Well here it is so far, let me know what you think please.
King of Ducks Publishers Proudly Present,
In association with Seven Drunken Albino Dwarves Ltd.,
Funding Provided by Nabiki Tendo Investment Firm (NTIF),
Blood of Heroes
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction
Written By: The King of Ducks.
Chapter 2:
Note: All text within quotations is spoken in Japanese. All text between
slashes is the individual's thoughts. All text between <> is spoken in
mandarin chinese, with exception of the disclaimer warning.
<Insert standard disclaimer here. For more information check out
"Disclaimer" by the Offspring on Ixnay on the Hombre.>
All around him a battle raged. Men fought and died against more men,
everyone dressed in unusual armor. Armor that was plain and dirty. But not
Ranma, his bright metal armor was hammered in such a way that it looked like
fish scales and it shone like mirror in the sunlight. Ranma hefted his
massive long sword, still a new weapon and men weren't used to it. He hefted
it and spurred his horse downwards and men broke rank before him. His
soldiers, seeing their king charge forward and shining like a demigod renewed
their struggles with a great fury.
Blood gushed forward as Ranma's long sword, Caledwlch (or Excalibur as
the barbarians called it) carved into an enemy soldier and then came out the
other side. Ranma struck another and another before turning his horse and
making another pass. His soldiers broke one shield wall and then another.
Ranma and his soldiers had begun a rout of the enemy. Soon enough their foes
would be on the run...
An sword barely missed Ranma who then turned and parried a down coming
stroke. /Mordred,/ Ranma thought. /About time he showed. Now we can settle
this once and for all./ Ranma swung back and Mordred parried. Now the
battle became uncertain as Mordred's troops were rallied by their leader's
presence. Back and forth Ranma and Mordred battled, their swords flashing
like lightning from the gods. Neither one gained an advantage over the other
and the battle around them evened out once.
"Prepare to die Arthur," Mordred's voice boomed out over battlefield.
/Arthur? The name's Ranma. Idiot,/ Ranma thought as he parried another
thrust and countered with one of his own.
Mordred drew back and laughed evilly as he removed his leather
breastplate and threw it to the ground. Ranma sat there mystified as Mordred
raised himself up and stood on his horse's back. Then with a cry like that
of a dying god, Mordred hurled himself forward, his sword slashing down and
hitting Ranma's. Ranma and Mordred fell to the ground from the force of
Mordred's attack. Ranma was slow getting up as his armor was so heavy,
however Mordred was up already and swung, his sword clanging off Ranma's
armor.
"Bastard," Ranma screamed as he swung Caledwlch at Mordred who blocked.
Ranma swung again and again while his armor began to slow him down. Then
Ranma was all defensive as Mordred lashed out lightning fast in an all out
offensive, which left just enough room for...
"Die you bastard," Ranma shouted as he brought his sword into Mordred's
unprotected belly. Mordred stopped his attack and blood began to well up
from his mouth. Mordred fell to his knees as Ranma pulled Excalibur from
Mordred's stomach.
"It isn't over yet, father," Mordred grunted as he used his sword to
stand. Then, as
Ranma slowly turned Mordred brought the sword full force to Ranma's neck,
severing it...
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Ranma sat up sweating and looked around. To his right, a panda lay
sleeping and snoring. And Ranma sighed, /A dream. That's all... but it was
the third time this week. Maybe I oughta talk to the old ghoul, she might
know some stuff. And why does the name Arthur sound so damn familiar?/
Ranma's thoughts rambled on and were distorted as the dream had been.
Slowly Ranma shook his head to clear it and then he glanced around the
room. The clock on the dresser flashed "4:00 AM" repeatedly in harsh red
romanji. Ranma shook his head and sighed before he lay back down once more.
He closed his eyes and drifted into an uninterrupted slumber...
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Cedric jumped forward towards his foe whose floated there, totally
unaware of the trap Cedric had him in. Cedric's foot lashed out and struck
BlackBlade in the head, knocking the daemon off-balance. Cedric continued
this for several minutes as he held the mists and the silence out, but every
moment was longer than Cedric would've like to have held it. But then Cedric
had never had to hold the mists in for this long either. Inwardly groaning
with the difficulty of holding the mists Cedric slipped back rested a moment.
One thing he had learned from his assaults was that BlackBlade or whatever
he called himself was a lot tougher than Cedric had expected.
/Of course he is stupid, he does happen to be a daemon.../ Cedric's
brain wryly noted.
/Shut up,/ Cedric reprimanded his mind.
/You know you really should be thinking up a plan right now... which I
believe is where I come in. A good thing we have the collapsible spear, no?/
/Of course! Good idea,/ Cedric ran past the daemon and kicked him in
the head. Cedric reached the still smoldering wreckage of his chair and
searched for his bag, /Aha!/ Cedric thought as he found it. He opened the
bag and pulled out a cold metal cylinder. He held it lightly in his hand,
noting it's unwieldy feel. A weapon in it's own right, the cylinder's true
power was in it's hidden catch, which when pressed would cause the cylinder
to extend 3 feet in either direction and turned the cylinder into a staff.
With twist of his wrist Cedric activated this ability and dropped the mists,
their purpose served.
/What?!/ Cedric thought as he saw Ryouga lying on the ground, apparently
one of the daemon's counter attacks had caught the lost boy in the chest.
BlackBlade turned and saw Cedric holding a seven foot long staff in his
hands, a metal staff with special grips placed on the staff to prevent
slipping. From the way Cedric moved with the staff BlackBlade could tell the
boy was skilled with the weapon's use. BlackBlade smiled an evil smile, one
which bared his fangs for all to see.
"You bastard," Cedric said with conviction. "You hurt him..."
"My parentage is not the issue here, so refrain from the petty insults
and fight,"
BlackBlade said with a sneer. Cedric smiled back and began to spin the staff
around him, easily balancing it's unusual weight and heft. The staff had
been his best idea, but oh, the best was yet come. BlackBlade lashed out and
howled in fury as Cedric blocked him with a vicious strike. BlackBlade
attacked again and again, each time blocked by Cedric's heavy steel staff.
Then Cedric turned into an offensive, and attacked with a speed surprising
for a weapon as heavy as Cedric's staff. BlackBlade avoided most of them and
blocked some of the ones he couldn't avoid. But blocking wasn't that useful
for the weapon caused damage wherever it hit.
BlackBlade flew back and laughed, "My boy you are the best warrior I've
encountered in a long time. I was disappointed in you before, but now I see
where you truly shine. And thus am I content to actually fight you,"
BlackBlade laughed at Cedric's look of rage. Then the daemon gestured with
his hand as he chanted, "BlackBlade Flame," and a sword of pure black fire
arose in his hands. Then the battle was fought in earnest once more, neither
combatant giving an inch. Then the daemon smiled and swung downward, his
sword easily blocked.
"That the best you got fucker?" Cedric asked rhetorically. Then the
black flame from the sword exploded outward and sent Cedric to the ground,
his staff nearly flying out of his hands. The daemon dove at Cedric, his
sword held in a perpendicular arc to Cedric's body. Cedric rolled and threw
a small paper wad he took from his pocket at BlackBlade. It exploded in
smoke and light, blinding the daemon and giving Cedric the time he needed.
He readied his staff in hand as the daemon floated back up, the cement floor
melted where the sword had struck. Cedric spun his staff above his head and
charged at BlackBlade who moved back far enough to avoid the end, or thought
he did as a lancing pain tore through the daemon's body.
/What the innumerable hells?!/ BlackBlade thought as he caught a look at
the staff, noting the spear point now on top. /A hidden weapon spring? How
devious./
"Bravo, excellent cowardice I must say," BlackBlade commented dryly.
"It's not cowardice, it's a perfectly understandable precaution when
dealing with locals, besides it is a nice hole card..." Cedric never finished
the rest as BlackBlade flew at him and he was forced to roll out of the way.
/Way to go asshole, just strike up a conversation. Hey! Pay attention
to him, not me!/ Cedric's mind screamed as the daemon flew forward once more.
Cedric released the final surprise the staff held, a second spearhead
opposite the first. Cedric spun the really big buzzsaw at BlackBlade who
promptly stopped and flew back a few feet and appraised the new arrival.
"Two blades? My my, aren't we the blood thirsty one?" BlackBlade asked
as he began to power up the sword with more black flame than it had before.
Soon enough the unholy fire was causing Cedric to sweat from where he was.
"Now witness my final attack, Demon Bla..." BlackBlade's final attack was cut
off by a shout of "Shi Shi Hokodan!" A blast of green energy flew outward
and blasted the daemon in the side, knocking him to the ground and BlackBlade
faded away, leaving behind a very battered human body.
Cedric looked over and saw Ryouga leaning against a pole and holding his
chest where he was burned. Then Ryouga smiled which Cedric readily returned.
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Khu Lon slowly opened her ancient eyes and sighed unhappily. The
powerful waves of chi she normally felt in Nerima no longer disturbed her,
but this was different. Besides the depression chi she sensed she also found
high concentrations of negative chi and positive chi. This was a surprise
since none of the residents martial artists, with the exception of herself
and Happosai, had the mastery required to tap into such powerful resources.
/Muu Tsu is close you know,/ Khu Lon told herself. /Within a few short
decades he will be a master of the darkness. Assuming he does survive that
long... we may have to take kill him, remember what happened last time
someone got as far along as Muu Tsu will be. He nearly threw the order of
our tribe out of synch./
<Muu Tsu is a blind fool,> Khu Lon said in mandarin in an attempt to get
herself away from such a frightening train of thought. Khu Lon closed her
eyes and began meditating once more in an attempt to locate the sources of
chi. She had almost found the source of the positive chi outburst when a
knocking at the door interupted her.
<Great Grandmother! Happosai is here to speak with you,> Xian Pu called
from behind the door. Khu Lon grabbed her staff and hopped over to the door
easily holding herself aloft as she reached the knob.
/Perhaps he has sensed it too. He may have an idea or two.../
<Xian Pu, get Muu Tsu and yourself out of here. I have important
business to discuss with Happosai,> Khu Lon told her great granddaughter in a
stern voice.
<Where should I take him? He is not my husband. Ranma is my huband,>
Xian Pu complained.
Khu Lon's voice brooked no argument.
<Yes Great Grandmother. Xian Pu go now.> Slowly the purple-haired
amazon walked down the hallway and into the kitchen. Moments later she
walked back with a glass of cold water in her hand.
<Muu Tsu... I want to talk to you,> Xian Pu called out from in front of
his door. It
opened quickly.
<Xian Pu my lov...> Muu Tsu declaration of love was ended abruptly when
the water splashed him, instantly transforming him into a duck. Xian Pu
picked up Muu Tsu and put him in the cage she kept in her room. Then,
carrying the duck in the cage she exited the Nekohanten, Khu Lon just shook
her head before hopping into the dining area.
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Akane trudged through the forest as her mind gave her the directions,
apparently the statue had sent detailed intructions on how to navigate the
woods. She hiked alone, as it had told her and was prepared for the hazards
she was now aware of. The instructions were like a note left in her brain,
and most important of all about them was the warning left in the beginning:
"Akane Tendo, thank you for allowing me to help you in you life. It has
been my
privledge to help those who deserve it, and you are among the most deserving.
But more importantly, you cannot find my temple by just wandering in the
woods, it is too well guarded. As you may imagine, my powers attract quite a
few of the unworthy and they have tried to find my temple before. Futhermore
I have captured very many evil spirits and daemons to protect my temple.
These too tried to misuse my powers but they found that I am easily able to
defend myself in the supernatural realm, but I am reluctant to hurt humans
directly. Thus instead of destroying the denizens of the outer realms I have
enslaved them to protect me. Thus my champion, I leave it to you to reach my
temple. I will aid you as needed but you must fight through the daemons on
your own. Three times may I help, as is decreed by Chance and Fortune and I
must live by it. Defeat the daemons and great rewards are yours, fail and
the best
I can do is send you back remove all memory of this. But if I've helped you
the three times..."
He had ended the warning there for there was little reason to finish it,
she knew what he was getting at. Akane continued seriously, barely noticing
the almost supernatural beauty of the woods around her.
A warning yell erupted around her, alerting her to the presence of a
daemon. She turned and noticed it appear from the shadows. It looked human,
Akane noted, if you ignored the protruding eyes, gray skin, three eyes in
it's forehead, not the mention the two eyes on it's shoulders, one on each
shoulder. There was also the forked tongue that hissed from it's bloodless
lips every few seconds and it's long skeletal tail with the barb on the end.
All in all Akane found it revolting.
"Ah... a delightfully weak girl," it hissed in it's strange accent.
"She shall make us a good supper. It has been so long since we've eaten..."
Akane growled and charged, her fist flying towards the daemon who just
stood there unmoving. Her fist connected and stopped like it hit a brick
wall. Akane growled louder and swung her foot around, again stopping as soon
as she hit the daemon.
"Ah... so it thinks it can harm us? A foolish, delicious little girl,"
the daemon laughed. Akane grunted and continued to attack, never even making
it flinch. Then Akane noticed something from the corner of her right eye...
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