Can't think of anything interest to say.
Can you? Tell me: oddball22@hotmail.com
My fanfiction is at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000
DISCLAIMER: Okay! I give up! I don't own these characters! I don't own
anything!
Even my body belongs to... Nevermind.
Back to the show...
Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Winds Calling
Chapter 9
"MOKO TAKABISHA!"
Ranma loosed the ki blast as soon as Krynn turned around. It
impacted and knocked him back a few feet, but left him otherwise unhurt.
he decided.
Krynn snarled and retaliated, letting a dozen fireballs loose.
The four dodged out of the way, though they were mainly aimed at Ranma
who just barely escaped harm. However, the roof now had several large
holes in it, decreasing the available maneuvering space. Chains and
spatula's flew, but impacted against an invisible barrier and were
turned away.
Ranma gritted his teeth. "There's no
room up here to fight!" he told his comrades. "We have to get back down
to the ground!"
"I hate to break this to you, Ranchan," replied Ukyo, looking
down. "But the ground is even worse."
Ranma risked a glance down during a jump. It was crawling with
elemental mages.
Krynn let loose another wave of fireballs. "Puny mortals! You cannot harm me. I am now a god! I killed
those two old ones who tried to sneak in with you and they're power was
greater than yours!"
Ranma gulped.
The trio outside the walls watched the figure fly up out of the
recently created hole in the building. They heard his command to
retrieve the Tendos. They observed the four figures emerge on the top of
the main building. And they watched them attack. Kenji and Ryoga
realized who they were as soon as Ranma released his signature ki blast.
"Now?" Ryoga asked nervously. Kenji could tell he itchin' to
fight.
The word was given. "Now!"
The trio jumped up from their hiding place and rushed downhill
for a bit, stopping just before they hit the bottom. Ryoga and Kenji
began to gather their ki energies.
Ryoga gathered up his feelings of depression: the fact that he
could never tell Akane how he felt, the fact that he was always getting
lost, his pig-curse, that he was always alone, that he couldn't find
Akari, and that it was all Ranma's fault.
Kenji concentrated on all his friends and the desire to protect
them, especially his newly found sister. When they were both charged,
Ryoga to led off, Kenji following a second later.
"SHISHI HOUKODEN!" Ryoga's beam of yellow and white energy
smashed through the outer guards and into the wall. He swept the beam
from left to right, demolishing the wall and any who stood in it's path.
"KIJIN BOUHUUKEN!" Kenji's blast of 200 mph winds followed a
second later and blew past the demolished wall and into the courtyard.
Bodies were tossed around, slamming into walls and into each other as
the outer wall that protected them was no longer there.
When the fantastic energies dissipated, both guys dropped to
one knee and tried
to catch their breath and recover.
"Wow `niichan!" Yuri exclaimed. "That was impressive! You too
Hibiki-san! I don't know why Oka won't let any of our clan learn stuff
like that."
She laid a hand on her brother's shoulder and gasped. She could
almost feel how weak his ki had become. She silently wished she could
lend him some of her strength and then a funny thing happened. She felt
as if something had sucked energy right out of her. She was dizzy for a
second, but then recovered. It only lasted a moment, but Kenji was back
on his feet and holding her arms.
"I felt it," he said. "You transferred some of your ki to me.
How?"
"I-I don't know," she admitted. "I just kinda felt how weak you
were and wished to give some of my strength to you and then it happened.
I guess, maybe since we're both half-elementals and siblings we can
share our strength?"
"Uh, guys?" Ryoga spoke up. "You think we can get back to the
task at hand?"
Kenji nodded. "Right, Hibiki. Let's go!"
The trio continued their run towards the compound, encountering
resistance as they neared the wall. Not all of the mages had taken the
massive attack and there was still a dangerous number to deal with. Yuri
whipped out a pair of her battle yo's and leapt into the fray, swinging
them around wildly. Ryoga let loose some bandanna's, then pulled his
umbrella out, yelling his berserker cry. Kenji was just about to join
the fight, when he risked a glance upward to the battle on the roof.
The floating figure in the black cloak had just launched
another attack of exploding fireballs. He heard a cry of "UCCHAN!" then
watched in horror as a girl with a large spatula was blown off the roof.
And not just a little ways off.
She was practically launched a good distance out of the
compound before beginning her downward descent. Kenji felt bile rise in
his throat when he realized what direction she was heading; namely, over
the cliff and down the long, sharp drop-off into the ocean below.
Without even thinking about it, Kenji sprang foreword into the
air and activated the technique that he had only practiced once. And
only with the aid of Yuri, for it was only with both of them that they
got it to work before.
It was during the night before they left for Nerima. Kenji was
unable to sleep and decided to take a stroll. Apparently his sister was
feeling the same way, because he found her hunched over the box, looking
through the contents.
In particular, she was studying a singular scroll and she
showed it to Kenji when she noticed him there. It deatailed the forming
of an aerodynamic wind shell to facilitate flight. She was trying to
learn it, but failing. After a few practices, they managed to levitate
off the ground for several minutes by combining their ki. The experience
left them drained and they stumbled back to their beds for a good
night's sleep.
Now, propelled by the force of a tornado, Kenji formed the air
shell instinctively and shot over the cliff after the disappearing
okonomiyaki chef. He didn't even hear his sister call his name. As he
cleared the cliff and started down, he could see Ukyo tumbling out of
control. He poured on the speed in an effort to catch up with her.
Ukyo had begun her fall somewhat stunned. When enough of her
wits had been recovered, they promptly fled again when they took notice
of her predicament. she repeated to
herself, unknowingly echoing Nabiki's earlier thoughts. A glance upward
revealed someone falling after her. Her panicked mind registered only
one thought.
"KENJI!?"
Ukyo realized he was reaching out to her, so she held up her
hand and reached for Kenji's outstretched arm. Thirty feet before the
bottom, they locked hands and Kenji strengthened the shell, pulling out
of the dive a few feet before impacting the rocky ocean crags below. As
he began the flight upward, he pulled Ukyo closer to him, and she
automatically clamped her arms around his neck, tears staining his
shirt. When she was firmly holding on tight, he stuck out his arms to
either side to better manipulate the air shell.
"Kenji-kun?" Ukyo gasped through her frightened tears. "You've
got me? Who's got you!?" She looked around. We-we're flying! You're
flying! How!?"
Kenji chuckled. "An old techniques of my father's. Hang on!"
Ukyo squealed as Kenji increased the speed and cleared the
cliff line, bringing the compound and the battle zone into view. The
figures on the roof were now on the ground. As they swept over the
compound, more than a few people stopped fighting and gazed wide-eyed at
the two figures soaring through the air. Kenji suddenly realized
something and gulped.
Ukyo caught that gulp and looked up at him. "Kenji, what's
wrong?"
"I, uh, suddenly realized something."
"What's that?"
"I don't know how to land!" he blurted out.
"WHAT!?"
"Hang ON!" Kenji left the compound and came low to the ground,
aiming for a patch of soft ground (as if such a thing existed).
"Alright, I want you to jump off me!"
"What?"
"Don't argue! Do it Now!"
"Okkkkkkaaaaaaaayyyyyy!!!" Kenji twisted so he was flying on his
back and Ukyo jumped straight up. When she came down, Kenji was no
longer underneath her and she hit the ground and rolled, rapidly coming
back to her feet. Looking up, she saw Kenji trying to slow down, but to
no avail. He crashed through some bushes and disappeared, followed
shortly by a *thud*. "Kenji!"
She ran through the bushes after him, but stopped on the other
side. She then broke out laughing. Kenji was laying against the trunk of
a tree, upside down, obviously dazed. When he regained some of his wits
and glimpsed the girl laughing at him, he lost his precarious balance
and fell forward, landing on his stomach with an `oomph'. Ukyo continued
to chuckle while she gave him a helping hand up.
"You okay, sugar?"
"I've been better..."
"NO! KENJI!"
When Kenji took off, Yuri couldn't imagine what he was doing.
Then she saw the figure fall off the cliff and Kenji take to the air,
diving off the cliff after her. In that instant, her heart was wrenched
in her chest once again.
Stepping up her attacks, she whipped the twin yo-yos around her
body, whacking a couple in the face and wrapping the lines around a
second pair. With a mighty heave, she launched the two unlucky wizards
into the last group, then screamed out her brother's name again as she
sprinted towards the cliff he had fallen off of.
Ryoga heard the scream and glanced up to see Kenji disappear
off the cliff. Rage increasing as he fought on, he swung his mighty
umbrella around and took off like a shot. . Bodies began to fly as
Ryoga, the unstoppable bullet train, plowed through them.
As he reached the other end of the courtyard, he froze, mere
inches from striking another individual.
It was Akane.
"UCCHAN!" Ranma yelled as he saw his old friend blown off the
roof via a particularly large fireball explosion. He
sprinted to side of the roof and looked down in horror as she began to
descend off the cliff. Before he could jump after her, a gray figure
flew off the cliff after her. Then he head Krynn's voice again.
"I told you I am a god now!" he bellowed. "You cannot stop me!"
Ranma turned to face him, dead calm in his voice. "No problem,
I've already killed one god. What's another one to a godslayer?" In
anger, he rushed the floating figure, jumping off the building and met
his opponent in the air, all the while dodging the various attacks Krynn
threw at him.
Krynn saw him coming and expected Ranma to get close and then
attack him from behind. After all, that's what the two old ones did.
That's why he was surprised when Ranma attacked his front.
"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"
Ranma's fists blurred as he reached his target, delivering
several hundred punches in the span of only a few seconds. The first
hundred hit some kind of invisible barrier, but then broke through and
the remaining ones struck the target. As the attack ended, Ranma grabbed
ahold of the man and dragged him down as he began to fall.
A split second later, they cratered the ground upon impact.
Tofu's entourage burst out of the door, into the open, and were
presented with a scene of chaos. Explosions were going off, bodies
laying around, fights happening, golems wandering around, two figures
impacting the ground, and something flying overhead.
Not that they had their own problems. The group had to work
their own way through several of the elemental wizards in their haste to
exit the building and escape. Fortunately, they had help in the way of
their new friends. Ariko was firing off lightning bolts from her hand
and Toshi's shadow detached itself and attacked on it's own, taking the
shape of a large panther.
"Let's move everybody!" Tofu urged the startled group along as
Ryoga barreled through a group of mages and stopped in front of them.
"Akane-san?" Ryoga gasped, surprised. "I've come to save you!"
"Ryoga-kun, where's Ranma?" Akane asked, worridly.
Ryoga froze as he felt his heart break.
He was saved from further contemplation as a groan emanated
from the recently created crater and a figure in a tattered red Chinese
shirt climbed out. As he stood up, Akane gasped and ran over to him.
"Ranma!" she exclaimed while giving him a quick hug. "Are you
okay?"
He coughed a few times. "Akane! Yeah, I'm fine. I was gonna ask
you the same thing." He smiled at her and Akane's heart skipped a few
beats.
"Well, I am NOT okay," a voice growled from behind Ranma.
Everybody turned to see Krynn float out of the crater. With the
exception of a little blood that trickled from his lip, he appeared to
be uninjured. "And I am NOT happy. You insignificant worm, you shall pay
for touching me!" The fireball storm renewed, directed solely at Ranma.
The pig-tailed martial artist grabbed his fiancee and attempted
to leap out of the way, but he was a bit too late. Several of the
projectiles scored hits against his back in mid-air, causing Ranma to
grunt and grit his teeth in pain. Despite that, he mange to land some
distance away and set Akane down before collapsing to one knee.
"Akane, get out of here!" he said through clenched teeth.
Akane shook her head. "No, I'm a martial artist, too. I'm going
to fight."
Ranma looked up at her. "You stupid tomboy! GET OUT OF HERE!"
Akane fumed. "WHAT did you say!? I..."
Ranma stood up and grabbed her by the shoulders. "This isn't a
game! This guy took out Cologne and Happosai. Let those of us who take
martial arts seriously and not just as hobby, handle this! All you can
do is smash bricks and get in the way. Now GO!"
Akane stood there in shock for a few seconds, then slapped
Ranma across the face. "Ranma no baka," she said softly, then turned and
ran away crying.
Ranma sighed.
The attack on Ranma and Akane affected two other people. Ryoga
saw her under attack and immediately became further enraged that anyone
would hurt her. He yelled his infamous battle cry (PREPARE TO DIE!), and
charged the attacker. He flipped a few bandannas at the target as a
precursor, then struck the ground with his finger when he got close.
"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"
The ground exploded and Krynn was pelted with a ton of rock
fragments. He was forced back a foot or two, but his now-visible, light
blue translucent, full body shield blocked the rock storm.
Shortly after delivering the attack, Ryoga leapt into the air
came down with the point of his umbrella, striking the shield above
Krynn's head. He paused for a few seconds while attempting to push the
umbrella through the shield, and at first he seemed to be making
progress. Then Krynn reinforced his barrier, sending a burst of magical
energy into it.
But id didn't stop there, instead continuing on to travel up
the shaft of his attacker's umbrella and into Ryoga, the energy backlash
exploding in a soundless flash of light and sending the lost boy flying
away.
The second person it affected was Hikaru Gosunkugi. Seeing
Akane in danger triggered something deep inside him, something he had
thought was there but never could pull to the surface.
His magic.
All the failed voodoo, spells, rituals, had never given him the
power he wanted to defend himself against the bullies who picked on him.
Having been taken by the wizard sect and seeing what they could do,
Hikaru was almost ready to join them willingly, despite the fact they
kidnapped him.
Then he saw the one called Krynn attack Akane and only one
thing mattered: he knew he had to protect her if Saotome couldn't. That
was why he leapt into action when the floating madman launched his
second attack.
Kyrnn raged and continued the assault of fireballs at Ranma,
adding in rock spikes and a hydro blast this time. He wanted that one
dead, since he could pose the greatest threat.
While Hikaru wouldn't have particularly cared if Saotome died,
Akane was also in the way and he couldn't let any harm come to her. He
ran foreword and whipped his hand out, concentrating on the lethal
barrage of power. An instant before the attack hit, Gos felt the power
and willed it to act. The fireballs, rock spikes, and water streams
suddenly veered away at ninety degree angles and landed several yards
away.
When it was over, Hikaru was a bit shocked on what he had just
done, but recovered. Turning to face the floating god, he gathered his
courage, preparing to show Akane what he could do.
He didn't see her run off.
Genma and Mousse had arrived down on the ground by this time,
and were helping Tofu get the non-combatants to safety. That included
Kasumi, Soun, Toshi, and Miyo. Genma and Tofu went with them since their
skills weren't up to the task of battling the powerful figure.
But Ariko stayed behind with Hikaru. When she saw what Gos did,
she was mightily impressed (not to mention he was kinda cute).
Hey, there's no accounting for taste, right?
Also, the way she had been kidnapped, had all of her magic
books and items stolen, dragged out of her home, locked up in cell, and
mistreated, had imprinted upon her a high desire for revenge. She
decided that now was the best time for payback.
Her situation was similar to Hikaru. All through school she had
been shunned from all the girl groups because she liked to read and do
school work as oppose to gossip and go shopping. The same traits also
made all the boys avoid her, leaving her to grow up alone.
Eventually she stumbled across a magic book in a used books
store when she was 13 and was intrigued by the possibilities. Three
years later, she had managed to decipher a bulk of the text and perform
several spells, a few of which she now knew by heart. She was still
alone, but now she walked with confidence that she could handle
anything. That confidence was shattered when she was kidnapped several
days ago. When she saw what the Gosunkugi boy did, she knew she had
found a possible kindred spirit.
When Hikaru advanced on the floating figure, she was beside
him, recalling all the spells she could remember and preparing to do
battle.
Ranma recovered and turned around as Mousse joined him. They
both saw Hikaru and a strange girl advancing on Krynn and the fallen
form of Ryoga.
"What does that idiot think he's doing!?" Ranma asked,
dumbfounded. "He's going to get himself killed! Mousse, go see if you
can revive Ryoga, I'll go get Gosunkugi."
Mousse nodded and the pair split up.
Yuri had stared in awe as her brother flew overhead with
someone else, heading into the trees. She quickly followed after them.
She glimpsed the figure holding onto her brother jump off as Kenji
cleared the outer wall and disappeared into the undergrowth of some
bushes just beyond. By the time she got there, her brother and the
strange girl had emerged and were returning to the fray.
"Oniichan!" Yuri glomped her brother. "Don't you ever worry me
like that again!"
"Oniichan?" Ukyo raised an eyebrow.
Yuri disengaged and Kenji made the introductions.
"Oh, so this is the woman you've had your eye on!" she teased,
to which Kenji strenously denied.
"Uh, while I'd like to continue this line of conversation, I
think we had better go and join the fight," he told them, changing the
subject. "This battle is far from over."
Yuri gave her brother a look that told him this would come up
later, but she complied and together they began to move back to the
compound. They passed Tofu's group on the way and picked up their pace
when they saw Ranma and two others engage Krynn.
Happosai slowly opened his eyes. He wasn't aware of how long
he'd been out, but the little rest had allowed him to recharge some much
needed ki energy and to heal a bit. He struggled to his feet and walked
over to Cologne's fallen form. As he approached, he was relived to see
her still breathing.
"Still alive, eh?" he commented.
Cologne opened her eyes and coughed. "Of course! I've lived for
300 years and I don't intend on dying today."
Happosai shook his head. "You're a pretty good liar Cologne,
but I always could see through you. You're only 100. And you're dying."
She laughed bitterly. "I'm surprised I'm still alive. Surely
you felt the power of that man?"
Happosai nodded. "I know. He's carrying an Elemchrys which is
granting him the all great powers he's wielding."
"You've got to stop him Happi, I fear the others won't be up to
the task."
The old master grinned. "I will, but I can't do it alone. I'll
need your help."
A confused look appeared on the old woman's face, then widened
in shock. Happosai took a small bottle out from somewhere and drank it.
Then he began to change.
"Happi, what have you done?"
"It seems the Nanniichaun water I drank at the wedding has had
an effect on me," he explained. "I become young by drinking cold water.
Convenient, ne?" Cologne continued to stare in shock as she realized
what this meant, but Happosai shook his head as if reading her thoughts.
"No, it's not a fountain of youth. I'll still age and die on the same
day, but it does have it's benefits." The thoughts of what the future
had in store had an effect on him and he knew the carefree days of his
past was over. He held out another
small bottle. "Care to join me my love?"
"Happi," Cologne whispered.
"To be young and healthy again, even if it is just for one day." She
held out her hand and took his. "I will accept this gift my love."
He dumped the bottle's contents on her and Cologne immediately
felt different. The pain in her body began to subside as her insides
healed. She looked at her hand, and watched the wrinkles disappear.
Can you? Tell me: oddball22@hotmail.com
My fanfiction is at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000
DISCLAIMER: Okay! I give up! I don't own these characters! I don't own
anything!
Even my body belongs to... Nevermind.
Back to the show...
Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Winds Calling
Chapter 9
"MOKO TAKABISHA!"
Ranma loosed the ki blast as soon as Krynn turned around. It
impacted and knocked him back a few feet, but left him otherwise unhurt.
he decided.
Krynn snarled and retaliated, letting a dozen fireballs loose.
The four dodged out of the way, though they were mainly aimed at Ranma
who just barely escaped harm. However, the roof now had several large
holes in it, decreasing the available maneuvering space. Chains and
spatula's flew, but impacted against an invisible barrier and were
turned away.
Ranma gritted his teeth. "There's no
room up here to fight!" he told his comrades. "We have to get back down
to the ground!"
"I hate to break this to you, Ranchan," replied Ukyo, looking
down. "But the ground is even worse."
Ranma risked a glance down during a jump. It was crawling with
elemental mages.
Krynn let loose another wave of fireballs. "Puny mortals! You cannot harm me. I am now a god! I killed
those two old ones who tried to sneak in with you and they're power was
greater than yours!"
Ranma gulped.
The trio outside the walls watched the figure fly up out of the
recently created hole in the building. They heard his command to
retrieve the Tendos. They observed the four figures emerge on the top of
the main building. And they watched them attack. Kenji and Ryoga
realized who they were as soon as Ranma released his signature ki blast.
"Now?" Ryoga asked nervously. Kenji could tell he itchin' to
fight.
The word was given. "Now!"
The trio jumped up from their hiding place and rushed downhill
for a bit, stopping just before they hit the bottom. Ryoga and Kenji
began to gather their ki energies.
Ryoga gathered up his feelings of depression: the fact that he
could never tell Akane how he felt, the fact that he was always getting
lost, his pig-curse, that he was always alone, that he couldn't find
Akari, and that it was all Ranma's fault.
Kenji concentrated on all his friends and the desire to protect
them, especially his newly found sister. When they were both charged,
Ryoga to led off, Kenji following a second later.
"SHISHI HOUKODEN!" Ryoga's beam of yellow and white energy
smashed through the outer guards and into the wall. He swept the beam
from left to right, demolishing the wall and any who stood in it's path.
"KIJIN BOUHUUKEN!" Kenji's blast of 200 mph winds followed a
second later and blew past the demolished wall and into the courtyard.
Bodies were tossed around, slamming into walls and into each other as
the outer wall that protected them was no longer there.
When the fantastic energies dissipated, both guys dropped to
one knee and tried
to catch their breath and recover.
"Wow `niichan!" Yuri exclaimed. "That was impressive! You too
Hibiki-san! I don't know why Oka won't let any of our clan learn stuff
like that."
She laid a hand on her brother's shoulder and gasped. She could
almost feel how weak his ki had become. She silently wished she could
lend him some of her strength and then a funny thing happened. She felt
as if something had sucked energy right out of her. She was dizzy for a
second, but then recovered. It only lasted a moment, but Kenji was back
on his feet and holding her arms.
"I felt it," he said. "You transferred some of your ki to me.
How?"
"I-I don't know," she admitted. "I just kinda felt how weak you
were and wished to give some of my strength to you and then it happened.
I guess, maybe since we're both half-elementals and siblings we can
share our strength?"
"Uh, guys?" Ryoga spoke up. "You think we can get back to the
task at hand?"
Kenji nodded. "Right, Hibiki. Let's go!"
The trio continued their run towards the compound, encountering
resistance as they neared the wall. Not all of the mages had taken the
massive attack and there was still a dangerous number to deal with. Yuri
whipped out a pair of her battle yo's and leapt into the fray, swinging
them around wildly. Ryoga let loose some bandanna's, then pulled his
umbrella out, yelling his berserker cry. Kenji was just about to join
the fight, when he risked a glance upward to the battle on the roof.
The floating figure in the black cloak had just launched
another attack of exploding fireballs. He heard a cry of "UCCHAN!" then
watched in horror as a girl with a large spatula was blown off the roof.
And not just a little ways off.
She was practically launched a good distance out of the
compound before beginning her downward descent. Kenji felt bile rise in
his throat when he realized what direction she was heading; namely, over
the cliff and down the long, sharp drop-off into the ocean below.
Without even thinking about it, Kenji sprang foreword into the
air and activated the technique that he had only practiced once. And
only with the aid of Yuri, for it was only with both of them that they
got it to work before.
It was during the night before they left for Nerima. Kenji was
unable to sleep and decided to take a stroll. Apparently his sister was
feeling the same way, because he found her hunched over the box, looking
through the contents.
In particular, she was studying a singular scroll and she
showed it to Kenji when she noticed him there. It deatailed the forming
of an aerodynamic wind shell to facilitate flight. She was trying to
learn it, but failing. After a few practices, they managed to levitate
off the ground for several minutes by combining their ki. The experience
left them drained and they stumbled back to their beds for a good
night's sleep.
Now, propelled by the force of a tornado, Kenji formed the air
shell instinctively and shot over the cliff after the disappearing
okonomiyaki chef. He didn't even hear his sister call his name. As he
cleared the cliff and started down, he could see Ukyo tumbling out of
control. He poured on the speed in an effort to catch up with her.
Ukyo had begun her fall somewhat stunned. When enough of her
wits had been recovered, they promptly fled again when they took notice
of her predicament. she repeated to
herself, unknowingly echoing Nabiki's earlier thoughts. A glance upward
revealed someone falling after her. Her panicked mind registered only
one thought.
"KENJI!?"
Ukyo realized he was reaching out to her, so she held up her
hand and reached for Kenji's outstretched arm. Thirty feet before the
bottom, they locked hands and Kenji strengthened the shell, pulling out
of the dive a few feet before impacting the rocky ocean crags below. As
he began the flight upward, he pulled Ukyo closer to him, and she
automatically clamped her arms around his neck, tears staining his
shirt. When she was firmly holding on tight, he stuck out his arms to
either side to better manipulate the air shell.
"Kenji-kun?" Ukyo gasped through her frightened tears. "You've
got me? Who's got you!?" She looked around. We-we're flying! You're
flying! How!?"
Kenji chuckled. "An old techniques of my father's. Hang on!"
Ukyo squealed as Kenji increased the speed and cleared the
cliff line, bringing the compound and the battle zone into view. The
figures on the roof were now on the ground. As they swept over the
compound, more than a few people stopped fighting and gazed wide-eyed at
the two figures soaring through the air. Kenji suddenly realized
something and gulped.
Ukyo caught that gulp and looked up at him. "Kenji, what's
wrong?"
"I, uh, suddenly realized something."
"What's that?"
"I don't know how to land!" he blurted out.
"WHAT!?"
"Hang ON!" Kenji left the compound and came low to the ground,
aiming for a patch of soft ground (as if such a thing existed).
"Alright, I want you to jump off me!"
"What?"
"Don't argue! Do it Now!"
"Okkkkkkaaaaaaaayyyyyy!!!" Kenji twisted so he was flying on his
back and Ukyo jumped straight up. When she came down, Kenji was no
longer underneath her and she hit the ground and rolled, rapidly coming
back to her feet. Looking up, she saw Kenji trying to slow down, but to
no avail. He crashed through some bushes and disappeared, followed
shortly by a *thud*. "Kenji!"
She ran through the bushes after him, but stopped on the other
side. She then broke out laughing. Kenji was laying against the trunk of
a tree, upside down, obviously dazed. When he regained some of his wits
and glimpsed the girl laughing at him, he lost his precarious balance
and fell forward, landing on his stomach with an `oomph'. Ukyo continued
to chuckle while she gave him a helping hand up.
"You okay, sugar?"
"I've been better..."
"NO! KENJI!"
When Kenji took off, Yuri couldn't imagine what he was doing.
Then she saw the figure fall off the cliff and Kenji take to the air,
diving off the cliff after her. In that instant, her heart was wrenched
in her chest once again.
Stepping up her attacks, she whipped the twin yo-yos around her
body, whacking a couple in the face and wrapping the lines around a
second pair. With a mighty heave, she launched the two unlucky wizards
into the last group, then screamed out her brother's name again as she
sprinted towards the cliff he had fallen off of.
Ryoga heard the scream and glanced up to see Kenji disappear
off the cliff. Rage increasing as he fought on, he swung his mighty
umbrella around and took off like a shot. . Bodies began to fly as
Ryoga, the unstoppable bullet train, plowed through them.
As he reached the other end of the courtyard, he froze, mere
inches from striking another individual.
It was Akane.
"UCCHAN!" Ranma yelled as he saw his old friend blown off the
roof via a particularly large fireball explosion. He
sprinted to side of the roof and looked down in horror as she began to
descend off the cliff. Before he could jump after her, a gray figure
flew off the cliff after her. Then he head Krynn's voice again.
"I told you I am a god now!" he bellowed. "You cannot stop me!"
Ranma turned to face him, dead calm in his voice. "No problem,
I've already killed one god. What's another one to a godslayer?" In
anger, he rushed the floating figure, jumping off the building and met
his opponent in the air, all the while dodging the various attacks Krynn
threw at him.
Krynn saw him coming and expected Ranma to get close and then
attack him from behind. After all, that's what the two old ones did.
That's why he was surprised when Ranma attacked his front.
"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"
Ranma's fists blurred as he reached his target, delivering
several hundred punches in the span of only a few seconds. The first
hundred hit some kind of invisible barrier, but then broke through and
the remaining ones struck the target. As the attack ended, Ranma grabbed
ahold of the man and dragged him down as he began to fall.
A split second later, they cratered the ground upon impact.
Tofu's entourage burst out of the door, into the open, and were
presented with a scene of chaos. Explosions were going off, bodies
laying around, fights happening, golems wandering around, two figures
impacting the ground, and something flying overhead.
Not that they had their own problems. The group had to work
their own way through several of the elemental wizards in their haste to
exit the building and escape. Fortunately, they had help in the way of
their new friends. Ariko was firing off lightning bolts from her hand
and Toshi's shadow detached itself and attacked on it's own, taking the
shape of a large panther.
"Let's move everybody!" Tofu urged the startled group along as
Ryoga barreled through a group of mages and stopped in front of them.
"Akane-san?" Ryoga gasped, surprised. "I've come to save you!"
"Ryoga-kun, where's Ranma?" Akane asked, worridly.
Ryoga froze as he felt his heart break.
He was saved from further contemplation as a groan emanated
from the recently created crater and a figure in a tattered red Chinese
shirt climbed out. As he stood up, Akane gasped and ran over to him.
"Ranma!" she exclaimed while giving him a quick hug. "Are you
okay?"
He coughed a few times. "Akane! Yeah, I'm fine. I was gonna ask
you the same thing." He smiled at her and Akane's heart skipped a few
beats.
"Well, I am NOT okay," a voice growled from behind Ranma.
Everybody turned to see Krynn float out of the crater. With the
exception of a little blood that trickled from his lip, he appeared to
be uninjured. "And I am NOT happy. You insignificant worm, you shall pay
for touching me!" The fireball storm renewed, directed solely at Ranma.
The pig-tailed martial artist grabbed his fiancee and attempted
to leap out of the way, but he was a bit too late. Several of the
projectiles scored hits against his back in mid-air, causing Ranma to
grunt and grit his teeth in pain. Despite that, he mange to land some
distance away and set Akane down before collapsing to one knee.
"Akane, get out of here!" he said through clenched teeth.
Akane shook her head. "No, I'm a martial artist, too. I'm going
to fight."
Ranma looked up at her. "You stupid tomboy! GET OUT OF HERE!"
Akane fumed. "WHAT did you say!? I..."
Ranma stood up and grabbed her by the shoulders. "This isn't a
game! This guy took out Cologne and Happosai. Let those of us who take
martial arts seriously and not just as hobby, handle this! All you can
do is smash bricks and get in the way. Now GO!"
Akane stood there in shock for a few seconds, then slapped
Ranma across the face. "Ranma no baka," she said softly, then turned and
ran away crying.
Ranma sighed.
The attack on Ranma and Akane affected two other people. Ryoga
saw her under attack and immediately became further enraged that anyone
would hurt her. He yelled his infamous battle cry (PREPARE TO DIE!), and
charged the attacker. He flipped a few bandannas at the target as a
precursor, then struck the ground with his finger when he got close.
"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"
The ground exploded and Krynn was pelted with a ton of rock
fragments. He was forced back a foot or two, but his now-visible, light
blue translucent, full body shield blocked the rock storm.
Shortly after delivering the attack, Ryoga leapt into the air
came down with the point of his umbrella, striking the shield above
Krynn's head. He paused for a few seconds while attempting to push the
umbrella through the shield, and at first he seemed to be making
progress. Then Krynn reinforced his barrier, sending a burst of magical
energy into it.
But id didn't stop there, instead continuing on to travel up
the shaft of his attacker's umbrella and into Ryoga, the energy backlash
exploding in a soundless flash of light and sending the lost boy flying
away.
The second person it affected was Hikaru Gosunkugi. Seeing
Akane in danger triggered something deep inside him, something he had
thought was there but never could pull to the surface.
His magic.
All the failed voodoo, spells, rituals, had never given him the
power he wanted to defend himself against the bullies who picked on him.
Having been taken by the wizard sect and seeing what they could do,
Hikaru was almost ready to join them willingly, despite the fact they
kidnapped him.
Then he saw the one called Krynn attack Akane and only one
thing mattered: he knew he had to protect her if Saotome couldn't. That
was why he leapt into action when the floating madman launched his
second attack.
Kyrnn raged and continued the assault of fireballs at Ranma,
adding in rock spikes and a hydro blast this time. He wanted that one
dead, since he could pose the greatest threat.
While Hikaru wouldn't have particularly cared if Saotome died,
Akane was also in the way and he couldn't let any harm come to her. He
ran foreword and whipped his hand out, concentrating on the lethal
barrage of power. An instant before the attack hit, Gos felt the power
and willed it to act. The fireballs, rock spikes, and water streams
suddenly veered away at ninety degree angles and landed several yards
away.
When it was over, Hikaru was a bit shocked on what he had just
done, but recovered. Turning to face the floating god, he gathered his
courage, preparing to show Akane what he could do.
He didn't see her run off.
Genma and Mousse had arrived down on the ground by this time,
and were helping Tofu get the non-combatants to safety. That included
Kasumi, Soun, Toshi, and Miyo. Genma and Tofu went with them since their
skills weren't up to the task of battling the powerful figure.
But Ariko stayed behind with Hikaru. When she saw what Gos did,
she was mightily impressed (not to mention he was kinda cute).
Hey, there's no accounting for taste, right?
Also, the way she had been kidnapped, had all of her magic
books and items stolen, dragged out of her home, locked up in cell, and
mistreated, had imprinted upon her a high desire for revenge. She
decided that now was the best time for payback.
Her situation was similar to Hikaru. All through school she had
been shunned from all the girl groups because she liked to read and do
school work as oppose to gossip and go shopping. The same traits also
made all the boys avoid her, leaving her to grow up alone.
Eventually she stumbled across a magic book in a used books
store when she was 13 and was intrigued by the possibilities. Three
years later, she had managed to decipher a bulk of the text and perform
several spells, a few of which she now knew by heart. She was still
alone, but now she walked with confidence that she could handle
anything. That confidence was shattered when she was kidnapped several
days ago. When she saw what the Gosunkugi boy did, she knew she had
found a possible kindred spirit.
When Hikaru advanced on the floating figure, she was beside
him, recalling all the spells she could remember and preparing to do
battle.
Ranma recovered and turned around as Mousse joined him. They
both saw Hikaru and a strange girl advancing on Krynn and the fallen
form of Ryoga.
"What does that idiot think he's doing!?" Ranma asked,
dumbfounded. "He's going to get himself killed! Mousse, go see if you
can revive Ryoga, I'll go get Gosunkugi."
Mousse nodded and the pair split up.
Yuri had stared in awe as her brother flew overhead with
someone else, heading into the trees. She quickly followed after them.
She glimpsed the figure holding onto her brother jump off as Kenji
cleared the outer wall and disappeared into the undergrowth of some
bushes just beyond. By the time she got there, her brother and the
strange girl had emerged and were returning to the fray.
"Oniichan!" Yuri glomped her brother. "Don't you ever worry me
like that again!"
"Oniichan?" Ukyo raised an eyebrow.
Yuri disengaged and Kenji made the introductions.
"Oh, so this is the woman you've had your eye on!" she teased,
to which Kenji strenously denied.
"Uh, while I'd like to continue this line of conversation, I
think we had better go and join the fight," he told them, changing the
subject. "This battle is far from over."
Yuri gave her brother a look that told him this would come up
later, but she complied and together they began to move back to the
compound. They passed Tofu's group on the way and picked up their pace
when they saw Ranma and two others engage Krynn.
Happosai slowly opened his eyes. He wasn't aware of how long
he'd been out, but the little rest had allowed him to recharge some much
needed ki energy and to heal a bit. He struggled to his feet and walked
over to Cologne's fallen form. As he approached, he was relived to see
her still breathing.
"Still alive, eh?" he commented.
Cologne opened her eyes and coughed. "Of course! I've lived for
300 years and I don't intend on dying today."
Happosai shook his head. "You're a pretty good liar Cologne,
but I always could see through you. You're only 100. And you're dying."
She laughed bitterly. "I'm surprised I'm still alive. Surely
you felt the power of that man?"
Happosai nodded. "I know. He's carrying an Elemchrys which is
granting him the all great powers he's wielding."
"You've got to stop him Happi, I fear the others won't be up to
the task."
The old master grinned. "I will, but I can't do it alone. I'll
need your help."
A confused look appeared on the old woman's face, then widened
in shock. Happosai took a small bottle out from somewhere and drank it.
Then he began to change.
"Happi, what have you done?"
"It seems the Nanniichaun water I drank at the wedding has had
an effect on me," he explained. "I become young by drinking cold water.
Convenient, ne?" Cologne continued to stare in shock as she realized
what this meant, but Happosai shook his head as if reading her thoughts.
"No, it's not a fountain of youth. I'll still age and die on the same
day, but it does have it's benefits." The thoughts of what the future
had in store had an effect on him and he knew the carefree days of his
past was over. He held out another
small bottle. "Care to join me my love?"
"Happi," Cologne whispered.
"To be young and healthy again, even if it is just for one day." She
held out her hand and took his. "I will accept this gift my love."
He dumped the bottle's contents on her and Cologne immediately
felt different. The pain in her body began to subside as her insides
healed. She looked at her hand, and watched the wrinkles disappear.
