The blue of the sky was not visible behind the veil of thick, gray clouds above the heads of Akane and the rest of the spectators. The weather was nobody's concern, though, as all eyes were on the two figures atop the Challenge log. Ranma and Kho Lon.
Akane watched them as they sized each other up, preparing for the battle ahead of them. Kho Lon reeked of loathing, it was written all across her countenance. Hatred was the only definable emotion on her, and telling whether she felt anything else beneath the overbearing disgust was impossible. Ranma on the other hand was as solemn as she had yet seen him. He seemed to be taking the fight seriously, and by the look on his face he wasn't about to lose. Akane watched him shift his stance warily and was sure he knew what he was doing.
She knew he was probably capable of defeating Kho Lon on his own ground. She was human, miko or not, and any demon was immeasurably stronger than her. But Kho Lon had lived a long time, and like Kagome she had undoubtedly picked up some techniques, magic or otherwise, that Ranma would be hard-pressed to beat. As long as he was careful, he stood a good chance of winning. He will win… but Kho Lon must know that…right?
Finally Ranma seemed to come to a decision. He met Kho Lon's eye evenly, his face determined and grim-set.
"No weapons," he said as he watched the old miko for a reaction. She snorted and tossed her staff to the ground in answer. Ranma shifted just slightly. "Good."
There was a fraction of a second's pause before they leapt forward simultaneously. Ranma swerved to the side of Kho Lon's fists, and she ducked his own attack as they crossed paths and turned to face each other on opposite sides of the log. Ranma smirked and they went at it again.
The two of them seemed to be evenly matched as they fought along the ancient length of marred wood. Akane could tell though, that this was a warm up, and they were only testing each other's strength. Most one-on-one battles started off slowly like that, but if it went on too long, Ranma might wear himself out before the real fight started. He had been fighting earlier against the Joketsu, while Kho Lon probably didn't waste much physical exertion during that battle.
"It is foolish of them to waste time and energy like that. They should just go at it," Akane heard Nodoka say beside her. Ranma's mother had been fighting in a different circle, and Akane hadn't seen her since the battle started. She hardly looked as if she had been fighting at all, with her hair still neatly in place and her intricate battle armor barely scuffed.
"Perhaps you're right," the demon next to her said, brushing a strand of cyan hair over her shoulder. Her golden, cat-like eyes still trained, like everyone else's, on the battle. Akane frowned and decided to speak up.
"They're both smarter than you give them credit for," she said, and she couldn't keep all of the irritation from her voice. They could insult Kho Lon all day if they wanted to, but Ranma was anything but foolish… most of the time, anyway… "Especially Ranma."
Nodoka only raised an eyebrow. "We'll see."
The discussion was forgotten as Ranma and Kho Lon ended their warm up. Akane watched Ranma begin to speed up, still dodging and attacking fluidly. One of his kicks connected with Kho Lon's middle, and she was sent into the air, landing on her feet atop the log, a short distance away from him. She narrowed her eyes spitefully, and moved to attack him.
Ranma prepared to leap over her next assault, but as she met him her speed increased incredibly, her fists flying in every direction like small stones. He managed to block the majority of the blows, but the old miko got a few good hits in. Akane could see the determination burn brighter in his eyes.
He went after Kho Lon, dropping a shower of blows upon her. His feet and his fists were almost blurs to Akane's eyes. Kho Lon managed to dodge a few, and block a few more, but Ranma was able to hit her much more than half the time. Though he did do some damage, he was probably pulling his punches. Akane could understand that; no matter how much she hated the old ghoul, hitting a grandmother, even if she could take it, would make her feel dirty.
Kho Lon finally found an escape from the assault as she leapt over Ranma's head and made to attack him from behind. Before she could, Ranma whipped around grabbing her outstretched fist and flipping her over. She bounced against the wood, freeing herself from his grasp, and jumped to stand atop one of the four posts that suspended the log. A look of intense concentration appeared on her face, and Akane heard Shampoo give a soft gasp behind her.
"Ai-yah! Is Splitting Cat Hairs technique!"
Akane didn't have to ask what that was because just after Shampoo finished speaking, Kho Lon split into two. Then her double split, and the next copy split, and it continued until they roughly formed a circle around Ranma. His eyes darted around the ring, as if he were searching out the real Kho Lon. He shifted into a defensive stance and waited.
"Why don't you attack?" one of the Kho Lons asked him, and he lunged for that image. He was pushed back by the force of a blow to his chest, nearly losing his footing atop the log. He watched the images warily, and they all looked back at him with mocking smirks across their aged faces. Ranma frowned in concentration, his ears twitching. Then he attacked another image, and was again pushed backwards.
But instead of stopping he only touched down on the log, pushing off again immediately and socking an image in the face, sending her flying. Kho Lon regained control quickly and executed a neat flip, landing across from him on the scarred wood. The rest of the images flickered out like flames in the wind.
Ranma smirked widely at Kho Lon's scowling face as she asked: "How did you know?"
"Ironic as it is," he grinned, "You were the only one with a heartbeat."
It was clear to Akane that Ranma was now in control of the fight. Apparently, it was clear to Kho Lon as well because Akane didn't think it was possible for her to look any angrier. Now would be the best time for Ranma to finish the fight, and finish it fast. But that's just not his style…
Kho Lon leapt to attack Ranma, but he only slipped around it. The old miko whirled and tried to land another blow, but Ranma continued to evade her. They moved back and forth across the Challenge log, the smirking hanyou continuing to dodge Kho Lon's attempts to strike him. Finally, they leapt apart, and Ranma's expression turned serious.
"Okay, enough of this," he said, preparing to attack. Kho Lon fell into a defensive stance, her face set in a confident smirk. Ranma took his first few running steps towards his opponent before lurching to a stop, suspended in time.
"What the hell…!?" he got out in a low growl, his fierce gaze sweeping across Kho Lon's triumphant expression. Akane was just as angry.
"What did she do?" she asked Shampoo in a furious hiss. Shampoo only stared at her great-grandmother in shock and confusion.
"Is very powerful spell," she said finally, "But Great-Grandmother not powerful enough to use alone."
"Then who…"
"Akane!"
She turned to see Kagome making her way through the spectators with an irate looking Inu-Yasha trailing behind her.
"What is it?"
"It's the elders! They're the ones helping Kho Lon with the spell. They're shielding their activities, though, so none of the other mikos can tell."
"So they won't fight fair," Akane growled, biting her lip. She glanced at Ranma, who was still trading insults with a smug Kho Lon and clenched a fist. "Then neither will we."
"You won't be able to attack Kho Lon," Kagome told her, as if she sensed what Akane was thinking. "The spell will affect you before you get there."
"Can't you break it?" Akane asked desperately. Kagome opened her mouth to answer, but before she made a sound it began to rain. Shampoo became a cat beside them, and upon the Challenge Log Ranma's form shifted as well. The redhead was no longer frozen, though, and she stumbled forward, regaining her footing quickly before moving again to attack Kho Lon.
"Oh, that's right!" Kagome gasped. "Because Ranma changed forms, the spell doesn't recognize him. They'll have to relay it if they want it to work again."
"Then you find the rest of the mikos on our side, and try to stop the elders before they get the spell back up," said Akane, turning back to Ranma, who was fighting Kho Lon viciously.
She slammed the ghoul in to the log, driving her elbow into Kho Lon's stomach. When she still began to get up Ranma pummeled her under a shower of blows and sent her skidding across the ancient wood. She didn't move after that. Whether Kho Lon was dead or unconscious, Akane could not tell.
Ranma took a few deep breaths as the rain began to cease, pushing a few slick strands of hair from her eyes. She turned to Akane, grinning, and was about to step off the log when she froze once more.
"You will pay for that, demon."
The four remaining elders came into view, leaping onto the log from amongst the crowd. They were all as short and shriveled as Kho Lon, standing before him like miniature, grim-faced statues.
"You will pay."
A/N: I really meant to make this battle all one chapter, but sadly it got out of hand and this is the result. Well, I know that the splitting cat hairs technique is only seen in the anime, but I wanted to include it because I couldn't think of a better technique for her to use. Hirryu Shoten Ha would be too much, and the breaking point wouldn't work very well. If I got anything wrong about that technique don't blame me because I haven't even seen the anime, I just heard of Kho Lon using it and thought it would be cool. Anyway, please review and I'll c ya next time!