STICKS AND CARROTS
Part One: Sensei
Chapter Eleven
The day of the duel dawned clear and bright, and the two contenders converged on the appointed ground. Ku Lon had chosen the location for the duel carefully, with an eye to giving the different advantages of the rivals equal power. Ranma's greater speed was better for the wide-open spaces, while Ryouga's Bakusai Tenketsu would take advantage of the high quantity of stone in the area. Granted, Ranma couldn't use his superior agility to good advantage in these open quarters, and Ryouga could not depend on his strength, but all in all everything was as fair as Ku Lon could manage while allowing each fighter to exercise their best advantages equally. An old, lone tree almost in the exact center of the field provided a convenient landmark.
However, at the moment she had another problem to occupy her – this one coming from another quarter entirely.
"I am not just going to stay in camp while those two BAKA beat on each other! Someone needs to keep an eye on them!"
"And what am I? Day-old sushi?"
"No – it's just…"
Ku Lon sighed. "Then you will remain well back from the fight. Understood? If you fail to inspire trust in me that you will do so, then I will take measures to ensure that you do not come too close."
Akane looked disbelievingly at her. "What will you do, tie me in a tree?"
"The thought did cross my mind."
The disbelieving and faintly disdainful look turned into a shocked one. "What? But…"
Another sigh. "It is not that I do not wish you to witness this fight, child; indeed, I believe it would benefit you greatly to see it. However, I refuse to be responsible for any injury you might acquire by getting too close."
Akane huffed and crossed her arms stubbornly. "I can take care of myself!"
Ku Lon rubbed her brow, wondering why she'd forgotten to bring her Aspirin with her. Stubborn children made for a lot of these stupid headaches. "Perhaps you would understand a demonstration." Her eye fell on an appropriate object – the remaining rubble from one of Ryouga's successes. "Would you hand me one of those stones? A medium-sized one, please."
The girl looked confused, but handed a stone to the Matriarch, roughly the size of a man's head. Ku Lon hefted it, eyeing the stone with a practiced eye. Good; its structure was weak and already partly damaged by the original shattering. It would break easily into large pieces without the risk of dangerous shards or sharp edges.
"Now child, observe the Bakusai Tenketsu!"
Ku Lon poked the breaking point of the stone, and Akane yelped in surprise and dismay as the stone shattered – explosively. To the girl's credit, she reacted quickly, shielding her face and throat and twisting to present the smallest possible target for the flying stones. But she could not protect herself completely, and the rocks hammered her briefly before the explosion ended. Not hard, granted; only enough to leave sore spots and maybe a very minor bruise or two – but definitely enough to make the Matriarch's point.
Ku Lon spoke before Akane could begin to get angry, giving the girl a very stern look. "Now do you understand?" she asked. "The Bakusai Tenketsu is a powerful technique, yes, but never forget that it is also an unfocused technique. When used, shrapnel goes everywhere. I should also warn you that the larger the stone, the more powerful the technique. The stone I just used was small and the shrapnel was painful but harmless. Such will not be the case during the match."
"But… you're going to be right there," Akane said weakly.
Ku Lon laughed. "Do I really look like an idiot to you, child? I will be keeping a healthy distance. I like my old bones in one piece, dear girl. I may have endured the training myself, but that does not make being a bystander too close to the technique a pleasant experience."
As Ku Lon hoped, the knowledge that she herself would be also staying at a distance encouraged Akane. Now that pride was no longer an issue, and she knew that she could keep an eye on things, the girl fell into step behind the Matriarch as they approached the site of the duel.
"I've waited for this day, Ranma! Hey, what are you doing on this side of the field?!"
"What am I doing? Ryouga… your side is over there."
"What do you mean? Are you saying I'm lost?"
"Akane's over there."
"O-on my way. P-pardon me."
Amazingly, Ryouga only strayed off course twice on his way over to the appropriate side. Ku Lon ventured into the field briefly to guide him to the appointed location, then the Matriarch quickly retreated to a safe distance. "Let's try that again, shall we? From the top."
Ryouga coughed. "Errr… right." Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders, and all his abashment seemed to leave him. "I have waited for this day, Ranma!" he roared.
"……" Ranma waved a hand in a 'get on with it, will ya?' gesture. Ku Lon gave him a quick, analyzing look. All in all, he seemed no more and no less battered than Ryouga, though his injuries (if such minor things could really be termed that) had a much greater variety. Plenty of bruises, plenty of scratches, sting marks, even a few burn marks. Nothing that amounted to more than a minor annoyance, even when taken as a whole rather than individually.
Ryouga simply burned with righteous rage. It in fact made for quite the interesting visual effect, as the seething flames were almost, but not quite, visible. "PREPARE TO DIE!"
Again, Ranma said nothing – but the same fires, though this time of determination, burned behind him.
Akane rolled her eyes. "Do they have to be so dramatic about this?"
Ku Lon patted her on the shoulder. "It's just part of the tradition, child. Smile and nod."
At this point, the Elder became aware that someone else was attempting to uphold the tradition of pre-combat Dramatic Declarations.
[Foolish old woman! Know that the power] flip [of the Saotome Art will always defeat any] flip again [foolish tricks you might teach!]
Ku Lon smiled benevolently at the panda and offered a sardonic nod of the head in his direction. It was, she mused, ironic that Ryouga and Genma were choosing the vocal pre-combat strategy, while she and Ranma were choosing the silent route. The juxtaposition of student-teacher strategies was not lost on Genma, either, who put away his signs and settled for glaring balefully across the battlefield at her.
Ku Lon wasn't given much chance to think on it, though. Ryouga had finished the preliminaries, and charged straight into the fight. "NOW, RANMA!" he shouted, lunging. A fist shot forward, one finger extended.
Ku Lon blinked. Odd. What was that boy aiming at?
Ranma easily slipped sideways, evading the attack. "Y'know," he said conversationally, "fer someone trained by th' ol' ghoul… ya leave a lotta openings!" The statement was punctuated by a powerful kick that sent Ryouga flying parallel to the ground.
Ryouga slapped a hand down to the ground and used his momentum to flip and land on his feet, facing his rival. "Then I'll see to it that your open mouth is closed – FOREVER!" he roared, snapping a hand down to the stone at his feet.
"Ahhh… now the Bakusai Tenketsu comes into play," Ku Lon said, nodding sagely.
Akane gulped.
Ranma, on the other hand, was remarkably calm. "Talk is cheap!" he laughed. At the edge of the explosion's radius, only a fraction of the stones came at him – and with the speed of the Amiguriken behind him, blocking the stones was a breeze – although Ku Lon could not for the life of her figure out why he was stashing them in the crook of his free arm and weighing himself down by carrying them. "What is this, a smoke screen? Whups, guess so!" he added, again flowing sideways to evade Ryouga and leaving the lost boy under several pounds of rubble as he dropped his armload. Combined with the second explosion as Ryouga's finger touched stone, the lost boy did not fare well in the exchange.
"Too bad ya missed!" Ranma laughed.
Akane turned to Ku Lon, eyes wide and dismayed. "Why aren't you doing anything?! This isn't rivalry, Ryouga's trying to kill Ranma!"
Ku Lon turned a curious look on the girl, one that quickly shifted to surprise and a bit of caution. Akane certainly seemed convinced of the truth of her words. Turning back, she studied the fight more closely as Ryouga continued futilely pursuing the pig-tailed boy. Now that she actually was paying attention, she noticed that he was, indeed, trying to tag Ranma with that outstretched finger, and the explosions were the results of his misses and not intentional as she had assumed.
Ku Lon frowned. Why was Ryouga doing that? The Bakusai Tenketsu didn't work on anything except stone…
'I didn't tell him that,' she realized, feeling a little chill. 'He thinks it will work… and he's trying to use it anyway?'
Not good. Very, very not good. If the Bakusai Tenketsu really had been effective against humans, then it would have been a very, very dangerous, very, very lethal technique. And yet… Ryouga certainly didn't seem worried about that.
'Either he has a very great deal of faith in Ranma's ability to evade him, which just doesn't fit the situation somehow… or he was serious about that "Prepare to die!" challenge.' Erk. If that was the case, maybe this course of action was slightly ill-advised…
"He cannot kill Ranma, child," Ku Lon said absently. "Not with the breaking point. On the other hand, I believe my teishi is about to discover the true power of the Bakusai Tenketsu…"
On the battlefield, Ranma slipped past another futile strike. "Y'know, Ryouga," he said, still in a conversational tone, "y' really ain't doin' yourself a favor with that li'l trick. If ya blow up many more rocks, y' ain't gonna even be able t' stand."
Ryouga snarled and spun on his heel, trying to catch his elusive opponent. "Don't mock me, Saotome! Soon you will pay for my suffering!"
"What is he talking about?" Ku Lon asked curiously – although she had a reasonably educated guess.
Akane shrugged, momentarily distracted from fretting. "I have no idea."
Ranma shook his head and again evaded Ryouga's attack, but this time he moved inside Ryouga's guard. "Well, since y' ain't gonna give up 'til yer down, apparently, maybe I should end this… NOW!"
The pigtailed boy spun on one foot, the other lashing up and sending Ryouga flying into a high rise. Ryouga crashed with an incredible impact, and fell to the ground – accompanied by several huge chunks of earth shaken loose by the force of the collision.
Akane blinked. "It's… over?"
Ranma watched the pile of dirt and stones, absently rubbing rock dust off of his face with the back of his hand. "Huh. Didn't 'xpect it t' be that easy…"
Ku Lon just smiled, pulled a bag of M&Ms out of her sleeve, and snacked as she watched. One should always have something to snack on during a show.
An ear-splitting CRACK! pierced the air, and a rift in the stone lanced from the mound of earth to Ranma's feet. A deep rumbling caused tremors in the stone.
Then it exploded.
"YOW!" Ranma yelped, leaping upward and latching onto a overhanging branch of the lone tree with a death grip.
At the heart of the explosion, Ryouga popped out of the earth like some kind of demented fast-growing flower, laughing manically(tm). "YOU'VE GOTTEN WEAK, RANMA!" he roared. "Your kick felt like a BABY's foot!"
Ranma glared and flipped upward to stand on top of the branch he'd been clinging to. "Izzat so?" he asked. His voice was still casual, but there was an edge to it now that had not been present before.
Akane, still standing next to Ku Lon, abruptly smacked her fist lightly down into her open palm in a gesture of sudden comprehension. "Wait! Now I see!" she cried. "Ryouga's training! Getting constantly hammered by those flying boulders…" The girl turned quickly to Ku Lon. "It's made him much more resistant to impacts, hasn't it?"
Ku Lon spared a moment to turn an approving look on the girl. Akane might lack skill in the Art, but she had at least some understanding of it. Turning back to the conflict, she called, "Still think you can win?"
Ranma glared over his shoulder at her. "Hey! I've trained too, y'know!"
Before anyone could respond, Ryouga flung a large stone at the pigtailed boy. "How dare you ignore me!" he shouted.
Ranma moved his head quickly out of the way. Smoothly continuing the motion, he flipped off the branch and began his descent to the ground. Ryouga moved to Ranma's landing point and, smirking, extended his finger. No matter how good the pigtailed boy was in midair, he couldn't spontaneously change direction without a surface to bounce off of. Ranma had no way to escape this time.
Except he did. Klop! "Breaking point block!"
Ryouga gaped at him in that ever-so-comic, stop-action moment of realization that inevitably follows a surprising turn of events, even when the laws of physics claimed that inertia and gravity and the like would normally demand that events continue without pause. (It is not a well known nor well documented fact, but the Laws of Comedy take precedence over all other natural laws. Go figure, ne?) "Hey!" he objected in indignation. Ranma wasn't supposed to block the attack!
Ryouga reacted quickly as Ranma landed without releasing the block (which basically involved trapping Ryouga's finger between Ranma's pointer and middle fingers). Remembering he had another hand, after all, Ryouga jerked Ranma towards him and attacked with it.
Of course, Ranma had another hand, too – Klop! – and put it to good use blocking Ryouga's second attack.
Ranma gritted his teeth against the effort of holding Ryouga back, but somehow managed to smirk anyway and say, "Now… with both hands blocked…"
Suddenly he shifted his weight backward and lashed out with his foot again, so fast that it looked like his attacking leg had triplicated itself. "…YOU'RE MINE!"
Ryouga, prevented from flying away from the force of the blows by his trapped fingers, took them at full-strength, and his eyes went blank with shock at the impact. But as his feet returned to earth, the disregard for physical punishment acquired during his training kicked in, and he smiled, almost benignly. "As I said," he said lazily, "your kicks are JUST LIKE A BABY'S!"
As he raised his voice, he lunged forward, head-butting Ranma squarely in the face. The Saotome heir flew backwards stunned, as his hands momentarily relaxed their grip. As his hated rival skidded on the rough stones, Ryouga charged after him. "You just don't have the strength to STOP ME, Ranma!" the boy shouted, attempting once again to strike Ranma with his extended finger. Recovering quickly, Ranma lunged sideways, but this time the resulting explosion of stones was much closer, and the pigtailed boy was unable to block.
"Ugh!" Ranma grunted, bracing himself as he skidded to a stop, once more on his feet. Ryouga turned and smirked at him, clearly convinced he had the indisputable upper hand at last.
'He's gonna loose that smirk, or I ain't Saotome Ranma!' Ranma thought, and braced himself. So, the old ghoul wanted to see how well he could think? He'd show her!
Of course, it would be mildly embarrassing, but oh well. Necessity had struck.
"I didn't want to use this, Ryouga," he said quietly, and the lost boy hesitated, as something about his rival's changed tone triggered a sudden sense of caution. "But so be it… the Saotome Secret Technique!"
Ku Lon and Akane instantly perked up – not only because of the change in Ranma's demeanor, but by the sign Genma was holding up.
[W-Will he really use it?!]
On the field, Ryouga gritted his teeth – He would not be intimidated! – and charged again. "Yaaaaaah!"
Ranma ran forward to intercept him. "Face opponent…" he said, slipped sideways past Ryouga's attacking hand and into Ryouga's guard, coming down in a crouch with his back to Ryouga, "…and…
"FAST BREAK!"
Vooooom.
Ryouga blinked. Akane blinked. Ku Lon blinked. There was, in fact, much blinking. Astonishment abounded.
"That…" Ryouga began.
"…was the Saotome…" Akane continued, ignoring the panda who was nodding sagely nearby.
"…Secret Technique?" Ku Lon finished, much amused. "Well… at least it was original. Sort of."
"GET BACK HERE, YOU COWARD!" Ryouga shouted, charging towards the trees where the pigtailed boy had vanished. Ku Lon, Akane and Genma all followed, though at a less headlong pace.
"Tell me," Ku Lon said lightly to the panda, "how does this constitute a 'secret technique'?"
[Hah!] flip [The secret technique of the Saotome clan] flip [is a technique of 'motion', 'contemplation', and 'opposition',] flip [requiring the greatest skill and courage to accomplish!]
"In other words," Akane said dryly, "running away to buy yourself time to figure out a way to beat your opponent."
[Bingo!] At least Genma did have the grace to look a little embarrassed.
'What kind of technique is that?" Akane demanded.
[Hey, it's harder than it looks!] the sign protested.
Ku Lon laughed. "It is a strategic technique rather than a combat technique, child," she said. "Or hadn't you noticed? The Bakusai Tenketsu is most effective in an open area with lots of stone. Ranma has the advantage in the woods."
"More like a way to avoid admitting he needs to retreat," Akane grumbled.
Ku Lon laughed again. She was in a good mood. "Naturally! Of course, it also made for a wonderful shock effect…"
They caught up with Ryouga just as battle was rejoined.
"Just 'cause ya've gotten a little tougher, Ryouga," Ranma shouted, rebounding back and forth between the trees like that rubberish substance in that gaijin movie – what had it been called again? Flubber? – gaining speed with every bounce rather than losing it, "that doesn't mean yer invincible!"
A final rebound sent him rocketing towards Ryouga. The lost boy simply smirked and didn't even try to defend, supremely confident in his body's new-found toughness. Ranma slammed into him, fist leading, with a strange Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt! sound.
"THAT TICKLES!" Ryouga mocked, punching Ranma and sending the pigtailed boy flying to crash into a tree.
"NGH?" Suddenly, Ryouga twitched in pain and disbelief, pressing a hand to the place where Ranma's fist had hit him. Wobbling, he glared daggers at Ranma as the boy stood. (The unfortunate tree Ranma had impacted, however, did not. Kinda hard to stand up when you've been broken at the trunk, ne?)
Ranma grinned victoriously. "So it tickles, eh?" he asked mockingly.
Ku Lon blinked and tilted her head to the side. Something had been… strange… about that blow, in retrospect. "Odd… the recoil of a branch shouldn't do that…" she mused aloud. Yet that was the only thing she could think of – Ranma had been using the branches to gather momentum, after all.
Ryouga roared and charged – he was doing a lot of that today, the Matriarch noted. "YOU WILL REGRET THIS…!"
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!
Ryouga went flying backward, stunned, carving a trench in the earth without regard for prior presences such as roots, trees, rocks or cute woodland animals. He had plainly felt that one.
Ku Lon blinked and raised an eyebrow. "No branch this time…"
Suddenly, Akane gasped in realization. "Wait – it only looks like one punch!" she exclaimed. "But he's really hitting the same spot hundreds of times!"
'Ah. Of course! That would explain it – and the fact that he's only been hitting in one place misdirected me.' She smiled and nodded. "So! The speed training I gave him pays off now."
This new strategy came at a high cost. Sweat was beginning to streak Ranma's face and his breathing was harsher than the short duration of the fight should have caused. Maintaining his speed and yet controlling his attack was draining him quickly. Hopping down next to Akane, Ku Lon commented, "He'd better end this quickly – or he'll defeat himself."
"But… Ranma's already won!" Akane said, turning back to the fight with a look of confusion on her face.
She was swiftly proven wrong, as Ryouga again rose, like a bad joke that just wouldn't quit. "Heh," he said, absently brushing some sweat off his face with a smirk, "at least you made this fight worthwhile." He charged again. "Prepare yourself, Ranma!"
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!
Better prepared for the barrage, Ryouga caught himself before he was sent for another slide through the woods. "Breathing a little hard, aren't you?" he asked smugly. "DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE TIRED AFTER THROWING A MEASLY SEVERAL HUNDRED PUNCHES!"
Ranma sidestepped quickly, and Ku Lon could tell by the sharp look in his eyes that his mind was racing.
Then, the unimaginable happened: as Ryouga attacked again, Ranma tripped, and fell to the earth with a whump! onto his back, wide open and defenseless.
"BAKA!" Akane screamed at the top of her lungs. "HOW COULD YOU FALL DOWN NOW?"
If she hadn't been watching the proceedings so intently, Ku Lon would have rubbed her eyes – or at least blinked several times. 'I must be going senile… I could have sworn that he meant to do that…'
"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!" Ryouga roared, pinning the pigtailed boy by the shoulder with one hand as the other lashed downward, deadly (so the lost boy thought) finger extended.
Ranma couldn't dodge clear this time; all he could do was desperately jerk his head sideways, so that the blow aimed for his throat missed his neck and touched the stony ground beneath them.
BWOOOM! The combatants went flying upward, propelled by the huge explosion right beneath them.
Ranma reacted instantly. The arm Ryouga had been using to pin him served as a pivot point, placing the pigtailed boy above the lost one. Ranma snacked one arm around Ryouga's and pinned it, as he swept his legs up and around to trap Ryouga's other arm between them. Ryouga now was wide open for attack – and Ranma still had one arm free with which to use the opening. The pigtailed boy launched his attack even as the two began their descent again. "SO HOW 'BOUT THIS ONE?!"
The final blow was timed perfectly, connecting just as Ryouga hit the unforgiving ground. The lost boy would not be getting up from that one for some time.
Ranma gasped for air. "I got… you…?!"
The last word spiraled upward to a very surprised note. Understandable, as the chunk of cliff they had just collided rather forcefully with had decided that it was fed up with life as a precipice and wanted a new career at the bottom of the cliff.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
The three onlookers rushed to the crumbling edge, but too late to catch the boys.
"RANMAAAAAAAA!" Akane screamed.
"Ah! You can be so careless sometimes, teishi," Ku Lon commented, peering over the edge. They'd be fine – Ranma had handled worse falls in his time, Ryouga had the toughness of the Bakusai Tenketsu protecting him, and besides – there was a very nice river to land in.
Huf. Huf. Huf.
"Dammit, Ryouga…" the frustrated-but-too-tired-to-be-pissed female voice grumbled, "why d'ya hafta be so much trouble…?"
Ku Lon skidded down the last incline. "Well, well, well. That was a well-fought fight, teishi."
Female-Ranma pushed herself up to a sitting position, glaring at the Matriarch through a curtain of dripping bangs. "YOU."
Ku Lon hid a wince. Apparently Ranma had not been pleased by Ryouga's efforts to kill him. Shoving pessimistic thoughts that were wondering how much this would set back her plans regarding the boy, she continued. "You put the speed training I gave you to good use, teishi."
Ranma was not interested in a change in topic. "I can't believed y'd teach a dope like Ryouga a technique that DANGEROUS!"
Ku Lon ducked the blow that the temporary-girl shot at her. "What… you mean this li'l 'Bakusai Tenketsu'?" she asked, lightly poking Ranma in the forehead.
"WAK!" Ranma stiffened like a board and fell over twitching.
Ku Lon laughed reassuringly. "Relax, teishi! The Bakusai Tenketsu was developed by the construction industry – it only works on rocks!"
Ranma continued to twitch. Sighing Ku Lon pulled her up by the collar and gave her a little shake. "Snap out of it, teishi."
"Wha…? Wha…?" Ranma blinked, then looked at herself as though surprised to see herself in one piece, rather than in a bloody splat. "It… it didn't work?"
Ku Lon sighed and repeated herself.
"…oh," Ranma said. Then she looked at the little black piglet that had briefly regained consciousness before deciding that sleepy-time was good and passing out again. "Then why th' heck was Ryouga tryin' t' poke me??"
Ku Lon laughed sheepishly. "I… ahem… forgot to inform him, too." Sobering, she added, "Which reminds me… I owe you an apology."
"Huh?" Ranma gaped at her. "Fer what?"
Ku Lon straightened herself up formally. She hated apologies… but she had made a mistake. Best to just acknowledge the fact and get it over with. "I ask your forgiveness for teaching your enemy a potentially lethal technique."
"But… y' just said tha' it doesn't work…"
Ku Lon sighed. "That does not change the fact that it could have been, nor does it affect the fact that I intentionally trained your enemy with the intention of having him fight you." She bowed deeply and waited for Ranma's response.
It was a bit slow in coming – but when it did, Ku Lon breathed a sigh of heartfelt relief. "…Aw, 't's okay. Wasn' like ya meant ta hurt nothin', right? 'Sides… this was kinda fun."
"Which reminds me… allow me to congratulate you on your swift thinking regarding the Amiguriken. On the other hand, clearly the technique could be refined. We shall have to discuss it at some point."
Ranma brightened. "That would be neat!" She hesitated then. "Ummm… I don' s'pose y've got some hot water with ya?"
Ku Lon grinned and produced a thermos. "I had a hunch that you would want this."
"Thanks." Ranma accepted the thermos and quickly dumped the contents over herself and the black piglet, reverting both of them back to their natural forms as young men.
"Yo! Ryouga!" Ranma lightly smacked the lost boy's face a couple times. "Hey, c'mon, get up!"
"Ngh? YAAAAAH!" Blushing a brilliant, full-body crimson, the lost boy wasted no time in attempting to cover himself. "Ranma…!"
"Here y' go." Ranma tossed a pile of sodden cloth at the lost boy, who caught them and quickly set about rivaling the world record for shortest dressing time ever.
"Ranma! Ryouga!" Akane burst out of the trees on the slope above them, sliding down without a care for the loose stones and pebbles that she was kicking up to sting the panda trundling behind her. "Oh, thank goodness – you're both alright!"
"H-hello, Ak-kane," Ryouga stammered, blushing.
"'Course we are!" Ranma said. "Why shouldn't we be?"
Akane shot her erstwhile fiancé a glare. "Well, excuse me for worrying! Next time you fall down a cliff, I'll just go my merry way and forget about looking for you, then!"
"Now, now, children," Ku Lon said. "Let's not squabble. Akane had reason to be worried, Ranma. Akane, Ranma is fine, you need not scold him constantly." Turning away from the children, she looked at Ryouga. "Well, it seems that your challenge has ended."
Ryouga sighed. "Yes, it has." He pushed himself up to his feet and squeezed some extra water out of his shirt. "Ummm… can we go back to the campsite? I left my pack there…"
"Of course. This way. No, not downstream, upstream. ARGH!" She grabbed the boy's collar. "Just follow me…"
"Well… I accept my defeat gracefully this time, Ranma," Ryouga said, waving goodbye. "Say goodbye to Akane for me."
Ranma nodded. "Will do."
Ku Lon also waved. "You were a pleasure to teach, boy. May your wanderings lead you to welcome places."
Ryouga walked away, following the faint gleam of the evening star. Which was really too bad, because said star wasn't out yet, and he'd meant to go south anyway.
Ranma shrugged. "Ah well."
Ku Lon shook her head. "If I ever find a life-size M.C. Escher maze, I'm going to put that boy in it. He probably would navigate it perfectly."
"A what maze?"
"Nevermind."
They turned away and returned to the campsite where Akane and Genma were waiting.
"He's gone, then?" Akane asked. "That's too bad… I wanted to give him some food for the road…"
"Good thing he made his escape when he did," Ranma said – though, luckily for him, too quietly for Akane to hear.
"Well, I suppose it is time to return to Nerima, at least for myself," Ku Lon said.
"We'll come, too," Akane said quickly. "I think we've been out here long enough."
Ranma hesitated, then shrugged. "Ah, why not?"
They each shouldered their packs and began walking, the children in the front. You could almost hear the little cuddly forest animals praising the kami.
Ku Lon became aware, vaguely, that someone was trying to get her attention. Glancing over, she saw an illegible sign. "Tell me, Genma… why are you still in panda form?"
Said panda glared and whipped out a new sign. [Don't try to change the subject, old woman!]
"Subject? Was there a subject? All apologies – but I couldn't exactly read the sign."
Vip. [It has been decided, has it not?] flip [Your flawed training failed to defeat] flip [the ancient teaching traditions of the Saotome clan!]
"Hmmm." Ku Lon pretended to think it over. "I fail to see how you can prove that statement."
[The boy defeated Ryouga, did he not?!]
"True… using an Amazon technique I taught him." Ku Lon was beginning to get annoyed.
[Ha! An inconsequential detail!] flip [The Saotome Secret Technique granted him his victory!]
"I believe your son would disagree," Ku Lon replied. "And I fail to see the effect of any additional training you gave him."
[Pha! You are simply too bli…]
Ku Lon smiled pleasantly at him. "Care to finish that little comment?" She let a little menace creep into her voice.
[Ummm… eh heh heh…] A new sign vipped out. [I'm just a cuddly little panda!]
Ku Lon glared at him. "And don't you forget it."
'Stupid panda. Why do I get the feeling that this won't be the last headache I'll be getting from him?'
The Neko-hanten was quiet when she arrived that evening; the crowds had come and gone, and Xian Pu was sweeping the last of the dirt out the door.
"Welcome, Great-Grandmother," the girl said distractedly.
Ku Lon paused and blinked. 'I wonder what is distracting her so much?' she thought, watching as her great-granddaughter put the broom away and locked the front door. Xian Pu's cute face had a small frown on it, giving her a serious, thoughtful look. Ku Lon considered asking the girl about whatever was on her mind, but decided to hold her peace and wait to see what Xian Pu did. The girl would need to learn how to ask for help sooner or later.
"Great-Grandmother?" Xian Pu said, after almost fifteen minutes. "Xian Pu need advice…"
Ku Lon put down her bowl of ramen and looked at the girl. "In what way…?"
Outside, an ominous shadow lingered, fists clenched.
'That old woman will rue the day she ever tangled with me,' he thought darkly. 'Prepare yourself, woman! My revenge will destroy you, and then I will reclaim that which is mine!' Lightning flashed, and…
Splash.
"Hey, be careful! Someone might be down there!"
"Naaah, it's okay! There's just… oh my! Someone call the zoo!"
"Growf!" Okay, so his vengeance would be swift and terrible… after he got some hot water.
(A.N. – Please excuse me for a minute whilst I vent.
I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU! –(to the chapter)
huffs Well, with that said and done, let me explain. I got writer's block on the very beginning of this chapter. This was not good. This was doubly not good because I had been digging through my old computer games (as I normally don't play computer games during the school year, at least not seriously). Fortunately, I finished my game, returned to banging my head on my writer's block, and finally managed to break through. Having a tough head has its advantages…
At this point, I'm just glad this is over with. I had fun writing this chapter in places, but really I'm ready for a change. And I'm getting it. The next chapter or two will be completely original, now that I'm relatively confident in my ability to follow Takahashi-sama's style. ^_^
Thank you, everyone who's been reviewing! Please continue to do so. Also, if you have any ideas for what antics Genma can get up to, I'm all ears. (Whoa… another wacky mental image. Hmmm… Martial Arts Listening?)
A side note: out of curiosity, why do people assume that Ryouga is stronger than Ranma? I have yet to see anything that actually proves that assumption. After the training, Ryouga is tougher, and thus can take more damage, but that's not the same thing as being stronger. shrugs Random thought.
Next up: We find out what Nabiki and Xian Pu are plotting, Xian Pu and Ku Lon discuss the subject of P-chan with Ranma, and the main event: Genma's retribution! (AKA The vengeance of the panda awaits no teakettle.)
Comment, critique, read and review! ^_____^)
