FOREWORD: A Study in Possibilities...

(Voice over by Rod Sterling if I could afford him...)

In the endless sea of time, everything happens. All possibilities, however improbable, see reality sooner or later. The impossible also happens, more often than one might think. Such is the way of things, no matter what universe you happen to be in.

Consider the case of Ranma Saotome, a martial artist in most incarnations, often cursed (usually by turning into a girl). In one set of temporal possibilities, he is engaged to Akane Tendo, also a martial artist in most incarnations, whose relationship with her fiancé is more often stormy than not because their parents are forcing the issue. In a further subset, Ranma is devoted to Akane, despite their voiced protests, through a sense of honor and unrealized emotions. In many of these, Ranma has had to move to save Akane's life, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, and neither one can truly be said to even be aware of some of these incidents as they happen. For these are the little things, the ones that happen within a set of larger circumstances that tend to draw attention away from them.

For example: In one incident shortly after Ranma had been engaged to Akane, Ranma was involved in another fight, this time with a boy named Ryoga Hibiki. It is their second fight since the two turned sixteen. Depending on the timelines involved, the fight stays on the grounds of Furinkan High School (as opposed to ending up in a zoo). In most cases, the tempers of both opponents flare. Ranma staying focused on Ryoga to the point of not noticing becoming a girl, and Ryoga focusing on Ranma-chan to the point of not caring about bystanders. More often than not, Ranma tries to pause the fight in order to get the bystanders (Akane in particular) out of immediate danger.

In a further subset, Ranma-chan has taken Akane out of the immediate combat zone, and the two have a misunderstanding that threatens their engagement. Ryoga attacks again, from behind, using a 'razor belt' strike that (in this set) is deflected into the air by Ranma-chan. In many sets, the belt returns, killing Akane, Ranma-chan, or both. In a precious few, Akane turns back just in time, responding to Ranma-chan's attempts to apologize.

Sometimes, Ryoga stops pressing the attack at that point, other times he pulls Ranma-chan back into the fight over her protests. In this set, he has once again attacked from behind as Ranma-chan's concern for Akane had seriously distracted her...

CHAPTER ONE: A Crushing Blow

Ranma-chan looked in shock at what had just happened to her now possibly ex-fiancée. The belt that she had kicked out of Ryoga's hands had spun up into the air and had returned in an arc that had sliced of most of the length of Akane's hair. An arc that, had Akane not turned to yell at her when she did, would have cleanly cleaved the girl from the nape of her neck to just below her navel.

Just the thought made Ranma-chan want to cry in terror and grief over what had almost happened. She desperately wanted to hug Akane, to hold her, to assure herself that Akane was really okay, but fear held her back. She had done it before, just before Akane had started storming away in anger. In fact, it was her fault that Akane had inadvertently put herself at risk to begin with, what with her having denied ever really wanting to hold her fiancée to begin with. How could she have been so stupid, so callous? Akane had just renounced their engagement.

'You don't have to explain. Because starting now...

You and I are STRANGERS!'

Did she really mean that? Ranma had to know, but not just yet. What was more important was making sure that Akane was all right. Nothing was more important than that. Even that nagging little feeling of impending danger was overridden by her concern for the girl who appeared to be in shock. Surely even Ryoga would stop his assault now that he had nearly killed an innocent bystander...

There was an audible sound, between a thump and a crack, and Ranma-chan's world became pain.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"

Ranma-chan could not help but to scream in agony from the force of the blow that struck her back just below the shoulder blades. Her whole body beneath that point suddenly felt as if it had been sheathed in ice and wrapped in fire at the same time. Her vision blurred as she dropped to her knees, still screaming.

A second blow, this one to Ranma-chan's left shoulder blade, drove the breath from her lungs as she lost all feeling in her left arm. As she gurgled and tried to gasp air back into her lungs again, a startlingly coherent thought occurred to her. [So this is it. I'm going to die. Ryoga, I thought we could be friends again, why are you killing me?] The next strike, she knew, would be her last experience in this life. She could sense it in slow motion, approaching the back of her skull, and there was nothing she could do about it at this point. [Akane, I'm so sorry...]

The third blow never landed...

Ryoga stared in shock at the hand that had caught his fist. It belonged to that cute girl that his hated rival had been teasing and arguing with. She had stopped a strike that could have crushed a solid concrete block easily, as if it had been nothing more than a baseball. He could feel the bones in his hand grinding together in point to the rage in her expression.

"Get away from my fiance, you monster!" SNAP went Ryoga's elbow joint as the girl bent it severely in an unnatural angle. "Leave him alone!" POP went his shoulder as the girl yanked it out of its socket, dislocating it nearly as badly as she had his elbow. "What did he ever do to you to deserve this!? He thought you were his friend, damn you!"

"Because of him," Ryoga gasped through his pain, absently choosing to refer to Ranma's proper gender, "I've seen hell!" This, apparently, had been the wrong thing to say, because Ryoga cried out in pain as the girl jerked the arm further out of joint in response to it.

"What hell!? Ranma waited three days for you to show up for your stupid bread feud!" the girl shouted. "He thought you were his friend when he first remembered who you were! He tried to make amends when he thought that you were still angry with him about the bread!" Ryoga felt the air being forced from his lungs by the blow he had just received to the gut. "Ranma is my fiance, damn you, and if he dies..." Ryoga looked into the girl's tear streaked, furious eyes, and knew fear. For these were eyes he had seen before. Eyes that promised vengeance returned one thousand-fold. Eyes that he saw whenever he looked at himself in a mirror. "So help me, if he dies... I... will... KILL... you!" With that, the girl delivered an uppercut to Ryoga's jaw powerful enough to send him flying against the wall of one of the school buildings, unconscious...

Akane fought through the dazed shock that she was experiencing from nearly being beheaded (having received a really bad haircut instead). Ranma-chan had saved her life by deciding that Akane was more important than the fight with Ryoga, and trying to apologize. Ranma-chan had stayed with Akane after her hair had been chopped off, honest concern being very evident in her expression. And Ryoga had taken advantage of this greater distraction by once again attacking Ranma-chan from behind, this time with a fist to her back.

The first, sickening blow had effectively removed Ranma-chan from the fight as she screamed in primal agony. The second blow reduced these screams to a helpless gurgle, as it became difficult for her to breathe. The third blow never landed, for Akane Tendo had joined the fight.

Ordinarily, Akane would stand no chance in a fight with Ryoga; but then again, ordinarily she wouldn't stand a chance in a fight with her fiancé either, and she had managed to defeat Ranma once before. All she knew was that a monster was killing her iinazuke, and she had to stop him. And stop him she did.

There is an inner strength in all of us that can be called for in times of great need or duress. Fear can bring it forth, as can anger and desperation. So can realization of the truth of love just found, only to be cruelly snatched away by fate... or a monster. A martial artist is supposed to be able to access this strength through his or her ki. In Akane's case, it was a combination of all these factors that gave her the strength to stop Ryoga's third blow from landing.

It was with the ferocity of an angry tigress that she then dislocated the arm that she had grabbed and then punched him away from her fallen love. It was with despair that she gathered Ranma-chan in her arms and begged. Begged for anyone to call a doctor, an ambulance, anyone to save Ranma's fading life.

This was the man she lo... liked, never mind the fact that he was cursed to turn into a girl. Never mind his course behavior and poor social skills, for they weren't truly his fault. He was her hero, her friend, and he had fallen while saving her life. Akane could do no less...

Ranma-chan lay there as she tried to gasp more air into her lungs. Akane had saved her life, stopping Ryoga like she did. What Akane had said in her defense warmed her heart, for all that it still beat madly in her chest. If it weren't for the debilitating pain coursing through her body, the neo-girl would be content in the knowledge that Akane really did care for her.

Unfortunately for Ranma-chan, the damage to her body, as localized as it was, seemed to be critical. While she didn't think that her back was actually broken, seeing as how she had collapsed to her knees rather than all the way to the ground, fractures were a real possibility. Her entire lower body felt as if she was being simultaneously burned and frozen at both temperature extremes. Definitely not a good sign, from what her rather limited medical knowledge told her. Also, her left arm hung limply at her side, and unlike her legs, she couldn't feel it at all.

Ranma-chan mentally berated herself for ignoring her sense of impending danger. Ryoga could drop in and out of his obsessive agression at odd times. She really should have remembered that, but it had been such a long time. She blamed herself for forgetting and letting her guard drop.

She was scared, really scared, that she was going to die anyway, alone and in greater pain than she had ever felt before. Her breathing was ragged and forced, she was trembling all over (except for the horrible lack of sensation from where she knew her left arm to be), and she had a hard time focusing her vision on anything for very long. [So cold... so very cold... so hot. I'm on fire... I have to be... I'm freezing to death... I don't want to die... not like this...]

A vision filled her eyes. That of a beautiful angel, or rather Akane, which was good enough for her. She didn't want to die alone. She was grateful that Akane had come back to see her on her way...

"Akane," Ranma-chan gasped weekly as she felt herself being gathered into her fiancée's embrace. It felt good to be there, despite her unabated agony. It felt... right. "Akane... I..."

"Hush, Ranma," Akane comforted her fallen hero. "Ryoga won't hurt you any more."

"Akane..." the neo-girl choked as her gaze lost focus once again. "Akane..."

"I'm here, Ranma, everything is going to be all right."

"I... hurt, Akane..."

"Somebody call a doctor! Ranma's hurt!" Akane shouted at

the gathering crowd. To her irritation, most of them just stood there in shock over what they had just witnessed.

"I... don't... want... to die... Akane..." Ranma-chan wheezed out past her ragged breath. "I... don't want... there to be... bad feelings... between us..."

"Don't talk like this, Ranma," Akane pleaded. "You're not going to die!"

"I just... just wanted... to be your... friend...

Akane..."

"I think I like you too, you jerk," Akane responded gently, tears in her eyes. "Please don't die on me!"

"I... just wanted... to say that... before I go..."

"SOMEBODY CALL A HOSPITAL NOW, DAMN IT!" Akane shouted at

the crowd once again. "I am NOT going to lose my fiance like this!" She broke down in tears as she continued to plead. "Someone... anyone >sob< call a doctor, a paramedic, anyone!

but definitely not like this!"

While some continued to stare at Akane and the girl she called Ranma, others ran off to do as she requested, hoping that they would be in time...

Ryoga came to his senses in a sea of pain. A girl had stopped him from killing his hated rival by dislocating his right arm severely and knocking him away from the fight. He could feel the bruises beginning to form on his stomach and jaw, where she had hit him harder than anyone ever had before. Now the girl was sobbing over his fallen foe, calling out for help for her iinazuke, never mind that Ranma was a girl at the moment.

For the first time in a long while, Ryoga was ashamed... of himself and his own actions.

Ryoga slowly rose to his feet and staggered away, painfully popping the joints of his arm back into place. He had nearly killed a girl... no, a boy... who had thought that they had been friends and could be again. Damn it! Ranma had been a friend of sorts, before the bread-feud had gone on too long. He had been the only boy willing to spar with him, even with his greater strength. And while Ranma had made fun of his lack of a direction sense, he had never been as malicious about it as the other kids had been.

And Ryoga had nearly killed her... er, him. He had been about to strike the final blow when, thank all the kami, the girl had stopped him cold. [What kind of monster have I become?] he thought to himself. [Is my curse truly so bad that I felt justified in murdering my friend? Even if it is his fault that I became cursed, that's no excuse! What have I allowed myself to become?]

With tears freely flowing from his eyes, Ryoga staggered away from the scene of the fight... straight into the spray of the broken water fountain.

Nabiki wandered around slightly dazed in shock at what she had just witnessed. She had thought it fun to pick on the mostly ignorant cursed boy who had come into the lives of the Tendo family. She had initially started out of a sense of revenge for him not to have been the fiancé she had so desperately wanted him to be. She had continued to pick on him because he had turned out to be such an easy mark, not unlike her younger sister, and she felt even less guilt than she would have had he actually been a family member.

What she had just witnessed though...

Ryoga Hibiki had been a case of vengeance taken out of proportion. None of what Ranma had told them could excuse the obviously deadly intent the lost boy had just shown in this fight. The safety of bystanders did not matter to him, in stark contrast to Ranma. Nor did he care who was around to witness his questionably honorable tactics.

He might even be inclined to eliminate those very same witnesses. At the very least, he may decide to take vengeance out on Akane, who had hurt him more than Ranma had.

Nabiki was afraid. Not only for her own safety, but for that of Akane as well. A singular lack of interest had caused Nabiki to stop training after their mother had died. Training in the family School of Anything Goes Martial Arts had been an unnecessary and painful reminder of her life before that tragedy. Now it had just become all too necessary by far.

Tonight, she would ask her father to pick up her training again. Akane had just fought Ryoga and won, but Nabiki held no illusions as to what would have happened if the lost boy had not been in shock about having been stopped in the first place. After all, Akane had nearly died from a random attack of the lost-boy's, and he had shown no hesitation afterwards. Either he was too obsessed, didn't care, or was just plain stupid. In any event, she couldn't take the chance that it was more innocent than it appeared.

Nabiki absently picked of a somewhat damp little black pig wearing a yellow and black bandanna that had bumped into her leg. She would have to find the owner later, but right now she just wanted something... anything... to help comfort her during the dark times she saw ahead.

Nabiki raised her head at the sound of sirens. An ambulance had arrived to pick up Ranma, and police were arriving as well. One of the officers was getting a brief statement from Akane, but it was obvious that she wanted to go with her fiancée. Nabiki wandered over to give her own statement, glad that she hadn't gone ahead with the idea to bookie a bet for the fight. Not that she had been given enough advanced warning about it to do so, but it would have been the next big step for her and her compatriots.

A step that Nabiki could no longer afford to take if she wanted to get involved with the authorities. The law could be a powerful ally, and enforcers of the law were handily available. The law tended to like truth and justice, as opposed to lies and cruelty.

Duty... Honor... Purpose...

A martial artist had these things...

So did an officer of the law...

Maybe it was time to pick a new direction in life. Nabiki

Tendo pondered this turn of events, seeing a branch ahead of her in the future. Had she found her calling?

She would have to look into this new possibility, and think hard and long about her future...

END CHAPTER ONE.

A WORD FROM TANGENT: Once again, I am writing a story similar to others that I have found on the net. Not only that, I am writing one that is pretty much a counter balance to 'Pieces on the Board', a fan-fic that I wrote that has a similar theme but takes place around the other end of the Ranma series.

What can I say? I'm Tangent, and exploring possibilities is what I do. I don't always treat any particular character well, nor do I always put any particular character in a bad light (although it's awfully hard not to do so with some of them, like Genma...). I do usually try to treat them with dignity, whether I cast them as good or bad, but I keep my eyes and my heart open to possibilities that present themselves.

In 'Pieces on the Board', it was an automotive accident that initiated the story of trial and renewal. In 'Shattered Dreams' it is a spur of the moment decision on the part of one of the cast that causes the tragedy. A tragedy that changes many lives forever, not the least of which is his own... and that of his victim.

C&C Welcome.

Flames will be used to roast marshmallows.

Tangent

tangent@zbzoom.net