Heart of flame, breath of fire part 4

	Tatiwaki Kuno stared at the boy in confusion as he punched up at
him. The wind picked up around him and he realized what was happening to
him. This time it was different though, much more intense. The icy blast
hit first blasting him into the air high above the ground. He could still
see his hands waving wildly around him as the force made him lose control
of his limbs. His body started to grow cold and small specks of ice began
to form around it growing quickly, his skin turned blue and a thin frost
covered him in mere seconds. Then came the worst part, he actually felt
his heart stop cold. 
	That was when the flames hit, just as quickly as the ice had
formed it vanished and was replaced by searing heat that burned his
flesh. He saw the skin on his arm begin to blister and peel before his
eyes as his clothes started to smolder on his body. Then it stopped. A
moment later he found himself on the ground as unconsciousness took over
mercifully at last. He never even felt himself hit the ground.

	Kuno woke up gasping for breath and covered in sweat. The
perspiration burned his delicate skin as he struggled for breath in his
bed. He reached over to the tank near his bed and after a few moments of
groping, he found the mask and placed it over his face quickly. He
breathed in deep controlled breaths inhaling the oxygen greedily. At last
his spasm died down and he relaxed somewhat. A hate filled glare burned
in his eyes as he remembered the attack. 
	Now he was to weak to even scream as he woke from his nightmares.
Nightmares brought on by the boy who dared to face him in battle. Now he
could not even stand without help, but he was recovering very quickly.
Something that cursed sorcerer Saotome had done to him ensured that. "Oh
how you mock me cur." he thought. "Soon I shall be strong again and then
I will exact divine justice upon you and the villainous Ryu." 
	The cold weakness that formed in his heart could not be fear. He
was the mighty Blue Thunder of Furinkan High and could never know such a
thing. He glared at the wall and tried to stop his body from shaking from
the cold night air that seemed to blow through his room in the night now.

	Akane sat across from Taro and watched him cautiously, Taro
glared at her and reluctantly started his tale.
	"While I was in China, he...He caught me off guard. I was sitting
and minding my own business by the fire one night when he hit me from
behind. I didn't even hear him coming. I woke up a few hours later tied
to a spit over a fire. He said that honorable young men were considered a
delicacy for his kind and he started to cook me." said the boy.
	"What?" said Akane giving him a shocked look.
	"You heard me. He started to cook me. Luckily he likes to talk so
he was distracted when I managed to get the water bucket he had for the
fire with my foot. I changed and looked around only to see he was gone." 
	"That's insane! Why would he eat people?!" cried Akane.
	"Why? I guess he thinks we taste good. I understand that his kind
has a thing for young girls as well." snorted Taro.
	"What are you going to do?" said Akane with a worried look.
	"I'm going to catch him and tie him to a spit and let him roast
that's what. I wasn't prepared for him last time, next time I'll be
ready." said Taro with an evil grin. He held up a small leather bag as he
said this and quickly placed it in his robes. He jumped out the window
and Akane ran after him. 
	"Wait! What abou-" she started to say before she realized he was
gone. A water bucket rolled off the edge of the roof and Taro flew off
into the moonlight.
	
	Later that night Ranma stumbled into the house with a haunted
look on his face. Akane stormed up to him and started yelling
immediately, completely oblivious to his condition. 
	"Where have you been?! Off with Shampoo or Ukyo I bet." she
growled.
	Ranma just turned his head and looked at her sullenly. He made a
small humorless laugh "Don't worry about that. I'll never be bothered by
Shampoo again." 
	Akane and every one else in the room looked at him suddenly. "Oh
my, Ranma. Is something wrong?" said Kasumi looking worried.
	"Shampoo is dead." he said as he walked up to his room.
	Akane stopped him half way up the stairs. "Ranma, what happened?"
she cried in shock. Her face was completely white.
	"Your friend Ryu killed her. Hit her with some kind of fire." he
said bitterly and shook her hand off his shoulder.
	"It was beautiful, it moved like water almost..." he muttered as
he walked up the stairs in a daze.
	Akane broke down crying. "She isn't dead! Ryu wouldn't just kill
her!" she sobbed. "It must be a mistake, Ranma wouldn't say something
like that if he was serious would he?"
	Genma stood and frowned. "I must go talk to mim, it is my duty as
a father."

	Ranma lay on his futon and stared at the empty ceiling. A light
from the hallway shone across his legs as he lay there. He didn't bother
to look at who had entered, he didn't care.
	"Ya know, she was kind of cute. I don't know, maybe I could
have...I know I never would though. What a waste." he said to who ever it
was in the room. "I just don't get it. Why where they after him? Why did
he kill her? I just can't..." he fought his emotions valiantly and not a
single tear escaped his eyes.
	"We cannot understand such things boy, its just the way things
are, feelings and emotion have no place in the martial artist code. We
must live by it or allow ourselves to become weak and make mistakes
because of rash decisions. I know it's hard." said Genma as he sat next
to his son solemnly.
	"I won't let him get away with this." said Ranma angrily. 
	Genma sighed and sat silently for a moment.
	"I can't let him get away with killing her, I have to do
something." said Ranma as he lay still on the ground. His face had
twisted into a mask of anger.
	"Do what you must boy." said Genma as he stood to leave him with
his thoughts. "But look at the bright side, at least you have one less
fiancee' to deal with." he said cheerfully from the doorway.

	Akane stared straight ahead from her place at the table. She had
stopped her tears and now sat silently gazing at the night from the
table. She was awoken from her personal meditation by sounds of pain from
the rooms upstairs, a moment later Genma came flying through the door of
his and Ranma's room. He flew directly into the koi pond. She heard Ranma
mutter "Stupid old man." half heartedly before he moved back into the
darkness of his room for the night.

	"What? No tell Ranma I alive?" said Shampoo in shock. 
	Mousse quacked noisily from his cage in the kitchen and as a
result heard none of the conversation.
	"Yes, Shampoo." said the old woman as she sipped at her tea.
	"Why great grandmother?" said the girl she was close to tears.
	"Because dear, If he thinks your dead he will begin to wonder if
he should have married you. He will question his relationship with Akane
Tendo. You see dear?" Shampoo nodded and frowned. "He may help us hunt
down the dragon heart now as well, especially if he thinks the boy has
your blood on his hands. If he kills for your honor he will surely
realize that he truly loves you and will marry you. He may be a bit fussy
when we tell him your still alive but he will comply in the end." 
	"What about pig boy? He know I still alive." said Shampoo.
	"He may be a problem, we'll take care of that when the time
comes. Come now, Mousse has not heard my true reasons for this and will
be most eager to help keep Ranma in the dark about your death now I
think." Cologne hopped off into the kitchen with a small cackle.

	Cartson was on the trail again. He glared down the large tunnels
and frowned as he had reached a large junction of pipes that went in
every direction. A few pebbles scattered down one of the diagonal
pipelines and he grinned as he looked up into the darkness. "I found
you!! Come out come out!" he said giddily as he started to climb up the
pipe. It was fairly large, about eight feet in diameter. The walls were
covered in slime and roaches crawled about, there was also a small
trickle of water that flowed steadily at his feet. He pulled out his
blade and scrapped the edges of the pipe with it creating allot of nose
and sparks. A dark grin crossed his face as he heard breathing. "Well
now. We sure are tired aren't we?" he said as he approached the sound. It
was coming from a cross path. He turned the corner and smiled as he held
his blade ready. "No more foolin around boy." 
	He looked and saw nothing but blackness. He shone his light and
saw that the pipe was blocked off by something. He stepped forward and
examined it closely. "What the hell?" he muttered as he pushed on it
lightly.
	That was when the eye opened. It was as large as his head. The
blockage began to twist and turn in and out of itself. He realized that
it had seen him and was uncoiling itself. "Oh shit." he said and started
to run.
	He bolted down the corridor at top speed. The thing was following
close behind him and he could hear it's massive form scraping down the
walls as it twisted and rubbed it with its scaly hide. He didn't dare
look back and pushed himself faster as he felt the breath of the beast on
his back. It was scalding and he could smell the sulfur on its breath.
"Son of a bitch!" he screamed as he heard it's jaws snap behind him
dangerously close. He could see the end now and the hole grew larger with
every step he took towards it. He finally reached it after what seemed
like an eternity of running. Sweat and slime covered his body. Various
bugs crawled across his torso as he gasped desperately for breath. He
turned and dared a look back at the tunnel and screamed as he saw only
rows of six inch teeth and a long serpent like tounge reaching for him. A
steadily growing light appeared in the creatures throat.
	
	Ryoga stopped as he staggered down the street. He thought he
heard a muffled scream. He looked around and saw that the streets were
deserted. "Of course its deserted, its the middle of the night." he
muttered to himself as he continued on his trek. He had to find the Tendo
Dojo, Akane was in danger and he needed to protect her. He never noticed
the steam rising from the manhole cover he had been standing on.
	
	Ukyo sat up and stared at the moonlight that illuminated her
floor from the window over her bed. She had not been able to sleep for
several hours and frowned as she moved about uncomfortably in her bed.
"Why can't I sleep?" she wondered aloud. She heard a knock on her door
below and sat up and placed her robe on loosely. "Who would...Oh maybe
its Ranma!" she cried and rushed to the door. She was surprised to see
Akane standing in the doorway.
	"Akane, what are you doing here at this time of night?" she asked
sleepily.
	"Ranma isn't here is he?" said Akane with a disappointed look.
	"No he isn't, did something happen?" said Ukyo in a worried tone.
If Akane was hoping he was here it had to be serious.
	"You haven't heard?" said Akane with a surprised look.
	"I haven't heard what?" said Ukyo now fully awake.
	"Ukyo...Shampoo is dead." said Akane quietly.
	Ukyo froze and looked at the girl in shock. "What?"

	The two girls sat quietly at the grill and Ukyo just looked at
Akane quietly as she heard the story. 
	"You think he went after this Ryu?" said Ukyo after she heard the
whole thing.
	"Where else would he go?" said Akane with a very worried tone.
	The chef stood tall and grabbed her battle spatula. "Where are
you going?" said Akane.
	"After Ranma." said Ukyo simply.
	"You don't know what Ryu is capable of..." started Akane.
	"I know, I was there remember? I'm not going to let Ran-chan face
this alone." said Ukyo as she walked out the door.
	"Wait I'm coming too!" cried Akane as she chased after her.

	Ryu looked at the junction and glanced back into the pipe again.
He sighed heavily as he finally had a chance to stop. Cartson had almost
had him that time but he had barely managed to escape. He began to climb
out of the drainage system and pushed his way onto the street at last. He
crawled out of the manhole and rested against the side of a building. He
was in the shopping district and it was the middle of the night. It was
completely deserted, he was covered in dirt and slime from the storm
drains, but he was still alive. That is what counted at the moment. He
staggered into a nearby alley and went to sleep in a pile of garbage.
"Not exactly the picturesque manga lifestyle I signed up for when I came
to this place." he muttered to himself. "I hate this, I want to go home."
TBC...	

	Things just seem to get worse for Ryu. He may have Cartson off
his tail finally, but now he had every super powered martial artist in
Nerima gunning for him now. Who will reach him first? What will happen
when all his problems hit him? Does he still hold a final card to play?
Does he have any other persuers from his scattered past?
	Some of these questions are answered Next time!
C&C to: Catbert25@juno.com

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