A Second Chance Ch. 10
Vows and Vendettas
Hey everyone! Sorry about the long update wait. I've been far busier than I anticipated, but hopefully I will get to do more regular writing soon. Thanks for the support by the way, and to all the people who put me on their up date list; Thanks a million, your support is always appreciated. Please read, respond, and enjoy.
Ranma dodged to the right, barley avoiding a punch aimed at his face, unfortunately that put him against the wall and it was all he could do to block the elbow strike that Ryoga flowed into next. He almost wished he hadn't, pain ripped through him as the strike impacted one of the parallel gashes in his arm.
Ranma wondered, between ducking a punch and sidestepping an axe kick, how Ryoga had managed to cut him. It didn't seem like he had any kind of weapon, and the only technique he knew that would produce damage like that was the Cat Fist, which he couldn't imaging Ryoga being able to use, and even if he did have it how was he still in control while using it? No, it had to be something else.
This raised another problem for Ranma; how had Ryoga learned whatever it was he was using? It was unlikely that it was any form of hidden weapons, as his shirt was short sleeved. But even if his clothing matched the style Ranma doubted he could have learned such a difficult technique in only a few weeks. Besides Ryoga had lost most of the speed he had gained from fighting Ranma day in and day out.
A worse problem was the speed Ryoga had gained. He wasn't as fast as he was at his peak, but he was faster than he should have been. That, added to his already inhuman strength and toughness made him considerably better than Ranma could remember. Add in the fact that, although Ranma had been training hard, he wasn't as improved as Ryoga was, and the entire scenario boded ill for Ranma.
Weaving through combos of punches, kicks, and occasional head-butt Ranma realized something else. He was getting tired. The training he had been doing was helping him, and he wouldn't have lasted this long without it, but it wasn't enough. He had his sparring matches with Kuno, but only two of them, if you could call the first encounter a match. And his daily fights with his father, but that was barely a challenge. Maybe he should ask Tofu if he could spar with him some time. A knee that Ranma was barely able to avoid brought an end to his musing.
Ranma was about to block yet another punch when something caught his eye, and drew his attention from the attack. Diving desperately out of the way Ranma managed to avoid all but a slight graze by the strike, but even that amount of contact was enough for a good sized swath of his shirt to be removed, along with a thin slice of skin.
Regardless of the burning that now engulfed both arms Ranma smirked. He had seen it! Right before the punch connected he was able to make out a slight green glowing discoloration in front of Ryoga's fist. That meant one of two things, either Ryoga was holding a piece of kryptonite, or he was manipulating Ki.
Ranmas face quickly turned to a grimace. If Ryoga was using ki to fight him he was worse off than he thought. After all Ryoga had only a slight ability to use ki up until he learned the Shi-Shi Hokuden. If he gained so much ability this soon it was clear that something Ranma had done made it so. That in turn meant that whatever put him in this particularly homicidal state of mind was also, most probably, Ranmas fault.
Obviously something he encountered in Jusenkyo or on the trip to Japan had affected him. Ranma wasn't sure what it was or how it happened, but ultimately it meant that this psychotic tirade was, partially, his fault. And that meant it wasn't right for him to beat up Ryoga, though admittedly that was fairly far from what was actually happening. That meant that Ranma had to find a way to stop him without hurting him. A quick glance around and Ranma saw the perfect tool.
Ranma jumped over Ryoga's kick and used his still ascending leg for a spring board. He flipped over his foe and landed but a few feet away from the edge of the pool.
"Hey pork chop! Follow me if you can!" Ranma was pretty sure Ryoga hadn't received his curse, but bacon flavored insults towards the melancholy martial artist were sort of a habit. And given Ryoga's mood it was pretty effective.
Ranma jumped aside as Ryogas fist blurred by where his head had been. The force of the blow left Ryoga overextended and in the instant before he could draw back Ranma struck. He spun and landed a kick right across Ryogas back. The strike, added to his being off balance, sent Ryoga into the pool, which now consisted of large icebergs floating in nearly freezing water.
Ranma hopped back from the edge and grinned cockily. Even if Ryoga didn't have a curse the dip should be enough to cool him off. The grin lost its bravado as Ryogas hand clamped down on the cement around the pool hard enough to leave an indent, which soon cracked and shattered. The martial artist lost his grin altogether when his foe pulled himself out of the water with a look that was, if anything, angrier than it had been. Ranma was surprised, briefly, that Ryoga's teeth weren't cracking from the force he seemed to be putting into grinding them together. For a moment he didn't even look human, suddenly Ranma's train of thought was cut off as Ryoga launched himself forward.
Ranma narrowly managed to get out of the way as a flying kick shot by him and went on to destroy several chairs and a table in the cafeteria area. The dust from the crash hadn't even finished spreading when Ryoga leapt again, this time almost reaching the ceiling before descending in a steep arc towards Ranma. He leapt back as the human wrecking ball demolished the concrete floor where he had been standing. Ranma caught his balance after landing just in time to jump again, this time straight up, to avoid another lunge. Ryoga flew by and destroyed a support pylon in the wall between the rink and the street outside. Ranma frowned. As long as Ryoga kept lunging at his there was little he could do to counter him without getting pulverized himself.
People walking by looked at the pile of rubble, and then through the large hole that had produced said rubble. A few stared in amazement, most hurried by to get on with what ever task they were busy with, and only one unlucky soul even tried to help Ryoga get up. The glare he received was enough to send him on his way even if it wasn't followed by throw that ended with him half way down the block flat on his back.
Ranma couldn't help but gape. He would never go so far as to call Ryoga honorable, his actions as P-Chan, among other things, disqualified him from that, but the Ryoga he knew would never even imagine attacking an unarmed, untrained, civilian. Ranma's grimace slowly turned into a determined frown. He had created this Ryoga; it was his responsibility to fix him. If Ryoga was out cold he might have a chance to get him somewhere away from other people before he could do any serious damage to anyone. Then he could figure out what to do with him.
Ranmas frown let up until there was no expression on his face as he started circulating ki through his body. He clenched his fist tightly and silently made an appeal to the powers that be that no one would see what he was about to do.
Akane could feel sweat dripping down her face as she closed in on the dojo, she wasn't used to traveling this far this fast. Her breaths were coming quickly as she rounded a corner and nearly ran over a group of kids kneeling down to play in the dirt. She didn't even turn to yell an apology as she rounded another corner. Only three blocks left to the dojo.
Akane knew Ranma wanted her to just wait there for him to return like some kind of hero, but that boy he was fighting was strong, too strong for all Ranma's bravado. So strong she didn't think even Ranma could beat him. She would get her dad and Mr. Saotome to go there and back Ranma up. And if he had already beaten the other boy, Ryo-something she thought his mane was, then he would probably try to gloat about how no one could beat him. Then she would cream him and, loudly, ask why she was worried about a jerk like him. Two blocks left.
Wait a second, was she really worried about him? It wasn't like anyone would be able to beat Ranma in so short a time as she had been gone. Not for the first time on her run she berated herself for not staying and fighting with Ranma. But the look he had given her, and the way he had sounded when he told her to go compelled her to move before she could tell her feet not to. She hadn't known Ranma for very long, but in that short time she was sure she had never seen him scared. There was something about that look that she found unbearable. It made him look just like a child, and when he looked like that she just wanted to hold him and… Akane's thought process was disrupted by a fierce blush. What was she thinking? One block
Sure, Ranma was attractive. Hell, he was practically perfect appearance wise. But that wasn't any reason for her to think about such things. Ok, maybe he did have the occasional nice streak, but it wasn't like she liked him or anything. After all their parents had just set them up, they hadn't chosen to be engaged. Still when she thought about him smiling at her she couldn't help but... Another far fiercer blush covered her face, why couldn't she get her mind off this. She had a mission to accomplish, yeah, just focus on getting help for Ranma. The gate to the dojo was within reach. She shoved it open and was about to shout for her father when her voice caught in her throat.
Standing just inside the gate was a strangely dressed girl. Her cloths showed a great deal of wear but were obviously high quality, and fit her ample body just a bit too well in Akane's opinion. But what caught her attention most was the girls long purple hair.
The girl had already turned to face the gate when Akane arrived, but the original look of joy that was on her face was soon replaced with a wary, if somewhat hostile stare. In a flick so fast she almost missed it her eyes looked Akane over. Her eyes gained a bit of arrogance when she met Akanes again.
"Where I find Airen?" the now obviously foreign girl demanded in broken Japanese.
Akane could only blink in response. She had no idea who the girl was looking for. 'Airen' didn't sound like a name to her and what limited Chinese she knew didn't help her understand either. "I, I'm sorry, but I don't think 'Airen' lives here. You probably have the wrong address. Normally I would be willing to help you, but I'm in kind of a hurry now, so…" Akanes words and motions as she tried to move past the girl were stopped by an immense mace blocking her path.
"Sweaty girl no play stupid. Shampoo knows Ranma live here. If you try to hide airen then you are Shampoos enemy." The last sentence was spoken in a voice so cold Akane could barely hole back a shiver.
Before this 'Shampoo' could make another move Akane was away from her and in her preferred battle stance. Silently she chided her self for her carelessness. If some psycho was determined to kill Ranma today why wouldn't he have a partner? Then one could follow him and the other could wait for him at his home. The frown on Akane's face deepened. Why would someone be so determined to get Ranma? What could he have done?
Akane pushed those thoughts down. Right now she had to concentrate on the problem at hand. As she managed to clear her mind she realized something that sent a chill down her spine. The girls' weapon was a huge mace, easily weighing 80 or 90 pounds, and yet she swung it down and stopped it seemingly without effort. Whoever this Shampoo was she was a beast. Akanes unease was quickly replaced when a smug smile spread across Shampoos face. She thought she was stronger than Akane! And she thought Akane believed it too!! There was no way Akane would lose to an arrogant girl like her.
Akane started smiling too, and Shampoo didn't seem to like that. She moved to Akanes right so fast the movement was almost unnoticed. Akane's initial urge was to move back, but instead she jumped toward her enemy, moving just inside a strike by her mace. No sooner had Akane moved into striking range than Shampoo released her weapon. It sailed a good fifteen feet before lodging in the dojo wall. With her now free hands Shampoo started a flowing chain of strikes, starting with a palm strike aimed at Akane's head. Akane dodged by dropping to a low squat and used her curled legs to launch her into the air as a sweeping kick spun by where she had been. Akane landed back a few feet just in time to avoid a high kick that Shampoo spun around to deliver, and then back again as she blocked a powerful punch that would have liquefied her internal organs had it impacted.
Akane growled and tried to resume her stance and get on the offensive. However as she moved her foot back it impacted something solid. Shampoo had already driven her back to the side wall of the dojo. The foreign girls' mouth slowly formed a smile. "You stand between Shampoo and Airen, you die," she said slowly as she pulled the mace from the wall and raised it to a striking position in one fluid motion.
Akane glanced desperately around for some escape. There was no way she could leap up to the dojo wall like Ranma, if she tried to run the girl would probably just strike her from behind, and she was fairly sure she couldn't block that immense weapon. No, that's wrong. She can block it and she will block it. A fight is no time to lose confidence. Akane would block the strike and then she would put the enemy down with a blow to the kidneys. At the very least that would make the girl retreat for now and then she could get help for Ranma.
For all that build up the girl didn't actually bring her weapon down upon Akane. Instead she brought up a foot that met the dark haired girls chin. Akane felt her head snap back and impact the dojo wall. In the instant after the impact the other girl's palm smacking into her chin and driving her head into the wall again. Her knees buckled under her and her back hit the wall. It was all she could do to stay conscious as starbursts erupted in her eyes and pain sank into her brain. Akane was certain that her head had split open, but despite the pain she kept her eyes open. For some reason it was almost impossible. She felt more tired than she had ever been in her life. Sleep would feel great right now, the pain in her head would be gone and tomorrow she could wake up and deal with this 'Shampoo' girl. For some reason the thought of Shampoo made her furious, and nervous, and something else that she couldn't put her finger on at the moment, but that wasn't important. She would much rather watch the little tendrils of dark close in from the corners of her vision. In the midst of the area they had taken over she happened to catch a glimpse of her enemy.
Shampoo seemed to leave an imprint on the air where she had just been. To Akane it looked like there were several copies of the girl each one moving in the same way, but each a little after the other. She raised her weapon with both hands and… just stood there. Akane thought the whole thing was more than a bit odd, she would have laughed if she could figure out how. First off the girl was leaving herself wide open, Akane had a vague urge to kick the girl, but it wasn't important so she ignored it. Secondly she was just standing there. Akane didn't know why, but it seemed like the girl should be doing something. But by far the oddest thing was the look on the girl's face. She seemed angry and sad and scared and ashamed all at once. Or maybe the feelings were one after the other and each of the shadows of Shampoo had a different expression. Either way it didn't seem to matter much.
Suddenly, though to Akane it seemed to take a few minutes, Shampoo turned and faced something behind her. Faintly Akane heard someone calling her name, after a moment she realized it was her father. She sighed internally; whenever her father called her he had some chore that needed doing, or some dramatic announcement. Normally she would have gotten up to see what he wanted, but she was too tired, and for some reason her legs weren't working quite right.
Suddenly much to her surprise she was lifted in the air. She looked up and saw Mr. Saotome; apparently he had seen fit to take her somewhere. She was glad that she could rest a bit more while they traveled, but she didn't quite appreciate that Mr. Saotome was carrying her, after all she wasn't a little kid anymore. Now maybe if he were Ranma… Akane could feel herself blushing, and something. There was something wriggling around in her mind, but she couldn't quite grasp it. Whatever it was it was insistent, something about Ranma, he was helping someone, or he wanted to fight a boy somewhere or other… Help! That was it he needed help fighting a boy at the skating rink. Almost immediately Akane snapped back to her senses. "Ranma needs help!"
Genma almost dropped the girl he was carrying. He was certain she had at least a concussion and wouldn't be doing much of anything for quite some time. Then she just, just woke up, like nothing had been wrong with her. Then what she said registered. He had to refrain from smirking. "Don't worry. Ranma can take care of himself. Besides right now I have to get you to that Tofu fella'. You took quite a hit to the head and he better look at ya' to make sure… well just to be safe."
"Hit? What are you…" Akanes voice trailed off. Suddenly all that had just happened flooded back into her mind and for a moment she was speechless, but that quickly passed. "No you don't understand! Ranma was fighting a boy who was stronger than anyone I've ever seen. He was a monster! We need to go the skating rink. If we don't go help him he won't be able to win and that boy looked serious, like he would kill Ranma if"
"Quiet," Genma interrupted, he continued in a slow slightly arrogant voice. "You have an injury to the head. If you don't get to the doctor you will probably die. Ranma has been fighting since he was able to walk, he can take care of himself. I'm sure there isn't anyone his age in the world who could beat him in such a short time, or, probably, at all. But if it makes you feel better I'll go find him after I drop you off."
Akane was about to protest when Genma dropped from the roof he was on to the door of the Tofu clinic. He pushed the door open with his foot and wasn't yet inside the clinic when its namesake met him. Tofu grabbed Akane from Genma's hands and was rushing into another room while interrogating Genma as to what happened. The stout martial artist only stayed long enough to say she received multiple hard blows to the back of her head in a fight. Then he was out the door and on the roofs again headed for the rink.
Akane smiled. "Good, now Ranma will be alright," and with that she blacked out.
Ranma had scarcely time to draw a breath when Ryoga lunged again. Ranma leapt to the right, he needed more time to prepare. What he was about to do would have to work and in order for it to succeed Ranma needed time to gather his ki. Ryoga's strike brought down another section of wall and Ranma realized he might not have that time. At the rate they were going this building was going to come down before Ranma ever got the chance to strike.
Ranma's mind raced as another section of wall fell before Ryoga. He knew that he needed ki to stop Ryoga, but it was taking too long to gather enough of it, after all a normal ki blast wouldn't take Ryoga down normally, much less in his current state. Fortunately Ranma had just the thing to stop him. While training Ranma had noticed that it was much easier to use his ki, or at least it was easier than it had been. Practice with this lead to the discovery that not only could he eject ki from his body, but he could also infuse a part of him with more ki than usual. While he couldn't stay this way for long, over exposure to ki made him feel like he was burning from the inside out, when it was active it gave him an immense boost in force. Unfortunately he had only managed to bring about this state a few times and even then only after long stretches of concentration. But if he was going to stop Ryoga this was the way to do it, after all the lost boy probably had more endurance than Ranma and he could certainly take more punishment.
Ranma ducked a flying kick by Ryoga and flipped forward till he was in the center of the room. An idea struck him, and he felt like hitting himself for not realizing it immediately. Ki was powered by emotions, and for Ranma that emotion had always been confidence. So to draw up more ki Ranma just had to act like he was the best. He would have struck a pose and said that for him that wasn't much of a stretch, had not another attack from the human pinball necessitated immediate evasion.
Once Ranma had his feet under him again he turned to face Ryoga, or at least where he had landed last. "Hey bacon bits, come on you can do better than that. I'm falling asleep out here!" The only response was a snarl and another attack.
This time Ranma laughed haughtily as he side stepped the strike. "Feh, you wouldn't be able to beat me in a hundred years. Not that I could blame you, there aren't many who could." Ranma didn't know why he had the urge to talk, but he did know that it was working. Confidence flowed through him and he could feel it staring to build up in his right arm.
Another miss. "Why don't you give up porky? You're just making yourself look bad." Almost enough, just a bit more ki and he would be there.
"Wow, that one was close. A few more feet and I might have felt a breeze!" The burning started, like someone was heating up his bones from the inside. He was nearly there; one more time should do it.
Ryoga's next strike started out moving towards Ranma's right. When Ryoga was on his side he changed direction in a split second and went for a punch to Ranma's abdomen. Ranma sidestepped and said, "You're getting a little bit better, but this is already pretty boring. I think it's time to end this."
If looks could kill Ryoga would have slaughtered half of Tokyo right then. He came straight towards Ranma with his fist cocked back behind his head. Instead of dodging Ranma stood firmly and drew his arm slightly back. Ryoga covered the ground between them in no more that two seconds, but that was enough for Ranma. He stepped forward and under Ryoga's fist and with aloud cry struck at the boy's chest with all his might. The initial impact seemed to have little effect, but Ryoga's body gradually stopped moving forward. Then it started moving back very, very quickly. The first wall he impacted turned to dust. The second sported a wide hole from which steam, dust, and a generous splash of hot water emerged.
Ranma reactively released the ki built up in his arm and hugged it close to his body. He was half sure when he looked down his arm would be decimated. He was half right. His hand was streaked with blood, initially he thought it was from Ryoga but then the pain hit and he had to clench his teeth to keep from yelling out. It felt like he broke all the bones in his hand, though he was pretty sure he hadn't. Apparently even his enhanced hand wasn't meant to withstand the kind of force he had put into that blow. His head whipped up. If it had done that to his fist what happened to Ryoga. He was moving before he knew it.
Ranma landed on the other side of the bath Ryoga was in. the boy was sprawled out against the wall of the bath, in a fairly deep indent. Ranma leaned close to him and felt his pulse. Ryoga was alive, and what was more he wasn't even breathing irregularly. But the tattered remnants of a shirt he wore couldn't cover a huge red mark on his chest that was already starting to darken around the edges. Ranma wasn't sure if he had any broken ribs, but it was a good possibility.
Ranma didn't like the idea of involving other people, but he needed to get a real doctor to look at Ryoga. Ranma figured Tofu would ask some difficult questions, but it was better than taking him to a hospital. And maybe Tofu could do something for his hand. Ranma used his left arm to sling Ryoga across his back and headed off to the Tofu at full speed.
Genma arrived at the skating rink wearing only a slight expression of shock. Akane told him the person Ranma was fighting was a monster, apparently she wasn't exaggerating. He leapt inside and quickly surveyed the damage. There was quite a bit of damage, but from what he could tell it was all to the building. The only blood he found was in the center of the room between the rink, which was also a seasonal pool, and the demolished remnants of the locker room and bath. It was not nearly enough to indicate serious injury.
What bothered Genma was the lack of either fighter. If Ranma had won he would probably stay around to make sure the person was taken care of, or he would have seen him on the way here, as he had stopped by the house on the way back. And if the other person won it seemed likely he would have just killed Ranma on the spot.
"Excuse me, ah, sir?"
Genma turned to face the man who called in through the hole. "Uh, if you're looking for the guys who were fighting here they are gone."
The person stepped back in amazement at the speed with which the man moved near him. "What happened? Where did they go?"
"Uh, I didn't see much, but the guy in the red shirt carried the guy in the brown shirt over that way." The man pointed to the west.
Genma thought for a second. If Ranma had carried the other fighter off it would probably be because he needed help, and since he was carrying the boy towards Tofu's clinic that was where he would probably be. Genma yelled a thank you over his shoulder as he took to the roofs once more.
Ranma dropped into the doorway to Tofu's clinic. He pushed the door open and expected to see the good doctor right in front of him. When he wasn't Ranma shouted for Tofu, Ranma had never been very good with etiquette. The doctor appeared around a corner and took in the martial artist's in one glance.
"Well," Tofu sighed as he took Ryoga from Ranma and put him on a bed in the main ward, "it certainly seems to be a busy day for injuries in Nerima. If you're looking for Akane she's in the room at the top of the stairs."
For a moment Ranma didn't comprehend what the doctor said. Then his eye grew and he started shaking. "You shouldn't worry, she'll be alright." Tofu said, not looking up from treating Ryoga. "She got a pretty good whack on the head, but you know Akane. She already wants to go home." When Tofu did look up Ranma was nowhere in site.
Ranma's bursting into the room caused Akane to quickly turn her head from the window to the door. The resulting pain made her close her eyes and hold her head between both hands.
"Akane, are you all right?" The desperation in Ranma's voice surprised Akane enough to have her look up at him. That brought on another wave of pain and she moved her head back down.
"Muph, yeah, I'm fine Ranma. Thought I'd be better if you didn't barge in here and start yell" before Akane could finish her sentence she found herself wrapped in Ranma's arms. The forwardness of his action caught her by surprise and, not knowing what to do she just sat there.
After a few moments Akane started to blush and pushed Ranma off. Ranma realized what he was doing and blushed slightly himself. But in an instant that expression was replaced with anger. In a low, dangerous voice he murmured "Who did this to you."
If not for the display of affection that preceded it Akane would be terrified by that voice, as it was she was just unnerved. "It, I think she said her name was Shampoo. She sounded Chinese; she said she was looking for Aaron or Airen, something like that. Then she said your name. Do you know her?" the last part was added hesitantly as Ranma looked like a man about to commit murder, among other things.
"Yeah, I met her." Ranma clenched his right hand until blood dripped out of it. "I know her." 'As soon as I fix up this hand of mine….' He added silently.