“I hate these dreams.”

said Ranma as he walked through the darkness. Since his fight with Saffron Ranma had those dreams and he couldn’t sleep after he had them. For almost every night since his return from China he has been wandering through the streets of Nerima. No one in the Tendo Dojo noticed this not even the idiotic panda Ranma called father.

He was about to round a corner when he heard a scream from an alley. Without even thinking he began to run in the direction of the cry.

When he reached the scene he saw two thugs holding a girl while a third one tried to open his pants. The girl screamed again and the thug who was about to pull his pants down (lets call him Moron) backhanded the young woman,

“Shut your mouth bitch or I will make it even more painful for you!!” said Moron, “And you two idiots try to gag her with something. I don’t want to hear that scream again.”

“Okay boss!” Idiot#1 and #2 replied.

That was when Ranma stepped in.

“Hey you bastards, let the girl alone and take someone on who can defend themselves!”, Ranma yelled.

Moron turned around and began to chuckle when he saw Ranma, “Go away little boy or you could get hurt.”

“Oh really?”, Ranma grinned as he dashed forward with blinding speed and kicked Moron in the groin.

On his way to meet the pavement Moron yelled to his companions in a high voice, “Get the little pest and rip him apart!”

Idiot#1 and #2 let the girl drop and pulled out knives. Slowly they edged nearer toward Ranma attempting to figure out how to attack the halftime-female without ending like their leader.

Something snapped in Ranma when he saw the two men with the knives. A strange vision popped up in his mind.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Vision *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was a dark and stormy night in an old medieval town.

A young noble just walked out of a pub and was about to find a pension when someone grabbed him from behind. He struggled but couldn’t break the hold the man had on him. Another man with a hood approached him with a sword and he realized the situation he was in. [Robbers...], he thought, [I just came to this town and I’m already being robbed.]

He stopped struggling when the hooded figure stopped before him and threatened with the sword. The robber took his gold pouch and the young man watched in disbelieve as he was impaled on the sword. [Why...why did he ki...] were the last thoughts of the noble before the darkness took over.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* End Vision *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ranma snapped out of his stupor and saw the idiots running at him using the moment he was distracted. Eyes narrowing only two words came from Ranmas lips,

“Vae Victus.”

and with that the short but painful battle began.

Ranma sprinted forward executing a perfect roundhouse kick to the jaw of Idiot#2 sending him flying to the trashcans lining the alley. Idiot#1 stopped in his advance to stare slack jawed at what Ranma did to his friend. Ranma taking this opportunity sent a quick jab to the man’s solar plexus knocking the wind out of him and making him bend forward. The jab was soon followed by an elbow to the back of the head. This made it possible for Mr. Face to meat Mr. Concrete.

Idiot#2 who in the meanwhile stood back up began to sneak up on Ranma. The cursed boy who sensed the approach jumped up, made a flip and landed behind the man. The guy quickly tried to turn around but the last thing he heard Ranma say before everything went black was something about Chestnuts and a fire.

Idiot#2 was sent flying again and he landed on top of Idiot#1 who was struggling to stand up knocking him out.

Ranma walked up to the unconscious men, crouched down, picked up the knives which were still hold by the Idiots and broke them into several pieces so that the men could never use them again.

Standing back up Ranma looked around to see where the girl was and saw her huddled up in a corner of the alley. He proceeded to walk to her when he heard a squeaky voice yell behind him. Ranma turned around only to see Moron standing/leaning against a wall with a gun in his hands.

“So what are you going to do now Mr. Martial Art...Argghh!!” , He couldn’t finish his sentence because he was interrupted by a scream of ‚Moko Takabisha’ and a yellow beam of energy coming towards him.

Moron was pushed backward into and through a wall on the other side of the alley. The gun which was knocked out of Morons hand landed on the ground and let loose a shot. The bullet striped Ranma’s right arm which caused him to yell at the sudden pain.

“Damn it that hurt, ”Ranma said clenching his teeth looking at his arm, “and the shirt was new too.” turning around again Ranma shrugged his shoulders dismissing it, “ I got more serious wounds from the uncute tomboy.”

Now being finally free of the thugs Ranma turned his attention back to the girl; he kneeled down to comfort her but then his eyes widened when he recognized the young female.

“Nabiki?” he whispered not believing who he saw.

“R...Ranma?”, said the girl who was indeed Nabiki as she watched him teary eyed, “Is it really you?”

“Yes it’s me...”, was the only thing Nabiki heard before she fell unconscious from fatigue.