Although this is more or less a finished story, C&C is very much
welcome.

- Grayson Towler
http://www.talesfromthevault.com/relentless

               =========================
                      RELENTLESS
                A Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction

                   By Grayson Towler
               =========================

-----------------------------------------------------------
                      CHAPTER TWO:
                        Tenacity
-----------------------------------------------------------

Nabiki was usually able to keep her distance from the absurdity 
which raged around her.  Sometimes she even took a little dip 
into the torrent of martial arts insanity which dominated her 
sister's life, if there was a profit to be made or if there was 
amusement to be found.  Most of the time, it was like background 
noise in her life.  

She tried to convince herself this was no different.  Certainly, 
the rest of her family was reacting to this latest escapade with 
their normal levels of composure (or lack of it thereof).  Her 
father had alternated between wailing about his baby girl Akane 
going off into danger and "secretly" celebrating with Saotome 
Genma about the prospects of Ranma and Akane discovering their 
true love on this journey.  Genma had spewed his customary 
streams of bad advice and cracked wisdom until somebody had 
turned him into a panda to shut him up.  Kasumi had helped Akane 
get her things together and had packed some food for the road, 
promising to take care of P-Chan while Akane was away.  

And Nabiki?  She'd said her good-byes, made a little joke about 
Ranma and Akane being alone together... and that should have 
been that.  She should have been relaxing and enjoying the rare 
opportunity for peace and quiet.  She should have been catching 
up on her reading, or checking in with her operatives, or 
polishing up the presentation she was scheduled to give at the 
Daitokuji Convention for Teenage Intelligence Experts.  

Instead, she was sitting at her desk, staring out the window, 
and tapping her pen.

It was the old woman's face that kept coming back to her.  Why 
hadn't anybody else seen Cologne's weary look of resignation as 
she tried to tell Ranma how much trouble he was in this time?  
Was she the only one to whom it mattered?  Sure, the old woman 
looked like a pickled bullfrog with hair, but it was 
undeniable that she had more experience in martial arts than 
everybody else in the house put together.  When Cologne spoke, 
it paid to listen.  

<She thinks Ranma's not going to make it this time.>  Nabiki 
stared out the window, thinking of her sister and her future 
brother-in-law.  <He can't fight his way out of this one.  He 
thinks he can - I saw it in his face.  He's going to get 
himself killed... and Akane along with him.>

But was there anything Nabiki could do about it? 

Cologne had said the only hope they had was to find Happosai.  
Ranma had set off this morning confident he could track the old 
lecher.  After all, Happosai made a rather obvious stir wherever 
he went, with his panty-raids and thievery.  

Nabiki tapped her pen against the desk a few more times.  

She set her pen down and turned to her computer.  Ranma was right 
about tracking Happosai, perhaps, but he was an amateur when it 
came to this kind of thing.  Never send a martial artist to do 
a spy's work...

- - - - - -

Hibiki Ryouga charged through the streets of Nerima at full tilt, 
either vaulting or destroying any object unfortunate enough to 
be situated in his erratic path.  It had taken longer than he 
would have liked to escape from Kasumi and find some hot water.  
He had a terrible feeling that time was running out for his 
beloved Akane...

<Damn you, Ranma!  How could you take her with you?  The old 
woman said that thing was dangerous... you've put Akane in 
harm's way with your irresponsibility!  I swear, Ranma, if you 
let her get hurt, I'll crush the life out of your miserable 
body!>

Ryouga pulled up to a halt, pausing for a moment to catch his 
breath.  It wasn't so much the exertion that was getting to 
him, but the fear.  Akane was in danger.  He didn't trust 
Ranma any farther than he could throw Mount Fuji.  He had to 
get to them before that Reikoku did, he HAD to reach them...

But where were they?

Nobody had really said where Ranma and Akane had been headed, 
at least not within range of P-Chan's hearing.  Ranma had some 
kind of plan for tracking down Happosai, but Ryouga hadn't a 
clue as to where he'd begin his search.

<Even if I knew where they were, I'd still have to contend 
with my wretched sense of direction!  Why did I have to be 
born so blighted?>

Ryouga took a deep breath and closed his eyes.  He had no 
rational hope of finding Ranma and Akane before that thing 
got to them, but logic and rationality had never been the 
dominant forces in his life.  The only hope he had now was 
his heart.  If his love for Akane and his desire to protect 
her were true, then they would guide him to where he needed 
to be.  If he didn't believe in that, he'd have nothing left.

Ryouga set his hand on the grip of his umbrella, poised to 
draw and defend himself from any random splash of water which 
might come his way.  He couldn't save Akane if he became P-Chan. 
Without even opening his eyes, he chose a direction and began 
to sprint.

<Hang on, Akane... I'm coming...>

- - - - - -

Mousse waited patiently in the alleyway behind the Nekohanten, 
keeping vigil over the inert form of the Reikoku.  Cologne had 
insisted that she be informed the moment it rose again and began 
to move.  Mousse didn't mind the wait.

He tried to enjoy the situation - Saotome had finally gotten 
himself into something he couldn't hope to handle.  His chief 
rival would soon be dead, if Cologne's depiction of the 
Reikoku's power were anywhere close to accurate.  It was the 
sort of thing he'd wished for constantly since he'd first 
heard the name of Saotome Ranma.  Yet somehow, he could not 
find it in himself to feel joy in the presence of the 
black-cloaked thing resting on the asphalt before him.

Perhaps he didn't hate Ranma as much as he thought - perhaps 
he'd have much rather seen their differences resolved in some 
way that didn't result in Ranma's death.  That was assuredly 
part of it.  But he thought that the most distressing thing 
about the situation was the Reikoku itself.

It scared the hell out of him.

He'd been a duck when they'd first brought it back to the cafe 
- perhaps that was why he regarded it with such loathing and 
dread.  When he'd been in the body of an animal, the mere 
presence of the Reikoku had filled him with an unreasoning 
panic.  The animal instincts of his duck body had bombarded 
him with an overpowering need to flee from this unnatural 
monstrosity.  It had taken all his will to stay, and he 
wasn't sure how long he'd have been able to hold out if 
Cologne hadn't splashed him with hot water.  He fully 
understood why every animal had fled the neighborhood as 
if it were on fire when the Reikoku had come.  Even now, 
when he was back in his human form, he could still feel a 
distinct tingle of horror when he was anywhere near the 
beast.

It began to move again shortly before sunset.

It hardly made a sound as it moved, and with his poor eyesight 
Mousse could barely distinguish its form in the dark, but he 
didn't need to see it to know that it had revived.  The aura 
of menace which it radiated intensified when it rose.  Mousse's 
heart began to pound out a rapid tempo of fear in his chest.  
He backed slowly away, trying to be as quiet and unobtrusive 
as possible, praying that it would not notice him...

Rationally, he knew that could have been playing a tuba and it 
wouldn't have noticed him.  Its attention was reserved solely 
for its prey.  Seconds after it had risen, it set off down the 
alley, moving with a deliberate and unvarying pace towards the 
direction in which Saotome Ranma surely lay.  Still, he breathed 
a sigh of intense relief when it shambled out of sight.  He 
felt as if he'd been mere centimeters away from the brink of 
some unfathomable abyss.

He turned to enter the cafe and inform Cologne that the thing 
had risen again, but she had already emerged with Shampoo from 
the back door.  The old woman had sensed the rise of the Reikoku 
herself - it made Mousse wonder why he'd been set to watch it 
in the first place.

The old woman let out a heavy sigh.  "// And so the hunt begins 
again, //"  she said in Chinese, shaking her head sadly.

Shampoo had her bonbori in hand, and a resolute look on her 
face.  "// I will follow it, //" she announced.  "// If my 
husband is in danger, I must protect him, at whatever cost. //"

"// If you there was anything at all you could do, great-
granddaughter, I would encourage you to go.  But such a quest 
would be folly, resulting only in your death. //"

"// What is the use of living without Ranma? //" Shampoo's 
words broke Mousse's heart for the thousandth time.   He 
couldn't fathom her devotion to such a selfish brat.

Cologne's response, though, surprised both of them.  With 
a movement so quick that it was almost invisible, she reached 
out and yanked a pinch of Shampoo's hair roughly out of the 
girl's scalp.  Shampoo flinched backwards, her eyes wide with 
shock.  It was not so much the physical pain of the act which 
was startling, but the severity of its meaning.  In the Amazon 
tribe, the hair-plucking gesture was a harsh reproof, meant 
to remind a girl of her obligations to her clan and her 
people when she was behaving irresponsibly.  

In Mousse's memory, Cologne had almost never been so stern with 
Shampoo.  The old woman was usually very indulgent with her 
great-granddaughter, by Amazon standards.  The only time he 
could recall her punishing the girl with any severity was when 
Shampoo had first returned from Japan, having failed to either 
kill or marry Ranma.  Here, the old woman had reminded Shampoo 
in no uncertain terms that her life belonged to the tribe, 
and was not hers to sacrifice in this fashion.  

Shampoo pressed her hand against her head where Cologne had 
ripped out the small patch of hair.  "// Great-grandmother... //"

"// Do not disgrace yourself with such idiotic sentiment, //" 
the matriarch barked at her.  "// You will stay here. //"

A tear trickled down the Amazon girl's cheek, but she bowed 
her head low in submission and respect.  "// I understand, 
great-grandmother. //"

"// I will follow the Reikoku, //" Cologne asserted.  "// If 
there is some means by which I can aid Ranma without attacking 
it, I shall do so.  I make no promises in this matter. //"  
She seemed like she was about to say something else, but then 
thought the better of it.  Instead, the old woman pivoted on 
her staff, then bounded off into the darkness.

Once again, Cologne had made it clear that she thought Ranma 
was going to die.  Mousse felt he should have been ecstatic.  
Finally, the scoundrel who had such an unfair hold over his 
beloved's heart would be gone.  The three of them would return 
to China - it would be like starting fresh again.  He'd find 
some way to win Shampoo's love, and he'd spend his life making 
her happier than Ranma ever could.  

It was so perfect.  But why, then, did his heart feel so heavy?

- - - - - -

They hadn't covered as much ground in the day as Ranma had 
hoped they would.  It worried him a little, but he figured 
they had enough of a head start to compensate.  Tomorrow, 
though, they'd definitely have to make up for lost time.  

It had been one thing after another that had delayed them.  
First, Mr. Tendou had made a big production out of their 
departure, wailing and weeping and generally carrying on until 
they finally had to physically pry him off Akane so they could 
get moving.  Then there's been the matter of travel - each of 
them had their own theories about how to make their way across 
town.  Ranma wanted to run when Akane wanted to walk.  Ranma 
liked to vault rooftops, Akane stayed on sidewalks.  Akane 
would ride inside a train and use the stops, Ranma would just 
latch on to the outside until he wanted to jump off.   Akane, 
of course, couldn't keep up with Ranma's energetic and 
unorthodox style of travel, so in the end (after much spirited 
debate) he'd been forced to slow down to her pace.

Then they'd taken longer at the library than he'd hoped.  He'd 
been pretty sure that browsing through the newspaper articles 
and clippings would reveal evidence of Happosai's presence in 
no time flat, but the local papers had been strangely devoid 
of any stories about perverts and panty-thefts lately.  It was 
odd - Happosai had made it into the papers and onto television 
more times than Ranma cared to remember, but now there was no 
trace of the old geezer.  Ranma had gone on to try to anticipate 
where the lecher might end up next, searching for ads for 
lingerie shows or swimsuit contests.  Akane had caught him 
browsing through the ads and had flown off the handle, accusing 
him of being a pervert.  Before he had a chance to explain, 
he'd gotten a face full of an unabridged dictionary, and they'd 
been kicked out of the library.

When she'd tried to apologize, he'd said something about how 
big a pain it was to have her along.  Of course she'd gone off 
crying, making him feel like a total heel and forcing him to 
take more time to track her down and cheer her up.

All and all, they hadn't made a whole lot of progress on the 
first day of their grand journey together.  

But now it was late, and they weren't going to make much more 
headway tonight.  Ranma had found a likely-looking public park 
and pitched camp, praying that Akane would be willing to eat 
the food Kasumi packed for them rather than trying to brew some 
sort of concoction of her own.  The last thing he needed was to 
spend the night trying to digest a bellyful of poison.

He'd gotten the fire up to a reasonable level, and had planned 
out a strategy.  He picked up his pack and examined the neatly-
packed food within, trying to look thoughtful.

"Hey Akane," he said, struggling to sound nonchalant, "I think 
we better finish off this tempura that Kasumi whipped up before 
it goes bad on us, y'know?  I'd hate to have to throw it out."

He looked in Akane's direction, pleading silently to the gods 
for aid.  Unfortunately, it seemed nobody was answering the 
prayers of young martial artists this evening.  Akane was 
almost finished unloading her cooking utensils and ingredients, 
humming a cheery tune to herself.  She was already well into 
that amazing oblivious fugue which always accompanied her doomed 
culinary endeavors.

"Oh, I'm sure it'll keep for a while," she asserted.  "I just 
got this recipe for a souffle that I wanted to try out tonight."

<A souffle?  How the heck do you make one of those on a campfire?>  
Ranma groaned in despair.  What had he done to deserve this?  

She gave him a smile which was meant to be reassuring but 
somehow wasn't.  "Don't look like that, Ranma!  I know it 
isn't Japanese cooking, but you should really try to broaden 
your horizons a little."

"To include what?  Radioactive waste?"  Ranma blurted.  He 
couldn't stop himself - there was only so much patience he 
could muster when it came to this kind of thing.

Akane switched reflexively to "bash Ranma" mode.  Her hand 
tightened around the grip of the frying pan.  "Ranma!" she 
growled, advancing with the cooking implement raised to 
strike.

He met the incoming pan with an open palm, blocking it almost 
effortlessly.  Akane gaped in shock, unaccustomed to Ranma 
actually defending himself from one of her wrathful attacks.  
Her mind cleared from its haze of rage enough for her to 
realize that Ranma was barely paying attention to her at all 
- his defense had been purely reflexive.  He was staring out 
into the darkness, focusing intently with all his senses on 
something out there in the night.

"Ranma?  What is..."

"Shh!" he whispered urgently.  "Listen!"

The seriousness of his demeanor banished all her thoughts of 
pounding him.  She lowered the pan and looked off in the 
direction he was staring, straining to try to pick up on 
whatever it was that had gotten him so concerned.

She thought she heard the sound of a dog yelping in the 
distance.  It wasn't just barking like a bored animal who 
was passing the time by making as much pointless noise as 
it could.  It sounded like it was afraid of something.

"It's just a dog..." she tried to assure herself aloud.

"Maybe..."

Another dog, this one a little closer than the previous, let 
out a squeal of unmistakable terror.  A baby started wailing.  
A cat screeched and tore off down an alley, capsizing a trash 
can in its haste.  A flock of small birds woke from sleep and 
took to the skies in panic.  Each sound of terror was closer 
than the last.

"Ranma..." Akane's voice trembled.

"It's out there," he said.  He could feel it in his bones now, 
the same presence he had felt the night before when the black 
thing had emerged from the darkness.  How had it caught up to 
them so quickly?  Ranma was afraid he'd made a ghastly 
miscalculation about how much of a lead they'd managed to 
gain...

"Get the gear together," he told Akane.  "We don't got much 
time."

Ranma took to packing with frenzied speed.  The only things 
they really needed were the tents and bedrolls.  Everything 
else could be easily discarded or replaced on the way.  He 
glanced over and saw Akane hurriedly stuffing her ingredients 
and cooking gear back into her sack.  

"Forget that stuff!  We ain't got time!"

For a moment it looked like Akane was going to argue with him, 
but then they heard a woman scream and slam her door.  It was 
very close now.

Ranma rushed over and began packing Akane's things as well.  
He didn't have time to be nice about this, and he could get 
the job done a lot faster than she could.  Akane backed off, 
staring into the darkness towards the exclamations of dread 
which marked the approach of the Reikoku.  

Their gear was packed, but Ranma knew it was too late.  That 
monster was almost upon them.  If he'd been by himself, he might 
have made a break for it, but he wasn't sure Akane could keep 
up the pace that would be required to outdistance the thing.  
He set down his pack and adopted a defensive stance.

"Ranma... we should go!" Akane pleaded.

"Too late for that.  You get the heck outta here, Akane.  It's 
after me, not you."

"I won't leave you!" she insisted.  "I won't!"

Ranma spared a glance her way.  She was visibly quivering with 
terror, but he knew that she wouldn't do the sensible thing and 
run away.  Why did it take times like this for their buried 
feelings to surface?  His throat suddenly and unexpectedly 
tightened as he saw her standing there like that, her eyes full 
of fear and concern for him.

"Please keep back, Akane," he whispered.  "I can't fight my 
best if I'm worried about you gettin' hurt, okay?"

Akane nodded and backed away, her hands clenched in front of 
her.  Ranma gave her a confident smile, then dropped back into 
his battle stance.  His enemy was almost here.

- - - - - -

Even Cologne, matriarch of the Amazon tribe, couldn't bear to 
follow the Reikoku too closely.  Its mere presence was abhorrent 
to all living things, especially to someone who was so in tune 
with her environment.  It took a considerable portion of her 
will to keep up the pursuit, rather than answer her instinct to 
back away and let the thing by.  

She had no physical difficulty in keeping up with the Reikoku, 
at least. It traveled at a maddeningly uniform pace, sliding 
through the night on its unswerving course.  It crawled up and 
down walls or barriers like some kind of reptile, not breaking 
stride for any obstacle.  When it crossed streets, cars swerved 
madly to avoid it.  One police officer had sufficient temerity to
get within a few meters of it before he bolted and ran.  It 
shambled through Tokyo unhindered, a hunter cloaked in black 
with thoughts of nothing but its prey.

It caught up to Ranma and his little fiancee sooner than she 
would have anticipated.  She had suspected that Ranma hadn't 
taken her warnings seriously enough.  So there he was, in all 
his stupid, brash glory, waiting in the darkness for the thing 
to take him.  

<Such a waste of a magnificent young man,> she lamented.  <Such 
a waste of potential.>

She had told Shampoo that she'd do what she could to help Ranma, 
but in truth she didn't know that she could aid the boy at all.  
She was willing to give up a great deal to help him, but 
attacking the Reikoku was a sacrifice she was not going to 
make.  Now, all she could do was wait at a distance and watch 
as this young man, in whom she had invested so much of her hope 
and effort, was destroyed.

Ranma was tensed for battle as the Reikoku approached him, his 
face full of determination and confidence.  Cologne realized now 
her mistake - she'd told him that he might be able to beat it a 
second time.  To tell Ranma that he had even a small chance of 
winning a fight was to assure him that the battle was as good 
as won.  Perhaps it wouldn't have made any difference, but she 
bitterly wished she could have rephrased what she said the night
before.

<Too late now,> she thought.  <The battle is joined.>

The Reikoku attacked with a ferocity which was hideous to behold.  
It lashed out at the young Saotome with wickedly keen claws, slicing 
towards him with blows too fast for the normal human eye to follow.  
Ranma dodged frantically and tried to counterattack.  Small cuts 
and wounds were already blossoming across his arms and legs where 
he failed to completely evade the Reikoku's strikes.  It wouldn't 
be long before it really landed a blow.

Cologne watched him press the attack with the Kachuu Tenshin 
Amaguriken that she'd worked so hard to teach him.  She shook 
her head sadly as she observed the results.  One of the 
weaknesses of that technique was that one tended to throw 
punches in a consistent pattern, reflexes guiding the attacks 
where the conscious mind was too slow.  Ranma probably didn't 
even know he was doing it - there were a scant few people in 
the world who would be fast and perceptive enough to spot the 
pattern in his attack.  But the Reikoku wasn't human, and Ranma 
had used this technique when he'd fought it before.  It blocked 
the hail of blows with ease, mirroring Ranma's blurring strikes 
with a defensive pattern of its own.  

Ranma pulled back and staggered away, breaking off the chestnut 
fist attack.  His hands were bleeding from scores of small 
wounds, as if someone had used a cheese grater on them.  He gasped 
in pain, and took a solid blow which sent him reeling before he 
could react.

Cologne saw Ranma recover and leap away before his merciless 
adversary could deal the final blow.  She only barely heard 
his fiancee screaming - she was riveted by the fight before 
her.  As certain as she was of the outcome of this clash, she 
was not so old that she had forgotten how to hope.  Ranma was 
a remarkable warrior in so many ways.  Perhaps he might find a 
way to prevail, in spite of the awful power of this thing which 
hungered for his life...

With his hands so damaged, Ranma resorted to kicks.  His battle 
cry rang out through the night as he pressed the Reikoku, 
landing a series of devastating kicks.  Even Cologne was 
impressed - he had overcome his reflex to strike where the 
normal human vital points would be, and was succeeding in 
landing blows past the Reikoku's defenses.  She heard the 
armored flesh of the monster crack and buckle under Ranma's 
assault.  

Saotome Ranma had superhuman tenacity in a fight, but he was 
up against a thing which embodied tenacity in its very nature.  
He let up for a fraction of a second, just enough to regain his 
footing, and that was all the Reikoku needed.  It swatted him 
with a backhanded blow that connected solidly to Ranma's ribs.  
The young martial artist tumbled across the grass, crying out 
in pain.

The Reikoku was upon him by the time he'd recovered.  She 
watched Ranma scramble away from its lethal slashes, desperately 
trying to get a bit of breathing space so he could launch his 
next attack.  She saw his aura build, knowing he was readying 
his ki-attack to try to blast the thing away from him.  <Does 
he really have enough confidence left for this...?>

"MOKO TAKABISHA!"

Even Cologne wasn't prepared for the nature of the Reikoku's 
defense.  It raised a hand like a mutated eagle's claw with 
fingers outstretched, and met the ki-blast with a glowing open 
palm.  It absorbed the brilliant red lance of energy, then
bounced it back a split-second later.  The ki-energy was 
transfigured and warped, turning an ugly, greenish hue as it
was reflected directly back towards Saotome Ranma.  The 
boy didn't have a chance of evading the attack.  It caught him 
flush in the chest and sent him hurtling through the air over 
two dozen meters, until he finally slammed into the trunk of a 
tree with a bone-jarring thud.  

<It's over,> she acknowledged sadly.  <He's beaten.>  She closed 
her eyes.

"Keep away from him!"

To her horror, Cologne saw Tendou Akane move between the prone 
Ranma and the Reikoku as it advanced on its helpless prey.  
She was trembling like a frightened rabbit, barely even able 
to hold a proper fighting stance, but she was in the thing's 
path.  Cologne cursed herself for a fool - she might not be 
able to save Ranma, but at least she could stop that poor girl 
from getting herself killed.  She leaped desperately towards 
the scene of the battle, warming up a ki blast which she hoped 
would knock Akane clear of the Reikoku without harming the 
girl too badly, praying that she could get into range before 
it was too late...

- - - - - -

Ranma struggled to rise, but his world lurched sickeningly 
out of control when he attempted to move.  His arms and legs 
seemed like alien things, no more willing to respond to his 
commands than the stars or the moon.  His vision had gone as 
blurry as Mousse's, but he knew the Reikoku would be on him in 
seconds. <Gotta keep on... gotta fight...>

"Keep away from him!"

The sound of her voice rang like a bell through the wet cotton 
that had become his mind.  He could barely make out her form - 
a smudge of color floating somewhere in front of his eyes - but 
he knew what she was doing.  The dummy was trying to protect 
him.  After seeing what that thing could do, after seeing it 
tear him apart like that, she still thought that SHE could 
protect him.

He heard her gasping in terror and beginning to wail.  He knew 
what was happening, knew without seeing just what she was 
doing.  When Akane was faced with a superior foe, when she 
finally got it through her thick skull to be afraid of someone, 
she froze up like a deer in the headlights.  He'd seen it happen 
enough times before to recognize it instantly.  She was just 
going to stand there, paralyzed, and the Reikoku would carve 
right through her.

<No no no NO NO!> He desperately struggled to focus his will, 
to force his body to obey and rise.  But he'd taken too many 
hard shots, his body had been drained of blood and ki, and he 
couldn't even whisper her name.  <No Akane no no AKANE!>

"AKANE!"

The voice that thundered through the night was the last thing 
that Ranma had expected to hear, an impossible deliverance 
from an unspeakable fate.  There were many times in the past 
when Ranma had wished he'd never have to hear that voice again, 
but tonight he couldn't have been more grateful.  It seemed 
the gods were listening to the prayers of young martial artists 
after all.

Hibiki Ryouga had actually found them.

"BAKUSAI TEN-KETSU!"  

At first, Ranma was still too disoriented to follow the combat 
between the lost boy and the Reikoku.  From the sound of it, 
it seemed that Ryouga had used a breaking point explosion to 
blast the Reikoku away from its intended target.  As his vision 
began to finally clear, he could make out Ryouga's bright 
battle aura, blazing like a bonfire in the darkness as he pressed 
his attack.  Akane helped Ranma to his feet, and his vision began 
to clear.

Ryouga wasn't as fast as Ranma, but he was stronger and he was 
armed.  He caught the Reikoku with a series of devastating 
thrusts from his combat umbrella, driving the beast back as 
its armor crunched beneath the onslaught.  The thing struck 
home with its counterattack, tagging the lost boy with a 
glancing blow to the head and another stronger one to the 
gut.  A trickle of blood flowed from Ryouga's temple, but his 
inhuman endurance held true to form, and he pressed his attack 
again.

Ranma was actually embarrassed by the success his rival was 
having against a foe which had been a second away from killing 
him earlier.  If it had dominated him so thoroughly, it should 
have been tearing Ryouga to shreds, but the bandanna-clad 
martial artist was holding his own.  Had he really been that 
badly off his stride tonight?   Or perhaps Ryouga had done 
some kind of special training...

The Reikoku caught one of Ryouga's incoming umbrella strikes 
with an armor-studded tentacle.   It tried to follow up with 
a rake to the boy's face with one of its sickle-like claws, 
but only succeeded in forcing Ryouga to relinquish his hold 
on his weapon and spring backwards to evade the attack.  With 
practiced, fluid ease, Ryouga tore off a volley of bandannas 
and hurled them like shurikens at the Reikoku, slashing through 
its black robes and into the chitinous flesh beneath.  The 
creature was momentarily staggered, and dropped the umbrella 
as the swarm of deadly bandannas struck home.

"An opening!" Ryouga shouted.  "SHI-SHI HOKOUDEN"

"Ryouga, no!"

Ranma's croaked out his warning too late.  Ryouga extended his 
hands and launched his powerful ki-attack at the Reikoku.  The 
blinding energy bolt hurtled through the air towards the black 
monstrosity, and...

It hit home.  The Reikoku was blown backwards across the park, 
plowing a great trench in the turf as it went.

Ranma gaped in surprise.  How come it hadn't reflected Ryouga's 
ki-blast, as it had done his?

Ryouga was oblivious to Ranma's confusion.  He charged towards 
the Reikoku, not intending to give it time to recover.  He 
swept up his umbrella again just before he took off into a 
mighty leap.  Ryouga arced through the air towards his enemy, 
umbrella raised to strike.  "The final blow!" he bellowed, 
just before he slammed into the Reikoku like a living 
bombshell.

The force of the impact kicked up a shower of debris and dust.  
Ranma and Akane waited for the smoke to clear, trying vainly 
to see the outcome of the battle through the thick darkness.

Ryouga emerged from the dust cloud, limping slightly from a 
gash to the leg.  His umbrella was slung over one shoulder, 
and he dragged the inert form of the Reikoku in his other 
hand.  

Akane gasped.  "Ryouga!  You did it!"

"Akane..." he whispered.  He was unsteady after the damage 
he'd taken in the fight, but he had won.  He had saved Akane's 
life.  In light of that, his own pain didn't mean a thing.

"Guess I musta softened it up enough for ya," Ranma muttered.  He 
hated the surliness in his own voice.  He should have been 
grateful - Ryouga had saved their lives, and fought bravely 
in the face of a terrible foe.  Ranma's pride, though, was 
badly stung, especially since Akane had been here to see it 
all.  He felt angry at Ryouga for being the hero, and his own 
anger made him feel small and petty.  Saotome Ranma was not 
a gracious loser.

"No need to thank me, Ranma," Ryouga said, favoring him with 
a fairly smug look.  "Oh... you didn't."  

"Listen, P-Chan," Ranma said angrily.  "You got luckier than 
you deserve!  That thing shoulda reflected your ki-blast 
right back in your face, just like it did t'me!"

"There's a reason it didn't do that, son-in-law."

The three martial artists pivoted in surprise towards the sound 
of Cologne's voice.  The ancient Amazon emerged from the 
shadows, hopping towards them on her staff. 

"Elder Cologne!" Akane exclaimed.  "What are you doing here?"

"Whaddya mean about a reason?" Ranma asked.  He wasn't all 
that surprised that the old ghoul had shown up.  

"The Reikoku gained that ability after fighting you, Ranma," 
Cologne explained.  "It will only use it while it is in combat 
with you.  When Ryouga came and attacked it, you were already 
defeated and helpless.  Therefore, he faced it for the first 
time alone.  It's power, when fighting him, was at the same 
level as it was last night, when you bested it, Ranma."

"So if it faces Ryouga again," Ranma speculated, "It'll be as 
tough as it was when I was fightin' it, and it'll know how to 
reflect his Shi-Shi Hokouden, right?"

Cologne gave Ryouga a meaningful look.  "It will adapt in some 
way, that is certain.  What weakness it will exploit depends 
on who it faces."

Ryouga looked puzzled.  "What do you mean?"

Cologne ignored the question.  Instead, she regarded Ryouga 
with a weary and defeated look on her face.  "Ah, my boy.  Do 
you have any idea what you've done tonight?  Do you have any 
clue as to the fate which you have called down upon yourself 
by daring to face this creature?"

Ryouga nodded gravely.  "I understand.  It will hunt me also, 
as it already hunts Ranma."  He turned his gaze to Akane, and 
smiled with a quiet satisfaction.  "It was worth it, to save 
you."

"Ryouga..."

Cologne closed her eyes and shook her head sadly.  "Such a 
waste."

Ryouga gave her a sharp look.  "Saving Akane is not a waste!"

"If it means your death..." The old woman broke off, then 
shrugged.  "What's done is done.  You realize that you must 
accompany Ranma on his journey now, if you're to have any hope 
of survival."

"Feh," the lost boy spat.  "Maybe I should just go on my own."

"Yeah, maybe you can just wander around in circles 'til that 
thing catches up with you," Ranma teased.

"Shut up!" Ryouga snapped back.  "You don't know what you're 
talking about!"

"Stop it!  Stop fighting!" Akane was on the verge of tears.  
"Ryouga, please, please come with us.  I wouldn't want anything 
bad to happen to you..."

"Us!" Ranma shouted.  "Whaddya mean 'us?'  I'm takin' you home, 
Akane!"

"No," Akane began to protest.  "I can't..."

"Akane, please!" Ranma begged.  There was a genuine urgency in 
his voice that had been missing last night.  "This ain't time 
for playin' around!  This thing is too dangerous for you!"

"I can take care of myself!" Akane cried.  "I don't want... I 
don't want..."

Ryouga moved in beside Ranma, his face full of concern and worry.  
"Akane, please go home.  I don't know if I can protect you a 
second time..."

"You saw how powerful it is!" Ranma implored.  "It was gonna 
kill both of us tonight, Akane. You gotta stay out of its way!"

"They are right," Cologne agreed.  "Girl, your friend Ryouga 
came to your rescue tonight.  For this, his life might well be 
forfeit.  Would you have his sacrifice be in vain?"

Akane shook her head.  She tried to speak, but nothing emerged 
from her mouth.  She buried her face in her hands and began to 
weep.  

Ranma and Ryouga gave each other uncertain looks.  Ryouga would 
have liked nothing better than to hold Akane close to him and 
try to comfort her, but it seemed wrong to try such a thing with 
Ranma there.  Ranma felt too embarrassed to show any overt 
affection to Akane in front of other people, especially Ryouga.  
So the two martial artists stared in awkward silence as Akane 
sobbed in anguish.

"Come on, girl," Cologne finally said.  "Let's take you home."

- - - - - -

The four of them made fairly good time in their journey back 
towards the Tendou Dojo.  They traveled in virtual silence, 
none of them particularly willing to talk about the dark matters 
that weighed heavily in their minds.  The relative speed with 
which they made it back home was a clear indication that Ranma 
and Akane had not made anywhere near as much progress as they 
should have.  Ranma realized, with deep chagrin, that he had 
been a tremendous fool.  After facing the Reikoku the first 
time, he should have known better than to treat the danger it 
posed so casually.  Moments of self-awareness of his failings 
like this were unusual for Ranma, and never particularly 
welcome.

They were greeted with surprise.

"My little girl has come home!"  bawled Soun.

"Oh my!  Have you taken care of the problem already?"  Only 
Kasumi could have generated that sort of optimism.  

"Uh..." Ranma answered reluctantly, when it became clear that 
nobody else was volunteering to speak first, "not quite.  No."  

He took a deep breath, then began to explain what had happened 
that evening.  Akane knelt off to the side, too ashamed and 
defeated to even raise her eyes and look at her family.  The 
explanations did not take long - Ranma did not intend to make 
the mistake of dallying again.  

Soun was the first to speak after Ranma had finished his account.  
"At least my dear girl is safe.  But you boys are in a great deal 
of trouble."

Ranma nodded solemnly.  "Yeah, I know that.  And we gotta head 
outta here as soon as we can.  With that thing out there, it 
sure ain't safe to stay in one place..."

"Gentlemen," Nabiki interrupted.  "Do either of you have the 
slightest hint of where you might be going?"

Ranma regarded Ryouga for a moment.  <Why look at him?> he 
wondered immediately.  <He don't even know where HE is most've 
the time, much where anybody else is.  Some partner he's gonna 
be.>  He shrugged.  "I dunno.  We just haveta keep tryin' to 
pick up the old lecher's trail."

"Ah, brilliant," Nabiki observed, with no small measure of 
sarcasm.  "Sherlock Saotome, complete with his own clueless 
Dr. Watson."

"Who are you calling clueless?" Ryouga snapped.  "I'll have 
you know I'm very good at finding people!"

"Do tell." 

"I found Ranma, didn't I?"

Ranma gave him an incredulous look.  "Yeah, and how long did 
THAT take?"

"I don't care!" Ryouga announced hotly.  "I'll scour all of 
Japan if that's what it takes to track down that withered 
fossil!"

"It won't do you any good," Nabiki asserted confidently.

"And why is that?" 

"Because," she said, holding aloft a single finger, "he isn't 
IN Japan anymore."

Both Ranma and Ryouga blinked in shock.  "How... how do you 
know that?"

Nabiki smiled, then rose to her feet.  "Follow me, boys.  I 
have something to show you."

- - - - - - 

Ranma and Ryouga settled themselves in behind Nabiki as she sat 
down at her computer, jockeying to get into position to see 
what she was bringing up on the monitor.  "I've been giving a 
great deal of thought to the task you have in front of you, 
Ranma," Nabiki said.  She pivoted and gave the pig-tailed martial 
artist a disapproving frown.  "SOMEbody needed to do it, after 
all."

Ranma was only angry for a moment before he settled back into 
being embarrassed.   This had been a bad evening, and he knew 
he was mostly to blame.  He quickly broke off the gaze with 
Nabiki, ducking his head.  

Nabiki sighed.  Picking on a cowed Ranma was no fun at all, 
and they did need to get on with it.  "Your assumption that 
Happosai will continue to engage in his perverted behavior 
seemed valid, at least.  There's only one thing you can trust 
an addict to do, and that's to remain true to his addiction.  
But I didn't think he was foolish enough to stick around here.  
I determined rather quickly that Happosai was nowhere nearby."

"How?" Ryouga asked, eyeing the monitor warily.  For all the 
experience he had with computers, it might as well have been 
a crystal ball.

"Contacts," Nabiki explained tersely.  "News sources.  It's 
astonishing what you can find out there if you know where and 
how to look.  Finding things out is one of my little hobbies, 
you see."  She favored Ryouga with a knowing look that left 
the lost boy somewhat baffled.

"So where is the old goat?" Ranma demanded impatiently.

Nabiki turned back to the computer.  "See this?" she pointed 
at the monitor.   "A rash of thefts, reports of women being 
harassed, strange sightings," she indicated a series of news 
items she had compiled.  "And a panty raid at a private girls' 
school.  All from yesterday's news."

Ranma squinted at the monitor.  "Dalian? Dandong? Fengcheng... 
these are all in China!  You're tellin' me the old geezer got 
all th' way to China in one day?"

Nabiki grinned.  "Amazing, Holmes.  How DO you do it?"

"How'd he get so far so fast?"

Nabiki gave him a half-lidded look of disdain.  "Ranma, you 
know those things that fly around in the sky and make a lot 
of noise?  They're called 'airplanes.'  They go from place to 
place very quickly, and they even carry people sometimes."

Ranma grimaced, more angry with himself for being dense than 
with Nabiki for her mockery.  Of course the old guy could've 
stowed away on a plane easily enough.  He just didn't normally 
associate airplanes with the modes of travel he was accustomed 
to seeing martial artists use.  He was generally so poor that 
air travel seemed like a part of an entirely different universe, 
so it simply hadn't occurred to him.  

"Uh, Nabiki," he asked tentatively, "you think we can afford 
to buy some plane tickets to follow him?"

"Hmm," she said, smiling.  "Why not just swim after him?"

Ranma shot a brief glance at Ryouga, then answered.  "Well, I 
figure we gotta catch up as quick as we can.  Besides, it'll 
give us a head start on the Reikoku, right?  I mean, it ain't 
like that thing'll hop on a jet and follow us, right?"

"Ah, Ranma.  It's so good to see you use your head for something 
other than a mallet rest."  Nabiki gave him a grin which was 
only partially condescending.  "Rapid transit is your friend 
now, gentlemen.  The Reikoku walks wherever it goes.  It doesn't 
sleep, it doesn't slow down.  It does not, however, catch 
trains, busses, or airplanes.  You have to use that to your 
advantage.

"As far as the plane ticket," she continued, "I think you may 
have a solution."  She turned to Ryouga.  "You don't, by any 
chance, still have that prize voucher you won that time?"

Ranma looked confused, but Ryouga understood immediately what 
she was talking about.  It was something he thought about on 
a fairly regular basis, though he was a little ashamed to admit 
it.  "Uh... yeah.  I carry it in my pack."

"Thought you might," Nabiki said smugly.  "Lemme have a look 
at it, hmm?"

Ryouga retrieved his pack and dug around for a moment before 
producing a small slip of paper, which he handed Nabiki.  Ranma 
craned his neck to get a look at the document in question.  
"Hey!" he exclaimed.  "It's that thing ya won in the Anything-
Goes Martial Arts Obstacle Course!"

"Free trip to China," Ryouga acknowledged.  "Yeah."  He'd 
missed the flight that had been his prize, but he still liked 
to keep the voucher around.  It was a concrete reminder of 
the one time he had bested Ranma fair and square in a martial 
arts competition.  In his generally benighted and gloomy life, 
Ryouga took his encouragement where he could get it.

Nabiki studied the coupon briefly, then smiled in satisfaction.  
"As I suspected.  This voucher is still good."

"What?!" Ryouga blurted.  He could have gone back to China any 
time?

"You don't read the fine print, do you?" Nabiki chided.  
"Terrible habit.  They scheduled a suggested time for the 
flight you won, but the voucher is redeemable for other trips.  
They can't guarantee First Class on short notice, but that's 
hardly going to matter."

"All right!" Ranma shouted.  This was the first really good 
news they'd had all night.  "We got a ride to China!"

Ryouga frowned at him. "What do you mean, 'we?' That ticket's 
only good for one person."

"True," Nabiki observed.  "But I'm sure if one of you rides in 
the luggage compartment, everything will be all right."

"Hey," Ranma said, "that ain't legal, y'know."

Nabiki leveled her gaze at Ryouga.  "It is if someone's riding 
in a pet carrier."

Ryouga took a second to absorb her words, then flinched back 
so violently that he nearly went through the wall.  "Y... y... 
you..."

"You know about P-Chan?" Ranma said.  "How'd ya find out?  I 
can't believe it!"

Nabiki shook her head, closing her eyes.  "Please.  I may not 
be a world-famous detective like you, Sherlock," her voice 
dripped sarcasm, "but I do know how to put two and two 
together."

"G... fgg... grmm..." Ryouga stuttered unintelligibly.

"Man," Ranma said, "I just figured if you knew, you woulda 
been blackmailin' him or somethin'."

Nabiki gave him a black look.  "If you want my help, you can 
make an effort to be a bit more polite."

"Sorry!  Sorry!"  Ranma waved his hands and tried to look 
innocent.  

The short-haired girl considered making him grovel a bit more, 
but they were pressed for time.  She plucked a small card off 
her desk and tossed it to Ranma.  "That," she explained, "is 
a phone card.  I shall continue to track Happosai as best as 
I can.  Call back here when you get a chance, and we'll see 
if we can corner that pervert before he gets too far."

"A phone card!" Ranma regarded it with interest.  "Cool!"

"Use it sparingly.  You're going to pay me back for the bill 
when you get back."

"Uh... yeah."

"With interest."

"Right."  Ranma looked considerably less enthusiastic about 
the card.  He pocketed it, then rose to his feet.  "Okay, 
P-Chan.  We gotta get going."

"G... rr... err..."  

Ranma thumped the lost boy on the head.  "Snap outta it!  
Geez."

Ryouga came out of his horrified stupor and took a swipe back 
at Ranma, which he dodged.  "Knock it off!"

"I ain't got all night to sit here and listen to you gibber, 
okay?"

Nabiki rested a hand on each of their shoulders.  "Gentlemen, 
I suggest you make some kind of truce.  You don't have time 
to spare on this kind of stupidity now, do you?"

"Uh, yeah."  Ranma regarded the older girl with interest.  
"Hey, how come you're goin' to so much trouble to help me?"

Nabiki shrugged.  "Consider it an investment in the future.  
I make a tidy sum off your antics, and I'd hate to have that 
revenue stream dry up.  Besides, if you survive all this, 
you'll be family some day.  I do try to take care of my 
family."

"And if I don't survive?"

"Then the very large insurance policy I've taken out in your 
name will have been worth the effort."

Ranma gave her a wide-eyed look of disbelief.  "You... nah, 
you're kiddin'."  He chuckled nervously.  "Heh... that's a 
good one, Nabiki."

She simply raised an eyebrow and gave him a small, unreadable 
smile.

- - - - - -

The good-byes didn't take as long this time, and they were far 
more solemn.

Ryouga looked upon Akane, her eyes filled with grief and fear, 
and a melancholy smile crossed his face.  Her sadness moved him 
deeply, but it would pass.  He and Ranma might not live, but 
she would survive.  At the moment, that was all that really 
mattered to him.  He was at peace with his decision, his 
sacrifice.  What she said to him didn't even hurt that badly.

"Please take care of yourself, Ryouga.  And please, please... 
keep Ranma safe."

<Akane, my sweet Akane.  I shall do as you bid.  No matter 
who you decide to love in the end, my love for you will always 
remain the same.>  He sighed, and promised her that he would 
do his best.  

The farewell between Ranma and Akane was far more awkward and 
stilted.  Each had deep reflexes to hide any genuine emotions 
of affection that might arise through teasing or insults.  Each 
desperately wanted to make this parting a good one, though, 
to give voice to the things their hearts and eyes were trying 
so hard to say.  The middle ground they achieved was not 
terribly satisfying, but it wasn't too bad, either.

"Hey, Akane, I ain't good at long good-byes or nothin'," 
Ranma scratched his head as he spoke.

"Yeah, neither am I."

"Listen..." Ranma started again, then stopped a moment, 
rethinking what he was about to say.

"Yes?"

"Listen, I got real clumsy tonight with that thing, but I 
never make the same mistake twice.  So you don't have to 
worry about me, all right?"

Akane sniffled a bit and nodded.  "All right.  I trust you... 
to take care of yourself."

He tried a bit of the old Saotome confidence.  "Hey, it's no 
sweat!  All I gotta do is keep one step ahead of that thing 
and find the old guy."

"Just... just don't underestimate him again, okay?"

"Yeah."

A long pause followed.  Ranma was acutely aware that every 
second counted.

"So," he announced, "I guess I'll see ya soon.  Right?"

Akane tried a brave smile.  "Of course!  Very soon."

Ranma nodded.  "Okay then!  So long!"

They continued to stare at one another.

"Have a good trip!" Akane said.

"You bet!"

Another long pause ensued.

"Keep in touch!" 

"I will!"

And yet another awkward length of silence stretched out 
between them.

"Safe journey!" Akane tried again.

"We wi..." >WHAP!<

Ranma whirled to face the panda who'd just hit him with a 
wooden signboard, which read [Get on with it, already!]  He 
lashed out and booted the old man skyward, irritably rubbing 
the bump on his head.  

"Geez," Ranma growled.  "Didn't even have the decency to turn 
human again to see me off.  What an idiot."  A sentimental 
farewell between Ranma and his father was simply not in the 
cards.

Still, the interruption had served its purpose.  Ranma took 
a hold of Ryouga's shirt.  "Let's hit the road, lost boy.  
We gotta make some time."

"Don't call me that," Ryouga grunted instinctively. 

Ranma locked eyes with Akane for one last moment before he 
turned.  His throat tightened as he saw the longing in her 
eyes and her trembling lips as she struggled not to cry.  
"I'll miss you," he whispered.  It was as close as he could 
get to saying what he wanted to say.

"I'll miss you," she echoed.  

That was about all he could take and still hope to keep his 
composure.  He envied the way that Ryouga and Akane could 
let the tears fall, but he couldn't allow it in himself.  
He turned and headed towards the gateway of the Tendou Dojo.

Akane kept expecting him to look back at the last moment, but 
he did not.

Ryouga looked back.  He was more of a defeatist than Ranma, 
and was prepared to accept that they would both be dead soon.  
If he only had one last chance to see Akane, he wasn't going 
to miss it.  So he paused a moment before they passed through 
the gateway, letting the image of her on the porch burn into 
his mind.  He would cherish that memory in the times to come, 
the image of Akane in her blue dress with the lights of the 
dojo streaming softly behind her, full of pain but still healthy 
and alive.  If this was as close to true love as Hibiki Ryouga 
was destined to get, he could die content.  

Ranma did not look back.  To do so, to him, would have been 
to admit defeat, to acknowledge that there was a chance that 
this really might be the last time he'd ever see her.  He would 
never accept that.  There was too much left unsaid, too much 
left undone, for this to be an ending.  He refused to entertain 
the notion for a second.

Besides, if he'd turned back, she might have seen a tear in 
his eyes.

For Akane, the moment seemed suspended in time - Ryouga looking 
back at her with a smile on his face and tears on his cheeks, 
Ranma facing away from her, towards the battle which he would 
be fighting without her.  And then it was over; the two vanished 
into the darkness.  Akane knelt on the porch and wept, her heart 
aching, with the words that she could not bring herself to say 
still ringing in her mind.    

                    end of chapter two



-----------------------------------------------------------
                      AUTHOR'S NOTES
-----------------------------------------------------------

In case there was any doubt, I use a jumbled hybrid of the Ranma 1/2
anime and manga as my source material.  As a rule, the manga is the
foundation material. When the anime adds to it in a way that I feel
is consistent with the tone of the original, I will consider it as
part of the continuity. Other episodes I will pretend never happened.

It's highly subjective, but there it is.

The Anything-Goes Martial Arts Obstacle Course was an anime episode
in the third season.  I enjoyed it, in a large part, because Ryouga
actually won the race.  It's so rare that you get to see Ranma beat
in a Martial Arts competition, and Ryouga deserves a break now and
then.  I thought it was a legitimate assumption that he would hold 
on to his (supposedly) useless prize for sentimental reasons.

My thanks to Catbert25 for pointing out a continuity lapse in this
segment of the story.

COMING SOON:  Ranma and Ryouga in China!  Ukyou returns to Nerima
and gets a very unpleasant surprise!  And, as if Ranma didn't have
enough problems already, another threatening figure from his past
returns!  

REVISION NOTES: Just some small bits here and there.

COPYRIGHT STUFF:  All the Ranma characters belong to Takahashi Rumiko,
and are licensed in America by Viz Communications.    

GRT - May 1998
MODIFIED - April 2005
Thunderstruck_comic@comcast.net

All existing chapters of this story may be found at:
http://www.talesfromthevault.com/relentless





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