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



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

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

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                      CHAPTER FOUR:
                    To Catch a Thief
-----------------------------------------------------------

"RYOUGA!" Ranma-chan screamed as she watched P-Chan's diminutive 
form vanish into the undergrowth.

"Oh no..." Ukyou gasped.  

Pantyhose Tarou beat his wings harder, accelerating away from the 
Reikoku as fast as he could.  

"Turn back!" Ranma-chan shouted.  She scrambled up Tarou's broad 
back, past the cluster of folded tentacles, towards his head.  "We 
gotta help him!"

Tarou ignored her.  It was too bad about the pig-boy - he wasn't 
nearly as bad as Saotome, in Tarou's opinion - but there was no 
way he was going to put himself on the line for someone like that.  
With that monster chasing down the piglet, they'd all have more time 
to get clear of the thing.  Hibiki was on his own.

"What're you doin'?" Ranma-chan demanded, thumping Tarou on the 
back of the head a couple of times to get his attention.  "He's 
helpless like that!  Turn around, damn it!"

Tarou gave a warning swipe at Saotome with one of his tentacles 
and growled angrily.  He'd be more than willing to drop another 
freeloader if fem-boy insisted on bugging him.  Tarou was the one 
providing the transportation, and his decisions about where they'd 
fly were not open for debate.

Ranma-chan had other ideas, though.  She reached into her pack and 
produced the portable kettle which they'd heated up earlier.  It 
still had plenty of hot water left in it.  She held it up over 
Tarou's head threateningly.  "Turn around NOW, or I swear I'll put 
us ALL on the ground!"

Tarou glared in fury at Saotome.  That moron couldn't possibly mean 
to follow through with a threat like that.  They were hundreds of 
feet up now - would the idiot really change him back into a human 
and risk the dangerous fall?  It had to be a bluff...

"I am not bluffing!" Ranma-chan snarled.

<Damn it all,> Tarou thought irritably.  Saotome did sound serious 
about this.  Why that perverted ingrate was so willing to risk 
dying over someone like Hibiki was beyond him.  Still, all he had 
to do was fly back a bit and drop them off.  He certainly didn't 
intend to hang around and search for a lost piglet while that 
monster was on the loose.

Tarou banked hard and came about, dropping back towards the forest 
floor.  The canopy of greenery was too thick for them to spot the 
pig-boy or that creature from above, but Tarou could feel the 
thing's presence.  The beast's fear-aura left him jumpy and 
unsettled.  In his cursed form, Pantyhose Tarou was a synthesis 
of five separate beings, and each animal part kept traces of its 
own instincts and behavioral patterns.  It was very disturbing 
to have portions of himself wanting to retreat from the terrifying 
presence they sensed.  The sooner he could get out of here, the 
better he'd feel.

But Ranma-chan thwarted his designs yet again.  The moment they 
touched down, the red-headed martial artist splashed Pantyhose 
Tarou with the hot water in her kettle, transforming him back into 
a human.  

Tarou gasped for a moment in disorientation - the radical shift 
between his monstrous cursed form to his human body could be rather 
wrenching if he wasn't prepared for it - then whirled on Ranma-chan 
in rage.  He hauled her up by the front of her shirt and cocked a 
fist menacingly.  "What the hell do you think you're doing, fem-boy?"

Ranma-chan grinned smugly at the enraged Tarou.  "What's it look 
like I'm doin'?"

"Idiot," Tarou hissed.  He shoved Saotome away - there was no time 
to waste beating up that pervert.  "There's  a river right over 
there, fool.  You can't stop me from leaving."

"I wouldn't leave so quick if I were you," Ranma-chan warned.  
"You're in this mess now.  That thing's gonna keep chasin' you 
no matter where you go."

Tarou turned and began to leave.  "So?  I can take care of myself."

"You got into this trouble because you don't know what you're 
dealin' with!" Ranma-chan said.  "If you leave now, you're never 
gonna find out what that thing is, or how you can beat it."

Tarou stopped in his tracks.  Fem-boy had a point - he still 
didn't have a clue about what he was up against.  If Saotome was 
telling the truth, and that thing would hunt him down even if he 
did leave... that was a problem.  That monster was dangerous, and 
it wouldn't do to remain ignorant about it if the thing was going 
to continue to oppose him.  Right now, Saotome seemed to be the 
only one who would be able to tell him about the nature of the 
beast.  

"All right, cross-dresser," Tarou growled.  "But don't expect me 
to risk my hide to save you or your little piggy.  If it comes 
down to that, I'll take my chances on my own."

"Whatever," Ranma-chan said.  She turned to Ukyou.  "We gotta split 
up and look for him.  Whoever finds him, just start shoutin' and 
we should all hear.  Then we get back together at the river and 
fly the heck outta here!"

Ukyou nodded.  "Sounds like a plan, sugar."   

"Let's go!"

- - - - - - 

For Ryouga, it was the oddest sensation - it was like he was just 
a passenger in his own body.  P-Chan's animal instincts had taken 
complete control, and the piglet was in a state of utter panic.  
He charged headlong through the undergrowth at a full sprint, fleeing 
the terror of the Reikoku with reckless abandon.  The rational part 
of his mind - the part that was still Hibiki Ryouga - could no more 
control the horrified piglet's body than a man on a boat could 
control the current of the river beneath him.  

The situation was pretty hopeless.  He knew he was probably just 
charging around in circles, given his dismal sense of direction.   
He was going faster than the Reikoku right now, but he was running 
on panic and adrenaline.   Eventually, he'd burn out his reserves 
and collapse.  And then the Reikoku, the ever-patient and unrelenting 
hunter, would catch up to him.  

It was an embarrassing way to die.  

Still, he'd gotten into this by saving Akane's life.  On the balance, 
he knew his death would at least have meaning.  He'd have preferred 
to die as a human being, to go out fighting as a true martial 
artist... but if an undignified slaughter was the price he'd have 
to pay for saving Akane, he figured it was worth it.

He hoped Ranma survived, too.  Ranma probably would.  He was the 
lucky one, after all.  Ryouga hoped that Ranma would tell Akane 
and Akari that he'd died bravely, at least, and not mention that 
he'd been a pig at the time.  <If you humiliate me in death, 
Saotome Ranma, I swear I'll haunt you until the end of your days!>  
He wondered if his ghost would be a pig or a human...

P-Chan skidded to a halt at the edge of a sharp drop-off.  He'd come
 to a dead end. Ryouga couldn't tell if he'd been there before 
or not.  The piglet whirled around and searched for another 
direction to run, but stopped short when he saw the figure in the 
woods.

It was a black, shambling thing, with three burning eyes.

The Reikoku had caught up to him.

P-Chan trembled in terror, paralyzed with fear and exhausted from 
his exertions.  Ryouga tried to force himself to run, but the 
piglet was trapped in a cage of his own panic.  The chase had been 
too much for P-Chan's animal mind, and now he was seized up 
completely, unable to think or act.

"There you are!" came a voice from the trees.  "Hey, I found him!"

The surprise of hearing a familiar voice shook Ryouga from his 
paralysis.  He whirled, squealing urgently, and saw Ukyou standing 
in the forest about a dozen meters away.  

The Reikoku was mere seconds away from the black piglet.  Ukyou's 
eyes widened as she saw the monstrosity bearing down on the helpless 
P-Chan.  It didn't look like the poor guy was going to pull himself 
together in time to get away...

Well, Ukyou had come prepared.  She knew that there was a chance 
that she'd have to fight this monster, and it looked like the time 
had come.  She would have preferred to fight to save Ranchan, of 
course, but she wasn't about to let it kill Ryouga either.  She let 
out a battle cry and leaped towards the creature, hurling a flour 
bomb ahead of her.  

P-Chan darted away from the Reikoku an instant before the flour 
bomb hit.  At that moment, Ukyou could have chosen to pick the 
piglet up and make a break for it.  But Ukyou had her pride - she 
was confident that she could win this battle.  She'd heard about 
how both Akane and Shampoo had been too afraid to fight when 
they'd been faced with the Reikoku, and this was her chance to 
prove that she was better than they were.  

Ukyou charged in with her battle spatula ready to strike through 
the mist of flour, and the Reikoku nearly took her head off with 
its first attack.

Reflexes alone saved her.  The Reikoku's claws made a series of 
shallow gashes in her shoulder and clipped off a chunk of hair.  
Ukyou staggered back and frantically blocked the attacks which 
followed.  The creature shambled forward, launching strike after 
murderous strike towards the unbalanced and desperate martial 
artist.  It was obvious that it had not been even remotely 
impaired by the flour bomb - it pressed its assault with deadly 
accuracy and ferocity.

<Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...>

"Ucchan!"

Ranma-chan skidded to a halt as she arrived on the scene.  The 
sight before her made her heart pound with fear - Ukyou was 
locked in combat with that damned monster.  Even though she was 
fighting it at its weakest stage, the Reikoku was still a terrible 
opponent.  Ranma-chan knew full well that Ukyou had never faced 
anything remotely this dangerous in her experience as a martial 
artist.

Pantyhose Tarou ran towards the battle, close on Ranma-chan's 
heels.  "Oh, great," he hissed upon seeing what was going on.  
"Are you happy now, fem-boy?"

"Shut up!" Ranma-chan snapped.  

"Well come on, you twit!" Tarou snarled.  He'd taken two steps 
towards the battle before he was tackled from behind by Saotome.

Tarou twisted and slammed the red-headed girl to the ground, 
pinning her beneath him.  He cocked a fist back, ready to pound 
Saotome's face in.  "Are you INSANE?  What the hell do you 
think..."

"We can't help her!" Ranma-chan moaned in a voice full of anguish.  
"We can't!"

"What are you saying?"

"If we gang up on that thing, it just gets stronger!  She's got 
the best chance of winning if she fights on her own!"

Tarou pulled back and stood, letting Ranma-chan rise to her feet.  
It was clear to both of them that Ukyou was never going to 
overcome the Reikoku at this pace.  It continued pressing its 
merciless attack, slashing with razor-keen claws towards the young 
chef as she frantically dodged and parried with her giant spatula. 
 Ukyou was sweating with exertion, and sported a number of small 
wounds which were beginning to wear her down.

Ryouga watched in helpless fury.  It was taking all of his will 
to keep P-Chan from bolting away again, but he couldn't allow 
himself to leave while this girl fought his battle for him.  He 
burned with deep shame and anger at this situation, at his own 
inability to act in the face of this dreadful fate.  All he could 
do was watch.

"Ucchan!" Ranma-chan shouted.  "You gotta counterattack!"  A 
defensive strategy was hopeless against the Reikoku - it would 
never let up, never tire, never leave an opening.  The only way 
to win, at least in the first fight, was to press a furious attack 
into the face of its assault.  

Ukyou tried to follow Ranma-chan's advice, but she couldn't find 
an opportunity.  She was terrified and hurt, too intimidated by 
this demon to fight back.

Ranma-chan could see that Ukyou was too psyched-out to mount a 
proper attack.  Her only hope was to somehow get her angry, get 
her to be more aggressive...

"Damn it, ya stupid bimbo!" she shouted.  "What kinda martial 
artist are you?"

Ucchan gasped in shock and ducked under another swing.  Why on 
earth was Ranchan picking a time like this to start insulting 
her?

"I thought Akane was a slowpoke!" Ranma-chan continued.  "What's 
the matter, Ukyou, can't fight unless you're dressed as a boy?"

"Be quiet!" Ukyou screamed.

"Is cookin' all you're good for?  Is a woman's place really in 
the kitchen?"  

"I said SHUT UP!" Ukyou howled.  She lashed out with her spatula 
in rage, catching the Reikoku full in the torso with the flat 
surface.  The monster staggered back a couple of steps.

"Get clear!" Ranma-chan shouted.

Ukyou didn't need to be told twice.  With a little breathing 
space, she was able to leap backwards away from the Reikoku, 
putting some distance between herself and the deadly beast.  

"Now run!" Ranma-chan commanded.  She swept up P-Chan and made 
ready to bolt.

"Oh no you don't!" Ukyou snarled in a ragged voice.  She had a 
berserk look in her eyes as she glared at the Reikoku.  "Take 
THIS!"

Adrenaline was coursing through her bloodstream, her mind was 
consumed by the primal instinct to kill.  Ukyou had come prepared 
to fight.  She had guessed that she might need something extra in 
her arsenal if she had to face the monster in battle.  When it had 
been so close, she hadn't had a chance to use the weapons she'd 
baked in preparation, but now she had room to throw. 

With deadly precision and speed, she hurled a rapid series of 
okonomiyaki bombs towards the Reikoku.  The lethal confections 
exploded like sticks of dynamite as they struck home, the reports 
of each detonation thundering through the forest.  The Reikoku 
tumbled back under the barrage.

"Spatula swarm!"  She followed up the okonomiyaki bombs with a 
spray of small steel throwing spatulas.  The keen-edged weapons 
streaked towards the Reikoku, burying themselves deep in the 
black-robed figure as they hit home.

"Rubber yakisoba attack!" Ukyou howled, lashing out with the 
string of tough noodles.  The durable noodles whipped around the 
Reikoku's twisted frame, trapping it in a hopeless tangle of 
tough yellow strands.

"Final strike!" Ukyou launched herself into the air, battle 
spatula raised over her head.  She descended and swung the mighty 
weapon in a perfect arc, seeking to finish the Reikoku with a 
single blow of immense force.

The Reikoku ripped a talon free of the yakisoba prison and caught 
the spatula mid-strike.  It wrenched the weapon free of Ukyou's 
grip and cast it aside.  Ucchan stumbled backwards, gaping in 
horror as the monster began to tear away the remaining bonds 
which held it.

She was out of bombs, out of tricks.  Without her weapon, she 
didn't stand a chance...

"Heads up, Ucchan!"

Ukyou turned just in time to catch her battle spatula mid-air.  
Ranma-chan knew she couldn't help directly with the fight, but 
she was at least able to retrieve Ucchan's spatula for her.  

"Attack now!" the red-headed martial artist shouted.  "Don't hold 
back!"

Ukyou barely dodged away from the Reikoku's next blow.  She was 
in danger of going back on the defensive again, and if she did 
that, she would be lost.

"NO!" Ranma-chan bellowed.  "ATTACK!"

A scream of rage and horror tore itself free from Ukyou's throat.  
She launched herself at the Reikoku, heedless of the blow she took 
that dug into the flesh of her shoulder.  She had no more tricks, 
no more special weapons.  She attacked with all her strength and 
skill, slamming the beast with her great spatula.  She howled like 
an animal as she pressed her assault, calling upon deep reserves 
of strength that she had not even known she possessed.  She attacked 
again and again with the spatula's deadly edge, cutting deep into 
the Reikoku's armored hide with each murderous strike.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity of frenzied strikes 
and primal bloodlust, Ukyou's endurance failed her.  She dropped 
to one knee, all her strength draining away like water through a 
fissure.  Her vision blurred, and she felt as if she were about 
to faint.  She couldn't fight anymore, even if it meant that she 
would die.  She had nothing left.

She did not feel the claws of the Reikoku dig into her, as she'd 
expected she would.  Instead, she felt Ranchan's arm around her 
shoulders, and heard her gentle voice in her ear.

"It's okay, Ucchan.  You won."

Ukyou collapsed in Ranma-chan's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.  
She trembled and wept, a release from the horror of the battle 
which she had just fought.  Her body was racked with the sobs - 
they seemed to tear themselves out of her lungs, burning like 
sandpaper on their way out of her throat.  

"We have to get moving, fem-boy," Pantyhose Tarou whispered 
urgently.  He didn't like to see a girl cry like that either, 
but he didn't want to be around when that monster rose again.

"Stow it," Ranma-chan snapped.  "That thing ain't gettin' up for 
a whole day, unless you're stupid enough to try to set it on fire 
or somethin'."

Tarou growled something unintelligible, but took a step back and 
kept his peace.

Ranma-chan awkwardly held her friend for a long while, until 
finally her convulsive sobbing tapered off.  She lifted the 
near-unconscious Ukyou in her arms, then turned to the others 
with a grave expression on her face.  

"Okay.  Let's go."

- - - - - -

She hated the way they looked at her now, the way they'd been 
treating her since Ranma was gone.  Everybody was SO polite and 
SO eager to help her with every little thing, everybody was 
walking on eggshells around her so as not to say the wrong 
words.  They treated her like... like she was a grieving widow.  
It's not as if she and Ranma were actually married or anything.  
And he wasn't dead anyway!  What was the big idea?  Why did it 
seem like there was a perpetual cloud of doom hanging over the 
Tendou family?

Ranma would make it.  Ranma always won.

Akane let out a half-hearted shout and planted her fist into the 
stack of boards.  Her concentration was off, but the wood still 
split obligingly under the blow.  She knew she'd have to 
concentrate a bit harder when she got to the cinder blocks, but 
this part of her workout was pretty much reflexive.

She sighed and stared at the broken planks for a moment.  Working 
out was the only thing that gave her any degree of solace right 
now, but even that brought unwelcome thoughts to mind.  She 
wished Ranma were here - he was a terrible sparring partner, 
never taking her seriously in their practices, but he was better 
than nothing.  Certainly, it WAS good practice trying to hit 
someone who moved like a dragonfly's shadow.  Drilling alone 
wasn't much of a substitute.  She would rather have had Ranma 
there, barely paying attention to her as she tried to land her 
punches and kicks, than to be stuck with just dummies and 
boards.

<That's about your speed, slowpoke,> came Ranma's familiar, 
jeering voice in her mind.  <If you're up against someone who's 
standin' stock still, you can take 'em two falls outta three.>

<Shut up, jerk,> she snapped back mentally.

Part of her desperately wanted to go after him, though she wasn't 
certain how she'd actually get to China now.  The stubborn, 
prideful part of Akane chafed at this business of sitting at 
home and waiting for Ranma to come back.  She couldn't stand the 
way that she'd been bullied into promising that she'd stay out 
of this fight.  She hated the implication that she couldn't handle 
herself, that she'd just be in the way.  She ached to prove them 
all wrong, as she had done many times before.  

But part of her knew they were right.  All it took was the memory 
of those three red eyes burning against the field of utter darkness 
that was the thing's face to remind her of how thoroughly she had 
been outclassed by that monster.  Akane was a pretty fair hand 
when it came to denial and overconfidence, but seeing the way it 
had taken Ranma apart in battle had told her all she needed to 
know about her own chances against the Reikoku.  

She wasn't good enough.  She would just be in the way.

A tear trickled down her cheek, and she wiped it away with the 
back of her hand.  "Oh Ranma," she whispered.  "Please come back 
to me..."

"Did you say something?" came an unexpected voice.

Akane pivoted, surprised.  She smudged the tear into the general 
layer of sweat on her face as she turned, not wanting anybody to 
see her distress.  Nabiki stood in the doorway of the Dojo, 
regarding Akane with her traditional cool and composed expression.  
At least the middle Tendou daughter had been behaving fairly 
normally since Ranma had left, unlike everybody else.  In fact, 
Akane could swear that her sister was actually in a good mood 
about something.

"Hi, Nabiki," Akane said.  She noticed how her sister was dressed.  
"You going somewhere?"

Nabiki grinned like a girl with a big secret that she's dying 
to tell.  "I'm going to be out for a while, so you can tell 
anybody who calls that they can reach me at Ucchan's."

Akane was nonplussed.  "Ucchan's?"

Nabiki nodded.  "I'm working there.  Remember?"

"Y... you're working at Ucchan's?"  Akane had known that Nabiki 
had gotten some kind of job, but in her general state of malaise
she hadn't bothered to get the specifics.

"I told you this, didn't I?"

"I..." Akane stammered.  "I... I'm not sure.  I think maybe... 
gosh, Nabiki, why are you working for Ukyou now?"

Nabiki snorted back a laugh.  This was a story she didn't mind 
telling again.  "Oh come now, Akane, who else could she turn to 
if she wanted her restaurant taken care of properly, hmm?  
Naturally, she looked to the best businesswoman she knows to 
manage things while she's away."

"Ukyou... she's still away?  I thought her vacation ended 
already."

"No, she went after Ranma.  You knew this, right?"

"No," Akane whispered.  "No."

Nabiki shrugged, still grinning to herself.  "It could NOT be 
sweeter, little sister.  This is the easiest job in the world.  
Konatsu does all the cooking, all the cleaning, all the serving... 
all the menial stuff.  And he works basically for room and board.  
The only problem is that he's not equipped to handle certain 
decisions about running the business.  And that's where I come 
in."

"Oh," Akane said in a small voice.  

"Thirty percent of the profits still go to Ukyou as the owner, 
and the rest is all mine," Nabiki said with a mercenary gleam in 
her eye.  "All I have to do is make sure the business stays afloat 
and the books are kept straight.  I mean, WHAT could be easier, 
hmm?  And you know what else?"

"No, what?"  Akane murmured.

"I get to use Konatsu!" Nabiki exclaimed.  "I get the services 
of one exceptional ninja, free of charge.  He's stealthy, he's a 
great martial artist, and he's completely obedient.  Can you 
imagine the schemes I can pull off with someone like that at my 
disposal?"

"Yeah.  Great."

"I'm dying here, Akane!" Nabiki laughed.  "This is just too easy!"

"Good for you, sis," Akane said in a flat voice.  "It sounds 
great."

Nabiki was too absorbed in her own dreams of easy prosperity to 
really notice her sister's distinct lack of enthusiasm.  "Y'know, 
Ucchan's is a nice little operation right now, but it needs some 
work.  Ukyou's problem is that she doesn't have much vision.  
We simply must expand the menu a little bit - this specialization 
thing she does can really limit growth.  And it's about time to 
break into delivery, too.  That's where the real money is.  Don't 
you think, Akane?"

Akane shrugged.  "Whatever you say."

Nabiki frowned a bit at her sister, finally noticing that the young 
martial artist seemed to have gotten herself into a bad mood again 
about something.  She was probably brooding about Ranma again.  
"Uh, anyway, I'm off," she said.  "Ranma's supposed to call me 
sometime tonight, so just tell him I'm at Ucchan's, okay?"

Akane bowed her head and said nothing.  

"Right."  An emotional scene with Akane was the last thing she 
needed right now.  "See ya, sis."

Akane listened to her sister's footsteps fade to silence as the 
older girl departed.  The details of Nabiki's new employment had 
hardly registered with her - there was only one thing which had 
really mattered to Akane in the whole conversation.  

Ukyou had followed Ranma.  

Akane deliberately attempted to generate some anger, falling back 
on familiar lines of thought in her efforts to come to terms with 
this new development.  What did it matter if Ranma spent his time 
with her?  Why did SHE care if those two were off romping around 
China together?  It's not like it was any of her business what he 
did with his time, or who he was with.  It's not like either of 
them took this absurd engagement business seriously, after all.

Akane continued with her routine, piling up the cinder blocks in 
front of her and trying to convince herself that she didn't care 
that Ukyou and Ranma were together in China, while she was here 
alone.

Somehow, the arguments felt hollow, even in her own head.

Ukyou had followed Ranma.

Ukyou had to have known the danger.  She must have gotten an 
explanation of what had happened from somebody... Nabiki, 
obviously.  She'd talked to Nabiki about the restaurant, after 
all, and Nabiki was the one who knew how to find Ranma right 
now.  Her sister would have told the okonomiyaki chef the whole 
story, and how dangerous the Reikoku was.  And Ukyou had decided 
to go after Ranma anyway, knowing the peril that awaited her.

Well, so what?  The girl was nice enough, but it was clear that 
she was insane.  All of Ranma's so-called fiancees had demonstrated 
that they were certifiable maniacs when it came to trying to 
impress him.  Ukyou probably saw this as a great chance to get 
her "Ranchan" alone for a while, the scheming little tramp.  She 
was probably too blind and stupid to know how dangerous it was, 
and had gone skipping off to China in the hopes of having some 
great romantic adventure.

Akane couldn't even convince herself with that line of reasoning.

Ukyou had followed Ranma.

Ukyou knew the danger, but she was willing to face it anyway to 
help Ranma.  Akane could try to explain it away as stupidity or 
foolishness or insanity, but in her heart she knew that the trait 
Ukyou was really demonstrating in her decision to follow Ranma 
was courage.  

"Damn it!" she shouted, driving her fist through the cinder 
blocks in rage.

Ukyou had been brave, where she had been cowardly.  Ukyou might 
be killed - that much was certainly true.  Staying behind was, 
without a doubt, the prudent thing to do in this situation.  But 
Akane was not the kind of person for whom prudence was the most 
compelling motivation.  In her heart, she wanted to be a warrior.  
She wanted to be strong, to face challenges and overcome them 
with her courage and determination.  She'd succeeded often enough 
in the past... but this time she had failed.  This time, when 
the chips were down, she had folded. 

"DAMN it!" she howled, shattering another pile of cinder blocks.

Ukyou had followed Ranma.  Ukyou was stronger than she was.

"DAMN IT!" she screamed.  This time, her fist drove through the 
cinderblocks and into the floor of the Dojo.  

She extracted her hand from the wreckage.  She was red-faced and 
panting, not so much with exertion as with rage and shame.  This 
was simply intolerable.  There was no way she would let herself 
be beaten like this. 

But she'd promised Ranma that she'd stay here.

Well, that was too bad.  It had been a stupid promise for her to 
make, after all.  If he thought she would just sit by and let him 
get himself killed by some demon, he'd better just think again.  

Yet what could she really do?

<If you follow me,> Ranma's voice said in her mind, <you're just 
gonna get in the way.>

<That's not true!> she retorted.  <I'm a martial artist too!>

<'I'm a martial artist too!'> Ranma echoed back, mocking her tone.  
<You say that all the time, but you ain't in my league and you 
know it.  Heck, you ain't even in Ucchan's league.>

<Then I'll train!> she announced to herself.  <I'll... I'll learn 
the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken technique!  I saw how you trained 
for that.  I can do it too!>

<You?> Ranma's voice insider her was full of jeering contempt.  
<Learn that?  Oh, please!  Give it up, Akane, 'cause that ain't 
never gonna happen.  You may be strong as an ape, but you're slower 
than a slug.  You'll burn your hands off tryin' to master that 
one.>

<I'll learn the Hiryu Shoten-Ha, then!  I was there for your 
training, I saw what you have to do...>

<Hey dummy,> Ranma's voice answered, <the Reikoku don't put off 
a battle aura, in case you didn't notice.  That technique wouldn't 
do you any good, even if you COULD learn it.  Which you couldn't.  
The idea of a violent maniac like you gettin' the hang of the Soul 
of Ice is pretty far-fetched, don'tcha think?>

Akane sobbed, angry at the voices inside her.  The Ranma in her 
head was a lot worse than the real one - she couldn't hit the one 
in her mind when she got angry, she just had to listen to his 
cruel but accurate words.  <There has to be something I can do,> 
she sobbed.  <There has to be something I can do to train 
myself...>

Akane wiped the tears from her eyes, then focused on the large 
pile of shattered rubble before her.  The remains of the cinder 
blocks she had demolished in her training were scattered across 
the floor of the Dojo.  

<You're strong as an ape...> Ranma's voice echoed in her mind.

Akane blinked away the last of her tears.  She reached down and 
scooped up a handful of jagged chunks of cement, sifting them 
about in her hand thoughtfully. Maybe she wouldn't ever be as 
fast as he was, but even Ranma admitted that she had muscle.  He 
teased her about it mercilessly, as if it were something of which 
she should be ashamed, but he didn't deny it.  

Maybe there was a way she could train herself after all.

- - - - - -