Like I said in the notes for fi19, here's the second chapter for the
three chapters upload! Yay for you! I _was_ originally going to hold
this one back for another week, but I decided that was just cruel. I
might as well let you get all the False Identity Goodness you missed.
Besides, that's how I work Legions (my comic). If I'm lost for a week
or two, the comics from the missing dates go up with the current week's.
See, I'm not trying to just get out of doing chapters. I just happen to
have a lot of computer problems that are a pain in the ass.
Besides, Dad wouldn't let me use his laptop to upload everything because
he's an arse. (Dad: "It's my job!") Isn't my father mean? If I knew
what his email was (er... what the email he actually checks was...) I'd
post it so all of you could bug him into letting me upload stuff.
False Identity
Chapter Twenty: Shots
Li Xiang
Softly, she padded down the road, kimono whispering with her movements.
It was late-- past midnight-- as she halted outside a small pet shop.
The closed blinds slitted open after a few minutes, and a side door
swung silently in, "About time you got here, Raven. Your client is
waiting."
The woman gave an elegant shrug, "I had to finish my last client's
job." She entered the pet shop and hiked a scarlet brow upon seeing her
latest employer.
"Well, this _is_ a surprise, Cologne."
The old amazon turned to face the familiar voice. Shock registered
across the elder's face, "The infamous Lady Assassin Raven..." Khu Lon
muttered, "...is Saotome Nodoka?"
"Indeed."
---
Gulping in air, Ken skidded to a stop once within the warehouse. He'd
been running so hard, so fast, that he had to twist around, slamming
his back into the wall to halt himself. His sharp cry of pain-- mingled
with that of his burden's-- brought Rache running.
"Ken! What's wrong?"
"Ranma..." Ken wheezed, "... gotta heal... Ranma...!"
It took less than a glance to understand Ken's panic. With a simple
command, Rache had Ken take Ranma into the younger boy's room. Setting
him carefully on the bed, the young healer began to heal his wounds,
one by one. Starting with the major wounds-- where she'd take out one
of the knives, then force her power into the bleeding gash-- she made
her way painstakingly over the sixteen year old's body.
She got through the majority of the most serious wounds before
collapsing. She'd done to much healing that day, and had passed out
halfway through healing the last of the wounds that required blade
removal.
Sighing, Ken lifted Rache's small, light frame, setting her on Ranma's
bed as he began to bandage the boy's wounds. Tired and aching as he was
from his sprint, the Hidaka male was _not_ about to let his
sorta-friend bleed to death.
Ranma's clothes were ruined-- not only had Muu Tzu's weapons managed to
rip them to shreds, that first phasing had all but made the boy naked.
The unconscious youth had been stripped out of the remains to be
healed-- the seriousness of the wounds preventing any attempts at
modesty by either Ken or Rache. To be honest, neither had really
noticed in their frantic attempts to save the young martial artist's
life. The shreds of clothing that remained were pilled haphazardly in a
corner.
It was those pieces of silk that Ken used to bind Ranma's wounds, the
multitudes of bloody scrapes and cuts cleaned with alcohol-- why did
Rache have alcohol on her?-- washed clear with water, then tightly
wrapped. After an hour and a half of labour, Ken lifted Ranma up onto
his bed.
Once the teenager was carefully set down, Ken again picked up Rache,
and headed to the only other room in the warehouse with lights on. He
kicked Ranma's door shut, hitting the light switch with his elbow as he
left.
Had he stayed but one minute longer, he would have seen something truly
amazing. Ranma's body began to heal itself-- at a very accelerated
rate. Smoke seemed to waft out of his bandaged wounds, running over his
skin like a mother's gentle fingers. And his injuries began to seal
themselves...
---
The wood was rough beneath the tender pads of his paws-- feet, the
human side whispered, and hands-- grains sticking and cutting, leaving
a number of blood splatters on the fence as he walked it. The chain
looped about his neck tightened, tugging him forwards.
Ebon hair danced in his stormy eyes, obscuring scant fractions of sight
for mere moments before moving on.
Kitty paced the fence alongside his human companion on the road. A
flash of annoyance at being treated like some sort of possession washed
over him before vanishing. Jei was feeding him-- a spell of good luck.
Despite his unmatchable speed, Kitty wasn't all that great of a
hunter-- he _was_ still a kitten, after all-- and had been barely
eating before Jei had found him.
A shriek split the air, and both boys looked up. Only a few feet away
from them was Jei's mother, staring at her son in shock.
"I _thought_" she practically bellowed, "I told you to stay away from
that riff-raff wild child!"
"He's my pet," Jei grumped, "He _listens_ to me!"
"Listens? LISTENS?! Jei! Get _away_ from that-- that-- that trash!"
Kitty's hackles rose, lips curling back from his teeth. Jei had dropped
the chain to get into a screaming match with his mother. A distinctly
feline yowl was issued forth from his lips, as Kitty launched himself
at the woman.
She wasn't going to take away his food provider!
Jei barely managed to scramble out of the way as Kitty attacked, eyes
flashing. His mother shrieked again, swinging her purse around in a
desperate attempt to save herself. The impromptu weapon cracked Kitty
across the base of his skull, sending roaring tremors of pain
throughout him.
---
Saotome Nodoka watched Khu Lon through narrowed eyes, lifting her tea
cup to her lips once again. For the last hour or so, she and the old
amazon had been secreted away in the basement of the pet shop.
In a round about way, Khu Lon had been asking questions about Ranma. A
mother _always_ knew when she was being questioned about her child, and
there was no doubt that, that was what Khu Lon as attempting. She also
knew there was a reason behind the ancient woman to have come looking
for "Raven"-- and it had yet to come up.
Finally, the younger woman's patience was worn through, "As much as I
appreciate you catching me up on the gossip in Nerima, but there is a
reason you were searching Raven out, was there not?"
"...yes," Nodoka noted Khu Lon's slight hesitation before answering,
but neither changed expression or said a word. The old woman was up to
something-- the Saotome Matriarch recognized the gleam in her eyes,
"There is something I must tell you first, however, so that you should
understand my view."
Something to do with either Ranma or Genma, then. Had it been anyone
else, she mused, then Khu Lon would not have hesitated. It is not in
her character, "Then do tell."
"I know of the Seppeku Pact," who didn't? "And your reasons behind it.
I... must tell you that Ranma is not only _failing_ in his duties as a
'manly man'-- he is actively attempting to destroy any chance of doing
so!"
"Explain," the ice in Nodoka's voice made Khu Lon crow with success--
on the inside, of course. Nodoka was almost within her grasp.
"Three nights ago, Ranma reappeared at the Tendou Dojo after almost a
week of his latest disappearing act. With him came a man impervious to
pain, and together they took out Akane, Nabiki and another young man."
"What of Akane and Nabiki?"
"Nabiki will walk with a limp for the rest of her life. Akane is in a
coma. Worse yet, the following morning the nerveless man appeared at
the Nekohanton, screaming of revenge on those who would steal 'his
Kitty'."
"Ranma."
"Yes," Khu Lon nodded slowly, "your son arrived on the scene not to
long after that-- and prevented me from rescuing my great
granddaughter. Your son allowed Xian Phu to be killed! Is that _not_ a
violation of his man-amongst-men pact? To kill a woman?"
Nodoka was frowning out right now, and Khu Lon jumped at the chance to
reinforce her point, "Should he not have to pay with his own life? An
eye for an eye...?"
Nodoka stood, setting her empty teacup on the table, "An eye for an
eye, Khu Lon? What you suggest... would mean _I_ would have to die as
well, would it not? I _am_ an assassin."
"Are you saying that you're going back on a pact of _honor_?" Khu Lon
knew _damn_ well that both Ranma and his mother were hooked on honor.
The seppaku pledge was her only way to force Nodoka's hand-- and
killing a woman was not _manly_, especially, the wold woman thought,
for a woman who based her standards of manly on _Happosei_.
A cruel smile made its way across Nodoka's face, before vanishing
beneath an artfully emotionless mask, "I'm afraid, Khu Lon, that you
've misunderstood me. The seppeku pledge... well, if one were to look
closely, one would note that there are exemptions."
"Exceptions?" Khu Lon slipped one hand into her sleeve, hiking an
eyebrow.
"Yes," Nodoka started for the door, "You see, if Ranma was to follow in
my footsteps, he would _have_ to take out a woman, in time[1]. There
are other exemptions, but those you need not know."
"Such a shame," Khu Lon mused, pulling her hand free from her sleeve,
having drawn a 9mm from it's holster. The gun looked large compared to
her diminutive frame, "that you would not see reason and do this for
me. However, now that you have the chance to tell your son my plan, I'm
afraid... you're expendable."
"What--" was all Nodoka got out as she began to turn to face the elder.
The gun was not silenced, and therefore _very_ loud when it rang out.
The slight turn of her body made the bullet miss her heart-- the
elder's target-- but it still hit.
A scream of pain rent the air.
---
"NO!"
Ranma sat bolt up, flipping to his feet in a single, fluid movement. He
stumbled a step, the bandages tight on corded muscle, and the last of
the smoke that curled over his body dissipated. Snarling, he ripped the
tight bandages from his chest and thighs, either uncaring, or unseeing
of the red and black silk wrapped around his shins and arms.
Stormy blue eyes flared in the darkness, his breath coming in rapid
gasps. Muscles tensed and relaxed in the mimic of a whirlwind. Like a
raging storm held barely at bay, Ranma paced the room, keen eyes
glaring out in search of clothing.
Seeing none, Kitty grabbed the bed sheet negligently ripping a hole in
the middle and sliding the fabric over his head like a poncho. As he
did this, Ken flew in through the door, "Ranma! What are you--"
"Out. Of. My. Way." Ranma snarled, his aura almost flaring into the
visible spectrum-- power dancing in blue eyes. Automatically, Ken moved
to one side, and Ranma stalked past.
"What's going on? Why'd you scream? What... what happened to all your
injuries?!"
"Doesn't matter, doesn't matter, doesn't matter," Ranma replied, before
throwing open the door and leaping to the roof of the next building
over. Ken gaped at Ranma's long distance standing jump.
As the martial artist ran into the night, he growled lowly, "Hang on
mama..." he didn't know why her aura flared suddenly in his senses--
but the rapid drop of power could only mean one thing...
... Nodoka was on her way to dying.
---
Upon tucking the disgusting "modern" weapon back into her sleeve, Khu
Lon stepped over Nodoka's body, walking out the entrance before the
store's owner could come racing into the basement from his own room.
Nodoka would not be talking anytime soon.
She vanished into the darkness.
Only moments later, Mugoh Kojiro barreled down the stairs, throwing
open the basement doors to find his favorite operative soaking her
kimono in her own blood. Khu Lon had known the moment the bullet went
off, she'd have to leave-- quickly-- and hadn't bothered to check to
see that she'd hit where she'd meant to.
Nodoka had pushed herself up, but she didn't look like she'd be able to
hold herself up. Kojiro knew she'd been shot before-- only the want to
see her only son again had kept her alive, then. But he knew she'd
found the elusive boy and his father. He _didn't_ know if she'd want to
live to see her grandkids.
"C'mon Raven, my No-chan," he grunted, hefting her into his arms, "this
is no place to die."
Nodoka shrugged slightly, hissing with pain as she did so-- even _that_
minimal movement sent waves of agony through her body. Kojiro struggled
to get her over to the basement's couch. Blood was beginning to soak
into his skin when he finally got her comfortable.
Grunting and popping his back, Kojiro brushed red bangs out of her
face, "Sit tight," he whispered, "I'll be right back..."
Bolting for the stairs, Kojiro shot through the pet shop and up into
his living quarters. Panic bubbled in his chest-- he _couldn't_ let
Nodoka die... he'd hate himself for it.
As he came out of the bathroom, there came a noise. It was far from
soft-- it was the sound of someone forcing open the metal gates that
covered the display windows. Kojiro flew down the stairs, only to see
someone wearing what appeared to be a white poncho disappearing down
the stairwell to the basement.
Gritting his teeth-- and checking to make sure his favorite Bowie knife
was still in it's place-- Kojiro paced silently down the stairs. When
he pushed open the door to the basement, he froze.
A teenaged boy was kneeling beside Nodoka. What he'd thought a poncho
was nothing more than a sheet with a hole through it for his head. Ebon
hair-- loose, but not free; it was blood caked, much like Nodoka's
clothing-- flowed down his back to the bottoms of his shoulder blades.
"Who did this?" the boy hissed, turning his head so one luminescent
blue eye was on Kojiro," Who dared to hurt my mother?!"
_This_ was Ranma? Kojiro scowled, "How did you know she was here?"
Ranma snorted, "I'm a martial artist," as thought i explained
everything. It didn't, and at Kojiro's blank expression, he scowled
just as darkly as the older man had, "I sensed her battle aura peak,
then fall rapidly. I traced it here."
That didn't do much better, but Kojiro didn't want Nodoka to die while
Ranma's explained. The black haired man brought the first aid kit he'd
grabbed as Ranma knit his finger though his mother's.
Kojiro began to speak, knowing, somehow, deep in his bones, that if he
didn't explain, Ranma might do something rash. It was already going to
cost him a lot of yen to replace the pet shop gates.
"No-chan." Ranma cast him a look at the nickname-- Kojiro didn't see
it, "always asks to be alone with her clients--"
"Clients?"
"You don't know what your mother's job is?"
"Never thought to ask," Ranma's eyes flared suddenly, pure, glaring
white energy sparking from them, "Continue. So I know who to kill."
"You're a lot like your mother," Kojiro muttered, now positive that
this was, indeed, Saotome Ranma, "Any ways, No-chan knew the client
this time-- some old woman-- and they came down here for tea and talk.
I don't know what happened, I was upstairs, but someone shot a gun. The
old woman was gone, and No-chan bleeding to death."
"What about a hospital?" Old woman...?
"No time," Kojiro ran his fingers through Nodoka's hair, licking his
dry, chapped lips, "She's almost gone, now. Lost to much blood."
Ranma snorted, "Coulda said the same about me about two hours ago...
now, how did Naru do that trick?"
The ebon haired martial artist was so busy staring into space,
wondering, that he never noticed the black smoke seeping from beneath
his bandages-- Kojiro, however, did.
"What the...?"
Blinking, the martial artist looked over at the older man, then
followed Mugoh's gaze to his arms. The smoke grew stronger under
Ranma's own gaze, becoming almost a shadow as it wafted into the air.
When whatever it was dove for Nodoka, both males gave a cry of alarm.
---
"So he's not with you?"
"No," was Aya's terse reply, and Ken winced. Ranma was nowhere to be
seen-- nowhere to found. And Ken did _not_ want to reach out to the
only way he'd be able to find him.
"Alright, thanks Aya. Call me if he shows up there?"
"Fine," and the phone went dead. Ken stared at the receiver, blinking.
Slowly, he set it back into it's cradle, biting his lip. He _really_
did _not_ want to do this.
Tentatively, he called out, within his own mind.
/Schuldich?/
The speed at which he was answered, startled him. The response,
however, explained _why_.
/Bishoujo's gone rouge, and you want to know where he is, eh Lieber?/
Obviously, Schuldich had already been tucked away in the back of his
mind. Growling a bit, Ken managed to snap back, half civilly, /No duh.
Where's Ranma?/
The mental equivalent of a shrug was imposed upon Ken, /Not to sure. I
suppose I should track him down, then, Lieber?/
Ken didn't dignify Schuldich with an answer, and the German pulled out
from the Weiss boy's mind. Less than ten minutes later, Schuldich's
presence flooded his mind. Ken jerked in surprise, almost dropping the
glass of water he'd pulled from Ranma's fridge.
/Ranma's mind is... panicked/ Schuldich sounded hesitant, /I wouldn't
go near him til he's cooled down a bit.../
/What _aren't_ you telling me?/
A lot, Schuldich mused to himself, /Ranma... eh, his mom's in trouble,
he's pissed. That's all I could get from him. His mind's a trap for the
unwary, Kenken./
End
[1] This is called foreshadowing. Hell, it's practically telling you
who the woman is, right there, hehehehehehehe
I just realised that prereading my own work is really, really, stupid.
*sniffles* I want my prereader back! But Yanslana's on vacation...
three chapters upload! Yay for you! I _was_ originally going to hold
this one back for another week, but I decided that was just cruel. I
might as well let you get all the False Identity Goodness you missed.
Besides, that's how I work Legions (my comic). If I'm lost for a week
or two, the comics from the missing dates go up with the current week's.
See, I'm not trying to just get out of doing chapters. I just happen to
have a lot of computer problems that are a pain in the ass.
Besides, Dad wouldn't let me use his laptop to upload everything because
he's an arse. (Dad: "It's my job!") Isn't my father mean? If I knew
what his email was (er... what the email he actually checks was...) I'd
post it so all of you could bug him into letting me upload stuff.
False Identity
Chapter Twenty: Shots
Li Xiang
Softly, she padded down the road, kimono whispering with her movements.
It was late-- past midnight-- as she halted outside a small pet shop.
The closed blinds slitted open after a few minutes, and a side door
swung silently in, "About time you got here, Raven. Your client is
waiting."
The woman gave an elegant shrug, "I had to finish my last client's
job." She entered the pet shop and hiked a scarlet brow upon seeing her
latest employer.
"Well, this _is_ a surprise, Cologne."
The old amazon turned to face the familiar voice. Shock registered
across the elder's face, "The infamous Lady Assassin Raven..." Khu Lon
muttered, "...is Saotome Nodoka?"
"Indeed."
---
Gulping in air, Ken skidded to a stop once within the warehouse. He'd
been running so hard, so fast, that he had to twist around, slamming
his back into the wall to halt himself. His sharp cry of pain-- mingled
with that of his burden's-- brought Rache running.
"Ken! What's wrong?"
"Ranma..." Ken wheezed, "... gotta heal... Ranma...!"
It took less than a glance to understand Ken's panic. With a simple
command, Rache had Ken take Ranma into the younger boy's room. Setting
him carefully on the bed, the young healer began to heal his wounds,
one by one. Starting with the major wounds-- where she'd take out one
of the knives, then force her power into the bleeding gash-- she made
her way painstakingly over the sixteen year old's body.
She got through the majority of the most serious wounds before
collapsing. She'd done to much healing that day, and had passed out
halfway through healing the last of the wounds that required blade
removal.
Sighing, Ken lifted Rache's small, light frame, setting her on Ranma's
bed as he began to bandage the boy's wounds. Tired and aching as he was
from his sprint, the Hidaka male was _not_ about to let his
sorta-friend bleed to death.
Ranma's clothes were ruined-- not only had Muu Tzu's weapons managed to
rip them to shreds, that first phasing had all but made the boy naked.
The unconscious youth had been stripped out of the remains to be
healed-- the seriousness of the wounds preventing any attempts at
modesty by either Ken or Rache. To be honest, neither had really
noticed in their frantic attempts to save the young martial artist's
life. The shreds of clothing that remained were pilled haphazardly in a
corner.
It was those pieces of silk that Ken used to bind Ranma's wounds, the
multitudes of bloody scrapes and cuts cleaned with alcohol-- why did
Rache have alcohol on her?-- washed clear with water, then tightly
wrapped. After an hour and a half of labour, Ken lifted Ranma up onto
his bed.
Once the teenager was carefully set down, Ken again picked up Rache,
and headed to the only other room in the warehouse with lights on. He
kicked Ranma's door shut, hitting the light switch with his elbow as he
left.
Had he stayed but one minute longer, he would have seen something truly
amazing. Ranma's body began to heal itself-- at a very accelerated
rate. Smoke seemed to waft out of his bandaged wounds, running over his
skin like a mother's gentle fingers. And his injuries began to seal
themselves...
---
The wood was rough beneath the tender pads of his paws-- feet, the
human side whispered, and hands-- grains sticking and cutting, leaving
a number of blood splatters on the fence as he walked it. The chain
looped about his neck tightened, tugging him forwards.
Ebon hair danced in his stormy eyes, obscuring scant fractions of sight
for mere moments before moving on.
Kitty paced the fence alongside his human companion on the road. A
flash of annoyance at being treated like some sort of possession washed
over him before vanishing. Jei was feeding him-- a spell of good luck.
Despite his unmatchable speed, Kitty wasn't all that great of a
hunter-- he _was_ still a kitten, after all-- and had been barely
eating before Jei had found him.
A shriek split the air, and both boys looked up. Only a few feet away
from them was Jei's mother, staring at her son in shock.
"I _thought_" she practically bellowed, "I told you to stay away from
that riff-raff wild child!"
"He's my pet," Jei grumped, "He _listens_ to me!"
"Listens? LISTENS?! Jei! Get _away_ from that-- that-- that trash!"
Kitty's hackles rose, lips curling back from his teeth. Jei had dropped
the chain to get into a screaming match with his mother. A distinctly
feline yowl was issued forth from his lips, as Kitty launched himself
at the woman.
She wasn't going to take away his food provider!
Jei barely managed to scramble out of the way as Kitty attacked, eyes
flashing. His mother shrieked again, swinging her purse around in a
desperate attempt to save herself. The impromptu weapon cracked Kitty
across the base of his skull, sending roaring tremors of pain
throughout him.
---
Saotome Nodoka watched Khu Lon through narrowed eyes, lifting her tea
cup to her lips once again. For the last hour or so, she and the old
amazon had been secreted away in the basement of the pet shop.
In a round about way, Khu Lon had been asking questions about Ranma. A
mother _always_ knew when she was being questioned about her child, and
there was no doubt that, that was what Khu Lon as attempting. She also
knew there was a reason behind the ancient woman to have come looking
for "Raven"-- and it had yet to come up.
Finally, the younger woman's patience was worn through, "As much as I
appreciate you catching me up on the gossip in Nerima, but there is a
reason you were searching Raven out, was there not?"
"...yes," Nodoka noted Khu Lon's slight hesitation before answering,
but neither changed expression or said a word. The old woman was up to
something-- the Saotome Matriarch recognized the gleam in her eyes,
"There is something I must tell you first, however, so that you should
understand my view."
Something to do with either Ranma or Genma, then. Had it been anyone
else, she mused, then Khu Lon would not have hesitated. It is not in
her character, "Then do tell."
"I know of the Seppeku Pact," who didn't? "And your reasons behind it.
I... must tell you that Ranma is not only _failing_ in his duties as a
'manly man'-- he is actively attempting to destroy any chance of doing
so!"
"Explain," the ice in Nodoka's voice made Khu Lon crow with success--
on the inside, of course. Nodoka was almost within her grasp.
"Three nights ago, Ranma reappeared at the Tendou Dojo after almost a
week of his latest disappearing act. With him came a man impervious to
pain, and together they took out Akane, Nabiki and another young man."
"What of Akane and Nabiki?"
"Nabiki will walk with a limp for the rest of her life. Akane is in a
coma. Worse yet, the following morning the nerveless man appeared at
the Nekohanton, screaming of revenge on those who would steal 'his
Kitty'."
"Ranma."
"Yes," Khu Lon nodded slowly, "your son arrived on the scene not to
long after that-- and prevented me from rescuing my great
granddaughter. Your son allowed Xian Phu to be killed! Is that _not_ a
violation of his man-amongst-men pact? To kill a woman?"
Nodoka was frowning out right now, and Khu Lon jumped at the chance to
reinforce her point, "Should he not have to pay with his own life? An
eye for an eye...?"
Nodoka stood, setting her empty teacup on the table, "An eye for an
eye, Khu Lon? What you suggest... would mean _I_ would have to die as
well, would it not? I _am_ an assassin."
"Are you saying that you're going back on a pact of _honor_?" Khu Lon
knew _damn_ well that both Ranma and his mother were hooked on honor.
The seppaku pledge was her only way to force Nodoka's hand-- and
killing a woman was not _manly_, especially, the wold woman thought,
for a woman who based her standards of manly on _Happosei_.
A cruel smile made its way across Nodoka's face, before vanishing
beneath an artfully emotionless mask, "I'm afraid, Khu Lon, that you
've misunderstood me. The seppeku pledge... well, if one were to look
closely, one would note that there are exemptions."
"Exceptions?" Khu Lon slipped one hand into her sleeve, hiking an
eyebrow.
"Yes," Nodoka started for the door, "You see, if Ranma was to follow in
my footsteps, he would _have_ to take out a woman, in time[1]. There
are other exemptions, but those you need not know."
"Such a shame," Khu Lon mused, pulling her hand free from her sleeve,
having drawn a 9mm from it's holster. The gun looked large compared to
her diminutive frame, "that you would not see reason and do this for
me. However, now that you have the chance to tell your son my plan, I'm
afraid... you're expendable."
"What--" was all Nodoka got out as she began to turn to face the elder.
The gun was not silenced, and therefore _very_ loud when it rang out.
The slight turn of her body made the bullet miss her heart-- the
elder's target-- but it still hit.
A scream of pain rent the air.
---
"NO!"
Ranma sat bolt up, flipping to his feet in a single, fluid movement. He
stumbled a step, the bandages tight on corded muscle, and the last of
the smoke that curled over his body dissipated. Snarling, he ripped the
tight bandages from his chest and thighs, either uncaring, or unseeing
of the red and black silk wrapped around his shins and arms.
Stormy blue eyes flared in the darkness, his breath coming in rapid
gasps. Muscles tensed and relaxed in the mimic of a whirlwind. Like a
raging storm held barely at bay, Ranma paced the room, keen eyes
glaring out in search of clothing.
Seeing none, Kitty grabbed the bed sheet negligently ripping a hole in
the middle and sliding the fabric over his head like a poncho. As he
did this, Ken flew in through the door, "Ranma! What are you--"
"Out. Of. My. Way." Ranma snarled, his aura almost flaring into the
visible spectrum-- power dancing in blue eyes. Automatically, Ken moved
to one side, and Ranma stalked past.
"What's going on? Why'd you scream? What... what happened to all your
injuries?!"
"Doesn't matter, doesn't matter, doesn't matter," Ranma replied, before
throwing open the door and leaping to the roof of the next building
over. Ken gaped at Ranma's long distance standing jump.
As the martial artist ran into the night, he growled lowly, "Hang on
mama..." he didn't know why her aura flared suddenly in his senses--
but the rapid drop of power could only mean one thing...
... Nodoka was on her way to dying.
---
Upon tucking the disgusting "modern" weapon back into her sleeve, Khu
Lon stepped over Nodoka's body, walking out the entrance before the
store's owner could come racing into the basement from his own room.
Nodoka would not be talking anytime soon.
She vanished into the darkness.
Only moments later, Mugoh Kojiro barreled down the stairs, throwing
open the basement doors to find his favorite operative soaking her
kimono in her own blood. Khu Lon had known the moment the bullet went
off, she'd have to leave-- quickly-- and hadn't bothered to check to
see that she'd hit where she'd meant to.
Nodoka had pushed herself up, but she didn't look like she'd be able to
hold herself up. Kojiro knew she'd been shot before-- only the want to
see her only son again had kept her alive, then. But he knew she'd
found the elusive boy and his father. He _didn't_ know if she'd want to
live to see her grandkids.
"C'mon Raven, my No-chan," he grunted, hefting her into his arms, "this
is no place to die."
Nodoka shrugged slightly, hissing with pain as she did so-- even _that_
minimal movement sent waves of agony through her body. Kojiro struggled
to get her over to the basement's couch. Blood was beginning to soak
into his skin when he finally got her comfortable.
Grunting and popping his back, Kojiro brushed red bangs out of her
face, "Sit tight," he whispered, "I'll be right back..."
Bolting for the stairs, Kojiro shot through the pet shop and up into
his living quarters. Panic bubbled in his chest-- he _couldn't_ let
Nodoka die... he'd hate himself for it.
As he came out of the bathroom, there came a noise. It was far from
soft-- it was the sound of someone forcing open the metal gates that
covered the display windows. Kojiro flew down the stairs, only to see
someone wearing what appeared to be a white poncho disappearing down
the stairwell to the basement.
Gritting his teeth-- and checking to make sure his favorite Bowie knife
was still in it's place-- Kojiro paced silently down the stairs. When
he pushed open the door to the basement, he froze.
A teenaged boy was kneeling beside Nodoka. What he'd thought a poncho
was nothing more than a sheet with a hole through it for his head. Ebon
hair-- loose, but not free; it was blood caked, much like Nodoka's
clothing-- flowed down his back to the bottoms of his shoulder blades.
"Who did this?" the boy hissed, turning his head so one luminescent
blue eye was on Kojiro," Who dared to hurt my mother?!"
_This_ was Ranma? Kojiro scowled, "How did you know she was here?"
Ranma snorted, "I'm a martial artist," as thought i explained
everything. It didn't, and at Kojiro's blank expression, he scowled
just as darkly as the older man had, "I sensed her battle aura peak,
then fall rapidly. I traced it here."
That didn't do much better, but Kojiro didn't want Nodoka to die while
Ranma's explained. The black haired man brought the first aid kit he'd
grabbed as Ranma knit his finger though his mother's.
Kojiro began to speak, knowing, somehow, deep in his bones, that if he
didn't explain, Ranma might do something rash. It was already going to
cost him a lot of yen to replace the pet shop gates.
"No-chan." Ranma cast him a look at the nickname-- Kojiro didn't see
it, "always asks to be alone with her clients--"
"Clients?"
"You don't know what your mother's job is?"
"Never thought to ask," Ranma's eyes flared suddenly, pure, glaring
white energy sparking from them, "Continue. So I know who to kill."
"You're a lot like your mother," Kojiro muttered, now positive that
this was, indeed, Saotome Ranma, "Any ways, No-chan knew the client
this time-- some old woman-- and they came down here for tea and talk.
I don't know what happened, I was upstairs, but someone shot a gun. The
old woman was gone, and No-chan bleeding to death."
"What about a hospital?" Old woman...?
"No time," Kojiro ran his fingers through Nodoka's hair, licking his
dry, chapped lips, "She's almost gone, now. Lost to much blood."
Ranma snorted, "Coulda said the same about me about two hours ago...
now, how did Naru do that trick?"
The ebon haired martial artist was so busy staring into space,
wondering, that he never noticed the black smoke seeping from beneath
his bandages-- Kojiro, however, did.
"What the...?"
Blinking, the martial artist looked over at the older man, then
followed Mugoh's gaze to his arms. The smoke grew stronger under
Ranma's own gaze, becoming almost a shadow as it wafted into the air.
When whatever it was dove for Nodoka, both males gave a cry of alarm.
---
"So he's not with you?"
"No," was Aya's terse reply, and Ken winced. Ranma was nowhere to be
seen-- nowhere to found. And Ken did _not_ want to reach out to the
only way he'd be able to find him.
"Alright, thanks Aya. Call me if he shows up there?"
"Fine," and the phone went dead. Ken stared at the receiver, blinking.
Slowly, he set it back into it's cradle, biting his lip. He _really_
did _not_ want to do this.
Tentatively, he called out, within his own mind.
/Schuldich?/
The speed at which he was answered, startled him. The response,
however, explained _why_.
/Bishoujo's gone rouge, and you want to know where he is, eh Lieber?/
Obviously, Schuldich had already been tucked away in the back of his
mind. Growling a bit, Ken managed to snap back, half civilly, /No duh.
Where's Ranma?/
The mental equivalent of a shrug was imposed upon Ken, /Not to sure. I
suppose I should track him down, then, Lieber?/
Ken didn't dignify Schuldich with an answer, and the German pulled out
from the Weiss boy's mind. Less than ten minutes later, Schuldich's
presence flooded his mind. Ken jerked in surprise, almost dropping the
glass of water he'd pulled from Ranma's fridge.
/Ranma's mind is... panicked/ Schuldich sounded hesitant, /I wouldn't
go near him til he's cooled down a bit.../
/What _aren't_ you telling me?/
A lot, Schuldich mused to himself, /Ranma... eh, his mom's in trouble,
he's pissed. That's all I could get from him. His mind's a trap for the
unwary, Kenken./
End
[1] This is called foreshadowing. Hell, it's practically telling you
who the woman is, right there, hehehehehehehe
I just realised that prereading my own work is really, really, stupid.
*sniffles* I want my prereader back! But Yanslana's on vacation...