Um. Here I go again with another fanfic. I realise I shouldn't really be
starting another one, but I couldn't help it. This is a serious work (I
need a break in writing comedy and I'm still kinda stumped on Ranma +
Ryoga). Tell me if you like the story so far ... I've got a rough idea at
where this is going, but mostly I'm playing this one as it goes ...

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction set within the Ranma 1/2 Universe
created by Rumiko Takahashi.

__________________________     

All's Fair In Love And War                      
__________________________

Part 1.


Night was falling and the large room was getting quite cold despite the
air conditioning. Already, the moon was becoming visible in the grey sky
through the large windows, its moonlight beginning to shine like a
crescent lamp. Through the glass, the city of Osaka spread out like a
blanket of stars, the many dots of light resembling a haphazard pattern
of chaos. Up so high, the faint line of the horizon struggled to be seen,
in contest with the smog for the right to be visible.

Ryane sat back in her easy chair and ignored the magnificent view in
favour of staring at the blank, white wall of her office. She had thought
that this time she had finally been free of the memories. But,
periodically, unfailingly, her mind never let her forget. Last night had
been particularly bad.

She looked at the tall vase of flowers sitting on her large desk in front
of her. They were, actually quite lovely, flowers with a flawless crimson
colour. She smirked at the card hanging off a string tied to one of the
thorny stems. Hiro would soon give up after maybe the fifth rejection
she thought, with a small smile devoid of any humour. She leaned forward
and picked up her glass of champagne that was resting beside the flowers
and took a small sip.

The loud ring of the phone momentarily startled her. She cursed at
the noise and picked it up, sitting her glass of alcohol back in its
place beside the flowers. "Ryane Kibagami speaking," she spoke crisply
into the phone, trying to hide the irritation she felt.

"Ryane!" a loud gravelly voice said in relief. "I've been looking for you
everywhere. Why are you still at the office?"

She recognised the voice. It was only her boss. "Oh, I was just working a
little on the Cosmo Girl project," she said, running her free hand
through a loose lock of her hair. "Revising through our notes and I just
kind of lost track of the time."

Mister Horoku's short laugh came through the line. "Always working so
hard, Ryane, you amaze me. Anyway, I just called to ask you a big
favor..."

"You know you can always count on me," Ryane cut in.

There was a short pause at the other end. "Well, this job's a little
different. I know you gave up the 'floor work,' so to speak, but this is
really important. You know there's a big photo shooting session for Cosmo
at ten tomorrow. Well, Karin just called me to say that she's feeling a
little under the weather and all the other girl's schedules are booked up
tight for tomorrow ... wait," he said just when Ryane was going to
interrupt. "You're looking at a fat bonus for this, and you'll also get
the commission."

Ryane mulled over that for a second. "Karin's sick? I hope she's okay."

"Oh yeah, she said it wasn't serious, just a case of the flu. So will you
do it?"

"It's tempting," Ryane said slowly. "But tell me the real reason why you
want _me_ doing the job instead of any of our other girls. You know you
can find a replacement dirt easy with the kind of money you're offering
me, even if their schedules are full."

Mr Horoku laughed again. "I swear you have a sixth sense, my girl. Your
instincts are amazing. How I ever found you that day, it was a stroke of
pure luck-"

"You're stalling," Ryane chuckled.

"True, true," he said. "But damn it, you know I still think you were the
best. And still are, I might add. How I ever let you talk me into giving
you a desk job, I'll never know. A damn waste I tell you, a damn waste,"
he lamented. "Although, I'm not complaining with the increased profits
you've brought in now, mind you," he added.

Ryane couldn't help laughing. "Okay, okay, I'll do it. Now is there
anything else I should know?"

After her boss gave her the details he also reminded her of the business
dinner at the Cosmo Girl building on Saturday night. "So, who's going to
be your hot date?" he joked.

"Very funny, ha ha," she said sarcastically. "You know I don't date."

"And it's one of the greatest mysteries of the world," he said in a
pseudo-serious tone. Then he thanked her for doing the job for him and
after the usual goodbyes were said, they hung up.

Ryane felt better after the call. She liked her boss. Big and jolly, with
a long white beard and fuzzy white hair, he resembled that silly, Santa
Claus, that other countries promoted at Christmas. He was like the
real father she never had. The type of father anyone would have wanted.
But life was far from fair and typically, she had been stuck with one of
the worst. She realised that the tickling feeling on her cheek was a
stray tear, and abruptly wiped at it with the back of her hand. She had
vowed to herself years ago that she would stop thinking about the past,
but sometimes it was impossible to prevent it. Especially just after the
nightmare visited ... no she would not think anymore on the subject.

She stood up and stretched, her fingers clasped together as she lifted
her arms over her head. After straightening out some of her papers, she
picked up a hairbrush from her desk and walked over to her wall mirror.
She observed her reflected image and smoothed out her blouse and
knee-length skirt. She was careful to avoid looking at her haunted blue
eyes as she combed her straight black hair, which was worn loose around
her shoulders. She frowned when saw that the long streak of red hair
which grew at her hairline was visible. Carefully, she combed an
abundance of black hair over it, which resulted in a length of hair
covering her right cheek and obstructing her eye. 

Satisfied with her appearance, she walked back to her desk and picked up
her long, grey trench coat which had been hanging over her chair. After
shrugging on the coat, she picked up her small handbag and hooked it over
her shoulder. Time to go home, she thought.


<><><>


Ryane looked at the city below her through the sheer glass walls of the
elevator. She smiled, feeling a slight buzz from the champagne she had
drunk earlier. Somewhat unsteadily, she stepped closer to the glass wall
and looked down. The extreme height of the building had always fascinated
her. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to fall through the air
at this height, her arms and legs spread wide as she welcomed the
on-rushing, hard ground. When she hit, would she even feel pain or would
death come so quick, there wouldn't be enough time to feel it? She
imagined herself, leaping through the glass and ... the elevator bell
rang and the doors slid open with a faint whoosh. She was startled that
she had reached the ground floor already. Shrugging, she pulled her
handbag up higher on her shoulder, turned around and walked briskly
towards the main entrance of the building, her high-heels clicking
periodically on the white marble floor.

She nodded to the security guard as she passed him in the main foyer and
tried to ignore his lust-filled stare. After all these years, she had
never gotten used to the looks of frank male appreciation. Oh, she might
have looked nonchalant and calm on the outside, but inside she was
seething in anger and a sense of disgust. She didn't know how she had
survived it so far, but she guessed that her shell must have just gotten
thicker as time went by.

She stepped through the revolving doors and into the crisp, cold bite of
the evening wind. Her hair blew around her shoulders as she walked along
the footpath, searching frantically along the street for a cab. Horns
honked and people shoved past her as she made long sweeps with her eyes.
There didn't seem to be any cabs at all. She looked at her watch, a cute
Mickey Mouse one that her friend Karin gave her for her twenty-sixth
birthday. It was just past seven o'clock. She looked up again and made
another sweep. There. She spotted one and ran to the edge of the street
and waved at it. Lucky, the idiot saw her and stopped by her side. She
opened the door and got in, carefully entering sideways as she couldn't
spread her legs very far within the skirt. After getting in, she shut the
car door with a slam.

"Where to Ma'am?" the driver said, talking to her chest. Ryane looked
down and found that the front of her coat was slightly open, showing some
skin and the start of her cleavage. She closed it quickly. When she
looked up, she found the fat man giving her an oily smile.

Trying not to let the disgust enter her voice, Ryane told him to drive
her to Hankyu International Hotel. 

The driver scratched at his unkempt, dirty-brown hair. "Yeah, I kinda
know where that is." He belched. "Well, little lady, let's be off." And
with that, he put his foot hard on the accelerator and screeched off
without even bothering to signal. There was a loud honking that exploded
behind them, which grew fainter as they grew further away.

Ryane stared outside the passenger window, trying to avoid looking at the
driver. Did all men think their cars were connected to their dicks, she
asked herself. And this idiot didn't even own the cab they were driving
in. It was a crappy cab to boot.

She thought about the photo session that was being shot the next day. She
hadn't done one of those in a long while. She wondered if she could
stomach it now, now that she was out of practise. She didn't worry about
whether she still had the 'looks' as it was obvious every time she looked
in the mirror. Actually, she wouldn't have minded if her appearance just
suddenly went all to hell, with a fat, stumpy body and a withered face.
Instead she had a tight, slim and athletic physique, with large breasts
for her size and a flawless face. I guess it goes with the type of
exercises I do and my genetic make-up, she thought, thinking of her 
mother the last time she saw her. It was quite a while. What did she 
look like now? Ryane knew that she held more than a passing resemblance 
to the way she remembered what her mother looked like. In fact, she 
could have even passed for her sister, except Ryane had grown much 
taller over the years and she was sure that she was taller than her 
now. Too bad she couldn't have ended up more like her father, she 
thought ironically.

Suddenly, with a start, Ryane realised that the cab was not taking her in
the right direction of the hotel where she lived. The area looked kind of
seedy and deserted. "Excuse me," she said, alarmed as she turned around
to face the driver. "I don't think this is the way to my hotel."

The fat driver didn't bother to look at her. "It's a short-cut," he said
unconvincingly as he turned into a side-street. No, it was an alleyway,
Ryane realised.

"Bullshit. What do you think you're doing?" she said angrily.

The driver stopped the car and switched off the engine. He wiped his
sweaty hands on the top of his pants and turned to face her. He was
wearing that oily leer of his again. "Why, I'm thinking I'm going to rob
ya of everythin' ya got, then," he licked his chops, "I'm thinkin' I'm
gonna sample of your nice tight body." However, he grew a puzzled
expression on his pimply face when Ryane just smirked at him.

"Huh? Really!" she laughed mockingly. "All by your fat little self?"

His face grew red. "Well if you're into some group loving, we got plenty
to share in the fun." He opened his door and got out. 

Ryane realised that there were more men coming out of the shadows of the
alley. She hurriedly opened her door and jumped out, leaving her handbag
in the car. Looking all around her, she found out that she was surrounded
by at least four men, including the taxi-cab driver.

One of the new men to the left of her spoke up. He had blond hair worn in
a short braid on his neck. He was of average height and was kind of
skinny. "Saki, you've out done yourself this time ... she's the best
looking chit you've stolen by far," he said with a wide-eyed stare full
of lust. "I can't wait to sample her."

"No, it's my turn to be the first this time," the man to the right of her
said in an annoyed tone. He was very short, standing at least a head
shorter than Ryane's five feet, ten inches. However the thickness of his
body suggested a heavily muscled physique. "The last one you had turned
out to be a virgin. I want to pop some cherries too. Are you a virgin,
girl?"

Ryane's face filled up with blood as she grew momentarily embarrassed.
Then she grew angry.

"It looks like we might just be lucky again, this time." Ryane
immediately half turned to keep the man closest to her back in view. She
was surprised at the size of the man. He must have stood at least six
feet, four inches. And he was bulky, and it didn't look like fat either.
He was even quite handsome, with a smooth face, silver-grey eyes and
longish black hair. "I got a real good feeling that this one's unbroken."

"That's a load of crap," the cab driver said. "I mean just look at her.
She's friggin gorgeous, and she ain't no teenager. I reckon she's been
done at least a hunnerd times by now ... and by the time this nights over
she's gonna be done two hunnerd." He laughed at his own sick joke.

"Nah, I can sense it. I bet you half of your share of what she's carrying
that she's fresh meat," the giant replied.

Ryane looked contemptuously at them. "And as if you scum are ever going
to find out. I'm warning you, just give me the keys to the car, I drive
out and no-one gets hurt."

They laughed at her. "I'll get her," the midget said, walking up to her.
Ryane stood still, the only movement was her hair and the lower flaps of
her trench coat flapping in the cold wind. "Where's your struggle, girl?
Aren't you going to make this fun for me?" When he was only about a foot
away, he turned and smirked at his friends. "See? All hot air. She's
scared stiff- arghhhhhh!"

He screamed as there was a loud snap and he abruptly flew sideways at
least ten meters into the heavily graffitied brick wall. His friends
looked on shocked as the midget's unmoving body slid brokenly off the
wall, leaving a slimy red trail like some disgusting human slug.

They turned to look back at her, as she slowly completed her turn.
She lowered her outstretched leg. "I warned you," she said, with a
half-smile on her lips.

That was the signal for a full-on attack. As one, the men roared and
charged her. The blond skinny man reached her first. Ryane blocked his
wild swing almost lazily, then returned the favour with a hard gut punch.
There was another loud snap as the man bent forward at an unnatural
angle, and his face turned blue. Ryane kicked him away and faced the next
man.

It was the taxi-cab driver. Ryane felt that she owed this one a lot of
pain. She sidestepped to the right of his fat charge and tripped him with
her left foot. As he fell forwards, she made his stomach land on her
right knee. She avoided the vomit which exploded from his mouth and
kicked him in the rear, her sharp high-heel puncturing his buttocks and
sending him headfirst onto all the garbage and crap at the side of the
alleyway. She'd deal with him later.

She turned to her final opponent, the giant, with her hands raised to the
ready. "I'm impressed. You're one heck of a fighter lady," he said.
"Anything Goes, right?" Ryane gasped. "Yeah, I thought so. I met a guy
that used that martial art before, way back in my youth. I wonder how
I'll go against an expert?"

Ryane, wondering just who he was talking about, crooked her fingers at
him. "Come and find out," she breathed.

The huge man, stepped closer on the balls of his feet. Despite his large
size, he moved smoothly and gracefully. "I'm thinking I am," he answered,
just before he brought his right arm in a chop. Ryane sensed that it was
a fake-out though, and waited for the real attack. She was right. Instead
of the chop, the man moved unnaturally fast to give a powerful left,
twisting back into right, spin into left.

Ryane blocked them all smoothly, but the strength of the hits was such
that she was being pushed back, not so much as giving ground, but her
feet slipping backwards despite the high pointed heel digging into the
dirt floor. The style was very familiar, but somehow she just couldn't
point her finger on where she had encountered it before. She did remember
how to counter it though. As the man kept attacking in a frenzied manner,
she found the opening she was looking for and exploited the hole in his
offence. She weaved in like water through an open palm, and struck
rapidly with her fists and open palms on certain points on his chest.
Surprised by the pain, the giant fell back under the onslaught and found
his body opening up as if to invite even more punishment.

"What is this?" he shouted in confusion as he found that he could not
control his limbs. They were opening up like a flower to invite the
hummingbird. And Ryane was glad to fill that role. She lifted her legs,
and with extreme speed and agility, she repeatedly roundhouse kicked his
chest with her high heels, puncturing many holes in his chest numerous
times, before Ryane grew bored, and flipped in the opposite direction,
rising into the air and using her other foot to crack him on the back of
his lowered head. To complete the brutal beating, she landed before the
giant could land on his face, and kneed him in the balls so hard he flew
several meters backwards and landed on his back with a solid thump. His
still body continued to slide backwards until a trashcan pressing
into his back stopped his movement.

Breathing slightly harder than normal, Ryane stood and surveyed her
handiwork. They would live, she knew, but that was all she could promise
them. Suddenly remembering that the taxi cab driver knew the hotel she
was living in, she walked up to his still body and touched a few pressure
points on his head. Now he would not remember. As a side effect he might
experience severe head-aches, that felt as if his brain was slowly being
ripped out with a metal hook, but it was his fault for kidnapping her in
the first place.

She sighed and bent over to fish the car keys from his pocket. She would
remember to wash her hands when she got home, she promised herself. She
looked down, annoyed at her trench coat. Blood stains were a bitch to get 
out. She would also have to remember to visit the laundromat on the way 
home.

After dusting herself off as best as she could, she walked over to the
taxi-cab and got in the driver's side. After pulling out her compact to
check her makeup and fix it, she started the car and pulled out of the
alleyway. She wondered where she could abandon the cab once she got close
enough to her hotel.


****** End of Part 1


Hmmmm. This really wasn't supposed to be 'Dark' but I guess it sort of
turned out a bit darkish? At least no-one died ^_^.

Anyways, C&C welcomed. This is far from finished by the way. I do have a
thought out plot, it's not going to be mindless violence. In fact, I
don't think part 2 is going to have any (much?) violence in it at all, I
have more plot development in that part. I'll probably have the next part
done by next week or if all goes well, this weekend. Tell me what you
thought! I really want to know!


Ace Sanchez

jsa@fl.net.au
http://jsa.users.fl.net.au/