A/N:
Well here it is, the final part of the Delicate Touch arc, at long bloody last ;
I am glad for this section to be finally over, considering that Delicate Touch was originally going to be a single chapter that's turned into five _
I'll make this brief.
To Thayli: You should learn to actually write proper stuff before you flame people their stories, it'll be less embarrassing for you in the long run.
Now, lets continue with the story
Chapter 12
The Delicate Touch Pt 5
Safe at Last?
The base felt more like a tomb now. It was quiet, eerie and deserted at first glance. There was the occasional sound of feet smacking against the ground in a dead run, the sound of cries or screams that pierced the silence for a second or two, and then it came back more oppressive than ever.
He couldn't believe how wrong it had all gone.
The Vice Chairman paused in mid run, pressing himself against the wall as the caves shook again with low rumbles, dirt falling in dusty showers from the spider web cracked ceiling. Sweat soaked his skin, the cloth he patted his face with was practically useless, his cheeks red with exhaustion and fear. He jumped at the sounds of screams somewhere in the many tunnels, followed closely by the sound of rumbling cave-ins. His hands trembled violently, his heart pounding a mile a minute.
He snapped his attention around at the many caves, trying vainly to find a point of reference. The cave-ins and earthquakes had rearranged the system, throwing him off balance as he had ran stupidly into the darkness in search of Yukino. He was lost and the prospect of death was closing in around him every passing second.
The urge to crumple on the ground and cry in despair was almost overwhelming.
But, he drew strength from the purpose of his mission. He would get the girl away from here and he would get the location of the Jewel from her even if it was the last thing he did. He wasn't going to fail again, not this time; the Jewel was far to important to leave this alone now.
"Those damn brats, they'll pay for this," he muttered vehemently.
"Oh will they?"
The Vice Chairman jumped in fright, skin crawling and hairs standing on end at the cold deadly voice that whispered from the darkness. His eyes darted every which way, new beads of sweat dribbling down the fat of his cheeks.
"You've caused enough trouble little man," the ancient raspy female voice sneered. "Too much for me to ignore anymore."
"Who's there?" he demanded, panicking as the voice seemed to come from all around him. "Whoever you are leave me alone! You have no right being here!"
A large headed wooden cane smacked him across the back of the head, pain lancing through his skull as he stumbled forward in terror. The fat little man spun around, holding the back of his head. The darkness almost seemed to peel away, revealing the tiny shape of wrinkled and weathered old woman, long white hair spilling to the ground, a cane grasped firmly in one hand while her eyes glared dangerously into his.
A surge of relief washed over him.
It was only a woman, and an old one at that.
Even he was more than capable of handling a senior citizen.
"Try it sonny," she hissed, watching his eyes and expressions. "See how far you get."
The Vice Chairman felt chills shoot through him, fear gripping his heart as a battle aura flowed around the woman. His throat dried, gulping uselessly as she seemed to tower over him, her power bearing down on him like a mountain.
Suddenly his eyes widened in realization, the color draining from his flesh.
"Oh my god…y….you….you're an Amazon!" he squeaked.
"The Matriarch of the Amazon Tribes," she corrected coldly.
He nearly died there and then, heart seizing as a single name rolled off his tongue: "Cologne!"
"That's right," she glowered. "You've meant harm to my kin in the past and now you kidnap another that's as special and important to me as my own granddaughter. I can no longer allow your actions to go unpunished you stupid fool. By attacking my granddaughter and kidnapping the one I've invested so much in, your Society has declared war on my people, and mine will respond in kind. As we speak, the Preservation Society is being hunted into extinction all across China, and it will not end there, rest assure of that!"
He stared at her in disbelief, as if she was mad. "We're trying to help the world! Those cursed by Jusenkyo must be tamed or else they'll bring chaos unlike any we have ever known down upon our world! You can't do this to us! The world needs us to protect it!"
Cologne smacked her cane against the wall with enough force that cracks shot through the hard rock, the Vice Chairman flinching in terror as the cracks reached him. "You don't presume to tell me what I can and can't do. It is already done, and the world will be a better place without your foul foolishness to rot it further. Now, you will tell me where you have put Ranma!"
Perhaps it was the certainty of death looming over his head, but the Vice Chairman felt a stirring of defiance. "Or else what? You'll kill me?"
Cologne's wrinkled lips peeled back in a deadly smile. "Oh no my fat friend, I have something far better planned for your punishment in these events. But, you will tell me what I want to know…"
….
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….
Nodoka felt her lungs burn, straining inside her chest as her heart pounded horribly. Little nicks across her arms and legs trickled little rivets of crimson, the cool air stinging her wounds through the tears in her kimono. Never did her gaze drift from the woman across from her, strands of hair plastered across her sweat soaked, red cheeked face.
The noble image Yukino had created for herself had long since disappeared, leaving an exhausted and frustrated woman in her place. Rage was evident in the woman's eyes. Nodoka imagined that there was nothing more Yukino would have liked to have done at that moment than kill her. She was willing to bet that there were few challenges this woman had ever faced that she couldn't over come or get her own way.
"I think I would have liked to have known you under different circumstances Ms. Saotome," Yukino hissed. "I think we could have had some interesting conversations."
"I doubt there is a single universe in which we could ever be friends," Nodoka replied honestly. "I could never befriend anyone with a heart as black as yours, who lets themselves be driven by insatiable rage and revenge. I could never be friends with a woman like you!"
"Spare me your self righteous simple minded opinion," Yukino sneered. "You'll never know the pain I've suffered. So don't you dare judge me!"
"So that gives you the right too do as you please does it?" Nodoka replied coolly.
"It gives me all the right!" Yukino sneered
The woman came flying at her, sword flashing reflected fire light as it cleaved through the air. Nodoka rushed forward, whipping her sword up. Metal clashed against metal as the two blades met, ringing through the dark tunnels in a musical sound. She was nearly knocked off her feet by the attack, the jarring force of the other woman's strike reverberating painfully through her wrists and arms as she staggered back. Yukino barely paused as she attacked again and again, her sword mere glimmers of silver as the housewife struggled to block the enraged woman's attacks. Nodoka gasped at the ferocity, struggling to keep up with the other woman as the swings came harder and faster every time; the clang of clashing steel exploded in her ears, hands hurting from gripping the hilt tighter and tighter to keep it from slipping from her grasp.
And still the other woman came at her without so much as pause.
Irrational rage glimmered through the woman's eyes; it burned through her limbs and through her blade as tears of pent up frustration and anguish beading at the corners of her eyes. Yukino was all but foaming at the mouth, her eyes wide and irrational with rage and hate. The woman's blood lust was overwhelming; Nodoka could feel it bearing down on her with every strike she blocked.
She couldn't explain it; she couldn't even explain where it came from, but Nodoka suddenly felt sorry for this woman…
This wasn't the rage of someone that hated for the sake of hating.
No.
This was the hate and rage of someone that had been hurt.
Of someone that had lost…
Sweat poured from her brow with the effort of keeping the mad woman at bay, her limbs struggling with exhaustion surging through them and the realization that she couldn't stand up to much more of this punishment. She wasn't a martial artist, she didn't have the stammer of a properly trained fighter, and she knew she was lucky to have lasted this long.
She couldn't lose though…
…Nodoka suddenly stepped into one of the attacks, blades clashing with a burst of sparks as she ran Yukino backwards into the wall. "Nothing gives you the right to kidnap innocent people let alone children!"
Yukino snarled. "Innocent? None of those freaks are innocent! They're all animals!"
With a wrench both swords were sent clattering across the hard ground. Nodoka didn't see the fist coming until it was too late; stars exploded in her eyes, pain lancing through her skull as the deranged woman punched her in the face. Over and over again she felt Yukino's well manicured hands crashed heavily against her, pummeling her with the bombardment of poorly aimed punches.
"I will not let a filthy commoner like you beat me!" Yukino screamed, clamping her hands around Nodoka's neck, fingers digging brutally into her throat. "Die! Die you damn bitch!"
Color spots danced across Nodoka's vision, darkness creeping at the edges trying to claw its way further across her eyes. She stared up at the Yukino's fury laced, blazing jade green gems, desperately trying to pry the woman's grip loose. The woman sneered and snarled like a rabid dog, hissing and spitting as her gaze bore into Nodoka's. The housewife felt her heart race, lungs burning for air; panic starting to worm its way into her mind.
Yukino cackled triumphantly as she forced the housewife down to the ground. "Yes! Yes! DIE! Die knowing that I'm going to turn your precious freak child into the perfect killing machine! She will do my bidding! She will help me get my revenge against her disgusting kind!"
"No….one….is going to….use…..my daughter!" Nodoka gasped angrily, glaring into Yukino's enraged eyes. "Least of all you, now get OFF!"
Yukino looked down suddenly, realizing too late that Nodoka's feet were pressed against her abdomen. With a heaving roar Nodoka sent the other woman flying crashing into the wall behind her.
Yukino screamed as she hit the wall, head snapping backward with a sickening crack. Her eyes flew open in shock, pupils shrinking to mere pin pricks as she slowly slid down the wall, and collapsed in a tangled heap of limbs and fabric folds of her once pristine kimono.
Nodoka rolled on to her side, coughing and hacking as she tried to fill her lung, the cool air stinging the violent scratches that ran along her neck, trickling lines of crimson down her flesh. Chest rising and falling rapidly with heavy breaths she snapped her head around to glare at the still heap of the other woman. She climbed to unsteady feet, grabbing on to the opposite wall for support before straightening and dusting off her torn and ruffled kimono.
"The only vile creature here is you," she huffed.
The housewife calmly collected her blade and sheath, trying to catch her breath as her heart continued to pound with the surging adrenalin pumping through her limbs. She brushed a sweat soaked lock of hair from her forehead, tucking it back with trembling fingers. All the while she was careful never to take her eyes away from the motionless woman for more than a second at a time.
It would have been safer to turn her back on a starving lion than it would have been to do it to this woman.
She winced with every step, with every breath. Her body ached like it hadn't in years, and she could feel each and every little cut that covered her flesh, and every bruise that was starting to show.
At that moment, she would have liked to have done nothing more than climb into a hot bath and just soak…
"Mrs. Saotome!"
She turned in surprised as Akane and the others came hurrying out of the darkness. She smiled, happy to see them all safe, unable to banish the constant worry she'd felt gnawing at her insides for them. Their many bruises and cuts didn't escape her keen motherly attention though; it was a struggle for her not to patch them up where they stood. They all looked worse for wear, but she knew they didn't need her treating them like they were little kids.
"I'm glad you're all sa–,"
The words died in her mouth the second Genma appeared with Soun trailing behind him.
A heavy silence fell across them, pressing down on them as she stared at her husband, emotions racing through her ranging from hurt and anger to joy and relief. At the same time she noticed something different about him. Something new, yet old and familiar at the same time; Raw and powerful feelings surged through her and she knew it to be nothing less than love. The love she'd once had for the man before her rekindled anew unlike it had since she'd been reunited with both him and Ranma nearly a year ago.
That hadn't been love she'd felt then, not true love; not the love she remembered and felt now.
Now she felt her heart racing, like she was a school girl all over again when she'd first met him.
"Genma…" she started.
He shook head. "We can talk about it later. Right now, we have more important things to worry about."
Nodoka stared at him for a moment longer, before she nodded in agreement. Right now the most important thing was to get Ranma back, and then she could have her family whole again after so long, the way it should be. The mere thought of it alone was enough for her to slip her arms around his waist, squeezing tightly and resting her head against his chest and savoring the warmth of his body she'd missed all these years.
She felt his arms hold her close, tightly, safely.
A girls released a collective 'Awwww,' at the sight of them.
Nodoka smiled, despite everything else.
"You're all fools!" they spun around at the harsh cold hiss, Yukino bracing herself against the wall with her face twisted in a visage of uncontrollable hate. Nodoka frowned, her happy moment suddenly bursting like a popped balloon. Yukino seethed at her. "I still have an ace up my sleeve."
Nodoka realized too late the woman was holding something between her fingers. "No!"
Before they could stop her Yukino slammed the object into the ground. There was a sharp crack and a pop, and a second later the tunnels were filled with a thick black smoke. It expanded out in a rapid wave, the lot of them coughing and hacking and waving their hands about as the thick acrid smelling cloud stung their throats and noses.
When the smoke cleared, predictably Yukino was making a run for it; her form already disappearing down one of the dark tunnels.
….
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…
….
She ran as hard as she could.
The tunnels were a dark blur around her, an obstacle course of shattered chunks of fallen rock. She was livid; rage unlike anything she had felt in years boiled and bubbled away inside her like some insidious decease. It clawed at her insides, Nodoka Saotome's face flashing across her mind, mouth curling in a hideous sneer at the thought of the woman.
This wasn't over, not by a long shot!
She could hear them somewhere behind her, the numerous smacks of feet against rock as they gave chase. A quick glance back over her shoulder and she could only make out the faint shapes of their forms in the swirling darkness. A smile threatened to split her features. They would all pay for this and she would take the greatest pleasure in watching them suffer.
To hell with the Society to, she decided, they were a bunch of incompetent fools that continued to hinder her plans with their ridiculous Sacred Code of Conduct nonsense that she had been forced to agree with for so long. She didn't care if the code was broken except that each time it was it brought her one step closer to victory, learning a little more each time she was given the chance to 'interrogate' one of those monsters. She didn't need them anymore though, she had all that she needed now and nothing was going to stop her. Not this time. Not after all these years she had slaved away and sacrificed to get to this point. She was so close now she could taste it, and no one, least of all domesticated housewife or a bunch of teenagers was going to ruin this for her.
It was time for the Matsomuyri clan to rise again.
"You'll be first Nodoka Saotome…" her lips curled back in a feral grin. "You will pay for humiliating me!"
She snapped out of her psychotic musings when she spotted the heavy iron door at the end of the tunnel. It swung open the instant she slammed her hands against it, smashing backwards into the wall with a shuddering clang as she run through, pausing only long enough to slam it back into place and lock it behind her, the locking pins dropping into place with a heavy clunk. Seconds later she smiled at the sound of fists smashing against the other side, the muffled cries and demands that penetrated its solid mass.
It wouldn't hold them for long, but it would be long enough.
Yukino turned and sprinted down the center of the small assembly room, leaping on to the stage at the other end carved into the wall itself. She would give the Society this; they knew how to make impression with their secret bases and the work they put into constructing them. If only they put as much effort into their mandate, maybe they wouldn't be such a pathetic joke.
She'd had just snatched the remote off the long stool sitting on the stage when the fell inward, the hinges and lock housings ripping free of the frame and wall as it slammed into the ground with a heavy clang or metal against rock. She spun around as the collected group of unique fighters streamed into the room one after the other, Ranma's parents taking front and center as they raced across the room and surrounded the stage in a matter of seconds.
She let her fingers feel the comforting touch of the thin needle shafts at the ready between her fingers.
She wasn't going to be caught of guard by these people.
They each stared at her with the same hard determined gaze she had grown accustomed to seeing in Ranma's eyes. It was the same fire, the same attitude. What was it with these people that made them so willing to endure whatever it took to succeed?
"You have no where else to run, just give up and tell us where Ranma is!" Nodoka demanded.
Yukino scoffed. "Just because I have no where else to run doesn't mean it's time for me to throw myself at your mercy you silly fool."
"I am done playing games with you Yukino…" Nodoka growled, hands clenching into fists. "Give me back, my Ranma now!"
She let her gaze drift over each of them, recognizing them all from the reports the Society had gathered on them. She knew everything about each and every one of them, or so she had thought as her eyes rested on Nodoka Saotome one more. This deceptively defenseless housewife that was far more than she seemed. Even now Yukino found it near impossible to liken her to the woman that had not only held her against her, but had also beaten her. What surprises she wondered, did the others have hidden about themselves?
She knew one thing for certain though.
There was no way she could take all of them if she couldn't take Nodoka.
She shook her head, word seething in her mouth. "You have no idea what I've been through. None of you will ever understand. None of you can understand what I've had to suffer all these years to get to now. You think you know what true pain is. You think the world revolves around you and your petty problems and insecurities and that nothing else matters. None of you know what true hardship is. None of you know what it's like to bury your anger, your pain and be patient like I've had to for ten years. You think just because you endure ridiculous amounts of training that you know what it's like to endure a hard life. HA! None of you would know what a hard life is if it jumped up and hit you in the face. You disgust me! All of you!"
She glared at them; letting the cold uncomfortable silence blanket them all as they stared back at her with alternating gazes of hate and uncertainty. She let her thumb run across the surface of the red button on the remote, feeling the hard plastic against her skin without taking her eyes off them. She felt her heart thumping in her chest with anticipation.
"Please," Nodoka's tone was softer this time, more pleading. "Tell us where Ranma is. That's all we want to know and we'll go."
Yukino smirked at the desperation in the woman.
She had been that weak once.
She had pleaded once.
Her eyes hardened like steel. "She's right here."
Her thumb pressed down on the red button and in instant the stage began to rumble and shake. She glanced back over her shoulder as a square section of the stage peeled back, rock scraping rock and revealing a black abyss beyond. Hidden gears and motors whirled to life with thrum that reverberated through the entire room. Yukino grinned as the cage appeared, just the top at first, then slowly but steadily the bars rose out off the darkness.
Then the prize appeared.
Nodoka and the others gasped. "Ranma!"
The red head stood silently within the confines of the cage, chains running from the floor to manacles clamped around her small wrists that jingled when the cage came to an abrupt grinding halt. Her head was bowed slightly, shadows hiding her face as she stood there. Her hair was slightly longer, bound back in a loose pony tail that flopped over a shoulder, and the clothes she wore were like her normal attire with the addition of black bracers around her forearms; only her blouse was black, and a long dark red sash was tied around her waist, and from a knot flowed off her shapely hips down half the length of her leg.
"Let her go!" Nodoka snarled.
"If you insist," Yukino smirked and pressed the green button.
With an electronic chirp the manacles fell away at the same time the cage door swung open.
Still Ranma didn't move.
"What are you doing? Get out of there!" Ryoga shouted.
Yukino wanted to laugh at their puzzled expressions, the frantic, anxious look that flashed across Nodoka's eyes. It was almost precious in its own way really. They wanted to rush on to the stage to the little red head, she could see in the way their bodies wanted to move but their over developed sense of danger kept them routed in place. She wished she had a video camera so she could savor this over and over again for as many times as she pleased.
"Come here child," Yukino ordered softly.
Without hesitation, Ranma crossed the short distance between them and stopped at the older woman's side and look out from the assembly with a blank expressionless gaze, her blue depths that had once sparkled with life and fire were now cold and dead. There wasn't even a glimmer of recognition as she looked out at them.
Yukino caressed the top of the girl's head. "She resisted me every step of the way, hoping against hope that she would escape or be rescued. And the funny thing is, if you had been a few hours earlier, you probably would have done just that. Now, she's all mine; isn't that right dear?"
"Yes, mother," Ranma replied softly.
"Oh I do love that," Yukino crooned happily. "Such a sweet and obedient, daughter."
Nodoka jerked violently, like she had punched in the face with an iron glove. Yukino grinned viciously at the shock rippling through them all.
"Why! Why did you do this!" Genma demanded, body trembling with a fury the likes of which no one had ever seen from him before.
Yukino licked her lips. "Why? Because I needed the perfect weapon, that's why. Ranma is has defeated two of the most powerful creatures alive today; Prince Herb and Lord Saffron, two of some of the most powerful beings in all China. Ranma is the perfect weapon for me to exact my revenge with upon the cursed freaks of Jusenkyo. She obeys without question, but most importantly, she will kill without hesitation. She knows nothing of mercy anymore because there is only one fate that awaits you filthy monsters and that's the cold embrace of death!"
Yes the only thing that held Ranma back from becoming truly one of the most dangerous beings on the planet was her good heart. Without honor, without mercy or the ability to judge right from wrong she would be an unstoppable machine that would attack without limiting herself. She would never pull a single punch ever again. She wouldn't even question the danger to herself, and she would do it all for her loving mother.
"You won't get away with this," Ryoga warned. "We won't let you use Ranma this way!"
Everyone nodded in agreement as they readied themselves.
"Oh, is that so?" Yukino laughed. "I like you, Mr. Hibiki. You would be an incredible weapon to possess as well. Maybe when this is all over you will get to experience everything my precious Ranma here got to. Would you like Ryoga? Would you like me to take away all your fears and worries?"
Ryoga shifted uncomfortably under her unwavering gaze, realizing that she wasn't just trying to psyche him out, but that she really would if given the chance to. And she was; Yukino was well aware of what he was capable of. He was every bit as talented and dangerous as Ranma was and she could do so much more damage with his abilities.
Ranma was a precision instrument, a surgeon's scalpel.
Ryoga was a sledge hammer.
Her eyes twinkled suddenly at that thought. She hadn't really been serious about doing to him what had been done to Ranma, but now, the more she thought about it the more she was starting to like the idea and all the possibilities it brought with it. Perhaps, if Ranma only knocked him out she could secure the boy to work on at her leisure. Yes, she thought, it was a great idea, but only if Ranma could knock him out; she wasn't about sacrifice ten years on him, not when she already had Saotome to do her bidding.
Even still the destruction she could wrought with those two at her side…it made her shiver…
"Undo whatever it is you've done to her now!" Nodoka snarled. "I refuse to let you do this to her!"
"I have a better idea," Yukino's grin sadistically. "Ranma, please be a dear and deal with these awful people for me. I grow tired of their unwelcome presence."
"As you wish mother," Ranma bowed respectfully.
A collective flinch shot through the group as the little red head turned her attention to them, face settling into a cold malicious mask of intent. She hopped off the assembly, seeming to float to the earth in a graceful step, slowly walking into the center of the suddenly wary bunch as they formed a circle around her. Genma forced his wife to stay back, more aware than anyone of just how dangerous the situation was becoming.
Yukino reveled in it all, savoring the fear and confusion that swirled around them as they shifted nervously around the red head, glancing at each other for some elusive answer. She loved the tension that hung in the air; it was so thick she could have cut it with a knife. Most of all she loved the inevitable pleas they each made to the girl, begging her not make them do this; to fight; that she didn't have to and that they were here to rescue her.
Ranma stood there at the center of them with the air of a predator about her, slowly scanning the gathered group.
Yukino could almost taste the anticipation.
Nodoka stared over Genma's shoulders with pleading eyes at her daughter. "Please Ranma…fight her!"
Ranma stared straight at her a long silence stretching between them, a glimmer of hope shining across the mother's eyes as she stared at her child with such intensity like she was trying to will the red head into remembering who she really was and who they were really were.
Ranma replied softly. "I exist, only to do my mother's will."
Ranma slammed her foot against the ground, flicking a chunk of rock on to her foot and kicked it. The chunk smacked Mousse in the head with a audible crack that sent the blind martial artist staggering backwards with a stream of blood spurting from the tiny wound. She spun at the same time, the silk sash at her waist whipping out as she stepped on to Ukyo's spatula sweeping towards her and leapt into the air with the grace of wind beneath her feet, twisting and spiraling through the air like an Olympic gymnast.
Ukyo whipped around, spatula shurikens flying from her hands, only to smack into the ceiling behind the red head as she twisted around them and landed several feet away. Konatsu appeared behind her, his Takemitsu screaming down on top of her, only for Ranma to flip backwards and catch the wooden blade between her feet. Konatsu gasped and a second later she yanked him forward head first into the ground before he could let go.
She flipped the sword up to her hand and whipped it around in time to meet Shampoo's Chui's in mid air. The bamboo sword groaned and protested with audible cracks and snaps as splinters appeared along its length. Ranma glared at the Chinese girl, not even so much as flinching under the incredible force bearing down on her as she held the sword in place with one hand. All of a sudden she twisted away, dropping the sword so quickly Shampoo pitched forward in surprise. Ranma slammed the heel of her foot in between the other girl's shoulder blades, smashing her into the ground like a rag doll…
Shock flashed across Yukino's face as she watched the girl dance around her friend's in a rhythm of beauty she seldom witnessed in a fight. Her heart soared triumphantly as she watched the girl flow from one attack into another, dancing around withering chains and throwing weapons thwacking off the walls, ceiling and floor, countering without hesitation. She had known, from the first moment she had walked in on Ranma after the girl had been captured that she was the one, she had felt it in her heart and bones with an absolute certainty.
This now, only proved how right she had been.
All the countless hours spent working on the girl hadn't been a complete waste, but rather a test of her conviction and determination to go through with her plans, and now she had been granted the ultimate reward.
At long last everything was falling into place.
"Soon Keijirou," She soothed inwardly. "So very soon."
…Ranma kicked the weighted end of the chain screaming towards her, sending the weight flying straight up as she bounded forward, weaving past the second and third chain and broke past Mousse's defenses in a flash. The poor sighted martial artist reered backwards in shock, trying to bring his arms around fast enough, but it was too late. Ranma's fists blurred through the air and smashed into his abdomen over and over again until the boy was spasming with every hit. With one last open palm strike she sent him flying backwards, slamming heavily into the wall.
"Ranma stop it!" Nodoka cried desperately. "They're your friends!"
The fiery red head paid her no mind, catching Ukyo's spatula behind the head of the weapon and yanked it from her grip. Ukyo stumbled forward in surprise as the cool shaft slid free of her grip, looking up in horror as Ranma twirled the weapon around and slammed the server end of the spatula into her. Ukyo screamed as she sailed through the air towards the wall on the other side of the room. She was only a couple of feet from the wall when Konatsu snatched her out of the air.
Akane appeared behind Ranma, lunging through the air with a fierce cry, fists driving down on at her ex-fiancé, only for Ranma to disappear. Akane gasped as Ranma slipped into the Umisenken, whipping her head back and forth with the frightened gaze of a deer caught in the headlights of an on coming car. She couldn't sense the other girl anywhere….
…Without warning Ranma slipped her arms under Akane's shoulder, hauling her up and then slamming her down into the ground. The youngest Tendo cried out as she bounced across the hard floor, even as her father appeared above them. Ranma leapt straight up slamming her palm under his chin and smashed him into the ceiling.
"Dad!" Akane cried in shock as he crashed to the ground next to her with a dazed look in his eyes.
Ranma was about to move into another attack when Genma appeared in front of her, fists raised ready to fight, eyes set in a serious frown as she stared at him without so much as a hint of recognition. Yukino grinned widely as the two stared each other down in a silent test of wills.
"I'm sorry Ranma," Genma said tightly. "But I won't let you be controlled like this. I didn't invest all that time and effort into you for you to become someone's puppet."
They reacted at the same time, Ranma leapt with lightning reflexes with her legs lashing out, connecting with her father's forearm arms as he blocked and parried the attacks with equal speed. She landed in a crouch and lunged again, fist slicing through the air at his stomach as he smacked it away with a sweep of his arm. It was a blur of motion as the two exchange blow for blow, but none found their mark. They flipped and glided away from another, only to clash again a second later.
Yukino couldn't help but hold her breath as the two fought back and forth, the others watching from afar as father and child fought tooth and nail.
Genma gritted his teeth as Ranma disappeared around his strike again, instinctively leaping away as she went for his hip. The red head launched into the air, flipping backwards over her father's head and landed in a crouch behind him. His eyes widened as he turned, too slow. He howled as her thumbs jammed into the small of his back, twisting into nerve clusters that sent searing pain blasting through his entire body as it went as stiff as a plank of wood. Ranma released the pressure on the nerves suddenly and nailed him in the back with a vicious kick.
Ranma jumped and somersaulted backwards as her father whipped around a round house kick, cleaving the air as it past beneath her. He hissed in frustration, holding his back where she had struck him, hunched forward slightly and panting heavily, the spare tire around his mid section finally catching up with him as sweat dripped off his face and he felt his age.
She circled him the way a predator might, as it watched its prey with hungry eyes, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Yukino could see the man's mind racing, trying to remember everything he had taught the girl and everything else had learned from others. A myriad of emotions played across his face; desperation, frustration, exhaustion, and many more. Yukino wondered how hard he had ran himself to get here from Nerima; from the dark circles under his eyes he looked as though he hadn't slept for days.
"You've gotta snap out of this," Genma panted.
Ranma tilted her head ever so slightly as she stepped around him, muscles relaxed but ready to strike at a seconds notice.
"You're not a puppet Ranma, fight her!" he snapped.
At the same time she lashed at him, her small fist slashing around so fast he barely blocked it. He locked his hand around her wrist and hauled her into the air, when her legs wrapped around the length of his arm; before he could blink she had twisted and thrown her body down, wrenching her old man off balance. Genma gaped in surprise as the world turned upside, spinning around him as he flipped fully and slammed into the ground with a heavy thump.
Genma groaned and was starting to rise when Ranma's heel came crashing down on his face.
Ranma flipped up on her feet and spun away from the groaning man, to find Ryoga standing behind her, frowning down at her in that serious way he always did, his dark eyes searching hers for something Yukino knew he wouldn't find. His body shook with the effort of someone struggling to stand up, and she wondered how much damage he had taken; how much his body had actually recovered from Kinnii's attack?
"I don't want to do this Ranma," he said softly. "But you know I will and I won't hold back."
Ranma cocked her head sideways. "Good…"
Without warning she lunged with a fist screaming through the air towards his face, when Ryoga snatched her wrist out of the air, twisted and flung the small framed martial artist through the air. Ranma flipped and twisted through the air, and landed in a crouch against the far wall before springing off again as Ryoga charged across the battle field with a bellowing roar, leaping to meet the red head in mid air. They hung suspended there for a couple of seconds as time seemed to slow down around them, the teenage boy's fist reaching out as the red head twisted around it, her leg rising up and around, and crashed down Ryoga's head.
Gravity clawed at the boy, smashing him into the ground with incredible force, the room shaking with the impact. Ryoga leapt up a second later and charged again as Ranma landed a few feet away, shrugging the attack off as best he could. Ranma dropped into a crouch as he threw a punch out, and shot up, slamming her fist into his chin with a powerful uppercut, when his foot crashed into her mid section. Air exploded up out of her lungs with trails of spit shooting from her lips, her eyes flying open as wide as saucers.
Ryoga staggered backwards as the red head collapsed to her knees, coughing and hacking violently and grabbing at her stomach. Shame and guilt flashed across Ryoga's eyes as he stared at her, a deep self loathing air hanging of him. She looked up at him, glaring dangerously.
"Please Ranma, I don't want to do this to you," there was a desperate pleading tone in his voice, his face soft, yet hard with resolve. "Remember behind the school? I don't want to hurt you!"
Ranma started to rise, her eyes unchanged.
"Ranma," Ryoga said warningly. "Don't…."
The red head lunged heedlessly at him; Ryoga swept his leg up, but at the same time she disappeared. He gaped in surprise, before roaring in agony a second later as sharp stabbing pains rushed up his back. He started to pitch forward when Ranma appeared beneath him with her feet suddenly pressing against arm pits as she separated his legs with her arms and dropped him head first into the ground.
A Umisenken combo attack.
Yukino grinned as she watched Ryoga struggled to get up, the marks left across his back from Ranma's attack were already bruising violently where she had struck with the Haku Dato Shin Sho.
Even with his monstrously endurable body, she knew Ryoga hadn't had enough time to recover from Kinnii's attack properly. It was still a weak spot that would hinder him for a while yet to come, despite whatever remedy he had used to heal the wound itself. As long as he kept pushing himself there was only so much it could do to help him.
She was impressed he had made it this far though.
"Ranma…" Ryoga groaned, struggling to raise himself up, panting heavily as the girl stepped in front of him. "…..Please…fight her…."
Ranma stared with cold indifference at the prone teenager, like she was scrutinizing a bug she could crush beneath her heel.
Without a second glance she moved away and stood in front of the stage, turning to look at them all, as if daring them to try anything.
All around her, her friends, beaten and weary watched her in disbelief; of all the outcomes they must have conceived along the way to Aso, this had not been one of them. Failure, Yukino thought, was the companion of the fool unprepared for any situation. They had come, never once considering that they might be faced with this, having to fight the one they were suppose to rescue. Was it simply weariness that slowed them now, or the mental and emotional shock that Ranma had been broken and twisted into the puppet before them now.
Yukino felt the welling of triumphant in her chest as she watched them all, her gaze swinging across each of the fallen fighters; her grip relaxing around the set of needles poised read to strike, sliding them back into the sheaths under her forearm.
She didn't need them now.
Victory was within her grasp at long last and these people couldn't stop her. Nothing would stop her now.
"Can you see now the strength of my conviction?" she cackled, drawing their attention away from the red head. "Can you see the lengths I will go to succeed? My patience? None of you can ever hope to match the strength of my desire and ambition, the unquenchable thirst I've had to live with. Today is the beginning of a new era. I will destroy Jusenkyo once and for all, I will seek out every cursed spring around the world and I will seal them away. And then, one by one, I will cleanse the world of the Cursed Ones, these monsters once and for all, and anyone else that dares stand in my way."
"You're the only monster here!" Nodoka snapped.
"Those willing to do whatever it takes are always called that," Yukino replied softly, her gaze locking with the other woman's.
They stared at her as if she was crazy, but they would never understand so what was the point of trying to explain it to them? They had already made up their minds about her and she had no interest in trying to make them see her point of view. They were selfish little unimportant people that had never endured true pain. Why bother wasting the energy on them?
They were beneath her.
"Why?" Nodoka demanded with hard eyes, her voice tight with fury. "Why would you do all of this? Why are you taking your pain out on everyone around you? People you don't even know!"
Yukino felt her heart lurch, emotions she had locked away years ago threatening to break the chains holding them down. Millions of thought raced through her mind, memories, agonizing memories. She felt a warm tear slip down the side of her cheek, dripping to the ground with an almost audible splat. Rage replaced the anguish in the space of a heart beat, her body beginning to tremble as she found her gaze trying to drill through Nodoka's judging eyes.
"You ask questions you don't have the right to ask," she hissed.
Nodoka's face reddened angrily. "You brain washed my only child and plan to use her to kill countless people. I have all the RIGHT!"
Yukino eyes narrowed. "I am done talking to you. Ranma! Finish this irritating woman off now!"
Cold dread rippled through the gathered fighters as Ranma jerked forth with the mechanical movements of a machine, not a single ounce of hesitation in her distant blank eyes. Nodoka could only stare back and forth between Yukino and Ranma, panic seizing her, her body trembling with a growing fear as her daughter's steps echoed like a death call, each one louder and louder as she drew steadily closer. Yukino felt a rush of adrenalin surge through her, her blood warming with delight as she savored the sweet look of crushing fear hanging around the other woman. Yes this was the perfect way to make the bitch pay for humiliating her, she thought viciously.
Oh the power she felt.
This, she thought, must be what it feels like to be a good.
To hold life and death in one's hand.
She watched as Nodoka stared pleadingly into her daughter's eyes, searching, hoping for some spark of her child that must still be buried within the shell that approached ever closer; but, Yukino knew she would find nothing. When would these people realize that it was over? The old Ranma was gone, torn to shreds and pieced back together the way she wanted her to be. Part of her, a small part, almost felt sorry for the woman, knowing that she was about to be killed in cold blood by the hands of her own flesh and blood.
Nodoka's shoulders sagged heavily, a strange calm settling over her with the realization that it was going to happen, that it was inevitable. A great grieving sadness welled up in her eyes, grief for her daughter, at what must have been done to her to turn her into this. Even still that didn't erase the love that was there, that unconditional forgiveness as she stood tall before the girl, accepting what was about to come.
"I know you're still in there somewhere Ranma," Nodoka said softly. "I know you don't want to do this and I know you can't stop yourself. But please, don't blame yourself for this, please…"
Ranma slowly brought her hands in front of her, ki shimmering between her palms in faint golden light that spilled across the Chinese silk of her clothes as she continued forth, ignoring the horrified sets of eyes glued to her emotionless unresponsive form.
A tear gathered at the corner of Nodoka's eye. "….It's not your fault Ranma."
Ranma started to raise her arms…
"Ranma don't!" Genma shouted, struggling to his feet.
…The light between her palms thickened and pulsed into the form of a swirling sphere of dark gold…
Ryoga, agony tearing through him as he tried to stand reached out at her, as if he could will her to stop. "No Ranma!"
Silence seemed to suddenly blanket the mother and daughter, wrapping them in a bubble that the desperate shouts of the others could not penetrate.
Yukino held her breath in anticipation, victory so close at hand…
"I'm sorry Ranma," Nodoka reached out to touch the girl's cheek, caressing it gently. "I'm so sorry…"
...When Ranma's eyes locked with Nodoka's, and she smirked.
"Don't be," the red head replied calmly, before spinning around and facing Yukino, eyes blazing with hate and triumph, as Yukino's eyes widened in horror, realizing too late what was happening. "Eat this you psychotic bitch! MOKO TAKABISHA!"
…The last thing Yukino saw, was a bright beam of golden ki barreling towards her, the roaring explosion drowning out her screams…
….
…
…
…
….
Thick clouds of dirt and dust filled the room, expanding into every crook and cranny as the explosion roared through the base, echoing through the countless tunnels like drawn out rumbles of thunder. The mountain shook and groaned, shuddering tremors coursing through it for the third time that day, with plumes of dust shooting out of fissures and caves and streaming into the air for everyone to see as more and more tunnels collapsed. To innocent, unknowing bystanders it seemed as if the ancient volcano was beginning to stir once more after years of dormancy.
An eternity seemed to crawl by inside the assembly hall, a small cough breaking the silence first, and then another, followed by aching groans and more hacking coughs. The thick choking dust swirled with arms flailing through it, figures moving about trying to find their way, the flaming torches lining the wall still flickering valiantly.
Ranma groaned, rolling on her back and coughed violently, her head thumping with each chest racking cough. Dust was caked across her face and clothes, tiny nicks and scratches weeping crimson trickles and her body aching in places she never knew existed. When this was all over, she was going to soak for a week in a very hot bath she promised herself, and scrub the weeks of grime and filth away she still felt clinging to her.
"First things first though," she thought darkly.
She staggered through the fading cloud of dust and hopped on to the stage, fists clenched tightly as she felt her strength returning anew, suppressed for the kami only knew how long as she suffered again and again under the needle and whatever other torture Yukino could whip out of her imaginative mind. The woman's name alone sent shivers down her spine, evoking a coldness in the pit of stomach she didn't think she would ever be able to rid herself of. Oh how close she had come to breaking only a few hours earlier. She shuddered, remembering the sensation of feeling herself breaking, her very soul cracking under the persistent mind rape Yukino had subjected her to.
How many others had she done the same to, Ranma wondered angrily? How many had she broken?
Never again, she vowed silently.
Yukino would never lay another hand on a single person ever again if she had anything to say about it. No one deserved to be subjected to that. She wouldn't even wish that punishment on Kuno…
…Kodachi on the other hand…
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end without warning; Ranma reered back a second before Yukino sliced through the cloud of dust with a small blade with a sudden shriek. The woman pitched forward with the momentum as the blade completely missed its target, spinning and falling into Ranma's arms open arms. She lowered the woman to the ground, flicking away the six inch tanto gripped loosely in her hand. Yukino's chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, blood dribbling out of the corner of her mouth, staining the fine fabric of her kimono. Her hair was wild, singed in some places, matted with blood in others, strands plastered to the side of her face and forehead. Her once unblemished skin was covered in countless cuts and scrapes, her creamy skin stained with crimson. Ranma glanced at the wall a few feet away, at the star pattern of blood splattered across the rock and the streak sliding down the wall.
Slowly she pulled her hand away from the back of the woman's head, a sticky sucking sound accompanying it as she stared at the red mess coating her hand, before turning her attention back to the woman, keeping her a face a calm unreadable mask, even though she wanted to rip into her with her bare hands.
Yukino looked a mess, nothing like the conservative and calm Japanese Princess she had first appeared to be.
She just looked wild now…
…She looked broken.
Yukino glared up at her, body trembling slightly as she asked one simple question: "How?"
Ranma glanced around, suddenly aware of the others climbing the stage and gathering closer with tentative cautious steps. They all looked as bad as she felt, sweaty and filthy, bruised and bloodied. She had never been more grateful for such a strange collection of friends and family in her entire life.
She looked back down at the woman in her arms, watched as she breathed raggedly and sighed.
"I used the Soul of Ice training I received when I learnt the Hiryu Shoten Ha," she explained, calmly, slowly. "I don't think it was ever meant for this, but it hit me that your brainwashing techniques relied on getting me into an emotional state that you could break. So I used the Soul of Ice to devoid myself of all emotions. It wasn't easy either, I had to do it slowly so I didn't raise any suspicions, but I knew you thought you already had me at a place where I was ready to crack and you wanted to break me so badly you blinded yourself. Once I had you believing I was broken, I just kept using the Soul of Ice so I wouldn't respond emotionally to your programming and you just kept believing my act. I even got you to use your acupuncture junk to restore my strength…most of it anyway. I didn't count on you chaining me up, and then all this happened and I saw my only chance to end this once and for all. I just had to wait for the right moment."
"Why the act then?" she nearly glanced over her shoulder at Akane's question; from the sound of her tone the feisty Tendo daughter didn't know if she should be angry or confused, or both.
"Because I needed her to believe she was winning and drop her guard," she replied, lifting one of Yukino's arms without resistance and removed the leather sheath holding dozens of acupuncture needles attached behind her wrist, and stared back at Yukino. "Because I didn't want to risk giving you the chance to get any of us with this crap; I know how good a shot you are after all."
"Damn you," the woman hissed hatefully with tears streaming down the side of her face. "Damn you to hell!"
Ranma ignored that remark with little more than a frown she said: "I answered your question, now you answer mine. Why? Why did you do all this? What was so horrible that you were willing to kill countless innocent people to satisfy your blood lust? I have to know how you can justify what you did to me, what I know you've done to others that were unfortunate enough to be given to you."
Yukino sneered and turned her head away.
Only for Ranma to calmly jam her thumb painfully into the woman's jaw, eliciting a surprised scream of pain, and snarled: "Tell me now!"
"Your filthy kind killed my son!" Yukino screeched, a heart wrenching sound like a wounded animal, tears of anguish and rage streaming down her face. "They killed my Keijirou! He was so kind and gentle, he never hurt anyone in his entire life and they killed him…a ten year old little boy!"
Her ravings, her rants, the pain and rage that was so clear in her eyes suddenly made so much sense. The dark grief she harbored within herself and vented on her victims, the pain of a parent that had outlived their child. It silenced everyone as they tried to imagine that. Ranma could almost feel sorry for her, but not after what she had done. There was a line you didn't cross, and Yukino had crossed it long ago with all the demons she carried. The grief that the woman refused to let go of, had twisted her into a creature that could only understand pain.
"And this is the way you honor your son's memory?" Ranma glanced up as Nodoka crouched on the other side of them, frowning down at the other woman. "You said your son was a kind and gentle boy, and you honor his memory by inflicting pain on others and continuing this cycle of hate and death? Imagine the shame he would feel, knowing what you've done."
"I had no choice," Yukino hissed, her voice wavering with emotion, even as she winced with agony etching her features. "No one would do anything. No one believed he died the way I told them. No one believed that a demon had killed my son. They thought it was a wild animal and refused to do anything. My son deserved justice I vowed I would make sure he got it!"
"At what cost?" Nodoka asked sadly, shaking her head. "How many mothers and fathers have you made endure the same heartache that you experienced? How many people have you killed that didn't ask to be cursed and just wanted to be left alone? Yes, your son deserved justice, but he wouldn't have wanted you to turn into the monster that you have. I can only imagine the pain you must feel, that emptiness inside you that you can't fill, but that doesn't give you the right to do what you've done."
Yukino snarled violently. "What would you know! You have your family, you don't have to struggle through each day with the memory of your dead child hanging over your head… So don't you dare stand there and judge me when you haven't got a clue as to what real suffering is you silly little housewife!"
Nodoka was unmoved by the woman's outburst, instead she looked pointedly at Ranma as she said: "And hopefully I never will."
Ranma couldn't help but think about what her mother had endured in her own way for the twelve years she had been alone. How many times had she sat alone in that house and wondered where her son was, or whether or not he was ok? Ranma knew the pain Yukino was suffering was beyond compare, but she couldn't help but think her mother's own pain during that time was just as bad, not knowing whether she was alive or dead. Not for the first time she wished she could turn back time for her mom and spare her all that.
Yukino tensed without warning, fist gripping the black silk of Ranma's blouse, groaning as her body shuddered violently. She glared up into Ranma's sad pitying blue eyes with such hatred, that the red head felt like ice was flowing through her veins…
"This…..is far from over," the woman warned seriously, before breaking off into a deranged cackle, eyes starting to lose their focus. "It is only just beginning!"
…And like that, the woman's body went limp and her eyes slid shut.
…Nodoka calmly pressed two fingers against the other woman's neck, then looked up at them. "She's still alive."
Everyone was silent for the longest time, staring down at the woman and battling with their anger and the pity they felt for her. The woman would have killed them without a second thought but they all knew that if they didn't feel some sadness for her, they were just as bad as her. Ranma most of all fought the rage burning violently in her chest, screaming for release, but she hushed it with a mental sigh.
It was being unable to let go of her rage and grief that had warped Yukino.
Well the cycle of hate and pain ended here.
Of everyone present, she was entitled most to the anger and pain she felt, after everything that had happened to her, but what was the point? She couldn't hurt Yukino, not really. She couldn't make the woman suffer anymore than she already had, if it was at all possible for her to experience suffering anymore. No, making her pay was a pointless waste of energy. Like with Ryoga, she had to let go of her anger towards Yukino, otherwise it would eat her up just as it had before.
She couldn't go through that again.
"We'll leave her at the closest hospital or whatever," she told them with a firm tone that left no room for argument.
"You realize she could come after you again if she survives?" her father pointed out unnecessarily.
"I know," Ranma sighed as she stood up. "But she won't be the first person I've made an enemy of. I'm kind of used to it by now, besides one more enemy isn't going to make much of a difference is it?"
She glanced once more at Yukino before she started to turn around
"… Come on, I wanna get out of this pla–"
Ryoga bonked her across the top of the head with a hard smack before she had time to even blink. Her vision temporarily vanished in a flash of mild pain, freezing her more in shock than anything else, in place for a second as she reeled from the fact that he had just hit her. He didn't hit her as hard as he could have and she knew it, but he hit her hard enough that she felt it.
Anger flashed through her as she snapped her head up.
"What the hell was that for you jerk!" she demanded and punched him hard in the chest, and struggled not to wince as her hand impacted against his rock hard body with a dull thump, bones crunching together in her fingers.
"What was that for? You attacked us when we could have helped you!" he snapped incredulously at her as he folded his arms in front of his chest. "That's what that's for you ungrateful brat. You should have had more faith in us."
Ranma pursed her lips defensively. "I told you I couldn't risk her getting any of you with her needles. You should be thanking m– OWW!" he smacked her over the head again. "Stop doing that!"
"You should be thanking us," Ryoga growled, his fists shaking. "After everything we went through to rescue yo–"
"Ohhhh so that's what this is about," she cut him off and slammed her hands on her hips with an exaggerated huff. "Well why don't I just go back to my cage so the man can do the rescuing! Do you want me to act all gushy and helpless and bubbly for you while I'm at it you big strong man you!"
"Now you're just being stupid," he rolled his eyes.
Ranma bristled at that, eyes blazing dangerously. "So now I'm stupid am I? Well aint that just the pot calling the kettle black!"
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"Oh don't pretend you don't know what I mean. You can't even find your way out of a house without someone to hold your hand! If I didn't have to take you back to that stupid camp of yours I wouldn't have even been in this mess in the first place. If any thing you should be on your hands and knee's begging for forgiveness!"
"You arrogant lit– If it wasn't for me your scrawny little body would have been cut in two! You should be thanking me!"
"Scrawny? You take that back!"
"Make me!"
"Why you good for nothing pi–"
Ranma jerked violently, mouth opening in a silent scream, eyes widening as a burning sensation erupted at the base of her skull and spread out in fiery waves. She heard the thump of her own heart beat in her ears, like the deafening rumble of drums, her blood surging as her limps grew heavy, her knees weakening and pitching her forward into the arms of a stunned and horrified looking Ryoga. She heard the dull sounds of the others shouting in alarm, her mother racing towards her with cries of panic.
She felt Ryoga's hands tighten around her shoulder as he lowered her to the ground, his words bleeding into the noise of other voices as her head lulled weakly to the side, seeing the others rushing towards Yukino, the woman struggling and laughing maniacally.
Ranma looked back up, her mother looking down at her along with Ryoga as he yanked a needle out of the back of her neck, staring at the small droplets of blood that dripped off the end. She stared back at them with fear, darkness creeping in from the corners of her vision and the all the sound around her starting to leak away.
The last thing she heard…
…was the spine chilling sound of Yukino's victorious cackles, ushering her into the silent darkness…
…To Be Continued
A/N:
AWWW you bastard, why would you do that! Why would you end it like that after all this lead up! That's what you're thinking right? :P
Well the simple answer is….well I am a bastard ^^
The other answer is this was always going to happen since I first wrote out the summary for the Delicate Touch chapter, although the ending has changed slightly, it wasn't meant to end on that kind of a cliff hanger, but here we are ^^;
I hope you enjoy this chapter though. Of the last four chapters this was certainly my favorite one, and not just because it was the last of the Delicate Touch chapters XD
No I had fun writing this one, although the Ranma vs. the rest of the Nerima Wrecking Crew fight gave me a little bit of a headache. Of all those fighters, the only one that she'd have any trouble with in female form would be Ryoga because of his monstrous endurance. I chose the Umisenken attack because for the most part that attack bypasses the issue of strength and endurance as the attack strikes pressure points directly, and with Ryoga's already somewhat weakened state its more than a possibility that it would work.
I could have made the whole fight a lot longer than I did, but I chose to keep it short primarily because I was running on empty and secondly because I didn't want the chapter to become ungodly long again.
Anyway, I've already started work on ch13 and should hopefully have it finished by the end of next week at the absolute earliest at this point.
Oh and I whipped up this the other night…
.net/fs70/f/2010/054/a/6/Ran_chan_and_Ryoga_by_
Now, 200 reviews might not be a lot to some writers, but its more than I've ever gotten for a single story and especially in such a short amount of time. It took a good 5 years to get just 81 reviews for my Sailor Moon story Tainted Warriors, so getting 200 reviews for a story that I only started a few months ago is a BIG deal for me, so to everyone that's taken the time to review, thank you ^_^
I actually hope to have some more pictures done for Tabula Rasa in time…
Anyway, back to work on ch13 ^_^
Cya's next time ^_^
