath and almost fell over in exhaustion.

The boy walked over to Ranko and smiled at her. "How come you lost
so much energy? That's not fair!"

"I must build stamina, speed, strength, and skill. That is the way
these games are played," she looked over at the other unit and said
nothing more.

"He doesn't even look hurt!" said Ranma in annoyance.

Ranko replied again. "Units cannot be damaged, clothing and battle
damage is only used for show; to make matches more interesting. Once
the battle is over all systems are returned to normal."

"Oh, that's good I guess," said the boy simply.

He walked over to where his father was standing with the men. The
were arguing with him angrily.

"I'm telling you man, there's no way that kid was controlling that
unit! He didn't even break a sweat! This is some kind of scam!" cried
one of the man's fellow workers bitterly.

"Are you implying that my boy..." started Genma as he lifted the
man by his shirt.
"You're damn right!" snapped the man fearlessly.

"Shut up!" snapped the tired looking man who had faced Ranma.
"I've seen this before."
Everyone became deathly silent. "This boy isn't cheating, he's
gifted. I wouldn't be surprised if I saw him in the Liquid Gold a few
years from now."

"What do you mean?" asked Genma as he dropped the man.

"Your son can control the unit without much effort, I've heard of
protege's like him before. Supposedly there's even a boy in China who
can control his well enough to spar with it. You've got quite a
fighter there, and with a combat unit to boot. Old man, you have no
idea what you've just stumbled onto do you?" the man smiled and faced
Ranma, who didn't quite understand what the big deal was.

"Good enough to spar with his own unit you say?" Genma looked over
at Ranma and saw yen signs hanging around the boy's head.

"No freaking way! That's just some stupid tabloid story!" snapped
one of the other workers as he walked away in disgust.

The man handed Genma his money and turned on the men around him.
"Get back to work! Break's over!"

++++++++++