A Ranma 1/2-Rurouni Kenshin fusion
Return of the Warrior
By: Q Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin do not belong to me and are being used solely for non-profit purposes.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Tetsuya's killer..." Ranma narrowed his eyes at the pale girl before him.
Lee looked to Ranma then back to the girl. "She doesn't look like much. But I'll take you word for it."
Ayame simply smiled. She began to head for the large home behind her.
"This should be interesting..." Lee commented as he and Ranma followed.
*****
'Wow, that sure is a big house!' Kaori thought to herself. She moved stealthily through the woods, hiding behind trees and bushes and mentally repeating the mantra of 'sneaky feet' to reassure her herself.
Eventually making it to the outer wall of the compound, she took a quick leap into the trees to look over the wall for any sentries. She was mildly surprised by the lack of heavy patrol. As far as she could tell this side of the house was only watched by 5 men. Not questioning her luck, Kaori threw a smoke bomb towards the corner of the wall where it was the darkest. 'That should keep them busy for a while since even when the dust clears, it'll still be to dark to see anything.'
"Is that smoke?" Asked one of the guards to the nearest man to him.
"I can't tell it's kind of dark... wait, look up! there's smoke coming from over there. Hey Guys! Something's up over here!" The second man cried as he ran over with the first guy towards the disturbance.
"Suckers..." Kaori whispered to herself as she jumped over the wall and onto the property. She slowly walked across the yard towards the large estate. As she reached the window to sneak in through, she heard a loud siren from the corners of the wall as red lights flashed. "...Whoops."
*****
"I'm getting hungry, you guys want anything..." A women with short blonde hair asked.
"Sorry, but we have company." Daigo grinned. As soon as the words left his mouth the door to the large kitchen they were presently in opened. Stepping through the doorway was a smiling Ayame, a bored looking Lee, and a smirking Ranma.
"Yo, Daigo... damn, you look..." Ranma trailed off.
"Handsome?" Asked the blonde haired women by Daigo's right side.
"Dangerous?" Purred a women with long pink hair.
Ayame cocked her head at him.
"I'd go with weird myself..." Lee smirked.
Ranma sweatdropped "Um... different. You look very different..."
"I guess, but I like it." Daigo shrugged as he pretended not to hear all the other descriptions.
"Daigo's leaving himself wide open by just sitting in his chair like that, don't you think?" Lee whispered to his escort.
Lee blinked 'I wonder if I'm the only one to hear that.' He continued to stare at the girl beside him.
"I've been wondering Daigo... what's so important about this place? We all know you're stationed in Kyoto." Ranma asked.
"Well, I never got around to having the wealth of jewels in this house moved over to Kyoto... so I thought I'd stop by and enjoy them, and perhaps entertain some guests..." he grinned at Ranma and Lee.
"What's so special about the jewels in this house? I'm pretty sure you don't need money."
"The jewels feel so soothing to my scales you see. So sometimes I like to just lay in them for a few hours."
Ranma turned to Lee who was looking at him with an expressions of 'don't ask me.'
"Don't you know? Dragons have a thing for treasures and jewels, the feel of them on a dragons scale is very relaxing." Daigo informed them.
"Riiiight... anyway why have you taken such measures to keep this village in your grasp." Lee spoke up.
"I knew it was a very big possibility that Ranma would head this way... Once he started his journey to come for me."
"You planned for us to contact Ranma just as I thought. Now that we're here you plan on finishing us off so that you can move on to taking over Japan?" Lee questioned.
"Leon Max, one of the most promising students to ever study at the school, surely you don't think my goal is so shallow?" Daigo taunted.
"As a matter of fact I do." Lee brushed off the barb.
"Tsk tsk, I expected better of you. Let me explain. I was a simple student at the school prior to the trip to Jusenkyo. However once I was introduced to the magic surrounding that area I was given the strength most men could only dream of. The masters traveling with me couldn't even kill me. However like I said I'm not using this strength to simply control any part of Japan, nor Asia as I'm sure some of your men have guessed." Daigo began to drink from his cup.
Then he continued. "Once I made it out of the springs... again. I continued to travel through China, especially the area surrounding Jusenkyo. I learned much about the magical area in the land and realized how powerful I had truly become."
"Um... as interesting as your story may be, can you get to the point about your goals." Ranma gave Daigo a small smirk.
"No appreciation for build up... Fine, everyone one of us in this room has experienced or heard about the unusual places, items, and beings that lay hidden within our world. Yet, I seem to be the only one from the school to have paid it any attention. Every person from our school is taught a style meant to create us into warriors but none of them had any purpose or goal to actually be one. Until now. There are creatures who roam our planet with not only the strength, but with brains and subjects to command also, who could take over large areas of earth before the military of any country could stop them. Add in the different magical weapons that seem to pop out every where nowadays that the government lacks any knowledge of, then we leave ourselves open to be conquered! So I will show this country as well as the rest of Asia, that they are not at the top of the food chain and that they need to gain the true strength that they have lost. They rely far to much on man made weapons and have neglected what truly works against these threats... True Warriors! Warriors like us!" Daigo spread out his arms as he stood.
*****
"Hey the alarm went off... why did it go off so soon..." Asked one of the guards searching the through the smoke.
"I don't know? the intruder hasn't made it out of the smoke yet." Came another member.
"Crap! This must be a diversion!" A third voice cried out, as everyone ran back to the house. They came to a halt once they encountered a girl rasping herself on the head.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, of course a big house like this has some kind of security!" Kaori finally stopped when she felt something wrong with the situation 'I guess the guards surrounding me could be the cause...'
"An intruder!" one of them yelled.
"Really, and we thought she was just out of uniform... WE KNOW SHE'S AN INTRUDER!" The second man smacked his foolish partner, before they all attacked her.
Smirking at the men, Kaori jumped back "I'll make this quick and painful." After saying she retrieved four of her shurikens and tossed them with deadly accuracy...
"That was... low." one man managed to get out as he dropped to his knees holding his groin, joining the other three men on their knees screaming in pain.
Rushing in immediately Kaori finished each man off with a blow to the back of the neck or hard kicks. "Better get inside before their back up arrives." Kaori decided as she ran back towards the window and climbed inside. 'Finding the others might take a while...' she grimaced at the size of the place.
*****
"Maybe the world is blind to some of the more unusual things around us, but that doesn't give you the right to become the very thing you wish to warn the nation about."
"People only truly learn these things after going through them Ranma. You should know that more than anyone. How many times have you gotten yourself into situations you would have know better than to get mixed up in now? Many of those situations you should have known to avoid in the first place... but the only way you learned not to get involved was because you experienced the consequences first hand." Daigo retorted to Ranma's lecture.
"Whatever. Daigo we came here to put an end to this game, so let's get on with it." Lee stepped forward, bored with the conversation.
"Actually I just came here to see you two. I have no intention of fighting you here. But to make sure you two don't leave feeling too disappointed, I have someone else here to battle you." Daigo snapped his fingers.
Both Ranma and Lee tensed at the action, then turned towards the double doors to their side. As the doors swung open a tall brown haired man stepped in. Ranma had to fight a groan from escaping at the sight of the man in white and black traditional samurai garb. He had two swords at his side , the usual katana and the shorter kodachi, both black from end to end. 'A grown Kuno...'
"Goro if you don't mind, please entertain our guests." Daigo motioned towards the two.
"I'd be glad to. By the way, there's another intruder... a young girl I believe. She's somewhere lost in here." the middle-aged man added.
"We should have tied the kid up..." snorted the master of the serpent style.
"Probably... Uh look guys..." Ranma gave Daigo and his associates a pleading look. "If she shows up you have to refer to me as Ranko... please?" He really wished he was in his cursed form when doing this.
Daigo gave him an incredulous look, Lee sweatdropped, Goro blinked, the blond haired women snickered, Ayame gave a strained smile, and the young lady with the pink haired gushed. "Oh he's so cute! sure thing kiddo, Ranko it is" She gave him a wink.
"Um... thanks" Ranma returned while rubbing the back of his head. 'I hope Daigo doesn't get jealous... I really don't need another guy trying to kill me, oh that's right, he already is...' Ranma began to laugh nervously.
"We can avoid such a situation if we just take Daigo out this instant." Lee smiled as he began to move towards the red scaled man. He gave no notice to the man introduced as Goro. Well until the man drew his katana slicing at him.
Lee, to the shock of only Goro, casually sent a powerful kick to the man's wrist. The katana wielding fighter's shock was short lived as the familiar tactic was used against him. It wasn't uncommon for a fighter without a weapon to try and kick his opponents sword out of their hand early in a fight. Goro was simply shocked at the speed the man turned his attention away from Daigo to himself. He had underestimated the young man, fortunately his opponent had underestimated him as well.
The two former sparring partners were taken aback by the fact that not only had the man kept his hold of his katana, but had begun to spin the other way almost instantly. Before Lee could recover his leg, he felt the ankle of his raised foot caught in Goro's grasp. The sword fighter had thrown his left hand behind his back in hopes of catching Lee's foot.
'Damn' Ranma thought as he saw the shock on Lee's face, was heard in his mind also. Goro kneeled with his right arm outstretched holding his sword as he turned to the no longer moving Lee.
Before Ranma could step forward, Goro jumped back with a gasp. The room as a collective looked form the shocked Goro to the bored looking Lee.
The green eyed man slowly lowered his leg and tossed what looked like maybe a knife into the air. 'No that's the other guys...' Ranma turned back to Goro nodding at the sight of the older man no longer having his kodachi in it's sheath.
Came the chipper... voice of Ayame.
Catching the small sword in his hand Lee turned to the seething Goro. "You can't beat me, so stop wasting everyone's time. I'm here to deal with Daigo not simpletons like you."
Yelling in rage, Goro attacked him once more.
*****
Pacing back and forth on the boat, the black haired young man tried to make a final decision on what to do. 'Due I go back to Japan or deliver the message? On one hand, Shampoo could be hurt with me gone, but if I don't deliver the message I could be kicked out of the village and lose any chance at being able to marry her... So what's more important? Me being able to marry her or her safety... Don't be stupid Mousse, the answer's obvious.' Smiling to himself, Mousse settled in for the long trip to China. *****
"A-again!" Akane tried to yell, it came out more as a wheeze instead.
Ryouga shook his head... 'At least she's getting one part of the training right.' "Do you need to switch fingers again?" he asked.
"I don't think so... I'm sure this finger will be the one to get it right!" Akane cried.
"It doesn't really matter what finger you use... it's all in the mind." Ryouga whispered to himself as he pulled on the rope connected with the boulder. "Don't try to break the rock with your finger Akane. Just look at it as it comes closer and try to see the point on it where the rocks energy is focused."
"That's what I've been doing...Hiyahh!... Owwies... my finger." tears welled up in Akane's eyes.
Sighing Ryouga jumped down from the tree he was in. "It's getting late Akane lets call it a night and take care of that finger."
"Okay..." Akane gave in without much fuss.
*****
"Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Shampoo yelled as she swiped out acorns from the fire she made. "Ha! I did it!" Shampoo jumped to her feet doing a victory dance... or maybe trying to cool her burning fingers off. Neither one brought much cheer to Ukyo who still hadn't mastered it yet.
"You sure we don't need chestnuts... Maybe it's harder to grab acorns and that's why I'm having such a hard time." Ukyo grumbled.
The Amazon gave her a lidded stare. "Right, right, Ran-chan didn't master it in a day so I shouldn't be upset that it takes me some time to learn it." Ukyo waved her hand at Shampoo.
"Besides that Ukyo, you know that I'm already really fast with my hands... remember the time I blocked Akane's memory of Ranma? I washed her hair in less than 5 seconds." Shampoo try to console her... friend.
"How could I forget, I had the dream about it last night... And if I remember correctly your hands aren't the only things your fast with, trying to seduce Ran-chan the first day you meet him." Ukyo tried to look upset over the incident, but since she saw it from Shampoo's point of view she couldn't help but find Ranma's attempt of letting Shampoo down with the old 'We should get to know each better' line from on his back, as he father held a sign proclaiming him pathetic as very funny.
"Well he was my husband by then..." Shampoo shrugged her shoulders. "And don't think I don't know about some of the fantasies you have about him either... some of your dreams were quite, what's the word I'm looking for... explicit?" Shampoo held her finger to her chin in thought.
"No, no, you probably mean romantic, Heh, heh," Ukyo covered her burning cheeks.
"No, I think I was right at first, very explicit." Shampoo giggled.
Nodoka just hummed happily to herself as she cooked, pretending not to hear what her prospective daughter in laws were saying.
*****
Cologne smiled as she allowed herself the guilty pleasure of daydreaming. She could see it now, five or six grandchildren running around, all training to be the best of their generation, fighting with each other to help reach levels in the art unthinkable up till then. Yes, the idea of a child being raised by an Amazon matriarch, one of the amazons strongest warriors, the martial art prodigy that was Ranma, and even if discounted at first glance, the loyal and extremely determined okonomiyaki chef, was something to allow herself to dream about... Especially since a little mistake made by her could led to it actually happening.
"It would be with Ranma that such a foolish mistake could turn out to be our best plan yet..." Cologne looked around the empty restaurant before giggling.
*****
"Do you feel that Saotome?" Soun asked.
"Say what?!" Genma yelled over the sound of men finishing working on the house for the day.
Waiting for the noise to die down Soun repeated himself. "I said do you feel that?"
"Feel what?" Genma spoke without looking away from the shogi board.
"I don't know... like there's some kind of change in the air... or something important is happening... do you not feel it?"
Genma paused before slowly looking at Soun in the face with an unreadable expression...
"Nope, nothing." and turn back to the board.
Nabiki and Kasumi facefaulted at the exchange from the kitchen entrance.
*****
"This place is so big. How am I supposed to find anyone in here... hey, is that an indoors swimming pool? Wow it is!" Kaori peered into the clear blue water. "Maybe I should do a little reconnaissance around the area before heading for Ranko. I wonder if they have a big screen T.V. and maybe some games..." And so Kaori continued her mission as cavalry for Ranma and Lee... sort of.
*****
Kicking the enraged man's hand again, Lee began to dodge the fast swings in lazy yet efficient movements. Ranma couldn't help but think of him as the animal his style was based on, Lee looked laid back but alert enough to strike at a moments notice. An overhead swing was sidestepped and the thrust that followed was yet again kicked away. As Lee continued to avoid Goro's sword, everyone else waited for him to eventually use the smaller blade in his hand.
After a few more exchanges that followed the pattern of the first series, Lee only kicking the swordsman's hand when he couldn't dart out of the way, Ayame turned to Ranma in confusion.
"I've never fought with Lee using weapons... however, as fighters raised at our school, we all were supposed to be trained to use most weapons at a adequate level. Lee's just putting on a show for everyone..." Ranma smirked.
"You see how intent Daigo and his lady friends are watching Lee? There trying to get a feel for how he fights now, so Lee's just going to show off instead of fighting in his usual manner." Ranma's smiled grew bigger as Lee finally went for the finish.
Seeing the look change on Ranma's face, Ayame quickly turned back to the fight.
Goro swung his sword with abandon as he finally got within range for the perfect strike. He was caught off guard to say the least when his opponent simply smacked the sword out of his numb hands and connected with a high kick to the jaw.
"What a moron. You really thought I was just running away from you and your sword the whole fight didn't you?" Lee looked disgusted at the man as he tossed the knife aside.
"What are you talking about?" the man asked as he finally got his jaw working again and continued to massage his numb hand.
"You kicked his right hand at specific points on almost each finger, numbing him and slowing down his attacks, and he never noticed... that's sort of pathetic really..." Ranma began to walk towards his unofficial partner.
I
*****
Kaori was right about to take a bite out of the large sandwich that was suspiciously laid out on the kitchen table by a huge fridge when she heard voices from the adjacent room. Looking at the food in front of her then back to the door, she started for one direction before stopping and heading for the other. Eventually, she just grabbed the sandwich and ripped a piece off popping it into her mouth as she made her way to the large double doors.
As she slowly and silently pushed them open, she peeked through the crack to see Lee and Ranma standing beside each other in conversation and a young girl not to far away. Further opening the door she noted a large older man laying on the floor, and three more people sitting at a large table. 'Must be the dining room' she idly thought.
Stepping into the room, Kaori made her grand entrance. "Mmphff!" And almost choked on the sandwich in her mouth. She sported a sweatdrop when the room as one looked at her with raised eyebrows. Swallowing quickly, she once again tried to speak. "I.."
"Goro! I hope you're not done already... I really would hate to think that I let weaklings join my group..." Daigo narrowed his eyes as his blonde assistant pulled out a whip.
Growling, Goro rolled onto his feet to head for Lee and Ranma. "We really don't feel like wasting time..." Ranma spoke as he toed the knife on the ground before kicking it up and catching it. A second later Goro was once again laying on the ground, this time with a knife in his inner left thigh.
Goro held back his cry of pain as he tried to keep himself from grabbing his injured leg.
Turning away from the man, Ranma faced Daigo. "I believe it's my turn to fight... So what do say Daigo, ready for rematch I promised you all those years ago?"
*****
Shampoo held the crying Ukyo to herself as she tried to keep her own tears from falling. Ukyo had decided to take a small nap after training and not being able to get the technique down. Then the next thing Shampoo knew she was hearing sniffling coming from Ukyo's tent. It didn't take to long for Ukyo to tell Shampoo what was wrong. "It's okay Ukyo, I realized they weren't my real friends that day and now I'm better for it."
"Still, when they turned their backs on you and laughed at you when they thought you weren't around and didn't know you were walking around in your cursed form..." Ukyo sobbed.
"Yes, it did hurt, it hurt a lot, but I'm over it now..." Shampoo tried to console the young women.
"You- you're lying." Ukyo slumped against her supporter.
"That's true, but still you shouldn't be effected by it so much, it didn't hit me this bad." Shampoo admitted.
"It's just that it reminds me of when I was young and my father got upset over what happen, and then the few girls I knew laughed at me..." Ukyo began to collect herself. "They were so mean and they didn't even pretend to hide the fact that they were laughing at me."
"I know... I remember." Shampoo continued to hold Ukyo.
Nodoka simply laid in her tent wondering if this was going to lead to happiness in the end, or forever stay following this path of emotional pain... either way the only person who could truly help the girls was Ranma in the end. 'It looks like Daigo won't be the only problem to be solved in Kyoto...'
*****
Akane sat with her arms around her knee's as she watched the fire. Ryouga wasn't too far away as he went through a kata to keep himself from getting rusty, and to avoid looking at Akane's defeated expression that seemed to be branded onto her face with their campfire she was staring at.
"Ryouga... I'm not really getting any better am I?" Akane asked while still peering into the flames.
"You've gotten a lot toughter..." Ryouga returned lamely.
"I still can't get the breaking point, and I can't focus long enough to hold off my anger." Akane began rocking back and forth.
Biting his lip, Ryouga sat close, but not close enough to touch, to Akane. Taking a moment to organize his words mentally, he spoke up. "Maybe it's the way we're trying to approach it... maybe trying to make you focus without getting angry is the wrong way. I mean I use my depression to focus right? Maybe we can use your anger to began to work on focusing."
"You think that might help?" She unconsciously gave Ryouga the puppy dog eyes.
"I don't know really, but we'll find out tomorrow right?" He smiled when Akane's face took on her usual expression of determination.
"Right"
*****
Daigo simply looked towards the whimpering form of Goro then back to Ranma. "Nice throw, but why'd you go for the leg, we're in a battle not a challenge match. Continue to go so easy on those who come for your life and you will lose it. As a matter of fact, if you try to stay the martial artist that you claim to be then your next fight could very well be your last. But it won't be against me... Right Ayame?" Daigo looked at the pale girl.
Ayame took a moment to peer at Kaori before turning to Ranma.
"Very well, I hope to see the two of you in Kyoto alive and well, and of course ready to face me in true combat." Daigo stated the last point with a gaze towards Ranma.
Ranma turned towards Daigo's retreating form as the scaled man began to walk with his two uniquely haired assistants. "You're not..." Ranma's reply was cut off when Ayame simple appeared before Ranma.
"That girl didn't even walk..." Kaori whispered out.
Ranma stared at the Tetsuya's murderer with a cold stare "So Ayame, you're going to stop me from going after Daigo?"
the blue haired girl just smiled her insipid smile.
Ranma took no stance as he stared at the young girl before him. 'Damn what is she? I feel no ki from her at all, I can't even see her chest moving from her breathing.'
"Come on Ranko, move the scrawny girl out of the way! So what that she can do whatever the hell she just did to get in front of you, that red skinned guy is getting away!" Kaori shouted.
Lee clenched his fist 'Ranma has no clue how to go about fighting someone as unusual as this girl. Damn it, I know something about her is tugging at the back of my mind, something I learned back at the school... If only I could remember it.'
'She doesn't seem to even be perpared for me attacking her, nor to launch her own attack... She's just smiling at me like this is some kind of joke. I need to get past her, but she's just to unpredictable for me to simply try to haphazardly attack her...'
"Would somebody do something!" Kaori pulled at her red hair.
Ranma let out a low hiss as a red aura blossomed out of him, and a faint look of a tiger seemed to manifest itself above him for such a short moment that no one could truly say if they saw it or not...
Kaori eeped and jumped behind Lee as she felt the energy on an almost physical level coming from Ranma.
"No good. He can't intimidate the girl like that, she doesn't seem to have any state of being besides being serene or curious. Fear is definitely not a emotion this child will show." Lee placed his hands into his pockets appearing bored even though he was anything but.
Kaori looked from Lee, to Ranma, then to Ayame, finally starting to get the feeling maybe the girl was more dangerous then she appeared.
"I haven't truly figured it out yet, but for lack of a better term the figure before us is not human." Lee stated.
"WHAT! She's some kind of alien?" Kaori gasped.
"I wouldn't go that far." Ranma added in. "She definitely ain't normal though." Ranma fell into a basic defensive stance.
I've been looking forward to this Ranko. I do hope you won't dissapoint me.
Trying to hold back the animalistic urges of his incomplete cat-fist style, Ranma began to clench and unclench his fist as a red aura formed around each hand and finger.
*****
Daigo and his two companions entered the basement of the house. "Does Ranma stand a chance against Ayame?" the pink haired women asked.
"Well... With him still not able to fully use the cat-fist I would have to say that he stands no chance of surviving against Ayame... however I would also say he stood no chance at his current level to defeat the prince of the musk and certainly not the king of Jusendo. So in the end I think Ranma will survive the fight but hopefully it'll open his eyes to the truth that as he is... he's nowhere ready for me." Daigo began to laugh. "I would imagine that at this very moment he's attacking her to no avail as his punches and kicks simply pass through her until she attacks him in kind, which will unceremoniously end the fight."
They continued to descend the steps to the basement where they arrived to pick up the last person to go with them back to Kyoto.
*****
'I don't got time to waist here Daigo's getting away!' "Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma cried as he rushed at the girl. Once he closed the distance he unloaded the attack.
Everyone, including the bleeding Goro, gasped as Ranma's fists went through the girl appearing to come out her back. Ranma paused in his attack and stared stupidly at his fist that was sticking out of Ayame's side. He slowly looked from his fist to the face of his opponent. "Is this normal?" He asked.
A punch to the face was the answer he received. "I don't quite know if that means yes or no..." Ranma commented as he picked himself up of the floor, rubbing his nose. "For such a skinny girl you sure pack a lot of power."
Ranma charged in again with a jumping kick that passed through the girl, Ranma following, and into the wall. Grumbling to himself Ranma got up off the floor again. "Alright missy, let's see you handle this!" Ranma slightly bent his legs and pulled his arms to his side as he charged up a powerful mouka takabishi.
"Interesting decision, I wonder if it'll work." Lee raised an eyebrow. Goro simply gaped and Kaori whistled at the amount of energy Ranma seemed to be gathering. As soon as Ranma let off with the attack Ayame's grin grew huge.
the pigtailed teen blinked when his ki attack began to merge with the form of Ayame. "The hell?!"
Lee's eyes grew big "Impossible!"
Kaori looked at the sight and couldn't make out with exactly was transpiring before her "What. What's happening?" she asked frantically.
Sneering Lee turned to her. "That THING is leeching off all of Ranko's ki... More than what is even near being safe levels!"
The form of Ayame seemed to be taking in life as her pale complexion darkened into a normal hue, and her light blue hair took on a stronger color of blue. Eventually the no longer pale girl let out a scream and cut off her ki drain.
"God, this is so much worse then Ms. Hinako's technique." Ranma got out through ragged breaths as he lay on the floor panting.
"Oh no, with Ranko down the girl will kill him!" Kaori yelled to Lee.
"No need to be so loud, I'm right beside you! Anyway I think Ayame is having trouble of her own."
"Huh?" the redhead looked at the other girl. Ayame was holding her sides as if in pain. Wearily approaching the girl Lee and Kaori could barely make out her statement as over and over again in their heads.
Almost as if arguing Ranma gasped out his state. "So... weak."
Straightening up Ayame turned to Ranma. She doubled over in pain. And with that the young no longer quite so pale girl disappeared.
Rolling onto his back, Ranma stared at the ceiling 'regain my ki? Can she really block me from gaining it the natural way...'
Lee walked towards Goro "What the hell did the girl mean by him not being able to access his ki normally?"
The swordsmen just laughed in the face of Lee's cold stare. Snorting Lee stepped on the knife still in the fools leg. "Argg! Alright, alright. Th- the girl's supposed to, agrrh, supposed to be able to" the man took a moment to let the sharp pain in his leg subside a little. "To do all kinds of crazy things with ki, but that's all I know. I swear."
Lee gave him one last glare before stomping on the knife and walking away. "DAMN! you bastard..." the man trailed off in a whimper. Deciding not to give the intruders any more chances to inflict pain on him, Goro grit his teeth and yanked the knife out of his thigh.
Kaori paid the clanging sound of the knife hitting the floor no attention. "Ranko, are you going to be okay?"
"I... I don't know. Where the hell does someone go to unlock whatever that girl did to me? Without my ki, I still can defeat most people... but not fighters of the high caliber like the ones Daigo probably has with him." Ranma continued to look up, not really focusing his eyes on anything.
"What about the Amazon elder? I pretty sure she knows a thing or two about weird techniques. If the phone here still works we can give her a call if you know the number, afterwords I'll call the local police to come and clear this place out and send help for our whimpering friend here..." Lee waved over at Goro's rocking form.
"I'd love to call the old ghoul, mind giving me a hand up?" Ranma raised his arm to Lee. He grimaced when Lee unceremoniously yanked him to his fee. "Thanks." Ranma deadpanned.
Lee walked back to the door in which they entered when Kaori called out. "I think I say a phone in the kitchen."
Ranma's eyes got wide "A kitchen you say? Well we best check it out, right?" Ranma moved as fast as his injured body could go.
"Doesn't take much to cheer him up..." Lee muttered under his breath as he followed, he put on a stoic face as his stomach grumbled.
*****
As Cologne prepared to call it a night she was surprised to hear her phone ring. Hopping onto the counter she whipped the phone off the receiver "Sorry but the Cat Cafe is closed for the next couple of weeks..." She paused as the other person spoke up. "Ranko? I'm sorry I don't... Ranma?! What have you gotten yourself into now?" Several more moments of listening. "Amazing... No I not happy about what's happened to you, but it is very impressive that someone could do something like that. He must be a truly strong master of ki to" Cologne's eye twitched as Ranma cut her off and explained things a bit more. "You're telling me a girl of 14 to 15 years in age was able to cut of your ki flow?" Shaking her head Cologne finally gave the information Ranma wanted "No I'm sorry I'm not that familiar with the technique and as such know of no cure for it." Cologne held the phone away from her ear as the loud voices came from the other end.
"Oh before you go I think I should warn you, there are some acquaintances of yours on route to Kyoto as we speak..." Holding the phone a reasonable distance away again Cologne chuckled. "Good night Son-in-Law and Good Luck." With that the old ghoul hung up the phone.
*****
"Well?" Kaori asked from her place by the fridge. Lee simply raised an eyebrow at him.
"She couldn't help me, but she did give me some... interesting information. It would seem I will be having guests once I reach Kyoto." Ranma moved past Kaori to get a good look inside the fridge.
"Oh that's right I meant to tell you, the piglet and the youngest Tendo are heading for Kyoto." Lee looked only midly embarrassed at the fact that he had not mentioned that fact to Ranma earlier.
"I really should have guest those two would do something like that, I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of Nerima set out for Kyoto..." Ranma paused a moment to look for a handy piece of wood to knock on. 'Damn rich people, everything's marble and glass with them! Oh well it's just a silly superstition, I don't need to knock on wood to keep the others from coming.' However Ranma couldn't shake the feeling that he had just cursed his fate.
*****
Several sneezes later...
Ukyo laid in her sleeping bag berating herself for showing Shampoo her weakness like that. 'Even more reason for that Amazon to think she's better than me.'
Shampoo likewise was scolding herself for her actions. 'Ukyo is your rival! You should be throwing this back in her face... not making friends with her. But with that stupid technique Grandmother gave me can I really be blamed for my concern? As a Amazon I should not show compassion like this to an enemy, but if I don't become close to Ukyo and not give in to the Amazon technique... then it will be proven to be a weak and flawed tactic afterall... I'll just sleep on it." Shampoo huffed than laid down for hopefully a dreamless slumber.
*****
"Ryouga? Tell me about some of the training trips you've been on, Ranma never really tells us anything about himself until it comes and bites him in the butt." Akane scowled a little.
"Um well, there's not much to tell..." Ryouga staring stabbing the fire with a stick.
"Come on, you go on lot's of training trips I'm sure you meet lot's of interesting people and see all kinds of strange things... I wish I could go on training trips more often."
"It's fun sometimes. But I'd much rather be able to stay in one place for a long time. I mean your home is more of a home to me than mine is. Everyone in Nerima is like a part of my family now. Well except for Ranma he's like the annoying neighbor next door that just get's on your nerves..." Ryouga broke the twig in his hands. "Sorry."
"But I though you and Ranma were friends..." Akane replied.
Ryouga stared at her 'She really believes that.' "But me and Ranma fight all the time!"
"Me and Nabiki fight all the time, But we still love each other." Akane shrugged.
"It's different with me and Ranma. We're rivals, not quite true enemies but not friends either..." Ryouga stared into the fire.
"Do you have any friends Ryouga?" Akane asked him.
"Only you Akane." Ryouga stared at her for what seemed like forever to him. Akane just stared back at him with her innocent look. Letting out a breath he turned back to the fire. 'Why can't I just tell her.'
"So Ryouga come on tell me about your travels..."
"Alright"
*****
Ranma, Kaori, and Lee stood near the camp they had used the night prior to help out Shinji's family.
"Things sure are going to be weird around here for a while..." Kaori commented as she watched the townspeople avert their eyes from Shinji's parents and Sachiko.
"I guess so. But we have better things to concern ourselves with." Lee turned away from the scene. "I've got to talk with Yamaguchi, and You have to find a way to get back your ki abilities... not to mention mastering your style." Lee bore his eyes into Ranma.
"I don't need you to tell me that." Ranma stared back at Lee.
"I didn't think you did, but it never hurts to make sure."
"I wouldn't be to sure of that..." Ranma trailed off as Lee walked away.
Kaori watched as Lee walked among the throngs of people and police that littered the streets before turning back to Ranma. "Um I guess we should be heading for Kyoto. I'm sure someone there might know about how to cure you. After all with all the different fighting styles in Kyoto now since the school of the fang was tore down there's plenty of people with obscure knowledge. Not only that there's this new doctor, well he was new when I left... anyway he was really good and people said he was a great martial artist with lots of knowledge about odd stuff. Hmm, what was his name... Todo, Toto, Toshu, Tofu, Tol- Tofu! that's right Doctor Tofu. He's supposed to be really good."
"Ono Tofu? He's in Kyoto? Alright! he was almost as knowledgeable as the old ghoul. Hopefully he can help me. Well Kaori I guess it's time that we started back to Kyoto." Ranma smiled.
"Yep, and who knows maybe Ranma will be there."
"Maybe..."
*****
"He survived then." Daigo smiled.
"That's alright. I actually hoped he would be able to make it through the fight without bowing out. He truly is as good as the rumors say, but I want him better." Daigo eyes glinted as he turned to the window of the car his assistant was driving him in.
Ayame questioned.
Turning to her form, Daigo smirked "Ayame it's time for the band to come together once more."
His pink haired assistant gasped from the front passenger seat beside her blonde counterpart. "Daigo?! Do you really think it's necessary to have them all in one place like that? Just for the boy?"
Daigo grin was from ear to ear. "You don't quite see all the players that are joining our game. We're going to be facing more than just Ranma. Lee and other less known fighters are going to be opposing us."
I Ayame placed a finger in her chin in thought. She looked at Daigo and smiled.
"Yes, that's right Ayame, the real reason I want the band of the fang back together is to push Ranma over the edge and back onto the path of blood and death. I want to bring back the true vicious nature the boy was capable of, the person many masters at the school feared he'd become... Ranma Saotome the deadliest master of the Cat Fist!"
*****
To be Continued
[email protected]
By: Q Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin do not belong to me and are being used solely for non-profit purposes.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Tetsuya's killer..." Ranma narrowed his eyes at the pale girl before him.
Lee looked to Ranma then back to the girl. "She doesn't look like much. But I'll take you word for it."
Ayame simply smiled. She began to head for the large home behind her.
"This should be interesting..." Lee commented as he and Ranma followed.
*****
'Wow, that sure is a big house!' Kaori thought to herself. She moved stealthily through the woods, hiding behind trees and bushes and mentally repeating the mantra of 'sneaky feet' to reassure her herself.
Eventually making it to the outer wall of the compound, she took a quick leap into the trees to look over the wall for any sentries. She was mildly surprised by the lack of heavy patrol. As far as she could tell this side of the house was only watched by 5 men. Not questioning her luck, Kaori threw a smoke bomb towards the corner of the wall where it was the darkest. 'That should keep them busy for a while since even when the dust clears, it'll still be to dark to see anything.'
"Is that smoke?" Asked one of the guards to the nearest man to him.
"I can't tell it's kind of dark... wait, look up! there's smoke coming from over there. Hey Guys! Something's up over here!" The second man cried as he ran over with the first guy towards the disturbance.
"Suckers..." Kaori whispered to herself as she jumped over the wall and onto the property. She slowly walked across the yard towards the large estate. As she reached the window to sneak in through, she heard a loud siren from the corners of the wall as red lights flashed. "...Whoops."
*****
"I'm getting hungry, you guys want anything..." A women with short blonde hair asked.
"Sorry, but we have company." Daigo grinned. As soon as the words left his mouth the door to the large kitchen they were presently in opened. Stepping through the doorway was a smiling Ayame, a bored looking Lee, and a smirking Ranma.
"Yo, Daigo... damn, you look..." Ranma trailed off.
"Handsome?" Asked the blonde haired women by Daigo's right side.
"Dangerous?" Purred a women with long pink hair.
Ayame cocked her head at him.
"I'd go with weird myself..." Lee smirked.
Ranma sweatdropped "Um... different. You look very different..."
"I guess, but I like it." Daigo shrugged as he pretended not to hear all the other descriptions.
"Daigo's leaving himself wide open by just sitting in his chair like that, don't you think?" Lee whispered to his escort.
Lee blinked 'I wonder if I'm the only one to hear that.' He continued to stare at the girl beside him.
"I've been wondering Daigo... what's so important about this place? We all know you're stationed in Kyoto." Ranma asked.
"Well, I never got around to having the wealth of jewels in this house moved over to Kyoto... so I thought I'd stop by and enjoy them, and perhaps entertain some guests..." he grinned at Ranma and Lee.
"What's so special about the jewels in this house? I'm pretty sure you don't need money."
"The jewels feel so soothing to my scales you see. So sometimes I like to just lay in them for a few hours."
Ranma turned to Lee who was looking at him with an expressions of 'don't ask me.'
"Don't you know? Dragons have a thing for treasures and jewels, the feel of them on a dragons scale is very relaxing." Daigo informed them.
"Riiiight... anyway why have you taken such measures to keep this village in your grasp." Lee spoke up.
"I knew it was a very big possibility that Ranma would head this way... Once he started his journey to come for me."
"You planned for us to contact Ranma just as I thought. Now that we're here you plan on finishing us off so that you can move on to taking over Japan?" Lee questioned.
"Leon Max, one of the most promising students to ever study at the school, surely you don't think my goal is so shallow?" Daigo taunted.
"As a matter of fact I do." Lee brushed off the barb.
"Tsk tsk, I expected better of you. Let me explain. I was a simple student at the school prior to the trip to Jusenkyo. However once I was introduced to the magic surrounding that area I was given the strength most men could only dream of. The masters traveling with me couldn't even kill me. However like I said I'm not using this strength to simply control any part of Japan, nor Asia as I'm sure some of your men have guessed." Daigo began to drink from his cup.
Then he continued. "Once I made it out of the springs... again. I continued to travel through China, especially the area surrounding Jusenkyo. I learned much about the magical area in the land and realized how powerful I had truly become."
"Um... as interesting as your story may be, can you get to the point about your goals." Ranma gave Daigo a small smirk.
"No appreciation for build up... Fine, everyone one of us in this room has experienced or heard about the unusual places, items, and beings that lay hidden within our world. Yet, I seem to be the only one from the school to have paid it any attention. Every person from our school is taught a style meant to create us into warriors but none of them had any purpose or goal to actually be one. Until now. There are creatures who roam our planet with not only the strength, but with brains and subjects to command also, who could take over large areas of earth before the military of any country could stop them. Add in the different magical weapons that seem to pop out every where nowadays that the government lacks any knowledge of, then we leave ourselves open to be conquered! So I will show this country as well as the rest of Asia, that they are not at the top of the food chain and that they need to gain the true strength that they have lost. They rely far to much on man made weapons and have neglected what truly works against these threats... True Warriors! Warriors like us!" Daigo spread out his arms as he stood.
*****
"Hey the alarm went off... why did it go off so soon..." Asked one of the guards searching the through the smoke.
"I don't know? the intruder hasn't made it out of the smoke yet." Came another member.
"Crap! This must be a diversion!" A third voice cried out, as everyone ran back to the house. They came to a halt once they encountered a girl rasping herself on the head.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, of course a big house like this has some kind of security!" Kaori finally stopped when she felt something wrong with the situation 'I guess the guards surrounding me could be the cause...'
"An intruder!" one of them yelled.
"Really, and we thought she was just out of uniform... WE KNOW SHE'S AN INTRUDER!" The second man smacked his foolish partner, before they all attacked her.
Smirking at the men, Kaori jumped back "I'll make this quick and painful." After saying she retrieved four of her shurikens and tossed them with deadly accuracy...
"That was... low." one man managed to get out as he dropped to his knees holding his groin, joining the other three men on their knees screaming in pain.
Rushing in immediately Kaori finished each man off with a blow to the back of the neck or hard kicks. "Better get inside before their back up arrives." Kaori decided as she ran back towards the window and climbed inside. 'Finding the others might take a while...' she grimaced at the size of the place.
*****
"Maybe the world is blind to some of the more unusual things around us, but that doesn't give you the right to become the very thing you wish to warn the nation about."
"People only truly learn these things after going through them Ranma. You should know that more than anyone. How many times have you gotten yourself into situations you would have know better than to get mixed up in now? Many of those situations you should have known to avoid in the first place... but the only way you learned not to get involved was because you experienced the consequences first hand." Daigo retorted to Ranma's lecture.
"Whatever. Daigo we came here to put an end to this game, so let's get on with it." Lee stepped forward, bored with the conversation.
"Actually I just came here to see you two. I have no intention of fighting you here. But to make sure you two don't leave feeling too disappointed, I have someone else here to battle you." Daigo snapped his fingers.
Both Ranma and Lee tensed at the action, then turned towards the double doors to their side. As the doors swung open a tall brown haired man stepped in. Ranma had to fight a groan from escaping at the sight of the man in white and black traditional samurai garb. He had two swords at his side , the usual katana and the shorter kodachi, both black from end to end. 'A grown Kuno...'
"Goro if you don't mind, please entertain our guests." Daigo motioned towards the two.
"I'd be glad to. By the way, there's another intruder... a young girl I believe. She's somewhere lost in here." the middle-aged man added.
"We should have tied the kid up..." snorted the master of the serpent style.
"Probably... Uh look guys..." Ranma gave Daigo and his associates a pleading look. "If she shows up you have to refer to me as Ranko... please?" He really wished he was in his cursed form when doing this.
Daigo gave him an incredulous look, Lee sweatdropped, Goro blinked, the blond haired women snickered, Ayame gave a strained smile, and the young lady with the pink haired gushed. "Oh he's so cute! sure thing kiddo, Ranko it is" She gave him a wink.
"Um... thanks" Ranma returned while rubbing the back of his head. 'I hope Daigo doesn't get jealous... I really don't need another guy trying to kill me, oh that's right, he already is...' Ranma began to laugh nervously.
"We can avoid such a situation if we just take Daigo out this instant." Lee smiled as he began to move towards the red scaled man. He gave no notice to the man introduced as Goro. Well until the man drew his katana slicing at him.
Lee, to the shock of only Goro, casually sent a powerful kick to the man's wrist. The katana wielding fighter's shock was short lived as the familiar tactic was used against him. It wasn't uncommon for a fighter without a weapon to try and kick his opponents sword out of their hand early in a fight. Goro was simply shocked at the speed the man turned his attention away from Daigo to himself. He had underestimated the young man, fortunately his opponent had underestimated him as well.
The two former sparring partners were taken aback by the fact that not only had the man kept his hold of his katana, but had begun to spin the other way almost instantly. Before Lee could recover his leg, he felt the ankle of his raised foot caught in Goro's grasp. The sword fighter had thrown his left hand behind his back in hopes of catching Lee's foot.
'Damn' Ranma thought as he saw the shock on Lee's face, was heard in his mind also. Goro kneeled with his right arm outstretched holding his sword as he turned to the no longer moving Lee.
Before Ranma could step forward, Goro jumped back with a gasp. The room as a collective looked form the shocked Goro to the bored looking Lee.
The green eyed man slowly lowered his leg and tossed what looked like maybe a knife into the air. 'No that's the other guys...' Ranma turned back to Goro nodding at the sight of the older man no longer having his kodachi in it's sheath.
Came the chipper... voice of Ayame.
Catching the small sword in his hand Lee turned to the seething Goro. "You can't beat me, so stop wasting everyone's time. I'm here to deal with Daigo not simpletons like you."
Yelling in rage, Goro attacked him once more.
*****
Pacing back and forth on the boat, the black haired young man tried to make a final decision on what to do. 'Due I go back to Japan or deliver the message? On one hand, Shampoo could be hurt with me gone, but if I don't deliver the message I could be kicked out of the village and lose any chance at being able to marry her... So what's more important? Me being able to marry her or her safety... Don't be stupid Mousse, the answer's obvious.' Smiling to himself, Mousse settled in for the long trip to China. *****
"A-again!" Akane tried to yell, it came out more as a wheeze instead.
Ryouga shook his head... 'At least she's getting one part of the training right.' "Do you need to switch fingers again?" he asked.
"I don't think so... I'm sure this finger will be the one to get it right!" Akane cried.
"It doesn't really matter what finger you use... it's all in the mind." Ryouga whispered to himself as he pulled on the rope connected with the boulder. "Don't try to break the rock with your finger Akane. Just look at it as it comes closer and try to see the point on it where the rocks energy is focused."
"That's what I've been doing...Hiyahh!... Owwies... my finger." tears welled up in Akane's eyes.
Sighing Ryouga jumped down from the tree he was in. "It's getting late Akane lets call it a night and take care of that finger."
"Okay..." Akane gave in without much fuss.
*****
"Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Shampoo yelled as she swiped out acorns from the fire she made. "Ha! I did it!" Shampoo jumped to her feet doing a victory dance... or maybe trying to cool her burning fingers off. Neither one brought much cheer to Ukyo who still hadn't mastered it yet.
"You sure we don't need chestnuts... Maybe it's harder to grab acorns and that's why I'm having such a hard time." Ukyo grumbled.
The Amazon gave her a lidded stare. "Right, right, Ran-chan didn't master it in a day so I shouldn't be upset that it takes me some time to learn it." Ukyo waved her hand at Shampoo.
"Besides that Ukyo, you know that I'm already really fast with my hands... remember the time I blocked Akane's memory of Ranma? I washed her hair in less than 5 seconds." Shampoo try to console her... friend.
"How could I forget, I had the dream about it last night... And if I remember correctly your hands aren't the only things your fast with, trying to seduce Ran-chan the first day you meet him." Ukyo tried to look upset over the incident, but since she saw it from Shampoo's point of view she couldn't help but find Ranma's attempt of letting Shampoo down with the old 'We should get to know each better' line from on his back, as he father held a sign proclaiming him pathetic as very funny.
"Well he was my husband by then..." Shampoo shrugged her shoulders. "And don't think I don't know about some of the fantasies you have about him either... some of your dreams were quite, what's the word I'm looking for... explicit?" Shampoo held her finger to her chin in thought.
"No, no, you probably mean romantic, Heh, heh," Ukyo covered her burning cheeks.
"No, I think I was right at first, very explicit." Shampoo giggled.
Nodoka just hummed happily to herself as she cooked, pretending not to hear what her prospective daughter in laws were saying.
*****
Cologne smiled as she allowed herself the guilty pleasure of daydreaming. She could see it now, five or six grandchildren running around, all training to be the best of their generation, fighting with each other to help reach levels in the art unthinkable up till then. Yes, the idea of a child being raised by an Amazon matriarch, one of the amazons strongest warriors, the martial art prodigy that was Ranma, and even if discounted at first glance, the loyal and extremely determined okonomiyaki chef, was something to allow herself to dream about... Especially since a little mistake made by her could led to it actually happening.
"It would be with Ranma that such a foolish mistake could turn out to be our best plan yet..." Cologne looked around the empty restaurant before giggling.
*****
"Do you feel that Saotome?" Soun asked.
"Say what?!" Genma yelled over the sound of men finishing working on the house for the day.
Waiting for the noise to die down Soun repeated himself. "I said do you feel that?"
"Feel what?" Genma spoke without looking away from the shogi board.
"I don't know... like there's some kind of change in the air... or something important is happening... do you not feel it?"
Genma paused before slowly looking at Soun in the face with an unreadable expression...
"Nope, nothing." and turn back to the board.
Nabiki and Kasumi facefaulted at the exchange from the kitchen entrance.
*****
"This place is so big. How am I supposed to find anyone in here... hey, is that an indoors swimming pool? Wow it is!" Kaori peered into the clear blue water. "Maybe I should do a little reconnaissance around the area before heading for Ranko. I wonder if they have a big screen T.V. and maybe some games..." And so Kaori continued her mission as cavalry for Ranma and Lee... sort of.
*****
Kicking the enraged man's hand again, Lee began to dodge the fast swings in lazy yet efficient movements. Ranma couldn't help but think of him as the animal his style was based on, Lee looked laid back but alert enough to strike at a moments notice. An overhead swing was sidestepped and the thrust that followed was yet again kicked away. As Lee continued to avoid Goro's sword, everyone else waited for him to eventually use the smaller blade in his hand.
After a few more exchanges that followed the pattern of the first series, Lee only kicking the swordsman's hand when he couldn't dart out of the way, Ayame turned to Ranma in confusion.
"I've never fought with Lee using weapons... however, as fighters raised at our school, we all were supposed to be trained to use most weapons at a adequate level. Lee's just putting on a show for everyone..." Ranma smirked.
"You see how intent Daigo and his lady friends are watching Lee? There trying to get a feel for how he fights now, so Lee's just going to show off instead of fighting in his usual manner." Ranma's smiled grew bigger as Lee finally went for the finish.
Seeing the look change on Ranma's face, Ayame quickly turned back to the fight.
Goro swung his sword with abandon as he finally got within range for the perfect strike. He was caught off guard to say the least when his opponent simply smacked the sword out of his numb hands and connected with a high kick to the jaw.
"What a moron. You really thought I was just running away from you and your sword the whole fight didn't you?" Lee looked disgusted at the man as he tossed the knife aside.
"What are you talking about?" the man asked as he finally got his jaw working again and continued to massage his numb hand.
"You kicked his right hand at specific points on almost each finger, numbing him and slowing down his attacks, and he never noticed... that's sort of pathetic really..." Ranma began to walk towards his unofficial partner.
I
*****
Kaori was right about to take a bite out of the large sandwich that was suspiciously laid out on the kitchen table by a huge fridge when she heard voices from the adjacent room. Looking at the food in front of her then back to the door, she started for one direction before stopping and heading for the other. Eventually, she just grabbed the sandwich and ripped a piece off popping it into her mouth as she made her way to the large double doors.
As she slowly and silently pushed them open, she peeked through the crack to see Lee and Ranma standing beside each other in conversation and a young girl not to far away. Further opening the door she noted a large older man laying on the floor, and three more people sitting at a large table. 'Must be the dining room' she idly thought.
Stepping into the room, Kaori made her grand entrance. "Mmphff!" And almost choked on the sandwich in her mouth. She sported a sweatdrop when the room as one looked at her with raised eyebrows. Swallowing quickly, she once again tried to speak. "I.."
"Goro! I hope you're not done already... I really would hate to think that I let weaklings join my group..." Daigo narrowed his eyes as his blonde assistant pulled out a whip.
Growling, Goro rolled onto his feet to head for Lee and Ranma. "We really don't feel like wasting time..." Ranma spoke as he toed the knife on the ground before kicking it up and catching it. A second later Goro was once again laying on the ground, this time with a knife in his inner left thigh.
Goro held back his cry of pain as he tried to keep himself from grabbing his injured leg.
Turning away from the man, Ranma faced Daigo. "I believe it's my turn to fight... So what do say Daigo, ready for rematch I promised you all those years ago?"
*****
Shampoo held the crying Ukyo to herself as she tried to keep her own tears from falling. Ukyo had decided to take a small nap after training and not being able to get the technique down. Then the next thing Shampoo knew she was hearing sniffling coming from Ukyo's tent. It didn't take to long for Ukyo to tell Shampoo what was wrong. "It's okay Ukyo, I realized they weren't my real friends that day and now I'm better for it."
"Still, when they turned their backs on you and laughed at you when they thought you weren't around and didn't know you were walking around in your cursed form..." Ukyo sobbed.
"Yes, it did hurt, it hurt a lot, but I'm over it now..." Shampoo tried to console the young women.
"You- you're lying." Ukyo slumped against her supporter.
"That's true, but still you shouldn't be effected by it so much, it didn't hit me this bad." Shampoo admitted.
"It's just that it reminds me of when I was young and my father got upset over what happen, and then the few girls I knew laughed at me..." Ukyo began to collect herself. "They were so mean and they didn't even pretend to hide the fact that they were laughing at me."
"I know... I remember." Shampoo continued to hold Ukyo.
Nodoka simply laid in her tent wondering if this was going to lead to happiness in the end, or forever stay following this path of emotional pain... either way the only person who could truly help the girls was Ranma in the end. 'It looks like Daigo won't be the only problem to be solved in Kyoto...'
*****
Akane sat with her arms around her knee's as she watched the fire. Ryouga wasn't too far away as he went through a kata to keep himself from getting rusty, and to avoid looking at Akane's defeated expression that seemed to be branded onto her face with their campfire she was staring at.
"Ryouga... I'm not really getting any better am I?" Akane asked while still peering into the flames.
"You've gotten a lot toughter..." Ryouga returned lamely.
"I still can't get the breaking point, and I can't focus long enough to hold off my anger." Akane began rocking back and forth.
Biting his lip, Ryouga sat close, but not close enough to touch, to Akane. Taking a moment to organize his words mentally, he spoke up. "Maybe it's the way we're trying to approach it... maybe trying to make you focus without getting angry is the wrong way. I mean I use my depression to focus right? Maybe we can use your anger to began to work on focusing."
"You think that might help?" She unconsciously gave Ryouga the puppy dog eyes.
"I don't know really, but we'll find out tomorrow right?" He smiled when Akane's face took on her usual expression of determination.
"Right"
*****
Daigo simply looked towards the whimpering form of Goro then back to Ranma. "Nice throw, but why'd you go for the leg, we're in a battle not a challenge match. Continue to go so easy on those who come for your life and you will lose it. As a matter of fact, if you try to stay the martial artist that you claim to be then your next fight could very well be your last. But it won't be against me... Right Ayame?" Daigo looked at the pale girl.
Ayame took a moment to peer at Kaori before turning to Ranma.
"Very well, I hope to see the two of you in Kyoto alive and well, and of course ready to face me in true combat." Daigo stated the last point with a gaze towards Ranma.
Ranma turned towards Daigo's retreating form as the scaled man began to walk with his two uniquely haired assistants. "You're not..." Ranma's reply was cut off when Ayame simple appeared before Ranma.
"That girl didn't even walk..." Kaori whispered out.
Ranma stared at the Tetsuya's murderer with a cold stare "So Ayame, you're going to stop me from going after Daigo?"
the blue haired girl just smiled her insipid smile.
Ranma took no stance as he stared at the young girl before him. 'Damn what is she? I feel no ki from her at all, I can't even see her chest moving from her breathing.'
"Come on Ranko, move the scrawny girl out of the way! So what that she can do whatever the hell she just did to get in front of you, that red skinned guy is getting away!" Kaori shouted.
Lee clenched his fist 'Ranma has no clue how to go about fighting someone as unusual as this girl. Damn it, I know something about her is tugging at the back of my mind, something I learned back at the school... If only I could remember it.'
'She doesn't seem to even be perpared for me attacking her, nor to launch her own attack... She's just smiling at me like this is some kind of joke. I need to get past her, but she's just to unpredictable for me to simply try to haphazardly attack her...'
"Would somebody do something!" Kaori pulled at her red hair.
Ranma let out a low hiss as a red aura blossomed out of him, and a faint look of a tiger seemed to manifest itself above him for such a short moment that no one could truly say if they saw it or not...
Kaori eeped and jumped behind Lee as she felt the energy on an almost physical level coming from Ranma.
"No good. He can't intimidate the girl like that, she doesn't seem to have any state of being besides being serene or curious. Fear is definitely not a emotion this child will show." Lee placed his hands into his pockets appearing bored even though he was anything but.
Kaori looked from Lee, to Ranma, then to Ayame, finally starting to get the feeling maybe the girl was more dangerous then she appeared.
"I haven't truly figured it out yet, but for lack of a better term the figure before us is not human." Lee stated.
"WHAT! She's some kind of alien?" Kaori gasped.
"I wouldn't go that far." Ranma added in. "She definitely ain't normal though." Ranma fell into a basic defensive stance.
I've been looking forward to this Ranko. I do hope you won't dissapoint me.
Trying to hold back the animalistic urges of his incomplete cat-fist style, Ranma began to clench and unclench his fist as a red aura formed around each hand and finger.
*****
Daigo and his two companions entered the basement of the house. "Does Ranma stand a chance against Ayame?" the pink haired women asked.
"Well... With him still not able to fully use the cat-fist I would have to say that he stands no chance of surviving against Ayame... however I would also say he stood no chance at his current level to defeat the prince of the musk and certainly not the king of Jusendo. So in the end I think Ranma will survive the fight but hopefully it'll open his eyes to the truth that as he is... he's nowhere ready for me." Daigo began to laugh. "I would imagine that at this very moment he's attacking her to no avail as his punches and kicks simply pass through her until she attacks him in kind, which will unceremoniously end the fight."
They continued to descend the steps to the basement where they arrived to pick up the last person to go with them back to Kyoto.
*****
'I don't got time to waist here Daigo's getting away!' "Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma cried as he rushed at the girl. Once he closed the distance he unloaded the attack.
Everyone, including the bleeding Goro, gasped as Ranma's fists went through the girl appearing to come out her back. Ranma paused in his attack and stared stupidly at his fist that was sticking out of Ayame's side. He slowly looked from his fist to the face of his opponent. "Is this normal?" He asked.
A punch to the face was the answer he received. "I don't quite know if that means yes or no..." Ranma commented as he picked himself up of the floor, rubbing his nose. "For such a skinny girl you sure pack a lot of power."
Ranma charged in again with a jumping kick that passed through the girl, Ranma following, and into the wall. Grumbling to himself Ranma got up off the floor again. "Alright missy, let's see you handle this!" Ranma slightly bent his legs and pulled his arms to his side as he charged up a powerful mouka takabishi.
"Interesting decision, I wonder if it'll work." Lee raised an eyebrow. Goro simply gaped and Kaori whistled at the amount of energy Ranma seemed to be gathering. As soon as Ranma let off with the attack Ayame's grin grew huge.
the pigtailed teen blinked when his ki attack began to merge with the form of Ayame. "The hell?!"
Lee's eyes grew big "Impossible!"
Kaori looked at the sight and couldn't make out with exactly was transpiring before her "What. What's happening?" she asked frantically.
Sneering Lee turned to her. "That THING is leeching off all of Ranko's ki... More than what is even near being safe levels!"
The form of Ayame seemed to be taking in life as her pale complexion darkened into a normal hue, and her light blue hair took on a stronger color of blue. Eventually the no longer pale girl let out a scream and cut off her ki drain.
"God, this is so much worse then Ms. Hinako's technique." Ranma got out through ragged breaths as he lay on the floor panting.
"Oh no, with Ranko down the girl will kill him!" Kaori yelled to Lee.
"No need to be so loud, I'm right beside you! Anyway I think Ayame is having trouble of her own."
"Huh?" the redhead looked at the other girl. Ayame was holding her sides as if in pain. Wearily approaching the girl Lee and Kaori could barely make out her statement as over and over again in their heads.
Almost as if arguing Ranma gasped out his state. "So... weak."
Straightening up Ayame turned to Ranma. She doubled over in pain. And with that the young no longer quite so pale girl disappeared.
Rolling onto his back, Ranma stared at the ceiling 'regain my ki? Can she really block me from gaining it the natural way...'
Lee walked towards Goro "What the hell did the girl mean by him not being able to access his ki normally?"
The swordsmen just laughed in the face of Lee's cold stare. Snorting Lee stepped on the knife still in the fools leg. "Argg! Alright, alright. Th- the girl's supposed to, agrrh, supposed to be able to" the man took a moment to let the sharp pain in his leg subside a little. "To do all kinds of crazy things with ki, but that's all I know. I swear."
Lee gave him one last glare before stomping on the knife and walking away. "DAMN! you bastard..." the man trailed off in a whimper. Deciding not to give the intruders any more chances to inflict pain on him, Goro grit his teeth and yanked the knife out of his thigh.
Kaori paid the clanging sound of the knife hitting the floor no attention. "Ranko, are you going to be okay?"
"I... I don't know. Where the hell does someone go to unlock whatever that girl did to me? Without my ki, I still can defeat most people... but not fighters of the high caliber like the ones Daigo probably has with him." Ranma continued to look up, not really focusing his eyes on anything.
"What about the Amazon elder? I pretty sure she knows a thing or two about weird techniques. If the phone here still works we can give her a call if you know the number, afterwords I'll call the local police to come and clear this place out and send help for our whimpering friend here..." Lee waved over at Goro's rocking form.
"I'd love to call the old ghoul, mind giving me a hand up?" Ranma raised his arm to Lee. He grimaced when Lee unceremoniously yanked him to his fee. "Thanks." Ranma deadpanned.
Lee walked back to the door in which they entered when Kaori called out. "I think I say a phone in the kitchen."
Ranma's eyes got wide "A kitchen you say? Well we best check it out, right?" Ranma moved as fast as his injured body could go.
"Doesn't take much to cheer him up..." Lee muttered under his breath as he followed, he put on a stoic face as his stomach grumbled.
*****
As Cologne prepared to call it a night she was surprised to hear her phone ring. Hopping onto the counter she whipped the phone off the receiver "Sorry but the Cat Cafe is closed for the next couple of weeks..." She paused as the other person spoke up. "Ranko? I'm sorry I don't... Ranma?! What have you gotten yourself into now?" Several more moments of listening. "Amazing... No I not happy about what's happened to you, but it is very impressive that someone could do something like that. He must be a truly strong master of ki to" Cologne's eye twitched as Ranma cut her off and explained things a bit more. "You're telling me a girl of 14 to 15 years in age was able to cut of your ki flow?" Shaking her head Cologne finally gave the information Ranma wanted "No I'm sorry I'm not that familiar with the technique and as such know of no cure for it." Cologne held the phone away from her ear as the loud voices came from the other end.
"Oh before you go I think I should warn you, there are some acquaintances of yours on route to Kyoto as we speak..." Holding the phone a reasonable distance away again Cologne chuckled. "Good night Son-in-Law and Good Luck." With that the old ghoul hung up the phone.
*****
"Well?" Kaori asked from her place by the fridge. Lee simply raised an eyebrow at him.
"She couldn't help me, but she did give me some... interesting information. It would seem I will be having guests once I reach Kyoto." Ranma moved past Kaori to get a good look inside the fridge.
"Oh that's right I meant to tell you, the piglet and the youngest Tendo are heading for Kyoto." Lee looked only midly embarrassed at the fact that he had not mentioned that fact to Ranma earlier.
"I really should have guest those two would do something like that, I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of Nerima set out for Kyoto..." Ranma paused a moment to look for a handy piece of wood to knock on. 'Damn rich people, everything's marble and glass with them! Oh well it's just a silly superstition, I don't need to knock on wood to keep the others from coming.' However Ranma couldn't shake the feeling that he had just cursed his fate.
*****
Several sneezes later...
Ukyo laid in her sleeping bag berating herself for showing Shampoo her weakness like that. 'Even more reason for that Amazon to think she's better than me.'
Shampoo likewise was scolding herself for her actions. 'Ukyo is your rival! You should be throwing this back in her face... not making friends with her. But with that stupid technique Grandmother gave me can I really be blamed for my concern? As a Amazon I should not show compassion like this to an enemy, but if I don't become close to Ukyo and not give in to the Amazon technique... then it will be proven to be a weak and flawed tactic afterall... I'll just sleep on it." Shampoo huffed than laid down for hopefully a dreamless slumber.
*****
"Ryouga? Tell me about some of the training trips you've been on, Ranma never really tells us anything about himself until it comes and bites him in the butt." Akane scowled a little.
"Um well, there's not much to tell..." Ryouga staring stabbing the fire with a stick.
"Come on, you go on lot's of training trips I'm sure you meet lot's of interesting people and see all kinds of strange things... I wish I could go on training trips more often."
"It's fun sometimes. But I'd much rather be able to stay in one place for a long time. I mean your home is more of a home to me than mine is. Everyone in Nerima is like a part of my family now. Well except for Ranma he's like the annoying neighbor next door that just get's on your nerves..." Ryouga broke the twig in his hands. "Sorry."
"But I though you and Ranma were friends..." Akane replied.
Ryouga stared at her 'She really believes that.' "But me and Ranma fight all the time!"
"Me and Nabiki fight all the time, But we still love each other." Akane shrugged.
"It's different with me and Ranma. We're rivals, not quite true enemies but not friends either..." Ryouga stared into the fire.
"Do you have any friends Ryouga?" Akane asked him.
"Only you Akane." Ryouga stared at her for what seemed like forever to him. Akane just stared back at him with her innocent look. Letting out a breath he turned back to the fire. 'Why can't I just tell her.'
"So Ryouga come on tell me about your travels..."
"Alright"
*****
Ranma, Kaori, and Lee stood near the camp they had used the night prior to help out Shinji's family.
"Things sure are going to be weird around here for a while..." Kaori commented as she watched the townspeople avert their eyes from Shinji's parents and Sachiko.
"I guess so. But we have better things to concern ourselves with." Lee turned away from the scene. "I've got to talk with Yamaguchi, and You have to find a way to get back your ki abilities... not to mention mastering your style." Lee bore his eyes into Ranma.
"I don't need you to tell me that." Ranma stared back at Lee.
"I didn't think you did, but it never hurts to make sure."
"I wouldn't be to sure of that..." Ranma trailed off as Lee walked away.
Kaori watched as Lee walked among the throngs of people and police that littered the streets before turning back to Ranma. "Um I guess we should be heading for Kyoto. I'm sure someone there might know about how to cure you. After all with all the different fighting styles in Kyoto now since the school of the fang was tore down there's plenty of people with obscure knowledge. Not only that there's this new doctor, well he was new when I left... anyway he was really good and people said he was a great martial artist with lots of knowledge about odd stuff. Hmm, what was his name... Todo, Toto, Toshu, Tofu, Tol- Tofu! that's right Doctor Tofu. He's supposed to be really good."
"Ono Tofu? He's in Kyoto? Alright! he was almost as knowledgeable as the old ghoul. Hopefully he can help me. Well Kaori I guess it's time that we started back to Kyoto." Ranma smiled.
"Yep, and who knows maybe Ranma will be there."
"Maybe..."
*****
"He survived then." Daigo smiled.
"That's alright. I actually hoped he would be able to make it through the fight without bowing out. He truly is as good as the rumors say, but I want him better." Daigo eyes glinted as he turned to the window of the car his assistant was driving him in.
Ayame questioned.
Turning to her form, Daigo smirked "Ayame it's time for the band to come together once more."
His pink haired assistant gasped from the front passenger seat beside her blonde counterpart. "Daigo?! Do you really think it's necessary to have them all in one place like that? Just for the boy?"
Daigo grin was from ear to ear. "You don't quite see all the players that are joining our game. We're going to be facing more than just Ranma. Lee and other less known fighters are going to be opposing us."
I Ayame placed a finger in her chin in thought. She looked at Daigo and smiled.
"Yes, that's right Ayame, the real reason I want the band of the fang back together is to push Ranma over the edge and back onto the path of blood and death. I want to bring back the true vicious nature the boy was capable of, the person many masters at the school feared he'd become... Ranma Saotome the deadliest master of the Cat Fist!"
*****
To be Continued
[email protected]