These are the words of Hung Nguyen. I just have permission to post them and make it easier to read. Just want to give his stuff the recognition it deserves.
This is a disclaimer. Nothing more needs to be said.
Thoughts:
Chapter 7
Ryoga Vs Ranma
"Who is he, Ranma?" Shampoo asked.
Ranma's senses were already gauging the level of skill of Ryoga as he answered. "He's some guy I knew back in junior high. His name's Ryoga Hibiki."
The crowds of students were all fixated on the figure that was still crouched down in a fifteen foot crater and grinning evilly at the blind boy. On the sidelines, Nabiki and Akane listened in on their conversation. Akane was especially interested in this newcomer who had a grudge against Ranma.
"Well, Ranma. I see that you're still good at what you do best. Running away." Ryoga sneered as he got up.
"He really mad at you Ranma." Perfume said.
"Yes. He no like seeing you." Lilac added.
Ryoga's temper went up a few more levels as he asked in a low tone. "Before I beat the hell out of you Ranma, there's one thing I must know!"
"Oh? And what's that?" Ranma said in a calm tone.
"Why weren't you there for the fight?"
Ranma paused for a moment as he thought back to the events of three years ago. "Fight? What... oh wait a minute, you're not referring to THAT FIGHT, are you?"
"Damn right I am! So tell me, you coward!" Ryoga snarled as he held out his umbrella like a sword. "Why weren't you there?!"
Akane smiled a bit when she heard this. So Ranma's really a coward, is he? All right! Cowardice! This may be just what I need to get Dad to cancel that stupid engagement and-
"But Ryoga! I waited for three days for you to show up!"
Akane's hopes plummeted when she heard this.
"Oh sure you did!" Ryoga said in a sarcastic tone. "You waited for three days. But when I got there on the fourth day, you already turned tail and ran!"
"You waited for three days? He came in on the fourth day?" Shampoo eeped.
Ranma sighed as he said in a tired tone. "Ryoga, let me get me get this straight. It took you four days to get to the place where we were supposed to fight, even though it was the empty lot that was behind your house?"
The crowds began murmuring to themselves.
"Four days to get there?"
"This guy must have the world's worst sense of direction."
"Can't use a map."
"Gets lost easy."
"Shut up Ranma!" Ryoga continued. "You broke a duel of honor and then you turned and ran back to China!" Ryoga opened his umbrella. "You have no idea of the kind of suffering that I went through to get to that lot!"
Ranma slung his staff over on shoulder while bowing his head and rubbing his temple with a hand, massaging a slight headache. A gentle tap applied to the correct shiatsu point relieved him of the pain. "Ryoga, you were the one who set up the date for us to fight. We were supposed to meet on Tuesday. It's not my fault that you showed up on Saturday."
"Don't make excuses, Ranma! Because of you, I've seen hell! Now it's time to settle things for good!"
"What? You want to finish that fight?"
"I don't want to finish it! The fight's just begun! This is REVENGE!" Ryoga then hurled his umbrella at Ranma like a spinning top.
Ranma's seventh sense was already tracking the flight of the projectile as it sped toward him. Gauging the amount of ki energy infused within the umbrella, Ranma shifted to one side, avoiding its razor sharp edge as it whizzed past him. The students gaped in awe as the umbrella sliced through a nearby tree branch before returning to its owner.
"For all you've done to me Ranma, I'm going to destroy your happiness!" Ryoga screamed as he closed the umbrella and charged at his hated foe.
Motioning for Shampoo and the others to get back, Ranma held out his staff and took a ready position. Unlike Kuno, the lost boy's skill and power levels were far greater, which warranted more caution. Dodging the first few umbrella strikes, Ranma thrust forward and jabbed his weapon into Ryoga's chest, driving him back a few steps. It was then that his sixth sense screamed out in alarm as something charged at him from behind.
"Ranma Saotome! I fight on!"
Kuno had recovered from his earlier bout with the blind martial artist and was now charging Ranma from behind. The unseeing martial artist's seventh sense already projected an image of the kendoist as he raised his bokken high to strike.
Damn! I don't have time for this! One idiot after me is enough! Better finish this quick!
Ranma ducked and leaned over to the side. The wooden blade missed his head by a fraction. Ryoga however, was not as fortunate as he was in the path of the extended weapon and was struck in the head. Kuno was surprised that his perfect technique had missed while Ryoga was momentarily stunned by the hit. This was all the distraction Ranma needed as he drove one end of his staff into Ryoga's gut and directed the other end toward Kuno. He then focused his ki into his weapon.
"Full extension!"
Vreet!
Both Kuno and Ryoga were driven back as the ends of Ranma's pole suddenly elongated and plowed into their solar plexuses with the force of a speeding car. The two antagonists were suddenly flying backward at extreme velocities as the butt ends pushed them clear off their feet and kept on going.
"WHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT IIIIIIIISSSSS TTTTTTTTHHHHHHHIIIIISSSSSSS?!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The students who were standing on either side of the fight scene had to get out of the way as both of Ranma's opponents were sent speeding backwards. Kuno was slammed into and through the front gate with a tremendous crash equivalent to a rhino's charge. The insane kendoist ended up in a pile of rubble with only his legs sticking out of the heap of concrete and twisted metal. Ryoga plowed through the front doors of the school as the other end of Ranma's staff drove him into the building. His form disappeared in a cloud of dust and flying pieces of wood, metal, and other chunks of debris. To the amazement of all the spectators, Ranma's battle staff had extended to its full length, an incredible 250 feet! Each opponent had been driven back 125 feet in two seconds!
"Reduce."
Instantly, the weapon decreased in length and was back at its usual size of five feet. Ranma took a neutral stance and waited. The crowds were still in awe and among them, Akane couldn't help but be impressed. Although she still resented him for her defeat, she began wondering where she could get a weapon like that.
Ranma listened in with his enhanced hearing and probed with his sixth and seventh senses for his two opponents. He determined from the voices in the crowd that Kuno had been rendered unconscious.
As for Ryoga...
"Ranma! Where are you?! Come out and fight!" These shouts were soon drowned out by the sounds of something crashing through walls and breaking furniture.
The blind fighter sighed as he used his hearing to gauge the direction of the disturbances. It was heading away from him. Ranma shook his head as he put away his staff.
"What happening over there?" Lilac asked as she and her sister Amazons walked up to him. They watched in amazement as Ryoga tore up the school looking for Ranma. Eventually, the sounds died out as Ryoga came out of the school on the other side and went charging off over the horizon.
Ranma shook his head. "That moron can't take more than a dozen steps without getting hopelessly lost. I'd give him a week before we see him again."
The rest of the school day went by without any significant event. Akane had planned to challenge Ranma that day but after seeing him take out both Kuno and Ryoga with hardly any effort, she had decided that she needed to train more. Not that she would admit it, but Ranma's display did tell her that defeating him would be not be as simple as she thought it would be. Of course, she wouldn't admit that she was intimidated, nope, not her.
Kuno on the other hand, had a flat line for a learning curve as he tried to attack Ranma and free Akane from her unholy engagement to the vile miscreant, not to mention save his beauteous Amazon flowers. The insane kendoist spent more time in the nurse's office than in his classes.
When Ranma and the girls returned to Pepper's Place, Cologne informed the Unseen Light fighter that he had received a letter of challenge from Ryoga.
"What it say?" Lilac asked.
Ranma ran his fingers over the ink as he read the letter. "Ranma Saotome, I challenge you to a fight at the soccer field at Furinkan High on Thursday afternoon. Be ready or else."
"Aiya. Thursday is tomorrow." Perfume commented.
"Don't worry about it." Ranma shrugged as he crumpled up the letter and tossed it into a nearby trash pail. "That guy is absolutely clueless when it comes to maps and directions. I'd give him five days at least. Knowing him, he's probably in Kyoto by now." He then headed up the stairs to his room.
Sure enough, in Kyoto...
"No you moron! Tokyo is THAT WAY!"
Ryoga nodded as he headed off in the direction opposite to where the merchant had indicated. Ranma! I swear that you'll pay for all my suffering! You were just lucky that last time! I didn't get a chance to go full out against you! Mark my words, when we meet again, you'll be begging for mercy! Now which way did he say was Tokyo?
That evening, as the Amazons prepared to go to sleep, two shadowy figures moved closer to the back entrance of the building. Genma and Soun were both wearing dark clothes and had handkerchiefs tied over the heads. As they waited for the lights to go out, they began reviewing their plan to snatch Ranma and bring him to the dojo. After the last light went out, they quietly leapt to the top of the nearby roof and then made their way toward a window at the rear of Pepper's building, on the second floor. After much effort, they managed to pry the window open and slip inside. Well, Soun slipped inside. Genma got stuck halfway. Unfortunately, Soun had only managed to open the window halfway and it wouldn't go any further to accommodate Genma's wider bulk. Soun muttered something in frustration as he grabbed both of Genma's outstretched arms, and braced one foot up against the wall. He heaved with all his might as he tried to pull his fat friend through the tight opening. With a final grunt, Soun finally managed to yank Genma into the building. The father of Ranma Saotome made a loud splat when his body hit the floor.
"SHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Both men quickly stood up and held a finger up to their lips. They cautiously looked around for any sign that their entrance had been detected.
"Do you think they heard that, Tendo?" Genma whispered.
The two waited for a long while, before deciding that everyone was still asleep. The two tiptoed their way toward the bedrooms where Shampoo, Lilac, Perfume, and Ranma slept. Soun smiled with anticipation as he saw that the room at the other end of the hall bore Ranma's name on the door. Motioning to his friend, they quietly made their way and slipped inside. The two men almost cried out in joy as they saw a mass on the bed, seemingly asleep. Soun crept up to the bed and withdrew a small cloth that had been dipped in chloroform.
"Forgive me son, but this for the good of the schools! You'll thank me for this later!" Soun's eyes were filled with tears as he prepared to strike.
Genma watched with glee as Soun was about to apply the rag to his son's mouth. It was then that he noticed a small, leather-bound book on a nearby drawer. Noting that it was written in an ancient dialect, the dim light bulb in his head clicked on. Hey! That's looks like a training manual! After fighting the Amazons for eight years, Genma knew that the warrior women were in possession of some powerful techniques. The thought of having such potent martial arts moves was all the incentive Genma needed to pocket the book into the front of his gi without bothering to look at its contents. Of course, this was the same line of thinking that Genma had when he came across the training manual of the Neko Ken.
In one fell swoop; Soun's hand came down over the top of the curled bundle. That was when all hell broke loose.
The lights suddenly went on and the two whirled around. Soun blanched as he found himself face-to-face with Pepper again. The owner of the building was none too pleased with seeing him or his friend. Both men became even more horrified as they also noted that she wasn't alone. Cologne, Ranma, and the three Amazon girls were also present and they were brandishing their weapons while taking battle stances.
"Tendo?" Genma looked at his friend with apprehension.
Soun could only gulp, as he turned back toward the bed and threw the covers and blankets to the side. His face registered shock as he stared at the two pillows that had been under the blankets.
"Uh oh."
From outside of the establishment, one could hear a tremendous roar as war cries in Chinese were shouted out, followed by the screams of terror and pain of two would-be kidnappers. There were several crashes as furniture was tossed about.
"Genma! I kill!"
"Die stupid panda man!"
"You no want get womans of Amazons mad!"
Then a familiar shout was heard.
"SOY SAUCE SENDOFF!"
Both Soun and Genma were flung out of a window as a huge torrent of soy sauce basted them out of the building. They tumbled to the street and landed face-first on the pavement, along with several chairs and a table. The two bruised and battered disciples of Happosai quickly picked themselves up and fled the scene, tripping over themselves several times.
Inside the restaurant, Ranma went about helping the others to clean up the mess. His sixth sense had already alerted him of his father's approach and his seventh sense had located him and his friend when they came onto the roof. Their footsteps were too quiet for any normal person to hear, but Ranma's enhanced sense of hearing picked them up easily. It was a simple matter to alert the others of their unwanted visitors and prepare for them. Unfortunately, due to the excitement of the event and the need to clean up the place for business the next day, Ranma and the others had totally missed the fact that something important was gone. It was Ranma's copy of the book of tribal law.
Both Soun and Genma were totally exhausted when they reached the dojo. When Genma bent over to catch his breath, the book dropped out and landed on the ground with a splat.
"Saotome. What's this?" Soun asked as he reached over and picked up the book.
"Huh?" Genma stood up and looked at what his friend had in his hands. He replied in a slightly embarrassed tone. "Errrrrr I guess..." Hoping to change the subject, Genma asked, "What does it say?"
Soun gave him an irritated look. He knew that Genma was prone to pilfering, an aftereffect to their training with Happosai. He opened the book and started to read. A moment later, his eyes opened wide in surprise and then narrowed as he tossed the book away.
"What did it say, Tendo?"
"You know perfectly well that we both can't read a word of Chinese."
"Let me see that." Genma retrieved the book and opened it up. Sure enough, the text was in Chinese. That is whatever pages weren't completely soaked with sauce. It was then that Genma recognized a few sentences in Japanese. As soon as he read it, he began jumping for joy.
"What is it, Saotome?"
"Tendo! This is it! The pledge will be fulfilled! It's a good thing that you did choose Akane to marry my son!"
"Huh?"
"Read this!"
Tendo took the book and read where Genma indicated. "Amazon Law number forty-four. In the event that a male member of the tribe is defeated by a female outsider..."
The streets were soon echoing with the sounds of two middle-aged men jumping and shouting for joy.
As expected, Ranma did come to the soccer field on Thursday and Ryoga was nowhere to be seen. The blind boy had expected as much, but he had come to the appointed time for honor's sake. When it was clear to all that Ryoga was not going to show up, Ranma and the others headed for home. He had several days to train before Ryoga would appear and he wanted to be ready. His senses had detected certain ki abilities in the Hibiki boy. On that note, Koga's student began an intense regimen of training behind Pepper's establishment each day after school. He didn't consider Kuno's constant attacks as good practice since it was too easy to beat that idiot.
At the Tendo dojo, another person was hard at work trying to improve her skills. Akane had been breaking several stacks of bricks and smashing training posts in an attempt to gain a level of skill equal to Ranma's. Her humiliating defeat, plus the fact that her father and Genma were constantly pushing for her to marry him only fueled her desire to beat the Unseen Light martial artist. In fact, they saw her determination to beat Ranma as some misguided path to win Ranma's love. To them they thought that it was just her way of expressing her affection. After all, if she could beat Ranma, then it would be easier to bring him to the dojo, right? Of course, they did not tell her about that certain law they had learned from Ranma's book.
"That's it, Akane! Go get your fiance!"
"They're the perfect couple!" Genma added.
"Saotome! Let's get the wedding preparations ready when my little girl brings home her groom!"
"I AM NOT MARRYING THAT JERK! I'M JUST GOING TO BEAT HIM INTO A PULP!"
Soun and Genma were of course oblivious to her words as they were caught up in their daydreams of the two of them marrying and taking over the dojo. That meant that they could start on their luxurious retirement early. They had planned to tell Akane about the law of the Amazons after she had defeated Ranma as a form of wedding gift.
It was a warm Thursday afternoon the following week as Ryoga finally made it to the soccer field at Furinkan High. The crowds gathered there were huge and just about the entire student population had showed up to witness the fight. Girls were cheering on Ranma as he and the Amazons appeared on the field. On the sidelines, Nabiki and her cronies were collecting wagers as the students placed their bets on the outcome.
"Step right up! It's the fight you've all been waiting for! Ranma or Ryoga! Win a bundle!"
Ryoga snarled and waited in anticipation as his archenemy appeared. His chance for vengeance would not be denied. Soon, the cause of his suffering would know pain and sorrow as he beat him to a bloody mess.
Akane sat with her friends on the sidelines as she watched Ranma and his entourage approach the center of the field. She had gotten to the place early as she had no intention of missing this fight. This was an opportunity to truly see what Ranma was capable of. His fights with Kuno were jokes and her fight with him didn't count. She would observe him and analyze his fighting style. If there were techniques that she didn't know of, she would learn them. Then, when she challenged him again, she would crush him. Akane smiled as she saw an image of herself standing over Ranma's battered form, with him begging for mercy. It wouldn't be an easy victory, but that would make it even more satisfying.
"We're going to settle things once and for all, Ranma!" Ryoga declared as Ranma came up and stopped a dozen feet from where he was standing.
"Whatever Ryoga." Ranma said nonchalantly as he turned his head to Cologne. "Honored elder. As this is a duel of honor, do you bear witness to my accepting his challenge?" He bowed his head to her in a gesture of respect.
"I do." Cologne said solemnly. Business was slow at Pepper's Place so the Amazons had opted to witness Ranma's battle against Ryoga. As this was a duel of honor with a tribe member, Cologne made it a point to be present. She was pleased that Ranma was well versed in their traditions. "Bring victory and honor to our tribe." The matriarch motioned for the girls to follow and soon they were seated on the sidelines.
Ranma then turned to Ryoga as he sneered at him. "Hiding behind those girls won't save you Ranma! You were only lucky the last time when you escaped me."
"I didn't run away, Ryoga. You got lost!" Ranma slid into a ready stance.
"Shut up!" Ryoga raged as he brought up his umbrella and also took up a stance.
As the two faced off, Nabiki was busy talking to her lieutenants.
"Okay, the take is two hundred and twenty-five thousand yen." One of the girls said as she totaled up the bets n a small calculator. "Looks like they've all placed their bets on Ranma."
"Nabiki, are you sure about this?" Another flunky asked. "If Ranma wins, he'll bankrupt us!"
"Trust me girls, I'm a professional." Nabiki assured them.
"Fight!" Ryoga screamed as he charged at Ranma with his umbrella.
Ranma's seventh sense gave him a mental image of his opponent as he jabbed at his face with his weapon. A slight shift to one side, and the point of the instrument missed his head with millimeters to spare. His sixth sense began assessing his opponent as Ryoga made a series of strikes with the umbrella.
Hmmm. Pretty high in terms of strength and endurance. Better defense than Akane or Kuno's but not by much. Fighting style is focusing mainly on delivering power blows.
Ranma deftly dodged each of Ryoga's attacks, then retaliated by delivering several kicks to Ryoga's midsection. Each kick hit with sound impact, but the lost boy only grunted a bit and stepped back a little.
"Hah! I hardly felt those, Ranma!" The Hibiki boy leapt back and threw his umbrella.
On the sidelines, Shampoo said, "Ranma is not going full out."
Cologne nodded. "Ranma is just testing out his opponent's skills. He usually does that with every new person that he meets. He'll be getting more serious soon enough."
The razor-edged umbrella made a beeline straight toward Ranma's head, but his since it was a ki technique, Ranma instantly analyzed the technique. With a blurring motion with his right arm, he caught the umbrella by its handle and in one smooth motion, he hurled it back at its owner. Ryoga was a bit shocked to see his own weapon hurtling back at him. Leaping off to one side, he avoided being cut by the bamboo projectile and charged in at Ranma.
The umbrella went on and eventually tumbled to a stop near Akane. Two boys who were close by went to inspect the thing as the youngest Tendo sister listened in on their conversation.
"Hey, check out this umbrella."
The other boy grasped its handle and tried to pick it up. After a bit of an effort, he then tried to lift it with both hands. He still couldn't budge it.
"What the heck is this thing made of? It weighs a ton!"
Akane was surprised to hear this as she went over to where the boys were and tried to lift it herself. Even with both hands, she could only slightly move it.
Wow! This thing's heavy! Wait a second! Akane looked back at where Ranma and Ryoga were exchanging blows. That Ryoga guy carries this around one-handed? She then remembered how casually Ranma tossed it back. No way! Ranma can't be THAT strong!
While Akane was still denying the possibility that Ranma was better than she was, Ryoga was getting frustrated. Not one of his blows had landed, as Ranma seemed to literally dance around them. It was almost as if Ranma knew when and where he would throw a punch and kick. The hits that Ranma were landing were also indicators that he had underestimated his foe's abilities. They were starting to hurt and it was beginning to dawn on him that Ranma had been holding back a little.
If Ryoga only knew that Ranma was actually holding back A LOT, then he would have been more intimidated. Living with the Amazons for eight years had not only given the blind boy extraordinary speed and agility, but it had also greatly increased his strength and endurance. It also helped when one of Ranma's frequent sparring partners had been the giantess Dowel. When facing off against a seven foot Amazon that was capable of snapping a man in half like a toothpick, a person HAD to get stronger. The force of her hammerlike blows had toughened Ranma's body with the same effectiveness as the Bakusai Tenketsu training. This was one of the reasons why Ranma usually used pressure points, since his punches and kicks could hit with the impact of a speeding truck. Right now however, with all the troubles in his life, Ranma was in the mood to let off a little tension and pressure points weren't as satisfying as punches and kicks.
Ryoga took a few dozen more blows to the chest and midsection before backing off. Ranma's punches and kicks were steadily hitting with more power and the Hibiki boy had yet to score a good hit. Taking a few more steps back, he grabbed the bandanna off his forehead. This revealed another bandanna tied to his head. The lost boy twirled the piece of cloth in his hand, then launched it at his opponent.
Ranma's sixth sense went off like a fire alarm in his head as his seventh sense tracked the flight of the thrown piece of cloth. Gauging the way the ki in the bandanna was focused, the Unseen Light martial artist immediately assessed that letting it hit him was not a good idea. Ducking out of the way, his seventh sense followed the projectile's flight path as it sped toward the crowds behind him. The mass of spectators also ducked for cover as the cloth whizzed over them and sliced through the chainlink fence behind them. There were several gasps of amazement after witnessing such a feat.
"Hey! Watch where you're throwing those things Ryoga! You could hurt someone by accident!"
Royga paid no heed as he fired off several more of the makeshift shurikens. Ranma's senses read his anger and realized that it was making him reckless in his obsession to beat him. His seventh sense was now gauging a dozen of the ki energized projectiles hurtling toward him. Knowing that evading them would endanger the crowds behind him, he instantly made his battle staff appear and elongated it. Carefully focusing his ki into the pole, he began twirling it like a propeller. On the other side, Ryoga snorted. His Iron Cloth technique would slice through Ranma's weapon and him like a hot knife through butter. His opinion changed however as his bandannas suddenly disappeared when they made contact with the spinning staff. A moment later, Ranma stopped twirling his weapon and held it out parallel to the ground.
The eyes of the crowds and Ryoga widened as they saw that each bandanna was neatly draped over the ends of the staff. Ranma smiled. It had been a simple matter to gauge the ki energies of each piece of cloth, then use his ki in the staff to counter them. Once the bandannas made contact with his ki-energized weapon, they became ordinary pieces of cloth again as the two ki energies canceled each other out.
The blind boy began spinning his staff again and then with a twisting motion, he sent Ryoga's bandannas flying right back at him. The lost boy screamed as he was suddenly made the target of his own technique. He barely managed to evade the bandannas as they nicked his pants and cut a couple of holes in the sides of his shirt. Ranma smirked as he sensed the lost boy's shock and tracked the flight path of the cloth missiles. As he had intended, he threw the bandannas back with only enough energy to put Ryoga back on the defensive. The bandannas soon lost their momentum and became harmless again as they landed far short of the crowds.
"Grrr! Ranma, you're going to pay for that!" He couldn't believe that Ranma could catch on to one of the Hibiki family secrets so quickly.
Ranma stood in a ready stance and waited for his opponent's next move. Ryoga began charging at him and threw a series of punches that would have made holes in concrete walls. Each blow was countered with the staff or dodged as Ranma's sixth sense gave him a split-second warning each time Ryoga threw a punch. It seemed that the lost boy would never be able to score a hit, but then Ryoga grinned as he suddenly leapt back and held up an arm. The crowds were surprised to see a handcuff latched onto Ryoga's wrist. The bracelet was attached to a thin, five-foot line and Ranma then noticed that his right wrist also had a handcuff on it.
"What's the big idea, Ryoga?" Ranma asked in an even tone. "What's this for?" Ranma had sensed Ryoga putting the cuff on him, but he had been too busy dodging.
"Just making sure that you don't run away." Ryoga sneered as he charged at his foe.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I didn't run away! You got lost!" Ranma ducked under a haymaker then delivered a sidekick to Ryoga's gut, driving him back again. However, he was yanked a bit forward as the line pulled taut. Ryoga took advantage of Ranma being momentarily off balance and charged at him again. Ranma was about a fraction of a second too slow as he tried to step away. Ryoga's kick impacted with Ranma's chin, causing his body to snap up. Ranma also lost his grip on his staff as he fell backward.
Ranma curled his body into a tuck and roll to absorb the impact, then vaulted back to his feet, just as Ryoga tried to stomp on him. Ranma bent down and then drove his head up and into Ryoga's chin. The lost boy was driven to the ground on his back. This time however, Ranma remembered the line and braced himself as Ryoga's body hit the soil. Then Ranma displayed his full Amazonian strength as he jerked at the line with that single hand and had Ryoga's body in the air. With a smooth motion, Ranma slammed his opponent to the ground, making a fair-sized depression in the field. Ranma jerked the line again and repeated the process. Again and again, Ryoga was slammed to the ground and the lost boy soon realized that attaching himself to Ranma had not been a good idea. The crowds winced with each time Hibiki's body made contact with the ground. Finally, the blind boy decided to end it by spinning Ryoga's body around by the line. After a few dozen rotations, Ranma cut his ties with Ryoga. Since he didn't have the keys to the cuffs, he improvised. Using his seventh sense, he located the locking mechanism to his handcuff. With his free hand, he used his index finger and applied a concentrated amount of ki into the hole. There was a snapping sound as the latch broke apart, thereby freeing his wrist.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Ryoga went flying and landed on his back some twenty feet away. Ranma took this opportunity to calm down and retrieve his staff. Once his center of focus was achieved, he took a defensive stance and waited.
Ryoga groggily got to his feet and was fuming with rage. He wobbled a little as was still a bit dizzy from all that spinning around, but he soon came out of it. He angrily took out the key to his handcuff and unlocked it. Throwing it away, he got into an aggressive stance and screamed out. "That does it Ranma! No more games! This ends now!" His body suddenly flared up as a bright green aura surrounded him. The crowds were more than intrigued by this new development.
"Whoa! What's that?"
"Check it out! It's like those special effects on TV!"
"What is that?"
On the sidelines, Akane's eyes widened. She had heard her father mention this several times before. This was Ryoga's battle aura. It was a visual expression of his ki. Soun had said that ki could make a person stronger, faster, and grant amazing recovery abilities. It was also said that one could strike at a person with just his or her ki alone. Her father had admitted that he had not yet mastered this skill other than that Demon Head technique of his and that was only a scare tactic. Akane had dreamed of being able to achieve this kind of skill level, but so far she had only been able to generate a faint aura, and that was when she got really mad. Ryoga must be extremely gifted in the martial arts if he was able to generate this much ki. If Ryoga was able to do this, then maybe she could learn it. It was then that she saw noticed something else. The rest of the crowd saw it as well.
"Hey! Look at Saotome!"
Akane's eyes, along with everyone else's, became even wider as they saw Ranma begin to glow with an incredibly bright blue aura.
No! It can't be! Ranma can't be THAT good! Akane's hopes in defeating Ranma began to plummet even further.
On the field, Ranma was focusing all his senses and readying himself for the final conflict. The ki buildup he sensed in Ryoga was enormous and he also detected something else as well.
That's weird. Why is Ryoga suddenly getting so depressed?
Ryoga was smirking as he saw Ranma's expression of confusion. I've got him now! All of his fancy tricks won't be able to save him from this! "Take this Ranma! SHI SHI HOKODAN!"
Ryoga suddenly threw his arms forward with cupped palms. A huge blast of green energy suddenly exploded forth from his hands and raced toward Ranma. Ranma's sixth sense was on overload as he barely managed to duck under the attack. The ki blast shot past him and slammed into a chainlink fence and exploded.
"Wow! Did you see that!"
"What the heck was that?"
"That was soooo cool!"
Akane's jaw dropped when she saw it.
Ranma got up and faced off against Ryoga, who happened to be smiling evilly at him. His brow furrowed as he began using his senses to analyze what had just happened.
"Surprised, Ranma?" Ryoga taunted. "It's my most powerful technique! Something I learned during my quest for vengeance!"
"You mean, something that you came across while you were lost." Ranma amended.
Ryoga raged at the comment. "SHI SHI HOKODAN!" Ranma's sixth sense gave out another warning and Ranma twisted out of the path of the attack. The blast exploded on the ground behind him a dozen meters away. "You can't dodge forever! SHI SHI HOKODAN!"
"I don't have to." Ranma said calmly as the next blast was avoided. Ranma's senses had picked up that Ryoga was using his own feelings of depression as a medium to project his ki. He remembered his sensei Koga telling him about how some masters used their own emotions to project their ki. Cologne and the other elders had also displayed such skills to him. During his time in the village, Koga had taught Ranma certain countermeasures against such techniques, should he ever come across them. This was one of those times.
Ryoga was taking delight that he had his foe on the defensive and launched an especially large ki blast at him. He was certain that Ranma could not possibly avoid this one.
"SHI SHI HOKODAN!"
The crowd gasped as they saw the blind martial artist make no move to dodge the huge blast of energy that was hurtling at him. Many of them shut their eyes, as the blast was about to hit. Akane was one of the few who wanted to see what happened.
Just as the blast was about to impact, Ranma's battle aura suddenly flared as he slashed forth with his staff. The end of the pole made a vertical arc that sliced into the attack. The huge fireball of ki exploded in half and each piece formed a smaller fireball that harmlessly whooshed past Ranma on either side. They both dissipated into nothing and Ranma stood in a ready stance..
The crowds couldn't believe what had just happened and Ryoga was dumbfounded. Akane's jaw dropped to the ground.
"Huh? No way!" Ryoga screamed in denial.
"Unseen Light Martial Arts special technique. The Ki Cutter." Ranma said calmly.
As soon as Nabiki saw the technique, she got to thinking. Hmmmm. There he goes again with that Unseen Light stuff. Just what does that mean?
On the sidelines, Cologne nodded. "Very impressive."
"How did Ranma do that?" Shampoo asked.
"Somehow, Koga had taught Ranma how to use a small amount of his own ki to effectively counter a large amount of opposing ki. I can see the practical uses of such a technique."
"What do you mean?"
"Keep watching." Cologne indicated with a finger.
"SHI SHI HOKODAN!"
Another blast was sent rocketing at the blind boy, and this too was cut in half.
"SHI SHI HOKODAN! SHI SHI HOKODAN! SHI SHI HOKODAN!"
Ranma calmly focused his ki into his staff and sliced each of Ryoga's attacks into smaller bits of ki.
On the sidelines, Cologne explained to her great-granddaughter. "You see, child. Ranma is focusing a small, but concentrated amount of ki into his staff. Unlike a normal martial artist, who would use an equal amount of ki to counter each of Ryoga's blasts, Ranma's technique is specifically slicing the attacks by canceling out a small line in each of Ryoga's ki attacks. The remaining energies are rendered useless as Ranma cuts a path through them. Ryoga is wasting large amounts of his own ki as Ranma is conserving his. Our fellow Amazon will outlast his opponent. You can see that Ryoga is already weakening."
Shampoo nodded as she saw that Ryoga was starting to feel the effects of firing off continuous ki attacks.
Ryoga gasped as he fired off another blast, which was cut in half almost causally by Ranma. He couldn't understand it! Ranma was mocking his best moves. This was the last straw. It was time to pull out all the stops!
Ranma paused as his sixth sense got wind of Ryoga powering up his remaining stores of ki. Something big was about to happen. Ranma began powering up his own aura and began reaching out with his senses. It was time to show Ryoga just what he could really do.
"You may be able to handle to normal Shi Shi Hokodan, but let's see you beat this!"
Ryoga took a stance with his legs planted firmly on the ground and his arms held at the sides with elbows bent. His hands clenched into fists as he reached into his innermost feelings of depression. His aura flared up like a miniature nova as he let loose with the biggest blast of ki he could muster.
"ULTIMATE SHI SHI HOKODAN!"
A globe of ki the size of a large house exploded upward to about a hundred feet, then descended down toward where Ranma was. There was no place for Ranma to evade it. It was far too large for Ranma to cut. Everyone thought that this was the end. In less than three seconds, it would all be over.
Ranma however, did not move. In fact, after cutting the last attack, he had took a stance with his staff held out above him, parallel to the ground and focused his innermost energies. His senses reached out for all the available spiritual energies that were available in such a short time. Tiny pinpricks of white light suddenly appeared and were absorbed into his body. His form glowed with a white aura. Just as the green ball was about to impact. Ranma thrust his staff upward and spun it above him.
"SPIRIT SPIN!"
The staff spun about with tremendous speed as the depression ki came crashing down. The huge ball of green energy tried to push its way down as Ranma's legs began to buckle under the strain. However, the blind martial artist held his ground as he spun his staff even faster. The depression energy flared once then exploded into smaller fragments as the staff chopped it to pieces. Smaller fireballs went off in all directions away from its center and the crowds had to duck for cover to avoid being hit. Then there was a bright flash of light as the remainder of Ryoga's attack exploded.
When the light died down, Ryoga was in a state of total disbelief. Ranma had defeated his most potent attack and only seemed a little winded. The Unseen Light Martial artist calmly put away his staff and took a new stance. He was pulling his hands back and they were cupped. Between his hands, a small blue orb began to form. Akane thought that after seeing that last technique, nothing Ranma could do would surprise her. She was proven wrong as she saw Ranma powering up.
Ranma smiled as he sensed his opponent's shock. He was a little bit unsteady after stopping Ryoga's ki attack but he was far from finished. He had only absorbed enough energy to counter Ryoga's attack and he still had one technique to use against the lost boy. When he focused enough of his ki, he reached out with his senses and located Ryoga's spiritual signature with his sixth and seventh senses.
Locked and loaded.
"Well Ryoga, I took what you had to offer. Now let's find out if you can handle one of mine!" The blue orb grew to the size of a basketball and small swirls of white mists formed around it. He then thrust out his hands and launched the attack. "SPIRIT SEEKER!"
The blue ball of light shot out and elongated until one end tapered off into a tail. The ki attack resembled a miniature comet, making a high-pitched whine as it sped toward his foe. Ryoga's adrenaline kicked in as he dove to dodge the projectile. For a moment, he breathed out a sigh of relief as the comet screamed past him, but then he heard a change in its pitch. Looking behind him, his eyes widened in shock as the comet made a U-turn and came right back at him.
"YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Ryoga rolled to the side as the comet narrowly missed him, but to his horror, the ki bolt simply pulled up and rocketed skyward. It then made an extreme reversal and streaked down at him like a blazing meteor.
"SHI SHI HOKODAN!" Ryoga didn't know where he got the energy to fire off the ki blast, but with a relentless missile after him, he suddenly found a desperate strength. The ki blast he launched while on his back was nowhere near as strong as his earlier ones, but the lost boy hoped that it would be enough to stop Ranma's attack, or at least diminish it.
Then, to everyone's amazement, and to Ryoga's horror, Ranma's ki attack did the unthinkable. It made a spiraling maneuver like a fighter plane taking evasive action and dodged Ryoga's ki blast. The depression ki shot up harmlessly where it eventually dissipated. The Hibiki boy let off a terrified scream as the comet put on a final burst of speed and blasted into him. There was a huge detonation as the ki bolt exploded. A gigantic, smoking crater was formed as the explosion sent dirt and other debris flying. The crowd went silent for a long while and not a sound was heard. Then, when the smoke cleared, the crowds leaned forward to look.
There was Ryoga, flat on back and obviously unconscious. His clothes were singed and torn in many places. His hair was a frazzled mess and his eyes were glazed. It was plain to all that the fight was over.
There was a large cheer among the crowds as they applauded Ranma's victory. The blind boy in question breathed out a sigh of relief as the Amazons hurried over to congratulate him. Mentally guiding his ki attack to dodge Ryoga's counterblast had been a little draining. The Spirit Seeker was one of Ranma's own creations. Since he could not aim a ki blast with his eyes, he instead used his senses to lock onto his opponent's spiritual essence, since no two people were alike. Then he simply impressed that information into his attack and let it go off on its own. The Sprit Seeker was like a smart missile and would not stop until it hit its target or was destroyed. A couple of other assets to this technique was that Ranma still could control it while it was in flight and that it would only attack the person it was locked onto. The blind boy didn't have to worry about innocent bystanders getting hurt.
Akane was speechless as she watched the Amazons. She just couldn't believe the display of power and skill Ranma had demonstrated. Nabiki however, was on her back and unconscious. After seeing Ranma win over Ryoga, the middle Tendo sister had fainted dead away, realizing the huge sum that she would lose paying off the bets. Her flunkies however, were not as fortunate as they were besieged by a mob of students that were demanding that they pay off their winnings. On the field, Ryoga remained sprawled on the ground as the ancient Amazon congratulated Ranma.
"Well done Ranma. You do our tribe proud."
"Thank you elder Cologne." Ranma replied.
A while later, when the sun was just setting, Ranma was happily walking along the streets, his delivery completed. Pepper had given him an address that wasn't far from the restaurant and sent him to deliver the takeout order. After the food was brought to the address and the money was received, Ranma headed back to the restaurant. As he made his way, he kept his senses peeled for any sign of Genma and his friend, should they try to kidnap him again. When he sensed a ki signature that was similar to Soun's, he went into a ready stance. It was then that he noted that it wasn't Soun Tendo, but rather someone who was related to him. As he reached out with his senses, he felt an aura that was as pleasing to him as Jasmine's. He detected a high level of serenity and calm, emphasized by a kindness not unlike his adopted mother's. It made him feel warm and fuzzy inside and he decided to investigate.
Kasumi Tendo had decided to have a warm cup of tea at a small coffee shop, before heading back to the dojo with the groceries. The establishment was packed and she had the only empty booth left. As she heard the front door open, she turned her gaze toward the front and saw a young man in his late teens or so, enter the establishment. Her heart rate began to increase slightly as she took in his appearance. This person may look younger than herself, but this was no mere boy. He was tall and well formed. She blushed slightly as she saw the rippling muscles of his arms and chest. The red Chinese shirt he was wearing did little to hide the lean, firmly toned torso. His hair was a luxuriant black and was tied up in a loose ponytail that went to his midback. The rest of him was just as pleasing to her eyes as well as to the eyes of all the other girls who had caught sight of him. He also seemed to radiate warmth and a maturity that seemed to go beyond his years. However, it was the eyes that captivated her the most. They were the most striking shade of blue that she had ever seen. However, it puzzled her that his eyes didn't seem to move or react to the bright neon sign as he passed by it. He didn't even blink as he got a full glare of the bright light.
Ranma quickly located the source of the aura and began walking toward it. He noted that she was female and gauged her age to be around nineteen or twenty. His seventh sense picked up the bags of groceries beside her and that she was sitting alone in a booth. He began probing even deeper into her aura and detected a few more things that his initial scan had missed. He sensed a self-imposed barrier over her innermost emotions. He determined by her aura that she had experienced a traumatic event in her life that had caused her to erect that barrier. Ranma also picked up a feeling of tiredness, and guessed that a tremendous burden is put on this person daily. He detected an enormous sense of responsibility as well as a sense of duty. He could feel extreme honor and loyalty within this person. She was a gentle and caring soul.
She'd make a good healer. Ranma was a bit surprised to find these characteristics in someone that was related to Akane and Soun but the similarities were present. There were also minute pieces of their auras mixed in with hers, indicating that she was regularly in contact with them. Ranma then chided himself for thinking that she was like Akane and Soun. Just because Akane was a violent maniac and her father was an obsessive idiot, didn't mean that the entire family was the same. This one was different and although he would never fulfill the pledge, Ranma decided that he wanted to at least get to know the other members of the Tendo clan.
"Excuse me, but is this seat taken?"
Kasumi was a bit shaken that this handsome boy was talking to her but she quickly regained her composure. "Oh no! You may sit here if you wish."
"Thank you." Ranma sat down and said. "It's so crowded in here. I'm glad that there was a seat left."
"That's all right."
Ranma paused to use his sense of smell. A slight sniff was all he needed. "Excuse me, is that Earl Gray?" He pointed to the cup in her hand.
"Why yes it is. How did you know?"
Ranma shrugged nonchalantly and tapped the side of his nose. "Let's just say that I have a nose for these sort of things." He gestured for the waiter and ordered a cup of tea. He then turned back to Kasumi. "Oh where are my manners? I'm Ranma Saotome."
Kasumi perked up when she heard this. "Oh! So you're Akane's fiance. I'm pleased to finally meet you. I'm Akane's sister, Kasumi."
Ranma took a deep breath. He had been expecting this reaction. In a gentle but firm tone he replied. "Pleased to make your acquaintance Miss Tendo, but I'm afraid that you are mistaken. I am not her fiance."
"But your father and mine had-"
Ranma held up a hand, and said, "Miss Tendo. Despite what my father and yours have told you, I assure you that I have no intention of ever marrying your sister. To be quite honest, and mind you, I have nothing against your family personally, but I will never fulfill the pledge to unite the schools."
"But, it is a matter of family honor."
"Honor is good and all, but I will not be forced into a marriage that was made by my poor excuse for a parent who thinks that I'm just a piece of property to be sold off to the highest bidder."
"But-"
Ranma held up his hand again and said, "Before you say anything else, let me explain a few things that may help you understand why I have no wish to follow through with this."
Kasumi was about to protest again but then kept silent. She nodded her head and waited for Ranma to continue.
Ranma nodded as he paused to try and think up a way to best explain to her. Hmmm. How do I go about doing this? Should I tell her about me being blind? No, I can't. I really don't want her pity. But... she's seems like a nice person and I don't think there would be any harm in telling her. Maybe I should just lay all my cards on the table. It would certainly make things easier to explain why I don't want to go through with Pop's stupid ideas. But... ahhhh nuts!
The eldest Tendo girl waited for Ranma to explain as she took in his features. He was a handsome boy and seemed very well mannered. She couldn't take her attention away from those eyes. They were beautiful eyes and seemed to relay a kind of willful determination, yet sadness at the same time. It was then that she noticed something. Near the edges of his eyes were tiny pink lines. She looked a little closer and saw that they were scars, which indicated an injury that had been sustained many years ago. She also noticed something else as an ambulance with its sirens blazing and lights going passed by the shop. Since they were in a both near the front windowpane, they got quite an earful and Kasumi had to turn away slightly from the bright lights. Ranma however, didn't even blink. However, she did notice that Ranma gritted his teeth a little at the sound of the sirens. It was then that she took another look at his eyes and wondered why she never noticed it before. The eyes never moved and didn't seem to be focused on anything. The pupils were always dilated and never constricting in turn with any bright light that came his way. She also thought about the way he reacted to the siren's noise and how he knew she was drinking Earl Gray tea. She began to suspect that Ranma was hiding something important and she was beginning to suspect what it was. There was one way to test her theory.
"I don't know how I can explain this to you without letting you know about some things about me. I don't even know where to start." Ranma said finally.
"How about starting with the fact that you're blind." Kasumi said in the quietest whisper she could manage.
"Huh?" Ranma was more than shocked as he turned toward Kasumi.
Kasumi smiled a bit as she saw his reaction. As she expected, the muscles around his eyes acted accordingly by widening, but the pupils still remained the same. Usually, when a person is confronted with a shock, the pupils would change with his eyelids. Ranma's senses picked up her feelings of triumph and realized that he had fallen into the trap. "H-H-How did you...?'
"The clues were all there, but I must admit that you had me fooled for a while." Contrary to popular belief, Kasumi was not totally oblivious to things outside the Tendo home. In fact, she had an intelligent mind that rivaled Nabiki's and was even far more observant than the middle sister, who relied more on her flunkies to gather information. "Your eyes didn't blink when you passed by that neon sign or when that ambulance came by. Your pupils don't change and your eyes don't move to focus in on anything. You knew what kind of tea I was drinking by its smell and you winced a bit at the sirens. You heard me say that you were blind even though I said it in the barest whisper that I could. I've heard that blind people have been able to develop their senses of smell and hearing to a level better than a sighted person's."
"Very perceptive of you." Ranma admitted as he gained new respect for Kasumi. "I must say that you caught on faster than most people have. I thought that no one in Nerima could have figured it out."
"I must admit, from what Nabiki and Akane have told me, you've handled yourself far better than a person who can see. Now about that explanation?"
Ranma shook his head while smiling and began speaking. "Well, since you've figured it out, I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a few things off my chest. In any case, you're right. I am clinically blind. I was born with sight but I lost it at a very early age, due to my father's poor judgment."
Kasumi listened intently as Ranma began his story.
To be continued...
Author's Notes
I got the idea of the Spirit Seeker after seeing an episode of Dragonball Z. Yamcha's guided energy ball seemed to fit in well with Ranma's condition. I also came up with the idea of the Ki Cutter. Ranma uses his ki extensively so it made sense that he would know a few ki attacks and defenses.
For those of you who think that Ryoga's battle with Ranma wasn't intensive enough, take note that Ranma had received training that was a lot harder than canon. Living with the Amazons had toughened him up to a higher degree than in the anime or manga. Also, remember that Ryoga has not received the Breaking Point training and therefore doesn't have the high endurance that he normally has. Ranma on the other hand had received extensive strength and endurance training from sparring with Dowel. Since Ranma knew an advanced version of the Breaking Point, he had to find another way to increase his endurance and toughness.
This revision is to help make things a bit more smoothly and to show that Kasumi isn't really on a prescription of Valium. After all, she can't be THAT dense and I figured that she would be more attracted to this Ranma.
Please read and review!