On Fri, 22 May 1998, David Yellope wrote:

Thanks to the overwhelmingly positive response I have recieved so
far.. here's chapter one. chapter two is being written as we speak..
ideas and the like would be welcome :)

That's what I'm here for.  ^_^

	"You WHAT? YOU WANT ME TO GO ARROUND FIGHTING WITH THAT MACHO
KAWAIKUNE TOMBOY FOLLOWING ME AROUND? THAT MACHO CHICK? NOT TO MENTION
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF SHE ACTUALLY TRIED TO COOK!!!" Ranma screamed at
Genma.. the proberbial "uh-oh" drop of sweat appearing on Genma's
forehead... but not because of his son's rant.... Ranma froze.. and
slowly turned around.. only to hear the three words he dreaded most..

	"RANMA NO BAKA!" followed by a wooden mallet swinging
upwards.. connecting him underneath the chin and sending him flying
through the roof...

	Akane was still shaking.. she had only caught the last few
words of Ranma's rant. She turned to Genma.. who seemed to visibly
shrink away from the angry Akane. "Now.. what brought this on?"

True...if she had caught the whole thing, she would've flattened him
instead, just so she'd have the chance to inflict more pain.

	"Ok.. gentlemen.. I know you've been briefed on the rules
before today's fight.. but I just want to make sure you got them.
There will be three five minute rounds.. no lethal moves, no biting or
gougin... if in my judgement you are unable to defend yourself
effectively.. I will stop the fight. If you wish to submit.. tap the
mat three times. We have a ringside doctor with the authority to stop
the match if need be." the ref motioned to both men. "Bow.. and
prepare to fight"

Whoa, stop right there, break, halt....  Biting is allowed in Street
Fighter tournaments.  Just ask Blanka and Zangief.  I don't think I've
seen gouging yet, but I wouldn't put that past them, either.

	Ranma covered one fist in hhis hand and bowed.. meeting his
opponent's eyes as  Jenakaya twisted his body into a complicated bow..
then the two fighters retreated to their corners.. Ranma's mind was
ablaze with strategies.. attacks and possible counter attacks.. but
one notion had already been destroyed. Capioera wasn't just a "Dance
art" he could see the hidden strength that lay behind how flexible
Jenakaya was.

	"Fighters, ready?" came the call from the referee.. Ranma
nodded slightly.. took a deep breath.. settled his ki as best as he
could.. and assumed a set position. Jenakaya also nodded as he assumed
a unorthodox guard stance.. "BEGIN!" 

	Ranma decided to go for the early knockout suprise.. charging
at Jenakaya .. hoping to suprise him with a round house right at the
beginning.. but the Capioera fighter had other ideas.. in a
sensational move he leaped into the air and bringing himself into a
tight spiral.. cannonballing himself into the suprised Ranma who was
rocked back and knocked down from the force of the blow.. Ranma
blinked a couple of times.. as he kipped up to his feet..

	"Ok.. that didn't work.. what now?" He thought to himself as
he assumed the guard stance again.. circling his opponent warily "He
won't catch me off guard with that move twice..".. tried a spinning
round house.. followed by a jumping side kick that caught the lanky
Capioera fighter in a glancing blow that pushed him against the
ropes.. but before Ranma could follow up and press his advantage.. the
canny fighter used the ropes to bring him back towards Ranma and took
him down with a foot sweep.

	Ranma got back to his feet quickly with a kipup and connected
solidly with a Tenshin-Amaguri-ken.. but the bell rang before he could
attack the dizzy Capioera fighter.. somewhat disappointed in his
performance.. slumped in the corner...  Genma quickly stepped in to
the ring and waved a towel in Ranma's face to cool him off.. then
mopped up the sweat..

A little quick for a round...sure, it isn't the top level and the
1:39 bouts, but that can't have taken a minute.  Put in a bit more
sparring.

	Five minutes later.. a bruised, battered Ranma Saotome sat in
his corner again. He hadn't been able to knock his opponent out.. in
fact Jenakaya had time and time again attacked Ranma just after he had
failed to hit.. landing counterattack after counterattack.. Genma was
none too pleased.. but he tried to put on a good face.. "Ok.. you've
gone 10 minutes, just five more now. If it goes the distance.. he'll
probably win it from the judges. You've got to go all out. Knock him
out to win! Forget defense if you want to win..."

And then there's the three-round format used in the game.  I highly doubt
it's more - if anything, they go fewer rounds at the lower levels.

	"You know Ranma.. you really have to learn to duck better.."
she tried to put on a brave face and smile.. "Every time he landed
one.. he seemed to land three." Ranma muttered quietly... closing his
eyes... remembering the fight.. trying to see where he went wrong...

	"Do you know why? because he linked his moves together..
seriously Ranma.. it was almost a move of its own.. just it was made
up of two different moves linked together smoothly, Yours were more
powerful.. but until the end.. you were stop and go.. stop and go with
your moves..." Akane tried to explain. She had watched the match with
a keener eye then she would like to admit.. seeing Ranma hurt.. well..
it wasn't a good thing.

Combos!  Good boy.  ^_^

	"I'll try to remember that next fight" Ranma said.. then
opening his eye.. nearly bolted up right before the pain reduced him
back to a sitting position..  what he saw shocked him.. Akane.. that
kawaikune.. crying? "Akane.. what's the matter?", he asked.. trying to
keep the suprise out of his voice..

	As if the words had released an internal dam of emotions.. the
words came flooding from Akane. "I don't know how you could go through
with that.. and now I'm supposed to go through with this too? If I
can't even hit you when we fight.. how am I supposed to win a Street
Fighter match?" Ranma's eyes widened. for too long.. Akane had seemed
like a block of marble.. strong, proud and unyielding.. but that pride
had taken a major blow today... she had been scheduled for a fight in
two weeks.. in Osaka..

Answer:  Mallet-sama. If Rolento can use a baton and tripwire in SFA2...

Not a bad read, and good idea on keeping them away from the big names for
the time being.  Just remember two things:

1) Ranma is strong and fast, but he can't throw Hadokens all day along
with the occasional Shinkuu-Hadoken.

2) He still has to win that inevitable match, simply because you'll be
flamed otherwise.  ^_^  Seriously, keep in mind that Ranma's going to go
up against nasty fighters.  He may need creative methods of fighting to
win, seeing as most fighters at the top level of the the World Warrior
tourney are just as powerful as he is.

Keep up the writing!

Nicholas Eckert
vidstudent