For those of you that have never heard of the Traveler... boy are you luck! Of course, no-one knows just what the SEFU Project is yet either, but all will be revealed in due time...

Now, this is definitely an 'draft' so don't freak out about the last ten paragraphs or so, that'll all be re-written. Everything else is up for grabs.

TRANSLATION: C&C REQUESTED. IGNORE FINAL 10 LINES OF FANFIC. THE AUTHOR IS A MORON.

Hey!

(The whole first section is going to take me three messages to get out.
--- Fic attached:

James Rahn: n. person.
 a. Time traveler. b. Dimension hopper. c. Lost idiot.
---

    James Rahn jumped.
    This was not to say that he performed an act of physical exertion
which caused his body to move opposite the current direction of gravity
for a brief period of time. This actually meant that he had changed the
quantum tionic state of all the particles in and about his persons, and
stabilized them to the frequency of another dimension.
    For the sake of simplicity, he called the act 'jumping.'
    This time, he materialized above a water hazard.
    "Oh Shiiiii--!" James ad-libed.
    James Rahn had arrived in Nerima.

---

Insanity Productions presents


    Infinite Lives...

    Infinite Realities...

    Infinite Evil...


A Fanfiction Work By Rick Spiff



                            The Traveler.
                An oddity of unexpected 'dimensions.'

Disclaimer: As per usual, I know nothing of these characters... okay, I
know a bunch but I don't own them and this work is non-profit anyway.
May be distributed freely over any media as long this document remains
complete. Ranma 1/2 is copyrighted by Viz Media and the creation of
Rumiko Takahashi-sama. No disrespect, just entertaining people by
writing an (hopefully) interesting story. God bless.

---

Look at the stars someday. If you can see them from outside your house,
they are worth looking at. Each one a shining testament to power of
creation in it's infinite capacity to make life and breed knowledge
within the interstellar winds. A majestic light show Mother Nature puts
on for free, every time the sun dips below the horizon.

Such was a nightly event on the slightly abused, somewhat stretched-out
sphere of mud James Rahn called home. It was an Earth like any other,
and a place where James was more or less happy, if not completely
content with his life.

His life was a simple mix of rather torrid affairs, as confusing and
twisting as the deepest underwater crevasses ever uncovered by brave
explorers. His mother and father killed long ago in a tragic automobile
accident, his two sisters estranged against him... the lost sheep of the
family.

It was on this vast plane of existence that James Rahn had come to carve
out his little piece of life, which he was content to live in under
honest but often risky circumstances.

Like a wandering priest, this James Rahn carried with him a sense of
purpose and the intent of nothing but good everywhere he went. Defending
the weak and bringing justice to the unjust, this James never stepped
out of line unless the situation demanded it.

Like many others before it, a kind soul was chosen, and granted a
choice; given the opportunity to take up a role of defense and justice
in the universe. The chosen was James, and that opportunity struck a
chord in James and his convictions.

It was almost a shame he'd never been given the option to accept or
decline.

And in an instant, he was reborn; bonded to a spirit with the powers to
'jump' as it were, from dimension to dimension, meeting diverse
civilizations like an explorer in the days of old. Civilizations he
found often troubled and to which he offered help, especially to those
who could not help themselves.

So every day he walks may be his last on an unfamiliar land, yet he goes
on, never quite reaching a goal; never quite needing one...

---

Quick notes:

[Signs, Genma-panda signs]
<Thoughts>
_Emphasis_
(flashbacks)
{Author's notes}

 '-chan' designates Ranma's female form, also used as a close
familiar, a term of affection, or added to the name of a small child.
 '-san' is a respectful term, Mr./Mrs./Ms.

 Lengths are in metric (mostly, I'm a half-breed), about 1.5
kilometers to the mile, a meter is three feet, and two and a half
centimeters to the inch.
 Weight sometimes follows suit, 2 pounds per kilogram, or 'kilo'.

Have fun and read the notes at the end!

---

Episode 1 : James in Nerima.
text ver 0.9

    Coughing, sputtering, wet, confused, and cussing fluently in three
different languages (English, bad English, and horrible Japanese), James
Rahn came crawling ashore a peaceful and very full canal in the middle
of Nerima. Thankfully, it was warm and pleasant outside, with a gentle
wind sighing through the nearby trees. They sky was a subdued blue with
banks of large white clouds floating around like air-bound cruise
liners. Had he realized where he was, he probably wouldn't have cared.
The water in his left ear was really getting to him. It had been a long
week; water in the ear was just another straw on this camel's back.
Water in the ear was the FINAL straw. It was enough to make him
scream.... had he been anyone else. But he was James, and James was
always cool.
    "Of all the..." He muttered aloud, then started cussing again.
    Quite some time passed before the out-of-sorts Traveler had calmed
enough to be approached by someone not wearing a suit resistant to
extremely caustic chemicals. By that time, James have went from direct,
vulgar, and extremely loud insults all the way down to very lame,
slightly religious slurs. This was for two reasons. One: He didn't
really have much of a religion himself, and didn't bother to make any
slurs towards anyone else's. It wasn't something he was inclined to
argue/debate about. Two: The specific slur he had uttered that made him
finally stop with the ranting was particularly lame, meaning something
close to 'that cow isn't as sacred as my cow, though it doesn't make
much of a difference.' It sounded tougher in the native Swahili dialect
he spoke it in though.
    The rant was forgotten, however, as more and more of a certain
somebody's energies were diverted to removing one really stubborn water
particle from his left ear.
    In James' vast experience, water usually went about it's own way,
only influenced by other environmental or physical factors directly.
Water did not specifically attack him. Water didn't single out anyone
person for punishment, come to think of it. That was excluding the one
guy just standing there staring at the tidal wave about to crash down
upon him, but water was acting like a force of nature in that instance,
weeding out the bad stock.
    Water DID NOT deliberately stick itself in a very important and
vital place necessary for the comfortable continuation of life and STAY
THERE no matter WHAT the targeted human tried. It just didn't.
    Water, was simply not a living thing. {It seems James needs to
learn about a peculiar aspect of this world: magic.}
    He was just about to inform the water of that fact in a colorful
way when he felt someone approaching. He stopped and looked to see who
had come a knocking. Standing in front of James was an Asian youth,
seventeen, maybe eighteen years of age. He was about 1.7 meters tall,
maybe seventy five kilos, and well built for a kid his age. The boy's
black hair looked he'd never seen a comb and was tied into a short
pigtail in the back. He was wearing a nice red silk shirt with the
sleeves rolled up and a pair of loose, comfortable-looking black pants.
    "'Cuse me, man. But are you okay?"
    James himself stood and looked at the youth. He was just a few
inches taller, and a good ten kilos heavier, all muscle. His face was
ringed with a number of nearly invisible scars, blending into an
otherwise normal looks. He had blond hair trimmed short out of necessity
even though it looked perfectly normal for him, and was wearing what
used to be a white long-sleeved dress shirt and charcoal colored khakis.
A simple hip-pack contained all of his worldly possessions.
    James looked at his clothes <unfortunately tattered and torn upon
arrival, le sigh!> and stood up slowly. Finding nothing broken, he
nodded to himself and spoke out loud. "Yes, I'm quite all right, just a
little wet. Umm... this may sound like a damn weird question, but where
am I and what is the date?"
    The young man didn't seem at all surprised at the question...
unusual. "Tokyo, in Japan. Nerima ward. It's August. August 10th, 1996."
    "Excellent. At least I'm on Earth."
    That _did_ seem to confuse the boy a bit. "If ya don't mind me
askin' are you a... Hibiki?"
    James paused to identify the word. As far as he could reason, it
was simply a name. By this boy's use of it, a family name. "No. Why? Do
I look like one?"
    "Uh, not really. You just sound like ya have their sense of
direction." He scratched the back of his head.
    "No. My name is James Rahn." He paused, as if expecting something.
"I'm a sort of traveler, but sometimes I don't know where I'm going."
    That sounded a bit like a Hibiki to Ranma, but he didn't press.
After all, Ryouga usually knew where he was going to go, and got lost
anyway... "Umm, I'm Ranma Saotome. Nice ta meet ya."
    "The pleasure's all mine, I assure you. Say, is there some place I
can get cleaned up? I didn't plan on being... tossed into a canal
today."
    "Oh, I _know_ what you mean. Sure, I'm going over to Tofu's to get
this looked at." James didn't quite follow what Ranma gestured at. "He
won't mind if you wash up there."
    "This 'Tofu' is a person?"
    "You're obviously not from around here." Now that Ranma was
moving, James could see that he was walking with a slight limp, and
looked a little roughed up. He didn't notice this earlier because of his
surprise and anger at landing in the water freshly upon his arrival. He
felt he _could_ use a shower, however.
    "Nope."

---

    Tofu proved to be an quite experienced and very nice doctor, who
knew Ranma fairly well. He seemed surprised, in fact, to see James
dripping wet (well, really just excessively damp), and Ranma bone dry.
James took that look to mean that Ranma usually showed up soaking wet,
especially with Dr. Tofu's comment. 'Usually it's Ranma who shows up
soaking wet.'
    A conversation was quickly struck up, Dr. Tofu being the curious
type.
    "You're from where?"
    Explaining, this James didn't mind doing. "From another dimension.
An alternate plane of reality, if you will."
    "How is it that you can travel here?"
    "I... jump. Shift. Phase? It's kind of hard to explain, and very
dangerous. I've heard stories of some who have tried using machines...
those experiments didn't end very well. At least I use a more 'reliable'
method. Heh."
    "Well..." Tofu seemed at a loss for words. It was something so
simple to James, even though he'd jumped what, a half dozen times? It
_was_ a little strange to try and wrap your brain around the concept if
you had never heard of or experienced it before.
    "I know. I was the same way when I first found out. It's different
then you think it is... er, might be..." He paused, ever so slightly
confused. It was just a _little_ hard to describe dimension-hopping, and
assume that this man had done it before could only be described as an
act of monumental stupidity of the likes only witnessed by James
himself. "... I mean..."
    "Is it like the Nanban mirror?" Asked Tofu.
    Predictably, James was at a loss.
    "Well, it's kinda hard to describe." Said Ranma.
    "Nanban mirror? Dimension shifting device? Takes you to alternate
worlds?" A pair of nods. "How?" James reminded himself to stop babbling
and waited for the hard-pressed teen to answer.
    "It... can take you where you want to go if you ask it right. It's
magic... um, when I used it, it showed me a future where Ryouga had...
had married..." he almost choked the word out, "Akane."
    Akane? Ryouga? "Soooo. Magic, you say? Do you have it?"
    "No, after I broke it, the old lech took it back."
    Item: One magically-powered dimensional movement device, broken.
Item: One 'old lech' in possession of said device. Problem: 'Old lech'
he didn't understand.
    "Say who?"
    "Happosai." Ranma spat out the word with more than a small measure
of disgust.
    "Are you looking for this mirror?" Chimed in Dr. Tofu.
    "In a manner of speaking, yes. Just for examination purposes."
    "I can understand."
    James looked at the Doctor a little harder. "You can?"
    "I'm curious about the biological uniqueness of Jusenkyo-cursed
people because it's beneficial to their health and my effectiveness as a
Doctor. You are curious about other devices which allow inter-
dimensional travel because they can directly affect you and the relative
health of the dimensions around you."
    "Y'know, you're pretty damn smart, Doctor."
    "Well I didn't get through medical school on my looks alone, and
around here you become accustomed to thinking about these kind of
confusing things."
    <Something... Missing something... aha!> James raised a finger.
"Jusenkyo-cursed?"
    "Umm, that's a little personal. Is it imperative for you to know?"
    <Me?> "Well, I've never trusted magic much, and if any Jusenkyo-
cursed people are involved with magic, it would be nice to be educated
about them, least I be... surprised." Ranma looked a tad offended, but
James didn't notice.
    "Well, magic is the very device by which Jusenkyo curses operate.
Listen carefully."
    Dr. Tofu proceeded to explain in detail about Jusenkyo curses. A
condition where a person was cursed to change into an alternate form
(animals, monsters, and in Ranma's case, a girl) with cold water, but
change back with hot water. James wasn't too interested in these souls
apart from the fact they were formidable martial artists. The whole
curse thing sounded like a real pain. Imagine if he'd turned into a duck
or a cow upon hitting the water. Well, good news for him, there didn't
seem to be any reason to go all the way to China, something he would
avoid at all costs around here. Besides, he had more important tasks on
hand.
    He had to take care of that mirror.
    "And how do I identify it?" James asked Ranma.
    "It's silver, looks old, and has a long crack down the middle."
    "Oh. Piece of cake."
    "What do you want the mirror for, James?" Tofu asked.
    "Get rid of it or lock it out. No unauthorized dimensional travel.
That device doesn't show you a possible world, but a real world that IS
a possible certainty." He blinked. "Never mind, it shouldn't be here. It
was probably created by some renegade mage or something. I just have to
get rid of it."
    All told, Tofu's explanation was mercifully quick, sparring James
a lecture on medical-speak, which he hadn't cared for since he was a
boy. Fortunately, Tofu had some patients to attend to, leaving James and
Ranma to let themselves out.
    James had been taking good notes. Him and Ranma decided to leave
for the dojo, but first Ranma had something to explain while they were
safely out of earshot of the rest of town.
    They sat alone in the waiting room, conversing in low tones as to
not disturb the doctor in the next room.
    "So what now?" Asked Ranma.
    "Well, I have a question. Do things ever seem... off around here?"
    "Off?"
    "Odd, unusual. Y'know, around here?" For some reason, James felt
odd attempting to communicate the definition of unusual to someone who
changed sexes with the application of water, but having seen things even
weirder in the short time he'd been 'jumping' had prepared him to see
strange things. Besides, Ranma was a martial artist and had to have some
idea about the 'feel' of this place.
    "Well," He scratched the back of his head. "Uh... you'd have to
define 'off'."
    <Oooh.> "Well... never mind. Onto the next order of business.
Clothes."
    "Clothes?"
    "Yes. I need you to take me shopping." <As if you can't _see_ all
the mud on my formerly _new_ shirt!>
    For some reason, Ranma looked downright uncomfortable. "Shopping?"
    "I've never shopped in Japan. And on that note, I have no... yen,
is it?"
    "How are you going to go shopping then?"
    "I didn't say I was broke." Said James with a smile.
    "Aheh... oookay." Said Ranma. "What're ya gonna do first?"
    James stood dramatically. "First, we go to a large bank and see if
I can get some dollars changed into yen. Second, we go to a reasonably
priced clothing store and I buy a new set of clothes." Thirdly, figure
out what was wrong _here_.
    "Why are you holding your pants like that?"
    "It involves a psycho, a sickle blade, and the word 'castration.'
I believe you don't need, and certainly don't want to know the rest."
    "Uh, sure thing."
    <Of course the bastard would have to cut the fucking BUTTONS
off!!!> James began ranting inside his head.

---

    After a quick stop at the bank to exchange currency (for some
reason, neither James nor Ranma trusted the local money handler, Nabiki,
any more than they could... well, they could throw her quite some
distance...) and another stop to obtain new, clean, and _working_
clothes, James was the picture of happiness. Well, as happy as one could
be, walking around in a foreign country with no idea where home was, or
whether it was worth trying to get back there. At least he could speak
the language.
    James and Ranma did a lot of walking. In fact, it looked to James
as if Ranma had never ridden in a car before. He probably wouldn't much
care for it anyway; he looked like a nature-loving martial artist to
James. James wasn't about to drive anything himself anyhow. First, it
was too expensive and the vehicle usually got destroyed anyway. Second,
the traffic in Tokyo was bad enough without him clogging the road.
    While walking this distance, they did their fair share of talking
about what's what, and learning a bit about each other. Actually, James
was doing most of the talking, virtually interrogating Ranma about the
various aspects of life in Nerima-ku. {I'm pretty sure the suffix �ku
means 'ward' as in Nerima is a ward of Tokyo; a suburb. If it's wrong,
blame my English teachers.}
    The one thing he kept coming back to was... well, it was how
screwed up Ranma's life was. Hell, it was worse than his!
    "Ranma, your life sounds even worse than mine!"
    "How so?"
    "Eh? You don't think so?"
    "Well, I'm just wonderin'."
    "Oh, not having a permanent home, little family, enemies abound.
Mine's just a bit more confusing, that's all."
    "Heh, confusing? Try changing genders every time the weather
turns."
    "Speaking of which..."
    "Oh shit."

---

    James was a little amused at Ranma's attitude while soaking wet.
Sure, there was the normal 'crap, I'm all wet' deal, but in Ranma's case
it was also, 'crap, I'm a girl again.'
    He still thought it was funny.
    "What's so funny?"
    "Nothing. I just think I could get to like this place."
    As they closed in on the Tendo dojo, James could tell from afar
that this was one structure that suffered major damage on frequent
occasions. None of the patchwork could have been more than a year old,
and there was even one patch on the roof that was only half finished as
of their arrival.
    And then there was the neighborhood itself. James was always a
little of a nature-man himself (James the monk was an oxymoron, even if
it wasn't too far off), and approved of the non-invasive architecture
abound every corner. Fair size parks dotted their path back to the dojo,
and the whole place just seemed... well, peaceful, compared to home.
Besides, with the rain scrubbing the world, the air smelled sweat and
clean and inviting. Just the kind of place that James wouldn't mind
spending the rest of his life.
    "RANMA SAOTOME, PREPARE TO DIIIEEEEEEE!!!" A loud cry issued from
a pair of healthy lungs.
    James barely threw himself out of the way of the incoming
projectiles fast enough, but still managed to get tears in his clothes
in no less than three locations.
    "Okay, he dies." Muttered the Traveler, feeling somewhat abused
after enjoying this world for only two hours. Not that he would
seriously consider killing the boy--he'd just beat him badly--but still!
His clothes! His NEW clothes!
    Then a yellow and brown blur shot by James on a collision course
with Ranma-chan, screaming something about vengeance and attacking the
red-haired girl while holding onto what James was quite sure fit the
description of a red bamboo umbrella...
    "Hold it!" He shouted hotly. Someone was going to pay for this
shirt.
    "What? How dare you interrupt me while I am extracting vengeance
from this bastard Ranma!"
    At this point it was beyond obvious that this guy had something
with Ranma. So, of course, James had to point it out. "What the HELL is
wrong with you! You just trashed my new and totally cool shirt!!!"
    "Ah..." Nervous now? What was with this guy? "Gomen. I was trying
to--"
    "Kill Ranma. I caught that part."
    "Who are you?"
    "Death, vengeance, American, and _VERY_ pissed off." Now it was
James' turn to attack.
    This turned out to be less foolish than it first seemed. Ryouga
was unnaturally strong, for a _human_, but James found he still had the
edge in speed as they exchanged blows. Ryouga was parrying a lot of good
stuff from James even with one hand on his umbrella, and James was using
anything on hand as a weapon in addition to his own fists. First came
blocks of concrete which were crushed to powder almost by _touching_ the
umbrella. Next came a stray lamp post (James wasn't quite sure how it
had gotten loose, but he got Ryouga to stand under it while he knocked
it over). After that came walls, lawn furniture, rubble, bits of
someone's bicycle, a shop curtain, several rocks, a wooden chest...
    Then the rain _really_ started to come down.
    James leaned aside a powerful blow launched by Ryouga, grinning as
his opponent was suddenly forced to be a lot more careful in covering
himself from the downpour and still continue the fight. The heavens were
weeping, but it was unclear if and who they were cheering for. Luck was
on James' side, as he slid combo after combo through Ryouga's hurting
defense to slam the young martial artist with powerful techniques.
    Which were brushed off like the blows of insects.
    The two remained at an impasse, moving as a pair of blurs while
millions of falling drops of water filled the air between them. Both
easily adjusted to the changes in their environment, but Ryouga was
hurting for having to cover himself constantly from the water. James
took note of this, but continued his non-stop assault seemingly without
giving it a second thought.
    Ranma-chan remained back a bit, still following the two on a
haphazard course through most of Nerima. James was good. Very good, even
against Ryouga, but he was still holding back a lot. Maybe he was
enjoying this? And what on earth was up with Ryouga? By now he would
have turned tail and ran, being at such a disadvantage in the renewed
rainstorm.
    Ryouga launched a couple of lunge-punches, forcing James back, who
responded with a quick sidestep and a few elbows at point blank range.
Then James feinted for the umbrella, full-well knowing of Ryouga's curse
from how the Lost Boy covered himself. Ranma had left little hints here
and there too, something James was a master at picking up on. Ryouga
countered instead of blocking, nearly catching James with a quick knee.
James twisted and slammed his left fist into Ryouga's face ten times in
the blink of eye, just before the lost boy could step back, mostly
unhurt. James looked down at his fist.
    "Tough crowd." The Traveler commented.
    Ryouga merely growled in reply and charged James again, who leapt
away and up onto the fence of a nearby property, one that happened to
have a pond in the yard. Ryouga followed grimly, umbrella still held
stiffly, and attacked James from the ground. Ranma-chan was close behind
and could see the events unfolding from an ideal vantage point as she
gained the fence as well.
    Hey, she was home.
    Sure enough, Ryouga caught sight of the Tendo dojo through the
hated rain as he made the fence as well, turning to face the insolent
American who was grinning like he was worth a million bucks. Not that
Ryouga would know a million bucks from a million Pesos, but the meaning
of James' expression was plan to any member of human race (and even a
few alien species).
    Ryouga lifted off with a couple of quick kicks to keep the faster
man at bay, then pulled back as James bent his body around the whole
barrage without blinking and nearly caught Ryouga's shirt front.
    "Hah! Damn, you're pretty good!" Shouted James excitedly.
    "Just hold... still and... fight!" Ryouga managed to shout as
James let out his own flurry of kicks in response. Clearly he was having
fun fighting in the rain. And where had Ranma-chan run off to?
    Unfortunately, that lapse of concentration was to be Ryouga's
downfall. The rain had been getting steadily worse over the last two
minutes of James and Ryouga's fight, and as Ryouga slowed a bit to
search for his original target (still not completely ignoring James),
James had an idea.
    An evil idea.
    James pulled back and rolled his shoulders against the cold,
taking a second to curse the rain on his new clothes, then put his plan
into motion. He shot forward like a bullet, catching Ryouga off guard,
forcing the boy back against a hail of blows. James pulled back just as
Ryouga regained a solid stance and proceeded to go all out a foot shy of
actually hitting the lost boy.
    Before Ryouga or even Ranma-chan could see what James was up to, a
sudden swell of wind from James' techniques caused the rain next to
Ryouga to go sideways. No totally prepared for a blast of cold water,
Ryouga was caught unawares and desperately blocked with the umbrella. In
the split-second opening, James leapt to the yard below, by the pond.
    Ryouga poked his head out, seething, and followed the man down to
the yard. He never saw it coming. In the instant his eyes locked on the
Tendo residence, James slammed two open hands into the Koi pond, driving
a single stream of cold and dirty water right at Ryouga.
    This time the umbrella did not come in time.
    "Bweee!" Said the small black pig angrily.
    "Well, well, well. Looks like I win."

---

    Lightning barked outside, occasionally lighting up the great
deluge of water that was pouring down on Nerima as though God had
decided to weed out the 'evil people' again. The Tendos were warm and
inviting people though, and although James still felt a bit like a bug
under a microscope, at least they had dropped their outright suspicion
after he had explained why he was here.
    "This is my fifth jump, Tendo-san." James said to Nabiki's latest
question.
    Genma-panda held up another sign. [Are you sure you aren't here to
kill anyone?]
    "Not unless it's absolutely necessary. I don't like killing
people."
    "What about that guy that slashed up your 'jeans' earlier?" Piped
up Ranma-chan to keep herself in the conversation.
    "I had considered it, but it would be a little foolish to kill
over clothes."
    Ranma-chan glared at P-chan.
    James rolled his shoulders. His shirt had dried a bit, but he was
itching for a hot shower. Then he remembered where he was, and decided
it was wise to bank on the Japanese in this world preferring baths. Hmm,
a hot soak would do him some good too.
    "Any other questions?"
    The rest of the table seemed oddly subdued. Nothing unusual about
a dimension-hopping man with a tattoo on his arm that sometimes glowed
and stung like a mother fucker.
    Must happen all the time around here.
    "I have one." Said Ranma-chan slowly. Nabiki was already halfway
to her room, and the two elders had set up a board game near the open
doors at the far end of the room. Beyond, James could see the rain
continue unabated, and silently wished for a bath.
    "Shoot."
    "How did you hold off Ryouga like that?"
    "Fighting style or tenacity?"
    Ranma-chan's face scrunched up in a way that meant plain distaste.
James was tempted to laugh, as it looked so out of place, but he still
remembered that Ranma was a boy, not a girl, and somehow managed to hold
a straight face.
    "Hmm, where'd ya learn ta fight like that, for starters."
    "Ahh, style. Lots. I just picked it up here and there, few
classes, independent practice through high school, then I really got
into martial arts just in the last three years or so. Picked up a couple
of local trophies where I lived, then dropped out of the competitive
circle. I kept up the practice, though. It's been a godsend since this
whole loony trip started, and I've learned a LOT moving from place to
place." He paused, barely aware that he was rambling. "Did you have a
specific question?"
    "That wind thing you did to move the rain."
    James stood, dripping a healthy amount of water around. "Let's go
outside, I'll demonstrate."
    Ranma-chan nodded and followed the Traveler outdoors into the
rain. Akane stood inside cuddling her P-chan close. She thought about
going outside, but P-chan didn't seem to like James-san very much, even
though he seemed like a nice guy. Besides, she had homework to do.
    Kasumi stood slowly and moved toward the kitchen.
    Yes, a peaceful day at the Tendo's.


    James cross-blocked with both arms, catching the full force of
Ranma-chan's kick on his guard, then struck out viscously at his moving
target before she could land and move in on him. The pair were battling
back and forth with abandon in the thick of a raging storm, sharing in
something they both enjoyed immensely: a good fight. Ranma-chan clearly
had the edge in speed and a some in form, but James made up for his lack
of physical prowess by way of awesome skill and more brutal techniques,
and a great variety of ingenious moves that had left Ranma-chan shadow
boxing more than once.
    There was no question his opponent was learning, mused James, but
it was the pace that worried him. Twice he'd changed his pattern to keep
her small but dangerous fists out of his guard, and twice she'd adapted,
remarkably fast. "Try this!" James shouted as he did a quick spin of out
range of a pair of round house kicks and launched the move he'd came up
with when fighting Ryouga.
    It was something that had just come to him in that instant, after
the train incident nearly a week ago, and his many years of swimming for
fun and sport, then finally, in the rain just a few moments ago. His
hands cupped and moved in a complex pattern even as he stepped back,
sending a stream of wind at the approaching figure, blowing an almost
solid sheet of water at the girl.
    She leapt, twisted, James rolled, and his heel bit into the wet
earth hard, tearing up a good amount of perfectly good grass. It looked
healthy, though. No real damage done (to the grass, that is). James
lashed out with a few quick punches that were blocked or dodged with
great ease. Ranma-chan countered his advance with a series rapid side
kicks that James totally ignored as he moved sideways, striking for her
head again.
    Ranma-chan felt the move coming, and moved her head aside as a
fist whistled past. A second punch made a glancing blow off her side,
and she turned quickly preparing to hit James with something hard and
painful when a hand came out of nowhere and smacked her in the head with
a palm strike.
    James hopped back as Ranma-chan flailed to the ground, dizzy from
his hit. <A good martial artist, but lacking focus.> James thought.
    The girl stopped spinning and quickly righted herself. Then, she
drew up her guard and came slowly toward James with a scary smile on her
face. "Like _this_ is it?!" On the word 'this' she moved her hands in
imitation of James' new technique, sending a blinding spray of water at
his face. James ducked, then ducked again as a kick whipped over his
head. He rolled, bouncing to his feet smoothly, and threw out a ridge
hand from the very limit of his range, then followed up with a dragon
tail, intending to catch Ranma-chan in the knees.
    Ranma-chan narrowly missed the first strike, then went airborne to
dodge the second, leaping away from James to give herself some distance.
Too late, she realized she'd been had. Another, more powerful, blast of
air hit her hard, an unblockable wave of force that threw her the
distance of the yard, clean over the Koi pond and into the fence on the
other side of the yard.
    James himself seemed a little amazed, staring at his hands like
they had just acquired a mind of their own. "...Never thought it could
be _that_ powerful!" He said out loud.
    <Exactly!> Thought Ranma-chan. She charged James all out now,
covering the ten meter gap in less than a second, but stopping far short
of hitting the arrival.
    "Chestnut Fist Invisible Hand Strike!" She called out, both arms
blurring as she used the freshly modified move on James, who still stood
in amazement that someone could cover so much ground so fast.
    <A VERY good martial artist.> Thought James just before a
hurricane force wind tossed him through the wall and into the dojo.


    "You didn't have to hit me that hard." Said James. Yes, a bath it
was, and a very relaxing one, even if James wasn't used to sharing it
with someone else. At least Ranma was a he now.
    "You were the one who suggested we spar to try that one out."
    "Silly me, I should have practiced it more before I tried to teach
someone else."
    "How long did it take ya to learn it?"
    "I just came up with it while fighting your 'friend,' Ryouga."
    The sound of dripping water, a deep sigh.
    "Just came up with it--" Ranma snapped his fingers. "-like that?"
    "Yeah. Doesn't happen much. I'm surprised it's even _possible_ to
do something like that."
    "Oh, it's certainly possible." Ranma mused. "But only with a _lot_
of practice."
    "You could say I've been getting a lot of that lately. I've been
here what, three hours? I've already been in two killer fights, nearly
demolished a house, and been through two sets of clothes."
    "Your pants were cut up before you got here."
    "Yeah, but other than that, my outfit was okay until that little
dunk in the canal."
    "Heard that one before." Muttered Ranma as he left the bath to
James.
    Another deep sigh. <I could get to like this place.>

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