Liquid Fighter Gold Part three Ranko vs. Sakura. +++++++++++++ Ranma Saotome sat in a field waiting patiently for his opponent to arrive as the sun set. He sighed heavily and turned to face the rather large crowd that had gathered. Many of them appeared to be students of Furinkan; many others were older people who held small slips of paper in their hands. He sighed at the familiarity of the situation and turned back to await Kuno patiently. Ranko moved about the crowd freely, she took in her surroundings as best she could while avoiding the mob that had somehow gathered to observe the fight. The question of how the people had managed to find out about the fight had been answered when they first arrived an hour ago and helped Nabiki set up her table. She had started taking bets immediately for those who had arrived early. Her smile fell slightly as Ranma's fiancee kept giving her odd looks as she moved among the people and she tried her best to ignore them. "Hey babe, you here for the fight?" said an unfamiliar boy who walked up to her casually. He was dressed in a school uniform, but she didn't recognize him. He was probably from another school, there were quite a few teens there that she didn't know from her memory files. A small smile formed on her face as she turned towards him. "I sure am, come to see the show handsome?" she purred. "Sure, wanna sit with me and my buddies? We've got ringside seats," said the boy, as his smile grew three times larger. "No thanks, I think I'm gonna be a little closer to the action than you pal," she retorted with a girlish giggle as she started to walk away. "Come on, please? I want to talk with you a little," pleaded the boy jokingly. "Sorry honey, I'm with someone," she replied with an apologetic shrug. "What's he got that I don't have?" snorted the boy confidently as he struck a ridiculous pose that was meant to show how cool he was. She smiled warmly and turned on her heels. "Me." With that said she dashed off into the crowd again losing him in an instant. "Hey..." the boy trailed off as he realized that she was a lost cause. "Lucky guy I guess." Nabiki frowned at her fiancee as he leaned against the table watching the exchange with mild amusement. "You are a sick man you know that?" Ranma looked at her and blinked. "What are you talking about?" "I saw what you did to that poor defenseless young man. You are a cad Ranma Saotome. I kind of like that though." She gave him a playful wink and turned back to the slowly dwindling line at the table. "What I did?" muttered Ranma in confusion as he turned away from her and looked towards the red head as she moved over to the food vendors near the back of the crowd. He turned his attention back towards the small field and waited patiently for his opponent to arrive. ++++++++++ After about a half-hour, a figure slowly walked towards the crowd with the sun at his back slowly fading into existence as he neared the battleground. He remained silent with his bokuten resting at his hip, as his Kendo gear slowly became visible as his features became clear. "I'll say one thing for him, he knows how to make an entrance," commented Nabiki dryly. Kuno stopped and frowned as he noticed the spectators around him. "What is this?" "Nothing Kuno baby, just a few witnesses," said Nabiki as she waved her hand. The boy ignored her and turned towards Ranma with a cool glare. "You have turned our battle of honor into a show for the masses? This is unforgivable Saotome." The boy blinked and took up a defensive posture. "Hey! This wasn't my idea! Blame her!" He pointed at Nabiki who looked at the two of them and frowned. "Such cowardice, blaming your own faults on the woman you would call wife," snorted the boy as he sat on the grass crossing his legs and leaned against the tree that shades Nabiki's betting table. "For this offence I shall destroy you quickly." Ranma snorted and looked back towards the crowd. "Whatever, let's just get this over with." Ranko stood with a bag of cotton candy in her hands, she ate cheerfully while chatting with a good sized group of boys who had surrounded her and started to bombard her with questions. She stopped suddenly as her cheerful attitude fell away. "Well, looks like I'm on boys, see you later." In an instant she vanished from in front of them leaving the air puffed sugar behind leaving them all staring in shock at the space she had once occupied. "What the hell? She was a liquid unit?" cried one of the boys in disgusted shock. He and his friends turned and glared daggers at Ranma, as he stood oblivious too them with his attention on Kuno as Ranko appeared next to him. "That sick bastard!" snorted another one of the boys angrily. ++++++++++++ Sakura appeared in a shower of pink flower petals beside her master as Ranko materialized beside her own. The two girls stood off for a moment sizing each other up emotionlessly. "Shall we begin?" said Kuno calmly as he sat in the lotus position and closed his eyes. Ranma looked at him and merely nodded his head. The battle started without formalities, Sakura pulled out her Katana and sliced at Ranko, who avoided the strike and jumped into the center of the field. Kuno's unit wasted no time in catching up and rushed the girl. "You cannot defeat me, I am superior to you." "We'll see about that!" retorted the red head angrily as she rushed and punched at the girl catching her in the chest and sending her skidding back a few feet. Kuno smiled as a tiny amount of energy vanished from his bar. Ranma leaned forward and blinked at the strain the boy seemed to be having at the moment. "Hey Kuno, you got a headache or somethin?" he asked in genuine concern. The kendoist opened his eyes and looked up at him for a moment. He almost fell over in shock, as Ranma did not appear to be paying any attention to the fight at all. "What trickery is this?" He quickly turned his attention back as Ranko managed to land another blow knocking off another tiny bit of his energy. "Your master has skill, it seems I must fight to win this match," said the sword wielding unit as she slashed at the air again. Ranko moved skillfully out of the way and countered the blow with a kick that was blocked. The pigtailed girl rolled away from the strike that followed and barely managed to escape. She jumped back a ways and stood in a ready position. "That was too close." "You cannot hope to match me!" screamed her opponent as she charged forward with her blade becoming a blur. Ranko backed away as the woman charged and gasped as several nicks and tears appeared in her clothing. She growled between her teeth and kicked off the ground putting some distance between herself and her opponent. "Damn!" Her Chinese shirt was in tatters and she only received a light blow as she escaped from the barrage of strikes. Still, the amount of energy taken away from her was about the same as all of the strikes she had managed to land on her opponent. Sakura simply stood calmly and lowered her blade into a low stance. "You cannot hope to win," she said mechanically. "I can always try," replied the red head simply as she rushed into the attack again. This time she managed to peg the girl in the face knocking away even more of her energy. Sakura staggered for a moment as her retaliation strike missed by a hair's width. The brown haired unit simply stepped forward and took the offensive again as she charged forward slashing at an amazing speed with her blade. This time Ranko was not so fortunate, her shirt split open revealing her breast as the wind blew across the field. She didn't seem to notice, but a long red mark appeared in her chest as even more energy was lost. Once again Sakura had taken as much as all of her strikes from energy bar making their readings almost equal again. Ranma stood watching the fight impassively, occasionally he would utter a cheer of encouragement towards his unit or jump around excitedly. At the moment he was dead serious, but still somewhat distracted. Nabiki glanced over at him in confusion and shook her head before turning her attention towards the battle again. Either way she would make a killing, but it would be much more profitable if Ranma won. Everyone hung on the edge of their seats as the pair continued to trade blows in the field, neither one hit very often, Ranma gained more blows, but Sakura had the clear advantage. All this went unnoticed by a group of high school boys who approached Ranma from behind with evil looking grins on their faces. They spotted the pigtail and smirked as they approached him. He shifted about excitedly as the battle raged and moved away from Nabiki towards the center of the spectators. The lead boy smiled as he pulled the lid off of a cup and walked within two feet of the pigtailed boy. He threw the contents onto his back sending Ranma into the air. "Hey! That's cold!" she cried as she spun around to see a familiar group of boys standing behind her. Her eyes narrowed suddenly as they stepped back in shock. "Hey, that's the girl we were talking to," said one of the boys nervously. "Uh, I'm real sorry Miss Ranko, I thought you were someone else!" gasped another one of them as he stepped away from her. Ranma growled as she wiped some of the water off of her back. "I'm soaked you jerk!" "Oh, man. I guess this means you don't want to go out huh?" said the boy with the now empty cup. Ranma snorted and cracked her knuckles. "You got a strange way of askin a girl out ya know that?" "Man, she was a real girl," whined another one of the boys as he backed away as a rather large group of angry women surrounded them. "Perverts! They got her blouse wet! What do you think this is? Some kind of smutty bar?" screamed various girls within the crowd. Ranma smiled a little evilly at them as a sudden realization and fear crossed all of their faces. What was about to happen would really hurt. Nabiki turned away from the fight attracted by the noise as the men were pounded within an inch of their lives by the angry mob of girls and women. A familiar looking pigtail caught her attention and caused her to do a double take. Ranko was in the field fighting, but she was also helping the feminist club beat the tar out of some unfortunate boys. She turned and started to speak to Ranma only to find Kuno, still deep in concentration, sitting alone. "What the? Ranma?" She glanced around and noticed her fiance was nowhere to be seen. ++++++++++++++ Sakura slashed at the girl taking off the last remains of her shirt, the girl's pants were in tatters as well, but remained mostly intact. Ranko was still in good shape. She had more than half of her energy left while managing to whittle Sakura down to about one fourth of her reserves. They had been fighting for about fifteen minutes so far. Still, only a few well-placed blows would end the fight for Ranko rather quickly. She spun into a kick and smirked as the woman staggered back. "I've got you!" Sakura stood firmly as she regained her balance. "This fight ends now!" Nabiki stopped her search for Ranma as Kuno suddenly got a huge grin on his face despite the strain he was putting out. "And so it ends." "What?" snapped the girl as she turned back towards the battle again. Sakura's blade flew almost too fast for even Ranko to follow as she slashed upwards. "Taste the Katana Wave!" A yellow arc of energy flew from the after image of the strike and slammed into the pigtailed girl's chest sending her sprawling across the ground with a look of complete shock on her face. Her energy bar drained in an instant leaving only a sliver behind. One more strike and the match would be over. She struggled back to her feet while Sakura waited patiently. "What the hell? You're no middle class unit!" she screamed with a look of horror appearing on her features. "Quite correct, you realize this too late I'm afraid," cried the woman as she stepped forward slowly. Ranko backed away nervously. Nabiki stared in shock at the spectacle not ten feet in front of her. "What the hell is this Kuno! Middle class units can't do that!" "You are quite correct Nabiki Tendo, Sakura was a middle class unit at my last match. She has improved since that time, she is now a medium-heavy class unit," replied the boy without opening his eyes. "You've just been playing with her!" said Nabiki as she turned back towards the pair. Ranma was retreating towards the crowd. She growled under her breath and cursed, her hopes of making a killing on the fight had ended abruptly, she how had to settle for merely coming out a few thousand yen richer. Ranma had easily beaten the spread, so she was still sitting on quite a nice profit. ++++++++++++ Sakura jumped into the air raising her blade for the final blow causing Ranko to retreat further into the crowd, not quite realizing how close she was to them. After a moment she staggered back falling on her back amongst the crowd, seeming to vanish into the mass of spectators. Sakura landed and stood watching calmly as her target seemed to disappear suddenly. She turned to find her a little ways into the spectators glaring at a group of badly beaten boys with a rather satisfied look on her face. "I have you! Die!" screamed a voice from behind Ranma as she slowly turned around to see Sakura descending on her from above. "Huh?" she managed as she raised her arms up instinctively. The blade stopped inches from her head as if held back by some invisible force. She lowered her arm and glared at the woman. "What the hell are you doing?" "What is this?" cried Kuno in shock as he strained harder suddenly. Nabiki smiled at him as she realized what had happened. Sakura had somehow managed to mistake the strange girl as Ranko. She was continuing the fight, but her safety programming would not allow her to harm the girl. Ranko stood from her spot on the ground and shook her head wondering why she wasn't beaten yet. She shakily rose to her feet and glared at Sakura's back as she struggled to strike Ranma with her sword and finish off the fight. "Well now, isn't this interesting?" She charged forward with a huge grin on her face. Ranma blinked as a battle cry erupted from behind the crazy liquid unit, she spun around, trying to twist out of the way. Sakura grit her teeth in what appeared to be pure hatred as she struggled even harder to push the blade down. Ranko was still rushing towards them when Ranma turned and moved between her and her target, her grin widened as she continued to charge. After a moment a look of surprise and shock covered Sakura's features as she jolted forward sailing over Ranma's head as Ranko flew right through him in a flying sidekick. Ranma smiled slightly and looked at his counterpart. "Hey, good one," she commented. Ranko stood huffing for a moment before falling to her knees in exhaustion. "It's over?" Sakura lay on the ground for a moment longer before she vanished in a ripple of air. Ranma smiled at Ranko and grabbed her shoulder as her clothes reverted back to normal. "Hey! We won!" Kuno stood up with a look of shocked horror on his features as Sakura faded into existence beside him. "This cannot be! How could I lose? It is impossible!" He turned and gasped as he saw a short red haired girl that mirrored Ranko exactly standing with the unit with her arm around her shoulder. "I see, the fiend Saotome's luck is unimaginable." Nabiki glanced around at the scene and frowned. "Where is Ranma anyway?" "No doubt he has run away lest he face my wrath for such a dishonorable victory!" cried Kuno as he looked around for the boy. "I shall not allow this to stand!" "For whatever the reasons Kuno, you lost today," replied Nabiki with a smirk. "Never! I shall never concede defeat!" screamed the boy as he rushed off in a mad rage. "Whatever," commented Nabiki as she completely forgot about the boy and her fiance after realizing all the money she had made. A very small, and very happy line appeared to collect their earnings. Moments later a slightly damp Ranma Saotome walked back from the vendors near the back of the fight, once again in male form. He smiled as many angry people walked by him, occasionally though someone would congratulate him. He mingled a bit as the crowd dissipated. Nearby a lone figure pushed a thin pair of sunglasses up his nose despite the fact the sun had set about a half-hour ago. He was dressed in a leather jacket and had spiky black hair. He smiled to himself as Ranma stood with his unit talking animatedly too her. "This is... interesting." "Wow, that was great!" said Ranma proudly as he pat the red head on her back as they walked towards the table where Nabiki cheerfully counted her earnings. Ranko blushed at this and smiled nervously. "Yeah, but that Kuno guy seemed a little mad though." When they reached the table Ranma froze in place as his fiancee gave him a gaze of pure ice and stopped counting her money. "Ranma, who was that girl?" The boy blinked and turned away nervously. "Girl? What girl?" "The one who looked exactly like our friend here? You know, the one who showed up just after you vanished?" The boy coughed into his hand and stepped back from the table nervously. "Oh she's no one. Just someone from China." That caught Nabiki's attention definitely. "China? If there's one thing I don't like, it's competition. She looked at the pile of money in front of her and shoved it into the large purse she had brought with her. "It seems I may have to work harder than I thought to make sure we work out Ranma Saotome." She whispered to herself as she stood and walked away from him. "What was that about?" said Ranko. "Got me," replied the boy obliviously, the thought that Nabiki might see his female form as a possible rival had never even crossed his mind. "Come on, we've got school tomorrow. I know everyone's gonna want to hear about this too. Well, maybe not Akane, but I'm sure Pop and Mr. Tendo will want to know." Without another word Ranma started to walk after his fiancee. "Hey wait up!" he called. He was only a little surprised when she actually waited for him and took his arm. He didn't even notice the smile on her face wasn't one of contentment. "I won't lose to the likes of her, Ranma Saotome is mine. I'm not going to lose him no matter what now." TBC... Next time: Ranma tells of his victory against Sakura, and the reactions he gets from his family. Some other crazy stuff happens too, also the heralding of someone else's arrival. C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com Previous parts can be found at Http://www.fanfiction.net and R&C Books International Fanfic Company at Http://www.rcbooks.org Ja!