[Ranma][FanFic] Tap Out!
cactu...@my-deja.com
Ranma 1/2: Tap Out!
[Historian's Note: This story diverges from the anime continuity after
the episode where Ryoga is possessed by the phantom cat, and Akane
finds out that Ryoga cares for her.]
"Happy Birthday, Ryoga!!!"
The eternally-lost boy stared in surprise at the Tendo Dojo, everyone
was there. In the middle of the room was a large birthday cake.
"Wha...?"
Akane smiled. "One of Nabiki's spys found out that today was your
birthday, so we sent that challenge letter you're holding as a way to
lure you here on time."
"But the challenge was for four days ago..."
"Exactly, we figured it would take you that long to find the Dojo."
"Oh."
*****
And so it went, the party was your typically raucous Nerima Wrecking
Crew event, with a dozen fights breaking out among the various
partygoers. What was odd, many noted later, was the fact that Ryoga
and Akane stayed as far away from each other as possible. This was the
first time Ryoga had been back in Nerima since the phantom cat had
possessed him and Akane had found out that Ryoga loved her. As it was,
Ranma kept himself between the two of them, feeling very possessive of
Akane tonight.
Then it was time to open the presents.....
*****
Ryoga stared at the wristband in confusion.
"It gift from Shampoo and Great-grandmother." Shampoo smiled. It is
ancient Amazon artifact."
Ryoga was still dumbstruck. "Uh, thanks, I guess."
"It is magical item. Person who wears it is given excellent sense of
direction."
Ryoga stared at Shampoo. "You mean....."
Ranma spoke up, "Try it on, Pig-Boy!"
Ryoga glared, but slipped it on anyways.
Instantaneously, Ryoga's world changed. Left became right, up became
down, North became South. Ryoga's screwed up sense of direction
balanced out. It was everything he ever wanted.
Tears of joy formed in his eyes.
"Excuse me, everyone." He got up and started to walk towards the back
of the Dojo. (God, he actually knew where the back of the Dojo finally
was!) "I just need a minute alone."
*****
Ryoga had lost track of time as he sat by the koi pond, adjusting to
these new senses, and reflecting on his life. He was 18 now, and
hadn't done much with his life, aside from hunt Ranma across the seven
continents.
Was it really worth it?
No, he concluded.
Then why did he do it?
Because he loved Akane, he realized. Not that that meant anything. It
was never like he'd get enough guts to actually admit to her how he
felt, or ask her out, even.
And then there was the problem that Akane didn't know he was P-Chan,
she would probably kill him if she ever found out.
Yep, life pretty much sucked for Ryoga Hibiki.
"Feeling alright, P-Chan?" Akane asked.
"Yeah, I....." Ryoga realized who had asked the question.
"A..Akane...?"
Akane sat down next to him and smiled tenderly. "Surprised that I
knew?"
"Yeah, I...I mean...." Ryoga bowed down and started groveling. "Gomen
nasai, Tendo-san. Please let my death be quick. I am unworthy of my
life. I have dishonored you..."
Akane chuckled slightly and placed her hand on his cheek.
"It's alright, Ryoga."
"Nani?!??!"
"I knew a long time ago. I just, it's difficult to explain." Akane
blushed. "When I first met you, I thought you were a pretty attractive
guy. And you were so noble, never hitting on me or trying to take
advantage of me.'
"But..."
"I didn't realize at first that you were P-Chan, but it didn't take
long. By that time, I'd come to realize you were a great friend."
Ryoga winced when she called him friend.
"You were always willing to listen to me, and my problems, whether you
were human or pig. And then, after the phantom cat, I found out you
loved me."
`Uh...I...Akane...." This was not happening, Ryoga thought. Akane
knew that he loved her, knew that he was P-Chan, and wasn't trying to
kill him.
"How come you never told me, or asked me out?" Akane smiled coyly.
"Well," Ryoga began scratching his head in that embarrassed fashion
that Akane found so cute. "You see, I thought you loved Ranma."
"I don't love Ranma. He's so mean to me, I don't think I could ever
love him."
Ryoga continued. "Plus the fact that the two of you are engaged."
"So, I turn 18 soon. Once I do, I can cancel the engagement."
"But, your family honor."
"Honor's a pretty complicated thing Ryoga, you know that. Some people
think I can cancel the engagement, others don't. What do you think?"
"I...I think it would be more dishonorable to be forced into a loveless
marriage, than to break a loveless engagement."
"Good. So anyways, how come you never asked me out?"
A voice from behind interrupted them. "I can answer that one, because
I'd kill him if he did."
"Ranma!!!!" Akane turned in shock.
Ranma grabbed Ryoga by his shirt and hoisted him off the ground.
"Get this straight, pig-boy. I don't care if Akane does like you, or
love you, or whatever. She's MY FIANCEE! AND NOT YOU OR ANYONE IS
GONNA ASK HER OUT OR GET HER TO BREAK OUR ENGAGEMENT! GOT THAT??!!??
Ryoga was defiant, to say the least.. "Ranma, I challenge..."
"Don't even think of challengin' me. In the last two years, how many
times have you beaten me? None! Face it bacon breath, when it comes
to free-form martial arts, you can't beat me!"
With that Ranma hurled Ryoga into a wall, then sent him flying into the
air with a whirlwind blast.
"Ryoga!!!!!" Akane screamed in shock
"As for you," Ranma turned, "you keep away from other guys. Dammit
Akane, you're my girl."
With that, he stormed back inside. Akane could only cry.
*****
As Ryoga sailed away from the Tendo Dojo, one thing that Ranma said
kept running through his head.
`Face it bacon breath, when it comes to free-form martial arts, you
can't beat me!'
It was true, Ryoga hated to admit it, but it was true. Ranma was more
skilled when it came to free-style martial arts. He was, after all, a
black belt in "Anything Goes" style.
But what about controlled forms of martial arts. An idea formed in
Ryoga's mind. This would be easier to implement now that he had a
sense of direction.
Ryoga reached into his backpack and pulled out a well-worn map of the
world. He needed to find Brazil.
With luck, he hoped, he'd land near the docks.
*****
6 Months Later:
Location: Brazil, The Gracie Dojo.
Rickson Gracie stood before the young man in admiration. Next to him
stood his brothers Royce and Royler.
"I must commend you, amigo. Out of all our students, you have trained
the hardest and learned the fastest.
"Thank you, sensei."
"It has been amazing, you are the only student of ours who I feel is at
a level that has surpassed that of me and my brothers."
"Thank you, sensei."
Royler stood up to him and presented him with a plaque.
"Congratulations, my boy. You are now a certified master in Gracie
style jiu jitsu and our forms of shootfighting. This, combined with
the training you recently received in Ken Shamrock's Lion's Den Dojo
make you the most skilled shootfighter in the world today."
Ryoga Hibiki smiled, "Thank you, sensei."
*****
One week later, the Tendo Dojo:
Akane watched in fear as her fiancee trained with Genma. In the six
months since they had last seen Ryoga, Ranma had become increasingly
abusive towards her. Not physically, but verbally and to the point
where his sheer presence frightened her.
Then there came a shout. "SAOTOME! I CHALLENGE YOU!"
Ranma turned, "Dammit Kuno, didn't that beating I issue to you last
week knock and sense into you? And what the heck are you doing out of
the hospital so early, it takes more than a week to recover from a
broken back...."
Ranma stopped as he realized that it was Ryoga who had spoke. Ranma
smirked at this realization.
"Well, well, well. Look who finally got enough guts to show up again.
Ready to get your ass kicked again, P-Chan?"
Ryoga smiled slightly. "No, Ranma. I've come to challenge you.."
"So you did come to get your ass kicked."
"No, I've come to challenge you, with a few stipulations."
"Stipulations?"
"Yes. If you beat me, then I leave, I'll stay away from you and Akane
forever."
"And if I lose?"
"Then I get to ask Akane if she'll go out with me."
Ranma laughed out loud. "Like that'll ever happen. Deal , Ryoga.
Prepare to die."
Ranma assumed his usual loose fighting stance. He expected Ryoga to
charge in blindly, like he usually did, but was surprised as Ryoga
assumed a defensive stance.
"This is new," Ranma said.
"You'll find I'm just full of surprises." Ryoga dove down, and floored
Ranma with a textbook leg-sweep.
Ranma `uffed' as he landed. Ryoga followed up by locking Ranma into a
kneebar.
"Get off, Ryoga, what the hell do ya think you're doing?"
"Fighting you, Ranma. Just not in a way you're used to."
"Oh, I see. Pig-boy starts watching a bunch of Ultimate Fighting tapes
and suddenly thinks he's got the key to beating me." As he said this,
Ranma rolled onto his back and used his free leg to kick at Ryoga's
head.
"Something like that." Ryoga caught Ranma's free leg and flipped him
up into the guard position.
"What the hell is this?" Ranma struggled to kick Ryoga off, but
couldn't due to Ryoga's massive strength. Ryoga wailed away with fists
to Ranma's head. It was all Ranma could do to cover-up.
`This is impossible,' Ranma thought, `Ryoga's beating me.' And there
was very little he could do about it. Almost all of Ranma's offensive
attacks required the opponent to be on his feet and standing at least a
foot away, not pinning him down and wailing away at his face.
Finally, Ranma was able to roll onto his side, but Ryoga simple wrapped
his hands around Ranma's gi and started to choke him out with it.
"Tap out, Ranma. It's the only way to end this aside from you passing
out or dying."
"Hghff," was all Ranma could respond.
Ryoga finally let up and began applying blows to Ranma's left
shoulder. Ranma shoved him off and tired for a spinning back punch.
Ryoga grabbed his arm and applied a jujigatame (cross-arm breaker).
Akane watched in amazement. Ryoga was employing submission skills, and
was actually BEATING Ranma.
Ranma struggled to his feet and slammed Ryoga against the Dojo wall,
trying to yank him off his arm.
Ryoga responded by working his legs around Ranma's back, then quickly
cinching his arms around Ranma's throat and shoulders.
Akane watched in amazement as Ryoga applied a triangle choke. Ranma
fell forward, struggling for air. Finally, it was too much. Ranma
tapped out.
Ryoga released the hold and collapsed in exhaustion. He'd won, he'd
finally beaten Ranma Saotome. And he'd made him tap.
"RYOGA!" He turned to see Akane running towards him.
"Akane, oh, thank the kami you're alright. I was afraid that Ranma
might have hurt you after the party."
"No, no. I'm fine." Akane was crying and hugging him. She lifted his
chin so that he was staring into her eyes. "Well..."
"Well what?" Akane glared at him. "Oh, the deal. Right."
Ryoga got on his knee and took her hand. He gulped slightly, this was
scarier than facing down a Gracie or fighting Ranma.
"Akane Tendo, if you're free Saturday night, would you like to have
dinner with me?"
Akane smiled again, tears in her eyes. "I'd love to."
The End
*****
Author's Notes: I've never seen a fic that dealt with Ranma and the
world of Mixed-Martial Arts/Shootfighting. It would seem logical that
a person like Ranma, who relies heavily on magic/ki and flashy kicks
and punches for his offense, would be completely lost in a UFC type
match-up, and thus would get destroyed. My apologies for any OOC that
you may not have appreciated. But then, this wasn't written by
Takahashi or the TV writers, so anything I have them do is
automatically OOC.
Ranma 1/2 & characters TM & copyright 1996 by Rumiko Takahashi.
Royce, Rickson & Royler Gracie used without permission, based on
composite likenesses of their real-life counterparts. Any relation is
unintentional.
W*ING and the W*ING logo TM & copyright 1994 by Victor Quinones and
Mickey Iberagi.
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