Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters and settings belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Kitty, and Viz Video.

Chapter 1

I look and see a sign that I've seen only a few times before. Furinkan High School. Where I found Ranma, where I fought that coward who destroyed my life, and where I first saw Akane.

Oh, Akane. What Gods cursed us both, you to have been ensnared in a betrothal to Saotome, and I to be unable to speak my love of you? I look away from the sign and see her. My heart threatens to explode from the joy. Then I see the tears.

"Akane? What's wrong?"

"Ranma, why couldn't you at least try to taste it?" she looks at me as though just realizing that I was here. She sniffles, before greeting me. "Hi, Ryouga. What did you say?"

I run from her, anger and disgust for Saotome burning through my mind. How DARE he! How COULD he! Akane's food is like Manna from heaven! He will PAY!

Somehow, whenever my anger gets the best of me, my sense of direction is vastly improved. I see Saotome and run at him screaming, "HOW DARE YOU, SAOTOME!"

He dodges my kick, and sidesteps my punch before saying in that maddening tone of his, "Oh, great. What did I do now, P-Chan?"

My anger just shoots up. For a moment, all I see is red. "STOP CALLING ME P-CHAN!" I attack again. Very sloppy; even through my rage I can tell that. Sometimes I wonder if this is a technique of Ranma's.

He dodges effortlessly, then repeats his question. "So what blew ya up this time, Ryouga?"

I swing with my umbrella while shouting, "Akane spent a full day on that lunch! How dare you not eat it!" At least, I think it was a full day.

He makes a sick face. "Hey, when something starts quoting Shakespeare and waving a toothpick at me, I don't eat it, P-Chan."

And of course, I see red again.

"I SAID TO STOP CALLING ME THAT!" This time, the hallucination is more pronounced. Ranma seems to be all around, taunting me from every side. I scream bloody murder and jab at the ground, unconsciously using the breaking point. Oddly enough, it seems to work. Then a sound that I have heard before breaks into my rage. I find that I'm in mid swing of Saotome, but this stops me like a… well, like nothing has.

A gunshot. Here, in Japan. In Nerima. In Furinkan High. One thought immediately grabs my attention. AKANE IS HERE! I take off in what I hope is the direction I came from, trying to get to Akane, to keep her from harm.

Behind me I hear Ranma shout that I'll get lost, but I don't care. If I can find Akane, and get her to safety, then I can end up in the Bermuda Triangle for all I care. Just as long as she's safe.

I stop and look at my surroundings. Walls? Students? Teachers? Akane wasn't… "RrrRAGH!" I punch a locker, leaving a rather large hole where it used to be. Fine. The gunshots seemed to be coming from inside the school, anyway. So I just find the shooters, beat them, and take them to jail. A little voice then pipes up; 'then Akane will be proud of you and Ranma will have to admit that you're the better man for her and…' I push it away. Focus. Heroics first, good stuff later.

I feel an arm on my shoulder, and hear Ranma's voice.

"Ryouga," he says, "I know that you're still mad about Akane's lunch, but this is more important. Some students have guns here and are shootin' everything they see! I need your help to stop 'em."

Visions of that utopia I just saw shatter like glass. I want to say, 'No, Ranma. I'll handle this. You go run away.' Or even, 'You make sure that Akane is safe, Saotome.' and then go run off in search of the bad guys. But I need his help. Without him to help me, I'll probably get lost in the bathroom again. Okay, so I adjust my plan slightly. Ranma will lead me to the shooters, and then I save his life and get Akane.

Then I remember Kirin. Yeah. Like that'll work.

I look Ranma in the eye, say, "Fine, Ranma." and think, you'd better not use me as a springboard again, Ranma…

He smiles. Funny how that makes his eyes seem smaller. I turn away and grab a student. "Where are they?"

He takes the hint and points down the hall. I set him down and run after Saotome. How like him to try and take all the credit. Well, not this time!

As we reach the corner, we turn to see a small girl in a yellow dress. Ranma kneels down next to her, checks her pulse… and closes her eyes. I clench my fists. How could someone do this! They would pay!

Saotome looks up toward the stairs and runs up to them. The second I hear the next rounds go off I know why; they're up a floor. I race after him. Damn you Ranma! You won't keep me from my dreams this time!

We run up the stairs as hordes of students come running down them. I lose sight of Ranma. I eventually push my way up to the third floor. Damn you Ranma! Where are you? I need you so I can get to Akane!

I look up at a door sign. 310. Remember that the stairs are in front of Room 310. I look around. Now, where is Ranma? Damn! No gunshots mean I can't find the shooters! And if I can't find the shooters…

Suddenly I feel like breaking something. Instead, I run around the floor trying to find anyone. I end up running into Ranma and some guy with a bunch of spatulas… Ukyou? and Akane!

I begin to yell at Ranma for bringing Akane here to, most likely keep me from succeeding in some way, but then I hear him say, "Akane, I still think you should go back down. Let Ryouga, Ucchan and me handle it."

"No way, Ranma! I'm a martial artist too. I'm not going to stand on the sidelines while you do all the work. It's my duty to help others!"

"Akane, I agree with Ranma," Who said that? Me? How did that happen? "All the martial arts in the world won't stop a bullet and I'd hate to-" she cuts me off.

"No. I'm staying to help and that's final." she looks at us with that look that says 'I don't care. I'm going to do it.'

Even Ranma isn't dumb enough to argue with THAT look.

We hear gunshots from a room in the southeast side. Quickly, we run to it. We hear voices from room 302, and quietly sneak in. I'm amazed Ukyou can move so quietly with all those spatulas. The three shooters have seven hostages. One I recognize as Tatewaki Kuno, who's crazy… even for Nerima. Then there's one of Ranma's friends, some nutcase in a Hawaiian shirt, a girl I've seen Akane talk to a lot, and three others I don't recognize.

The plan is simple. Get to the gunmen, get their guns away from them, and throw them to the police. We split up to surround them. Then one of the gunmen (a gunwoman?) begins to turn. Akane is nearly in her sight! A hostage sees this and acts before I can. He finishes a sentence for them. Quickly all three turn to face him and nearly jump out of their pants. Ukyou is right behind them. Almost immediately they begin to fire. Then the tear gas canisters fly in and release the blinding gas. This fight would've been over a lot quicker if the police had waited. I shove people out the window, into the pool below. I don't know if they have guns or not, but it was clearing the room out in a hurry.

A new sound is heard. A hissing, like a snake or… a gas pipe! Four more people are out. I hear gunshots again, and the gas catches a spark. A great force, like giant flaming hand punches me out the window. I sail over the pool and into the tree. It's branches claw at me as though the thing was alive and wanted me dead. Then I hit the ground. Oddly enough, there is no pain… only… I'm so tired…

To be continued.

Author's Notes: All right… here's the first part of Lost.

If you notice any glaring errors on this one, feel free to beat me over the head with them. I haven't been running up to speed this whole week, and a lot of stuff has been slipping by my *cough* fantastic scanning abilities…

Lone Wolf

Webmaster: Larry F
Last revision: May 21, 2007