Here are the revised editions of the first two chapters, chapter three is
nearing completion and should be out within a few days.
Draxon's Review Corner Presents
An In-House Production
Ranma 1/2
A Demon's Delight
Chapter 1: The Sugoiken
Gimme fuel!
Gimme fire!
Gimme that which I desire!
YEAH!
--Metallica, Fuel
Ranma stood with determination as a cold January wind washed across his
face. His pigtail flapped in the wind as he considered how to complete his
objective. Eight feet in front of him stood his opponent, Genma, and Ranma
knew exactly what he had to do. He was going to kick his sorry ass.
The pair, as if reading each other's minds, took flight at the same time
and collided above the koi pond in a raging flurry of kicks and punches.
They aborted the engagement by instinct when gravity began to take hold, and
landed on opposite ends of the pond.
Round 1: Tie
"Boy, you must be getting slower in your old age. I haven't seen you fight
that sloppily in months!" He stretched his arms in preparation for the next
attack as he spoke, "You're never going to be good enough to take over the
Anything-Goes school if you don't take this simple training seriously!"
Ranma stepped to the side of the pond in preparation to take the more
direct ground approach, "Well maybe if you hadn't stolen my last five meals
I'd be moving a bit faster," he ran forward and launched a flurry of
punches, "You lousy *thief!*"
Genma blocked the first few shots of Ranma's Amaguriken attack with general
ease. Unfortunately for him though, Ranma was *not* going to let him get
off that easy. Genma took two seconds to look for an opening and when he
thought he found it *THWACK*
Round 2: Ranma
Ranma watched his father take flight for a few seconds, "That's what you
get for stealing my food, next time get some bamboo and I'll shove it down
yer throat!" He winced a bit in sympathy pain when Genma slammed into the
ground, then waited for his father's inevitable attack.
Genma flipped back to his feet, "Boy, you've been playing too much Street
Fighter. Since when did you start using flying uppercuts?"
"Hey, I won't get any better if I wait for *you* to teach me anything," he
paused for a second and held his stomach, which growled angrily, "And at
least the TV has the common decency to not steal food!"
Kasumi watched Ranma and Genma for a few seconds with a smile on her face -
they were so *good* at what they did. *Sniff* *Sniff*, "Oh my, what's
that?" She looked toward the kitchen and saw a cloud of greenish gas wafting
in her general direction. She looked at it for a few moments, but a loud
splash and a lot of yelling caught her attention and she looked where Ranma
and Genma had been fighting.
"AHH! GET OFF A' ME!!!" Onna-Ranma screamed in writhing agony. Kasumi
noted that Ranma and Genma had apparently met with the forces of the koi
pond while she had been distracted. Kasumi's face twitched with sensed pain
when she saw Ranma being crushed into the ground; she was one with the
Earth--literally. Genma-Panda laughed triumphantly as he sat on her back,
then pulled her legs into an impossible twisted position and held them.
Ranma screamed and tried every possible movement to escape from Genma's
impossible hold, then fell limp with hunger and defeat. Genma, sensing that
his point was made, released Ranma and stood up. *Mistake*
Ranma bolted back to her feet and nailed the panda in the face with a
jumping crescent kick, then gave him an anatomically unsafe combination of
227 Amaguriken punches to the stomach and 41 snap kicks to the face. Ranma
finished the combo and slammed the giant panda on the ground with a powerful
sweeping throw maneuver.
Round 3: Ranma
Kasumi turned her attention from the fight to the more immediate issue of
Akane cooking. It was so sweet of her to work this hard to make Ranma
another breakfast, but-ErRrK-! She doubled over, coughing herself nuts in
the process as the fumes washed across her face. She produced a gasmask
from hammerspace when Akane ran out of the kitchen with... *IT* Kasumi
looked at the pulsating sludge that oozed out of the bowl and realized that
if Ranma were to survive this day it would be because of divine
intervention. Not that Akane hadn't tried, mind you. She was so sweet when
she wanted to be.
Akane looked at the monster that somehow resembled her sister, "Kasumi, why
the gas mask? Is there a bomb threat?"
Kasumi nodded, "North Koreans again," Okay, so it wasn't nice to lie, but
she wasn't going to be rude to her sister, geesh... Genma-panda flew past
the two and slammed into the living room wall with a loud crash, then a very
female Ranma immediately leapt in for the attack.
"Since when did you start up with these ridiculous holds, huh?" Ranma spat
as Genma flopped to the floor in front of her, "You been messin' with games
too?"
Genma-panda squiggled on a sign and held it up, "No, WCW wrestling!" He
then found the sign crashed over his head rather violently.
Round 4: Ranma
"No wonder I never learn anything useful from you - huh? What's that - oh
no..." Ranma finally noticed Akane (and why was she wearing a gas mask?)
motioning for her to eat... *IT*... This stuff, which could be called
nothing but *IT*, oozed and happily bubbled out of its ceramic bowl... And
oh god it looked bad.
Ranma pointed at the food with a look of terror on her face, silently
asking a question who's answer could strike fear into the hearts of men and
gods alike. The question that Ranma finally managed to stammer out in a
broken sentence, "D-did y-ou, m-m-m-ake... thathatha... THAT?"
Akane nodded proudly, "Yup, looks good, *DOESN'T* it?" She shoved the bowl
in Ranma's face, which turned a sickly color normally reserved for the
elderly.
"Wha.. eew... What's the-" She exploded into a fit of coughing, "the mask,"
HACK HACK, "for?" She fell backwards and tripped over her father, which had
the effect of making her fall flat on her ass while feeling rather nauseous.
Ranma's stomach threatened to relieve her of its contents, but she managed
to get it under control. Barely.
"Oh yeah, I forgot! Put this on!" Akane pulled another gas mask from
hammerspace and tossed it to Ranma, "Kasumi said the Koreans are invading or
something," she looked at the fumes which filled the house now, "They must
be using Sarin or something."
Ranma hastily put her gas mask on, "Yeah they're invading all right. They
musta' sent you one *hell* of a cookbook," She managed to gain the courage
to approach the... *IT* that Akane had cooked, "So, what all did you put in
this thing?"
"Ranma you JERK, Japan is under attack and your worried about what I put in
your breakfast? Who did you learn your priorities from?"
"That idiot," Ranma pointed at the panda, which nodded affirmatively before
slumping over.
"Small wonder," Akane ran to the front door and looked out to see if any
wartime events were occurring in Nerima, then ran back to the living room.
"Akane, it's really important. What did you put in that... That *stuff?*"
Akane huffed, "If you *must* know, I made pancakes! I went out and bought
the batter last night because *you* were complaining about being so hungry.
I guess you're not so hungry after all! HMPH!"
"Akane, you had to have put something else in there... I mean, look at it!
It's breathing, which means it's *alive*. Pancake batter does *not* come to
life just like that, even you couldn't do that without putting more junk in
there. Now c'mon, just tell me what's in it so I know if we need to call
poison control."
Akane began to grow a little sheepish, "Well, umm, I *did* use some stuff
labeled E-Coli 168."
Ranma began to shake slightly, "You're joking Akane."
Akane shook her head, "No, I'm sorry if it didn't work but you don't have
to be-
"AKANE. You. Are. Joking." Ranma nodded her head, "AREN'T you, Akane?"
She pointed at the *IT*, "And ya know *why* you're joking?"
"Ranma, if you don't like my cooking just say so!" She threw the bowl of
*IT* on the table, cracking it open. *Big* mistake.
"This is beyond cooking! You used a *fatal* disease! E Coli kills
people!" She looked at the panda, which appeared to be quite dead from the
stench, "Plus you've got this weird gas floating around and if we take off
these masks we're probably dead! Thanks, Akane, you just made my day!"
"*R*ANM*A*!!!!" Ranma had two seconds of warning before her body set a
course for geo-synchronous orbit, courtesy of Akane's fist.
Round 5: Akane
Then *IT* stood. Kasumi screamed in terror when... *IT* began to move
around. Akane bolted to the side and turned around to se--Kami-sama.
"R...Ran-ma... You can, uhh, come *back* now!!"
The *IT*; a mass of syrup, batter, pestilence, and home cooking ingredients
grew to near-human size and lunged at Akane. She had only enough time to
scream before *IT* plastered her into a nearby wall and enveloped her body.
Ranma shivered as the cold air of the stratosphere stripped away her
already non-existent body heat. She could make out the shape of Japan below
her, and she swore by the Kami that Akane would never hear the end of
this--if she survived impact.
Gosakugi Hikaru struggled frantically to keep his pencil moving at the pace
of his brain. The event he was witnessing was totally unparalleled in the
history of the arcane Arts! Akane Tendo was *truly* one of the greatest (if
not the most unaware) twisters of the ancient powers. Nobody, *nobody*
could take a vial of various devastating diseases and mix it with household
ingredients to create... *IT*. He smiled to himself; he never thought that
slipping that harmless looking vial into the Tendo kitchen would result in
these incredible events! He watched as Akane's creation turned on her, and
for a second the thought crossed his mind that he could help her, and save
her! She would be forever in debt to him! Maybe even... His mind began to
take a hentai turn, and he began to fantasize about his future with Akane.
Unfortunately for him, his fantasizing causing him to ignore the high
squealing sound in the sky above and Ranma crashed into him with a nuclear
payload.
Ranma managed to stand after impaling Gos', and set about the task of
getting at least three of her six senses working again. She wobbled around
in her quest for balance, but was brought back to herself by a series of
screams from the dojo. She ripped off her gas mask and... d-AMN!
"*WHEN* *I* *COOK* *SOMETHING* *IT* *DOES* *NOT* *EAT* ***ME***!!!!" The
*IT* exploded outward, and a very pissed-off-looking Akane emerged and
peeled it off of the other wall, "Mutant pancake or not, badly cooked or
not, city killing virus or not, YOU ARE STILL JUST A PANCAKE!" She grasped
the pulsating blob and pulled it into the back yard, "Now, DIE!"
Ranma was decently sure that Akane had the situation under control so she
took a few seconds to look over Gos's notes. She fumed with anger when she
saw 'various life-threatening diseases' among the notes and turned the page.
Eew, some badly written sex scene involving Akane. ErK. Well, Akane would
want to see it so she could further impale Gos at school, so Ranma grabbed
the notebook and ran to meet her most-uncute fiancee.
"DIE DIE DIE!!!" Akane, mallet pounding like Thor's Hammer, screamed at
the now not-so-big pancake. She heard a clicking noise and nearly went
nuclear when her gas mask was pulled off of her. She turned with murderous
intent, but allowed her anger to ebb when she saw Ranma looking rather...
pathetic.
"Akane, I think the pancake is dead. Listen, Gosunkugi was spying on us a
few minutes ago. I got his notebook... did you actually use a bunch of
stuff that was just laying around?"
Akane snatched the notebook and began reading, "...and I watched in
amazement as Akane's 'golem' pancake turned on her and attacked. I must
sa-," and the pencil marks deteriorated into scribbles. Akane looked back
to Ranma, "I don't believe this. Next time I cook something I'll get it
right!"
"Akane, maybe you should consider letting Kasumi cook the food from now on.
I can't handle being threatened with this toxic stuff every day," she
wrapped her arms around herself to rebuild her supplies of body heat, "I
already have to rescue you from some weird pervert at least once every two
months or so, I've got this curse to deal with which is harder than you
might think, and I can't handle the thought of you cooking up another space
mutant every day on top of that!"
"Don't you appreciate anything I do for you? Do you think I like messing
up so much when I cook? Maybe if someone would try to help me instead of
insulting me I'd get better!"
"Kasumi's tried to help you before. It didn't do any good, and she's
probably still having nightmares about being in the kitchen at the same time
as you."
Akane started to give Ranma a piece of her mind but she stopped. Her angry
expression withered away and was replaced by a look of... defeat? "Ranma,
I've put up with you being a pervert and a jerk for the past year because
occasionally you manage to act like a decent human being. I... I can't keep
going like this anymore. You are... well, I think you're okay sometimes,
but I can't spend my life waiting for those few moments when you're not a
total jerk. Don't say anything, you'll just run your mouth if you try. I
can't make you learn how to be nice to me, but if you don't figure it out
soon you're going to live the rest of your life in a restaurant."
Pervert? Jerk? Just who does she think she's talking to, anyway? And...
why is she being so calm about it... "Akane I know you think I'm a perverted
jerk. I know that you think I enjoy fearing my next meal. On top of that,
to you it seems like I enjoy having to fight off Shampoo every day, and I
know you can't understand what this curse really does to me. That leads me
to one conclusion, Akane: You don't know me. Maybe nobody really does."
She began to pace around in the cold, not minding that her skin was getting
a nip of frost bite, "If you don't at least try to understand me, Akane, I
*will* end up running an Anything-Goes Okinomiyaki restaurant, because even
though I don't really think of Ukyou the way she thinks of me I know I can
trust her to listen to me, and I can tell her nearly anything. If you think
I've spent the last year in the Dojo with you just because I had nothing
better to do or someth'an you're wrong."
Akane stormed off toward the Dojo for a few seconds but halted when she
reached the entrance, "Ranma, I'm going to change into another uniform.
When I finish changing I'll spend an hour trying to get to know you, since
you seem to think I don't already. I don't see why you think you can tell
Ukyou stuff that you won't tell me, it's not like I haven't seen you at your
worst." She disappeared into the Dojo.
Ranma stood like an old, weary statue. Her wet clothes flapped with a gust
of wind and her bones chilled like ice. It felt strangely appropriate to
her, and mirrored the emotions that seeped slowly from her heart. She held
her position, not having the motivation to move to warmer territory, "Akane
you just don't understand... There are some things I just can't tell you..."
She looked at the ground where a dying mutated pancake wriggled with its
last desperate movements. Appropriate.
Final round: Akane
Then *IT* attacked.
[...] Fuurinkan High School, Lunch Time
"Listen Akane, I know you've been wanting me to say this for a long time,
so I'll just up and say it! I'm SORRY! I'm sorry that your freakish
cooking made you miss a mandatory test! I'm sorry if I wasn't able to kill
the damn thing without a trip to Doctor Tofu's afterward! Of course it's
all my fault! I should be strong enough to handle being used as a long
range missile, and after that I should still have it in me to kill off your
cooking projects before we come to school! I'll work out more!" Ranma
prepared to continue his onslaught, but stopped himself. Akane's little
session of talking had been turned into a war of survival against the
mutated pancake, which had ended up being a lot harder than expected. Ranma
had come out of that fight half-dead and only the wrath of Akane's mallet
had saved him from a worse fate. Of course, after Akane remembered that
she'd missed a test while saving Ranma's sorry hide she took it out on him.
Typical.
"Ranma the best thing you can do is just go off and spend some time with
the fiancee you actually like. Either that or learn to shut up while you're
ahead. I've still got that mallet and I think maybe another trip to Dr.
Tofu's clinic would do wonders for your ego."
Ranma threw his backpack to the ground next to the tree that Akane was
sitting under, "Go ahead Akane. Hit me and make it hard, why dont'cha?
C'mon, you know you want to. That's your solution to everything these days,
isn't it? I've already seen what happens when you get really mad. Japan
looks beautiful from up in space but I must say the fall is a real pain."
He stepped forward so he could lower his voice signifigantly, "How can you
ask me to be nice and caring and open with you when you hold everything
against me? How can you expect me to be the great reliable guy that you
want when I can't get you to so much as listen to me when there is a
problem? If you truly knew me you would either kill me or you wouldn't
bother to talk to me. This may sound weird but I *want* us to at *least*
manage some kind of a weird friendship. The person that you offered a
friendship to last year still exists, and although I'm not quite as female
as you thought back then I still want at least that." He threw himself down
and rummaged through his backpack until he found the lunch Kasumi had
prepared for him.
Akane looked at Ranma; the man she liked... or, loved? She hoped that
she'd have the time to figure that out, but that wasn't going to happen with
the pace of current events. Her mind raced through several trains of
thought... Unless Hinako gave her a major break she had failed English, and
the same went for Ranma. She began to regret what she'd said earlier, and
her emotional fortress began to collapse under the pressure of a continuing
siege. She began to formulate a response to Ranma's emotional opening, but
couldn't bring herself to speak without allowing her defenses to collapse.
After a few seconds of trying she pulled her knees to her chest and buried
her face in them.
"Akane, in case you didn't notice I just gave you a chance to take back all
that stuff you said earlier. What's the deal?"
Akane wrenched with an emotionally-induced shudder, then her fears, doubts,
and frustrations broke through the castle walls and slaughtered the
stability that had lived within. Her eyes began to water, and that very
fact led her to surrender to pain. It could be so much easier to cry
sometimes...
"Whoa, Akane - hold up a second. It's not that bad-
"How would you know?" She shot back, "You don't have to live my life!"
her sobs continued quietly, and she hoped that nobody had noticed her little
breakdown.
"Akane, what's wrong? Maybe I can help you or something..." He noticed a
flickering blue battle aura that said in a clear threatening tone 'Akane is
pissed right now so leave her the hell alone' but if Akane was actually
feeling bad he had at least a small chance of getting inside her head for a
while...
"Just go," Akane muttered softly between sobs, "All you can do is make
things worse."
"No, tell me why you can't stick with one mood for more than an hour and
I'll be satisfied at that; but I can't sit here and just watch you freak out
without at least trying to help." To his surprise Akane's battle aura
exploded in size and strength, and the girl bolted to her feet with a look
of sadness and anger plastered onto her face.
"Ranma you jerk! Can't you at least see when I want to be left alone?
When I actually want to be around you you're always off with one of those
other girls, but when I need to be alone you can be counted on to be there,
agitating me until I just want to DIE!" Her expression changed quickly from
anger and sadness to something that resembled... Realization? She brought
her hands together in front of her and began to channel energy into a ball
of chi... Ranma stood and backed off a few steps - No way! Akane was
actually channeling her chi? Waitasec - didn't that mean she was about to
hit someone?
Ranma's fears proved invalid, as Akane lost her concentration the ball of
chi simply dispersed harmlessly into the air. Akane stumbled forward on her
way with a meeting with the ground but Ranma had the good sense to catch her
in mid-fall.
"Akane," he said as he set her down next to the tree, "Don't worry,
things'll work out, somehow."
Akane decided not to respond.
[...] Fuurinkan High School, 3:32 P.M.
After the second half of her school day proved uneventful Akane began to
walk home, not really sure exactly how she felt. She just hoped that
nothing else went wrong... She really couldn't handle anymore on this
particular day.
Rule number one of being Akane: Don't hope that nothing else goes wrong.
The laws of reality inherently worked against her. How else could she have
ended up with a perverted aqua-transsexual for a fiance? Well anyhow, Akane
had broken the golden rule and the universe had to choose a punishment of
some sort.
"Akane my dear, you're looking rather, uhh, pathetic." Happousai. Go
figure. The elder martial arts master perched himself on Akane's right
shoulder and began to speak;
"I've heard that you nearly executed a special technique today, is it
true?"
Akane grabbed Happousai and slam-dunked him into the concrete wall that
surrounded the school, "Yes I did, and if you even start being perverted
with me today I will personally beat you into a bloody pulp."
Happousai recovered and hopped in front of Akane, "Let me guess - that
ingrate Ranma made you mad and you came close to plastering him." Akane
nodded, "Akane, I'm not a total fool. I am growing old, and I may not have
too many years left in me. I can't teach Ranma the techniques of the Higher
Arts of the Anything-Goes school of martial arts because he just does not
learn, but *you* might be a different story!"
Akane found a bench and sat down, "You've got five minutes to convince me
not to seriously hurt you."
"Ahh, Akane! It isn't about hurting me. It is about teaching you to deal
with your problems through the power of the Art! Within this aging mind of
mine are locked the secrets to devastating techniques. Techniques that
dwarf all of Ranma's attacks combined. Techniques that you may be able to
learn *if* you do a little work for me first..."
Akane sighed - she did *not* have time for this nonsense, "I am not helping
you steal some poor girl's underwear. I am not going to pull any photo
shoots for you - unlike Ranma *I* have some modesty. I am not going to help
you sneak around in the hot tubs and I am most definitely not going to stick
around long enough for you trick me into doing any of that stuff. Goodbye!"
"Akane--" the seriousness of the old man's tone managed to halt Akane's
planned departure, "--although you refuse to take part in what I consider to
be basic training for Anything-Goes martial arts I am willing to make a
compromise of sorts. There is a clothing store just down the road that has
an excellent selection of dearies. All you have to do is push a shopping
cart around while I handle the rest. Deal?"
Akane stood and stared at the little freak, "You must be out of your mind,
I knew you'd snap someday, and now that you're into *new* underwear I guess
you must have finally lost it. Go feed your fetish somewhere else, pervert.
I have better things to do."
Happousai hopped onto the bench as Akane began to walk off. Teaching her a
technique of the higher arts was *mandatory,* and he had to do it *today*.
If he didn't... he didn't want to consider what was in store for him. Time
for some persuasion.
"Akane, don't you at least want Ranma to see that you can be strong? Does
your heart not burn with desire to show the world that Akane Tendo is not a
person to be run over? I spent a good deal of my younger days being
rejected and run over by those who were stronger than myself. I *know* how
you feel, Akane. I can make you strong. I have the knowledge that will
become raw power once you are in possession of it. If you trust me for just
this day I will give you the key to that knowledge and you will become the
Akane Tendo that you want to be so much. An Akane that is worthy of
carrying on the traditions of the Anything-Goes school. An Akane Tendo that
is equal with any Saotome."
Akane wanted to storm off and leave the old pervert eating dust. She
*wanted* to show everyone that she was already not someone to be run over -
but was she? She wanted to ignore the pervert's lies... But did he somehow
tell the truth through those lies? True, the stronger she was the more she
could stand up for herself; but what if she humiliated herself for the old
man's sick pleasures only to be betrayed and hurt?
Whether she knew it or not, her mind was set. To the higher arts - and god
help Happousai if he was lying.
[...] 5:27
Akane's heart thumped and crashed about in her chest in protest of the
most-unnecessary levels of stress she was feeling. The last two hours or so
had been any girl's worst nightmare! Basic training? Yeah, right. Akane
shook with nervousness. The police would probably be stopping by the Dojo
within the next few hours to arrest her after her supposed 'training', which
consisted of helping the old man rob about 10 clothing stores back to back
while raising general hell through the city.
"Well, now that I won't be able to face my friends again for a few years I
guess you can go ahead and teach me this higher technique of yours." She
continued to shake nervously; now she'd dropped to the level of her father
and Mr. Saotome... Che.
Happousai looked over his most-awesome collection of lingerie and feminine
intimate wear. If only they had been graced by the touch of a female's fine
skin he would feel content, but for now he had a more immediate issue to
deal with. He decided to give the clothes to Ranma and maybe even snatch
them back later - He'd heard increasing rumors that Ranma had been checking
out his 'other self', but he hadn't had time to confirm the rumor yet.
Either way, the look on Ranma's face would be classic. Now to deal with
Akane...
"Akane, you have proven today that you are indeed enough of a student to
hold the secrets of the Higher Arts. As a reward for your faithful work you
will learn a technique of power beyond that which Ranma has *ever* mastered.
Behold the power of... *Sugoiken.*"
The old man approached a large tree. The tree's presence was one of
durability, of strength, and of determination. Its size indicated that it
had stood for at least one hundred years, through even the wrath of the
second World War, the Meiji Restoration, and the modernization of Japan.
Now a two foot tall old man stood at the base of the tree and decided its
fate.
"Anything-Goes Higher Art - SUGOIKEN!" Happousai tapped his fist on the
side of the tree and watched with satisfaction as a blue aura of destructive
power aligned itself next to the symbol of stability. The wave of energy
completed its formation and began to move through the tree - depositing
small inklings of explosive energy throughout the plant as it moved. The
wave of energy dissipated once it moved through the entire body of the
plant, and Akane waited.
"Well, so far it looks just great, but I don't see why you consider a light
show to be a higher art." Akane's pulse rate dropped back to an acceptable
level and she prepared herself to kill the old lech if he didn't have
something better to show her.
"Akane, you fool. I have not even executed the damaging part of the
technique yet - I could have done it immediately but the damage would have
been dealt too quickly for you to see the true power you are soon to
command." He held his right hand in the air, waved it to his left to get
Akane's full attention, then turned his side toward the tree. He aimed his
palm at the tree and pushed on the air.
Akane fell out of the bench she had been sitting on as a violent shaking
overcame the very Earth. She regained her bearings and focused on what was
happening to the tree which had been the target of Happousai's attack and
for the first time she was in utter awe of the old man's power. Beautiful
blue streams of energy encircled the tree's entire height for a few seconds,
then jetted off into the sky in a looping maneuver. The streams of raw
power coalesced into a single star-like ball of chi which held its position
about 20 feet from the tree like a predator ready to hunt.
"Akane, observe carefully. I am executing this technique painfully slowly
so that you can see the kind of power you will soon posses. Do not blink
your eyes for even a second - for if you do you will miss the true meaning
of power." He held his concentration and pushed the stolen shopping cart
away from what was about to become ground zero. He looked at Akane, who was
staring intently, then he looked at the ball of chi that waited for his
command to trigger the Sugoiken's true power, "May the Kami forgive me if
this technique is ever mis-used..." He triggered the final phase of the
technique.
The bolt of chi energy shot forward, ripping the earth beneath it with pure
force. Akane bolted to her feet in shock when the energy once again met
with the tree. The side of the tree that Happousai had tapped began to warp
and arc inward, then a wave of pure heat erupted from the tree's innards and
washed across its surface. The tree began to glow like a Supergiant star in
the final stages of life, and a sharp screeching sound began to scream forth
from the force of the attack. Akane covered her ears but nothing could stop
the sensations of pain that threatened to overcome her consciousness. Just
as she prepared to surrender to physical pain the noise ceased and another
wave of energy appeared next to the tree. This time the energy slammed into
the tree like the shockwave of a nuclear blast and promptly shredded the
tree on the cellular level. The ground shook again with the power of the
blast, and this time Akane, having been too paralyzed with awe and
anticipation to keep her balance, fell flat on the ground.
"Akane. THAT is power. Now observe the technique at full speed." He
walked to another tree and tapped it. This time, however, the wave of
energy bored through it voraciously and less than a second later the tree
was shattering into sawdust...
Akane's mind was set - that technique was going to be hers at any cost...
It held the potential to maybe, just maybe put her on Ranma's level if she
mastered it...
"Happousai, how should I go about learning that technique? I *will* learn
it."
Happousai nodded sagely, "Are you so sure that you want to go through the
training? You may find it to be a bit emotionally, hmm, stimulating."
Akane approached the old lech, knowing full well what he meant, "I don't
care what kind of training it is. I'll do anything." She waited for a
second, then added "Almost," to keep Happousai from getting any lecherous
ideas.
"Very well Akane. We must go to a location where we can have absolute
privacy, where I will proceed to teach you the power of the Sugoiken."
[...] 5:37 Ucchan's Okinomiyaki Restaraunt
Ranma inhaled another round of okinomiyaki with record speed. His mouth
moved with speed and power that could only be produced by a world-class
martial artist. His hands moved at Amaguriken speed and danced with the
harmony of a pure eating machine... Nothing was to avoid the wrath of his
stomach on this night. Or as Ukyou put it; he was stressed out and damn
near starving. Ukyou had already closed the restaurant in order to fill
Ran-chan's noisy stomach but something told her that the one she loved
wanted to let off some steam, and she had a pretty good idea of what was
troubling him. After all, the big talk around school after lunch had been
about Akane nearly blasting Ranma into oblivion. That, and one other little
rumor...
Ukyou brought another batch of Okinomiyaki to the table that Ranma had
occupied for the past 20 minutes and sat down in front of him. She watched
him quietly and waited for either his appetite to ebb or for him to exhaust
his food supplies. Of course, the food ran out before his appetite was
satisfied - but despite the room for more food Ranma sank back into his seat
feeling like a king.
"Have you been trying out some new recipes Ucchan? That was awesome."
Ukyou smiled, "I'm glad you like it so much, but it's the same old
okinomiyaki," her expression dimmed a bit, "Why didn't you come in here a
few days ago? You look like you haven't eaten in weeks."
"I dunno," he said as his cheeriness left for better places, "That damn
thief father of mine is trying to starve me to death, and this morning Akane
cooked me what she swears up and down was supposed to be a pancake. It
nearly killed me, then Akane got mad at *me* for not being able to fight off
her kitchen-made hordes of hell."
"She's not *that* bad now, is she? I'm glad that *I* can cook... are you
okay?"
"Ucchan - I don't think you really understand what I meant. The pancake
stood up and *attacked* me. It's dissolved in the koi pond now, but
tomorrow I'll probably have to deal with mutated fish or something just as
ridiculous. I'm also trying to figure out how I'm going to spend the rest
of my life with this curse and Akane is not helping me one damn bit in that
area."
"Whoa - what's there to figure out about the curse? You turn into a girl
with cold water and turn back with hot water--" wow, as if Ranma wasn't well
aware of that little factoid, "--but I thought after you all nearly trashed
Jusenkyou you decided you could handle it."
Ranma fidgeted a bit, "It's not so much that I need to figure the curse
out... It's more like I need to figure out what it means to me. Do I need
to just ignore what form I'm in at a given time? Should I avoid being a
girl at all costs? I've got a few hundred of those kinds of questions
floating around in my head and you're probably the only person that can help
me figure this mess out. I... I do have, uhh, feelings for Akane - but she
just doesn't understand me the way you do. She's still convinced I'm a
perverted jerk and with the way she's acting now she may never get the
picture."
"I've got a feeling this is going to be one of those long talks... Hold on
honey, I'll get us something to drink." With that Ukyou slid out of her
seat and hopped behind the counter. A moment later she returned with a few
pitchers full of various types of soft drinks - from sweet iced tea through
the more popular ranks of the Coca-Cola beverages. One more quick run and
she was armed with a set of glasses with which to drink from. She checked
the setup - All set!
"Okay. Ran-chan, do you know about the rumor that's been floating around
recently?"
"If you mean the thing with Akane trying to blow me up at lunch today it's
not much of a rumor. Actually, hard fact would probably be a better term
for it." Ucchan gave him one of those 'not that rumor' looks and had to
fight off a smile to keep the conversation on-track.
"Ranma-honey, not that... Everyone knows that Akane's finally starting to
get one of those chi blast attacks down. I'm talking about last Friday."
"Uhh," he laughed innocently, "What about... last Friday?"
O-boy. At this point Ukyou was sure that the rumor was true. Time to
break the news, "A couple of my more reliable customers said they saw you
running around last Friday wearing girl's clothes. I mean, *real* girl's
clothes."
Ranma filled his glass from the Mountain Dew pitcher and took a long drink,
"Okay, so there's a rumor running around. What did they say I was wearing
and did they say anything else?"
Ukyou took a sip of Pico Guyavana, "One of the guys said you were wearing a
full length black silk dress and that you went by yourself to see a movie."
"Note to self - Find and destroy the source of that rumor - oh, I uhh,
kinda said that out loud didn't I?" Ranma finished off his drink and began
pouring another,
"Ranma, you need to loosen up a bit. Think about who you're talking to!
I'm not exactly the most normal person around, and think - I'm around
Konatsu almost every day. You're almost normal by comparison. So did you
actually do it? Without some mind altering drug or some mind controlling
force?"
"Well, yeah... It wasn't my idea. Nabiki wanted to collect on an old debt
and for once I wasn't able to pay her back when we'd agreed. Let's just say
she managed to get some, uhh, incriminating pictures of me and she said that
if she didn't get some kind of payment she was going to start posting them
up on every telephone pole in Tokyo. Well, I asked her if there was
anything I could do to at least get some more time and she decided to go for
the humiliation factor."
"Wow, really?"
"No - I mean yes! Shimata, I can't keep this stuff up." He hesitated for
a few seconds then continued, "I did it on my own, kind of an impulse or
something. Nabiki... had nothing to do with it." Ranma slumped forward and
suddenly found that he couldn't bring his eyes to meet Ucchan's.
"Well, the first thing to do is get your reputation cleaned up. So, do you
wanna say it was a drug or mind control?" Ranma shook his head, took a
drink of Mt. Dew, and laughed,
"I don't care about a reputation anymore. I've tried to patch it up for
the past year and every attempt just backfires. Just let people think what
they will. I've gotta start worrying about myself, and I can't handle all
of this on my own. If I told anyone but you about that movie thing I'd
probably find myself sitting next to my good-for-nothing father within a
week thinking of the quickest way to kill myself, but rumors just don't have
the same effect. Nobody seems to understand that I am a girl almost half
the time, and nobody can really know what that means to me."
"Well, do you like being a girl?"
"No, I'm kinda neutral to it now, but still... It's like I've been denying
myself something over the past year, and I can't figure out what or why. I
think it has to do with the curse, which is why I did that movie gig. I
should have done something slightly more private, but I'll have to forgive
myself for being stupid. If the only way for me to finally get over all of
this is to 'play dress up' not only am I going to very unhappy but all hell
will break loose when people start to notice. Akane will send me into
orbit, pops will probably try some stupid training trick on me, and Nabiki
will have a field day. So the question is - What am I supposed to do?"
Ukyou took a few seconds to develop some advice, and sipped her drink,
"Okay - Here's what ya do. You need to figure something out that has
everything to do with *you* and nothing to do with anyone else. Take your
time, figure out what you want to do with your life, and go for it. If
things get really bad and you need to get away from everyone you can always
stay with me. I know that *I* wouldn't bother you about it... Tell me, is
Akane the reason you're suddenly starting to change?"
"I haven't really thought about it, but maybe. Sometimes I think she would
have been happier all along if I'd just been a girl to spar with
occasionally. But then again, It can't all center around Akane."
"Well, I hope you figure this all out. If your dad keeps stealing your
food just stop by tomorrow and I'll keep you fed. Is there anything else?
I can always make you some more food if you're still hungry."
Ranma finished off a pitcher of Coke, "Nah... I feel better already.
Listen, in case I made myself sound like some kinda freak; I'm still 100%
guy, and I always will be. That outfit thing was probably a mistake anyway,
I need to think this stuff out more before I start running around making an
idiot of myself." He stood up, "I'll see you tomorrow, Ucchan. Thanks,
you've done more than you know."
Ukyou stood and gave Ranma a quick hug, "Anytime Ran-chan. Listen, if
Akane tries to cook anything else call me and I'll make you something to
eat. I couldn't bear to stand by while she tried to make you eat that...
stuff."
Ranma looked at Ukyou and smiled, "I'll have to take you up on that offer.
Well, I wanted to get home by 6, but that isn't going to happen. I'd better
head on out so Akane doesn't feel too abandoned." He walked out of the cozy
little restaurant feeling much better than he had when he first decided to
visit Ukyou. Somehow he wasn't worried about the curse anymore, and
although he expected hellfire from Akane over something or another he really
didn't give a damn.
He felt like the guy he wanted to be, and somehow that made everything seem
better.
[...] 8:39 - Tama prefecture (Forested area outside of Tokyo)
"So, how do I use the Sugoiken?" Akane was primed and ready to learn how
to kick ass, and if one word would describe her it would have to be
'anxious'. Happousai sat nearby and puffed on a pipe as he considered
exactly how he was going to get Akane in the correct mood to channel her chi
and draw upon the power of the Sugoiken. Actually, he knew exactly what he
was going to do.
"Now Akane, the version of the Sugoiken which you witnessed earlier today
was fueled by the power of concentration. It fits me perfectly because I
can channel great power into it quickly, and I do not have to rely on an
emotional trigger to use that power. I believe that at this point, at
least, you will need to find an emotional trigger to harness the power of
chi. Think of your most powerful emotions, clench your fist, and try to
fill your fist with that energy."
Akane closed her eyes and began to consider exactly what her most powerful
emotion would be. After a few seconds she decided to try anger; afterall,
she always had an immediate source of anger nearby... She concentrated and
began to think of stuff that made her mad... nope. No effect.
"Well Akane, you're just going to have to find the proper trigger. I'll
supply the motivation!" With that the perverted old man attached himself to
Akane's chest. Akane reached to pull him off of her but before she could
get to him he was bouncing off of a nearby tree in preparation for his next
'attack'. Akane punched at the old man, but was rather surprised when the
lech threw her into a nearby tree with her own momentum.
"Akane, you're just not understanding this exercise, are you?" He watched
as Akane slumped to the ground and groggily made her way back to her feet,
"The point is to learn a new technique, not to fight with me!" Akane
attacked again, and Happousai promptly plastered her into another tree.
"You jerk! If I can't even fight back how am I supposed to try out this
technique?"
Happousai puffed on his pipe, "That's exactly what you're here to find
out." Akane immediately attacked, and Happousai replied by knocking her
feet out from under her and feeling on several places old men aren't usually
well versed in. Akane stood up and dusted herself off to have the
appearance of a normal mood, then became hell-bent on killing Happousai.
Needless to say, the old lech didn't appreciate that one bit, so he sent
Akane flailing into another tree
Minutes passed, and minutes soon became hours. After almost three hours of
waging a futile war against Happousai Akane collapsed to the ground; and
this time she had no intention of trying to get up again.
"Akane," Happousai said as he tapped her on the back of her head, "Get up.
This little session isn't going to be over until you are throwing Sugoikens.
Drill that into your head - I am not going to let you off this easy. I've
already wasted too much time on you to walk away without having taught you
the technique."
Akane just wanted to die - the old lech had made a total fool out of her
and if he really was trying to teach her the Sugoiken she wasn't exactly
picking it up very quickly. She tried to pull herself to her feet but her
body wasn't complying. Happousai noticed this little weakness and decided
to offer the ultimate in motivational tactics.
"Akane. The Sugoiken is a very powerful technique, but I have one that is
even more powerful and if you don't get up I'm afraid I'll have to use it."
Akane brought herself back to her knees and locked her eyes onto the aging
martial arts master. If she could just get ahold of the freak...
"Too slow Akane! ANYTHING-GOES ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE, *GUOKEN PARK SPECIAL*"
Happousai unloaded with a small volley of Happo-Firebursts, which had the
unfortunate effect of burning Akane's clothing off of her, "Phase two! Bean
Jam Blowout!" Akane found herself in a position normally reserved for Ranma
as she exploded into the atmosphere on a ballistic course for the moon. If
anything, she felt hopeless now. Her skin burned from the bombs and now it
seemed that Happousai was just going to beat the crap out of her for a while
before he gave up on her.
Happousai ran to the shopping cart and quickly pulled a set of intimate
wear from his new collection. Time for the phase that would really leave a
mark. He jumped into the air and matched speed with Akane. By the time the
pair fell back to the ground Akane looked like she should have been doing a
model shoot for Victoria's Secret. Happousai looked at her and laughed
hysterically. "I never thought I'd have to resort to *that* attack, but I
must say the pink teddi is definitely you!"
Akane stood and looked over herself. What she saw made her sick. She
looked at Happousai for a few seconds, her mind numb from the recent turn of
events. Finally the words came to her, and she spoke them slowly, smoothly,
and matter-of-factly.
"You're dead," Akane took her attention off of Happousai and looked at her
right hand, "Sugoiken." She drew her fist back and felt the fire of her
hot chi energy coalescing within. She threw the punch with a power that
even she had never used and somehow she knew that within the next few
seconds the old man would be nothing more than a pile of dust on the ground.
Happousai had other plans, and dodged Akane's punch; but that didn't stop
her from releasing the energy. She reveled in a rush of pure power as a
shockwave of energy began to tear a path of nuclear destruction through the
forest. Happousai watched - the feelings of pride and sadness competing for
expression. After watching Akane stand motionless for a few seconds he
decided he had best leave, and went to his shopping cart.
"Oh yeah, Akane. Since you'll have to go back to the dojo here's something
slightly more covering to wear." Akane looked at him for a second - since
when did the freak *ever* offer to put more clothing on a female body?
Akane pondered the question for a second but was snapped from her trance by
a trench coat that happily slammed into her face.
"Uhh, thanks," she slipped the coat on, "Hey, thanks. I mean, for the
technique. Maybe now I can get Ranma to at least respect me."
"Akane. You must be careful when using that technique against a human.
The Sugoiken is not a killing technique - when it hits a human being it will
knock them a distance proportional to the energy you channeled into it. You
can smash almost anything that isn't alive with the Sugoiken, but beware of
showing off with this new power. Goodbye."
Akane's sense of touch kicked in, and suddenly she began to freeze. She
pulled the trench coat tighter around her, and looked down at her fist. On
her mental command it began to glow lightly, and she drew unmeasurable
comfort from the fact that Ranma was no longer the only indispensable
martial artist in Tokyo, Japan.
"Look out world, here comes Akane Tendo," she laughed and began walking
toward the train station that would take her back to Nerima, and like Ranma
she strangely felt better as she closed the distance to her destination.
She tried to put her finger on it... Maybe, just maybe it was because now
she had a chance at being the Akane Tendo that she'd always wanted to be...
[...] Tendo Dojo, 11:00 PM
Akane quietly slid into the front door of the Dojo and checked the living
room for anyone who might still be waiting on her. Nope, oh well. That
just meant she didn't have to bother explaining her absence to anyone. She
made her way up to her room and once she was safely within its confines she
slipped off the trench coat and collapsed onto her bed. She thought about
the hellacious day she'd had and on cue her body began to ache and cramp in
every possible manner. She thought about taking Happousai's 'gift' off, but
found that she didn't have the energy to pull herself out of her bed. She
pulled her blanket over her and allowed her body to hurt and complain, but
despite her physical pain she felt, well... Damn good.
Draxon's Review Corner Presents
An In-House Production
Ranma 1/2
A Demon's Delight
Chapter 2: Unexpected Disasters
Hit dirt | Strip smile | Live to win
Shake tree | Lose cool | Dare to fail
Split sky | Bleed the day | Eat the dirt
Part sea | Break the rule | Bite the nail | Then make me miss you...
--Metallica, Carpe Diem Baby
Ranma took a quick glance at the time before he started up the stairs.
Geesh, 10:13 already. Nabiki had already gone to school, and Kasumi was
busy cleaning up a mess that Genma had made when he had the unfortunate
accident of slamming into the breakfast table. Well, so Ranma did play a
little part in that; but this morning training stuff was starting to get out
of hand. Genma was getting cheaper and cheaper every day. Ah well, at
least he hadn't been able to steal any food. Akane was asleep in her room -
well, maybe asleep wasn't an appropriate term. Perhaps 'dead' would be more
fitting. Ranma adjusted his shirt - which happened to be the last one that
had survived the last few weeks intact, and knocked on Akane's door.
Hmm, no answer. The police had stopped by earlier wanting to talk to Akane
about a little rash of thefts she was supposedly involved in, but after Soun
heard the full story he convinced the officers that Happousai had probably
forced his daughter into the acts. That meant Akane was off the hook at
least until the old man made another appearance. Ranma knocked again, no
answer.
"Akane, are you alive in there?" She had apparently been up long enough to
shut her alarm off, but Ranma was having no luck getting Akane's attention
while she was behind this door. Well, he did have one option left, albeit a
dangerous one. He opened the door.
Well, Akane looked comfortable. She had wrapped her blanket around her
like a cocoon and was smiling contently as she dozed the hours away. Ranma
took the opportunity to see his fiancee outside of her natural habitat
(meaning 'in a peaceful state') and just watched her. After a few seconds
he decided to stir the sleeping dragon, and proceeded with caution.
"Akane, it's getting late. C'mon, wakeup." Okay, so the vocal approach
wasn't going to work; well, not without more power, "Akane, it's going on
10:20, now wakeup. C'mon now." Akane's reply; Snore, snore, snore...
Ranma backed off for a moment. This was indeed a serious situation... If
he let Akane sleep any longer she would be mad at him for not waking her up.
Then again, waking her up could probably be most-unhealthy as well. What to
do, what to do... He decided against physical contact of any sort, lest the
beast strike back violently.
"Wakeup already! If you keep this up you're going to be failing more than
English and I don't want you trying to blame it all on me! C'mon already!"
And Akane snored on... Okay, time for action. Ranma loosened the blanket's
hold on Akane and shook her very lightly by her shoulders. Akane smiled and
wriggled about - A most unexpected response. Ranma's fingertips noticed the
smooth lacy material that enveloped Akane's shoulders and immediately sent
him into red alert mode. Okay, so she *had* been out stealing lingerie and
stuff... and she'd kept some? Ranma decided that this encounter could hold
disastrous consequences if he stuck around, so he issued a general retreat.
He let go of Akane's shoulders and began to slowly make his way to the door.
Akane had other plans; Ranma felt his left hand, then his right began
snatched up in a vice-like grip. Suddenly he was airborne in the small
room, and a quick twirl and a mattress later he was... *Under Akane*
Akane muttered something to the tune of 'Ranma...' and Nerima's best
martial artist began to fear for his life. Akane latched onto him and began
to squeeze tightly. Okay, so this was even worse than when he had tried to
get P-chan away from Akane. She was wearing lingerie and his hormones;
well, let's just say fear wasn't the only thing he was feeling.
He saw the blanket slipping off of the bed and tried to snatch it - damn.
Okay, so he was in bed with Akane and his only possible tool was gone. He
tried to wriggle his way out of Akane's grasp; but soon found that it was
futile and that it had a most-incriminating effect on his manhood. He
reached deep into his memories to find something, anything that could help
him in this - his darkest hour. He came up with a plan of action and hoped
it didn't backfire...
"Akane," he whispered, "Let me go..."
Akane's grip tightened and she rolled over to her side. Ranma began to
give up hope - Akane was in total control and on top of that she was
*asleep* and in control. A cold tingling sensation rippled down his spine
and he began to feel... weak? What the hell? He decided that this had gone
on long enough and tried to push out of Akane's grip.
Okay, this freaked him out just a little. Just when he needed a surge of
strength and speed it was as if his body abandoned him. He felt like...
like when Happousai took his strength away from him. He tried to speak - no
voice. He felt humiliated but strangely... excited?
"NO." he blurted out, then froze in fear when Akane began to roll over
again. Great, back where we started.... Odds of survival 20 to 1. Akane
sprawled out over Ranma, giving him a nice view of the back of her head.
Great, I'm a pillow now.
Then the door opened. Ranma snapped his head to the side and was met with
a horrified Kasumi.
"Shh!" He motioned for Kasumi to come in, "You gotta help me..." Kasumi
regained her composure, gave Ranma a disapproving look, and walked in.
"Ranma, Ranma, Ranma..." She knelt down next to the bed and gave Ranma the
most sympathetic look she could muster.
"I came in to wake her up... She... did this. I'm dead if she wakes up -
You gotta help me..." He reached out to Kasumi - his only lifeline, and
pleaded with a desperate look.
Kasumi examined the situation with the look of a trained professional.
She'd saved Ranma
from certain death at Akane's hands four times in the past four weeks, and
that didn't count her pledged silence concerning 'the outfit' deal. Oh
well, Ms. Kasumi to the rescue again...
Akane had let go of Ranma in favor of the dead weight approach, and any
major movement by Ranma could translate into a quick and painful end.
Kasumi picked Akane up, straining a few back muscles in the process, and
gave Ranma the tenth of a second he needed to remove himself from the time
zone. She felt a slight movement by Akane and sat her down on the bed.
"Akane, you didn't... Are you really asleep?"
Akane opened her eyes, sat up, looked at Kasumi; then proceeded to die
laughing as she pulled her blanket back onto her bed.
"Akane? Are you okay? You're not letting stress finally get to you, are
you?" Kasumi slowly closed the door, then sat down on the bed next to her
youngest sister.
"I'm fine, sis. I think I've finally figured it out..."
"What?" Kasumi looked into her sister's deep brown eyes, "Something about
Ranma?"
Akane smiled as she wrapped her blanket around her, "Yeah... I always knew
that he couldn't be a jerk all the time. Maybe all I have to do is show a
little control. This may sound crazy, but maybe he really just needs a
little push in the right direction."
"Do you love him?" Kasumi gave Akane her trademark big-sister smile and
waited for Akane's standard reply...
Akane slid her head back onto her pillow and looked into her sister's warm
brown eyes, "I'm not sure I know how to answer that, sis. I love a part of
him that likes to hide from me; I know that much... But do I love him? I'd
like to know myself. Maybe."
Wow, 'maybe' had been the biggest confession Akane had made in a long time.
"It's almost 10:25 now. Ranma didn't go to school because you weren't
waking up and we had a few problems downstairs. Are you two still going to
be able to pass English? I thought you had a major test yesterday."
"English is a lost cause unless Hinako lets me make up yesterday's test. I
don't think we were doing anything important today though. What was the
problem downstairs, Kasumi?"
"Well, the police wanted to ask you a few questions about some robberies
that happened yesterday afternoon, then Ranma got into a major fight with
his father. Mr. Saotome is still unconscious and the breakfast table is
broken into a few pieces." She paused for a few seconds, "Did Happousai
really make you rob those stores?"
Akane smiled, "Well, he didn't really *make* me help him, but for once he
had an offer that I couldn't refuse." She clenched her right fist in front
of her and allowed it to spill a cold blue aura for a few seconds, "He
taught me one of the Higher Arts - a final attack called the Sugoiken," she
relaxed her hand and continued, "'Awesome Punch' just doesn't do it justice.
It is beyond awesome. Don't say anything to Ranma, okay? It's best if he
doesn't know; I mean, his ego probably couldn't handle knowing that I'm as
good as he is now."
"Okay," Kasumi accepted another little secret to add to her list, "Please,
try to be more careful with master Happousai next time. I don't think the
police will accept another referral to him."
"Don't worry, sis. I don't think I could bring myself to do anything like
that again. Is there still any food left or did Ran--" A terror-filled
scream from outside cut Akane off. She bolted to her feet and snatched an
outfit from her closet with record speed. Kasumi went downstairs to see
what Ranma had gotten himself into, and when she reached the breakfast room
she saw *IT*.
Ranma shook off his initial reaction to seeing the giant mutated pancake
and formed a plan of action. First, he would run for his life. Then Akane
would come kill the pancake and hopefully finish it for good. He would come
back after the pancake was dead and everyone would be happy.
Wait just a second here, "Yesterday I was almost starved - how else could I
have been beaten up by a generic excuse for breakfast? C'mon you stupid
pancake - I'll show you what happens when you try to eat *me* for
breakfast." The golem-pancake arose from the koi pond and formed appendages
somewhat resembling feet. The ground shook when it walked forward.
Ranma - powered by okinomiyaki, assumed a combat stance. "Hey you!" The
pancake moved forward a bit, "Yeah, you! Yesterday you nearly killed me,
you know that?" The pancake nodded, "Guess what!" The pancake shrugged -
Ranma ran forward, "Your turn!" The pancake nodded enthusiastically and
began to labor forward. Ranma gave the breakfast item a flying sidekick to
the midsection and planted himself in front of it. The pancake drew back in
preparation to impale Ranma in a single nasty blow but was interrupted by
dual-fire Amaguriken punches.
Ranma continued to give the pancake no mercy. After several hundred
Amaguriken-speed punches he jumped to the roof of the dojo. The pancake
began to stumble forward and Ranma decided to end the thing's 'life'.
"Seirei Tatei Kyaku!" Ranma launched himself forward and once again
planted his foot directly into the pancake's midsection. A bright pulse of
chi energy detonated and knocked the pancake into the koi pond. Ranma
stepped forward, wary of the pancakes short but well established history of
feigning defeat to surprise its opponent.
"C'mon outta the pond, I need to get to school soon and Ukyou's promised me
some okinomiyaki. If I have to miss out on one of her lunches because of
some generic pancake I will be *very* unhappy."
Ranma heard footsteps and saw Ms. Chef/Beastmaster Akane approaching, mouth
primed and ready to deliver a comment; "Ranma, don't tell me the pancake
survived. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to let you do the cooking and
other girlish stuff while I carry on the school." Akane smirked and came to
a stop next to Ranma, who tensed with just a tiny little sense of fear.
"While you carry on the school? Hold on a second here, since when did you
get good enough to teach classes? Besides, you know I don't do girlish
stuff, so don't even go there. I'm busy wiping the floor with your cooking
now anywayz."
The pancake arose from the pit of sludge that was formerly the koi pond and
stepped forward. The ground crumbled beneath its pounding feet even as its
outer layer of uncooked batter began to drip onto the ground.
"Akane, I have to give you some credit here. That thing managed to survive
a Chestnut Fist and a Shooting Star Kick. It must be one a' those
masochists or someth'an; it just keeps coming back for more." The pancake
roared in anger and crushed a rather large rock beneath its feet as it
stomped around.
"Quit yer' yappin, I'm trying to talk to Akane here. Be quiet and I'll
finish you off in a minute!" The pancake stormed around for a few seconds,
then began tapping its 'feet' in sarcastic anticipation.
"Now Akane, seeing as your pancakes can come back from the dead to attack
me I think we can both agree that you need to stay out of the kitchen for a
while. Too much of this stuff would get to be annoying."
Akane yawned, "Yeah, yeah - no more cooking for me. I've got better things
to do now anyway, a girl's life isn't all cooking, you know. I'll practice
the Art a bit more and let you run around in an apron in front of a hot
stove."
Ranma looked at the pancake, "The sacrifices I make for safety's sake.
Good thing we've got Kasumi to take care of that, though. Well, shall I
wipe that pancake off the face of the Earth now?"
"Hit it like it pushed you into the spring of drowned girl itself."
"Hey, I never thought about that one." Ranma looked at the pancake, "Okay
Mr. Ooze-of-Stench, let's see what you've got!" The pancake stormed forward
on a ballistic course for Ranma, who thrust his right foot toward the giant
pancake's 'face' in a thundering sidekick. His body left the ground with
the force of the attack and his foot crashed directly into the pancake. He
hopped back, expecting his opponent to be a lump of batter, and was
surprised to see the gargantuan pancake lunging for the attack.
Akane watched Ranma's attempt to block the pancake's lunging strike and
moved to the side just in time for her fiance to tear through the air on a
course for the dojo. Ranma collided painfully with the exterior of the
wooden building and slumped to the ground.
"Ranma, are you okay?" She watched as Ranma brought himself to his feet -
slowly; and considered stopping the pancake before she had a repeat of
yesterday on her hands.
"Yeah I'm fine. I didn't expect a pancake to make Ryouga's punches feel
like slaps though." He wriggled his arms back into a working condition,
"Guess I'll just have to treat it to an Amaguriken-Deluxe." He bolted
forward and landed a powerful right hook on the pancake, then drew back with
both of his fists - which began to glow with the fiery red energy of chi.
The pancake attempted to envelope Ranma but was met with another series of
rapid punches; except this time the blows hit with explosive power.
Ranma began to break a sweat as he continued the attack. Just how much
damage can a pancake take, anyway? If Ryouga had been taking the shots
Ranma was delivering he would have been a fried little piggy but the pancake
struggled to gain an advantage despite the fact that its body was being
rocked back and forth 20+ times per second. Ranma pressed forward and
finally began to push the pancake back with his exhausting attack. A spray
of liquid interrupted his punches and a second later he found himself on
another course for the dojo.
"Man, you have *quite* the attitude," Ranma stated as he limped away from
another dojo wall. He began to prep his arms for another round of rapid
punching but found his hands tightly glued together by a thick syrupy ooze.
"Gimme a break, is this some kind a' special attack?"
The pancake nodded and began to spray Ranma with thick adhesive syrup. The
martial artist tried to jump out of the way but quickly found himself
hanging upside-down from the wall; Che. He tried to move but another blast
of syrup secured him snugly against the dojo exterior.
"Okay Spiderman, when I get out of this you're *dead*, ya hear?" He tried
to push off of the dojo wall but failed miserably. He heard a tear and
looked down at his shirt; Ripped. "That was my last shirt! I have nothing
left to wear now! I'm gonna have to hurt you for that!" He struggled
against his gooey bondage but was making no progress. Meanwhile, Akane
decided to use the pancake as a practice dummy.
The pancake sensed Akane's planned attack and lunged at her. When its feet
slammed into the ground the Earth temporarily jolted out of place, but Akane
had plenty of shock-absorbing experience from the previous day. She ran
forward and ducked a wildly thrown punch then kicked in the retro rockets
and launched herself on a course for the sky.
"SHOKEN!" Her fist slammed into the pancake and jarred it violently as she
soared into the rising uppercut. She extended her right leg and prepared to
follow through with gravity-powered descending sidekick but was jerked to
the side when the pancake snatched her by the ankle. Her vision blurred and
her blood rushed to her head as the pancake twirled her around in the air,
then it all ended with the darkness of the brown earth slamming into her
face and the force of a hundred punches wrecking her entire body. The
ground beneath her shook as the pancake began to walk toward the disabled
but still more dangerous threat: Ranma.
The pigtailed-one boiled with rage and struggled to escape the hardening
case of syrup as the pancake approached - it had ripped his shirt, hurt his
Akane, and it quite simply had to die for those unforgivable crimes. NOW.
He summoned a surge of physical strength to power an offensive even as the
pancake drew back for a hospitalizing punch and he roared with anger - not
pain - when the pancake's strike knocked him through the dojo wall and sent
him flailing onto a hot stove.
Akane struggled to regain control of her legs but found herself thoroughly
numb and paralyzed. She'd held back and not used the Sugoiken, and now
Ranma was being beaten badly as a result. That little factoid made her
very, *very* angry. She looked at the pancake that was now walking
menacingly toward her Ranma and she lashed out;
"As soon as I can move my legs you're dead! I'll make it quick but painful
and then I'll NEVER COOK PANCAKES AGAIN!!!" She heaved with exhaustion and
pain as the pancake ignored her. She just hoped her legs would have the
good sense to move when she really needed them. In her current mood it was
unhealthy for *anything* to make her mad, and right then that included her
own body parts.
Ranma screeched with wild pain as he slammed into the floor. His back
burned with intense agony and the syrupy case around his midsection was
catching fire like gasoline. He rolled on the ground and extinguished the
flame, then looked toward the batter-beast and saw Soun standing between him
and the pancake monster.
"You have attacked my youngest daughter and her fiance. For your actions
against the Anything-Goes school you will pay dearly..." Yes, go Mr. Tendo!
Soun gave the pancake a nasty taste of the demonhead, and when the pancake
shrugged in response he tore forward with a demonic howl of ice. Ranma felt
the bondage around his left arm weakening and began to work his way to
freedom as the pancake snagged Soun by the tongue and began to fling him
about. The eldest Tendo made a nice crunching sound when he slammed into a
far off wall in another room.
The pancake approached Ranma with intent to kill, but Ranma now had one arm
free and that meant he was still the most lethal force in Japan. The
black-haired martial artist managed to pull himself to a standing position
and propped himself against a kitchen wall. He just hoped that the revised
Chestnut Fist would be enough to hold the sickly monster off long enough for
him to get out of its most-annoying syrupy bondage. Once he got his other
arm or one of his legs free he planned on making this a *very* nasty fight.
Akane pulled herself to her feet and encountered a new enemy - nausea. She
kneeled on the ground and held onto her stomach like it was going to burst,
then collapsed to the ground when her brain finally acknowledged just how
disorientating a massive blood-rush could be. Another battle cry resounded
from the dojo; it seemed Ranma wasn't giving up as easily as he had
yesterday. Rapid-fire explosions filled the air in the kitchen and Akane
pushed herself to her feet. She opened her eyes and nearly fell to the
ground, so she shut off her visual input and accepted that for now she would
move in darkness. After her other 4 senses realigned and began working
properly she began to walk toward the dojo. That's when she began to feel
something... A sense of presence, perhaps? She stopped walking and took in
the information she was receiving. It was like her mind had formed an image
of the area around her and was updating it as if she could see it. She
opened her eyes, felt very sick, and closed them again... Well, nothing like
your chi taking over for your sight. She walked toward the dojo - a certain
pancake was going to die and she had a good idea of how she was going to
kill it.
Ranma lost his precarious balance when the pancake backed off and began to
stumble forward with the momentum of his last few punches. His fall was
interrupted by a crushing punch that knocked him through the wall he had
been using for support and he fell limp in the middle of the training room.
His stomach and chest had awesome durability, but the last shot had broken
at least a few ribs while at the same time crushing and agitating the
already crispy skin on his back. He coughed lightly, not daring to move his
chest too much - then he noticed that his right arm had finally been jarred
free. He mentally told the pain centers of his brain to up and be quiet
then proceeded to smash open the amber-like casing that held his feet
together. He stood and looked toward the kitchen, where Akane was busy
being smashed into the ceiling by yesterday's leftovers. Broken ribs or
not, Ranma Saotome now had two arms and two feet to use in battle - and he
was about to use force that would put any other wild horse to shame.
Akane felt her lungs fail her as the precious air that she needed so much
found a new home safely outside of her body. Of course, the fact that her
stomach and chest had been hit with near-killing force had a little
something to do with that. Pain didn't matter though - she was still alive
and so long as that little fact didn't change she was one punch away from
ending the fight. Her 3D image of the kitchen failed as her chi was
diverted to more important life supporting tasks and she opened her eyes.
The first images came to her as warm air flapped around her body and she
focused her sight just in time to see the floor slam rather rudely into her.
Her nose had the bad luck of being the first part of her body to slam into
the floor and it spewed blood in protest. Akane cursed herself for making a
mistake most beginning Judo students would have avoided and bolted back to
her feet. She quickly drew her right fist back as the pancake surged toward
her. Her bones popped loudly and quickly, sounding almost like the cocking
of a shotgun. Appropriate - she channeled energy into her fist with a speed
that created a small nova of light and tore forward for the killing shot.
Her fist collided with the pancake with incredible force and the hot aura of
energy burned a hole deep into the massive beast. She released the wrath of
the Sugoiken and leapt back to watch her vile creation return to the pits of
the burning skillets.
Ranma ran forward in preparation for another Seirei Tatei Kyaku when a
shockwave of energy blew the remnants of the kitchen wall apart and slammed
into him with unholy force. He collided with the wall on the opposite end
of the training room just before it shattered around him, leaving him once
again limp on the floor. Whatever Akane thought she was going to accomplish
by fighting the golem she was absolutely *stupid* for hanging around if it
was throwing chi blasts of that caliber. Ranma brought himself to his feet
and had to once again silence the pain centers in his jarred gray matter.
He tapped into his chi and reinforced his chest and stomach muscles to help
absorb any additional damage, then walked forward. The fact that he was
limping on his left leg didn't register in his mind nor did it matter. He
noticed that his shirt and his pants had been totally shredded by the last
attack and thanked the Kami for boxer-shorts.
Akane began to shake as she retreated from the battle. The Sugoiken... one
of the best techniques of the Anything-Goes school had... failed her. Her
nose finally found an operable nerve route to her brain and she
involuntarily diverted a valuable hand to somehow lessen the pain. She saw
the hole on the pancake's form that she had created with her last punch and
noticed the absence of a wall behind the pancake and realized what she had
done... Happousai had *tapped* the trees that he had blown to pieces, not
punched them with a holy vengeance. She tried to channel energy for another
Sugoiken but found that her current stores of anger were far below the
adequate level. Fear? Love? Determination? Shimata! Why had she been so
stupid as to learn how to channel *one* emotion? The pancake charged
forward, battered but not beaten, and landed a herculean strike to Akane's
already weakened stomach.
Ranma saw Akane as she was knocked through one of the last standing walls
on this side of the dojo. He burst forward, ignoring his left leg's
annoying painful state, and slammed into the pancake beast with a
power-packed Seirei Tatei Kyaku. The beast stumbled back and attempted to
regain its balance. Ranma had better plans.
"Tobaku yado ken!" Ranma created a revision of his Amaguriken-Deluxe and
pressed forward. Speed strikes obviously had no effect on the
beast-pancake. Let's see how it handles the raw power of rage. Ranma
charged both of his fists with massive levels of chi and tore into the
pancake. Both fists struck at once and released a massive explosive blast
that knocked the pancake into the back yard and threw Ranma on his back
after a short flight. He flipped back to his feet, ignoring the constant
protests and damage reports that his body begged him to think about, and
charged toward the now downed pancake.
Akane pulled herself to her knees and struggled to stand but found that her
torso simple could not support itself. Her stomach felt like it had been
reduced to jelly and if she had been hit any harder... She spotted the
pancake flying out of the dojo, then saw a nearly-nude Ranma pounce on it
with a point-blank Mouka Takabisha blast. Her heart soared with hope and
pride as Ranma continued his strongest direct attack, then fell to rock
bottom when the crispy pancake snagged her fiance by the throat and threw
him off on a ballistic course with the roof of the dojo. She stood and
nearly collapsed with weakness, but she overcame her bodily limits with one
last surge of strength. Ranma's techniques of mass destruction weren't
doing much to the creature that truly deserved the name of *IT* so Akane
decided she would just have to take the war to the level of cellular
destruction in order to win. For hurting her and especially for hurting
Ranma she would split every last chemical bond that held the mass of fried
batter together, Sugoiken style... and this time she would get it *right*.
The pancake saw her standing and began walking toward her, each footstep
registering on the richter scale...
Ranma slammed through the ceiling of the dojo and landed next to his
unconscious father. He simply could not believe it - *nothing* was hurting
the damned pancake! Yesterday when he'd fought it he had been just a
*little* bit weaker and he was still able to visibly hurt the creature. It
didn't matter - Akane had taken serious damage trying to buy him time and he
wasn't about to wait long enough for her to be hurt any more. If he had to
wage a losing war against the golem simply to get it away from Akane he
would do it. If he had to channel every last ounce of his chi into a single
all or nothing suicide blast, so be it. If the forces of the seven hells
tried to stop him from reaching Akane only the Kami could keep him from
annihilating them.
Ranma Saotome was finally getting *really* mad; and for the health of those
within a few miles of him that was a *bad* thing. A massive explosion
rocked the dojo as Ranma neared the back exit and he exploded with energy in
preparation to remove his enemy from striking range of Akane. He saw Akane
kneeling on the ground in pain and without the need to think he found
himself at her side, holding her and looking for the object of his
vengeance.
"Where is it?" He asked, "I wont let it touch you again, *Period.* It is
going to die quickly and it is going to die NOW."
"It, it's gone..." Akane shook violently in Ranma's arms, "I... I managed
to finish it off."
Ranma's brain processed the information in the following manner: "Pancake
= dead, reactivate central nervous system and bring me a damage report.
Have an immediate stress overload ready to knock me unconscious if the
report looks too bad." Damage report? Uhm hmm, more like self-induced
torture. Pain signals began to relieve their backlogged queue and within a
few seconds Ranma found himself lying next to Akane with one arm around her,
unable to move. His chest burned with a fiery pain and his leg chose that
moment to scream at him with agony. He used the last of his energy to cling
to Akane, knowing that she was safe, and when the rest of his body launched
protests he was more than happy to allow his consciousness to drift to
better places. Akane joined him a few seconds later, and the pair laid
peacefully in the back yard...
Kasumi finally pulled herself out from under her unconscious father. She
had went to call Dr. Tofu in advance when the pancake re-emerged but her
call was cut short by an unfortunate collision with her father. She looked
over Soun and decided that he was stable, then went to check on Ranma and
Akane.
Okay, Ranma looked terrible and Akane seemed worse. Ranma displayed a
rather nasty burn on his back and upon further examination Kasumi noted that
his chest was bruised badly. His leg bore a long black mark from a major
impact and he was wearing boxers outside in the middle of January. Kasumi
ran back to the house and retrieved two blankets. She place one on the
ground next to Ranma and carefully placed Ranma and Akane on it, then draped
the other blanket over them to give them at least a little warmth. She'd
considered simply taking the two inside but the dojo wasn't exactly in a
heat-retentive state. All she could do now was wait for Tofu...
[...] Fuurinkan High School, One Hour Later
Ranma, clad in a martial arts dogi, slowly sat down on the cold earth and
began to rummage through his backpack for the food he needed so dearly.
Doctor Tofu had been able to patch him up reasonably well, but his body felt
stiff and frail to him. Food could solve that problem, given a few days
time. After all, he was Ranma. He didn't stay hurt for long. Ever. He
pulled a brown paper bag out of his disorganized back pack and ripped it
open with hungry intentions. If anything could make him feel better it
would have to be one of Kasumi's lunches...
A sandwich. Ranma pulled the top piece of bread off of his 'meal' and
confirmed what he had not wanted to think about - With the kitchen
practically blown apart in the dojo he would be reduced to eating simple
food in small amounts! No! Oh well, problem number 476 to add on to his
list of things to deal with. He would have immediately set out to see Ukyou
but he had Akane to take care of, and he had no idea what to do with her.
She sat next to him, silent in her pain. She had been hurt and somewhere
in the equation Ranma knew that the word failure fit in perfectly. No
mountains had been destroyed, no climactic realizations were made, and yet
Akane had been hurt. Her nose was nicely discolored and although he knew
her stomach had been hurt in the fight he hadn't worried that much about it
until Tofu made a ground-breaking comment: "Her body should have broken,
but it seems her spirit wouldn't allow it." Now Tofu was a man that knew
volumes about the human body and how to heal it. The word 'broken' didn't
normally apply to a whole body is his terminology, but he must have meant
it.
He was mad at himself and at Akane. At himself for letting Akane get hurt
when he should have been rearranging the geographical makeup of Japan to
prevent that from happening, and mad at Akane for getting involved in a
fight she couldn't win and staying in it even after she'd been smashed once.
But how could he tell her not to step in and help him when he was fighting
below par? If he even started down that track his argument would be short,
weak, and useless. He'd already proven once, despite himself, that he and
Akane were an awesome team when they took the Tendo Dojo back from Natsumi
and her sister Kurumi. He'd openly attributed the victory to his use of the
Hiryuu Shoten Ha at the perfect time but deep down he knew Akane had won
that fight while he was busy countering a devastating Final Attack.
How could he tell her, after yesterday, that every blow she took for him
stabbed him in the soul twice? His mind switched to easier topics to
contemplate, namely, exactly what had gone wrong just a little over an hour
ago. When he launched his counter attack against the beast his Mouka
Takabisha had been weak and his ad-libbed techniques had been inadequate.
Tobaku Yado Ken - Hell's Fist? Yeah right. What was he thinking when he
gave a name denoting power to a technique that barely damaged an everyday
opponent? Then the confidence blast - it had burned with energy like it
always had before but this time it had no substance. Pancake batter should
have become ashes and cinders in his wake but not this time. Oh well, maybe
if he'd had more than an average of a half meal per day over the past two
weeks he would have been better equipped to wage war.
"Akane," he said quietly, "I'm sorry, I--" but the words burned in his
throat.
"It's not your fault, Ranma," Akane's voice had lost its normal tone of
strength, and that fact sent shudders through Ranma, "I shouldn't have
somehow created some psychopathic murderer for a pancake. I caused us to be
hurt, you didn't let it happen."
Ranma enveloped his sandwich in a single all-powerful chomping and inhaling
movement and decided to try to change the current mood, "Well, why don't you
eat something? I know we've had a bad day with food-" Okay, let's make a
few understatements "-but ya just gotta show it who's boss. See, that
sandwich a' mine didn't stand a chance and I didn't even have to hit it."
Akane produced a sandwich from her backpack and looked at it, "I think I'll
pass. I don't think I can eat right now anyway, my stomach is still
inside-out. Well, it feels like it is, anyway." Okay, that was all Ranma
could stand of this stuff.
"Akane, listen," Ranma took her left hand with both of his and looked her
dead in the eye, "The next time something like this happens and it looks
like I'm going to lose a fight, don't get into it. If you have to, run. Do
anything so long as you don't get hurt. I can handle myself, even if it
doesn't look like it. You may have saved me from a few extra injuries but I
can handle that. I'm used to it. I've trained my entire life to overcome
my limits and win fights that need to be won, but never - not once - have I
trained to see people getting hurt trying to help me. I'd rather be without
the help."
"But you *needed* help! You may be one of the best fighters around but
right now you're also the most starved person I know. I don't know what
your father is thinking with this training of his but because of it you're
not nearly up to your normal abilities."
"Whether or not I'm up to full shape, I can handle absolutely anything that
comes around, and although you're known as someone not to mess with, if
something is beating me you don't stand a chance."
Yeah right! "If it hadn't been for me that pancake would probably be
rampaging through downtown Tokyo by now! Didn't you even bother to notice
that it was gone when you came back outside? Did you think just for a
second, 'Hey, Akane just won this fight,' No, you didn't. And now, after I
worked so hard for you, after I fought so you could have the time to get off
of the ground, and after I gave my all to kill that thing when you couldn't
you're telling me that I don't stand a chance! Why?"
Meanwhile...
"Ah yes, I remember those glorious days. For once, the wretched Saotome
was utterly powerless before me!" Kuno stood with a group of classmates,
his hair flapping about in a cold winter breeze, "And yet, after such
glorious times his hold on Akane and the pig-tailed girl remains... How?"
"Well Kuno, they are kinda engage--
"Silence!" Kuno drew his bokken and in a single fluid motion smashed it
upon the boy's head, preventing him from producing more blasphemy, "As if
your brain could produce answers to such mind boggling problems!"
"Yeah guys, I think Kuno here needs to ponder this question by himself, no
need for the rest of us to overwork ourselves."
"Ahh," Kuno sighed as he stroked his chin in a thoughtful way, "I see that
one of you has acknowledged my genius. Of course, I alone could solve such
a problem."
"Well, I never said you'd solve your problem - I just said there was no
reason for the rest of us to worry about it--" Kuno smacked the second
impudent boy in the forehead with his bokken in such a way as to cause him
maximum pain in the two seconds he was awake after impact. The gate to the
school creaked open and as Kuno sheathed his bokken he turned to see who the
late arrival was.
A blue-eyed boy with jet black hair strode onto the school grounds. He
carried with him an empty backpack, which jerked about with the wind. Kuno
didn't instantly recognize him, but he felt that he should somehow know this
person. Something about his demeanor seemed familiar, but that was
something to worry about another time. Akane Tendo and the Pig-Tailed girl
were more important, after all.
The newcomer approached the group, his eyes obviously tracking Kuno as he
moved. He took small steps, which could have been mistaken for a sign of
timidness if not for his relaxed expression. He was slightly tall for his
age, although not as much as Kuno, but other than his slightly eerie
crystalline blue eyes he was just another average Japanese person.
Wait - The *eyes* - Kuno's brain quickly sifted through his memories and
found a match: Apsu Tetsumi. Apsu had one thing in common with Kuno and one
thing in common with almost half the Nerima population. On the former, he
had obviously fallen for the fair Akane Tendo over a year ago - and on the
latter his primary goal in life was to become "the best martial artist in
Japan".
Ah yes, Kuno smiled as the memories flooded forth. Apsu, although a good
fighter himself, had never lived up to his talk of being the best. His
family was supposedly carrying on a long held tradition in the Art but Kuno
had never seen Apsu's promised world-class skills and had endless fun
observing (and sometimes sabotaging) the misguided martial artist's antics.
Somewhere along the line Apsu had managed to gain favor with Akane despite
her supposed hatred of the men she knew, and that had brought Kuno to
action.
He remembered it well; from the glorious opening slashes that tore into the
Tetsumi's flesh to the titanic struggle that Apsu promised, but couldn't
quite muster after taking such damage. Apsu even tried to deny that he was
using subtle influences to break Akane to his will, but anyone might resort
to lying as the jaws of defeat closed around them. This was one rival that
Kuno had utterly disposed of: The day after Apsu was defeated he announced
that he was leaving Japan with his father to attain the combat skills
necessary to ensure that he would never be beaten again in his life. More
brags, Kuno assured himself - But he decided that wouldn't matter. Apsu was
no longer a rival with Ranma around, and as such there was no need to smite
him again.
"Apsu," Kuno said almost fondly as the blue eyed boy joined his small group
of admirers, "I see you've decided to finally come back. Tell me, did you
manage to acquire the elusive fighting skills you set out to attain?"
"You could say that, although I bit off more than I thought when I asked my
father to make me the best martial artist on Earth. I'm not completely done
with my training, but I'd say I'm a match for your standard Nerima fighter
now."
"You've learned modesty, I see: A trait I never associated with you before.
Perhaps, if not for your obsession with the fair Akane Tendo I would be
compelled to end our long standing rivalry."
"I never was obsessed with Akane, Grand Master Perv - You were just mad
because I could say more than a word to her without getting my head crushed.
How is she these days, anyway?"
Kuno looked across the school grounds at the mention of Akane to find the
object of his love - he had heard that she had been injured in a fight but
when he saw her and offered words of kindness she had returned the favor
with a mighty punch to his stomach. Such strength was to be admired, but the
throbbing pain in Kuno's abdomen would probably remain for some time. He
heard Akane's beautiful voice and turned to bask in her visually pleasing
features.
Visually... angry features. To Kuno's surprise Akane had at least
temporarily escaped Ranma's foul influence and had applied herself fully to
extracting revenge on the vile spell-weaver. Her kicks, her punches, her
every movement carried enough power to level a building. Unfortunately
Akane's attacks met with nothing but air, as Ranma was evading her like the
snake he was.
"Well, I guess Akane'll never change," Apsu said, stifling the urge to
enter the fight on Akane's side, "Then again, the guys around here never
change either. I'm glad I'm not a girl - if I had to deal with all these
perverted freaks I'd die instantly." He watched Akane as he spoke, noting
that her fighting style hadn't changed much but that the last year had
brought her increased speed. Seeing combat brought a flare of energy to
Apsu's already crystalline blue eyes, and as he watched the battle his heart
danced the dance of combat. Akane's powerful blows, her opponents fluid
movements, and even a frosty gust of wind combined to form an irresistible
urge in his heart to enter all or nothing combat. Must resist... Can't
resist.
"Kuno," he said, pulling the kendoist's attention away from Akane, "I want
a rematch, and I want it now."
"Our grievance is past, Tetsumi. I care only for Akane Tendo and you are
no longer the one who keeps me from her. If the wretched Saotome evades
Akane's godlike punches I will smite him myself, for a man should always
accept due punishment when he was wronged others."
"I couldn't have said it better myself. You wronged me the last time we
met and I haven't had the opportunity to set things straight until now - so
how bout it? One fight - with one winner - to decide once and for all who
is better. After all, the vengeance of heaven is slow but sure, is it not?"
Kuno smiled as he drew his bokken, "That it is, Tetsumi, that it is. Let
us see if heaven is on your side today, and let this be the end of our
pointless rivalry."
Apsu tossed his backpack onto the ground and snapped into a combat stance,
"Any last words before the shooting star smacks into the ground?"
"It's 'Blue Thunder', and yes; I do believe I have a short statement: I
SHALL SMITE THEE!"
"Geez Akane," Ranma said in mid flight as he rubbed his stomach, "It's
great that you want to show me this new technique of yours, but if you
insist on using me as a demonstration dummy at least get it over with when I
let you hit me-" his feet landed smoothly on the surface of the tree,
crumbling a bit of bark which spattered on a course for the ground, and he
leapt off of the tree on a spinning course for the ground "-I really don't
like taking pointless punches-" he landed smoothly on the ground and bolted
to the side to avoid premature destruction at Akane's hands "-especially
when I'm-" Akane faked a punch and forged ahead with a spinning hook kick
"-already hurt!" Ranma took a half second to wipe the sweat from his
forehead, then took another half second to note that he shouldn't have even
broken a sweat with his simple dodging routine.
And what's this with the anger deal, anyway? Couldn't Akane have taken a
little while to find another source of chi - perhaps one that was more
stable and easier to control? Well - in any case Akane's reliance on anger
gave Ranma the perfect tool of control. Akane thought she was going to get
mad enough to use the technique and plaster him when he least expected it
but Ranma warmed to the idea of getting out of the way and letting Akane
blow something else up instead - he wasn't exactly fit to absorb
pancake-killing chi blasts...
Apsu moved quickly as Kuno attempted to slice the fabric of space in his
quest to defeat the blue-eyed martial artist. Kuno strode forth and with
unparalleled speed stabbed at his enemy only do be denied as the Tetsumi
heir blurred out of sight. Where'd the speed devil go, anyway?
A noise to the left caught Kuno's attention; he turned and prepared to
slash a pattern of destruction through the air - too late. Apsu's right
fist came from seemingly nowhere and crashed into Kuno's jaw rather
violently. Kuno stepped back and snapped his sword into a defensive
position only to have it ripped from his hands and thrown into the air. He
moved to recover his weapon but was halted by an elbow strike to the
stomach. Apsu followed through with a palm strike to the kendoists side and
knocked the almighty Blue Thunder to the ground.
Kuno stood and dusted off his uniform; "Very good, I must say - but the
Blue Thunder is not beaten so easily!" He eyed his bokken, which he
intended to retrieve as soon as possible, and charged Apsu with his fists
clenched. He punched at Apsu, feeling awkward without his bokken, and
yelped in pain when his arm was twisted into a pretzel-shape by the elbow.
His feet took flight, courtesy of a leg sweep from Apsu, and he slammed into
the cold earth again. The sound of running footsteps filled his ears and he
quickly brought himself back to his feet - Apsu had gone too far to abort
this engagement. He spotted his bokken and moved to get it but a crackling
noise from above caught his attention. He looked up to see Apsu descending
from the sky with a massive ball of electric chi in hand and he knew that
this fight was over if he didn't move *now*. His legs kicked into motion
but a chi blast tore from above and knocked him back into the ground.
Electricity zapped through his body and overloaded his nervous system,
causing him to writhe and scream in agony. Apsu's collected chi energy
changed forms as his descent neared its end and he landed in an extremely
explosive fashion. Kuno's agonizing screams ceased immediately as he was
knocked deep into a newly formed crater and his head wobbled about in an
incoherent manner.
"Smite... thee..." and the Blue Thunder lost consciousness.
Apsu stood over Kuno with half the student body of Fuurinkan staring at
him. He looked from person to person, not sure what, if anything, to say.
He looked at his palms and drew an immediate rush from the memory of his
descending chi blast. He wanted more - it seemed odd to him that he would
*want* to fight so suddenly, but such power was useless without an opponent.
Oh well, he had a fiancee at home waiting for him so wasting more time with
Kuno wasn't an option. He headed toward the entrance to the school after
snatching his bag - after he was registered as a student with Fuurinkan he'd
head home, maybe enjoy a movie with Michelle later tonight...
Maybe get grabbed from behind while he wasn't paying attention. Electric
energy arced across Kuno's body and zapped between him and Apsu as he picked
the insolent, cheating boy into the air. Electricity pumped through his
veins and stimulated his muscles as massive amounts of adrenaline entered
his bloodstream. He roared incoherently and threw Apsu into the air in a
fit of rage. Cold air replaced Apsu's reserves of warmth as he line-drived
toward a nearby tree. He braced for impact but collided with a powerful
force before hitting the tree. His left kidney protested against the
collision with a fist-sized semi truck and he involuntarily turned his back
to the tree before impact.
Akane's fist hung in the air - she had tried to hit Ranma and she had
missed, but she definitely hit someone - and whoever it had been was about
to be in bad shape. She regained her bearings and identified the unlucky
individual as Apsu. She'd seen him getting into a fight with Kuno while she
was busy with Ranma but she hadn't exactly been in a situation to have a
friendly chat. She just hoped that the Sugoiken wouldn't do too much to him
(And why was it so slow this time? It should have been instant...)
Apsu noticed a wave of blue chi as it began to penetrate his body - it felt
cold as it touched on the innermost parts of his body, so cold... His chi
kicked into motion and began attempting countermeasures against the new
invader - everything from neutralization force to counter-explosions - and a
war ravaged on the cellular level.
"Akane?" He stepped forward, his face newly pale and his figure weak,
"Nice to see... you. Again." An explosion from chi interactions jolted him
to the side as he spoke, "I beat Kuno..."
Ranma completed his tac-nuke evasion technique of temporary flight and
landed on the ground next to Akane, "So where's the big explosion?"
Apsu's chi retreated to safer places and locked itself up deep within him
after taking a massive and futile drain in its attempt to counter the
Sugoiken. His remaining stores of energy allocated themselves to damage
control - although Apsu couldn't know what was going on his body had a rough
idea. Like a virus, Akane's chi invaded his body, cell by cell, and rapidly
placed little packets of explosive energy throughout his structure as it
took new territory. In short, he was about to be blown apart - but he had
safeguards against such instant death attacks. He finally brought his
conscious mind into play and prepared a burst of healing energy which he
would hopefully release simultaneously with the explosion that he sensed was
coming.
"He lied," Akane panicked and ran forward, ignoring her own injured state,
"Apsu, don't resist it! Just let it pass!" She tried to call the attack
off but found that she didn't quite have as much control over her chi as
Happousai had demonstrated.
The piercing sound of the Sugoiken in slow motion began to shriek across
the grounds of Fuurinkan High and the second wave of energy appeared in
front of Apsu. It penetrated his body quickly, but thankfully skipped the
burning and warping stages of the attack. To Apsu it was as if a great
weight had been lifted, and his chi set about some minor damage control as
his body's energy level lowered below that of a nuclear power plant.
"So is this punch a chi drain or something? What's the deal - I thought it
was explosive or some--" Ranma was cut off by a thunderous explosion, and
the ground below him jolted away from his feet. He looked again to Apsu as
he began to cope with the quake-like shaking and saw the blue-eyed boy being
crushed into the tree that he and Akane had been sitting under earlier. The
tree shattered into sawdust and scattered into the wind but Apsu was not so
fortunate. A burning aura of chi engulfed him and detonated, sending the
boy flying helplessly into the sky as his screams fell upon the ears of
everyone within a few blocks.
Blue streams of lightning arced along the length of Kuno's bokken as he
watched Apsu flail into the sky. He slashed downward, slicing a clean cut
through the ground below him, and bellowed with embarrassed rage, "Come back
you mewling coward! I SHALL SMITE THEE!"
Ranma reached into hammerspace and produced a set of high powered
binoculars from the infinite store of random items. Apsu was flying into
the air, Kuno style, but he was on a line drive course heading southwest
rather than a course for low Earth orbit. After confirming that the
newcomer was still in one piece Ranma dropped the binoculars to the ground
and took in a little visual information on Akane.
Speaking of Akane, she stood in shock as the wails and screams of Apsu
dissipated into the distance. She looked at the stub that remained of a
formerly healthy tree and slowly backed away. Her heard pounded, her mind
raced, her body shook.
"Beware of showing off with this new power," Happousai had said, "May the
Kami forgive me if this technique is ever mis-used," he said, "THAT is
power," he drilled into her mind. She looked at her fists and the energy
that danced excitedly around them. Her mouth slumped open as she lost the
will to control it.
"Akane?" Ranma asked as his fiancee backed away, "Hey, are you okay?"
"I hereby pledge," Akane said mechanically from memory, "that as a student
of the Tendo and Saotome schools of Anything-Goes martial arts," her eyes
began to water, her shaking became more pronounced, and her voice crackled,
"that I will use the art to better myself physically and emotionally. I
will not use the techniques I learn except to defend myself or to defend
those who cannot defend themselves..."
"Akane, hold on a second here. You didn't mean to hit that guy! Snap
outta this!"
She looked at Ranma, who apparently didn't get it, "That doesn't matter!
I - I think I need to be by myself for a while." She started to back away,
and when Ranma began to approach her she ran faster than she had in a long
time. The cold January wind blasted at her legs and face as she began to
outdistance Ranma, who was slower than usual due to his leg injuries. Tears
streamed down her face and scattered into the wind.
She felt cold... so very cold...
Cold...
Run...
Too cold...
--Tell me what you think.
Draxonx@bellsouth.net
They say time is the fire in which we burn.