Hyuri's Fury, formerly Training Ranma 0:00:02 by Gregg Sharp ===== a brief alterniverse concept thrown out for eventually working into "Settling Bets" though mainly it was just an idea i had to sketch out, and which didn't fit into any of my current projects. This came from the idea that as an Ultimate Technique, the Catfist really sucked wind. Any special technique that can be disarmed or misdirected by the use of catnip or similar tactics is kinda pathetic actually. So here we have a look at a more ultimate Ultimate Technique char owned by others. treatment ===================================== "That must be them!" Soun started for the door. "Ooooo, RANMA!" Nabiki ran for the door herself, hoping for cute. Rich was too much to expect. An older man and a young boy were outside the door. The man was about her father's age, while the boy was...sullen. He wore a tired depression as if they were familiar clothes. Nabiki was brought up short by the air of someone who was just plain tired of living. Behind the boy was a girl with purple hair who looked a little nervous herself and holding a red umbrella over herself and the boy with one hand. The other arm was in a sling. "Ah, Soun. We've got to talk. Errr. Ranma, you and Shampoo wait out here while Soun and I talk about this." "Saotome?" Soun Tendo looked over his old friend. It brought back memories of times under the Master. The same tired, even haunted, look. The same nervous glances once directed towards the evil Master were directed towards his own son. "Inside, Tendo. We need to talk." Nabiki watched as the two fathers entered the house. The boy stared at nothing in particular, while the girl glanced at the boy then walked over to where Nabiki stood. "Nihao. Shampoo is name. You is no martial artist. Shampoo can tell. You help with Ranma?" "What's wrong with him? Is he always like this?" Nabiki watched the boy. She corrected her initial impression of sad and depressed to "just doesn't care if he lives or dies." "Is side effect of martial arts training he undergo many year ago. We go inside, yes?" "Ranma, you look you could use a hot soak, why don't you take one while we talk?" Nabiki was curious, what kind of martial arts caused depression? ---------------------------- Akane slid open the door, and stared at the boy getting up out of the tub. She was still standing there in shock as the boy moved past her, not noticing how his lifeless eyes only seemed to vaguely register her presence at all. The boy grabbed his clothes, not deigning to notice how the girl was staring at him. He dressed quickly, efficiently, and never once seemed to actually see her. Akane was trying to figure out what had just happened. He hadn't acted at all like she would have expected a boy to act. "Why...that pervert," she finally whispered. All boys were perverts anyway. It had to be some sort of perverted joke. "I.. I'll kill him! I'll..." Akane glanced back at the door that this Ranma had just exited from with an uncertain look. A little voice seemed to be telling her that killing him would be doing him a favor. Uncertainty was washed away by the anger and embarrassment of the thought that he'd go tell all his male friends that he'd seen her naked! When she rushed out into the living room, Ranma was already sitting there, apparently ignoring his father as well as everyone else in the room. She hefted the comforting weight of a dumb-bell in her hand and prepared to throw it at the pervert. "...so when we got to her village, well, the boy actually seemed almost halfway interested in the fighting. I left him to watch while I...uhm, assuaged my hunger." The purple haired girl interrupted. "Pops steal prize that rightfully belong to Shampoo. He say I have to fight Ranma for prize, but Great Grandmother step in. She look at Ranma's chi and say he no stay in village one moment more." "Hey, you pervert! You looked at me in the nude, you letch! Don't think you can get away with that by just walking away!" Akane interrupted the story and glared at the boy. "Why?" The boy spoke for the first time in the presence of the Tendos, so softly that one could barely notice it. "You..." Akane paused again, some confusion at this atypical behavior. It must be an act. "You saw me naked! You, you..." Dead eyes looked up at her. "Why would I want to look at you naked, anyway?" Akane's temper snapped, she'd been against the whole engagement thing anyway, and here this idiot was insulting her! "DIE, YOU PERVERT!" Ranma saw the weight heading for his face and blinked just before it impacted. "Uh oh." Genma started edging away from the table. "Soun, there's something I've really got to mention. But right now, everyone play dead or at least don't make any threatening moves. If you can, hide!" Shampoo had already performed a quick roll off the back of the patio and out of sight. "Genma, what?" Soun was so startled that he stopped weeping. Everyone started as a growl started coming from Ranma's vicinity. Eyes slitted and seeming to glow reddishly, his face was showing considerably more animation than it had been. "Years ago," said Genma as he assumed a seated position on the floor that resembled some nervous Buddha, "I came across some of the Master's books. Secret techniques promised such powerful abilities as the 'unbeatable Catfist' or 'Hyuri's Fury.' Foolishly, I chose to train Ranma in the latter technique. With the result that sudden attacks, death threats, or being cornered, unleashes the technique." Nabiki blinked. Watching the boy uncoil from the floor reminded her of some of the wildlife programs she'd seen. Something about how he was moving screamed that this was a predator. "What have you done, Saotome?" Soun was ready to intervene, as it looked like Akane was almost frozen by the boy's glare. "He's a berserker." Genma tried to look as nonthreatening as he could. "Bersarkerganger," whispered Soun as he watched the boy's eyes darting wildly to each of the occupants of the room. Not just a powerful technique, but a powerful KILLER technique. "How could you, Saotome?" Akane decided to throw caution to the wind, ignoring that her own father had turned so pale his skin was almost transparent. "So what's the big deal about this letch..." Akane pointed across the table at the feral boy. The table exploded as Ranma moved through it, not bothering to slow enough to go over or around it as the Rage came down over his mind. A blue glow flared into life around him and quickly grew more and more purple until it vanished. Muscles writhed on his frame, seeming to triple his muscle mass. His pupils disappeared. His snarling teeth seemed to have bloodstains on them. The physical transformation was dramatic and almost instantaneous as Ranma moved towards the Enemy. Ranma howled with bloodlust and anger. The extended arm was the first priority, and his first move broke the bones in the forearm like matchsticks. That was with his left hand. The right snaked forward in a move that would have literally taken her head off. He hesitated for less than a fraction of a second, but it was still longer than it had taken him to reach his opponent. Soun interrupted that attack, even though he saw his own life flash before his eyes. He was thrown outside the house like a ragdoll a moment later. "Everyone just stay calm, don't make any sudden movements," Genma advised in the most soothing voice he could manage. "When he's possessed by the Spirit Of Fury, he's more animal than not." Akane had collapsed, close enough to Kasumi that the older sister could inspect the arm. Nabiki stared, even though neither she nor Kasumi were martial artists, they could feel the raw power being emanated by the boy in front of them. Kasumi finished her inspection then surreptiously watched the boy in front of her. "Berserkarganger? So, Ranma alternates between being emotionally dead to an animalistic state due to this training?" Kasumi was careful not to show her disapproval of his father. She understood the danger. Later on, though... Ranma was no longer facing Akane as he'd turned to deal with her father. Now the still-growling figure turned, sweeping the room with his eyes as he tried to find the next enemy. Nabiki involuntarily flinched as those eyes passed over her. They weighed her in an instant as a potential threat and dismissed her. Kasumi remained calm, controlling her breathing and showing no sign of the current panic. She remembered reading in one of Doctor Tofu's books about the berserkers, how their metabolic rates jumped to insane levels during the berserk state. This meant they tended to drain their reserves rapidly. Ranma's growls stopped as the Beast realized that there were no threats currently facing him. The growl faded and died, and the light passed out of his eyes. A moment later and the boy collapsed, a look of utter hopelessness returning to his face. "Genma?" "Soun?" "Is there any way to keep him from going berserk?" "Well, there's medication, but as we've been on the road...and there hasn't been any money for them for quite some time." Genma watched as the last traces of the berserker fugue passed from Ranma's form. "I consulted with an expert in such things in China who told me that by taking Ranma continuously away from friends, and from never forming any attachments to other people, I've actually made his berserker state more easily triggered and more uncontrollable." "Daddy, you engaged us to a psychopath?" Nabiki looked at where Kasumi was in the process of splinting Akane's arm. "Another second and he would have killed her!" "He hesitated, though," argued Genma. "It's a disappointment, but my son just isn't a killer..." Genma paused as he felt the temperature of the room drop a good twenty degrees. "I mean that while the berserker is essentially the Survival Instinct, it's still drawn from Ranma's personality and he isn't inclined to kill. Heavens, he's been refusing to eat most kinds of meat lately or even kill to eat. Says the taste of blood makes him nauseous." "Akane, we've got to get you to Doctor Tofu's. He can set this." Kasumi helped her sister up. Akane was still quite pale from her ordeal. Soun gingerly felt his ribs. "I think I ought to see the Doctor myself. I think he might have broken a rib." Ranma sat still, ignoring the people talking around him. It was just noise, it had nothing to do with him. "So what about that Shampoo girl? Why is she here?" "Because, my son went into the berserker state near her village when some Amazon decided to show her displeasure against having some outsider males nearby. As she was using a sword, Ranma saw it and went berserk. Her screams drew the village Champion." "Shampoo thought she was going to die. Weapons get smashed, knee get broken, head ringing. Shampoo was on the ground, ready to greet ancestors. Asked opponent to make it clean ending, not slow." "When Ranma's berserk," Genma continued, "he doesn't recognize words or anything. He's just pure Rage. When she stopped being a threat, he ignored her until the Elder came by." "Great grandmama say no berserker allowed in village. She also say because Shampoo still moving, then Ranma not completely uncontrolled. Is hope for cure. So she say Shampoo go with Ranma, then he pay off debt he owe to Shampoo. If he get cure, then Shampoo find out and let Elder know what is." ------------------------------------------ Akane was walking with Ranma, making sure that the depressed boy didn't just sit down and wait for someone to kill him, when she realized that this would be a PROBLEM. Nobody had clued the Horde of Hentais in on the change of plans. "No, don't!" Akane yelped as she saw Ranma's head come up. Boxers, a rugby team, a kendoist, football players, all charging towards him. Akane yelped and stared at where her hand was burned from where it had been close to the berserker as the Fury ignited again. This time she observed with a bit more detachment as she had moved out of his line of sight and was therefore not a target. Ranma moved into the pack, and the screaming commenced. Cracks, pops, and what almost sounded like someone beating watermelons with a sledgehammer caused Akane to curl up and cover her ears. "You there! How dare you interfere in the sacred courtship of Akane... HEY! You dare attack the Blue Thun..." Akane raised her head at the sudden silence. There was Ranma, in the middle of a crowd of broken and bleeding bodies, and there was... Kuno. It looked as if he had been nearly beaten to death. His bokken consisted of a ragged smouldering stump. Akane had always thought she had known anger, but THIS. This scared her. ==================== this is an idea i came up with that i couldn't fit into ANY of the current projects, i thought i'd throw it out for amusement. After all, the Catfist is pretty pathetic for an ultimate technique. i can see where Soun & Co. would be reluctant to have Ranma around. Certainly Soun would want to make sure that any daughter of his would survive the wedding. Genma's a bit more thoughtful and less pushy than in the canon. After all, if you make it too threatening or corner him too badly you might wake something up you don't want to wake up. Nabiki wouldn't want to make too much money off this guy, as playing with live grenades is not exactly an intelligent move. Blackmail and the like are not going to be smooth either. Kasumi the healer has the best chance of reaching Ranma and getting him to calm down. Ranma's less of a jerk and more "zombied out" than Ryouga gets in the canon. So Akane, once she gets used to that unblinking stare, will be less angry with him. Still would hold a grudge against him for "peeping" and for breaking her arm. Ryouga still holds a grudge. This time for more cause as he was on the receiving end of a berserker attack. He survived, but got thoroughly messed up. He went to Jusenkyo even if the two Saotomes never made it that far. (They went to the Amazons because of rumored healers.) Ukyou. Unchanged as she was abandoned before the training. Kuno. Probably the first person Ranma kills, shortly after he states that he will kill Ranma for staying under the same roof as Akane Tendo. Nobody gets Ranma? Maybe. ----------------------------- http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/ metroanime@mindspring.com "Still searching, still hoping, still alone." -N.Brazil