Ranma jogged along the roof of the Tendo house, trying to take in as much 
of the surrounding area as he could. Seeing no immediate threat, he dropped 
back down and ducked in through the window of the room that he and Genma 
shared, just to make sure everything was secure inside. 
    He glanced around briefly, and almost immediately noticed that something 
was wrong. Something was very wrong indeed. 
    "Wha ... hey, what the heck...?!" 
    Ranma burst out of his room, yelling at the top of his lungs. 
    "HEY, WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO MY BED???!!" 
    "Did you lose something, Ranma?" a voice behind him asked. Ranma whirled 
around with a look of shock and confusion in his eyes. 
    "Nabiki! Where the hell is my bed?!" he demanded. 
    "Oh, that." Nabiki shrugged, completely unperturbed. "Kuno took it. He said 
he simply had to see the bedchamber of his pig-tailed goddess, so I showed him 
your room. The next thing I knew, he was throwing bills around. There really 
wasn't anything I could do." She shrugged again, smiling impishly. "I'm 
terribly sorry, Ranma, but I guess you'll just have to sleep on the floor 
tonight." 
    "AAAAARRRGH!!!" Ranma screamed as he dove out the window. He hit the ground 
running and caught up with Kuno at the front gate. Sure enough, he was carrying 
Ranma's futon. "Dammit, Kuno, gimme back my bed!!" Ranma shouted as he skidded 
to a stop a few feet behind him. 
    "Saotome?" Kuno turned to face him. "What is the meaning of this?" 
    "Gimme back my bed, you sick weirdo!!" Ranma yelled again. 
    "YOUR bed?! But, this..." Kuno's brow furrowed in confusion. 
    "That's right, MY BED! You know, the thing I sleep on?!" Ranma was losing 
patience, but stopped when he saw Kuno stiffen. 
    "Saotome..." Kuno's voice was shaking with rage and anguish. "You, you ... 
you mean to tell me that you ... that you and ... and the pig-tailed girl ... 
SHARE THE SAME BEDSHEETS????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 
    Ranma nearly jumped back as Kuno looked up at him, his eyes practically 
bulging out of his head. "YOU INFIDEL!!!!!!!!!!" He screamed, charging at Ranma 
with his bokken drawn. 
    "I, TATEWAKI KUNO, SHALL STRIKE YOU DOWN AND FREE MY PIG-TAILED GODDESS 
FROM THIS UNHOLY BOND OF SEXUAL SLAVERY--" Fortunately for both Ranma and Kuno, 
at that moment Ryoga dropped out of the sky. He landed directly on Kuno's head, 
and they both collapsed in a heap. Ranma simply stood there scratching his 
head, trying to decide how to get his bed out from under them. 
    His thoughts were interrupted by Ukyo's voice. "Ran-Chan, look out!!!" 
    Ranma glanced up and his own eyes widened. 
    Hideaki Goda stood just inside the front gate, not ten feet away. He wasn't 
alone, either. Just behind him stood the boy-girl pair that had accompanied him 
earlier, along with four others. 
    The first was a boy who looked a little younger than Ranma, but brandished 
a genuine katana blade with an air of utter confidence. In addition, he wore an 
authentic samurai breastplate. 
    The second was another girl, who wore her hair in a style that was 
strikingly similar to the way that Akane used to wear hers when it was long. 
She wore a midnight-blue karate gi, and scowled at Ranma and his friends. 
    The third was a very mean-looking martial-artist who Ranma estimated to be 
a bit older than himself. His hair hung about his face, and he had a pair of 
vertical scars beneath each eye. He wore a dirty gray karate gi, with the 
sleeves torn off. 
    The fourth was a very large man who loomed over even Goda, being nearly the 
same height as the Dojo Destroyer. His tremendous size made it difficult to 
guess his age. 
    By this time, Ranma's allies had all assembled in the yard and the two 
groups faced off, while Kasumi and Nabiki watched from the doorway. As Ranma 
sized up their opponents, he noted that none of them had any green hair. Which 
meant there was probably at least one more lurking around somewhere. 
    Goda was apparently sizing up Ranma's group as well. His haughty smirk 
didn't fade as his eyes flicked over each of them briefly. "Well, Ranma 
Saotome, you certainly look prepared." He chuckled. "But how long can you all 
really last, in a battle where a single blow landed will mean death?" 
    Ranma laughed openly at the threat, as Kuno and Ryoga untangled themselves 
and faced the enemy. "I'd worry about bein' able to LAND that blow before I 
start talkin' if I were you, pal!" Ranma grinned at Goda. "Good luck, an' all 
that stuff." 
    "Great idea, Ranma." Akane muttered sarcastically. "Let's make them nice 
and mad first. That'll really help things." 
    "Shut up, I know what I'm doing!" Ranma growled back. 
    "Hey, save your fight 'till AFTER we beat these guys, 'cause here they 
come!!" Ukyo interrupted as Goda lowered his spear and his entire group leapt 
into the Tendos' yard. 
    "I don't think WE'RE the ones who'll be needing luck in THIS fight!!" Goda 
shouted, his sneer twisted into a grimace as he charged at Ranma, who dodged 
him easily and the combatants scattered. Half a dozen fights broke out at once.

    Shampoo dodged off to the side, and saw the uniform-clad twins select her 
as their target. They must be siblings, she thought; not only do they resemble 
each other physically, they move alike too. Then the boy lunged in low, while 
the girl jumped overhead and scattered some kind of powder into the air. 
Shampoo instinctively sucked in her breath and held it as the cloud enveloped 
her, but whatever it was, it was so potent that it still stung her skin and 
made her eyes water heavily. They were definitely playing for keeps! 
    As if to reinforce her thought, just then the male half of the team charged 
out of the powdery cloud at her, and Shampoo saw something metallic flash in 
his hand. She met him with a left-handed mace mace blow to the head, and as he 
veered off course she spun around and pummeled him with a succession of body-
blows. He staggered past, but then a whip-like cord snapped out of the cloud. 
Shampoo spun out of its path just in time, but it snagged one of her mace-
balls. She tried to use it to pull her opponent toward her, but the girl 
flicked her wrist and Shampoo's weapon was sliced to pieces! Her whip was made 
of razor-wire! 
    As Shampoo backed off and planned her next move, suddenly a mass of chains 
swung up and wrapped around her enemy from below. Not surprisingly, it was 
Mousse, and the girl with the razor-whip was completely entangled in his trap. 
    "Leave Shampoo alone, you jerk! How dare you attack her with such a 
weapon?!" he yelled as he swung her around and slammed her into, and then 
through, the wall surrounding the Tendos' property. That done, Mousse retracted 
his chains to wherever it is that he keeps them, then looked around angrily. 
"Now, where'd his sister go?!" 
    "You just throw her through wall, stupid," Shampoo pointed out in disgust. 

    Meanwhile, a few yards away, Kuno and the armored boy locked swords. 
    "What is this?!" the boy laughed. "You come into a life-or-death duel with 
only a bokken?! What manner of fool are you?" 
    Kuno not only matched the boy's arrogence, he exceeded it. "The true fool 
is not I, but he who trusts his weapon more than he trusts himself! The blade 
has not been forged which can overcome the rising young star of the high school 
Kendo world! And you, insolent whelp ... I shall defeat, to preserve the honor 
of Akane Tendo!" He shoved his younger opponent away. 
    The youth regained his balance immediately, and readied his sword. "We'll 
see about that!" He charged at Kuno. 
    "Don't forget, Kuno," Nabiki called from the doorway, "If you lose this 
fight WE'LL be out of a home!" 
    "Silence, Nabiki Tendo!" Kuno snapped, turning toward her. "Do you seek to 
disrupt my concentration?!" 
    As Kuno turned, the boy's sword sliced through the air where Kuno's head 
had been a moment before. 
    "Why yes, Kuno-Baby, that's exactly what I meant to do," Nabiki replied. 
    "An opening!!" Kuno lunged forward before his opponent could regain his 
balance and caught him with a blow to the midsection. However, his bokken 
glanced off the boy's armor, leaving him unharmed. 
    "You'll have to do better than that!" The youth countered with a wide slash 
as he turned around. Kuno turned away to avoid being skewered, but the blade 
sliced through his shirt and drew blood. The two combatants circled each other.
    "For the unforgivable crime of injuring my body," Kuno growled, "I shall 
batter thee without mercy, until you cry out for hell itself to release you 
from your torment!!" He lunged forward and swung low. 
    His young adversary grinned and jumped over the swing, then came down with 
a diving kick. Kuno brought his bokken around and blocked the attack, then 
countered with his infamous hundred-sword-strike as the boy landed. He brought 
up his sword to resist the virtual wall of strikes from Kuno, and managed to 
hold him back although the force of the attack drove him backwards a bit. 
    As the dust cleared, the two swordsmen grinned at each other. 
    Then the boy's sword shattered into a dozen fragments. 
    "What the..." he could only stare at the remnants of his weapon in shock. 
With a battle cry, Kuno spun around and delivered a final blow to the youth's 
chest. His breastplate shattered, and he was sent sprawling to the ground a few 
feet away. 
    Kuno straightened and struck a pose. "And so do all who challenge me learn 
... that it is inconceivable to best in combat, one who is possessed of so 
eloquent a spirit as is my own." He chuckled to himself, then broke down and, 
to the disgust of those watching, began laughing maniacally. 

    Ukyo jumped back to avoid the blue-clad girl's initial diving kick, then 
came back with a downward swing of her giant spatula. The girl twisted to the 
side, avoiding the blow by inches. Then, in a surprising move, she stomped down 
on the spatula's handle, knocking it from Ukyo's grasp. She followed up with a 
punch aimed at Ukyo's gut, which she barely deflected and then jumped back to 
try and bring her throwing spatulas into play. Her opponent was relentless and 
charged at her, but was suddenly knocked to the side by a flying elbow from 
Akane. 
    The girl in the blue gi turned and found Akane facing her, in her best 
defensive stance. A brief change of opponents didn't seem to bother her, and 
she immediately let loose with a snap kick aimed at Akane's neck. Akane raised 
her hand and managed to block the kick, but a fierce pain shot up her arm and 
she staggered to the side. The girl pressed her attack and followed up, going 
for a mid-kick. Akane was left completely open and, seeing the kick, expected 
broken ribs in a moment. She braced herself, but the blow never came. There 
was, however, a loud *CLANG!* 
    Looking up, Akane saw that Ukyo had recovered her spatula and stepped in, 
blocking the girl's attack. She hopped back away from them, apparently to 
decide on what to do next. Akane noticed she was favoring her left leg slightly 
after kicking Ukyo's spatula. 
    Ukyo gave Akane a sideways glance. "Ready, Akane?" She nodded. 
    At once, Ukyo reached into her shirt and came out with a bag of flour, 
which she flung at their enemy's feet. The girl disappeared in a white, powdery 
cloud. Then Ukyo dove in at her from the side, swinging her spatula with all 
her might. 
    Again there was the loud *CLANG!* of the spatula finding its target, and 
the girl flew out the flour-cloud straight at Akane. Akane was ready and met 
her first with a knee, then an uppercut, and she fell to the ground. 
    The cloud of flour dissipated, and Akane looked at Ukyo. "Um ... thanks, 
Ukyo," she said, feeling a little awkward about it. "I guess I owe you one." 
    Ukyo smiled back at her. "Hey, as long as we won, that's all that counts!" 
she replied. 

    "Come, Saotome! Let's teach this boy some respect!" Soun rallied his friend 
as he faced their gigantic adversary. 
    "Right behind you, Tendo!" Genma joined him, and they glared up at the 
giant. The giant glared right back, then took a step toward them. 
    "Stop right there!!" Soun shouted, pointing for emphasis. The giant 
answered with a downward punch at the two. Soun and Genma leaped out of the 
way, and the giant's fist plowed into the stone walkway that lead from the 
front gate to the house. 
    "It seems he means business, Tendo! Let's show him our combined fury!" 
Genma hollered. 
    Soun and Genma leaped into the air and simultaneaously kicked their enemy. 
This knocked him all of about two inches backwards, and with a hearty laugh he 
swatted Genma away. He flew over the house and landed in the pond around the 
side. 
    "Saotome!! How could you abandon me like that?!" Soun wept, collapsing at 
the giant's feet. Still laughing, the giant reared back to step on him. 
    Suddenly, a large panda came barrelling around the side of the house. He 
plowed headfirst into the giant, and with the added body mass his panda form 
afforded him, Genma knocked him off balance and he fell over. Soun didn't 
notice as he was too busy weeping in anguish. 
    "Oh, Father. Father, Father..." Kasumi sighed, shaking her head. 
    The giant quickly righted himself, although he seemed confused to have 
suddenly been attacked by a panda. "What the hell..." he muttered. 
    Genma held up a wooden sign. It read, 'I won't be defeated that easily! 
Now, you must face my true strength!'
    "Huh?" The giant scratched his head. 
    'PANDA KICK!!!' Genma's sign read as he executed said maneuver. He flew at 
the befuddled giant and kicked him in the groin, then bashed him over the head 
with his sign. The giant was quite dazed after this, and Genma produced a 
rubber tire and jammed it over his head. Then he drop-kicked the giant, and he 
bounced out the front gate. 
    Grinning broadly, the panda held up a sign reading, 'And stay out!' 

    Ryoga and the scarred martial-artist circled each other slowly, each 
scowling darkly at the other. "I won't allow you to desecrate these grounds," 
Ryoga told him. He stopped circling and looked his opponent in the eye. "If you 
leave now, I won't follow you." 
    "Shut up and fight, you simpering coward!!" the scarred one snarled as he 
dove at Ryoga, who avoided his first swing. The second lightning-fast punch, 
however, caught him right across the face. That was followed by a succession of 
body blows, and as he pummeled Ryoga the scarred martial-artist yelled, "The 
only way this fight will end is with your death!! I could've killed you with 
the second hit if I wanted to, but I thought you should be taught a lesson 
first!" He finished his dozen-hit combo with a roundhouse kick to the head, 
intended to knock Ryoga to the ground at his right. 
    However, it hadn't moved him at all. 
    Ryoga wiped the blood off his lip and glared up at the scarred one. "Is 
that right?" he asked. 
    His enemy was struck completely speechless, so Ryoga filled the silence 
with the sound of rushing air as he slammed his fist into the man's gut. Then 
he grabbed him in a crushing grip. "You've threatened Akane and her family," 
Ryoga told him, "And for that, I can't forgive you!!" 
    With that Ryoga jumped into the air and performed a suplex maneuver, 
smashing his opponent into the ground with tremendous force. They rolled away 
from each other after the impact, and each one came to a crouching position. 
    "Well met, kid..." the scarred one admitted. "I guess I underestimated you. 
But try this on!" He flattened his hand and plunged it into the grass before 
him, sending a deadly mass of rock and earth surging through the ground at 
Ryoga. 
    Who was ready for it. "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!!!" With his 'breaking point' 
technique, Ryoga shattered the ground mass, showering them both with debris. 
The scarred martial-artist wasn't expecting this, and was momentarily blinded 
by the flying dirt and bits of rock. When he recovered, the first thing he saw 
was Ryoga charging at him. 
    Before his enemy had a chance to recover, Ryoga rushed him and delivered a 
decisive blow with his heavy-weight umbrella. The scarred martial-artist was 
knocked halfway across the yard, and the fight was over. 

    "Y'know," Ranma said as Goda's spear whistled past him, "You've swung that 
thing at me about fifteen times now, and you haven't hit me yet. Whaddya think 
that means?" Goda stabbed at him again, and Ranma vaulted upward and landed 
atop the wall surrounding the Tendo house. 
    Goda glared up at him. "I think it means that you're a coward, who's too 
afraid to face me in a real fight!" 
    Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Oh, is that so..." With that, he leaped from the 
wall and hurtled down at Goda with a diving kick. "C'mon then, let's fight!!" 
    Goda jumped back and drove his spear at Ranma again. Ranma sidestepped the 
lunge, but Goda anticipated it this time and twisted the spear sideways, 
knocking Ranma through the air and into the Tendos' pond. 
    As he moved in for the kill, Goda looked considerably surprised when a red-
haired girl emerged from the pond that Ranma had just fallen into. "What? Where 
is Ranma Saotome?!" he demanded. 
    "Boy, you're even dumber than you look!" Ranma yelled as he grabbed the end 
of the spear and used it to fling Goda into the house. There was a loud crash 
from inside, and Ranma hopped up the steps to face his enemy when he emerged. 
    And emerge he did, looking slightly bewildered but still determined. He 
leveled his spear at Ranma. "I don't know who you are ... but if you defend the 
Tendo Dojo, you are also my enemy! Prepare to die!!" 
    He began an elaborate motion with his spear, and Ranma stepped back to 
anticipate his next attack. However, their face-off was suddenly interrupted by 
a voice. 
    "Hey, what's going on out here?! Who interrupted my TV show??!" 
    Ranma and Goda both stopped, and looked down. Standing next to Goda and 
glaring up at him was Happosai, looking very irate. "You wrecked the reception 
right when the bathouse scene was coming up!!" 
    "Stay out of the way, old man!" Goda barked, completely unaware of what he 
was facing. "This is a duel for the future of the Anything-Goes school of 
martial-arts, and if you interfere I'll be forced to cut short your remaining 
time in this world!" 
    Happosai's eyes bulged. "What insolence!!! Show some respect for your 
elders, you punk!" 
    "You have forced my hand!" Goda declared as he swatted at Happosai. 
    Ranma had to admit that, despite himself, he immensely enjoyed seeing 
Happosai catch Goda's boot with his pipe and fling him against the far wall of 
the Tendos' yard. The wall cracked as Goda collided with it, and he hung there 
for a moment before falling off and slumping to the ground. 
    Ranma approached his fallen adversary, who was shaking himself off and 
struggling to his feet. Ranma heard him muttering something along the lines of, 
"Impossible! Can it be, that old man is the one who..." 
    "Who just trashed your sorry butt? Yup, he is!" Ranma interrupted him, 
grinning from ear to ear. "So, do you give up yet?" 
    Goda snarled fiercely at him. "I will NEVER admit defeat!!!" 
    Ranma shrugged. "Fine, have it your way. KATSU TENSHIN AMAGOURIKEN!!!" 
    Ranma lashed out and struck Goda with over a hundred blows in the space of 
one second. With a look of utter shock on his face, he groaned and fell to his 
knees. 
    Ranma sighed, crossing his arms. "That's what ya get, you jerk!"