By Sydney Kyle
Chapter Two: The Battle Plan
"Woe to those who come upon the waters,
For they are but
fodder throughout the age;
Nothing but shells for the souls
To
be harvested for Heaven's rage."
—excerpt from the scrolls of Fu Hsi
It was uncannily silent at the Tendo dojo later that afternoon.
After-school activities at the dojo usually consisted of pointless bouts of squabbling between Akane and Ranma, scuffles whenever Ryouga or Mousse or Kunou embarked on their daily rounds of violence directed against the latter of the aforementioned couple, and general property damage whenever Shampoo or Kodachi dropped by to announce their never-ending love for the latter as well.
It seemed that all the insanity had centered around Ranma.
And now, the stillness that had befallen the Tendo residence seemed to have originated from one inevitable facts: Ranma wasn't there.
Neither were Genma, Ryouga, Mousse, or Shampoo.
The living room had the atmosphere of a tomb.
The dinner of teriyaki and rice lay untouched on the low-set dining table. The television was on, showing the latest weather broadcast, but it was currently on mute. Even Nabiki's yen-related phone discussions and Kasumi's cheerful exclamations of "oh my" were blatantly absent.
They were all here and accounted for, though.
Soun Tendo sat at the head of the table, staring down blankly at the assembled feast before him, his tanned, mustachioed visage streaked with dried tear trails. Kasumi and Nabiki Tendo each sat on one side of him, their gazes fixed on the floor, unable to summon up the appropriate words in which to address this current dilemma. Cologne had positioned herself at the far end of the long table, her owl-like eyes closed as she pondered the situation. Ukyou Kuonji had isolated herself slightly to the right, her forehead resting on the handle of the huge assault spatula she clutched in her hands. Akane Tendo sat directly opposite her, an unreadable expression upon her countenance, her fists clenched tightly amongst the folds of the sky-blue skirt of the uniform she was wearing.
In short, the inhabitants of the room were tense, and the illusion of normality that had coalesced about them was on the verge of dissolving. They were too listless to do anything else; the aura of those assembled was too anxious to possibly think about anything else...
"Pass me some soba, please," said Cologne.
The others gawked at her as Kasumi obeyed—as it was her obligation due to her pleasantly oblivious nature—and the old Chinese Amazon attacked the noodles like there was no tomorrow.
Akane was the first to express her indignation. "I don't believe this!" she sputtered. "How can you act so calm when something's happened to Ranm—I mean, to the others?"
Ukyou joined in, equally indignant. "Yeah, and one of them's your great-granddaughter, too!"
Cologne silenced them with a sharp sweep of her staff, then calmly finished off the last of the soup and noodles. "Do you want to hear what happened to Ranma and the others or don't you?" she asked pointedly.
Her words seemed to snap the shocked assemblage back to life.
"Do you know where Ranchan is?" Ukyou demanded eagerly.
"And what about Saotome?" Soun wanted to know.
"And Ranm—the others? What about the others?" Akane added.
"Could you have possibly seen what happened?" queried Nabiki, as indifferently as only Nabiki Tendo was capable of under the circumstances.
"Oh, my," was all Kasumi could say.
Cologne waved all their inquiries aside with her chopsticks. "One thing at a time, all of you, one thing at a time. Granted, the circumstances of Shampoo and the others' disappearance are very strange indeed, and it will take a while before we can figure out what exactly happened to them." She hopped on top of the table, and from there she addressed the rest of the group. "But before we can even contemplate that, I suggest that we hear the eyewitness accounts first in order to get a better idea of who or what was responsible for this."
Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Wow, that actually sounds reasonable."
Cologne sent her a glare. It was hard to tell, especially when her beady little eyes made it look like she was always glaring, but it seemed like a real glare this time. "Do not mock your elders, child."
"Sorry, sorry," muttered Nabiki, holding her hands up in a condescending gesture of surrender. "So bite me if I'm just not used to any sort of rational thought in this house."
"Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Cologne went on, "I think it would be best for all of us to hear about what happened during the time of the disappearances." She swiveled around to glance at Soun. "You were there with me when Ranma and the older Saotome vanished, Tendo. Care to relate to us what you saw?"
"Uhm, yes, of course." Soun leaned back, his eyes glazing over as he transported his mind back to the events of the morning. "After Cologne had showed up here, saying something about getting to Ranma before something terrible happened, Saotome and I immediately rushed to the school in a desperate and daring attempt to save him..."
—Flashback—
"Hurry, Saotome! Hurry!" Soun urged, wiping the waterfall of sweat that streamed down his face. At his heels were Genma, who was panting profusely, and Cologne, who was hopping alongside him, utilizing her staff like a pogo stick.
"I am hurrying!" shot back an exhausted Genma, whose ample girth made running at top speed an activity he hated immensely. "But what I still don't know is exactly why we're doing this!"
"I have told you already, Saotome: I fear that son-in-law is in danger," Cologne reminded him briskly as she leaped over a fence. "The sooner we can warn him of this, then the better."
"Warn him?" demanded Genma, unconvinced. "Warn him of what?"
"I will explain later!" snapped Cologne. "For now, we will simply have to rely on my instincts and reach son-in-law before he is taken as well!"
"Taken?" panted Genma. "Hold on a minute! Nobody is taking my son—"
"You may not even have a say in it, Saotome," replied Cologne as she cleared a telephone pole. "I just seem to harbor a very bad feeling about this..."
"And why's that? What does this have to do with Ranma?"
"Saotome, now is not the time for needless explanations! Skilled as son-in-law may be, that is not going to make any difference in the final outcome—do you understand?" Cologne swiveled around to stare at Genma, her eyes narrowed.
Genma, however, was not about to tolerate this sort of abuse without further clarification, and was quite adamant in voicing this. "Well, I haff am definitely NOT going to haugh kill myself just because pantpant you're haighaigh overreacting to noth—"
He was cut off by the faintest sounds of humming and the briefest flash of light.
Soun and Cologne skidded to a halt, stunned. Where Genma had been lumbering along right beside them, there was nothing but thin air.
A few minutes passed as they searched around the surroundings, failing to locate any sign of where Genma had gone. It was as if he had vanished off the face of the earth without their knowing.
"What happened?" Soun demanded, looking astonishingly self-composed—especially when one considered the wretched control he had of his tear ducts.
"He's gone," Cologne concluded stiffly, scaling back up her stick. "This is more serious than I expected, Tendo. It seems they took him as well. And if they are the ones I suspect them to be, then here is nothing we can do about Saotome's disappearance."
"Nothing?" Again, Soun Tendo did not show any signs of panicking.
"Nothing more," repeated Cologne grimly. "We will discuss this later, Tendo. First it is imperative that we reach son-in-law before they do."
Soun remained in his statuesque pose, his visage grim. "Then that we shall," he declared, his voice strong and unwavering. "Forgive me, Saotome, but our lifelong friendship must be considered later if we are to save your son. For I must retain my honor, dear friend Saotome—"
—Present Time—
WHACK
"Oh my," Kasumi said, hand over her mouth.
"Poor daddy dear," Nabiki commented.
Cologne unwedged her battle stick somewhere from the top of Soun's head. "Honor indeed!" she groused. "When he realized Saotome was gone, he ran around bawling like a baby. The very shame—a grown man doing such things!" She shuddered.
"Daddy's the...shall we say...sensitive type," offered Nabiki.
"Well, excuse me," Akane interrupted, "but wouldn't you be upset too if your lifelong friend just vanished in front of your eyes without a trace?"
"I already explained it, child—there was nothing he could have done. After I convinced him of that, we had already lost precious time in trying to get to son-in-law. But when we arrived at the school, it seemed that there was no place to hide..."
—Flashback—
"Sooo...you sayin' that there's another group of maniacs out there who're out to get everyone under the Jusenkyo curse—and they're not the Jusenkyo Order?" demanded Ranma, looking sharply skeptical.
Cologne looked solemn. "That is exactly what I am saying."
Soun nodded anxiously, darting suspicious looks all around them. "I think you'd best listen to her, boy."
They were in front of the perimeter fence that lined the front of Furinkan High. Behind them, the classroom window of Sensei Tanaka's third-floor classroom gaped wide open as he continued his lecture, unmindful of the fact that one of his students had been replaced by a backpack.
"But I still don't understand why—"
"It's a long story," explained Cologne, yanking Ranma's arm with her staff. "But now is not the time nor the place for me to tell it. It is absolutely of the essence that we first get you back to a safe place."
Ranma frowned, somewhat exasperated with the way the two adults were behaving. "Look, maybe it's just me, but I think you guys're blowing this a little outta propor—"
He was cut off by the distinct sound of grass being trampled right behind him.
A quick about-face revealed that there was no one behind him. In fact, the only movement around him was the rippling of foliage in the sudden breeze.
The hum started up again. Faintly.
Ranma let out a low whistle as he slowly got to his feet. "Well, well, whaddaya ya know?" he remarked. "Seems there is someone out here with us after all."
"More like someones," Cologne corrected grimly, stepping back.
"NO!" screamed Soun, tearing out tufts of long black hair from his scalp. "THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE OUT TO GET US! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE! HAVE MERCY, I BEG OF YOU! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO MEEEEE—"
BONK
"Oh, get a grip on yourself!" scolded Cologne, straightening out the Soun-shaped dent on her staff. "Really, if I were your sensei, I'd slap you silly, I would. Besides, they're not after us—it's son-in-law they're after!"
"Me?" echoed Ranma.
"Oh, right." Soun composed himself, clearing his throat. "I...knew that."
Ranma rolled his eyes. "This is crazy!" he protested. "What the heck did I do this time?"
"You have the curse of Jusenkyo upon you," Cologne informed him quietly. "For these people, that is all they need to know."
The humming grew louder, more incessant. As though on cue, the wind picked up speed.
Cologne yanked Ranma's arm with her staff. "Come on," she urged. "We have to leave. Now. We need to find you some place to hide before it's too late—"
Ranma shook off her grasp. "I'm stayin'," he stated flatly.
"What?" shrieked Soun.
"I'm stayin'," Ranma repeated.
This did not sit well with the Tendo patriarch. "Are you insane, boy? I may have tolerated your shenanigans for the sake of my little girl, but I draw the line at letting her marry a dead man!"
"Listen to me," Ranma began, his blue eyes flashing dangerously. "I'm not gonna let those jerks get me. It's not like I'm totally helpless, ya know! I'm perfectly capable of takin' care of myself!"
"That doesn't matter," Cologne cut in, her voice hard. "You may be the best martial artist in Nerima, son-in-law, but if I am correct in guessing just who these people are then maybe, just maybe...maybe your best isn't good enough. The same goes for me."
Ranma looked at her in shock. After a half-second of slight reluctance, though, he finally came to a decision.
"I don't care," he declared. "I gotta know what happened to Pop and the others."
Cologne studied him for a second, then hopped over, long silver hair flapping wildly in the wind. "Then so shall I," said she, hefting her staff into a battle position.
"What are you doing?" exclaimed Soun, jogging toward them.
"If son-in-law decides to put his life in the line to find out what happened to my Shampoo, then I am in no place to stop him," replied Cologne.
"Exactly," Ranma said in determination. "If Shampoo's in trouble, then I gotta save her. After all, I am your son-in-law, right?"
"That is correct." Cologne smiled. "My, aren't you brave."
"You're not bad yourself, Cologne..."
—Present Time—
"Yeah, right!" Ukyou and Akane yelled at the same time.
"Why, can't a girl dream anymore?" Cologne defended herself quite staunchly.
"Not when the girl happens to be two hundred eighty years old and past menopause," Nabiki remarked.
"Why, of all the nerve! You youngsters nowadays...no respect for your elders—"
"Never mind about that!" interjected Akane. "What happened after?"
Cologne took a deep breath and immersed herself once again in her recollection. "Well, Soun and I faced the unseen assailants, intending to discourage them from reaching son-in-law, but it was of no avail..."
—Flashback—
"All right, this is it!" Ranma yelled above the wind.
The trio tensed, their backs to each other.
A sapling to their right began to bend in the rapidly growing gusts of wind. Branches swayed frenziedly. The humming reached an unbearable crescendo.
"They're here," said Cologne.
They looked up, and a flash of light met their eyes. Soun shielded himself from the glare with an upraised arm, while Cologne merely squinted. Ranma remained motionless, his attention arrested by something the others could not see...
A half-second later, the light dimmed.
And Ranma was missing.
—Present Time—
"He...disappeared?" exclaimed Ukyou. "Just—just like that?"
"That was what we gathered, yes," confirmed Soun.
Ukyou turned away, her face concealed by the velvet curtain of her long mahogany hair. At the same time a smorgasboard of emotions rushed swiftly past Akane's face, and everyone became deathly silent again.
Cologne leaped down from her perch on the tabletop and approached Ukyou, her face questioning. "And what about you?" she asked.
Ukyou glanced at her, puzzled. "Me?"
"You ran into us a few minutes after son-in-law disappeared," the old woman reminded her. "And if I'm not mistaken, I would deduct that you came from the direction of an immense explosion of light that the three of us witnessed before we were attacked. Do you have any knowledge concerning that particular explosion?"
"Y-you mean—?"
"It appeared to be vaguely familiar, now that I think about it."
"I-it was..." Ukyou chewed on her lip. "I—I think it was Ryouga."
"Ryouga?" Akane's tone was disbelieving. "Why?"
"Well, he came back into town today, and I sorta ran into him, and then I realized what time it was, and then he began running alongside me 'cause he got me late, stupid navigationally-challenged jackass that he is..." Ukyou scowled as she remembered how furious she was at him. "He was going to get me late to school, and here he was—"
"Just tell us what happened already," Nabiki muttered.
Ukyou blinked. "Oh. Right." She tugged thoughtfully at her spatula-decked bandoleer. "Anyway, we were nearly at the bridge, but then when I turned to throw some insult at him, he was gone."
"Did you see how he disappeared?" Cologne queried.
"Well, I kinda thought that he'd just gone and gotten himself lost again in a span of about a half-second, so I really didn't give it much thought," admitted Ukyou. Then she reconsidered. "Wait a minute—I think I remember seeing a bit of light or something beside me before he vanished. And there was this tiny noise...sort of like whirring."
"Humming?" Soun volunteered.
Ukyou nodded vigorously. "Yeah. Humming."
"Then there is no doubt about it." Cologne drew herself up, her expression one of grave wisdom. "Ryouga was taken as well. That explosion Soun and I saw earlier was unmistakably Ryouga's ki-attack, the Shishi Houkoudan."
Ukyou snapped her fingers. "That's it! I saw him use that blast before, up close." She shivered. "That's one helluva technique, if you ask me."
"Then he must have been fighting someone—or someones," Cologne mused, pacing back and forth on the tatumi mat. "And it's common knowledge to all martial artists to resort to utilizing ki only as their final measure. Therefore, whatever Ryouga was up against must have been extremely powerful."
"You mean Ryouga was taken too?" exclaimed Akane.
"Oh my. Poor Ryouga," said Kasumi, who had been quiet throughout the entire discussion.
"But why?" demanded Akane. "You mentioned earlier that the only reason Ranma, Mousse, Shampoo, and Mr. Saotome were singled out from the rest of us was because they were cursed in the Jusenkyo springs. I know they all have two forms, but Ryouga? He isn't cursed! I don't think he's ever even beento Jusenkyo!"
Cologne waggled her eyebrows up and down, but she did not let the shinola hit the fan.
"We'll figure that part out later," said Soun in a surprisingly aggressive tone of voice. "But right now, I am more inclined to find out exactly what you—" He jabbed his index finger toward Cologne. "—make of this, old woman."
Cologne took her sweet time before replying to his question. She sat there, eyes closed, as if in deep meditation, before finally opening them to their full alarming size as she regarded the apprehensive crowd.
"If you all want a straight answer from me, then I am sorry to disappoint you," she said soberly. "I can only tell you that I may have a clue as to who is behind their disappearances."
"But...but...are they—"
Cologne looked at Akane, and was moderately startled to see her eyes shining with something that looked suspiciously like tears.
"Are they alive?" Ukyou whispered, sitting next to Akane.
Cologne paused and the entire room held its breath. Then she nodded.
"Oh, thank goodness," breathed Kasumi.
"How do you know that, may I ask?" The query came from a wary-looking Nabiki.
"I told you, I think I know the party responsible for this, and if they are the ones I suspect, then Ranma, Ryouga, Mousse, Shampoo, and Saotome are still alive. But I fear that they are in great danger." At this, the old Chinese Amazon extracted an object from somewhere within the folds of the green silk robes she wore. "I found this on the very spot Shampoo disappeared. I meant to show this to you all earlier, but I believed then that it was simply a hoax."
The entire assemblage stared down at the object that Cologne lay on top of the table for their inspection. It was a tiny piece of fabric, of a kind that was neither silk nor satin. It sported jagged edges on its sides, indicating that it had been torn from an article of clothing. It shone with an eerie mirror-like surface, glowing with an effulgent red hue mixed with a green and gold sheen that reflected in the fading rays of the setting sun. The most extraordinary detail, however, was a series of intricate gold slashes across the fabric.
"Looks at that. It's some sort of writing," breathed Ukyou.
"Now that you mention it, it certainly does," Kasumi agreed.
"But that's certainly not Katakana," pointed out Nabiki. "And it definitely isn't Chinese..."
"Your assumptions are correct," Cologne said. "This, indeed, isa writing style, though it is of a kind that we no longer employ today." She gestured at the graceful swirls that made up the character, tracing over it with the tip of her staff. "This is written in a calligraphy that is a combination of the Hiragana and the Chinese Kanji style of writing. This, ladies and gentleman, is the word Shoryuu, or Œdragon'."
"Dragon...?" echoed Ukyou softly.
"Yes, dragon." Cologne nodded. "Or, to be more appropriate, the Shoryuu—the Dragon Dynasty. The only people I imagine would be capable of defeating Ranma Saotome and the others by reducing them to their cursed forms, to which they seem to have a special defense against."
"The Dragon Dynasty?" Akane looked bewildered. "But what...?"
"In this town, sis, anything is possible," Nabiki reminded her. "I mean, come on, we've been visited by a baby Phoenix, the Seven Lucky Gods, a half-guy, half-yeti-riding-a-bull-while-carrying-an-eel-and-crane, and I don't even have to mention daddy's own perverted sensei."
"And all of them are nothing compared to this current crisis," stated Cologne, flatly. "We are talking about a monarchy that existed long before any records were documented—a monarchy that even our ancestors refused to believe existed."
"But what do they want with Ranma and the others?" demanded Soun.
"Hmmm. I think I am beginning to understand why they targeted them," Cologne declared grimly, rising to her feet. "Then the legends I true. There is a connection between the formation of Jusenkyo itself and the rise of the Shoryuu clan. Something concerning destiny itself, that I am certain of..." She shook her head, as if to postpone the issue. "But first, we still have a matter of five people to save..." She motioned meaningfully toward the dojo doors.
"Well...that sounded like a go-signal to me," Nabiki observed.
Akane scrambled to her feet, suddenly bubbling with newfound energy. "All right, get up, you guys. We're gonna find Ranm—I mean, the others!"
"That's the spirit, Akane!" Soun stood up as well. "As long as they're all right, then we still have a chance to save them!"
"I'm with you, sugar," Ukyou seconded. Her eyes glowed with renewed determination as she hefted her spatula. "After all, if they think they can take my Ranma-honey away from me, then they've got another thought comi—"
"Ohohohohohoh! Did someone mention my darling Ranma's name?"
And Kodachi Kunou plowed a hole through yet another Tendo dojo wall, dressed in a red leotard that looked like it was painted on and carrying her usual dowry of lethal black roses.
"Ko-Kodachi?" Akane spluttered.
"Oh, hello. Nice to see you," said Kasumi, smiling pleasantly.
Ukyou covered her eyes. "Ugh. Tell me this is NOT happening."
Kodachi struck a dramatic pose. "Ah, yes, but it is! It is I, Kodachi Kunou, the Black Rose herself! But do tell me—where is my darling Ranma?"
"Your darling Ranma," Akane replied between gritted teeth, "is not here."
"He's not?" Kodachi frowned, ignoring Soun Tendo's tirade of ŒMy wall! My house! My home!' "Where is he then, may I ask?"
"He's going to be dead in about a couple of hours if this goes on!"
Kodachi emitted a horrified stage-gasp, her fingers flying to her crimson-painted lips. "Oh, my darling Ranma! We mustsave him!"
"Uhm, that's what we're kind of trying to do here," Ukyou pointed out bluntly.
"Then count me in!" declared Kodachi, flailing her gymnastic ribbon-whip in insane patterns. "For it is my duty as his fiance to save him from all that may be!"
Akane dodged as the red ribbon twirled madly past her. "Excuseme?" she yelled. "Your fiance? Well, I'm sorry, sister, but he happens to be—"
"—my fiance too!" Ukyou finished for her.
Akane looked at the both of them and threw her hands up in utter exasperation. "Oh, what's the use?"
"What's that? Dost my ears detect the sweet voice of the fair Akane Tendo?"
Who else would it be but the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High himself, Tatewaki Kunou? He entered, of course, by slashing a hole through yet another wall of the Tendo dojo.
"K-Kunou?" Akane's eyebrow was beginning to twitch.
"Come to join the party, Kunou-baby?" muttered Nabiki.
Kunou assumed a mighty stance, bokken held aloft in the air. "Ah, yes. For as I was commencing my daily constitutional around the Tendo grounds, my ears had perchance gotten wind of my love Akane Tendo's clamor of desperation, and, in a fashion befitting that of a true cavalier knight, I rushed immediately to answer her distraught cries—"
"Be still, my heart, eh, Akane?" Nabiki muttered dryly.
"Ah, 'tis true!" Kunou swept his hand through his curly brown hair in a grand gesture. "For Akane Tendo is none else but my one true love—" He paused, then looked furtively about. "And, ah—dost thou wish to inform me on the whereabouts of the beautous pig-tailed girl...?"
"A word of advice, brother dear," interrupted Kodachi. "If you're looking to smite my Ranma-darling today, then you won't find him here."
Kunou regarded at his sister wildly. "Not here? Then whence is the scoundrel?"
"That's what we're trying to find out!" Akane yelled. "But if you two don't give it a rest we're never gonna reach him—I mean them—in time!"
"Katsunishiki! Wait!" a muffled female voice cried out.
Yet another Tendo dojo wall came falling down. It was remarkable, really, that the room was still standing throughout the destruction. This time, though, the source of the demolition was not some martial artist, but an incredibly huge white pig.
The group froze while Soun's wailing only increased in volume.
"Ye gads!" bellowed Kunou, eyes goggling. "What vile creature is this?"
"It's a pig, Kunou-baby," Nabiki murmured. "It's a really, really, really big pig..."
The huge swine snorted derisively and began to stomp its hooves on the floor, creating a series of tremors that rattled the onlookers' teeth. Even Nabiki had the sense to look nervous.
A moment later, a young girl sprinted into the room through the gigantic hole and soothed the mammoth pig.
"Katsunishiki! How many times did I tell you not to do tha—" She stopped short as she became aware of her chagrined audience. "Oh. Hello."
Nabiki was the first to regain her powers of speech. "I take it that this's your pig, ne?"
The girl smoothed the somewhat rumpled sundress she was wearing. "Uhm, yes," she answered, appearing embarrassed. "And I—uh, I'm really sorry about that wall. You see, Katsunishiki here sometimes gets excited when he knows something and it gets hard to control him—"
Ukyou, meanwhile, had been rifling through her memory banks. "Wait a minute," she said. "Could your name be...Akari Unryuu?"
The girl brightened considerably. "Yes, I am. How did you know? I just arrived in town and—" She grew hopeful. "Did Ryouga-sama mention me to you?"
Ukyou blinked. "R-Ryouga? Uhm, yeah. He said you were—ah—"
"You're Ryouga's girlfriend?"
Akari turned a delicate pink at this. "Well, actually we—" As she riveted her gaze on the speaker, her eyes lighted up in recognition. "Akane? Akane Tendo?"
Akane nodded in confirmation, still perplexed.
"So this is the Tendo dojo!" Akari exulted. "Katsunishiki was right after all! Ryouga was always asking for the directions to this place..."
Ukyou watched her speculatively, her brows knitting together in a tiny frown. Maybe it was just her imagination, but somehow that sweet smile that she had on her face appeared rigidly artificial. Once or twice she thought she saw the other girl glance at Akane in a faintly suspicious manner, like how one would appraise a potential rival.
She could distinguish it easily. After all, it was a look that she'd had on her own face countless times when she was around Akane, Shampoo, and Kodachi—girls who had been seeking Ranma Saotome's affections. It was a look that she'd seen mirrored on their faces as well.
There was no doubt in Ukyou's mind about the way Akari felt about Ryouga—never mind the fact that he was still infatuated with Akane. And, as sweet and docile as she was, she was more than willing to fight for Ryouga Hibiki's heart.
The way Ukyou was willing to fight for Ranma's.
"Foul swine!" Kunou hissed at the pig, who promptly headbutted him into a wall.
"So..." Akari glanced around innocently. "Where's Ryouga?"
Ukyou frowned. "That's what we were trying to figure out before...things got out of hand."
"Enough of this." Cologne made her way to the entrance of the dojo, determination etched on her wrinkled visage. "If we have any more unexpected guests barging into this house, then it will be too late for son-in-law and the others." She appraised them questioningly. "Now are you with me or not?"
Soun miraculously ceased his weeping and sprang up. "She's right! Let's go!"
Akane followed. "You got it, dad!"
"Then I must come as well," declared Kunou. "For it is but my life's goal to defend my true love from whatever infidels that cometh forth!"
"And I must save my Ranma darling!" cried Kodachi.
"Yeah, right," scoffed Ukyou. "Not if I get to Ranma-honey first!"
"Oh, please." Akane rolled her eyes.
"Oh my, yes, we must be off," said Kasumi.
"No, Kasumi, you stay here and watch over the house."
"Yes, father."
"And if this has anything to do with my Ryouga-sama, then I want to come!" Akari chimed in.
"Then what are we waiting for?" boomed Soun. "They're counting on us!"
The entire group headed toward the doors. Except for Nabiki Tendo, who hung back, seemingly pensive.
"Nabiki? What is it?" Akane inquired. Soun, Ukyou, Cologne, Kunou, Akari, and Kodachi twisted about simultaneously to look at the middle Tendo daughter.
Nabiki opened her eyes, as though she had just emerged from deep cogitation. "Sorry to throw a bucket of cold water on your plans," said she, "but aren't you all forgetting something?"
"What's that?" wondered Soun.
"You don't know where Ranma and the others are, remember?"
There was a silence as her words sunk in.
End of Chapter Two
