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The characters of the Ranma � 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.
^�The Green Lantern^�, copyright ALL-AMERICAN COMICS
# 16 (July 1940)
(Note: Green Lantern #16 provided the inspiration for this story.
However only the colour green remains.)
WARNING: This story contains scenes that some readers may
find sexually suggestive and/or violent.
Extended author notes will be added at the end of
of Chapter one and again at the end of the final chapter.
*******************************************************
Bedlam Fire
Chapter 5 part b
******************************************************
Akane staggered to the gaping hole in the wall,
stumbling a little over bits of broken masonry and ceiling tile.
Head pounding she peered blearily through the hole, looking
for ----A piercing shriek, the tortured sound of a familiar voice
made strange and terrible by fear and pain, brought the green
fire that had been bubbling just below the surface roaring into
life. The torrent of emerald flames blew away the pain and
confusion of her injuries, leaving her as cool and focused as a
falcon sighting it's prey.
******************************************************
"NO!" The heartfelt denial erupted from Shan Pu's lips
as she watched the life being crushed from Ranma's body. "Mu
Si! Kill Tarou! Kill him now!"
Instantly the hidden-weapons master moved, propelled
by the impossible to deny order of an Amazon warrior and a
woman in love. Fast as he was, Shan Pu was several steps
ahead of him, reaching for her swords, when a thunderbolt
streaked across the grounds, smashing Tarou like the hammer of
god. The air left the giant's lungs with an explosive grunt and
his hands opened reflexively, releasing his quarry. The air
shimmered as Ranma's unconscious body was wrapped in a
blanket of green fire and tenderly set to one side. Shan Pu
watched, mesmerized, while the thunderbolt resolved itself into
a rather battered looking schoolgirl, wreathed in green flame.
"Jian Yao Guai!"
Jade daemon? Shan Pu jerked in shock. What daemon,
she thought, looking wildly around. Turning toward her great-
grandmother she received an even greater shock. Ke Lun stood
beside her, glaring at the apparition with such naked hatred that
Shan Pu took an involuntary step backward in fear.
"Jian Yao Guai means death," Ke Lun hissed, her face
twisted in a grimace of fear and loathing.
******************************************************
Tarou rumbled angrily deep in his chest. All he wanted
to do was hurt the old bastard a lot, then kill him. But he kept
getting interrupted; first by the sissy-boy, now his little dyke-
bitch was butting in. Enough was enough. If they were going to
side with the old pervert they would just have to take what was
coming to them.
Suiting thought to deed Tarou whipped his tentacles
toward Akane, like a giant flail. Each, as big around as a man's
thigh at the tip, slammed into Akane's slight body with the force
of a battering ram. Hundreds of suckers, the smallest twice the
size of her hand and ringed with concentric circles of serrated
teeth, reached hungrily to strip the flesh from her bones. Then
crack the bones and suck the marrow.
Unexpectedly, emerald fire flashed and the thick ropes
of muscle and barbed suckers spasmed as if he'd grabbed a
power line. Howling in pain Tarou grabbed for her again, and
again failed as his eight arms slammed into shield of fire, as
hard and slick as polished steel that allowed no purchase. The
shield expanded suddenly, throwing Tarou back a dozen
meters.
Rage burned in her blood, hot and sweet like poisoned
honey. Akane slid forward, aware as she had never been in her
life of every blade of grass, the singing of insects in the trees,
the heady perfume of sweat, blood and pain that filled the air.
Seemingly unaware of the danger, she moved inside Tarou's
defenses and slammed a hard left-right combination into a tree-
trunk sized thigh. The giant grunted in annoyance and swatted at
the girl, as if she were a pesky fly. But like a fly she wasn't
there and the blow was wasted on empty air.
Frowning hugely Tarou lumbered forward, intending to
smash this annoyance before getting on with his real business.
Akane danced aside from his charge but Tarou, moving faster
than should have been possible with his great bulk, followed
her move for move, backing her into a corner of the hospital
buildings. Once he had her pinned he'd finish her, then sissy-
boy. _Then_ he'd play with the old bastard for a little bit.
Although it might be fun to take him back to China. See how
long he could make the old freak last.
_Finally_ he had her pinned, surrounded by concrete
and steel on both sides; the only way out was through him.
Grinning, he bared his fangs and waited for Akane's next move.
"N . . .not bad," Akane panted, wiping the sweat from
her eyes. "for a pervert named after women's underwear." She
grinned nastily, making a rude gesture that simultaneously cast
doubt on his parentage and sexual orientation. "Paaantieeee
pervert," she lilted, mockingly, "little paantie boy. Better run
back home to your mama, OH!"she covered her mouth in mock
regret. "I'm sorry. You don't _have_ a mama, do you? She died
of disappointment . . .didn't she?"
Something about that nasty mocking tone twisted Tarou
deep inside, bringing to life fears and humiliations he'd buried
for years. He couldn't see the faint tendrils of green fire
streaming from Akane's body to enter him like maggots eating
into a corpse. Worms of green fire that ripped the scabs off
badly healed wounds of the heart, wounds that had festered
since he was a little boy. With a roar that shattered glass and
shook tiles from rooftops a kilometer away Tarou thundered
toward the girl who had suddenly become the personification
of everyone who had ever tormented, teased or bullied the
outcast orphan.
Akane stood motionless as Tarou charged; then like a
serpent, lashed out, drawing blood from Tarou's side.
Blindingly fast Tarou struck back, smashing a wall to rubble
but leaving Akane unharmed as she pivoted aside.
"Too slow panty-boy," Akane ducked under the cluster
of madly lashing tentacles and danced into the open. "Come and
get me," she called over her shoulder, slapping her buttocks
insultingly. Forgetting everything but his need to crush her
Tarou lowered his head and charged, like a mad animal, insane
with blood lust.
******************************************************
"Get up. Get up!"
"Jus' fiv' more min'ts," Ranma mumbled peevishly,
batting away the shaking hand.
"Dammit Ranma," a waspish voice snapped, "get your
lazy butt UP!"
Ranma mumbled something unintelligible, then shrieked
as ice-water was dashed in her face.
"Waaaa!" Ranma shot straight up off the ground. "Who-
----wha' . . .Nabiki?"
"Nabiki." The middle Tendou daughter confirmed
sarcastically. "You don't have time to sleep. We've got big
problems."
"Tarou!" Ranma lurched to her feet, biting back a groan
as abused body protested. "Dammit I've got to stop him."
"Tarou's not the only problem." Nabiki pointed over
Ranma's shoulder.
Ranma followed Nabiki's pointing finger to see Tarou
wheeling and soaring through the air in a mad bloody scramble
with-----
"akane?" Ranma's mouth fell open in shock.
"It's all over the news," Nabiki pointed to a gathering
of television camera's as she wiped the sweat off her brow.
She _hated_ to run. It implied she wasn't in control of the
situation. Plus, it was too much like manual labor. She was
strictly the administrative type.
"She's . . . green?" Ranma watched wide-eyed as
Akane darted in and around Tarou, like a sparrow fighting an
eagle. "Why is she green?"
"That's what _I_ want to know!" Nabiki grabbed the
petite red-head by the collar and shook her like a rag doll.
"What did you _do_!?"
"ME!?" Ranma jerked away, shaking her head
violently. "I didn't do nuthin'. It ain't my fault." Grabbing a
tattered end of her shirt she ripped off a long strip and pulled it
tight around her waist. Grimacing at the pain he kept telling
himself it could be worse----It _should_ be worse he thought
suddenly, frowning as he tested himself, twisting gingerly at the
waist. He'd broken ribs before and this didn't hurt nearly
enough.
"My sister was never green until _you_ showed up."
Nabiki countered with implacable logic.
"I didn't _do_ nuthin'!" Ranma protested automatically,
momentarily distracted from wondering about his rib.
"Well, you'd better do _something_ about it," Ranma
started to protest the unreasonable order, "or figure out how to
explain it to daddy." Nabiki finished triumphantly.
"Ahhh geeez," Ranma deflated at the thought of having
to face his probable-future-father-in-law and explain to Souun
that his baby girl was green. And flying. Flying? Uh oh.
Ranma's head snapped back around in time to see Akane slam
into Tarou's mid-section, somewhat like a pebble thrown at a
mountain. Only in this case it was the mountain that bounced
back.
******************************************************
The air left Tarou's lungs with an explosive whoosh, as
what felt like an iron battering ram hit him. Shaking his head he
moved away from Akane with a massive down-sweep of his
wings, watching his tiny foe warily. Something wasn't right. It
wasn't possible for her to have this much power. A hard left-
right combination just under his heart staggered him, and
conclusively demonstrated that it _was_ possible. Even if he
couldn't understand it. But then, he didn't need to understand.
He only needed to get his hands on her.
She was strong. And fast. But he was the better fighter.
He could tell from watching her move. She'd been "training" to
fight while he'd been fighting to live. Every hour of every day.
Fighting for respect. Fighting for food. For a place to live.
Fighting. It wasn't possible for him to lose to such a person.
Gathering his ch'i he focused it internally, concentrating all his
energy for one massive attack.
******************************************************
"Great-grandmother, what is it?" Shan Pu was torn
between concern over Ke Lun and keeping an eye on the
amazing fight taking place overhead. She'd never seen a fight
like this before and was already playing with different rhymes
and meter. The classical style, like that of Tai Shu-lun, was
always popular. But an epic fight-----she winced as Tarou
caught Akane off guard and slammed her against a wall with a
glancing blow from a tree-trunk sized arm----was probably
better suited to a more martial story-form; something similar to
the Tibetan "Warrior Song of King Gesar" might be best. She
was sure to win first prize at the mid-year-festival poetry
reading. Assuming she could get her idiot husband back to
China by then.
Akane rebounded from the wall and smashed Tarou's
nose in a spray of blood. She shook off a massive hammer-
hand blow to the chest and replied with a flurry of short, sharp
spear-hand strikes to the vulnerable nerve complex under
Tarou's left arm. The great beast bellowed in rage and Shan Pu
licked suddenly dry lips, a pleasant warmth filling her belly as
she watched Akane's lips pull back from her teeth, in a snarl of
rage, as she bored in for another attack.
She always got hungry watching a fight. Some
fermented mares milk and black tea with toasted barley would
be perfect right about now, she thought. A harsh sound from the
old woman beside her jerked her out of her pleasant revere.
"Great-grandmother, what is wrong?" Shan Pu had
never seen the ancient Amazon like this before. If she didn't
know better she would think Ke Lun was afraid.
******************************************************
"Dammit! Would you quit gawking and get my sister
away from that maniac before----" Nabiki gave an angry squeak
as Ranma silenced her with an outstretched hand, not taking his
eyes from the fight.
"Something's wrong."
"Of course something's wrong, you idiot," she hissed,
"my baby sister is about to get killed by a psycho-monster!"
"No, she's not."
Nabiki looked stunned. "Are you crazy! Of course
she----"
"Shut up," Ranma said absently, watching Akane and
Tarou through narrowed eyes. At first he _had_ been afraid
Akane was going to get hurt. Then he'd been afraid she'd gotten
mixed up with something crazy like the super-soba or the
battle-dougi again. Now . . .he was just afraid. Nabiki didn't
understand ----a shudder ran up his spine as he watched the two
figures collide and separate in a spray of blood ----she couldn't
see that Akane was just playing with Tarou. She was taking
hits. But she was relishing the pain. Almost as much as she was
enjoying slicing Tarou apart bit-by-bit. Tarou was hurting and
she was enjoying it too much to end it.
******************************************************
Akane wasn't enjoying herself at all. Tarou hung in the
air in front of her, maintaining a constant distance with the slow
rhythmic beat of his wings. His eyes were dimmed slightly by
pain and fatigue. But not fear. Looking deeply, with senses
beyond sight, Akane could see rage that burned, like a bright
constant star, at his center. She could taste the twisted sour
dreams that haunted his nights and smell the rumbling growl of
his ch'i as it shivered through his veins. And it was good, the
hot sweet rage, the cold, focused, will of steel. But without a
leavening of fear, unless there was a vein of terror, of horror,
it was . . .unsatisfying and left her with a hollow gnawing
feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was all very frustrating, like
giving a starving woman a picture of a feast.
Tarou never even saw her move. It wasn't lack of skill.
He would have had better luck trying to step aside from a
lightning bolt. He stared stupidly at the ragged stump of his left
arm, then fell from the sky in a pink spray as a bar of pure force
smashed his opposite wing with an awful crack, like some
terrible giant snapping the wing off a roasted chicken. Even in
his agony, his scream was of frustrated rage at not being able to
close with his enemy.
The ground shook when Tarou's great bulk hit the
ground and a geyser of dirt hid the scene for a few moments.
When the dust cleared Tarou had gained his feet, and a pair of
wildly lashing tentacles ripped a power line from a pole in a
shower of sparks. Quickly they formed a loop and tied off the
raw end of his arm, slowing the red arterial fountain to a
trickle. Baring his teeth he ripped a street-light from the
ground, whirling it one handed like a giant spear. Tarou
Pantyhose wasn't out of a fight until he was dead. And maybe
not even then.
Akane was bored. Not even a _little_ terror. If he
wasn't going to give her what she wanted she'd just have to
take what she could get. And then look elsewhere----
Tarou staggered, dropping his improvised weapon from
suddenly nerveless hands as emerald fingers reached across the
distance and, impossibly, began to rip his soul from his body.
Like a thousand tiny knives they were gutting him like a chicken
and, finally, Tarou cried out in fear.
"STOP!"
Her gaze never wavered from the huge bulk of Tarou,
convulsing and moaning like a gut-shot dog.
"Akane-----for God's sake stop. You're killing him!"
Ranma grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her
around, dragging her gaze from Tarou. The familiar face,
framed by a cap of midnight hair, was twisted in a rictus of hate
and hunger that made her unrecognizable and her soft dark eyes
were now cold emerald fires. He stood, immobilized by
horror. An instant later he was flung through the air, tumbling
like a leaf in a storm, to end with a thud against the trunk of a
tree.
"Kill her. Kill Jian Yao Guai!"
Dazedly Ranma fumbled to his feet, already battered
body creaking and groaning like some withered ancient.
"Kill?----great grandmother! We can't kill Akane!"
Ranma's Chinese wasn't very good. He had picked up a
few words in recent months, in self defense. Just to keep a step
ahead of the Chinese Amazon's. Enough, at least, to get the gist
of what Ke Lun was screaming. Something about a Jade Devil.
He'd never heard the old bat sound so scared and he wished
his head would stop spinning so he could see her expression.
Ranma had taken one too many hits to the head in a very
short space of time because it took him another miserable
fraction of a second to process and understand the meaning of
the words. Jade Devil didn't make much sense but----
Kill? Kill . . .Akane!
"Oh _hell_ no!"
Ranma's hoarse denial went unnoticed by the wildly
arguing Amazons. They were speaking too fast for Ranma to
pick out even the few words he knew, but their body language
was international. Ke Lun and Shan Pu were standing face to
face, voices heated. Ke Lun thumped her staff on the ground
emphatically. Shan Pu shook her head, face unnaturally grim.
Poor Mu Si stood to one side, obviously wanting to support his
beloved Shan Pu but, equally obviously, in sympathy with Ke
Lun's demands.
"What the fuck do ya mean----'Kill Akane'!?"
Ke Lun jerked in surprise as Ranma wrenched her staff
from her hands. She'd been so engrossed in her argument she
hadn't sensed his approach. It was immediately obvious she
was completely unwilling to tolerate any interference as, fast
as thought, two bony fingers slammed into the nerve cluster just
under his heart, dropping him, paralyzed, to the ground.
"That is not Akane, boy," Ke Lun switched to Japanese
for his benefit, "not anymore."
"Great grandmother," Shan Pu followed Ke Lun's lead,
"we no can kill----"
"Stupid girl!"
Shan Pu's head rocked back from the force of Ke Lun's
back handed blow. She stared uncomprehendingly at the old
woman who had practically raised her.
"That is not Tendou Akane," Ke Lun forced Shan Pu
around to face Akane whose head was thrown back in ecstasy
as streamers of now visible green fire flowed between her and
the shrieking form of Tarou Pantyhose. "Do you understand?
That is not Akane. It's not even human!"
Shan Pu shuddered at the unnatural blood lust that
radiated from the face of the girl she thought she knew.
Ke Lun's hands dropped from her great-granddaughter's
shoulders and she turned to Mu Si.
"Kill it," she thrust her staff toward Akane, "Kill it
now." as Mu Si hesitated, torn by conflicting emotions, she
offered an incentive. "Kill it and I give you Shan Pu to wife."
"Truly?" Mu Si squeaked over Shan Pu indignant
protest.
"Kill her and I will perform the ceremony myself. I will
give you a place on the council," Mu Si's jaw dropped at this
unprecedented offer. "I will give you whatever you wish, only
kill it. Kill it now!" Ke Lun's voice was filled with
desperation. They needed to act _now_ while they still could.
And she knew she couldn't do it alone. At Mu Si's nod she
turned to her great granddaughter who firmed her lips mulishly.
She wouldn't help Ke Lun, but she wouldn't interfere either.
Turning stiffly away she went to help her husband, lying
unconscious on the ground.
"Now, boy," Ke Lun let a thick leaf shaped blade drop
from her sleeve and slide into her hand, "distract her. Keep her
occupied and I will do the rest."
Somewhat shakily Mu Si nodded. The customs and
laws of the Amazon nation were confusing and often
contradictory. But, like any predatory pack, outsiders,
especially fertile females or potent males were driven off or
killed, lest they pollute the gene pool. Only the strong could be
allowed to breed. So the young boy was prepared, in theory at
least, to kill an outsider female.
"Iron Blizzard!"
He followed this cry with a flurry of steel needles,
tipped with poison. Zig-zagging, low to the ground, he swirled
his robes in a complex counter pattern that confused the eye,
making it almost impossible for an enemy to tell where he was
or what direction he would move next. As Akane turned toward
him he flung, rapid fire, a series of base-ball sized spheres.
Instead of the traditional mix of ground stinging-nettles and
blow-fish toxin Mu Si had substituted modern flash-bang
concussion grenades. Just before the grenades struck the ground
in front of Akane Mu Si shielded his head, catching a brief
glance of Ke Lun coming up behind the distracted girl, knife
held low at her side for an upward thrust into the girls
unprotected spine.
There was a tremendous staccato explosion of light and
sound that left Mu Si stunned even through the protection of the
thick sleeves he'd used to shield his eyes and ears.
"That wasn't very nice."
Disbelieving Mu Si lowered his arms to see Tendou
Akane standing, apparently unharmed, with Ke Lun dangling
from one hand, blood trickling down the side of her wrinkled
face.
"crap." the expletive spilled involuntarily from his lips.
"Potty mouth." Akane opened her fist and Ke Lun
dropped in a heap to the ground.
Mu Si flushed in embarrassment, then paled as he
realized he had more important things to worry about. He
might not like the old mummy, but there was never any question
of where his duty lay.
He'd seen a warrior back home, crazy mad with drink
and anger, shrug off a dozen fighters and keep going with three
broken ribs and an arm so badly broken that bone pierced her
skin. It had taken another dozen warriors over an hour to take
her down.
Steel claws dropped from his sleeves and he moved
forward in a rush, like a charging panther. He was going to
have to get closer.
******************************************************
Shan Pu cradled Ranma's limp form in her arms,
watching the fight from behind some fallen masonry and
wondering if she hadn't made a mistake. It had all happened so
fast----one second Mu Si had distracted Akane while her great
grandmother came from behind, and Shan Pu was trying to
figure out how to explain Akane's murder to Ranma. The next--
--she gasped as hard thrown steel needles vanished with little
flashes on green fire. And when she could see again after the
flash-bangs detonated, Akane was standing, apparently
unharmed, a semi-conscious Ke Lun gripped in her fist. Mu Si
hesitated only a moment before charging, but his hooked chains,
impossibly, rebounded harmlessly from Akane. Almost faster
than the eye could follow she closed on the blind magician,
yanking his glasses from his head and crushing them in her
hand. With a laugh she stepped back, then as Mu Si fumbled
another pair on his face she snatched _those_ away, slapping
him insultingly across both cheeks as she did so.
"Forgive me, husband," Shan Pu arranged the still
paralyzed boy comfortably on the ground, "Mu Si is stupid, but
he is of the Amazons," She kissed Ranma softly on the
forehead. "and great grandmother needs me."
Reaching behind her back she slid a pair of Guai Taou
Dau from a cleverly hidden sheath. With a piercing war cry,
intended to distract Akane from Mu Si, the young Amazon
bounded over the rubble, the heavy ghost-head sabers cutting
the air with an evil hum.
******************************************************
Ranma's body came back to life with a burning pins-
and-needles rush that brought tears to his eyes.
"Damn that old ghoul." Groaning he flopped over on his
belly as he tried to push himself to his feet, feeling weak as a
new born kitt . . .shuddering as he almost scared himself, he
found the fear induced adrenalin rush cleared the last of the
effects of the Amazonian pressure point. Shaking his head to
clear the cobwebs he focused on the fight just in time to see
Shan Pu fly through the air to land in with a crash in a row of
shrubs. Behind her Mu Si was getting to his feet, blood pouring
down his face from a scalp wound. He couldn't see the old
ghoul anyplace.
"Akane . . ." His voice was a hoarse whisper. Limping
forward he tried again. "Akane." His voice was stronger this
time. "Ya beat 'em. Th . . .Tha's enough." She turned toward
him----
Ranma had seen a rabid bear ravage a village in the
mountains of China in the third year of his training journey.
Half a ton of insane fury that had lurched out of the dark,
moaning and shrieking like a dammed soul as it ripped men,
women and children to bloody shreds and doomed wounded
survivors to a hellish death. He and his father, and as many of
the villagers as survived the initial attack, had taken refuge in
the trees, and there they stayed for almost a week until soldiers
had come and killed the beast.
He'd never been as terrified in his life----until Akane
turned and he saw her face. For an instant he thought he'd made
a mistake. That this was someone, some _thing_, else. Not
Akane. Then he recognized the dress she'd been wearing, just
as a locomotive hit him in the belly and he went flying through
the air. He came down with a thump and only a lifetime of
training in how to fall kept him from breaking his arm, or his
neck.
"You see boy," he turned toward the harsh whisper to
see Ke Lun drag herself awkwardly to her feet. Her right arm
didn't seem to be working properly and there was a smear of
blood on her cheek. "That is no . . .not Akane." Groaning she
stumbled forward, determined to reenter the fight and Ranma
rushed to support her, ignoring the protests of his abused body.
"All right ya old ghoul, what's goin' on? What did you
do ta Akane?"
Ke Lun started to shudder, a sound like a dog choking
on a bone coming from someplace deep in her chest. She turned
to him with a grim smile, wiping a bloody froth from her lips,
and Ranma realized she was laughing. He also realized she
was badly hurt.
"What did I do?" she looked at him with pity in her old
eyes. "I have done nothing. And all I can tell you," she
forestalled the question she saw in his eyes, "is that a creature
from legend, destroyer of the Amazon nation, eater of souls," a
trembling hand pointed at Akane, returned to ripping the life
from Tarou, "has returned. And if we don't stop it, we are all
dead."
Ranma shook his head stubbornly. "I ain't gonna let ya
hurt Akane."
"Hurt . . .child," Ke Lun looked at him in amazement.
"how will you keep her from hurting _us_?"
"Somethin's wrong with her," Ranma massively
understated. "but we gotta help her. Ya gotta promise you'll
help fix whatever's happened to her."
"If you can keep her from killing us all, I will see what
I can do." Ke Lun turned Ranma to face Akane before
succumbing to a coughing fit.
Shan Pu was breathing in deep, heaving gasps, just
barely on her feet, Mu Si trying to guard her back. The blind
magician's robes were stained scarlet from blood that
blossomed from a thousands cuts that covered his body like a
garden of death.
Akane, momentarily bored with killing Tarou, darted
in, slamming a rapid left-right combination at Mu Si's belly,
doubling him over like a used newspaper. Shan Pu whirled like
a mountain cat, but for all her blazing speed, she might as well
have been an insect in amber. Insultingly Akane didn't even
pretend to counter, lazily leaning aside to let Shan Pu stumble
past as her blow hit empty air.
"You're boring me," Akane whispered in the Amazon's
ear. Grabbing her by the back of the neck she bent Shan Pu
backward across her hip. Trailing a finger down the vulnerable
line of her throat, Akane's fingers paused on the warmly
pulsing vein in her neck. "I don't want to play if it's not any
fun." Akane's breath tickled Shan Pu's ear and she whimpered
as an involuntary frisson of fear and excitement pulsed through
her body. Green fire crackled between the two girls as Akane
brushed her lips across the Amazon's cheek.
With a scream of rage Mu Si lurched off the ground,
driving an iron Buddha-Hand into the base of Akane's brain.
With a flash of green fire the heavy killing tool rebounded
without touching the Japanese schoolgirl. Ignoring Mu Si, as
one would the buzzing of a fly, Akane ran the edge of her thumb
across the helpless Amazon warriors chest, leaving a line of
blood as her skin parted under the supernaturally sharp nail.
Bending down, her tongue burned a trail of green fire as she
followed the line of blood. Shan Pu moaned as Akane teased
and tasted her flesh, lavishing special attention on her breast.
The sudden searing pain as Akane's teeth ripped the
sensitized flesh was all the more shocking for the contrast. As
intended. Shocked, Shan Pu lurched away from Akane, blood
running from her mutilated breast, bewildered and afraid,
unable to understand her own actions.
"Delicious." Akane licked her lips as she tasted the
other girls shock.
"Tha's enough!" A red-headed thunderbolt slammed,
gently, into Akane, scooping her out of the way of the injured
Amazon. "C'mon Akane," Ranma looked down at the girl in her
arms. "this ain't right. Ya gotta----"
Whatever Ranma thought Akane "gotta" remained
unsaid as the dark haired girl twisted in Ranma's grip and
flipped out of his arms. She landed lightly on the ground in
front of the surprised red-head. Her head tilted to one side, like
a curious bird as she considered the other girl for a moment.
"You are not afraid," she stated flatly, tasting Ranma's
emotions. Dismissing her for the moment she turned back to
tastier prey.
"NO!" The Amazon elder screamed a denial, shambling
forward to put herself between the demon and her great
granddaughter. "You can't have her!" Thrusting her staff
forward, it was hard to tell who was most surprised when the
gnarled Alder-wood struck home through Akane's shield of
green fire.
Well over two centuries of martial training honed the
old woman's reflexes to a preternatural quickness. Instantly she
struck again, what would have been a killing blow for any
normal person. It didn't kill, but it doubled Akane over and Ke
Lun struck again, smashing the young girl across the base of her
skull with enough force to shatter stone. It was just enough, and
Akane dropped to the ground unconscious, green fire flickering
and going out.
Panting heavily the old woman shambled forward, staff
raised for the killing blow.
"That's enough!"
Ke Lun froze, feeling the crackling energy of Ranma's
aura across the space separating them, cursing the dratted boy's
recuperative powers. A second longer and----she let her eyes
meet Ranma's, debating whether she could strike the fatal blow
faster than Ranma could move, reading in his eyes the answer.
Even so she would have tried, if she could be sure of the death
stroke before Ranma could intervene.
"All right boy," Sighing she lowered her staff and
carefully stepped away from the unconscious Akane. "We don't
want her to wake up until we can take precautions. You better
go get a doctor to give her a sedative." Sighing again at
Ranma's cold unwavering stare she moved painfully toward the
hospital entrance. "Or _I_ could go find someone," She smiled
sardonically to herself. It had been worth a try.
******************************************************
******************************************************
End Chapter 5 part b
Short Notes:
I'm installing a brand new 45 Gig Hard Drive.
The first time through with the controller card
the modem stopped working. :(
I've gotten the modem back
but not the controller card.
Chapters 1-5 are approximately 50%
of the total story. I hope this tides
everyone over in case I melt-down the
system.
If you e-mail and don't hear from
me it's because I've turned
my computer into a paper-weight.