Spirit within II: A new world of mystery.

	I decided to write a sequel to Spirit within. I won't tell what series it is
just yet and it should not go near as long as the first one did. I hope it
comes out as well as the first one did and not end up as a 'Our hero comes and
fixes every one's problems' self insert fic. Well, its not really one of those
any more anyway. Lets just say this guy used to be me. 

	One hundred and twenty year old Ranma Saotome lay in his bed and smiled at
his family. At one time he had been two people one named Sean and the other
named Ranma. One of them wasn't real, at least until some mysterious power
joined them together as one being. His family was unaware of it, he had never
told anyone of his secret simply because they didn't need to know. It would
not have changed anything. They stood around him and wept as he slipped away.
"Great grand father don't die!" cried Ritsuko as she hugged him. She was a
tall beautiful young girl of twenty who had recently married her long time
fiancee'.
	"You look just like your great grandmother did at your age." said Ranma with
a smile. Much had happened in his life even if it was not really his own. "I
lived a blessed life, I saw all I wanted accomplished in it." said Ranma with
a smile that faded as his heart began to give again.
	"Don't worry father. The Hibiki line will carry on the school." said His son
in law as he comforted his wife. She clung to her husband tightly and wept not
wanting to see her all powerful father in such a weakened condition. Well, he
seemed that way to her anyway.
	His son walked up and smiled as he griped his fathers shoulder tightly in
affection. "As will the Saotome line." he said confidently. Ranma smiled at
this and looked at his now eighty year old son. 
	"I know that is why I go to join your mother and many old friends." said the
dying man. "I leave you as the head of the family. Perhaps I should have long
ago, but I wanted to see my great granddaughter become the woman I knew she
would." said Ranma as he returned his son's grip.
	"Father." said the man as his wife came over to him and took his arm. At that
Ranma's heart gave out at last. He was dead.

	Darkness was all Sean could see. He could not move and it had been so for a
long time. He occupied his time by playing back the many memories of his past
life. "Perhaps this is what heaven is." he thought. He felt very warm and
secure. Then everything changed, behind him he felt something give.
	 He felt something pushing him forward and crush him. He tried to breathe but
no air could be found, he writhed as he felt the world shift forward, in a
panic he began to struggle. The wall around him began to close together. "Oh
god! I've gone to hell!" he thought desperately. He felt something grip his
head hard and pull. Sean felt cool air on the top of his head and tried to
open his eyes which seemed sealed shut. He felt himself being lifted into the
air by his feet and bright lights surrounded him. A sudden pain came across
his back and he saw a large colorful blur move towards him. He registered
speech in the air and he realized what had happened. He had just been born. He
began to scream. The only sound he could make. 

	Seven months later...
	
	The young child sat in its crib and laughed and smiled at the new play thing
his parents had placed over the crib. They were nice people and he liked
living with them. Even if she insisted on breast feeding him. He giggled as
she played with him through the bars making coddling noises at him and
laughing at herself for doing it. The man treated him like a fragile object
that could break at any time. He seemed nervous when handling him and smiled
at the life in the crib that he had helped create. They soon left the child to
himself and turned out the lights as they left the room. 
	The young boy known as Ryo stood up in the crib and looked at the door as he
thought of his new family. His childish joy disappeared as he looked at the
world with a hundred and twenty year old wisdom. Emotionally he was still
seven moths old, and he knew it. He had all the desires and feelings of a
seven month old baby. But his knowledge had remained the same. He knew how to
talk, write, drink, ride a bike. ect. ect. But more importantly he still knew
how to fight. He just had to train this new body, and that would take years.
He frowned and realized that he could be in an entirely different world.
Perhaps reality again, perhaps not. He lay back down and went to sleep. "I'm
going to need a training partner." he thought as he drifted off. "Or perhaps a
rival." he thought with a wry grin.

	Two years later...
	
	Ryo walked with his mother and frowned as she handed him a lollipop. "Just
how old does she think I am?" he mental growled before it registered. "Oh,
yes. Two." he reminded himself. As he had gotten older he had to be more
careful about his intellect and training. He had to remember to speak and act
the way a relatively normal two year old would until he figured out where he
was. He had discovered that he lived in a place known as Shininome and that
the Nerima he had known for so many years did not exist. Nerima was there but
no Tendo dojo or Cat cafe',  even Ucchans was non existent. His child like
instincts stuck the candy in his mouth greedily and he allowed himself to be
reminded to thank the kindly old store clerk for the candy. As soon as he
turned two he had begun basic martial arts training on his new body. Very
basic stretching mostly to help with his flexibility when he was older. He of
course knew how to do the exercises on himself having done it to three
generations of Saotome and Hibiki children. However, he had to be careful. He
could seriously hurt himself or even stunt his own growth if he pushed himself
to far at such an early age. He still wondered exactly what world he was in.
Then he saw it, it was sitting in a news stand. Shonen Sunday, on the cover
was a picture of Ranma 1/2 and its cast. He frowned deeply and began to wail
loudly.

	A few years pass...
	
	Ryo Kagome sat at his desk and sighed as he began his first day of school in
over one hundred years. He looked around the room and saw the other children
happily playing amongst themselves and talking about simple subjects. He
noticed a familiar looking boy sitting in the back of the room and could not
place them. He walked back and sat at the desk directly in front of him. Some
of the more shy students edged towards the back of the class and some even
cowered in fear. The perky young teacher began the lesson and smiled brightly
at the children as she called the role. Ryo sat laid back and confident as she
reached his name. "Hai." he replied as he looked at her calmly. "I'm certainly
glad I'm still in my 'all girls are ikky' stage. A woman like her would
usually be attractive." he thought to himself.
	Ryo froze, something registered in his head. 
	"Mizuhara, Makoto." she said after a few other names.
	Ryo slowly turned and looked at the now very familiar boy behind him and
gawked at him for a moment. "Thats it! That's where I am!" his mind told him.
As he stared at Mokoto a strange blue aura formed around the boy that only Ryo
could see. It was faint but he was the only one in the room who had it besides
himself. "So, That is our destiny Mizuhara." he said to himself.

[[[Insert El-Hazard theme here.]]] 
	
	Mokoto sat with his new friend in the small playground at the school they
attended. 
	Makoto's attention in the other child faded as she looked at the strange boy
in the corner of the yard. He had taken over the balance beam that the larger
children usually used as a seat during their own recess. He was balancing on
it and doing a simple kata flawlessly.
	Mokoto watched in amazement. The boy looked over at them and smiled.
"Mizuhara Makoto, prepare to die!" he cried as he jumped off the beam and
leaped five feet into the air and came down in a kick near him.
	"D-do I know you?" asked Makoto nervously."
	"My name is Kagome Ryo, and no not really." said the boy as he stepped into a
lose stance.
	"Why are you doing this to me?!" said Makoto near tears.
	"Don't worry Makoto san. I won't hurt you, yet. You are the only one who will
stand a chance against me as my power increases. I can see it in your aura. We
will fight every chance I get, you will become better over time." said Ryo
with a malicious grin. "And you will be much better prepared for El-hazard."
he thought to himself.
	"Your crazy! I don't want to fight you!" cried Makoto.
	"You leave him alone you bully!" said the other child as she stood between
them.
	Ryo grabbed her and threw her down in a painless maneuver that rendered her
helpless for a moment. It also moved her out of his way and let her know that
she didn't stand a chance. Well, if she was older maybe.
	"Ha. That didn't hurt at all." she said triumphantly as she stood up and
dusted herself off.
	"It wasn't supposed to. I don't want to hurt him yet girl, or you for that
matter." said Ryo confidently as he turned on Makoto. He didn't even try to
fight back. Ryo walked away leaving a shaken but unharmed Makoto standing in
the corner as recess ended. The play ground monitor finally woke up and walked
into class. 
	Makoto looked at the boy in front of him with mixed emotions of fear and
loathing. He had simply tagged him repeatedly with light punches during the
play period, no one would even care. Fact was he wasn't even hurt, he just
felt humiliated. The same thing would happen every day for months. The only
time he got breaks was during breaks in the school year and weekends. Until
one day...
	Makoto stood as Ryo punched at him lightly. "Stop it please!" he cried.
	"One day you'll thank me for this." said Ryo in a slightly frustrated voice.
Makoto dodged around as many of the blows as he could, that wasn't many. Only
once had he gotten hurt in the cruel boy's game and that had been a fluke. The
some of Makoto's new friends ran after them yelling simple insults to the boy
as he chased Makoto around keeping well out of their range with quick
movements. All it took was for Ryo to turn and face them for most of them to
back off if they got to close.
	 Then Makoto finally did it. As Ryo swung Makoto performed a simple block and
punched shakily at Ryo. Both of them froze. Makoto looked in terror at what he
had done and prepared to get beaten for it. His arm was stuck out missing
Ryo's head by millimeters. Ryo smiled as Makoto's fan club caught up and began
to laugh. 
	"That's it Makoto! you don't have to take that from him!" cried one of the
boys in approval for him finally fighting back.
	"That's the spirit Makoto!" cried Ryo slapping him on the back.
	"Huh?!" cried Makoto in shock.
	"You fool, why do you think I did this to you all this time. I need a rival,
you are the only one capable of becoming that man." said Ryo with a large
grin. "I've been training you." 
	"You call this training?" yelled Makoto as he took another swing at the
laughing Ryo in his anger. Ryo dodged and the game resumed this time Makoto
was actively participating, all though he was doing very poorly, he only got
off one more punch in before the teacher called the class in again.
	"Boys, no wonder they are so creepy." said one of the many girls watching in
disgust. The others only nodded in agreement.

	A few days later....
	
	Summer break had begun and Nanami was cheerfully walking over to her friends
home. She heard strange noises coming from the back yard of one home. Out of
curiosity she peeked into the yard.
	Little Makoto was standing and yelling as he swung clumsily at the air in the
back yard of his home. "What are you doing?" asked Nanami.
	"Practicing." said Makoto. "I don't want to get beat up." he said to her as
she walked back and sat down.
	"Your Makoto right? But he never beats you up, not really anyway." said
Nanami to no one in particular.
	"Yea I know. But its really annoying. I never get to enjoy my recess." whined
Makoto.
	"Not from what I see, I'd almost think you look forward to it lately." she
commented looking at him with a board expression. 
	"I do not." cried Makoto blushing. "Do I?" he thought. Nanami shrugged and
walked away to see her friend.

	Several years pass and recess is still the same. 
	
	Makoto however is much improved. He holds his own against the now full force
blows of his self proclaimed trainer. Also the schedule has been toned down to
once a week or so. However it also includes attacks outside school. They were
in the seventh grade now and Makoto walked towards the store for his mother.
He had long ago begun formal training at a local Kung fu dojo in an effort to
finally defeat his rival. He had come close but never accomplished the task,
He was something of a celebrity among local dojo's and had won several
tournaments and his matches with the mysterious Ryo had begun to draw a crowd.
	None of the owners could make out his style. He had often been questioned on
the matter and had disappeared or run away from many an outraged Dojo owner.
Often in fact Ryo received challenges from students of the dojos involved.
	"If you want to fight me, you have to beat Mizuhara. He announced one day
after beating several boys. Three years had passed and his challenge had only
been met once, and that had been a fluke. Makoto's life was turning into an
episode of Ranma 1/2. 
	Today was special, it was the first time in a very long time that Makoto had
been beaten so easily by the boy. "Damn him." he muttered as he walked towards
the store on an errand for his mother.
	"Hello Makoto." said a familiar voice from above him.
	"Not again! Haven't you humiliated me enough today?" cried Makoto as he
turned to face Ryo who was standing on a roof top and smiling down on him.
	"Come with me, this will only take a moment, I want to show you something."
Said Ryo calmly as he lept down beside the boy.
	
	"Today you learn your first special attack from me. With this what happened
to you earlier will be a distant memory." said Ryo as they walked into a
deserted alley.
	"Why should I trust you?" yelled Makoto.
	"Have I ever deceived you before?" asked Ryo.
	"Special attack? I think you've watched too much anime." said Makoto as he
began to walk away.
	"Watch." said Ryo as he started a fire in a large basin that had been
prepared. Makoto watched as he pulled a bag from his shirt and flung it into
the flames.
	"This is your special attack?" he grumbled.
	"No, this." said Ryo with a sneer. His arms vanished and after a moment two
piles of roasted chestnuts appeared on either side of the tub.
	"T-Thats the..." started Makoto in amazement.
	"Yes Makoto san. Katsutenshin Amaguriken." said Ryo with a grin.
	"Just like in the manga." said Makoto with wide eyes.
	"Every technique in that manga is real. I have achieved three of them
already." said Ryo with a smile.
	"Three?!" cried Makoto in shock.
	"Yes, I will teach them to you and you will be a better opponent." he said
with a wry grin.
	"How can I beat someone like this?" thought Makoto desperately.
	Ryo saw the look and smiled. "You can defeat me Makoto san. I am not
invincible. However you will have to work very hard to do so. You already know
the method of training for this, I suggest you get started." said Ryo as he
walked away leaving a bewildered Makoto watching him leave.
	After a few moments Makoto looked at the ground. "What did I get myself
into?" he cried. A few more moments passed and he stood tall. "I'll be damned
if I let him beat me so easily." he cried to the sky.

	A few days pass...
	
	Nanami bandaged Makoto's hands carefully and he winced in pain. "How did you
burn yourself so badly Makoto san?" she asked calmly.
	"Uh, It was an accident." said Makoto sheepishly.
	"Uh Huh, well I'm not letting you read my Ranma's any more." she said to him.
	He sat quietly and turned red. 
	TbC....

	Next time: El Hazard land of mystery and danger!
C&C to Catbert25@aol.com

BtW I'll be using the four tape original and not the TV series as the
background for this story.