Part 4: New Arrivals
Thank god it's a Saturday, Buffy thought as her and the others walked down the street towards Ucchan's. After the bomb shell Amy dropped on everyone last night when she called Buffy doubted that they would have been able to go to school and act like everything was normal after that little tidbit.
The Hellmouth, the main cause of all their troubles for the last three years, was apparently gone. Council's experts still hadn't gotten a chance to confirm it, but all the Slayerettes trusted Amy's skills. If she said the Hellmouth was gone, then they were pretty sure it was gone.
Now there was only two questions that needed to be answered, how and what does this mean to their future.
*Does anyone else fill like they just called Mike Tyson a sissy?* Xander asked rubbing his sore shoulder. The day before yesterday some nutcase calling himself the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High had dislocated it with a bokken.
And just twenty minutes ago Shampoo had nearly done the same thing with one of her bonboris. That was one bad thing about it being Saturday, Cologne had decided that today was to be everyone's first day of training.
*I'll second that one,* Oz agreed. Cologne had him and Xander sparing with Shampoo all day. At first each had been reluctant to hit a girl, female vampires and demons where okay, but they still found it hard to strike a regular woman. After about the third time she knocked them on their asses hard while making it look easier than walking they quickly stopped holding back. Not that it did them much good, but Cologne said it was a good lesson on why one should not understate one's opponent.
Buffy was also taught the same lesson when Cologne had her spare with her. At first she was worried about hurting the old lady. Buffy was still sore from Cologne's response to her not taking her opponent seriously. Cologne told her that next time she doesn't try her best from the very beginning she wasn't going to go so easy on the Slayer.
If this was going easy, Buffy sure as hell didn't want to see what the Old Monkey Woman, Buffy's nick name for the old Watcher, considered going hard on someone. *The last time I remember feeling this beat up was when the Council had put me through that stupid rite of passage on my birthday. I didn't think that old bat could move so fast or hit so hard. There should be a law.*
The group arrived at Ucchan's and found that no one but Ukyo was there. The dinner crowd always seemed to show up late on Saturday's for some reason. Ukyo always thought that it should be the other way around, but things were rarely how they should be in Nermia. She smiled and said hello and showed them to a table. Only Willow noticed the sad look she had in her eyes. It was pretty well hidden.
Willow wondered if she should ask the girl what was wrong, but decided she didn't know her well enough yet. If she felt like talking she would. After Ukyo took their orders she left them alone while she cooked their meals.
*So when's G-man, Dead Boy, and your mom going to get her?* Xander said while he waited impatiently for his okonomiyaki. Ever since they eat here the other day Xander had wanted to come back. Of course the fact that the owner was a very good looking girl about their age more than likely had something to do with it as well. Of course that could also be why he had suggested Ucchan's or The Cat Cafe.
*They're going to be heading over just as soon as the sun comes down,* Buffy didn't comment on Xander's Dead Boy crack. To tell the truth he and Angel were actually getting along a lot better these days. Buffy had wanted some time to talk about the situation without Cologne or Shampoo present was why they were all meeting at Ucchan's instead of the Cat Cafe.
She didn't really mistrust the old woman, but she was still caseous. She found it hard to trust people seeing how everyone, except for the Slayerettes, seem to turn on her sooner or later. She hopped this evening went by without any problems.
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Ryoga found himself carrying on another one of his "family traditions." This was better known and even less liked. That was to try and leave your troubles at the bottom of as many different kinds of liquor bottles as physically possible. His father told him one time in a conversation he wouldn't remember the next day, or the fact that he had hit on half the woman at the bar before Ryoga's mother hit him over the head with his own umbrella, that the other family curse usually occurred after the first hunt. Then his father promptly passed out.
A little known fact about the Ryoga's sense of direction, or lack thereof, is that it is hereditary. In truth Ryoga had a better sense of direction than some of his family. One of his cousins got lost one time inside a closet. It wasn't even a big closet. But when one of his family gets the Hunter's Sense it helped them find their way around a little better, not much but a little. But add alcohol to the Hibiki directional sense and you're lucky if they stay in the same country as they started out in.
That's how Ryoga found himself in front of the building he now found himself in. Ryoga looked with blurring eyes up at the sign. "U-uc. Ucan's? Isn't that the name of the other bar the bouncer told me I could go to before he passed out?," Ryoga mumbled to himself. He still thought the bouncer was silly for faking being knocked out. Of course Ryoga's sake filled mind didn't realize that he had hit the poor man hard enough to give him a concision and loosen a great deal of teeth. Ryoga stumbled into the building.
Ukyo, at Xander's urging, had joined the four Americans after bringing them their meals. She found herself enjoying the conversation. The wise cracks and funny stories was a good diversion from her troubled thoughts. Damn that jackass Ryoga. Running off like that and worrying her.
Not for the first time since she found the note she wondered why she was getting so worried about the Eternal Lost Boy. This whole mess was probably another one of his "final goodbyes" to Akane, and he'd be back in a day or so. But something about the note seemed so final. She hatted to admit it, but she was worried. She got the feeling she would never see that jackass again, and that bothered her.
"Where's the bar?"
Then again she had been wrong before.
Ukyo looked up to see a dazed, and obviously drunk, Ryoga standing in the doorway of Ucchan's. He looked around with a lost look on his face, witch defiantly wasn't something new. "That guy's fried," Oz said remembering that same look on his ex-fellow band member Darren's face after one of his late night promoting parties he use to throw for the band. This guy had just drunk way past his endurance level.
Ukyo sighed as she got to her feet. "He's a friend I'll deal with this," she said as she left the table to handle the Eternal Lost Boy. "Jackass where the hell have you been?" she demanded resisting the urge to bludgeon Ryoga over the head several times with her combat spatula.
"Ukyo?" Ryoga slurred. "I didn't know you drank?"
Ukyo was confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Isn't this Ucan's Bar and Grill," Ryoga said as he started to sway to and fro.
"Jackass you're at my restaurant," she told him as she started to notice his swaying and started to wonder if he was about to, WHAM!... fall. Ukyo put her hand over her eyes and was glad Ucchan's wasn't too full of customers.
"Really. Where did the bar go?" Ryoga said with his face still flat on the ground. Then he apparently passed out. Ukyo sighed wondering what in the world she was going to do with Ryoga. She bent down and tried to help him to his feet but he was dead weight in her arms. Ryoga by himself was a heavy bastard, but the fact that he was wearing his full pack made him nearly impossible for her to lift. Ukyo tried a few times more when someone walked over and bent down to help her carry Ryoga. Ukyo looked up to see that Xander had walked up to help her. "I've had plenty of practice doing this," he told her quietly in a sad tone that didn't seem to fit the wise cracking guy she had spent the last fifteen or so minutes talking and joking with. At that moment Ukyo saw sadness and seriousness in the American's eyes that she would have never thought him capable of.
Ukyo and Xander each got an arm under Ryoga's arms and started leading him to the back stairs that lead up to Ukyo's room. Ryoga half way woke up and started to stumble a bit on his own. "Ukyo, where we going?" he asked weakly.
"I'm going to let you crash on my bed again. Don't let this become a habit jackass,"
"Gee, that's sweet," Ryoga then noticed that someone else was helping carry him. He looked at Xander suspiciously. "Who you?"
Xander got a strong whiff of Ryoga's breath when Ryoga turned and asked him. Drawing on years of living with drunks for parents he was able to label some of the drinks Ryoga had consumed that evening, a bloody Mary, beer, and straight sake and vodka in very large amounts. This boy was feeling pretty toasty. "Name's Xander, new in town. Celebrating too much eh?" Xander asked as they started up the stairs towards Ukyo's room.
"Nope, defiantly note celebrating?" Ryoga answered with a sigh. "Don't know what I'ms doing, I guess that makes me stubid, but I ant celebrating. That for sure."
"Trying to forget?" Xander offered.
"Yep sir I guess that's what I'm doing." Ryoga said just as Xander almost lost his grip on him. "Oppsie daisy. Don't drop me may break the floor."
"What you trying to forget sugar?" Ukyo asked worried. She thought it probably had something to do with Akane, but if it didn't she really wanted to find out. She tried not to think about why she would be so worried.
"The monsters," Ryoga said his eyes getting a haunted look in his eyes. Both Ryoga and Ukyo missed the look that passed over Xander's eyes.
"W-what kind of monsters?" Xander asked hoping beyond hope that this boy was just drunk and ranting.
"Dark Blood,"Ryoga said a tear running down his cheek. "My family's curse has come back to haunt me. Now I got to hunt." another tear rolled down his cheek. "Got me a nest of the bastards yesterday," he said with a good amount of pride, then like someone changing channels on a TV he was depressed again. "No more chance at any form of happiness. I could never have Akane involved in my life now. She would get hurt. I don't want her to get hurt."
Ryoga looked on the verge of breaking down and weeping right there. "She knows that I wouldn't let anyone hurt her doesn't she? I hope she does. I never had the guts to tell her that, that,"
"Hush sugar," Ukyo said. Ryoga had a depressed streak that was no secret, but she had never seen him this bad. Why was it hurting her so much? "I'm sure she knows that you care for her," even though she was too dense to figure out that you're in love with her even though it's obvious to even a blind man Ukyo thought to herself.
They reached Ukyo's room with Ryoga still babbling about how he would never let anything hurt Akane. When they reached Ukyo's room Xander helped carry Ryoga to the bed then started to head down stairs. Ukyo thanked him for his help as he heads down stairs, and tells he that what they ordered was on the house.
She didn't notice him bend down and pick up a sharp wooden object that the Lost Boy had dropped. Ukyo then helped Ryoga out of his backpack and then with his shirt. Luckily for her pride Ryoga was too drunk to notice the dark red blush that passed over Ukyo's face as she looked at his well-muscled chest. She shook her head trying to chase the thoughts out of it.
Ryoga did notice the worried look on Ukyo's face though. "You okay Ukyo?" he asked through the haze that his world was slowly becoming.
"Uh, um," Ukyo stuttered then answered the first thing that came to her besides her thoughts at the moment he asked. "I'm just worried about you Ryoga. What is going on? No matter how bad things are I've never seen you do this too yourself before?" No usually he just beats his head against a brick wall. For some reason she figured this might be more unhealthy.
"Do what?" he asked hiccupping a few times afterwards.
"Try to see if you can drink yourself into a coma that's what," Ukyo said annoyed.
"I ant drunk," Ryoga demanded then started to slip of the bed. Ukyo caught him before he hit the floor.
"Thanks Ukyo, just slipped is all. See not drunk."
"Whatever you say sugar," Ukyo muttered as she helped him back on the bed to get him to sleep.
"Why you being so nice to me?" Ryoga asked as he finely got back up to a sitting position on the bed.
"Because you need it stupid."
"Oh," Ryoga looked up from where he had his head lowered to find Ukyo looking up at him at the same time. Their faces were inches from each other's, and Ukyo suddenly felt very unsure for some reason. "You know Ranma's a moron but he is sure right bout one thing," Ukyo began to ask what when Ryoga's lips met her's in a soft genital kiss.
Ukyo usually would have slammed any guy besides Ranma through the roof for pulling that stunt and she would have done just that to Ryoga, that is if her brain hadn't froze up and left her wide eyed and unmoving. "You really are cute," Ryoga said after the brief kiss, and then rolled back on the bed as the excessive drinking took its effect and he fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
Ukyo set next to the bed steering at the sleeping Hibiki motionless for about three minutes. Then she silently rose and walked down stairs to check on her customers. It would be another hour before she blinked.
/
Xander made it back down stairs just as Joyce, Giles, and Angel were getting seated. He had slid the stake Ukyo's drunk friend had dropped into his sleeve to hide it. He didn't like the say this evening was turning out. He hopped what he suspected wasn't true. *Guys we got trouble I think of the fanged kind,* He said as he set back down at the table.
*What do you mean?* Giles asked wondering exactly what Deluxe Spring Time okonomiyaki was and if he wanted to eat it.
*I think we have someone else hunting vampires, or some other kind of badies.*
*What makes you say that?* Willow mumbled as she took another bite of her Okonomiyaki.
*Because that guy, Ukyo's friend, was talking about hunting monsters, and he had this,* Xander pulled out the wooden stake Ryoga had dropped. The look on everyone's face said one thing, OH, SHIT!
*Did this kid have a red umbrella and well fangs?* Angel asked getting a nervous feeling from the stake. He hopped his hunch wasn't right.
*Yep on both counts, relative of yours Dead Boy?*
*I was afraid of that, and don't call me Dead Boy,* Angel said rubbing the bridge of his nose in a Giles I have a stress headache kind of way. *That's the guy I got into a fight with a few nights ago. Ryoga Hibiki I think he said his name was. From what Cologne said he his quick tempered and kind of obsessive. I think he decided to start hunting vampires after our fight because I beat him.*
*But isn't he just a regular guy? The boy might get hurt,* Joyce Summers said worried. She had finely come to realize that her little girl wasn't just a regular little girl. That she had power and strength that normal people like her didn't. Buffy was actually quite proud of her mother finely acceptance of this fact, even if it did seem to take forever.
*I wouldn't worry too much about him,* replied Angel rubbing his lower back in remembrance of one of Ryoga's more solid umbrella strikes. The burns were all healed thanks manly in part to a special ointment Cologne had given him. *That kid's defiantly not just a regular guy. His tough and the only vampires he is likely to run into in Nermia is probably that girl from the other night. If she doesn't trick him he can easily take her.*
*That would probably be the case if Umbrella Boy hadn't told me he took out a nest of dark bloods, I think that he meant vampires, you dead guys got too many names.*
*A nest. That not usually a good thing,* Oz said in his manner that made Buffy wonder if maybe he might be taking volume when no one was looking. Most of the time he was entirely too calm and kicked back.
*I think a patrol is in order,* Giles said as he got up to leave. They had all figured that they wouldn't have to do any patrols while in Nermia, each kind of thought of it as a sort of vacation. Vacation was over. *I guess we'll have to have dinner tomorrow.*
*I didn't get to finish my Japanese pizza,* Xander wined as they got up to leave.
*Oh, what horror,* Angel said putting his hand over his mouth in a mock impression of shock.
*Shut up Dead Boy.*
/
*Are you sure this was a good idea?* Buffy asked Giles the same question for what seemed to him to be the thousandth time in an hour.
*Yes I'm sure. Don't worry everything will be fine,* he reassure the Slayer. *Angel and Xander have been getting along a lot better lately and I'm pretty sure that they well do well on patrol. And this way each group has at least one supernatural fighter with them.* When they had started out Giles had provide them each with a map and broke them up into two groups.
Him, Buffy and Willow were searching around the Furinkan High area while the guys searched around the Cat Cafe area. They had been out hunting for an hour now and so far no luck.
*Willow did you tell Giles what the Council told Amy to tell him about the new Slayer?* Buffy asked remembering the other bit of interesting information that their witch friend had told them.
*Oh, yeah I forgot,* Willow said turning almost as red as her hair. *Amy said one of the Council's psychics had discovered that the new Slayer is either a martial artist or has something to do with martial arts.*
*Did they say anything else?* Giles said rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. Willow shook her head no and Giles gowned.
*What's wrong Giles?* Buffy asked noticing that her Watcher was getting more frustrated than usual even for him over the situation.
*Nermia has a large number of martial artist and related people in It.* Buffy and Willow both asked in unison how many. *Let's just say it be like asking how many people in Sunnydale had any connection to the supernatural,* Giles answered. Buffy and Willow let out an annoyed sigh.
They had just left the school grounds and were walking pass one of the public baths that seemed so popular in Japan. Willow and Buffy both decided that little idea was thought up by guys. Buffy was about to suggest that they end this patrol when movement on the roof of the bathhouse caught her attention. A blur of motion leaped from the roof at a dive bomb towards Buffy. Buffy threw a punch aiming at what she figured was a small imp of some kind. The thing seemed to dodge in midair her blow coming within a hair of connecting.
It latched itself to Buffy's chest. "How sweet it is," Happosai said in bliss as he grabbed a handful of Slayer breast.
*YOU AGAIN!* Buffy roared her anger causing her to forget that in all likelihood the little pervert couldn't understand English. With a savage right cross Buffy dislodged the little pervert from her chest and slammed him into a nearby tree. The little man bounced off the tree and landed lightly on his feet no worse for wear.
"Ah strong women with good taste as well. I feel young again." Buffy noticed that the little pervert was holding two items in his right hand. One white one black, the white one was slightly bigger than the black. Buffy and Willow both noticed a draft at the same time that Giles recognized what the two lace items the little man was holding were.
"Give that back!" they both shouted as the little man took to the roof tops again. Buffy gave chase as Willow and Giles tried to follow on the ground. Giles hopped his slayer didn't kill the little freak.
/
"When they get here Great-grandmother?" The blue haired amazon asked for about the fourth time as she paced the floor of the Cat Cafe. Cologne smiled at her Grand-daughter's inpatients. So much like her own at that age, only Shampoo was a lot more violent when she had to wait.
"The Elders sent word that the winners of the tournament will be arriving this evening. They weren't sure when Shampoo. Now calm down." Upon hearing that Cologne had taken another Slayer, and the fact that there were now two Slayers instead of one their village had done something that had only occurred only a few times before in the history of the Amazons.
They held a tournament of the village fighters to see who would become what was called the Slayer's Swords, warriors that would pledge their lives to fighting alongside of the Slayer, or in this case the Slayers. If what Spray, the Oldest of the Elders whose word was absolute law even too Cologne, had seen in her visions was true the Slayers would need it.
The most ancient of the Amazon Elders had seen great evil crossing the path of the Slayers. When Crème, Cologne's former Slayer, had been called two warriors had been selected to be the Slayer's Swords. The Elders had decided that since there was now two Slayers four warriors should be called. A sword for each hand Spray had told Cologne in the letter she had sent.
Shampoo had said she wanted to be a Sword. Her position as village champion, and Cologne's assistants to the Elders that she was indeed good enough was all that was needed for her to become a Sword. The three that were to arrive had to win the right in a trial by combat.
Shampoo continued pacing. She was excited to see some of her Amazon sisters again. She wondered witch ones had won the honor. The letter from Spray had said nothing about who had won. Shampoo had missed all her sisters a lot during her stay in Japan. She was growing to think of Nermia as home, but deep in her heart she still longed to have people around that understood her better.
People that had grown up with the same amazon pride she had. The only people like that she had here was Great-grandmother and Mousse. Mousse was a male, and thought more like an outsider than an amazon, and sadly there was too much of a generation gap with her and Cologne. Besides Mousse had been gone for about two months on a training trip, Shampoo was annoyed that they hadn't received word from the Hidden Weapons master since he left for Vietnam where he had heard of a small village with a special technique he said he had to learn to help salve his problems. Shampoo had told him no technique, including the Cat Fist, was that strong.
"Niheo little sister," came a sing song voice from the front entrance of the Cat Cafe. Shampoo looked up at the pink haired older teenage that had walked in while Shampoo was deep in thought. She was wearing a Chinese style outfit that almost perfectly matched Shampoo's. On her back she wore two wicked looking curved swords. Shampoo threw herself at the girl a smile crossing her lips.
"Big sister Lotion you Sword too," Shampoo exclaimed happily as she wrapped a vicious bear hug around the other amazon. Lotion was Shampoo's big sister, not like Shampoo was Lin Lin and Lung Lung's big sister, but her real big sister by blood. She had helped Cologne train Shampoo to fight, and was village champion for three years before Shampoo finely beat her in a fight Shampoo sometimes thought her big sister had let her win.
To say Shampoo was happy to see her was like saying Kodachie was a little bit crazy.
"Yep Lotion Sword now, just like little sister." The mood in the room went from happy to a nervous quit as the next Sword entered behind Lotion. This girl was younger than Lotion, the same age as Shampoo, but her reputation among the Joketsuzoku amazons was far greater than either of theirs'.
She wore brown tanned leather pants, boots, and a brown short sleeve shirt. The sleeves on the shirt where trimmed with a dark brown animal fur as were the waist of her pants. On her hands she wore clawed gloves that also had fur around the wrist. Her hair was a dark black with a single silver streak down the right side of it. Her deep green eyes seemed to look right though the two other amazon girls.
At her side stood the largest wolf that either girl had ever seen, its coat was the color of the darkest night, same as the girl's hair. As if the two shared some kind of bond the wolf had a streak of silver fur under its right eye. Although neither Shampoo or Lotion would admit it to anyone the girl unnerved them.
"So Wolf you are now a Sword as well," Cologne said as she met the girl known as Wolf's gaze. The girl simply nodded her head. Wolf wasn't her real name, but the nick name she was given as a young child during one of the few times she actually returned to the village from where she trained in the forest. The name had stuck and now few even knew what her real name had been. Wolf seemed to fit her better than any name her mother could have given her anyway.
The next Sword entered in behind Wolf and Shampoo's mood once again changed drastically. This time from surprised to very annoyed. "What you doing here stupid?"
Mousse only smiled with a confidence Shampoo had rarely seen in him. "All four Swords have arrived," he said with pride. The sound of Shampoo's jaw hitting the ground was almost an audible sound.
"What you talking about?" Shampoo's disbelief was thick in her voice.
"I won the tournament my love," Mousse answered with a smile on his face.
"What you mean won?" Something about the way Mousse had said won didn't seem to sound right to her. He couldn't have meant that he had beaten everyone in the tournament; no amazon male had ever done that before that Shampoo knew of.
"Mousse was undefeated in the Contest of the Sword," Wolf answered in a calm monotone voice that betrayed nothing of what she was feeling. Shampoo looked to her older sister who only nodded a solemn affirmative. Shampoo found herself too stunned to say anything else. If it had been any other contest of combat besides the Contest of the Sword Mousse could have claimed either Lotion or Wolf as his wife. Shampoo got the feeling that she should start to train more. She wasn't so sure she could easily take the duck boy as she used to be.
"Well done Mousse," Cologne said, then with a lightning quick strike with her staff knocked the poor boy down on his back. "Just don't let it go to your head boy." She said with a mischievous smile on her face. "Now let's go find the Slayer."
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Ranma thoughts were troubling him. He was having trouble concentrating on his kata while he worked out. Things were starting to get weird around Nermia, and something nagged at the back of his mind that it was only starting. Like one of his father's so called "permeations." He could fill things in motion, what they were he couldn't tell.
First Akane is having nightmares so bad she already once ran to Ranma for comfort, neither one had mentioned that night since it happened. Then someone beats Ryoga so bad that his ribs get broken, which had him worried because whoever did that he would more than likely have to deal with later. He usually did.
Then P-Brain takes off leaving a note with Ukyo that makes it sound like he was going to face death itself. Ranma also noticed the look his cute fiancée had when they were talking about Ryoga. He felt a little bit jealous about that which got on his nerves a great deal.
Then he gets knocked out by a girl, one that looked more like an American cheerleader than a fighter.
That was what was bothering him the most right now. It really wasn't so much the fact that he had tied with Buffy, it was the fact that he had went all out with a girl and still tied. The only female he had ever gone full out against before was Cologne and he really didn't think the Old Ghoul counted as a female. He wasn't really sure her or the Freak were even really human. On second thought Cologne probably was but he was sure Happosai wasn't.
But the thing is as soon as he and Buffy started trading blows he soon found himself holding very little back. He fought as hard against her as he ever had against Ryoga or Mousse or even Happosai. It was like he wasn't fighting a girl at all, but some kind of force of nature.
Ranma's thoughts were interrupted by footsteps on the roof of the dojo, now this usually didn't mean more than just the fact that one of his fiancées or rivals had arrived. A good amount of martial artist that he knew used the roof tops as a mode of travel. But what was different was the fact that whoever was on the roof were fighting. Ranma could tell by the pattern of steps that too highly skilled martial artist where dueling it out on Tendo's roof.
That usually didn't happen unless he was on the roof. "Give those back you dried up troll," a very angry feminine voice shouted from the above. Ranma thought he recognized it as the gaijin girl's voice that he had just contemplating. What could have gotten Buffy so angry?
Ranma knew the answer when he heard Happosai's mischievous voice shout back at the girl. "Come and get it sweetie."
Ranma was out the door in a second. Once again it was time to bust the old master's face in. Just as he was out the door about to leap to the roof a very surprised looking Buffy came rocketing down towards him. With a thud they collided crashing hard to the ground. "How the hell did he do that," she snarled annoyed while Happosai landed gracefully a few feet away from the pair.
Buffy pulled herself up to her feet when it finely dawned on her who it was she had landed on. "Ranma that you?" she asked as she held her hand out to help him up.
"Hey Buffy," Ranma said as he let her help him to his feet. "Let me guess the Old Freak stole your underwear right?"
The blonde gave the martial artist a strange look. "Why do you say that like it's something normal?"
Ranma's response was cut short by a very annoyed Happosai. "Ranma how dare you try and steal your Master's woman?" Buffy looked at the little man with a bestial snarl on her face. Only Spike or Snayder could have been more annoying than this little pervert. On second thought she would probably rather spin time with both Spike and Snyder than this little mutant.
With a snarl she charged the ancient martial artist Ranma right behind really feeling a need to release so pent up frustration and kicking the stuffing out of Happosai seemed like just the stress relief he needed.
/
*I'm beginning to think that the vampire population in Nermia is at a record low,* Oz remarked as him, Xander, and Angel continued on down the quit street.
*I agree with the Oz man here,* Xander said with a clownish grin on his face, then added. *Maybe Fang Boy got the rest of Dead Boy's relatives?*
Xander waited for Angel's retort, but none came. Both Oz and Xander looked at Angel each knowing that something was up Angel's whispered, *we're being followed,* confirmed their suspensions. The two teens could feel their bodies readying for the battle to come. While on the outside he seemed to be his usually overly calm self, on the inside he felt adrenaline rush through his veins. The feeling right before him and his friends faced death and danger always felt dangerously close to what it felt like before he turned into a werewolf on the full moon.
Angel faked like he was shaking Oz's hand, passing a palm size rock that he had picked up earlier into the musician's hand. *Tree directly behind you and up top,* he whispered just loud enough for both Xander and Oz to hear, while he bent down acting like he was ting his shoe while he picked up another good size rock. The park they found themselves in seemed to have an abundance of lose pebbles laying around.
*Now!* Angel shouted as him and Oz spun on their heels and hurled the rocks at their descanted targets. Angel aimed for some bushes just off to his right, while Oz stone flew for the part of the tree Angel had indicated. The tree and the bush seemed to explode in a blur of motion as the two figures leaped from their concealment with acrobatic ease to land light footed in front of the three Slayerettes. They got over their surprise quickly as they sized up the new arrivals.
One was a boy about Xander's height with a well-trimmed and muscular body. He had light brown almost blonde hair cut short and slightly unkempt. His face was a mixture of oriental and Anglo features. In his hands he held what Angel first thought was a wooden bo staff, but the vampire soon noticed that one end of it was a solid wooden spear tip while the other had an iron cast around it.
The other figure was a woman about the same size age and build as Buffy, although she had a little bit more muscle. On each of her wrist were tied a yellow ribbon that was as long as her arm. She had short dark hair that was neatly cut and combed. She flicked her wrist and the ribbon on her right hand snapped like a whip.
The pair had two things in common that caught Angel's eye. One was the yellow and black spotted bandannas they both wore the other was the fact that even though they were both seemed human they both had fangs. There was something about them that reminded the vampire of that boy Ryoga.
"Time to die Dark Blood!" the boy snarled as the pair charged Angel who braced himself to meet the charge. A spilt second before him and the boy where in hand to hand fighting range the boy jumped to Angel's right driving the blunt end of his spear into the middle of Oz's chest, while simultaneously removing a bandana from his head, Angel noticed that there was another one underneath the one the boy yanked free, then launched the bandana at a very started Xander. The bandana struck Xander in the arm cutting deep into his already wounded shoulder. Both boys hit the ground with a surprised yelp.
"Bastard," Angel snarled as his rage brought his demonic nature to the surface replacing his hansom face with his vampire one. He charged the boy who used his spear to pole-volt backwards while the girl charged in under him her ribbon shooting at Angel's throat like a striking snake. Honed fighting skills and supernatural reflexes kicked in as he rolled under the attack and came up to his feet raining two quick strikes to the girls face that sent her flying. He heard the boy shout out, "Rumiko!" just before she landed hard on her back.
Angel was about to use the boy's detraction against him and knock his opponent unconscious when he heard a cracking sound behind him. Turning he saw that the girl's ribbon had stroke a tree behind him, and had cut it clean through. The tree crashed the rest of the way to the ground much to a very astonished Angel's surprise. "Not a good sign," he murmured to himself as he turned to see that both combatants were on their feet and ready to continue the fight. "Not a good sign at all."
/
*Are you sure this is the place?* Willow asked Giles as they approached the building that they saw Buffy chase the strange little man into. Giles simply nodded a yes. Buffy had jumped the fence in her pursuit of the pervert, but Giles and Willow couldn't do that so they decided to knock on the front door. *Are you sure just walking up to the front door and asking if they've seen a vampire slayer chasing a mini-pervert a good idea?* Giles just shook his head no, and they both neither of them had a better idea.
When they got to the gate and Giles knocked Willow noticed the sign by the door. "Tendo Dojo of Anything Goes Martial Arts?" She read aloud switching to Japanese to be ready to talk to whoever answered the door. "Doesn't that sound like a place that they would teach street brawling at?"
"Actually the main philosophy it teaches is adaptability in a fight to change your style and rhythm to keep your opponent off balance, or at least that's what father use to tell his students." Willow looked up started that she hadn't noticed the gate doors open to see a girl in her early twenties, possibly twenty or twenty-one, standing there looking at them with a smile so friendly on her face that Willow figured it beat out any of her trade marked "Willow Smiles." Her hair was long with a ribbon in it she wore it slung over her left shoulder. She seemed to radiate a motherly air.
"Good day Miss, my name is Rupert Giles, and this lovely young lady is Willow Rosenberg." Giles was suddenly all smiles and politeness. He made a perfect bow to the young lady that Willow tried to mimic, and actually came close. The young girl introduced herself as Kasumi Tendo, still with that warm smile in place. "We were fallowing my student who was in pursuit of a little man with uncanny martial arts skills. We think he may have jumped over your wall and that she may still be in pursuit. Have you seen a blonde American girl and a man about so heigh?" As he spoke the Watcher indicated with his hands a space about three feet off the ground the whole time hoping that somehow the explanation didn't sound as stupid to Ms. Tendo as it did to him when he said it.
"Oh my," Kasumi said as she put her hand in front of her face in a gesture of worry that Willow figured she used a lot. She then looked directly at Willow. "He didn't steal your underwear did he?" Willow almost dropped the gym bag full of what her, Xander, and Buffy had long ago nicknamed Slayer Gear from her shoulder. She nodded her head yes. "Oh my I've tried to talk with Grandfather Happosai about his stealing. I'm sorry if he has been any trouble. Please do come in." Willow blinked as the polite Ms. Tendo started to lead her and Giles to the house.
The girl's smile never completely left her face even when she was talking about this Happosai stealing underwear. Something about her calm detached manner reminded her of Oz somewhat.
At the door Willow cheeks became a little crimson as Giles softly reminded her to remove her shoes. Her and her friends hadn't been in Japan long enough to fully adapt that custom yet. Kasumi led them into the house and to the living room where two men about Giles age set at a game board playing what Willow first thought was checkers.
One man was leaner than the other and had a moustache. The other was slightly overweight, with a cloth tied over his head to cover up his boldness and was wearing glasses. They were both wearing karate gis. The bigger man's was white while the leaner man's was a brown color.
"Father," Kasumi said as they entered the living room getting the man in the brown gi's attention, which the other man took advantage of to steal two pieces on the board and rearranging a few others. Kasumi continued like nothing had happened. "This gentleman here is looking for his student. He says that Grandfather Happosai had stolen some underwear from her and that she chased him over our wall." Kasumi's smile or sweet tone never once wavered.
Both men got looks much like deer caught in headlights. Giles guessed that the old man must be a large amount of trouble for this seemingly sweet family. He was about to ask if maybe they had seen a blonde American girl when a male voice could be heard shouting from the back yard. "COME BACK HERE FREAK!" followed by Buffy's very angry voice adding her distaste to the little man she was pursuing. "I'M GOING TO STOMP YOU. YOU PERVERT!"
Giles sighed and removed his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose as he felt the stress headache coming on. "Please forgive our interruption but I think we have found her. If you would excuse us we well be out of your hair in a second."
Both men nodded as Giles started to head for the door that lead out to the back porch. A second before he reached the door two figures came flying though it colliding with him and knocking him over the Tendo's coffee table. Giles looked up to find that his Slayer along with someone else was sprawled on top of him. "Ouch, Ranma is that you?" Giles half grunted.
"Oh, hi Mr. Giles. Looking for Buffy?" Ranma said as Buffy got to her feet mumbling about how impossible it was to throw someone with a pipe.
"Eh, Hi Giles," the Slayer said sheepishly as she helped her Watcher to his feet. "Sorry about that."
Before the Watcher could reply a small ancient pervert fastened himself to Willow's chest causing the hacker to cry out. Before Willow could even move to dislodge the little man Buffy grabbed the man's head like she was palming a basketball and hurled him out into the Tendo's backyard. Ranma was on his feet, "Come on let's get the freak," he said to Buffy who was already fallowing him out of the house.
Giles started to call out to his Slayer then sighed an annoyed sigh. Genma spoke before Giles could think of what to say in this situation. "That's that new martial artist in town that Cologne is teaching isn't it." Giles shuck his head in the affirmative decided to go with the cover story Cologne had come up with as Buffy being a traveling martial artist improving her skills. Giles didn't think it would work but the woman insured him it would and she was hard to argue with. She reminded him of his own Grandmother, no one could ever say no to her either once she got the stern look in her eyes. "Ranma said she was good. Sparing with the Master could do her some good." Secretly Genma hoped that both the girl and Ranma may be able to actually hurt the little monster.
Giles decided that the big man may be right. Besides the hunt for the second Slayer was going very slowly and tonight's patrol was also a wash. He knew his Slayer and knew that she and her self-proclaimed Slayerettes were getting frustrated. Beating the hell out of a pervert could help relieve some pent up tension, and Willow had already started talking to a third girl that had come in and Willow recognized from one of her class. Nibiki Giles believed he heard her call the girl. Giles set down and started discussing Go strateies he remembered from his college days and was pleased when the girl Kasumi offered him some very good green tea.
Quickly a very pleasant atmosphere seemed to form in the Tendo living room with the sounds of battle coming from the backyard. And each group of people had what passed in their strange lives as a calm evening.
That is until Happosai tossed Ranma into Buffy and both of them then landed in the koi pond.
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Buffy saw Ranma come flying towards her, but she didn't know what exactly she could do about it. The little pervert had made another one of those impossible throws with his pipe this time aiming Ranma straight for the Slayer.
She was easily fast enough to dodge, but it wasn't her nature to let someone that fought alongside her to take a fall of some kind. She figured it was probably part of what made her the Slayer. So Buffy braced for impact as Ranma slammed into her arms. She almost kept her footing but the slippery rock proved too much even for her balance and soon Buffy found herself and Ranma submerged in the cold water of the Tendo's koi pond. The water numbed her skin for a second, but not enough to where she couldn't notice the sudden and very drastic change Ranma's body went though.
A second after both Ranma's and Buffy's head went under the water the pond exploded outward as Buffy launched herself into the air. Flipping in midair Buffy landed in a battle stance facing the koi pond as a very soaked red headed girl pulled herself out of the pond.
Happosai seeing that Buffy's white shirt was now very wet and slightly see through launched himself at her chest. Ranma's transformation had her on edge so Buffy's spinning back fist had her full Slayer strength behind it holding nothing back as she had been doing during most of the battle. Happosai slammed through the Tendo's fence with a very surprised look on his face. "Giles, Willow, get out here," Buffy called into the house without taking her eyes of Ranma.
Meanwhile Ranma was trying to figure out if there was ways where he wouldn't have to necessary tell Buffy and her group of friends the whole truth about what she just saw. He didn't know how an American would take the idea of a curse; America was always pictured as a very modern country while Japan was one of the oldest in the world and it showed in a lot of the thinking of its people. But Ranma saw the look in the blond gaijins eyes and knew that any lie would more than likely ended up rather painfully for him. He hopped her and her friends didn't think he was some kind of freak, he was starting to find them interesting.
Giles, Willow, Genma, and the Tendos (minus Akane who was out at a movie with some friends tonight) came running out of the house to see why Buffy had called out. "What happened?" Giles asked noticing that his Slayer was about to go into an all-out attack against this red headed girl. There was something very familiar about the girl.
*Ranma turned into a girl,* Buffy said never taking her eyes off of the sex changing martial artist. One thing living on the Hellmouth taught her was a fair mistrust for most kinds of magic, especially the kinds she had never seen before.
Giles went into full Watcher gear. *What happened to set it off,* he asked his mind running through a list of reasons why the transformation would have occurred. Buffy told him about Happosai throwing both of them into the koi pond during their little fight. Giles got a thoughtful look while Willow smiled then ran back into the house. Willow came running out carrying a steaming kettle, which she promptly threw the contents on Ranma.
"What you do that for!" Ranma complained as the way too hot water changed him back into a guy.
"Sorry about that," Willow said sheepishly before she started talking really fast. "I thought so. I didn't think when I read about the place that I would met someone that had been there, but I just found it so interesting and all."
Buffy decided that she needed to stop her friend before it was too late. "Willow remember oxygen needs to go in so you can breathe," she said stopping the hacker in mid babble.
Willow stopped, smiled nervously for a second, before she looked at Ranma and continued. "You've been to Jusenkyo haven't you?" she asked.
"Of course," Giles said as the Tendos and Saotomes just looked at the Americans in surprise. Buffy got annoyed when it didn't look like anyone was going to explain to her what the hell Jusenkyo was. "O.K. what is a Jusenkyo?" she said annoyed.
"Remember I told you about a few weeks ago. That place with like over a hundred cursed springs in it," Willow said smiling another Willow smile. "Remember we all voted that we should drop Snyder in Spring of Drowned Sewer Rat."
"Oh yeah," Buffy said smiling remembering the other interesting ideas of springs that they had thought Snyder needed to be dropped into. Giles thought that Spring of Drowned Cockroach was a lot more appropriate. She then looked at Ranma stepping out of her fighting stance, one thing about the curses of Jusenkyo was that there was no taking of someone's soul or a demon involved. Meaning that the person was still the same person, only thing was they had to avoid water. "Sorry about over reacting Ranma."
"It's okay," Ranma said as he walked up to the group seeing that Buffy wasn't going to attack him. That was a first for the kind of reactions people got when they learned about his curse. "I'm surprised you didn't know about the curses beforehand anyway, what with Shampoo having one and all."
"Shampoo's got a curse?" Buffy said surprised. "What she turn into?"
Buffy saw a flash of terror pass through Ranma's eyes so quick before he buried it back down she almost thought she imagined it before he spoke. "She turns into a c-c-cat," he answered a visible shiver run up and down his body. She wondered why the idea of a cat could cause him such fear.
"Of course, Jusenkyo is in walking distance of the Joketsuzoku village." Giles said "Wonder why Madam Cologne didn't mention her Great-granddaughter's curse before?"
"You all sure are taking this rather well, why is that?" Nabiki said eyeing the three foreigners with a look that even made Buffy a little nervous. It reminded her of the times she had been interrogated by the police, first when she burned down the Poke High gym and one or two times in Sunnydale. Nabiki could tell by their body language that whatever they were going to tell them, it wasn't the whole truth.
"I'm learning to be a witch," answered Willow shyly. She didn't like to be the center of attention in any situation, too much time being the girl no one noticed. Now having all these new people look at her with wonder in their eyes she felt more than a little uncomfortable.
"Don't you need warts for that?" asked Ranma.
Willow gave a little half smile before answering. "No that's just a myth." She could hear Buffy snicker slightly. They had jokingly asked her that two or three weeks ago, her and Amy had joking argued with the Slayerettes that you didn't need warts to be a witch, that was just if you wanted to be a wicked witch of the west Willow had said.
Very soon the peaceful atmosphere returned to the dojo, even with the so called sparring session that Ranma and Genma got into after Genma said something about Ranma's responsibilities to his fiancée. Buffy found her thoughts wondering about the new place she found herself in and the new people she had met so far.
A martial artist that turns into a girl, a three foot woman that was a few centuries old and a Watcher, an Amazon that turns into a cat, and finely a martial arts master that not only could throw a person with his pipe but stole women's underwear. And all this was before they had even found the new Slayer. Yep, I think we are going to fit in here, she thought to herself. It wasn't really a happy thought, more of an acceptance of the weirdness that was her life.
/
Oz pulled himself to his feet painfully. His chest hurt something awful, whoever that guy was who hit him in the chest he sure was strong. The guy wasn't a vampire, but one thing living on the Hellmouth taught him was that vampires weren't the only thing with fangs and lots of strength, he didn't need look father than himself on a full moon for proof of that. The teen looked up to see Angel dance out of the way of a ribbon strike from the girl that was with the guy that had floored him and Xander. Oz wondered why Angel seemed so desperate to keep out of reach out of something that looked so harmless.
Then Angel ducked under another ribbon strike that hit a water hydrant behind him. Even Oz's nearly unbreakable calm was shaken when the ribbon sliced clean though it literally like a hot knife through butter. The top half of the hydrant slowly slide to the ground with a metallic clank and water shot up in the air and out like a geyser.
That answered that question he thought regaining his calm state of mind that had helped him through many a weirdness in his life.
He noticed that the guy with the spear had seemed to have forgotten about him and Xander, who was also on his feet holding his arm and looking angry. The guy instead was trying to circle around the souled vampire and the girl to get a chance to use his spear on him. Neither Oz nor Xander intended for him to succeed in that particular goal.
Oz started wondering what they should do to stop him. His brain started to run though possibilities that they could try to help. He and Xander had actually improved their fighting skills somewhat thanks to Cologne's brief training towards the end of the evening they had each successfully landed at least one punch on Shampoo, and hell let's face it fighting for their lives on almost a nightly bases back home for the last few years makes you a decent fighter anyway, but Oz knew they were still no match against these two. Xander walked up next to him, the werewolf noticed that Xander had a big rock in his hand. "So what do we do?" Oz asked looking over to his fellow Slayerette.
Xander had that look in his eyes. It was a look Oz had even given a name too, he called it Xander's-I'm-About-To-Do-Something-Suicidal look. The looked meant Oz knew what at least one of them was going to do. One of them was going to do something nuts.
The normally gufy guy got it from time to time. Oz had seen it at times when Xander had been pushed past his usual fear of injury or even death. That's when he would just go up and do something crazy. With a determined chin and rock in his hand Xander walked up behind the spear welder.
Angel saw Xander walk up behind the boy with the spear and he too recognized the look in his young companion's eyes. Xander had turned it on Angel more than a few times, the first time Angel could remember was when he came and made the vampire get off his ass and take both of them to the Master's lair, that time had saved Buffy's life, he hoped this time had similar success. His attention was brought quickly back to his battle with the girl with the cutting ribbons. His reflexes kicked in just in time to keep his head from sharing the same fate as the hydrant but not from a deep cut on to his right cheek.
He needed to go on the offensive but shortly after the pair's initial attack Angel felt a wave of dizziness sweep over him. He had felt something similar when he was still human and had drank enough ale to get a vampire seriously drunk. He would have suspected that it was something the pair had done to him if this was his first dizzy spell, but it was his third since they came to Japan.
One of the girl's ribbons again brought him back to the fight at hand. He needed something to change the course of this battle soon or he was done for. Only reflexes built up over two hundred and forty years of fighting to stay alive, plus a hundred years spent surviving in hell, kept him from losing his head.
That's when he heard Xander's voice off by the boy, "Excuse me but do you have any Greykupon?"
Xander smirked at the confused dumb founded look on the other boy's face. All the things the boy more than likely expected this evening when he went out, having some guy tap him on the shoulder and use that old joke in the middle of a battle with a vampire was obviously not one of them. He was so surprised that he was left wide open for a short time, which was exactly what Xander had been counting on.
The stone in Xander's hand connected with the right side of the boy's head then the left on its return swing both times making a fleshy sounding thud. The boy then crumbled to the ground.
"FRANKLIN!" the girl Angel was battling called out suddenly. Angel was able to get his eyes to focus enough to see Xander standing over the prone boy with a rock in his hand. The girl turned her back on Angel her worry for the boy making her forget the danger behind her. Angel wasn't about to give her the chance to continue her attack on him, his fist slammed into the back of her head with a lot of focused power and savage fury. She hit the ground face first. Angel felt the dizziness come over him and almost lost his footing and barely able to stop himself from falling on top of her.
"That's what you get!" Xander said shaking his finger at the downed spear barer like a parent scolding a child. "You can't stake Dead Boy, I have first debs on that. And next time you.." Xander stopped his rant as the boy looked up at him. Then stood up and shuck his head like he was getting something out of his hair. There didn't even look like he would have a bruise where Xander had hit him. "Oh boy."
Xander tried to use the rock on the boy again but the boy's foot caught him in the solar plexus. Xander landed hard on his back all the oxygen escaping his lungs. Oz charged the boy who the girl named Franklin only to be caught by the boy's other foot across his jaw. He felt his jaw loosen before he hit the ground in unconsciousness.
Angel pushed back the dizziness and charged the boy before he had a chance to do more damage to his two fallen comrades. The boy flipped his spear back up into his hand swinging the iron end at Angel's head. Angel brought his arm in time to block but the blow left his forearm numb with pain, on the up side the pain pushed the dizziness back enough for Angel to fight at his fullest.
The two combatants traded blows in a savage dance of skill and rage. Angel with his centuries of battle experience formed a net and punches and kicks around him in an attempt to penetrate the boy's defenses, but Franklin fought like the spear was a part of his arm, each move was spoke of a mastery that made Angel wonder if maybe the boy was a few centuries older than he looked. Each fighter was only able slip glancing blows past the other's defenses.
It was starting to look to Angel that they may end up with a stalemate.
A smile crossed Franklin's face a second before he used his spear to pole-vault backwards out of Angel's reach for the second time that evening. The girl, Rumiko he believed her name was, voice came from behind him, "Got a gift for you Dark Blood." Angel spun to meet the attack just as the pouch she had thrown smashed into his chest. A greyish powder burst out of the pouch then exploded in a brilliant light. Spots flashed in his light sensitive eyes as the explosion tore into his chest knocking him hard to the ground. Angel felt his hold on consciousness loosen. His vision cleared to the sight of both the attackers standing over him, Franklin had his spear raised to strike.
"Guess we won't find out what that light we sensed from you is, oh well there still one more. Goodbye Dark Blood," Franklin said as his muscles tensed slightly for the killing strike. He was stopped in mid strike as a howl echoed throughout the night seeming to come from all around them. Angel tilted his head to look where Xander and Oz still lay unconscious to make sure Oz hadn't somehow morphed into his werewolf form, he hadn't.
"What the hell," Franklin said as a form dislodged itself from the shadows to slam into the fanged boy; Angel saw the glint of metal off claws the figure wore. The girl moved to asset her partner but had to leap backwards as volley of throwing daggers embedded themselves where she had been standing.
The sounds of battle come to Angel's ears but he could no longer see what was happing because a mass of blue hair now blocked his view. He looked up into the worried eyes of the Amazon girl Shampoo. The last thing he heard before he slept into unconsciousness was her worried voice, *Angel Vampire O.K.?* Then darkness over took him.
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Mio looked at the cards again hoping that what she was seeing would somehow change, or that she had read them wrong. It was the tenth time in just as many minutes that she had done that and again nothing had changed.
Mio had always had the gift to read the terra. Ever since she was little she had taken to them instantly. She had read some interesting things over the years, and many times in the past she had misread them. The reading she had done to see what was going to happen at the school a week before Ranma Saotome enrolled she was sure she had really messed up, but then Ranma showed up and all the crazy stuff she saw came to pass. Another time she had seen the death of Happosai, but that was a possible future not a set one and she helped prevent that. To this day she still didn't know why she had done that.
But this time was far different from anything she had seen before. This time what she saw coming wasn't annoying like Happosai or amusing like the chaos Ranma seemed to bring with him everywhere he went.
No this was evil, pure and insane evil. And there was no way she could prevent it. She didn't have that power, but the cards spoke of two that did. And somehow they spoke of forces gathering around them to aid them, and to stop them.
"I see you do have a fair amount of skill with the cards," Mio jumped out of her seat as the calm voice spoke from the shadowy corner of her room. Standing in the shadows was a man wearing a clock and hood. His features where lost in the shadow of his hood but Mio could feel the cruel smile on his lips aimed at her. He raised his right hand as sickly green flame suddenly engulfed it. "For Chaos," he whispered like a man praying.
Mio's scream echoed for blocks, before stopping suddenly. A bum sleeping in a nearby alley well remembers the silence that followed far longer than he would the scream. It felt like everything in the world was holding its breath for what was coming next.