Chapter 2

	Somewhere in China, the Jusenkyo Guide was meeting a person dressed in 
a hooded robe.  The man he was going to see stood in the wreckage of a 
temple.

	"Honored sir.  I have done as you asked and sent the ring to Ranma in 
Japan with the note you wanted sent," the Guide said, "Can I please have 
my daughter back now?"

	The hooded man nodded and released Plum. The man chuckled silently, 
waiting for the day he could use Ranma to her fullest potential.  

	Before he left, the man said, "Grape, do not warn Ranma Saotome of me.  
If you go against my will, I will destroy you."

	The Guide nodded mutely, stunned that someone would use his name.

	Plum and her father left for Jusenkyo, hoping that everything would 
turn out right, but had misgivings about Ranma's fate.  They discussed 
the situation on their trek home.

	"Who was that man, father?"

	Grape shuddered before answering, "A very powerful and very dangerous 
person.  He has something planned, and I'm unsure of what it is."

	Plum looked at her father and asked, "Father, will the one called Ranma 
be all right?"

	"I hope so, daughter," the Guide said, "But no matter what happens, 
Ranma will never have a normal life, now." 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

	Around three in the morning, Akane woke up with a start.  A nightmare 
of being squashed inside a box had disturbed her sleep.  She wondered at 
the meaning of her dream when suddenly she realized that she hadn't 
released Ranma from the ring.  Panicking, she started rubbing the ring, 
visions of her nightmare forming in her head.  The red smoke poured from 
the ring and formed into Ranma-chan.


	"Yes, master," Ranma said reflexively.

	"Ranma, are you all right?" Akane asked with concern.  "What's it like 
in there?  Are you comfortable?" 

	Ranma blinked, coming out of the trance that being released from the 
ring always put her in.

	Ranma-chan said, "I'm fine.  The inside of the ring is as large as the 
school's track field."  

	Looking out Akane's window, she saw that the sky was dark and asked, 
"Um. Akane, what time is it?"

	Akane looked at the clock beside her. She quickly made shushing 
gestures.

	Akane forcefully, but quietly said, "Ranma, whisper.  It is 
three-o-five in the morning."

	Ranma tried to shout, but because of that order all she could do was 
whisper, "What?  I've been in that ring all this time?  How am I going 
to explain this to Pops?"

	*I know what he's going to say.  I've missed a practice session and say 
I'm becoming a sloppy girl,* Ranma thought with annoyance.

	Akane thought furiously for a few seconds.  As she was thinking, Akane 
noticed Ranma was about to leave.

	"Ranma, stop," Akane quietly commanded.

	Ranma froze, looking like a statue.  Akane could sense that Ranma was 
upset about having no choice.

	*You uncute tomboy.  Let me go,* Ranma thought, while anger filled her.

	"Ranma, sit down and listen to me,"  Akane said. 

	Ranma did as she was told, without hesitation.  She looked at Akane 
with anger filled eyes.  

	*Just like that?  No resistance?  I..I'm sorry Ranma,* Akane thought as 
she winced from the gaze.  

	Taking a deep breath, Akane started talking.

	"Ranma, I have an idea.  Until I say finish explaining my idea, stay 
here.  You will say that you were training last night and decided to 
stay where you were, because no one was bothering you."

	Ranma smirked at the truth behind that statement.

	Akane continued, "You will teleport to the woods where you will change 
into some of your daily clothes and return to the house this morning."

	Ranma, losing some of her anger at feeling like a puppet, thought about 
Akane's plan.  She looked at her master and mumbled something.

	Akane asked, "What?"

	"Nothing, Akane," Ranma said as she looked away. *Thanks, Akane*

	Akane got up and walked over to the young genie.  She put her left hand 
on Ranma's shoulder. 

	Giving a reassuring squeeze, Akane said, "Ranma, I know this is hard 
for you, but I am trying to help you."

	Ranma-chan just nodded, not saying a word.  Akane sighed sadly and put 
the final touches on her plan.

	"Once you teleport, you'll be free of the whisper command.  Ranma, go."

	Ranma's form became a silhouette of red light that quickly faded.  
Akane looked at the spot that Ranma had been standing, and wondered if 
she and Ranma would be up to dealing with this new problem.  She was 
about to return to sleep, when she heard scratching at her door.  
Shrugging, she went to open the door.  She saw her pet pig, P-chan on 
the other side.  Akane snatched up her pet.

	"P-chan.  Where have you been?"  Akane said, in delight.

	P-chan just squealed as Akane headed back to her bed.

	Ryoga thought, *If it wasn't for that sprinkler, I would have crushed 
Ranma with my new attack.*  

	Akane laid back down.  P-chan, feeling something different about 
Akane's right hand, maneuvered so he could see it.  The glint off the 
ruby caused P-chan to freeze.

	Inside the pig's body, Ryoga thought to himself, *Ranma!!  How dare you 
give Akane an engagement ring!?*

	Akane, speaking her thoughts, said, "Ranma should arrive in the 
morning, just in time for breakfast."

	*Just you wait, Ranma!"  Ryoga thought viciously, *How dare you leave 
Akane unprotected, Ranma!  You will pay!  Akane deserves better than 
you!*

	Akane drifted back to sleep, thinking of Ranma's plight.  Ryoga fumed 
silently at the supposed claim that Ranma put on his Akane.  He stayed 
awake all night, mentally ranting about Ranma. He kept thinking of all 
the injustices that he had been through, that he believed were Ranma's 
fault.  His eyes bulged out as he scanned the area.  Clenching his piggy 
paws in anger, Ryoga's snout flared out as he took stock of the scene.  
Akane, still asleep, rolled over and coldcocked Ryoga with her elbow, 
sending him to slumberland.  Other than that, the night passed 
peacefully. 
---------------------
	As the sun crested the horizon, Ranma entered the Tendo home.  Kasumi, 
being up already, greeted her pleasantly.

	"Good morning, Ranma," Kasumi said, "I see you're back.  I'm sure Akane 
has cooled off by now."

	"I wasn't staying away because of that macho chick," Ranma replied 
forcefully, "I found the perfect practice spot and stayed there last 
night."

	"Well, at least you made it back in time for breakfast,"  Kasumi said.

	"Err, yeah," Ranma said and then thought to herself, *I guess I had 
better eat, even though I'm not hungry.*

	Soun and Genma, in his panda form, came into the room and saw 
Ranma-chan.  The two of them confronted Ranma.

	"You have a lot of explaining to do, son," Soun said.

	Genma held up a sign, "What were you doing?"

	Ranma rolled her eyes and responded, "After Akane hit me, I found the 
perfect spot to practice my martial arts.  I wasn't interrupted by 
fiancees or rivals there."

	"Where is it?"  Soun asked

	"It's my secret," Ranma said defiantly. "If I told you, the others 
would find out."

	Before anyone could comment on that, Kasumi said, "Breakfast is ready, 
everyone." 

	Ranma-chan just smirked and went to the table. Soun and Genma promised 
each other they would find this hiding spot of Ranma's, so they could 
send Akane with him next time.  Akane came downstairs holding P-chan.  
When P-chan saw Ranma, he leapt from Akane's arms and attacked Ranma.

	"Hey, get away from me, bacon-breath," Ranma said, while slapping 
P-chan away.

	Akane, getting mad, said, "Stop hitting my P-chan, Ranma."

	A slight tingle came over Ranma as she heard Akane's words.  P-chan 
charged at Ranma a couple more times.  She tried using her hands to slap 
the pig away, but found she could not proceed.  After a few seconds, 
Ranma sighed in defeat, since she realized she was affected by Akane's 
command.  Akane flinched as Ranma gazed at her with resentment-filled 
eyes.  Knowing it was pointless to even argue, Ranma stood up.

	Ranma shook her head and said, "Fine, see you at school, Akane."

 	Ranma leapt over the wall, leaving the Tendo household in a stunned 
state.
Ranma had just left without eating any of Kasumi's cooking.  She didn't 
bother to insult Akane or Genma.  Genma, Soun, and Nabiki stared at the 
wall Ranma had leapt over.  Akane was the first to recover from the 
shock that Ranma had given them.  Ranma had never just left like that.  
A gleaming reflection of the sun caught her attention, and she looked at 
the ring she was wearing.   Akane slowly realized that she had given a 
command to Ranma-chan.  Grabbing her school supplies, Akane ran after 
Ranma, and thought about what she would say to Ranma at school.

	*Do I apologize for making him a toy?  If he hadn't attacked P-chan, it 
wouldn't have happened.  I don't want Ranma mad at me,* Akane thought 
sadly, *I don't what to do.*

	Akane mentally shivered as she recalled the other emotion that was in 
Ranma's eyes: hate.

	Ryoga shook off his daze and thought, while following Akane, *Ranma!! 
You coward!! How dare you run from a fight!!   Just you wait, Ranma!!*  

	Ryoga, after a couple of minutes of following Akane, managed to get 
hopelessly lost.

	*You shall pay, Ranma,* Ryoga thought, getting more depressed as he 
wandered.

	Akane managed to catch up with Ranma just before they arrived at 
school.  Akane looked at Ranma, stumped.  Ranma stared straight ahead 
trying to figure out how to deal with Ryoga the next time he showed up 
in human form.

	Akane thought, *Now that I'm here, what do I say?*

	Ranma took a quick glance at her, and then just looked straight ahead, 
without saying a word.  An unfamiliar feeling came over Akane, as this 
was the first time anyone had ever ignored her.  Akane's thoughts became 
confused as she tried to sort through her emotions.  She opened her 
mouth to speak, but Ranma spoke first.
	
	"Don't worry about me hitting your precious pig anymore, Akane.  Thanks 
to your order, I can't attack him," Ranma said.

	Akane was about to say something when she noticed that Principal Kuno 
was heading towards them.  The principal was carrying an armload of 
brooms, when he spotted Ranma-chan and Akane.

	Principal Kuno chortled evilly while he said, "Ey, you two.  Don'tcha 
know that all keiki gotta be sweepin' de school roof before dey goan' to 
de next grade?  And it gotta get done befoah class."

	Akane rolled her eyes as she listened to Principal Kuno's latest 
scheme.  Giving the principal a dirty look, Ranma-chan clenched her 
fists and thought to herself that this might be the perfect way to 
release some stress.

	The principal laughed a bit and continued, "Betta get busy if you wanna 
get on class on time, othahwise you gettin' held back!"

	Ranma was about ready to clobber the principal when she heard Akane 
say, "I just wish for once that you would go somewhere else and leave us 
alone."

	Ranma sighed as she thought about where to send the principal.  A 
mischievous thought came into Ranma's mind as she teleported Principal 
Kuno away.

	After Principal Kuno had vanished,  Ranma said, "Granted."


	Akane put her hands to her lips, once she realized what she had just 
said.

	"Oh, my!"  Akane said, doing a very reasonable impression of Kasumi.

	She took a quick look around the grounds.  She sighed with relief when 
she saw that no one heard or saw what Ranma did.

	Feeling a bit nervous, Akane asked, with trepidation in her voice and 
concern in her eyes, "Ranma, where did you send him?"

	Ranma smirked and said, "I sent him to the Amazon Village.  I sent him 
so that he would fall headfirst onto one of the Amazons.  That should 
keep him out of our hair for a little while."

	Akane just stared at Ranma's retreating form and then giggled at the 
thought of an Amazon wanting to marry the principal.  She followed Ranma 
into the school.  Ranma, feeling much better, got some hot water, 
changed back to his male form, and went to class.  Until lunch rolled 
around, it was a very peaceful day.
-----------
	During lunch, Akane and Ranma were sitting on a bench, near the 
school's birdbath.  While eating his lunch, Ranma heard a very loud 
shout.

	"Ranma!! Prepare to die!!"

	Ranma looked up and sighed.  He said, "Well, well.  If it isn't 
pig-boy.  I'm surprised that you found me this early.  Is your sense of 
direction improving?"

	"Enough!!"  Ryoga yelled, and threw punches at Ranma.

	Ranma easily dodged the punches, but did not strike back at Ryoga.  
Ranma leaned back against the wall of the school.  He looked at Ryoga 
with disgust.

	Ranma thought to himself, *This is just great.  Akane's command 
prevents me from hitting her precious P-chan.  Since Ryoga is P-chan, I 
can't fight him.  Oh well at least I can still dodge.*

	"You're getting sloppy, Ryoga"

	Ryoga poked his finger into the wall, near Ranma's head while yelling, 
"BAKU-SEI-TEN-KETSU."

	Chunks of bricks went flying everywhere.  Ranma did a quick somersault 
roll between Ryoga's legs.  He used Ryoga as a shield from the flying 
rocks.  The explosion brought the other students running, including 
Akane, Kuno, and Ukyo.

	Ryoga screamed, "How dare you give Akane an engagement ring!!  Have you 
no honor, Ranma!!  You will die for staining Akane's honor!!"

	*At least he doesn't realize what it is,* Ranma thought with disgust.  
*Ryoga, you have just royally screwed up my life.*

	Ranma prepared himself for battle.  He wanted to knock pig-boy within 
an inch of his life.  The other students gasped and stared at Akane.  
All of them noticed the ruby ring that Akane was now wearing.  Ukyo 
silently fumed at this latest development.

	"Akane, if you think you've won,  you are wrong,"  Ukyo whispered with 
a lot of venom in her voice.

	Tatewaki Kuno was stunned at the revelation.  His delusional mind was 
unable to accept that Akane would willingly wear Ranma's engagement 
ring.

	"Oh, how the flower of womanhood hath been enslaved by the foul one.  
Fear not, fair Akane.  I shall soon smite the one who enslaves thee and 
the pig-tailed one, and you shall be free of his evil,"  Kuno spouted 
while running towards Ranma.

	Akane was painfully aware that she was being stared at by everyone, 
when she noticed that Ranma hadn't once struck at Ryoga.

	Akane thought, *What is that idiot doing?  He's going to get killed."

	Kuno rapidly approached Ranma with his bokken raised, when Ranma 
grabbed him and threw him towards Ryoga.  Ranma hadn't thrown the 
deranged kendoist hard enough for him to actually reach the lost boy.  
Just enough to distract Ryoga.  Ryoga was so full of despair and fury 
that he didn't notice Ranma's tactic.  Ryoga started glowing green.

	Ryoga yelled, "SHI-SHI-HOKODAN!!" 

A blast of green chi energy streaked towards Ranma.  Fortunately for 
Ranma, the blast hit upperclassman Kuno and knocked him into a drinking 
fountain.  The drinking fountain crumbled under the impact and sprayed 
Ranma with water.  Ranma changed back into the cursed form, her clothes 
remaining unaltered.  She looked at Ryoga with wide eyes.

	"What was that?"  Ranma blurted out, shocked to her core.

	Ryoga smirked and said, "That was my chi-blast.  I learned it, just so 
I could kill you!!!  SHI-SHI-HOKODAN!!"

	Doing a ground roll, the first green blast passed harmlessley over her 
head.  The bolt struck the school, where it blew a hole straight to the 
gym.

"SHI-SHI-HOKODAN!!"

The slightly larger blast came searing towards Ranma, who did a quick 
cartwheel to get out of the way.  

	*Those things are getting stronger.  I don't know how much longer I can 
dodge.  Nuts.  If Akane hadn't given me that command, I wouldn't be in 
this mess,* Ranma thought

"SHI-SHI-HOKODAN!!"

	Ranma jumped up and used a branch of a tree to springboard over the 
large green ball of energy.  Ranma landed near Akane who was whispering, 
unaware that Ranma could hear her.

	"I wish that you knew how to counter this and start fighting back,"  
Akane muttered.

	Ranma smirked to herself, *Thanks, MASTER.  Now I can fight Ryoga, 
since you just canceled your previous order.*

	Ranma used her magic to have the knowledge of how Ryoga was making the 
chi-blasts and how she could counter it come pouring into her mind.  She 
smirked at the unintentional boost that Akane had given her.

	Ranma whispered, so that only Akane could hear, "Granted."

	Akane glanced up, startled.  She then resolved to watch what she said 
from 
then on.  Ranma turned back to the fight and prepared herself.

	Using her new knowledge, Ranma yelled, "MOKO TAKABISHA!!"

	Ranma-chan unleashed a yellow ball of chi energy that caught Ryoga 
completely off guard.  The blast knocked Ryoga into a tree, which fell 
over.  Ryoga stood up, while backhanding the tree aside.  Ryoga 
concentrated on the memory of the ring on Akane's hand.  Ryoga grabbed 
hold of his own shoulders and started shivering, while glowing brighter.

	*An engagement ring,* Ryoga thought to himself, getting more depressed 
by the minute.  *Akane hates me, because Akane loves Ranma.  Akane loves 
Ranma.  Akane LOVES Ranma.   AKANE LOVES RANMA!!*

	"SHI-SHI-HOKODAN!!!" Ryoga screamed as tears welled in his eyes.

	Ryoga launched a column of green energy into the air.  Ranma and the 
others were shocked at this display of power.  Green light started 
filling the courtyard, and everyone looked up.  They saw a huge ball of 
green chi come barreling down, with the centerpoint of its impact being 
where Ryoga was standing.  Ranma and the others quickly dived for cover.   
The perfect shishi hokodan hit and blew a crater into the ground.  Ranma 
looked and saw that Ryoga was unharmed by the blast.

	"Ranma!!  How dare you run away, you coward!!"  Ryoga bellowed

	Ranma, for her part, did a flying kick at Ryoga's face.  Ryoga went 
soaring.  Ryoga smashed through the outer wall of the school.  He went 
sailing through the room he was in.  A clonging sound came forth, as 
Ryoga's head plowed through the school's piano, four tubas, and a drum 
set.  Ryoga's flight continued as he cracked into the inner wall of the 
music room.  He broke through the wall, where he slammed into a toilet. 

	*What the heck?!* Ranma thought. *My kicks don't have that much power."

	She studied Ryoga's flight path and wondered about what she had just 
done.

	*Okay.  I just guided Ryoga through the school, so he could get 
splashed with water.  This isn't right.  And, why should thinking Akane 
is in danger put me partially into a trance?*

	Looking around the devastated schoolyard, Ranma-chan decided something.

	"Come on, Akane.  Let's go home.  I don't think there's going to be any 
more school today,"  Ranma said. 

	Akane looked around and seeing that their classmates were still in 
shock nodded.  Akane also wanted time to think about what just happened.

	*How did Ryoga know that I was wearing a ring?  Ranma and I are the 
only ones who knew of its existence,* Akane thought to herself, *His 
yelling that so that the entire school could hear is going to cause 
problems.*

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