Author's Notes –
No more disclaimers – I posted them on the first ten chapters or so of the fic. I hope you're not that ignorant of ownership issues with this fic if you've been reading it this long.
Wow, that last chapter took a lot longer to post than I expected. That's the longest I've gone without posting/updating this fic…
Not much else to say. The weather here sucks and I was right – Grey's Anatomy without George sucks. I'm glad they've temporarily gotten rid of Izzy, but seriously, I couldn't care less about everyone else that's there. At least there's House, well, once the MLB playoffs are over, and Glee, which is also stalled due to MLB. Wait, there's Flash Forward… poor Harold… only a few more months until you get murdered. Yes, I know that the character isn't actually Harold (of Harold and Kumar) but that is what he's best known for, well, Sulu in Star Trek… maybe I'll pick that movie up when it comes out…
Anyways, I had originally planned to bring in Rainbow Mika, but decided that the gender disparity would be too great, thus had Darkseeker Ryu kill her in battle (Chapter 23 I believe). Then I recalled that Dan was Japanese, and I'd referenced him before in this fic, and that Blanka was good friends with Dan, thus adding to the cast and the testosterone in the fic. I know the few readers out there are going to hate me later though…
*****
Thirteen seconds – that was a new record for him. Though he really didn't keep track of how long his fights lasted, Ranma knew that few of his fights (at least the ones against actual opponents and not just chumps like most of the guys at school) lasted at least several minutes. Well, there was that one time against Kuno, but that had been a victory. This, well, this was just humbling.
The short trip from the man-made lake to the Hinata Sou was made significantly longer by the injuries that he and the new additions to the group had suffered at the hands of the powerful Darkseeker. Bruised ribs for him, a concussion for Blanka, and a dislocated shoulder for Dan – no serious injuries though they were enough to merit a much slower and relaxed pace for the group.
"Don't feel too bad," Chun-Li said as she walked beside her lover, "Ryu was virtually unbeatable before. I can't imagine how much more powerful he is as a Darkseeker."
Ranma remained silent. He'd accepted his defeat, well, as best as he could. That wasn't what bothered him. It was the fact that the Darkseeker had retained some rational thought and even his discipline. Clearly not all the Darkseekers were mindless creatures. He'd thought that the ones around Hinata were different because of medical collars that they had around their necks, perhaps because someone had treated them with different medication. But Ryu had nothing like that yet was able to make rational decisions.
"I'm positive it was Ryu," Juni (or was it Juli?) said as she stood beside the hulking green beast known as Blanka.
"Dr. Tofu did say that a majority of those who survived the transformation did so because they were in great physical shape," Mousse added as he and Ibuki joined the conversation.
"Who's Ryu?" the ninja asked.
Everyone but Keitaro and Tina stared at the kunoichi.
"Ryu won the first two Street Fighter Tournaments," the strawberry blond Juni explained. "He defeated Sagat to win the first tournament and then defeated Bison in the second Tournament."
"Weren't there three tournaments?" Ryoga asked off handedly.
"Yes, there were," the brunette Juli replied. "Zangief won the third tournament."
"Yeah," Blanka nodded. "Everyone felt that the big Russian won just because Ken and Ryu had exhausted themselves in their match, and Zangief fought the winner before moving on to fight Seth."
"Not everyone," Cammy corrected, "Some people thought Ryu dropped the match. But anyone who really knows Ryu knows he'd never throw a match or not fight all out."
Absently Ranma listened to the conversation. The old, younger Ranma would have loved to hear about the fights, but the current, more mature Ranma couldn't help but wonder if perhaps there were more Darkseekers like Ryu and the lab coat wearing Darkseeker.
*****
The group of twelve survivors (and one gynoid) arrived at the Hinata Sou with little fanfare. Not that anyone other than perhaps Keitaro expected anything else. Reaching the dormitory turned fortified compound for survivors, only Dan and Blanka seemed impressed with the building and the fortifications. Even with the dark clouds overhead that occasionally drenched the travelers with violent showers, there was enough light for the travelers to cross the river safely.
"So they don't like water?" Blanka asked as he eyed the moat/stream that acted as a last line of defense for the compound. Even with the heavy showers the water didn't appear to be deeper than a meter at its deepest.
"They don't like cold water," Mousse explained to the hulking green figure. Even the nearsighted boy couldn't mistake anyone for Blanka, though he had mistaken several trees for the Brazilian fighter. "Well, they don't like the cold in general."
"That's why you were sleeping on those boats," the large fighter nodded.
It was those same rowboats that had allowed them to cross over the admittedly shallow yet rapid river that acted as the primary defense for the compound and island. Injured as the three of them were, the boats had allowed them to cross without having to wade through the swift waters or leap from the few rocks that stood out of the river. It didn't help that the rocks were probably slick with moss even as they stood over the water due to the heavy rain.
"Everything's changed so much," Keitaro mumbled as he looked at the ruined city and the free-roaming wildlife.
"And so have you," Ranma added. "I may not have known you back when you were here before you left for America, but I'm sure that you've changed a lot."
The former ronin nodded even as he stole a glance at the busty blond beside him. A reassuring smile from Tina was all he needed as he reached out and grabbed her hand.
"So do we just wade across?" Dan asked as he eyed the ten meter expanse. "I could probably clear this easily…"
"Maybe we should have brought at least one of the boats," Blanka mused.
Mousse shook his head. Two grappling hooks shout of from his deep sleeves, followed by thick chains tied onto the ends. With the hooks grabbing hold of the tree across the way Thirteen took hold of the loose ends. Holding them at roughly shoulder height she planted her feet.
"You're joking, right?" the busty blond asked skeptically as she eyed the bridge. "Eeep!"
Cammy and Chun-Li quickly lifted the blond American off her feet. Leaping into the air the two street fighters landed gracefully on the chain bridge.
"AAHH!!" Tina shouted as she was carried across the wide stream by the two women.
The blonde's screams quickly brought several inquisitive eyes to the windows facing the group as the remaining Hinata Sou survivors gathered and watched the spectacle.
Not bothering to wave at the girls, Ranma simply watched as Ryoga and Mousse lifted Keitaro off the ground and forcibly carried the former ronin over the expanse.
"Waah!" the ronin shouted as he was manhandled by the two younger men.
"Don't even go there," Blanka stated as he glanced at Ranma and Dan. Taking a running start he launched himself into the air before curling into a tight ball and flew across the stream/moat.
Shaking his head, Dan simply leapt onto the chains. Were it not for the sudden gust of wind the older Hibiki would have made it across without incident. As it was though Dan missed a step as the violent gust of wind pulled the chain further away than he had anticipated, resulting in the injured fighter falling into the stream below.
Ranma repressed a snicker, though there was plenty of laughter from the gallery of girls on the third floor and the roof as the assembled Hinata Sou survivors watched on.
Holding out his hand to his cousin, Ryoga helped the older fighter out of the stream.
Next the nearly identical Juli and Juni quickly and nimbly crossed the makeshift bridge, leaving only Ranma and the gynoid Thirteen. Taking the chains out of her hands, Ranma threw them back at Mousse. Taking a running start he leapt high into the air even as Thirteen flew through the air (via her jet pack). Both landed gracefully on the other side of the stream without any difficulty, though Ranma's ribs and lungs had sent a sharp pain through his chest.
"Welcome back," the tall, lean doctor said as he patted Mousse and Ryoga on their respective shoulders. "I'm Dr. Ono Tofu," he said, offering his hand to Dan.
"Dan Hibiki," the fighter replied confidently. "And this is my friend Blanka."
"Blanka, the Brazilian Street Fighter?" the astonished doctor asked as he eyed the muscled behemoth that was Blanka. "It's an honor."
Dan scowled. Clearly everyone else had overlooked the fact that he was a Street Fighter as well.
Accepting the doctor's bow and handshake, the green skinned fighter glanced at Dan. "Th-thank you," he replied. "But you know that Dan was in the last Street Fighter Tournament as well."
"Oh," Dr. Tofu replied, "I knew that, but as a doctor I've been fascinated by, well, your case."
Tsuruko coughed, drawing a temporary halt to the doctor's conversation.
Stepping forward Keitaro stood confidently as he glanced at the remaining Hinata Sou girls. "This is Tina Foster," he said in a firm tone that clarified his relationship with the busty woman. "And this is Juni" he indicated the strawberry blond fighter "and Juli" he gestured towards the brunette.
"And this is Chun-Li," Ranma said as he slipped his arm behind the Chinese fighter, placing his hand on her waist, "and Cammy" again he slipped his other hand behind the long haired blond beside him and put his hand on her waist, signifying his close relationship with the two women as he pulled them closer to him.
The quick glance between Motoko and Kanako didn't escape the pigtailed youth's notice, though he simply chose not to say anything about it.
"This is Tsuruko Aoyama, and her sister Motoko Aoyama," Dr. Tofu stated once it was clear that Keitaro was not going to leave the blond woman's side or that Ranma, Mousse, or Ryoga were going to complete the introductions. "Kanako Urashima – Keitaro's adopted sister, Naru Narusagawa, Mutsumi Otohime, and Su."
"Hiya!" the energetic blond said as she jumped up to hug the dorm manager.
"Hey Su," Keitaro gasped as the smaller blond had forced the air out of his lungs.
"How was America? Did you bring any souvenirs? Did you at least bring me some bananas?"
*****
A cool, artificial breeze filled Dr. Tofu's makeshift clinic, bringing several patches of goose bumps to the shirtless youth as he waited for the doctor to complete his exam.
"You didn't have to come back you know," the doctor stated as he gently pressed the dark bruise on Ranma's ribs.
"I know," the pigtailed boy replied. "But I didn't come back for myself – I came back so that Ryoga and Mousse could get cured."
"So they don't have their curse anymore? What about you?"
The raven haired youth shook his head. "I'm not going to be pumping out babies anytime soon," he replied. "And with Dan and Blanka around I'm sure that the 'gene pool' should be diverse enough for our small community."
"So why did you come back?" the doctor asked as he examined the various scrapes on Ranma's back and shoulders.
"Because I was right," he answered honestly. "I knew that you guys wouldn't listen to me because you saw me as a kid still. Just like you guys did back at the Kuno's, you treated us like kids and thus decided that our voices weren't worth listening to. You respect me as a martial artist, but not as an adult. I couldn't do anything to change your minds, so I left."
"And now you're back." Standing up he looked the younger martial artist in the eyes. "So what are you going to do?"
"There's going to be revolution," Ranma smirked. "You've been thinking about things the wrong way. Darkseekers aren't the enemy, they're just a problem. You've been treating them like a pack of wolves, rabid wolves, but wolves none the less."
"Well they have been hunting down normal humans for food," Dr. Tofu countered.
"Yes, but that's because most of them need food," Ranma conceded. "But not all of them hunt humans. These bruises, they're from a Darkseeker that beat me. He didn't just beat me - he fought with great discipline and skill in a style that I've only heard of."
"You're just making excuses for why you lost," Tsuruko said slyly. "There is no shame in losing to something much more powerful than a typical human."
Ignoring the swordswoman, Ranma locked eyes with the doctor. "Doc, you've known me for how long? You know that I don't make excuses for my losses."
"No, you don't," the older man replied. "You train harder and fight all the harder next time."
"This guy, this Darkseeker, he used to be a Street Fighter," Ranma stated. "And he was the best. It was Ryu."
"Ryu - the man who defeated Sagat and Bison to win the first and second Street Fighter Tournaments?!" Tsuruko said, clearly skeptical.
"It's true," Blanka growled. "I've fought him enough times to know that it was Ryu. The tattered white gi, those red gloves, those moves, and the Hadoken of his… It was Ryu."
"Though I am loathed to admit it, it was Ryu that we lost to," Dan stated as he sat up. "Those moves were from the true Shotokan School. Years ago Gouken expelled me from the school, and I've been teaching a bastardized version of it. That's why Sakura was practicing with me, to learn the basics of the Shotokan. But when Ryu saw her potential he took her from me…"
"She kicked his ass once and he wanted to be her teacher since then," Blanka whispered to Ranma. "But this is the first time he's told me about Gouken."
"Any student of karate has access to a white gi," the swordswoman remarked, brushing aside their arguments.
"But none of them can fire off a Hakoden," Chun-Li countered. "Just because it's not convenient for you to believe that the Darkseekers are mindless creatures doesn't mean that is true."
Cammy nodded. It was a good thing that she and Chun-Li had come to visit Ranma in the clinic; then again, it really wasn't too far from their room. "Ryu's Hadoken is distinctive even from other Shotokan practicioners. Akuma's is like black flames, Ken's is like red flames, and Dan's is, well, kinda pale… Even Sakura's isn't as bright or solid as Ryu's."
Faced with four former Street Fighters, Tsuruko knew that she couldn't win that argument.
"We saw Ranma fire his…"
"Moko Takabisha," Ranma said, filling in the gap for Cammy.
"'Dominating Fierce Tiger'?" Tsuruko muttered, clearly amused by the name of the attack.
"Yeah, that golden ball of ki," Cammy said, ignoring the swordswoman. "Ranma hit Ryu with his Moko Takabisha, and then Ryu decided to up the ante and shot his Hodoken at Ranma."
"You forgot that he also hit Ranma with his Tornado Whirlwind Kick and the Shin Shoryu-ken," Chun-Li interjected.
"He hit you with all those and you're still alive?" Dr. Tofu exclaimed.
Ranma's shoulders slumped. "Yes, he's better than me," the dejected youth replied sourly. Clearly he had not gotten the point of what the doctor had actually said.
"He had Ranma dead to rights," Ryoga added, piling on to Ranma's misery.
"I thought that he only grabbed Ranma because he wanted a quick meal, especially since we took Dan and Blanka from him," the nearsighted martial artist said. "But when he set you down and just bowed…"
"At least you remembered to bow before you blacked out," Ryoga chided.
"Anyways, it's clear that not all Darkseekers are mindless monsters," Chun-Li stated, drawing everyone back to the original conversation.
"We shouldn't have to worry about that," Tsuruko said coolly. "After we made Hinata an island Mousse and Ryoga scoured the island and drove off the few Darkseekers."
"What about the lab coat guy?" Ranma asked, drawing everyone's attention to him. "There was a group of six Darkseekers – one male wearing a lab coat, two adults, and three younger ones. They worked well as a team and the male was a good fighter. I think he was primarily using Jeet Kune Do."
"Jeet Kune Do?" Tsuruko repeated, clearly skeptical.
"Well, it's like Anything Goes really," Ranma stated. "But he was using basic attacks from various schools and styles, but had adapted them to fit his needs and purpose. Most fighters I know use just a single style as that's all that they've learned. But this Darkseeker, he used a lot of Karate and Muay Thai and conventional kickboxing as well as French savate.
"Anyways, he showed good discipline and control while we fought. He wasn't just mindlessly attacking me or relying on muscle memory – he had a clear-cut strategy and game the first time and the second time he adapted his attack pattern to try and lure me into attacking."
The swordswoman weighed his words, not sure what to make of what he'd told her. With so many experienced fighters siding with the young martial artists, and so many clearly believing that the young upstart had any credibility Tsuruko knew that she couldn't just disregard him. Clearly this Ranma was much more of a threat than the young, immature fighter that had run away some month or so ago.
"What do you propose we do?" she finally asked.
"For now, nothing," he answered, surprising her. "We don't instigate fights with them. If there are Darkseekers that are hungry we just knock them out and direct them towards another food source. There are plenty of deer and pigs" he caught Ryoga's slight tremor "and other animals around that they can feed off of. If need be we'll just relocate any Darkseekers."
A pregnant silence filled the clinic. Though it had started as just a brief discussion between Ranma and the older martial artists, all the other fighters, and the rest of the survivors had found themselves drawn to the discussion.
"That's fine," Mutsumi finally said, breaking the silence. "Even though they are infected, they're still people underneath."
Ranma nodded, surprised that the trio of 'adults' had conceded as much as they had. Things were going to be different this time around.
*****
The open air, hot springs bath had always been, well, memorable for the returning Keitaro Urashima. There had been that initial meeting with Naru when she'd 'accidentally' grabbed hold of little Keitaro. And then there was the incident with Naru when he was cleaning the hot springs.
Settling into the hot water, Keitaro couldn't help but think that many of his memories of the hot springs were of the hot-headed auburn haired girl. Stealing a glance at Naru and the remaining Hinata girls, the former ronin sighed as he noted their cold, questioning glances.
"Just relax," Ranma suggested as the pigtailed martial artist flashed a warm, comforting smile at the older man.
"Easy for you to say," Keitaro lamented as the petit yet curvy Cammy and the elegant and sexy Chun-Li settled in beside the martial artist.
The old boundaries of gender specific sides for the hot springs no longer existed with the presence of the newest residents. The arrival of the more sexually mature and confident Chun-Li and Cammy as well as the tensions between Tina and the remaining original residents of the Hinata Sou made the 'female' side of the open air baths feel rather chilly. Joining their respective lovers on the 'male' side of the baths they broke all the old rules, throwing every established but unspoken rule as they settled in the hot water beside the men.
With Juli and Juni joining the other women on the now crowded 'male' side of the baths it was no surprised to everyone that the large group began to slowly claim more of the baths as they easily outnumbered the remaining Hinata Sou residents.
Motoko and Naru simply watched, mouths clenched tight to prevent them from hanging open in shock and astonishment at the bold women who dared to sit beside and among the perverted men. It had been one thing for Ibuki to allow Mousse to tend to her hair, but for the kunoichi to lounge beside him was another thing altogether. And the shameless… women that had obviously lost any and all common sense and decency when they encountered the gender changing freak…
Ranma didn't need to be telepathic to know what the two girls were thinking. It was plain as day to him and to Keitaro. Though the runty former ronin was afraid to hurt people's feelings (a sentiment that he once held onto back in Nerima) Ranma no longer held onto those naïve thoughts.
Contemplating how and what he was going to say, the pigtailed martial artist sighed as he watched Naru and Motoko silently fume.
"Now isn't the time," Chun-Li whispered to him gently as she gently stroked his thigh.
"I know," he replied.
"It's not your fight," Keitaro interjected.
"You're right, it's not," Ranma conceded. "But it'll affect all the other men here regardless of the outcome."
The scrawny man nodded. "But I'm the face of the enemy to them. I'm the one that needs to handle this."
Beside him the busty blond glanced nervously at her lover and the pigtailed young man. It was odd to her that the other women would be so interested in Keitaro and hold hit against him that he ended up with another woman. It had never been that hard for Kaoru even with all the other residents chasing after him. None of them had held it against Aoi that she had ended up with him, though some of them refused to give up on Kaoru even though he was with Aoi.
Clinging to Keitaro's arms she leaned against him, unconsciously pressing her ample breasts against him as she did so.
The evil glare that Naru and Motoko shot her and Keitaro was obvious to everyone, making even Blanka and Dan pause to as the tensions in the open air baths became apparent to everyone.
No one said a thing as the thick, humid air held everyone in place. Slowly the sound of the pouring rain against the tarp overhead died down, announcing that the storm had let up ever so slightly.
"I'm going to bed," Su announced suddenly as she pulled her towel around herself.
"Okay," Motoko said as she reluctantly turned away from the former ronin and dorm manager, forcing a somewhat relaxed smile onto her face as she addressed her friend and neighbor's departure.
"Her air filter probably started to give out," Dr. Tofu stated idly as he stood up and exited the hot water to wash his hair.
"She's not resistant to the airborne virus," Ranma stated. "The first time I met her she was inside her Mecha Tama and couldn't come out."
"Really?" the busty blond exclaimed.
Nodding, Ranma smiled as he ignored the obvious tension and focused on telling Tina about how he'd first met Su.
*****
A/N
I think I'll just leave things where they're at for now.
Please Read and Review.
Dreamingfox