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Masterwork Productions presents... 

Ranma 1/2: The Sands of Time 


Based on characters created by Rumiko Takahashi 
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Part Two: The Terrible Curse 


    "Well, Akane," Dr. Tofu sighed as he examined Akane's wrist, "It's just as 
I suspected at first. Your wrist is broken. Oh, it's not broken that badly -- 
in fact, it should heal within a couple weeks -- but, it is broken. How'd it 
happen, anyway?" He looked at her with concern as he fit a sturdy brace on. 
    "Well, you see..." Akane began, but then stopped. Her mind flashed back to 
her opponent in the fight just over an hour ago -- quite a brave girl to take 
on both her and Ukyo at once, and a fierce fighter. Now she was dead, having 
commited seppoku along with her friends after their defeat. Despite the fact 
that her kick, which Akane now knew had broken her wrist, had originally been 
aimed at her neck ... Akane couldn't help but feel bad about it. She'd never 
imagined that anyone would actually do such a thing over a stupid fight. 
    "Akane...?" With a start, Akane realized she hadn't answered Dr. Tofu. She 
looked at him, and saw the concern in his eyes deepen. Those beautiful eyes... 
    "Akane," Tofu was saying, "Don't tell me that Ranma had anything to do 
with..." 
    "Oh, no! Nothing like that," Akane laughed, putting on her best cheerful 
face. "I guess I just, um, pushed myself a little too hard. Besides, you don't 
really think I'd ever let that idiot do something like THIS to me, do you?" 
    They both laughed, and Dr. Tofu smiled. "Well, I'm glad it's nothing 
serious. Just the same, you'd better be more careful!" 
    "I will, Dr. Tofu! Thank you!" Akane waved as she left his office after 
he'd finished with the cast. "I'll tell Kasumi you said hi." She quickly left 
to avoid seeing what his reaction to her last comment would be. Returning to 
the waiting room, she saw Ranma abruptly stop pacing when he saw her. 
    "Akane! So, uhh, how's your, y'know, your arm." he asked as casually as he 
could. 
    "It'll be okay, Ranma. It WAS broken, though." she replied. 
    "Wow." Ranma looked a little surprised. "And you said you just blocked that 
girl's kick with it, huh? I guess those guys were dangerous after all. It's a 
good thing nobody else got hurt, except Kuno." 
    "Oh, no! Is he okay?" Akane asked, sounding genuinely worried. 
    "They didn't say nothin' about it, but it didn't look too bad to me," Ranma 
replied as they left the clinic and began walking home. Any other day, Ranma 
would've taunted Akane mercilessly for worrying about Kuno, but today was 
different. He had other things to worry about. 
    And Akane chose that moment to mention the most troubling thing of all. 
    "Um, Ranma?" she began quietly as they walked. Ranma was walking alongside 
her on the sidewalk for a change, instead of up on the fence like he usually 
did, so he had no trouble hearing her speak in such a low tone. 
    "Hmmm?" was his reply. 
    "What if ... well, I know we've all wished Happosai would die -- prayed for 
something terrible to happen to him, even -- but, well ... what if he really 
does die?" 
    "HA!" Ranma's response was so callous it even shocked Akane. "I'll TELL you 
what! If that old freak buys the farm, then you won't have to keep your 
underwear locked up, and neither will any OTHER girl in Japan, and our fathers 
would stop acting like such a pair of spineless worms, and we won't have to 
sneak around, trying not to make him mad or nothin' while HE wrecks our lives, 
and you won't have to wear a bathing suit to go to the public baths, and..." 
    Ranma trailed off into silence as he noticed Akane wasn't walking with him. 
He looked back to see her standing about four steps behind him. 
    "Damn it, Ranma!" she cried. "I'm SERIOUS!! What if he DIES?!" She averted 
her face when she saw his expression. "I mean, yeah, I hate that old pervert 
just as much as you do, but ... I don't really want to see him die! I never 
really MEANT it!!" She turned away, not wanting Ranma to see her shed tears 
over Happosai. 
    Geez, Ranma thought to himself, could she really be that upset over the old 
freak? Walking up behind Akane, he touched her shoulder. 
    "Hey, listen, Akane," he said, "There's no way that old lech'll die from 
somethin' as little as this." He grinned at her. "We're not that lucky!" 
    Akane actually laughed at that. Hastily wiping her eyes, she showed Ranma a 
smile. "Yeah, you're right ... we're not that lucky, are we." 
    They continued walking in silence for a moment, both feeling a little 
better. Then Ranma spoke. 
    "But, there's somethin' else that's buggin' me ... just exactly who the 
heck is that Tatsu-whatever-his-name-is guy? If I didn't know better ... I'd 
say the old freak was actually scared of him!" 
    Akane scoffed. "That's impossible, Ranma! YOU can't even beat Happosai -- 
and that guy couldn't have been any older than you are. I bet the old man just 
cheated him at cards or something like that, and he's trying to get out of 
having to pay him back. Or maybe he stole his sister's panties. Yeah, I bet 
that's what it is. He's trying to avenge his sister's underwear." Akane 
chuckled at her own joke. 
    "I dunno." Ranma walked in silence for nearly a minute, then spoke up 
again. "Akane, don't ever tell nobody I said this, but ... when that guy looked 
at me, it really gave me the creeps." 
    Akane was silent. 
    "Plus, whoever he is, he seems really interested in the dojo, too," Ranma 
added. "I'm sure he'll come back. And when he does ... I'll be ready!" 

    A short while later, Ranma and Akane arrived back at the Tendo residence 
and were surprised to see that everyone, except Happosai and Kuno, was still 
here. The bodies had all been picked up, although their blood still stained the 
grass inside the front gate. 
    "Where Ranma take Akane?!" Shampoo demanded before anyone else had a chance 
to say anything. 
    "Yeah, Honey, where DID you go?" Ukyo asked, her pleasant voice carrying a 
threatening undertone. 
    "Hey, calm down, you guys!" Ranma said, holding up his hands to ward off 
their impending attack. "We just went to see Dr. Tofu." 
    "I see he had a present for Akane," Nabiki observed, pointing to the cast 
on Akane's left hand. 
    "Oh, dear!" Kasumi exclaimed. "Akane, are you all right? Does it hurt very 
much?" 
    "I'm fine, Kasumi, really!" Akane assured her, embarassed at being fussed 
over. "Dr. Tofu said it'd heal within a couple of weeks." 
    "Wow, that was quite a kick! I'm surprised she didn't dent my spatula," 
Ukyo commented. 
    "All right, Ranma." Ryoga turned to him with an accusing stare. "What do 
you intend to do about this new enemy, who can even strike fear into the heart 
of the most evil martial-artist in Japan?!" 
    Ranma waved his hand dismissively. "Ahh, he ain't so tough. I can take him, 
easy." 
    In the next moment Ryoga was on Ranma and had him by the shirt, shaking him 
violently. "YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN THAT GUY FIGHT YET, YOU IDIOT!!!" he yelled. 
"HOW CAN YOU THINK YOU CAN BEAT HIM??!!" 
    Ranma drove a knee into Ryoga's chin, then proceeded to pound him into the 
dirt. Dusting his hands off, he breathed a heavy sigh. "Well, at least I know I 
have a better chance than YOU do, you jerk!" 
    Just then, Akane noticed something. "Hey, wait a minute ... where are Dad 
and Mr. Saotome?" 
    Nabiki jerked a thumb in the direction of the dojo. "In there, embarassing 
themselves. If that's still possible, that is." 
    Everyone stopped and listened, and doing so found that they could hear what 
sounded like singing emanating from the dojo. Peering through the evening 
twilight, Ranma could make out a large pile of empty bottles outside the door. 
    "Ho boy," he muttered. 
    "Oh, Father." Kasumi sighed, shaking her head. "Father, Father..." 
    Mousse adjusted his glasses. "I guess they just don't care that they might 
still be in danger," he observed. 
    As everyone looked at the dojo with varying expressions of disgust, 
embarassment and wonder, Nabiki clapped her hands. "Okay, people. The Tendo 
household is shutting down for the night, so all non-residents must now be on 
their way." She herded Shampoo, Mousse, Ukyo and Ryoga toward the door. 
    "Aiyaa! You just throw us out on street, then?!" Shampoo protested. 
    "You have homes," Nabiki pointed out. "I suggest you make use of them. I'm 
sure we'll see you all tomorrow. And the next day, and the next day, and the 
day after that, and the following day after THAT one, and--" 
    "But, Wait!" Ukyo exclaimed. "That sign that Ryoga saw! Didn't it say that 
when the sun rose tomorrow, the Tendo school would be destroyed?!" 
    Nabiki gave her a dead stare, then cleared her throat. "All right, in that 
case, we'll see you tomorrow -- assuming that our home hasn't been leveled by 
then." The gate slammed shut. 
    Sulking, Shampoo stomped down the street toward the Nekohanten. Ukyo stood 
fuming at the gate, while Ryoga and Mousse remained next to her for lack of 
anywhere else to go. 
    "Ranma, you stupid jackass!!" Ukyo shouted at the gate. "You'd better not 
try to fight that guy by yourself!!!" Furious, she stormed off down the street 
in the direction of her restaraunt. 
    Ryoga stood staring at the gate for about a minute longer, then sat down 
with his back to it. Akane, he told her silently, the others may go, but I will 
remain here all night, and make sure that you won't come to harm. 
    Mousse stood there for several minutes, looking at him strangely. Finally 
he spoke up. 
    "Aren't we going to go back, Shampoo? Your great-grandmother--" 
    "I'M NOT SHAMPOO, YOU BLIND FOOL!!!" Ryoga shouted as he hurled Mousse in 
the direction of the Nekohanten. That done, he sat back down and tried to 
regain his dignity. 
    And so he sat with his back propped against the outer wall, staring up at 
the stars above and listening for the slightest sound. About twenty minutes 
passed before he heard a noise. 
    "Ryoga!" someone whispered. 
    Instantly Ryoga was on his feet, looking around intently for the source of 
the noise. 
    "Ryoga!!" 
    His umbrella at the ready, Ryoga looked up and down the street. No 
movement, as far as his eyes could see. 
    "Ryoga!!! Look up, you dummy!!" 
    Ryoga looked up to see Ranma peering at him over the wall. "Ranma!" he 
snapped. "What do YOU want?!" 
    "SSHHHHH!!" Ranma hissed. He took a quick look behind him, then hopped over 
the wall. Grabbing Ryoga by the arm, he dragged him across the street. 
    "Hey, Ranma, what are you doing?! You'd better not be trying to--" 
    "Okay, Ryoga, listen to me--" Ranma began. 
    "No, YOU listen!" Ryoga interrupted. "Maybe you don't care about Akane, but 
I do! I'm going to protect her, and you can't stop me!" 
    Ranma sighed. "Okay, are you done now?" he asked. 
    "Huh? Uh, yeah," Ryoga answered, a little confused. "Why?" 
    Ranma sighed again, then looked Ryoga in the eye. "Ryoga," he said, "I 
can't believe I'm gonna ask you to do this, but ... I want you to sleep in 
Akane's room tonight." 
    "Wha...?" Ryoga looked genuinely bewildered. "What's your game, Ranma? I'm 
warning you, if you're trying to toy with me again--!" 
    "Hey, it's no game!" Ranma snapped. "Right after that Tatsu-whatever guy 
took off, the old freak grabbed my arm, and told me not to let my guard down 
for a second." His tone grew serious. "I think he was tryin' t'tell me, that 
guy is gonna come back sometime TONIGHT." 
    A glimmer of understanding shown in Ryoga's eyes. "Oh, I get it..." 
    "So," Ranma continued, "I'm gonna keep watch tonight, and hopefully I can 
get Pop to help out. But if I try to look in on Akane, she'll start throwin' 
stuff at me. So that means the only one that can protect her while she's 
asleep..." 
    "...Is P-Chan!" Ryoga finished. "Okay, Ranma, I'll do it. Not for you, but 
for Akane's sake." The two headed back toward the house, and Ryoga turned back 
to Ranma just before they reached the gate. "But, make sure there'll be hot 
water where I can get at it!" he told him sternly. "'Cause if that guy DOES 
come back, we don't want to take any chances!" 
    Ranma nodded in agreement, and they snuck back into the Tendo house. 

    "Oh, come on, Nabiki." Akane eyed her sister incredulously. "You mean 
you're not worried about that guy at all?" 
    The three Tendo sisters were sitting around the table, waiting for their 
father to return from the celebration out in the dojo. 
    "His money was good," Nabiki replied as she bit into a cookie. "So I didn't 
have any problems with him. But really, what is there to be afraid of?" 
    Akane glared at her. "You mean ASIDE from the fact that he's threatened to 
destroy our house, and he sent a bunch of kids to fight us who killed 
themselves after they lost?! What're we gonna do when he comes back? I really 
think we should be taking all of this more seriously!" 
    Just then, their father rode through the dining room on Genma's back. Genma 
was in his panda form, and he was waving a brightly-colored sign that read, 
'ding, dong, the lech is dead'. 
    Akane could only stare in disbelief as they passed through the room. Nabiki 
casually sipped her cup of tea, then glanced back at Akane. 
    "I'm sorry, Sis, I didn't catch what you said. Were you just asking me why 
I can't take anything seriously?" 
    "Oh, my," Kasumi sighed. "I suppose I'd better convince them to go to bed." 
She got up and left the room, leaving her younger sisters to try to convince 
themselves that they hadn't really seen what they'd just seen. 
    As soon as Kasumi had gone, the door slid open and Ranma entered. 
    "Ranma!" Akane exclaimed in a scolding tone. "What were you doing out 
there? Our fathers have completely lost their minds!" 
    "So what else is new?" he said with a shrug. "Oh, here -- I thought you'd 
be worried about him." Suppressing a wince, he tossed a wet black piglet into 
Akane's arms. 
    "P-Chan!" Akane looked at Ranma in surprise. "You mean ... you were out 
there looking for him? Ranma ... that was really nice of you." 
    Now it was P-Chan's turn to wince. 
    Ranma shrugged again. "Aw, I just didn't wanna hafta listen to you all 
night..." He imitated Akane's voice in an exaggerated squeal. "'Oh, no! P-Chan! 
Ranma, Ranma! We've gotta go find him before something happens to him!'" 
    Nabiki quickly moved her cup as Akane bashed Ranma with the table. After 
that, she turned on her heel and ascended the stairs to her room with P-Chan. 
    Ranma watched Akane leave, then climbed out from beneath the table and 
clenched his fist triumphantly. "Yes! She's so predictable!" he chuckled. "I 
was hoping she'd do somethin' like that! Now, I can--" He broke off as he 
noticed Nabiki staring at him. "Wh ... what?" he asked. 
    "Ranma..." Nabiki said, "...You're really weird." Taking her cup, she 
followed Akane's path upstairs to her own room. 
    Ranma sat there looking at the stairway for a moment, then turned around 
and gave himself a motivational speech. "Ahh, who cares what they think about 
me! They don't know what's really goin' on! I just KNOW that Tatsu-what's-his-
face guy is gonna try something tonight, while everybody's asleep!" 
    He grinned in anticipation. "Or, while he THINKS everybody's asleep!!" 

    A short while later, the entire Tendo household (plus their perpetual 
houseguests) had gone to bed for the night. The house was dark, and the only 
sound that could be heard was Genma's snoring. 
    Which, from Ranma's position next to him, was nearly deafening. 
    Aw, man! Ranma thought to himself as he lay in his futon, next to his furry 
father. I can't hear a thing with all this noise! Growing increasingly 
agitated, he elbowed the large panda sleeping next to him. 
    "Pop!" he hissed as quietly as he could. "Hey, Pop! Wake up!" 
    The panda continued to snore blissfully. 
    "Aw, geez..." gritting his teeth in frustration, Ranma punched Genma in the 
side. "Wake up, stupid!" he whispered. 
    Genma grunted and scratched his side, then continued snoring. 
    Man, this is gettin' me nowhere, Ranma thought. Oh well, at least with all 
the noise he's makin' nobody'll hear me looking around. 
    Silently, he crept out of his futon (shooting Genma one last nasty look) 
and moved over to the window. Opening it with practiced ease, he crawled out 
onto the roof. 
    Moving with absolute silence, Ranma crept across the roof. He made his way 
to Akane's window, and peered inside. He could see her asleep in bed, with P-
Chan tucked in next to her. 
    I really hate that little runt, Ranma told himself. 
    He tapped on the window lightly. Immediately, the black piglet's eyes 
popped open wide and he looked straight at Ranma. 
    Ranma gave him a quick wave, then ducked away from the window. "Well, at 
least I know the little jerk ain't sleepin' on the job," he muttered under his 
breath. He moved to the edge of the roof, and peered out over the yard. 
    His gaze swept over the trees ... the pond ... the gate ... the walkway ...
    Movement. 
    Ranma immediately focused his attention on the shadowy corner near the 
door. It was dark, and he couldn't make out whether there was someone standing 
there, hiding in the shadows. 
    He watched the spot for about thirty seconds, and saw no further signs of 
movement. Whatever it was, he'd just caught a glimpse out of the corner of his 
eye. It could've just been a trick of the light, or something blowing past in 
the wind. And there definitely wasn't anything there now. 
    But Ranma suddenly had the very unsettling feeling that he was being 
watched. 
    Glancing over his shoulder, he saw no one and nothing else on the roof. He 
did a quick visual check of the windows and although it was dark inside, he 
couldn't spot anyone standing behind any of them. Still, the feeling persisted. 
And Ranma didn't like that at all. He decided to go back inside and have a look 
around. 
    Making his way back to his own window, Ranma slipped inside. Genma was 
still snoring loudly, which annoyed Ranma even more now as he was trying to 
listen for possible intruders. Moving through the room like an evening breeze, 
he tossed a pillow over the panda's face (which at least muffled the noise a 
little), and stepped into the hallway. 
    He took a quick glance around, making sure the doors to Akane, Nabiki and 
Kasumi's rooms were still shut tight. Seeing nothing else unusual on the upper 
floor, Ranma approached the stairwell. He crouched down and stuck his head 
under the railing, looking for any signs of movement before he actually went 
downstairs. Still, nothing unusual was visible to him. 
    As confident as he was in his abilities, Ranma didn't want to take any 
chances this time. Before going downstairs, he opened Akane's door a crack and 
shoved the hot-water kettle (which he'd placed in the hall before going to bed) 
inside the room with his foot. He saw P-Chan's ear twitch as he did so. 
    Pushing the door shut again, Ranma turned and headed downstairs, moving 
perhaps more quietly than he ever had before. He reached the bottom step and 
peered around the corner, but still could neither see nor hear anything out of 
the ordinary. And yet, this nagging feeling would not leave him be... 
    Ranma crept down the hall, checking each room as he went. He still didn't 
notice anything strange, and that bothered him even more because his instincts 
were never wrong. He was sure there was somebody here somewhere, but he 
should've been able to find them by now! Passing back through the dining room 
on his return trip, he glanced around and stopped cold. 
    The back door was hanging wide open. 
    Ranma could only stare for a moment, a whirlwind of thoughts tumbling 
through his mind all at once. Then, he heard a sound above him ... not a loud 
noise, just a very distinct *thump*. 
    His heart pounding out what felt like about a thousand beats a minute, 
Ranma dashed for the stairs. As soon as he reached the top, the smell hit him. 
    It was a strange, but somehow familiar smell; but it didn't belong HERE. It 
smelled like a pond overgrown with algae, or like rotten seaweed, or something 
like that. It reminded Ranma of water, and of decay at the same time. He paused 
briefly, looking around. If anything it was darker upstairs than it was 
downstairs, and it took a second for his eyes to re-adjust. 
    Then something horrible lunged at him. 
    An inhuman scream shattered the silence around Ranma, and a shape emerged 
from the darkness. Claws raked his back, and he dove down the hallway and 
rolled into a crouch, then turned to face his attacker. He couldn't quite make 
it out, but... 
    It appeared to have a vaguely human shape, but Ranma could plainly tell 
that it was anything BUT human. It had long, spindly limbs, and it stood at 
least two or three feet taller than Ranma. Its skin looked ... wet. Long, thin 
strands of hair hung limply about its face, and the face ... Ranma couldn't 
make out details, but in the darkness it looked more like the face of a frog, 
or some kind of a fish. Anything but a person. 
    Ranma had only an instant to size it up, however, as it immediately lunged 
at him again. 
    He dodged its clumsy swing, but abruptly discovered that the creature was 
deceptively agile as it caught him with its other arm, throwing him against the 
wall. Ranma kicked it in the side as he dangled from its grip, and it pushed 
him right THROUGH the wall, and back into his room. He fell against Genma, who 
somehow remained asleep. 
    Shaking his head to clear it, Ranma looked up in time to see the creature 
follow him through the hole in the wall. Jumping up, he backed toward the 
window. 
    "Okay..." he muttered. "Let's take this fight outside!" 
    With a vicious growl, the creature charged. Ranma ducked under its claws, 
then got a hold of its midsection and flipped it. It smashed through the window 
and rolled off the roof. 
    Ranma quickly followed.