Sitting in the park, a certain pigtailed martial artist/pilot-in-training frowned as he looked over the newspaper.
There was nothing in the help wanted ads, all the good stuff he was pretty sure he could’ve done. There wasn’t any sort of work requiring martial arts, flying, or even regular heavy labor available. So he stopped looking and flipped the pages. At least when it came to the personals, he found some advertisements for mechanics and parts...
...But nothing in his price-range. Damn, B-25 parts were expensive.
The pigtailed adult sighed in dissatisfaction and put the paper away. “Nothing.” And Ranma so wanted to surprise his kitty. But he should have realized this would’ve been a difficult task when it came to the B-25 Most parts for it hadn't been made in THIRTY YEARS! The plane itself was considered an antique!
And Alex said she didn’t want him spending too much on the parts. So that left out using his own money that he had for the wedding and honey moon.
Damn, where was he going to make some fast cash?
“Eh-excuse me?” Came an elderly man’s voice.
The pigtailed martial artist raised an eyebrow and turned to regard whoever it was that called to him. It was unusual, that was for sure.
He saw, indeed, an elderly Japanese man. Short, maybe 5’3”, wearing a pin-striped black business suit, white hair done in a comb-over to hide his balding head and wide-rimmed bifocal glasses. “Are you... By any chance... What Nerima refers to as ‘The Great Ranma Saotome’?”
Ranma couldn’t help a smile of pride to illuminate his features. It was good for his ego to know he was a living urban legend. “What about it?”
“You are!?” The man said in awe. He then bowed politely towards Ranma, his hands clapped in prayer. “Please, young sir, I am in dire need of your martial arts talent!”
“What do you need, old man?” Ranma asked, his interest piqued. “Need help fighting off some phoenix god?”
“No, but something just as long and tedious,” The elderly man admitted. “I’m Takato Yamimbe, one of the fighting managers for the Underground Tokyo Cage Fights. And currently my latest employee... Well... He got himself killed.” The older man said in exasperation. “Overdosed of cocaine, a shame really...” The old man shook his head. “And instead of being given time to mourn his loss and try to find a new fighter to train, they need me to get someone for tonight at the very least.”
The old man got on his knees. “Please say you’ll fight for me tonight! I promise to make it worth your while.”
His eyes opening wide, Ranma was slightly surprised by the request. “Underground fighting?” The concept so far had been alien to him. Like something that didn’t exist in his world.
Takato nodded his head. “Underground because we aren’t legally sanctioned by the Japanese government... So we participate the tournaments in secret...”
Ranma shrugged. He was pretty sure his own fights weren’t sanctioned by the government either. “I’ll have to think about it.”
“Please, I’ll make it worth your while,” Takato said seriously. He was taking out his wallet. “I'll give you fifty-thousand Yen in advance, and any winnings I make by you advancing in the fight, I’ll split fifty-fifty with you. AND you can bet on yourself if you want to make more money,” The older man said, hoping the possible amount of cash Ranma could win would entice him.
Ranma felt the urge to yawn. He wasn’t all that interested in huge amounts of money, but he stopped to think about the possibilities. He could get Alex all the parts she needed without spending his own ‘current’ money. “You got yourself a deal, old man.”
“Oh, thank you!” Takato bowed, ignoring how Ranma just swiped the cash from his hand. “You’ll be doing me a great service! He bowed again and thanked Ranma even as thge pigtailed martial artist made a show of counting the cash in front of him.
Ranma pocketed the yen notes and stood up. “Let’s go, old man. Time to show who’s the best.” It didn’t hurt that he got to show off his skills as well.
“Yes, yes! Follow me!” The man motioned as he began walking, seeming VERY happy.
Ranma locked his hands behind his head and followed in what seemed to be boredom.
(------)
Behind the bars of the gambling area/registration desk, the Bookie looked back and forth between Takato and the young punk he brought with him. “So, is this the new kid you’ve got to replace ‘Machinegun Joe’?”
“Only for tonight,” Takato said. “This young fighter’s kind enough to help me out until I can get a new fighter to register permanently.”
“Fine,” The Bookie said. “I’ll need name, age, weight, fighting style, weapons preference, and gambling preference.”
In the meantime, Ranma was looking around and not paying attention. He was less than impressed with what he saw.
Ranma walked off a little as the two men talked. The arena... Well... It really was more like a make-shift cage.
Lots of chain-link fence for walls and a ceiling, held up by four tall sturdy poles. He could see it would be easy to perform his aerial stunts, what with the many footholds it had. The box was probably fifty feet squared for the floor and then went up probably almost twice that.
And the spectators seats... Boy, Ranma had to wonder how they get all these benches down there. You’d think somebody would’ve noticed people bringing materials into the basement of this building or something.
He shook his head. The place did seem to work for fighting, but his martial art was devised to fight ‘anywhere’. Just fighting in a cage seemed boring.
“Okay...” Takato said as he came after Ranma. “You’re registered. Do you want to place any bets before the fights start soon?”
“Huh... Oh yeah.” Ranma placed everything he had on the desk.
Takato nodded. “You want the bets to be on you and keep going with every fight?
“Yeah. Ain’t there no way I’m losing here.” He then walked off to study the cage more closely. He had a big head, but he also wanted to know all there was to the place he’d be fighting in.
Takato walked up to him. “Fair piece of warning. People are allowed to use weapons in there, and often do.”
“So what?” Ranma asked in obvious disinterest. His dislike for weapons had never abated and it probably never would.
“Just letting you know,” The elderly man said. “Some people will probably go in there with a steel pipe or something.”
“I'm used to fighting people with swords,” Ranma said as a matter of fact. “How long before the matches begin?” He didn’t want to spend too much time here. Incredibly enough he already missed Alex and they’d only parted ways hours ago.
The man looked down at his watch. “I’d say an hour. People should start arriving any minute now and placing their bets once the schedule is posted.”
The pigtailed martial artist nodded slowly and turned back to the cage with narrowed eyes. In one hour he'd be fighting in there...
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(Posted Thu, 04 May 2006 16:36)
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