Shadows

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The crowd was buzzing. The bookies were scrambling to fill out the betting slips.

Ren was hooded and cloaked as he whispered to Ranma, looking out over the crowd. "Do not think that you will beat me today, because I too am of the School of thought that when losing; it is better to run away to fight another day. In a true fight between us, where it was my life or yours, I would try to slice you open with my blade, then run, leaving the toxins on my blade to kill you. I am not afraid to shoot you with a silver bullet in the back and leave you to die from the resulting effects."

"So you tell me. How shall we determine the winner in this match?"

Ren flashed two wooden Kukri that had what looked like grease paint on the edges. "30 minutes, if in that time I have not left three marks on you, you win. If I mark you three times, I win this round." then Ren sneered. "As if I needed to add incentive; You lose, you pose for Nabiki, as her last chance to collect yen through your female side. I get to help."

He leered.

Ranma cocked his head, "Okay, but should I win, you are treating me and the girls to Ice Cream."

"Done." Looking over at Nabiki in her short-shorts, he smiled to himself. "You tell her. She will keep the time."

121

Nodoka walked along leading Akane and Sue to fight. Sue as carrying something over her shoulder, dressed once again in her leather vest and tight denim skirt.

"This will do." Mother Saotome declared, and Sue snapped out a two seated chair with a small table for cans of beverage, including cup-holder holes. Both Ladies sat, as Akane pulled a can of tea for Nodoka and a can of Coke for Sue from a shoulder bag. "We should do this more often, just get out and see the 'Beauty of Nature'." She pushed the button to heat the can of tea, and sat back to watch the gathering of the Crowd.

Akane turned to Sue. "What happened back at the Dojo? It all happened so fast..." her voice trailed off as she saw back to the scene where Sue was little more then a meat puppet, with her string cut.

Sue flashed her a smile, her pearl teeth brighter against her rich cocoa skin. "In simple terms, you killed me. When you hit me with hammer, you shatter spine. Because you did not use claws or a silver blade; no scar. Because me head not removed; no finial death. It show why we cage the rage."

"I too, had to learn to sheath my claws in anger," Nodoka spoke quietly "Your mother helped me more then you will ever know. Mr. Ren choose well in naming you a Fury. There is no way you would be a Stargazer like your mother or Kasumi. You are too much a fighter. With your pension to hate boys, it is a good fit, as the Furies are a Sisterhood of great fighters. The only other choice would have been a Stormlord, but they frown on mixed bloodlines."

"Mixed bloodlines?" asked Akane. "How am I a mixed bloodline?"

"Your Father, my dear." a sip of tea, "He holds a bloodline of something old and dark, according to Mr. Ren. But with what your sister showed us, it will be interesting." Setting her tea down, "Oh, look, they are about ready."

a hush fell over the field. Nabiki stepped up, and in a clear voice, "A 30 minute bout, anything humanly possible goes. If Ranma is able to avoid being marked three times by his opponent's blades, he is declared victor. Should he be marked three times, his Challenger, wins. Side bets will be taken until the fifteen minute mark."

Backing to the edge of the circle, she nodded to the A/V club, counted to five, then sounded a whistle.

The cloaked challenger stood still, then his cloak crumbled and fell as the American was no longer there...

121

As Nabiki stepped forward, Ranma frowned. Ren was drawing his cloak in about himself. Something was up.

As the whistle sounded, Ranma threw himself to the left into a hand-spring, into a flip and twist to land over eight feet away from where he was standing, not two seconds ago...

...just as the skinny kilted male faded into sight his heavy blades slicing the air when the cocky youth had started from.

"What was that?"

"That was the 'Shadow-step'." the older man grinned. "This is the 'Back-biter'" he twirled into nothing...

A twitching ,that had Ranma been in his other forms, he would describe as between the ears on the back of his head, caused he to sidestep, this time to the right, just as a greasy blade stabbed into the ghost of his chest.

"Getting too slow, old man!"

"Am I?" a whisper from behind, a blade was laid along his neck. "That is one."

"Hey. That was my best shirt!!!"

Ren just chuckled as he walked over to his starting position, where he dropped his kukri. "Time?"

"Three minutes"

"You are correct, Ranma, I am getting slow." he then blurred into a set of back flips and hand springs, as he tried to assault Ranma with simple hand to hand.

At first Ranma avoided the attacks, but seeing that they were just simple and basic acrobatic movements, he closed to push Ren into a showing of the 'Shadow step'...

only to be caught with a upper cut swing, he thought he had just sidestepped, only to have missed the small wooden knife, covered in grease paint.

"That is two."

"Where did ya get that?"

"Ranma! Language."

"Sorry. Where did you get that blade?"

"That is my secret. I will only tell you when you have mastered the 'Shadow step'. Tell me, Would running away form this fight be tantamount to losing?"

"Why you asking?"

"Not personally up to fighting on this level, am more of the ninja level; quick strike, then let my battle damage take out my opponent. I can no longer fight in combat, but am also able to render you unable to fight." rest his hands on his knees, breathing heavy, "so to win; do I need to mark you? or would disabling you be enough?"