All respects to Rumiko Takashi, her characters are obviously not mine, and not my property.

				        Baka gajin no Nerima 
			                 (The Fool Foreigner of Nerima)

				               Chapter 4a
				 Tokyo no Baka wa Bodukai
			                 (Tokyo's Tournament of Fools)

	Then sun rose over the horizon, in the land of the sun's origin. Once more it bathed the Nerima district of
Tokyo with it's radiance. Sleepy children didn't need any reason to rise with the sun this morning however, for 
today was the first day of summer holiday for all eager young nihonjin
	Of course, some people had their own reasons to get up.
	Loud shouting, kyahs, grunts, and infrequent splashes erupted from the grounds of the Tendo's School of 
Indiscriminate Grappling. It would have been an odd sight for a casual passer by. A red-haired onna, a blonde 
hair gaijin, both tackling a giant panda in a midair martial artists brawl.
	Howver, all in Nerima were used to such oddities, this morning was no different from any other.
	_I've been here nearly a month now._ Alex thought to himself. _And it turns out I'm a better fighter than I 
ever guessed._
	While his subsequent victories over Ranma were infrequent - normally feats of pure luck or chance -, Alex had 
established himself as one of the true martial artists in the community. Why just the other day he had to defend 
himself against Kuno, and had actually taken his bokken away from him - a feat even Ranma couldn't boast - and 
broke it in two against a statue of headmaster Kuno. Tatewaki had ran off crying, and Alex hoped it would 
discourge the Kendoist for awhile.
	Also, Alex had acquired his own means of defense. A sturdy bambo staff, a gift from Cologne, though Alex 
couldn't discern a reason for such a friendly gesture.
	He imployed the staff sometimes in his morning brawls, not all the time though, lest he become dependant 
upon a weapon, like Kuno. Today, he fought shotokan style, or open-handed.
	After working up a good sweat, and a bit water logged after being spiked into the koi pond a few to many 
times, the martial artists of the household retired for their morning baths and then Kasumi's wonderful 
breakfast.
	With a mouthful of rice, Alex posed the question, "So what're we gonna do for our first day of holiday?"
	With a fishbone hanging out of his mouth, Ranma replied, "Let's go see Warren and get him to come with us, 
then we'll figure something out."
	Akane give a side-glance toward Ranma, "Both of you have horrible manners, I think he got them from you 
Ranma, and what about me, can't I come?"
	Ranma spat the fishbone into his bowl, "This is guy stuff Akane, you couldn't possibly have any interest in
tagging along."
	Alex gave a curious look, "Hey, I wouldn't mind."
	Akane smiled, "Thank you Alex."
	Ranma grumbled and continued eating. After they were done, the three of them set off for the Nekohaten, it 
was still early morning, yet from a fair distance they could detect the scents of chinese culinary delights.
	The local Chinese population of Nerima - Colonge, Shampoo, Mousse, and Warren were the only people in the 
area with more than a quarter of chinese in their blood - was enjoying a nice traditional Joketzuku breakfast. 
The menu was sweet and sour pork from a pig killed with one's bare hands, fish wrestled out of a nearby river 
naked, and noodles, with all the necessary materials for making them hand picked. Of course Colonge only cooked, 
the teenagers of the household performed all the afformentioned tasks, however Alex was not aware of the hard 
work that had gone into something as simple as breakfast.
	Warren had already finished his breakfast, though when Alex stepped in to fetch him, he noticed Colonge 
scolding him at the table for acting like a greedy westerner, eating his food like a man who had been starved - 
and on this note she made a remark saying that he was ungrateful, like she didn't feed him well - and finished 
the discipling with a strong cane blow to the head. With that done she said he could go off with Alex and the 
two nihonjin, but his chores would be doubled when he returned.
	Warren came out grumbling in english. <Damn old goat, what a stiff.>
	Alex laughed, <I could have told you that you would have a tough time.>
	Warren growled, <One more smart ass remark, and I'll find a tea cup.>
	Alex raised his hands as a gesture of peace, <Okay okay.>
	After they met back up with Ranma and Akane, they four of them decided they'd head to the arcade. Ranma 
may have been good in reality, but Alex wondered how good he was in the realm of electronic entertainment.
	The arcade was quite crowded, as it was now noon, and all the little kids were enjoying their holidays by 
enhancing their skills on the latest technological wonders Japan had to offer. Bright lights flashed and sound 
effects blared throughout the crowded space of the video game entertainment establishment (that's fancy english 
for Arcade).
	Alex cracked his knuckles and neck, "Well Warren, choose your battlefield."
	Akane and Ranma had confused looks.
	Warren put his hand to his chin in thought, "So many choices."
	Akane pointed to a random machine, "How about that one?"
	Alex flashed a grin, "Ah, excellent choice, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 it is then!"
	Warren groaned, and Alex knew why. Warren's speciality was 3d arena fights, like Virtua Fighter, Tekken, 
and Soul Caliber, Alex on the other hand was king of the 2d fighter, like Street Fighter.
	They deposited their yen, and choose their weapons.
	"Spider-Man, Rock-Man, and Strider!" Alex called out.
	"Uh Ryu..Cyclops..and uh...Ken?" Warren didn't sound to sure of himself.
	It was a miserable battle for Warren. Alex started out with a Maximum Spider hyper attack, which left his 
target, Ryu, wide open, when he called out Rock-Man for a Soccer Kick which kept the digital Shotokan fighter 
in a juggle, and then was finished off by a deadly midair combo from Strider. Cyclops faired no better, 
Spider-Man tossed him about like a rag doll while Rock-Man was able to counter Cyke's optic blasts with his 
Mega Buster. Strider was murder on Cyke's long range capabilities thanks to his close range power. Ken wasn't 
even worth the effort of changing, Spider-Man webbed him and then quickly finished him off with a Web-Crawler 
attack.
	Alex chidded, "My my, that was incredibly easy."
	Warren shouted, <Shut up!>
	Alex patted his friend on the back, "Now now my friend, no need to get all pouty. I'll gladly play you 
again."
	Warren just grumbled some more, but when he looked over his shoulder to let Ranma or Akane have a try, he 
noticed they were gone.
	"Huh? Where'd they go?"
	Alex looked over his shoulder aswell, "Better find them."
	After searching, the two found the reluctant couple facing off at Dance Dance Revolution! At the moment 
Ranma had the lead but Akane was making a steady gain.
	Alex remarked snidely, "Of course, Ranma would have to find the one game that relies on physical movement 
rather than any gaming skill."
	Warren noted however, "Yeah, but Akane seems to be beating him now. He got a good start but now he seems to 
be trailing."
	Alex and Warren soon joined the crowd of viewers and cheerers. There were only ten seconds left and the two 
of them were almost tied.
	When the counter reached zero, Akane came out on top, by a mere 50 points. Ranma had nearly broken his 
dance pad though from dancing alittle to hard on it.
	Akane giggled as she got out of the harness, "Hehe, that was fun."
	Ranma was perturbed suffice to say, "You only won cause you're a girl, girls are better at dancing everyone
knows it."
	Akane didn't stop giggling nor did she remove her confident smirk. 
	That moment, Alex noticed a flyer posted on the side of the game machine, and another like it at the 
entrance to the arcade.
	"Hmm? Now what's this?"
	Alex read the flyer, "A tournament?"
	Warren read it aswell, "To determine the greatest fighter in Tokyo."
	Ranma put his arms around the shoulders of both Americans, "Alright, finally some real competition!"
	Akane took notice aswell, "In one week, wow, it's going to be held right in the Shinjuku Martial Arts 
Arena!"
	Ranma could barely contain his excitement, "Wow, Shinjuku! We'll be able to see all the skyscrapers, the 
big city!"
	Alex couldn't help but made a rather interesting social note, <Amazing how even though it's all the same 
city, you'd think he was a country hick going to New York.>
	Warren narrowed his eyes, <If that's some stealth way of insulting me, you are sooo dead.>

	The rules of the Tournament were simple, only residents of the various Tokyo districts allowed, or those 
who had taken up residence for a month or more. No bladed or piercing weapons, firearms, or electronic devices 
allowed. That made Alex's staff quite legit, of course, it did the same for Kuno's bokken, Shampoo's bonbori, 
and alot of Mousse's weapons. Also, Colonge had provided Warren with a wooden practice straightsword, so that he 
would not be unarmed in the tournament.
	In the last week before the tournament, a record influx of travel from the surrounding area of Tokyo toward 
the Shinjuku district was noted. The fighters of Nerima were preparing themselves for the tournament, with 
street fights becoming more and more frequent as the warriors gauged their skills against one another. The 
residents of the Tendo's were no acception.  Genma had forced Ranma to work double time during their morning 
brawls, and of course Alex was more than happy to join in. Alex also spent many hours training against Warren's 
practice sword with his staff, and before anyone knew it, it was the first day of the Tournament.

	The subway ride to Shinjuku was crowded to say the least, even for a Tokyo subway. It was as if in one day, 
every man, woman, and child of martial skill, made a massive pilgramige to the Shinjuku Martial Arts Arena. 
Alex had made sure to bring along all the necessary forms, he had a feeling before he came to Nihon, that his 
black belt certificate would be most useful, and it was. It enabled him automatic entry into the tournament,
allowing him to bypass the elimination preliminaries, which was designed to narrow down the very large number of 
fighters. Since they were representatives of an 'unofficial' school, Ranma and Akane would have to go through 
the preliminaries, same with alot of the fighters from Nerima, as they did not belong to any official fighting 
schools of Tokyo. Kuno however, was also given the same privelage as Alex, as he was an established member of 
the kendo world. Alex had a foreboding feeling about the nutcase in the kekogi. He however, noticed a few 
unfamiliar faces. Another kendoist, only this one didn't possess Kuno's...haughtiness. He was wearing a blue 
jacket and denim jeans, with his bokken against his shoulder, he seemed deep in thought, over what, Alex 
couldn't imagine. 
	He knew however, he was going to see some weird stuff in this tournament. After seeing Mousse pulling all 
sorts of weapons from his robe; Ryouga busting rocks with a one-finger strike; and Ranma throwing punches faster
than he could see, he expected to see quite a few odd or almost unnatural techniques. Of course, that's not to 
say that he didn't have his own tricks up his sleeve, he was just worried if they'd be enough. He wasn't upset 
with himself for being worried. When going up against people you'd never fought before, you were always 
cautious.
	He felt the subway train start to slow, he noticed the energy in Ranma's eyes. Ranma was always ready for a
good fight, not that he was violent, Alex knew that, Ranma was just the type who almost had a constant feeling 
of boredom if he wasn't doing something physical. Alex gave a mental chuckle, and readied himself to move. The 
elders of the Saotome and Tendo families had also come along to offer advice to the young ones, and Nabiki and 
Kasumi had come to see the tournament and cheer them on. Just across from where he, Ranma, and Akane were 
sitting, Mousse, Shampoo, Warren, and Cologne were seated. Shampoo's eyes were closed, she appeared to be in 
thought aswell. Mousse was in an arguement with a pole, and Cologne was yelling at him to put his glasses on. 
Warren was simply giving Alex a majorly confident look.
	Ryouga & Kuno were off to themselves at seperate parts of the train, but they both had their attentions 
fixed on the trio of seats Alex happened to accompany Ranma and Akane in. He had a feeling this tournament would 
go way beyond normal competition and become something of a blood feud. He was only sorry he was caught in the 
middle.
	He guessed that many of the other notable fighters were on other trains, after all, not many could be
coming in from Nerima that he hadn't already seen.
	The train finally came to a stop, and people funneled in and out simultaneously, moreso out than in.
	"Well, this is it." He said.
	Ranma had a big stupid grin, "Yeah, let's go!" With that he dashed out of the train.
	Akane grumbled "Baka.", and followed after him.
	Soun laughed, "Ah youth, well Saotome, let's go!"
	Gendo laughed in unison, "Onward, forward, and upward Soun!" With that the two elder artists followed after 
their children at a matched step.	
	Nabiki had that looked of greed, and simply strolled on after her father, while Kasumi had that innocent 
wide-eyed look as she moved to catch up with everyone else.
	Alex sighed, and bolted out, just barely evading the closing doors. With his staff in a sling he made on 
his backpack, he took the escalator up to the surface of the Shinjuku area. Suffice to say, he was taken aback.
	Glittering towers of glass and steel towered higher than he ever though possible. Of course, he was from 
Anchorage, Alaska. The biggest city he had ever seen was in Seoul, Korea, and this was even bigger than that. He
was almost sure he was going to be swept up in the flow of people, when a strong arm grabbed him and hauled him 
along. He noticed that grip by now, it was Akane.
	"You know, you're probably the only American in this tournament, accept for your friend Warren." Akane 
said.
	"I doubt that, considering the population density of the Tokyo area, the chances of other American fighters
being here is high." He replied.
	Before he could say another word, he noticed they were already at a large dome area, with a whole bunch of 
kanji written on a board on the front. He guessed it was the Shinjuku Arena, and he was right. There were more 
fighters than Alex had ever imagined gathered for registration. Since Alex had been able to preregister (via an 
internet cafe he had found in Nerima) he needed only flash some papers he printed off, and he was in. Everyone 
else had to go through a rather extensive screening process.
	After an hour of screening a piece, all of the fighters from Nerima were signed up, the preliminary 
elimination rounds were going to be held in one hour, so the fighters had the opportunity to warm up. He took 
the opportunity to merely relax, though he noticed Kuno was just steaming for someone to, as he said, "defeat so
that I may pass the time". He knew Kuno would get his just desserts in the first round, he secretly wished he'd 
be Alex's first match, but then he killed that thought. Anticipating or hoping for a certain opponent was 
setting yourself up for defeat. He decided he'd atleast look ready, so he went to the mens locker room. Every 
registered fighter had a predetermined locker, and low and behold, his was right next to Warrens, who happened 
to be using his at the moment. He was just getting into his Bak Fu Pai uniform, a sleeves silk black top and 
black silk pants, red trim around the vest and shoes.
	Alex told Warren he looked ready to kick some ass, while he himself got into his red cotton Kenpo Gi, with 
patches labeling him a member of the Alaska Kenpo Karate Association. He took his bamboo staff from the sleeve 
he had in his backpack, made sure his belt was in the proper posistion, the knot tightened to the right of his 
torso rather than the middle, to symbolize his rank as a student, and walked back out, barefoot of course as was 
the Kenpo tradition. He then found his way out to the arena, and found a comfortable place on the floor to take 
a short nap. His eyes closed...
	Suddenly, someone woke him. He felt like he'd gotten a good hour or more of sleep. He looked up and saw 
that it was Nabiki waking him.
	"Baka, wake up before I take that staff and bash you on the head with it!" She growled.
	Alex brushed her hand off his shoulder, "I'm up, I'm up." He muttered.
	Nabiki started to give a run down, "Good, cause the elimination preliminaries are starting. They've set up 
a bunch of mini-rings, apparently during the actual tournament, the area is one big ring, right now it's divided 
into five different rings. Ranma and Akane have already cleared five fighters a piece. Of course, so has just 
about everyone else."
	Alex looked for himself, he noticed that the ban on bladed and piercing weapons didn't slow Mousse down. He 
had broken out the brass man again, and proceeded to send a Jujutsu artist sailing across the arena, to land 
right in the bleechers. Shampoo meanwhile, had broken several bonbori already, apparently on the heads of a few 
male Joketzuku who happened to live in the Tokyo area. Ryouga also found the fighters there no challenge for his 
immense strength and bandana's. He also had gotten a new 'special' umbrella just for this fight. Alex began to 
worry that he would be in over his head for this fight, but he steeled himself, and looked at both Kuno, and the
other, still enigmatic kendoist from the subway.
	The two kenshi had locked eyes with each other. Alex could feel nothing but utter confidence and 
uprighteousness from Kuno, but the other man simply had a cold self-assuredness Alex couldn't place.
	Soon enough, the elimination preliminaries were over. Alex had been right, no one from Nerima had been 
eliminated. The other preliminary winners were far from what he had expected. One was a flame haired girl from a
district known as 'Gurabiton', and she was wearing a school girls uniform with black leather armbands. She 
didn't look the type he'd expect here..then again, neither did Akane, and he didn't underestimate her for a
second.
	Another was another kendoist, but this one was different from Kuno or the enigma. He looked very new to the
big city, his black hair was apparently naturally spikey, with a pony-tail in the back. His kendo style was 
compartively passive to that of the Kuno. Alex also attributed his sword swings to the way a Shintoist swang his
warding rod around.
	The last fighter of note though, Alex didn't know whether to laugh or shudder. The guy was wearing a 
ridiculous top hat, a white eye-mask, a long cape, and of all things to wear to a fight, a tuxedo. The man 
carried a one-handed pole of some kind, though he could not discern any real combat use for the thing, and 
noticed how the man enjoyed using roses like a ninja would shuriken. Of course, since they really only created a
slight distraction, they were permitted.
	<Nutbag.> He muttered to himself.
	He then started to take note of Warren's progess. Instead of opting for strength, Warren was opting for 
speed and dexterity with his wooden straightsword. Alex hoped he would end up facing Warren at sometime in the 
tournament. Of course he wanted to face everyone, but knew that wasn't likely. This was elimination tournament 
style, not a Round-Robin.
	Before Alex knew it, the elimination preliminaries were over. It was time for the random selection of 
posistions for the first round of the tournament elimination.
	The announcer for the tournament spoke. 
	"Good afternoon loyal martial arts fans, and welcome to the Tokyo Tournament. Using a lottery system, the 
line ups for the first round of eliminations have been decided."
	"Izayoi Kyouya from the Shinjuku Central School of Two-Handed Kendoism, will be facing Davis Warren, of the 
Iowa School of White Tiger Kung Fu."
	"Magami A-ko from the Gurabiton district, belonging to no martial arts school, will face Hibiki Ryouga, 
also a member of no fighting school."
	"Tendo Akane of the Tendo School of Indiscriminate Grappling, will go up against Kuno Tatewaki, a rising 
star in the Kendo world."
	"Hansen Alexander of the Alaskan Kenpo Karate Association, versus Tuxedo-Kamen, a masked fighter from our 
own Shinjuku District."
	"Shampoo from Nerima, an immigrant from the Joketzuku Amazon Tribe of China, will face Mousse, another 
member of the Joketzuku."
	"Finally, Masaki Tenchi, of the Masaki Shrine, will fight Saotome Ranma of the Saotome School of 
Indiscriminate Grappling."
	"The winner of each fight, will go on to face the winner of the proceeding match in pairs. However, we're 
doing things abit different for the final match this year. As you may have noticed, thanks to a blunder by the 
author..."(HEY!)"...after the finals, there will be three, count them, three fighters remaining. The winner will
be determined by a three-way free for all match!"
	"Now, for our first fight, Izayoi versus Davis!"
	A rising roar arouse from the crowd at the entrance of Kyouya, as he took his posistion in the ring. The 
roar however went silent when Warren made his way, with only the reassuring words of Colonge to accompany him. 
Alex however wasn't interested in watching this fight, he'd watch the one between Akane and Kuno, as one of them
would be his opponent after he won against that weirdo Tuxedo-Kamen. He didn't like the idea that he had to 
fight Akane, but he knew that it would come down to that sooner or later. Alex only wondered what kind of 
personal torment Kuno was going through knowing he'd have to fight his 'beloved Akane' in earnest to win the 
tournament. He chuckled at the thought, and decided he would watch Warren's fight anyway.
	The two swordfighters faced each other. First they began by the traditional bow to the referee, and then a 
bow to each other. They went into their respective fighting stances. Warren's was different while he held the 
sword, his stance was sideways, obviously because he had to shift around alot more to effectively use that 
wooden sword he was holding. Kyouya's stance differed very little from the one he saw Kuno used, he supposed all
Kendoists were alike.
	The referee shouted, "FIGHT!" and it began.
	Warren got agressive to start, he made a step through jab with his sword. Alex was abit worried of course, 
this was a ring out, knock out,  or tap out competition. That was to say, that the fight only ended if you went 
outside the ring, you were knocked out, or if you gave up.
	Kyouya made a loud 'kyah!' as he parried Warren's jab with a downward swing. The crack of wood meeting wood
was almost ear splitting! He noticed a near simultaneous recoil in the arena as the fans covered their ears. 
Alex was quite worried though, that parry sounded almost hard enough to break Warren's sword.
	Warren was not caught off guard so easily, as a matter of fact, he used the situation to his advantage. He 
quickly made a bind, using his sword to keep Kyouya's locked up, stepped forward, and headbutted the kendoist!
	Now, Warren was not only well known for his strength, but how hard his head was! There was a painful 
bashing sound as one hard cranial casing meet a relatively softer one. Kyouya went down, hard. But he wasn't 
out, he quickly rolled as Warren made a downward gut stab, to finish the fight. Kyouya though, obviously was a 
stubborn type.
	Taking the back of his bokken in hand, the kendoist drove it up just in time to catch the point of the 
straightsword, causing it to merely jab into the mat just above his right shoulder. He drew his other hand back 
to the handle and swung his bokken, and caught Warren in the back of the knee, causing the Amerika-jin to fall 
into a kneel in pain. Kyouya rolled backwards and then got up, and charged in for a midline slash, the pitch of
his kyah slowly rising. Alex noted it, and knew exactly when he would strike.
	Apparently, Warren did aswell, he brought himself up to parry the bokken aside, and countered with a 
side-kick. Alex noted that Warren was feeling desperate, as Bak Fu Pai did not employ kicks normally as a rule. 
Warren's strength came in handy though, while his kick lacked the form Alex would have employed, Warren's 
muscle mass made up for the lack of style. Kyouya flew and hit the mat, sliding to a stop just inches from the
edge of the ring.
	Then Alex saw it, a faint blue aura around Kyouya. Alex felt incredible life force from the aura, and 
realised that Kyouya was a channeling chi energy! Now he realized why Kyouya had created such an loud sound when 
he parried Warren's first blow, he was using that power to strengthen his blows..to an extent. Alex sensed this 
man's potential now, and was quiet worried for Warren's situation.
	Since he realised the desperation of his current situation, Kyouya tapped his real power, and stood up, 
making a full blow upward diagonal slash from right to left, hitting nothing but air however...until the crowd 
noticed the moving current of force traveling across the mat, which fortunately missed Warren by a foot or two.
	<WHOA!> Warren was shocked suffice to say, "Hey that can't be legal!"
	The referee called a temporary halt and asked for the judges opinion. The judges debated for a few moments,
then declared it legal. The referee then called for the fight to continue.
	Warren's look turned to one of dread, <You have to be kidding.> But then, Warren's attention was turned 
towards Cologne, who now also had a blue glow of chi around her.
	Warren then gulped and steeled himself, Alex began to notice the glow around Warren aswell. Alex noted to 
himself that he'd learn that trick aswell after the tournament.
	"Ban syue is in over his head Shampoo thinks." Alex looked to his left, and found Shampoo had sideld up on 
him.
	Alex reassured her, "He'll make it. Where did he learn that anyway?"
	"Great Grandmother taught that to Shampoo, but it turn out ban syue is better at it, so she taught him 
more. Great grandmother not sure if he can beat this man though, he have strong chi."
	He thought, _What the hell.._ and said surriptitiously, "I'll have to ask Cologne to teach me that.."
	"Great Grandmother says she'll only teach to those of blood, or anyone strong enough to marry Shampoo. She 
say you strong, but not as sure you'll marry Shampoo as she is about Ranma." She then glomped Alex, "You will 
marry Shampoo of course."
	Alex developed a large sweat tear on his head, "Uh let's just watch the fight."
	When Alex turned his attenion back to the ring, he saw both Warren and Kyouya flying across the 
3-dimensional area of the ring, throwing chi from their swords in force arcs, and yet neither could seem to 
touch the other. Kyouya was faster, and more agile, but Warren still just had that brute strength which seemed 
to enhance his life force and his chi power beyond normal levels for someone with his training.
	Alex heard Cologne speak, "My my, maybe I have another potential son-in-law." Alex groaned.
	Soon, the two swordsmen locked their wooden blades together. Kyouya had been smart, and made sure to put 
his sword in a posistion that would not leave his skull open to another one of Warren's head butts, and if 
Warren tried any kicks or punches, Kyouya would surely break contact and lash out before Warren could get 
anything through.
	The aura of their chi mingled, creating an even brighter and more evident aura. Alex had no clue who was 
going to come out on top here.
	Warren then drew his left hand back, leaving his right still on his sword -which was predominantly 
1-handed anyway-, while Kyouya withdrew and gripped both hands on his handle, his sword at waist level. Both of 
them struck simultaneously, but it was obvious who was going to make it.
	Warren was making a claw strike, one Alex easily recognized, but his hand shone brightly with the chi of 
desperation, and swung his claw strike, calling out "Tan Fu Zhao!". The blow hit Kyouya's sword, and literally 
shattered it! Kyouya was agast, and Warren followed up with a cross down-up vertical force slash, which sent 
Kyouya flying, right out of the ring.
	The referee called, "DAVIS WINS BY RING OUT!"
	Everyone was in a shocked silence at first. It was the biggest shock to the Nihonjin since America won 
World War II. Once again, America had shown itself to be full of surprises. Soon though, the applause roared 
throughout the stadium.
	Warren accepted the applause whole heartedly, "Thank you! Thank you, I'm hear till Thursday! Be sure to 
check out the Nekohaten in Nerima! Right across from Ucchan's!" Warren then shot an incredibly confident grin at
Alex, who all this time had been sitting on a bench just feet away from the ring mat. One of those force arcs 
had just stopped an inch infront of him.
	Warren went off to the locker rooms to relax and clean himself before his next fight. Alex wondered how 
he'd fare against Ryouga or A-ko, whom ever he had the misfortune of facing. He'd learn both facts, soon enough 
anyway.
	"And now for our second fight of the day, Magami vs. Hibiki!"
	Adjusting her skirt and black arm bands, A-ko Magami stepped into the ring. At the same time, Ryouga 
hoisted his umbrella while dropping his backpack, entering the ring.
	Once again the standard courtosy to the referee and then themselves, then the two juggernauts of strength 
entered their fighting stances.
	Alex noted A-ko's stance almost smacked of Kenpo traits. Feet should width apart, pointed away from the 
body in a direction opposite of the lead leg. However, as opposed to the open handed Kenpo where the lead arm 
was the same as the lead leg, out in front, with the rear hand chambered at the side, A-ko's hands were both 
open and kept low to her midline. Alex decided that analyzing her style would reap many benefits.
	Ryouga took a straight legged stance, with his umbrella in one hand to the side, common for a person 
holding the weapon to try and look even more confident than he should be, but Alex had a feeling Ryouga would 
learn that this would be a very serious fight.
	The referee shouted, "FIGHT!" and it began.
	A-ko waited for Ryouga to move, and boy did he move! Before she even blinked he ran forward and did a wide 
downward smashing swing with his umbrella, which A-ko quickly cartwheeled away from. Ryouga quickly followed up 
with a horizontal swing, which also missed. Even with his strength, Ryouga was swinging something that, to quote
Ranma "was like swinging a telephone pole made out of iron". The fans noticed how strong he was very quickly 
though. The simple air pressure from his swings was blowing up skirts and knocking off hats in the bleechers!
	After too long cartwheeling around the ring, A-ko halted her shenanigans, and stopped on both her hands, 
and actually caught Ryouga by the neck with both of her legs. Apparently he didn't expect her to stop anytime 
soon and overcompensated with the step-and-swing movement. Using her leg muscles and Ryouga's weight, A-ko 
lifted herself up, giving Ryouga a look under her skirt. However, A-ko swiftly brought a two-handed hammer fist 
down on his head, and then kicked off his shoulders, knocking him to the ground. He seemed knocked dead, but 
Alex wondered if it was A-ko's headblow, or the chronic nose bleed Ryouga would have gotten from getting a flash
of a girl's underwear. The blonde gaijin chuckled at the thought, and listened to the referee making the K.O. 
count.
	"1...2...3!"
	Alex was abit disappointed, he was sure this fight would be more interesting, but it seemed he was wrong.
	"4...5...6!"
	Suddenly, he heard a specific shouting voice among the crowd, it was Akane.
	"COME ON RYOUGA GET UP! DON'T LOSE TO HER LIKE THAT!"
	That would have been enough to raise Ryouga from beyond the grave, and he wasn't nearly that bad. Alex saw 
Ryouga's eyes shoot open, and his grip on the umbrella tighten. Suddenly, Ryouga sprang up, and threw his 
umbrella at A-ko with all the force he had. Some would report later that the pressure from it actually created 
a mini-tornado for a few seconds as it crossed the ring. A-ko was caught of guard, and had to catch the umbrella
in her chest. The force nearly knocked her out of the ring, the soles of her shoes were torn to shreads. But, in 
counter-point, her counter-active force to stop the umbrella, had literally squashed it like you'd imagine an 
accordian when shot into a solid brick wall by a cannon. Well, that might have been an understatment. Whichever 
way you put it, the umbrella was quite trashed, and A-ko finished it off by grinding it into sawdust between her
hands.
	Alex smirked, "Looks like Ryouga found someone just his match for strength."
	A-ko sprang towards Ryouga, and threw a right straight punch to his face, which he caught in his palm. She 
followed up with a second one, which he also caught. Soon their fingers were intertwined, pressing against each 
others palms, each testing the strength of the other, not quite giving their all, lest their opponent use that 
against them. Still, it seemed this was a match to be determined by sheer strength.
	In a swift move, A-ko rolled backwards and used Ryouga's strength and forward momentum to start him moving, 
and finished it with a kick off that sent the lost boy sailing into the bleechers, landing right next to Akane 
for all his luck.
	Akane was on him in nothing flat, checking his pulse and looking for anything broken, but Ryouga was made 
of harder stuff...physically anyway. Of course under her attentions his mind quickly hit the brakes and just sat
in a languid state of bliss.
	The referee called it after a short pause from shock, "MAGAMI WINS BY RING OUT!"
	The announcer was ecstatic, "What an amazing display ladies and gentlemen, A-ko Magami just hurled her 
opponent across the arena, to have him land safely out of the ring in a seat in the bleechers! I'm sure our next
fight, Tendo vs. Kuno will be just as amazing."
	Akane eeped, and told Ryouga she had to run. Ryouga could only respond with a mild "Okay have fun..", as 
she left.
	Alex shook his head at Ryouga next to him, <You are sad man, REALLY sad.>
	Alex turned his head toward the ring, and waited. The next fight would determine who he fought next. He had
little doubt about whether or not he'd beat that Tuxedo Kamen weirdo, but of course he still fostered that 
necesscary doubt that the masked man was more than he seemed. He was very interested to see how Kuno was going 
to handle his present situation though....
	An inappropriately feminine shriek from the mens locker rooms gave him a pretty good idea.
	Alex chuckled, <This, should be good.>
	Kuno was being dragged out of the locker rooms to the ring, by the back of his kekogi, bokken flailing, 
kicking and screaming like a four-year old. From his mouth he shrieked curses to the gods above for putting him 
in this situation where he must defeat his love in earnest in order to gain what was rightfully his. A massive 
sweat tear broke out amongst the audience.
	On the other end, Akane strode out of the girls locker rooms, tightening her belt on her white gi, with a 
look of confidence on her face. Obviously she was ready to get some retribution.
	"Our third fight today, Kuno versus Tendo! Both of these fighters hail from the Nerima district, and 
apparently have a long history of competition. The fighters have just entered the ring..."
	Kuno didn't so much enter of his own volition as much as he was tossed in by the other members of his Kendo
Club, they shouted after him.
	"Go Kuno-sempai! Ganbate ne!"
	"Don't lose sir! We could not stand the shame, or your father's wrath!"
	Kuno was crying waterfalls, until the referee bashed him on the head with his own bokken and told him to 
get up. That bash to the head knocked something loose, or into place, depending on your point of view, and Kuno 
immediatly went bigtime serious. He took his bokken back, and the standard formalties commenced.
	Akane and Kuno both entered their fighting stances. Alex noticed Kuno using a different stance for once, it 
reminded him of a Kenpo reverse bow, only he was using a bokken as opposed to a staff or any other traditional 
Kenpo weapon. He noted this change.
	Akane took her standard agressive stance. Alex sighed, and could only fear for the worst. Kuno had 
something new up his sleeve, but Akane apparently didn't fear it. Oh she had enough reason to be confident, 
every day at school she beat Kuno, but this time it was seriously serious. Alex sighed again, and promised 
himself that he'd just watch, he couldn't get emotionally involved yet.
	The referee shouted, "FIGHT!"...and nothing happened.
	Kuno and Akane stood motionless, examing each other. Alex let out a sound of relief, Akane wasn't going to 
charge head first as was her usual style.
	Kuno suddenly stood upright, his bokken held right-handed against his left side, with the left hand clasped
around it as if it were a sheath. To anyone with experience with Nihon swordfighting, it was immediatly evident 
what he was doing.
	"Battoujutsu." Alex whispered to himself.
	Kuno's eyes were closed, his focus was entirely on the sword and his target, he intended to end this fight 
in one blow, as not to cause anymore hurt to his precious Akane Tendo than was necessary.
	The tension was building. If this had been feudal Japan, they would have faced off in some street or field,
with the wind blowing, leaves rustling in the air. The tension was about to reach it's peak, and when it did, 
Kuno would not strike, he would wait for the split second after when the calm was just beginning, the question 
was, would Akane know to look for the strike then?
	It all happened so fast, even the referee was aghast.
	Kuno was on the opposite end of the ring, Akane, was standing dead still, twitching...a split second later,
she crumpled on herself and fell to the floor. 
	After he snapped out of his shock, the referee started to count, he reached ten and everyone thought Akane 
might be dead. Ranma and Ryouga were already out of the bleachers, and into the ring. They both took the liberty 
of using Kuno's head as a cushion, and he seemed almost unfazed, save for the fact that his face and shoulders 
were nearly on the same plane.
	Between Ranma's violent shakings and Ryougas wails, Akane was in no better shape, though she was awake now.
	The announcer called it out, "Kuno wins by knockout! An amazing display of kenjutsu! Apparently, he struck 
the perfect point on Tendo's body, to knock her out, but cause no real damage! Amazing! I hope the rest of the 
tournament has such tense and exciting moments!"
	Despite Kuno's assurances, the medical staff on site was sure to give Akane a checkup, and when they 
cleared her, the tournament continued.
	"Okay people, the next fight, Hansen Alex of the Alaskan Kenpo Karate Association versus Tuxedo Kamen, 
crime fighter and defender of justice!"
	Alex was already down in the locker room, and had just finished suiting up. Since he was in a tournament, 
and decided that his skills had progressed far enough, he did something that was well, abit egotistical. He set 
his belt with the knot on his navel, and in Kenpo that was a symbol of master or teacher. Of course, he'd need 
to emit a total aura of self-confidence in order to keep his opponents off balance.
	"Hansen is an exchange student from America, who has come to dominate the martial arts community in Nerima, 
hopefully, he'll show just as much skill and have just as many tricks as Davis from our first match, and here 
he is!"
	Alex recieved the same welcome as Warren had, the people were silent, save for the Tendo's, Shampoo, and 
Cologne in the bleachers.
	"The second contender, Tuxedo Kamen, has entered the tournament in a rather mysterious way. He claims to be
a citizen of Tokyo, and is indeed a reknowned crime fighter, having worked with the famous Bishoujo Senshi that 
have saved our city almost as many times as any other heroes. Though it is rather unorthodox, we have permitted 
him to enter the tournament even though he has no apparent citizen status in Tokyo or Japan."
	Tuxedo Kamen, looking incredibly stupid in his tuxedo, cape, and top hat, walked out to the ring, recieving
a very loud cheer. Alex happened to notice a blonde with ridiculous looking pig-tail odango's on her head 
cheering especially loud.
	<Must be his girlfriend.> He said to himself.
	The two fighters entered at opposite ends of the rings, and the formalities followed.
	Alex tooked a reverse bow stance, his bo parallel to his shoudlers, giving him very good protection. He had
seen this weirdo fight in the elimination preliminaries, he liked to use roses like shurikens, and his pole 
could extend. Tuxedo Kamen took an upright stance, his legs straight and his pole held one handed as if he were 
a man with a newspaper ready to swat a dog on the nose, Alex mentally laughed and allowed himself a grin.
	The referee shouted, "FIGHT!"
	Alex let Tuxedo Kamen have the initiative, and that weirdo made the best of it. With a massive flourish of 
his cloak, he released a huge volley of roses. Alex had learned to dodge attacks like this in 'practice' against
Kodachi (when she felt in necessary to make her 'kinno gaijin' see how necessary it was that he go with her) and
Ukyo (when he was short on cash and ran out on the bill for lunch). But he didn't need to dodge these, they were
just roses, not razor spatulas or spiked clubs. Instead he just took his staff with both his hands and performed
the windmill technique he had learned, spining his staff with such speed that it created outward air force. The 
flurry of roses simply passed around him, and Alex could see Kamen's frustration, but the caped crusader (and if
DC comics has any problem with that, they can #%@& themselves) simply followed up by sending his pole in a major
extension, which caught Alex's windmill like a stick in the spokes of a bike. Of course Alex took all of the 
energy from the stop and let his bo strike out, which caught Kamen right in the face.
	There was a verbal "OUCH!" expressed in the crowd as Tuxedo Kamen stumbled back, with an obviously broken 
nose, while Alex took a foward bo stance, ready to start a new attack any moment. Kamen uttered a few curses, 
just before Alex lept high into the air, and Kamen was quick to follow after. In midair it was a furious clash 
of staves, Alex's bambo bo staff and Kamen's extendo-pole, each of them poking, prodding, jabbing, swinging, and
sometimes, SMASHING EACH OTHER IN THE FACE! That didn't happen often, but when it did, the "OUCH!" was expressed
amongst the viewers, and of course there was a fair share of bruises, bloody noses, and other nasty looking 
marks. It had been only ten seconds and the midair encounter was over, with both fighters landing on opposite 
ends of the ring.
	Alex knew that this wasn't going to be as easy as he originally thought, which he ponded while he rubbed 
his sore jaw, he decided he'd whip out the technique he had been refining for years.
	With a loud kyah he charged Kamen and made a large swing with his staff, as he guessed, Kamen lept over 
him, trying to get him from behind. After that fight with Ranma so long ago, he'd learned a special trick for 
dealing with flashy people who liked to do flips, and decided this was when he'd debut his technique.
	Everything slowed down, Kamen was mearly floating toward the ground, a sound grew and grew in Alex's 
throat, and suddenly, everyone noticed how the light around Alex seemed to ripple, as if his body were now 
incredibly hot, Alex began a powerful spin, he didn't count on his first kick hitting, but it was only the 
starter, Kamen touched down.
	Alex roared "OOFUBKI GEKTO KERU!"
	Alex performed a full barrel kick that would have taken the head off any normal person, and the heat 
surrounding his body now would most likely cause atleast first degree burns to unprotected skin. Kamen ducked, 
but Alex followed up by spinning again and performing a tripping hook kick low, and Kamen had to go upright and 
stand up again, and Alex peformed another barrel kick, when Kamen simply ducked again, Alex planted himself to 
the ground and pretended to start another hook kick, but when Kamen stood up, he did aswell, and started a rapid 
succession of kicks, and Ranma immediatly noticed some similarities to the Kachuu Teshin Amaguriken technique, 
only that didn't generate this much body heat. Tuxedo Kamen was at Alex's mercy.
	The kicks didn't have much power yet, Alex was mearly keeping Kamen shocked and unable to move, putting him 
back in line with round houses and keeping him shocked with side-kicks, then Alex decided to turn up the power 
and Kamen started to slowly drift towards the edge of the ring, his skin starting to feel hot, even blistering 
a slight where Alex's stronger kicks nailed him, until they were at the edge.
	Alex stood there, the light around blurred by the heat, making it nearly impossible to see him clearly, 
while Kamen tettered and tottered near the edge, ready to fall off at a moments notice.
	Alex roared again, starting a powerful swing with his staff, "OOFUBKI OWARI KEN!"
	Alex thrusted the staff forward and channeled all that built up body heat through the staff and outward 
along it's length, creating a powerful blast of air, which also created a vacuum due to the pressure 
displacement, sending Kamen flying out of the ring to smash into the ground right infront of the judges. Alex 
wobbled abit, and then fell backwards.
	"HANSEN WINS BY RING OUT!"
	The audience was shocked for a moment, and then applauded loudly. Alex sat there on the mat, gasping for 
breath, his body covered in sweat. Ranma and Akane were soon down there to help him into the locker room while 
they prepared the next match.
	"What an amazing technique ladies and gentlemen, coming from an Amerika-jin even! I think we'll see alot 
more of this kid in the future."
	In the locker room, Alex was wipping his face with a towel while Ranma stood infront of him, his arms 
crossed.
	"Mind telling me why you stole my technique, and modified it?" Ranma searched for the name mentally, 
"Blizzard Fury Kick?"
	Alex spoke softly, "Actually, seeing your technique only helped me finish working on mine. I developed it 
back in Alaska, after my school closed. Without a dojo to practice in, I had very little time to practice 
outside where I had the most space. Four months at the most, so I decided to develop a training technique that 
would allow me to keep my body heat balanced even in numbing cold. I learned to stop myself from sweating, and
without persperiation our body continues to build heat. This allowed me to work even during the dead of January 
winter. However, when I started working with it here, I noticed that because of my body heat, light around me 
would blur, making it hard to see, and, with the proper concetration, I could release my built up sweat which 
would instantly evaporate creating hot air. Using my staff, I pushed the hot air creating something much like
your Hiryu Shoten Ha, replacing heat with cold to create wind. That's the jist of it."
	Ranma pondered for a few moments, then spoke, "Well, it's not to bad, and pretty original. I'm sure 
everyone will want to hear about it to seeif they can learn it."
	Alex shook his head, "You'd have to live some place pretty damn cold to get it right."
	Ranma grinned, "What do you think it's like up north. Sure it's not Alaska, but we do get snow."
	Alex laid back on the bench, "Well, I think I'll just pass out here for awhile, tell me how the match 
between Shampoo and Mousse goes."
	Ranma nodded, "Okay, get some rest, you've gotta fight Kuno next afterall."
	Ranma left, and Alex rested in the locker room, and really did feel like passing out, but he had to stay 
awake. He saw Mousse walk through on his way to the ring, and the spectacled martial artist bowed to him, then 
went off.
	Alex murmured, exhaustion not nearly enough to stop his monolouge, "I wonder why he did that?"
	Soon enough, he heard shouting and grunting and yelling even from the locker room, obviously those wild 
Chinese had really strong vocal chords and lungs. He could imagine the fight in his mind. Mousse pulling out all 
the stops, probably tripping over his own chains from time to time, but still keeping his own. Of course Shampoo
would sooner or later take the lead and...
	The crack of splintering wood rang out, and soon enough, Alex saw Mousse flying through the locker room to 
smashed through not only a keg of Japanese generic brand sports drink, but to land in a basket filled with 
sweaty towels and jock straps, Alex could only wince and be glad it wasn't him.
	"SHAMPOO WINS BY RING OUT!"
	Alex mumbled and got up, <No $#!% sherlock.> With that he dropped his towel on Mousse's unconcious head, 
and made his way back to the bleechers.
	He took a seat next to Akane, who at the moment didn't seem the least bit happy. She had her arms crossed, 
and her faced down, he could see spirits of bad feelings floating over her like a nasty miasma, he waved it away
and sat next to her.
	"Don't worry Akane, this was just a stupid tournament, you'll kick his ass every morning at school like you
always do." He tried to sound supportive, but he could tell that wasn't enough to her.
	"But he beat me Alex, he'll try to make me go out with him cause of that stupid speech he gave." She was 
obviously worried.
	Alex started to act silly hoping to cheer her up, punching air like a shadow boxer, "Then me and Ranma will
beat the crap out of him like we do every day!"
	Akane laughed abit, "I'm sure you would. Thanks Alex."
	Alex smiled, "Don't mention it. Ranma's fight's starting, I wonder what this Masaki guy is like."
	Alex needed only look down to see. The kid looked like a sterotypical Nihonjin from the north, slightly 
paler skin, but he also looked like he had a strong body, but it didn't show to much through his light frame. He 
obviously did alot of manual labor. When he stepped into the ring, Alex noticed a rather large group of women 
cheering him on, they weren't more than two rows below Akane and him.
	What a collection of odd-balls that was, one looked like she was thirteen with spikey pink hair, another 
looked ten with green hair in pig-tails, a pair of women in their late teens probably, one with a loud voice 
and long spikey green hair, and a very quiet almost regal type with purple hair, and lastly a pair of women in 
their twenties, one with long green hair, a real hotty, and the other with a dark complexion and curly blonde 
hair, a bombshell, but probably a ditz. He saw them holding up a banner all written in fancy kanji, which he 
assumed read 'Go Masaki Tenchi!'.
	Ranma stepped into the ring next, he was adjusting his clothes, and obviously very confident. Alex could 
understand why, knowning how Ranma fought. He probably thought that because this Masaki seemed to be just 
another kendoist he could let his guard down. But Alex saw something different in this Masaki's stance, it was 
nothing he could identify.
	Alex got one of his odd feelings, and looked back down to the cheering girl squad, he then noticed a aged 
nihonjin with long silvery hair. He held that aura of wisdom and experience about him that Alex could not deny. 
Suddenly the old man turned, look up at Alex and grinned at him. Alex was sufficiently weirded out and looked 
away.
	The fight had started, and like true fighters, Ranma and Tenchi were analyzing each other. In his 
peripherial vision, Alex noticed something, the little girl with the pink hair in the lower row had pulled 
something out...a remote of some sort?
	Ranma took the first move, and whipped out one of his biggies.
	Ranma's arms came together in the standard projection posistion and shouted, "MOUKO TAKIBISHA!" A yellow 
beam of concentrated positive chi shot out towards Tenchi.
	Reflexively Tenchi held his sword out to parry it, and to everyone's surprise, he did. The beam washed 
around him, his sword acting as something of a wedge to the blast.
	Everyone was surprised, and apparently so was Tenchi.
	"Nande o shiteru?!"
	Ranma was at a loss, his jaw might as well have been on the floor. Sure people had dodged that blast 
before, but no one besides Ryouga had ever stopped it. However he quickly snapped out of it and charged, and 
used another one of his biggies.
	"KACHUU TESHIN AMAGURIKEN!"
	Ranma's arm movements became a blur as he let out a flurry of strikes, and strangely enough, Tenchi could 
parry each and every one of them, as if by good fortune.
	When Ranma found that he couldn't break through the unexpected iron defenses, he pulled out the Saotome 
book of dirty tricks.
	Ranma shouted, and pointed behind Tenchi, "Oh my god, look behind you!"
	When Tenchi actually stopped and turned around, a massive face fault broke out amongst the audience.
	Ranma then used the Saotome's Ultimate Dirty trick, run your opponent over like a steamroller squashes a 
frog. Tenchi however was quick to catch on when he saw nothing behind him, and spun around swinging his bokken. 
Suddenly a massive rush of air was felt throughout the stadium, and Ranma flew back. Luckily, he was able to 
make himself intentionally non-aerodynamic and land flat on the mat less than a foot away from the edge. The
crowd let out a collective sigh of relief.
	Alex started to note that the pink haired girl in the lower row was swearing and fiddling with something.
	"Shimata! The setting's to high, someone's gonna get suspicious." Alex noticed a hint of maturity and 
intelligence behind that high pitched voice. He was curious and decided to sneak down.
	When he was close enough, he could see that the girl was fiddling with a remote like device with dials and 
switches and buttons all over it, and an LCD readout that was constantly changing.
	"Waaah! Nai nai! Damnit the damper is to high now! Kuso! Can't this thing just have a self-equalizer? Oh 
wait...I passed that up for the increased power, well you work with what yah make." The girl gave off a cackle 
and went back to work.
	Alex could only guess what she was doing, but by his assumption, what she was doing wasn't very kosher. So,
pulling out his book of dirty tricks, he tapped her opposite shoulder with the tip of his staff, and then 
swooped in and stole the remote.
	"Now little missy, I don't think it's right to rig the fight by using super technology." He held the remote
with one hand, and almost felt like messing with it himself, but instead, he found the obvious power switch, and flipped it off.
	The little girl turned around and yelled, "HEY GIMME THAT!"
	"Hey, I wasn't cheating. Unless I'm mistaken, you were either altering kinetic energy or simply the very 
force around him? How you got a projector on him that small I won't ask, but, I don't think you should be doing 
this. You're obviously very smart, so I'll let you have it back, but keep it up and I'll tell the judges, and 
you don't want that do you? Let's have a clean fight." He gave her the remote back.
	The girl pouted and looked up at him, "I should turn you into a kappa for that...but you caught me red 
handed so I'll let you off easy, but next time watch out blondy boy!" She pulled her eyelid down at him and 
stuck out her tongue.
	Alex sighed and went back up to his seat, now he noticed the fight was much more even.
	Tenchi was a damn good fighter with his bokken admittedly, he had great defense and offense technique, with 
a few tricks that Alex once would have said weren't humanly possible, but seeing a guy turn into a girl from a 
splash of cold water made him a bit more open minded.
	Ranma had taken to the offensive again, as usual, and was of course using every trick he could come up 
with, but Tenchi simply had too solid a defense to break through unless Ranma left himself open by going 
all-out.
	And that was exactly what Ranma did, he started up with a series of powerful low end kicks, very hard for a 
bokken to parry, then worked his way up, keeping his arms back for balance. This was where it was do or die, 
Tenchi would have to lash out, or Ranma was gonna nail him, but Ranma also had to watch out for any desperation 
flailing that could really do some damage.
	What happened next, no one expected, Tenchi's aura flared, and so did Ranma's, the two fighters were 
invigorated and went all out. The fight continued on for about five minutes, and had so far been the longest 
fight of the tournament. Of course, it had to end in a very grand fashion.
	They had come back to fighting on the ground, Ranma was using his Amaguriken technique to unleash powerful 
kicks that were much harder to block than his punches. The two were on completely equal ground physically. Then,
it all happened in the span of ten seconds.
	Ranma and charged straight through, performing a horizontal Hiryu Shoten Ha attack, while Tenchi had 
somehow blocked some of the attack, charging through it with a straight through slash attack. Contact was made 
in a brilliant flash.
	They both stood on opposite extreme ends of the ring, unmoving for a few moments. Then, they both feel face 
first into the mat, so quickly that no one could tell who hit first. 
	There was a tremendous uproar, and about five minutes passed as the judges delegated.
	"It has been decided since both fighters are out cold and obviously not waking up any time soon, that the 
winner of the fight will be determined by coin toss...what? Are you kidding?!" The announcer seemed as surprised 
as the audience. The audience didn't like the whole thing one bit, and made sure to let the judges know.
	Warren was speechless, with a sweat tear on his face, "...."
	The fathers of both fighters, Saotome Gendo, and Masaki Noboyuki came down, and it was decided that 
Noboyuki would get to call it.
	Genma looked at Noboyuki behind his glasses, "So what'll it be, heads or tails?"
	"Uhh...heads, no tails!" Noboyuki was obviously a bit unsure of what to decide.
	"Tails? You sure about that?" Genma was just messing with Noboyuki for the heck of it.
	"Uh, wait maybe...heads?"
	"Heads?"
	"YES, HEADS!"
	"Okay." Genma flipped, the coin went into the air, and Alex wondered if it had spun for abit to long, but 
he dismissed it and watched Genma catch it.
	"Tails! Hahaha!" Genma did a happy dance around the ring, and then tried to rouse Ranma, who was still out 
cold, so Genma was dancing around the ring carrying his unconcious son.
	"Well folks, ah it seems that Saotome has won the fight....much to the disappoint of some of our audience 
members today...Now we'll be having a brief half hour break from the fights, as we prepare for the next round
of competition!"

End Chapter 4a

Preview for Chapter 4b

"Well, it seems we are at an impasse gaijin."
"Indeed."
"You aren't going to win."
"I wouldn't be so sure."