Here's chapter five guys. Six should be out shortly but don't hold your
breath. I hope you enjoy. C&C would be much appreciated.
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and I make no
claim or money in the writing of this story.
Previous chapters can be found at
http://www.geocities.com/LightHawk19/THOTW.html
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Ryoga was lost. This fact was not unusual because Ryoga is always
lost. What was unusual, however, was that he was lost hundreds of feet
below the Earth's surface in a self-made tunnel. He had also been in
this tunnel for the better part of a day and the air was getting stale.
"I guess it's time to head back up and rest for a while. Maybe I
can get some directions while I'm there." Contrary to popular belief,
Ryoga does know the difference between up and down. It was every other
direction that has him confused. He did not have to tunnel for very
long before he felt a good push with a Shishi Hokoudan would get him in
the clear.
Meanwhile, up at the surface, three figures could be seen performing
a ceremony of some sort in a cave somewhere. Two of them were busy
painting a magic circle in the middle of the open cavern while the third
was going over a scroll to make sure it was done correctly. The smaller
of the two working on the circle seemed quite agitated as she went on
with her work.
"You know Akira, you could come down here and help out instead of
sitting on your ass and telling us what to do. This isn't the easiest
of chores you've made me do, you know." By the sound of the voice, it
was obvious that the person was a girl. It was also obvious that she
was very annoyed with having to do much of the work herself.
"Quiet you," replied Akira without looking up from his reading.
"You and Ran are almost done and it's impossible to make sure the damn
thing's perfect while workin' on it. So quick bitching and get back to
work or I'll let the boss know after he wakes up."
This quickly pacified the girl and actually made her work harder.
It was then that they felt a rumble deep beneath them. "What the hell
is that? Whatever it is, it's getting closer." This time it was Ran
who spoke up. A large man, Ran had a way of making himself noticed with
his deep but loud voice. The rumbling and Ran's pronouncement actually
made Akira look up from what he was doing, just in time to see the
center of the magic circle explode outwards and a blue bolt of energy
blast through.
"I wonder where I am now?" muttered Ryoga as he climbed out of his
self-made hole. Only after he dusted himself off did he notice the
three vary pissed off people staring at him with murder in their eyes.
"Um, excuse me but did I interrupt something?"
"Oh, you can say that," replied the tallest one holding a scroll.
He was shaking visibly with fury, more so than the other two. "Sachi,
Ran get 'em!"
"Don't call me that!" yelled the girl as she charged Ryoga.
At first, it seemed Ryoga had a distinct advantage. Ran and Sachi
were not good martial artists and could gain no advantage over their
quarry. This did not make this an easy fight on Ryoga, however. In
fact, it was quickly becoming the hardest one he had ever fought. The
Phoenix Tribe and Lime of the Musk were easy compared to who he was
fighting now. The problem with Ran and Sachi was, they could not be
hurt. This was obvious when Ryoga snapped Ran's shoulder with an ax
kick. Ran simply stepped back while the shoulder visibly set back into
place before resuming the fight. Sachi also had the same powers of
regeneration when several cuts and scrapes healed instantly.
Jump in, dodge, punch, block, kick, jump out. Ryoga was doing his
utmost to find a weakness he could exploit. His powerful combinations
had little effect on the two he fought. One would step back to collect
him/herself while the other pressed on only for the viscous cycle to
start again. Jump in, dodge, punch, get hit, hit back harder, jump out.
As the fight drug on, Ryoga was becoming visibly tired while Ran and
Sachi seemed as fresh as when they started fighting, despite the fact
that they had been hit far more times than they hit back. The way
things were going, it was clear to Ryoga who was going to win this
fight, and it was not him.
"Getting tired, little man. We'd be more than happy to put you to
your eternal rest," Ran taunted as he drew back for a killing blow.
It was then that Ryoga really looked into his adversary's eyes for
the first time and noticed they were as black as purest obsidian. Not
just the irises, but the orbs themselves. There was not the hint of
whiteness anywhere. This showed him just how desperate the fight was
getting. These guys weren't human. Thoughts of Akari and Akane never
seeing him again and not knowing why drove him into a deep depression
and Ryoga began draw into himself.
"Shishi Hokoudan!!!" The blast was the largest Ryoga had ever
thrown without being the full version. It threw Ran and Sachi back into
the cavern walls and actually knocked them unconscious. Taking no time
to rest, he decided to get himself as lost as possible as fast as
possible. He ran through the first tunnel he saw and eventually made it
out of the cave. After a long series of twists and turns that would
actually get the world's best navigator lost, he finally stopped to take
a rest.
"Lost 'em. I hope I don't see those guys again as long as I live,"
he panted as he dropped to his knees in near exhaustion. He took a
moment to get his bearings and discovered that he was somewhere in a
forest. He nearly jumped out of his skin, though, when he heard
clapping and a sinister laugh following it. Ryoga quickly turned
towards the sound. "Who's there?"
The figure stepped into view. He was tall with closely cropped
brown hair and an diamond earring. The man was wearing an odd set of
black, loose clothing with a cape. He was instantly recognized as the
one who called the attack before. "I congratulate you on beating those
two morons back in the cave, I didn't think you could do it. I am
Akira, but you may refer to me as your executioner. You set us back
three full months with that entrance of yours and the only suitable
punishment for that is death! Prepare to die!!!" Leaving all else
unsaid, Akira charged.
Ryoga quickly realized that this was going to be a different fight
than the one before. While the first two were merely brawlers, this one
was a martial artist. And a very good one at that. Ryoga had to use
every bit of his strength and endurance just to stay alive during the
fight. Akira was giving him no breaks during his furious onslaught.
His speed nearly matched Ranma's and his strength close to Ryoga's.
This made a deadly combination, which was the point of its use.
Ryoga managed to get some solid hits in early in the fight. A few
hard punches to the chest broke a few ribs. This had no visible effect
on Akira, however. He kept his attack at the same deadly pace as
before. "You're not bad, warrior. You could make an excellent member
of our team. How about this, you agree to join me and I will let you
live. Fair deal if you ask me." Akira seemed to have a conversational
tone in his voice despite the furious attack he was making.
"Why would I wanna do that?!! I would rather die than join up with
you!" Ryoga yelled back, wavering. It was clear that he had nothing
left but kept up the fight, just like Ranma would do. The irony of that
thought was not lost on Ryoga, the man he had wanted to beat for so long
was now the man he wanted to copy.
"Then so be it." Ryoga never saw it coming. One moment, his enemy
was a few feet away. The next, he was being held by his throat and felt
the hand holding him slowly squeezing the life out of him. Ryoga
quickly fell into the depths of despair. Lows he never dreamed of
cascaded around him. Never had he felt this way, not when Akane said
she hated him, not when Lime was holding him in the same manner, and not
when he thought Akane had been killed by the Phoenix Tribe. He knew what
was going on then, now though, he felt he was about to die for nothing.
That somehow made the difference.
"If I'm gonna die, I'm taking you with me. Shishi Hokoudan!!!"
Ryoga, due to the depths of despair he was in, created a third level to
his ki attack. The pillar of energy created by the blast could not
contain all of the pent up emotion. A circular shock wave blasting
outwards was created as well. The more-than-perfect Shishi Hokoudan
caught Akira completely off guard. The updraft of the pillar first
caught him under the chin and knocked him backwards, releasing Ryoga.
Next came the shock wave that flung him like a rag doll into a clump of
trees nearby, turning them into toothpicks. The returning column,
growing in size while falling, was the third blow, flattening everything
within a 20 foot radius, creating a large crater.
Ryoga came back to his senses a short while later, completely
drained. A quick look at his enemy showed him to be in very bad shape.
Most people would have been killed or severely crippled but this guy was
visibly healing. You could see the bones resetting themselves as Akira
put himself back together. Ryoga decided he didn't want to wait and see
what would happen to him when he came around. He ran as fast as his
battered body would take him in whatever direction his senses told him.
After nearly an hour of running, Ryoga saw a young man sweeping some
stairs that led to a shrine. The young man stopped what he was doing
when he saw Ryoga staggering up towards him. Running up to him, the
young man yelled for his grandfather to get some help. The last thing
Ryoga saw before he lost consciousness was an old man and a young girl
running towards them.
Author's remarks:
So, what do you think? Wanna know who those people in the cave were
and
what they were doing? Who's this boss person and when will he wake up?
I guess
you will have to wait and see.
Many thanks to my prereaders you've helped out a lot here.
--
Tomorrow sees undone, what happens not today. Indecision brings delays,
days lost lamenting lost days -Ryoga Hibiki
Email me at LightHawk@nc.rr.com
or
visit my web site at http://www.geocities.com/LightHawk19/Index.html