DARK PRESENT, NO REGRETS
PART 7

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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"I guess the first thing you should know is that at first I completely ignored what had happened. I had no idea I was in another world." Ranma said as he began his tale.

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Ranma slowly opened his eyes. *Oh man!* He thought as he closed them again due to a huge headache. He tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness prevented him from even getting halfway there. He felt as the back of his head hit the cold floor and cringed as the pain increased tenfold. *What happened?* He asked himself in his mind. He was very much aware that even talking would be painful, so he refrained from it.

For the moment Ranma was happy with remaining there and trying to remember how he ended up here. *Probably Akane and her damn mallet.* He thought in resignation. Deciding that it would probably be better if he let her cool down, he didn't try to get up until he was feeling better. *Must have hit something really hard.*

As it was, Ranma remained only half conscious for several hours. He didn't feel anything threatening, so he didn't really care where he was as far as he could recover. He finally managed to open his eyes and focus on his surroundings without having to fight off a wave of nausea. *An alley.* Of all the places in the world to fall in it had to be a stinking alley. *At least I'm still male.* He thought as he made sure placing his hand over his chest.

Ranma started to get up slowly and checked himself to make sure he was still in one piece. Anything that had been capable of making him lose consciousness like that had to be extremely strong. He decided it wasn't Akane's mallet after all. The tomboy wasn't even remotely strong enough to take seriously. He did all the flying around just for the show and to get away from her. Not that he hated the youngest Tendo, but she could be very hard to get along with. "More like impossible." He whispered and let a small smile appear on his lips as he noticed he was getting better by the minute. With that much worked out, Ranma decided to walk out of the alley and find his way back to the dojo.

Five minutes later Ranma understood perfectly fine just how Ryoga must feel everyday. "Where the hell am I?" After walking around and not finding anything familiar he was starting to wonder what happened yet again. The last he remembered before waking up was being chased by everyone as usual and turning a corner. Then, absolutely nothing.

He also noticed he ended up in a bad neighborhood. He could see several punks eyeing him dangerously. Not that he cared, really. He knew he could take care of himself. What bothered him was that he thought Nerima was free of such people. The martial artists in the area had made sure of that. This could only mean that he wasn't in Nerima, and that left the question Ryoga always asked himself. "Where on Earth am I now?" Ranma chuckled to himself as he whispered the question. Ryoga would have a heart attack if he knew Ranma was quoting him.

Ranma continued walking aimlessly. The streets he was on were now completely deserted. He couldn't really find an explanation for it, they didn't seem any different than before. He was taken out of his thoughts as he heard a female scream not too far away. Ranma being Ranma had to do something. He started running.

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Lily was definitely not having a good day. The concept of bad day for most girls would pale in comparison to what Lily had been going through, though.

She woke up early and went to school. Nothing out of the ordinary there. She then went shopping with some of her friends. It was turning to be a good day. Being kidnapped by a huge man was what made a difference. The last she saw before darkness took her was one of her friends clutching one of her arms, from which blood poured freely.

And now here she was, being dragged through a part of town she didn't think she should know by someone that had a firm hold on the back of her blouse. She supposed she lost her shoes when she was being dragged, since she didn't have any of them on. Right then her brain caught to her train of thought. *What am I thinking? I was just kidnapped and the first thing that comes to my mind is losing my shoes?* She struggled to free herself, but to no avail.

"Keep still and you won't get too hurt." A male voice warned. Lily couldn't avoid to hear the emphasis he placed on the words 'too hurt.' She ignored him and continued to struggle. "Dammit! I told you to hold still!" He bellowed as he smashed her against a wall. She cried out in surprise just before she hit the wall, the impact taking the air out from her lungs.

This was the first good look she had of her kidnapper. Tall and Japanese with dyed hair. His eyes and features revealed nothing but a cruel smile as he stared down at her. "What do you want?" She asked fearfully as she tried to back away from him. Something in his insane eyes spoke volumes of his violent nature.

Before the guy could answer they heard another voice coming from the side. "Get away from her." Ranma had turned a corner to find a girl scared like hell of a tall guy. He didn't even give him a second glance as his eyes scanned the girl for any injuries. Seeing none besides a little bump on her left temple he turned his attention to the guy, who by now was looking at him with a sneer.

"Get lost, kid!" Said the man in a condescending tone. Though Ranma knew the guy wanted to fight. It was simply more important for him to take the girl away.

Ranma assumed his usual fighting stance. He wasn't feeling at his best, but he figured he could take the guy on. "Make me." He cockily said.

The man didn't wait another second and lunged at him. He opened up with a snap kick meant for Ranma's chin, which the pigtailed martial artist deftly sidestepped. He was about to counter when his eyes were filled with dirt. Cursing himself for being overconfident Ranma jumped away just in time to avoid a punch directed at his nose. He felt the move more than anything as he tried to clear his vision.

The man smirked, seeing that this boy would maybe last a little longer than expected. He waited for the boy to attack. No fun if the fight ended so fast.

Ranma rubbed his eyes and blinked, all the time making sure his opponent was away, until he could see clearly again. He assessed the man again and admitted to himself he had underestimated him. *Time to get serious.* Ranma decided. He didn't like fighting full out against anyone but this guy seemed to be good and the fight was to save a girl. Ranma jumped forward with a speed that surprised the other fighter and yelled out his technique. "KACHU TENCHIN AMAGURIKEN!" Delivering hundreds of blows in the blink of an eye.

His eyes opened wide at not expecting the boy to be this good, the man just barely managed to cover his face with his arms. He felt as his body was pummeled with incredible speed.

Ranma jumped upwards after the last punch and prepared to deliver a spin kick. But before he could land it he saw a black blur and felt a hard blow that sent him flying back. He twisted in midair and landed on his feet as he took a hand to his sore jaw. *That hurt.* He thought worriedly as he saw his opponent smirk even more evilly than before. *Oh, that's a nice thought. A guy as tough as Ryoga that hits even harder and is so fast I didn't even see the attack.* This would be a long fight. *Guess I really should go all out.* With that in mind he jumped forward once again.

The man avoided the opening kick and lashed out with a huge knife in a horizontal slash. He saw surprised when the boy kicked the knife out of his hand and it imbedded itself on a wall.

Just as Ranma recovered from the surprise of seeing that knife, he saw the guy tensing to lash out again. He instinctively dropped to the ground under another of the guy's incredibly fast attacks and used all the force in his arms and legs to propel himself up, head-butting the guy in the face. He pressed on with the Amaguriken to the ribcage and jumped back to recover his breath from the exertion. He wasn't used to fighting opponents as fast and strong as this guy.

The man stumbled back and clutched at his nose. He knew the nose was broken from all the blood that poured from it. He also felt his chest was on fire as each breath sent waves of pain to his brain. He glared murderously at the insect in front of him and bellowed. "I'M GONNA RIP YOUR HEART OUT!" He ran towards his opponent.

Ranma saw the guy charging blindly and smirked inwardly. *Just like Ryoga.* He thought as he prepared to receive him with another Amaguriken. The pig usually got angry and then Ranma would take him out easily. "KACHU TENCHIN AMAGURIKEN!" To his surprise, his fists hit nothing but air. He looked down and his eyes widened in shock. He received a powerful upper to the jaw that sent him flying upwards. He nearly fainted from the strength behind the blow.

The man jumped into an upper cut that caught the boy in the jaw, as they were both in the air he clutched his opponent's face with one hand and landed all his weight on it. They crashed with the ground over the boy's head, cracking the street, and he started to run, all the time pressing his hand down so that the boy's head never left the hard floor. He finished running and lifted the boy just to kick him against a wall, which cracked on impact.

Lily had watched the entire fight with a mixture of shock and hope. The boy was obviously very strong and seemed to be winning the fight. That was, at least, until her kidnapper got pissed. She saw him pummel mercilessly on her would be rescuer and then kick him to crash against the wall next to her. He bent down and clutched at his chest. "Are you OK?" She asked as she placed a hand on her back.

Ranma crashed with the wall and instinctively clutched his ribs. *Broken ribs? Check. One hell of a headache? Check. Labored breathing? Check.* A soft groan left his lips. He was used to receiving punishment in fights, but never like this. *This guy beat the crap out of me in a couple of attacks.* He heard the words of the girl he was trying to rescue and felt her hand on his back. Fighting against the dizziness he was feeling, he managed to croak out. "Run."

Lily heard the word and was about to protest when she saw a soft glow emanated from his hands. She nodded and started running out of the alley as fast as she could. Though she didn't do it to escape. She needed to find help for her rescuer before he got himself killed.

The man saw the girl run and was about to go after her when he noticed the boy getting up. "MOKO TAKABISHA!" His eyes widened at the sight. But they widened in anticipation. He delivered a clumsy upper to the chi blast and absorbed its energy before thrusting his hand forward and returning the favor with interest into a blood red energy attack. Ranma managed to barely jump out of the way and roll into a standing position. As he turned to his opponent he was shocked to find him only two inches away. *This is not good.* He thought.

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Lily was running through the streets, trying to find a phone to call the police. So far she hadn't had any luck, and she knew time wasn't hear ally.

Just as she ran around a corner she bumped into a couple of guys and ended up falling on her bottom. "What have we here?" Asked one of them lecherously.

She realized she had her legs open and her skirt up her knees and quickly covered her modesty. She was about to ask for help when she saw these two were probably from one of the gangs around. *Great, from one problem right into another.* "Do you know where I can find a phone?" She asked trying to suppress the nervousness from her voice.

The guys looked at each other and laughed. "Forget about that and let's have some fun." One of them said as his eyes roamed her body in a way that made her want to throw up.

Just as they were about to reach for her the sound of screeching tires called their attention to the side, where a black car had just stopped. Out of the passenger side got out a gaijin man wearing leather clothes. "Lily!" He called as he rushed to her side.

"Brother!" Lily cried out in relief as she hugged onto him for dear life. Although she was trying to be strong she was still scared to death after the day's events.

The gaijin turned to look at the two thugs. "Piss off."

"Why you..." One of them started but trailed off as he heard a gun being loaded. He turned to his side and found two guys in black suits pointing guns at him.

The two thugs were running as fast as they could in the blink of an eye.

Lily ignored them as she turned to her brother. "Billy, please follow me." She said as she stood up.

"What? Lily, we should get you out of here." Billy protested. Lily explained everything that had happened and told her brother about the boy who risked his life to save her. Billy's face turned grim as he heard her talk. By the time she finished he was looking angered like never before. He turned to one of the guys in black suits. "Get my sister out of here and call an ambulance from the car. Then call the boss and tell him what happened." The man nodded. Without another word Billy started running towards the alley where Lily came from, followed by the other man. Lily watched her brother go and hoped everything would be OK.

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He vomited blood as he tried to regain his footing. *This guy is good. He could probably take on the old ghoul and the pervert at the same time.* Ranma thought. This man had given him a beating that would have killed a normal person ten times over. No wasted move, no blow that made him lose consciousness. Everything he dished out was meant to inflict pain and prolong the suffering as long as possible.

Getting rid of such thoughts, Ranma finally managed to stand on his shaky legs. He lifted his hands in front of him, trying to concentrate.

The man smirked. He wasn't so angry anymore. Sure the hits he had received were painful, but he was actually thankful this boy could take so much punishment before dying. It was fun. "But all good things must come to an end." He said as he readied himself to finish the boy off.

Ranma saw the man walking towards him casually again. He didn't fool himself thinking he was off-guard. During the last couple of minutes he had tried to use the Hi Ryu Shoten Ha. No such luck. He couldn't keep up the dodging long enough before he was pummeled to the ground yet again. Now he desperately tried to come up with a plan. Too bad he didn't get more time to do it.

The man got into Ranma's defenses and punched him in the face with inhuman strength. He continued with a left punch to the midsection and finished lashing out in a blur once again. Ranma landed on his face, and try as he might, he couldn't get up this time.

The man snorted and walked to the wall, where his knife was imbedded. He took the weapon out and turned towards Ranma with the intent to finish the boy's life once and for all. He blinked in surprise at seeing someone he knew obstructing his way. "I should kill you for this, Yamazaki." Billy said through clenched teeth.

The bigger man chuckled. "But you won't because Geese wants me alive." He started advancing menacingly on the leather clad gaijin.

The man in the black suit pointed his gun at Yamazaki. "Alive doesn't mean in one piece." Billy said in a tone that left no doubt about his feelings for Yamazaki. "Leave my sister out of this or I'll personally see to it that you lose both legs."

Yamazaki chuckled some more, completely ignoring the man with the gun. "Tell Geese I want my money. Maybe what happened today will happen again if he doesn't pay me." He then turned around and walked away.

Billy didn't part his eyes from him until he was out of sight. He then turned to the downed boy and kneeled by his side. "What a mess." He said in his British accent as they waited for the ambulance.

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"You should rest. It was a long day." Billy insisted in the hospital room.

Lily, who was sitting in a chair next to Ranma's bed, shook her head. "I have to thank him for saving me from that man." She turned back to the pigtailed martial artist, who had casts and bandages all over most of his body. Several machines were connected to him, keeping him alive after his near death. The huge blood loss and internal damage was so extensive that the doctors thought he wouldn't last more than an hour. They were wrong, for he was showing signs of improvement in his health at a rate that impressed them.

Billy called his boss to inform him of the incident in detail. He was surprised when his boss asked about the kid's health. When asking about it he got a response that he should have expected. "I want any fighter that survives a bout with Yamazaki in my organization." Thinking back on it, that's pretty much how Billy was recruited in the first place. The boss also showed a lot of interest when told of Ranma's regenerative abilities.

*Well, I guess he'll be one of us when he gets out of here.* Billy thought. In fact he was glad for it. He also wanted to thank the kid for standing up for his sister, even if he wouldn't admit it to anyone.

Billy asked Lily about the fight, and as she described the moves used his respect for the young martial artist continued to increase. Hearing the description he could tell Ranma would have probably won if not for Yamazaki's blood. Billy hadn't personally fought Yamazaki, but he knew his chances of winning against him were very slim at best. Billy arrived just in time to see Ranma get those last hits and try to stand up for more. That kind of determination should be respected.

After a long silence while Billy pondered what his sister told him, Lily started to work on some flowers that were on the table next to the bed. Where she got them in so little time was beyond Billy.

And following the usual luck Ranma carried with him wherever he was, Lily pinched her finger with a thorn. Crying out in surprise more than pain she accidentally turned the vase towards the unconscious form on the bed. Of course the vase was filled with water, and of course the water drenched Ranma. Lily was so surprised by what she saw that she fainted right on the spot, luckily falling away from anything that might hurt her.

As he turned to the commotion, Billy's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he stared zombified at the scene. He unconsciously picked up the phone and dialed a number in it. "Get me the boss." He said when the call was answered by a secretary.

"This'll better be good." An angry man's voice was heard.

Billy spoke clearly shaken. "Boss, I guess you should come and see this."

The voice was cold as ice as it replied. "You can tell me over the phone, Billy."

Billy shook his head, unaware that his boss couldn't see the gesture. "You won't believe it unless you see it. I don't believe it and I just saw it with my own eyes."

There must have been something in Billy's voice that convinced the man, for after a few seconds he spoke again. "I'm on my way. And this will better be good." He warned even more coldly than before.

Billy answered without noticing the way he was being addressed. "Believe me, you won't be disappointed." And with that he hung the receiver and continued to stare at the bed where moments before laid a young man, instead of the redhead that was there now.


END PART 7


Author's notes: Ranma's finally in the other world! And he got his ass kicked and handed back to him. Why? He always puts himself in danger to help others. I just thought sometime he would chew more than he could bite.

If someone out there thinks I toned down Ranma's prowess, think again. His Moko Takabisha seems pretty much like Athena's Psycho Ball, a pretty weak attack if you ask me. The Hi Ryu Shoten Ha has the serious disadvantage that it depends on your opponent and moving into a spiral. If the spiral is broken... The Amaguriken is the only attack that seems to be of any use to me, and because of the focus in speed it seriously lacks in power. This are all my opinions, you're welcome to tell me what you think. It's just that I can't picture Ranma as a KOF character with his current abilities. He would be pretty pathetic in the game against Iori, Clark or Chris, just to name a few.

Anyway, in next chapter we'll see how Ranma comes to know the man that will be his master. Also, Ranma's curse works for him for the first time, and he likes the idea.

See you in part 8!