Meg's party had started out so peacefully... Everyone had arrived safely, the decorations were gorgeous, and everyone was having a wonderful time. However, Ranma and Meg never can catch a break, and this get-together was no exception. When the two survived a fall from the roof, they thought the worst was over, but (as so often happens) they had merely hopped out of the proverbial frying pan and into the fire...
Now, thanks to the unspeakably unfortunate position these two "bad luck magnets" were found in, what started out as a night of fun has become a no-holds-barred fight for survival! Genzo and Shampoo both have murder on their minds, and they aren't in the mood to listen to reason. Ichimonji might be able to diffuse the situation-IF he can just get through Ryoga...
His vision blurred with spasms of pain, Ranma watched as Genzo drew ever closer. "This guy's a monster..." he thought."Even Ryoga can't punch like that! One thing's for sure: I can't take much more of this..."
Genzo was now only a few feet away. "I can't go toe to toe with this guy, not if I plan to see the light of another day... Time to show this goon that power's only half the trick to winning! I just hope my body's up to this..."
Genzo finally stopped about three feet away from Ranma. Popping his knuckles, he growled, "Any last words?"
Ranma managed a weak grin as his entire body tensed. "Just three..."
To Genzo's shock, his supposedly flattened opponent suddenly hopped backwards, managing a strange handstand in which his legs were bent to his body. Ranma suddenly shot upward like a human spring, launching himself feet first and plowing into Genzo's face at full-speed! As Genzo toppled to the ground, Ranma made a ten-point landing.
"Spring... Lauch... Kick!" Ranma panted. The heir to the Anything-Goes school smirked and began limping away, but he suddenly saw something coming at him out of the corner of his eye...
"DIE!" roared Genzo, lunging toward Ranma.
"YOW!" Ranma yelped, dodging just in time to avoid what probably would have been an instant K.O. Still, the young Saotome didn't escape entirely unscathed: although Genzo's punch had only grazed him, it had left a bleeding cut in its wake.
"You... You still wanna fight?" Ranma gasped, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"You attacked the girl I love..." Genzo rumbled. "I said it before and I'm sayin' it again: you're not leaving this house in one piece!"
"I already told you what happened," Ranma muttered with a scowl, "but you don't seem to hear very well. I guess I'm just gonna have to beat some sense into that thick head of yours."
Ranma's weakness seemed to fade away as he began another mad dash toward Genzo. This was just what the spiky-haired lad had been waiting for... "Heh heh heh... That's right, pigtail-boy! Get right up close, where I can smash your perverted face in..."
"RRRRRAAAAGGGHHH!" Ranma yelled as he shot toward Genzo. Genzo braced himself for Ranma's attack, and counterattacked with another body-blow, but was shocked when the attack hit... nothing but air!
"Wh-WHAT?" Genzo gaped as Ranma's afterimage faded away.
"Hey, stupid! Yoo, hoo; over here!" a voice from behind him called out.
Genzo hadn't completely turned around when the punches started connecting. If you have ever been downwind of a brick factory during a hurricane, you can probably understand what Genzo was going through at that moment, but otherwise... you can scarcely imagine.
"Holy crap! Who is this guy?" Genzo thought as Ranma's punches slapped him silly. Genzo's face and torso began to feel numb, and he was slowly but surely losing consciousness. "This must be it... Meg, I'm sorry... Wait! MEG!"
"YAAAAAGGGGHH!" Genzo burst forth in a desperation-induced fury, ignoring Ranma's punches and catching the pigtailed fighter with a right hook to the ribs.
"Urk!" Ranma gasped in pain, but he had learned his lesson from last time. Despite the pain, he jumped backward out of Genzo's reach before he could inflict further punishment.
By this point, both fighters were barely able to stand, a fact that made Genzo's insane laughter only that much unnerving.
"What's so funny, jerk?" Ranma spat.
"You've already lost, fool!" Genzo chuckled. "You can hit me just as much as you like; I'll just grin and bear it. You can't do the same with my punches, though, and I'm pretty sure one more good hit will finish you. It's only a matter of time..."
Ranma realized with a sinking feeling that Genzo wasn't bluffing; for once, his logic was perfect. "He's right about one thing: I don't think I can take another direct hit. Still, HE ain't invincible, either. Genzo's only human; given enough pressure, he'll finally fold. I can't give him any breathing room... I just hope he doesn't finish me while I'm wearing him down..."
With a strength born of desperation, Ranma launched himself toward his opponent once more, dodging Genzo's blows as he pounded him relentlessly with punches and kicks of his own...
-
"Kill you! Kill you! Kill you! You die now! I KILL YOU!"
Megumi's fight with Shampoo wasn't going any better than Ranma's with Genzo, and (if anything) was actually going worse. The only reason Meg had lasted this long was because of the stiff defense she was putting up, but bearing the brunt of such a brutal string of attacks was inevitably wearing her down.
"Does this chick run on batteries or what? If I'd had to fight her last week, I would be a smear on the ground by now!"Meg thought as she desperately tried to dodge and block Shampoo's assault. Meg had stayed up late training every night the past week because of her embarassing loss to Ranma; it was definitely proving to be time well-spent.
"I wonder how I would be doing against her if Ranma hadn't pointed out my defense problem? (the image of spilled spaghetti pops up in Meg's mind) Uhh... better not answer that! Still, the question remains: how am I going to get myself out of this mess?"
"You stupid girl! YOU DIE!" Shampoo yelled, suddenly shifting her concentration to Meg's arms. She winced in pain as the Amazon launched a series of hammer blows, but the wince became a cry of agony when one bonbori strike finally caused a sickening CRUNCH! Meg dropped to her knees, clutching her broken right arm and biting her lip to keep from screaming in pain! The lavender-haired Amazon stood over her wounded oppenent, gloating cruelly.
"When Shampoo realize you no going to attack," she smugly grinned, "she decide to break coward girl's defense, literally! Now you die, no joke."
Meg was preparing to meet her maker, but then she noticed something that offered a slight ray of hope: Shampoo was so confident that she had dropped all her defenses!
Meg's mind began working overtime. "This is my chance! In the shape that my arm is in, punching her would hurt me more than her, but there's more than one way to skin a cat... It's now or never!"
"DIE!" Shampoo exclaimed as she prepared to decapitate Meg with a horizontal bonbori swing, but Meg was no stationary target! Shampoo's jaw dropped as Meg nimbly hopped on top of her moving bonbory!
"Sorry, but I'm planning a long life!" Meg shouted, delivering one mother of a kick to Shampoo's unguarded face!
The Amazon was knocked off of her feet by the unexpected attack, and another midair kick (courtesy of Meg's foot) knocked the psychotic Amazon completely unconscious.
Meg landed unsteadily, losing her balance and falling flat on her derriere. Surprise at the ungraceful fall gave way to relieved laughter as she gave in to her fatigue, falling backward onto the grass. Meg smiled gratefully as it finally dawned on her just how narrowly she had cheated the Grim Reaper.
"Oh, man..." she muttered tiredly. "That was awesome, but I've had enough of that kind of fighting for the next six years!"
Just then, Meg had a thought that caused her to sit upright in alarm. "Oh, yeah! I wonder how Ranma made out with Genzo? I hope they're both okay..."
The ever-so-cheeky angel stood up carefully, still weak from the fight. With a slow but determined hobble, she made her way back around the shed and toward her friends.
-
"Nyah, nyah! Is that the best you can do? You couldn't even catch a cold!" Ranma taunted as he danced around Genzo.
"Shut up, you freak!" Genzo barked, swinging wildly at the pigtailed boy. As usual, the attack missed, and was countered by three swift punches and a kick from Ranma.
"Okay, this is going pretty good..." Ranma thought as he dodged. "He hasn't been able to lay a finger on me, and I'm beatin' the big goof senseless! I just hope he goes down soon; I don't know how long I can keep this cat 'n mouse stuff up!"
Indeed, Ranma's movements were starting to slow from fatigue. However, the constant barrage of punches and kicks was taking its toll on Genzo, too!
"It's all I can do to just keep standing..."Genzo thought, staggering about. "But I can't go down now! No way! Not until this perv pays for what he did to Meg!"
Just then, Ranma nailed Genzo with a right hook to the face, knocking the spiky-haired boy to the ground! Ranma stared in astonishment at his motionless opponent. Had he finally won? Moving cautiously, Ranma crept over to where Genzo was lying and leaned down to make sure he was actually unconscious...
"Gotcha!" Genzo shouted, suddenly springing to life. Before Ranma could so much as blink, he found himself on the receiving end of a vicious headbutt! The blow sent the young gender-bender reeling, and Genzo took advantage of the opportunity to spring to his feet. Before Ranma could reestablish his defense, Genzo began hammering him with blow after powerful blow! Finally, Genzo connected with an uppercut that lifted Ranma off his feet and into the air!
The young Saotome fell to the ground with a resounding THUD; he did not rise. Ranma was still conscious, and through a red haze he saw Genzo towering over him with a triumphant grin on his face. Ranma tried to move, to hop out of Genzo's reach, to hit him, to do anything-but his body refused to budge. After surviving the fall from the roof, meting out countless attacks, and being on the receiving end of quite a few others, Ranma Saotome truly had nothing left.
"I guess... this is it..." the heir to the Anything-Goes School thought as he hovered on the edge of oblivion. "This guy's said over and over again that he wants to kill me, and I'm in no position to stop him. Why did it have to end like this? There were so many things I wanted to say before I died, so much I wanted to do! I wanted to tell Pop that I do appreciate all that he's done for me... to see my old buddy U-chan one more time... to tell Akane that she is cute sometimes... But those things aren't gonna happen. There's nothin' left to do now but hold my head high; if I die, I'm dying like a man!"
"Say your prayers, perv! You're gonna need 'em on the other side!" Genzo rumbled menacingly.
"Go... to Hell!" Ranma choked out.
Genzo's eyes narrowed in anger. "This is for you, Meg!" he yelled, lifting his fist in preparation for the final strike. Ranma watched as the proverbial "executioner's axe" was raised, and braced himself for the impact. However, once Genzo's fist reached it's maximum height, something very strange happened: Genzo seemed unable to manage the downward motion!
"Huh? What's he doing?" Ranma wondered.
Genzo tensed and made a slight choking sound as he struggled to move his raised arm. Ranma's jaw dropped in surprise as realized that Genzo was losing consciousness! The pinapple-haired punk's eyes rolled back into his head, his whole body shook, and finally he tumbled to the ground like a fallen tree!
At first, Ranma could only stare skyward in complete and total shock, unable to believe his good luck. As the reality of the situation dawned on him, though, Ranma began to laugh hysterically, tears of joy running down his face! Ever since that trip to China, Ranma Saotome had been Fate's spitoon; if there was any possible way for something bad to happen to him, it would. Now, whether out of pity or out of just deserts, Fate had finally given Ranma a break!
Once he had finished laughing, Ranma mustered superhuman effort and raised himself to his feet. Shuffling over to Genzo's unconscious form, he smiled weakly.
"Guess you felt all of those attacks more than you were lettin' on, eh, buddy?" he muttered softly. Ranma started to walk off, but seemed to hesitate. Finally, he turned around and walked back over to his fallen opponent. Trembling as he did so, Ranma lifted Genzo onto his shoulder and started hauling him across the lawn.
"You were a worthy opponent, Soga, even if you were a total moron..." he whispered to his unconscious passenger.
-
"Ichimonji! Watch out!" Miki screamed.
Taking the cue, Ichimonji ducked under a bandanna that had managed to "boomerang" and sneak up behind him. The intense ache he felt as he stood up made the young gentleman realize just how badly this fight was going for him. Once Ryoga had started using his headgear as a weapon, the fight had headed swiftly downhill for Ichimonji.
Fighting the parasol-wielding warrior would have been a daunting task by itself, but trying to dodge his seemingly endless supply of bandannas made it all but impossible. His body was covered in cuts from where the polka-dotted projectiles had grazed him, and he had his share of bruises from Ryoga's powerful punches and kicks.
Ryoga noticed his opponent's rough condition, too, and felt a twinge of pity for him. "C'mon, buddy. There's no need to continue this. Just give up!"
"Fat chance!" Ichimonji yelled angrily. "Like I said, I'm not stopping until my friends are safe; if you won't move, I'll just go through you! YAAAAAAGGGHH!"
Ichimonji ran full-speed toward Ryoga, fire in his eyes. What pity Ryoga still had left for his super-polite opponent quickly evaporated.
"I try to be nice, and this is what I get?" he growled. Ignoring him, Ichimonji attempted to roundhouse-kick the lost boy, only to receive a rude surprise: Ryoga caught his foot in mid-attack, and didn't look inclined to let it go!
"Should've quit when I told you to! RRRRAAGGHH!" Ryoga yelled, lifting Ichimonji into the air and flinging him away like a rag doll. He probably would have racked up quite a few frequent flyer miles, had he not had a close encounter with the wall surrounding Meg's house...
WHAM!
Ichimonji cringed as he slammed into the concrete barrier, and fell motionless to the ground. However, he wasn't beaten yet! Summoning all his strength, Ichimonji struggled to his feet, faced his opponent, and put forth his defensive stance.
"Feh. Idiot..." Ryoga mumbled angrily. "Looks like he's from the 'never-say-die' school. Fine! I can deal with that!"
With an explosive burst of anger, Ryoga sped toward the weakened Ichimonji, intending to put him in his place once and for all! Ichimonji shuddered but didn't budge; he was determined to stand his ground, come what may.
"Oh, God... I can't watch this!" Miki sobbed, covering her face in her hands. However, the sounds she expected (the general "flattening" of Ichimonji) never came; instead, there was the sound of a screetching halt, and two masculine gasps...
"W-what?" she stammered, opening her eyes and searching for what caused the unexpected halt in the fighting. Miki didn't have to look far: standing in between Ichimonji and Ryoga was Akane Tendo, her arms positioned to shield her from Ryoga's onslaught. Both boys stood motionless in surprise at this girl's unexpected show of courage.
"A-Akane...?" Ryoga gasped, all but speechless.
Akane lowered her arms, allowing Ryoga a decent view of her face. He had often seen his sweetheart's face contorted in anger, usually as a result of Ranma's misadventures, but he had NEVER seen her like this! Akane gave Ryoga a glare that would have made Satan piss himself.
"Ryoga! What the heck do you think you're doing?" she screamed. "Take a good, long look at this guy! He's in no position to fight!"
"Please, Miss..." Ichimonji began, "there's no need to-"
"My butt there isn't!" Akane snapped. "Protecting the weak from those who would bully them is a martial artist's most sacred duty, and, like it or not, you SURE fit into that 'weak' category right now!"
"As for you..." Akane turned angrily toward Ryoga, "I... can't believe you. As if picking on someone who can't defend himself isn't bad enough, you could be killing Ranma or Meg by doing it!"
Tears began to well up in Ryoga's eyes. "Akane... I'm sorry! I was doing it all for y-"
"Don't give me that!" she interrupted. "I told you to stop, but you ignored me and beat up everyone who was trying to help! This was about you getting your revenge, and nothing else! I used to think that you were such a nice guy, Ryoga, but now I don't know what to think! I-huh?"
Ryoga's lecture was cut short when he fell to his knees, startling Akane. Her eyes widened in concern as she saw his condition: he looked like he was having a heart attack! He was shaking like a leaf, and (even more disturbing) the pupils in his eyes had seemingly disappeared, making his eyes completely white.
"Ryoga!" Akane whispered in a worried tone. "W-what's wrong with you?"
"Urk...urk...urk...urk...urk..." Ryoga made several croaking noises, but seemed unable to reply.
"Ichimonji! Miki! One of you call a doctor! I think something's really wrong with Ryoga!" Akane shouted, very upset.
Ichimonji's eyes narrowed as he looked at Ryoga's pitiable condition.
"I've seen this before!" he suddenly realized. "A few weeks ago, Meg screamed at Genzo that she despised him, and he started acting sick like this. His symptoms weren't even half this severe, though! Still, if my theory is right..."
"Ahem. Akane?" Ichimonji said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Tell him that you forgive him."
"What?" she asked, confused.
"Well, just look at him," Ichimonji gestured toward the trembling lad. "He's obviously really sorry for what he did. What could it hurt?"
Akane raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, but if it would help her friend, she was willing to try almost anything.
"Ryoga," she said, taking his downcast face in her hands and lifting it to face hers, "listen to me. What you did was wrong, but since you're sorry, I forgive you."
Ryoga stopped making the croaking noises and seemed to snap back to reality. "Y-y-you do? Really?"
Relieved to see her old friend back to normal, Akane smiled sweetly at him. "Sure do, cross my heart and hope to die!"
Ryoga sprang upward so quickly that Akane almost fell over backward!
"YES!" Ryoga rejoiced, dancing a little jig. Turning toward Akane, all "rainbows and butterflies", he assured her, "Don't you worry, Akane! I'll bring Ranma and Megumi back safe and sound! Just you wait!"
"Looks like your timing is about as good as your sense of direction, pork-butt..." a voice interrupted.
The four teens turned to see Ranma Saotome (weak, but wearing a triumphant smile) walking toward them, carrying Genzo on his back.
"Ranma! You're okay!" Akane happily exclaimed, rushing over to her fiance and embracing him.
"GWACK! Akane, you're squeezing me to death!" he wheezed as all of his broken bones were crushed even further.
"Oh!" Akane gasped, blushing as she released him. "Sorry about that, Ranma! I... that is... you had us a little worried for a few minutes there."
"Even her hugs are uncute..." Ranma mumbled under his breath.
"What was that?" Akane growled.
"Geez, her hearing's sharp! Too sharp..." Ranma thought uneasily. Ranma gave his fiancee an unconvincing grin. "Heh, heh! Just saying that 'I gave Genzo the boot!' Hahahaha!"
Ranma waited for the mallet to strike, but (to his eternal relief) Akane had apparently bought his story this time. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned toward Ryoga and Ichimonji. "Speaking of old scarface... Would one of you mind taking him off my back?"
Ryoga quickly lifted Genzo off Ranma's shoulder and sat him on the ground next to Ichiro and Yasuda. "Add one to the infirmary..." he muttered.
"Ranma, I never would have thought it possible, but you really did beat Genzo!" Ichimonji chuckled in amazement. "Still, I can barely believe what I'm seeing. He might be a goof most of the time, but when 'the Demon King' gets that angry... let's just say that I'm glad I didn't have to fight him!"
"Maybe, but I'm not surprised..." Ryoga said in a serious tone. "Even if Genzo had managed to stand up to Ranma's huge arsenal of low blows and cheap shots, he still would've met his end at the hands of Ranma's ridiculously good luck!"
Ranma winced as he popped his back. "Yeah, lucky me..."
Just then, Miki remembered something very important. "Ack! We forgot about Meg!"
"What about her? Say, where is she, anyway?" Ranma asked, confused.
"That girl you brought along picked a fight with her!" Miki replied angrily. "She gave Meg a kiss and then went totally ballistic! They ran behind the gardener's shack, and we haven't seen them since."
At the word "kiss", Ranma's jaw dropped and his face turned ghostly white. Panic in his voice, he shouted, "Oh, NO! C'mon, guys! We have to get there before-"
"Before what? Before I have to crawl all the way here from behind the shed?" a feminine voice quipped.
Everyone whirled around to see Megumi Amatsuka leaning on the side of the gardener's shed, weary and clutching an injured arm, but otherwise okay. Seeing the worry on her friends' faces, she calmed their fears by giving them one of those brilliant smiles that had earned her the nickname "angel" in the first place.
"Meg! Thank God you're alright!" Miki sighed, relieved. "Say, what happened to that other girl?"
"She's taking a little nap right now. Heh, heh!" Meg grinned knowingly.
"Need a lift, birthday girl?"
Meg jumped, startled. She was suddenly aware of Ranma standing next to her, offering a shoulder to lean on.
"Yeah, thanks!" she said, gratefully accepting the assistance. "I'm glad to see that you made it out okay, Saotome!"
"I guess..." he replied. "Just don't lean too hard, okay? I might fall over!"
They both got a good giggle out of that one; despite their respective injuries, Ranma and Meg were simply happy to be alive and intact. Perhaps they shouldn't have laughed that hard, though... You see, if he had only paid more attention, Ranma might have noticed that slick muddy patch next to the fountain...
"Wuh! WAH! YAAAGH!" Ranma yelled as he slipped, falling sideways into the cold, cold water.
Taking several steps back, Meg gulped loudly. "Uh oh..." she muttered.
Everyone watched in fascination as a dripping wet red-head sloshed out of the water.
Miki's eyes were as wide as saucers. "Oh, my! Meg wasn't kidding! He really DOES turn into a girl!"
Ichimonji was at a complete and total loss for words. Either this guy had suddenly shrunk a foot and developed HUGE pectoral muscles, or...! Finally, he worked up the courage to ask Ranma the question pounding through his brain.
"Uh...how...that is... (gulp) Pardon me for asking, but are you what I think you are?"
Ranma gave him a pained smile. "If you think I'm suddenly a lot more likely to look good in a bikini, then yeah... Look, could you please keep this a secret? As you can probably guess, turning into a girl isn't something I like to brag about."
Before Ichimonji could answer, a weak moaning sound arose from the ground a few feet away. Rubbing his head, Ichiro sat up and looked around, taking the unusual scene in.
"Oooooh! What happened?" he groaned. Upon seeing Megumi, though, he perked up considerably. "Meg! Oh, I'm so glad you're okay, and...? Hey, who's the new girl?"
"Well, um, she's..." Meg murmured, trying to come up with a decent fib. However, before she could finish her explanation, a cry rang out that made everyone's hair stand on end.
"Aiiyah! Girl-type Ranma!"
Time itself seemed to stop as Ranma nervously craned her neck around to look behind her. The pigtailed martial artist got goosebumps as she envisioned what she would see. "There she'll be, standing next to the shed and looking cute as a button, if it weren't for the fact that she wants to kill me... She'll probably have those stupid bonbories with her, too, both of them with my name all over them!"
Ranma grimaced as the Amazon came into view; her prediction had been entirely on the money, with one minor exception: she was holding one bonbori instead of two. The ever-persistent Shampoo was wide awake, and (lucky her!) had just found her favorite playmate...
"Forget stupid pervert-girl! You is most deserving of 'kiss of death', girl-type Ranma! I kill!"
Murder in her eyes, Shampoo threw the bonbori toward Ranma with deadly aim and accuracy!
"Yikes!" Ranma shouted. She allowed her reflexes to take over, nimbly hopping upward just in time to avoid the attack. Relief quickly turned to horror, however, as Ranma realized that Megumi was directly in the line of fire! Meg must have realized it too, because she shielded herself with her arms and braced for the worst.
Suspended helplessly in mid-air, Ranma could only watch as the deadly projectile sped toward her friend...
END OF CHAPTER 10
-
Hey, folks! I don't have a whole lot to say this time, but I do have a few little things to mention. First, a big "thank you" to all who reviewed the last chapter. Also, kudos to my readers who disagreed with how the Ranma-Genzo fight was going. With very few exceptions, you were polite and courteous about voicing your disagreement. This chapter was already finished when those reviews started rolling in, so I could have hinted at who the winner would be, but that's totally against my nature. Being "told how the movie ends" is my number one pet peeve; I don't like it being done to me, and I would never intentionally do it to you. With that said, I hope the results are to your liking!
For those of you who may have noticed, I have indeed fixed the errors produced by the uploading glitch. It was a lot of work, but I believe I have taken care of all the major problems.
As always, thanks for reading, and please review!