Ran: Greetings to you, viewer.

Silver: Welcome to a new piece of fanfiction written by this guy, although I wish Boss would just show most of his face instead of hiding I the shadows as always.

Ran: (Smirks) Why should I care if the viewers see me or not Silver?

Silver: Like Spawn always drills into my head, 'Mind your manners'.

Shadow: It's his choice whether he wants to be seen or not, after all he is our medium to view this story.

Silver: (Blinks, then eyes bug out and jaw slams into the ground) When'd you get here!!?!

Shadow: I have my secrets.

Ran: Shadow, if you would, please announce the disclaimer and get this over with already.

Shadow: As you wish, my liege. (coughs, then resumes a neutral look) Ranma ½ and whatever else anime we use is the property of their respective owners, suing will get you nothing.

Silver: Hey! I wanted to do that.

Shadow: Tough luck then.

Silver: B$+rd!

Serpent Ascendant: Conflicting Shadows

Prologue

The Serpent Stirs

A Ranma ½ Fic

During the fight against the Yamato no Orochi

Ranma was desperate. He was looking for anything, any way that he, currently she at the moment, can beat the Orochi and save Akane and Shinnosuke's lives. He was the only one left that was still conscious and able to fight, all others having been knocked unconscious by the serpent.

The Orochi's eight heads roared in fury at this morsel that had dared to defy them. However, somewhere in its mind, its remaining it of consciousness, felt that it recognized this mortal, but it lay too deep within, and the thought itself too weak to be considered significant. And so, the Orochi continued attacking her relentlessly.

After what seemed like hours of fighting, the Orochi finally scored a hit on Ranma. She winced in pain as it fangs partly impaled her arm, leaving one huge hole on her forearm, from, making her bleed profusely. Despite the pain, she continued fighting, until a Double Moko Takabisha hit one of the heads, which made it smolder and emit smoke, as well as making it out for the count.

She smirked, finally finding a way to beat those heads, although she had to refrain doing that to the eighth head, fearing that it will burn the moss that Shinnosuke needs to keep guarding this insane place.

Flipping out of the way of a sudden strike from one of the heads, she twisted her body in mid air and blasted another head, and used the now unconscious head to get out of the way of another gaping maw, causing the Orochi to bite itself, making it roar out in pain as its blood gushed out of its wound and smearing his teeth with his own ichor.

In a sudden flash of inspiration, as well as smirking in that small victory, she used the trees to gain momentum for her next attack.

"Shooting Star Kick!" with that, she slammed her foot into the throat of another head, the scent of fried snake filling her nostrils from the ones she hit with the ki attack as she reached for its beard, then using it as leverage to swing herself to the next head and delivering another Double Moko Takabisha.

It was after she landed that she realized the flaw in her plan.

"OH NO! This tactic would drain my Ki too fast, and there's still four heads left, including the main head. I need another idea and fast!" she started to panic, getting sloppier as time passes, not to mention that the bleeding on her arm was getting worse, covering her entire arm in red ichor, and giving her a numb feeling .

She then resigned to doing Shooting Star Kicks, but after taking out one more head, it learned to dodge the kick, or block with its fallen brethren. Using it five more times, he found each to be unsuccessful.

'Damn, it seems to be learning as we fight; it looks like I have to distract him, but how…. Of course! It likes women; I'll my breasts to distract it.' He thought.

"YOOHOO! Look at these beauties!" she hollered to the beast.

The Orochi looked, entranced by the freely swinging breasts, a perverted gleam in its eyes, at least until Ranma knocked out another head with an improvised technique, the 'Tsuiraku enmu ken'(1), a punching version of the Shooting Star Kick, causing it to snap out of its lust-induced state.

With only two heads left, she began to feel more confident, thinking that she will win the fight, making her launch another Double Moko Takabisha at both heads, but one head blocked the two shots.

The eighth head stared at her in hunger and fury, and roared in rage. It snapped its head viciously and it hit her other arm, breaking in multiple places. While Ranma cried out in pain the beast knocked her to the neck of the head it accidentally bit earlier. She hit the neck hard, covering her in its blood and it caused both combatants to scream in pain, or in Ranma's case, further pain. This caused Ryoga, who was in pig form, to wake up.

The pig was shocked to see the rest unconscious, and even more shocked to see Ranma and the Orochi in such a state. The fanged martial artist then tried to wake the rest up, but to no avail, Akane and the old man had a concussion, and won't be awake for several hours, and Shinnosuke was having a seizure, rendering him useless to them for a while.

"Ryoga! Get the moss and use it to cure Shinnosuke, I'm sure you heard from his grandpa how to do it!" she desperately shouted to the porcine. "There's no time for you to transform back, so I'll distract it while you get the moss, so go!"

Ryoga nodded, and started looking for an opening for him to jump on it. Ranma, meanwhile, was grasping at straws on how to beat it.

'Damn it! How can I beat it? I can't us Hiryu Shoten Ha, the others will be caught in it, and I don't have much more Ki left, only for one more Ki-enhanced strike, that's all, and the Shooting Star kick or the Tsuiraku Enmu Ken won't work anymore, its way too big for it.' She then started to get panicky and angry. 'NO! I must keep calm, soul of ice, soul of ice, soul o- that's it! I'll channel the soul of ice to my fist and hit its eye with it, then it'll be distracted enough for Ryoga to get the moss and save Shinnosuke!' with that plan, she charged at the eight-headed serpent, grim determination setting on her pretty features, her blue eyes glinting with the determination of. The beast's final head also snapped at her at full speed, but at the last moment, she jumped up and landed on its head. She then punched the thing on its right eye with the ice-ki enhanced punch and shouted:

"Touketsu jiki kobushi!"(2)

With that, it beast roared in unimaginable pain, and the porcine rushed to its head and got the moss, even as ice started to extend from the female's fist to its eye, giving it even more pain and froze the blood that rushed out of the eye. Ryoga then hopped down from the head, and rubbed the moss into Shinnosuke's back, curing him and stopping the seizure.

Shinnosuke was happy to be cured, but instead of celebrating, he took the whistle from Akane and blew on it, making the all heads go to sleep. After that, he sighed in relief, and he lifted the pig and told it thanks in his usual absent-minded manner.

Ranma fell from the serpent after she disengaged her fist from its eye. Her eyes dilated as the adrenaline receded, and her arm felt like it was shot by one of those European cannons, then the recoil slamming her into a titanium building, breaking her other arm. She smirked and closed her eyes as the lake approached her view.

'Ugh… she better be grateful for this, that… baka… tomboy….' Was her last thought as she slammed into the water, where she started so slowly sink as her blood mingled with the water as it healed her wounds. She thought she heard a worried "Bwee!", and "Ranma-san!", and she thought that she heard a sinister "Heh, young fool..." from inside her head, and the last image in her mind was that of grinning ivory jaws and glowing red eyes.

TBC…

Tsuiraku enmu ken- Falling Haze Fist

Touketsu jiki kobushi -Frozen desperation fist