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Prisoner of the Iron Mask Wildpferd Wins! "Wildpferd Wins!" the unseen voice announced just as Akane came back to consciousness again.

Ranma had hidden the remote for the sound system back under his armor again before Akane's head had cleared enough to allow her to see. He tried to look like he was not relieved that Akane appeared to be OK. He had hated having to fight Akane. Ranma really did not like fighting girls... well he hated fighting some girls... OK what he mostly hated was fighting Akane, but this had been for her own good.

"Do you admit that I won the challenge?" Ranma asked.

"No fair! Let's fight best two out of three!" Akane demanded.

A little while later:

"Best three out of five!"

Another little while later:

"First one to win four matches?"

And then:

"I admit! It you win! Are you happy now?" Akane finally relented.

Ranma was relieved, he had been beginning to worry, but before he could start to gloat over his fallen opponent Akane continued in a small voice: "Are you going to make me marry you know?"

This was not how it was supposed to go! First she was too stubborn to admit defeat and now she was kneeling in front of him defeated, looking at him with big eyes like she was about to cry and willing to go along with whatever her captor said just because she had lost a fight. Ranma had to stop himself from either picking her up to hug and comfort her or to shake some sense into her.

"I will," he told her instead, "but this match was only to satisfy your own terms. The official match that will confirm you as my bride-to-be in my own traditions will be later."

Ranma saw the renewed hope in Akane's eyes and quickly went for the kill.

"Of course," he explained, "you will be able to field a champion to fight in your stead if you desire. Is there somebody you would like to have notified? A close friend, family member or suitor of martial powers that might be a match to mine?"

"No!" Akane called out, "I will fight my own fights!"

This answer hit Ranma harder than any of her hits or kicks during their fights had.

"What do you mean no?" he angrily wanted to know almost slipping out of character and calling her a stupid tomboy.

"You said that the official match is still some time of. That means I can train and get better." Akane reasoned. "You will allow me to train won't you? It is not like you are afraid that I might beat you, is it?"

Ranma could not believe it. True he had held back to keep from really hurting her and he had looked less capable then he really was as a result of disguising his style, but still it had been a clear and decisive victory every time. What had given the stupid tomboy the idea that after a loss like this all it would take for her to win were some time of intensive training?

"Facilities and equipment for your training will be provided. I will personally make sure that you are given every chance to improve your fighting abilities. You can train all you want," Ranma declared, "but there is no way you can beat me. Remember there is no shame in fielding a champion and you can announce one any time you wish."

After Akane again was safely locked back in her cell Ranma planned his next move.

Things were not going according to plan. It looked like Akane would rather marry him than allow him to rescue her. Well marry him-Wildpferd and be rescued by him-Ranma. Why did she have to be this stubborn?

And the worst part was the training. True he had only agreed to let her train, but Ranma knew very well that Akane by herself had little chance of actually improving. In order for the training to be meaningful someone was going to have to train her and his honor did not allow him to not help her in her training after what he had just promised.

And refusing to train Akane was just the thing that had gotten him into this mess to begin with. It wasn't just the fact that it would only encourage Akane to take on enemies by herself and get herself hurt or worse. There was also the problem that he could simply not bring himself to train with Akane the way he had been trained.

All the advanced training methods Ranma knew were close to torture. Not just banging your students into rocks or having them burn their hands like the Amazons did. All the techniques his father had used had been pretty painful, too. Ranma really dreaded having to do anything like that to Akane. It would be torture for the student and there was no way he could torture Akane.

Ranma thought about that for a while. He could possibly use some of the lighter training methods on her. The ones that were mostly humiliating and not really dangerous. No dark pits full of little monsters or anything. If it came to that he could use it to convince Akane to give up and also correct some of her worst habits in the dojo. Maybe he could even do something about that temper of hers....

Before Ranma could get too enamored with that idea he reminded himself that the plan was to make Akane say uncle as fast as possible. Wildpferd by himself was apparently not a dreadful enough prospect to make her change her mind.

A second character was needed a 'good cop' to Wildpferd's 'bad cop' perhaps or maybe an 'even worse cop'. Ranma eyed a glass of water that was standing innocently on a table nearby just waiting for the first unwary Jusenkyou victim to come within splashing reach.

His curse could be useful in some situations.

Ranma could fashion himself a disguise for his girlside and use it to influence Akane. Ranma knew he was good at disguises since Ryogua fell for Ranma's acts every time. Having Akane meet another person would also serve to dispel any questions about the lack of inhabitants of the castle that Akane must surely have by now.

A sympathetic servant girl would be just the thing to start with. Someone non-threatening and none too bright that she could trust. Ranma could interact with Akane and make sure she was all right without making his Wildpferd character look weak. He could tell her just how bad the fate was that expected her if she did not give up and let Ranma take care of her fights.