author's note: thanks to those who are following the story! As usual, I remind everyone that english is not my native language, so feel free to point my mistakes.

This is the chapter where the "hokuto" part of the crossover enters the fray.

I'd love to read your comments and thoughts on the matter!

Ranma and Ryoga had a long talk that night. While Ryoga didn't have many information about that man with seven scars on his chest, Ranma interrupted him often, asking each question at least twice.

"Do you thing is the same guy who took down KING?"

"I doubt it – Ryoga said – after all, the Ken-Oh was the one who took his turf, and he ain't the kind of man that would let another martial artist alive. We all know that too well.

Anyway, according to Johnny, the guy has two kids following him, a boy and a girl. You should talk to him."

"Who's Johnny?"

"The guy who runs the bar at the oasis."

Ranma raised an eyebrow

"The one who tried to sell us that undrinkable alcohol? Not really a reliable source, eh Ryoga?"

"He was the only one willing to talk. Even if the oasis is barely outside of Ken-Oh's area of influence, people don't really like to talk about that man where there could be ears very unhappy to hear that around. Plus, they don't know when his army will match further north, and they'd rather be on his good side; everyone knows what expects those who defy him."

Ryoga kept for himself that he actually understood why people may accept the Ken-Oh as their ruler. He would never say that in front of Ranma, but since the very day Nerima became part of Ken-Oh's kingdom, the attacks from those wandering bands of bandits had ceased.

He was a tyrant, but nevertheless an efficient one. Heck, the medicine they use to heal their sick ones came from Medicine City, right in the middle of his kingdom, a place that was almost inaccessible a couple of years before!

"You should talk to Johnny."

"I will. Thanks Ryoga."

"No need to thank me. Just … GET OFF MY HEAD!"

And that was not a figure of speech, since Ranma was just sitting in the most comfortable place in the house: the top of Ryoga's head.

"Old habits die hard" said Ranma, without a single hint of apology

And still, when Ryoga sent him flying through the roof, Ranma still believed that Ryoga overreacted.

Since he was too hot outside during the day, Ranma waited until the late afternoon to leave. He packed a week worth of supplies, a cloak and a pair of goggles against sand. A week was a very optimistic estimate, but that was as far as he could go. After all, a week was a very long time and , without him, his town was basically defenseless.

Ryoga was an amazing martial artist, but he could not find the way from his room to his front door, so...

"Well, I'm off."

Akane stayed silent, as usual. Ranma caressed her face

"Things are gonna be okay. Trust me on that."

He said goodbye to his mother and daughter, entrusting Ryoga's son to the little girl ("be careful he doesn't end up in Brazil") and left the house, only to find Tofu-sensei and Kasumi outside his door.

Tofu and his sister-in-law were always together, but not for romantic reasons.

The doctor was the first man to leave the shelter after the nuclear blast, hoping to help every man and woman left behind. He worked for a whole week without sleeping or eating and he probably would have gone ever further but suddenly he passed out after coughing blood.

No good deed goes unpunished. He went out in the open too soon to save lives, forfeiting his own in the process.

What was once a doctor and a martial artist was now a man crooked on a cane who couldn't go very far without his nurse.

However, he did not gave up on his patient and choose to spent every day he had left treating them and training others to do the same.

"Are you really going to search for that man?"

"How do you know that?"

Tofu smiled

"I said to Ryoga that I wouldn't help him find the bathroom if he didn't tell me. If you don't want other people to notice you, then you may want to avoid sneaking in someone's house in the middle of the night and getting out through the roof."

"If you are to try to change my mind..."

"I am not. I know a lost cause when I see one. But I think that you should know what happened on that day. You need to be prepared."

So, Tofu started his tale.

In all probability, the attack on Nerima was not planned in advance. Either that or the scouts from the Ken-Oh army did a very poor job. The first wave was composed by bikers armed with axes. The noise from their bikes was a strong as thunder, and a weapon in itself, striking the heart of the people who heard them coming with fear.

They were yelling, weaving their weapons in the air, ready to strike.

But they found Ryoga on their path.

The man was not bothered by the noise nor impressed by the bikes and stood his ground until the first men ended up in his range.

Then, he just put his hands on the ground.

"Bakusai Tenketsu!"

A rain of debris, small rocks and sand fell upon the first two bikers, knocking them out of their bikes, while a third one avoided the rain of debris, but not the hole left in the ground by the Bakusai Tenketsu. Too fast to stop, his bike crushed and the rider went straight into Ryoga, who knocked him down with a blow to head, strong enough to crush his helmet.

The riders changed strategy, circling around Ryoga, using whips and chains to hit him. One of them managed to catch Ryoga but his wrist and dragged him onto the ground, scratching his face and body.

However, Ryoga recovered faster then the rider expected, and stopped the bike dead on its tracks, before tossing the rider against another using the very chain which caught his wrist.

Two others fell to his bandannas and the attack ceased. Clearly, the attackers weren't expecting such a defender. Some of them tried to fall back; their bodies managed to, but their heads didn't.

"Ryuga-Sama!"

"Did I ordered the retreat?"

The silver-haired man looked at Ryoga, noticing the men lying at his feet and ordered the remaingriders to ignore him and enter the village.

"Like I'd let 'em go!"

Ryoga attacked again with his bandannas, but this time they were catched mid-air.

The other man closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, and Ryoga barely managed to avoid a swift downward strike by jumping.

The man's fingertip were covered in Ryoga's blood.

"What are you made of? That hit should have taken your heart."

"My heart is already taken, by a girl way more beautiful than you!"

Ryoga counterattacked with a fist powerful enough to make a hole in the ground, but his opponent dodged. They traded blows, blocking and dodging each other attacks without managing to land a single good hit. However, Ryoga was slower than his opponent and Ryuga slashed him on the shoulder. Still, while fast, Ryuga's attack was not enough to pierce through Ryoga's skin, hardened by his training with Cologne to learn the Bakusai Tenketsu, and the man's fingers got stuck.

That was more than enough for Ryoga, who landed a clean blow right in the man's abdomen.

Ryoga was now bleeding from his chest and left shoulder and his opponent was coughing blood.

Then, I suddenly felt an extremely cold shiver, and so did Ryoga. A second later, we could hear Akane yelling.

At this point, Ranma interrupted the tale to ask Tofu-sensei what he was doing and how did he knew such things. The doctor replied that he and a group of helpers were there to build quick but efficient barricades that prevented the bikers from going further into the village, and took care of them.

Akane's distressed voice, however, forced Ryoga to leave the fight unresolved, which may have been for the best, given his condition. While not immediately life-threatening, his wounds were deep. The silver-haired man fell on his knees, the moment Ryoga left the fight.

Ryoga and I ran towards Akane, but the closer we got, the stronger the pressure. It was like an hand holding us, tighter and tighter as we went forward.

Soon, we reached our destination.

There, we saw a massive man on an incredibly big horse. His Ki was so strong that the very air around him looked reddish and distorted.

Soun was wearing his samurai armor, wielding a Naginata, and Happosai had taken an aggressive

"I know you, punk – he said – You are one of Ryuken's! What his that fool doing, letting you disrespectful brat running around doing as you please?"

"Ryuken died by my hand."

That words were enough to freeze Happosai in place. The smile vanished from his face.

"So...I guess you are the new Denshosha of Hokuto Shinken."

"Such titles mean nothing to me – the Ken-Oh raised his fist – I am the King of Fists, The conqueror of the century's end!"

"You are a bad kid, that is. And you need to be punished."

Happosai manifested his battle aura, creating a giant version of himself, and Soun did the same. They both attacked at the same time and horse jumped at an amazing high, reaching their gigantic heads.

There were flashes followed by the sound of fist clashing and after what seemed like an eternity, the Ken-Oh landed safely and the giant versions of Happosai and Sound were dispelled.

Soun had lost his right shoulderguard and Happosai had a broken nose, but one of the horns of their opponent's helm was broken.

However, the Ken-Oh did not falter. He just smiled and dismounted.

"Impressive. It's been a long a time since I had to fight on the same ground as my opponents."

Soun gave him no time, and attacked using his naginata, aiming for the neck. The Ken-oh managed to deflect the attack using his forearm and countered with a fist, but Happosai stood between his apprentice and the king, blocking that fist using all his fingers.

He then vanished from sight, only to reappear a moment later behind the Ken-oh's back. Sound jumped out of the way and Happosai yelled

"Happo Daikirin!"

The explosion was strong enough to create a small crater, but the Ken-Oh stood there in the middle, unfazed.

"Are you resorting to tricks and toys already, old man?"

At this point, Ryoga would have jumped in, but I stopped him by using a pressure point that prevented his legs to move. He was unable to use his left arm and the blood loss was too severe. He would have been a nuisance.

Soun attacked again, spinning his Naginata, but the Ken-oh avoided every single hit with no difficulties. Happosai tried to catch him unprepared coming from his blind spot but the kick went nowhere.

Then, Soun jumped in the air and performed a diving slash. This time, the naginata struck true!

Or, that is what it looked like for a moment.

The blade shattered the moment it came in contact with the body of the Ken-Oh, whose smile had never disappeared in the whole fight.

He just raised his palm towards Soun

"Gosho Ha!

Soun went flying across the street and crushed into a wall.

Then, Happosai went mad.

He started jumping all around the Ken-oh, bouncing off walls, ground and poles, too fast for eye to catch him. Once he gained enough momentum, he went for the kill.

A razor-sharp kick imbued with ki. Strong enough to split the ground beneath them.

But the Ken-Oh was faster.

His fist hit Happosai in the chest. Blood came out of Happosai's ears, mouth and nose. But then, the old master smiled

"I got you now, you punk!"

A flurry of bombs, point blank.

The explosion was blinding, the wave pierced everyone's eardrums, and the buildings closer to the blast were reduced to ashed. The whole division of the Ken-Oh's army that was watching the fight was blasted away.

But he...

His armor was destroyed by the blast. His chest blackened and scorched by the explosion.

But he stood still.

"Such a puny flame will never burn away my ambition."

He smashed Happosai to the ground and raised his hand for the final blow, but stopped.

"I would not do that, if I were you."

I wasn't even looking in her direction, but he felt Akane's killing intent. She stayed hidden, as her father begged her to do, but she could no longer accept that. She grabbed bow and arrow, and now was about to attack the Ken-Oh. But he saw that coming.

"Akane! Don't!" I yelled

But you know her. She did not hesitated a moment and aimed straight for the heart.

But the arrow was catched mid-air and sent back to her. And it would have killed her, had Soun not jumped in the way.

Soun took the arrow in his shoulder. He was losing blood from every orifice, his body was broken: only the love for his daughter allowed him to stand.

Then, he performed a dogeza.

"Have mercy! We surrender! We give up! We will fight against the Mighty Ken-oh no more!"

"Do you recognize me as your ruler, then?"

"Yes! I do! We do! But I beg you, spare their lives."

The horse approached his master, who mounted him almost immediately.

Soun was crying and losing blood, no longer a threat. We all thought it was finally over. The Ken-Oh moved closer to Soun, whom Akane helped to stand up. It took a moment to crush our hopes: the moment the Ken-Oh pierced Soun's chest with his finger.

"I will grant you three days of respite! I could send you to hell right away, but then you would not know fear!

Three Days!

I hit the Shinketsushu! In three days your blood will explode and you will die! Lament and Wallow in the fear of death!

Die in fear, and became part of my legend."

Then, he just left. The remaining men of his army completed the work, though no more blood was spilled anymore on that day.

You know what happened after that.

Ranma clinched his fist so hard that the nails went deep into his skin while trying to fight back tears of rage.

"If only I was around...if only I had not choose that day to go..."

"I will always be thankful for that. We needed the medicine. And the fact that you were away just saved your life."

"Why...why did you told me all that?"

"Because I want you to understand who your opponent is. Do not thing of him as a man, but as a demon. Do not fight him, Ranma. Wherever your road may lead you, do not fight against him. We keen you. You family needs you. You and Ryoga are our last hope."

Ranma didn't say a word.

He wasn't able to.