The characters of the Ranma 1/2 universe are
the creation and possession of the brilliant
Rumiko Takahashi. They belong to Rumiko
Takahashi and her licensees (Shogakukan Inc.,
Kitty-Fuji TV, Viz Communications Inc.) No
copyright infringement is intended.
I would like to thank my pre-reader Angel, without
whom this would be a much poorer story, if it existed
at all.
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Yellow Dragon, Black Tiger
Chapter 4
part 2 of 2
Tiredly K'e Lwun picked her way through the
shattered remnants of Oda's men, some few of whom
were still recognizable as human beings. She must be
getting old. A century earlier she would never have
let things get to this. She had been too interested in
seeing if the young Tendou could actually master the
Yellow Dragon; too sure that she could control Oda
or at least protect everyone from him. And, to be
honest, she'd been bored. Until her great
granddaughter had gotten involved with Ranma she'd
been so tired of living . . .but then Ranma had entered
their lives, or they had entered his . . .and suddenly
she felt decades younger. She stopped when she got
to Ranma's side and stood, looking down at the grief
stricken martial artist from atop her staff. If only she
had taken care of Oda herself. If only she hadn't
looked at the fight between Oda an Akane as a game.
If only----
Ranma didn't even look up at a diminutive
figure dropped suddenly beside him.
"There is an old Amazon saying; If you have
to choose between skill and luck, luck is always
better." Like a striking serpent K'e Lwun jabbed a
bony finger into Akane's sternum.
"What the hell----" Ranma roused from his
grief in a rage.
"not so loud."
Ranma froze at the whispered command.
"akane?" He looked down as the girl in his
arms groaned. "AKANE!"
"Let her breath." K'e Lwun commanded, not
very sternly.
"Why? How?" Shan P'u stuttered as Ukyou
and Mu Sz looked in disbelief.
K'e Lwun plucked a piece of straw off the
ground and inserted it into the wound in the center of
Akane's forehead. There was a gasp from her small
audience -----then another, louder one, as the straw
stopped after going in only just skin deep.
"A fast moving bullet," she picked up Oda's
dropped pistol and ejected a .32 caliber round. " with
a round nose will sometimes skid," She traced a line
around Akane's head to the exit wound in the back.
"instead of penetrating." She rocked back on her
heels, looking at Akane, or what could be seen of
Akane enveloped in Ranma's arms. "Lucky is
_always_ better."
"Would anyone like some tea?"
"Aaaaaaa-----iteeeeeeee!" Ukyou's startled
scream went up an octave as her sudden movement
jolted her shoulder. White faced she looked up at
Kasumi, who had discarded her naginata and was
holding a tray of . . .snacks? . . . in her hands.
"D . . .don't misunderstand me----but why
aren't you dead?"
"Kuno Industries finest composite body
armor," A shadow fell over Ukyou and she craned
her neck, carefully, to see the Blue Thunder----
resplendent in green and gold silk, standing in the
ruined gateway. "designed and delivered according to
the specifications of Tendou Nabiki.
"Kuno you IDIOT," Nabiki stormed over to
the hapless kendoist and whapped him over the head
with her bow. "where the HELL have you been. You
were supposed to be here HOURS ago."
"I had to dress appropriately,"Kuno stated
with obvious surprise. "Surely it was manifest that
Kuno Tatiwaki could not appear at such an important
event without proper-----iteeeeee."
Nabiki looked at the broken bow in her
hands.
"That hurt you know." Kuno looked around
rubbing his head. "What has happened here?"
"What----" Nabiki opened and closed her
mouth, searching for words. Closing her mouth with
a snap she stalked forward, grabbing Kuno by his
shirt front. "I'll tell you what has happened here
. . .Akane was almost killed, Kasumi was shot,
Ukyou's sliced up like a cheap sushi plate, my father
-----" Nabiki paused looking around. "Father?"
Spinning around she frantically scanned the ground.
"FATHER!"
"He was here a minute ago." Genma limped
forward, Nodoka at his side. He looked around
puzzled. "Hmmm. I wonder what happened to Oda?"
"Oda?" Nabiki whispered. Horrified
understanding came to her. "Oh SHIT! Oda . . .he's
gone after Oda."
K'e Lwun came to a swift decision. "Mu Sz,
go after Tendou-san. Bring him back." At Mu Sz's
questioning look she moved forward to support
Ukyou. "I will look after Kuonji-san. Now go." Mu
Sz sprinted off. Kuno made as if to follow. "Not you.
Go call an ambulance and the police." Kuno started
to demure and she brought her staff down across the
top of his head. "We need your status to take care of
the police and keep questions to a minimum." Smiling
shrewdly she continued. "Of course, if your influence
is not such that you can handle such a thing . . .I'm
sure Akane-chan will understand."
"The influence of Kuno is without measure.
The empire rings with the sound of the name of the
noble house Kuno. Nowhere on earth . . ." His voice
trailed off as he entered the house in search of a
phone.
"And now Nabiki-san if you will----"K'e
Lwun looked around, but Nabiki was missing. "Ah
well," She sighed. "Kasumi-san, if you will lend me a
hand?" She indicated Akane and Ukyou.
"Of course." Kasumi handed her tray to
Nodoka and knelt beside her baby sister.
******************************************
Juzo had been correct. He should not have
gotten personally involved with the Tendou's. Oda
spared a brief thought for his loyal servitor. It was
not too late to rectify the matter. He would leave
Japan again, for a while. He could run things from a
distance until this incident was forgotten by the
authorities. A little money in the right hands would
smooth the process. Besides, it would be best to give
Tendou some time to worry. Then some more time to
feel himself safe, before striking the final blow.
Glancing around to orient himself Oda turned down a
side street. He should be able to find a taxi----
"Hello Oda." Tendou Soun stood calmly in
front of him.
"Get out of my way old man." Oda was in no
mood to deal with this. He'd prefer to let him live
longer, suffer longer. But if he had to, he'd kill him
on the spot.
"I have something for you." Soun gathered
his ch'i.
"Don't be stupid old man. You couldn't beat
me all those years ago. I've gotten stronger and
you've just gotten older."
"Devine . . ." Soun's breathing became deeper
and slower.
Oda watched the old man draw power into
himself.
"Crushing . . ." Soun's belly hardened and his
focus narrowed until all he could see was the man in
front of him.
Oda was bored. He wondered if it wouldn't
be a mercy to kill the old man. He smiled to himself.
Then again, he wasn't known for mercy. Maybe he'd
just cripple him, so the last daughter could have the
fun of feeding him, taking him to the bathroom . . .of
course then it might be a relief to her when he had
her killed.
"FIST!" Soun's hand glowed with power, like
iron in a forge.
Almost yawning with boredom Oda blocked
Soun's strike and stepped forward----into an
American style football kick between the legs that
lifted him off the ground and pulped his testicles like
a handful of grapes in a rock crusher. Screaming in a
voice that only dogs could hear Oda crashed to the
ground, quivering like a gutted carp.
"A little something I learned from master
Happosai" Soun stood over Oda's body, "It's not the
Yellow Dragon, but it suits you."
"Very well done, Tendou-san."
Soun looked around to see Mu Sz jogging up
to him. He could see Nabiki puffing in the distance as
she raced to keep Mu Sz in sight. "I will be with you
as soon as I finish with this." Soun toed Oda's body.
"I'm very sorry Tendou-san. Elder K'e Lwun
has instructed me to bring you right back."
Souns' face tightened in anger. "Not until
I kill this----"
"Perhaps I should tell you that your daughter
Kasumi and your daughter Akane are both alive?"
"What!" Soun took a threatening step toward
the Chinese marital artist. "How dare you----"
Quickly Mu Sz recounted the events of the
last minutes. ". . .hit and skidded around, without
penetrating."
"A hard head." Soun started laughing, a little
hysterically. "Just like her father. She has a hard
head." At Mu Sz's puzzled look he threw an arm
around the Amazon. "Let me tell you a story about
another martial artist with a hard head. Nabiki?
Aren't you coming?"
"I'd better wait here for the police."
Soun frowned. "I don't want you alone
with . . .him."
"He's not going to be any problem." Nabiki
smiled at her father. "Not after being hit by Tendou
Soun's Devine Crushing . . .errrr . . .Fist. You go on
and see about Akane. Just tell the police to hurry up."
Soun looked doubtfully at his middle
daughter, then at Oda's prostrate body. "I don't think
. . ."
Nabiki interrupted, hefting the iron club
she'd appropriated from Genma. "Don't worry, if he
even twitches I'll put him to sleep."
Somewhat reassured Soun allowed Mu Sz to
lead him back home. As soon as the two were out of
sight, Naiki glanced up and down the street.
Satisfied, she knelt beside Oda ,who was curled into a
fetal position.
"You've been a lot of trouble. Our home is
wrecked, you tried to kill Kasumi," she rubbed some
lacerations on her neck. "you tried to kill me. You
shot my baby sister. That's going to cost you."
Oda tried to draw in enough breath to speak.
"H . . .how much . . .do . . .you want?"
"Everything you have." Smiling Nabiki closed
strong fingers around Oda's throat and squeezed.
"Everything you have."
***************************************************
End Chapter 4
part 2 of 2
This is a much expanded and revised version of a
story originally posted to FFML and submitted to
AnimeFEST as Chapter One, Yellow Dragon, Black
Tiger. The original Chapter One is _now_ Chapter
Two and contains an additional 1500 words.
Chapters One, Three, Four, prologue and epilogue are
entirely new and never before seen on FFML.
The original, {award winning ^_^}, version of
Chapter Two YD, BT may be found on:
http://www.iguild.com/homes/kazama/
We soon hope to have _all_ of the winning stories
from AnimeFEST posted on this site. Currently we
have permission from two of the authors to post or
link their stories and are searching for the last two
authors.
Only Epilogue left to go.
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