The end of the second century and the beginning of the third was a time of war that many thought would never end

The end of the second century and the beginning of the third was a time of war that many thought would never end. Ancient China, during this time, was awash in the blood of millions as warlords of all stripes vied for power and prestige. This time period in particular eventually became known as the Three Kingdoms period, named for the kingdoms that grew to be the greatest powers of the region; the Kingdom of Wu lead by the descendents of the great military tactician, Sun Tzu; the Kingdom of Shu lead by Liu Bei, a man of great virtue; and the Kingdom of Wei lead by a man of unparalleled ambition, Cao Cao.

While these three powers grew to great prominence over time, there were others who took part in the conflict that were not aligned with any of the kingdoms. Likewise, not everyone who took part in the legendary struggle were warriors seeking glory. Many fought simply for their survival. One of those factions resided in the southern provinces of China; a region known as Nan Zhong.

It was a treacherous region filled with deep forests, poisonous lakes and dangerous creatures that, at that point, were strange and unique. It was not a place one would think they would find a civilization, yet one existed and it thrived. While the people who lived in this civilization were seen as savages by the larger kingdoms, there was a complex social structure in place that wound up outliving the other kingdoms. Because over the many centuries these people, who called themselves the Nanman, migrated over the length and breadth of China and formed the modern day Amazon tribes.

Much of this part of Amazon history had been glossed over by the current generations; especially the parts that show that at one point, men were a part of the ruling class, as shown by the many kings that ruled regions of the ancient Nanman territories. One thing, however, had been passed down from generation to generation...that being the life and legacy of the Amazon legend. A figure that was purported to be the strongest woman who ever lived...

She was the daughter of the ancient god of fire – Zhu Rong.

-o-

Dreamweaver Studios Presents

Ranma½

Love and War

Summer Night's Dream

-o-

The sun was hanging low over the western sky, marking the end of another day in the center of chaos, known as Nerima. One of the new additions, one Hayate Kurogane sat on a bench in a very familiar park. It had been some time ago when he had captured that okonomiyaki chef and held her here as bait to trap his nemesis, Ryouga Hibiki. Of course, that plan didn't pan out too well and he got beat down good even before Hibiki arrived. Leaning back in the bench, Hayate stared at the reddening sky, going over the events of his life that lead him to that forsaken town. It seemed as though all of his machinations had ended badly ever since he met the fang-toothed idiot all those years ago.

He sighed heavily and adjusted the opened collar of his dress shirt...the third one he had to wear that day. Ever since he got that damnable curse, he had been a magnet for cold water, no matter where he went. But since he arrived at Nerima, that magnetism seems to have been ramped up ten-fold. He had long since given up wearing full suits, as they ended up ruined at a rate faster than he could get new ones in. Of course, he couldn't step out without a little style. Hayate had a reputation to keep...or, since he was in a new environment, build. Fortunately, there were discount outlets a plenty where he could purchase a decent looking wardrobe without having to shell out too much cash. The quality may not have been up to his usual standards, but that was a sacrifice he had to make.

That was another score he would have to settle with Ryouga. After he finally beat his adversary to a bloody pulp, Hayate would have to send him a bill for the ruined suits.

Ah well, nothing could be done by sitting there brooding. Standing up, Hayate brushed off some dirt from one of his pant legs, picked up his umbrella and started home.

The sun sank deeper into the horizon allowing the first star of the night to appear. As the reddening sky gave way to the shimmering purple marking the onset of nightfall, Hayate couldn't help but be impressed. In his pursuit of Ryouga, he allowed some of the simpler things in life to pass him by. He had never once stopped to smell the roses, as it were and the natural beauty of the evening sky set as a backdrop to the town set his heart momentarily aflutter. As much as he had come to loathe Nerima, he had to admit, it wasn't without its merits.

"LOOK OUT BELOW SONNY!"

-WHAM!-

Of course, those merits didn't offset the reasons for the loathing. Not by a long shot. Peeling himself off of the sidewalk, he gingerly fingered the miniature boot print that was left embedded on his nose. The familiar voice sent his fluttering heart pounding in a seething rage as he was reminded there was another adversary there that needed his attention as well. Leaping to his feet, he spun around, scanning for the diminutive martial arts master that had been causing him no end of grief since he arrived.

"You won't get away from me this time, you old troll!" vowed Hayate, through bared teeth.

"Who's a troll?"

With a start, Hayate cast his gaze upwards as far as he could, finding the aforementioned troll perched upon his head. Just how in the world did he get up there, Hayate wondered. Especially since the old man still had his trademarked sack on his back...and he never even noticed until the pervert spoke.

Taking a contented puff on his pipe, Happousai peered down at the teen, "What is it about you kids anyway? Why is it you feel you have to rob an old man of his fun, hmm? Even you, who hasn't even been here for very long, feel like you have to butt into my business."

"I could care less what you do, old man," answered Hayate. "But since I've been here, what you do usually ends up with me getting beat up!" He took a swipe at Happousai, which the old man expertly avoided by hopping down of the younger man's head.

"And what have I ever done to get you beat up, kid?" Happousai asked with a straight face.

"Say what? Don't tell me you forgot what you did to me before! You shoved that sack of women's underpants on me and let that angry mob of girls beat me up, think I was in league with you!"

Happousai raised an eyebrow. This new kid sure was a bit longwinded...kinda like that Kuno fellow. "Sorry, sonny. I don't remember that at all. Maybe that was something you did on your own."

Hayate was taken aback. Flustered and blushing profusely, he blasted back, "Are you crazy? I would never do such a thing! Unlike you, I'm not the perverted type."

"That's not what I hear," Happousai said with a smirk. "I understand you've been getting around too. Like when you broke into the woman's bathhouse that time."

"That's only because YOU blew me in there with those stupid bombs of yours!"

"Details, details. Tell ya what, kid; I'll let you become my student. How does that sound? I'll teach you the best ways to get to the girls and all their goodies." He put his sack down on the sidewalk, pulled out a pair of panties and rubbed his face into them. "What do ya say?"

"Don't insult me!" Angry at the offer, Hayate took another swing at Happousai. Deftly, the old master dodged the punch and landed on Hayate's arm. After another draw on his pipe, he popped it on Hayate's hand, causing it to be burned by the hot ash. "AAAH!"

As the teen brushed the ash off and tried to cool his hand by blowing on it, Happousai bounded away with his sack of goodies. "You should rethink becoming my student, son! An amateur like yourself might get hurt trying to do what I do!"

"That no good, lousy..."

"Look! There's the old man's accomplice!"

Now what? Still wincing from the pain, Hayate looked behind him and saw another sight he had come to hate; a large mob of girls with anger in their eyes and evil intentions for him. "Would you girls please leave me alone?" he went with a sigh. "I'm not the guy you want. The old troll is. And I'm NOT in league with him either."

"Oh really?" asked the girl in the lead of the mob, one he had met too many times before, Miyabi Narita. "So tell me, what's that on your head, hmm?"

His head? What in the world are they chattering about this time? He put his still stinging hand upon his head and instead of grabbing hair as he expected, he felt lace. With an audible gulp, he grabbed the foreign object and brought it down to his field of vision. Hayate lamented his luck, "Just great. These are the same panties that old pervert was rubbing against him. When in the world did he manage to...Listen ladies, this isn't what it looks like!"

"Save it!" Miyabi snapped. "We're tired of you martial arts types using your skills to prey on poor, defenseless girls like us!" Hayate rolled his eyes. Poor and defenseless? There was a lie if he ever heard one. "That's why we recruited a martial artist of our own to take you down!" The collection of girls parted revealing a particularly stunning girl with dark brown, waist length hair and a red, embroidered Chinese dress that was ankle length, but with slits that ran back up to her waist, exposing her well toned, powerful legs. Hayate may not have been a pervert, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the beauty before him. "Her name may be Summer," Miyabi continued, "but she's going to be your fall!"

"While I would love to stay here and indulge in more of your witty wordplay," said Hayate, "I simply can't. Places to go, people to see. You understand. So I hope you'll forgive me if I take a rain check!" Deciding discretion was the better part of valor, using the patented and trademarked martial arts super jump, Hayate leapt to the top of one of the adjoining vegetable markets and headed back home at full sprint. He actually got through an encounter with the old man with minimal damage and was hoping to keep the good fortune going by escaping the misdirected wrath of the female mob.

Unfortunately, he found his escape route blocked, as the girl, using a martial arts super jump of her own, sailed over his head and landed in his path. "And here I thought those girls were just exaggerating about the perversion problem here. Seems this town could use a bit of a clean up," she said, giving him a bemused glare.

"Look...Summer, right? I'm going to tell you like I've been telling those other girls since I got here; I am NOT a pervert! I'm not the guy you're after. It's all just a huge misunderstanding." Raising an eyebrow, Summer looked down at Hayate's hand, still blistering slightly from the ash. Confused as to what she could've been looking at, he looked at his own hand and noticed he was still clutching the panties he just recently removed from the top of his head. He quickly dropped the offending women's undergarments and tried to wipe his hand clean.

"You aren't going to get off that easily," warned Summer, as she dropped into her fighting stance. "Let's just see how good of a martial artist you really are!"

Summer launched herself at Hayate with an open palmed strike to his chest. Hayate parried the attack with the handle of his umbrella and with his free hand used her momentum to push her behind him. With her out of his path, he tried to make his escape once again, leaping to the next building over. But before he could get any further, Summer managed to correct herself and she made the leap also, getting in his way again.

"Damn, she's fast," Hayate said to himself. "I guess I don't have a choice."

"As I said, you aren't going to get off that easily!" Once again, Summer charged him with the open palmed strike to the chest. And, once again, Hayate parried her attack with the handle of his umbrella. This time, however, using her free hand, Summer grabbed the arm he used to hold the umbrella and tossed him over her shoulder and down to the roof of the building. Slightly dazed, Hayate opened his eyes and found himself in a very...interesting vantage point.

"Huh...are those 'Hello Kitty' prints?"

A slight blush came up on the girl's face, at he looking up her skirt. She wasn't as sensitive to it as some of the other girls in town were, but she also didn't like the idea of someone peeking at them uninvited. She slammed her fist down, intending to put Hayate out of commission, but he rolled out of the way just in time, and her fist slammed through the market's roof.

"She's pretty strong to," he said to himself. "I'd better not take her too lightly." Deciding to turn things up a notch, Hayate took the offensive, launching a series of forward kicks to the girl's head, which she was easily able to dodge. Being as quick as she was, though, he knew she would and had no intention of landing any of those kicks. But with her attention on his feet, she paid no attention to his umbrella. After swinging and missing with a roundhouse kick, which she ducked, he made a slash at her with the pointed end of his weapon, charged with his ki.

Being down low, Summer was able to see the umbrella coming, so she was able to hop backwards just enough to keep the tip from connecting. Hayate smiled, knowing that too was a feint. Once the umbrella completed its arch, it landed in his free hand, where he pressed a button, which caused the telescopic handle to shoot outwards. The ki charged handle landed on the girl's stomach before she could react, causing her to stumble backwards.

This was his chance to put the fight away. "KIHAKU SETSUDANKI!" Swinging the tip of the umbrella back around, he fired his crescent attack, hoping to knock his opponent out.

When she heard him call out his attack, Summer regained her balance and planted her back foot to make sure her stance was solid. Then, charging her own ki into her hands, she cried out "SEISHOUKIRU!" When his crescent came into range, she sliced into his attack, cutting it in two. The two halves of his attack passed by her harmlessly, with one half crashing into the front of the market with a thunderous explosion and the other striking the back.

After the exchange, the two combatants silently stared each other down, not giving an inch. Absently, Hayate stretched, trying to work out the kinks developed in his back thanks to her hip toss. For her part, Summer rubbed her stomach, still smarting from the blow he landed with the handle of his umbrella. Deciding to break the silence first, Summer said to him, "I have to admit, you're pretty good. I never expected to find a guy like you here."

"You're not too bad yourself," returned Hayate. "Are you sure there isn't any way we could talk this out? I mean, all I wanted to do was go home, have a little dinner and then get to sleep."

"The other girls said that you were a pervert that needed to be taught a lesson. Now, where I come from, what they claimed you did wouldn't have been made this big a deal. But I promised them that I would help them combat the more perverted individuals in this town. And I have to keep my word, no matter what."

Hayate shook his head, "If you insist." He set himself back in a fighting stance and she followed suit. Though, something was different about her stance from before. Before, she had a more casual, if one could call it that, stance, riddled with possible openings...a stance a first year trainee would have had before being taught the proper posture. Her stance now was much tighter with fewer openings to take advantage of. It seemed before she didn't take him very seriously either. If she could muster that much speed and strength before, what could she have in store for him now that was serious?

There was another change in her demeanor that caught his attention. Was she...smiling?

"I hope you're ready," she announced, "'cause here I come!" After giving fair warning, she charged at him, her ki charged in her hands, ready for anymore surprises Hayate may have had in store for her.

For his part, Hayate began to spin his ki charged umbrella, waiting for his opponent to get closer. He didn't know what her smile was about, but it really left him unsettled. Whether she had something nasty in mind for him or if, for some reason, she was beginning to enjoy their fight, it didn't matter. What was clear was that the longer the fight went on, the more it would favor her. He had to finish her off quickly. Obviously, one of his crescent attacks wouldn't be able to do the job against her, but he doubted she would be able to defend against a large volley of them.

"Time to get this over with!" declared Hayate. "Take this! KIHAKU –"

"SWEETO! COME TO PAPA!"

-WHAM!-

Once again, from out of nowhere, Happousai appeared, bouncing off Hayate's head and, this time, managing to attach himself to Summer's breasts. "Ah...it's just as heavenly as I imagined they would be!"

"AAAAH! Get off me!" screamed Summer. She threw a punch at the old man, but he managed to disappear from her chest before she was able to connect. "Ugh! Where'd he go?"

She got her answer when he reappeared, running between her legs, causing her skirt to fly up and expose her undergarments. "Oh," went Happousai, appreciatively, "Hello Kitty!"

"Gotcha!"

-STOMP!-

Recovering from having his head used as a springboard, yet again, Hayate finally returned the favor, stomping Happousai down to the ground, while he was distracted by Summer's underwear. And for the indignity of the encounter, and for creating a situation where he could have gotten beaten up again, Hayate made sure to dig his heel deep in the old man's back. "Stupid old man."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Summer walked up to Hayate and put a hand on his shoulder. "It looks as though I owe you one."

"Does this mean you'll put an end to this pointless encounter before one of us gets seriously injured?"

"I suppose in this case, I could look the other way while I deliver the old man to the girls. I don't think they'll be too disappointed. Though, I was looking forward to seeing how our fight turned out."

Hayate blinked, "Err...right." Not really wanting to find out where that line of thought would've taken them, Hayate turned his attention back to the perverted martial arts master he currently and literally had under heel. "Alright old man, it looks like you're going back to...what?" Unfortunately, instead of finding Happousai under his foot, he found what looked to be an octopus statue.

"There you are," said Happousai, back on the roof of the vegetable market. He picked up the pair of panties he had left on Hayate's head and rubbed it against his face again. "I was afraid I had lost you, my silky darlings. Now, let's get back home!"

"You aren't going anywhere!" shouted Hayate as he and Summer followed Happousai back onto the roof of the market. "You're going to pay for all the grief you put me through!"

"And I won't let you get away with stealing women's underwear," added Summer.

"Aww, c'mon kids," pleaded Happousai, giving them his fake innocent puppy-dog look. "Can't you let an old man have a little fun in the last few days of life he has left?"

"Not a chance!" roared Hayate, as he charged. He swung his umbrella furiously at Happousai, which the old man was able to dodge easily. Not wanting to be left out, Summer attacked as well, striking quickly with her powerful kicks. Despite their best efforts, however, the two teens couldn't lay a finger on him. Deciding to have a bit of fun while making the two kids look foolish, after dodging a front kick from Summer, he danced around behind her and gave her a goose on the behind.

"Oooh! Nice and firm," said Happousai, critiquing her butt. "Just the way I like it!"

"WHY YOU-" Before she could even get the insult out of her mouth, Happousai grabbed her wrist with the butt of his pipe and using his considerable leverage, he spun her around and threw her back, causing her to collide with Hayate.

"You kids ready to give up yet?" Happousai asked.

"No way!" yelled Hayate, as he jumped back up from his prone position. "Eat this! KIHAKU SETSUDANKI"

Picking herself off the ground, Summer decided to match Hayate's ki attack with one of her own. Doing a spin kick, she charged her ki into her feet, firing an energy projectile, "RANDOUKINGUUKUU!"

The two attacks hit their marks, causing another thunderous explosion that rattled the entire block. When the smoke cleared, Happousai, with skin singed and gi smoking, was down for the count. Seeing their handy work, the two teens puffed up their chests with pride. Finally, they had managed to beat the old man and bring him to justice. "Serves you right for being such a nuisance, you old fool," Hayate said with a smirk.

"You stupid kids," growled Happousai. "Get a couple of flashy moves and you think you're something special." With every word he spoke, his ki grew in intensity.

"Looks as though we made him angry," Summer commented.

"Whatever," Hayate said dismissively. "I've gone a couple of rounds with him before. He's probably going to try using his stupid coconut bomb attack or something. Trust me, he's mostly talk."

"Mostly talk, huh?" the aged martial arts master repeated. "I'll show you who's mostly talk. Evil as I may be, there are a ton of moves in my arsenal that I've dared not to use up until now, because of how horribly destructive they are. But since you kids are so intent on playing with fire, I'm going to burn the both of you good!" The dark, evil ki that danced wildly around Happousai became concentrated and formed a compact orb around his body that was roughly three times his size. "Founding School of Anything Goes Martial Arts Finishing Move: HELL'S JUDGEMENT!"

The supercharged, but compact ball of energy exploded outwards and upwards, appearing as though the devil himself had opened up the ground and blasted a wave of evil spiritual energy towards the stars. As a result of the awesome attack, the combatants were blown clear to the other end of town, while the top half of the vegetable market was completely incinerated. Unable to stand after receiving such a monstrous attack, the remnants of the market collapsed down onto itself, to the horror of everyone down on street level. In the midst of the devastation, the people on the street could hear the storeowner, who was still inside at the time of the collapse, cry out in anguish, "NOOOOO! MY CABBAGES!"

-o-

With a groan, Summer pushed herself up off of the ground. From the look of her surroundings, the impact of the explosion had flung them to the parking lot of an industrial park at least 10 blocks away from their previous position. Doing a self-analysis, she found that she had indeed been burned rather badly. Her clothes were in tatters and she was bleeding from various cuts and bruises she sustained from flying debris. All in all, however, she was fine; which was amazing considering the intensity of the attack that was used against her and Hayate.

Speaking of Hayate, he was lying face down on the ground a good ten feet away. Not yet feeling well enough to stand up, she crawled over to him and rubbed her hand on his back to see if he was still alive. Feeling the touch of her hand on his aching back, Hayate groaned and looked up at her. Seeing that he was indeed alive, Summer let out a sigh of relief and smiled. Using what little strength he had left, Hayate rolled over. "So, did we win?" he croaked.

The girl couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous question. "Does stuff like that happen here often?"

"I haven't been here for very long myself," said Hayate. "But from what I've seen so far, yes."

Summer rotated her right arm, trying to get some feeling back into it. "You know...when those girls recruited me to join their group, I wasn't too sure about it. I hadn't planned on staying here for very long. But after tonight, I've found it quite...interesting. I think I might stick around for a bit longer."

Hayate cocked an eyebrow at her statement. "You sure have a funny definition of 'interesting'."

"So I've been told." Satisfied that her arms were suitably working, she helped her battered one-time opponent to sit up. She favored him with a smile, "Of course, the town wasn't the only thing I found interesting."

Hayate couldn't help but blush at the comment, though it was difficult to notice as it blended in well with all the bruises he was sporting. After clearing his throat, he responded, "We did make a pretty good duo, didn't we? Though, it would have been nice if it had turned out better than it did."

"Well, maybe we'll get another chance? Hopefully, doing something more pleasant?"

"I dunno. If this is how you go about getting to know a guy..."

"Don't worry," Summer went with another laugh. "I promise next time, I'll go easier on you."

-o-

On the opposite side of town, a very bruised and battered founder of the Anything Goes School of Martial arts found himself also face down in the ground. Apparently, the might of the 'Hell's Judgment' attack was so powerful that it created a forceful blowback that even injured the user of the skill. With a cough, Happousai pushing himself off of the ground and shook his head, trying to catch his bearings. "Ugh...now I remember why I never use that technique."

Taking a look at his surroundings, it appeared as though he was in the middle of a forest. The trees looked very strange, though. Apparently, the root of the tree was a very dark color, while going up, the color changed to a more flesh toned. Realizing that his vision had been blurred as a result of his battered condition, Happousai shook his head again, and rubbed his eyes, hoping it would allow him to see properly.

He took another look at his surroundings and found he had misidentified his surroundings. He appeared to have still been in the shopping district, though a few blocks away from where he fought with the two kids. And the 'trees' he saw before were actually legs. To be more precise, they were the legs of the mob of girls that had been chasing him before he ran into Hayate the first time.

"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here." One of the girls stepped forward with her arms crossed and look of evil intent on her face. It was none other than the leader of the pack, Miyabi Narita.

Seeing his predicament, Happousai decided to use his innocent, puppy-dog face again. "Could you dear, kind girls help a poor, defenseless old man get back to his home?"

Miyabi cracked her knuckles and grinned. "Oh sure. My friends and I would just LOVE to help you. Wouldn't we girls?" The mob of girls that had him surrounded all flashed evil grins of their own.

"Err...on second thought," he stammered, shooting up to his feet, "I think I've troubled you girls enough for one night. I should be able to get back home on my own. So, if you will excuse me..."

"GET HIM!"

"AAAK!"

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