Disclaimer:  All characters portrayed in this story are the property of 
Rumiko Takahashi and co.

This story takes place after volume 38 of the manga and draws ideas from 
the anime also.

C & C welcomed.

Another Time, Same Place

by

Donny Cheng

Chapter 6:  The Dojo Destroyer

	Meiko stood with her friends at the corner of the mat awaiting her
turn.  As the top senior student of the Tendo School of Anything Goes she
would be the last to face the inhuman boy.  Forty-eight of the senior
students of the dojo had fought the boy and all had lost.  She had heard
of this dojo destroyer from second-hand gossip.  It seemed that the boy
usually challenged all the students at once to make it 'fair'.  It never
mattered how many faced him though as he would invariably win and take
the sign of the dojo.

	She knew what her father was doing.  By having this Ken fight each
battle separately, her father was hoping by the time it got to her turn it
would be easier.  While fighting one student at a time was more draining,
Meiko still didn't have any hope of winning.  Especially, with the
technique the boy was using.  Already all of the girls in the class had
passed when it got to their turns at fighting Ken.  Ken's art was very
perverted looking to say the least.

	Meiko fiddled with the belt on her gi again.  Where was Ranma?
That was the main reason, her father stretched out the fight as long as
possible.  He wanted Ranma to help them, but who knew how long it would
take Ranma to finish the tutorial with Mika.  She glanced at the door to
the dojo again, hoping if by magic, he would appear.  As if an answer to
her prayers, he did.

	"Hey, what's going on here?" Ranma asked as he stepped in with
Tatewaki, Kasuga, and Mika in tow.

	Perfume almost smiled when she saw Ranma return, but it never got
the chance to form on her face as it soured upon seeing Mika.  "What are
you doing here with _her_."

	Tatewaki immediately stepped in between the two loves of his life.
"I had taken it upon myself to have the lovely Mika escorted here in hopes
that she would finish her tutorial with Ranma.  Her home is not the best
of places to be right now."

	Ranma rolled his eyes.  That was an understatement.  There was no
way he was going to stay there with Mikado and Azusa making out like
rabbits.

	Mika watched as Tatewaki 'explained' the situation to Perfume. The
Chinese girl punted him into the wall when he started stray from the topic
and commented on the her eyes.  Mika glared at the two of them in disgust.
That two-timer and that bimbo.  "I can tell when I'm not wanted here."

	"Ahem," Kasuga coughed softly.  It had the immediate effect
quieting everyone down.  "Perfume, please.  She is a guest and should be
treated with respect.  You should know better."

	Perfume bowed her head in shame.  Even though they were the same
age and she could beat the stuffing out of him, Kasuga's admonishing made
her feel like a little girl having just spilt her milk.  He never scolded
anyone that didn't deserve it.  "Sorry," Perfume said grudgingly.

	Ryoko spoke up to answer Ranma's question to take some tension out
of the air.  "There's a dojo destroyer that challenged the dojo.  Right
now he's fighting each of the students one at a time, before he takes the
Tendo's sign.  He's already up to forty-eight... er make that forty-nine
now.  Meiko is next on the..."

	Soun didn't give Ryoko any time to finish as he quickly tackled
Ranma.  His demon head already brandishing its forked tongue at Ranma.
"Where have you been?  You are the heir to the school of Anything Goes and
will inherit this dojo when you are married to Meiko!  You should have
been here to take the challenge!"

	"Daaddddy!" Meiko whined as her faced blushed.  How could he say
that in front her all her classmates.  It was true, but he still shouldn't
have said it so loud."

	Perfume and Ryoko frowned at Soun, but both said nothing for
reasons of their own.

	"Okay, okay, already.  But why couldn't Ryoga take him on?  Or
even Akane?" Ranma asked curiously as he looked at the boy standing in the
middle of the mat waiting for the next opponent.

	Ryoga and Akane walked over to the group of children.  Ryoga
blushed embarrassedly, "Hesaidmyschoolwasn'tfamousenough."

	Akane sighed and patted her husband's shoulder.  "Remember, you
don't even have a dojo yet.  When it gets finished being built, the Hibiki
school will get the respect it deserves.  And, I'm not fighting because,
I've joined the Hibiki school as its top student so I'm not allowed."

	Ryoga smiled with pride.  "Yep."  He walked over to Ranma and
pulled him aside, whispering softly, "Besides, you wouldn't want Akane or
Meiko to face that _pervert_ would you?"

	"Of course not," Ranma replied indignantly.  He wondered what
Ryoga meant by that, though.  Pervert?  It didn't matter, he would beat
this destroyer like the last one he faced in a few seconds.  "Okay, Mr.
Tendo.  Tell the guy, I'm ready whenever he is."

	Soun nodded enthusiastically and waved to the boy of his
intentions.

			* * * * *

	Ken frowned as he looked at the boy stepping onto the mat.  "This
boy isn't from the Tendo school.  I know how a person skilled this art
moves and he definitely does not move like one trained in your art."

	Ranma raised his eyes at this.  From what he had gathered from
Tatewaki and the others, this boy had fought almost a hundred of the best
schools in Japan.  To have reached the level where he could sense another
person's art was a very amazing feat.  One that Ranma, himself, had not
fully mastered.  "I train in Anything Goes.  The Tendo school is a branch
of that school."

	"Also, like I said before he is the heir to the dojo along with my
daughter.  If you want the dojo you would have to beat the both of them
to get it," Soun supplied.

	Ken nodded, satisfied with the answer.  It was true the boy moved
with the fluidity of the Anything Goes style.  His style strongly hinted
at the Saotome branch, which his father had trained him intensively in to
identify.  This person looked old enough to be son of his father's rival,
Ranma.  "I am Kumon Ken of the Kumon School of Anything Goes," Ken
declared as he got into a ready stance.

	Soun gasped and looked at Akane who was looking back at him also
in shock.  The boy had refused to give his full name and school at the
beginning of the match declaring that only a worthy opponent would hear
it.  Kumon.  Saotome had to see this.  He motioned to Meiko to get him the
phone.

	Ken smiled at the response he got.  The woman Akane, his father
had told her about, stared at him.  It seems she and her father both
remembered the name.  It was good that they who saw his father's shame
would witness his triumph.

	Ranma was only slightly surprised.  He had noticed from what
little of the previous battle he had seen that Ken knew something of the
Anything Goes style also.  Some more thought and it was obvious to Ranma.
Ryu had said that he would never use the Yamasen-Ken ever again, but
nothing had been said of the Saotome-ryu branch of the Anything Goes
school from which the Yamasen-Ken was based upon.  The fact that Ryu was
able to create his own school from the basic forms of Saotome-ryu was
amazing.  "I am Saotome Ranma of the Saotome School of Anything Goes,"
Ranma declared, watching for Ken's reaction.

	Ken stared openly at the other boy.  Saotome Ranma?  His father's
descriptions quickly came back to him.  The pig-tail, the silk chinese
clothes all matched.  The fact that the boy moved the same way his father
often did while they trained with each other only strengthened Ranma's
claim of also having knowledge of the Saotome school.  They had heard
rumors of Ranma's disappearance and that it was because of supernatural
reasons.  "You are the same Saotome Ranma that defeated my father?"

	"The same," Ranma smiled smugly before it turned into a frown.
Ken laughed at him.  He didn't know what kind of reaction to expect that
time, but laughter was definitely not it.  It grated on his nerves as it
seemed Ken had no intention of stopping.

	"I can't believe it.  Fortune is with the Kumon family today.  Not
only do I get to take the sign of the Tendo dojo whose members watched my
father's low point in life, but I also have the chance to destroy the heir
to the Saotome school as well.  Thank you! " Ken sank to his knees and
raised his hands to praise whatever gods granted him this day.

	Ranma was seriously beginning to hate the boy.  All thoughts of
his worries of being in this time vanished and was replaced with the
determination to mop the floor with laughing-boy.  "Shut up, already.  You
ready or not?"

	Ken smirked, "Of course."

	"Ranma, watch out for his..," Meiko quickly yelled out.  In all
the excitement she had forgotten to tell Ranma of the dangerous art the
other boy used.

	"Dragon's Hand!"

	<Glomp>

			* * * * *

	The first thing Ranma did was go into shock.  Not the smartest
thing to do when in a fight, but having a man grabbing his male body in
that way was not quite natural for him.  The next thing he did was scream. 
"Get this pervert off of me!"

	"Um... I didn't think the reaction would have been that great,"
Meiko winced.  "We forgot to warn Ranma of Ken's Lock Fist."

	Akane also winced at Ranma's loud shriek, "He had a bad experience
with Mika's father a long time ago."

	"My father would never kiss a guy," Mika said angrily.

	"I meant Ranma's cursed form, of course.  You've heard the
stories, right?"

	Mika grudgingly nodded.  She was never comfortable around Akane,
but after today's conversation with her parents she felt a little better.
It was true.  She had heard of Hiroshi's and Daisuke's stories and seen
the tape of the skating match twenty years ago.  There was a suspicious
looking girl taking Ranma's place partway through the match and Mika had
been able to guess the rest.

	"Ranma didn't seem to be put off by Yuu today.  Oh, come on, don't
look at me that way Ryoko.  Auntie Akane knows," Perfume said looking
alternatively worried and angry at Ranma.

	Akane coughed delicately.  "Er, yes.  I guess it's because he 
doesn't hate you kids all that much."

	"That and his ego was bruised by those girls calling him ugly,"
Tatewaki said helpfully.  He was beginning to get a better grasp on his
new friend.  The fact that Ranma didn't seem to be showing any romantic
intentions towards either Perfume and Mika were fine points in his favor.  
Tatewaki watched the pig-tailed boy more closely.  Perhaps his new friend
would not mind helping him in his pursuit of his two loves.  He would be
glad to take Perfume out of Ranma's hands.


			* * * * *

	Ranma finally regained control of his senses.  He could just
imagine the sight of him with Ken all over him.  What kind of stupid
technique was this 'Dragon's Hand'.  It resembled his father's Cradle of
Hell technique.  The only thing Ranma was grateful for was that Ken did
not yet have a unshaved chin from which to nuzzle his face with.  It was
then he felt Ken's body shift in position.

	Ken laughed inwardly.  Saotome still had not yet learned the true
power of the art of the Lock Fist.  His father had spent over a decade
perfecting this art.  Twisting is body so that he was now in a piggy-back
position on Ranma, he reached out and grabbed onto Ranma's two arms and
trapped them behind his back.

	Ranma could not move his arms at all.  This Ken was much stronger
than Ryu ever was.  With his wrists handcuffed behind him, he also
couldn't reach at the pervert.  He strained, but Ken did not even move a
muscle.  Did the stupid boy expect to keep him like this forever?  All
Ranma had to do was wait out the boy and attack when he was free.  He was
sure he was faster than Ken and would be able to spring first.

	However, Ken had other things in mind.  With only his head free,
Ken started to headbutt Ranma in the back of the head.  Hard.  Repeatedly.
"Dragon's Head!"

	Ranma should have known that Ryu would have developed specialized
ways of attack for this new art.  He decided enough was enough and jumped
into the air intent on landing on his back and thus hurting Ken in the
process.

	Ken laughed at Ranma, "You forget what the Saotome school 
specializes in.  Mid-air combat."  Ken's training in Satotome-ryu allowed
him near perfect awareness of his body in the air at all times.  His
knowledge gave him enough time to shift his body to the side.

	"I didn't forget.  I am the heir to the art, after all," Ranma
grinned.  He also shifted his body to the side.  He would still land on
the ground hard, but so would Ken.

			* * * * *

	Genma softly slid the door behind him.  Everyone was busy watching
to match to notice him come in.  He made his way towards his old friend,
Tendo, and sat down.  "The boy is very skilled in the Saotome school."

	Soun nodded to Genma.  "He is a Kumon.  I suppose Ryu stripped
everything he could from his knowledge of the Yamasen-Ken.  The basis for
which was Saotome-ryu."

	"Yes.  But there is a slight difference.  I don't know if even
Ranma could see it if you could not detect it Tendo."  Genma narrowed his
eyes as he watched Ken and Ranma fall to the ground.  The both of them
sure to feel the effects of the fall.

	"Difference?" Soun asked.  He gave Ken's style another look.  He
watched as Ken got up, apparently fine from the fall.  Ranma, on the other
hand, got up a little slower.  Still okay, but the wind knocked out of
him.

	"His style only resembles the Saotome-ryu, because it is designed
against it," Genma finished.

	"That's it!  I knew I recognized the form.  You taught me those
same attack patterns to defeat Ranma all those years ago," Ryoga said.

	"One of the strengths of the Saotome school is the repetitive
training process.  Instilling instincts, allowing for faster reactions.
That was the only reason that I could still defeat Ranma one every three
times even though he had long surpassed me.  Ryu realized this and worked
on counter katas for Ken to train in, I would hazard to guess.  If Ranma
was to have any hope in winning he would have to realize this and change
the flow of attack."

	Soun gave Genma a respectful nod.  "You continue to amaze me
sometimes, Saotome."

	Surprisingly, Genma did not boast like he usually did.  "It's
really my fault.  I waited too long to undo the poor habits the boy had
taken up.  That was one reason I kept up our morning sparring practices.
I tried to make him think more, rather than react.  Instead, he just got
faster and even if I did know his weaknesses I could not exploit them.
Someone young and fast like this Kumon boy, though, could probably do it."

	Soun paled at the seriousness in Genma's voice.  "Then he has no
hope?"

	Tatewaki answered before Genma could reply.  "Oh, I wouldn't say
that, Grandfather."

	Genma grinned, "And why would you say that, boy?"

	"I saw the battle between Ranma and Perfume.  Ranma does not rely
upon only one art to win," Tatewaki answered and smiled as his grandfather
finally understood what he and Uncle Genma had already thought of.

	Perfume, who had also been listening in on the conversation,
nodded.  "He is taught by my great-great-grandmother.  She is smart enough
to know what weaknesses Ranma has."

	Genma smiled with pride.  "I said Ranma could beat me one out of
three battles.  Those two battles that he does win, he usually wins in
about a minute."

			* * * * *

	Ranma ignored the numbing pain in his side.  After the fall, Ken
had resorted to standard Saotome-ryu, instead of the Lock Fist.  It did
not go much easier than before.  It seemed for every attack he used, Ken
could either block or dodge it.  He had no such luck with Ken's assault
however.  The other boy seemed to know where he would be, before Ranma
even knew.

	Ken grinned.  It was as his father said.  Defeating the Saotomes
would not even make him break a sweat.  He could read Ranma like the back
of his hand.  It looked like he would not have to use his Lock Fist again
for the rest of the fight.  Moving foward again, he leaped at Ranma's
head, fully knowing the three to four counter maneuvers Ranma would do and
which one was the most probable.  The next second saw him land on his face
and his opponents elbow to the back of his head.

	"You didn't think you could win that easily did you?" Ranma asked
arrogantly.  "I saw through your 'skill' long time ago.  You only know the
basic forms of Saotome-ryu.  The true terror of the school is the advanced
technique of using what we do know.  That technique that I just used was
part of the Tendo school."

	Soun cried happily, "Way to go son!  You do our two schools
justice."

	Ken got up from the ground with not a scratch on his body.  "You
talk too much.  I should have figured that it wouldn't be that easy.  I
guess I should stick with what I do know very well."

	<Glomp>

	Ranma growled at the boy clinging to his arm.  The other boy's
legs encircled around Ranma's left knee.  This time he had seen the attack
coming and turned to the side so that he would have one hand free.  It was
payback time.  "Katchu tenshin amaguriken!"

	Ryoko lost count of the number of punches thrown.  Ranma seemed to
have gone all out and punched the boy clamped on his arm in the head,
side, and leg each about three hundred times.  She looked at Perfume in
askance.

	"Three hundred and twelve to the head and an even three hundred
each to the side and thigh," Perfume muttered as she finished counting.
They had not been wildly thrown punches either.  Three points chosen and
only those three points were hit.  The fact that those points were also
some of the pressure points that Ranma had only just learned this weekend
only made Perfume angrier.

	"Ranma's winning then, right?" Meiko asked relieved and overjoyed
at the same time.

	"Perhaps, it is too soon to proclaim the victor," Tatewaki said in
a disbelieving voice.  Ken had not let go of Ranma during the assault.

	Ken took opportunity of Ranma's stunned body to once again take
the piggy-back position.  He headbutted the back of Ranma's head.  The boy
came back to his senses.  "Was that all you got?  I actually had doubts
for awhile, but if that's all you got then I don't know what I was worried
for.  Now for a little sport."

			* * * * *

	Meiko adverted her eyes and found herself looking at Perfume's and
Ryoko's eyes.  They too had turned their heads from the carnage.  "Did you
see that?  Not even Uncle Ryoga would have been standing if Ranma managed
to him like that."

	Ryoko nodded.  "What is that boy made out of?"

	"Has to be some form of 'Breaking Point' training," Perfume said.
"He must have reached the highest level if he is able to even withstand a
pressure point based attack."

	"Oh, my!  There goes Ranma's left arm.  I think it's fractured in
ten places," Kasuga diagnosed.

	"How can you stand to look at that?" Mika asked as she went over
to the group, also keeping her eyes away.

	"Well, I need to know how he was injured, if I were to be able to
heal him," Kasuga said matter of factly.

	Tatewaki ignored the discussion and instead looked at the small
pile of items way off in the corner of the dojo.  They, along with the
wagon of dojo signs in the yard, were Ken's only belongings.  He couldn't
help but noticed a video tape sitting haphazardly on top of the backpack.
Though it was too far to tell, Tatewaki was sure that the picture on the
tape was an old Chinese movie star.  One of his favorite actors, actually.

			* * * * *

	Ranma's mind was beyond pain.  He was only dimly aware of Ken
finally getting off of him and starting on his legs.  It looked like he
was going to lose again.  Again.  Never before had he had so much trouble
at doing what he did best, which was fighting.

	Ever since he came to this time, he was constantly reminded by how
much better the competition had gotten.  How much better even their
children were.  True he could still beat them, but he never had such a
hard time doing it to their parents twenty years ago.

	The art was the only thing that was truly his since he had come
back.  Clinging on to it like a life preserver, he made through each day.
As long as he didn't lose, he could survive.  Taro had always been able to
beat him before, so that wasn't that much of a big deal.  Ranma knew he
could surpass Taro given time.  They all had twenty years on him after
all.

	Then came this boy.  Probably sixteen or seventeen at most.  Just
as much training as Ranma has had.  He was only slightly faster thank Ken,
much weaker, and much less durable.  Same amount of time and the boy
surpassed him.  _That_ Ranma could not live with.

	Ken blinked.  He has just finished twisting the bones in Ranma's
left leg when a deep dark aura formed around it.  He turned around and saw
a glowing ball of chi in Ranma's hands.  So, Ranma could throw chi blasts
too, Ken realized belatedly before his mind sank into oblivion.

	"Ranma!" the sound of various voices called out.

	Ranma, however, was out cold.

			* * * * *

	"It was ruled a draw.  Ken said he would be back in a few days for
a rematch," Ryoga said to Ranma.  He looked up at the stars.  The two of
them haven't done this in a long time.  A longer time for him than for
Ranma.  The two of them used to do this a few times back when they went to
school together.  The idiot probably didn't remember though.

	Ranma nodded absently.

	"Feel like talking about it?" Ryoga asked.

	"..."  Ranma continued to stare absently into space.

	"That was a shi shi hokodan you used today.  I don't think anybody
else noticed, though."

	Ranma turned and looked at Ryoga for a moment before going back to
the stars.

	"I knew what it feels like to be always depressed Ranma.
Remember, this is Ryoga you're talking to here."  Ryoga sighed as the boy
still remained quiet.  It was going to be a long night.

			* * * * *

	Ken rubbed the side of his cheek.  Nobody had every been able to
bruise him before.  It looked like he would have to get some extra
training in.

			* * * * *

	Shampoo sat down at the table and looked across it at her sister.
"<Hello.>"

	"<Hello,>" Lotion greeted not so pleasantly.

	"<How is mother?>"  Shampoo asked quietly.

	"<You don't deserve to know,>" Lotion said through gritted teeth.

	"<I see,>" Shampoo said.  "<Some more tea?  It looks like we'll be
here a while.  You will answer my questions.>"

	Lotion looked away in anger.  Her wrists bound to the chair to
prevent her from escaping.  Even if she did escape, there was no doubt in
her mind that either Shampoo or Cologne could catch her again.

			* * * * *

	Spice sighed discontentedly.   He looked across the sea.  It was
quiet tonight.  The calm before the storm he was sure.  Carefully laid
plans were fast being undone by the presence of a person that should have
never returned.

			* * * * *

The End. (maybe)

Fanboy and fanfic writer. ^_^
Homepage at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Ginza/4537