Prologue: 

    A great wind blew past the solitary figure as he looked out over the city 
below him. He stood on a grassy knoll just outside the city limits; earlier in 
the day it would have been a crowded picnic spot. Now the area was deserted, 
but if anyone had been around they would have seen a young man here, about 
sixteen or seventeen years old. He had dark hair marked by an odd streak of 
blueish-green in his bangs, and wore an ornate headband. A heavy backpack lay 
on the ground at his side and he wore a thick, hooded cloak about his shoulders 
... it gave him an almost Arabian appearance as he gazed out over the city. 
Even his eyes were unusual. As he watched the town below him, one would've been 
reminded of the predatory stare of a snake. That is, if anyone had been there 
to see him. 
    Another great gust swept past him, and so absorbed was he in his own 
thoughts that he wondered briefly if it was merely the wind or if it was time 
itself howling past him, threatening to drag him away with it as it passed. 
Ultimately it didn't matter; he was completely indifferent to both of these 
things. 
    So, he thought to himself. This is the area of Tokyo called Nerima. My 
travels have finally brought me here. He smiled to himself. Are you still 
alive? he asked a distant memory. It had been such a long, long journey ... 
would it at last come to an end now, or would he continue on and achieve his 
ultimate goal? 
    His smile widening, he repeated the phrase to himself once again. It was 
such a common expression, yet it meant so much more to him ... it had kept him 
going through his seemingly endless travels, through hundreds of battles 
against more opponents than he could ever hope to remember. The phrase was his 
epitaph, his trademark ... his very reason for living. 
    "Time will tell." 


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Masterwork Productions presents... 

Ranma 1/2: The Sands of Time 


Based on characters created by Rumiko Takahashi 
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Part One: The Messengers Arrive 


    The following afternoon, the clock struck just as it did every other day. 
And just like every other day, the student body of Furinkan High School exited 
en masse and made their way toward home. And all of them used the sidewalk 
except one ... just like every other day. 
    But today, there was something else. Something different. 
    "You're sure quiet today, Ranma," Akane observed as she walked along beside 
(and slightly below) him. "I don't think I've heard you say a word since we got 
to school. Even when Miss Hinako yelled at you, you just sat there like a 
dunce." She turned toward him with a smirk as she thought of invoking the one 
thing that she knew bothered him. "Cat got your tongue?" 
    Ranma continued walking along on the fence, staring up at the sky as if 
lost in a daydream. "I've had a lot on my mind," he mumbled distractedly. 
     Akane blinked in surprise, then turned her head with a haughty snort. 
"Right, like I'd believe that one." After a moment she turned back and peered 
skyward, trying to see if Ranma was looking at anything special. Just clouds. 
     A little miffed by Ranma's distraction, Akane decided to fight silence 
with silence. However, she was immediately sabotaged. 
    "Hi, Ran-Chan!" Ukyo called out as she caught up with them. As usual she 
completely ignored Akane, all her attention fixed on her beloved Ran-Chan. 
    Who didn't even seem to notice that she was there. 
    Well, at least it isn't just me, Akane thought to herself. For some reason 
the thought was strangely satisfying, although she didn't know why. 
    Ukyo blinked, then apparently realized Akane was present and turned toward 
her as the three continued walking. "What's with him?" she asked, pointing at 
Ranma, who continued to watch the clouds. 
    "Beats me. He's been like this all day," Akane replied cooly. Out of 
irritation, she turned back to Ranma and tried again. "Hey, dummy, see any CATS 
up there? Like maybe a Chinese one?" 

    Just around the next corner, Ryoga thought to himself. It has to be just 
around the next corner. Just one more turn, and I'll be looking right at 
Furinkan High School. He had to stop whatever was going to happen from 
happening! Whatever it was that was going to happen, anyway. But at any rate, 
Ryoga was sure it had to be Ranma's fault. Because, somehow, everything always 
turned out to be Ranma's fault. 
    Ryoga came around the next corner ... and found himself looking down 
another street, which to him looked exactly the same as all the others. He 
clenched his fists in frustration. All day he'd been doing this! Ever since 
early this morning, he'd been running around town trying to find Furinkan High 
School, ever since he'd seen... 
    As Ryoga stood in the street trying desperately to decide what to do next, 
suddenly he caught the faint sound of a small bell jingling. He turned to try 
to trace the noise... 

    As Ranma, Akane and Ukyo continued their walk home (with Akane determinedly 
ignoring Ranma), they suddenly heard a very loud *CRASH!!* and came to a stop. 
    "What was that?" Ukyo wondered aloud. Akane had been concentrating so hard 
on ignoring Ranma that at first she hadn't even heard anything, but now 
realized what Ukyo meant. 
    "It sounded like it came from up ahead!" Ranma shocked them both by not 
only making this exclamation, but also by jumping down from the fence and 
bounding ahead, around a corner and out of sight. Akane and Ukyo hurried to 
catch up. 
    Rounding the bend, they nearly ran into Ranma, who was just standing in the 
street with a massive bead of sweat slowly making its way down the back of his 
head. The two girls leaned over to look around him, and immediately saw the 
source of his chagrin. Shampoo was before them, seated on her bicycle which in 
turn rested atop Ryoga, who was lying in the middle of the street with the 
bike's front tire firmly wedged into the middle of his face. 
    "Aiyaa..." Shampoo murmured as she peered down at Ryoga. "Stupid Ryoga! If 
not want get hurt, don't stand in middle of street!!" 
    It sounded like Ryoga was trying to say something, but the bicycle wheel 
was impeding his speech. Ranma sighed and walked over to the two. 
    "'Scuse me, Shampoo." Ranma lifted the bike off Ryoga's face. "Yo, Ryoga. 
You okay?" Ryoga's response was to immediately jump up and grab Ranma by the 
shirt. "Alright, Ranma!!" he shouted indignantly. "Now what have you done?! 
It's one thing when you've only got yourself to worry about, but this time 
you've put Akane in danger too!!" 
    "Huh?" was Akane's response to hearing her name spoken. 
    Ranma glared back at Ryoga. "What the hell are you talking abou--" 
    A flash, a glint of light off a metallic surface. Ranma caught a split-
second glimpse out of the corner of his eye, and it was all it took to convince 
him to throw Ryoga out of the way and leap backwards. 
    In that instant the shaft of a spear, thrown from an intersecting street, 
split the low wall behind them as it tore through the spokes of Shampoo's front 
wheel. The attack left the bike pinned to the wall, and Ranma and Ryoga could 
only stare at the weapon that passed through the space they both occupied just 
a moment ago. Overcoming their surprise quickly, Ranma, Ryoga, Shampoo, Ukyo 
and Akane all jumped up to face their assailant. 
    Standing about fifteen feet away was a young man who looked back at them 
with an air of confidence, even arrogance. He was dressed in samurai get-up 
similar to what Kuno always walked around in, and held another spear identical 
to the one thrown at Ranma and company. Whatever his age, he was even larger 
than Kuno, and his broad, muscular shoulders were evident even through his 
shirt. His hair was covered by a bandanna that reminded Ranma of his dad, 
Genma. Behind him Ranma could see two more figures, a boy and girl about their 
age, of similar build and appearance and both wearing normal school uniforms. 
    "I KNEW somebody was watching us! You've been doing it since this morning, 
haven't you! Okay, who the heck are you?!?" Ranma demanded as his friends took 
up a defensive posture. The big guy with the spear answered with a question of 
his own. 
    "Are you Ranma Saotome?" he barked. 
    "Who wants to know?" Ranma shot back. 
    His opponent took that answer to mean yes, and continued. "Then the rest of 
you must be ... Ryoga Hibiki, Ukyo Kuonji, Akane Tendo, and Shampoo." Ranma 
gave him a look that said, I'm warning you... and the spear-man sneered but 
obliged him. 
    "Very well, my name is unimportant, but for the record it's Hideaki Goda. 
We are martial-artists, as you claim to be. We have heard that you're also 
supposed to be the best in Tokyo, maybe even all of Japan. So, we came down 
here from Hokkaido to correct this little misunderstanding." 
    Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Oh, is that so..." he growled. 
    Goda abruptly thumped the shaft of his spear on the ground. "Now hear 
this!!" he bellowed. "The Anything-Goes school of martial-arts is at an end! 
You may call yourselves martial-artists, but we'll see how you fare in true 
combat. After your group has fallen, we will destroy the Tendo School, and 
ensure that your bloodline ends here!!" He smirked at Ranma one last time. 
"You've been warned." 
    With that, the girl behind him threw something into the air, and the sky 
seemed to go black for a moment. When the air cleared a moment later, the three 
had vanished. 
    "What the heck was that about..." Akane said to nobody in particular. Ukyo 
started to say something, but was interrupted by Ranma's mad laughter. 
    "A challenge, huh! Well, you guys can come any time! It doesn't matter!" He 
clenched his fists in determination. "There's no WAY I'm gonna lose!!!" 
    "Yeah, yeah, we've heard it a hundred times," Akane muttered as Ranma 
continued laughing madly. Pulling the spear out of the wall behind them, Ryoga 
whacked him over the head with it. 
    "Ow! Hey, whadja do that for?!" Ranma demanded, rubbing his head. 
    "Ranma, you idiot!" Ryoga yelled, seething. "Weren't you listening to what 
he said?! This isn't the kind of challenge you're thinking about!" 
    "He's got a point, sugar," Ukyo added. "He wasn't just challenging you, he 
was challenging all of us! And how did that guy know who we were, anyway? I 
know I'VE never seen any of them before." 
    "Yeah Ranma, and he said if we lose they're gonna destroy my house!!" Akane 
barked with her usual absence of tact. "So that means they must also know where 
it is! Got any bright ideas about that?" 
    "What he say about ending bloodline?" Shampoo reminded them. 
    "Geez, is that all you're worried about," Ranma said, brushing them off 
with a wave of his hand. "Well, I can't talk for the rest of you guys, but I'm 
not worried about how I'LL fare against those punks. And since they know where 
Akane's house is, we'll just go there and wait for them to show up." He nodded 
to himself in satisfaction, having covered all the bases. 
    "Wait a minute, Ranma. You don't know what's going on!" Ryoga leaned 
forward, his expression grave. "I was sleeping under the old water tower this 
morning, when suddenly I awakened with a strange feeling of impending danger!" 
He began adding body language to his story, and his audience's attention grew 
rapt. "I jumped up and quickly looked around, sensing that my enemy was near. I 
heard a sound above me, and when I turned around I was greeted by a terrible 
sight!" He pointed dramatically for emphasis. 
    "Someone had vandalized the water tower while I was asleep!!" 
    Ranma, Akane, Ukyo and Shampoo all fell on their faces in unison. 
    "So what?! Who cares about a stupid old water tower!" Ranma yelled in 
Ryoga's face, grabbing him by the shirt as he jumped back to his feet. "What 
does that have to do with this challenge??" 
    "I WAS GETTING TO THAT!!!" Ryoga shouted as he pushed Ranma away. "Anyway, 
as I looked closer, I saw a message written there, for all the world to see! It 
said that when the sun rose tomorrow, the Tendo school of Anything-Goes martial 
arts would be no more! I've been running around ever since then, trying to warn 
you of the danger to Akane and her family." Ryoga hefted the spear. "And it was 
signed with a symbol ... just like this one." He indicated a strange emblem 
carved into the blade of the spear. 
    "Hmmm..." Ranma examined the weapon intently. "Doesn't look familiar to 
me." Taking hold of the weapon, he balanced it in his hands. "And aside from 
that, it seems like it's just an ordinary spear." He shrugged. "I dunno, maybe 
these guys are just a bunch of wanna-be's, tryin' to scare us with a spear and 
a big speech. I mean we didn't see 'em do anything really special, except for 
that disappearing act of theirs." 
    "Well at any rate, I think we'd better go tell my dad that somebody's been 
going around saying they're going to destroy his house," Akane pointed out. "In 
the meantime, Shampoo, why don't you show this spear to your great-grandmother? 
Maybe she'll know something about it that we don't." She took the spear from 
Ranma and offered it to Shampoo, who tossed her head with a derisive sniff. 
    "Shampoo never do favor for Akane! Kids from Hokkaido burn Tendo school to 
ground, for all I care!" 
    "Please, Shampoo? We really need to know more about this..." 
    "Okay, Ranma! Shampoo do it right away!" Taking the spear, she jumped on 
her bike (which was evidently quite durable) and rode off down the street, back 
the way she came. 
    "I've gotta take care of something at my restaraunt, then I'll meet you 
back at Akane's house!" Ukyo waved back at them as she ran down another street.
    Akane turned to Ryoga with a look of concern. "Ryoga, maybe you should go 
with her," she suggested. "That way, you'll be there if those guys try to jump 
us while we're separated." 
    Ryoga shook his head. "Akane, now more than ever, I couldn't forgive myself 
if I left you alone with an unreliable jerk like Ranma!" 
    "Hey Ryoga, that reminds me ... what were you doing sleeping underneath a 
water tower, anyway?" Ranma asked innocently. "Isn't that kinda, y'know, 
dangerous for you?" 
    "And why should Ryoga worry about something like that, Ranma!" Akane threw 
over her shoulder as she left them behind, heading down the road toward home. 
"It's not like he needs to worry about getting wet, the way you do!" 
    "Oh yeah, silly me, what was I thinking?" Ranma chuckled, giving Ryoga an 
evil grin. Ryoga ignored him, and trudged down the road after Akane. 

    As the three passed by the small canal between Furinkan High and the Tendo 
dojo, he watched them from below. Had he been able to smile right then he would 
have, for as things were, everything was going to turn out exactly as he'd 
planned. Just a bit more waiting ... and no one was more patient than he was. 

    "NOOO!!! They CAN'T! Not our beautiful house...!!!" Weeping, Soun Tendo 
collapsed onto the staircase, hugging the railing. Ranma and Akane had arrived 
home with Ryoga in tow and delivered the news, and could now only stand there 
speechless. Akane's father was suffering an emotional breakdown before their 
very eyes. 
    "You know ... we should've expected somethin' like this to happen," Ranma 
pointed out. Akane couldn't argue with him there. 
    "Tendo! Get a hold of yourself, man! I'm sure Ranma and Akane will be able 
to turn away this threat!" Ranma's father Genma hollered as he tried (without 
much success) to console his lifelong friend.
    "Good grief, Daddy." Ranma, Akane and Ryoga turned to see Akane's older 
sister Nabiki descending the stairs. "Really, it's not as if our house has 
never been demolished before," she pointed out. "It happens practically every 
other day. Besides, Mr. Saotome is right. I'm sure that it's just another one 
of those 'Dojo Destroyer' fads, and Ranma and Akane will take care of it." 
    "Aahhhhh!!" Soun and Genma's eyes lit up. "That's right! What a wonderful 
opportunity! Akane, you and Ranma will stand together to defend the Tendo dojo 
from this shadowy threat, just as you will carry it ON together!!" Soun's tears 
of anguish had, in a heartbeat, turned to tears of joy. "In fact, we can hold 
the wedding to celebrate your victory!!" 
    Moving with a single mind and purpose, Ranma and Akane simultaneously 
elbowed their respective fathers in the head, knocking them to the floor. 
    "Yeah, right." Ranma growled. 
    "I'd rather live on the street than marry that pervert!" Akane added. 
    Ryoga and Nabiki watched this exchange, Ryoga's expression one of 
discomfort while Nabiki looked mildly interested by the brief display of 
violence. Her perpetually bored expression quickly returned, however, and she 
turned toward Ranma. 
    "Oh, by the way, Ranma, some guy was asking about you at school today." 
    "Huh? Who?" was Ranma's reply. 
    "Some weird-looking guy showed up at school, and asked me about you. I'd 
never seen him before ... he had dark hair, but his bangs were this weird green 
color. And he was wearing this fancy headband, and he kind of smelled like..." 
she paused, sniffing the air briefly. "...Like Ryoga. Other than that, though, 
I guess he was kind of handsome." 
    "What?! Hey, are you saying I stink?!" Ryoga barked, clenching his fist. 
    "Well, let's just say you smell like the outdoors," Ranma said, wanting to 
keep the subject on track. "Yeah, anyway, go on Nabiki." 
    "Where was I? Oh, yes. Anyway, he just popped up out of nowhere at 
lunchtime and started asking me questions." 
    "Like what? What'd he say?" Ranma was practically drooling with 
anticipation. 
    "Well, he asked me if my father was Soun Tendo, and if I knew you, and if 
Genma Saotome was your father, and if you were the one that was going to 
inherit the Tendo training hall..." 
    "You didn't tell him all that, did you??" Ranma demanded. 
    "Of course not!" Nabiki scoffed. "I charged him first." 
    Ranma and Akane groaned. 
    "So, then what happened...?" Ranma asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the 
answer. 
    "Well, he was pretty free with his money. That was a surprise ... from 
looking at him, you'd never guess he was anything but penniless. Anyway, then 
he mentioned a few other names, asked about other strong martial-artists in the 
area ... pretty much all friends of yours. And then he disappeared again." 
    By this time, Ranma was laid out on the floor, twitching sporadically. 
"Geez, Nabiki, is there anything about me that you DIDN'T tell that guy???" 
    "Well, I didn't tell him that all it takes is a little cold water to send 
you running to the ladies' room," she threw over her shoulder as she headed 
back upstairs. She paused, and glanced back at them. "Oh, by the way, I'm 
expecting company, so, umm ... please drag Daddy and Mr. Saotome out of the 
way." 
    "Well, at least now we don't have to wonder how that guy Goda knew so much 
about all of us," Akane sighed as her sister returned to her room. 
    "Yeah, but now we have to worry about this other guy from your school ... I 
didn't see anyone like that on the street today when they attacked us," Ryoga 
pointed out. "So, how many people are we really dealing with here?" 
    The question even aroused Ranma's suspicions. 
    Their musing was interrupted by a knock at the door. 
    "Oh, that must be Uk-Chan!" Ranma said as he got up. "I'll answer it." 
    The three of them were in for a surprise when Ranma pulled the door open a 
moment later. 
    "What the -- Kuno?!" 
    Kuno's initial reaction was also one of surprise; then his eyes narrowed in 
hatred. "Saotome..." he hissed, but then stopped and averted his gaze. "I have 
no business with you today, Ranma Saotome. You are unworthy of my attention." 
    "Oh, I feel so cheated," Ranma grated, the sarcasm in his voice pooling 
deeply at their feet. "Well, if you ain't here to challenge me to a duel for 
Akane or somethin' like that, then what the heck ARE you doing here?!" 
    Kuno glowered at him. "I have come here at the request of Nabiki Tendo. 
This is her residence also, is it not?" 
    Ranma's jaw dropped. "YOU'RE the company she was expecting??!!!" 
    Kuno gave him a smug look. "You are but an insect to me, Saotome, and one 
upon which I shall yet trod ... but at another time." 
    "Oh, hello!" Ranma's biting comeback was cut off by the appearance of 
Akane's eternally cheerful eldest sister, Kasumi. "Right this way." She led 
Kuno past Ryoga (who was blushing fiercely for some reason), over the 
unconcious forms of Soun and Genma, and up the stairs. She returned alone a 
moment later, and headed back toward the kitchen. 
    As soon as all traces of Kuno had disappeared from the room, Akane emerged 
from her hididng place behind Ryoga. "Is he gone? ...Hey, Ranma, where do you 
think you're going??" 
    Ranma stopped in mid-leap on his way up the stairs. "Hang on, I just wanna 
check something." 
    "You aren't actually going up there to spy on Nabiki and Kuno, are you??" 
The incredulity in Akane's voice turned the question into an accusation, and 
Ranma hopped back down the stairs to face her while he defended himself. 
    "Hey, I just wanna make sure she isn't sellin' him my clothes, or somethin' 
sick like that." He glared at Akane, daring her to reply, but just then the 
door slid open. 
    "Hi everybody, we're here," Ukyo announced. Shampoo and her great-
grandmother Cologne were with her, and a bespectacled duck followed just behind 
them, quacking loudly. "Met 'em at the gate," Ukyo said by way of explanation. 
"Did we miss anything important?" 
    "Nabiki sold us all out, and Kuno's upstairs," Ryoga replied. 
    "Ranma!! Shampoo came back, did just what you say!" Shampoo exclaimed, 
flinging herself at Ranma. While he and Ukyo attempted to pry her loose, 
everyone else turned to see what Cologne had to say. She held the spear aloft 
and cleared her throat. 
    "Well, Son-in-law, this is just an ordinary spear, but the mark it bears 
does indeed say something of your opponents. It used to be the symbol of the 
most feared school of martial-arts in Asia." 
    That got everybody's attention. Cologne continued. 
    "The 'Shitsume Strike' ... it was a particular art that was practiced 
mainly by soldiers and mercenaries, because it was designed for use on a 
battlefield." Her eyes narrowed. "There's no denying that all of you are very 
skilled in your chosen styles, but ... this was a style of fighting that was 
made to dispatch huge numbers of enemies at a time. It relied heavily on blows 
that would either cripple, or kill. And not much else. In fact, it could be 
argued that even the most powerful attacks used by you, Son-in-law, and all the 
rest of you as well, are simply 'cushioned' variations of these techniques, 
slightly modified so as to be less lethal." 
    "Yet, you keep referring to this fighting style in the past tense," Akane 
pointed out. 
    "That's right, my dear." Cologne acknowledged with a nod. "As far as I had 
known before today, this school of martial-arts completely died out after World 
War I. With the advent of advanced weaponry, no one had any need of the ability 
to walk onto a battlefield and kill an entire army with their bare hands. They 
could use guns or bombs instead. This skill is one that should be almost 
completely forgotten by now, and yet here is the emblem of its most dedicated 
practicians." She indicated the spear again. "Now, what do you make of it?" 
    All eyes turned to Ranma, as if they expected him to answer the question. 
"Hey, don't look at me! I don't know any more than you do!" 
    The duck, meanwhile, doused himself with a conveniently-located kettle of 
hot water, and suddenly Mousse stood there. "So, then," he began as he wiped 
his glasses, "It seems that there ARE still some people around who practice 
this deadly fighting style, and somehow they see the Tendo dojo as a threat or 
an obstacle to them. And we are the only ones who stand in their way! Shampoo, 
I swear I'll -- I'll ... wha ... what are you all staring at?" 
    "Stupid Mousse, put clothes on!!" Shampoo yelled as she threw a bag at him. 
He hastily complied, and there was a collective clearing of throats as they 
attempted to get back to the subject at hand. 
    "Well, if these guys are coming here, they might really be dangerous..." 
Akane stated, sounding concerned. "I hate to say it, Ranma, but we could use 
all the help we could get ... especially since we don't know how many of these 
guys there are. Maybe we should consider calling in more people ... and asking 
Kuno to stay and help." 
    "Great idea, Akane!" Ranma exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "We can use him 
to prop the front door shut!" 
    "This is no laughing matter, Son!!" Soun suddenly loomed over Ranma, 
causing everyone to jump back in shock. "Our HOME is at stake here!! YOUR 
home!!!" 
    "Yaaahh!! Take it easy, Mr. Tendo!" Ranma yelled, trying to ward off Soun's 
demonic visage. Ryoga helped by tossing Ranma into the yard. 
    "Don't worry, Mr. Tendo!" Ryoga declared as a loud *SPLASH!* issued from 
the direction of Ranma's flight path. "I, Ryoga Hibiki, solemnly swear to 
defend this house and your dojo with my life!" 
    "Shampoo will do whatever it take to protect Ranma!" Shampoo added. 
    "You can count on me, too!" Ukyo threw in. 
    "Thank you, everyone!" Akane beamed as Ranma came skulking back into the 
room, water dripping from his now-feminine body. Kasumi entered the room at the 
same time. 
    "Oh, my!" Kasumi exclaimed at the sight of the large crowd gathered in the 
entreeway. "Ranma, you didn't tell me you were having dinner guests! I'm afraid 
there won't be enough for everyone!" 
    Ignoring her, Ranma walked up to Ryoga. "Take my advice, Ryoga," he 
growled. "Why don't you do what you do best, and ... GET LOST!!!" He drop-
kicked Ryoga through the ceiling, and he disappeared into the sky above them. 
    "There, that's one less mouth to feed," Ranma observed as he took advantage 
of the hot-water kettle to return to his original state. 
    "Ranma, you idiot!!" Akane hollered. "We needed his help!" 
    "Ahhh, we'll get along fine without that jerk," Ranma shot back. "Besides, 
I'm sure he'll be back sooner or later. He always is." 
    Cologne turned back to Ranma. "In the meantime, Son-in-law, I suggest you 
prepare yourselves for what could be a very dangerous battle indeed." She 
hopped toward the door on her cane, then paused and looked back one more time. 
"Shampoo, I'll be at the Nekohanten. Don't disappoint me!" 
    "I fight harder than ever before to protect future husband, Great-
Grandmother!" Shampoo promised as Cologne departed. 
    Ranma turned to the remaining six martial-artists gathered in the 
entreeway. "Okay, everybody go around and check to make sure nobody can sneak 
in anywhere and surprise us, and then we'll all meet back out in front." 
    Akane, Shampoo, Ukyo, Mousse, Soun and Genma nodded in unison, then all ran 
off in different directions. Mousse ran into a wall and fell over. 
    "Oh dear," Kasumi sighed. "Does this mean I should keep supper warm a while 
longer?"