Three teenagers stood in silence, exchanging deep stares as they waited for one of them to make the first move. The wind blew gently around them, carrying with it both the scent of wet ground from the river near them and the lulling sound of running water. None of them paid attention to the peaceful atmosphere, however, as they were busy trying to find a way out of this strange stalemate that would get them each what they wanted.

Ryoga was concerned; he could see that this Taro person was not weak, though he couldn't truly tell how strong he really was, either. He hoped Taro didn't have any tricks or techniques down his sleeve that made him more dangerous than the Musk trackers or the Amazon kids they had fought earlier, as he was not exactly interested in fighting. He simply wanted to take back the Corly weed and other ingredients back to Lotion's so he could get his cure.

Ranko was starting to get annoyed and bored of waiting for this Taro guy to actually do something since she was convinced that even if this arrogant buffoon was strong, she wouldn't have any problem taking him out in a fight. But what the redhead wanted the most, however, was to complete this assignment quickly, since the sooner they finished it the faster they could start working on finding a cure for her amnesia, and that was her top priority.

Taro who had been initially surprised about meeting two Japanese teenagers here in the depths of the Chinese mountains (and he actually felt glad he bothered learning Japanese as that made it easier for him to deal with the irksome pair of foreigners), was wary of making a move. Not because he was afraid of the Japanese kids, as he didn't fear anything and much less with a river so close; no, the reason why he was hesitating was that the guy seemed to be incredibly strong. Perhaps strong enough to be a challenge in a one on one fight. The girl on the other hand, while obviously strong, was surely weaker than her companion, not to mention she seemed to have a terrible personality. Taro smirked, he now had a plan, and the girl would be the key to make it work.

"Geez, do you plan on doing anything!?" Ranko complained as she shook her head. She turned to Ryoga, noticing he had yet to put the Corly weed in their backpack, sighed and did just that, using before a small sack to store the plant, so it wouldn't get damaged during their trip back to Lotion's farm.

"There, that'll be all!" She exclaimed and then patted Ryoga on the shoulder. "Let's get outta here Ryo. There's no need ta worry 'bout this chump. The guy's all bark and no bite..."

"Well, if you say so…" Pantyhose Taro said mockingly and in an almost sing-songy sort of way.

Ryoga's eyes were still on Taro, waiting in case he suddenly attacked them.

"Yeah, I do say so..." she grinned. "And If 'he' wants money he should just get a job! Like we did!"

"Oh sure, you only talk a big game but say your boyfriend here wasn't around?" Taro said with a level of smug arrogance that rivaled Ranko's own, this was the moment he had been waiting for. "That's exactly what a weak, cowardly, little girl would do..."

"What did you call me...?" Ranko hissed, glaring at Taro with rage in her eyes. "I'm not weak!"

"Sure, keep talking with that big guy behind you," Taro sneered, pleased that he had found the right buttons to push, making the girl angry and careless. "It only confirms what I said. That you're weak!"

"Oh yeah? Actions speak louder than words!" The insulted redhead declared, raising a fist at the mocking teen in front of her. "Let's fight! Just you 'n me! I'll wipe the floor with you in five seconds flat!"

"Oh? Very well, I accept," Taro smiled. "But if I win, I'll take the Corly weed!"

Ryoga frowned and stepped forward, the only things in his mind being that this thief was badmouthing Ranko and that he didn't want to lose the healing herb. "Saying those things to her is unacceptable! I'll be the one who fights you!"

The Lost Boy's declaration, however, did nothing to improve Ranko's mood. The redhead, already upset, fumed as she heard her best friend wanted to take her place. Groaning, she slapped Ryoga on the shoulder as hard as she could.

"Ryoga, what the hell?" she asked, glaring at him. "I'm not so weak I can't punch dat thief into next week on my own! Don't worry about yer stupid plant, cause I'm not gonna lose this, ya' hear me?"

The Hibiki boy took in a deep breath and looked a Ranko with concern in his eyes. He was certain their adversary had something planned; perhaps he would cheat or use a hidden weapon. But he also knew Ranko was very strong and skilled on her own, enough to possibly win without any trouble.

"Alright, Ranko," he said and stepped back so he could put his backpack on the ground. "But I'll take your place if you start losing..."

"That won't happen 'cuz he won't!" She promised with a confident grin. "I'll win!"

Taro, hands on his hips as he watched the little exchange, smiled once the redhead approached him. He waited until she was near to move closer to the river, stopping once he was only two or three steps away from it.

"What'cha planning?" Ranko asked as she followed, annoyed by what Taro was doing. "If ya think fightin' on wet ground's gonna make me slower or that I'll lose my balance then you're a bigger idiot than I thought..."

"I have my reasons for fighting here, but that's really none of your business..." Taro smiled mockingly, taking a defensive stance so he could better launch a quick counterattack to knock the girl out.

"You bet it isn't, I just wanna get this over with quickly," she said with a frown.

"You weak, little girl... you can't win," Taro repeated. He wanted to win swiftly so that the guy… Ryoga, was it? Would be more concerned over his girlfriend than the Corly weed.

"Stop saying that!" Ranko yelled. She rushed in and threw the first punch, aiming it straight at Taro's face, intending to end this fight with one hit.

Her fist, however, was easily blocked. She growled and followed her initial attack with five quick jabs to test her opponent's defenses, finding that Taro was indeed skilled enough to match her speed.

'So he's not all talk…' Ranko mused, surprised to discover he was actually somewhat skilled. 'He's probably even better than that purple-haired Amazon.'

"You thought I couldn't fight?" Taro asked, slowly moving to the left. "That was a mistake."

With no further warning, he threw a quick punch, trying to hit the redhead in the chest but she effectively ducked under it, countering with a surprisingly fast uppercut that almost managed to hit him right in the chin, but Taro managed to lean back in time to avoid it.

'Seems just punches ain't gonna do it for this guy,' Ranko thought as she dodged three quick jabs and a right hook. 'Time to switch strategies.'

"You'll need to do better," Taro mocked, taking an offensive stand that would allow him to counter in case the redhead tried punching him again. "And stop being so predictable..."

"Let's see you predict this!" Ranko challenged, rushing in again and throwing a straight punch that Taro swiftly sidestepped.

'Gotcha!' she thought and, smirking confidently, used the impulse behind her first attack to turn it into a spinning kick aimed at her opponent's face. Ranko reasoned that even if he blocked, a solid kick would still cause damage, and hurting this moron's arms would weaken his punching strength, helping her get one step closer to victory.

Taro had to admit the girl's feint almost worked. She had thrown that punch to make him raise his defenses or dodge to the side, both things that would put him at a disadvantage against a high kick, which is just what she attacked him with immediately after. Unfortunately for the girl, he was just quick enough to duck under her leg, barely avoiding her heel.

But attacking him with a spinning kick had been stupid. The problem with such a move was that if it didn't connect the recovery time involved left the one kicking completely open to a solid counter. And Taro was willing to use that detail to his advantage.

Sliding in just as Ranko's kicking leg was touching the ground, Taro managed to slam his right elbow on the girl's stomach hard enough to send her scrambling back a few steps.

"Spinning kicks only work if they connect, fool," he mocked as he straightened. "But I guess, dumb, weak little girls! Wouldn't know that?"

Ranko, a hand over her stomach, gasped for breath and struggled to breathe. She quickly regained her footing, and for the first time since the fight started adopted a defensive stance. She pushed through her anger and managed to somewhat calm down, though the fact he'd managed to land the first strike was biting at her ego to no end.

"Ranko, let me help!" Ryoga offered; the concern was evident in his voice, but that only fueled the redhead's determination further.

"No way!" she answered, flashing him an angry stare, which convinced him to stay still. "I said I'd win and I'm going to!"

A bit more serious now after telling Ryoga not to get involved, Ranko focused on Taro and eyed him carefully, trying to find an opening in his defense when she finally noticed a detail that she hadn't seen before and considered particularly odd. Taro's belt was not silk, as she first thought. It was pantyhose!

'Why's he wearing that as a belt? Pantyhoses are for women!' she thought, feeling disgusted by her discovery. 'Wait… is he some kind of pantyhose fetish freak? What if he also likes being punched by girls? Uhmm… maybe he sniffs dose things when he's alone? Eeeeeew!'

"Thinking about giving up?" Taro taunted.

"You wish. I was just going to kick your ass for pissing me off, but now!" Ranko stated and then pointed at Taro with an expression of disgust. "I wanna punch your lights out for being such a revolting pervert!"

"Pervert?" Taro asked, not expecting her to say that and wondering what she meant until he recalled the pantyhose around his waist. The one he wore to always remember his grudge against the old man who cursed him with his unspeakable name!

Ranko, however, took full advantage of his distraction to land three strong punches on her adversary. She felt great about herself as she watched him double over in pain and struggle to stay on his feet, and she rushed in to deliver the final blow when he suddenly slammed his knee on her left side, making her wince and back a couple of steps to once again catch her breath.

'Damn it, he still has this much juice in the tank?' she wondered. 'I hit him really hard, didn't I?'

Taro was in pain. His left hand was over his stomach, and both his shoulders were hurting badly. He understood the girl had hit him in the guts as payback for the first hit he landed. But why go for the shoulders?

'I can't properly punch like this,' Taro realized, opening his eyes in surprise. 'Clever girl… and she's strong, too. I can't afford to let her hit me again or I might end up losing!'

He glared at the redhead, who was leaning forward and appeared to still have trouble breathing. She was clearly hurting as much as he was, but it seemed she was running out of energy, so he still had a chance to win without resorting to his secret weapon.

"Here!" He shouted, unleashing a quick kick to her face. Taken by surprise, Ranko yelped and blocked with both arms. He pressed on and kicked at her four more times, and each time she managed to block his attacks.

"What's with the face kicks, you jerk!?" She complained, hiding how much her forearms hurt.

"Protecting your face at all costs for your boyfriend, how typical," Taro laughed. "Typical and weak!"

"That's not it, I…" she stammered, she knew getting flustered in the middle of a fight was a mistake, but that was not why she was protecting her face. She simply didn't want to get hit in the head. She already had amnesia! Who knew what a strong impact would do to her brain? She could end up losing all her memories again!

Taro smirked. Despite her strength, the redhead was easily distracted by taunts and that was her main weakness; one that he was going to use to end the fight in a very painful way. Making her pay for hurting him!

Rushing in, Taro once again kneed the redhead's midsection as hard as he could, following this by smashing his right elbow between her shoulder blades, earning with this a yell of pain from the aggravating girl as she staggered, trying not to fall.

"Not yet," he said as he quickly reached for her left arm with one hand and her shirt with the other, using this to gain leverage and throw the girl over his head, slamming her hard on the muddy floor. She did not get up after that.

"I win," Taro declared, staring at Ryoga and doing his best to stand straight in order to hide how much pain he was in. The boyfriend didn't have to know that, after all.

"If you've hurt her…" Ryoga growled, baring his fangs and closing in with a fierce glow in his eyes.

"I didn't. I went easy on her as a favor to you," Taro said, hands on his hips in a dominant gesture, certain that this would be enough to calm the idiot boyfriend down. "Now give me the Corly weed, it's what we agreed."

Ranko was struggling not to faint. Her hip hurt, her stomach hurt, her arms hurt. She was, in fact, hurting all over. Was this how this fight would end? Was she going to lose? To a pantyhose fetish freak?

'Like hell, I will! Especially not to some sleazeball!' she thought. Gritting her teeth and using her remarkable stubbornness, Ranko managed to roll over her stomach and looked up to see Taro was distracted talking to Ryoga and claiming victory. That only angered her more. She could still fight!

"This ain't over yet!" She screamed, surprising both Taro and Ryoga.

"…How?" Taro frowned but was unable to say anything else for Ranko slammed her right leg on his abdomen with all her might, sending him reeling back almost all the way to the river.

"I'm not going to lose!" Ranko swore and followed her kick with a perfectly executed Amaguriken, hitting Taro's midsection hundreds of times in less than two seconds.

Taro, however, was still standing even after receiving such abuse, if only barely. He had both hands over his guts now, his knees trembled and he had to open his mouth to breathe. He tried to speak but instead noticed the metallic taste of blood in his tongue and stared with cold rage at the redhead.

"You… will regret… this!" He warned and, saying nothing else, dropped into the river.

"Well, that takes care of him," Ranko said but…

A massive monster emerged from the waters! The creature was similar to a Minotaur from ancient legends that dwarfed Ranma and Ryoga with his gigantic size!

The beast stared angrily at the two teenagers and growled…

----------------------------------------

A small gray bird perched itself on a thin branch as it tilted its head, watching as a long, rickety old cart was pulled along by two mules. In the back of the cart were Pink and Link, both looking relatively tense; in the front, the driver yawned and did his best to ignore the fuming twins in the back. The man wasn't exactly happy with this assignment and just wanted to complete it as soon as possible so he could go back to his store.

"If only we had found Ranko and Ryoga..." Link lamented as she sat on her knees, looking down at the straw beneath them that acted as the cushion between them and the hard wooden surface of the cart.

"Stupid Shampoo..." Pink complained while pouting with her eyes closed, "Wasting our time on a stupid goose chase..." she sighed begrudgingly, crossing her arms and drumming her fingers on the back of her arm.

Link slowly looked over to her sister and furrowed her brow as if she were about to lash out but ultimately could not find it in her to be too upset, as when she thought back to her actions and her words between Mousse and herself. "I don't like violence or getting in trouble..." she scoffed mockingly and quietly to herself.

"When we got back I was ready to take our Master Herbalist tests but this stupid punishment has us...!" Pink groaned as she bashed the back of her head against the box crate behind her.

"Sister! Quit complaining, if you please!" Link ordered loudly enough to actually rattle her fellow twin.

"Why should I?" Pink demanded as she jumped at the chance to argue.

"Wasn't it you who talked me into getting back at Shampoo?" Link questioned while shifting her center towards her sister, "Wasn't you who had to keep fighting with her whenever you got the chance?" she pressed further.

Pink cringed as she leaned back, shocked with her sister's sudden accusation but finally getting a word in edgewise she shut her eyes and just allowed the first thing to come to mind, "You could have talked me out of it!" she fired back while blushing in embarrassment.

"W-what are you saying?" Link's temper suddenly died out almost as quickly as someone blowing out a candle.

"I'm saying you're not the miss goody two shoes you try to show off!" Pink continued feeling a surge in confidence with Link's retort as she leaned in closer, fighting fire with fire. "So spare me the attitude, if you please!"

"Like that means so much coming from you!" Link countered as crossed her arms.

"Oh? How do I know you're not the reason we're out here?" Pink questioned while quirking a brow as she sat on her hands and knees.

"Was that before or after you started bickering with Shampoo?" Link asked as she avoided her sister's gaze, her eye twitching a few times.

"During!" she screamed so loudly that it even jarred her sister. "She didn't like you talking with Mousse so when we embarrassed her it was the last straw!" Pink finished and caught her breath.

"I-It's not like I was flirting with him as you did with Ryoga!" Link shot back in response with just as much bravado as Pink but she noticed that right after saying so, she hadn't heard the usual dismissive or loud burst she was expecting but rather she could only hear the sound of silence.

"T-That's different!" Pink blushed as she now sat on her knees and balled her hands into fists on her lap.

"How so?" Link demanded to know as she quirked a skeptical brow, watching as her sister closed her eyes.

"Because I'm honest about it at least..." she admitted while blushing.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about..." Link averted her eyes as if suddenly finding the vast Chinese forests interesting.

"I saw you falling under his spell, too!"

"T-That's different be-because I know he's taken!" Link defended as she struggled for more comebacks to throw back.

"Sister! We really mustn't...!" Pink closed her eyes and made a gushy face while pretending to hug an arm in the air, reminding her sister about how she acted when Ryoga was near.

Link gawked and hated that her sister was to an extent, right. "You're still the reason we're stuck doing all this!" Link exclaimed before she went back to observing the oh-so-intriguing expanse of trees that she had been looking to earlier.

"Go ahead! Ignore me!" Pink huffed as she unintentionally mimicked her sister's action and proceeded to pout on her side of their mule powered cart.

They sat in silence or as silent as it could get with all the distant echoes of wildlife emanating around them and if that wasn't enough their rickety cart rattled along with the sounds of mules braying calmly and annoyingly.

It wasn't until about the sixth mule grunt that the poison kanji twin sighed, "I'm sorry for talking you into it..." she looked off to the side as her face softened.

"I'll admit, I really enjoyed it..." Link offered her own confession and even sounded a bit ashamed.

Pink, on the other hand, couldn't help but look over her shoulder and smile encouragingly, "You should do it more often..." she suggested with a snarky smirk.

Link chuckled but rolled her eyes and looked off to the side, "I have to wonder why the Amazons asked to send more supplies," she looked over her shoulder as some had the same symbol as Pink's chest plate. "Especially like these..."

Leaning back and putting her hands behind her head the poison sister looked off to the side, "I heard they've angered a whole village..."

"Huh...?" Link blinked in shock and looked at her sister who had moved so that she was on her side.

"So-so much so that they may have caused a war between villages in the whole Bayankara region..." Pink tried to say as if it were the most casual thing to bring up.

"And where did you hear this, dear sister...?" Link inquired cautiously.

"Just someone I know..." Pink answered, yet again trying and failing, to be casual about her information.

"You really shouldn't listen to everything you hear at those poison shops..." Link warned as if scolding her sister for hanging around those places, especially with the kind of people it attracted. "Some bandits frequent those if you please!"

"Better than hanging around the clinic just to learn about medicinal plants like you do, Dear Sister..." Pink replied sounding a bit annoyed. "They're full of sick people if you please...!"

"Brayyy...!"

The two mules cried frantically, falling back and kicking frantically until the driver managed to calm them down. The terrified animals ended being paralyzed in fear of the two that stood before them. The driver, who could tell from where the strangers in the middle of the road came from, simply jumped off the cart and ran back to Yakusai as fast as he could; they didn't pay him enough to deal with people like them!

"What's going on...?" both twins asked looking to one another, immediately looking annoyed for having asked each other the same question.

"Did you hear that Mint? There's two of em'..." Lime commented as he stood before the frozen by fright animals.

"Yeah, they sounded really cute too..." Mint added as he walked next to his companion. "Almost identical even..."

It was at that moment that the twins peeked their heads over their cargo to see that the driver was gone and that on the road stood two teenagers with some traits that identified them as members of The Musk. Their first response was to shriek and hug one another and then immediately stop as they noticed that neither was making any sudden moves.

The two Musk clan members had leaned closer to one another, speaking among themselves, "Mint they're both so beautiful and even have great breasts from the looks of it..." Lime muttered as his gaze focused on the twin with the medicine kanji.

"I'll say... even if they're alike..." Mint blushed but maintained a strong and cold look, to him he thought he was just coming off as stern and confident but actually just looked rather upset.

"Why are they just staring...?" Pink questioned while whispering.

"I don't know, sister..." Link whispered in return as she managed to let go of Pink who in turn did the same.

"I'll do it..." Mint stepped forward as he pushed past Lime, his hands on his hips. "Hey, you two! We were wondering if either of you has come across a girl with unusually bright red hair and blue eyes!"

"It's actually her and another guy that's helping her..." Lime added.

"I was getting to that..." Mint looked off to the side before standing immediately by Pink's side, presenting her with a bouquet of flowers.

Like anyone not accustomed to seeing someone move at such blinding speeds the two shrieked but it seemed that upon discovering such a lovely display. Calming down a little, Pink reached out for it and took it in her hands.

"Thank you...?" she asked cautiously sounding surprised and realized that the Musk teenagers didn't seem to be immediate threats but did not know how to properly react as their actions didn't reflect their words.

"I am confused...? Are you two sparing us because you wish to ask my sister out on a date...?" Link inquired while sounding both scared and confused.

"Well, I wouldn't say a date at first but maybe tea..." Lime began walking over to the other twin.

Who in upon hearing his interest in her she looked over to her sister in a desperate attempt for help but instead of finding an encouraging look she was face to face with the exact same expression as hers. "T-this red-haired girl of yours...?" Link answered suddenly, hoping to change the subject.

"You have something on her...?" Lime asked as he took a step closer to the twins.

"Y-yes! But I humbly ask you to give my sister and me a moment to think in private!" She asked clasping her hands together with her eyes closed.

"Oh, yes! We help each other like that!" Pink spoke up, saying anything in hopes of getting out of this predicament.

"Okay but try not to go too far..." Mint said with a very stern expression as though it were coming off as a warning.

"If you please!" Link insisted making her eyes somewhat cutesy for Lime.

"So-so we'll be right back..." Pink began and gave a hesitant wink to Mint.

"O-okay..." Mint's eyes widened as her half-hearted attempt was enough to convince him.

The two went a good five feet before coming to an abrupt stop as they were hunched over, "So what's the plan?" Pink whispered nervously while still holding the flowers from Mint.

"They're asking about Ranko and Ryoga and I'm not sure if we should tell them..." Link said, voicing her concern as although she hadn't thought much of Ranko but she did feel inclined to help the Lost Boy.

"But wouldn't it be dangerous not to tell them anything?" Pink said her own voice reflecting a pang of similar guilt in her.

"I don't care much for Ranko..." Link revealed.

"Neither do I..." Pink unfortunately concurred.

"So let's spare Ryoga then!" they whispered and smiled at the same time to one another.

The twins turned around with their hands behind their backs and regarded the Musk teenagers with what they hoped looked like honest smiles.

"You see there was this one woman we happened across that matches that exact description!" Pink announced suddenly as that got the two Musk teens to look considerably happier.

"Really...?" Lime questioned as she closed his palms into fists and leaned closer to the girls in excitement.

"Really?" Mint looked to Link.

"Y-Yes! We even helped her out of the village so we can even point you in the right direction!" Link boasted in hopes of ensuring the two enough for them to be on their way.

Pink, on the other hand, looked to her sister in shock, 'Sister! That sounds like we were helping friends!' she thought and hoped dearly that it wouldn't implicate them in anything.

Mint and Lime's eyes widened as they remained silent, looking to one another before nodding their heads. Mint made his way over to the girl's as though he were a hunter stalking their prey, reaching into his sleeve.

Pink's eyes widened when she saw the rope in his hands and thankful to have their hands behind their back as in her palm was a small ball with a button on it, her thumb positioned right over the trigger.

"Sister!" Link cried as the second she opened her eyes she could see Mint's form dashing over to Pink.

"Got-" Pink exclaimed, preparing to use her secret weapon.

But before the ball could even leave her hand, Mint swiftly kicked it out of her palm, rendering her attack useless. "Ow!" she cried.

Focusing solely on the task at hand Mint, with only a momentary pause, swarmed the daring poison twin.

"Don't think we forgot you!" Lime shouted as he lurched forward and attempted to grab the medicinal twin who gasped as her sister's mandragora seeds bomb had been thrown off to the side.

"No!" Link exclaimed as she tried to move away from Lime, forced to show that she had been hiding a watering pail and a fan.

There was very little time for her to react as their whole scheme had come undone so quickly that even though Link struggled to escape she wasn't lucky enough to dodge Lime as she was caught by her ankle.

"Aiya!" Link screamed as her chin hit the ground.

"Got her!" Lime exclaimed coming to stand, relatively fine from landing on his stomach to catch the fleeing Yakusai herbalist.

"Good job!" Mint complimented before repeating his actions, bounding the other twin by her ankles and wrists.

"Let's go..." Lime ordered as his friend nodded.

"Let's..." Mint put his hands in his sleeves.

His friend leaned down and picked Link up before flinging her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, doing the same with the other incapacitated sister while they fought against their restraints.

"What did I say?" Link struggled against her restraints but could do little more than wiggle like a worm.

"I was afraid of this..." Pink groaned in annoyance and tears.

Neither chooses to answer Link's question but rather continued to move through the forest. The mule's finally seeing a way out turned tail and ran back to Yakusai as far as their stubby legs could carry them.

"Why do you have to be so honest...?" Pink asked while groaning in anger.

"I'm afraid it may be my greatest curse..." Link lamented the fact as she lowered her head in shame.

"So what now, Dear Sister...?" The poison kanji sister asked.

"Allow me to fix this if you please..." Link answered as she closed her eyes and hoped she could form some kind of plan, 'I've gotten us out of trouble before, I can do so again...' she thought.

"Hey Mint..."

"Yeah, Lime...?"

"Think if we ask Lord Herb nicely, he'll let both of let us keep one of these girls?"

"W-What!?" the two twins cried at the same time.

----------------------------------------

Stars began to dot the dark blue skies. The moon already partially visible, its dim glow blanketed the land and even through the window to an old, wooden cabin.

The Lost Boy rested on his back, his limbs shifting under him, fighting some sort of nightmare. His head turned from left to right every second or so. "No…!" he muttered as the moon's gentle hue glided over his eyes.

"Ranko!" Ryoga cried out as opened his eyes, feeling the cold sting of his sweat trickle down the sides of his face.

"Ran-ko…?" An old man in a hardhat said before blinking in surprise.

"Where am I?" he questioned while panting softly, trying to regain composure as he stared at the wooden ceiling above him. "Wh-what happened to Ranko...?" he demanded, squinting his eyes as he attempted to sit up.

All the while the old man appeared unsure of how to reply, his hand over his mouth in contemplation. That was until the stranger clad in yellow tried to sit up. His groans of pain immediately followed as he hugged his torso and could feel the lining of bandages all over it.

"Hold on now!" he warned.

"Why does my chest hurt...?" Ryoga grunted as sitting up seemed like all he could manage.

"That's because my herbal remedy hasn't kicked in yet..." The construction worker assured him as he ushered Ryoga to rest on his back by gently pushing down on his shoulder.

Ryoga looked to him and stared for a moment before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, "Please, I have to know..." he spoke struggling to keep a tamed tone. "Where am I and where can I find a girl with red hair and blue eyes?" he asked, changing up his questions in hopes of getting where he needed to be; by Ranko's side.

"I'd say you're mad but I saw what that thing did to you..." the old man mumbled begrudgingly.

"This...?" Ryoga mumbled as he looked down at his chest bandages.

"Still think you're either just crazy or crazy in love..." he sighed heavily and put his hand to his head.

Ryoga's response was silence as he looked off to the side, even though he knew the moment was urgent. He couldn't help but feel his face heat up at the mention of him and Ranko being romantically involved.

"Before I start..." the wise stranger picked up a cup of tea he had set nearby on a small tray with two cups. "Drink this, it'll help you heal even faster now that you're at least conscious..." he encouraged as he held it out in front of the teen.

Faced with the difficult choice of taking what likely was bland tasting medicine the Lost Boy's heart told him to do it, the image of Ranko in his arms flashed in his mind, he released a held back breath he didn't even know he had. Furrowing his brow the raven-haired teen shut his eyes tightly and like being peer pressured into drinking more. He downed the whole cup in one single go.

Eyes shrinking for a moment, the elderly-looking construction worker was shocked to see someone take a cup of tea like that just to be over with it.

Ryoga attempted to reach his hand to fan over his mouth as he tried cooling his insides by panting continuously and deeply. The instant his hand tried he froze as his torso shifted a little, causing him to cringe and drop the cup on the floor. He gritted his teeth and bared the pain shooting through him, looking to his savior for answers.

"Try not to make any sudden movements, I told you it has to kick in so just give it a few hours or so..."

"Do I even have an-" Ryoga panted, froze in place, and gently eased his arms to his sides. "A-an hour...?" he questioned with a deeply concerned tone.

About to give a reply but stopping himself he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, "Where are my manners?" he asked before clearing his throat. "My name is Dan Lo," he introduced, bowing his head as he sat on his knees.

"Hibiki, Ryoga Hibiki..." he replied, returning the favor by giving his name in return.

"I happened across you after me and my crew heard some commotion while working on the bridge, none of us liked the sound of it but I just so happen to be a kind enough soul to go and check if anyone could be in danger..." He said chuckling nervously.

"Lucky me then..." Ryoga half-heartedly laughed, giving an appreciative smile to the kind elder.

"Even luckier that I speak Japanese or talking would have been a nightmare..." He chuckled but noticed that Ryoga appeared far too distracted to even humor him. "So when I happened across you lot, I first saw your redhead friend, probably this Ranko you've been mentioning...?" He asked curiously.

He earned a nod of agreement from the Hibiki boy.

"The first time I saw her, she was getting attacked by something, looked like a demon mutant or I don't know, I would have intervened but I'm pretty sure I would have only gotten in the way."

"So what'd you end up doing...?"

"Hide behind a tree and waited heroically for an opportunity to save you two, of course..." Dan Lo cleared his throat and avoided eye contact.

"Yeah..." Ryoga looked off to the side, clearly not buying that.

"As I was saying," Dan Lo continued…

…

Ranko and Ryoga stared in horror as their enemy had taken on a vastly different form. He leered hatefully before charging the startled redhead. Luckily she was able to snap out of it and dodge the beast's attack.

"How is that thing so fast...?" Dan Lo muttered as he saw the redhead struggle to evade the attacks.

"Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranko let out what sounded like a war cry and leaped into the air.

The horrific monstrosity brought up both arms, withstanding the girl's fierce attacks. Ranko was positioned at such an angle that the force of her blows alone could keep her airborne as well as allow gravity to factor in her body weight along with each hit.

Taro mockingly chuckled before backhanding Ranko while in the air, sending her falling into the water with what looked to be the force of a canon.

"Ranko!" Ryoga cried as he reached his hand out, eyes trembling in fear.

Dan Lo watched in horror as he figured she might have hit the bottom of the stream. The only thing that could draw him out from his stupor had to be, the gloating coming from the mad Minotaur creature.

Chinnkkk...!

"Huh?" Dan Lo muttered as he noticed a yellow blur strike the monster before flying off and impaling a tree. "Was that a headband...?" he looked over to the Lost Boy and saw him grab at his forehead and produce various headbands.

Their attacker snarled in surprise before closing one of his eyes, blood starting to blind his vision. It looked to the only other combatant capable of wounding him. It roared as if were a bull about to run through a red cape.

"Come get some you overgrown freak!" Ryoga exclaimed as he rained sharp hail in the form of ki-infused bandannas.

"Oh my..." Dan Lo put his hand over his mouth but as he did, he noticed something oddly red at the corner of his eye and saw that redhead from earlier was fine. Able to claw her way out of the water and reach the shore before collapsing from exhaustion; the back of her head facing the scared construction worker.

Pantyhose Taro with a burning hatred from the looks of it evaded Ryoga's bandannas before charging over to him as he had done to Ranko. He sidestepped the first wave and then ran a little closer before leaping into the air and batting his massive wings to send the incoming bandannas hurling back.

"Argh!" Ryoga's eyes widened as some had been shot right back at him, so he was forced to dodge them.

This proved to be a mistake as the vicious cursed creature took this as its chance to strike, dive bombing towards Ryoga with his massive hook reeled back; its fist crashed straight into the raven-haired teen's chest. It was so intense that Ryoga attempted to resist it but could only skid on his heels, succumbing to the force of Taro's attack.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Dan Lo's eyes widened as he turned back to see the yellow-clad martial artist had been punched into a crater. With a crestfallen look, he took his hard hat off as a sign of respect.

From there the monster straightened its back before snorting like a bull, looking around it went over to a cape nearby and lifted it to reveal a bag. The Dan Lo in the memory appeared quite impressed by how he was able to do what appeared to be a magic trick. It pulled out what looked like a soup thermos.

Dan Lo was then shocked to see the hulking mass of terror revert to a nude teen with brown hair but looked away as quickly as he could while the nude teen proceeded to screw the lid back on the thermos. The old construction worker looked away until he heard an odd stretching sound, fearing he may try to gag her he looked back to see that PantyHose Taro was now standing in front of a bush, his waistline obscured as he held a ball made of Pantyhoses.

Dan Lo was thankful there was a bush in the way, he had to wonder what the naked teen was going to do and if he could perhaps help one of these two strangers. He watched as Taro ran through the forest until stopping near the shoreline where the redhead was.

He reached for the ball in hand and yanked out from it a few pantyhose, which he then used to tie Ranko up by her ankles and wrists.

…

"What a goddamn sicko! Tying women with pantyhose!" Ryoga interrupted mid-explanation.

"Calm down, there's still more..." Dan Lo implored as he held his hands out defensively.

"Go on..." Ryoga urged begrudgingly.

…

Taro after swinging an unconscious Ranko over his shoulder went back over to his bag and pulled out a piece of paper and a feather pen. Writing and humming to himself for a few seconds he dotted his work and reached one hand back into his bag to retrieve a note, in order to stuff his message in.

Dan Lo noticed the teen looking around, not wanting to be found the old man ducked back behind his tree.

"Old man behind that tree, there's something I need you to do for me!"

…

"That's when, well..." Dan Lo struggled to say as he reached into his overalls.

"He took Ranko?" Ryoga muttered as he felt great shame for failing his friend and possible girlfriend.

"Yes..." Dan Lo confirmed. "He also told me to give this to you..." He revealed as he held out the note from the explanation.

Ryoga went silent as if taking a sudden vow of silence but hesitantly still reached for it.

"He jumped in the river and changed back into that fiend before flying off with that lady friend of yours..." he finished as he reached for his hat in regret. "And that if you don't do what it says, your girlfriend will suffer the consequences..." Dan Lo added with a sigh.

Ryoga tightened his grip on the note as he held it with both hands, crumpling it a little before opening it and reading it aloud.

"I'm leaving you the bag with the Corly weed as a reward for being able to cut my face, but I am taking your woman with me as compensation for the same reason. If you want her back, bring the plant to the top of Fist Rock, we'll have a rematch there tomorrow at dawn.

If I win, I take the herb and get to pound you into paste in front of your woman.

If you win, not that you will, you may keep the plant and I'll return your girlfriend.

But if you don't come, I don't know what I'll do to her.

P. Taro."

"That bastard...!" Ryoga declared as he allowed anger to drive his actions.

"Ryoga, Please!" the wise elder held his hands out as he watched Ryoga's injured form make his way over to the cabin door.

"Ah!" Ryoga groaned as he doubled over in pain, luckily he caught himself before falling face first.

"Careful!" Dan Lo groaned in annoyance before rushing over to him and helping him off his knees and hand.

"Argh..." Ryoga groaned as he instinctively held his hand over his lungs; his breaths were so haggard and strained that it felt like he was choking.

Hoisted from his side like a wounded soldier, Ryoga was led back to his bed. There was a brief struggle but the kind old man didn't know if it was because the boy was stubborn or just writhing in pain.

"To think you're moving this much already," Dan Lo commented. "I'd say you'd even be up and about in..." He paused, inspecting Ryoga's condition. "A couple of hours..."

As much as it pained him to delay his rescue attempt, the note even said he had until at least dawn, 'Ranko's as good as doomed if I don't get going as soon as possible!' he thought, letting his imagination run wild, seeing himself lost in the dark woods while calling Ranko's name.

"I said calm down...!" Dan Lo urged as he put his hands on Ryoga's shoulders. "Do you even know where Fist Rock is?"

"No! I don't! That's the least of my worries if I don't get going..." Ryoga admitted as he was basically just spelling out that he was a foreigner.

"It'd take even longer if you tried rushing out in that condition!" Dan Lo sighed deeply and put his hand to his cheek, 'Was I anywhere this stubborn as a teen?' he pondered.

Ryoga grit his teeth and shut his eyes, letting the hand that was gripping at his bandages flop to his sides. "Without Ranko, I don't think I'll even find the place..." he admitted and then paused and he looked to the aged construction worker.

"What, did you two get lost in the middle of your honeymoon or something...?" He asked, unsure of what to say as being asked to help someone to track down a man who could transform into a raging bull demon; it wasn't an easy sell.

"Please, you don't have to get involved..." Ryoga said while blushing a little but neither confirming his suspicions. "But could you…?"

"It's alright, I suppose. I have time, what with the entire crew scared witless from that mess you got into..." Dan Lo sighed and crossed his arms.

This came as good news to Ryoga or at least enough to placate his burning need to thrash P. Taro. Though he quickly settled into trying to avoid thinking about the terrible things he could possibly be doing to Ranko. First, he envisioned Taro reaching for her neck to choke Ranko, or throwing her down a river with her arms and legs bound with those pantyhose he was known for.

Shutting his eyes tightly the distressed teenager instead tried to keep his mind busy by frantically inspecting his current location. One thing he noticed about this strange cabin was just how much construction-related materials were there.

"Sorry we don't keep a guest house at the ready, but you are near a construction site," Dan Lo explained, scratching the side of his head.

With that question answered Ryoga found his current state of mind to be that of a child's when they had nothing to do; be impatient. What did he hope to accomplish? It literally swatted them like flies and now he had to ready himself for a fight with that?

"I know I said I have to go but..."

"Huh...?"

"I have no idea how I'm going to take that 'thing' down..." Ryoga answered as he looked to the ceiling.

"I have a feeling that lad maybe one of those Jusenkyo victims..."

"Jusenkyo victims?" Ryoga asked with a slight gasp in his tone, not liking anything with the word 'victim' in it.

"Legend goes whatever falls in those springs comes out as whatever drowned in them when splashed with cold water..."

"Then warm water must turn him back..." Ryoga muttered.

"For this very reason, I suggest you never visit that cursed place," Dan Lo warned with a genuinely concerned expression across his wrinkled face.

"Don't worry, I don't intend to..." Ryoga said, offering no objections to such sound advice.

They found themselves at a loss for words for at the moment what Ryoga had failed to notice was the deep look of concentration Dan Lo was experiencing right beside him.

"So how worried are you about your girlfriend, boy?" Dan Lo asked in a deep and serious tone.

Ryoga could sense the intensity in the elder's words and felt compelled to meet it head-on, "She means a lot to me, probably more than anyone else I've met in my entire life..." Ryoga's fire faded but only to open his chest to the passion that drove his heart.

"Sounds like you'd do anything for her..." Dan Lo's voice sounded amused.

"Without a doubt in my mind!" Ryoga openly admitted and found his mood brightening.

Dan Lo hummed in such a way that Ryoga was unable to tell how his temporary guardian angel was seeing all this but given how kind he had been up to this point, he could only presume he wished to help in some way.

He stood up and made his way over to the corner of the room, picking up a box before opening it as inside where a few scrolls, neatly packed together. Plucking two from the bundle he closed the lid before putting the box down. "Then I might be able to help, you see these two scrolls are construction techniques but from what I've heard they were converted from actual attacks... so they should be more than handy in a fight..."

"Really...?" Ryoga gawked in awe.

"I can teach you overnight if you allow yourself some time to heal," The kind working-class man offered.

"What are these techniques called...?" Ryoga asked.

"The Bakusai Tenketsu and Shi Shi Hokodan..."

----------------------------------------

The Bayankara mountain range is home to many natural wonders: pristine rivers, beautiful lakes, lush forests, and tall mountains can all be found here. One of these wonders is without a doubt the peculiar Fist Rock, a massive stone formation resting not too far away from Mount Phoenix. As its name indicates, Fist Rock resembles a hand tightly closed into a fist resting on its side. Being quite large and over twenty meters tall from top to bottom, about thirty from one side to the other and with a circumference of around fifty meters. Another interesting detail is that, for those who dare, it is possible to climb Fist Rock as several dents, hollows and indentations in the 'fingers' of the fist provide those who are brave enough with enough places they can use to pull themselves up. And, if anyone did manage to reach the very top, they would find a pond in the middle of a plateau and beyond it a small, run-down hut, rumored to have been built, and then abandoned, by the bird people of Mount Phoenix many, many years before.

And inside this deteriorated log cabin, a sleeping redhead tossed and turned on the floor as she struggled through a nightmare.

"That's not a panda… he's my dad…" Ranko murmured; she was still sleeping, but in her dreams, she was trying to convince a poacher not to kill her father, who for some strange reason was a huge panda.

The dream slowly faded into darkness, replaced then by another one, a nightmare of a great hairy demon chasing her into a river. She tried to escape the large devil, but it was impossible, it caught her in a massive fist and then pushed her underwater, trying to drown her!

"No!" Ranko gasped, her eyes darting open.

She remained still for a moment, letting her eyes adjust until she could see properly. The room she was in was dimly illuminated, but she could tell there was no furniture here; it was just an empty shack. She could smell smoke and the faint flickering light that came with fire crept from her left. Shifting so she could see in that direction, she found an open door and, outside, she saw someone, a young man it seemed, sitting by a small fire, probably to warm himself and keep the mountain beasts at bay. She was about to walk out and talk to him when she noticed she couldn't really move to stand. She struggled a little and discovered her hands were tied to her back and that her feet were bound at the ankles.

"What's this?" she muttered, finding that while she could stretch her binds, she could not get free of them no matter how much she tried. She was effectively immobilized! Looking carefully at her feet, she noticed the person who brought her here had used pantyhose to restrain her.

'Wait, I remember now!' Ranko thought, her mind filling with images of her fight with Taro, how she noticed he wore pantyhose around his waist, then the moment she defeated him and how he emerged from the river transformed into a gigantic creature so powerful it defeated her and Ryoga with incredible ease. 'No wonder we took a beating, that freak can turn into a monster!'

"It's useless to struggle," Taro said then. He was standing by the hut's entrance, leaning on the door's frame while he sipped warm tea from a shiny aluminum cup. "That's quality pantyhose; you won't be able to tear it."

"It figures…" Ranko hissed, feeling furious about being bound with the garment, something she considered an unforgivable insult, "That a sick, perverted pantyhose fetish freak like you would do this to me!"

Taro sighed and slowly walked until he was in front of the redhead. He smiled politely at her and then splashed the cup's warm contents on her. This resulted in Ranko screaming in agony and squirming in pain for several seconds until the pain receded and became bearable.

"Bah, the tea wasn't even that hot, no need to overreact," the young man said, not impressed by the redhead's cries. "That little act won't gain you any sympathy from me, you know? I don't care that you're a woman so cut the melodrama, I know that didn't hurt you."

"Bastard, that was too hot!" Ranko managed to get out. She had curled into a ball, trembling a little as shades of pain coursed through her skin. Looking up at her tormentor, she noticed something that helped distracted her from her misery.

'That's dry blood on his forehead,' she realized, her eyes focusing on Taro's face. 'I didn't give him that wound, so… Ryoga?'

She took in a deep breath and managed to get back on her knees. Knowing Ryoga got a good one in had helped her recover some of her usual confidence. "He got you, didn't he? Got you bad enough to make you bleed."

"Your stupid boyfriend got lucky, that's all," Taro refuted with a frown.

"Ryoga is not my boyfriend," Ranko weakly disputed, then smirked in defiance and said, "but that doesn't matter… what matters is that he cut you."

"It won't happen again, and I'll pay him back tenfold for it," Taro swore with a cold voice. "By the time I'm done with him, he'll be bleeding from every pore!"

"That's not gonna happen, we'll kick your butt," she assured him with a cheeky grin.

"I'd like to see that… and now that I remember, I still haven't forgiven you for all those gut punches during our fight, but I'll deal with you after I've crushed that fool Ryoga," he said, arms crossed as he frowned at her. "I think I'll simply drop you on some deserted island, I bet that would be the perfect punishment for a girl as annoying as you."

"You only say that because you're afraid of fighting me again," Ranko answered. "But we can't expect better from a perverted pantyhose coward, can we?"

"You really don't know when to shut up, do you?" Taro asked, not pleased at being called by his horrendous name.

"I'm…" Ranko started, but her words were cut short when Taro kicked her hard on the stomach, driving the wind out of her and causing her to double over, coughing and trying to regain her breath with painful gasps.

"You're the only one to blame," the young man said as he walked out of the shack. "That was for the gut punches, be glad I only kicked you once!"

Not waiting for any further replies from the redhead, Taro marched to the pond outside and sat again next to the fire. He expected her to throw more insults at him, but it seemed she had learned her lesson and would be quiet for the rest of the night, which pleased him. He reached for the pot he kept hanging above the flames and refilled his cup with tea, drinking a sip and then grabbing a few rice crackers from his bag. It wasn't the best dinner, but it would be enough for the night, and he would be able to buy something fancier, and much tastier, once he'd sold the Corly weed in Yakusai.

Back inside the cabin…

Ranko coughed a few times and remained very still, waiting until she recovered enough to take in a deep breath. She focused on breathing, taking in the air several times until her stomach stopped protesting the abuse. It took her a moment longer to feel well enough to move, so her back was resting against the wall. She was uncomfortable and a little numb, and she really hoped she would feel better next morning because otherwise escaping this pantyhose pervert was not going to be an easy task.

'But I haven't the foggiest idea on how we're going to beat the guy's Minotaur form,' she thought. Bits and pieces of the fight against the creature came back to her then. She recalled that the moment Taro came out of the river transformed into a beast she and Ryoga were too shocked to move, and the monster took advantage of it, swatting her into the river. She recalled how painful the impact was and… that was it. 'I don't remember getting out of the water or anything else afterward. At least I didn't lose my memory again...'

The redhead sighed and wondered if that Minotaur thing even had a weak point. She shuddered at the memory of the creature and decided that it probably didn't have one. Sure, Ryoga had managed to hurt it, but what was a simple cut to a beast so big? Certainly nothing but a scratch. Thinking about scratches reminded Ranko of her own Neko-Ken technique. She had managed to match Lotion and even hurt her when she was in that feral cat state, so maybe she could use that to fight Taro?

'But there aren't any cats here to trigger the technique, and I don't wanna see any cats or act like one ever again,' Ranko frowned, what else could they try? Her Amaguriken would probably be useless against the beast, and she doubted Ryoga's Bakusai Tenketsu could hurt it either. 'Damn, I bet the only person we know who can beat that monster is Lotion, but there's no way to call her. I think… I think I'm really in over my head this time…'

An image of Ryoga entered her mind, and she wondered how he was. Was he injured? What if the monster had hurt him badly? Could he be agonizing in that river? Was he… dead? No, he couldn't be, not Ryoga! He was strong enough to be crushed by huge boulders and walk away unhurt.

But Ryoga had never fought a monster as strong as Taro's Minotaur form.

'But he's fine! He has to be!' she thought, rejecting even the faintest idea of Ryoga being wounded. Because thinking about him defeated and in pain filled her with anguish so powerful she could barely tolerate it. 'Please Ryoga… not like this!'

Worried beyond herself, Ranko looked at Taro and decided she would have to risk talking to him again. It was the only way she had of knowing how Ryoga was.

"Hey, pantyhose creep!"

Taro stiffened, waited for a moment in order to calm down and then got up, turning to look at her but not getting inside the house. "What do you want now, another beating?"

"Where is Ryoga?"

"Your boyfriend is alive, and he should be here by dawn… if he really cares enough about you to come to rescue you, that is," he answered with a bored tone.

"I don't need him to. I'll escape on my own, you'll see!" Ranko said, trying to sound determined and managing it thanks to how relieved she felt after hearing Ryoga wasn't dead.

"Heh, that's a good joke!" Taro laughed. He turned his back to her and sat again, resuming his modest dinner of tea and crackers.

Behind him, Ranko dared to smile discreetly. Ryoga didn't die and he was coming for her! She knew she should be angry at him for coming to rescue her as if she couldn't deal with this situation on her own, but… the truth was she felt incredibly grateful.

'He lives!' she sighed, feeling her heart getting warmer. 'I was so worried, I thought he…'

Ranko blinked. This strong emotion she was experiencing… was it normal to feel such joy? Just because he was alive? Yes, she decided, it was normal. And it was normal because she cared for him.

'But maybe… maybe what I feel for him is stronger than me just caring for him,' she mused, leaning her head on the wall, deep in thought as she stared at the ceiling. 'He's important to me… without him I… I just don't know what I'd do… Ryoga…'

Ranko flushed and lowered her face as she breathed deep. Was she… was she in love with him? She really couldn't tell but… maybe seeing Ryoga again would give her an answer?

'I think… I think I should have kissed him when I had the chance,' she thought then. 'Because the way things are now, I don't know if I'll ever get dat chance again..."

Strangely calm now that she had somewhat come to terms with how she felt for Ryoga, the redhead yawned and felt suddenly tired, hungry, spent and in need of rest. Ranko didn't want to sleep but realized that a short nap would surely help her recover some of her strength.

'Being the damsel in distress sucks…' she thought as she closed her eyes. 'But when Ryoga comes for me we'll both punch that pantyhose pervert all the way to Taiwan…'

Ranko yawned again and though she tried to resist it, drifted off to a deep sleep.

A few minutes later…

Taro finished eating and got up so he could stretch his legs a little. He walked to the edge of the tall rock and devoted a few minutes to simply enjoying the feeling of the cold nocturnal breeze. He didn't get many moments like these, busy as he was amassing resources to travel to Japan, where he would locate the miserable old man who gave him his unspeakable name and then force him to change it. Yes, he lived for that day, nothing else mattered. He was sure the moment he changed his name to Awesome Taro things would certainly be better. With that superior name, he would be able to find a wife and to walk through life without shame. And he would find ways to make his monster form even more powerful and use it to gain control of these mountains, because if there was one person who deserved to rule over all the region, then that person was him; not the Musk, not the Amazons or the Herbalists and certainly not the bird people from Mount Phoenix.

Taro's plans of conquest were suddenly interrupted by an aggravating sound behind him. Snoring, it was. Turning, he noticed the idiot redhead was sleeping again, only that this time she was being louder than an old truck with engine troubles.

"Unacceptable," he muttered. Truth was, he was hoping to sleep a little as well, and he wouldn't be able to do that if he was forced to listen to that stupid girl's annoying snoring.

Deciding he'd have to do something about it, he reached for the black cloth he used to wrap his rice crackers and entered the house. He stared at the redhead for an instant and then tied the rag tightly around the woman's jaw, making sure this improvised muzzle kept her mouth shut. This didn't fully stop the snoring, but it did lessen the noise a lot. Satisfied, and also somewhat amazed by how much of a heavy sleeper this girl was, Taro walked out of the cabin and went to lie next to the fire.

For a moment, as he glanced at the stars above him, Taro thought that perhaps he was taking things too far over a simple plant, as there were other ways he could make money but…

He reached to his forehead and winced. The cut still hurt. He then felt something warmth sliding down the side of his face and noticed his fingertips were stained red. Frowning, he got up and wiped the blood clean using a handkerchief, pressing it to his head until the bleeding stopped.

"The hell with the Corly weed," he muttered. "All I want now is to get even with that Ryoga guy."

----------------------------------------

In the Amazon village…

Mousse sat on a bench near the town's entrance. The young man was resting after a day of nonstop training; he had been assigned to train exclusively with elder Rinse who, while not as skilled and powerful as Cologne, was one of the three strongest elders ever produced by Joketsuzoku and she had made it clear she would concentrate on eliminating his weak points first. That meant she spent twelve hours straight forcing him to do exercises that would increase his stamina and his strength, as Rinse had declared he already had enough speed and precision.

'I would rather train with my great-grandmother, I'm sure she could help me master the hidden weapons style fully in less than a week,' Mousse thought, leaning back on his seat and grimacing a little as his arms and shoulders resented the abuse they had experienced for hours that day. 'They should call her back, I know she would be a great asset…'

But the Council would never let Lotion return; Cologne had told him that much earlier when he asked. The thing that bothered Mousse greatly, however, was that nobody had ever told him why the Council banished his great-grandmother. He didn't think she had committed a great crime against Joketsozuko, so maybe the reason behind her punishment was some odd political motive that he was not aware of. Still, at times like this, it was stupid not to let a master of the martial arts as strong as Lotion participate in the village's defenses.

'If we survive this mess with the Musk I'll make sure I find my great-grandmother and ask her what happened with the Council,' Mousse decided. He was convinced of Lotion's innocence and wanted to do all he could to help her return to the village.

He felt Shampoo approaching. She was coming from behind, and her ki felt weak. Probably because she was as tired as he was; she was training directly with Cologne after all, and he suspected the elder had not been lenient with her.

"I knew you'd be here," Shampoo said as she sat next to him.

"Well, I did tell you I would be," he noted as he adjusted his glasses and turned to look at her. It surprised him to see that while her ki was so weak, she didn't seem tired. "How was your training?"

"Great-Grandmother is strict but fair," the teenager amazon said. "But what she's teaching me is too difficult to learn it in just a week."

"Really? What is it?" He asked, feeling curious about this mysterious technique that clearly weakened the user's ki instead of their body.

"She called it Tamashi no Bakudan Kogeki," she answered. "But using my battle aura the way she wants me to, is not easy..."

"The Soul Bomb Strike, huh? Can't be worse than the strength training I'm getting from elder Rinse," Mousse disputed. "My whole body hurts, I bet learning how to use ki to deliver an explosive attack is easier."

"Of course, it isn't!" Shampoo said indignantly. "Gathering your ki around you so that you can make it explode when you hit your enemy is a very complex skill to master!"

"I suppose it is," Mousse agreed, not feeling like arguing with Shampoo. It wasn't the time for petty arguments, anyway, not with the Musk attack less than a month away.

"You're worried, aren't you?" Shampoo asked, finally noting the mood Mousse was in.

"Aren't you?" he said. "I heard today our scouts still haven't found Ranma, and his father has no idea on how to find him, at this rate war with the Musk will be inevitable."

Shampoo couldn't find a proper answer to that. She was indeed troubled by the danger threatening to destroy her home, but she had tried to remain optimistic because she was certain her great-grandmother and the other elders living in the village would be able to defeat the Musk prince. All she and the other Amazons had to do was to keep the rest of the Musk soldiers busy until prince Herb was defeated and, while difficult, it was not impossible.

But still… there was a chance they could lose, she just didn't want to think about it though.

"Yes, I am worried, too," she finally admitted. "But with the elders on our side we have a chance against Herb, all we need to do is to keep the Musk soldiers distracted."

"Easier said than done," he told her. "Did you forget how poorly we did against the two we fought earlier?"

"No. That's why I'm training as hard as I can," she said, managing a smile. "I am an Amazon, and I will always do my best. Next time we fight them I won't just stand there, I'll at least get a solid punch in!"

"I would like to defeat the wolf kid," Mousse said then, finally smiling at her, feeling a bit energized by Shampoo's optimism. "As for the tiger guy… maybe if you and I face him together, we could actually win."

"Yeah, we could…" she replied, returning the smile. She waited to see if he would say something else, but Mousse just went back to staring at the road that leads out of the village in silence, obviously lost in his thoughts again.

'He's probably thinking about the Musk Dynasty,' Shampoo thought, doing her best not to stare at him too much; instead, she followed his gaze and sighed, she couldn't blame him for being so distressed about the situation, she was, too. After all, if the war between the Musk and the Amazons did come, it would mean the end of everything she held dear. Her village would be destroyed and burned to the ground. Many of the women would either die in battle or be taken as wives by Musk soldiers —though Shampoo believed most of the Amazons in the village would not mind that second option since it meant they could have strong children— but, the women would not be the only ones in danger, men like Mousse and her father would be as well because while the men living in Joketsuzoku tended to be strong, most were not as well trained as the women and that meant a lot of them would die in a direct confrontation. 'Mousse could die in combat too…'

The idea struck Shampoo harder than she expected. Images of Mousse being mauled to death by aggressive Musk soldiers entered her mind, and she had to make a conscious effort to stop them. She really couldn't bear it, just the thought of seeing Mousse hurt in battle filled her with such strong anguish she had trouble breathing, but why?

'This feeling… it's the same as back when Herb threatened us,' she realized. 'When… when did I start worrying so much for him?'

Shampoo blinked and turned to look at Mousse. He was busy cleaning his glasses, so she was able to look at his full face. Being immediately drawn to his teal eyes, the ones she seldom got to see. He was very pleasant to look at, she realized, even handsome if she had to judge. She slowly reached for his face, but suddenly felt shy and stopped short of touching his cheek. No, she couldn't do this, even if she found him good-looking and cared for him more than she was willing to admit, giving him false hopes would only hurt him so she couldn't bring herself to do that, not anymore.

"I want to fight you again after this whole business with the Musk is over," he said as he put his glasses back on, surprising Shampoo with his declaration. "I can't let what happened with Ranma happen again. I don't want any other man to defeat you."

"After the war with the Musk Dynasty, why?" she asked, too startled by his words to think of anything else.

"Because I think you wouldn't agree to fight me now," he said. "Not when we have Herb to worry about."

Herb. Hearing that name from Mousse made Shampoo remember the moment the Dragon Prince got angry at them, and how his battle aura made the air around them heavy and hot. She shivered at the memory because if there was one thing Shampoo never wanted to feel again was Herb's monstrous ki.

"Don't be afraid," Mousse said then, placing his hand over hers. "I'll protect you when the Musk comes after us, even if it kills me."

"How… how did you know?" Shampoo whispered, her face red by his proximity and his hand touching hers. She noticed then his touch was helping her relax, something she also found slightly scary, but in a way that didn't terrify her. "And please, don't say that."

"What?" he asked. "That I'll protect you?"

"No, that you will do that even if it kills you!" Shampoo corrected with a pained expression on her. She had remembered the moment Herb and his advisor said they would dispose of him, and that brought back the anguish she'd felt both then and only minutes before. "Do you think I would like that? Seeing you die in front of me?"

"For you! I…" Mousse started, but a strong impact on his face stopped him.

Shampoo had slapped him. She now stood in front of him and was staring at him with a mix of fear and anger in her eyes. Mousse, whose glasses were now on the ground, could not see this, but he could feel it, and he was not sure why she was experiencing such a conflicting mix of emotions.

"How dare you tell me that?" She exclaimed. "Are you so convinced we're going to lose?"

"No, it's just that…"

"Or perhaps you're giving up already?" Shampoo interrupted him. "Do I mean so little to you that you would rather die in battle? ...Or is it that you're too much of a coward to challenge me right here, right now?"

Mousse picked up his glasses, put them on, and then stood up. Shampoo's slap and questions had helped him move past the state of depression the whole situation with the Musk had sent him into and he could now clearly understand what they both needed to do.

"I meant it when I said I'm certain you wouldn't agree to fight me for a chance to win your hand in marriage right now because Herb is coming," he repeated slowly, hiding his hands under his sleeves as he spoke. "Our only priority right now should be getting stronger to help protect Joketsuzoku, not my feelings for you."

Stating this, Mousse turned left and started walking to the town's gates, as he believed there was nothing else to be said that night. He would protect Shampoo whether she wanted it or not, and if they were lucky enough to survive, then he'd challenge her again in an official duel.

Shampoo bit her lips, watching his back as he walked towards the road out of the village. She was feeling upset by him dismissing her, but more than that, she felt fear. He was her best friend, perhaps even more than that, and losing him terrified her. It terrified her so deeply she understood she didn't want him to go; she wanted him to stay with her so they could both help each other survive the battle with the Musk… she knew they could do that, she just knew it!

"Mousse, wait!" She called, not moving from where she stood for she at least wanted to preserve that much of her dignity.

"Yes?" he said, not turning to look at her. Not because he didn't want to, but because he could feel despair and fear in her ki, and he believed that pushing his feelings on her when the complete annihilation of their whole world was so near would only make things worse between them.

"Fight me," she challenged him, deciding this was the only way she could keep him close. "Fight me, Mousse… fight me and if you win I promise I'll marry you. But I want to fight the man, not the master of the Hidden Weapons Style, drop all your weapons, and show me if your love for me is really that strong!"

He lowered his head, not moving as he contemplated her words. Why was she doing this? It made no sense to him but… she was so afraid. Probably as afraid as he felt. If that was the case, then she was not in her right mind, and fighting her would be dishonorable.

"You're only doing this because you're scared," he declared, finally looking back to face her. "Not because you want to give me a chance to be with you."

Shampoo tried to respond, but the words just wouldn't come out. He was right, after all, she was doing this out of fear of losing her family, her friends, and her home… him. She had already accepted that much, but even then… why wouldn't he take her challenge? Wasn't this what he always wanted? She could not understand!

"I'm afraid too," he told her. "That is why I won't fight you, letting fear be the only reason why we do this… it doesn't feel right."

"Mousse… listen, I…" Shampoo took in a deep breath and made a pause to gather her thoughts. She knew what she wanted, but needed a moment to make sure she could properly express it.

"Don't force yourself, we can wait until it's all over..."

"I'm not… I…" she had to make another pause, this was becoming more and more difficult with every second, and she understood that if she didn't say it quickly, she would never again be able to gather the courage to do so again. "I am terrified, but… I would rather… I would rather face what's coming knowing that your love for me is real."

"Shampoo…"

"Wait… let me… there's more I need to say…" she interrupted, lowering her face and closing her eyes, feeling too embarrassed to face him. "If we must go to war… if we must die in battle… I would rather do it next to a person who loves me… next, to a man, I also care about… and I think that man is… you."

"Shampoo," he called again after a moment of silence. "Please, open your eyes, I'm here."

She hesitated for a moment before she did as he asked. The young Amazon had to blink in surprise. There, right in front of her was Mousse, but he had removed his robe, and several weapons were at his feet. He held his glasses in his hands and was wrapping them in a handkerchief.

"If this is so important for you then I accept your challenge," he said as he put his cloth-wrapped glasses in his pocket. "I only hope that you truly understand how important this is for me… Shampoo, I do expect you to keep your promise."

"I understand, Mousse," she answered as she untied her odango, releasing her full hair to the night wind; she then unbuttoned her blouse, letting it drop behind her and revealing her white undershirt. They were now even, she decided, and they could fight with only their skills and bodies alone. "And I will keep my promise."

They moved away from the village's gates, deciding to fight on an ample garden not too far from there. The place was deserted as most amazons were either still training at the other end of town or preparing dinner for their families, so the two teenagers were confident their duel would be private. Only that was not the case, another person, someone very old and powerful, observed it all from atop a nearby house.

'I should stop those two,' Cologne thought, but quickly decided against it. It had been Shampoo who threw the challenge, so she had no right to interfere and besides, she wanted to see how skilled Mousse and Shampoo were, as it would help her determine the best way to continue their training. And if Mousse won… well, Cologne was not as averse to it now as she had been in the past. The boy was definitively not weak, and Shampoo had been showing interest in him after returning from their mission together. The elder sighed and shrugged, in the end, it was not a disaster, and her great-granddaughter could really do much worse than Mousse. 'I only hope those children don't hurt each other too much, it would hinder their training.'

They stood a few steps away from each other. Shampoo standing in an offensive stance while Mousse, who was still tired from his previous training, opted for a defensive one. The Amazon felt confident about her chances since even if Mousse was physically superior, he should be exhausted and, without his weapons and his glasses, he would not be able to fight at full strength. But she could.

'Let's see if you really care for me enough to go all out, Mousse, because in your condition that's the only way you'll be able to defeat me!' she thought and dashed forward, attacking with blazing speed.

But her first punch did not connect; Mousse simply parried it, and the same happened with the next five attacks Shampoo tried, he blocked them all effortlessly. Amazed by this development, the young Amazon tried a different stance and instead of punching, she decided to use open palm strikes, aiming for her opponent's chest. This second wave of attacks was also blocked or parried, however.

"How?" She asked him, backing up a step to reevaluate her strategy. "You're not wearing your glasses!"

"I can feel your battle aura," he answered. "I practiced my ki detection skills when we were traveling together and I improved enough to tell where you're moving even if I can't see you..."

"That means you can tell what I'm going to do?"

"More or less, I had trouble identifying what your last few strikes were."

Shampoo smirked; even though her confidence was a bit shaken, learning Mousse could track her ki, she recovered when she heard him admit he couldn't always know what attack she was going to use. That meant if she struck him fast enough…

"Let's go at it again, Mousse!" She exclaimed, rushing at him intending on kicking him hard on the chin, feeling rather certain this plan would work perfectly.

But it didn't, Mousse decided to finally counterattack and intercepted Shampoo, delivering his own kick on her midsection, dropping her on her back a few meters away from where he stood. The young Amazon got up slowly, smiling as she pressed her right hand over her stomach.

'So… he's finally taking our duel seriously,' she thought, still smiling as she straightened and took in a deep breath. 'I was waiting for this… let's see if he's brave enough to fight me until the end.'

"You're fighting for real," Shampoo said, walking back to where Mousse waited. "It's about time."

"Of course I am," he answered. "The prize is finally worth it."

"Oh? Well, then your feelings for me must be really strong if you're willing to go this far for this prize," she said and smiled at him. "Good, I would not agree to marry a man who can't fight me with his full strength..."

Mousse returned the smile while he prepared an offensive stance. "Let's finish this, shall we?"

"Yes, let's," Shampoo agreed.

This time it was Mousse who attacked first, finding that Shampoo was not defending; she was dodging most of his blows, but also attacking him full force. The two traded punches and kicks for almost a minute, and while it was obvious Shampoo's attacks landed more often, she was the one receiving more damage.

'I can't let him get any more hits in!' Shampoo decided after receiving a strong punch in her right shoulder. 'Two or three more and I'll fall on my knees…'

Taking advantage of a momentary pause, she quickly cartwheeled to the left, impacting her feet on Mousse's forearm, as he managed to block the attack at the very last instant. It didn't matter however since Shampoo counted on it not connecting, all she wanted with the maneuver was to recover some space.

"That was clever," Mousse said. "I was not expecting it, you surprise me, Shampoo."

"I am full of surprises," she answered proudly. "And the next one will decide this fight, you'll see!"

Mousse was momentarily out of words and too amazed to move when he felt what Shampoo was doing. She had ignited her battle aura in a way that for him it was like feeling a small star chaotically shining brightly in front of him. He couldn't see her well, and the glowing around her forced him to close his eyes. Mousse quickly understood that this must be her incomplete version of the Tamashi no Bakudan Kogeki.

'If she's going to use this now then it means she believes she's out of options,' he realized, noticing that she was now focusing all her ki in her right fist. 'If she hits me with that… will it cause a blast? No, she said she hasn't mastered the technique yet, but I can't chance it…'

Without warning, Shampoo yelled and ran towards him, forcing him to do the same in order to intercept the ki-infused attack she was aiming to use on him.

There was no explosion, only a loud flash that illuminated the area for just an instant. When the bright light dissipated, Mousse and Shampoo stood still on opposite ends of the garden. They seemed to be frozen in time but, after a second, the young man staggered and brought a hand to his chest, just below the neck. The red mark on his sternum proved that Shampoo had managed to hit him well, and he suspected that, had she been rested and used the perfect version of her Soul Bomb Strike, he would be unconscious. Behind him, Shampoo placed both hands over her left side and felt her knees go weak. Mousse had hit her expertly in a way that had made her whole body spasm strongly; she struggled for an instant, tried to stop trembling, and, finding she had no strength left, fell on her back, unable to get back on her feet.

Realizing Shampoo had collapsed, Mousse put his glasses on and walked to where she was. He found her still holding her side and breathing slowly. Glad to see she wasn't out cold, he sat next to her and waited in silence, in case she wanted to tell him something.

"Your last punch really got me," she admitted when she felt rested enough. "It shook my body to the core… I lost all my strength… where did you learn it? It's not an Amazonian technique..."

"My father taught me how to do it, and it is supposed to do that," he replied in a low voice. "I didn't think I would need it, but you tried to hit me with the Tamashi no Bakudan Kogeki, I had no other choice."

"Using it didn't help at all," she sighed, still resting on the grass. "You defeated me very quickly… I didn't think you would be able to win."

"If you had used a perfect version of the technique I would have lost."

"No, you would have found a way to counter it," she acknowledged, her eyes closed. "You are a better martial artist than I am, Mousse, stronger, too."

Shampoo didn't say more, and just focused on staring at the stars above her, still finding it difficult to grasp how skilled Mousse actually was. She always considered him below her in technique and ability. This fight had proven how mistaken she had been.

"…I concede," Shampoo said then, her voice soft and even a little shy. "You won fairly, Mousse. I… I'll marry you."

The young man did not answer. Hearing those words from Shampoo's mouth had left him speechless, as they confirmed that he had finally made his dearest dream a reality. But that didn't mean he could rest. No, now that Shampoo was his bride, he would have to train harder to become strong enough to protect their future together. He felt a sharp pain in his right arm then, and looking down he found that Shampoo was pinching him as hard as she could.

"Why are you doing that?" He asked lifting his arm beyond her reach.

"Because this is when you're supposed to kiss me, and all you're doing is spacing out like an idiot," she complained.

Mousse blinked and, finding her words incredibly funny, started laughing. Shampoo found his laughter contagious and quickly joined him; the two laughed for a few seconds until they managed to stop. He sighed and then looked at her. She was so pretty and feminine… her beauty almost intoxicating. Mousse smiled again and felt content with just contemplating her.

"Come, lie down next to me," she told him, lifting her arms in an inviting gesture.

He nodded and slowly, battling his doubts and telling himself this was fine, did as she wanted. Once he was next to her, she moved so she could lean on him. They rested like this for a long while, enjoying their shared warmth and company until Mousse, calm and more confident now, moved so he was above her.

"I'm going to kiss you now," he told her, cupping her face in his hand.

"I think I would like that," Shampoo answered as she reached and gently placed her hand on his cheek, she gazed into his stunning eyes. She reached up and caressed his chest with her other hand. "I would definitively like that..."

With her permission finally granted, Mousse leaned down and gently, as if fearing this was all a dream, finally joined his lips with hers…

----------------------------------------

Moonlight illuminated the training field Dan Lo had taken Ryoga to, the wooden cabin they had been in earlier just behind them. A gentle night breeze combed through what remained of the grassy fields near the training field, which was mostly a barren wasteland with holes and some bridge equipment.

With his hands behind his back, Dan Lo watched as Ryoga took in a deep breath, easing his tension as his muscles relaxed. Starting from his feet the Lost Boy's energy began to pool at his feet, a green haze slowly enveloped his form, spreading as if he were some comet entering earth's orbit.

"This aura is something else..." the old man grumbled to himself.

The force of Ryoga's aura was strong enough to force the wind around him to spread out so fast it pushed back his bushy eyebrows, revealing two shocked brown eyes.

"Hooo...!" Ryoga cried with his eyes closed as the haze around him intensified to look like a flame brightly burning around him.

"Calm down! Don't go wasting all your ki reserves!" Dan Lo ordered while forcing his hardhat to stay on his head.

"Sorry I wanted to see how intense I could make it..." the teen answered as the gusts he was creating died down.

"You don't even seem too tired, to be honest..." Dan Lo muttered, starting to recognize this was no ordinary human that stood before him, despite looking so much like one.

"Maybe I'm just too motivated..." Ryoga replied as his mind wandered back to his traveling companion.

"Either way you've already mastered the Bakusai Tenketsu, something most young people can't do..." Dan Lo asked, stroking his chin. Was the boy just a flat out prodigy or something?

"Someone who's helping me with my friend Ranko taught me it by hurdling boulders at me until I could see the breaking point..." Ryoga admitted by avoided names in case it came back to bite them.

"Whoever taught you did it in an unusual way..." Dan hummed but appeared to think it over. "As cruel as it seems, if someone could withstand that level of training then it could be an excellent way to boost one's tolerance for pain..."

"Before we started you mentioned something about the Bakusai Tenketsu being related to the Shishi Hokodan?" Ryoga brought up as faint white steam wafted off his shoulders and top of his head.

"They're both construction techniques, Bakusai Tenketsu to make small rocks into smaller more manageable chunks while the Shishi Hokodan was meant to clear the area for construction..." Dan Lo started explaining as he looked out into the distance.

"What about this Perfect Shishi Hokodan you also mentioned?" Ryoga asked as he looked over to him.

"It's in the title..." he chuckled a little as he then turned to look at his coincidental star student. "It was perfect for setting the foundation..."

"I wish you'd show me how to do that one..."

"Crawl before you can walk Ryoga, I'm not like the one who taught you to the Bakusai Tenketsu," Dan Lo chuckled, admitting he was the traditional kind.

"Fine then..." He scratched the side of his head and then sighed. "How about showing me the imperfect Shishi Hokodan again?"

"Once more I suppose," Dan Lo nodded before spreading his legs and taking his stance, igniting his yellowish aura around him as it glowed brightly and constantly. "Shishi—" he began as he swiftly crossed his arms over his chest as he pulls them apart and brings his hands together near his chest. "Hoko—" he muttered as a ball of energy gathered and grew in his hands.

"Daaaannnn...!" he extended his hands out and fired a yellow beam, leaving a melon-sized hole in the ground.

Ryoga observed as best as he could, memorizing every movement as he noticed his sensei sighed in disappointment.

"I was hoping I could put on a better show..." Dan Lo admitted as he rotated his shoulder blade. "Guess I'm not feeling depressed enough..."

"You said that depression is the only emotion that can power this technique, right?" Ryoga questioned as he readied his stance by spreading his legs and putting his arms to his sides.

"That's right..." he replied, nodding his head. "Nothing is more disappointing than not getting paid after a long day's work..."

With that idea in mind, Ryoga once again shut his eyes and focused his ki, making it heavy as he returned to that panicked state he felt when he was thinking about all the cruel things Taro could do to his dear friend if he lost. The idea of her being so upset at him that she never wanted to see him again...

Dan Lo noticed Ryoga's tense and wild energy start to run amuck again, "Ryoga..." he muttered as he watched his student's energy waver and overflow before it calmed to a strong, larger than the average... but stable aura.

Ryoga's mind created a world of pitch darkness that spanned what seemed like an eternity.

"But if you don't come, I don't know what I'll do to her..."

"I don't know what I'll do to her..."

...ehehehe...

...ehehehe!

Taro's voice became distant and deeper the further he sounded, fading into deep and eerie laughter. It was then that the sound of a door being slammed at a familiar school echoed, the school Ryoga went to when Ranma would lead him to school.

Snort!

A ghostly specter with horns loomed down one of the hallways opposite to Ryoga, around it was a smog of festering darkness that consumed the ground it touched. The Ryoga in his mind could only stand in awe as it appeared to be throwing something his way.

Thud!

Beneath his feet was the object of his affection, her eyes shut, still and lifeless as though she were some rag doll...

"Ryoga… I… I care about you too... You've helped since the beginning, always doing so much for me… thanks for everything. I don't know what would have happened if I had never met you...

Ryo-Ryoga...

You…"

"I'm sorry..." he muttered as the overflowing nature of his energy caused his hair to sway as Ryoga was standing in front of some powerful fan.

His eyes shot open as tears streamed from his eyes, his tears were subject to the same forces around them and flew away up and over his head. His firey green aura glowed even brighter.

"He…" Dan Lo said but paused as the fact that Ryoga's aura alone could cause the winds to part so quickly.

"Shishi—" he began then right after he crossed his arms over his chest. "Hoko—" he continued as he extended his hands out, his tone dropping by a few octaves. Out from his hands came an orb of green energy, teeming with the same vibrant glow that surrounded its caster, rapidly beginning to expand as if it were a balloon capable of reaching absurd human heights.

Dan Lo swore he could feel Ryoga's strength seeping into his own being, encouraging him to stand.

"Do it now! Ryoga!"

Ryoga grit his teeth and angled the attack as high as he could before letting go.

"Daaannnnn...!"

Forced to keep his hard hat down and close his eyes, the construction man fought against the violent gust pushing against him, "My word..." he muttered as he watched the blast crash into a small house-sized hill across the river.

Two shockwaves spread through the ground. The first caused by the force of Ryoga's attack and the one that followed right after was because the grassy mound he had struck came crumbling down shortly after.

"That was amazing! I can't believe you have such astonishing Ki reserves! You're…" Sensei Dan stopped to see that Ryoga had fallen on his back. "Must have used it all in one go..." he mused as he moved over to pick him up, hoisting him up by his side.

"Wish I was as strong as you, growing up..." Dan muttered with a smile, dragging the unconscious Ryoga back inside their cabin for some much-deserved rest.

----------------------------------------

Peering over the horizon like a whimsical sprite, the sun spread out its golden rays of warmth over the Byankara province. It was all so serene and majestic to behold, the diversity in wildlife.

"You pantyhose sniffing creep!" Ranko cried as she was bound to a wooden pole left to the cabin by Taro's weapon of choice.

Standing nearby with one foot over a rock and next to the pond, the brown-haired miscreant was doing his best to drown out the redhead's voice, 'He should be here any minute and the second I'm done with him, you're next...' he thought, smirking right after.

"You might as well start usin' eyeliner while you're at it too!" the redhead's persistent pestering continued.

"Do you ever shut up!?" Pantyhose Taro demanded as he marched over to her and grabbed Ranko by her throat.

"Wanna' make me?" Ranko replied, calling his bluff.

She was just trying to get to him and it was working, this was something he couldn't let her have, "No..." he scoffed before smiling. "Not yet..."

"Sounds like you're scared ta' fight me..." she suggested with a cocky grin.

"Keep trying to get on my nerves and we'll see what happens..." he threatened calmly before making his way to the edge of Fist Rock as far as he possibly could from his smart-mouthed tormentor.

…

A few minutes later…

A teenage boy and an old man reached the base of the impressive rock formation: Fist Rock. They both looked up before looking back to one another and bowing in respect.

"Thank you for everything," Ryoga said as he showed his appreciation.

"You're welcome, I wish you luck on your journey," Dan Lo smiled and bowed his head.

"You're not going to climb the rock with me?"

"I'm not going to interfere in a fight between men," Dan Lo scoffed at the notion and shook his head.

"Alright then..." Ryoga nodded as he dropped his traveling gear off to the side and started climbing the old structure.

"I'll wait nearby if you need me..." Dan Lo spoke clearly enough for Ryoga to hear as he walked with his hands behind his back.

For someone like Ryoga, the feat of climbing the side of a small mountain was nothing to the fight that awaited him. Not just that but he desperately wanted to see Ranko again, 'He said to meet him at dawn! It's still technically dawn!' Ryoga thought as he looked up to see what looked like the top.

This brought some hope to Ryoga's eyes as he in his excitement rushed and pushed his muscles to help him close the gap, pulling himself up to the top.

"Ah!" Ryoga groaned as he reached to the side of his head with his left hand, feeling some warm liquid gush out a little.

"Now we're even..." Taro said, standing over him with a sharpened stick.

Glaring, the Lost Boy had been on his hands before coming to a stand, seeing as Taro stepped out of the way. Behind him was the redheaded amnesic of his dreams, bound to a pole with her head tilted down.

"R-Ran..." Ryoga began as his voice squeaked a little.

"Ryoga? Is that you...?" she asked, head jolted up as seemed genuinely shocked to see him.

In such a good mood to see her, Ryoga remained silent, but after looking at the blood on his face, Ranko had plenty to say.

"How could you be stupid enough to let him cut you like that?" Ranko rolled her eyes and fought against her restraints. "Untie me so I can kick this guy's ass and we can get back to our mission!"

Ryoga instead of being upset or enraged actually found himself breathing a sigh of relief when he heard her beautiful insults, 'If she can scream like that then he hasn't hurt her...' he thought right before tossing the bag he had tied to his hip.

"Oh...?" Pantyhose Taro noticed all eyes were back on him.

"That's the Corly weed, and now I'm gonna make you regret the day you meet us," Ryoga said narrowing his eyes as a grin spread across his face.

"And I'm going to enjoy sending you to hell..." Taro replied with a confident smirk.

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