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Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Bonds And Connections
Chapter 5
Selah Lenwith huffed as she ran along the ground. A short time
ago, she had seen all three of her housemates take off, saying something
about Kenji. She had tried to catch up with them, but had lost them when
they took to the roof. Not as physically able as the three martial
artists, she quickly ran out of breath after several blocks of
sprinting.
She paused at the next intersection, unable to determine which
direction they traveled in. "Oh pooh! I'll never find them now!" She
stomped her foot in anger. "How dare they leave me behind! If it is
Kenji-chan, he'll need me!"
The young water mage sighed and collapsed on a bus stop bench
to catch her breath, letting the chilly night air cool her overheated
body. [How am I supposed to find them now?] she asked herself, running
her hands through her shoulder-length, light-blue hair. As her body
temperature dropped, she suddenly had her answer and shot to her feet.
"Of course!" she exclaimed. "They must be running warm, too!
I'll just take a reading on the moisture in the air. If it hasn't been
too long, they should have left a slight trail!"
Buoyed by this revelation, she closed her eyes and
concentrated, letting her magic mingle with water moisture around her.
Her aura of detection grew in diameter as she gauged the humidity of the
air in all directions. [There!] She had it! It was faint, but there was
a slight trail of warmer air drifning over the housetops.
Refreshed and recovered somewhat, Selah took off down the
street, homing in on her friends' trail.
After ten more minutes of travel, Selah stopped. The trail had
practically dissipated by now and she was hard pressed to follow it much
further. Glancing around revealed that she had ended up in a more run-
down section of Nerima, with several boarded-up houses and larger
buildings scheduled for demolition.
[Now where am I supposed to go?] she wondered in despair. She
hadn't a clue where they could have ended up now, as the trail ended
here. [Are they in one of these buildings? Or did the temperature trail
finally just plain dissipate?]
She sighed and leaned up against one of the concrete walls
surrounding one of the condemned properties, wondering what she should
do now.
And then she heard the scream.
The martial artist crouched, hands out to either side, while he
awaited the attack. He didn't have to wait long.
The arrow approached from his right, and he twisted to catch it
in his right hand, while his left flung three sharp knives in response.
Three deep *thunks* sounded in the distance, letting him know he had
missed his opponent completely, but a not a tree trunk.
It was quiet again, and Mousse scanned for his attacker, but
couldn't even hear the leaves rustle. Trying to see his adversary was
pointless even if he was wearing his glasses. With a new moon, the night
was pitch black, and the forest canopy shielded him from the stars
above.
Without sight, and with no noise being made by his attacker,
Mousse was really blind.
"[That response was sloppy, Mu Tsu,]" his male opponent told him
disdainfully in Chinese from the darkness.
Mousse didn't bother with a reply, twisting a quarter-turn and
moving ever so slightly to his right. His tactic paid off. The spear
that would have skewered him, landed in the soft ground he had been
standing in moments before.
Grinning to himself, he laid his hand on the cool metal of the
shaft and pulled it out of the ground. By the angle if its entry, Mousse
could tell which direction it was thrown and from how far away. But as
he hefted the weapon and prepared to throw, it was suddenly jerked from
his grasp.
He managed to get a tighter grip on the spear to hold onto it,
but he was still pulled off balance. That proved to be a nearly costly
mistake, as the dull whistle was his only warning of the inbound
projectiles.
Mousse flicked the weapon up, deflecting the first dart, but
the second one struck his upper arm. He winced in pain, and his grip
lessened enough for the spear to finally be yanked from his grasp. As it
flew out of his hands, the myopic Amazon tumbled to the ground.
Wincing, he reached over and pulled the dart out of the cloth
covering of his arm, finding himself unable to do much else at the
moment. [Was there something in the dart?] he wondered.
A very light *thump* was his only warning of someone landing
beside him. A snap of his wrist sent the dart up at the general location
he perceived the man to be, and was rewarded with the ping of it hitting
metal and a short grunt from his adversary.
Rolling away quickly, he sent a singular weighted wire flying
out of his sleeve along the ground. With a twitch of his wrist, the line
wrapped itself around the legs of his opponent. Mousse gave a quick tug
to trip the other man up and slipped a sword out of his other sleeve,
into his hand, and prepared to finish it once and for all.
"STOP!"
Mousse froze while his sensei turned the light on his helmet
on, forcing Mousse to squint and then replace his glasses. His eyes
widened in fear when they finally adjusted to the scene.
Fen Wu's clawed boot was mere centimeters above Mousse's
throat, and the wire that he had launched was only wrapped around the
other leg. If Mousse had given a quicker tug on that line, or if Fen Wu
and simply dropped his leg, Mousse's throat would have been rendered a
bloody mess.
The near-sighted Amazon gulped as Fen Wu lowered the other foot
to the ground, claws retracting into the boot, while untangling the wire
from his other leg. By the expression on the bigger man's face, Mousse
could tell he had screwed up badly. He accepted the hand from his sensei
and stood.
Fen Wu replaced his weapons and equipment into his own robe.
"[What did you do wrong?]"
Mousse sweatdropped in nervousness. "[I-I don't really know,
Sensei. I thought I had you.]"
"[Do not think!]" the weapons master reprimanded. "[This should
be instinct! Your first mistake was going for the spear. For all you
knew, it could've been coated with poison and your life would have been
over right there. Never use an enemy's weapon! That's why you carry so
many of your own!]"
The old man sighed and regarded his student. "[And your second
mistake is one that you tend to repeat. You lash out without thinking
through the tactics in your mind. This will cause you to fail every
single time! Your body should react on instinct and your mind should be
several steps ahead. Your chain attack-]" he picked up the small wiry
chain, "[-was ill-thought out. You assumed I landed on both feet, when I
only landed on one. I could have crushed your neck when I first came
down, but I held back to see what you would do.]"
Mousse felt dejected. After all he had learned, it still seemed
he couldn't ever reach the high plateau that his sensei expected of him.
[No wonder Shampoo rejected me and Ranma beat me easily, I am a
weakling.]
"[Self-pity is unbecoming a warrior, Mu Tsu.]" Fen Wu's voice
was enough to bring the other man's head back up.
"[But I failed-]"
"[It is only failure if you do not learn from it!]" Fen Wu
practically yelled at his student. "[You are capable of planning in
advance, which I surmise you did with that chain mail mesh you are
wearing under your robe. That's why the dart wasn't able to release it's
paralysis compound into you. Your weaponskill is excellent, nearly a
match for my own, but you don't take full advantage of your body for
other weapons, limiting it to your sleeves and occasionally your feet.]"
Mousse looked up, perplexed. "[Sensei?]"
"[You have potential, Mu Tsu, and that's why I spend my time
training you. Your tactical thinking is better than most, but you only
utilize it when planning for a fight, yet hardly ever when in the midst
of one.]" The aged weapons master paused, then turned his back and began
to walk away. "[Hopefully, you will correct that once you leave here.]"
The confusion on Mousse's face only grew. "[Leave here? Are you
through teaching me?]" When his teacher didn't stop or respond, the boy
ran to catch up to him.
"[There is very little I have left to teach you,]" Fen Wu
stated, not looking at his student. "[By the end of the week, you will
depart from here.]"
As they walked back to the cabin, Mousse hoped his sensei would
elaborate, but he would say no more, and the trip was made in silence.
"Hello?" the nervous girl called out. "Oniichan? Are you in
here?"
Her two companions joined her inside, and together they scanned
the darkened interior of the condemned office building. Yuri's call went
unanswered while she squinted into the musty and spiderwebbed corridors.
The walls were cracked, boards on the floor were broken and missing, and
an unpleasant scent of erosion wafted past their noses.
"Well, what now?" Ukyo asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Are we even sure he came in here?"
Yuri's face became determined and fierce. "I know my brother! I
know he came in here!"
Ukyo sighed. "But why? Yuri-honey, something about this doesn't
make any sense!"
"I don't know!" the young ninja girl practically shouted in an
exasperated tone. "There must be some reason! Maybe he needs some help
or something!" Picking a direction seemingly at random, the flustered
girl took off down the darkened and frail hallway, scanning left and
right for any sign of her wayward sibling.
Ukyo glanced to Konatsu, who reflected her disconcerted and
perplexed gaze. He shrugged in reply to her unasked question and the two
took off after their runaway friend, the boards under their feet
creaking and groaning in protest.
"Yuri-sama!" Konatsu called out. "Please slow down!"
The two companions caught up to the sprinting girl, but only
after a long sprint. They each grabbed an arm, stopping her at a three-
way hallway intersection.
Yuri railed against her 'captors'. "Let me go!"
"Not until you calm down!" Ukyo snapped at her.
The tone of voice stopped the struggling girl and brought her
head up. "But, we have to help-"
"We know that already!" The chef told her, cutting the other
girl off. "But running off half-cocked ain't gonna help anyone! Don't
you think we want to find him, too?"
The ninja girl sagged, and the other two released her. "I just
can't lose any more of my family," she said so quietly it was nearly a
whisper. She walked over to the wall and placed her forearm against it,
resting her head against her arm. "It was my fault my family is dead. If
I hadn't snuck out of the house that night, I would have been there and
could have done something. And if I hadn't left my brother and grand-
mother alone, he would still be here."
"It is not your fault, Yuri-sama," Konatsu offered, laying a
hand on her shoulder. "You cannot blame yourself. If you were with your
family, you would have been burned alive as well, and Kenji-sama would
have no one. Whatever killed Oka-sensei, would have killed you too, had
you been there."
Yuri sniffed. "Maybe." Her head came up. "But I just know he
needs my help now. I can't explain it, it's just a feeling, but
something terrible has happened to him and the longer we wait, the less
chance we have to help him."
"Okay, Yuri-chan," Ukyo replied, wrapping her arms across her
chest and rubbing her shoulders to generate warmth from the chill of a
passing breeze. "But we have to be careful. This doesn't feel right, and
this building is old and weakened."
As if on cue, the chef took a few steps backward and stepped on
a section of flooring that was more rotted away that the rest. With a
startled squawk, Ukyo plummeted into darkness as the wooden boards gave
away.
Despite her fatigued state, Selah nearly jolted out of her skin
when she heard the obviously female scream. Trembling, she turned toward
the abandoned building it came from, only to have to have her
apprehension increase as she beheld the ruined and boarded structure,
just barely visible in the starlight.
The word 'Eerie' popped into her mind, yet she somehow knew
they were in there. She wasn't scared, no, she was absolutely terrified.
[But if Kenji-chan is in there...] The thought lingered in her head.
Swallowing her nervousness and taking a deep breath, she
quickly made her way to the ruined structure and put her hand on the
door, whose hinges squealed with protest as she opened it. By now the
scream had cut off, leaving her wondering what direction to go in.
Grumbling to herself and trying to quell the fear that had
returned, she picked a direction that felt like the scream came from and
started walking.
"Ukyo-sama!" "Ucchan!"
Both ninja leapt forward in an attempt to grab the falling
chef, but neither one was able to grab her before she disappeared into
the darkness below. As they knelt at the edge of the darkened hole, they
scanned for any sign of their fallen friend, but could see nothing.
"I'm going down after her," Konatsu declared, getting ready to
jump.
A hand on his arm stopped him. "No, it's my fault she's in this
mess. I'll go."
"But Yuri-sama..." Konatsu stared into Yuri's worried, yet
determined face, and acquiesced. "Very well."
Unfortunately, neither one were able to take any further
action, as a black blur shot out of the pit, it's path taking it right
between the two teens. Yuri felt the blunt end of something strike the
side of her neck, while Konatsu just barely managed to bring a hidden
sai up to block the blade aimed for him. Still, the impact propelled him
away for the mouth of the hole.
As Konatsu stumbled back, Yuri toppled sideways, dazed from the
strike with stars still dancing in her vision, and fell into the
darkness below.
"Yuri!" Konatsu cried, lunging for the girl, only to have his
movement halted by the black blur that reformed itself into a black
bodysuit-clad ninja. His opponent brought a slightly curved 16 inch
blade up, holding it horizontally in front of his body.
"If you want the girls," he spoke with an unnaturally rumbling
voice, "you will have to go through me."
The male kunoichi slowly withdrew the takemitsu from its sheath
and held it up. "I will not let you have them!" Konatsu sprung forward
and attacked, bringing the weapon around in an arc that would have
struck his adversary's neck and disabled the man, had it not been
knocked aside.
Konatsu felt a fist find his ribs, driving the air from his
lungs as his body folded over it. Then a backhand from the other fist
aimed to practically take his head off. He barely managed to twist away,
turning the blow into a glancing one, but it was still enough to send
him stumbling drunkenly backward once more.
A mistake, he realized. He didn't take his opponent seriously,
thinking only of getting to the girls. At the edge of his vision, he
detected movement approaching and he could hear the near-silent whisper
of his enemy's blade coming for his throat. Mustering his concentration,
he managed to bring up his own bamboo weapon and turn aside the thrust
of his adversary's metal one, by striking with the flat of the blade.
With a *thunk*, the metal sword lodged itself the plywood of the wall
behind Konatsu, just barely missing his neck.
Fully regaining his senses, Konatsu his other hand up, flicking
his wrist and sliding the sai hidden in his sleeve into his fingers. He
planted the butt end of the handle in his opponent's stomach, the blow
shoving the other man away and forcing him to abandon his sword. Konatsu
twirled, lashing out with his foot and striking several blows across the
body of his enemy, sending him to the ground.
A split second later, Konatsu was on him, the edge of his
takemitsu resting against his enemy's throat. While not a sharp weapon,
with the right skill he could easily cut the jugular out, turning it
into a killing move.
"Konatsu..." The downed ninja whispered in a now very familiar
voice.
The kunoichi's eyes widened, even while he grasped the top of
the black mask and pulled it off, revealing a pained and very familiar
face underneath. "Kenji-sama! Why?"
The edges of Kenji's lips curved into a sneer. "Weakling...
fool!"
And that's when Konatsu realized he had made his second
mistake, as he felt a hand place itself flat against his chest.
Kenji spoke a single word. "Hitohuki."
A powerful force shoved Konatsu upward, where he slammed into
the ceiling. His head struck a thick wooden beam and shattered it, and
as his vision began to fade out, his last sight was the sight of a face
that was Kenji's, and yet was not, sneering at him.
"That was a very poor performance," an old voice clucked from
the darkened hallway. "He almost had you."
"He got lucky," Kae spat, regaining her feet. Despite having a
male body now, she still thought of herself as female. Her only
consolation, was that she would be able to revenge herself on the one
who imprisoned her in that hole. "Have you secured the two females?"
"Of course. The drop wasn't that great and they were already
unconsciousness when I captured them."
Kae pulled her blade from the wall and walked over to the
fallen boy's form, preparing to sever his head from his shoulders. "I
shall kill him now."
"Stop."
The singular word froze Kae's body, despite all her attempts to
move, and her eyes flashed several different shades of hate and menace.
"Why did you stop me!? If you kill your enemies now, they cannot stop
you later! And you have the two girls for hostages, already."
Zhao Len emerged from the shadows, her eyes narrowing. "Oh, I
will kill him later, but only when I have all of the ones responsible
for my downfall together. Then, and only then, will they watch each of
their friends die in turn."
Selah flattened herself against the wall, hearing the tail end
of the conversation. The two voices she heard were that of an old woman
and Kenji, but the tone of the boy's voice she had such an infatuation
for, was not what she remembered. It seemed... darker somehow, less
forgiving and not as happy.
[What's happened to him?] she wondered, her heart pumping so
loud and fast, that she was sure the two just down the hall would hear
it.
The she heard the part about killing them, and her legs finally
gave out, sending her sliding to the floor. Her last confrontation with
death, had been when her mother and several others had made a rapid
departure from their Tibetan village. Many homes were already on fire,
and people were running around in confusion. During the exodus, she had
seen several dead bodies, getting a first hand look at exactly what
"death" was. When her mother told her that her father wasn't coming with
them, the young girl made the connection of what had happened to her
daddy.
And now three of her friends were being scheduled to die, and
she was powerless and too scared to do anything. After all, if Ukyo,
Konatsu, and Yuri were all beaten, what could she possibly do?
Especially since it looked like Kenji was the one responsible for it.
The tears began to leak out once more. She was alone again,
having been driven many miles from a place she had once called home. She
had just come to think of the restaurant as a new temporary home while
waiting for her mommy to return. But without the people who had taken
her in there, it wouldn't be home any more, either.
Zhao Len and Kae had already moved off, or else they might've
heard the sobs of a young girl as she broke down, crying in fear,
loneliness, and despair.
Ukyo groaned as she awoke, feeling decidedly uncomfortable. The
surface area she was laying on, was not as soft as she remembered. She
figured she'd have to get Konatsu to re-fluff the futon and pillow
later, right after she took some aspirin to kill the pounding
jackhammers in her brain.
Then she realized she hadn't fallen asleep. The uncomfortable
position she was in, was due to the stone floor she was laying on and
the steel manacles attached to her wrists and ankles. With that, the
activities of... was it the night before? Only a few hours? Ukyo
couldn't tell how long she'd been out. All she knew was that her head
hurt like hell.
She sat up as best she could, while getting a look at her
surroundings. It appeared to be some sort of small cement cell, the
manacles connected by a thick chain to the stone wall. The only light
was cast by a single candle resting on a table in the center of the
room, causing a myriad of shadows to dance on the walls.
"Hello?" she called out hesitantly. "Anybody there? Konatsu-
chan? Yuri-chan?" A feminine groan was her only response, leaving her
wonder if it was Yuri or Konatsu. "Wake up!" she nearly yelled, trying
to get the other prisoner awake without alerting her captors.
"Come on, Ucchan, 'nother five minutes..." Yuri's voice mumbled
from the cell next door.
Ukyo sighed and counted silently to ten, before practically
shouting Yuri's name.
"Ahh! I'm up!" Yuri blinked while jerking upright. "Where am I?"
She spied her current captive state, manacles restraining her movement.
"What happened to me?"
"You were taken prisoner, same as me," Ukyo told her, dryly.
Yuri's head came up and she took a look at her surroundings.
"Ucchan? Where's Konatsu? Is he with you?"
Ukyo shook her head, then realized Yuri wouldn't be able to see
that. "Sorry, sugar. I don't know what happened myself." She winced as
the pounding in her brain intensified for a moment. "But I can promise
you that when I find out who's responsible for this, they're gonna be in
a world of hurt!" [And if I had my spatulas or flour bombs, or ANY of my
weaponry, I could actually do something,] she didn't add.
"Are you sure about that?" an old voice asked over the opening
creak of a rusty door. Ukyo and Yuri observed a Cologne-like woman walk
into the room, followed by a ninja in black.
"Zhao Len!" Yuri exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
Ukyo's eyes widened, not having actually seen the old woman,
but hearing the name later. "You're that old ghoul that kidnapped Ran-
chan and Akane-chan all those months ago!"
The old ex-Amazon chuckled. "Guilty as charged."
"What have you done with my brother!?" Yuri yelled.
Zhao Len feigned innocence. "Why, my dear, what makes you think
I did anything to him?"
"I know he's here!" Yuri retorted. "Where is he!?"
"You're in no position to make demands little girl!" the
wrinkled old woman barked, then tapped her chin thoughtfully. "However,
I think I can allow you to see his face once more, just to let you know
who you'll have to kill to escape." She gestured to her silent
companion, who removed his ebony mask.
"Kenji!" Yuri gasped.
Ukyo's mouth went dry. It was Kenji all right, but something
about his face was wrong. His features were harder, eyes darker, and
lips curved upward in a superior-looking smirk. Not at all an expression
she was used to seeing on the boy's face.
Kenji walked over to Yuri's cell and sneered at her through the
bars. "Hiya, 'sis'. What do you think of your 'big brother' now, eh?
Don't worry, I won't let anyone else lay a hand on you. Your death will
come at my hand alone." He glanced over at Ukyo. "You, too. Zhao Len's
being generous in allowing me your lives."
"Why!?" Ukyo asked, her headache taking a backseat to her
growing horror.
The smile that appeared on his face was not kind at all.
"Because I can. There's another reason, but I'll leave it a secret for
now." He winked at them. "However, it is not yet time for you to die.
You can have your lives for a little longer."
"NO!!" Yuri screeched. "What have you done to him, you witch!?
That's not my brother! You're controlling his mind again!"
Zhao Len cackled again. "Oh, brilliant girl! Oh course I am,
but not to the extent you think. He needed some... persuasion, but then
we struck a deal. Your lives for his. He agreed quite readily."
"WITCH!" Yuri forced herself to her feet and began to
concentrate her wind energies.
But before she could act, Kenji struck first, thrusting his
palm outward and sending a forceful wind blast into Yuri's cell,
slamming the girl into the stone wall behind her. She promptly crumpled
to the floor when he let the attack off.
"Stop it!" Ukyo cried. "Kenji, you IDIOT! Why are you doing that
to your own sister!?"
His eyes swung over to meet hers, and Ukyo felt a chill go down
her spine at the dark depths in them. It appeared the normal silvery-
gray in them had darkened considerably. "Why not? You see, I'm not Kenji
anymore; I'm merely using his body. You're 'Kenji' is quite gone."
"No..." came the choked and pained sob from Yuri's cell. "How
can you use the wind? It's based on the desire to protect..."
Kenji tsk'ed as he examined his fingernails. "Actually, it's
just based on desire. If you want it to happen, it does."
"Enough," Zhao Len commanded. "We must go. We have more plans to
make. Do not think of using your wind tricks to escape, girl." She
directed that last statement at the sobbing girl. "If you do, I will
kill Konatsu."
"What about me?" Ukyo asked, trying to infuse her voice with as
much bravado as she could, and not entirely succeeding.
Zhao Len snorted. "Don't me laugh. Without your weapons, you're
a weak little girl, hardly a threat. Just a short-order cook is what you
really are, only pretending to be a martial artist." She turned and
headed for the door. "I suggest you make peace with whatever Japanese
kami you believe in."
With that, she left, Kenji following. Ukyo sighed and sat back
against the wall, the sounds of Yuri's pained sobs drifting to her cell.
Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000
Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Bonds And Connections
Chapter 5
Selah Lenwith huffed as she ran along the ground. A short time
ago, she had seen all three of her housemates take off, saying something
about Kenji. She had tried to catch up with them, but had lost them when
they took to the roof. Not as physically able as the three martial
artists, she quickly ran out of breath after several blocks of
sprinting.
She paused at the next intersection, unable to determine which
direction they traveled in. "Oh pooh! I'll never find them now!" She
stomped her foot in anger. "How dare they leave me behind! If it is
Kenji-chan, he'll need me!"
The young water mage sighed and collapsed on a bus stop bench
to catch her breath, letting the chilly night air cool her overheated
body. [How am I supposed to find them now?] she asked herself, running
her hands through her shoulder-length, light-blue hair. As her body
temperature dropped, she suddenly had her answer and shot to her feet.
"Of course!" she exclaimed. "They must be running warm, too!
I'll just take a reading on the moisture in the air. If it hasn't been
too long, they should have left a slight trail!"
Buoyed by this revelation, she closed her eyes and
concentrated, letting her magic mingle with water moisture around her.
Her aura of detection grew in diameter as she gauged the humidity of the
air in all directions. [There!] She had it! It was faint, but there was
a slight trail of warmer air drifning over the housetops.
Refreshed and recovered somewhat, Selah took off down the
street, homing in on her friends' trail.
After ten more minutes of travel, Selah stopped. The trail had
practically dissipated by now and she was hard pressed to follow it much
further. Glancing around revealed that she had ended up in a more run-
down section of Nerima, with several boarded-up houses and larger
buildings scheduled for demolition.
[Now where am I supposed to go?] she wondered in despair. She
hadn't a clue where they could have ended up now, as the trail ended
here. [Are they in one of these buildings? Or did the temperature trail
finally just plain dissipate?]
She sighed and leaned up against one of the concrete walls
surrounding one of the condemned properties, wondering what she should
do now.
And then she heard the scream.
The martial artist crouched, hands out to either side, while he
awaited the attack. He didn't have to wait long.
The arrow approached from his right, and he twisted to catch it
in his right hand, while his left flung three sharp knives in response.
Three deep *thunks* sounded in the distance, letting him know he had
missed his opponent completely, but a not a tree trunk.
It was quiet again, and Mousse scanned for his attacker, but
couldn't even hear the leaves rustle. Trying to see his adversary was
pointless even if he was wearing his glasses. With a new moon, the night
was pitch black, and the forest canopy shielded him from the stars
above.
Without sight, and with no noise being made by his attacker,
Mousse was really blind.
"[That response was sloppy, Mu Tsu,]" his male opponent told him
disdainfully in Chinese from the darkness.
Mousse didn't bother with a reply, twisting a quarter-turn and
moving ever so slightly to his right. His tactic paid off. The spear
that would have skewered him, landed in the soft ground he had been
standing in moments before.
Grinning to himself, he laid his hand on the cool metal of the
shaft and pulled it out of the ground. By the angle if its entry, Mousse
could tell which direction it was thrown and from how far away. But as
he hefted the weapon and prepared to throw, it was suddenly jerked from
his grasp.
He managed to get a tighter grip on the spear to hold onto it,
but he was still pulled off balance. That proved to be a nearly costly
mistake, as the dull whistle was his only warning of the inbound
projectiles.
Mousse flicked the weapon up, deflecting the first dart, but
the second one struck his upper arm. He winced in pain, and his grip
lessened enough for the spear to finally be yanked from his grasp. As it
flew out of his hands, the myopic Amazon tumbled to the ground.
Wincing, he reached over and pulled the dart out of the cloth
covering of his arm, finding himself unable to do much else at the
moment. [Was there something in the dart?] he wondered.
A very light *thump* was his only warning of someone landing
beside him. A snap of his wrist sent the dart up at the general location
he perceived the man to be, and was rewarded with the ping of it hitting
metal and a short grunt from his adversary.
Rolling away quickly, he sent a singular weighted wire flying
out of his sleeve along the ground. With a twitch of his wrist, the line
wrapped itself around the legs of his opponent. Mousse gave a quick tug
to trip the other man up and slipped a sword out of his other sleeve,
into his hand, and prepared to finish it once and for all.
"STOP!"
Mousse froze while his sensei turned the light on his helmet
on, forcing Mousse to squint and then replace his glasses. His eyes
widened in fear when they finally adjusted to the scene.
Fen Wu's clawed boot was mere centimeters above Mousse's
throat, and the wire that he had launched was only wrapped around the
other leg. If Mousse had given a quicker tug on that line, or if Fen Wu
and simply dropped his leg, Mousse's throat would have been rendered a
bloody mess.
The near-sighted Amazon gulped as Fen Wu lowered the other foot
to the ground, claws retracting into the boot, while untangling the wire
from his other leg. By the expression on the bigger man's face, Mousse
could tell he had screwed up badly. He accepted the hand from his sensei
and stood.
Fen Wu replaced his weapons and equipment into his own robe.
"[What did you do wrong?]"
Mousse sweatdropped in nervousness. "[I-I don't really know,
Sensei. I thought I had you.]"
"[Do not think!]" the weapons master reprimanded. "[This should
be instinct! Your first mistake was going for the spear. For all you
knew, it could've been coated with poison and your life would have been
over right there. Never use an enemy's weapon! That's why you carry so
many of your own!]"
The old man sighed and regarded his student. "[And your second
mistake is one that you tend to repeat. You lash out without thinking
through the tactics in your mind. This will cause you to fail every
single time! Your body should react on instinct and your mind should be
several steps ahead. Your chain attack-]" he picked up the small wiry
chain, "[-was ill-thought out. You assumed I landed on both feet, when I
only landed on one. I could have crushed your neck when I first came
down, but I held back to see what you would do.]"
Mousse felt dejected. After all he had learned, it still seemed
he couldn't ever reach the high plateau that his sensei expected of him.
[No wonder Shampoo rejected me and Ranma beat me easily, I am a
weakling.]
"[Self-pity is unbecoming a warrior, Mu Tsu.]" Fen Wu's voice
was enough to bring the other man's head back up.
"[But I failed-]"
"[It is only failure if you do not learn from it!]" Fen Wu
practically yelled at his student. "[You are capable of planning in
advance, which I surmise you did with that chain mail mesh you are
wearing under your robe. That's why the dart wasn't able to release it's
paralysis compound into you. Your weaponskill is excellent, nearly a
match for my own, but you don't take full advantage of your body for
other weapons, limiting it to your sleeves and occasionally your feet.]"
Mousse looked up, perplexed. "[Sensei?]"
"[You have potential, Mu Tsu, and that's why I spend my time
training you. Your tactical thinking is better than most, but you only
utilize it when planning for a fight, yet hardly ever when in the midst
of one.]" The aged weapons master paused, then turned his back and began
to walk away. "[Hopefully, you will correct that once you leave here.]"
The confusion on Mousse's face only grew. "[Leave here? Are you
through teaching me?]" When his teacher didn't stop or respond, the boy
ran to catch up to him.
"[There is very little I have left to teach you,]" Fen Wu
stated, not looking at his student. "[By the end of the week, you will
depart from here.]"
As they walked back to the cabin, Mousse hoped his sensei would
elaborate, but he would say no more, and the trip was made in silence.
"Hello?" the nervous girl called out. "Oniichan? Are you in
here?"
Her two companions joined her inside, and together they scanned
the darkened interior of the condemned office building. Yuri's call went
unanswered while she squinted into the musty and spiderwebbed corridors.
The walls were cracked, boards on the floor were broken and missing, and
an unpleasant scent of erosion wafted past their noses.
"Well, what now?" Ukyo asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Are we even sure he came in here?"
Yuri's face became determined and fierce. "I know my brother! I
know he came in here!"
Ukyo sighed. "But why? Yuri-honey, something about this doesn't
make any sense!"
"I don't know!" the young ninja girl practically shouted in an
exasperated tone. "There must be some reason! Maybe he needs some help
or something!" Picking a direction seemingly at random, the flustered
girl took off down the darkened and frail hallway, scanning left and
right for any sign of her wayward sibling.
Ukyo glanced to Konatsu, who reflected her disconcerted and
perplexed gaze. He shrugged in reply to her unasked question and the two
took off after their runaway friend, the boards under their feet
creaking and groaning in protest.
"Yuri-sama!" Konatsu called out. "Please slow down!"
The two companions caught up to the sprinting girl, but only
after a long sprint. They each grabbed an arm, stopping her at a three-
way hallway intersection.
Yuri railed against her 'captors'. "Let me go!"
"Not until you calm down!" Ukyo snapped at her.
The tone of voice stopped the struggling girl and brought her
head up. "But, we have to help-"
"We know that already!" The chef told her, cutting the other
girl off. "But running off half-cocked ain't gonna help anyone! Don't
you think we want to find him, too?"
The ninja girl sagged, and the other two released her. "I just
can't lose any more of my family," she said so quietly it was nearly a
whisper. She walked over to the wall and placed her forearm against it,
resting her head against her arm. "It was my fault my family is dead. If
I hadn't snuck out of the house that night, I would have been there and
could have done something. And if I hadn't left my brother and grand-
mother alone, he would still be here."
"It is not your fault, Yuri-sama," Konatsu offered, laying a
hand on her shoulder. "You cannot blame yourself. If you were with your
family, you would have been burned alive as well, and Kenji-sama would
have no one. Whatever killed Oka-sensei, would have killed you too, had
you been there."
Yuri sniffed. "Maybe." Her head came up. "But I just know he
needs my help now. I can't explain it, it's just a feeling, but
something terrible has happened to him and the longer we wait, the less
chance we have to help him."
"Okay, Yuri-chan," Ukyo replied, wrapping her arms across her
chest and rubbing her shoulders to generate warmth from the chill of a
passing breeze. "But we have to be careful. This doesn't feel right, and
this building is old and weakened."
As if on cue, the chef took a few steps backward and stepped on
a section of flooring that was more rotted away that the rest. With a
startled squawk, Ukyo plummeted into darkness as the wooden boards gave
away.
Despite her fatigued state, Selah nearly jolted out of her skin
when she heard the obviously female scream. Trembling, she turned toward
the abandoned building it came from, only to have to have her
apprehension increase as she beheld the ruined and boarded structure,
just barely visible in the starlight.
The word 'Eerie' popped into her mind, yet she somehow knew
they were in there. She wasn't scared, no, she was absolutely terrified.
[But if Kenji-chan is in there...] The thought lingered in her head.
Swallowing her nervousness and taking a deep breath, she
quickly made her way to the ruined structure and put her hand on the
door, whose hinges squealed with protest as she opened it. By now the
scream had cut off, leaving her wondering what direction to go in.
Grumbling to herself and trying to quell the fear that had
returned, she picked a direction that felt like the scream came from and
started walking.
"Ukyo-sama!" "Ucchan!"
Both ninja leapt forward in an attempt to grab the falling
chef, but neither one was able to grab her before she disappeared into
the darkness below. As they knelt at the edge of the darkened hole, they
scanned for any sign of their fallen friend, but could see nothing.
"I'm going down after her," Konatsu declared, getting ready to
jump.
A hand on his arm stopped him. "No, it's my fault she's in this
mess. I'll go."
"But Yuri-sama..." Konatsu stared into Yuri's worried, yet
determined face, and acquiesced. "Very well."
Unfortunately, neither one were able to take any further
action, as a black blur shot out of the pit, it's path taking it right
between the two teens. Yuri felt the blunt end of something strike the
side of her neck, while Konatsu just barely managed to bring a hidden
sai up to block the blade aimed for him. Still, the impact propelled him
away for the mouth of the hole.
As Konatsu stumbled back, Yuri toppled sideways, dazed from the
strike with stars still dancing in her vision, and fell into the
darkness below.
"Yuri!" Konatsu cried, lunging for the girl, only to have his
movement halted by the black blur that reformed itself into a black
bodysuit-clad ninja. His opponent brought a slightly curved 16 inch
blade up, holding it horizontally in front of his body.
"If you want the girls," he spoke with an unnaturally rumbling
voice, "you will have to go through me."
The male kunoichi slowly withdrew the takemitsu from its sheath
and held it up. "I will not let you have them!" Konatsu sprung forward
and attacked, bringing the weapon around in an arc that would have
struck his adversary's neck and disabled the man, had it not been
knocked aside.
Konatsu felt a fist find his ribs, driving the air from his
lungs as his body folded over it. Then a backhand from the other fist
aimed to practically take his head off. He barely managed to twist away,
turning the blow into a glancing one, but it was still enough to send
him stumbling drunkenly backward once more.
A mistake, he realized. He didn't take his opponent seriously,
thinking only of getting to the girls. At the edge of his vision, he
detected movement approaching and he could hear the near-silent whisper
of his enemy's blade coming for his throat. Mustering his concentration,
he managed to bring up his own bamboo weapon and turn aside the thrust
of his adversary's metal one, by striking with the flat of the blade.
With a *thunk*, the metal sword lodged itself the plywood of the wall
behind Konatsu, just barely missing his neck.
Fully regaining his senses, Konatsu his other hand up, flicking
his wrist and sliding the sai hidden in his sleeve into his fingers. He
planted the butt end of the handle in his opponent's stomach, the blow
shoving the other man away and forcing him to abandon his sword. Konatsu
twirled, lashing out with his foot and striking several blows across the
body of his enemy, sending him to the ground.
A split second later, Konatsu was on him, the edge of his
takemitsu resting against his enemy's throat. While not a sharp weapon,
with the right skill he could easily cut the jugular out, turning it
into a killing move.
"Konatsu..." The downed ninja whispered in a now very familiar
voice.
The kunoichi's eyes widened, even while he grasped the top of
the black mask and pulled it off, revealing a pained and very familiar
face underneath. "Kenji-sama! Why?"
The edges of Kenji's lips curved into a sneer. "Weakling...
fool!"
And that's when Konatsu realized he had made his second
mistake, as he felt a hand place itself flat against his chest.
Kenji spoke a single word. "Hitohuki."
A powerful force shoved Konatsu upward, where he slammed into
the ceiling. His head struck a thick wooden beam and shattered it, and
as his vision began to fade out, his last sight was the sight of a face
that was Kenji's, and yet was not, sneering at him.
"That was a very poor performance," an old voice clucked from
the darkened hallway. "He almost had you."
"He got lucky," Kae spat, regaining her feet. Despite having a
male body now, she still thought of herself as female. Her only
consolation, was that she would be able to revenge herself on the one
who imprisoned her in that hole. "Have you secured the two females?"
"Of course. The drop wasn't that great and they were already
unconsciousness when I captured them."
Kae pulled her blade from the wall and walked over to the
fallen boy's form, preparing to sever his head from his shoulders. "I
shall kill him now."
"Stop."
The singular word froze Kae's body, despite all her attempts to
move, and her eyes flashed several different shades of hate and menace.
"Why did you stop me!? If you kill your enemies now, they cannot stop
you later! And you have the two girls for hostages, already."
Zhao Len emerged from the shadows, her eyes narrowing. "Oh, I
will kill him later, but only when I have all of the ones responsible
for my downfall together. Then, and only then, will they watch each of
their friends die in turn."
Selah flattened herself against the wall, hearing the tail end
of the conversation. The two voices she heard were that of an old woman
and Kenji, but the tone of the boy's voice she had such an infatuation
for, was not what she remembered. It seemed... darker somehow, less
forgiving and not as happy.
[What's happened to him?] she wondered, her heart pumping so
loud and fast, that she was sure the two just down the hall would hear
it.
The she heard the part about killing them, and her legs finally
gave out, sending her sliding to the floor. Her last confrontation with
death, had been when her mother and several others had made a rapid
departure from their Tibetan village. Many homes were already on fire,
and people were running around in confusion. During the exodus, she had
seen several dead bodies, getting a first hand look at exactly what
"death" was. When her mother told her that her father wasn't coming with
them, the young girl made the connection of what had happened to her
daddy.
And now three of her friends were being scheduled to die, and
she was powerless and too scared to do anything. After all, if Ukyo,
Konatsu, and Yuri were all beaten, what could she possibly do?
Especially since it looked like Kenji was the one responsible for it.
The tears began to leak out once more. She was alone again,
having been driven many miles from a place she had once called home. She
had just come to think of the restaurant as a new temporary home while
waiting for her mommy to return. But without the people who had taken
her in there, it wouldn't be home any more, either.
Zhao Len and Kae had already moved off, or else they might've
heard the sobs of a young girl as she broke down, crying in fear,
loneliness, and despair.
Ukyo groaned as she awoke, feeling decidedly uncomfortable. The
surface area she was laying on, was not as soft as she remembered. She
figured she'd have to get Konatsu to re-fluff the futon and pillow
later, right after she took some aspirin to kill the pounding
jackhammers in her brain.
Then she realized she hadn't fallen asleep. The uncomfortable
position she was in, was due to the stone floor she was laying on and
the steel manacles attached to her wrists and ankles. With that, the
activities of... was it the night before? Only a few hours? Ukyo
couldn't tell how long she'd been out. All she knew was that her head
hurt like hell.
She sat up as best she could, while getting a look at her
surroundings. It appeared to be some sort of small cement cell, the
manacles connected by a thick chain to the stone wall. The only light
was cast by a single candle resting on a table in the center of the
room, causing a myriad of shadows to dance on the walls.
"Hello?" she called out hesitantly. "Anybody there? Konatsu-
chan? Yuri-chan?" A feminine groan was her only response, leaving her
wonder if it was Yuri or Konatsu. "Wake up!" she nearly yelled, trying
to get the other prisoner awake without alerting her captors.
"Come on, Ucchan, 'nother five minutes..." Yuri's voice mumbled
from the cell next door.
Ukyo sighed and counted silently to ten, before practically
shouting Yuri's name.
"Ahh! I'm up!" Yuri blinked while jerking upright. "Where am I?"
She spied her current captive state, manacles restraining her movement.
"What happened to me?"
"You were taken prisoner, same as me," Ukyo told her, dryly.
Yuri's head came up and she took a look at her surroundings.
"Ucchan? Where's Konatsu? Is he with you?"
Ukyo shook her head, then realized Yuri wouldn't be able to see
that. "Sorry, sugar. I don't know what happened myself." She winced as
the pounding in her brain intensified for a moment. "But I can promise
you that when I find out who's responsible for this, they're gonna be in
a world of hurt!" [And if I had my spatulas or flour bombs, or ANY of my
weaponry, I could actually do something,] she didn't add.
"Are you sure about that?" an old voice asked over the opening
creak of a rusty door. Ukyo and Yuri observed a Cologne-like woman walk
into the room, followed by a ninja in black.
"Zhao Len!" Yuri exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
Ukyo's eyes widened, not having actually seen the old woman,
but hearing the name later. "You're that old ghoul that kidnapped Ran-
chan and Akane-chan all those months ago!"
The old ex-Amazon chuckled. "Guilty as charged."
"What have you done with my brother!?" Yuri yelled.
Zhao Len feigned innocence. "Why, my dear, what makes you think
I did anything to him?"
"I know he's here!" Yuri retorted. "Where is he!?"
"You're in no position to make demands little girl!" the
wrinkled old woman barked, then tapped her chin thoughtfully. "However,
I think I can allow you to see his face once more, just to let you know
who you'll have to kill to escape." She gestured to her silent
companion, who removed his ebony mask.
"Kenji!" Yuri gasped.
Ukyo's mouth went dry. It was Kenji all right, but something
about his face was wrong. His features were harder, eyes darker, and
lips curved upward in a superior-looking smirk. Not at all an expression
she was used to seeing on the boy's face.
Kenji walked over to Yuri's cell and sneered at her through the
bars. "Hiya, 'sis'. What do you think of your 'big brother' now, eh?
Don't worry, I won't let anyone else lay a hand on you. Your death will
come at my hand alone." He glanced over at Ukyo. "You, too. Zhao Len's
being generous in allowing me your lives."
"Why!?" Ukyo asked, her headache taking a backseat to her
growing horror.
The smile that appeared on his face was not kind at all.
"Because I can. There's another reason, but I'll leave it a secret for
now." He winked at them. "However, it is not yet time for you to die.
You can have your lives for a little longer."
"NO!!" Yuri screeched. "What have you done to him, you witch!?
That's not my brother! You're controlling his mind again!"
Zhao Len cackled again. "Oh, brilliant girl! Oh course I am,
but not to the extent you think. He needed some... persuasion, but then
we struck a deal. Your lives for his. He agreed quite readily."
"WITCH!" Yuri forced herself to her feet and began to
concentrate her wind energies.
But before she could act, Kenji struck first, thrusting his
palm outward and sending a forceful wind blast into Yuri's cell,
slamming the girl into the stone wall behind her. She promptly crumpled
to the floor when he let the attack off.
"Stop it!" Ukyo cried. "Kenji, you IDIOT! Why are you doing that
to your own sister!?"
His eyes swung over to meet hers, and Ukyo felt a chill go down
her spine at the dark depths in them. It appeared the normal silvery-
gray in them had darkened considerably. "Why not? You see, I'm not Kenji
anymore; I'm merely using his body. You're 'Kenji' is quite gone."
"No..." came the choked and pained sob from Yuri's cell. "How
can you use the wind? It's based on the desire to protect..."
Kenji tsk'ed as he examined his fingernails. "Actually, it's
just based on desire. If you want it to happen, it does."
"Enough," Zhao Len commanded. "We must go. We have more plans to
make. Do not think of using your wind tricks to escape, girl." She
directed that last statement at the sobbing girl. "If you do, I will
kill Konatsu."
"What about me?" Ukyo asked, trying to infuse her voice with as
much bravado as she could, and not entirely succeeding.
Zhao Len snorted. "Don't me laugh. Without your weapons, you're
a weak little girl, hardly a threat. Just a short-order cook is what you
really are, only pretending to be a martial artist." She turned and
headed for the door. "I suggest you make peace with whatever Japanese
kami you believe in."
With that, she left, Kenji following. Ukyo sighed and sat back
against the wall, the sounds of Yuri's pained sobs drifting to her cell.