Hey people. The first draft of this story needed a bit of work so I
rewrote it. Much thanks to Gary Kleppe for pointing out the error of my
ways. Hopefully I didn't add too many new ones with this version. The
first thing I did was add a lot of description to Ryoga's fight scenes,
I was sorely disappointed in how they turned out. I also added most of
what would have been chapter seven. They took place at the same time so
I wrote them in at the same time.
So this time I've added more story to the chapter and better description
of what was going on. Like I've said before, C&C would be most
appreciated.
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and I make no
claim or money in the writing of this fic.
Previous chapters are archived at:
http://www.geocities.com/LightHawk19/THOTW.html.
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"[Hey bro, you hungry? I was wonderin' if you wanted to try that
okonomiyaki place down the road. We haven't had any good okonomiyaki in
years.]" Zack said as he was reaching for his wallet. He was dressed
casually in a dark blue T-shirt, jean shorts, and sandals. It was
western but he didn't care, he grew up in the States anyway.
Jay, dressed similarly except he was wearing a dark green shirt,
thought about it for a moment before replying. "[Sure, why not? I was
gettin' a little hungry anyway. You wanna go to the one near the school
that always has a million students lining every day?]"
"[Yup, it can't be all that bad if that's the case. Let's go.]" The
two walked to Ucchan's, talking about their training at the Tendo Dojo.
Soun had gladly accepted Zack as a new student and Nabiki was generous
enough to charge only half price for it too. That had been a week ago
and they had only had two classes since.
************************************************************************
Meanwhile, underneath the mountains of Japan, Ryoga was tired, cranky,
and sore. He had been in his self-made tunnel for the better part of a
day and the constant barrage of rocks hitting him was beginning to wear
him down. Not only that, but 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 to Akari's place while I'm there." With that said,
he began tunneling upwards. Contrary to popular belief, he did know the
difference between up and down. It was every other direction that had
him confused.
Since Ryoga did not like to tunnel very deep, it was not long before he
felt a good push with a Shishi Hokoudan would get him in the clear.
Up at the surface, three figures could be seen preparing for a ceremony
of some sort. They were dressed in identical loose fitting black
outfits in was seemed to be a cross between army fatigues and ninja
garb. Two of them were busy working on a magic circle in the middle of
the wide open cavern while the third was sitting on a chair reading over
a scroll. The smaller of the two working on the circle seemed quite
agitated with having to do much of the work.
"You know Akira, you could get down here and help out, instead of
sitting on your ass and telling us what to do. This ain't the easiest
of jobs you've had me do, you know." By her voice, it was obvious the
person was female. it was also obvious she did not like doing most of
the work.
"Quiet Sachi," Akira replied, ignoring her scowl. "You and Ran are
almost done and it's impossible to make sure the damn thing's perfect
while working on it. So quit bitching and get back to work or I'll talk
to the boss after we wake him up."
Pacified, the girl actually began to work harder. Hard enough that she
almost missed the rumbling beneath them. Ran also noticed it. "What
the hell is that? Whatever it is, it's getting closer." A large man,
Ran possessed a deep, booming voice that could make itself clear in a
heavy metal concert. That rumbling and Ran's pronouncement caused Akira
to look up in time to see his circle explode violently and a blue bolt
of energy cut through.
************************************************************************
"Welcome to Uc...." Ukyo stopped in mid sentence when she saw who her
two new customers were. Likewise, Jay and Zack were standing at the
doorway staring back at Ukyo, blinking audibly. Zack was the first to
recover.
"Ukyo? Hey man! It's been ages! How are you doing, you devil?! What
have you been up to?!" The words came out in a flood of words as Zack
jumped over the grill to give his friend a crushing bear hug.
Jay was more calm but no less happy. "I knew you restaurant smelled
familiar when I walked by a week or so ago. You look well, I trust life
has been treating you more fairly than before."
Ranma, who had stopped by earlier for a quick bite, was looking at the
three of them, trying to figure out what was going on. "You three know
each other?"
Ukyo, now free from Zack's death grip, had regained her breath and
powers of speech. Zack had now stepped back and was looking with a
strange expression on his face. "You know Zack and Jay, Ranchan? Well,
how about this. I'll tell you about it over a few specials."
After changing the sign on her door to closed, Ukyo began to tell her
story while preparing the okonomiyaki.
************************************************************************
"Where on earth am I now?" muttered Ryoga as he climbed out of his
crater. Only after he finished dusting himself off did he notice three
very pissed off individuals staring at him with murder in their eyes.
"Umm, can you tell me how to get to the Unryuu farm? Oh, did I
interrupt something?"
"Oh, you can say that," replied the tallest one. He was shaking with
fury, more so than the other two. "Sachi, Ran, get him!"
"Quit calling me that!" yelled the girl as she charged Ryoga.
Ryoga simply side stepped the first strike, a clumsy hammer fist to the
skull from Ran. The second and third had to be blocked, however. A one
two three combination into Ran's chest and stomach sent him flying back
several feet.
Sachi, unnoticed as she circled around Ryoga, sent a hard wheel kick
into his Solar Plexus. All it did was divert Ryoga's attention to her.
'Damn, I can't fight a girl. I have to get her out of this,' he
thought as he blocked her punches and kicks. She soon stepped back to
let Ran go after him. Punch after punch kept Ryoga on the defensive,
something he was not used to, until one got through, a hard uppercut
into the gut. It was hard enough for Ryoga to emit a loud 'oof' and
cross his eyes as he doubled over.
Despite the pain, Ryoga took solace in the fact that these two were not
good martial artists. The girl showed signs of training but the guy was
merely a brawler, albeit a very good one. Catching an overconfident
Ran, Ryoga jumped up from his doubled over position and nailed him hard
with a strong uppercut to the chin. Following that up was an ax kick to
the shoulder, putting all of his strength into it as he did so. A
sickening crack was felt under his heel on contact, breaking and
dislocating the shoulder.
Ran simply flashed a toothy grin as he stepped back to work his magic.
Ryoga's eyes widened when he saw the shoulder visible reset itself back
into place, it was as if it was never hurt in the first place. And the
fight raged on.
************************************************************************
"So you guys met two years ago down in Okayama?" Ranma asked after
Ukyo finished her story.
"Well, two and a half actually," replied Jay after finishing off the
last of his meal. "So Ukyo, have you managed to track down 'HE WHO MUST
DIE THE TEN MOST PAINFUL DEATHS POSSIBLE FOR RUINING MY LIFE?' " Only
Ukyo noticed Ranma choke suddenly and grinned to herself.
"Yeah, I found him. Decided I wanted to make the jackass miserable by
marrying him." This only served to make Ranma choke harder, pounding on
his chest to get it out. Jay and Zack were surprised to say the least.
"But, but, you're a guy. You didn't strike me as...." He trailed off
after he noticed Zack's eyes light up.
"No, he's a girl. I thought I felt something strange when I gave her a
hug but I couldn't believe that was the case." He was confirmed when
Ukyo slowly nodded her head in agreement. Thus began Ukyo's second
story of the day, this one considerably longer.
************************************************************************
The fight was getting tough for Ryoga, that is if you considered the
beginning of the fight easy. Ran's healing abilities was not a one time
technique or fluke. Those two could not be hurt, while Ryoga's pain was
piling up. Seeing scrapes and cuts heal instantly on Sachi caused him
to put aside his reservations about hitting her. That did not mean he
liked it, though.
Seeing an opening, Ryoga sent a spinning hook kick to the girl's head,
knocking her down. This was a bad thing, he had always sent both her
and Ran flying with that kick.
"Getting tired, little man. We'd be more than happy to put you to your
eternal rest," taunted Ran as he drew back a fist for a finishing blow.
Ryoga looking into the man's face to spit out a retort when he really
looked into his eyes for the first time. They were as black as purest
of obsidian and a quick look to Sachi's proved the same for her. There
was no hint of any whiteness there, just black. This brought a whole
new factor into the fight for Ryoga, these guys were not even human.
It was times like this that he wished Ranma were with him, he would
know what to do. But thoughts of Akane and Akari flashed in his mind.
Thoughts of them thinking about him, wondering what became of him. Not
seeing him again. Depressing him.
Drawing into himself, he tapped the power cascading through him.
"Shishi Hokoudan!!!" It was the strongest one he had ever thrown
without being the full version. It caught both Ran and Sachi full on
and flung them into the cavern walls, knocking them unconscious. Having
taken no time to rest, he bolted. Finding the exit to the cave was
easy, there was only one exit. After leaving the cave he took every
twist and turn his sense of direction told him to make, getting himself
as lost as possible. As it turned out, when he finally stopped to rest,
his run would have gotten the world's best navigator hopelessly lost.
"Lost 'em. I hope I don't see them again for as long as I live," he
panted as he dropped to his knees. A quick look around showed him to be
in a forest somewhere. All quiet and peaceful. He nearly jumped out of
his skin when that peace was broken by a loud clapping and a sinister
laugh.
************************************************************************
"Wow." Zack said it all. Ukyo had finished her tale of herself,
Ranma, and their engagement.
"You know, now a whole lot of things make sense,' said Jay after a
moment's reflection. "Why you never wanted to go to the baths or the
hot springs with us. Why you always so angry with the world. I'm glad
that's over with now, you were always a nice person to be around and so
cheerful when you wanted to be. Maybe now things will look up from now
on." Jay knew about Ranma's engagement to Akane but didn't want to
cause any trouble by pointing that out.
A quick look at the clock said that it was nearly time for the evening
dinner rush. The four said their good byes and went their separate
ways, or stayed put in Ukyo's case.
************************************************************************
Ryoga, in the meantime, was trying to track down the source of the evil
laughter that was taunting him. He had had enough of it. "Who's
there? Show yourself, you coward!"
Having had enough fun, the person stepped out of the shadows into
view. Instantly recognized as the one who ordered the attack, Ryoga
took a closer look. Closely cropped brown hair and a diamond studded
earring were the only distinguishing features Akira had.
"I must congratulate you on your fine efforts in beating those two
morons in the cave. I honestly didn't think you had it in you. Your
clever escape was quite extraordinary too, it almost eluded me a few
times. My name is Akira, young warrior, but you can refer to me as your
executioner. Your entrance back there cost of three months of hard
work. For that you must die!" Leaving all else unsaid, Akira charged.
Only pure reflex saved Ryoga on that opening move. A ridge hand to the
throat was barely deflected, missing him by bare millimeters. Akira's
follow up combination found it's mark, however, hitting him on his arms,
legs and body. He was sent reeling backwards in noticeable pain.
'Damn, this guy's good. Even Ranma doesn't move that fast with such
power. It's gonna take everything I have just to stay in this fight.'
Merely thinking distracted Ryoga enough to be hit with a two punch combo
to the chest and a spinning side kick that sent him flying into some
trees, splintering them on landing.
Putting everything he had left into a suicide strike, Ryoga jumped
straight into Akira, catching him on his feet. A strong vertical kick
broke Akira's jaw, dazing him. He followed up the kick with a palm heel
strike to the sternum and a heel kick to the knee, breaking them both.
This led to the unfortunate position of being wide open in the back.
Akira took that opening, flooring him with a hammer fist.
Ryoga groggily pulled himself to his feet but not before Akira had
fully healed himself. "You're not bad, young warrior. You would make
an excellent member of our team. How about this, you agree to join us
and I will forget this whole mess ever happened. Do we have a deal?"
"Why would I want to do that?! I would rather die than join up with
the likes of you!" Ryoga yelled back, wavering on his feet. It was
clear, even to himself, that he had nothing left to give. But it was
also clear that he would not give an inch, just like Ranma would.
The irony of that last thought was not lost on Ryoga. The one man in
the world he would most like to beat, was now the man he most wanted to
be. Life could be most unfair, he thought.
"Then so be it." Ryoga never saw it coming. One instant, his enemy
was several yards away. The next, he was being held by the throat and
having the life slowly squeezed out of him.
Ryoga quickly fell into the depths of despair and hopelessness. Lows
he never knew existed cascaded around him. Never before had he ever
felt this way, not when Akane said she hated him, not when Lime had him
in the same position, and not when he thought Akane had been killed by
the Phoenix Tribe. He knew then what was going on, what he was fighting
for. Not now. Somehow, it made a world of difference.
Heavy ki radiating off him in waves, Ryoga wheezed the last word in.
"If I'm goin' to die, you're coming with me. Full Shishi Hokoudan."
Not knowing it at the time, and wouldn't realize it until later, Ryoga
created a third form of an already incredibly powerful technique. The
pillar of ki, standard with the full version, could not contain all of
the energy of Ryoga's despair. A ring was formed around him and shot
outwards, destroying everything in it's path.
The Perfect Shishi Hokoudan caught Akira completely off guard. He was
hit three times by it. The first was the updraft of the pillar,
catching him on the chin. The second was the shock wave, sending him
flying into a boulder and caused him to release his prey. The boulder
shattered on impact and him with it. The third and most powerful blow
came from the returning column of heavy ki, gathering strength on the
way down. The blast destroyed everything within a thirty foot radius,
creating a huge crater in the process, with Ryoga standing uneasily in
the middle of it.
Ryoga came to a short time later, completely drained and numb. He
found Akira's mangled body rebuilding itself several yards away. Most
people would have been killed or severely crippled but not this one.
Ryoga could hear the sickening sound of bones resetting and joints
popping back into place. He took that as his cue to run, and he did.
Ten minutes of hard running, with nothing more than adrenaline keeping
him going, found Ryoga at the base of some stairs leading to a shrine.
The last thing a collapsing Ryoga saw was a young man running up to him,
calling for help.
Author's notes:
After spending all my spare time yesterday, I came up with something
I am happy with. Again, thanks to Gary Kleppe for helping me out with
this chapter. Chapter 6 should be out by Christmas, hopefully. Ja
mata.
LightHawk
--
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