All existing chapters of this story may be found at:
http://www.rigroup.com/~grayson/relentless


(...continued from first half)

- - - - - -

Ranma struggled to rise, but his world lurched sickeningly 
out of control when he attempted to move.  His arms and legs 
seemed like alien things, no more willing to respond to his 
commands than the stars or the moon.  His vision had gone as 
blurry as Mousse's, but he knew the Reikoku would be on him in 
seconds. <Gotta keep on... gotta fight...>

"Keep away from him!"

The sound of her voice rang like a bell through the wet cotton 
that had become his mind.  He could barely make out her form - 
a smudge of color floating somewhere in front of his eyes - but 
he knew what she was doing.  The dummy was trying to protect 
him.  After seeing what that thing could do, after seeing it 
tear him apart like that, she still thought that SHE could 
protect him.

He heard her gasping in terror and beginning to wail.  He knew 
what was happening, knew without seeing just what she was 
doing.  When Akane was faced with a superior foe, when she 
finally got it through her thick skull to be afraid of someone, 
she froze up like a deer in the headlights.  He'd seen it happen 
enough times before to recognize it instantly.  She was just 
going to stand there, paralyzed, and the Reikoku would carve 
right through her.

<No no no NO NO!> He desperately struggled to focus his will, 
to force his body to obey and rise.  But he'd taken too many 
hard shots, his body had been drained of blood and ki, and he 
couldn't even whisper her name.  <No Akane no no AKANE!>

"AKANE!"

The voice that thundered through the night was the last thing 
that Ranma had expected to hear, an impossible deliverance 
from an unspeakable fate.  There were many times in the past 
when Ranma had wished he'd never have to hear that voice again, 
but tonight he couldn't have been more grateful.  It seemed 
the gods were listening to the prayers of young martial artists 
after all.

Hibiki Ryouga had actually found them.

"BAKUSAI TEN-KETSU!"  

At first, Ranma was still too disoriented to follow the combat 
between the lost boy and the Reikoku.  From the sound of it, 
it seemed that Ryouga had used a breaking point explosion to 
blast the Reikoku away from its intended target.  As his vision 
began to finally clear, he could make out Ryouga's bright 
battle aura, blazing like a bonfire in the darkness as he pressed 
his attack.  Akane helped Ranma to his feet, and his vision began 
to clear.

Ryouga wasn't as fast as Ranma, but he was stronger and he was 
armed.  He caught the Reikoku with a series of devastating 
thrusts from his combat umbrella, driving the beast back as 
its armor crunched beneath the onslaught.  The thing struck 
home with its counterattack, tagging the lost boy with a 
glancing blow to the head and another stronger one to the 
gut.  A trickle of blood flowed from Ryouga's temple, but his 
inhuman endurance held true to form, and he pressed his attack 
again.

Ranma was actually embarrassed by the success his rival was 
having against a foe which had been a second away from killing 
him earlier.  If it had dominated him so thoroughly, it should 
have been tearing Ryouga to shreds, but the bandanna-clad 
martial artist was holding his own.  Had he really been that 
badly off his stride tonight?   Or perhaps Ryouga had done 
some kind of special training...

The Reikoku caught one of Ryouga's incoming umbrella strikes 
with an armor-studded tentacle.   It tried to follow up with 
a rake to the boy's face with one of its sickle-like claws, 
but only succeeded in forcing Ryouga to relinquish his hold 
on his weapon and spring backwards to evade the attack.  With 
practiced, fluid ease, Ryouga tore off a volley of bandannas 
and hurled them like shurikens at the Reikoku, slashing through 
its black robes and into the chitinous flesh beneath.  The 
creature was momentarily staggered, and dropped the umbrella 
as the swarm of deadly bandannas struck home.

"An opening!" Ryouga shouted.  "SHI-SHI HOKOUDEN"

"Ryouga, no!"

Ranma's croaked out his warning too late.  Ryouga extended his 
hands and launched his powerful ki-attack at the Reikoku.  The 
blinding energy bolt hurtled through the air towards the black 
monstrosity, and...

It hit home.  The Reikoku was blown backwards across the park, 
plowing a great trench in the turf as it went.

Ranma gaped in surprise.  How come it hadn't reflected Ryouga's 
ki-blast, as it had done his?

Ryouga was oblivious to Ranma's confusion.  He charged towards 
the Reikoku, not intending to give it time to recover.  He 
swept up his umbrella again just before he took off into a 
mighty leap.  Ryouga arced through the air towards his enemy, 
umbrella raised to strike.  "The final blow!" he bellowed, 
just before he slammed into the Reikoku like a living 
bombshell.

The force of the impact kicked up a shower of debris and dust.  
Ranma and Akane waited for the smoke to clear, trying vainly 
to see the outcome of the battle through the thick darkness.

Ryouga emerged from the dust cloud, limping slightly from a 
gash to the leg.  His umbrella was slung over one shoulder, 
and he dragged the inert form of the Reikoku in his other 
hand.  

Akane gasped.  "Ryouga!  You did it!"

"Akane..." he whispered.  He was unsteady after the damage 
he'd taken in the fight, but he had won.  He had saved Akane's 
life.  In light of that, his own pain didn't mean a thing.

"Guess I musta softened it up enough for ya," Ranma muttered.  He 
hated the surliness in his own voice.  He should have been 
grateful - Ryouga had saved their lives, and fought bravely 
in the face of a terrible foe.  Ranma's pride, though, was 
badly stung, especially since Akane had been here to see it 
all.  He felt angry at Ryouga for being the hero, and his own 
anger made him feel small and petty.  Saotome Ranma was not 
a gracious loser.

"No need to thank me, Ranma," Ryouga said, favoring him with 
a fairly smug look.  "Oh... you didn't."  

"Listen, P-Chan," Ranma said angrily.  "You got luckier than 
you deserve!  That thing shoulda reflected your ki-blast 
right back in your face, just like it did t'me!"

"There's a reason it didn't do that, son-in-law."

The three martial artists pivoted in surprise towards the sound 
of Cologne's voice.  The ancient Amazon emerged from the 
shadows, hopping towards them on her staff. 

"Elder Cologne!" Akane exclaimed.  "What are you doing here?"

"Whaddya mean about a reason?" Ranma asked.  He wasn't all 
that surprised that the old ghoul had shown up.  

"The Reikoku gained that ability after fighting you, Ranma," 
Cologne explained.  "It will only use it while it is in combat 
with you.  When Ryouga came and attacked it, you were already 
defeated and helpless.  Therefore, he faced it for the first 
time alone.  It's power, when fighting him, was at the same 
level as it was last night, when you bested it, Ranma."

"So if it faces Ryouga again," Ranma speculated, "It'll be as 
tough as it was when I was fightin' it, and it'll know how to 
reflect his Shi-Shi Hokouden, right?"

Cologne gave Ryouga a meaningful look.  "It will adapt in some 
way, that is certain.  What weakness it will exploit depends 
on who it faces."

Ryouga looked puzzled.  "What do you mean?"

Cologne ignored the question.  Instead, she regarded Ryouga 
with a weary and defeated look on her face.  "Ah, my boy.  Do 
you have any idea what you've done tonight?  Do you have any 
clue as to the fate which you have called down upon yourself 
by daring to face this creature?"

Ryouga nodded gravely.  "I understand.  It will hunt me also, 
as it already hunts Ranma."  He turned his gaze to Akane, and 
smiled with a quiet satisfaction.  "It was worth it, to save 
you."

"Ryouga..."

Cologne closed her eyes and shook her head sadly.  "Such a 
waste."

Ryouga gave her a sharp look.  "Saving Akane is not a waste!"

"If it means your death..." The old woman broke off, then 
shrugged.  "What's done is done.  You realize that you must 
accompany Ranma on his journey now, if you're to have any hope 
of survival."

"Feh," the lost boy spat.  "Maybe I should just go on my own."

"Yeah, maybe you can just wander around in circles 'til that 
thing catches up with you," Ranma teased.

"Shut up!" Ryouga snapped back.  "You don't know what you're 
talking about!"

"Stop it!  Stop fighting!" Akane was on the verge of tears.  
"Ryouga, please, please come with us.  I wouldn't want anything 
bad to happen to you..."

"Us!" Ranma shouted.  "Whaddya mean 'us?'  I'm takin' you home, 
Akane!"

"No," Akane began to protest.  "I can't..."

"Akane, please!" Ranma begged.  There was a genuine urgency in 
his voice that had been missing last night.  "This ain't time 
for playin' around!  This thing is too dangerous for you!"

"I can take care of myself!" Akane cried.  "I don't want... I 
don't want..."

Ryouga moved in beside Ranma, his face full of concern and worry.  
"Akane, please go home.  I don't know if I can protect you a 
second time..."

"You saw how powerful it is!" Ranma implored.  "It was gonna 
kill both of us tonight, Akane. You gotta stay out of its way!"

"They are right," Cologne agreed.  "Girl, your friend Ryouga 
came to your rescue tonight.  For this, his life might well be 
forfeit.  Would you have his sacrifice be in vain?"

Akane shook her head.  She tried to speak, but nothing emerged 
from her mouth.  She buried her face in her hands and began to 
weep.  

Ranma and Ryouga gave each other uncertain looks.  Ryouga would 
have liked nothing better than to hold Akane close to him and 
try to comfort her, but it seemed wrong to try such a thing with 
Ranma there.  Ranma felt too embarrassed to show any overt 
affection to Akane in front of other people, especially Ryouga.  
So the two martial artists stared in awkward silence as Akane 
sobbed in anguish.

"Come on, girl," Cologne finally said.  "Let's take you home."

- - - - - -

The four of them made fairly good time in their journey back 
towards the Tendou Dojo.  They traveled in virtual silence, 
none of them particularly willing to talk about the dark matters 
which weighed heavily in their minds.  The relative speed with 
which they made it back home was a clear indication that Ranma 
and Akane had not made anywhere near as much progress as they 
should have.  Ranma realized, with deep chagrin, that he had 
been a tremendous fool.  After facing the Reikoku the first 
time, he should have known better than to treat the danger it 
posed so casually.  Moments of self-awareness of his failings 
like this were unusual for Ranma, and never particularly 
welcome.

They were greeted with surprise.

"My little girl has come home!"  bawled Soun.

"Oh my!  Have you taken care of the problem already?"  Only 
Kasumi could have generated that sort of optimism.  

"Uh..." Ranma answered reluctantly, when it became clear that 
nobody else was volunteering to speak first, "not quite.  No."  

He took a deep breath, then began to explain what had happened 
that evening.  Akane knelt off to the side, too ashamed and 
defeated to even raise her eyes and look at her family.  The 
explanations did not take long - Ranma did not intend to make 
the mistake of dallying again.  

Soun was the first to speak after Ranma had finished his account.  
"At least my dear girl is safe.  But you boys are in a great deal 
of trouble."

Ranma nodded solemnly.  "Yeah, I know that.  And we gotta head 
outta here as soon as we can.  With that thing out there, it 
sure ain't safe to stay in one place..."

"Gentlemen," Nabiki interrupted.  "Do either of you have the 
slightest hint of where you might be going?"

Ranma regarded Ryouga for a moment.  <Why look at him?> he 
wondered immediately.  <He don't even know where HE is most've 
the time, much where anybody else is.  Some partner he's gonna 
be.>  He shrugged.  "I dunno.  We just haveta keep tryin' to 
pick up the old lecher's trail."

"Ah, brilliant," Nabiki observed, with no small measure of 
sarcasm.  "Sherlock Saotome, complete with his own clueless 
Dr. Watson."

"Who are you calling clueless?" Ryouga snapped.  "I'll have 
you know I'm very good at finding people!"

"Do tell." 

"I found Ranma, didn't I?"

Ranma gave him an incredulous look.  "Yeah, and how long did 
THAT take?"

"I don't care!" Ryouga announced hotly.  "I'll scour all of 
Japan if that's what it takes to track down that withered 
fossil!"

"It won't do you any good," Nabiki asserted confidently.

"And why is that?" 

"Because," she said, holding aloft a single finger, "he isn't 
IN Japan anymore."

Both Ranma and Ryouga blinked in shock.  "How... how do you 
know that?"

Nabiki smiled, then rose to her feet.  "Follow me, boys.  I 
have something to show you."

- - - - - - 

Ranma and Ryouga settled themselves in behind Nabiki as she sat 
down at her computer, jockeying to get into position to see 
what she was bringing up on the monitor.  "I've been giving a 
great deal of thought to the task you have in front of you, 
Ranma," Nabiki said.  She pivoted and gave the pig-tailed martial 
artist a disapproving frown.  "SOMEbody needed to do it, after 
all."

Ranma was only angry for a moment before he settled back into 
being embarrassed.   This had been a bad evening, and he knew 
he was mostly to blame.  He quickly broke off the gaze with 
Nabiki, ducking his head.  

Nabiki sighed.  Picking on a cowed Ranma was no fun at all, 
and they did need to get on with it.  "Your assumption that 
Happosai will continue to engage in his perverted behavior 
seemed valid, at least.  There's only one thing you can trust 
an addict to do, and that's to remain true to his addiction.  
But I didn't think he was foolish enough to stick around here.  
I determined rather quickly that Happosai was nowhere nearby."

"How?" Ryouga asked, eyeing the monitor warily.  For all the 
experience he had with computers, it might as well have been 
a crystal ball.

"Contacts," Nabiki explained tersely.  "News sources.  It's 
astonishing what you can find out there if you know where and 
how to look.  Finding things out is one of my little hobbies, 
you see."  She favored Ryouga with a knowing look that left 
the lost boy somewhat baffled.

"So where is the old goat?" Ranma demanded impatiently.

Nabiki turned back to the computer.  "See this?" she pointed 
at the monitor.   "A rash of thefts, reports of women being 
harassed, strange sightings," she indicated a series of news 
items she had compiled.  "And a panty raid at a private girls' 
school.  All from yesterday's news."

Ranma squinted at the monitor.  "Dalian? Dandong? Fengcheng... 
these are all in China!  You're tellin' me the old geezer got 
all th' way to China in one day?"

Nabiki grinned.  "Amazing, Holmes.  How DO you do it?"

"How'd he get so far so fast?"

Nabiki gave him a half-lidded look of disdain.  "Ranma, you 
know those things that fly around in the sky and make a lot 
of noise?  They're called 'airplanes.'  They go from place to 
place very quickly, and they even carry people sometimes."

Ranma grimaced, more angry with himself for being dense than 
with Nabiki for her mockery.  Of course the old guy could've 
stowed away on a plane easily enough.  He just didn't normally 
associate airplanes with the modes of travel he was accustomed 
to seeing martial artists use.  He was generally so poor that 
air travel seemed like a part of an entirely different universe, 
so it simply hadn't occurred to him.  

"Uh, Nabiki," he asked tentatively, "you think we can afford 
to buy some plane tickets to follow him?"

"Hmm," she said, smiling.  "Why not just swim after him?"

Ranma shot a brief glance at Ryouga, then answered.  "Well, I 
figure we gotta catch up as quick as we can.  Besides, it'll 
give us a head start on the Reikoku, right?  I mean, it ain't 
like that thing'll hop on a jet and follow us, right?"

"Ah, Ranma.  It's so good to see you use your head for something 
other than a mallet rest."  Nabiki gave him a grin which was 
only partially condescending.  "Rapid transit is your friend 
now, gentlemen.  The Reikoku walks wherever it goes.  It doesn't 
sleep, it doesn't slow down.  It does not, however, catch 
trains, busses, or airplanes.  You have to use that to your 
advantage.

"As far as the plane ticket," she continued, "I think you may 
have a solution."  She turned to Ryouga.  "You don't, by any 
chance, still have that prize voucher you won that time?"

Ranma looked confused, but Ryouga understood immediately what 
she was talking about.  It was something he thought about on 
a fairly regular basis, though he was a little ashamed to admit 
it.  "Uh... yeah.  I carry it in my pack."

"Thought you might," Nabiki said smugly.  "Lemme have a look 
at it, hmm?"

Ryouga retrieved his pack and dug around for a moment before 
producing a small slip of paper, which he handed Nabiki.  Ranma 
craned his neck to get a look at the document in question.  
"Hey!" he exclaimed.  "It's that thing ya won in the Anything-
Goes Martial Arts Obstacle Course!"

"Free trip to China," Ryouga acknowledged.  "Yeah."  He'd 
missed the flight that had been his prize, but he still liked 
to keep the voucher around.  It was a concrete reminder of 
the one time he had bested Ranma fair and square in a martial 
arts competition.  In his generally benighted and gloomy life, 
Ryouga took his encouragement where he could get it.

Nabiki studied the coupon briefly, then smiled in satisfaction.  
"As I suspected.  This voucher is still good."

"What?!" Ryouga blurted.  He could have gone back to China any 
time?

"You don't read the fine print, do you?" Nabiki chided.  
"Terrible habit.  They scheduled a suggested time for the 
flight you won, but the voucher is redeemable for other trips.  
They can't guarantee First Class on short notice, but that's 
hardly going to matter."

"All right!" Ranma shouted.  This was the first really good 
news they'd had all night.  "We got a ride to China!"

Ryouga frowned at him. "What do you mean, 'we?' That ticket's 
only good for one person."

"True," Nabiki observed.  "But I'm sure if one of you rides in 
the luggage compartment, everything will be all right."

"Hey," Ranma said, "that ain't legal, y'know."

Nabiki leveled her gaze at Ryouga.  "It is if someone's riding 
in a pet carrier."

Ryouga took a second to absorb her words, then flinched back 
so violently that he nearly went through the wall.  "Y... y... 
you..."

"You know about P-Chan?" Ranma said.  "How'd ya find out?  I 
can't believe it!"

Nabiki shook her head, closing her eyes.  "Please.  I may not 
be a world-famous detective like you, Sherlock," her voice 
dripped sarcasm, "but I do know how to put two and two 
together."

"G... fgg... grmm..." Ryouga stuttered unintelligibly.

"Man," Ranma said, "I just figured if you knew, you woulda 
been blackmailin' him or somethin'."

Nabiki gave him a black look.  "If you want my help, you can 
make an effort to be a bit more polite."

"Sorry!  Sorry!"  Ranma waved his hands and tried to look 
innocent.  

The short-haired girl considered making him grovel a bit more, 
but they were pressed for time.  She plucked a small card off 
her desk and tossed it to Ranma.  "That," she explained, "is 
a phone card.  I shall continue to track Happosai as best as 
I can.  Call back here when you get a chance, and we'll see 
if we can corner that pervert before he gets too far."

"A phone card!" Ranma regarded it with interest.  "Cool!"

"Use it sparingly.  You're going to pay me back for the bill 
when you get back."

"Uh... yeah."

"With interest."

"Right."  Ranma looked considerably less enthusiastic about 
the card.  He pocketed it, then rose to his feet.  "Okay, 
P-Chan.  We gotta get going."

"G... rr... err..."  

Ranma thumped the lost boy on the head.  "Snap outta it!  
Geez."

Ryouga came out of his horrified stupor and took a swipe back 
at Ranma, which he dodged.  "Knock it off!"

"I ain't got all night to sit here and listen to you gibber, 
okay?"

Nabiki rested a hand on each of their shoulders.  "Gentlemen, 
I suggest you make some kind of truce.  You don't have time 
to spare on this kind of stupidity now, do you?"

"Uh, yeah."  Ranma regarded the older girl with interest.  
"Hey, how come you're goin' to so much trouble to help me?"

Nabiki shrugged.  "Consider it an investment in the future.  
I make a tidy sum off your antics, and I'd hate to have that 
revenue stream dry up.  Besides, if you survive all this, 
you'll be family some day.  I do try to take care of my 
family."

"And if I don't survive?"

"Then the very large insurance policy I've taken out in your 
name will have been worth the effort."

Ranma gave her a wide-eyed look of disbelief.  "You... nah, 
you're kiddin'."  He chuckled nervously.  "Heh... that's a 
good one, Nabiki."

She simply raised an eyebrow and gave him a small, unreadable 
smile.

- - - - - -

The good-byes didn't take as long this time, and they were far 
more solemn.

Ryouga looked upon Akane, her eyes filled with grief and fear, 
and a melancholy smile crossed his face.  Her sadness moved him 
deeply, but it would pass.  He and Ranma might not live, but 
she would survive.  At the moment, that was all that really 
mattered to him.  He was at peace with his decision, his 
sacrifice.  What she said to him didn't even hurt that badly.

"Please take care of yourself, Ryouga.  And please, please... 
keep Ranma safe."

<Akane, my sweet Akane.  I shall do as you bid.  No matter 
who you decide to love in the end, my love for you will always 
remain the same.>  He sighed, and promised her that he would 
do his best.  

The farewell between Ranma and Akane was far more awkward and 
stilted.  Each had deep reflexes to hide any genuine emotions 
of affection that might arise through teasing or insults.  Each 
desperately wanted to make this parting a good one, though, 
to give voice to the things their hearts and eyes were trying 
so hard to say.  The middle ground they achieved was not 
terribly satisfying, but it wasn't too bad, either.

"Hey, Akane, I ain't good at long good-byes or nothin'," 
Ranma scratched his head as he spoke.

"Yeah, neither am I."

"Listen..." Ranma started again, then stopped a moment, 
rethinking what he was about to say.

"Yes?"

"Listen, I got real clumsy tonight with that thing, but I 
never make the same mistake twice.  So you don't have to 
worry about me, all right?"

Akane sniffled a bit and nodded.  "All right.  I trust you... 
to take care of yourself."

He tried a bit of the old Saotome confidence.  "Hey, it's no 
sweat!  All I gotta do is keep one step ahead of that thing 
and find the old guy."

"Just... just don't underestimate him again, okay?"

"Yeah."

A long pause followed.  Ranma was acutely aware that every 
second counted.

"So," he announced, "I guess I'll see ya soon.  Right?"

Akane tried a brave smile.  "Of course!  Very soon."

Ranma nodded.  "Okay then!  So long!"

They continued to stare at one another.

"Have a good trip!" Akane said.

"You bet!"

Another long pause ensued.

"Keep in touch!" 

"I will!"

And yet another awkward length of silence stretched out 
between them.

"Safe journey!" Akane tried again.

"We wi..." >WHAP!<

Ranma whirled to face the panda who'd just hit him with a 
wooden signboard, which read [Get on with it, already!]  He 
lashed out and booted the old man skyward, irritably rubbing 
the bump on his head.  

"Geez," Ranma growled.  "Didn't even have the decency to turn 
human again to see me off.  What an idiot."  A sentimental 
farewell between Ranma and his father was simply not in the 
cards.

Still, the interruption had served its purpose.  Ranma took 
a hold of Ryouga's shirt.  "Let's hit the road, lost boy.  
We gotta make some time."

"Don't call me that," Ryouga grunted instinctively. 

Ranma locked eyes with Akane for one last moment before he 
turned.  His throat tightened as he saw the longing in her 
eyes and her trembling lips as she struggled not to cry.  
"I'll miss you," he whispered.  It was as close as he could 
get to saying what he wanted to say.

"I'll miss you," she echoed.  

That was about all he could take and still hope to keep his 
composure.  He envied the way that Ryouga and Akane could 
let the tears fall, but he couldn't allow it in himself.  
He turned and headed towards the gateway of the Tendou Dojo.

Akane kept expecting him to look back at the last moment, but 
he did not.

Ryouga looked back.  He was more of a defeatist than Ranma, 
and was prepared to accept that they would both be dead soon.  
If he only had one last chance to see Akane, he wasn't going 
to miss it.  So he paused a moment before they passed through 
the gateway, letting the image of her on the porch burn into 
his mind.  He would cherish that memory in the times to come, 
the image of Akane in her blue dress with the lights of the 
dojo streaming softly behind her, full of pain but still healthy 
and alive.  If this was as close to true love as Hibiki Ryouga 
was destined to get, he could die content.  

Ranma did not look back.  To do so, to him, would have been 
to admit defeat, to acknowledge that there was a chance that 
this really might be the last time he'd ever see her.  He would 
never accept that.  There was too much left unsaid, too much 
left undone, for this to be an ending.  He refused to entertain 
the notion for a second.

Besides, if he'd turned back, she might have seen a tear in 
his eyes.

For Akane, the moment seemed suspended in time - Ryouga looking 
back at her with a smile on his face and tears on his cheeks, 
Ranma facing away from her, towards the battle which he would 
be fighting without her.  And then it was over; the two vanished 
into the darkness.  Akane knelt on the porch and wept, her heart 
aching, with the words that she could not bring herself to say 
still ringing in her mind.    

                    end of chapter two



-----------------------------------------------------------
                      AUTHOR'S NOTES
-----------------------------------------------------------

In case there was any doubt, I use a jumbled hybrid of the Ranma 1/2
Anime and Manga as my source material.  When there's a conflict or
inconsistency between the two sources, I tend to use whichever one
appeals to me most.  This is, of course, a highly subjective way
to do things, and I apologize if it doesn't end up being quite the 
same history that other people accept. 

The Anything-Goes Martial Arts Obstacle Course was an anime episode
in the third season.  I enjoyed it, in a large part, because Ryouga
actually won the race.  It's so rare that you get to see Ranma beat
in a Martial Arts competition, and Ryouga deserves a break now and
then.  I thought it was a legitimate assumption that he would hold 
on to his (supposedly) useless prize for sentimental reasons.

COMING SOON:  Ranma and Ryouga in China!  Ukyou returns to Nerima
and gets a very unpleasant surprise!  And, as if Ranma didn't have
enough problems already, another threatening figure from his past
returns!  

COPYRIGHT STUFF:  All the Ranma characters belong to Takahashi Rumiko,
and are licensed in America by Viz Communications.    

GRT - May 1998
grayson@rigroup.net