Title: Warriors of Light and Shadow; Chapter 10: Showdown!
Author: Storm Bringer
Rating: PG-13
E-mail: the_storm_bringer@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Sailor Moon or Ranma 1/2
* * * * * *
Ranma stood waist deep in the cold blue waters of the ocean, staring out over the wind kissed waves at the distant horizon. There was something out there. It was just beyond his vision, just past the place where water and sky melted into one. He couldn't see it, but he could sense it. It was a hand hovering just above his, a smile in the shadows, a beautiful voice lost in the wind.
Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew what it was, but he couldn't call it forth. It stood just outside of his reach, taunting him with its mystery.
"RAAAAANMAAAAA!!" called a distant voice.
The voice didn't belong to whatever waited for him beyond the horizon. This new voice came from behind him and was filled with things he rarely heard: sincerity, warmth, understanding, and compassion. It touched something deep inside of him and brought a smile to his lips.
Ranma turned so he could see the beach. A girl stood on the long strip of sand, her long golden hair streaming out behind her in a stray breeze, shimmering brilliantly in the rays of the sun. Even from here he could see her cheerful smile and the way it caused her cerulean eyes to shine with an inner brilliance.
"RAAAAANMAAAAA!!" called the girl again, waving to him from where she stood on the beach.
He waved back, but his own smile faded as he looked back at the horizon. What was out there? What was it that was causing him to feel as though something was missing in his life? Shaking his head, he turned back to the beach and the girl waiting for him there. He took a step in that direction.
Help me…
The words burned his mind like a flaming brand.
"WAKE UP!!"
Ranma jerked awake, falling sideways out of her chair and crashing headfirst into the hard linoleum floor of the classroom. A groan escaped her lips as laughter erupted from the other students that shared her math class. She didn't understand what they thought was so damn funny. That had hurt!
She gave them all a good glare as she stood up, but they continued to watch her with wide grins and chuckles of amusement. Except for Usagi, who gave her a small, sympathetic smile. Her teacher hadn't joined the students in their mirth either, and appeared to be less than impressed with her pupil. Ranma quickly replaced her glare with the innocent smile she always tried when in trouble. It had never actually succeeded at getting her out of trouble, but she was sure it would come through for her one of these days.
Today was not that day.
"That was the second time today I've caught you napping in my class, Ranma!" scolded the teacher. "I see now why Usagi and you are friends. You two have much in common."
Usagi made an indignant sound that was accompanied by a loud snicker from Rei. The raven-haired girl was behind Ranma, and the redhead took the opportunity to give her the finger while using her body to block the motion from her teacher's sight. The snicker turned to an angry growl.
Ranma didn't understand what the stupid girl was doing at school in the first place. She looked like she was still in pretty bad shape, though she seemed to be in better condition than a few of the others. Ranma had seen Ami with her head wrapped in bandages leaning heavily against some lockers earlier that day. It seemed she hadn't been listening when Ranma had told her to stay in bed for a few days.
"I was up late doing my homework so I didn't get much sleep," lied Ranma.
In fact, she had been up late worrying about the fight she had agreed to. She wasn't worried that she would lose, there was no chance of that, but she had misgivings about the fight in general. This was how it had started in Nerima, a series of duels with that idiot Kuno. It seemed that after that her life had simply become one fight after another. She didn't want that to happen again.
The teacher arched a skeptical eyebrow. "But your homework wasn't finished."
"Uh, well, I meant the homework for another class," stammered Ranma, realizing that this argument wasn't going to get her anywhere. She started wracking her brain for one that would, but she couldn't come up with a single idea. The buzzing of the bell sounding the end of the school day saved her.
"Bye!" she blurted, hastily grabbing her things and rushing out the door before her teacher could assign her detention.
Once outside in the hallway she waited for Usagi, who was quick to appear since she feared the same fate. The pair hurriedly put several floors between themselves and their teacher, neither of them trusting her not to track them down just so she could ruin their afternoon. Not that Ranma felt her afternoon was going to be all that great with or without detention.
Usagi was all for leaving the school as fast as possible, but Ranma stopped short of the front doors and her friend paused as well, shooting the redhead a curious look. Leaning up against a wall, Ranma watched the river of students flowing past her towards their well-earned freedom. Several of them waved or nudged a friend and pointed her out as they passed by. Word of the today's fight had been spread around and their promised to be a large audience.
"Is something wrong, Ranma?" asked Usagi worriedly.
She hadn't said much since she'd heard about Ranma's encounter yesterday and the upcoming fight. Ranma had been a little worried that Usagi was mad at her. Not just about the fight, but about the fact that she had revealed to Usagi's friends the fact that she knew who they were. She knew she wasn't supposed to know, and also knew that she had probably caused Usagi even more trouble. Right now though, Ranma saw only concern in her eyes.
"I'm fine. I just need to think for a moment."
Honestly there wasn't much to think about. She was either going to go out there and pound Haruka—there seemed little chance she was going to show up as Uranus—into the ground, or she was just going to go home and end up branded a coward. She had never once backed down from a fight and she had no intention of doing so now, but it was just so…so damn annoying.
The steady flow of students leaving the school had become a trickle and now Ranma and Usagi were nearly alone in the hallway. A stray ray of sunlight shining through the window on the door caused Usagi's hair to catch fire and shimmer like gold for an instant. That instant seemed like an eternity for Ranma.
Hair like spun gold, eyes like a summer sky, skin that made silk seem rough, and a face that had to have been sculpted by one of the world's greatest artists. These thoughts whirled through Ranma's mind in that instant, calling up strange and uncomfortable feelings from somewhere deep down inside. Memories of that first night when she had seen Usagi nearly naked in the bathroom also sprang forth. Ranma's face burned in embarrassment.
Pushing away from the wall and turning away so that Usagi couldn't see how red her face was, Ranma cleared her throat. "We should, uh, get going now." She started for the door, but Usagi's hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"Are you going to do it? Are you really going to fight with Haruka?" Ranma just nodded. She knew that Usagi didn't like the idea. "Why?"
Ranma didn't immediately answer. It was a good question. Why go through with something she didn't want to do, something she really didn't need to do? Pride, that was the answer. There was nothing noble about this fight, no great cause, no defending of ideals. She wasn't even doing it because Haruka had hurt Usagi. She was doing it because her pride was on the line. That was why she was always doing things like this.
Was it worth it, then?
Shrugging off Usagi's hand, Ranma opened the door. "Because I gotta," she stated in a cold voice.
Usagi watched worriedly as Ranma made her way down the stone steps outside. There was something wrong with her friend. She had seen it yesterday when Ranma had returned from shopping and told her what had happened with Ami and the others. There had been a great weariness in her eyes then. It was similar to what had been there on that rain soaked night when they had first met. That look had faded over the last two weeks, but now it was back and Usagi was deeply concerned.
Usagi hurriedly followed her friend down the steps and around the building towards the area that had been designated as the ring for the fight. She quickened her pace until she was walking next to Ranma, and then slowed so that the two walked side by side. She wanted to say something to stop this or to at least comfort Ranma, but she couldn't come up with anything. It made her feel useless that she couldn't help out her friend. She stared down at the ground dejectedly.
"So the mighty warrior marches off to battle," proclaimed a voice cracked with age. The heads of both girls swiveled to look at the old man leaning against the wall of the school calmly smoking a pipe. It was the same old man Ranma had seen at the ice cream shop and they had both met at the fair when Ranma had been a guy. "And for what reason do you go to fight?"
Those words, so similar to the question asked just a few minutes ago, caused Ranma's eyes to narrow. "Who are you?" she demanded, her hand tightening around her sheathed katana.
The old man gave her a gap-toothed smile. "I'm just an old man with too much time on his hands."
Ranma snorted in obvious disbelief. "You're followin' me around," she accused. "You're just some pervert with a school girl fetish, ain't ya? I'm telling you right now that if you try anything you'll regret it, old man. Just stay the hell away from me!"
"That could be true I suppose," mused the man, "except for the fact that you're not really a girl, are you, Ranma?" The old man's smile widened and he gave a soft chuckle at the looks of stunned surprise that painted the faces of both girls. Pushing himself away from the wall, he turned away from the pair and started walking towards the front of the school. "Don't think so highly of yourself, Ranma," he called back over his shoulder. "I wouldn't be following you around if I had a choice, but you don't give me many options."
Ranma and Usagi were left staring dumbly after the man, unable to make sense of what he had said or figure out how he knew what he knew. Finally, after he had disappeared from sight, Ranma gave a low growl and stalked off, once again headed for her fight with Haruka. With a last curious glance in the direction the man had gone, Usagi followed after the redhead.
"Who do you suppose that guy is?" she asked when she had caught up with Ranma again.
"I don't know and I don't care!" spat Ranma, and Usagi was taken aback by his vehement tone. "If I see him around again though…" She let her clenched fist finish the threat.
Ranma wore anger like a mask now, and a feral light dancing in her eyes caused Usagi's worries to grow. This burning anger had stripped away Ranma's weariness, but she thought that somehow the anger was worse. Anger brought with it poor judgment and unreasoning action, and those were things that Ranma didn't need going into a fight. She found herself worrying about Haruka a little as well.
"You're not going to hurt her too badly, are you?" Ranma glanced at Usagi quizzically. "Haruka, I mean. She's not very nice sometimes, but I don't think she deserves to be hurt. Not too hurt, at least," she amended.
Ranma shrugged. "I was planning more on humiliating her than hurting her. But why are you worried? I thought you would want to see Haruka get pounded into the ground."
Usagi shook her head. "Not really. It's strange, I suppose, but after all they did to me I still don't like the idea of seeing any of them hurt." She was silent for several moments, then added, "No one deserves to be hurt."
Ranma disagreed with her there, but she kept her silence. She had met too many jerks over the years who needed a good butt-kicking. Haruka seemed like one of those people, but Ranma had never felt comfortable hitting a girl even when she was one herself. It always left her feeling like she had done something wrong. Defeating Haruka without ever really hitting her would be enough, she decided.
A large crowd was waiting for them when they reached the dirt field behind the school. It seemed as though half the student body had turned out to watch the fight. Haruka was standing in the middle of the field looking impatient and more than a little smug. It was obvious she expected an easy fight.
"Here," said Ranma, handing Usagi her school bag and the wrapped katana. "Hold these for me, will ya?"
Usagi took the proffered items and then followed Ranma as she began to wade through the crowd. At first the other students were reluctant to give way to someone pushing from behind, but when they realized who it was a clear path opened. Ranma stepped out onto the field of battle and, without hesitation, marched out towards Haruka. Usagi stopped at the edge of the mass and looked around for Rei and the others. She found them standing together almost directly opposite her, right behind Haruka. Luna and Artemis had come as well, the pair sitting at Minako's feet.
She was saddened to see her former friends gathered together while she stood alone, separated from them by a field of battle. How was it that all those happy times they had spent together had been ended so suddenly? Even now, after she'd had a week to let it sink in, it didn't seem real. Somehow she felt that she should still be standing over there with them. One group bound by friendship and a common goal.
But that had become little more than a distant dream. Now they were two groups, separated by actions and words that could never be revoked. Usagi's eyes flickered to Ranma and Haruka where they stood before one another. And now those two groups were about to meet each other in battle.
A shiver ran through Usagi. Ranma and Haruka's battlefield suddenly seemed much larger and more sinister. A never-ending wasteland where dreams came to die.
* * * * * *
"What do you think about this?" asked Artemis, whispering so that he wouldn't reveal his true nature to the non-magical members of the crowd.
Luna was ignoring both Ranma and Haruka; her sharp gaze fixed on Usagi. She didn't seem to be any worse for wear despite the recent events. This surprised Luna, who had been sure that the flighty girl would have been in the throes of an emotional breakdown by now. She was relieved to see that her one time charge was holding up well.
Her red eyes shifted to the redhead strutting into the improvised ring. Was this girl the reason Usagi was holding up so well? Or had Usagi's forced expulsion from the Senshi allowed her to grow up a little? There wasn't a day that went by that Luna didn't wish she was still living in the Tsukino residence. There were so many questions that might have been answered had she been allowed to remain at her post.
"I don't like it," replied Luna. "I don't like any of it. This never should have happened. The last time something such as this took place it led to civil war. Do you remember, Artemis?"
Luna's companion nodded. When the Moon Kingdom had been in its infancy, before the thousand years of peace eventually shattered by Metallia, a great war between rival factions led by the various Senshi had broken out. It had lasted thirty-four years, and finally ended without any true resolution. Seeing the bloody devastation they were bringing down upon the Kingdom's worlds, the combatants had simply grown too weary to continue the fight. It had been a dark and terrible time.
"Do you think something like that could happen again?" asked Artemis uneasily.
Luna considered for a moment, then shook her head. "Not on such a scale, no, but if this ends in open combat a good portion of Tokyo could be destroyed." She glanced up at Minako and the others, and a feeling of great sadness washed over her as she took in their beaten and battered forms. "With this new enemy on the loose I doubt it will come to that, though. Either we will resolve this and they will all unify against this new threat, or we will lose everything."
It was a harsh statement, but Artemis couldn't deny the truth in Luna's words. Even had the Senshi presented a unified front, Artemis had to wonder how well they would have fared against the enemy. It had been seven to three the other night, and the Senshi had still been brushed aside like so many ants. Could Usagi really have provided enough power to sway the tide of battle?
That thought weighed heavily on his mind as he turned his attention back to the brewing fight.
* * * * * *
Haruka greeted Ranma with a sharp look. "I didn't think you were going to show."
Ranma returned the glare with an arrogant grin. "You're not the most important thing on my to do list. I had to take care of some stuff first." She looked her opponent up and down, noting that she was still dressed in a boy's school uniform like her own. "Decided not to take my advice and transform, huh?" She kept her voice pitched low enough so that only Haruka could hear the comment.
The blonde frowned and her glare intensified. Then she gave Ranma a smile that didn't begin touch the ice in her eyes. "You think too much of yourself. I'll make this quick since you have so much to do." She flowed into a stance with her feet out wide and her hands up ready to punch or block as required.
"How nice of you." Ranma placed her hands in her pockets and just stood there with a lopsided grin on her face.
Members of the audience began to mutter to one another as they tried to figure out what Ranma was doing. She didn't seem to realize she was leaving herself wide open. They began to wonder if Ranma knew anything about fighting, or if this was going to be a complete slaughter. They couldn't hear anything of what had been said, so perhaps Ranma had offered Haruka a free shot. If that was the case, than she was a very foolish person.
Off to the side, Rei laughed as she watched Ranma assume her unorthodox fighting stance. "She's not taking Haruka seriously," she told her friends in a haughty voice. "This fights going to be over so fast the stupid girl's not even going to get the chance to throw a punch."
The other's nodded in agreement, but a voice from behind them declared differently.
"Ranma will win."
The five Senshi turned to see who it was that was so obviously blind. This took more effort for some than others. Waves of dull, throbbing pain washed through Ami's head whenever she turned it, no matter how carefully or slowly she moved. She had spent all day training herself to move her entire body around when she wanted to look at something, and so turning herself around was a slow, stiff process that caused her to resemble a store mannequin that had just recently learned to walk. It kept the pain to a minimum, though.
Minako was on crutches for the day and was still getting used to moving around with them, so her about face was nearly as ungainly as Ami's. Her friends had encouraged her to stay home and rest all day, but she wouldn't hear of it. She had wanted to come see the fight, though she wholeheartedly disapproved of the whole affair. In her mind there was absolutely no point to all of this, but Haruka wouldn't even listen to her when she had asked the stoic girl to back out. Rei and Michiru were both pleased with the situation as well, though Makoto, who was usually all for a good fight, was oddly silent on the matter. Ami had also disapproved.
Rei, Makoto, and Michiru managed to turn and face the dissenter with only a minor amount of pain and discomfort. Several of the other students who were standing nearby also turned to see who had spoken up.
None of them recognized the older girl standing there regarding them with a knowing smile. She wasn't wearing a school uniform, but was instead dressed in tight blue jeans and a loose gray sweater. Her brown hair fell just short of her shoulders. The pair of brown eyes that regarded Rei calmly made her feel as though she had just been placed upon a set of scales.
"Ranma will win," repeated the girl in a sure voice.
"What makes you so sure of that?" asked Michiru in a cool voice. She didn't like anyone taking her lover as lightly as this newcomer seemed to be. "You don't look as if you attend school here. Do you even have any idea who Ranma's opponent is?"
The girl nodded. "Haruka Tenoh; a skilled race car driver, talented pianist, and master martial artist. Her speed is perhaps her most impressive physical attribute although she is still quite strong. At this school only Makoto Kino," she nodded to the brunette, "can come close to matching her martial prowess. However, despite all of her skills, she's still going to lose."
Michiru didn't know what to say. She really hadn't expected much of an answer, maybe a nod or a simple no. Instead she'd gotten a fairly complete, if simple, rundown on who Haruka was. And since she knew so much about Haruka and was still professing that she was going to lose, that meant…
"Do you know much about Ranma?" asked Michiru, hoping that she could get some information on the mysterious girl.
The girl nodded again. "Ranma…" she hesitated here for a moment, then continued on. "Faster, stronger, and a better all around fighter than Haruka."
Michiru waited for more, but nothing was forthcoming. The girl simply regarded her calmly. She was about to ask for more when Rei piped up in an annoyed voice.
"I don't think you have any idea what you're talking about. Haruka's going to put Ranma down without breaking a sweat!"
The girl's smile took on a devilish cast. "Are you sure?"
Rei nodded. "Absolutely."
"Two-thousand yen sure?"
It took a few moments for Rei to fully grasp the implications of that question. The girl wanted to bet on the fight, an idea Rei didn't find all that appealing. She got a regular allowance, essentially payment for her work at the shrine, and it was more than enough to cover the bet, but it wouldn't leave her with much left over if she lost. There was a new dress she really wanted to get…
"Not so sure, I see," prodded the girl, seeing hesitation. "It seems you have no faith in your friend."
Rei gritted her teeth. Ignoring the voice in the back of her head that told her she was doing something foolish, she said, "Fine. I bet you two thousand yen that Haruka wins the fight."
The girl nodded. "Done. And the rest of you?" She cast an appraising eye over the remaining girls.
It didn't take much for Nabiki to reel in the other four girls, although Ami probably wouldn't have gone along if the rest of them hadn't pitched in. Ten thousand yen wasn't a bad days take. The thought that she might actually lose the bet didn't even cross her mind. Betting against Ranma was never profitable.
Nabiki turned her attention back to the upcoming fight. Both Ranma and Haruka were engaged in the pre-fight staring contest that seemed to accompany so many of these sort of matches. Haruka seemed to be waiting for Ranma take up a fighting stance and was growing more and more agitated as the redhead continued to just stand there. It wouldn't be long before the action began.
Nabiki had found it surprising when Umino had told her that a girl and not a boy named Ranma had started attending Juuban High School. She had believed it to be some sort of mistake until she'd actually talked to several others at the school. Everyone had been eager to tell what they knew about the arrival of the new girl, her sudden friendship with a girl named Usagi, and the break up of what had always been thought of as the tightest group of friends at the school. It had been easy for Nabiki to learn everything she needed to know.
In Nabiki's estimation, Ranma's overriding masculine pride had always been one of his biggest faults, so she found it strange that he was actually allowing others to think of him as a girl. She could only come up with two explanations for the strange behavior.
One was that Ranma was clever enough to realize that he would be harder to track down as a girl since no one would think to look for him in that form. Nabiki didn't completely dismiss this possibility, for Ranma had shown brief bursts of intelligence every now and then—she felt that his leaving was one of these bursts—but she didn't think he was really that sneaky. The other possibility was even less likely though, and that was that Ranma hadn't left because he was fed up with everything, but because he wasn't as masculine as he liked everyone to believe. Perhaps he had grown a bit too attached to his female form?
Nabiki shook her head. She just couldn't see it. There had to be a factor that she hadn't encountered yet. Possibly he had run afoul of something that kept him from changing back into a guy. Or maybe he had lost his memories and now thought he was really a girl. Maybe it wasn't Ranma at all, but some demon disguised as his female form. With Ranma, there really was no way to tell for sure.
Being the type of person who always tried to turn every situation to her best advantage, Nabiki was very good at reading people. She was a exceptionally good at discovering a person's strengths and weaknesses, both physical and mental, and could accurately predict how a person would act in a given situation after she had spent only a few days around them. After having spent a couple years around Ranma, who read like an open book, she should have been able to easily deduce what he was doing running around as a girl, something he professed to despise.
There was, however, a chaotic element to Ranma. Where most people would go right or left, Ranma might go up, shoot off at an angle, or plunge through the nearest wall. Add to that the fact that he seemed to attract a number of equally chaotic friends and enemies, and Nabiki found it increasingly difficult to figure out why Ranma did some of the things he did.
In the end, Nabiki supposed it didn't really matter why Ranma did what he did, just so long as he did what she wanted him to. In this case, that entailed finding and rescuing her sister. She didn't think convincing him to do that would be too much of a problem. While Ranma was unpredictable, he was also easy to manipulate.
* * * * * *
"What do you think you're doing?" growled Haruka.
Ranma was standing across from her in a lazy pose that left too many openings to count. Haruka wanted to win--knew she would win--but she wanted this to be a fight, too. If Ranma was just going to stand there with her hands in her pockets than this was going to be decidedly quick and very boring. And if Ranma thought she could obtain a bit of mercy by not fighting than Haruka was ready to show her the error of that assumption.
"I don't need my hands to beat you," replied Ranma in an infuriatingly cocky voice. "I figure I could probably do it with only one leg too, but that would take too long."
Haruka didn't waste anymore time with words. She simply attacked.
Her movements were incredibly quick, a shuffle step to bring her into range and then a powerful kick to Ranma's gut. All the force of her kick was directed in and up. She was intent on driving the air from her opponent's lungs so she could see the redhead on her knees. The blow should have landed. Ranma hadn't made a move to defend herself and, in Haruka's mind, it was too late to try and dodge. She was just too close, her attack too fast. The blow should have landed, but it didn't.
Haruka's foot shot through the space where Ranma had been an instant before. There was nothing there now, though, and Haruka couldn't understand what had happened. Then a hint of motion caught her eye and she looked down. There was Ranma, bent over backwards at the knees, the line of her body following the line of Haruka's leg so that the blonde's foot hovered just over Ranma's chest. Her hands were still in her pockets.
"It's a balance thing," said Ranma in response to the incredulous stare she was receiving. "It's harder to do as a girl, though, with the extra ballast and all."
Haruka didn't take any time to wonder about Ranma's odd statement. She snapped her foot back and sent herself into a spin, ducking low and thrusting out her other leg as she completed her turn. Ranma had dodged her first attack through some miracle, but there was no way that the redhead could reset her center of balance in time to dodge the leg sweep.
Ranma had no intention of trying to rebalance herself, though. She simply kicked her feet up, allowing the sweep to pass beneath her. For an instant it seemed as though she hung suspended in the air parallel to the ground. Haruka felt triumphant as she watched Ranma begin to fall. She knew this one move wouldn't be the end of the fight, but it pleased her to think of Ranma laying in the dirt. Her delight was short lived, however.
Ranma's hands came out of her pockets and she planted them firmly on the ground, halting her descent. Not even her feet hit the ground. Looking more like a gymnast than a martial artist, she swung her body through the opening between her arms and pulled herself up into a perfect handstand facing away from Haruka.
In such a position Ranma had no means to defend herself from an attack, or even see if an attack was coming. She held the position just long enough to toss Usagi a quick wink. Then she was airborne.
Even though she was using only her arms, Ranma still managed to propel herself nearly ten feet into the air. She corkscrewed through the air, twirling like a gyroscope on its axis. She came down facing Haruka. Casually, she placed her hands back into her pockets and shot Haruka a bored look.
Haruka didn't know what to think. She'd only attacked twice, but both those attacks had been quick, powerful, and well executed. Yet Ranma had managed to dodge both of them deftly and with seemingly little effort. She was forced to wonder if Ranma was really as good as she said she was.
Silence had descended over the crowd of onlookers. They had come to see a fight and instead they were witnessing a performance akin to what they would see at a circus. The thoughts of Rei and the other Senshi were wandering a path similar to Haruka's. Was Ranma really that good? Was Haruka in over her head? Had they just lost a lot of cash?
Usagi and Nabiki wore almost identical smiles. No doubts as to the outcome of the fight circled through their minds.
"You should just quit now," smirked Ranma. "You can't beat me."
"All I've seen is some fancy dodging," growled Haruka. "Is that all you can do? Or can you actually fight?!" she finished with a shout.
Shoving her doubts aside, Haruka hurled herself at Ranma. She unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks at the redhead, keeping the power low and the speed high with the intent of denying Ranma the incredible speed she seemed to possess. To her credit, she did force Ranma to take her hands out of her pockets again, this time in order to block those few strikes she couldn't dodge. Those strikes were few indeed, though.
Ranma moved with an agility Haruka had seen only matched by the ninja girl she had fought the other night. She was so quick that it seemed sometimes her form blurred into two separate images. Haruka realized that she had no chance of landing a blow, and the only thing she could do was wear the redhead down to a point where she would be able to hit her. That or transform, which she wasn't about to do in front of all these people.
"You're fast I suppose," said Ranma in the midst of dodging a combination of kicks. "But not that fast. Want me to show you what real speed is?"
Ranma didn't wait for an answer before smoothly stepping from defense into offense. To Haruka and everyone else gathered it looked like a single movement. A quick darting motion with one hand. The speed behind the strike was truly impressive and Haruka was caught completely off guard, unable to even began thinking of a block that would stop it. The expected blow never fell, though. Ranma simply retracted her hand and leapt away.
Breathing heavily, Haruka stared suspiciously at the redhead, who was wearing an amused grin on her face. "A fancy trick that does nothing?" she asked in a cold voice. "You're not fighting, you're just playing games."
"Games are all you're worth," taunted Ranma as she casually tossed a series of pebbles into the air and caught them again.
No, thought Haruka as her opponent repeated the gesture. Not pebbles, buttons. Her eyes widened in surprise as the front of her shirt suddenly burst open and she realized exactly what it was Ranma had done.
"Catch," said Ranma, hurtling the buttons towards Haruka. Once again it looked like only a single movement, but in actuality she threw all five buttons singularly. One hit Haruka in the stomach, another in the middle of her chest, one in each shoulder, and the last struck her in the forehead. The light pieces of plastic didn't hit very hard, but in her stunned state it was enough to cause Haruka to stumble backwards and fall into a sitting position.
She couldn't understand how this girl could be so fast. Haruka had always prided herself on her speed, but even as a Senshi she wasn't sure she could match what Ranma had just done. It just wasn't possible for someone to be that fast!
"It's over," declared Ranma firmly. "I told you that you wouldn't stand a chance if you didn't transform. Don't worry too much about it, though. Even if you did, you still couldn't win. It would just make things more interesting."
Waves of molten anger roared through Haruka, washing away her shock. She was reaching for her henshin wand before she realized what she was doing. If she transformed she could show this cocky little girl just how wrong she was. If she transformed she would be able to reclaim her trampled pride. If she transformed, the secret she had been entrusted with would be revealed to the entire world.
There was nothing she could do. Ranma was right. The fight was over.
Picking herself up off the ground, Haruka brushed herself off. She had never been overly concerned about matters of modesty, so the fact that her open shirt was showing her bra—and she did wear a bra despite rumors to the contrary—off to the entire world didn't bother her much. It did seem to bother Ranma a bit though. The redhead averted her gaze, keeping Haruka just in the corner of her eye.
"You win," conceded Haruka in a voice loud enough to carry to the entire crowd. The words left a bitter taste in her mouth. "We haven't finished this though. There will be another time, another place, and another fight. Next time I'll be fully prepared."
Ranma opened her mouth to reply with something scathing and arrogant, but she was cut off by a frightened shout. Everyone turned to see what was wrong. The students at one end of the area were pushing back away from a shimmering green circle that had suddenly appeared floating a few inches off of the ground. Most of those gathered didn't know what the thing was nor did they care to stick around to find out. Over the last few years they had learned that it was always best to get far, far away from anything out of the ordinary. They did just that now, running panicked in every direction amidst a tumult of screams and shouts.
Not everyone ran, though. Ranma, Usagi, Haruka, and the other Senshi stuck around, though they moved away from the object of distress just in case it was radioactive or decided to blow up or something. Nabiki stayed nearby as well, moving just far enough away so that she could observe what was happening and feel safe doing so. She also made sure to keep a careful eye on those that owed her money.
While Ranma, Usagi, and Nabiki were all in the dark as to what the green circle was, the others recognized it immediately. It was a portal just like the one that had carried away their attackers the other night. They also recognized the armored figure that stepped out of the portal.
So did Ranma.
"Ucchan?" she whispered in a stunned voice.
