[FFML] [Crossover: R1/2 &TM]Comfort in the Eye of Chaos: Chapter Five

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Troy

***

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Comfort in the Eye of Chaos
By Troy Thomas

Ranma 1/2 and its characters are the creations and properties
of Rumiko Takahashi. Tenchi Muyo and its characters are the
creations and properties of Masaki Kajishima. Excepting
flames, if you have any comments or criticisms, feel free to
send them my way.

***

Pre-Chapter Notes:
Hi, if you've been following the story since its inception,
but haven't checked up on it, then I must give warning. I've
made important revisions to the earlier chapters. They're
small revisions, but they alter what shall come in this
chapter.

***

Chapter Five

"May Hem. You've worked very hard. This martial arts
tournament should be very fun." Amaya said, looking down at
Earth from a small spaceship. "And I guarantee, before you
raise any objection about this tournament being just for me,
that every participant has a trace of Jurain blood. Some more
than others."

"Humph. What does any of that matter? We're looking for
Yosho, not some fools who are the products of indiscrete
tourists." May Hem turned to Amaya. "You better not be
wasting time, Amaya. I would hate it if you were here only
here to have fun. And what I hate, the master hates."

Smirking, Amaya continued to watch the earth. "He doesn't
care about what I do, as long as I get results, and I'm
betting Yosho'll be at this tournament, watching."

"You are participating, I presume?" May Hem asked, wanting to
change the subject.

"Of course." Turning about, Amaya cocked her head slyly to
the side. "I thought you knew me, May Hem. When the blood of
Fury starts to flow, I am never too far away from him."

"You're only a mindless beast." May Hem replied, under her
breath. "Why bother to be poetic about yourself?" Starkly,
she turned about. "It doesn't matter if you're in the
tournament. Have your fun. Just remember, I'll be there
watching over you."

***

The early morning sun helped little to warm the earth.
However, Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome School of
Indiscriminate of Grappling, was outside, watching fish swim
aimlessly in the Tendo koi pond.

"Today is already incredible." he said. "I can't wait." He
turned to see his grandfather Katsuhito Masaki, watching him,
sipping from a teacup. "Good morning, Gramps."

"You're awake already? I am impressed, young Saotome."
Katsuhito warmly smiled, and then patted a spot beside him.
"Come and sit down." After his grandson complied, Katsuhito
leaned forward, and turned his gaze onto his grandson. "How
do you feel?"

"Nervous." Ranma leaned forward, his elbows resting on his
knees. "The tournament has me all excited and everything. I
can't wait."

"If you could wait, my boy, I would be surprised instead of
impressed." The priest sipped from his cup, and then said,
"If it helps you feel a bit more calm, I want to tell you, I
think you'll be alright today. You should be able to take the
tournament if you use that strong head of yours."

"I know." Ranma stood, and walked over to the koi pond. He
turned and looked at Katsuhito. "Thanks Gramps."

"You're welcome."

***

Sitting at the top of the stairs, Akane watched the
grandfather and grandson speak. Although she couldn't hear
them, she knew of what they spoke.

"Morning Akane." Akane's elder sister Nabiki looked over her
shoulder. "Oh my. Spying on our guests, Little Sister?"
Nabiki sat down, and watched Akane's reaction with a smirk.
"I'm only bugging you. Whatever it is you're going to say,
forget about it."

"Right." Akane slumped forward grabbing her knees, and began
to watch her feet. "Are you coming to the tournament?"

"Of course. Wouldn't miss it for the world." Nabiki leaned
back, resting on her elbows. "You seemed pretty subdued,
Akane. What's up?"

"I want to fight Ranma. I need to know who's better."

"So go fight him, you've never held back like this before."
For a moment she thought, and then she exclaimed, "Oh!" Her
eyes wide in disbelief, Nabiki watched her younger sister's
face with great interest. "Is there a problem?"

"I can't fight him right now because I can't forget about the
tournament." Sighing, Akane looked down the stairs to where
her eldest sister Kasumi was standing speaking with
Katsuhito. "But I need to know who's better, me or him. The
tournament isn't as important now."

"Oh. I can see how that can be a problem."

Turning around, Akane frowned at her sister, who had taken a
great interest in the wall. "There's no need to be sarcastic,
you know."

"Who? Me? Sarcastic?"

"Nabiki, Akane. Breakfast is ready." Kasumi called up to
them.

Nabiki stood and walked down the stairs. "Don't worry Akane,
I bet you and Ranma will be fighting before you know it."

***

The Tournament Director May Hem, standing in the middle of
one of several martial arts fighting rings, said to a large
crowd, which was sitting and surrounding all the field of
Furinkan High, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I bid you all welcome
to the first annual Nerima Martial Arts Mixed Tournament! We
have here, in this very city, forty-eight of the brightest
young stars from their respective schools, meaning both style
and scholastic, and their countries, here to compete for our
top prize, a hundred thousand yen scholarship, which will be
awarded to the Two top martial artists in the boys' and
girls' divisions!"

"Wow..." Ranma silently said. He was standing with the other
young martial artists, who were all gathered together behind
the tournament director. "I didn't read about that." He
smiled. "But I'm here anyway even though I didn't think about
any reward for winning it all!"

"Don't think you're going to be walking away from here as the
champion!" a boy growled.

Ranma looked at the speaker, and then his smile grew. "Ryouga
Hibiki? Long time no see!"

"Jerk." Ryouga replied, annoyed. "If you and I meet, I'm
going to kick your sorry ass!" He smirked. "But that's only
if you can even win your first match!"

"Of course. Just be sure not to get lost before then,
alright?" Ranma returned, his friendly smile never wavering.
"Because I don't think they'll extend the tournament just for
you, if you end up pulling another disappear act."

"Dork." Ryouga replied, before walking away. "I'm going to
wipe that smile off your face when we meet!" he growled.

In response, Ranma commented, "Maybe, but Ryouga, you're
heading towards the exit. Your spot is over there."

***

"And now, ladies and gentlemen..." crowed the tournament
director to all the crowd gathered around the ring. "We have
an excellent match between two outstanding young men."

Pointing to a pigtailed youth, who was smiling and waving at
a small group of people near the stage, May Hem happily said,
"Let us give a warm welcome to Ranma Saotome, who is a
student of..." her words were shouted out by the cheering of
a group of students, who were apparently from Ranma's school.

A second later, an aid handed a slip of paper to May Hem.
"Wow, ladies and gentlemen, it seems students who've
travelled from Ranma's school have given us this information.
Ranma's just recently turned sixteen years old. Let's
everyone wish him a happy belated birthday!"

Do to the crowd's support for his new year, the boy turned
red from embarrassment, but held his head high.

"Now, from here in local Nerima, we have Tatewaki Kuno..."

"Captain of the Furinkan High Kendo Team, and a Shooting Star
in the world of martial arts." Kuno said, finishing his own
introduction, having taken the microphone from May Hem.

"Give that back, young man!" May Hem ordered. Snatching away
the microphone, she turned to the crowd, and blissfully
declared, "Now we begin!"

***

Ranma stood facing Kuno, who held his bokken at his side.
Bowing once to the upperclassman, he turned to the referee,
who was explaining the rules, and bowed again.

After the ref finished, Ranma quickly moved backwards away
from a strike from Kuno's bokken.

"Hey, glad to see you're healed up, Upperclassman!" Ranma
said, smiling. "It would've been a shame if you'd been beaten
up too badly by my cousin yesterday to not be able to fight
today."

"Humph, do not believe he was victorious, Saotome. I know
from the valiant Doctor Tofu the fight ended in a draw." Kuno
kept steady in his front his bokken. "Know this, yesterday I
had not been prepared for his surprising skill, thus did not
bring forth all my technique."

"Nice to know. I don't fight wimps." Ranma smiled, and then
rushed forward swimming around the defence of Kuno's bokken
to punch the kendoist under the ribs. "But you ought to know,
Kuno, that I'm a lot better than Tenchi. That's why I'm up
here, and he's sitting down there watching." he said, turning
slightly to look down where his family was sitting.

Unfortunately, Ranma hadn't prepared for a counterattack, and
was almost caught guard by a swipe to his head, which instead
almost caught him on the side of his neck as he tried to
dodge the strike. 'The air currents?' he wondered, feeling
his neck, after kicking Kuno in the hip, which caused the
upperclassman to spin around and fall to the ring mat.

Kuno was standing in less than a second, and swept his weapon
at the base of his opponent, an attack his opponent avoided
by jumping.

Striking upwards, trying to catch Ranma with the point of his
bokken, Kuno was mildly surprised as he watched Ranma spread
apart his legs and in the process elude his attempted
impaling by grabbing the bokken and forcing himself higher in
the air.

When Ranma landed, he smirked at Kuno. However, before he
could say anything complimenting, Kuno charged forward, his
bokken sweeping towards his neck.

After falling backwards to avoid the blow, he landed on his
hands, and then let his back arch since he was still using
his feet to stand. Hastily, he kicked up, which caused his
body to erupt into the air into a back flip, so he could keep
Kuno at bay with the promise of many painful strikes should
Kuno aggressively approach him.

Landing, ignoring the crowd's gasps at the manoeuvre, Ranma
rushed forward to meet, in the ring's centre Kuno, who held
his bokken above his head.

Kuno swung towards Ranma's head, while Ranma, anticipating
Kuno's move, swept low with his leg, which forced the
kendoist to the mat again.

"Two falls, Kuno." Ranma said, breathing heavily.

Instead of responding verbally, Kuno defiantly stared at
Ranma. A moment later, he stood and left the ring.

"And our winner is Ranma Saotome, let us give him a big
hand." May Hem's voice called out to the crowd.

***

"My, I never expected this." Katsuhito said, looking at
Nodoka, who was happily snapping pictures of Ranma on the
stage. "Did you?"

"He's my Genma's son." Nodoka said, beaming with pride.

"Yes, yes. Katsuhito sat back, and then looked at Soun, whom
was himself smiling. "Akane is up next, isn't she?"

"Yes, it goes boy, girl until the second round, where it goes
the opposite way." Soun replied. "Third round, it's boy
first, and the forth round, it's girl first. Fifth round
concludes everything with both championship matches taking
place one after another with girl first, and then the day
concludes with a celebration."

Returning his attention to the stage, Katsuhito watched as
Akane stepped back from her opponent, whose name he hadn't
caught, since the girl hadn't yet said it just only having
taken the microphone away from the Tournament Director.

When the girl did say her name, Katsuhito leaned back. "Those
Kuno children really like to talk about themselves..." he
chuckled.

***

"Humph, damn those Kuno's!" May Hem fumed. She looked at her
aid, who looked sheepishly away at the match. "Where has
Kamen gone?" she demanded.

The aid pointed to the area where the fighters had gathered.

"Just great! Lord Kagato help me. I'm working with two
wildcards!" She grabbed her head, which was in pain. "They
had better not kill anyone!"

***

Her opponent was Kodachi Kuno. "It doesn't surprise me. She
acts like him." Akane said, quietly, reflecting on her first
impression of Tatewaki Kuno from the day prior.

"My poor brother, defeated in the first round." Kodachi said,
paying little attention to Akane instead looking at a black
rose, which she held tenderly in hand. "However, the young
gentleman who fought my brother and won must not be any
ordinary man..."

"Can we fight?" Akane asked.

The girl smiled, and looked at Akane from the corner of her
eye. "You wish to be defeated in such short time, young
lady?"

"Young lady? You don't even look any older than me!" Akane
replied. "And who says I'm going to lose to you?"

"I say you will lose." Kodachi replied, emphasising the words
I and say. "Of course, it would be better if I spoke with my
strength, since it can speak louder than I would dare."

Snapping a long red ribbon at Akane, which Akane hastily
sidestepped, Kodachi recalled it, and then spun above her
head intending to whip it out again.

However, before any such action could be taken, Akane rushed
forward, kicking Kodachi from behind after she danced past
the ribbon-girl.

Uncontrollably moving forward, Kodachi fell onto her hands,
and then flipped head over heels to avoid Akane's follow-up
sweep.

Landing, Kodachi instantly turned around and then lassoed a
leg of Akane with the ribbon, and tried to pull the leg out
from underneath the girl. Unfortunately, Akane suddenly
rushed forward loosening the red slender cloth so the slack
let her escape its clutches, and then kicked Kodachi in the
midsection causing Kodachi to fall onto her back.

After retaking her ribbon, Kodachi hopped from a lying
position back to a standing position.

Rushing Akane, Kodachi swept high with her hand, but her
ribbon descended low towards the other's feet.

Flipping over the double attack, Akane slammed her heel into
her opponent's shoulder as soon as she landed.

Shrugging off the last blow, Kodachi spun about, kicking high
where Akane's head was, and slammed the girl hard.

Stunned, Akane back-pedalled away from where she perceived
Kodachi was, but felt to her surprise, a ribbon entangle her
entire body.

Instead of moving, which would tighten the ribbon, Akane
allowed herself to be pulled forward knowing Kodachi had no
control over how she would be manipulated.

Landing on her feet, Akane leapt towards the other girl
headfirst, and knocked Kodachi back onto the ring mat.

Akane's opponent lay on the mat, her face a stunned
expression.

Before hitting the mat herself, Akane quickly managed to
untangle her arms and soften the landing. Standing, she
smiled.

***

"Brilliant, Akane!" Soun stood, excitedly clapping his hands.

"It was definitely a great victory, Soun." Katsuhito agreed.
"What to do now, you three?" he asked. "Should we visit the
kids before the second round begins?"

Looking to the two empty seats beside him, Soun asked, "Where
did Nabiki and Kasumi go?"

"With Noboyuki and Tenchi to get some food." Nodoka answered.

"Well, let's go see Ranma and Akane, and see how they're
doing." Katsuhito stood, and stepped past Nodoka, who a
second later, stood up too.

***

"Akane!" Nodoka's voice called out, catching the girl off-
guard.

"Auntie Nodoka?" Akane asked, turning around to see Nodoka,
Soun, and Katsuhito smiling at her.

"That was wonderful!" Nodoka said, approaching the girl. "You
did well, and I'm certain you should do well in the next
match also."

"Thank you." Akane looked at her father. "What did you think?
Are you scared yet?"

"Heh, I was certainly astonished by the level of skill you
exhibited." Soun admitted.

"Did you guys see Ranma? Did he win his first match?"

"Yes. And he won with a flair I'd not seen before today."
Katsuhito replied. "We saw him before coming here. He's now
watching the other competitors."

It was an odd feeling, Katsuhito thought, looking around the
area. He felt as though he was being watched.

"Master Katsuhito?" Soun asked. "Is anything the matter? You
look worried..."

"I just realised where I am, Soun. I'm surrounded by healthy
young girls, and I've not been paying any attention."
Katsuhito replied, smiling. 'Who is it?' he wondered, trying
to spot someone spotting him.

"Anyway, I was just wondering when your next match is,
Akane." Nodoka said.

***

'The one speaking with the long haired girl...He's not
human.' Amaya thought. She closed her compact, which held a
mirror she had been using to spy on the elderly gentleman.

Smirking, she slowly walked past the girl and the gentleman
making her way over to the fighting rings. 'This may be the
man we're looking for.'

***

"We begin the second round with a battle between two
especially strong opponents." May Hem joyfully exclaimed for
the crowd to hear.

"Over here, we have the local high school martial arts ace,
Akane Tendo!" May Hem said, gesturing to Akane, to loud
cheers from the crowd.

"On the opposite side, we have a young lady named Ukyou
Koniji, who's requested that her home town and school remain
anonymous."

"Let us begin!"

Stepping away from the ring, allowing the ref to take control
of it, May Hem scanned the crowd for the elderly man Amaya
had told her about.

However, after finding him in the crowd, he suddenly turned
to look at her, with a smile that might have said, "I caught
you."

Abruptly turning away, May Hem walked to a spot where she
couldn't see him, and not be seen by him. 'Lord Kagato, we
may have finally found him, your obsession.' she thought
happily.

***

The weapon, the spatula crashed down through the mat, tearing
it deeply, where Akane had been standing.

Standing from a roll she had used to avoid the weapon, Akane
looked at her opponent, and then raised her hands up
defensively, inviting the girl, who was named Ukyou, to
attack.

The girl threw a mini-spatula at Akane, which was dodged when
Akane bent over backwards. However, Ukyou, suddenly in the
air above Akane, began to strike with a downward heel kick at
Akane's head.

Quickly blocking Ukyou's kick with her arm, Akane pushed
forward shoving Ukyou away.

Sneaking by a snap spatula counter attack from Ukyou, which
would've impaled her, Akane jabbed at Ukyou's face, catching
the girl under an eye, and followed up by laying into the
girl's chest with a granite-like fist.

Shaking off the attacks, Ukyou brought a knee up into Akane's
stomach, which forced Akane to double over.

Breathless, Akane rammed her head into Ukyou's stomach, and
then stood up straight. Taking a hold of Ukyou's clothing,
Akane fell backwards and flipped the girl over onto her back.

Standing, Akane immediately spun around to avoid a spatula
sweep by hopping away.

***

"Nabiki Tendo, I have finally found you." Tatewaki Kuno said,
standing beside Nabiki, who was sitting near the mat where
Akane was fighting.

Kuno looked at Akane, who ducked under a spatula swipe from
her opponent. "My, she has a fine tempered and determined
spirit."

"Kuno, you want something?" Nabiki asked.

"A chance to meet with her and set my heart free with my love
for her."

"Today?"

"Of course."

"I can't give you that." Nabiki replied. "Any chance for
setting free your undying love will need to wait a few days.
Ranma and his cousin Tenchi are moving into our place for a
little while. We're going to be very busy after Akane and
Ranma win the tournament."

"The two weasels have been given room in the home of virtuous
Akane?" Kuno asked, visibly upset.

"And their parents, and their grandfather too." Nabiki said,
pointing to Nodoka, Noboyuki, and Katsuhito.

Kuno looked at the three adults. "Inconceivable! How can two
vile serpents even have relatives?"

"The usual way, I suppose." Nabiki offered.

Tenchi approached Kuno from behind. "Excuse me." he said,
sliding past Kuno, who was screaming in rage at the sky.

Sitting down beside Kasumi, who was sitting beside Nabiki, he
looked at Kuno, and then Nabiki. "I hope he's not screaming
because of me..."

***

Falling towards Ukyou, who was crouching, Akane brought a
thundering kick down, which Ukyou dodged by rolling backwards
away.

It was a moment later, when the force of Akane's kick caved
the ring in, which forced Ukyou off-balance.

Stumbling towards Akane, Ukyou reactively brought her spatula
to block a sidekick from Akane. Unfortunately, for Ukyou,
Akane's foot caught the spatula's shaft, and broke the weapon
in half and continued flowing towards her chest knocking her
backwards onto the mat.

Akane smiled.

***

Katsuhito watched the Director of the tournament in the
middle of the ring introduce the next match.

"From a dangerous and mysterious land within ancient China,
we have the strong warrior Mousse, who is the Master of
Hidden Weapons." whispered May Hem to the crowd, motioning to
a young man with long hair.

"His opponent is Ranma Saotome, whom we've already met, and
I'm sure needs no introduction."

The Director gestured to both the warriors. "Who will
continue on to the third round? Who will return home empty
handed?" She shouted, jubilantly, "Let us find out!"

"A mysterious land in China..." Katsuhito looked at Soun.
"Have you ever heard of Jusenkyou?" he asked. "I believe the
boy Mousse is from about there."

"Jusenkyou? In his youth, Genma spoke to me once of a
dangerous training spot called Jusenkyou..." Soun replied.
"But he didn't say too much, since he didn't know very much."
Looking at Ranma's challenger, Soun asked, "How do you know
Mousse is from there?"

"I see an old friend from there, sitting at the ringside to
our right." Katsuhito replied, without moving his attention
away from the ring. "She's the one sitting by the young girl
who looks uninterested."

Soun looked to where Katsuhito said his friend was sitting.
"Goodness, who could live in a land, which no one knows
anything about?" he asked.

"Only the strong can live in a land with innumerable threats,
Soun." the priest replied. "Now lets watch. I'm sure Ranma
will have an interesting match."

***

"So, you're from China?" Ranma asked his opponent, squaring
up to face the young man. "I guess you'd have to be pretty
good to be invited to a tournament in another country." he
said. "It's a shame I'll be sending you back today."

"Humph, you're an arrogant fool." Mousse replied, glaring at
the ref.

"I'm over here." Ranma said, confused.

Mousse slipped on a pair of glasses, and redirected his glare
at Ranma. "I am Joketsuzoku, and the Master of Hidden
Weapons, Saotome. You will be defeated." He threw a hand out
towards Ranma, and a chain flew from out of his robe's long
sleeve towards Ranma's chest.

"What?" Ranma asked, leaping out of the chain's way. "What
was that?" he quietly asked himself.

"I am the Master of Hidden Weapons, Saotome. Don't act
surprised, because I told you my style." Mousse sneered,
recalling the chain. "Or are you full of hot air, with all
that talk about beating me in a fight."

"No..." Ranma replied standing up, before suddenly rushing
towards Mousse with a kick to the side, which was blocked,
with a kick from Mousse. "I was asking, what was that? Your
best shot?" he said, smiling at his foe.

"Die!" Mousse shouted.

Both martial artists dropped their legs at the same moment.

Ranma back flipped away from the spot he had standing, while
Mousse threw weapon after weapon after Ranma. Unfortunately,
every weapon missed its target, instead impacting with and
tearing up the ring mat.

***

"What technique!" Soun exclaimed, jumping from his seat to a
standing position.

"Pretty soon, they won't have a ring to fight in!" Katsuhito
commented, humorously.

***

It was a last minute adjustment to how he held his weight on
only his fingers that saved him from the kitchen sink, which
lay gouging the ring mat.

It seemed he was floating on his fingertips, as he pushed
himself away from the mat, barely avoiding a booming trumpet,
which crashed down through the mat just where he had been
standing seconds before, on his fingers.

In the air, he flipped, bringing his knees into his chest,
curling up to avoid flying over his head a spear tipped chain
whip.

'Damn! I can't run forever...I need to end this in one shot.'
Ranma thought, landing on his toes on the ring's side
opposite Mousse.

Sensing danger, Mousse quit with the weapons, and looked
straight at Ranma, preparing for Ranma's next attack.

'Damn it! He isn't supposed to quit with the overkill.' Ranma
thought, angered. He rushed forward, and then jumped into the
air seemingly with the intention of kicking Mousse on the
side of the head.

However, Mousse launched at Ranma five chains at once, of
which...He gasped in disbelief as Ranma swam through all five
chains.

A second later, Mousse crumpled to the mat, unconscious.

"I win, Mousse." Ranma said, peering over his shoulder at his
fallen foe, before leaving the ring.

***

"That's the way, Ranma!" Soun shouted, again hopping out of
his seat in joy.

Katsuhito, in a subdued reaction, secretly watched his old
friend shake her head in disbelief at the sight before her.
'Cologne, Cologne, Cologne, it's been too many years.' he
slowly thought. 'What are you doing now?'

***

After sneaking a look out of his eye's corner, Tenchi
mentally sighed. 'He's still there...'

Kuno sat beside Nabiki, his attention fixated on the ring.

"You seem worried, Tenchi." Nabiki commented, slyly smirking.
"Something bothering you?"

"No, it's nothing. Nothing at all..." Tenchi sullenly
replied.

***

"Ranma Saotome, you are a brilliant warrior, having defeated
with minimal effort three great warriors. However, where do
you think you're going?" a young man asked, walking over the
ruined ring to where Ranma had just exited. "We fight now."

Turning his head, Ranma looked at the man, who seemed a
couple years older than Ranma. "Who are you?"

"I have no name. If you need to call me anything, call me
Kamen." the man replied.

"Later." Ranma said, before turning around to walk to the
martial artist's section of the field. "It isn't our turn
yet."

A light flew overtop Ranma's head towards the other fighters.
The light flashed, and a moment later it disappeared only to
leave all the other fighters frozen in ice.

"What?"

"In life, there isn't any order, unless you're among the
strong." Kamen said, his voice stern, his pale red eyes
fierce. "Will you fight me? I will kill the other warriors if
you don't agree to do battle with me."

"What are you?" Ranma asked, disbelief his entire expression.
"How can you do such a thing?"

"I am strong, Ranma. I would kill, because I can."

A wind from the warmth surrounded Ranma, chasing away the
doubt. A wind from the cold rushed past Kamen, his pale blue
hair billowing in its breeze.

"Do I have a choice?" Ranma growled.

"Yes, because you are strong. How strong you are remains to
be seen though." Kamen flew towards Ranma, a deadly looking
blue aura surrounding his being. "If you lose, you will not
die alone. If you are fierce enough, Ranma, do not lose."

***

Katsuhito leapt from his seat. Looking about him, he saw he
wasn't alone.

Nodoka unsheathed a sword.

Soun unfurled a curse.

A light hovered above them. It flashed blinding them, and
perhaps the entire crowd that yet hadn't run, and when the
light left, there was nothing but ice.

Katsuhito had jumped the moment the light had flashed, but he
found his legs encased in the ice, which was everywhere about
the field. "No!" he screamed. Wildly, he looked towards his
grandson Ranma, who was defending himself against the
stranger. "Don't lose Ranma..." he quietly said, before
beginning a prayer.

***

"That damn fool!" May Hem screamed. "What the hell does he
think he's doing?" She wheeled about to face Amaya, who was
smirking. "What's so funny?"

"I wish I'd thought of this..." Amaya replied. She began to
fly towards the frozen warriors. "May Hem, wait here. I'm
going to have some fun."

"No you're not, Brute! I order you to stay here!" May Hem.

Amaya turned, and began to pout. "You didn't have to pull
rank, you know."

***

Was it an explosion behind him?

Ranma hadn't the time to check, instead breaking to the left
where there wasn't any fire.

There was somebody in the way though.

"Ranma! Get down!" she screamed.

Diving into a roll, avoiding a flare up of light where his
head was, Ranma grabbed the girl, and then jumped into the
air.

The girl cradled in his arms was Akane.

"Ranma, who is that guy?" she asked.

"Don't ask me. He just showed up, and froze everybody all at
once...The weirdo says he'll kill everyone if I don't fight
him!" Ranma grimaced. "I don't have a choice. I need to beat
him."

Suddenly, chains wrapped themselves around Ranma, and pulled
Akane and him down screaming into a tower of smoke, just as
an incredible beam of light passed in the air where they had
just been.

***

Katsuhito opened his eyes, and saw there was no ice for at
least five metres around him. He looked for Tenchi, and then
said, "Tenchi, help me get everyone you can away from here!"

"Grandfather? What happened?" Tenchi asked, shivering wet.

"We need to run away from here. Ranma's in trouble, but we
can't worry about him right now, because he's probably
worrying about us." Katsuhito looked to Nabiki. "Where'd that
Kuno boy go?"

"He ran off when those other martial artists got frozen."
Nabiki replied. She held her arms around herself, shaking
from a cold residue of the ice...spell. "What was that, all
of a sudden?" she asked, a little scared. "What freed us?"

"No time for explanations." Katsuhito ordered. "Let's go!"

***

"You? You're still alive?" a male voice shouted,
incredulously.

Ranma sat up, and looked at Mousse. "What, did you go and
think that I kicked the bucket? No way, if someone I can beat
with one arm behind my back can survive, so will I..."

"One arm? You arrogant son of a..." Mousse growled, lunging
forward at Ranma.

However, a well-timed staff pulled him back. "Mister Part-
Time, we do not have time for your...Move!" an elderly voice
commanded, before Mousse was shoved forward.

Everyone followed the flailing martial artist, and not one
second afterwards the ground underneath their preceding
position erupted into a flowering spray of rock and dirt.

"I am strong, but it seems I am imperfect. Although it is
logical for me to have missed people with the ice, I'm still
surprised." Kamen said, noticing the other people with Ranma.

Ranma turned around. "Are you done playing around?" he asked,
angered. "Is this some kind of damn game to you?"

"A game? I do not play." Kamen replied.

Akane stepped forward. "Then why threaten to hurt so many
people? If you don't get pleasure from this, why do it? It's
sick!"

Kamen narrowed his eyes.

Ice all around the group began to crack.

"Why do you not fight, Ranma?" Kamen asked.

The ice continued to crack, and the nerves of the other
martial artists too.

Gritting his teeth, Ranma little by little began to walk
towards Kamen. "If you hurt even one person..." he began to
lightly growl. "I'll kill you!" he screamed. His aura began
to grow a great bright blue, deep as the ocean depths.

Akane followed, and then walked beside Ranma, her aura a hot
red, the sun's intensity.

Mousse was on Ranma's other side. His aura was a lively
green, a valley field on a clear summer morning.

The ice stopped cracking, after Kamen almost seemed to smirk
when the three young artists confronted him. He crossed his
arms. "This is a test. I threaten life so you will fight to
know your strength."

Kamen stared at the three. "Do..." Ice cracked. "Not..." Was
it the world splitting apart? "Lose!"

***

Tatewaki Kuno touched the ice. "The ice, blue as the sky,
cold as the universe...Sister, where do you rest?" His
fingers trailed along the cold surface. His eyes looked at
all the people within, who looked surprised, and not scared
as he had earlier expected them.

"Sister, where do you rest?" Kuno stopped walking, having
seen what he wanted to find. Slowly, he rested his cheek
against the ice, where Kodachi Kuno stayed trapped, an
expression of fascination, which he presumed she had felt
over the light.

"She's not dead, you know..." someone said.

Kuno looked, and saw a young man despondently sitting on the
ground beside an umbrella, holding himself to keep warm so
near the cold ice.

"She looks peaceful enough..." Kuno replied. Time passed. It
was a long wait for it to go, perhaps the rotation of the
Earth itself had occurred. "Who are you?" he asked the young
man, who wore a bandana.

"Ryouga Hibiki."

The ice cracked.

In horror, Kuno watched a split run towards his sister's
face, her dear wonderful visage of enthralment.

There was a primal urge to scream no, a scream to touch the
hearts of the angels in Heaven would the ice dare break his
sister.

The ice stopped cracking, just before reaching, just before
taking.

Slowly, Kuno fell to his knees. He looked at Ryouga. "What is
this ice?" He answered his own question, "Misery."

"What is its source?" Kuno looked at Ryouga, who didn't know,
who couldn't lead him to his sister's salvation.

Would his answer be worse than the cracking ice? Could a man
live knowing there wasn't anything he could do? Ryouga looked
sadly on Kuno. "It's a man, but I don't know where he is..."

Slowly, Kuno reached towards the ice, and placed his hand on
the surface once more. No words could come. None would dare,
for what phrase could describe his moment of absolute
despair, a moment worse than the hells could inflict against
his soul, better than an ancient primal scream from the beast
within?

Would the angels listen?

Ryouga hung his head, and covered his ears.

End Chapter Five

***

Author's Notes:
Wow, what a cliffhanger! Even I want to see what happens
next.

Wow, I thought this chapter would be straightforward:
introduce important characters from Ranma 1/2, and Ranma and
Akane would win the tournament.

Kamen wandered into the story, and it suddenly wasn't so
clear...He's even more of a wild card than I imagined.

Shampoo's not been mentioned once in the whole chapter, but
she's around somewhere.

There's nothing else I need to hint at, so thanks for
reading.

Troy