Ryouga's battle.
----------------

Ryouga could see the guy following him into the large isolated park
area. All he saw was a lake on one side as he landed before receiving
a surprise punch in the head. His opponent was small and lithe, but
comparable in brute strength to himself. The attack which separated
him from the others did not help. Now Ryouga did not even know what
direction they were in. Recovering, Ryouga took the initiative.
  He drew his umbrella and lunged. The boy hopped quickly to evade
and kick Ryouga's arm from above. He retained his grip, grimacing,
and opened the weapon. His opponent had to twist away to avoid being
lacerated by the edges. Ryouga closed it and swung it away, reached
to his bandanna and tore a dozen from his brow. They twirled in his
hand before he leaped and released them with a shout.
  His opponent was gone though and the weapons embedded into the
ground. Suddenly he was in the air behind Ryouga, and his kick to
the back sent Ryouga crashing into the trees.
  He opened his eyes and pulled himself out of the snapped, tangled
branches. The blow had not so much hurt as knocked Ryouga out of
whack. After leaning on a tree, he stood in Kohane's stance and
breathed deeply. His enemy approached and Ryouga moved behind a big
old tree to utilise the surprise attack.
  The boy noticed movement and faced the tree. He reared his hand
back and thrust, extending his index finger.
  "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"
  Ryouga was so shocked that he plain forgot to block the exploding
wood fragments. He was forced to the ground, and the boy loomed and
pitched forward, finger extended. Out of reflex Ryouga flipped away.
The finger hit the earth with no effect. Ryouga's puzzlement left an
opening, he was kicked hard in the neck. Ryouga hurtled away again.
  This time Ryouga fell towards the lake just off the shore. He was
hacking, his neck stung slightly. With an effort he stretched to
catch a thick sakura branch overhanging the water, and avoided trans-
forming into his more defenceless form. After scrabbling to get a
firm hold, he peered down at his aggressor on the bank.
  The guy grinned evily, bent over the water and plunged his finger
into it.
  "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"
  A fountain burst upwards which Ryouga avoided, panicking. Shit he
knows! he shouted at himself. To keep him from pushing his advantage,
Ryouga flipped open his umbrella and hurled it at the boy.
  The opponent batted it away with a roundhouse, then saw Ryouga
hurtling at him. The two thumped to the ground, wrestling. As the
guy got a leg between them for a kick, Ryouga shoved a finger into
the ground right under the other's head.
  "Take _my_ BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"
  The were both thrown upwards, but the enemy shook off any damage.
all at once, Ryouga realised the damage he was in - An Exploding
Point technique that works on water! - and tried to push away as
they started falling. The guy gripped his arm tightly and shouted
the move's name again.
  In the instant that the finger hit Ryouga's shoulder, he felt the
skin burning and the flesh beginning to boil and tear. A reflexive
kick broke him free just in time and he fell to earth in a heap. The
killing pain slowly subsided - it was just in time before the
Exploding power spread through his body. Ryouga knew well what he
now faced - his body was over three-quarters water. He flipped to
his feet and dodged the next strikes, somersaulting out of range
after ducking a roundhouse.
  Must stay out of reach... he told himself. Well, I don't need to
reach him! Ryouga punched.
  "SUISEI KEN!"
  The blow was blocked but the boy swayed from the impact. Ryouga
was miffed, and tried again, thrusting both fists forward. His
opponent leaped over the more powerful Comet Fists with a grunt,
and hurtled toward Ryouga.
  "Aw hell!" It annoyed Ryouga that a technique he mastered so
quickly seemed so easily countered by itself. He let his depression
take over, and the bright sphere swirled into existence in his palms.
He swung it at his incoming attacker.
  "Dodge this you bastard! SHISHI HOUKOU DAN!!"
  It was the boy's turn to be hurled to the edge of the clearing and
Ryouga's bright chi blazed a little longer before fading into the
sky.
  Ryouga stomped up closer, shouting, "And there's plenty more where
that came from!"
  His opponent pulled himself up with an aura igniting around him.
Before Ryouga could act, the guy grew a chi shot in his hands and
hurled it with a scream. Ryouga was almost mesmerised by the spirit
force rail-roading at him. Keep cool, he heard her voice, and his
actions became instinctive and lightning fast. His finger drove into
the soft earth again to blow lots of dirt out, angled toward the
approaching chi. As the Exploding Point went deeper, more ground
came out and Ryouga finally plunged into the hole as dazzling energy
streaked over above.
  The glare faded and the boy saw no sign of Ryouga, just a degrassed
track of flattened dirt. It bothered him, but he figured he had won,
although his master instructed him to fight to the death. He turned
to leave, but there was a sudden rumble and Ryouga (propelled up out
of the ground by the force of the Exploding Point) flew right up in
front of his enemy. He delivered a deep uppercut on the way which
ended jarringly on the chin.
  Ryouga fell and alighted ten metres distant while the little guy
staggered back, utterly dazed. He pressed his advantage and leaped
in a fast parabola for the guy. His arm muscles tightened then
became like stone with his focused spirit as Ryouga raised them
over his head. He cried,
  "TSUNAMI CHOUBATSU!!"
  And brought his arms crashing down on his prone opponent. He was
bashed to the ground and Ryouga landed, but he still tried to
struggle up. Ryouga was showing no mercy and kicked him away a good
three metres. The guy coughed and moved a bit slower. Ryouga was
satisfied, so he turned and trotted over to the lake to retrieve his
umbrella which was mostly lying in the water except for the handle.
He picked it up and walked back to his opponent, flapping the weapon
open and closed to shake some of the water out of it. "This'll teach
you!" Ryouga said, swinging the dripping umbrella down on the
kneeling enemy.
  "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!!!"
  The guy thrust savagely at Ryouga's weapon, and it tore violently
into several segments. The power he had put into his blow made Ryouga
over-balance when the umbrella's great weight was removed. The boy
grabbed him from his vulnerable position a throw, slamming him onto
the dirt.
  Damn water... was all Ryouga could think, then his face was stomped
and his head was partially driven into the ground.
  Ryouga could not see past the dirty shoe on his face, but he heard
his heavily breathing opponent lean over and say snidely: "Bakusai
Tenketsu."
  He nearly panicked. Don't think - do! flashed past. Ryouga rammed
his backside into the earth, catapulting his legs up and over to
double kick the boy in the face. He skidded away. Ryouga hopped off
a hand-stand and charged him. As Ryouga closed in, the boy thrust
his digit out.
  "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"
  "BAKUSAI TENKETSU FUUJI!"
  Ryouga gripped tightly with his middle and index, rendering the
deadly finger useless. Predictably, the boy angrily threw his
other digit, which Ryouga also caught in a swift motion. He smirked
and delivered a barrage of over fifty kicks to his mid-section, then
followed with a viscious head-butt. Ranma's not the only one with
speed, Ryouga smiled to himself. The opponent staggered back, shaking
his head. Ryouga assumed Kohane's stance, balling a glowing fist.
  "SUISEI KEN!!"
  Ryouga punched his chi at him, but was chagrined when he still
managed to evade, then regain his composure. Inspiration hit Ryouga
like a bite on the face and he strode right up to the guy. His
enemy began the motion for a powerful kick, but the focused Ryouga
stamped the leg down with a low heel kick. Their hands whipped at
each other in a blur of strikes and blocks, never getting through
to connect. With all his focused effort, Ryouga abruptly twisted
the other hands together and held them with one straining fist,
drawing his free hand back for a mighty blow. The guy could not
block.
  "MOUSUISEI SETSUTEN GAESHI!!!"
  Without warning Ryouga's previously evaded Comet Fist shot straight
back to the fighters. As Ryouga's punch connected deep in his gut,
the returning chi impacted in the small of his back, causing the guy
to cry out in pain one last time. After a moment he slumped over
Ryouga's fist, toppling when it was withdrawn. Ryouga looked down
at his foe, a smirk of triumph touching his mouth's edges. Then he
turned to think how he would find Kohane, who must need his help,
he was sure.
  The wind picked up and he spotted a Hiryuu Shouten Ha tornado over
a dense line of trees. He headed towards it, concentrating hard.

Kohane vs. Kouhai.
------------------

Two of his minions dashed and sprang after Ranma and Ryouga; Kohane
barely had time to assess her situation before she was attacked by
the remainder. The goons were the most skilled yet, and though still
not a threat to Kohane, the combat became prolonged. At one stage,
one lunged to punch her face, she dodged side-ways to elbow the back
of his head and deliver a high back kick, then hop and spin to kick
the other charging attacker in the chest. They staggered and she had
enough time to look over at Kouhai. He just stood there with his arms
crossed, observing. He's sizing me up, she thought.
  One of the goons stanced and focused a chi ball in his hands. He
blasted the energy at Kohane with a scream. She took a hasty stance
and concentrated. The energy rushed around her but she was protected
by an invisible umbrella-shield projected by her spirit. She leaped
out of the glow towards the attacker, kicking at him three times in
the air with Tamashiitou to knock him around and confuse him, then
flipped to bring her heel down to connect with his left collar in
Kudariki Shouten Ha. After a brief flash the guy was slumped on the
ground. The other opponent rushed her with a barrage of strikes; she
blocked most then disappeared from his sight. Kohane crouched at his
feet for an instant before springing up with an uppercut a following
flip kick to double the damage. As she descended she prepared her
Leap-shoot, then thought better of demonstrating all her techniques
and threw a _very_ fast Comet Fist instead. With a loud concussion
the underling was knocked into oblivion.
  Kohane alighted with one hand on her hip, and the flaps of her
outfit settling down dramatically. "It's just you and me now," she
said flatly.
  The man took what looked like a coil of chain from his belt, ready
to snap it unwound. "And so now I'm going to kill you, Tamashii
Kohane."
  Kohane's hand moved to the hilt of her kinkatana, she asked
tersely, "If it's me you wanted so bad why did you keep having my
friends attacked? Why do this at all!?" The glinting blade was
drawn.
  His weapon uncoiled into a ten foot-long whip at a flick of his
wrist, made of dozens of small, sharply-edged copper sections,
ending with a curved gold sting. Kouhai told her why.
  "You -- you want to be..." she spluttered, aghast. "You've done
all this just to serve such a petty--" Kohane gave up and with her
building rage she launched herself forward, and her sword built up
a fiery white glow.
  Red energy coursed down Kouhai's whip and he started to twist it
around savagely in the air. Kohane tried to thrust and slash through
his defence, but the heavy copper weights, powered by the strong chi
of Kouhai, batted the attacks to the side. Each hit created bright
yellow sparks of energy.
  Kohane jumped back. At the moment Kouhai spun the weapon around
his body, jumped and flung it straight at her legs. She avoided
getting tied and trapped, but the gold barb at the end gashed both
her shins and blood quickly began flowing. She ignored the pain.
With a screamed kiai, she slashed and a rolling arc of white energy
launched from the sword. Kouhai held the chain up to meet the attack
parallel and it was absorbed end-to-end. He grunted with the effort
of the block. It caused a big yellow flash.
  She opened her eyes in time to see the whip snaking towards her
face. She blocked with her arm and the sections wrapped securely
around her armlet. She pulled back and Kouhai tugged the weapon
taught. They faced one another.
  "You're a devil," Kohane muttered. She strained her arm against
the pull.
  Kouhai laughed.
  Kohane surrounded herself with her arm, then grabbed the chain with
her captured hand. The bright soft glow began flowing down the whip,
contesting Kouhai's energy. He accepted the challenge, and the immor-
tals' faces became grimaces due to the struggle.
  Kouhai's power dominated the metal, but Kohane's was inching for-
ward powerfully. Such a contest was uselessly exhausting, of course;
Kohane started striking out with her spirit. He had no trouble
blocking the punches with his free hand, but Kohane abruptly used the
distraction to jump and somersault rapidly with her arm held out, and
the whip unwound and flung away from the tension it was under. Kouhai
quickly regained control as she landed.
  He lunged the chain forward; Kohane had alighted well out of range
but she was hit in the stomach by the scarlet streak of chi which
shot from the end.
  She staggered back, clutching at the pain, but managed to leap and
evade the follow up strikes as Kouhai closed in. Still airborne,
Kohane reared her free hand and shouted, "YAKUSHA!!" Her white chi
beam stabbed at Kouhai's shoulder. He merely rocked the side of his
body back a bit, then continued forward, nearly hitting Kohane out
of the air. She twisted around acrobatically to avoid the swift whip
before landing and stancing.
  She pulled her sword-arm back and thrust it forward, point first.
With a kiai of:
  "KINKATANA YAKUSATSU!!!"
  A blinding beam of energy shot from the blade, so bright that
Kohane could no longer see her target. The glare quickly dissipated
though and she saw that Kouhai had coiled up his chain into a flat
disk to use as a shield. His energy coursed through it, forming the
perfect barrier. He grinned demonically and whipped it straight at
Kohane.
  She back-flipped away but could not avoid losing some of her
dougi's material from her waist and gaining another superficial but
bloody gash. She whimpered in pain yet charged her sword with more
power and deflected the next blows. Gathering her mettle, Kohane
began advancing on her enemy, slashing fiercely to defend from the
lightning-fast attacks. Finally, not five feet away, she savagely
batted Kouhai's concerted strike and mustering all her skill and
speed, shot her hand out to snatch the wrist of his weapon-arm.
Utilising the split-second of impaired defence, Kohane slashed down-
wards at Kouhai's neck. Glowing energy trailed brightly from the
blade and her voice rose in volume to an echoing shout.
  Kouhai only saved himself by concentrating his chi in his hand
and catching the sword. She was very surprised when he did this. In
this stand-off position, all she could do was lend more power to her
blade. It was literally throbbing with energy. Kouhai grimaced and
gritted his teeth - the sword was starting to cut, blood was drib-
bling from his fist. The opposing chi caused the local breeze to pick
up: the fighters' clothes were now flapping in the wind.
  Just as Kohane thought she was breaking his defence, Kouhai screwed
his eyes shut and suddenly roared. A turbulent, crimson-violet aura
erupted around him then exploded outward, knocking Kohane back
several metres. She landed on her behind, but when she stood the
chain whipped out and wrapped around her, pinning her arms.
  Kouhai took a second to focus himself. His free hand was held out
with blood dripping from it. He prepared to send a blast of energy
down the metal.
  Kohane could not struggle free of the power-imbued chain. Her only
means of attack left were her legs, so she released a flurry of side
and snap kicks. Kouhai was buffeted physically by the ethereal bar-
rage and knocked spinning when Kohane jumped to deliver a Tamashiitou
drop kick. Kohane shook the chain loose as Kouhai's focus faltered,
alighted and stanced, ready for the next round.
  Kouhai rapidly regained his balanced and somersaulted aways back.
He looked disgusted, and he said contemptuously, "That's all? How
long have you been alive?"
  Kohane's stance tightened, her knuckles whitened on the hilt.
"Nine-hundred and twenty years, Tamashii Kouhai."
  He snorted. "I've been around for fourteen-hundred and five, but
your age is no excuse. It seems you have squandered the abilities
granted to you, Tamashii Kohane. You use your spirit power only to
augment your martial arts. I'm disappointed." Kouhai raised his
bloodied hand to the sky. "Now suffer the true power of Tamashiitou:
  "AMA NO DAKARU!!!"
  Kouhai plunged his arm downwards. The heavens illuminated, and a
bolt of lightning cracked the air apart, striking directly at
Kohane's position. A silent, blinded scream was ripped from her
lungs before she was flung away from the dissipated blast. Her
inherent power protected her skin from burn but the smell of toxic
ozone assailed her senses. Kohane dragged herself slowly to her hands
and knees, her eyes screwed shut and coughing blood. A whole sleeve
of her dougi (including armlet) was singed off of her arm and the
red fluid trickled down to her hand which still gripped her sword
tightly.
  "I hoped you'd be a bigger challenge," Kouhai lamented, approaching
slightly. "It's hard living so long without fighting a decent battle.
Oh well. Goodbye, Tamashii Kohane."
  His chain snaked out, the deadly golden sting glinting evilly.
Kohane knew it was coming and forced herself to turn. With a pained
cry she imbued her katana with a heap of chi and hurled it to inter-
cept. It hurt terribly (the golden sword printed with her name was
very dear to her) but it was her only course of action.
  The sword streaked to meet the whip. As it touched there was an
almighty concussion. Most of the copper chain sections shattered
apart and glittered, falling. Kohane's weapon was also broken, most
of the gold in scattered shards and less than a foot of blade re-
maining on the hilt. Kouhai stepped back in shock, then anger flashed
from his eyes. He discarded the tatter of his whip.
  "Don't... don't give me that crap," Kohane wheezed. "I will _not_
be underestimated!"
  "Hmph. For that, I'll make your death as painful as possible,"
Kouhai raised his hands before him.
  What little light there was visibly dimmed. A miasma of sinister
clouds churned above, thunder rumbled ominously.
  "KUUKI..."
  Kouhai's voice echoed, godlike, around the park. Kohane thought,
I can't counter this... level... of power... She tried to stand un-
steadily. When she saw what her enemy was doing, all she could do
was be frightened.
  A thin column of black cloud eerily descended vertically to gather
in a growing sphere in front of Kouhai's hands. Lightning crackled
around it as it reached half-a-metre wide and Kouhai completed the
kiai,
  "...RANKAGOSHI!!!"
  The orb of darkness ignited into a white flare, bright beams of
light streaming in many directions. One stabbed right into Kohane's
chest, though she felt nothing except the tremendous chi being used.
Then the other beams moved around to coalesce on her; there was an
explosion.
  Rocks and dirt were flung in all directions. Kohane's body went
rigid, she was lifted off the ground. Gale wind whipped at her hair
and clothes. A large dark spherical halo formed and encased her.
Electricity crackled from the inside surface to her skin. She groaned
against screaming.
  The ball had disappeared from Kouhai's hands and he now held them
out to control the hellish manifestation of his spirit. He laughed
villainously and shouted, "It doesn't matter if I underestimate you,
Tamashii Kohane! You don't even approach my level of power, and you
will die sadly as a result!!" He clenched his fists.
  The chi halo throbbed and spasms racked Kohane. She screamed.