Process of Elimination -- Chapter Fifteen -- Part One
Disclaimer: The primary colors in this story are from Takahashi, Viz
(Ranma 1/2), Pioneer (Tenchi Muyo!), and Kitty Films, Naoko Takeuchi
(Sailor Moon).
Additional tinting provided by: Takada Yuuzou, and Kodansha (3x3 Eyes),
Takada Yuuzou, and A.D.Vision (Bannou Bunka Nekomusume Nuku-Nuku), and
of course, Tatsuya Egawa (Goldenboy). The easel is mine. That's all.
Notes: Diverges from Ranma after volume 24, continuation for OAV 2 in the
Tenchi universe (well, one of them). Nuku Nuku is from the OAVs, not TV.
Sailor Moon occurs, well, at some point in the series, but it's
something of an alt anyway. 3x3 Eyes diverges before OAV2. This fic uses
the bizarrely vague 'Pick One!' scenario. Enjoy.
-----------------------------
"Yeah, well, I don't got much of a choice. I'd say it needs to be done,
so I'm going to do it. That's about all there is to it."
Attributed to Higurashi Ranma -- July 27, 1999 Old Terran calendar.
The first lights of the rising sun speared through a high window in the
lodge, illuminating the ceiling and far wall. At least two dozen Marines
lounged on their own cots, some sleeping, others merely staring at the
ceiling. Yakumo had slept poorly, and lay awake before the sun rose,
staring upwards blankly and disturbed by the dream.
The dream that was not his dream. But it was only a dream....
Sighing quietly, he sat up on his cot, grabbing his satchel from the foot
of his bed. A cursory inspection and inventory revealed a clean shirt, a
pair of pants with one knee torn out, and badly stained with blood, his
survival knife, the holster for the gun he had discarded, and three
grenades. He suspected that the grenades would be minimally effective
against the reavers, but wasn't about to discard any advantage immediately.
Tugging the clean shirt on over his tank top, he pocketed the grenades,
stuck the knife into the sheath on his belt, then discarded the satchel.
He stretched, muffling a yawn, then shouldered his kinetic displacement
rifle, nodding at one of the Marines lacing up his boots a short
distance away.
Stepping out into the light, he froze, watching Ryu and Ryouga standing
opposite one another before the lodge. Ryu sported a cloth bandage
around his chest, and Ryouga had finally removed the linen wrapping from
his arms, rolling his sleeves up. The two stared at one another
intently, Mousse leaning against another building with his arms crossed
over his chest as he watched the other boys.
"Ready?" he asked suddenly.
Ryu nodded, mirrored shortly by Ryouga.
"Go!" he cried.
The second that he cried out, Ryu and Ryouga surged towards one another,
Ryouga's solid strength allowing him to charge with the rushing power of
a freight train. Ryu, however, was faster, and led in with a strike to
Ryouga's sternum. A quick, experimental jab.
Ryouga took the blow, shrugging it off, and launched a footsweep at Ryu.
Not expecting to be rebuffed so easily, Ryu fell backwards to the foot
sweep, rolling onto his back as he struck the ground. Ryouga
backpedaled, but Ryu, already lying down, curled up his legs, launching
one towards Ryouga, catching the other boy's hip. Ryouga staggered,
spinning back, and Ryu somersaulted to his feet.
The two boys relaxed from their stances, both looking at one another with
appraising glances. "You're built like a rock," Ryu finally said. "I've
broken statues softer than you."
"You're not too bad yourself," Ryouga said, rubbing his hip and wincing.
"Let's try and tone it down a little, though. I'd like to still be able
to fight later today."
Ryu smirked, nodding. "Goes for you too, big guy -- I bet you could hit
hard enough to put a hole in a reaver."
Ryouga grinned widely. "We'll see."
"Ready?" Mousse asked from the sidelines.
Both nodded again.
"Go!"
Yakumo shook his head, as Ryu and Ryouga charged together again. Walking
around the combatants, he leant against the wall next to Mousse. "And
here I thought I knew martial arts," he commented quietly.
Mousse smirked, his eyes fixed firmly on the fighters. "We wanted to
spar, and we've been too busy to really do it on the ships, or on
the...." The boy swallowed, looking slightly ill. "Or on the busses."
"I guess so," Yakumo answered, watching the two fight. "That's pretty
rough sparring, if you ask me. I think it would break lesser men."
Snorting, Mousse shook his head. "I think that Ryu's just trying to
impress that girl," he confided. He glanced to one side, then brightened
immediately. "Stop!" he called out.
The two boys broke apart, glancing at Mousse in surprise. "What?" Ryu
asked. "Something wrong?"
"Not really," Mousse said, shaking his head. "But you were both in the
healer's hut yesterday, and had to be carried away from the fight. Give
yourselves a little breathing room, or you might end up getting hurt again."
"The reavers aren't going to hold back," Ryu complained. "We need to be
ready for that."
"Yeah, but if you hurt yourself sparring, then you won't be able to help
as much as if you're careful now," Mousse countered.
"Yeah, yeah," Ryu grumbled, sighing. "I got it." Turning to one side, he
nodded at a small group of observers that Yakumo hadn't seen approach.
"Hey, Mako-chan, you want to show me what you've learned since the last
time we sparred?"
The girl shook her head, crossing her arms beneath her chest. "No
fighting for you," she chastised. "I asked around, and you haven't even
eaten yet."
Ryu hung his head in defeat, sighing, and grabbed a shirt from a nearby
post. "Fine, fine," he grumbled. "I'll eat."
Makoto brightened instantly, as Ryu pulled his shirt on, and strode
towards her. The other girl near her was Minako, staring at Mousse, and
smiling brightly. Moving away from Makoto with slow, deliberate steps,
she announced, "You're okay! I was so worried that something happened to
you!"
Mousse shrugged, turning his head aside and staring away. "Ah, well, I
wouldn't let a little thing like a reaver get me," he stated
confidently. Losing some of his aloof demeanor, he turned to the girl as
she paused to lean against the wall and catch her breath. "Are you okay?
The healer said you would be fine, but... er... you didn't wake up until
after she sent me away."
"Sure!" Minako said cheerfully. "I was really tired, but now I feel like
a million does!"
Mousse stared blankly for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, then. We should
probably get something to eat -- we're heading out in about an hour."
The girl beamed a smile at Mousse, as he led the way. He walked slowly,
for her benefit, but after a few steps she tripped, and he had to lunge
to catch her. "Oops!" she said, giggling. "I guess I should have
listened when they told me not to get out of bed."
Mousse sighed, shaking his head. "Climb on my back," the boy suggested,
kneeling for her benefit. Beaming a smile, the girl did as he suggested,
shooting a knowing wink to Yakumo as he watched.
"So much for that," Ryouga mumbled, sighing.
"Something wrong?" Yakumo asked, bemused.
"Nothing," Ryouga said quietly. "Nothing important, anyway. I was just
hoping to spar a bit." He shrugged, offering a bemused smile to Yakumo.
"I was hoping Ranma would remember that he was supposed to spar with us,
but I don't even know where he is."
***
"I hate to sound like a whinny little kid," Yohito said, knuckling back a
yawn forcefully, "but... are we there yet?"
Genoh shook his head, smirking. "You know the answer as well as I do," he
answered across the viewscreen. "If you're tired, you should use the
link with your tree once we get across into normal space. We're going to
need everyone fully alert for the evacuation procedure."
"I understand... wait, we're nearly there. Saryu-oh says we've only got a
few seconds to go."
"You're right." Genoh looked puzzled, then shrugged. "I don't know that
we've ever ridden a current this fast," he confessed. Tapping a switch
on his console, he instructed, "All units, prepare to drop Light Hawk
Wings on my mark. Once we finish braking to half the fleet's current
speed, fold, and finish braking in-system."
Yohito forced himself to stand up straight; he'd never had to maintain a
Light Hawk Wing for so long, and the effort was immensely draining to him.
Genoh glanced at another connection, and whispered something that Yohito
couldn't hear before switching to general access. "Ginraii fleet, drop
sails in three. Two. One. Drop."
Yohito's Saryu-oh, in tandem with Vidarr and Freya-Oh, released their
Light Hawk Wings, allowing the outer edge of the massive subspace sail
to vanish. The three ships began to brake, as the main body of the fleet
surged forward, maintaining their sail for a single second longer,
resulting in the formation stretching. The ships at the periphery of the
fleet lagged behind, and those at the center began to dart ahead.
"Something wrong?" Yohito asked anxiously.
"No," Genoh answered, smiling softly. "The braking pattern distributes
the fleet so that we don't end up too close together in normal space.
It's smaller, so the distances between the ships will be far less."
"I understand," Genoh said, nodding.
"Good. With our speed, we should be folding in about... three minutes,"
Genoh answered. "Once we're through, it should be safe to tap your tree
if you need to stay awake."
"Okay," Yohito mumbled. "I was afraid that I would burn myself out if I
tried it here."
"Likely," Genoh answered, before falling silent, studying some control
panel or another. "Tatsuki-san, do you have any crew on your ship to
explain the situation to any refugees you evacuate? I'm not picking up
any life signals outside of your own."
"Sorry," he said, shaking his head apologetically. "I was in a rush."
"We'll see if we have anyone who can help you out, then," Genoh said,
grimacing. "Forces are going to be stretched tightly."
"I can pick up staff from anyone who survived the collapse of the orbital
platform," Yohito countered. "It's time to fold."
"Understood."
The crossing from subspace to realspace was faster, and far gentler than
Yohito had expected it to be. Within subspace itself, he was unable to
see the blue nimbus that surrounded his ship, until he crossed into
realspace, staggering momentarily at the adjustment. Saryu-oh reported
dozens of other ships folding in nearby, but Yohito ignored that,
tapping carefully into the power of the tree.
"No time for sleep," he said quietly. His eyes tracked the visual
monitors, as Saryu-oh gathered navigational data, and tried to
double-check their location. "Colony 0-315," he said in satisfaction.
Turning his attention to the link with Vidarr, he asked, "Can I try to
contact any surviving defense forces, Laruma-san?"
"Go for it," Genoh said absently, monitoring fleet movements. "Until we
get you a retrieval crew, consider yourself free to act within
reasonable limits."
"Understood," Yohito said, saluting, and then terminating the connection.
Rolling slightly, Saryu-oh broke away from the slowly forming fleet's
trajectory, barreling towards the Earth's moon. Opening a broader set of
communication channels, he said, "This is Tatsuki Yohito, provisional
assistant for Ginraii. Is there anyone out there?"
A response came a moment later, a communications screen coming active.
The young man in the Galaxy Police craft that answered looked a bit
haggard, as though he had just woken. "I'm hearing you, Tatsuki-san.
This is Oe Kintaro, Galaxy Police cadet. Before you do anything, be
advised that all ships need to stay within the moon's shadow whenever
possible."
Yohito blinked, frowning. "Why's that?" he asked.
Another screen popped up next to Kintaro's, a girl with bluish hair
peering at him curiously. "Ah!" she said. "Tatsuki-san! You're here--"
she cut herself off suddenly, increasing the channel's security rating.
"Sorry," she said apologetically. "You're here about your brother,
aren't you?"
"Yes," he said nodding hopefully. "I've come with about four hundred
Ginraii ships. Genoh is in charge of the operation, but we estimate the
retrieval capacity to be about eighty percent of everyone remaining on
Earth. Before we get to work, I'd like to know how my brother is."
"Kohito?" Kintaro asked, raising an eyebrow. "He's here, and he's okay,
but that information is classified. I was told I'd be allowed to tell
you, though."
"I'd like to speak with him later," Yohito said, sighing in relief. "For
now, however, I need to coordinate efforts with you on evacuation."
"Roger that," Kintaro said, shaking himself and seeming suddenly less
tired. "Okay, first off, the reavers destroyed the orbital platform.
Mizuno-san here developed a way to protect anyone in the moon's shadow...."
***
Waking with a start, Ranma rolled out of the perch he had slept in -- the
rafter of the guest room of Cologne's house -- and fell towards the
floor suddenly. Not in time to catch himself, and not wanting to damage
the floor, he allowed himself to pass through it, startling Nuku, who
was just waking up.
Halting himself some distance beneath the ground, he floated back
upwards, returning to the room. Nuku stared at him with wide eyes from
her pallet on the floor, blinking. "Ranma-papa-san?" she asked, cocking
her head to one side. "Is something wrong?"
"Just rolled out of bed," Ranma said, landing on the floor, and smiling
broadly. "Did you rest well?"
"Yes!" she exclaimed, hopping off of the floor and launching into another
of her exuberant hugs. "Nuku-Nuku dreamed of mice," she said quietly.
"And chasing them with Ran-oh-ki-niichan."
Ranma snorted, ruffling her hair. "Chasing mice, eh?" He glanced upward
as Ran-oh-ki hopped from the rafter to land on his shoulder. "You want
to chase mice, rat?"
The creature sniffed disdainfully, looking away.
"Guess not," he said, patting Ran-oh-ki. "Anyway, why don't you get
something to eat and find Washuu and Tsunami-chan, Atsuko? They might
need help getting ready, and we're moving out today. I need to find
Saffron and get all of the people he has fighting with us back here."
Nuku nodded, disengaging herself from Ranma, and turning her attention to
a small bag of clothing that Cologne had set aside for her. Ranma left
before she removed her shirt, closing the door behind him and
teleporting away.
The reception deck atop Phoenix Mountain was deserted when Ranma arrived,
though the majority of Saffron's people had gone through the Gate to
Australia the previous night. He glanced at the sun, not completely
clear of the distant mountain, and settled to the deck, trying to get
used to the dual gems in his wrists.
The pattern of blue on his bodysuit, beneath the red robes, was perfectly
mirrored, leaving a narrow band of jagged blackness between the two, and
the flow of power through them was far greater than he was used to, even
when he had used the temporary gem. "Anyone home?" he called out,
scratching at his left wrist for an absent moment.
His cry was answered shortly by Kiima, the Phoenix woman dressed in her
flowing white robes and holding a half-eaten roll in one hand. Emerging
from one of the small side-halls, she stared at him, frowning. "I am
here," she said after a moment of pause. "Most of the other warriors are
in the lower hall."
At Ranma's blank stare, she sighed, shaking her head. "It is within the
mountain," she offered. "If you wish to speak with Saffron, I would ask
that you wait. The ceremony he officiates is holy, and outsiders are not
welcome."
"As long as it doesn't take too long," he grumbled. "I was just checking
in. If he's busy I'll come back later."
"If you insist, but it is a few minutes' flight," Kiima warned. "If you
wait only half an hour, I'm sure that Saffron-sama will finish."
"That generally doesn't bother me very much," Ranma said, smirking. Kiima
opened her mouth to protest, but Ranma teleported away before she could
speak, arriving once more above Jusenkyou.
He spent a moment staring at the waters below, fingering the place on his
sash where his sword would hang, had he not left it with Nuku. He
sighed, shaking his head, and rose higher, scanning about visually.
The Joketsuzoku village was visible in the far distance, below and to the
northeast. Faint plumes of smoke drifted up from the buildings, apparent
to his augmented vision. Snorting, he spun, glancing south, towards
Phoenix Mountain. The flight would only take a few minutes, as Kiima had
said, but Ranma could return whenever he wished. Further west, nearly
blending into the landscape around it, Herb's palace sat, abandoned.
Shanghai was too far away for even his vision to reach, though
Ran-oh-ki's senses echoed about the planet to give him a vague
impression that the city remained untouched. Likely the reavers couldn't
approach due to the radiation.
Shaking his head, Ranma stared straight down, using Ran-oh-ki's senses to
search for reavers. The pools below, and the narrow fields above the
western face of the cursed training grounds. That would be the final
battleground as Norris and Cologne had decided. Leading away to the
southwest, a small valley led into a maze of stone spires and dead ends.
Leading directly west was the wide plain that they had traversed while
heading to Herb's palace. To the north was a thickly wooded strip of
land that eventually led to a monastery that Ranma and his father had
visited before heading to Jusenkyou.
Sighing, he rose higher, closing his eyes, as Ran-oh-ki's sensors picked
up a signal of an entirely different sort. "There's some good news," he
murmured, his gem echoing with faint traffic between the newly arrived
ships. On a sudden hunch, he teleported again, he and Ran-oh-ki
reappearing in the point directly between the Earth and the moon. The
moon itself carried little interest for him, but the Earth....
It seemed as blue as the day he had first seen it, save, much larger from
his current viewpoint. He smiled at it, shaking his head, and reminded
of Saffron's words. "You would rather destroy it than see it given over
to the reavers," he mused aloud. "Is that the right thing to do?"
Ran-oh-ki made an indecisive mewling noise, shaking his head sadly. "You
don't think it's right either, do you?" Ranma asked, not looking. "But
maybe he's right. If they live, Yosho says they'll spread. But maybe....
Maybe there's still a way to stop them. There has to be. And we're gonna
find it, right, rat? We'll just get everyone else safe, first."
Releasing a much happier, "Miyah!" the creature nodded.
"Heh. Well, whatever we got to do, we've got people to protect. Let's go
check in on everyone, eh?" He tapped his fingers against the gem at his
ear. "Washuu? Tsunami-chan? Are you there?"
"We're here," Washuu said, her voice surprised. "Atsuko's with us --
where are you?"
"Just overhead," Ranma said, grinning.
"Ranma... halfway to the moon is more than merely 'just overhead',"
Tsunami chastised him.
"How did you know?" he asked ruefully.
Tsunami giggled through the communicator before answering. "Shizu-oh told
me. Will you be joining us for breakfast, Ranma?"
"Yeah," he said, shaking his head, and teleporting to the source of her
communications.
He glanced around the front room of Cologne's cottage, drifting near the
door. Tsunami and Washuu turned to regard him, both smiling warmly,
though Nuku was absorbed in playing with a bowl of porridge. Nodding, he
asked, "How much time do we have?"
"Nearly half an hour, I think," Washuu said, frowning at him. "Cologne is
talking to her warriors, preparing them for the journey. What were you
doing in space?"
"Admiring the view," Ranma said, shrugging. "I'll get Saffron and his
people in a bit -- I've already scouted Jusenkyou out, and couldn't find
any traces of reavers there. Ran-oh-ki didn't detect the guide, so I
don't know where he is, but it's nowhere near the springs, wherever it is."
"Well, there's some time yet, Ranma. Come, sit with us and eat," Tsunami
said quietly, gesturing to a nearby seat.
***
Sword on his hip, Ranma appeared once more on the receiving platform for
the Phoenix People. Saffron stood there, half expectantly, and nodded
curtly as Ranma floated a half-meter over the cobbles. "Morning," the
boy said, nodding back to Saffron. "Everything ready?"
Saffron nodded again, running his fingers across the twin staves tucked
into his belt. "Indeed," he said quietly. "We are prepared. What is your
plan?"
"Cologne's plan, mostly," Ranma said, shrugging. "The Musk, Norris's men,
and Cologne's warriors are all going to walk towards Jusenkyou -- we
should get there at about sunset today. I'll be checking for reavers
along the path, and your people will stay above whenever you can, out of
range. Your warriors can use ki, right?"
"Of a certain, as you mentioned before. We will not hesitate to use it,
either. Regardless of that, the defilers would appear to be unaware of
my forces," Saffron explained. "We are in agreement, however, on the
best course of action. Your path will keep us close to Phoenix Mountain.
I will travel with you, myself, Ranma." The god turned his head, eyeing
the building that Ranma had seen Kiima emerge from previously. "Kiima!
Summon our warriors."
She strode from the entrance of the building, pausing long enough to
sketch a brief bow to Saffron, and leapt upward, winging her way over
the top of another building. Saffron made a thoughtful noise, watching
her depart. "Enough of that," he said dismissively. "My warriors will
serve as scouts in any areas that you cannot."
Ranma heard a shrill, piercing whistle, and dozens upon dozens of Phoenix
warriors burst from the mountainside, and from behind the few buildings
Ranma could see from his vantage. They rose upward, forming a massive
ring around the top of the mountain, bearing short swords, spears, and
nets. Saffron smiled at them, then turned his attention to Ranma. "Will
you fly with me, Ranma?"
Ranma raised an eyebrow, as Saffron launched himself upward, wings
shedding faint wisps of flame in his wake. "Sure," he said, shrugging,
and rising to Saffron's height. "Let's go."
***
Crouching atop the lodge that had been leant to the Musk, Herb stared at
the southern horizon. The sun had risen far enough that the eastern sky
was no longer a line of blazing fire, but it was still low enough that
the sunlight struck at a steep angle. Phoenix Mountain itself was half
lit, half in shadow. Herb's keen eyesight picked out a number of small
motes, slowly rising from the mountain, and angling towards the village.
"Excellent," he whispered. Raising his voice, he bellowed, "Lime! Mint!
Where are you?"
Mint bounced excitedly from the ground to land next to Herb, and happily
exclaimed, "I'm right here, Herb-sama! Lime's looking at the place where
all the girls are taking a bath, but I thought I'd wait in case you
needed anything. Do you need anything? Because if you don't, I'm going
to go look with Lime, and--"
"That's quite enough," Herb snapped, glowering at Mint. "We do not have
time for foolish games, and upsetting our allies is pointless. Assemble
the rest of the men, and have them waiting in the central courtyard. I
will fetch Lime myself."
Sighing, Mint leapt down from the roof, and scurried off to do as Herb
had ordered. "Idiots," Herb grumbled, marching towards the area he
believed to house the baths.
In short order he found them, high bamboo walls separating them from the
outside world. Listening carefully revealed no sounds. Nodding
judiciously, he leapt to the top of the wall, peering across the wide
stone basin.
The only being present was Lime, laying prone on the stone lip before the
water, his body covered with small blue and red flowers plucked from the
bushes that surrounded the baths. Shaking his head, Herb leapt again,
this time landing at Lime's side. He toed the boy's form experimentally,
noting a small lump on his head. "Wake up," he snapped.
Lime roused at Herb's voice, sitting up and dislodging the small flowers.
"Huh?" he asked, peering around in confusion.
"We do not have time for this," Herb warned angrily. "Now go to the
courtyard -- your brother is waiting for you there."
"Okay," Lime said, climbing to his feet and lumbering away.
Sighing, Herb leapt over the gate of the bath, landing before a small
party of approaching women, and backpedaling to avoid colliding with
them. He felt no need to apologize for the near miss, until he
recognized the girl that had strangely captivated him the prior day.
"Ah," he said quietly, shuffling his feet about nervously. "Hello, my
princess."
Rei blinked, surprised, and glanced about to her companions, all of them
female. Furrowing her brow slightly, she asked, "Prince Herb? What were
you doing in the women's baths?"
Herb looked over his shoulder, but Lime had vanished, apparently not
noticing the approaching girls. "Ah, now that would be a good question,"
he hedged. "But, ah, there are more pressing matters to attend to, I'm
sure. Don't allow me to keep you; Saffron and his people draw closer,
and we must leave soon."
The other girls nodded, trouping past Herb and into the baths. Rei
crossed her arms over her chest and asked, "Is that so?"
"What reason would I have to lie?" Herb asked, frowning. "Are our realms
not aligned, the Musk with your... Mars?"
Rei blushed faintly, and stifled a giggle. "Of course," she said, shaking
her head. "Then I guess I'll see you later?"
"I look forward to it," Herb said, nodding vigorously. "Now if you'll
excuse me, I must chastise my men for... er... trying to peek into the
bath."
Rei's eyebrows shot up at that, but Herb rushed away before she could
speak; he wasn't exactly certain what to say, or even why he felt so
awkward. "The relationship is entirely political," he muttered to
himself, his voice lacking conviction even to himself. "But, she is
strong, perhaps...." He shook his head to banish the thought, drawing
upon the courtyard, where his men stood in disorderly ranks, most of
them eyeing Lime and his collection of small flowers.
***
The courtyard, a few minutes later, was allowed to witness what Cologne
guessed would be the final gathering of warriors in her lifetime. She
didn't voice those opinions, instead marveling over the collected
defenders. The eastern quarter was lined with Norris's Marines, standing
in careful formation. To the west, the Musk, slowly shaping into some
semblance of order with Herb's angered instruction. The northern quarter
was lined with Amazon warriors, far more relaxed and casual than the
Marines, but attentive of Cologne as she stood atop the challenge log.
Lining the log on all sides, within the perimeter of the other assembled
groups, the original defenders of Tokyo stood in a ring. The girls who
Yosho insisted were from Jurai stood together, then Ryu, Ryouga, Mousse,
and Yakumo. After them, Yosho, Tsunami, Washuu, and Nuku. As Cologne
glanced upward, and to the south, the Phoenix people wheeled over the
village, slowly descending, then landing in disorganized clusters.
The spectacle was much more impressive in the broad light of day than it
had been the previous night, and these were all warriors, not the women,
children and craftsman that had been sent to safety. Landing next to the
challenge log, a wash of flame sweeping out in a ring from his point of
arrival, Saffron stood on the ashes of the previous night's bonfire.
Ranma descended with him, breaking away to drift in the narrow space
between Washuu and Tsunami, not actually ever touching the ground.
Behind him, under Saffron's watchful gaze, the Phoenix warriors lined up
into columns and rows, neatly ordered in ranks defined by the weapons
they bore.
Once they had settled into place, complete and total silence descended
over the area. Though Saffron's warriors were the largest contingent by
far, the god inclined his head to Cologne, deferring to her. Clearing
her throat, the woman tapped her staff loudly against the challenge log.
"Well," she said, turning slowly in a circle to see everyone. "This is
it, isn't it? I think it's something in the way of an achievement that
after all is said and done, we're the ones who have enough strength to
keep on fighting."
Nods greeted her assessment, and she smiled, sighing. "Warriors all,
brothers and sisters in arms. We fight together, simply enough, so that
we can hope to see another tomorrow. Lets all do our best, hmm?"
More nods greeted that, accompanied by a few exuberant shouts from the
Amazons. Cologne hushed her own warriors with a gesture. "This is not a
contest, or a game. No sparring match or duel for honor. This is a fight
for life." Clearing her throat, she added, "We've got a long way to move
this many people, and a lot of things can go wrong when we do it.
Norris's men will help, but they won't be able to fight the same way we
can. The Musk and our styles mesh well enough, but be mindful of your
allies. Norris, is there anything else you want to add?"
The man nodded, trotting to the challenge log, and scrambling atop it
after a moment of struggle. Clutching one of the support ropes, he
glanced around at the warriors, and explained, "If there's anyone who
thinks that they would be better off with a fusion rifle, we've got a
few surplus -- especially after the arms given to us by the, ah, Galaxy
Police." He frowned, scratching his head for a moment, then shrugged. "I
know that most of you prefer a different style of combat, but if no one
here can use them, we might as well throw them away."
"Perhaps some of my warriors can use them," Saffron said, nodding sagely.
His booming voice echoed, reaching the furthest reaches of the crowd. "I
am unfamiliar with the operation of those devices, but a net can be cast
only so many times. Regardless, beyond that, I believe it is time for us
to leave. My warriors will fly above, and offer what aid they can when
it becomes apparent that such is needed."
"Ah.... Right," Cologne said, chuckling nervously. "Let us begin!"
***
Patrolling through the woods alongside the main band of fighters, Jim Dew
fingered the trigger on his positronic rifle nervously. Not completely
trusting himself, the safety had been left on, and he tried not be
intimidated by those fighting alongside him. A swarthy brute taller than
he by a head, bearing a spear with curved tines, and a pair of nearly
petite women. One bore a long spear with a sharp curved blade, and the
other carried a staff. Occasional shadows flicked across them from the
winged scouts.
"This has to be one of the weirdest missions I've ever been on," he
grumbled quietly.
The Musk warrior grunted, shaking his head and motioning the others to be
still. They stopped their feet instantly, glancing around worriedly, and
Jim thumbed the safety of his rifle off. From one corner of his vision
he was able to make out the main body of warriors breaking apart,
fanning themselves out. Jim turned his vision back behind him, keeping
his feet still, and wishing he could match the silent grace of the women
as they bounced effortlessly from the forest floor to cling to branches
in nearby trees. "What's going on?" he whispered.
His only answer was an annoyed hiss from the Musk warrior, until he heard
a quiet, rustling noise behind him. He whirled, relaxing when he
recognized the figure approaching. Eric glanced around, then help up a
hand, and curled it into a fist, then gestured towards the rear of the
attack force. Jim nodded back, and shifted his footing, a good three
meters away from Eric, leveling his rifle and peering through the sight
carefully.
A small number of other warriors stood in groups off to the right and
left, but Jim was unsettled to see none behind them. That meant that his
group was the vanguard. Shrugging his shoulders uncomfortably, he sank
to one knee, and licked his lips nervously, waiting. He was aware of
Eric doing the same, the Musk warrior remaining as still as a statue.
There was a silence so still and absolute about them that Jim could make
out the muter sound of a brook somewhere nearby, and over that, the
distant chirp of some bird. A hand dropped onto his shoulder with enough
force that he nearly pulled the trigger reflexively. Instead, he bit his
tongue -- hard -- and turned his head to glare at the Musk warrior. The
warrior had his eyes fixed on a distant point, and gestured towards it
with his spear before removing his hand from Jim's shoulder, crouching
low and springing away in complete silence. The women leapt forward with
equal silence, shifting several meters away to different positions in
another tree before the massive warrior landed, thrusting his spear
downward.
It sank through the soft earth as he landed, being driven deep, the
warrior's landing a heavy, solid impact. Jim blinked, glancing at Eric
for direction, but the senior Marine was focused firmly on the Musk
warrior. Turning to look at the place where the Musk warrior had landed,
Jim bit his tongue again, as the warrior backed away, the earth beneath
him surging violently upwards. "Shit," he swore softly. The earth
continued to rise, displacing a mass equal to that of a reaver, which
began shrieking loudly the moment it was free of the soil, the spear
sticking from its back.
Jim wasted no time, firing directly for the thing's hide, joined quickly
by Eric.
***
Saffron strode forward, padding across the forest floor next to Ranma.
The boy had one hand resting on the hilt of his sword, and was scowling
intently. "What troubles you?" he finally asked. "Does your partner
sense something amiss?"
Ranma nodded, not glancing towards Saffron. "They're out there... maybe
half a kilometer away. They get confused if they get too close to the
beacon," he explained, nodding towards the device that Lime was carrying
behind them. "So they're up to something. I don't know what it is, though."
"Yakumo?" Cologne asked, listening to the conversation. "Might you have
an idea?"
Ranma glanced over at the man, but Yakumo shook his head in negation. "I
can sense that they're close," he offered, distracted. "That's about it."
Saffron pulled the Kinjakan from his sash, and held it aloft. In a
moment, the ring began to spin, glowing softly with the heat it
generated. "When they come, we are prepared," he declared. "The one we
must protect is here, where we can do the most good, is she not?"
Ranma nodded absently, glancing at Hotaru and offering the girl a smile.
His smile faded, as he shook his head, and held out one hand to still
everyone. "They're coming," he hissed. "Everyone get ready!"
Saffron cast about himself, confused. "I see nothing," he protested.
"Where are they?"
"All around -- dozens of them," he grumbled. "Here they come!"
Narrowing his eyes, Saffron peered into the forest ahead of the small
army. Shadows flickered about the forest seeming to coalesce before his
eyes. "Ah," he breathed. "I see them. There is no need to worry further
-- I can unmake them easily enough."
Ranma turned to look at him sharply but Saffron ignored the glance,
swinging the Kinjakan at the nearest shadows. The ring burst from the
tip of the stave, heating up as it did so, and slinging fire behind it.
In the time it took to reach the nearest trees, it was a disk of flame
three meters wide, trailing intense heat and force behind it. Saffron
channeled his own energy into the wake of that fire, the heat of the
Phoenix god burning intensely, turning trees into ash rather than
setting them ablaze.
Everyone remained silent until the ring returned to the Kinjakan, and
Saffron calmly stuck it back into his sash. "And so it goes," he said
proudly, gazing into the smoke.
"You idiot!" Ranma yelled, starring into the ruined forest through the
haze. "You made 'em really hot, but they're not dead -- everyone back!
If you touch 'em, they'll probably set you on fire!"
Saffron blinked, as the main battle group began to spread out, and the
first of the defilers burst from the clouds of smoke. It was glowing a
bright red, heat distorting the air above it, and its eyes were oozing
sockets, the softer tissues boiling away, but it unleashed a horrific
and tortured shriek, rearing up over Saffron.
Another trio burst free of the forest-turned-smoke, and Saffron had no
time left to think. Flaring his right wing out as a shield to protect
Hotaru, he reached up with his right hand, and tore his left wing off.
"Die!" he shouted, slinging the wing at the creature before him.
The wing, flesh of the Phoenix god, turned into angry, living flame,
smashing the reaver back and bowling it over -- but not slaying it. "Is
there no end to the defilers?" he asked, his wing already returned in a
blaze of fire. He swiftly drew the Gekkaja from his sash, and twirled it
expertly in his hands. The crescent blade snapped to a position at an
angle to the stave, and he shuddered at the chill it emanated. "This
will be the end of you!" he cried, furling his wings in, and leaping at
the defiler.
***
From the very beginning Jim knew that something was wrong. The shot
projected a beam of light that struck the reaver, and carried the same
deafening crack that it did the last time he had fired it. But this
time, the beam simply deflected off the reaver's hide, shearing through
a stand of trees and sending them crashing to the ground.
Eric muttered a dark oath, and the pair stopped firing in tandem. The
large warrior ducked belatedly when he saw the beams of light, and
stepped back. The reaver, as though it were surprised that the beams of
light were ineffective, shook itself, then charged at the Musk.
For his part, the man kicked at the reaver, staggering it slightly and
then drawing himself into a defensive stance. The women in the trees
launched themselves at the creature. A hacking spear bit into one leg,
while the staff seemed to batter at the creature without doing damage.
"Crap," Eric said, running his hands through his hair. "What the hell do
we do now?"
Jim spread his hands helplessly, and turned to watch the fight.
The warrior beat at the reaver with his hands, but the reaver ignored him
and the woman with the staff, focusing instead on the one with a spear.
The woman was fast, and skilled, but was unable to attack beneath the
onslaught, while the other two couldn't damage it. A lashing claw
clipped her shoulder, sending her tumbling away.
Impossibly fast, the Musk warrior snatched her out of the air, and
grabbed her spear with his free hand. The woman clung to his neck,
hanging against his back, and shouted something in Chinese. Roaring at
the top of his lungs, the Musk lunged, slamming his new spear into the
reaver -- receiving a spindly black claw through his chest in exchange.
Jim jumped up from his crouch, ready to charge, but was restrained by
Eric. "What can we do?" he asked the other Marine. "We can't fight it, Dew!"
Realizing the truth of Eric's words, but resenting the fact regardless,
Jim sank to his knees, cursing. As he watched, the Musk warrior, still
fighting on, even with the reaver's claw stuck through him, seized the
woman with the staff, yelling something in Chinese that neither Jim nor
Eric understood. The woman clinging to his back reached a hand out, and
yelled something else, her hand just seeming to brush against the
carapace of the reaver.
The mechanism of it was beyond either of them, but using his own body as
a shield for the woman with the staff, the Musk warrior vanished in the
sudden storm of black shrapnel as the reaver exploded. Flying some
distance away, and then lying unmoving, the girl was the only survivor
of the trio. Where the monster had been there was a small crater filled
with seething and smoking yellow ichor, the area for dozens of meters
around covered in black and twisted shrapnel. Of the two other warriors,
there was no sign. "Damn," Eric swore, running to the lone survivor.
Jim glanced around, looking for other groups of fighters, but they were
faring about the same; the Marines were largely ineffective, and the
other fighters were only able to give as good as they got. Gritting his
teeth, he pulled the pair of replacement batteries for his rifle from
his neck and threw them to the ground. Eric staggered back to his side,
setting the woman down, and fumbling for his radio. "We'll have to call
for backup," the officer warned.
"Wait," Jim said, staring at the pair of batteries. "We might be able to
do something after all."
***
Saffron shouted something in a tongue Norris didn't recognize, throwing
himself at a reaver and turning into a solid ball of flame. He only had
enough time to blink before Pavel shoved him to the ground, throwing
himself across Norris protectively.
Norris shoved the junior officer away, but not before a deafening crack
echoed across the battlefield, fragments of shrapnel zipping through the
air overhead with blinding speed. "What happened?" he shouted.
Pavel rolled away, staying on the ground and fumbled for his radio. "Hot
and cold!" he yelled over the increasing din of the battle. "He made the
reaver really hot and then froze it -- so it couldn't handle the heat
differential, and exploded."
Norris raised his head, still lying on the forest floor like Pavel, and
peered about cautiously. There was nothing more than roiling smoke where
Saffron had been, and Ranma had already divided into two. The female
form was standing in red robes with a great sword before Hotaru
protectively, while the male was wearing skintight body armor and
wielding twin blades of glowing blue energy. "Everyone down!" the male
Ranma yelled, facing off against a single reaver.
The redheaded Ranma stepped back, wrapping one arm around Hotaru and
crouching slightly, while the darker haired one led the glowing reaver
in a tight spiral. "What the hell is he doing now?" Norris complained
loudly. "We don't have time to dance! This is a war!"
"Cover your eyes," Cologne warned suddenly.
He ignored the admonishment, until Ranma suddenly dashed towards the
reaver, punching upwards and crying out, "Hiryu-shouten-HA!"
Norris's jaw dropped -- there was still nearly a meter between Ranma and
the reaver. "You missed!" he yelled. "How could you miss!"
Ranma -- both of them -- spared Norris an annoyed glance for a moment,
before a sudden, sucking vortex of wind surged towards Ranma, whistling
across Norris so quickly that he was pressed back into the ground, and
forced to brace himself against a tree root. The wind blew in, and then
spiraled sharply upward, taking the reaver Ranma had been facing and the
other pair nearby upwards.
The man could only stare, stunned, as the intense wind sucked all the
smoke from the battlefield, and continued to bear the reavers upward.
The cleared smoke revealed Saffron, crouched low behind a great tree and
clearly struggling to resist the intense pull, but not visibly damaged
otherwise.
With the reavers gone, for the moment, the warriors about the battlefield
picked themselves up, looking on in awe. "I hope if any one else knows
that move, they don't hesitate to use it," Ranma declared, nodding at
his feminine counterpart. She nodded in return, releasing Hotaru.
"What goes up, must come down," Cologne warned.
"Come down, yes, but in what form?" Saffron asked, climbing to his feet
shakily. "While the defilers here may slink through the Earth, my
warriors rule the skies."
"There's another wave coming," the female Ranma warned suddenly, the
small creature that typically followed Ranma about nodding from Hotaru's
arms. "Saffron, try a little less fire this time."
"I fight with you, but you do not give me orders," the god spat
distastefully. Ranma -- both of them, again -- turned to glare at
Saffron, and he reluctantly added, "Though I agree with the suggestion
you pose."
The male Ranma shook his head and glanced upward, while the female turned
to peer at the edges of the kilometer long stretch of forest that
Saffron had turned to ash. "Here they come again," he said, as the three
reavers sent airborne crashed back down, much cooler to all appearances,
and wrapped in wire nets. A number of spears protruded from their hides,
and they were completely unmoving. "Looks like your soldiers did a
pretty good job," he said, glowering at Saffron pointedly.
The god sniffed disdainfully, and looked away.
***
Yosho attended Washuu and Tsunami carefully. In his opinion, Tsunami
should have been sent upward, to the safety of the fleet in orbit, but
the young woman insisted on remaining with the defenders. Washuu refused
to leave, and Yosho could hardly begrudge her that, though he had
stopped trying to guess her motive long ago.
Ranma was at the fore of the group of slowly moving warriors, out if
sight in the distance at the moment, while the other defenders were
scattered about in loose ranks, Yosho himself near the back, but not in
the vanguard. He fingered the key that Washuu had lent him, grimacing in
anticipation, and glanced around. Lime grumbled constantly about the
beacon he bore, too distracted -- for once -- to try and eye the women
behind him.
Just as well, Yosho supposed, in the grand scheme of things.
Without any warning, the army halted, and Yosho stopped with them,
tugging on Lime's shoulder to get the boy's attention. Grumbling, Lime
set the cylindrical beacon on the ground, and glanced around. "What's
going on?" he asked.
"I sense them," Tsunami whispered, frowning sharply. "They are attacking!"
"Everyone on guard!" Yosho snapped, turning about and summoning his blade
with an errant thought. A small force of Musk and Amazon warriors took
up ready stances, the smaller ones hiding in trees and vanishing into
bushes, the larger ones readying all manner of weapons. "How close are
they?" he asked worriedly.
"They do not draw too near," Tsunami said, shaking her head. "Perhaps it
is that they cannot -- the beacon wards them away.... But there are a
great many, approaching from that direction." She pointed towards the
vanguard's position.
"How many?" Yosho asked anxiously.
"Perhaps... thirty?" Tsunami offered, frowning, and rubbing at her
temples. "I can only guess from what the fleet senses and their
Ouke-no-ki relay to me."
"That's way too many," he said flatly. "Tsunami, Washuu -- go to Ranma."
Smiling with grim purpose, he faced the inevitable charge. "And tell my
mother that I'm sorry."
"Don't be so melodramatic," Washuu grumped. "It's not hopeless yet, and
I'm not planning on letting you die here."
***
"Everyone in the vanguard, rally here!" Jim yelled, waving to the other
combatants. Even if they couldn't understand his English, the others
began to heed him, backing towards Eric and Jim. The other Marines had
already thrown their fission batteries onto the pile, and run off to
join the main task force, leaving Jim and Eric behind.
"Let's hope that this works," Eric grumbled. "If it doesn't--"
"Then we'll be dead anyway," Jim mumbled, turning his attention to his
positronic laser rifle. "I'm more worried that it'll work too well."
Eric grunted sourly, as a pair of Musk arrived, both pursued by reavers,
and a trio of Amazons, only marginally effective against the reavers
that pursued them. A deafening shriek rang out, and Jim shuddered,
seeing another trio of reavers charging in. "Do they know what we're
planning?" he yelled as loudly as he could.
"Yes," a warrior woman answered tersely in Japanese, her spear keeping
one reaver momentarily at bay. "Hold here, then trap," she said. "Maybe
men run with sister."
Eric nodded, and Jim aimed his rifle at the stack of batteries on the
ground. "Here goes nothing, and a whole lot of it," he warned. Before he
could fire, one of the reavers slashed a claw through the Musk holding
it off, charging straight for him. Even more of the creatures began to
swarm up out of the ground, charging their small group.
But Eric was there before the reaver reached him, yelling at the top of
his lungs, and trying to grapple with the creature. Jim knew Eric was
strong; Eric was one of the largest men Jim had known before meeting the
Musk, but even Eric was no match for a reaver. "Fire!" he gasped, losing
ground quickly. "Do it!"
"Understood," he whispered, closing his eyes, and pulling the trigger.
There was a blinding flash of light, the softest touch of warmth against
his skin... then nothing.
***
Hotaru allowed the redheaded Ranma to wrap one arm about her
protectively, and leap upwards and back, bearing her to safety as a
group of eight reavers charged the defensive line. She landed a dozen
meters behind the foremost defenders, setting her down and glancing
around worriedly.
At the fore of the line, wings trailing flames of fury, Saffron wielded
his scythelike weapon, slashing at a reaver and completely unmindful of
the claws that speared him, lay him open, and severed his arms. No
sooner had the damage been done than the fires of his being undid it,
fires hot enough to melt even the limbs of the reavers where they came
into contact with the Phoenix god's blood.
Ranma -- the other Ranma, she supposed -- squared off with another, blue
energy blades flashing, no longer striking the reavers as they once had,
and now cleaving cleanly into them. At his side, Herb moved, seeming
more to dance than fight, preceded by a circle of flashing blades of
light. The blades slammed through a reaver, leaving the carapace to
stagger away for a moment, the entire body of ichor seeping out from the
massive wounds that had been inflicted before it collapsed.
"Wow," Hotaru breathed, impressed by the play of energies. It had a
certain surreal beauty, she had to admit. "We're winning!"
"It's way too easy," Ranma assessed, sheathing her blade, and shaking her
head. "There's something wrong here." Turning her head to one side, she
glanced at the American man who was staggering back from the line of
defenders, being dragged by another Marine. Ranma shouted, "Norris!
Something's wrong -- what's going on with everyone else?"
Norris fumbled with the radio at his belt and barked something out in
English, frowning intently and drawing to a halt near Ranma. "Reports
are sketchy," he said, shaking his head. "Pavel, try and contact Eric
and find out what his position is. Ray's on the right flank, and
Patterson is on the left."
Pavel nodded, and began speaking into his own radio tersely, frowning and
shaking his head at the lack of response.
The reavers turned and began to flee, once Herb, Saffron, and Ranma had
killed all but three. They sank into the ground, and the male Ranma
seemed about to chase, but finally settled for banishing his blades and
crossing his arms over his chest. Saffron gestured with his staff,
snapping the curved blade back to a straight angle, and then tucking it
into his sash.
Shifting uncomfortably, the redheaded Ranma watched Pavel closely. As
they watched, Kiima descended from the sky, hovering a short distance
over the ground and addressing Saffron hurriedly, though Hotaru couldn't
make out the words. In response to the words, Saffron began to glow
faintly red, fire pouring off of him in rage. He stalked towards Ranma,
and began saying something, thought that too was beyond her range of
hearing. The moment that the one Ranma was addressed, the one standing
over Hotaru turned to stare fixedly.
"Damn!" she swore, turning her attention to Norris and Pavel, while
Cologne drew near apprehensively. "Kiima says that they're surrounding
us -- we've got about twenty to the north, another twenty to the south,
and who knows how many behind us -- they're trying to herd us towards
Jusenkyou."
"Why?" Cologne asked, shaking his her. "Why would they want to push us to
Jusenkyou?"
"There's a cliff north of here," Ranma added, frowning. "They could try
and push us towards that, instead."
"People often fight harder when they're cornered," Pavel reasoned. "They
may have learned that, and are trying to pick us off as they push us along."
"Or they could have a trap waiting for us," Norris countered. "One way or
another, things just took a very bad turn."
"There was no trap there this morning," Ranma growled. "Ran-oh-ki, get
Atsuko and check again." The creature made a noise of confirmation, and
vaulted upwards, exploding into his ship form before streaking eastward.
***
Washuu frowned in consternation, glancing up as Ran-oh-ki streaked across
the sky, bobbing for a moment to collect Nuku. A tingling sensation
surged through her, making her shudder slightly. "Where is Ranma?" she
asked, alarmed.
"He is leading the soldiers," Tsunami said, frowning. "Is something wrong?"
"I think so," Washuu mumbled. "Call it a hunch. I--"
She cut herself off, turning to stare towards the vanguard, as a quartet
of Marines charged from the forest, yelling frantically. Two of them
bore kinetic displacement rifles, and two were completely unarmed. Of
the unarmed, one struggled to keep up, an unconscious Musk boy over his
shoulder. "Commander Thompson is going to try and stop the charge," he
gasped. "What kind of explosive radius do those batteries have?"
Washuu's eyes widened, and she shook her head quickly. "The same as they
had when they were complete -- oh, no!"
A heartbeat before the flash of light spread out from behind the marines,
a shimmering white and blue lattice of force assembled at Tsunami's
bidding, erecting a wall across the entire vanguard, and extending
nearly a mile into the air. The flash of light was dulled somewhat by
the barrier, but was followed nearly instantly by a sphere of fire and
devastation, turning the forest before it into vapor, and sending a
column of fiery smoke into the heavens.
Tsunami heaved an unsteady sigh at the sight, shaking her head. "It is
horrible," she whispered. "What weapons must be wielded against such a
force...."
"It was enough," Washuu said quietly. "The... that shouldn't have been
possible under normal circumstances."
"We should leave," Yosho stated levelly, dismissing the blast. "That may
have stopped them, but there will be more."
"Yes," Tsunami agreed, rubbing at her temples.
"They can't go through that, at least," Washuu countered. "For now we've
got an angle of attack that they can't exploit. The leftover radiation
will kill them even if they could get through the Light Hawk Wings."
"Fair enough. We'll divide our forces and aid the other flanks," Yosho
suggested. "You two should go to Ranma, I'll head south." Not waiting
for them to respond, Yosho dashed off, a goodly number of the still
armed Marines and assorted other warriors following.
Washuu bit her lip uncertainly, then turned to Lime, who was staring at
the aftereffects of the explosion with wide eyes, completely aghast.
"You," she said, poking his shoulder. "Get to the middle of the army
with that beacon, Tsunami, you should follow him. I'm going to head
north. I'll meet you two later, okay?"
Tsunami nodded hesitantly, and began walking west behind Lime with
occasional backwards glances to the Light Hawk Wings.
***
Shrugging his shoulders uncomfortably, Ryouga stood amid his comrades at
the southern flank of the army. The Musk and Amazons were drawn up into
a defensive line, the Marines behind them a short distance. "Why did
they put me in charge?" Ryouga finally asked, watching the reavers
milling about in the forest, maintaining their distance without attacking.
"Because Norris likes you more than me," Ryu said absently. "I think it
was 'cause I dented his boat."
Mousse snickered quietly, shaking his head. "We've been fighting together
since Shanghai, haven't we?" he asked. "Why change now?"
"Actually, I think we've been fighting together since we were on the
Kitty Hawk," Minako interjected. "We're just like a laced shoe!"
Ryouga glanced back at her, frowning. "What do you mean by that?" Mousse
asked.
Smiling brightly, Minako explained, "It's the binds that tie, remember?"
"Er... something like that," Ryouga grumbled. "Everyone get ready --
they're not just going to watch us forever."
A barrier of light that sprang into being to the east, holding back a
massive explosion, underscored his words. Shielding his eyes and
focusing on the reavers, he made a note to thank Ranma for desensitizing
him to distraction techniques, and roared, "Stand your ground!"
Galvanized, the forces turned their attention to the reavers just in time
to face their charge. The reavers bore forward, claws digging into the
earth and launching them across the ground, slavering jaws open wide,
yet without their traditional shrieks.
Ryouga tore bandannas from his head and flung them with nearly reckless
abandon -- if the ki in his simple attacks could keep the reavers from
phasing, it offered that much aid in the battle. Ryu gritted his teeth,
clapping his hands together and then sweeping them apart viciously. The
vacuum-blades he attacked with reeled another reaver. Rearing upward, it
leapt over its brethren, angling directly towards Ryu.
"Shishi houkodan!" the cry tore from Ryouga's lips with far less effort
than the last two, a simple ball of ki flinging the reaver backwards and
into the other charging creatures. It then tumbled across the ground,
becoming tangled with another pair of reavers. Only briefly, but if it
helped disrupt their charge, so much the better for it.
Other cries rang out from the defenders, a particularly loud, "Jupiter
oak evolution!" sending a veritable forest of angry leaves across the
entire line of reavers, staggering them all.
"Awesome," Ryu said, grinning. "They must be new, or something. Total
pushovers. Let's go kick some ass!"
Not waiting for Ryouga's permission, Ryu dashed forward, charging the
reavers that were only then righting themselves from Ryouga's attack.
"No!" Ryouga shouted. "You idiot-- Mousse, keep the line in order."
Mousse barely had enough time to react, his chains ensnaring Makoto
before she could chase after Ryu. "Stay here!" he snapped. "Ryu's coming
back, and we need you here."
The girl growled at Mousse, shaking her head, but Minako interjected
before Makoto could say anything. "Mako-chan, you trust Ryu, right?"
Slumping, Makoto nodded, and Mousse unfurled his chains from about her,
slinging them towards the rushing charge.
[End Process of Elimination, Chapter Fifteen, Part One]