Ranma 1/2 was created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Jet Moto was created (I think) by Sony.

In any event, the two are used without permission.

        C&C is, as always, requested and greatly appreciated.

Enjoy!

=========================================================

	"What's with that diesel dyke?" Ranma asked himself as he gazed at his
reflection.

	The room was small, and exceptionally tidy. The furniture consisted of a
bed, a chair, and a chest of drawers with a mirror atop it. The walls were
peach colored, with a hardwood floor and western-style door. The whole room,
in fact, was done in western style. 

	All things considered, it was MUCH better than the sleazy dives he'd been
in before.

	Ranma lightly traced the prize-winning shiner that adorned his left eye. He
had to admit, that girl had a mean right. The eye was swollen nearly shut,
and still dully throbbed with his heartbeat.

	"And I've gotta race with her?" he asked his reflection. Heaving an
irratible sigh, Ranma shrugged out of his pilot suit. He wasn't in the mood
for a bath at the moment, preferring to take one in the morning. In his
boxers, he strode over to a nearby wall. On the wall was a ten-by-ten inch
panel, which slid open when Ranma pressed a white button above it. Dumping
his suit, gloves, and boots, he pressed the button again, closing the panel.
The suit would be taken to the laundry room, where it would be clean and
pressed by the next morning. On his way to the bed he stopped by the chest,
picking up his wallet.

	His wallet was rather thin, having little to no money in it at any given
time. All he ever had was his ID, which doubled as his pilot's license, and
a picture.

	Collapsing on the bed, Ranma opened the wallet, taking out the one thing in
it that held any significance for him.

	She was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever known. The picture
captured that nicely. Her red hair was done in the same pig-tail style as
his. The deep blue eyes could, and in some cases did, entrap a man
hopelessly. The pilot suit, done in the same style as his, hugged her curves
in a way that turned most men into jelly.

	A lone tear ran down his cheek as the memories flooded his mind. She was so
healthy, so vibrant. A few hours later, she was dead. It all came back so
vivdly... The flames, the sound.... Ranma violently pushed the memories out
of his head. That was in the past. Ranko was dead, and nothing could change it.

	Still clutching the picture, Ranma drifted off to sleep.

==========================================================================

	"So he's pretty good, huh?" Nabiki asked. She was seated behind her desk,
Akane on the other side.

	Nabiki was dressed in one of her more flattering skirt suits. The charcoal
gray skirt and double-breasted jacket hugged her hips and enhanced her
shoulders nicely. Akane, in simply a jogging suit, glared at her sister.

	"He cheated!" Akane barked. "Letting me do all the hard work, then TAKING
the win!" 

	Nabiki supressed a chuckle, and replied, "Tactics nonwithstanding, he DID
take first place. Just how many people have beaten you on the track in the
past six months, Hmmm?" Akane's hot glare met with Nabiki's cool gaze.
Finally, Akane broke the stare.

	"Ok, so he's not quite so bad a racer..." she conceded, "but he's still a
jerk!" 

	Nabiki chalked up another victory. The whole purpose of calling her younger
sister in was to get across the point that she had to at least be civil to
Ranma. "Akane, you can hate his damn guts for all I care, just try to
refrain from sending him to the infirmary." Nabiki said. "Kasumi may be a
paramedic as well as a mechanic, but we really can't have her tending to
Ranma every time you get pissed off at him."

	Akane looked on the verge of saying something, but thought better of it. 

	Nabiki smiled inwardly. It looked as though she had been successful.	

	"Why haven't you gotten on dad's case about going over your head on Ranma?"
asked Akane.

	Oh-HO! Akane was learning something after all. She knew that was a
sensitive subject, and was going for it. Supressing a smile, Nabiki
answered, "For starters, he's a good racer..." Akane's face darkened a
little at that. "..and Daddy got his contract for next to nothing."

	"So, you're not going to say anything?" Akane asked.

	"I didn't say that..." Nabiki trailed off as she cast a glance at her
watch. "Oops, gotta go." She rose from her chair, circled the desk, and
stopped outside the door awaiting Akane. Once her younger sister was clear,
Nabiki shut the door. "See ya tonight." Akane watched her sister retreat
down the hall and disappear around a corner.

============================================================================

	"Ranma, who designed this Moto?" 

	Kasumi had his Moto on the stand, access port open. She wore her standard
mechanic's garb, on her knees and peering into the guts of the machine. 

	The Moto had been re-painted in the team's colors, with the logo on the
front. A logo had also been emblazoned on the back of his suit, which he now
wore.

	"If I'm not mistaken," Kasumi said, "this is a Sakae Mark VI power plant
with triple-thruster output." Her voice was thick with wonder, it was
obvious what her passion was. "They've been manufacturing engines since
before the second World War." The Sakae 900 horsepower engine, in fact, is
what powered the infamous Japanese Zero-sen fighter during the battles in
the Pacific.

	The Moto was small, only 233 centimeters long and weighing in at 170
kilograms. The front swept back in the standard aerodynamic design employed
by Mitsubishi, but the body was reminiscent of the mid-sized Kawasaki models.

	"Isn't this engine a little too big for a Moto this light?" Kasumi asked.

	"Nah." Ranma replied. "It just takes more skill to handle."

	"It's not that, Ranma." Kasumi replied. "This type of engine is meant for
larger Motos. It's barely within regulations."

	"Don't worry about it." Ranma said, full of confidence. "This old Moto's
never let me down before." He patted the front partition fondly. 

	"In any event, let's get the Motos loaded up." Kasumi said. "We want to get
to the track before noon."

============================================================================

	The Mitsubishi Fuso roared through the ruined ward on its way to the
stadium. Unlike the buildings and streets, the large truck was in excellent
shape. It was painted black, a wide purple stripe running around its
midsection. Inside the snub-nosed cab sat three members of Team Ryu-Ken.

	Kasumi sat behind the large steering wheel, guiding the speeding truck
through the streets. She took a turn a little too fast, flinging Akane into
Ranma, who was seated by the passenger door. Once the truck had levelled
off, Akane pulled herself off Ranma and faced straight ahead, her face
unreadable.

	"You ever consider a career on the track?" Ranma asked as Kasumi rounded
yet another turn at nearly 90 KpH.

	"Not really." Kasumi replied as she downshifted, causing the engine to howl
in protest. The truck lurched ahead, rapidly picking up speed. After a few
moments, Kasumi shifted the transmission back into top gear. "I really don't
like to race." Ranma gaped at her, while Akane rolled her eyes and grinned.
Ranma reached up to grab the hell-handle above his door as Kasumi swerved to
dodge a squatter with an old shopping cart.

	//This is gonna be a long ride...\\ Ranma thought.

============================================================================

	Stadium security was, at best, a joke. The sec-force basically consisted of
a bent stick of a man who looked to be a few years older than sand. Kasumi
swerved through the parking garage, dodging what few cars were there as they
approached a large roll-up door. The three were thrown forward as she
slammed on the brakes, leaving black tire marks on the cracked concrete and
causing the wheels to scream in protest. The door slowly rolled upward
toward the ceiling, allowing the lights from the stadium proper to spill
into the dimly lit garage. Once the door was above the truck, Kasumi threw
the truck into first and stomped the gas. The rear tires screamed once more
as she mercilessly peeled the rubber from them in clouds of smoke. 

	The truck shot out into the light like a bat out of hell, hurtling across
the track to the concrete island in the center of the oval. Aiming for a
vacant space, Kasumi hit the brakes and cranked the wheel. The truck's rear
end swung around, the cab facing the door they just entered from.

	"Ranma? Are you OK?" Ranma held the hell-handle in a white-knuckled grip,
his teeth tightly clenched and his face slightly pale. Akane grinned at him,
and said, "I thought you liked moving at insane speeds."

	Ranma simply gave Akane a dirty look, and said, "Yeah, but only when I'm
doin' the drivin'."

	Akane looked at the fading purple bruise over Ranma's left eye, and felt a
twinge of conscience. "C'mon, fraidy cat." Akane teased. "Let's go." Without
waiting for Ranma's retort, she slid across the seat and out the driver's
door. Ranma un-fastened his seatbelt and followed thorugh his door.

	Kasumi already had the back of the truck opened and the ramp down when
Ranma reached the back. Akane had climbed into the back, and after a few
moments, Ranma heard the sound of a Moto's engine cycling up. 

	It was a sort of deep whine that increased only slightly in pitch but
dramatically in intensity. The sound grew closer as Akane slowly guided her
large Moto backward toward the ramp. Lifting her feet, the Moto quickly slid
down the ramp, and glided backward a couple of meters before Akane stopped
it. The Moto looked ponderously large beneath her, and for a moment Ranma
wondered why she didn't opt for a Moto meant for someone more her size.

	He dismissed the thought as he walked up the ramp to his Moto. He quit
trying to understand women a long time ago. He mounted his machine, which
was a good deal smaller and lighter than his new partner's. Activating the
engine, he gazed at the displays as the engine cycled to full capacity. 

	A luminous blue bar stretched from one end of the central display to the
other, bending down sharply at the left end and stopping near the middle of
the display. Several numbers appeared on the central and secondary displays
as well, telling him the condition of the power plant and various
sub-systems in the complex machine. The Moto rose as the magnetic field
increased in strength. Finally satisfied that everything was in working
order, Ranma began walking it to the ramp. 

	On the ground, Ranma looked around for Akane, who had disappeared. He
quickly found her, though. Apparently not willing to wait for him, She had
donned her helmet and started taking her practice laps. Gunning the engine,
Ranma took off in pursuit.

============================================================================

	The stadium walls shot past in a blur as Akane guided the Moto around the
track. So far, everything was running smoothly. The Suzuki 1500 Series power
plant was cycling nicely, the Magnetic field and stabilizers functioning
well within normal parameters. 

	Consulting her HUD, she saw Ranma behind her. Right where he should be. She
turned her gaze back to the track, taking a curve a little too wide for her
liking. The next curve of the oval came up quickly, which she shot through
much closer to the inside. She spared another glance at the rear-view image.

	//Huh?\\ Ranma had completely disappeared. He hadn't gotten ahead of her,
and her proximity sensors didn't register him to either side. //Where the
hell is he?\\

	A window opened in Akane's HUD, revealing Kasumi's smiling face.

	[Akane, I just found out that there's going to be a stunt race later today
on this track, and configurations are being made.] Kasumi said.

	[What's this got to do with me?] Akane asked.

	[The stadium owners may be testing the ramps while you're on the track. You
may want to get off and go to the Holotrainer back home.]

	[No way, sis.] Akane replied. [A few random jumps here and there isn't much
to worry about.]

	[Ok, Akane. Just be careful.] The window closed, Kasumi closing the
connection. Another quick check of the rearview and proximity sensors still
revealed no trace of Ranma. Had she left him THAT far beihnd? Was he having
trouble? Or was he just goofing off somewhere?

	Akane's train of thought was shattered when a ramp suddenly popped up ahead
of her and to the left. Akane easily dodged the ramp and went into the first
turn of the oval again. So far, this was...

	//WHAT THE...?\\

	From out of the blue, Ranma appeared before her, streaking around the turn
on the inside, close enough to cause the track barrier to glow pink. His
Moto was turned almost completely sideways, his three thrusters glowing with
a turbo-boost. In an instant, Akane realized where he had been all this time.

	Her rearview image is pitifuly small, showing usually only those directly
behind her. She depended more on her proximity sensors to register those to
the side and behind at odd angles. The sensors, however, only had a range of
about a meter. He was hanging back out of range of the sensors and out of
the rearview, waiting for his chance to blow past her. The ramp appeared,
and Ranma engaged a turbo-boost, gaining air and distance while not setting
off her sensors.

	//You dirty little sneak.\\ Akane growled. Ranma whipped around turn two at
an insane speed, and a voice sounded in her helmet.

	[Racing ain't just about who goes the fastest,] he said arrogantly. [It's
also about knowing how your opponent handles his ride.]

	[Spare me the lessons, Ranma,] Akane snarled. [I've been racing for this
team a lot longer than you have, and I know what I'm doing.]

	[Just trying to help.]

	[I don't need your help!] The communication line went dead, Ranma still out
in front. He was no longer gaining ground, but he wasn't losing any, either.
Once in the straightaway, Akane engaged her first turbo-boost, the G-forces
instantly doubling, slamming into her like a battering ram. She began
gaining ground on Ranma, and would overtake him in a matter of seconds.

	Without warning a ramp popped up, and at the worst possible time. The
rising ramp caught the rear end of Ranma's Moto, flinging it up in the air
in an end-over-end tumble. Akane's heart caught in her throat as Ranma
tumbled helplessly in the air. It would take a miracle for him to even
survive, much less escape injury.

	Before the Moto hit the ground, Ranma managed to pull it into a spiral. The
Moto landed rightside up, with Ranma still astride it. The bottom scraped
the track, the magnetic field generators straining to generate the power
needed to keep the Moto off the ground. Sparks flew from the bottom as it
hit once, twice, three times before keeping the Moto aloft.

	//Incredible!\\ She had to admit, THAT was pretty good. The Moto hovered a
lot lower to the ground, and wasn't as steady as before. She knew the severe
landing had damaged the magnetic plates, and the Moto wouldn't stay aloft
much longer. Slamming his fist on the panel, Ranma pulled the Moto off the
track.

	Akane cut back on the throttle, pulling off the track along with him.
Taking off her helmet and killing the power plant, she dismounted and walked
over to where Ranma stood catching his breath. His face was a little pale,
but otherwise he showed no signs of injury. 

	"Ranma, are you all right?"

	"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. His voice was steady and confident, as though
the accident never happened at all. Other racers that were standing around
the island stared and murmured. They'd never seen a recovery like that, and
were very impressed. Kasumi came running up, taking Ranma's wrist in her
hand and asking how he was feeling.

	He heard someone slowly clapping behind him.

	"Now, THAT was classic Saotome showmanship." a voice said. "Glad to see you
haven't lost your touch." Ranma stiffened and turned to face the speaker.

	He was Ranma's height, but a little more muscular. The yellow and black
jumpsuit outlined his muscular legs, arms and chest, giving him a cut
appearance. His black hair fell over a yellow tiger-striped bandanna, brown
eyes shining with a reckless light.

	"Ryoga Hibiki," Ranma said as he began to circle the other man. Ryoga began
to circle the other way, the two never taking their eyes off each other. A
crowd began to gather around the two, expecting a fight. Tension filled the
air like a static charge, Akane and Kasumi staring as intently as the
others. Finally, the two stopped, yelled, and charged.

	The crowds collective jaws hit the ground when the two embraced, laughing
like idiots.

	"How are ya, ya sonuvabitch!" Ranma shouted.

	"Howzabout you, ya reckless dumbass!"

	Akane was thoroughly confused. She thought those two would start throwing
down, not hugging and cursing each other like old drinking buddies.

	"You two know each other?" Akane asked.

	"Whoa, Ranma, where'd you get the shiner?" Ranma's face darkened a little,
and jerked a thumb at Akane.

	Ryoga looked at Akane, looked at Ranma, looked at Akane again, and started
laughing.

	"What's so funny?" the two asked as one. Gales of laughter continued to
burst from his mouth as they glared at him.

	"S...sorry...about...that. HAHAHA!" Ryoga gasped. "It's just
that...Ranma...let himself get pasted by... a GIRL!"

	"HEY!" Ranma yelled. "You know I don't hit girls!"

	"Looks like they don't have a problem hitting you." 

	Ranma growled, staring daggers at Ryoga. "Aw, forget it." he spat.

	"How are you, Mr. Hibiki?" Kasumi asked. Ryoga, now done laughing, looked
at Kasumi.

	"I'm fine."

	"Oh, good." Kasumi said, smile firmly in place. "We haven't been properly
introduced. I'm Kasumi Tendo." Kasumi gave a short bow as she finished her
greeting.

	"Pleased to meet you." Ryoga replied, returning the bow. 

	"Hi, I'm Akane Tendo." Ryoga looked to Akane, and smiled. 

	"The one who decked Ranma, huh?" Ryoga asked. "Honored to meet you."
Turning to Ranma, he asked, "So, Saotome, what've you been doing with yourself?"

	Ranma grinned a little. "I'll tell ya over a beer?"

	"Deal." Ryoga said. "My treat."

	Ranma's eyes widened a litle. "Since when can you pay for a round?"

	"I've had a run of good luck lately." Ryoga replied.

	"Hey," Akane interjected, "you two aren't old enough to drink!"

	The two looked at each other, then back to Akane. "That's never stopped
him." they said in unison, pointing at each other. The two walked over to
Ranma's Moto, and pushed the ailing machine over to the team's truck. The
electro-magnetic plates were functional enough to keep the Moto about twenty
centimeters off the ground, more than enough to get it up the ramp and into
the truck. As they exited the truck, Ranma said,

	"Hey, Kasumi, don't worry about fixing the Moto. I'll take care of it."

	"Oh, it's no trouble, Ranma." she replied.

	"Where are you going?" Akane asked with more than a hint of irritation in
her voice. "We're not done here, yet!"

	"I am." Ranma said. "What can I do with a busted Moto?" With that, he
turned and walked out of the stadium with Ryoga. Akane just glared at his back. 

	//What a JERK!\\

============================================================================