This is the last chapter before my first story arc, which should
hopefully take about 5 or 6 chapters to complete. Hopefully the list
will be back up before I finish chapter 9 but if not, check out my web
page for updates.
Quick note: I recently made a change in the name of one of my
characters. In chapters 5 and 6, I changed Akira's name to Damien
because I thought it sounded more evil and I already had a character
named Akira. That's who this Damien guy is at the end of this chapter.
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I make no
claims to her characters. I just wish to borrow them for a bit.
Previous chapters are archived at
http://www.geocities.com/LightHawk19/THOTW.html
*****************************************************************
Chapter 8
First Confrontation
It was a perfectly ordinary Sunday. The birds were singing, the sun
was shining, and Ryoga was watching a turtle cross the road. There was
nothing special about the turtle, nothing at all. It was just your
regular, run-of-the-mill box turtle. What had Ryoga's attention was
that when he moved the turtle off the road to keep it from getting run
over, he turned the turtle around to face away from the road. The
turtle, however, did not like the direction that Ryoga gave it and
turned around to cross the road again.
Ryoga repeated his little experiment several times, each time facing
the turtle in different directions. Each time the turtle turned towards
the road and started plodding across, giving Ryoga dirty looks as he
went. Ryoga could not understand how such a dumb animal could have a
better sense of direction than he did. Not wanting the turtle to get
run over, Ryoga took the turtle across the road (it took him three
minutes to find the other side) and went on his way.
"I guess the turtles around Osaka are smarter than I thought. Or is
this Kobe? I know I'm in Kansai somewhere, I think." Ryoga pondered
his location as he walked into the nearby city. Spotting a nearby
McDonald's he quickly came to a conclusion, proud that he was able to
figure out where he was. "I have never seen a McDonald's in Osaka, so
it must be Kobe." He thought this despite the fact that there were
probably dozens of the fast food restaurants in Osaka.
After an hour or so of walking Ryoga decided to stop at a nearby house
for directions to Akari's house. He stopped suddenly when he noticed
the sign by the gate. "Tendo Dojo? When did Akane's family move to
Kobe? At least they know who I am. Hello?" The last part was called
out after he walked in. Looking into the living area showed that no one
was home. "Just my luck. I make it to the Tendo Dojo and nobody's
home. Guess I'll have to get to Akari's myself."
Just as he was about to leave he heard some noises coming from
somewhere on the estate. Ah, the dojo! It took five minutes to find
it. Opening the door, however, he saw the last thing he had expected or
wanted to see. Akane had just been flipped by a strange man and he was
about to strike her prone form. Seeing red, actually green, he hit the
man, sending him through one of the dojo walls.
"How dare you do that to Akane!" he yelled as he jump out of the hole.
"Ryoga, wait!" Akane's shouts were to no avail. The only times Ryoga
ever ignored her was when he felt that she was being threatened.
Jay, in the meantime, was caught completely off guard when he was hit.
All he was doing was a little training because Akane asked him to and
here comes this jerk and knocks him through a wall. He had never been
hit so hard in his life. No one he had ever fought had been that
strong. Recovering quickly he jumped into a defensive stance. And the
fight was on.
Ryoga pulled out his umbrella as he charged Jay, swinging it over his
head. Jay had to jump down and roll away from the attack as it struck
dirt, leaving a small crater. Ryoga simply pivoted on the ball of his
back foot and directed a series of thrusts to Jay's midsection. Jay
tried to block one and ended up with a bruised shoulder for his
trouble. After that first thrust he had to dodge the rest of Ryoga's
attack.
Clearly this fight was not going well for Jay early on. His sword was
propped up on a wall in the Tendo household and thus unattainable.
Having no weapon readily in hand at the beginning of the fight, Jay had
to resort to hand to hand, not his specialty. Ryoga noticed his
hesitation to make any moves and went on an all out offensive. Punches
after punches after umbrella strikes were sent Jay's way, forcing him to
have to dodge all of them.
Jay was not out of options, however. Side stepping a punch that Ryoga
overextended, Jay caught hold of his arm and spun around delivering a
hard spinning side kick, Jay's strongest unarmed move. Ryoga slid back
on his feet a few yards but seemed none the worse for wear afterwards,
though. Ryoga narrowed his eyes at his adversary, truly sizing him up
for the first time.
Jay used the time Ryoga gave him as wisely as he could looking around
desperately looking for a weapon of some sort within easy reach.
Bingo! A bokken lay on the ground near the hole he had made. 'I must
have taken it with me when I was knocked through that wall. Lucky me.'
Jay quickly ran over to the stray bokken, sliding under one of Ryoga's
punches to get to it.
"Now, let's make this fight a little more even, shall we?" Jay said as
he slid into an offensive stance, sword held shoulder high and parallel
to the ground, pointing at Ryoga. Ryoga simply held his umbrella at the
ready.
"For attacking Akane I will take you through hell! That sword means
nothing to me!" The two met head on in a dazzling display of force.
Meanwhile, Ranma had walked over next to Akane after hearing the
commotion when he got home. "Uh, what happened, Akane?"
Akane, startled by Ranma's sudden question, wasn't quite sure herself
what was going on. "Jay and I were practicing some throwing drills when
Ryoga came in. I guess he thought Jay was attacking me or something and
hit him. I haven't been able to calm Ryoga down."
"You can't. Not when he's like that. He's gonna fight until one of
'ems down, you know that." Both of them knew better than to walk into
the middle of the fight, not with Ryoga going all out.
After Jay acquired his weapon the fight had become more even. Jay even
had a small advantage, being a hair faster.
Slash! Slash!
Ryoga hardly felt the two strikes he let hit him, thus taking the
advantage of Jay leaving himself wide open. BAM! The forward thrust of
Ryoga's umbrella sent Jay reeling back a couple of dozen feet, landing
on his back. "[Ow! This bastard's strong. I can't take too much more
of this.]"
Ryoga surprised everyone by replying in English. "[Well, this bastard
is going to send you to hell! Prepare yourself!]" Jay jumped clear out
of the way of the thrown umbrella. He landed on top of the wall across
the yard, a whitish-blue aura flaring.
"Uh oh," muttered Ranma to no one in particular.
"[CHILL OUT!]" Jay's yell was more of a kiai as a ball of ki, the same
color as his aura, was thrown at Ryoga. The lost boy was suddenly frozen
in mid step, completely unable to move.
"What did you do to him?" asked Akane as Jay walked over to her and
Ranma.
"That was an Ice Ball. One of a set of techniques of the elemental
forms. It temporarily freezes a person and acts as a mild depressant.
He won't feel like fighting after he thaws out."
Ranma's eyes widened. "You said it makes him depressed, right?"
"Well, yeah. It takes away one's will to fight, just like I said."
"Not him, Jay. Get out of here, fast!" But it was too late, as Ryoga
had thawed out and Jay was in the open.
"Make me upset, will you? Try this...Shishi Hokoudan!" A blue ball of
heavy ki formed between Ryoga's hands and was shot out at Jay, who was
caught completely by surprise. BOOM! The next thing anybody knew was
that Ryoga was standing straight and Jay was embedded in the wall that
surrounding the Tendo estate, completely unconscious. Ryoga quickly
turned to Akane. "Are you ok, Akane. He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"Ryoga! He was my training partner. We were just practicing some
throws. You just beat up one of my friends!" Akane, now that the fight
was over, was mad. At Ryoga for once. He looked quite sheepish after
that exclamation.
"B...b..but Akane I...I thought he tried to...," Ryoga stuttered.
Akane's expression softened a little, but not much.
"I know, Ryoga. But you, like Ranma, need to LISTEN to me every once
in a while." Being compared to Ranma like that was a slap in the face
to Ryoga. He simply said nothing as he bowed in apology.
"Akane, how 'bout I take Ryoga over to Ucchan's to help calm him down.
You think you can take care'a Jay over here?" Akane nodded and Ranma
left the dojo with Ryoga in tow.
It took about five minutes for Akane to pry Jay off from the wall, he
was really embedded in. 'I guess Kasumi will have to call the repairman
tomorrow,' thought Akane as she carried Jay to the living room. 'Ugh,
he's heavier than I thought.'
Jay's injuries ended up being minor. He had a few large bruises on his
torso and couple of nicks and cuts but they were taken care of within a
short while. Jay came to about ten minutes later with a massive
headache. "<Did anyone catch the number of that train?>"
"Excuse me?" asked Akane from the kitchen, she had gone to get some
warm water and a cloth.
"Never mind. Could you get me some aspirin, I feel like my head is
going to explode." Jay was currently rubbing his temples, hoping to rub
away the pain. Akane brought in a few pills and a glass of water. They
disappeared soon thereafter. "Who was that guy? Why on earth did he
attack me like that?"
Akane sighed. "That was Ryoga. He can be very protective of his
friends. He's like that all the time. It shouldn't happen again. Do
you mind if I ask a question?"
"Doesn't help me very much right now," grumbled Jay. "Oh, yeah, ask
away."
"What really was that technique you used? You didn't say that much
about it."
Jay thought about it for a moment and explained briefly what the
elemental forms were and how the Ice Ball was a part of it. The
explanation was not very long and detailed but it left Akane satisfied.
"My turn to ask a question. What the hell did that Ryoga jerk hit me
with anyway? I have never seen anything like it before."
"That was the Shishi Hokoudan. It's an attack that feeds off a
person's depression." BAM BAM BAM! "Umm, could you stop hitting your
head on the wall, please? It's not going to help your headache any."
"I'm an idiot. I threw gasoline on a raging fire." At least he
stopped hitting the wall, which already had a sizable dent.
"How could you know? Like you said, you have never seen that technique
before."
"Whatever. Do you know where he is now? I want to straighten up
things with him. I'm going to make sure we know where things stand from
now on," said the young man as he walked into the bathroom to change his
clothes. Jay came out wearing loose black pants, a form fitting green
shirt, and his sword strapped to his back. His normal clothing. His
hair was bound back with his dragon clip as well.
After Akane told him that Ranma took Ryoga to Ucchan's, Jay thanked her
and apologized for any trouble he may have caused. "It's ok. Things
like this happen all the time here. You get used to it." With a nod
and a wave, Jay walked off towards the restaurant district.
Meanwhile, at Ucchan's.
"Jay ain't a bad guy, sugar," said Ukyo while she removed her mega
spatula from Ryoga's head. "If he and Akane said they were training,
then that's what they were doing."
"You didn't see him try to hit Akane when she was down. You didn't see
the look in his eyes."
Ranma and Ukyo sighed in unison. It was Ranma's turn to speak up.
"Ryoga. Jay trains very seriously. To watch him spar, you'd think he's
tryin' to kill ya. He has really good control. I don't know him that
well but he's a good guy." It was at that moment when Jay walked in.
"Hiya, sugar! You don't seem too beat up. Have a seat and some
okonomiyaki. On the house!" Ukyo said cheerfully as he sat down next to
Ryoga, facing him.
The two glared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before
Jay spoke up. "Listen. I can understand you wanting to protect Akane.
She's my friend too. But if this happens again ..." he trailed off,
leaving Ryoga to infer his meaning.
"Now, let's not have any problems here." Ranma was trying to be the
peacemaker, not something he was used to being. "What's bygone is
bygone or something like that. Let's just have some good food and talk
about better things."
Ryoga and Jay simply ate in silence, neither one having very much to
say to the other. That left Ranma and Ukyo to chat with each other
while the last of the okonomiyaki was being prepared and eaten.
After everyone was done Ranma had a great idea, well he thought it was
a great idea at least. "Hey guys. Since Pop and Mr. Tendo are gone for
the day, why don't we go to my place and watch that Jackie Chan flick
that's supposed to be on today. I don't think Akane'll mind."
Ukyo was game, Jay did not seem to care one way or another, but Ryoga
just wanted to get to Akari's. He had had enough problems for one day.
Ranma promised to give him directions to Akari's home and her phone
number when they got back to the dojo. Ukyo closed her shop early and
the four were off. None of them noticed the dark figure watching them
from the roof of one of the nearby shops, smiling to himself.
About halfway to the Tendo Dojo, that figure made his move. Jay, Ukyo,
and Ryoga were stopped cold at the sound of a sinister laughing. Ranma
stopped a few paces later after he noticed the others were no longer
with him. Turning around, Ranma noticed that Jay and Ukyo had very
surprised expressions on their faces. However, it was Ryoga's face that
surprised him. He had never seen the look of pure terror in Ryoga's
eyes before. He had gone pale as a ghost and his eyes were as wide as
dinner plates.
Jay was the first to recover. Drawing his sword, he turned around.
"What on earth are you doing here, Damien?" he growled.
"Well well well, I see you're doing well, Wanderer," Damien said to
Ryoga, ignoring Jay. "I was very impressed with your skill earlier.
Are you still up for joining us or do I have to kill you?"
Ryoga was slowly backing away until he got behind Ranma. He was scared
to death and he did not give a damn who knew at the time. Jay was not
to be ignored, however. "I was talking to you, buddy," he said in a
menacing tone. "I will not let you recruit anyone while I am around.
Do you get that!?"
The black eyed man finally turned to face Jay. "Ah yes, Jay Scott.
The sword wielding eternal pain in my ass. Do you really think you can
do anything to me? You failed before and you know where that got you."
"Shut up!" This time it was Ukyo who spoke up. "Listen, you jackass,
we've beaten you once before or have you forgotten that? Don't you
think we can't do it again."
"Ah, but that was different then. There were five of you then and it
took the old man to finally put me down. Look how long that lasted. Oh
yeah, that reminds me. That seal he put on the boss, it should be
coming down any day now, so be forewarned." Taking a look at a watch,
he cut the get together short. "Ah, look at the time but it seems that
I have another prior engagement. I will let you go, for now.
Farewell." In a flash of dark light, he was gone.
"Who the hell was that guy? And why did he have those strange black
eyes?" Ranma was upset. It was not every day that he was intimidated
but he was that time but he refused to show it. He wanted to take it
out on the two who seemed to know the most about him because of it.
Ukyo and Jay looked at each other for a moment, speaking to each other
without words. Jay spoke up but he did not say what Ranma wanted to
hear.
"Get your father and Mr. Tendo, Ranma. This is important. I will meet
you guys at the Tendo Dojo in a half hour. I need to get Zack and make
a quick phone call. I will tell you everything you need to know then.
NOW GO!" With his command, everyone was off. Ranma ran off to find his
Pop and Mr. Tendo while Ukyo took Ryoga to the Tendo Dojo. Jay ran off
to his apartment, this was an emergency.
An hour later, Jay stalked into the Tendo household, alone. He had his
sword on his belt, rather than on his back, and had on a very loose
green silk shirt that was not unlike Ranma's but not quite like it
either. His expression was stone solid, completely unlike his usual
cheerful self. To look at him was to know Bad Times were ahead.
Author's notes:
The first story arc begins with chapter 9. We learn what Jay's and
Ukyo's history with Damien is. Plus Jay makes a new enemy.
--
Tomorrow sees undone what happens not today. Indecision brings delays.
Days lost lamenting lost days. -Ryoga Hibiki
Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake! -Unknown
Computer programmers don't byte...they nybble a bit. - Unknown
Email me at LightHawk@nc.rr.com
IM me at LiteHawk99
or
visit my web site at http://www.geocities.com/LightHawk19/Index.html