Disclaimer: (insert A-typical disclaimer here) I do not own any of the characters use herein, so don't convince yourself otherwise. Later I might need to introduce original characters to support plot cohesion, if so I'll happily claim them as my own.
Authors Notes: Well folks, here's the beginning of something that I hope will become truly epic, but we'll see. It's really all up to you, my readers.
Nerima Avengers Book One:
Rage
Chapter 01
Learning Your Stripes
"Great-grandmother, I really want an explanation now, I understand that Airen is out of town for a long training trip, but why did we return to China? I should be preparing myself, so I can be with him when he returns."
Standing a fair twenty paces away from the buxom Amazon Champion is the diminutive form of the Matriarchal Elder of the Joketsuzoku Tribe, Khu Lon. "Listing carefully child, Son-in-Law is on a one month training journey with his fool father, which gives me one month to train you to be a better warrior than your Airen."
Confused, the young warrior Xian Pu is at a total loss as to what the elder plans to accomplish with this, "Okay, but we both know that Ranma is unsurpassed in the arts, his battle with Saffron has proven that to us, how could I possibly get better than him in a month, and why?"
"Its actually quite simple girl, you know as well as I that Ranma always feels as though he must protect all girls around him, this is the root of our problem. He has never accepted any of you into his heart, and never will until you can prove yourself to be his equal, a wife that can stand beside him in any situation, not behind him. So, you will be trained, and trust me Xian Pu, I will be merciless in your training. I will push you to the brink of death for the entirety of our time we have to train. When we return to Japan you will challenge Son-in-Law to a battle of submission with one simple condition, when you defeat him, he will accept you as his equal in combat. After that it's only a matter of time before he accepts you, realizing that all the other girls are weak or unstable, and not worthy of being his wife."
"Great-grandmother, why have we waited so long to resume my training if this is what you feel I must do to make Ranma accept me?"
Khu Lon lets out a long drawn out sigh regret, "Sadly Granddaughter, it has taken me this long to truly understand Son-in-Law, and for that I am sorry, even more so than the brutal training you're about to undergo."
"I understand Great-grandmother, if this is what you want, then-"
"No child! This has never been about what I want, this is about what you need, you are my heir, and you deserve only the best man as your husband. You will lead our people, and you need an unbreakable husband to support you as village Matriarch." The short elder gets down from her perch on top of the old gnarled staff, "Come Xian Pu, lets begin, you are our people's most powerful warrior, our champion. Now prove it to me!"
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'She is progressing very well, judging by her reflexes and heightened resilience, I'm certain that when we return soon she will be able to subdue Son-in-Law. Although that last his was a bit too hard, now I must find her, and have her prepare lunch for us.' With that the elder sets off to find her granddaughter, after catapulting her far out of their secluded training area.
"Oh, honored Joketsuzoku Elder, this is most tragic, your warrior just fall into newest spring of Jusenkyo." The local guide called out while running toward the elder. He immediately sets his massive pack down and begins to pull out wooden stakes, spirit wards and a new sign.
"What!? That's not possible, Jusenkyo is flooded out, and the springs are all washed away. How did this happen?" This does not bode well, only a week left with her training and now this happens, have the Kami cursed us to inevitably fail in our pursuits of her wayward husband.
"I'm not sure how, all I know is that a number of men in black suits were here under a week ago, they claimed that a monster of a man drowned in this spring. Normally this would not be a problem, but to be safe I traced the ley-lines of Jusenkyo, and a new and very active line travels all the way to this spring. I call it Spring of Drown Demon, couldn't think of a better title, on account of the fact that I didn't actually see the so-called monster that drowned here. But the men claimed him to be unbelievably powerful, and a danger to everyone."
By this point Xian Pu has managed to crawl out of said new cursed spring, and her elder can only stare on in wide-eyed wonder. "Well, I guess this proves that Jusenkyo curses will mix, if an already cursed individual is in turn twice cursed. Xian Pu, how do you feel?"
'I'm wet, and cold' looking herself over, 'but still human, am I cured, will I finally stop becoming a weak little cat' She stands, looks down at her hands, and feet, her clothes are still on, though heavily laden with water. "Great-grandmother, why didn't I change, why am I still human, am I cured?"
"No child, you've been cursed again, your new form has mixed with your cat form."
Xian Pu simply stares in disbelief, while the guide proceeds to hammer stakes into the earth, and hang the spirit wards and signs, hoping that this will be enough to ward travelers away from this spring.
"Look at your behind girl, and on your head." Khu Lon smirks at the irony of the situation, yet she's smiling inside 'at least now her curse is no longer a weakness.'
Xian Pu looks, and reaches back only to find, a white cats tail with light purple stripes, and on her head, barely sticking through her hair are a pair of white furred cats ears. "Aya, I'm a…… cat-girl now?" She looks back to her great-grandmother, hoping for some kind of answer, or at least a confirmation, fearing the uncontrollable anxiety she feels building within herself.
"Come Xian Pu, we will continue your training tomorrow, for now I believe it is your turn to make-"
"Elder!" A frantic cry cut through the trees, interrupting any conversation, and the guides hammering. All parties present turn to the source of the voice. An Amazon scout, one that looks to be fatally wounded, collapses on the ground. "Elder, Champion, the Musk attacked." Panting, trying to muster enough breath to speak again, "The village is burning, there were too many to fight off, they have taken prisoners."
"Xian Pu, you stay with-"
"No Elder! You stay with her, my people need me." And in an instant she bound off, clearing a good fifty yards before landing on a tree branch, and springing off again.
The guide approaches the awe struck elder, "I will care for your wounded warrior, please, go to your people." He gives a short bow.
"Thank you." And the diminutive elder follows suit, streaking through the trees and blinding speeds. 'She's fast, much to fast for me to catch up to, even faster than Son-in-Law, and she's even more aggressive than ever. What kind of monster drowned in that spring, what kind of monster have I turned my granddaughter into.'
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"Musk!" A bellowing roar pierces throughout the entire mountain range.
Maybe thirty second after that deafening roar, Elder Khu Lon finally reaches the remnants of the wall of her village. "Elder! The champion, she was here only a moment ago, but, she changed. Before our very eyes she transformed into a massive cat demon, standing upright as tall as two warriors. Her roar scared all of the survivors, and she leapt off in the direction of Musk territory." A wounded survivor of the Musk assault tries to explain what they saw through short panting breaths.
"What are you saying?" The elder insisted while surveying the carnage and remains of her home for three hundred years.
"When Champion Xian Pu arrived the Musk had already left, taking a number of our incapacitated warriors as prisoners. Her eyes glowed an eerie green, what I saw was a look of sheer rage, then her body changed, she grew into a giant cat demon, like a white tiger, the ground trembled in her wake. Elder, what has happened to our Champion?"
A solemn, regretful look appeared on the elder's face, "Jusenkyo."
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'I'll kill them, all of them' was all the enraged Amazon warrior could process as she moved to her destination, the Musk village. Leaping higher and running faster than she had ever felt, ever dreamed of, but none of this mattered, not until the men of the Musk tribe paid for their heinous acts, in blood. "Musk will die." She managed to growl in her diluted mental state.
Not but fifteen minutes later, a beaten and bloodied, but alive band of Musk warriors were entering the gates to their home, each carrying an unconscious Amazon female on their shoulders, and wearing stupid happy grins on their faces. "We have returned, tell our prince of our success in showing those weak women who's mountains these are, and we have brought many worthy mates, soon our numbers will-"
The party leader's announcement was cut off as an enormous tiger woman landed on him, flattening him into pulp under her half a ton of mass, his captive flopping lifelessly to the ground, though still alive.
"Musk! Die!" That roar even louder than the first, could be heard all the way back at the remains of the Joketsuzoku village.
All of the men present dropped their captives, rousing some of them from their forced slumbers, and readied themselves for combat. None of them sure if or how to take down a beast like this, they all rushed in, blindly mobbing the monster.
"Rage!" She struck out, cleaving the first one into a gory mess with her near foot-long claws, "Kill!" Pounding the next one into the ground, "All Musk will die!" Grabbing one by the head, partially crushing his skull by accident, she turned and hurled the human projectile at a nearby guard tower, utterly destroying the top half of it.
The Amazons who managed to regain their wits are collecting their sisters, and preparing to flee back to their village, but their way is still barred by a number of guards and sentries, "That monster will keep them busy killing them, we must find a way out, but we can't fight."
"Some of us can't even run, our only hope is that that beast doesn't see us as targets, right now it seems like its very intent on killing the Musk." This came from one with a broken leg, a few others are injured in such a way where fighting or running are both not viable options.
The massive cat proceeds to use more of the Musk as weapons to kill others with. Human clubs and spears are just the start of it. Within two minutes forty Musk lie dead, mutilated my the monster, and it's is searching for more to kill, blood stained from its claws up to the elbows, and all around is fanged maw give it an appearance that could break even the most war hardened warriors.
"Look at the beast!" One fairly uninjured Amazon points.
"It's hair, it's purple, and the ties, they're like our champion-"
The youngest female warrior present runs up to the raging cat, "Champion Xian Pu!"
The beast turns to look at the younger girl, her fury vanishing for an instant, before she sees the blood and wounds on her sisters, all huddled together, in fear. "Xian…… Rage! Musk!" Her rage returns stronger than ever, and her bloody rampage continues, the cries of her victims echoing throughout the homeland of the Musk.
"What do we do, she's gonna kill all of them!"
"Calm yourself girl, there is nothing we can do, this is what the Musk get for bringing on the rage of our village champion. She won't hurt us, but no Musk male is safe from her wrath. Sisters, I believe today is the day we will witness the eradication of the Musk Dynasty."
Outside the Musk royal palace dozens of mangled dead are strewn about, blood and gore everywhere, and the Musk Prince Herb stands before his opponent. "You demon, you dare to assault my people, my home. Whatever manner of monster you are will fall before my might, I am a dragon descendant, my powers are superior to all and for what you've done this day, your precious village shall be razed, and none will survive." Herb leapt into action, going straight for the killing blow.
His strike amounted to nothing, as the tiger woman just stood there and gave him the first hit. She looked down to his awe struck face, baring all her bloody teeth, the Musk prince, for the first time in his life new what true fear was. "You Musk kill sisters, burn village, cannot forgive. Now you pay, in blood!" Her first strike was a swift claw swipe, which he tried to dodge, but she still caught his left arm, leaving four deep gashes, immobilizing it. He rolled back and cried out in agony, when he looked back up, she crouched, and pounced. This was the last thing he saw as she locked her massive jaw around his neck, and crushed it. One final gush of blood sprays everywhere before she proceeds to tear him limb from limb, even devouring some parts of his body.
The surviving Amazons can only look on in horror, some even losing the contents of their stomachs at the horrific sight of their champion massacring and consuming the Musk Prince.
Once she's done with his remains she stands upright once again, looking to the heavens she lets out a howl of anguish and hatred that stretches for near a whole minute. When she stops her shoulders slump, she looks down to the ground, and slowly turns, looking at the carnage that she had just created. She slowly makes her way to her sisters, no expression on her bloody feline face, only tears.
The eldest of the warriors present walks up to her, "Champion, we must leave this place, let us take our wounded, and go home."
Without even an acknowledgement she moves and picks up one of the still unconscious and seriously wounded Amazons, stands and looks towards the destroyed gates. Following her lead the able bodied warriors carry the others and they start their solemn trek back to the remains of their village.
The entire trip is quiet, no one says a word, all just accepting what happened, and trying to push the horrifying images from their memories.
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Hours later at the Joketsuzoku village one of the remaining scouts calls out, getting the attention of the entire village populace, "The prisoners, they're returning, and the Champion is with them!"
Elder Khu Lon looks out through the ruined gate, noting the fact that there is a ten foot tall white tiger and a small party of wounded Amazons, "Medics, now, we've got more wounded to care to, and someone bring me some hot water, now!"
Moments later, Xian Pu and her party of survivors have arrived, she looks down to her great-grandmother, tears still in her eyes. "Elder……" She drops to her knees, handing off her injured sister to another who quickly takes her to be treated.
Elder Khu Lon takes the pot of warm water and gently up ends it over the tiger woman's head, in a matter of seconds the beast shrinks down to her normal human form, blood all over her body, face, hands and feet, few tattered remains of her clothing are all that's keeping her modesty, though very little of it.
With tears flowing more freely now, "Great-grandmother I……" She cries, openly, "I killed them, the Musk. I killed all of them." Her crying evolves into open heart wailing. "I couldn't stop, I killed every one of them." The diminutive elder gets off her cane, and embraces the sobbing girl in a comforting hug, and all warriors present stop and look, some relaxing at seeing their champion back, some shedding a silent tear for her, for what she just did, and the burden she will carry for the rest of her days.
After Words: Well, here it is, please R&R, I'd like to know what yall think. I know this was very messy, but it had to be that way, it's the only way I could to the 'Rage' character justice, don't worry, Xian Pu's is probably going to be the messiest, others with be notably lighter, and easier on the stomach.
Book Two: Steel Shadow
Book Three: Lost Specter
Book Four: Divinity
Book Five: (Undecided)