DARK PRESENT, NO REGRETS
PART 8

Disclaimer: The characters in this story are property of their respective owners. I'm in no way profiting from this story, this is just for fun. If there is any resemblanse to any other fanfic around, it is purely coincidental. E-mail me if it happens so we can solve it.

Note: If you are notice changes in the time line and personality of the characters, that's the idea of my fanfiction. I always write alternate realities, so don't bother insulting me because the history has changes in it. Well, with that out of the way, enjoy!

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Nabiki lifted an eyebrow as Ranma paused in his tale for everything to sink in. "Seems like you can't stay away from trouble even in another world." She sarcastically commented.

Ranma looked at her and smiled. "You know me." And as if that explained everything to her he returned his attention to the story. "As it turned out, Yamazaki put me into a three week coma. During that time Billy did some research on me to find out who I was. Imagine his surprise when he couldn't find any records of my existence in either form." He said with a smirk. "Anyway, three years later..."

"Hold it.!" Nabiki interrupted. She frowned as she pointed a finger at Ranma. "Three years later? Don't skip anything."

Ranma sighed and a pained expression was evident in his face. Kasumi warmly took his hand and gave it a squeeze for support. Cologne, Tofu and Nabiki were all surprised by this reaction. Ranma composed himself and said seriously. "Those three years are still very painful to me even after all this time. I won't go over them in detail right now. If ever." The last part was said in a whisper. He tried to return to a more carefree tone, failing completely. "Besides, do you actually want to hear all of what I did for sixteen years? That could take quite a while."

Tofu nodded. "At least summarize what happened, Ranma. Don't go into detail unless you think there is a need to explain something." So far the doctor had been calm and collected. The story sounded like something coming out of a fanfic writer's brain under the effects of alcohol, but Ranma's life could be like that.

Ranma smiled at the doctor briefly and continued. "After I woke up I was confronted by a gaijin man. He wanted to know just who and what I was. To make a very long and sad story short, that man is my master. He took me in with the purpose to make me into a bodyguard or spy just like Billy. He was also the one that made me get over losing my parents."

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Ranma sat in the dojo brooding once again. He felt like crying but held back his tears. Just a few days ago he finally knew why he didn't recognize anything, or why Billy's research on him was pointless. He was in another world. He had somehow ended up in a different reality. He didn't know how it happened. He just knew it did.

His depressed state didn't have anything to do with the fact that he had lost that fight with Yamazaki. Lily was saved from him, which was his objective. He felt he won that fight, even if he was the one to end up in the hospital. No. He felt defeated because he was trapped in another world, away from his mother and unable to satisfy his honor as a Saotome. Not that he wanted to marry Akane. In fact he didn't want to marry any of his fiances. But he would dishonor himself if he didn't, and Ranma Saotome lived by his honor. His mother loved him because of his honor.

So immersed in his own depressed thoughts was the pigtailed martial artist that he failed to notice another person walk to him. "What are you doing?" A serene male voice was heard.

Ranma turned upwards to the man that had taken care of him. He knew he owed this man a great deal, and would pay him. He didn't want to become like his father. "I..." He started but was interrupted.

"I'll tell you what you're doing. You're brooding like if your life was over." The older man accused still in a calm tone of voice.

"And it's not?" Ranma asked lowering his gaze to the floor once again. The man's response didn't come as words this time. Ranma nearly blacked out from the force of the blow he received to the temple. Rolling on the floor he managed to assume a ready stance. "What did ya do that for?" He asked inching backwards. He had taken seen the man train once before and had no intention of getting killed.

A sneer was his answer. "I'm giving you a reason to live."

"What?" Ranma asked incredulous.

"Either you fight or you die. I have no use for someone who doesn't want to stay alive." And with that he jumped forward into attack patterns designed to seriously maim the receiver.

Ranma jumped over a kick that would've smashed his knee and ducked out of the way of a finger strike to the throat. He didn't have a chance to think about anything as he was frantically trying to avoid being turned into a pulp. As the seconds passed and turned into minutes, Ranma's breath started to come in gasps. He realized two things then. The man wasn't playing around and would probably continue until the pigtailed martial artist was no more. Second, he needed to fight back. Until now he had only been dodging, and only occasional blows had landed, but he couldn't dodge forever.

The man allowed himself to smirk. It seemed like this was what Ranma needed after all. Battle raged in the boy's veins, and battle would get him out of his stupid depression. He was slightly surprised, and very amused, when Ranma finally decided to fight back. *And such a skillful attack too.* He thought. Had it been another fighter not as strong in defense the punch would have landed. As it was...

Ranma sidestepped a palm strike and snaked into the man's defenses. He leashed out with a powerful right fist, intending to continue with a side-kick. He wasn't prepared to have his punch deflected. *Just like Happosai.* He thought. The old master of the Anything Goes only needed a flick of his wrist and most attacks passed fight by him. This time, however, Ranma felt the air knocked out of his lungs. Just as he was about to get past his opponent, the man side-kicked him in the solar plexus, sending him flying back. He recovered just in time to back flip and jump out of the way of a palm strike that would have broken his ribs.

"REPPUU KEN!" The man bellowed as he swept the air with his right arm and a blast of dark chi traveled on the ground towards Ranma. The pigtailed martial artist was so surprised that he failed to dodge and caught the brunt of the blast. The force of the attack made him fall to the ground face down.

The man crossed his arms over his chest and laughed. *It was fun. The boy has potential.* He thought as he went through the fight in his mind. Such raw speed and a very quick mind. Ranma also possessed something a fighter in this world needed as much as breathing. Lust for battle. After the initial shock, Ranma ignored everything else but the fight. He was about to leave and tell someone to pick the boy up when said boy started to get up. "Didn't you have enough?" Asked the man mockingly.

Ranma stood up and locked gazes with his opponent. This brought a gasp out of the older man's lips. Ranma's eyes were burning with rage, all other emotions forgotten. So great was the shock that he didn't even attempt to dodge out of the way of Ranma's attack. He received a palm strike to the midsection and out of instinct retaliated with a sweep kick. Both of them stood studying the other. Ranma continued to glare daggers at his opponent, but refrained from attacking until he recovered his breath.

The man felt something trickle from his mouth and took a hand to wipe it off. His eyes widened in disbelief when he saw it was blood. His blood. *I'll kill him!* Was his predominant thought. A small part of his mind wondered how it was possible he had been injured so severely. Sure, he didn't prepare for the attack, but he didn't expect this boy to be able to hurt him with one lousy attack.

Had someone seen both fighters right then and there, he or she would have noticed their eyes were almost the same. As one they leapt at each other and fought for no other reason than fighting.

The fight, though, was a losing battle for Ranma as he was pummeled with nearly everything in the man's arsenal except especial techniques. Those would ruin the fun, after all. As the fight continued Ranma's moves started to slow down due to the strain, even if his spirit raged as never before. Very soon bruises covered his body from both landed attacks and blocks to his arms and legs. He was about to collapse from the exertion when suddenly something came to him on instinct alone.

The man smiled again. Even though he didn't come out of it unscathed, the fight was something he was really enjoying. This boy would fit in perfectly in his plans. Just as he prepared his finishing move, he was shocked when the boy jumped back and performed a move he shouldn't know. "REPPUU KEN!" He received the chi blast full on and was sent crashing back against a wall. As he hit it and slid down to his feet never did his eyes leave the form of the young man. The attack itself was something only another man alive had been able to copy from him, but something else was even more disturbing. He finally realized what called his attention from this boy, even when he tried to ignore the impulse.

The rage and determination in his eyes. The general feel of the boy's aura. The battle lust. And finally, the attack used. This Ranma possessed the exact same drive he himself used. Negative emotions that could only be described as pure evil empowered this young man.

He saw as Ranma stumbled a little and took advantage of it. He jumped forward and over the pigtailed martial artist so that his back was turned to him. He then swept his legs from under him and delivered a hammer blow on the youth's head that slammed him to the ground. His fist charged with energy to add to the impact. Ranma's eyes focused once more before rolling back. He finally lost consciousness.

Breathing heavily, both from the fight and the shock, the man stared at the unconscious form before him. Without a thought he lifted the boy over his shoulder and started walking out of the dojo. "So, this Ranma is the one." He whispered to himself. He started laughing, and everyone that heard him shivered at the sound. They would be terrified if they knew why he was laughing.

Geese Howard found his heir.

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Nabiki stared at Ranma in disbelief. "He tried to kill you and you thank him for it?" She asked interrupting the long silence that followed when Ranma stopped narrating the encounter.

Ranma looked at her seriously. "It was the only way I would react. Lily tried to lift my spirits for weeks with no results. The master, even if unknowingly, gave me back the desire to live." Nabiki didn't miss the way Ranma referred to this Geese person. Her father and Saotome-san always spoke with fear when referring to Happosai, but Ranma spoke of his master with respect and something that bordered on affection.

Cologne took a sip of her tea and asked. "What happened next? Because I believe he started training you from that point on."

Ranma nodded. "Yeah. We daily beat each other with everything we got for the following years." Seeing the incredulous stares he continued. "Training with the master was a unique experience. He didn't teach me a technique by showing it, nor did we use any katas. In fact all the katas I know are from Kasumi's school." He said as if making a realization. He shook that off and resumed explaining. "He thought me every move I learned from him by using it on me."

Cologne turned to all the others to study their feelings.

Tofu and Nabiki were terrified. They couldn't believe Ranma would feel grateful to someone that did that to him, even with the pretext of teaching. Genma came to mind at that, though. But no, Ranma didn't respect Genma.

The man named Iori looked at Ranma knowingly, as if he had endured the same thing.

Leona was expressionless.

Kasumi seemed to accept the things her husband endured, mainly because she knew it was done with good intentions. Geese's warped way of being good natured.

Nabiki suddenly remembered something that happened in the dojo. "Ranma, you said you abandoned the Saotome name and the Anything Goes after three years. But here you accepted this person as your master. Why is that?"

Ranma sighed. "Nabiki, what I told isn't exactly the truth. But that is because not even I know what that is. I hardly remember anything from those three years aside from fighting for my life everyday. I know I became friends with Lily and Billy, but that's about it. I tried to fight the power I have, but don't remember when I stopped." He looked at down to the table. "Somewhere along my training I changed. I abandoned the Anything Goes and all my obligations as Ranma Saotome because Ranma Saotome died. And I'm not even sure when."

Kasumi hugged Ranma trying to comfort him. She knew it had never been easy for her husband to accept any of this. She herself had trouble accepting him in the beginning.

Iori cleared his throat. "Maybe it would be better if we continued with the story from the time of the tournament. That way you, Leona and myself can tell the story." Ranma nodded. The red-haired man smirked and started narrating. "The King of Fighters tournament was meant for the strongest of fighters to meet and decide who was the strongest. Ranma arrived to our world in 1997. The next King of Fighters was in 2001..."

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The fighters were gathered in the center of the gigantic Coliseum. Spectators looking forward to the fights generally enjoyed themselves. Many familiar faces made their appearance as they greeted each other. But an air of nervousness could be felt within the ranks of the fighters.

After the King of Fighters 97 tournament there was no host that wanted to hold the event anymore, so many thought that would be the end of it. But this year invitations arrived for everyone once again. The fact that invitations arrived wasn't what had everyone on edge. No. It was because the invitations were branded with the infamous 'R' once again.

Everyone thought Rugal was dead, but the invitations had his personal signature on them.

Suddenly a sepulchral silence spread through the crowds. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard, as everyone held their breath. That was because a man entered the arena. He kept his stride steady as he passed fighters without sparing a glance to any of them. He only stopped when he reached the platform that would hold the fights. It was decided that this year's tournament would hold all fights in a single place. The fighters didn't like the idea much. They didn't know if Rugal had packed the place with explosives like last time.

Their attention was brought back to the present as Rugal Bernstein took a microphone and started talking. "Welcome, fighters and spectators. I thank you all for joining us today in this inauguration ceremony for the King of Fighters 2001." He paused in his speech as cheering overcame the stadium. "The fights will start tomorrow and will continue without a time limit until we have a champion." There were murmurs about this new rule for the tournament. It seemed like being saved by the bell wouldn't work anymore. Several of the fighters gulped nervously while the crowd went wild. No time limit meant fighting until there was a victor. Rugal once again waited for the crowd to quite down before continuing. "And now, let the participating teams be known." He said and the lights went out, leaving everyone in the dark.

Another male voice was heard from the speakers. "Returning from victory and willing to defend their title, give a round of applause to the HERO TEAM!" Lights suddenly illuminated the members of said team as the crowd went wild. "Kyo Kusanagi!" Said fighter waved to the crowd and everyone went wild. "Benimaru Nikaido!" The girls shouted his name. "And replacing Goro Daimon we have Shingo Yabuki!" The crowd doesn't cheer as loud but Shingo doesn't seem to mind.

The announcer waited for everyone to calm down and continued. "Next we have the FATAL FURY TEAM! Formed by Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard and Joe Higashi!" The trio waved to the crowd and received their fair share of applause.

"Coming to show the power of their art we have the ART OF FIGHTING TEAM! Ryo Sakazaki, Robert Garcia and Yuri Sakazaki!"

"Coming all the way from Brazil, give a warm welcome to the IKARI TEAM! Leona, Ralf Jones and Clark Steel!" The three of them never let their eyes wander off Rugal.

"From China we have the PSYCHO SOLDIER TEAM!" Cheers nearly as loud as the one of the Hero Team were heard. "Athena Asamiya!" She saluted everyone and the yelling increased even more. "Sie Kensou and Chin Gentsai!"

"They don't need an introduction, you all know you love them! The WOMEN'S TEAM!" Male screams threaten to demolish the Coliseum. "Chizuru Kagura, King and Mai Shiranui!" Mai salutes, making interesting things with her breasts, while King simply sighs. Nearly every male in the crowd drools. Chizuru eyes Rugal critically, wondering what he's up to.

"Now we present you the KIM TEAM! Kim Kaphwan, Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge!" Kim looks at Rugal sideways and narrows his eyes.

"Returning after just one appearance, the '97 SPECIAL TEAM! Ryuji Yamazaki, Blue Mary and Billy Kane!" Strangely enough a section of the crowd starts cheering for Yamazaki.

"Now we have the MIDDLE AGE TEAM! Heidern!" Heidern eyes Rugal through his only good eye with barely contained anger. "Takuma Sakazaki and Saisyu Kusanagi!" Saisyu glares at Rugal as he summons his Magatama to his hand.

"Now we have the USA SPORTS TEAM! Heavy D, Lucky Glauber and Brian Battler!" Many people seem to have missed this team's appearance because a loud cheer is heard.

"Next is the BOSS TEAM!" The crowd goes silent at this announcement. The fighters stare in disbelief as the lights fall on a corner of the Coliseum previously in shadows. "Geese Howard!" Terry and Andy clench their fists as they glare at the man. Takuma eyes him carefully. Geese smiles back at them. "Wolfgang Krauser!" Joe glares daggers at the man that nearly killed him once. Krauser ignores him as he stares at Terry with a smile. "Mr. Big!" Robert, Yuri and Ryo glare at the bold criminal leader.

The announcer continues, seeing that no cheers will be coming for this team. "Last, but not least, we present you with the RUGAL TEAM!" The fighter's eyes widen. It seems like Rugal finally decided to fight them seriously and got himself a team. Hard enough it was with just him. "Rugal Bernstein!" He chuckles as nearly every fighter present glares daggers at him. "Iori Yagami!" Sharp intakes of breath are heard all over. Kyo nearly has a heart attack when he sees the red-haired fighter that was supposed to have died back in '97. Iori simply stared at Kyo and summons his purple Magatama with a sweet smile on his face. Everyone shudders at the sight. "Ranko Howard!" As the redheaded woman steps forward everyone stares. She is wearing an outfit that mimic's Geese's own and has her hair tied back in a pigtail. Her expression is unreadable. Murmurs all over about Geese having a daughter are heard.

Rugal takes a look around. Besides the fighters entering to prove themselves there are also many vendettas and hatred. He enjoys watching such things, even in his own team. Iori glares at Kyo. Ranko, for some estrange reason, is looking at Yamazaki. He himself is waiting for his turn to tear a few heads off.

This tournament is no longer only about winning. "Let the fighting begin."


END PART 8


Author's notes: I know. I completely ignored NESTS and all the cloning stuff. Sorry about that, but I got bored of that. Couldn't they find a more original way to add new characters? Whatever.

Well, another chapter out. And now the fighting begins.

See you in part 9!