A Ranma ½ King of Fighters crossover fanfiction
Disclaimer: Let me see here… Ranma ½… don't own them, King of Fighters… nope; don't own them too… so there!
AN: Still waiting for more opinions in regards to my earlier suggestion about the votes. As it stands now… Chizuru – 16, Shermie – 16. It is still a tie between the two so please respond to the suggestion onegai!
E-mail votes counted.
Flames of Destiny
By Luc
Chapter 5: Painful Memories
Mature's Room
As Ranma went into the other room like a bat out of hell, Mature was trying to control her laughter but was failing miserably. She has other things in mind though. 'Ranma Saotome, an inexperienced wielder of the cursed flame… but a powerful one nonetheless.'
Ranma came out of the room a few minutes later. He was dressed in a light blue Chinese silk shirt with the sleeves rolled up, black pants and his usual pair of Chinese shoes. His hair was untied so his black hair almost reaches down his waist. The blue-eyed boy sat down on the bed as he tied his hair into a loose ponytail.
While Ranma was busy doing his hair, Mature just stared at the ponytailed boy's back. 'Hmm… a magatama wielder without being connected to the Yagami clan. Though that hurricane move of his reminded me of Goenitz… I wonder where he learned that technique? Well, at least that dirtbag of a Hakkeshu is dead. Ranma, what an interesting person you are… it doesn't hurt that he's quite handsome too.'
Ranma on the other hand… 'Great, what have I gotten myself into now? Why in the world did I believe her so easily anyway? Still… if it answers all the questions in my head then I don't mind, I can always use the Umisenken to escape if it leads to that kind of scenario.'
A knock on the door shook the two out of their stupor. "Hey! Mature! It's me! Open up!"
"Who is it?" Ranma curiously asked, on the inside though… 'No… another girl… somebody up there really likes to play with my screwed up life.'
"The friend I told you about." She answered in a cryptic manner. The blonde made her way up to the door and begins to open it. A woman around Mature's height entered the room. She has dark red hair and brown eyes, her outfit was just like Mature's, and the only difference is that she is wearing a red jacket rather than the blonde's white.
"Where have you been? You've been gone for hours!" reprimanded Mature.
The red-haired girl looked chastised; she placed a hand at the back of her head and answered sheepishly. "Sorry, I had to help an injured animal off the street."
Mature frowned in understanding while Ranma just looked even more confused than before.
The blonde sighed. "Fine… anyway, I'd like you to meet Ranma." She said, gesturing to the confused blue-eyed boy.
Vice walked up to Ranma and stared at him intently. The ponytailed boy sweated at the gaze, it was like a stare that a ca-ca-ca… one of those things would do. He swallowed audibly before speaking. "Uh… hi?"
Vice smiled in a mischievous way. "Hello… handsome…" Vice seductively whispered into Ranma's ear. She then blinked when the boy suddenly vanished in front of her. "Huh?"
Ranma was already 'one with the wall' as one would put it.
Mature coughed. "That's enough Vice! Ranma, this is Vice… don't worry, she was just joking. She won't try anything right Vice?"
Vice blinked for a bit. 'Is she angry with me for doing that? Usually she is the one that does it first!' "Err… yeah… I'm just joking… eheheh…"
"Really?" he asked tentatively.
The blonde nodded. "Really."
"Okay…"
"Uh… Ranma..? You can let go of the wall now…" she finished with a large sweat drop.
The ponytailed boy blinked and looked behind him. His hands actually ripped part of the wall out of its place?! "Ack! Sorry! I didn't mean to!"
Both girls chuckled nervously. 'What the hell is this guy made off?'
"Anyway, let's get going, shall we?" Mature suggested.
Receiving nods from the two, they made their way out of the room.
Iori's Room
Iori groaned as he starts to come to his senses, he placed a hand on his face as he sat up from the bed, his eyes suddenly snapped open upon remembering what happened. He then noticed that he was all patched up, his wounds were already treated and his body was covered with bandages. 'Who could have..? This scent, one of them huh? Bah! As long as they don't mind getting ripped to shreds twice!'
He got up and drank a glass of water from the kitchen. The red-haired man then smiled to himself. 'Looks like he wasn't just all talk afterall. Someone that actually withstood my attacks in a real fight (1)… heh, looks like I won't be bored in the months to come.'
"Hm hm hm hm… Heh heh heh heh HAH HAH HAH!"
Kagura Residence
Chizuru walked towards the Kagura shrine, her movements can be called the very definition of elegance. She stopped however, when she caught sight of the footage of Yagami fighting someone. She watched and listened intently to the news report.
'This was the scene a few hours ago when two persons engaged in a brutal fight right in the middle of Uehommachisuji Avenue in Osaka. (Shows a brief recording of Ranma performing the Hiryu Shoten Ha on Iori while facing away from the camera) The police have identified the man with red hair as Iori Yagami, one of the fighters in the KOF tournaments.
As reported earlier, Iori went into a killing spree during the last tournament and killed dozens of spectators and fans. He was not arrested due to the agreement made by the KOF sponsors and the various country representatives and business associates.
The other one has not been identified as we could not see his face in the footage. However, the police have managed to give a brief description of the man from the footage. He has black hair tied in a loose ponytail, about 18-19 years old and roughly around 5'8 in height. Please inform the police if you know the whereabouts of either one of these persons. In other news…
Having seen and heard enough, Chizuru decided to return to the Yata residence… the shrine can wait. 'Kami-sama… who was that?! Could he be… ?'
??????
"What, pray tell are we doing in a forest?" asked an irritated ponytailed boy.
Mature just chuckled. "You really weren't expecting us to go to some fancy library or something close to that for information regarding the Orochi, were you?"
Ranma had the decency to blush at Mature's answer; he twiddled with his thumbs as he replied. "Uh, yeah… I thought it was something along those lines."
It was Vice's turn to laugh out loud. "My! Mature was right! What a naïve little boy you are!"
Vice and Mature were about to say more but one good look at Ranma's face shut them up. The ponytailed boy stood ramrod straight, the color of his eyes took a purple hue and his hair was rapidly changing colors from black to red.
"The Riot of Blood?!" Vice shrieked in absolute terror.
Fortunately, Mature was a lot calmer that Vice so she was able to observe the ponytailed boy. "No Vice… look, it seems as if he is in some sort of trance." The blonde said, pointing her finger to Ranma's purple eyes.
The blonde-haired girl's explanation managed to calm the red head down. That incident during the King of Fighters brought her a lot of nightmares, old and new alike. "Then why is he like that? What's causing him to do that?"
Mature shook her head. "I have no idea. I guess we'll just have to wait for him to come to his senses." She said with a shrug.
"Or we can just do this!" Vice said as she swung her hand towards Ranma's face. The intended slap didn't even come close as Vice's hand suddenly caught fire before it even touched the ponytailed boy's face. She screamed as she frantically shook her hand to rid it of the flames. She then sighed as the flames died down. "Phew… what the hell is wrong with him anyway?! And what the #%*& was that?!"
The blonde shook her head once more. "I told you I don't know! I have never seen it…" she stopped when she noticed that Ranma was already moving.
"Uh…" the ponytailed boy muttered as he tried to regain his balance. "Wha..? What happened? Where am I?"
Vice raised an eyebrow while Mature looked concerned for a moment before hiding it behind that calm façade of hers. The red head was still ticked at the fire incident so she couldn't help asking him about it.
"You don't remember?" The red head asked tightly.
Ranma looked at Vice with a questioning gaze. "Remember what?"
Vice was about to respond but Mature cut her off. "It's nothing; let's just get a move on okay?"
The other two just nodded their heads in unison.
Kusanagi Residence
The Kusanagi's and Yuki were eating dinner when they saw the news on TV. Kyo was of course wondering who Yagami's opponent was as he clenched his fist tightly but soon let it go as he felt Yuki's hands grab his arm. He looked down on the brown-haired girl's face and smiled reassuringly to her.
Saisyu and his wife Shizuka were just calmly drinking their tea; both have a lot to think about… especially Shizuka.
'Oh dear… by the description she gave me, it seems like he's the one I'm supposed to look out for.'
Forest Path
The three delved deeper into the woods, and then it happened…
*SPLASH!*
"Figures…" Ranma-chan grumbled.
"Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha?!" the two ladies stammered at the same time.
The ponytailed girl sighed. "It's me, Ranma."
That statement brought Mature out of her stupor. She rubbed her eyes a couple of times and blinked at the person before her. "What do you mean you're Ranma? Ranma's a man!"
'I knew she'd say that…' "It's another curse of mine. I fell into a cursed spring in China and poof! I turn into a busty red head when splashed with cold water, hot water changes me back into a man. Before you ask, yes, I am a man."
Blinking a few times, the blonde composed herself when she realized she was staring at the girl… err… boy for a long time. "I see… a gender changing curse. Oh well, I think you're cute in either form." She teasingly said.
Ranma-chan blushed at the comment. "Err… right. You seem to be taking this event rather well."
Mature shrugged. "I've seen a lot of curses during my travels. Just last week I saw a man with a terrible directional curse placed on him." She said as she laughed at the memory.
'Directional curse? Ryoga… wonder if he's still blaming me?' "Okay, I think we better see if Vice is alright."
Vice just stood there with her mouth wide open, her gaze was still fixed on where Ranma-chan was a moment ago. Ranma-chan waved a hand in front of the frozen girl but she got no response.
"I think we should just take her to the cavern." Mature said, sighing.
Ranma-chan and Mature dragged the gaping Vice towards their destination, a hidden cavern deep in the woods. Mature explained that this was a hideout or something like that made by one of the Hakkeshu's, Goenitz. The inside of the cave was pretty organized, a lot of books were stored in a shelf, and there are a couple of beds to rest and a few lamps for increased visibility. Ranma then poured hot water on himself from his thermos, negating his curse. Vice soon snapped out of it and joined Ranma and Mature as they walked deeper into the cave.
"Huh? What are these etched on the walls?" the ponytailed boy asked.
Mature took a glance at the markings before explaining. "Oh, those writings? I'm not really sure but from what I heard, those scriptures were written hundreds of years ago by some of the Hakkeshu's back then… I guess."
"Goenitz spent a lot of time translating these scriptures, I saw him wrote the translations in some sort of journal. I think it's still around here somewhere… all we have to do is find it." Vice added in.
The three arrived at Goenitz' old quarters, they then began their search for the journal. Ranma noticed some sort of door at the far end of the room, it was fairly hidden but a weird marking can be seen from its center.
"Hey, where does this door lead to?"
The two girls looked up to where Ranma was pointing to, they then walked towards the door. Mature and Vice checked the door, as if looking for hidden switches and levers.
"We don't know much about this one. Even Goenitz said that he couldn't solve the mystery behind it no matter how hard he tried in the past."
"I see…" the ponytailed boy said as he attempted to touch the wall-like door. "…WHA?!" Ranma screeched in surprise as a pillar of light engulfed the three Orochi warriors when his hand made contact with the mysterious door.
As the light died down, Mature and Vice slowly opened their eyes to see Ranma lying on the floor unconscious.
"RANMA!!!" Mature exclaimed in a worried tone.
Vice noticed her partner's change in attitude but ignored it for now. "Let's get him back into the bedroom." The red head said as she took Ranma's arm and wrapped it around her neck for support. Mature did the same on the other side.
Next day…
Tendo Residence
Kasumi Tendo got out of her bed much earlier than the rest of her family just as she always did for the past couple of years. Only this time, she did not do it with the same kind of enthusiasm as she did a couple of months ago. 'Sigh… this house will never be the same without him…' she thought sadly.
She sat in front of her mother's shrine and prayed silently. 'Mother… it's happening again. I hated it first when I had to be the mother figure for Akane and Nabiki because I know that I'll never be able to replace you but I had no choice. I sacrificed everything just to get father and my sisters back up to their feet. It took years but I managed to do it because I know you are always watching over me mother…'
She then looked down on the floor; a few tears fell from her eyes. 'But now… it seems to have gotten worse… Ranma's dead. He was such an innocent boy, so carefree and full of life just like I was… he didn't deserve to die…
Father has become a mere shell of himself once more… Nabiki rarely talks to anyone, sometimes she even ignores her own family. I… I don't know what to do anymore mother… I'm scared that I might lose them as I have lost you.
Kasumi wiped the tears from her eyes. 'The strange thing is Akane's behavior as of late. She's been smiling more and more these past couple of days. I wonder what happened to her to cause a reaction like that? When I asked her why she's acting like that she just said that Ranma-kun wouldn't like it if she cried all the time. Akane… at least she's starting to move on.'
She stood up and slowly walked away from the shrine. As she was near the door, she glanced one more time to her mother's shrine. 'Mother… I don't know what to do… I can't hold on forever….'
She then went into the kitchen to prepare the breakfast for her family. As the food was almost done, a couple of footsteps can be heard heading towards the living room.
"Good morning Akane-chan." Kasumi sweetly said.
Akane smiled in turn. "Good morning Kasumi-oneechan."
"Akane-chan, can you get Father and Mr. Saotome please? Breakfast will be ready soon."
Akane just shook her head. "I saw them a couple of minutes ago. They said that they'll go out for a while and probably wouldn't come back until tomorrow morning." She finished with a sigh.
"Oh my…"
A few minutes later, Kasumi came out of the kitchen and began serving the food to her sisters. The Tendo sisters ate their food in silence. The only sound heard was the sound of the television program going on. Nabiki finished her meal a lot faster than her sisters so she decided to channel surf for a while.
'This is the news from Osaka… one of the participants in the King of Fighters Tournament, Iori Yagami, was caught on tape as he was fighting someone right in the middle of a crowded street. Here is a brief footage of the fight…'
Kasumi and Nabiki's eyes widened when the man raised an uppercut and a tornado shot out of it. Akane on the other hand, wanted to bang her head on the table. 'Ranma… can't you stay out of trouble even for a little while?' she thought with a twitch.
"Oh my! Isn't that..?" she was suddenly cut off by Akane.
"Don't be silly oneechan! Ranma is… dead. It's probably just some cheap trick to attract audiences… look! That tall red-haired man uses fire from his hands! How can that be real?" 'Please buy it! Please buy it!'
"Oh my… I guess you're right Akane-chan. Ranma-kun is gone…"
"Cheer up oneechan… I'm sure that Ranma agrees with me when I say that we don't want to see you in such a sad state. We can't live in the past forever… we have to move on with our lives but whatever we do, we must not forget those that brought joy and sadness in our life…"
Kasumi couldn't take it anymore and cried then and there. The surrogate mother of Akane and Nabiki and the foundation of the Tendo household broke down and cried as she grabbed onto Akane for support. It was finally her time to be comforted.
'That's right… we have to move on oneechan… I love him but I guess it was not meant to be… take care Ranma.'
Nabiki remained impassive during the entire conversation. 'What has gotten into you Akane? You used to get so depressed when someone mentions him but now… Well, whatever it is, it has something to do with that news on TV… could that man really be..! If it is him… then why hasn't he come back..?' Nabiki didn't like being in the dark so a big one like this really gets on her nerves. 'I'd better make this one my first priority.' With that thought, she got up from the table and went straight to her room to contact a few… associates.
Inside the cavern
It's been almost a day since the incident but Ranma still hasn't regained consciousness yet. The two members of the Orochi Hakketsu Shuu patiently waited for the gender changing boy to wake up. They sat at the opposite sides of the room and both seemed to be in deep thought…
'What was that light? It didn't do that when Mature and I checked the walls so why did it react to him? I can't get answers by just standing around, might as well start looking for the journal' with that in mind, she silently went out of the bedroom and back to Goenitz' quarters.
'That light… I heard someone's voice when I was blinded by that light. What does it have to do with Ranma? He has Orochi blood but so do I. I can't think straight! Wake up soon, Ranma…'
"Uhhh… where..?" the blue-eyed boy mumbled out.
"Ranma! Are you all right?"
Ranma slowly opened his eyes and saw Mature staring down at him with a worried look on her face. "Uh, yeah… I think so. What happened anyway?" he asked while trying to shake the cobwebs off his head.
"You don't remember? We were searching for the journal inside Goenitz' room and you found that weird door to the far side. When we checked it we found nothing but when you touched it a brilliant flash of light appeared out of nowhere, blinding me and Vice temporarily. We found you knocked out on the floor a few moments later… don't you remember anything at all when that pillar of light appeared?"
The ponytailed boy shook his head. "No… I don't remember anything at all after I touched the door."
"Maybe this will help!" Vice interrupted, throwing a large type of notebook towards Mature. "I searched for it while Ranma was still out cold."
The blue-eyed boy stared at the notebook. "Is that..?"
"Seems like it. Let's see what information we can dig up inside this thing…" The blonde said as she opened the journal and started to read it aloud.
Summer of the year 1974
The first plan shall was put into action. Guidel and I were placed in charge of removing the seal of Orochi while the old geezers sat back and watch from the shadows.
First seal destroyed, Guidel and I killed the children guarding it.
Second seal destroyed, killing people is so much fun!
Winter of the year 1978
Guidel and his tribe decided to hide for awhile, the Kusanagi's were relentless in their attempts to kill the Hakkeshu members. It's a good thing that those canon fodder that is the Yagami clan interfered in their work. Such pathetic humans!
Ha! Finally eliminated those pieces of trash! They did not deserve to live for those things that they did!
Spring of the year 1983
I have discovered a few underground caverns that seemed to have been made by the original Orochi Hakkestsu Shuu. The scriptures are hard to translate but if it will lead to the revival of Orochi then I will do everything I can.
Fall of the year 1986
The seal that the Yata clan holds on Orochi has been dealt with. A pity that the other one managed to escape but I have achieved what I came to do. Orochi's power is still too weak, I need to gather energy for my Lord.
Winter of the year 1986
Damn him! Damn them all!!! Traitors! Guidel you traitor! Hahaha! From the looks of that girl, she will undergo the Riot of Blood in a day or two. It's going to be such fun watching them be slaughtered by a mere girl!
Hahaha!!! I enjoyed watching his entire tribe burn to the ground! Hahahahaha!!!
Fall of the year 1988
The clan seals have all been unlocked. It's all up to Orochi himself to do the rest.
Spring of the year 1990
I have located two Orochi Hakketsu Shuu's… Vice and Mature. Heh, two sluts who know nothing of Orochi but are of his blood. They would be of some use to me… for now.
Vice almost ripped the journal to shreds but Ranma held her back.
Winter of the year 1994
Interesting man, that Rugal. Let's see how he uses the fused Orochi blood in him!
Winter of the year 1995
Ahahaha!!! He killed himself! The fool! I told him not to use its full power! Power hungry moron!
Mature snickered as she read it aloud.
Spring of the year 1996
The final plan is set. I really didn't think that the Kusangi boy was THAT weak… though I did enjoy toying with him. Those two are up to something but no matter, I will not fail!
"That's it." Mature finished.
"I don't understand any of it at all!" Ranma yelled in frustration.
Vice threw a couple of things towards the infuriated boy. "Perhaps these can help. I found them hidden in an old antique box inside loony's room."
The ponytailed boy browsed through the items. "A map? Some information on the Hakkeshu's… and a ring? What am I supposed to do with these things?!"
Vice sighed. "The map has the location of the person Goenitz talked about, Orochi Hakketsu Shuu of Water Guidel. It's in ruins now but a few scrolls might have survived."
"I guess I'll go check it out alone…okay?"
Vice just looked impassive while Mature nodded in defeat. "Alright… but promise to contact us when you found something okay?"
"Eh? Why should I? I mean…" 'No… not that! Anything but that!
"Please…!" The blonde pleaded as she used 'the look' on Ranma.
Ranma grumbled in annoyance, he wrote down the number and placed it inside his bag along with the journal. As the blue-eyed boy exited the cavern, the Hakkeshu duo suddenly became serious.
"You like him don't you?" Vice asked.
The blonde just smiled. "Just as you like a certain tall red head… and I feel as if that we'll meet him sooner than we think…?" she paused as she saw Ranma enter the cave once more.
Vice giggled. "Yeah… sooner than we think…" she said in between giggles.
"Uh… forgot my side pack."
A week has passed…
France
Shermie was running towards the shopping mall at great speed. 'I'm late! Darn, they didn't tell me that wearing a specific dress was de rigeur (2) at the dance!'
She stopped in her tracks upon hearing a beautiful melody from somewhere. She glanced around and saw a music shop around the corner. 'Is this where the music is coming from?' she internally asked herself. She peeked inside and saw a fairly muscled man that has beach-blonde hair and is wearing a pair of gloves, a red jacket and white pants.
He was playing the guitar like an expert. Not missing a beat, producing a melodic sound that attracts audiences little by little. Shermie was so entranced in listening to the tune that she was surprised to find herself behind a keyboard. 'Why not?' she thought as she timed her music with the beach-blonde's rhythm.
The blonde briefly looked at the twin ponytailed woman before concentrating on the guitar once more. The two played in perfect synchronization that soon attracted people one after the other. Not long after they started playing, a huge crowd was gathered at the front entrance of the store. As the music comes to an end, the two received a huge amount of applause from the audience.
"You played great music." Shermie began.
The blonde simply smiled at her. "You're not so bad yourself. By the way, I'm Yashiro Nanakase." The man introduced himself as he extends his right hand.
Shermie shook Yashiro's hand and allowed herself to smile. "I'm Shermie, nice to meet you."
"Say, I'm traveling around the world looking for band members, you interested in joining?" he asked bluntly.
Shermie thought about it as she placed a finger on her chin. "I'm not sure… why don't we talk about it at the dance hall over there?"
"Fine by me." Yashiro said, shrugging his shoulders.
Village Ruins
The stench of death fills the air as Ranma approached the village ruins. The road was murky and visibility is close to zero due to the thick fog that envelops the entire area. Ranma trudged along despite the obstacles; the wind suddenly picks up and forces Ranma to cover his eyes. He then slips and falls in a deep gorge, he screams as he plunges to the bottom.
The blue-eyed boy woke up with a wince. 'I really should take the Bakusai Tenketsu training soon…' he thought as he stood up and slowly massaged his ribs. He looks up… his eyes widened at what he saw. 'A graveyard…' Countless graves are in the area, a simple wooden cross marked each and every one of them. 'Is this the village..? Just like…' he left the thought unfinished.
He walked past the graves and onto the dilapidated houses, houses that were once filled with life, joy and happiness. He searched for the house that matches the description given in the journal. The ponytailed boy finally spotted it, it was fairly large but it seems as if that it might collapse at any minute.
"This is the place huh? The place where the Orochi Hakketsu Shuu of Water Guidel settled down." The blue-eyed boy muttered to himself. 'Might as well see if a couple of scrolls on the Hakkeshu are still intact.'
He walked towards the house, only to stop when he saw a figure exiting it. It was a woman with blue hair that reaches her waist. She was wearing some type of uniform and a weird set of earrings. 'Does she know the soul of ice?' he thought as he looked at her cold and emotionless face.
She finally noticed the ponytailed boy and gave him a questioning look. "Who are you?" she asked in a sub-zero tone.
A Few Minutes Before…
Leona walked towards the village ruins with a dejected look. She really couldn't concentrate on anything after the 1996 King of Fighters tournament and almost got herself and her partners killed during their last mission. 'My destiny..? What did that man meant when he said that?'
Her superiors were disappointed to say the least regarding her actions as of late. Ralph and Clark quickly suggested to let her take a few weeks off and her stepfather wholeheartedly agreed to their idea. 'Even then, I couldn't get a break. I can still see that scared little boy trying to run away from me while screaming 'monster' over and over again…'
Heidern must have sensed the pressure she was going through so he gave her this location, the place where he found her all those years ago. She was hoping that she could find some answers to the questions lingering on her mind and maybe… be able to finally remember her clouded past.
She stopped right in front of a large house. 'This is..!'
//FLASH//
A male figure walks up to a small blue-haired girl. "Who is daddy's little girl?" he asked as he patted the child on the head.
"Me! I love you daddy!" the young girl squealed out. She then hugged her father with all her might.
//FLASH//
Leona staggered a little as she placed her hands on her head. 'Was that my real father..?' She looked up and stared at the house. 'Is this… my home..?'
//FLASH//
"Leona! Calm down!" "Please…" "STOP!" "NO!!!" "LEONA!!!!" "ROWRRRR!!!!"
//FLASH//
Her eyes widened as the memory hit her. 'No… I killed them… no… no…' "NOOOO!!!" she screamed to the heavens. Tears fell freely from her eyes as her childhood memories came back to haunt her. 'Oh God… what am I? Mother… Father… everyone… dead. All because of me…' She thought as she noticed the graveyard to her right. 'That… that man! I remember!'
****Flashback****
"Guidel…" a low but commanding voice echoed around the area.
The man stood up and addressed the voice. "Goenitz… to what do I owe the honor of your visit?"
"I'm just here to inform the Hakkeshu of Water that the Kagura seal on Orochi has been… taken cared of."
Guidel raised an eyebrow with that statement. "Taken cared of in what way..?" 'He didn't!' His eyes widened at the thought. "Goenitz! Even though they are enemies of the Orochi clans, the keepers of the seal are still children! Tell me you didn't do what I think you did!" he exclaimed.
Goenitz let off a mirthful chuckle "So I killed a child in cold blood, what's the big idea? It's not like you're any different during those times when you served for the Orochi clans' goal."
"That was then, this is now! Can't you see that people change Goenitz?! If you would just open your eyes to your surroundings you will find out that humans are not that different from us with Orochi blood! Stop this meaningless attempt to bring about the destruction of the human race!"
Goenitz scowled at Guidel's speech. "I see… it seems that you speak quite highly of humans even when knowing the consequences in doing so. If I didn't know better, you must be…" he stopped as he caught sight of a blue-haired girl running towards Guidel.
"Daddy… I don't feel so good." the girl informed her father.
Before Guidel could answer back, Goenitz' scowl deepened. "A child… one with tainted blood?! GUIDEL!!! I see now… almost everyone here in this pathetic village is of Orochi blood but traitors to the cause… heheheh… your tribe has turned its back on Orochi, no doubt because of your influence…" he then begins to laugh manically.
"I personally want to destroy you and your tribe right now but… I see that your fate has already been decided. Hahahahaha!!!"
Guidel watched as Goenitz vanished in a gust of wind, he then looked at the downed form of his daughter with sad eyes. 'Leona…'
****End Flashback****
'Goenitz… I remember him. I was sick at the time but I still heard what they were saying.' The blue-haired girl made her way into the house, not minding its decrepit state at all. She made her way into a room, a room with a lot of broken dolls and blood scattered on the floor. 'My room… daddy.' Another memory hit her.
//FLASH//
"Rowrrr…"
Guidel sat at the corner of Leona's room; he was already mortally wounded from one of his daughter's slashes when he attempted to subdue her a few minutes ago. He looks at his daughter and smiles gently at the berserker. "Leona… if you can hear me… it's not your fault… it's not your fault… daddy will always love you…"
"ROWRRRRRRR!!!!!!"
Blood scattered all over the room…
//FLASH//
Leona curled up on the floor, her entire body was trembling from those horrible things she did. Her bangs covered her eyes but tears can be seen falling down her face. 'Daddy…'
A few minutes later, she wiped the tears from her eyes, she stands up and then her face suddenly turned cold and emotionless. 'I've got to report back to headquarters.' Nodding to herself, she looked once more at the room with sad eyes before going outside the house.
The half-breed Orochi warrior walked out of the house with her head hung low. 'What am I..? I'm nothing more than… huh?' she was shaken out of her thoughts when she noticed a young man standing in front of her. 'Strange… commander Heidern said that no one lives near these ruins so… could he have followed me here..?'
Her eyes narrowed at the thought so she went into a semi-guarded stance as she asked the ponytailed boy. "Who are you?"
Ranma flinched at her chilling voice. 'Geez, now I know why everyone was so scared to death when I use that tone on them.'
"Err… Ranma Saotome. Who may I ask are you?" he answered slowly and carefully, Kami-sama knows that his dreaded foot in mouth caused him a couple… no, scratch that, A LOT of trouble with women before and he has a feeling that this one won't hesitate to rip his head off if he makes one wrong move.
"Leona Heidern. How did you know about this place?" she did not take her eyes off of him for one bit.
Ranma was becoming very uncomfortable under her scrutinizing gaze. Hearing the question, he pulled out the journal from inside his pack. "Oh, it was written here in Goenitz' journal so I thought I might find something useful… AH!" Ranma yelled in surprise as the journal was suddenly ripped in two.
After hearing Goenitz' name, Leona acted on instinct rather than thinking things over. She immediately performed an upward slash that produced a short-range vacuum blade that ripped the journal in two. Her mind was in a whirl of emotions… 'Goenitz, the man that… that… I heard his laughter… when I killed them… he… he… AHHHH!!!!' She then dashed forward to the confused ponytailed boy.
"Wha? What did I do?!" he wondered aloud. 'Why is it always my fault?!' He tried to jump over the charging blue-haired girl but Leona did a summersault flip complete with her own mini vacuum blade that managed to rip Ranma's shirt open.
"AHHHH!!!!!" Leona screamed as an intense surge of pain coursed through her body. Her hair took a reddish hue, her eyes became lifeless and its color changed to a glowing gold. Her teeth suddenly sharpened and her skin turned pale.
Ranma's eyes widened at the scene in front of him. "Crap! The Riot of Blood! It looks like this fight is beyond reasoning anymore…" he sadly muttered to himself. He then went into a standard kempo stance… only to lose his concentration when he heard the girl yell.
"ROWRRRRRR!!!!!"
'Damn! Why does she have to sound like a friggin cat?!' Ranma leapt up once more but Leona was already above him, her hands lunging for his heart. The ponytailed boy blocked it by crossing his arms in front of his chest. Leona howled once more as she delivered a hard kick to Ranma's midsection, the blue-eyed boy was catapulted towards the graveyard due to the impact of the kick.
Leona angled her body in mid-air to land safely on the ground. She snarled first before dashing towards the slightly dazed ponytailed boy. Ranma was still recovering from the kick when he was catapulted backwards yet again by a hard shoulder tackle. He was flung towards the graves, wrecking a few wooden crosses along the way and stopping a few feet from where he once stood.
Leona howled once more, she looks up to the dark sky and spewed blood from her mouth like a geyser.
Ranma spat out some blood as he stood up. 'I hope this works… soul of ice…' His blue eyes hardened as he applied the technique once more.
"ROWRRR!!!" the Orochi berserker shouted as she attempted another charge at Ranma.
The blue-eyed boy sidestepped the attack and delivered a backfist to the back of the berserker's neck that sent her crashing towards a wooden cross. Ranma's eyes widened slightly as Leona made a couple of maneuvers that allowed her to avoid the collision. He was then caught off guard as Leona increased her speed from before; he received a lot of cuts and bruises because of it. That attack also caused him to lose focus from his soul of ice because of… well… cats.
Leona was too busy with her relentless assault to notice that Ranma already cupped his hands in front of him. "Mouko Takabisha!" he shouted as the golden wave of ki blasted the blue-haired girl into the ground. He tensed when Leona got up from the attack as soon as it hit her. 'Guess there is no other choice…' The Orochi-berserker jumped forward to the ponytailed boy.
'I'm sorry…' "Geimon Tetsu Sen Shi!!! (3)" Ranma shouted as he drove his right hand, palm flat and ki enhanced fingertips extended forward, to Leona's exposed stomach. Blood gushed out of the wound a few seconds later. Leona howled one last time before losing consciousness; she then reverted back to normal afterwards.
Ranma quickly tended to the wound by applying some pressure points around it to stop the bleeding. After taking a long time tending to the girl's wounds, he then decided to set up camp a few miles away from the ruins.
Ranma placed the unconscious girl inside his tent to let her rest for the night. He then sat near the fire he made earlier and contemplated on certain things he discovered so far. 'Okay, according to the journal… there are rumored to be eight Hakksehu's roaming around. Vice and Mature are two, Goenitz and Guidel makes four… so four are left. Can this girl be a Hakkeshu too? Better ask her when she wakes up. Rituals, scriptures, yada yada. Kuso… I've visited the Temmangu, Hokoku, Kozugu and Ikumata shrines (4) but I still don't know how the hell I got this damned flame. To top it off, my only real source of info has been destroyed… sigh…'
He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and glanced over it. "Hmm… Kusanagi shrine and Kagura sacred shrine huh? Kusanagi shrine is only a few miles from Osaka and Kobe and the Kagura shrine is located among the mountains near Nagoya… guess I'll take the Kagura shrine first since the Kusanagi shrine is practically in Osaka already."
Finally having decided on his destination for tomorrow, the ponytailed boy sat under a tree and waited for sleep to claim him.
(1) – The KOF fights have a time limit back then and he teamed up with Chizuru and Kyo in order to beat Goenitz.
(2) – Required or necessary.
(3) – Welcome Gate Iron Fan Fingers
(4) – These shrines are real, they are located in Osaka. Whatever you do, don't visit the Hokoku shrine in case you decide to take a vacation to Japan. The shrine keeper can be a real pain in the butt! =P
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AN: I had this chapter finished a couple of days ago but I was so caught up in watching the Tenchi Muyo OVA's and the Yu Yu Hakusho series (for my other fic)… I, uh… sort of forgot where I saved it. Gomen! (Suddenly gets pounded by the readers) Hey, at least I had the time to add a few more scenes and I managed to format all the chapters a couple of days ago… that counts for something right? Right..? =\
Didn't put much effort in doing the graveyard fight… I really didn't want Leona to be badly hurt in this chapter (she's been through enough misery, don't you think?). Goenitz' journal shall be cleared up in the next two chapters.
About Shermie, I figured it was okay to add in a few French words in her speech since she is French… I hope you don't mind. We will finally see one of the top vote getters 'meet' Ranma (Trust me, it won't be pretty ^^) and of course, the truth behind the curse.
Well, it's nearing the end of the first arc. I probably would raise the rating to R when the tournament arc starts because of the steady stream of violence that will happen there. One other thing… do you like Panda-bashings? =)
Ja ne! Luc
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