Send C&C to: oddball22@hotmail.com
Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000
DISCLAIMER: I've said it before, I'll say it again: They ain't mine.
Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
All That We Have Known
Chapter 11
"Kuso! There must be several feet of steel behind these walls!"
Ranma continued to pound on them, to no avail.
"How about the floor or the ceiling?" Akane suggested. Ranma
leapt up to strike the ceiling, while Akane pounded the floor. As they
did so, a wall dropped between them, separating the couple. "Ranma!"
"Akane!" Ranma called back. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, the wall has stopped over here and..." Her sentence was
cut off when she screamed, then it was silent again.
"AKANE!" Ranma pooled all of his strength and slammed into the
wall that seperated them. The other side was empty, much as he feared.
"Akane! Where are you!?" The hallway was open again, so he took off
running, hoping to find some sign of what happened to her.
Actually, what happened was the fact that the whole floor on
Akane's side flipped, sending her into a funnel which led down a tube.
By the time she gathered her wits back, she was sliding out the exit and
into a room. Or more specifically, a bedroom. A quick perimeter survey
revealed no entrance or exit.
Akane sighed. [Great, despite all the training I've been doing,
I still end up a captive. Well I'm not going to take it this time.] She
moved to one of the walls and gathered her strength. With a roar of
"KIYAH!", she sent her fist into it. When the dust settles, all she did
was make a crater in the wall.
"No way," she said disbelievingly. "Are all the walls this
thick? If so, it'll take all night to get out." She sighed. "And I have
no idea which side I should work on. What I wouldn't give for Ryoga's
breaking point technique right about now." She rolled up her sleeves.
"Guess I better get started."
"I wouldn't do that," came a voice from an intercom somewhere.
Akane recognized it. "Kuno-sempai! What's the meaning of this?"
"What do you mean? You entered my property. I am merely taking
steps to defend it."
"Well, duh! Nabiki was worried about you, so she sent us to
check up on you."
Kuno's voice became overjoyed. "So you do care, my love! Do not
worry, I will join you shortly as soon as the evil one, Saotome, is
dealt with."
"I thought you finally gave up on me?"
"I did, but Galfgar showed me the error of my ways."
Akane became confused. "Galfgar, who is that?"
"A spirit which protects the House of Kuno. He has shown me that
I must wed both you and the pig-tailed girl to see that our family line
continues."
"You're crazy! Neither I nor the `pig-tailed girl' will ever
marry you! You became almost a decent guy once you stopped chasing me."
She shook her head. "Now you're back to being a pompous, egotistical,
idiot living in his own imaginary world." [As egotistical as Ranma is,
he's nowhere as bad as Kuno.]
"I can see Saotome still holds his spell over you. Have no fear.
I will kill him soon."
"No!" Akane commaned. "You leave him alone, or I swear I will
hunt you down and kill you myself! Do you hear me!?" Silence.
"KUNO NO BAKA!"
Elsewhere in the house, Ranma stopped. [Could've sworn I heard
Akane.] He punched a wall in frustration. [Kuso. Akane where are you?]
"This place is a maze! I've never remembered it being this bad."
"That's because you've never seen even a fraction of the secrets
in this house."
"Kuno! Where are you? What have you done with Akane?"
"The precious Tendo Akane is finally safe from thy clutches,
sorcerer. Thou hast lost. Release her from thy dark spell, or I shall be
forced to kill you."
Ranma laughed as he continued to walk. "You don't get do you!?
I have no magic! I wish I did, as it would make my life a whole lot
easier."
"You lie! Since you refuse, you force my hand."
By this time, Ranma had entered a large open room that looked
like a training gymnasium, except it was empty of equpiment. There was a
another entrance at the far end and he started towards it.
Upon reaching the center of the huge room, four panels on
either side swung open, revealing four robotic looking creatures. They
were entirely metallic and multi-limbed. Some walked on four legs, some
two, all were bigger than the young Saotome. Blinking lights and all
sorts of weaponary covered them.
"Behold! Advanced technology has created the ultimate cybernetic
warriors. These are the products of one of Kuno Enterprises sister
companies, Mishama Heavy Industries. They are heavily armored and posses
heavy firepower."
"Oh come on, Kuno," Ranma said in disbelief. "Since you can't
beat me, you send giant wide-up toys after me?" He cracked his knuckles
and started towards the strange mechanical creatures, even as they
advanced on him.
"Toys? I think you'll find that the these toys are even more
than a commoner such as yourself can handle! While you fight with your
fists, these wonderful creations have the use of multiple limbs,
mechanical tentacles, hidden buzzsaws, lasers, and missiles! You'll
never..." Kuno glanced back at his screen to see Ranma standing in the
middle of the room, surrounded by smoking scrap metal.
"Try again, Kuno!" Ranma taunted. [Okay, now which way should I
go. There is that door down there, but so far every door I've gone
through has contained it's own share of trouble.] He smiled. [Maybe it's
time to make my own doors.] Gathering his ki, he blasted one of the side
panels one of the mechanical creatures came out of.
Grinning to himself, he made his way through the self-made
door.
Up in the control room, Kuno was furious. Not only had the evil
one had destroyed his wonderful robots, but now he was moving through
sections of the house they weren't covered by cameras.
His beloved Akane was still tearing up the bedroom, and now,
several new intruders were entering his property. One he recognized as
Tendo Nabiki. The others consisted of the Kuonji woman from the
okonomiyaki restaurant and the Kenji fellow he briefly met earlier. The
last was a woman he didn't recognize.
No matter. They would be dealt with as soon as he killed the
evil Saotome. After all, he still had a few more options open to him.
"Okay, so how do we get over the wall?" Nabiki asked.
"We don't," Ukyo stated. "You'll stay here while the rest of us
go in. You're not a martial artist."
"Maybe, but none of you know Kuno like I do," she retorted. "I'm
the one who can push his buttons. Plus, someone has to be the brains of
this operation."
The other three looked at each other, shrugged, then nodded.
"Alright sugar, but you're sticking close to us," Ukyo stated.
Kenji scooped up Nabiki and the three went up and over the
wall. Once inside, they made their way to the front door and stepped
inside.
[This is taking too long! How am I supposed to find Akane?]
Ranma stopped and tried to think. [Let's see, Kuno said he has her
someplace safe. Naturally. He may be psycho, but he does have a crush on
her.] He grinned. [Maybe he'd do the same for his other love.]
He backtracked a bit until he found what he was looking for;
the kitchen. He flipped on the cold water and splashed his face with
enough water to cause the change.
Now in the appropriate guise, he called out, "Oh Kuno! Where
are you my love? The evil Saotome is after me!"
After a few minutes, the voice he was waiting for answered.
"Pig-tailed girl! You are here!"
"Oh Tate-chan, where are you?" Ranma-onna began to fake sobbing
a bit. [Tate-chan? If either Akane or Nabiki hear of this, they'll never
let me live it down.]
"Hold on my love! I'm opening a hole in the floor. Just slide
down that tube and we can be together!"
Ranma hesitated. "What about my cousin, Tendo Akane? Is she
alright? I wanna see her again, too."
"She is your cousin? Have no fear, for she is safe. She is
waiting for you in the bedroom at the end of the slide. I shall join you
both shortly."
"Thank you so much, Tate-chan!" she said sweetly. [I think I'm
going to die from the saccharine overdose.]
Ranma jumped down the hole and entered the slide.
Akane sat down on the edge of the bed, partially exhausted. She
had tested every surface and as far as she could tell, there were no
exits. The tube she came through wasn't an option since it seemingly
wasn't there anymore.
"Oh Ranma, where are you?" She sighed.
As if on cue, a small section of wall slid open and out popped
a redhead who landed in bed with her. Akane yelped and stood up.
"Ranma!?" she exclaimed when she saw who it was.
"Where's the evil Ranma?" Ranma asked. "It's me, your lovely
cousin, Ranko!"
Akane saw Ranma's wink... and understood. "Oh, Ranko! I've
missed you!" She hugged the red-head.
"Akane, I've found a way to break free of Saotome's control!"
Ranma stated.
Akane backed up and looked at `Ranko' curiously. "And, how do
we do that?"
"If a we were to give our virtues to a noble samurai, Ranma
would no longer be able to exhort his influence over us." Ranma could
see Akane noticeably shiver at the thought. She felt the same way.
Up in the control room, the results of the conversation were
predictable.
"Oh, my twin loves! Though it pains my heart, I shall offer
myself as a noble samurai to your needs. At last you will be free and we
will be together!" He quickly departed.
A few minutes later he opened a door and strode into the
bedroom. "Tendo Akane, my goddess of the hunt! And Tendo Ranko, it
pleases me to finally know your name! As a noble samurai, I offer myself
to free you of the evil Saotome's control! But, alas, who shall be
first?"
Ranma grinned. "We feel that, since you knew Akane first, you
should start with her." Akane looked back and gave a fuming look, then
caught her wink and softened some.
Kuno couldn't have been happier. "Then come my love, embrace
me." He held out his arms and Akane started towards him. "How I have
waited for the day when..."
(This scene has been censored due to gratuitous violence)
Akane stood back and admired her handiwork. Ranma held up a
sign that read, `9.9' Akane glared at him.
"Why not a 10?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Cause I could've done a better job, so naturally
I would be the only one to deserve a ten."
"Baka."
"Still, I think the human pretzel look works for him."
On the ground, Kuno whispered, "That hurt."
Further under the mansion, the statue known as Galfgar began to
shake. For too long he had lay hidden in the ancestral Kuno home,
infusing madness in the members of the Kuno family. Now, all his work
threatened to become undone.
His duty had been to make sure none of the Kuno family could
ever be a threat when his master returned. The mother was gone and he
had succeeded in permanently warping the father's mind. The daughter
wasn't much better, though she still clung to the hope of getting this
"Ranma".
The son was a different matter. Somehow he had managed to
retain some semblance of honor throughout all the times Galfgar had
invaded his mind. Though he could be declared legally insane, he still
fought evil on occasion.
And he was the most incompetent moron the demon had ever known.
He had allowed himself to be tricked and now he was
unconscious. Soon, he would be taken away, most likely never to return.
With the house empty of Kunos, Galfgar would weaken and die. Then the
madness would wear off, and the Kunos would once again became a threat.
He couldn't let that happen. Though he was still partially
bound, unable to leave the Kuno's ancestral home grounds, if he didn't
act and destroy the interlopers, they would restore the Kuno's power and
become dangerous.
As the statue shook, the ground shook with it. Soon, minute
cracks appeared in the marble surface of the statue. Those cracks
widened, as bits and pieces fell. With a mighty roar, the statue
exploded.
In it's place, was a real live version of the demon the statue
contained.
Bob once again checked up on the town of Nerima. It was one of
his favorite places. [Hmmm... We have a demon awakening... Two people
working on a magic crystal... Perfect!]
He had a plan and he rubbed his hands in anticipation.
Across town, Hikaru and Ariko had just finished their crystal
shard when the earthquake hit. Hikaru yelped in fright as the tremors
threw them together and tossed them to the floor, with Ariko on top and
the crystal pressed between them.
As the burst of demonic energy flew outward from the mansion,
it reacted with the crystal, causing it to activate and operate in
manner that was not it's intended purpose. Electrical fire coursed
through both of their bodies as every nerve registered an intense
tingling feeling.
When it died down, the crystal was gone and the two were left
unconscious.
Outside the Kuno mansion the quartet, who had entered several
minutes earlier, raced back outside at the first sign of the ground
shaking event (pun intended). They arrived in the courtyard just in time
to witness a beam of red light explode through the roof of the Kuno
mansion, then burst outward. The very corners of the house trembled and
began to buckle, as various parts collapsed.
Inside, Ranma grabbed Kuno and he, and Akane, raced out the
open door. However, the strain on the house was too much, and the roof
caved in on them. Yelling a warning, Ranma knocked Akane to the floor as
the debris hit.
With a final roar, Galfgar directed his energies outward and
exploded out of the house. Now standing outside, he grew to slightly
over 15 feet in height. His skin was a sickly red and his face was that
of a disfigured bulldog. Several sharp, bone-like spikes jutted out from
his back and arms.
Technically he was naked, but he was a nudist, so he didn't
mind.
"Oh my Kami-sama," Nabiki intoned. Her words echoed the
sentiments of all present. "Maybe it wasn't a good idea I came along."
The grotesque creature noticed them and focused his attentions
there. His eyes blazing red and whisps of smoke coming from his
nostrils, he growled menacingly and said, "Arrrggghhhh! You stupid
mortals! You're messing everything up!" It then sniffed the air. "Wait,
I smell a Tendo." He focused on Nabiki. "You! You must die!"
Nabiki stood up straight. Despite the fact she was facing a
huge demonic creature who could tear her limb-from-limb (and was intent
on doing so), she refused to be intimidated. "Now wait just a second.
Why am I singled out, hmm? Out of all the people here, I'm the least of
your worries."
"Because you were part of the bloodline that fought against my
master ages ago," the creature explained. "Not only must the Kuno line
perish, but that of the Tendos as well. So that you may know who your
destroyer is, I shall tell you my name. I am Galfgar."
Yuri stepped up. "Now listen just a minute, dog-face!"
"I don't think its such a good idea to insult the giant demon,
sis," Kenji whispered worridly.
She ignored him, however. She had felt an initial fear when the
big ugly thing appeared, but one of her favorite pasttimes was watching
good horror movies. As a result, she had effectively deadened her fear
of nightmarish creatures and stepped foreword, confident in her own
skills.
"If you think you can drop your ugly red butt in our face and
expect us to cower and die easily," she told it, "then obviously you
don't know us too well." As if to emphasize the point, she drew her
wakizashu from the sheath on her back and brandished in menacingly.
Ukyo stepped along side her and brought her battle spatula up.
She was still a little scared of such mythical things ever since the
fight with the mages, but she was determined not to let that fear
control her. "I'm with ya, sugar. We've faced things a lot worse than
you, and sent them home to their mommies. Your only real chance to
survive is to go back into whatever hole you crawled out of."
Kenji sighed and shook his head. [Idiots. You may be suicidal,
but I prefer to hang onto life.] He shrugged. [Still, what have I got to
lose?] He drew his wakizashu as well and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with
Ukyo.
"Uh, yeah, what they said." [Okay, I know it's not exactly an
intimidating speech, but I ain't no power ranger.]
"I'll leave you guys to it," Nabiki said while attempting a
tactical withdrawal, aka, the Saotome secret technique. Before she
reached the exit, a dozen white bone-like spikes lanced into the ground,
barring it off like a gate.
"No one leaves here alive," Galfgar said simply.
Yuri sprung to the attack. "Suit yourself!"
She ran towards the towering monstrosity, avoiding the fist
that slammed into the ground near her. Kenji and Ukyo let loose a volley
of projectiles to distract him, but they pinged harmlessly off his thick
hide. Ukyo yelled a warcry and charged as well.
Kenji sighed. [Oh well, who wants to live forever?] He joined
the fray.
Nabiki became fascinated as she watched the three martial
artists engage the demon. She never got over the fact of seeing them put
their lives on the line against terrifying odds. She watched in awe as
they danced around the giant, dodging attacks and slashing back with
their weapons. A roar from the demon punctuated every successful attack.
Her gaze wandered around the yard, looking for another way out.
Most of the house had been demolished by now, and the gate was covered
in a bunch of rubble. She walked around the outside edge, hoping to make
it to a crumbled section of wall that was made when a blast from the
demon missed it's target.
That's when she heard the muffled cry.
Moving closer to a destroyed section of the house, she
specifically heard a female voice calling out. It almost sounded like...
Akane!
"Akane?" she called out. The voice answered her, but she
couldn't make out any words since it was mostly muffled. [Great, she's
buried. Guess I gotta dig her out.]
She walked over to the pile of rubble where she heard the voice
and began to remove rocks and planks of wood. After a several minutes,
she clearly heard the voice of her sister and saw a glimpse of bodies
underneath.
"Hurry Nabiki!" she called frantically. "Ranma's not
responding!"
"I'm going as fast as I can sis, but heavy lifting isn't my
forte. Besides, where's that brute strength of yours?"
"Nabiki! I'm trapped under Ranma. If I do anything, I could hurt
him!"
Nabiki doubted that, but wasn't going to say it. She grunted
and tossed off a few more pieces of concrete and planks of wood. Soon,
enough had been cleared to where she could drag Akane out from
underneath Ranma. A hot water pipe had burst nearby, changing Ranma back
to a male. Together, they freed both him and Kuno.
Akane froze when her gaze found the huge red thing fighting the
three martial artists at the other end of the estate.
"What is that!?" she asked, horrified.
"Some hideous mythical creature or something," Nabiki replied
nonchalantly. "We better wake up Ranma so he can fight it."
"Hey! I can fight too, you know!"
"Calm down Imouto-chan. I was merely stating that this battle
would be easier with more people to fight it." That deflated Akane some
as Nabiki slapped Ranma. He didn't wake up. "Maybe he would awaken with
a kiss? Mind if I try?"
"Don't you dare!" Akane threatened. "He's mine!" And with that,
she bent over and kissed him with all the passion she could muster.
When she finished, Ranma slowly opened his eyes. "Wha...?" was
all he could manage.
Nabiki tapped her chin. "Interesting, I didn't think that would
work."
"Get up baka!" Akane commanded her fiance. "We've got a monster
to fight."
Ranma sat up, still half-groggy. "Okay, sure why not. I've got
the time." Akane pulled him to his feet and they departed to join the
battle.
Nabiki glanced over at the unconscious form of Kuno. Then she
got an interesting thought in her head and shrugged. [Why not? It worked
for Ranma. Can't hurt...]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's notes:
I'm hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Welcome to the final chapter in this story arc. Honestly, I don't know
what I expected with this story arc. I just threw a bunch of little
things together and added a big battle at the end. Hopefully, my next
stories will have more of a plot worked up.
Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000
DISCLAIMER: I've said it before, I'll say it again: They ain't mine.
Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
All That We Have Known
Chapter 11
"Kuso! There must be several feet of steel behind these walls!"
Ranma continued to pound on them, to no avail.
"How about the floor or the ceiling?" Akane suggested. Ranma
leapt up to strike the ceiling, while Akane pounded the floor. As they
did so, a wall dropped between them, separating the couple. "Ranma!"
"Akane!" Ranma called back. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, the wall has stopped over here and..." Her sentence was
cut off when she screamed, then it was silent again.
"AKANE!" Ranma pooled all of his strength and slammed into the
wall that seperated them. The other side was empty, much as he feared.
"Akane! Where are you!?" The hallway was open again, so he took off
running, hoping to find some sign of what happened to her.
Actually, what happened was the fact that the whole floor on
Akane's side flipped, sending her into a funnel which led down a tube.
By the time she gathered her wits back, she was sliding out the exit and
into a room. Or more specifically, a bedroom. A quick perimeter survey
revealed no entrance or exit.
Akane sighed. [Great, despite all the training I've been doing,
I still end up a captive. Well I'm not going to take it this time.] She
moved to one of the walls and gathered her strength. With a roar of
"KIYAH!", she sent her fist into it. When the dust settles, all she did
was make a crater in the wall.
"No way," she said disbelievingly. "Are all the walls this
thick? If so, it'll take all night to get out." She sighed. "And I have
no idea which side I should work on. What I wouldn't give for Ryoga's
breaking point technique right about now." She rolled up her sleeves.
"Guess I better get started."
"I wouldn't do that," came a voice from an intercom somewhere.
Akane recognized it. "Kuno-sempai! What's the meaning of this?"
"What do you mean? You entered my property. I am merely taking
steps to defend it."
"Well, duh! Nabiki was worried about you, so she sent us to
check up on you."
Kuno's voice became overjoyed. "So you do care, my love! Do not
worry, I will join you shortly as soon as the evil one, Saotome, is
dealt with."
"I thought you finally gave up on me?"
"I did, but Galfgar showed me the error of my ways."
Akane became confused. "Galfgar, who is that?"
"A spirit which protects the House of Kuno. He has shown me that
I must wed both you and the pig-tailed girl to see that our family line
continues."
"You're crazy! Neither I nor the `pig-tailed girl' will ever
marry you! You became almost a decent guy once you stopped chasing me."
She shook her head. "Now you're back to being a pompous, egotistical,
idiot living in his own imaginary world." [As egotistical as Ranma is,
he's nowhere as bad as Kuno.]
"I can see Saotome still holds his spell over you. Have no fear.
I will kill him soon."
"No!" Akane commaned. "You leave him alone, or I swear I will
hunt you down and kill you myself! Do you hear me!?" Silence.
"KUNO NO BAKA!"
Elsewhere in the house, Ranma stopped. [Could've sworn I heard
Akane.] He punched a wall in frustration. [Kuso. Akane where are you?]
"This place is a maze! I've never remembered it being this bad."
"That's because you've never seen even a fraction of the secrets
in this house."
"Kuno! Where are you? What have you done with Akane?"
"The precious Tendo Akane is finally safe from thy clutches,
sorcerer. Thou hast lost. Release her from thy dark spell, or I shall be
forced to kill you."
Ranma laughed as he continued to walk. "You don't get do you!?
I have no magic! I wish I did, as it would make my life a whole lot
easier."
"You lie! Since you refuse, you force my hand."
By this time, Ranma had entered a large open room that looked
like a training gymnasium, except it was empty of equpiment. There was a
another entrance at the far end and he started towards it.
Upon reaching the center of the huge room, four panels on
either side swung open, revealing four robotic looking creatures. They
were entirely metallic and multi-limbed. Some walked on four legs, some
two, all were bigger than the young Saotome. Blinking lights and all
sorts of weaponary covered them.
"Behold! Advanced technology has created the ultimate cybernetic
warriors. These are the products of one of Kuno Enterprises sister
companies, Mishama Heavy Industries. They are heavily armored and posses
heavy firepower."
"Oh come on, Kuno," Ranma said in disbelief. "Since you can't
beat me, you send giant wide-up toys after me?" He cracked his knuckles
and started towards the strange mechanical creatures, even as they
advanced on him.
"Toys? I think you'll find that the these toys are even more
than a commoner such as yourself can handle! While you fight with your
fists, these wonderful creations have the use of multiple limbs,
mechanical tentacles, hidden buzzsaws, lasers, and missiles! You'll
never..." Kuno glanced back at his screen to see Ranma standing in the
middle of the room, surrounded by smoking scrap metal.
"Try again, Kuno!" Ranma taunted. [Okay, now which way should I
go. There is that door down there, but so far every door I've gone
through has contained it's own share of trouble.] He smiled. [Maybe it's
time to make my own doors.] Gathering his ki, he blasted one of the side
panels one of the mechanical creatures came out of.
Grinning to himself, he made his way through the self-made
door.
Up in the control room, Kuno was furious. Not only had the evil
one had destroyed his wonderful robots, but now he was moving through
sections of the house they weren't covered by cameras.
His beloved Akane was still tearing up the bedroom, and now,
several new intruders were entering his property. One he recognized as
Tendo Nabiki. The others consisted of the Kuonji woman from the
okonomiyaki restaurant and the Kenji fellow he briefly met earlier. The
last was a woman he didn't recognize.
No matter. They would be dealt with as soon as he killed the
evil Saotome. After all, he still had a few more options open to him.
"Okay, so how do we get over the wall?" Nabiki asked.
"We don't," Ukyo stated. "You'll stay here while the rest of us
go in. You're not a martial artist."
"Maybe, but none of you know Kuno like I do," she retorted. "I'm
the one who can push his buttons. Plus, someone has to be the brains of
this operation."
The other three looked at each other, shrugged, then nodded.
"Alright sugar, but you're sticking close to us," Ukyo stated.
Kenji scooped up Nabiki and the three went up and over the
wall. Once inside, they made their way to the front door and stepped
inside.
[This is taking too long! How am I supposed to find Akane?]
Ranma stopped and tried to think. [Let's see, Kuno said he has her
someplace safe. Naturally. He may be psycho, but he does have a crush on
her.] He grinned. [Maybe he'd do the same for his other love.]
He backtracked a bit until he found what he was looking for;
the kitchen. He flipped on the cold water and splashed his face with
enough water to cause the change.
Now in the appropriate guise, he called out, "Oh Kuno! Where
are you my love? The evil Saotome is after me!"
After a few minutes, the voice he was waiting for answered.
"Pig-tailed girl! You are here!"
"Oh Tate-chan, where are you?" Ranma-onna began to fake sobbing
a bit. [Tate-chan? If either Akane or Nabiki hear of this, they'll never
let me live it down.]
"Hold on my love! I'm opening a hole in the floor. Just slide
down that tube and we can be together!"
Ranma hesitated. "What about my cousin, Tendo Akane? Is she
alright? I wanna see her again, too."
"She is your cousin? Have no fear, for she is safe. She is
waiting for you in the bedroom at the end of the slide. I shall join you
both shortly."
"Thank you so much, Tate-chan!" she said sweetly. [I think I'm
going to die from the saccharine overdose.]
Ranma jumped down the hole and entered the slide.
Akane sat down on the edge of the bed, partially exhausted. She
had tested every surface and as far as she could tell, there were no
exits. The tube she came through wasn't an option since it seemingly
wasn't there anymore.
"Oh Ranma, where are you?" She sighed.
As if on cue, a small section of wall slid open and out popped
a redhead who landed in bed with her. Akane yelped and stood up.
"Ranma!?" she exclaimed when she saw who it was.
"Where's the evil Ranma?" Ranma asked. "It's me, your lovely
cousin, Ranko!"
Akane saw Ranma's wink... and understood. "Oh, Ranko! I've
missed you!" She hugged the red-head.
"Akane, I've found a way to break free of Saotome's control!"
Ranma stated.
Akane backed up and looked at `Ranko' curiously. "And, how do
we do that?"
"If a we were to give our virtues to a noble samurai, Ranma
would no longer be able to exhort his influence over us." Ranma could
see Akane noticeably shiver at the thought. She felt the same way.
Up in the control room, the results of the conversation were
predictable.
"Oh, my twin loves! Though it pains my heart, I shall offer
myself as a noble samurai to your needs. At last you will be free and we
will be together!" He quickly departed.
A few minutes later he opened a door and strode into the
bedroom. "Tendo Akane, my goddess of the hunt! And Tendo Ranko, it
pleases me to finally know your name! As a noble samurai, I offer myself
to free you of the evil Saotome's control! But, alas, who shall be
first?"
Ranma grinned. "We feel that, since you knew Akane first, you
should start with her." Akane looked back and gave a fuming look, then
caught her wink and softened some.
Kuno couldn't have been happier. "Then come my love, embrace
me." He held out his arms and Akane started towards him. "How I have
waited for the day when..."
(This scene has been censored due to gratuitous violence)
Akane stood back and admired her handiwork. Ranma held up a
sign that read, `9.9' Akane glared at him.
"Why not a 10?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Cause I could've done a better job, so naturally
I would be the only one to deserve a ten."
"Baka."
"Still, I think the human pretzel look works for him."
On the ground, Kuno whispered, "That hurt."
Further under the mansion, the statue known as Galfgar began to
shake. For too long he had lay hidden in the ancestral Kuno home,
infusing madness in the members of the Kuno family. Now, all his work
threatened to become undone.
His duty had been to make sure none of the Kuno family could
ever be a threat when his master returned. The mother was gone and he
had succeeded in permanently warping the father's mind. The daughter
wasn't much better, though she still clung to the hope of getting this
"Ranma".
The son was a different matter. Somehow he had managed to
retain some semblance of honor throughout all the times Galfgar had
invaded his mind. Though he could be declared legally insane, he still
fought evil on occasion.
And he was the most incompetent moron the demon had ever known.
He had allowed himself to be tricked and now he was
unconscious. Soon, he would be taken away, most likely never to return.
With the house empty of Kunos, Galfgar would weaken and die. Then the
madness would wear off, and the Kunos would once again became a threat.
He couldn't let that happen. Though he was still partially
bound, unable to leave the Kuno's ancestral home grounds, if he didn't
act and destroy the interlopers, they would restore the Kuno's power and
become dangerous.
As the statue shook, the ground shook with it. Soon, minute
cracks appeared in the marble surface of the statue. Those cracks
widened, as bits and pieces fell. With a mighty roar, the statue
exploded.
In it's place, was a real live version of the demon the statue
contained.
Bob once again checked up on the town of Nerima. It was one of
his favorite places. [Hmmm... We have a demon awakening... Two people
working on a magic crystal... Perfect!]
He had a plan and he rubbed his hands in anticipation.
Across town, Hikaru and Ariko had just finished their crystal
shard when the earthquake hit. Hikaru yelped in fright as the tremors
threw them together and tossed them to the floor, with Ariko on top and
the crystal pressed between them.
As the burst of demonic energy flew outward from the mansion,
it reacted with the crystal, causing it to activate and operate in
manner that was not it's intended purpose. Electrical fire coursed
through both of their bodies as every nerve registered an intense
tingling feeling.
When it died down, the crystal was gone and the two were left
unconscious.
Outside the Kuno mansion the quartet, who had entered several
minutes earlier, raced back outside at the first sign of the ground
shaking event (pun intended). They arrived in the courtyard just in time
to witness a beam of red light explode through the roof of the Kuno
mansion, then burst outward. The very corners of the house trembled and
began to buckle, as various parts collapsed.
Inside, Ranma grabbed Kuno and he, and Akane, raced out the
open door. However, the strain on the house was too much, and the roof
caved in on them. Yelling a warning, Ranma knocked Akane to the floor as
the debris hit.
With a final roar, Galfgar directed his energies outward and
exploded out of the house. Now standing outside, he grew to slightly
over 15 feet in height. His skin was a sickly red and his face was that
of a disfigured bulldog. Several sharp, bone-like spikes jutted out from
his back and arms.
Technically he was naked, but he was a nudist, so he didn't
mind.
"Oh my Kami-sama," Nabiki intoned. Her words echoed the
sentiments of all present. "Maybe it wasn't a good idea I came along."
The grotesque creature noticed them and focused his attentions
there. His eyes blazing red and whisps of smoke coming from his
nostrils, he growled menacingly and said, "Arrrggghhhh! You stupid
mortals! You're messing everything up!" It then sniffed the air. "Wait,
I smell a Tendo." He focused on Nabiki. "You! You must die!"
Nabiki stood up straight. Despite the fact she was facing a
huge demonic creature who could tear her limb-from-limb (and was intent
on doing so), she refused to be intimidated. "Now wait just a second.
Why am I singled out, hmm? Out of all the people here, I'm the least of
your worries."
"Because you were part of the bloodline that fought against my
master ages ago," the creature explained. "Not only must the Kuno line
perish, but that of the Tendos as well. So that you may know who your
destroyer is, I shall tell you my name. I am Galfgar."
Yuri stepped up. "Now listen just a minute, dog-face!"
"I don't think its such a good idea to insult the giant demon,
sis," Kenji whispered worridly.
She ignored him, however. She had felt an initial fear when the
big ugly thing appeared, but one of her favorite pasttimes was watching
good horror movies. As a result, she had effectively deadened her fear
of nightmarish creatures and stepped foreword, confident in her own
skills.
"If you think you can drop your ugly red butt in our face and
expect us to cower and die easily," she told it, "then obviously you
don't know us too well." As if to emphasize the point, she drew her
wakizashu from the sheath on her back and brandished in menacingly.
Ukyo stepped along side her and brought her battle spatula up.
She was still a little scared of such mythical things ever since the
fight with the mages, but she was determined not to let that fear
control her. "I'm with ya, sugar. We've faced things a lot worse than
you, and sent them home to their mommies. Your only real chance to
survive is to go back into whatever hole you crawled out of."
Kenji sighed and shook his head. [Idiots. You may be suicidal,
but I prefer to hang onto life.] He shrugged. [Still, what have I got to
lose?] He drew his wakizashu as well and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with
Ukyo.
"Uh, yeah, what they said." [Okay, I know it's not exactly an
intimidating speech, but I ain't no power ranger.]
"I'll leave you guys to it," Nabiki said while attempting a
tactical withdrawal, aka, the Saotome secret technique. Before she
reached the exit, a dozen white bone-like spikes lanced into the ground,
barring it off like a gate.
"No one leaves here alive," Galfgar said simply.
Yuri sprung to the attack. "Suit yourself!"
She ran towards the towering monstrosity, avoiding the fist
that slammed into the ground near her. Kenji and Ukyo let loose a volley
of projectiles to distract him, but they pinged harmlessly off his thick
hide. Ukyo yelled a warcry and charged as well.
Kenji sighed. [Oh well, who wants to live forever?] He joined
the fray.
Nabiki became fascinated as she watched the three martial
artists engage the demon. She never got over the fact of seeing them put
their lives on the line against terrifying odds. She watched in awe as
they danced around the giant, dodging attacks and slashing back with
their weapons. A roar from the demon punctuated every successful attack.
Her gaze wandered around the yard, looking for another way out.
Most of the house had been demolished by now, and the gate was covered
in a bunch of rubble. She walked around the outside edge, hoping to make
it to a crumbled section of wall that was made when a blast from the
demon missed it's target.
That's when she heard the muffled cry.
Moving closer to a destroyed section of the house, she
specifically heard a female voice calling out. It almost sounded like...
Akane!
"Akane?" she called out. The voice answered her, but she
couldn't make out any words since it was mostly muffled. [Great, she's
buried. Guess I gotta dig her out.]
She walked over to the pile of rubble where she heard the voice
and began to remove rocks and planks of wood. After a several minutes,
she clearly heard the voice of her sister and saw a glimpse of bodies
underneath.
"Hurry Nabiki!" she called frantically. "Ranma's not
responding!"
"I'm going as fast as I can sis, but heavy lifting isn't my
forte. Besides, where's that brute strength of yours?"
"Nabiki! I'm trapped under Ranma. If I do anything, I could hurt
him!"
Nabiki doubted that, but wasn't going to say it. She grunted
and tossed off a few more pieces of concrete and planks of wood. Soon,
enough had been cleared to where she could drag Akane out from
underneath Ranma. A hot water pipe had burst nearby, changing Ranma back
to a male. Together, they freed both him and Kuno.
Akane froze when her gaze found the huge red thing fighting the
three martial artists at the other end of the estate.
"What is that!?" she asked, horrified.
"Some hideous mythical creature or something," Nabiki replied
nonchalantly. "We better wake up Ranma so he can fight it."
"Hey! I can fight too, you know!"
"Calm down Imouto-chan. I was merely stating that this battle
would be easier with more people to fight it." That deflated Akane some
as Nabiki slapped Ranma. He didn't wake up. "Maybe he would awaken with
a kiss? Mind if I try?"
"Don't you dare!" Akane threatened. "He's mine!" And with that,
she bent over and kissed him with all the passion she could muster.
When she finished, Ranma slowly opened his eyes. "Wha...?" was
all he could manage.
Nabiki tapped her chin. "Interesting, I didn't think that would
work."
"Get up baka!" Akane commanded her fiance. "We've got a monster
to fight."
Ranma sat up, still half-groggy. "Okay, sure why not. I've got
the time." Akane pulled him to his feet and they departed to join the
battle.
Nabiki glanced over at the unconscious form of Kuno. Then she
got an interesting thought in her head and shrugged. [Why not? It worked
for Ranma. Can't hurt...]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's notes:
I'm hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Welcome to the final chapter in this story arc. Honestly, I don't know
what I expected with this story arc. I just threw a bunch of little
things together and added a big battle at the end. Hopefully, my next
stories will have more of a plot worked up.
