Chapter 9
It was the day of the match between Ranma and Kiagi and as they were making their way to the Dragon's Eye, something preyed on Akane's mind. "Ranma, there's something I wanted to talk to you about" she said. Ranma didn't respond. "Ranma." she said again but still he didn't answer. "Hey! Are you ignoring me?!" Eventually, Ranma heard her.
"Huh?" he said taking out his earphones "You say something, Akane?"
"I wanted to talk to you about something." she said, slightly annoyed.
"What is it?" he asked, turning off his iPod.
"Well it's about the ring of legions." she said, taking it out of her pocket "Doesn't it seem weird that even though both Kiagi and Kho Lhon said that it makes you stronger, but it made Happosai weaker instead."
"Huh, I guess." Ranma said, nonchalantly. He didn't really give it much thought until Akane mentioned it, but now he couldn't help it. "That's probably why the freak went down so easy. Like I said, he's usually a lot better than that."
"Do you think it really did weaken him?" she asked, looking closely at the ring's centrepiece.
Ranma shrugged his shoulders "Maybe Kiagi lied about it making you stronger." he said.
Akane nodded. "I wonder if it was because he wanted you to try wearing it in the fight." she said, coming to the conclusion that Kiagi was not to be trusted.
"I wouldn't have worn it anyway" Ranma said jumping down from the fencing. "It just wouldn't be fair"
"Says one of the dirtiest fighters in all of Japan." Akane said, much to Ranma's annoyance. "Hey!" Ranma protested "Give me one good example of when I've ever fought dirty."
Not surprisingly, Akane had a few examples. "How about the time you cheated to beat the gambling king at old maid?" she said "Or the time you used those photographs of yourself in lingerie to beat Happosai? Or the time you-"
"Hey, I said one!" Ranma shouted "Besides, I've never used anything that would make me stronger to win a fight and I never will."
"Well I guess that's true" Akane said, as they approached the Dragon's Eye. "Is this the place?"
"Yeah, this is it." Ranma said, as he knocked on the door. Then suddenly without warning, the door swung open and both Ranma and Akane felt themselves being sucked into the store, with the door slamming shut behind them.
Rubbing the back of her head, Akane sat up at looked around at the inside of the Dragon's Eye store. It was dark and full of old furniture. It was almost as if it had been stood for hundreds of years, but this store had only opened a few days ago.
"Ranma, where are you?" she called out, frightened of the idea of being in this place alone. She then heard a voice from beneath her. "Down here." Ranma said. Akane looked down to see that not only was she sitting on Ranma, but he had a full view of under her skirt. Blushing, she jumped off of her fiancé with lightning speed.
"I thought I told you about those panties not suiting you." he joked, to which Akane's reply was to slap him.
"You pig!" she said, embarrassed as she was ready to slap hm.
"Hey, if you wanna pig, go see Ryoga!" Ranma shouted. That may have been a little too much. Sensing this, Ranma retreated to a safe distance and revoked his insult. "Oh, sorry"
"Forget it" Akane said, realising Ranma didn't mean what he'd said, but not exactly forgiving him. "So where's Kiagi then anyway?"
"Right here" said Kiagi emerging from the shadows, scaring the crap out of both Akane and Ranma. "I see you've arrived, Mr Saotome. And you've brought a friend, Kiagi Yamada." he extended his hand and gently shook Akane's in greeting.
"Erm Akane Tendo." Akane answered, bowing her head. "So you're the fiancée. Your father briefly mentioned you, when we met yesterday." Kiagi said "He was a very good host to me and Bosu, as was your sister who made a most exquisite cup of tea."
"Um... Hello?" Ranma said impatiently, "Are we gonna be fighting any time soon?" Kiagi turned his attention towards him Ranma and smiled.
"Patience is not one of your strongholds, is it?" Kiagi asked, rolling his eyes and sighing "But yes, we will be. Follow me."
As they followed Kiagi into the back of the store, Ranma and Akane were amazed to see all of the weird and wonderful things on the shelves either side. Masses of vials filled the left side where as the right was full to the brim with books of various kinds. "Excuse me, sir." Akane asked politely
"Sir?" Kiagi said smiling "My, my. You're very polite for a teenager. I like you. What is your question?"
"What are all these vials for?" Akane asked, to which Kiagi was more than happy to answer.
"Potions mostly, but some contain other things," he said "Such as fairy dust, griffin blood, serpent scales, the sort of thing that won't last too long in the open air."
Akane was fascinated by this. "What do you use it all for?" Kiagi was intrigued by Akane's curiosity and happily continued.
"Well you see Miss Tendo," he said relishing in the chance to show off his expertise. "People have always depended on the science of magic to solve their problems. They come to me with their ailments and I supply them with a potion or an enchantment which best suits the purpose."
"But wait aren't science and magic different?" Akane asked, to which Kiagi turned around abruptly.
"No." Kiagi answered, smiling "In actuality, they're exactly the same. Most times, when some goes unexplained, it's generally regarded as magic. Then, when someone comes along with an explanation, it becomes science." He then turned back and continued to lead the two onwards.
"I trust you brought the ring of legions with you." he asked.
"Yeah I got your ring, but I think it's busted anyway" Ranma said.
"Busted, you say?" Kiagi asked curiously "How so?"
"Well we found out who really took it, and when he tried to use it on me, it just made him weaker." Ranma said, to which Kiagi chuckled.
"Give it to me." he said, holding out his hand. Akane went into her pocket and retrieved the ring of legions. She then passed it to its rightful owner. Kiagi looked at the ring and inspected it.
"There is nothing wrong with this ring." Kiagi said "Yet." He then focused his energy onto the ring, which began to glow and slowly bend out of shape, before melting in his hand.
"What did you do that for?" Ranma said, surprised that Kiagi would destroy his own property.
"The ring of legions is a very dangerous artifact." Kiagi said, wiping the melted gold from his fingers. "Many people have lost their lives in pursuit of its power. But it has always been a fool's errand. I told you the truth, when I said that the ring of legions gave its wearer the strength of a thousand men. But that power has to be earned. If a person were to steal it, then they would become weakened by it rather than strengthened. The only way to obtain it properly is to win the ring in combat."
"That must be why Happosai was beaten so easily by you Ranma." Akane said "He was wearing the ring at the same time"
Kiagi's ears perked up at the sound of that name. "I'm sorry but did you say, Happosai?" he asked.
"You've heard of him?" Ranma asked.
"That's one way to put it." Kiagi answered, opening the door in front of him to reveal a massive arena within the store's back warehouse. "Behold my arena. Beautiful isn't it?" he said, showing off "There is room for over a thousand people in here and all can sit comfortably and enjoy our match."
"How could you possibly get an arena in here?" Ranma asked, marvelling in the sheer size of Kiagi's arena.
"Well basically, it's another dimension" Kiagi said "It took a lot of power to get it in here, but I think it was worth it."
"It's amazing," Akane said "But why would you need an arena here?"
Kiagi looked at Akane with a very confused look. "Why wouldn't I have an arena?" he asked, then turning to Ranma "Now I trust your fiancée will be working your corner. I will have Bosu in mine."
"Uh yeah I think so" he said turning to Akane for confirmation. Akane nodded, questioning why Ranma would even bother asking.
"Excellent!" Kiagi said, clapping his hands before running towards the central platform "Now, the rules go as such. The only ways to win are by, causing your opponent to lose consciousness or failing to make a 30 count, knocking your opponent out of bounds or if they can't take any more and submit."
"Heh, sounds simple enough" Ranma said "So when do we start?"
"In an hour's time" Kiagi said "We just need to wait for the audience to arrive and we'll be ready to go."
"Wait a minute, there's going to be an audience?" Akane asked.
"Well of course," Kiagi said "Why else would I go through the trouble of conjuring a massive arena? Now if you'll both excuse me, I'd like to go warm up." He then walked off to prepare for the match leaving Ranma and Akane to do the same.
As he prepared himself for the fight, Ranma felt as confident as ever. Akane however, was not so sure. She always worried for him when it came to fights like this and from what Kho Lhon said, she feared that this was going to be a fight that Ranma couldn't win. Oh I hope he knows what he's doing. She thought to herself as she watched him flex and stretch his muscles.
Noticing Akane's facial expression, Ranma became concerned. "You ok Akane?" he said, stretching his legs against the wall.
"Ranma, do you really think you can beat this guy?" she asked "He's nothing like you've ever fought before."
"Honestly Akane, I don't know." Ranma said "But I can't back down even if I wanted to." Just then they heard a knock at the door.
"Saotome! It's time!" said the voice from outside.
"Ok we're on our way." Ranma said, cracking his neck "Well, wish me luck Akane."
She didn't say anything. Instead, she walked over to him and grabbed his face. She then planted a kiss onto Ranma's lips. Together, they stood for what seemed like an eternity, before Akane let go. "Good luck." she said finally, as the two teens walked out of the locker room and onto the arena.
As they walked on, Ranma's mind began to flurry with thoughts about that kiss. Aww nuts, why'd she have to go and do that? Now I can't stop thinking about it. He thought to himself, as he entered the arena to find Kiagi and Bosu stood in the centre of the stage in an empty arena.
"Hey I thought you said there was gonna be an audience, where is everyone?" Ranma asked. Kiagi smiled as his opponent jumped onto the stage.
"Indeed I did." he said, snapping his fingers as suddenly every seat in the arena began to glow and was immediately occupied by the entire town of Nerima.
"Is this a big enough audience, Ranma?" Kiagi asked, arrogantly as he opened his robe and threw it to the floor, revealing a very muscular and heavily scarred form.
"Holy crap!" Ranma said looking at the scars all over Kiagi's body. "You look like you've been a war zone!"
"A few of them, actually." Kiagi answered as he stretched and pulled his limbs.
As they sat in the audience, the Tendo and Saotome families began to wonder just how the hell they managed to appear in such a massive arena, filled with hundreds of people. "Saotome," Soun said, scratching his head "What on earth is going on here?"
Genma (in panda form) was just as confused. Beats me he signed.
"Konatsu, what the heck's going on here?" Ukyo asked, buttoning up her shirt and blushing brightly.
"I wish I knew Ucchan." Konatsu replied, straightening out his skirt.
"Where are we now, Ryoga?" Akari asked.
"I swear it wasn't me this time." Ryoga said, scanning his map.
"Great grandmother, what happen?" Xian Pu asked before being grabbed by Mu Tsu, who she quickly doused with the water she was holding.
"It seems as though we've been transported here by Kiagi's magic." Kho Lhon said, smacking Mu Tsu on the poor blind duck's head.
"Look, there's Ranma and Akane!" Kasumi said, pointing down towards the stage.
"What are they doing down there?" Nodoka asked, looking down at her son and future daughter-in-law. "And who is that man stood with them?"
"I think we're about to find out" Nabiki said, as she watched Kiagi conjure up a microphone and began to speak.
"Ladies and gentlemen of Nerima, welcome to the Dragon's Eye." Kiagi said "I am the proprietor; Kiagi Yamada and I have invited you all to witness a match for the ages!" After being told where they were and why they were there, the crowd roared with anticipation.
"It looks like we have a fight on our hands, Saotome." Soun said, clapping as he watched the introductions take place.
"On my right is my opponent." he said pointing over to Ranma and Akane. "Representing the Saotome school of anything goes martial arts; Ranma Saotome!" the crowd cheered for Ranma, much to their surprise.
"Well how about that, Ranma." Akane said. "They actually like you."
"Now the rules go as such. The only ways to win are by, causing your opponent to lose consciousness or failing to make a 30 count, knocking your opponent out of bounds or if they can't take any more and submit." Kiagi said "Now let's get started" he then handed the microphone to Bosu, who then walked out of bounds and placed it onto the commentators table.
"Good afternoon, Nerima and what a match up we have for you today." said the commentator, taking his seat. "And as the corner workers leave the stage and the referee arrives, we are now ready to get this match underway."
"You sure know how to make a big deal out of things, Kiagi." Ranma said readying himself.
"There's nothing wrong with a little bit of pomp and circumstance, Ranma." Kiagi said, getting into his fighting stance "Are you ready?"
"Ready" Ranma said, as the bell rang and the fight begun.
Ranma began to attack first, as Kiagi parried his strikes and countered with his own. As each combatant started an attack, it was blocked and countered by the other.
After a few minutes of this, Ranma said eventually landed with a roundhouse kick to the side of Kiagi's head, sending him into a flipping motion, before he sprang back up to his feet with ease.
As they took a breather, the crowd cheered with excitement at what they had just seen. "An amazing first series of encounters by both combatants!" the commentator said "And as they prepare for their next skirmish, you'd best hold on tight folks, because this fight will not be over soon!"