Adamantium Rage

Chapter 04

Making TV history

Ranma smiled as he rested his head on the window of the car. He glanced over at Ken who was sleeping and then at Jen and Jenna who were following his example while Nikki drove. He couldn't help but smile as he turned his head and watched the cars rush past in the opposite direction. They had finally gotten to the United States. It's what he'd been trying to do ever since he left the village. Now all he had to do was look around for Thunder Hawk in the street fighting competitions. Ranma sighed as he tried to bring up a memory or two from his forgotten life.

Nothing.

Everything up until the day he awoke in the clearing was blank."Damn it!" He muttered as he scrunched his face in a scowl. It was really starting to irritate him. He wanted to know who he was. Ranma sighed. Tomorrow would be a lot simpler. All he had to do now was find Thunder Hawk.

**************

The next day...

Ranma smiled as he glared at his opponent across from him. He hadn't found T hawk yet, but it was the first tournament that they had entered since they had gotten to the US. "Come on! Quit stallin!" Ranma called out to his opponent who was currently smelling a red rose that he was carrying with him. The man had long blonde hair , a bare chest, yellow skintight pants, with a long blue line running down each side, a pair of claws attached to an arm bracer on his right arm and a white mask with two purple patterns that rested underneath each of the eye holes, which were the only part of his face that you could see. The man's eyes opened and Ranma could clearly see the madness in the man's features as he leapt towards him after slashing the Rose with his claws.

Ranma smiled and popped out one set of his own claws, prepared for the man's aerial attack. Ranma shifted to the side and dodged the man's clawed attack easily. He then ducked under the kick and lashed out with his foot towards the man's groin hoping to drop him quickly. The man stumbled back a little bit and then laughed insanely as he glared at the boy. Ranma swore as he glared at the blonde man. "He's wearing a freakin cup!" He growled. Vega didn't give a lot of time between attacks and jumped towards Ranma. Ranma smiled and jumped straight up to meet him in the air.

Back in the crowd Ken stared surprised as he watched the fight between the pair. He knew Ranma fairly well now, he had been training him in the Hadou and his master's school of martial arts for a week now. Unfortunately he recognized the blonde man in the ring as well. "VEGA!" He said shocked. *I thought... I thought he was...* Ken couldn't believe his eyes. He and Ryu used to travel a lot, looking to enhance their skills in the martial arts. Unfortunately they had gotten involved with a secret terrorist organization called shadow law, which was run by a maniacal mad man named M. Bison. They had also met Vega in Spain during their travels, he was a bull fighter but was also a mad man himself, who was associated with Bison. They had fought later on in a nightclub but Ken had inadvertently killed the man.

What he was watching, fighting one of his friends, was a ghost.

Ranma kicked Vega to the other side of the ring and the man landed on his feet lightly, avoiding all injury. "I'm going to enjoy slaughtering you Ranma!" Vega said madly. "I'm going to enjoy your three beautiful friends even more!" he said as he looked over to his friends in the crowd.

Ranma growled. "What the hell's wrong with you? This is just a street fight! Now you had to go and make it personal!" Ranma ran towards Vega and slashed at his face with the single adamantium claw that he had extended. Vega blocked with his own claws but Ranma's passed right through them like they were nothing but butter. Vega managed to get out of the way of the attack but Ranma didn't stop and kept swinging the single clawed fist at the former matador. Vega almost panicked but he managed to catch Ranma's clawed hand, efficiently stopping it. A muffled laugh escaped from Vega's mask as he glared at Ranma. Ranma swung his fist towards Vegan but the man caught it before it could connect.

Ranma smirked at him. "You think I only have _one_ set of claws?" Vega moved his head back but he was too late and the claws from Ranma's other fist shot out from between his knuckles.

Vega's Mask was torn off his face and blood dripped to the floor from the large wound on his face. Ranma jumped back, expecting, and hoping, that Vega would retaliate in anger so that he could beat the tar out of him some more. Now that Vega's mask was off, his face was revealed, he was handsome, _very_ handsome. Some might say he was too handsome, that no girl would be able to resist his charms. Vega's eyes were wide with absolute horror as he clutched the three long gaping slices in his face that ran from his ear to his mouth.

"Never threaten my friends pretty boy!" Ranma taunted hoping that he would attack. Vega just stared at the floor holding the wound.

"My...My face. You... you ruined... my beautiful face." Vega stared at Ranma and only saw a smiling teenage boy with two sets of claws sprouting from his knuckles. One of the claws dripping with crimson blood. "YOU'VE RUINED MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!!!!" Vega smiled insanely and laughed, a deep low chuckling that escalated into a higher pitched fit of mad laughter. He then dropped his hand and looked Ranma in the eyes deeply, and full of hate. "It doesn't matter anymore! Even now I'll be back and you. Will. Die!" He said seriously.

Vega launched himself at Ranma and prepared to attack. Ranma launched forward himself and dug both sets of claw into Vega's mid section. Ranma made sure that the wounds weren't fatal and Vega fell to the ground laughing maniacally.

In the crowds Ken frowned as he watched Vega fight. "Something's wrong." Ken stated. Nikki looked up at Ken noticing that he had said something.

"What is it Ken?" She asked concerned.

"Well for starters. Vega should be DEAD! He was killed a while back in a desperate fight against one of my friends. He's acting very strangely though. Normally any injury to his face would make him sloppy and careless. He hides it behind that mask to preserve it's condition. When I hit him in the face he became virtually useless in a fight."

Nikki looked confused and scared at the same time. "Dead!?" She asked. She turned her attention back to the fight and held a hand to her mouth in worry for Ranma's safety.

**************

Ranma stumbled backwards towards the ring's edge, he had three large cuts on his stomach that were quite deep, they would have been fatal on an ordinary human being. Vega was laughing maniacally as he watched Ranma, waiting for him to drop to the ring dead. Ranma stared back at the man warily.

"Jesus! He's actually going for the kill." Ranma looked down at himself and noticed that the wound was starting to close. It felt like hell but he was a martial artist, he'd endure. When he looked up at the Blonde haired fighter, the man was licking the blood off of what was left of his claws. Ranma frowned. ""You're trying to kill me."

Vega looked surprised when Ranma didn't fall down dead, choking on his own blood. Ranma ran towards the man, both sets of claws extended, the wound healing completely in mid run. Vega tried to block and dodge the blows but Ranma thrust forward and slashed with his claws catching Vega in the throat.

"Do unto others ass-hole." Ranma said angrily. Vega gurgled on his blood as it poured from his neck and fell to his knees. His eyes shut and he fell forward face first onto the ground. Ranma wiped the small beads of sweat off of his forehead and stared at the crowd... they were all silent.

Ranma pulled his claws into his arm and walked out of the ring towards his friends.

*************

Chun-Li sighed as she leaned back in her office looking over some files that were displayed on her computer screen. It wasn't really important stuff. Smaller time criminals. "This is boring." She muttered .

A Caucasian man with slicked back blonde hair walked into her office He was wearing a green Jacket over a black shirt and had baggy dark brown pants on. Chun-Li thanked god in her head for the distraction as an excuse for a temporary break from the dull files. "Hey Chun-Li What'cha working on?" he asked. Chun-Li sighed again.

"Nothing big Wallace. Just finishing the paper work on our last couple of cases."

Wallace chuckled and looked at the screen on her desk mockingly checking to make sure. "Sure your not looking up pictures of mysterious men?" He asked winking at her for a moment.

Chun-Li blushed and turned her head away from him. "Drop dead Wallace. Shadow law's dead and I don't need to look up anything on them. They're not coming back. Bison's dead."

Wallace nodded. But smirked seeing how flustered she got at the mention of that certain somebody. Apparently Chun-Li had traveled with this guy Ryu a few years back before joining the force here in Tokyo. They had gotten involved in street fights around the world and then gotten into a mess with M. Bison and the Terrorist group he ran called Shadow law.(see Street Fighter II V) They'd moved away for about a year with no contact between them and then Shadow law showed up again, Chun-Li then got in a fight with one of Bison's flunkies called Vega and nearly gotten killed.(Street Fighter II the movie) "Sorry about that." Wallace said apologetically. "I'm just playing with..." Wallace got cut off by the phone, which was currently ringing on Chun-Li's desk.

Chun-Li moved to answer it. "Hello?"

The voice on the other end was serious and had a tinge of worry in his voice. "Hello Chun- Li." came the voice. Chun-Li recognized it immediately and sounded surprised and worried to hear the voice as she realized who it was.

"Ken!"

"Yeah." Came Ken's voice from the other line. "I think there's a problem."

Chun-Li frantically struggled to get a pen from her desk drawer. "Ken!? What's the matter? Is it something about Ryu? Where are you?"

"I'm currently in the US. I just came back from a street fighting tournament where a friend of mine just fought Vega." Chun-Li became very pale as she heard this.

"That...that can't be." she said shocked as she stared at the wall frozen in utter disbelief. "I killed him... he's dead."

Ken nodded on the other line, a motion that the policewoman couldn't see. "I know. That's what I was thinking when I saw him. Maybe he survived the fall. Maybe he lived." He suggested.

Chun-Li shook her head. "No. That's impossible, that was at least ten stories high. No one could survive that kind of fall." Chun-Li paused for a second. "Do you think that Shadow Law is back?" She asked.

Ken paused contemplating that. "I don't know. I just phoned you to inform you of this. You might want to look into it."

"Who won the fight? Who's your friend? I can look up his or her file on the database here."

Ken thought about that for a second. "You think you could find some info on him?"

Chun-Li brightened up. "Yeah of course! We've got the best computer equipment in the world."

"His name is Ranma Saotome. He killed Vega... again. He has a really bad case of amnesia and all he remembers about himself is his name."

"Uh huh?" Chun-Li muttered as she opened up a program on her computer typing in the name. A file came up soon after with a picture of a young boy, with black hair and a pigtail. "Here it is..." She said proudly as she looked over the picture. "Wow this kid's young." She muttered.

"What do you got?" Ken asked, anxious to hear something about his new friend. "He's only about a year younger than me."

Chun-Li gasped as she scanned over the file. "He's been dead for a long time! Apparently he was mauled by wild animals and died at a very young age. This is strange, what's with all these ghosts showing up?"

Ken sighed. "I haven't a clue. But it's freaking me out now."

Chun-Li smiled. "It's good to hear from you again Ken. Thanks for the info."

"Anytime." Ken replied before hanging up.

Ken stared at the floor after hanging up the phone. *What the HELL is going on here!?* he thought to himself. *First Vega shows up, and he's been dead for a while now, then I find out that Ranma actually died when he was just a little kid.* Ken paused in his thoughts and looked over to the room that he and Ranma where staying at. *Maybe he's not really Ranma Saotome.* He wondered. Ken shrugged and walked towards the room. He looked down at his expensive Rolex that was wrapped around his wrist and smiled. "Just about time for our daily lesson." He muttered as he reached for the door.

Ranma smiled as Ken walked into the room that he and the older teen were sharing as the girls stayed one room over. "Hey Ken. Time for my lesson?" He asked.

Ken nodded. "I'll meet you on the roof in ten minutes. I'm going to go get a snack." Ken then turned back around and left the room looking for a snack machine or convenience store of some kind.

**************

Ranma sat on the roof and stared at the sky. "What am I?" He wondered as he watched the clouds fly by. "Nobody normal heals as fast as I do." He stated to himself. He was currently on the roof of the inn after the fight with Vega he had been wondering if he was even human. Vega had given him a, normally, fatal wound... he should have died right there in that fight. "I need to find answers." Ranma whispered.

Ranma turned his head and noticed Ken had appeared. Ranma stood up and smiled. Good afternoon sensei." Ranma said with a bow.

Ken returned the bow happily. "You're doing surprisingly well for a beginner. It's an honor to teach you." Ken and Ranma sat down on the edge of the roof and just looked at the sky for a moment.

"Do you think I'll ever find Thunder Hawk?" Ranma asked.

Ken nodded. "I'm pretty positive. I've met the man before. He's a good fighter. He uses the same school as you do."

Ranma nodded. "We were taught by the same master. He's on some sort of mission to get our people's homeland back. He's after some dictator named Bison."

Ken froze at the name his friend gave to him. "Are you going after Bison?" He asked Ranma worriedly.

Ranma shook his head. "No. I'm only after my past. I want to know who... and _what_ I am. I know I'm different than normal people. I heal to fast. Even fatal wounds heal in seconds. I... I'm just not sure... if I'm even _human_"

Ken nodded his head. "It's true. You're different. But I'm fairly certain that you are human Ranma. The fact that you heal fast might have something to do with the very past you can't remember." Ken said reassuringly. This got him thinking. *What if Bison is back? He always kept tabs on the street fights around the globe. He may come after Ranma for this healing ability.*

Ken shook the thought out of his head. He was pretty damn sure Bison was dead. "The only thing that seems to have much of an affect on you is chi. I couldn't beat you until I used my Hadou Ken."

"Why do you think that is?" Ranma asked, looking towards his friend and mentor.

Ken shrugged. "I don't know. I guess because it's an unknown force. It's not something that you'd encounter everyday. It's made up of pure life force. It'll knock pretty much anyone down."

Ranma nodded. That seemed to make sense. Chi was basically the most powerful form of technique that a martial artist could use. It made sense. Ranma had never encountered chi before coming to the village, he had no memory of his past life but it seemed like a new experience, even in the village though, the elders only used it for healing. He had never encountered it as a weapon.

Ken stood up and took a bit of distance from his pupil before getting into a martial arts stance. "Let's see what you've learned." He said with a smile. Ranma got up and smirked at the challenge.

**************

The next day. Ranma, Ken, and the three girls that they were traveling walked into the, supposedly, abandoned building that would be housing the fighting tournament. Ken looked surprised to see a T.V. van outside the place and was wondering what was going on, it felt different this time. When they entered the building the tournament had already started. They weren't really interested in how other people's fights went though they all walked over to the board that announced which fighters fought who and when. Ranma looked quickly through the lists of people until he found his name. He looked through the list of people and gasped when he came upon the very last fight.

Ken looked over at the name that Ranma had his finger on and smirked. "Guess we won't have to look too far for T Hawk now eh Ranma?" He asked with a smirk.

Ranma was surprised. He thought it would take a lot longer to find the man. But he was fighting in the second street fight in the US that he came across. "My luck's finally looking up." He said with a smile. He and his friends then wandered into the crowds to watch the fights before they had to go up. The crowds were unusually large for a street fight. Normally it was just a small clique of people who just wanted to see a good ass kicking. The crowd was much more varied in look. Ranma also noted that there were T.V. camera's around the arena. "What's going on?" he wondered.

Ken, having heard Ranma's silent question turned on the younger teen and decided to answer his question for him. He had to yell over the booming crowd though. "Apparently some T.V. stations got wind of these underground fighting tournaments and thought that there was something marketable here. People are getting bored of wrestling and other tame shows. They want something real. It's actually getting popular too, especially in places like Japan and China." Ken chuckled a bit. "I heard that they're actually making action figures of some of the best fighters too."

Ranma looked confused. He had no idea what an action figure was. He really couldn't care less, about this T.V. stuff the only thing that was on his mind now was talking to T. Hawk. Unfortunately he had to fight him first.

Ranma paused his thoughts as he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see a woman, she was in her early thirties, late twenties. She had short cropped brown hair and a grey business suit on, she looked quite out of place in the crowd. "Excuse me sir may I ask your name and alias please?" she asked.

Ranma looked a little confused at the question. "Alias?"

Ken smiled. "Yeah it's kind of like you're 'other name' a name that might represent the way you fight, or your personality." Ken paused for a moment and looked Ranma over. "Like say... since you've got those lethal claws of yours we could call you something like the Claw of Death."

The lady who stood by Ranma smiled and wrote that name down. "Claws of Death it is." She said. She then turned to Ken. "And what's your alias sir?" She asked the older teen in the red ghi.

Ken smiled. "I'm Ken and I think I'll be called. The Red Dragon. He said with a smile."

The lady shook her head. "I'm sorry that one is taken already."

Ken looked a little downtrodden. "Awwww! Okay. How about The Rising Dragon?" The lady shook her head again. Ken got frustrated. "Aww COME ON!! WHAT OTHER NAME COULD I HAVE!?!? RED GUY!?!?"

The lady smiled and wrote something down on the clipboard she was carrying and walked away. "Red Guy it is." She said as she disappeared into the crowd.

Ken tried to stop the woman and get her to change his alias name but it was too late she had written it down and was gone. Nikki, who had watched the whole thing, giggled by Ken's side. "Don't worry Ken." She said reassuringly. "It could have been much worse."

Ken looked at the girl sarcastically. "How could I have a worse fighting name than Red Guy?" He asked irritated at the fact that he was now stuck with, more than likely, the stupidest fighting alias in the entire arena. "You do realize that this is all going to be on national television."

Nikki giggled again. "You know you didn't have to give an alias. You could have just stuck with Ken masters. I heard that a lot of the fighters are." Nikki shrugged. "Oh well. Better luck next time." Nikki then walked off to stand with Jen and Jenna, who were watching the fights.

Ken hung his head. "I've never been so embarrassed." He muttered. Ranma just smiled and turned his attention back towards the fights.

Currently there was a large man in the ring facing off against a smaller girl. The man was about eight feet tall. Ranma didn't even know that people could get that big. The man wore a red wrestling speedo that showed of WAY to much of the man's features. He was covered in brown hair and had a brown Mohawk on the top of his head. He man looked really angry, but also looked incredibly dumb. The girl, Ranma noticed was very beautiful, she was lithe yet muscular and couldn't be any older than seventeen years old. She wore clothing that was kind of a mix between modern clothing and the familiar clothing that his tribe back in Canada wore. She had white streaks of war paint on her face and her bare arms. She had dark tanned skin and her hair was cut short and fell around her shoulders.

The referee signaled for the fight to begin and the large man, who's name was Zangief rushed towards the girl with an animalistic war cry. The girl was in a similar fighting stance to what he himself used but she was very calm when encountering the goliath. When Zangief was upon her she ducked under his arms and slid through his legs. She then did a back flip over the man and landed the heel of her foot into the back of the man's neck. The man stumbled forward and fell to the ground. The girl landed in the middle of the ring gracefully and stayed in a fighting stance.

The goliath looked back to the girl and got to his feet slowly. He ran towards her and tried the same maneuver again. The girl however did not and she moved to the side this time before he could get close enough. She then ducked under another of his fists and kicked the man in the side. Ranma winced as he noticed the girl had picked a very painful and strategic place to hit the man. She didn't stop there however and she grabbed the mans arm, using his forward movement and he clutched his side to flip him easily onto his back. Ranma was surprised yet again when he saw this. Most of the people in the audience gasped as they watched this frail and petite girl whip the giant around like it was no trouble at all. She decided to keep advancing and jumped into the air to land a finishing blow that would knock the man unconscious.

As the girl leapt high into the air, Zangief got up off the ground and jumped to meet her in the air. The man grabbed her and held her tightly so she could not escape his grasp. He then fell to the ground with the girl and slammed her into the ground... HARD!! The crowd gasped as the girl screamed in pain. Ranma felt compelled to do something but he held his ground. The girl struggled to stand up and Zangief stood ominously over the girl. He reached down to picked her up and finish the fight but the moment his hand got close the girl flipped up and kicked him seven times in his forearm as hard as she could before he could even register her movements. Ranma got the feeling that the man was a little... slow.

The man held his arm in pain and stepped back looking at the girl with a bloodlust in his eyes. The girl wasn't where he had last seen her though. She was behind the man and had leapt up onto his back. She reeled back and punched the man a few times in specific nerve clusters that would cause excruciating pain for the man. When he reached up to grab her she leapt forward over the mans hands and kicked him in the face three times before landing on the ground. She held her hands in victory as the man fell to the ground with a humongous crash. The bell rung and the announcers at the side of the ring, who Ranma just noticed, announced the winner and gave their comments on the fight.

The girl's name was Natalia Hawk. Ranma smiled. He already liked the girl.

**************

Ranma smiled as he stepped out onto the ring and the announcer called out his alias over the loud speakers that rang throughout the arena. He was getting used to the name The Claw of Death. It was a little gruesome for his taste but it made sense. It was his last fight of the day and he was up against T. Hawk. He couldn't wait to fight the man. He was a living legend back at the tribe and Ranma was very anxious to see if the man lived up to all the hype the other's gave him.

Ranma was surprised when the man stepped out onto the ring. He was almost as big as Zangief but the man walked with a grace that the grappler didn't. Thunder Hawk had war paint on him very similar to Natalia's only his chest was exposed through the open jacket he wore and his chest had war paint on it as well. His hair was tied back in a loose ponytail and he had a determined expression on his face as he glared at Ranma.

Ranma glared back. He wouldn't use his claws in this fight. He wouldn't use his chi, but he would win. He was determined to win against the older man. Thunder Hawk could see it in Ranma's eyes. The boy had a lot of potential but it had not been brought out. His past teachers had taught all they could teach him. He would surpass his current sensei, Ken, very soon.

The announcer announced Thunder Hawk and then the bell signaling the fight to begin.

Ranma bowed to the larger man and got into the basic fighting pose of his tribe. This fazed T. Hawk a bit and the man pointed at the boy before even thinking about getting into a fighting stance. "Where are you from boy?" He asked, surprised to see a complete stranger using the fighting style of his people. "Who are you?"

Ranma smiled. "My name is Ranma Saotome. Cooling Wind sent me to find you. She says that you might know of something from my past."

T. Hawk stepped back. "C...Cooling Wind?" He said surprised. "Sao...Saotome?" T. Hawk looked over to Natalia Hawk who was watching from the side of the ring. He smiled and got into a fighting stance very similar to Ranma's. "Let's just see how good of a martial artist you are! Son in law."

Ranma's eyes flared open in surprise as T. Hawk stated that last comment and got caught off guard as the man slammed a knee into Ranma's chest. Ranma flew back into a pole and slammed his head off of it. He fell to the ground and got up an instant later. "What do you mean 'son in law'?" Ranma asked as the cut he'd received from hitting the pole healed up instantly. T. Hawk was rubbing his knee in pain. He had hit Ranma right in the ribs... he didn't know that they were laced with the most powerful alloy ever created by man.

"What are you made of?" The larger man asked as he stared at the unscathed Ranma.

Ranma frowned at the man's question. "I don't know." He said sadly. He then looked up to T. Hawk and growled. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN SON IN LAW!!!?" He screamed as he rushed towards the man.

T. Hawk didn't even get a chance to answer as Ranma's fist came upon his stomach like a freight train, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the other side of the ring. T. Hawk struggled to breath for a moment and then got up. He chuckled and smiled at Ranma. "You want to fight? Fine. We'll talk about this after the tournament." T. Hawk then got up and ran towards Ranma. Ranma ran to meet him head on but the elder Indian jumped high into the air over Ranma's head. The man turned in the air and spread his arms. He glowed yellow for a moment and then dove towards Ranma and slammed into his full force. Ranma fell to the ground but got up instantly. Not even seeming to have been affected by the Diving Hawk technique.

Ranma then ran forward. T. Hawk was a little surprised but he met the boy head on. They exchanged many punches and kicks but T, Hawk was the only one that was really feeling their effects. Every time T. Hawk hit Ranma the boy healed instantly and didn't slow down. T. Hawk was feeling fatigue though after fighting all day in the tournament and he was getting sluggish. Ranma uppercut the man and he was sent crashing to the floor. Ranma stood ready for the man but he just lay on the floor smiling.

"Oh yes. You're VERY worthy of my daughter." He said as the referee counted him out.

Ranma looked confused. Why wasn't T. Hawk continuing their fight? Ranma knew that the man could take more. He knew for a FACT that he could dish out a LOT more too. Ranma sighed and put his arms down. The ref declared Ranma the winner and he walked out of the ring to meet with his friends. He would talk to Thunder Hawk later.

*************

Ken frowned as he stood in the ring across from his opponent. Who was laughing really hard. "You. You call yourself Red Guy!?!?" He asked before bursting out into laughter again. "That's gotta be the STUPIDEST NAME I'VE EVER HEARD!!" He shouted before bursting out laughing again. " Why didn't you call you self The Red Baron!? HA HA!! Or, or..."

"SHORYU KEEEEEN!!!!!"

The man who was facing off against Ken fell to the ground unconscious as Ken landed with a fiery expression on his face. "If I EVER find that woman again!" He muttered to himself, glancing around hoping to catch a glimpse of the woman who had written him down as Red Guy. All he saw was a large crowd filled with laughter. His thoughts turned dark as he was announced the winner for the third time in a row.

*************

After the tournament was over Ken, Ranma and the girls all met by the ringside. Ranma and Ken had both won against all of their opponents. The place was mostly empty now save for a few people that wanted autographs and such. Since they were all on T.V. that made them all stars in the public eye. Even Ranma had signed a few autographs.

Ranma felt a presence behind him and turned around. Thunder Hawk and Natalia Hawk were standing before him. Both of them were smiling. Now that he saw the both of them together he could see a very strong resemblance between them. They were obviously family. "T. Hawk." Ranma said in neutral, monotone, unemotional voice.

T. Hawk suddenly and unexpectedly grabbed Ranma in a hug. "SON IN LAW!!!" He cried happily as he picked the boy up. And shook him around a bit.

Ranma looked confused. "Thunder Hawk! WOULD YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME!?!?!?!" He screamed as he was thrown around like a rag doll.

T. Hawk smiled and set Ranma down. "Of course son." He then took a deep breath and put on a serious face. "I'll start from the beginning. I had left on my journey and had traveled the globe looking for M. Bison. The man who had forced out people from our homeland. I was currently in China with my three year old daughter..."

Flashback!!!

T Hawk sat in an empty lot with his daughter. He had a bottle of mashed food and was feeding the girl while he waited on his food to cook. He was a big man and traveled on foot so he needed a substantial amount of food. He was cooking an entire pan of Sukiyaki in the residential district that he was in. It was a small stove that he had so it had cooked very slowly. It had just finished and he set his daughter aside so that he could eat his own meal. Just as he was about to bite into the piece of beef that was on his fork a voice called out from nearby him.

"Excuse me sir... I am a traveling martial artist." Came the voice of a balding man with a large back pack. The man was also holding the hand of a three or so year old little boy. "I have no money and me and my son need to eat. Could you spare us some of your delicious smelling Sukiyaki?" He asked as he eyed the food hungrily.

Thunder Hawk, being the generous person that he was, accepted but he needed some sort of compensation for his generosity. "What do you have to offer me in return for this meal?" He asked in flawless Japanese.

The bald man pushed his son forward. "I would be honored if you would consider engaging your lovely daughter to my son here. I am Genma Saotome and this is my son Ranma. I am teaching him to be the greatest martial artist there ever was!"

T. Hawk looked skeptical but it would be hard for his little girl to ever find a man worthy of her hand while traveling on the road. This man seemed honorable and he smiled. "Very well Mr. Saotome." He said. He then gave Genma the Sukiyaki and the man and his son devoured the meal. T. Hawk got Genma to sign a formal marriage contract and then both of them went on their ways.

Present!!!

T. Hawk smiled as he put his arm around Ranma's shoulders affectionately. "I always knew Genma would honor his promise." He said.

"Do you know where I can find my father?" Ranma asked.

Thunder Hawk looked thoughtful for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders. "I assumed that he was with you. Why? Are you here on your own?" He asked.

Ranma nodded. "I don't have any memory of my past, save for my name. I'm trying to find out who I am. Cooling Wind told me that you could help me." Ranma looked sad.

Thunder Hawk smiled. "Well I know that he was a Japanese man. The most likely place you would find him would be in Japan."

Ranma looked confused. "Where's Japan?"

Ken chose to answer his friend this time. "Japan's on the other side of the world Ranma." He said "We'd have to take a plane to get there." T. Hawk smiled.

"Well not all is bad. Now you've got a beautiful fiancé to accompany you." He said as he put his hands on Natalia's shoulders. "This is my daughter Natalia. Your future bride. Hopefully near future." He said.

Natalia glared at her father. "DAD!! You're embarrassing me!" She said angrily.

Ranma looked confused. "What's a fiancé?" He asked.

TBC

**************

Author's notes: {Okay you hate me. This one's not as long as the others but it explains a lot and sets a few events in motion. Besides: I thought that was a good point to end it. Remember Ranma's memories have been ERASED!! All he remembers is his name. His fear. And his martial arts. All that he really knows is what he learned in T. Hawk's village. I'll have some stuff in the next chapter that'll leave you saying "What the hell is going on here?" or at least I hope so. What's with Vega coming back from the dead so suddenly? That's a little bit different eh? Yeah I'm Canadian. How'd you guess eh? Anyway. Now he's got his firs fiancé. And he has NO idea how many others he's got. Heh Heh! I'm gonna be MEAN!! BWA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!! Yeah well expect to see Ranma find out some of his past in the next chapter. Until then. Ciao!!!}

Morden Night: anime_morden@crystal-tokyo.com

http://mordennight.tripod.com

Feel the power of the Night Warrior!!