A New Challenge
-Chiba Hiro
*I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its contents. It all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media.*
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Chapter 9: Ranma vs. Shin
Ranma was at his usual place of work, and stood guard over the area he was responsible for. So far he was unaware that Ryoga and Mousse had been struck down, and was nearing drowsiness. His alert senses came to him at an alarming rate, and this caused him to stand guard, for whatever lay ahead of him, lay another danger he was unaware of.
Ranma looked from side to side, and saw nothing life threatening, and his nerves calmed down.
"Good. There's nothing there." Ranma sighed, and sat down. "Being a guardian sure makes you wanna wig out over the tiniest things. I thought I sensed something, but maybe I was wrong, and it might've been a small animal."
… … …
But it was not a small animal. Completely undetected, a figure moved from his hiding place to spy on Ranma more closely, but he was still concealed.
"Good work, Jin and Jan. Pretty soon, we'll drive these numb skulls out of Jusenkyo, and the magic waters of this valley will be ours, and we'll give the entire world a taste of these curses. The first two were easy to deal with. My juniors thought that it would be easy, but now it's time to get serious. Ryoga and Mousse are weak compared to this one." The spy commented to himself.
"If I am able to play my cards right, this fellow is the heir to a foreign martial arts school. But, I will have to observe him, and get his strategy down before we can defeat him. According to my readings, this one possesses unimaginable power. Perhaps he has immeasurable amounts of ki, otherwise, he would not show signs of being human." The spy observed.
He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket, and wrote a symbol on it. He folded the paper into an origami paper crane, blew it out in front of him, and made a hand sign.
"Awaken! My Shikigami!" He said.
The crane resonated a yellow aura, and it transformed into the form of a Chinese boy no older than Ranma, a worthy opponent.
"I, Shiru, command you to battle Ranma Saotome, and I will tell you when to stop. Your name is Shin." Shiru ordered.
'Shin' jumped down from his hiding place, and snuck up from behind Ranma.
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Ranma sensed the presence once again, and turned toward Shin. Ranma was suspicious about Shin, for he revealed almost no amount of power. Ranma knew it had to be a challenge. Shin's clothing consists of a Chinese martial artist's gi.
"Can I help you with something?" Ranma asked.
Shin's face contained no suspicion, and he left no expression to form on his face. Who is this guy? He doesn't seem normal, Ranma thought.
"Ranma Saotome, I am Shin. I want a battle." Shiru said through Shin in his voice.
"I don't know how you know my name so easily, but I am Ranma Saotome. Pleased to meet you, Shin. So, you wanna fight? But, I can't right now. I still have a job to do." Ranma said, trying to keep himself as uninterested as possible.
The idea of a light spar could give me some entertainment for a change, Ranma thought. I may have to consider this.
"I won't allow you to escape this battle, Ranma." Shiru said through Shin yet again.
"Whoever you are I don't wanna mess with you, but if you keep pestering me, I'll have no other choice but to give you what you want, right?" Ranma challenged, and folded his arms across his chest.
Shin vanished from Ranma's sight, and struck Ranma from the side. Ranma fell to his knees, and he knew that Shin meant business.
You wanna fight? I'll give you one alright, he thought. Ranma jumped at Shin, and attempted to swift kick his side, but Shin sidestepped him, and pressed a finger down on Ranma's leg. As soon as Shin applied pressure to Ranma's leg, Ranma was sent to the ground, but Shin kicked Ranma in the stomach as he fell.
Shin grabbed Ranma's shirt, and punched him in the jaw, sending him into the air. Shin made his chance, and drop kicked Ranma while in midair, but Ranma was an expert in midair combat, so he caught Shin's leg, and spun around him. Ranma grabbed the back of Shin's shirt, and punched him in the back.
Shin turned around in midair, and the two sent a flurry of punches at each other only to have each of them parried by the other's remaining hand.
Shin broke the endless cycle, and kicked Ranma in the stomach yet again. Ranma fell at a fast rate, and crashed on the ground below, leaving a small hole around him in the form of a human.
Ranma struggled to continue, and jumped out of his man-made hole. Ranma launched a flying kick at Shin, but Shin jumped out of the way, and struck Ranma down with his own flying kick.
Ranma landed on his feet with some difficulty, and got into a fighting stance to keep his opponent guessing as much as possible.
This is insane! This 'Shin' guy is good, and he keeps throwing everything I send back at me! Looks like I have to use my speed instead of my strength if I wanna get him off my back! Ranma thought.
Ranma stood still and waited for Shin to make the first move. Shin ran at Ranma like a predator trying to capture its prey in its claws, but its prey is fast on its feet. Shin launched a series of punches, but Ranma dodged, but managed to draw Shin in a spiral pattern of punching and stepping back.
Ranma was about to launch his ki charged attack, and send Shin into oblivion, but Shin anticipated this, and avoided punching Ranma at the most crucial moment in his technique, Shin leaped over Ranma, and sent a ki charged fist at Ranma's backside, as a result, Ranma was caught in a backfire of his attack.
"Hiryuu Shoten Ha!" Ranma named the attack as he struck with his fist, only to have the same charge come at Ranma from behind to counterattack.
"Hiryuu Shoten Ha Backfire!" Shin called out, and Ranma was trapped in his own vortex of charged ki.
It took a lot of Ranma's willpower in order to withstand the painfully entrapment of his own technique, plus Shin's own energy. The only thing that could not withstand the ki was Ranma's shirt. It had been shredded in many places, it was hardly a shirt, it was now in tatters, almost like rags.
Ranma looked down at his favorite Chinese silk shirt in shame. "Aw, that was my favorite shirt too!" Ranma complained. "Now you're gonna pay!"
Ranma charged blindly at Shin, but Shin dodged his punch, only to be spun around and punched in the ribs yet again.
Ranma tried painfully to stand up, but his stomach and ribs had suffered a little, and Ranma could only stay on his knees, clutching his stomach and ribs fitfully, glaring at Shin. Ranma noticed that throughout the fight, Shin had emerged without one scratch on him. He was on his knees, facing an opponent that stared down at his opponent with no mercy.
Ranma filled his reserves with some ki, and tried with all his might to get back from Shin. Ranma landed almost thirty meters from Shin, and it was the perfect range for his blast.
He won't be expecting this! Ranma thought. He may be strong in fists, but I sensed no power in them, I was hoping not to do this, but this guy left me no choice!
"Moko Takabisha!" Ranma shouted, and built up his confidence to the extreme yet again. "You're finished!" Ranma yelled above his charging ki, and shot the ki blast with all of his willpower.
Let's hope this works, he thought. It's a shame that it had to come to this, but Shin left me no other options but to use that. If that attack won't work, I don't know what else.
The ki blast enveloped the entire area Shin had been standing on, and exploded around him.
When the smoke cleared, all that remained was a giant crater, and no sign of Shin, the Shikigami. Ranma stared in blind amazement, and created a crater the size of a small lake.
Ranma looked all around him, and saw no sign of the boy, and sighed in relief.
"Good. There's no sign of him. That means I must've won. He must've been blasted into smithereens, and I'm glad he's not around anymore. I have to get a new shirt, and hopefully check on how the other two are doing." Ranma said, and limped toward the cottage, still clutching his stomach.
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Shin appeared next to Shiru, and knelt in front of him as he did. Shiru's face widened into a grin, and congratulated Shin.
"Good work, Shin. But next time you get summoned again, you are to crush him entirely. I'm pretty sure that the boss needn't bother with this Ranma. Frankly, Ranma was a lot weaker than I thought he'd be, but that blast was strong. If I hadn't pulled you out at the last second, you'd be fried to a crisp. Thanks to you, I know how we're going to take these foreigners out." Shiru said.
"I must inform Jin and Jan of our prey's apparent victory, they need to know that even though the fight goes to Ranma, we have gained a knowledge on their fighting abilities. It won't be long, now." Shiru continued.
"Shin, dispel until I call upon you again." Shiru ordered, and Shin transformed into the paper crane again.
Shiru grabbed the crane, and placed it in his pocket. He pulled a walkie-talkie and called Jin and Jan.
"Jin, Jan. Our mission is complete, and I have information on Ranma Saotome's fighting ability. Report together again at the promised rendezvous point, the boss needn't be worried about them, our foreign prey will be dealt with by us alone." Shiru said.
"Yes, Shiru." Jin replied.
"Understood." Jan said.
"Enjoy it while you can, Ranma and friends. You will trouble the Dragon clan no longer, for we know of your secrets. It won't be long until we meet for the first time. Rest easy, and sweet dreams, for the day will come." Shiru pledged, and walked off to meet with Jin and Jan.
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A/N: I want to keep this story as fresh as possible, so I'm putting a chapter up as frequent as I am able. I have a lot of free time on my hand, and I'll be able to put up chapters for the next week. Enjoy them, and don't forget to rate, review, and comment on this story. Let me know what you think, and thank you for reading!