Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Trouble with a Capital `A'

Chapter 6





"I still don't see why I had to come," Akara complained. She
glared at the man with her. [Pervert.]

Tenma shrugged and muttered quietly. "I don't see why I have to
put up your macho attitude either. [She's done nothing but complain, get
angry and blame me for everything. What a tomboy.]

"What was that?" she demanded.

Tenma sighed. "Nothing." He really didn't want to get into
another argument. He absently rubbed his jaw where she had socked him.
[Like I meant to walk in on her when she was bathing in that stream. I
didn't think anyone was there and I needed a bath, too. So she got a
good look at me, as well.] A slight smile crossed his face, as the scene
of Akara stepping out of the stream flitted through his mind.
[Kawaii...]

He shook his head and focused once more on the mission.

Apparently, Senshin had made intial overtures with a ninja clan
and he needed a couple of strong people to meet them in person and
hopefully convince them to join the cause. That would explain Akara's
presence. Despite her attitude, she was a formidable fighter.

Tenma's battle senses suddenly went on alert and he froze.
Akara stopped behind him and had the good sense (for once) to not say
anything. Maybe she sensed it, too.

Tenma extended his ki. "I count six figures surrounding us," he
whispered.

She nodded. "What do we do?"

Tenma went through several plans in his head. "If we stay, they
get the drop on us. On the count of three, follow me." Surprisingly, she
didn't argue.

He counted down, then as one they sprinted at high speed,
eventually taking to the trees. Continuing to sense the figures, he
noted them mirroring their movements, so he sprung off the trunk of a
particularly large tree, sending his body crashing into one of their
pursuers. Akara mirrored it slightly, barreling into a second opponent,
grabbing his arm, and flipping him into the ground.

By the time the others figured out what changed, two of their
number were taken out of the action. They converged on the now still
targets.

Tenma swore as the projectiles came at him. He dodged the first
few, then caught the rest. [Shuriken?] He had no more time to ponder
this, as the enemy was upon them.

It was four on two, but to Tenma, the skill level of his all-
black clad opponents wasn't a concern. He was more worried for Akara.
While pretty good herself, she could be easily distracted in a melee
fight. He slammed his current opponent to the ground and thrust downward
with an iron-palm strike, taking the man out of action.

To his side, Akara was hard pressed against the two enemies
that took turns attacking her. They're actions were continually backing
her up. [They're herding me.] She growled. [No way they're gonna make me
play their game!]

She stepped forward into the next attack, a slice of a katana
blade. Ducking under it, she came up inside the surprised man's defenses
and unleashed a powerful series of punches and kicks to various vital
points. The black clad opponent stood stunned for a second before she
threw him into a nearby tree.

She instinctively backed up just in time to avoid a flight of
shuriken that whizzed by in front of her. Feeling something, she glanced
down and was a bit miffed that a couple of shuriken had grazed her
stomach, slashing open the cloth across her belly.

She screamed and lunged for her attacker who stepped out of the
way, bringing the butt-end of his katana down on her head. Akara went
down and rolled, dodging the foot aimed for her back. She grabbed it and
pulled, bringing the man off balance while she did a quick handstand
that let her foot impact his jaw. As his head snapped up, she came to
her feet.

It didn't take much to finish him.

Akara turned to see Tenma clapping with a big grin on his face.
"What?"

He shrugged. "Nothin'. Not bad, but I kinda feel sorry for the
guy."

"As am I."

Tenma froze. [I didn't sense the new figure. Why? It was a
female voice. Why didn't I detect her?]

The voice anticipated his question. "You're good, but you don't
sense me because I'm not a threat. I was merely watching while my
students tested you."

"Well, come on down and we'll finish the lesson!" Akara
challenged.

"That won't be necessary," she said. "You passed."

"You're from the ninja clan, Garou," Tenma said flatly.

An obviously female figure in black ninja garb emerged from the
shadow of a tree and removed her mask, her medium length, jet black hair
spilling out in a pony tail. She bowed. "It is a pleasure to greet the
emissaries of the army of Tendo Senshin. I am called Kae. May I ask your
names?"

Tenma bowed. "I am Saotome Tenma, trained by Sensei Satsu."

At a glance from Tenma, Akara also bowed, albiet with less
enthusiam. "I am Tendo Akara, daughter of Senshin."

Kae nodded. "Very well. Come with me and I'll take you to our
clan elders." She clapped her hands and several more figures appeared
out of thin air, picked up their unconcious comrades, and disappeared
again.

The pair began to follow Kae deeper into the forest.





Miyo groaned. Again, another part of the dream, but still
nothing about it made sense! She hadn't figured out yet if it had
happened for real, or if it was some sort of vision. If it was real, the
clothes and mannerisms told her it had happened long ago; several
hundred years at least.

She glanced at the clock. The red, digital readout placed her
at 7:00 am. [Well, I might as well get up. Maybe I can do some research
in mom's old library.]

The young fortune-teller rolled out of bed and prepare to face
the day.






Ranma awoke Akane the next morning with a bucket of cold water.
Naturally, that enraged the Tendo girl enough to come at Ranma with
everything she had. She even yelled her famous battle cry of "RANMA NO
BAKA!"

After several minutes of heavy combat, er, sparring, Ranma
tossed Akane to the ground. She jumped back up and charged him, ending
back on the ground again. She tried this five more times before
growling, giving up and going back to the tent to change. When she re-
emerged again, she found Ranma cooking breakfast.

"Alright Ranma, you've got one minute to explain yourself," she
growled.

"Weren't expectin' an attack while you were asleep, eh?" he
asked, slightly amused.

"Of course not!" she yelled. Then it hit her. "Uh, I suppose
this is another lesson in anticipating an attack?"

He nodded. "That's how Oyaji woke me up every mornin' on the
road. After awhile, my body tuned in to the warnings of an attack and
I'd spring awake at the first signs of danger." He looked up at her. "I
won't do that again, since their are other ways of training you in that.
I just wanted to let you know if I was a serious attacker, you could be
dead now."

She shivered at the thought. "You always think that death is
waiting around the corner? How can you live like that?"

He shrugged. "Well, not really. But living on the road with
Oyaji proved kinda... hazardous, especially with his knack for stealin'
and tickin' off the people we came across. But don't worry, after awhile
it just becomes instinct. It doesn't work all the time, but enough that
you survive. How do ya think I avoided all those times I was ambushed by
Ryoga and Mousse?"

She decided to changing the subject. "So, what's on the
schedule for today?"

He handed her some of the fish that was cooking and they ate.
"We need to get your speed up more. All your strength is nothing if you
can't land a single punch."

"But I hit you several times yesterday," she retorted.

He shook his head. "I wasn't moving at full speed. I wanted you
to land some attacks. You're a force to be reckoned with once you use
that Tiger's Wrath trick, but you have to learn to fight without it. You
can't rely on it, since there will be times when you need to save your
ki for later."

"So more jumping around and chasing you, huh?" Akane sighed. She
glanced at the weights still strapped to her arms. After yesterday, they
almost felt like they were a part of her. Almost.

"Yeah, but there's something I want you to work on first."

They finished breakfast and Ranma led her to a tree. He carved
a small square on it with a knife, then stepped back.

"Okay, we're gonna work on your punches," he stated. "I want you
to start punching inside that square as fast as you can. Don't worry
about power, since I know you can destroy this tree. " She stepped up.
"Okay, go for it."

She lanced out with her fists, trying to put as much speed into
her actions as she could. At first, she was putting small impact points
in the trunk and Ranma had to remind her to lighten up the power. Soon,
she was barely touching the trunk before withdrawing her hand and
lancing it foreward again.

"That's better," he said. "Keep it up. I'm going to leave you
alone for awhile so I can work on some stuff I've been meaning to do.
Don't stop or slow down until I come back!"





Kasumi was humming to herself as she walked back to the dojo
from the supermarket. She smiled and greeted each person she came across
and they happily returned the favor. After all, everybody liked Kasumi
and Kasumi liked everybody.

She glanced up at the clear blue sky. "It's going to be a
wonderful day," she said to herself. "I should be able to get some
laundry done, and then maybe go on a walk with Tofu." She giggled
lightly. Tofu was always so funny and made her laugh. Lately, he'd been
a bit more serious, but that was okay.

She turned a corner and the Tendo estate came into view. Yes,
it was going to be a wonderful day.






If Kasumi detected the two people tailing her, she gave no
sign. They were under orders not to attack, but to find the target and
they believed they could do that by following this person. Sure enough,
she led them straight to the dojo. They leapt to the top of a nearby
building to talk.

"This is the place?" asked the first one.

"Yep, I'm sure of it." replied the second one. "The Tendo Dojo."

"So this is where the target lives..." said #1. "Can we attempt
an extract?"

#2 shook her head. "No, too many people and we were warned the
target was very dangerous and armed with our techniques. Our mission is
a simple find and report."

#1 shrugged. "Well, we found the dwelling, but I don't see
anyone matching the description inside. I suggest we go report and then
stake the place out."

#2 agreed and the two women leapt away.





Out of a nearby shadow another figure, an old man, appeared. He
stroked his white goatee thoughtfully as he watched the fleeing forms of
the two women.

He frowned. [What are they doing here? They should be back in
China. The event is not yet upon us, though I feel it is close. But from
what I've heard, they might not be any help to us this time around.] He
cocked his head. [Then again... Maybe one of the others might know why
they're here. I'll go ask my two pupils.]

The old sensei left to find his two students.






"Brother dear?" Kodachi croaked.

"Yes my sister, I am here," Tatewaki moved to her side as she
lay in a mental hospital bed. Her injuries had been treated and Kuno
thought it best for her to be committed until she returned to a sane
mind.

"I feel bad, Tatchi," she said in a weak voice. "I think I did
some bad things, but I don't know what." She grasped her head. "No! Why
do I have to listen to you! Shut up!... No, you only bring me pain!"

Tatewaki grabbed his sister's hand. As near as he could figure,
Galfgar must have left some sort of post-hypnotic suggestion in her head
that acted as another voice, one that was once again trying to take
over. "Fight it, Dachi! You are stronger than this!"

She screamed out in pain and Kuno stood back as the doctors
stepped forward and administered a seditive. She soon stopped thrashing
and crying, settling into a deep sleep.

As the doctors left, Kuno sighed. This was not going to be
easy.






Nabiki sat back and stretched, hoping the mess before her would
clear away as easily as the crinks in her back. Oddly, they hadn't by
the time she took another look at them.

Sitting on her desk were various ledgers and financial
information, and on her computer was even more data. All of it was Kuno
family investment reports, and most of it stank. If she was right, there
were untold number of people embezzling money from the companies the
Kuno family owned. That, and some of their business practices were
decidely immoral.

If she wanted to clean up this wide spread corruption, she had
her work cut out for her. Her line of thought was broken, however, by a
tapping on her window. She opened it and in popped a duck.

A duck with glasses.

Nabiki blinked. "Mousse?"

The duck quacked and nodded. He also pulled out a robe and a
kettle of hot water from his wings.

Nabiki blinked again.

After splashing himself with hot water and donning his robe,
Mousse grabbed Nabiki by the shoulders. "Tendo Akane! I've come to speak
to you on a very important matter!" Nabiki reached up and pulled his
glasses down. "Tendo Nabiki? Sorry."

"Nevermind. Now what's this important matter that concerns my
little sis?"

He thought for a minute. "I need to warn Ranma and Akane.
They're lives are in danger!"

The middle Tendo's eyes narrowed. "From what?"

Mousse looked down. "Amazons." Nabiki thought on this for a
second, while Mousse looked up again. "Please, at least let's assemble
your family. I do have some more information to relate and it will be
easier if I can do it all at once."

Nabiki nodded and the two headed downstairs.





Onna-Ranma was working through a complex kata she had devised.
The movements were horribly complicated and combined moves from a dozen
different styles. She had strung them all together in a unique way that
promised great things if she could get it right.

She she jumped, punched, and kicked through the motions, a
faint blue aura began to build around her, though she didn't notice
since she was too busy concentrating. She neared the end of the sequence
and brought her hands together.

"Moko," she said silently. She jumped and flipped in mid-air.

"Takabisha," she intoned a little louder as she came down.

Touching down, she finished it. "Perfect!"

The ki ball in her hands suddenly grew in size and engulfed
her. For a second, her nerves were on fire as her confidence began to
wane. Then she recovered and held onto the fact she had worked through
the kata to perfection. The fire she felt dimmed to a mere tingle as the
high-powered blue ki energies swirled around her. She felt her control
slipping and felt she needed to let go, else she would be consumed.

She concentrated on her target, and thrust out her cupped
hands. A brilliant beam of blue energy burst from the shield and plowed
into the large rock formation. The shield quickly drained, and of her
target, it was no more.

"Yatta!" she leaped into the air.

She didn't want to tell Akane, but the shear amount of energies
they were generating together during the battle with Galfgar nearly
killed them both. Ranma foolishly thought she could handle the extra
energy, but it nearly proved her undoing. Only by focusing it around
them, was she able to contain it. If it hadn't been for the confidence
her friends showed in her, and Akane's love for her, they might've died.

But now, now she had duplicated the move without Akane. It
wasn't nearly as powerful, but she didn't have Akane's ki to draw on.
Now she needed to perfect it; she could only hold the intial shield
stage for no more than 10 seconds before she had to release the pent-up
energy.

She took a breath, closed her eyes, and began the kata again,
though she didn't get the chance to finish.

"AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!"

Her eyes snapped open. That was Akane's voice!

Ranma leapt into action, heading to where she left the girl
practicing on the tree. As she came into view, her heart moved into her
throat.

Akane was laying on her side, away from him. She wasn't moving
and blood covered her arm. Ranma dropped to the ground from the tree
branch and ran to her, but froze midway.

A large tiger was standing a few feet away, growling.

She felt the fear began to rise. Despite all their Nekoken
training, Ranma still held a fear of cats. Although if they were calm
and non threatening, she could deal with one in a room. A huge tiger she
still had problems with, but if she didn't do anything, Akane was as
good as dead.

Her cat persona began to claw it's way out of her mind, trying
to take control and protect her from the menacing cat. She could almost
smell the fish sausages, and her body began to tingle with the memory of
many cats, biting and clawing at her flesh.

Through shear strength of will, Ranma fought it down. If she
went cat now, she wouldn't be able to treat Akane later. She had to do
something.

Her fists came up and she gulped, taking a single step forward.

Then another.

And another.

The tiger continued to watch this intruder nearing it's meal.
Sensing it was coming too close, it growled again, and leapt to the
attack.

Ranma dropped to the ground and rolled as she felt a claw swipe
her back. It wasn't a deep cut, but it hurt nonetheless. The cat lunged
again and onna-Ranma twirled out of the way. Her cat persona was
screaming to be let out now. She almost let it, her fear was preventing
her from forming any effective attack plans.

Another lunge and swipe, and yet another near-miss.

And then Ranma discovered something. Her body was starting to
react like a cat, but she was still concious. The cat persona in her
mind may still be contained, but her body was beginning to react. She
didn't have full command of the Nekoken, but there was one thing she
could try, and it just might ease the burden of the bestial force in her
mind.

Slowly, she let a trickle of the Neko persona loose. Not all of
it, just a bit, and it was enough. With the next lunge, Ranma leapt to
the attack instead of dodging. The tiger's claws met onna-Ranma's
invisible ki-claws. The tiger growled and Ranma hissed.

[Stay in control. Control. Control. Control.] She repeated that
word in her mind over and over, and fought back.

With a twist of her wrists, she sheared the claws off the big
cat with her own and sent it tumbling backward. The tiger limped to it's
feet and tried to decide whether to risk another attack. The pain in
it's paws convinced it otherwise and it took off into the forest.

Ranma collapsed to her knees, shaking greatly, as the cat
persona in her mind retreated. She had done it! She had taken control,
although she felt extremely exhausted from all the energy she used to
both control her mind and go through the motions of attack and defense,
not to mention the stress. Then she remembered Akane and crawled over to
her.

Trembling badly from the hyper dose of adrenaline still
shooting through her veins, she rolled her iinazuke to her back and
check the arm. Apparently the weights took the brunt of the attack and
her arm was just scratched.

[Then why isn't she moving?] Ranma thought worridly. She
brushed her hand through the unconcious girl's hair, and felt a bump.
[She must have hit her head on the tree when she fell from the attack.]

"A-Akane?" Ranma whispered. "Come on Akane, wake up!"

She stirred. "Ran-ma?"

"I'm here."

She jerked awake. "Kami! The tiger!"

"It's gone." Ranma began to feel dizzy and weak, the exhausting
experience catching up to her as the adrenaline faded. "Sorry, you'll
have treat us both..." Ranma collapsed.

"Ranma!" Akane exclaimed. She sat up and then noticed the blood,
as well as the glistening sheen of sweat covering the redhead. After
checking the smaller girl over, Akane relaxed some, realizing that she
was going to be okay.

"I guess I better get to the stream and wash us both off."





Ranma awoke with the sensation of very cold water running down
her back. She involuntary winced and hissed. She then noted she was on
her side and topless.

"Sorry about that, but I need to clean your wound," Akane said
from behind her.

Ranma winced again as Akane dabbed at the wound with a towel.
"Careful, tomboy!"

"Ranma?" Akane asked.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Ranma blinked. "Oh, it was nothing."

"Baka! You faced down a tiger for me. I don't know how you did
it."

Ranma groaned as her fiancee finished dressing the wound with
some bandages. "Neither do I."

Ranma replaced her shirt and they walked back to the campsite
together. Both still somewhat weak, and each partially supporting the
other. Ranma called a halt to the day's training so Akane could recover.
Well, so she could recover too, but she didn't admit it.

After lunch (and a quick hot water change), he snuck away from
the campsite and wandered to the top of a nearby cliff to think. He
never really realized how powerfully the Nekoken had affected him until
now. Before, the change had always been quick, and he held no memory of
it afterwards.

But even now, he could practically feel that other personality
within him, and the memory of it clawing at his conscious mind lingered
still. He felt very much like a ticking time bomb, and for once, he was
very much in fear for what it what mean for Akane.

His iinzuke, meanwhile, had gone to find Ranma after cleaning
up the few dishes from dinner. She was worried about this latest
challenge would affect him. He might put on a macho front, but she knew
he could actually be quite fragile inside. Just because he didn't
express complex emotion, didn't mean he didn't have them.

After several minutes of searching, she finally managed to find
him perched on top of the rocky precipice. "Ranma?" she asked, unsure
whether he wanted her to join him.

"Ya know, I think I almost understand," he said slowly.

"What's that?"

"The Nekoken," he replied. "It's more than a fear-based
reaction." Akane walked over and sat down beside him. "I've never told
anyone this before, but, everytime my fear reaches a certain level and
if a cat is present, a presence in my mind takes over. Usually, my mind
is happy to let it take over."

"So why was this time different? You must've been terrified of
the tiger, but you drove it off."

Ranma was silent for a minute, but when he spoke next, it was
very quiet. "Because of you. You were in danger." Akane wrapped her arm
around him, trying to comfort him as Ranma continued. "I knew that if I
went Nekoken, I might not be able to help you if you were seriously
hurt. The part of me that wants to protect you fought with the cat
personality."

Akane looked up to see a tear run down his face, teller her how
deeply this was affecting him. "I-It nearly won, Akane. I could feel it
clawing and hissing and screaming and..." Ranma dropped his head as the
tears flew freerer and his voice began to break. "Oh kami, Akane, I
nearly lost it. I was so scared. I was so damn scared..."

Akane squeezed him tighter and laid her head on his shoulder.
"Shhh. It's okay. You beat it and saved me."

He fought back his tears. "No, it's not alright! I may have
this time, but what about next time? Just easing my fear to cats isn't
enough. It'll always be with me and sooner or later I'll get scared
enough of something and I'll lose control to it."

Akane furrowed her brow in thought. "You almost make it sound
like a living, seperate entity."

Ranma thought for a moment. "Tha-that's what it feels like.
That's exactly what it feels like."

"Then maybe you should try to communicate with it," she said
simply.

"How?"

"I don't know. You'll figure out a way." She leand up and kissed
him lightly on the lips. "You always do."

"Man, I'm so messed up." He looked down at Akane's concerned
gaze. "How can you stand to be with me?"

She smiled. "Because I do. I need you and you, Saotome Ranma,
need me!"

He finally, and hesitantly, wrapped his own arm around her,
returning the hug at least. "I used to think I didn't need anybody, that
I could get by on my own." He kissed the top of her head. "Now, I don't
know what I'd do without you. I love you so damn much."

She looked up at him and smiled that smile that drove him nuts.
"I love you, too."