The Saotome Sisters
Chapter 51
"Are we all agreed on the terms then?" Cologne asked. "If Son-in-Law wins this fight, then he gets the Phoenix Pill, and will be able to reverse the effects of the Cat's Tongue, and return to his male body. If Ryoga Hibiki wins, then he proves once and for all that he is the better martial artist. That he is the better..." She smirked a bit. "... man."
Ranma scowled, but otherwise ignored the implied insult. She stood waiting for the fight to begin, in Ukyo's body, to one side of a small rise. Ukyo herself stood at her side, also in her normal form. On the other side of the hill, Ryoga waited, returning Ranma's angry stare. Akane and Cologne stood next to him.
Before anyone else could say anything, though, Ranma noticed that Akane's arm was in a sling. "Hey! What happened to your arm?" She started to charge over to her, and Ryoga stepped into a stance. Ukyo caught her twin as she got about halfway across the rise, and held her back by an arm. "Let go!" Ranma yelled. "Ryoga, you pig, how could you let her get hurt!"
Akane stepped forward. "It's not Ryoga's fault, Ranma! I just went off to do some training in the woods and fell. I just sprained it, that's all. It's not that bad..."
"Not that bad? Did ya let them train you in that stupid technique? Is that how ya got hurt?"
"No, Ranma." Akane looked upset, but she kept her voice strong and determined. "I snuck away, because I didn't want Ryoga and Cologne to know I was training. I knew they wouldn't let me. But I didn't get the chance to try it." She hesitated, knowing she was lying. "I fell, is all, and I hurt my arm. It didn't have anything to do with training."
"An' why didn't Pig Boy...?"
"Ryoga DID go looking for me, Ranma. He found me, and brought me back to camp. And my arm's fine. It's just a little sprain, and it'll probably be fine in a few days." Akane bit her lip. She could tell Ranma didn't quite believe her. There was silence for a few moments as the other girl stared at her.
Cologne turned to look at the girl beside her. "Miss Tendo, are you sure you won't consider raising the stakes a bit?" She then looked over at Ranma. "If Ryoga wins, agree to date with him, and let Son-in-Law return to China with Shampoo. That way, whether he wins or loses, Son-in-Law gets the Phoenix Pill."
Akane frowned, looking away from the Amazon Elder with a toss of her head. "Forget it. There's no way I'm going to agree to that."
"You sure about that?" Ranma snarled. "After all, Pork Butt protected you SO WELL..."
"Shut up, Ranma!" Ryoga yelled.
Cologne glanced between them, then back at Ranma, her expression serious. "What do you say, Son-in-Law? You can put an end to this standoff, and free your sister from having to be trapped by your curse. Let your fight with Ryoga determine your fate..."
"Enough!" Ryoga shot back at her. "I told you before, this isn't about Akane. I'm not going to involve her in this anymore! This is between me and Ranma, and defeating him is all that's on my mind. I don't want anything else!"
Ryoga pointed at Ranma. "Prepare yourself! Because this is your end!" With that, the Lost Boy charged.
Cologne sighed. "It was worth a try." The Amazon Elder, with Akane by her side, backed up underneath a nearby tree. A few moments later, Ukyo joined the two of them under the tree.
"Ukyo," Akane said.
There was a question in her eyes, and Ukyo nodded. "Akane."
Akane relaxed fractionally, but both girls still looked worried as they watched the fight. Ryoga charged in to attack, his finger extended. His strike was aimed at Ranma's arm, but the lanky girl just rolled inside his reach, putting up her arms to block. Ryoga drew back for a punch to the gut, but Ranma again danced around his blow, avoiding Ryoga with relative ease.
"Man, you're still slow," Ranma told him. "I woulda thought the Old Ghoul would train ya better."
"Shut up, Ranma!" Ryoga yelled back. "Let's see how you like this!" He poked at Ranma with his finger again, continuing past her as the ponytailed girl dodged aside. Ryoga's attack carried him down to the ground, where his finger struck the stony ground. There was instantly an explosion, which raised a cloud of dust around the two fighters.
Ranma leaped back, and immediately began to grab at the fragments of rock coming at her with the Chestnut Fist. She quickly gathered the rubble into a pile, holding it in her left arm. She then dropped the pieces of stone and they tumbled to the ground. Ryoga came out of the cloud of dust that had been obscuring Ranma's sight of him, but she was able to avoid his stabbing attack.
"'Bout time you started usin' that on the ground insteada me," Ranma commented. "It makes a pretty good smoke screen, too."
Ryoga used his Breaking Point attack again, carrying it past Ranma as she dodged to strike the ground, just as before. The effect was exactly the same; Ranma jumped a few feet away, and then easily caught the fragments spread by the blast with the Chestnut Fist. Each time, Ryoga was enveloped in the blast, hidden in a cloud that obscured his movements, but he still could not get close enough to make a successful attack on Ranma.
Akane and Ukyo both watched the fight, their expressions intent, but not particularly worried or confused. The fight appeared to be a stalemate, and they both seemed to realize it. Akane could tell that Cologne had noticed their reaction, but the old Amazon still seemed confident. She would only glance at them, as if expecting one of them to make a comment, but would then turn back to observe the fight with a smug smile.
Ranma had backed up against a boulder, and darted aside as Ryoga charged into it with the Breaking Point. The boulder exploded, sending shards of rock at Ranma. This time she changed her tactic, catching and flinging the rubble back instead of gathering it.
Ryoga put up his arms to shield his face from the machine-gun like assault, but continued charging forward. He aimed a Breaking Point strike at Ranma's leg this time, but she leaped out of the way, and the attack again struck the ground. Ranma deflected the rocks while still in midair, peppering Ryoga as he turned for another strike.
"You're just running away, like always!" Ryoga protested. He batted aside another volley of deflected rubble. "All this is doing is making me madder. Sooner or later, I'm going to catch you!"
"Not likely, Pig Boy," Ranma snapped back. "But you're right, I'm getting tired of this. Time to end it."
With that, she leaped in, using her slender arms to divert Ryoga's pointing finger, while she got in close to his chest. Ranma then kicked out with her leg, sending Ryoga flying through the air. He slammed into a cliff face nearby, hard enough to cause the rock to crack and crumble.
Ryoga slid down the cliff wall, coming to a stop on the ground, in a sitting position. He didn't move for a moment, his head down, his legs stretched out in front of him. Several large fragments of stone rolled down the cliffside on top of him, bouncing off of his head and body to land near his feet.
Ranma paused a moment, standing to watch for Ryoga's reaction. Ukyo and Akane, too, seemed concerned, perhaps wondering if Ryoga had been knocked out. But then, he lifted his head, and began to laugh, loudly.
"That didn't even hurt at all!" Ryoga exclaimed, apparently surprised, but pleased. He got back to his feet. "You're weak, Ranma! Weaker even than you were before! That felt like the kick of a BABY'S foot!"
From Ranma's smile, however, the lanky girl was not surprised. "Oh, you got it all wrong, Pork Butt. It's not me that's weaker. You're the one that's tougher."
Ryoga frowned, both at Ranma's insult, and in confusion, but it was Cologne who spoke. She glanced at Ukyo and Akane again. "So... you have figured out the secret of the Bakusai Tenketsu training, haven't you?"
Ranma nodded, smirking. "Yep. Sis figured it out. We already know your training made Ryoga tougher. A little thing like rocks or simple punches ain't gonna hurt him."
"Well, then, if that's the case then this really is your end!" Ryoga yelled. He charged, his index finger held out. "Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!"
"Not exactly plannin' on it, Ryoga," Ranma answered. As the Lost Boy neared, she side stepped his blow, and brought her fist up into his gut. There was a loud staccato noise, like a buzzing, and Ryoga doubled over.
But then he stood up. "I told you, I didn't even feel that! You can't hurt me, Ranma!" He charged again, and Ranma leaped away, putting more distance between them. The lanky girl looked worried, now. Akane glanced at Ukyo, but while she looked concerned, she didn't seem scared. Obviously something had just happened. Akane turned back to watch, hoping she could pick up on what Ranma did.
Ryoga charged in for another attack, and again Ranma punched at him, with that loud vibratory sound. Ryoga was thrown backwards by the impact, ruining his attack, but it didn't seem to hurt him. After the third attack, Akane finally cried out. "He's punching in the same spot over and over, using the Chestnut Fist!" It was so fast that even she had not been able to see the individual blows. It was only the sound that told her that it was not a single punch.
"Yes..." Cologne said with a grin, "but it doesn't seem to be working."
Ranma seemed to have realized this as well. She glanced at Ukyo, and her twin sister called back. "Try your legs, Ranchan! You've got more strength in your legs!"
Ryoga had heard her advice, though, and tried to block as Ranma moved in to attack him. It took several seconds for Ranma to work around Ryoga's defenses. Finally, she managed to spot an opening, and leaped into the air. Her leg became a blur as she came down on Ryoga, and struck him in the stomach. He went flying into the cliff again, and this time smashed it, as Ryoga made a crater in the rock as his body struck it. The cliff collapsed, burying the Lost Boy under a ton of rock.
"Did... did I do it?" Ranma gasped, breathing hard as she landed on her feet. There was a long silence in which there was no answer. Then, quite suddenly, the ground began to crack, and a long fissure spread out towards Ranma from the pile of rubble. Ranma leaped into the air, as the cracks opened up under her feet, and then the whole of the ground beneath them exploded.
Ryoga rose up out of the cloud, still laughing. "Now THAT one I felt, Ranma, but it didn't stop me! You're not strong enough to beat me! I'll bet even in your male body you wouldn't be strong enough to beat me!"
Ranma landed in front of Akane, putting an arm out as if to shield her from the explosion. However, the blast was far enough away that the shrapnel did not reach them. "So this is your secret attack, huh Ranma?" Akane yelled at him. She sounded irritated, but there was worry in her eyes. "You've been training for a whole week, and that's all you could come up with?"
"Hey, it was your idea, tomboy!"
This seemed to shock Akane out of her anger. "It was?"
"Yeah, don't ya remember when ya hit that tree in the same place over and over? I got the idea from that."
Akane scowled again. "Ryoga isn't a tree, Ranma! And that worked because I hit the tree in time with its swaying. You can't do that with a person!"
"Ah, what do you care, anyway? What are you all concerned about?"
"If you forget, RANMA..." She was yelling again, and emphasized his name. "Cologne tried to make me the PRIZE in this fight!"
"Well, she didn't, tomboy, so sit back and let me handle it." The ponytailed girl glanced back at her, her eyes narrowing. "Unless you WANT your 'P-chan' to win..."
"Shut up! I'm worried about you, you jerk!"
"All right, all right." Ukyo interrupted, waving a hand at Ryoga. He was smirking at the two of them, standing ready to attack, but waiting for Ranma and Akane to quit yelling at each other. "Enough of the arguing. You've got a fight to finish."
Ranma leaped away from the girls, as Ryoga charged at her again. She glanced at her sister. "It ain't workin', Sis. I'm gonna have ta use the Saotome Secret Technique."
Ukyo rolled her eyes. "Oh, Ranchan... not that."
"I ain't got no choice."
"I don't believe you." Ranma's twin folded her arms. "You can't possibly be considering using that stupid technique."
"Think of somethin', Sis," Ranma answered. With that, he charged at Ryoga. The Lost Boy drew back, obviously concerned about this 'Secret Technique', and Akane and Cologne watched closely, too. However, Ranma just darted inside Ryoga's reach, used the distraction to make sure her opponent wouldn't counter attack, and then took off running.
Everyone but Ukyo watched, open mouthed, as Ranma ran out of the clearing as fast as her long legs could carry her. She quickly disappeared into the trees of the forest surrounding them. Ryoga just stared for a moment, but then yelled out, "Running away? Is that all you ever do, Saotome!" With that, he took off running after the lanky girl in red and black.
Ukyo just put a hand to her forehead, shaking her head. Akane stared at her in astonishment. "He's got a technique for RUNNING AWAY?" she asked, obviously enraged again.
"The Saotome Secret Technique is more than just running from a fight," Ukyo muttered. Her voice held a hint of monotone, like she was quoting a lesson. "It is putting distance between yourself and an opponent in an attempt to bring equality to an overmatched hand to hand conflict. The idea is to buy time to come up with alternate strategies, and lure the opponent into continuing to follow while you try them out."
She looked up. "Stupid panda actually calls that 'thinking tactically'. But yeah, for the most part it makes sense."
Her words seemed to have mollified Akane, although she was still frowning. "So he wants you to come up with a new battle plan, is that it?"
Ukyo shook her head again. "I guess so, but I don't know what to tell him. I can't think of anything. We might as well catch up with him anyway."
She set off running through the forest, and Akane and Cologne followed. The Amazon looked like she was trying not to burst into laughter. Akane edged a little closer to her friend. "Maybe we can help Ranma. We'll lose him the Phoenix Pill, but at least we can stop this fight before anyone gets hurt."
"That might work, but I'd still rather give Ranchan time to come up with something," Ukyo countered. She didn't seem to have any concern about where she was going, and the other two women let her take the lead. "As long as he can keep Ryoga from touching him, he's not in any immediate danger. So let's just wait and see."
Ryoga just blindly charged through the forest, but he could hear the sounds of Ranma up ahead of him. The swaying of the trees and occasional scattering of birds let him know that the cursed boy turned girl was leaping from branch to branch as she made her way above his head. He eventually came to a stream, where the trees thinned out somewhat, but did not quite clear away completely. Mindful of his own curse, Ryoga paused for a moment at the bank, and then leaped over to the other side. While the stream was wide enough to be an obstacle, it was not so wide that he couldn't jump across it.
As he landed on the soft earth by the side of the stream, though, Ranma's form suddenly blurred past ahead of him. The brown haired girl leaped from tree to tree, bouncing off of the branches and trunks until she had circled around and come back. Then, with a cry of "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!", she slammed into Ryoga, her foot smashing into his chest repeatedly. Ryoga was thrown into the air, and flew backwards, right into the stream.
At the last minute, Ryoga managed to flip himself, and awkwardly catch himself by one hand, on a rock in the middle of the stream. Pushing off of it, he sailed on the rest of the distance over the stream, and landed on his feet. "Nice try, Ranma!" He called out, grinning. "You didn't hurt me, but you almost pushed me into the water. If you had turned me into a pig, you might have had a chance."
His grin widened, as Ranma landed, but then leaped off again to try and build up speed for another pass. "On the other hand, it might have been kind of neat to try and fight you in pig form. I wonder if I can use a pig's hoof to perform the Breaking Point..." Ukyo, Akane and Cologne caught up as well, as Ranma again performed her rebound technique, and slammed her leg into Ryoga. He was sent flying, and crashed down to the ground, but picked himself up, apparently still unharmed.
Ranma stood her ground, breathing hard. "That's an excellent technique, Son-in-Law," Cologne called out, "but it's a very inefficient way to attack. You're burning a lot of energy. Plus, it is hard to catch your opponent by surprise, as it takes so much time to build up."
"Shut up, Old Ghoul!" Ranma shot back. She growled as Ryoga came at her, blocking his Breaking Point with two fingers of her own. She then blocked another attack with her other hand, grabbing both of Ryoga's fingers, but he just slammed his head into hers. Ranma was forced to retreat again.
"Getting tired, Ranma?" Ryoga called out after her. "I can keep this up all day!" As Ranma tried another rebound attack, Ryoga used the Breaking Point on the ground, and Ranma was blinded by a cloud of dust. Ryoga tripped her, and Ranma only barely rolled out of the way in time, a Breaking Point strike coming right down on her leg. The explosion still sent her flying, but Ranma landed on her feet. She then stumbled, swaying, before settling back into her stance.
"Ranchan can't take much more of this," Ukyo said glumly. "He's getting tired, and it's only a matter of time until..."
"No..." Akane bit her lip, but then she began to clench her fists. "This is just like before. It's just like before!" She turned on Cologne. "You're doing it again! This is just like the Chestnut Fist, Ranma needs to beat Ryoga to get the Phoenix Pill, but he needs the Phoenix Pill to beat Ryoga! He doesn't have the strength in Ukyo's body, just like you said! He needs his OWN body!"
Cologne smiled, smugly. "All Son-in-Law has to do is agree to marry my Shampoo, and I'll give him the Phoenix Pill."
"Give me the Phoenix Pill." A sudden determination came over Akane's face. "Give me the Phoenix Pill, and I'll... I'll renounce my engagement to Ranma. I promise, on my honor, that I'll give up Ranma, and get my father to give up any engagement to join the Tendo and Saotome families."
"No, Akane!" Ranma called out. She turned to look at Akane, almost getting tagged by Ryoga in the process, but leaped away from him. "Akane, don't do it!"
Akane held her hand out, gesturing for the pill. "This is what you want, isn't it? For me to give up Ranma?" Cologne studied her, as if considering whether she was telling the truth.
"Akane, don't," Ukyo called out. "I know what you're trying to do, but don't give up yet. There's still a chance."
"I'd rather lose Ranma forever than see him die!" Akane protested.
"Don't be stupid, Akane," Ranma said. "Pig Boy ain't gonna kill me." Even so, her exhaustion could be heard in her voice. Ryoga had stopped to listen to the argument, but Ranma was still eyeing him cautiously, not daring to take her attention off of him. "Ain't you noticed that he's just aimin' at my arms and legs?"
"So you'll just be crippled instead?" Akane snapped back, although not entirely with anger. "I can't let you do that!"
Ukyo interrupted. "Cologne! Don't listen to her! This won't buy you anything. Ranchan isn't going to start suddenly loving Shampoo just because he can't have Akane. He's still not going to want to return to China with you. All this will do is make two people miserable! Don't do it!"
"Do it, Cologne!" Ryoga cut in. "That's exactly what I want." He snarled at Ranma, baring a fang. "I want to ruin Ranma's life; I want to make his life miserable, just like he made mine."
Akane turned to him. "Ryoga, no!"
"Give her the Phoenix Pill, Granny. If you don't, I'll stop pulling my punches. If you don't take Akane's offer, then I will strike to KILL. And all it will take is one hit..."
"How can you say that?" Tears began to stream down Akane's face, and her terror was plain, now. "How can you do that, when you know how I feel about him?" Her face twisted in anger, even though she continued crying. "If you kill Ranma, I will HATE you!"
"I know, Akane." Ryoga looked at her, and his expression was calm, almost noble. "I've already accepted that you will never love me. I don't deserve your love. But he... SHE... doesn't either." He pointed at Ranma, who was shaking with anger of her own. "If you take Cologne's deal, then he won't be able to hurt you anymore."
"Ranma isn't abusing me!" Akane said, almost wailing in her desperation. "Any more than he's abusing you! It's all in your head! If you could just see that his insults are his way of saying he LIKES you..."
Ryoga shook his head, "You're so nice, Akane, and so forgiving. Ranma doesn't deserve someone like you. I know you're trying to make excuses for him, but I've seen how upset you've been the last few days. Even now, he's arguing with you and making you unhappy. I know that killing him will hurt you, but the end result is the same. Either way, you'll be free of him."
"Ryoga, you don't understand..."
"You'll hurt for a while," Ryoga said, almost as if he hadn't heard her. "But eventually, you'll forget about him."
"NEVER!" Akane screamed. "I will NEVER forget Ranma!"
Ukyo had been watching the argument, her mood growing darker and darker. She had begun to grind her teeth, her battle aura starting to flicker faintly around her. The wind even seemed to pick up, tossing her hair, and making the dry leaves whirl around her legs. Finally, she turned to meet Cologne's eyes with a glare.
"Give me the Phoenix Pill now, Old Ghoul," Ukyo warned, her voice low and dangerous. "Or I won't be responsible for what happens."
Cologne turned to smirk at her, an eyebrow raised. "Oh? You have a deal as well?"
"No deal. You give it to me. NOW."
Akane turned to look at Ukyo, astonished, and Ranma looked concerned as well. But Cologne met her stare. "What exactly are you planning, Shield Sister?"
"Give me the Phoenix Pill!" Ukyo shouted. Her eyes had begun to glow. "I won't ask you again!"
Cologne stood her ground, unfazed by Ukyo's fury. Her amusement was gone, though, replaced by a calm wariness. "You aren't strong enough to take me on, Shield Sister," she commented. "And this show of anger will avail you nothing. Son-in-Law already knows what he must do to get the Phoenix Pill."
"So be it." Ukyo turned and walked towards the stream. She reached into her pocket for the cloth she had been using to bandage Ranma's hands, and began to wrap it around her own wrists. As she walked to the stream, she wrapped her hands tightly, leaving her fingers free, but still binding them across her knuckles. As she stepped into the water, her form shifted into her cursed body. She then finished tying off the wrappings, tightening them around her smaller hands.
"Ucchan..." Ranma said, concerned. "What are you doin'?"
She stood in the stream, her eyes closed. Her anger almost seemed to be a physical thing, tendrils of power seeping into the air around her, wrapping around her body like the cloth that wrapped her fists. She was shaking, now, and the blackness in her face was far worse than even when Shampoo pulled her joke. Her eyes snapped open, and she glared at Ryoga, snarling.
"You wanna fight the person who ruined your life, Ryoga? Well, you got your fight. I'm gonna show you what it means to have your life ruined..."
Ryoga looked worried, but not for himself. "Don't interfere, Ukyo. This isn't about you. This is a fight between men..."
"Bull!" Ukyo shot back. She stalked out of the stream, her fists tightly clenched. Her voice rose, in an intensity Akane had never heard before. Even in the dojo she didn't seem this angry. "I told you to leave Ranchan alone. I told you I wouldn't let you hurt him. And I told you that you did NOT want to fight me. Now you're about to find out WHY."
Ryoga backed away from her, warily, as she stopped in front of him, her arms at her side. She did not take a stance, but there was tension in every muscle of her body. "I don't fight girls," Ryoga said, his voice uncertain.
"Well that's too bad, because you're gonna fight me whether you want to or not." The glow in her eyes grew brighter. Her voice was wild, out of control. "If you won't defend yourself, then you might as well start diggin' your own grave..." She smiled, coldly. "Ryoga Hibiki, prepare to die!"
