A Ranma ½ King of Fighters crossover fanfiction
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ and King of Fighters characters. Especially some macho chick! That's built like a stick! Dumb as a brick! Thighs are too thick! Can't even kick! *WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!* Ugh… shutting up now… oi…
AN: (Got bombarded by e-mail messages) Oooookay, it is still a tie… might as well freeze the voting for now and see how their relationship to Ranma turns out. I'm making two different outlines, one for Shermie and one for Chizzy. It will diverge after the final voting.
Flames of Destiny
by Luc
Chapter 6: Secrets Revealed I
Village Outskirts
"Uhhhnnn…" Leona moaned as she started to wake up. She immediately clutched her head as she tried to stand up but her stomach wound forced her back down. Composing herself, she slowly opened her eyes and found herself staring at the deepest blue eyes she has ever seen.
"Good, you're awake! I was beginning to wonder if your injury was a lot more serious than I thought." Ranma said, relieved that he didn't do anything serious to the blue-haired girl.
Said blue-haired girl broke her gaze with Ranma and tried to recall what had happened. "You're…?"
The ponytailed boy smiled weakly. "Ranma. We met at the village yesterday, don't you remember?" he softly asked, a part of him wished she didn't because he of all people should know what it's like in that state.
Leona shook her head. "No… I don't remember much of what happened. All I recall was you saying the name Goenitz and… I guess I kind of lost it."
Ranma quickly answered back. "First of all, I don't know this Goenitz and I want nothing to do with him if the journal I read is true. I just followed some information that led me to this location and then I met you inside the village." He sighed in relief as he saw Leona relax a bit more.
He then chuckled a little before continuing. "Yeah, you nearly sliced me in half with that vacuum blade of yours. Anyway, you were somewhat in a frenzied state so I'm not surprised you have little or no recollection at all. I managed to calm you down but I ended up cutting you real bad on your stomach." 'Better not tell her all of it. From the look on her face, it seems that she has suffered enough as it is.'
The daughter of Guidel placed a hand on her stomach wound. 'This wound was made with precision; I think he angled his attack so as not to hit any vital parts. He could have easily killed me if he wanted to but he decided to let me live…' "I, um… thank you." She hastily said, not really knowing what to do in these kinds of situations.
Ranma smiled at her. "Don't mention it, it's no big deal. Um, can I ask you a question?"
Leona paused for awhile before answering. "I guess its okay."
"I don't mean to pry but what were you doing inside the village anyway?" Ranma asked, curious as to why she was there in the first place.
Letting off a quiet sigh, she looks down to the ground. "I… I…" she mumbled out loud.
"Nevermind. It's okay if you don't want to talk about it." Ranma said in an understanding tone.
Leona shook her head once more. "I'm sorry but… I just can't, I hope you understand."
Ranma smiled sadly. "Yeah…" 'More than you think.'
The two sat there in silence, neither one finding the right words to say to the other. The silence was broken when they heard a static sound coming from Leona's uniform.
… Leona? Pl…ease… respond… wh… is… status? If… you… hear… sending… Ralf and Clark… wait… village…
"Well, it looks like they're coming to pick you up very soon." The ponytailed boy said, trying to reassure the blue-haired girl, said blue-haired girl simply nodded in response.
The two Orochi warriors sat there in silence once more. Ranma can clearly see that Leona was trying so hard to control her emotions, probably trying to shut off some unwanted memories from her past.
A couple of minutes passed by, Ranma has already packed his things and was prepared to leave anytime but his sense of duty to protect kicked in so he waited for Leona's comrades to arrive. Soon enough, they heard a helicopter not to far from where they are currently resting.
"It looks like it'll land on the village ruins." The blue-eyed boy said, watching the helicopter. He then saw Leona trying to get up; he went over to her and assisted the half-breed.
"Thank you but I can walk by myself now." She said, trying to sound nice but failing miserably because of the way she said it.
Ranma merely nodded, as if he understood the meaning behind the tone.
The blue-eyed boy grabbed his things and faced Leona once more. "Well, I guess this is goodbye… see you around." He turned around and started to walk away. "Leona… you shouldn't keep everything to yourself, it will only cause you more pain in the future." He left a puzzled Leona to ponder over what he said.
A week later
France
Chris walked the streets of Paris with a tired look. 'Why am I here…? Oh, right… dreams. If it weren't for these I'd still be in Japan with Ranma. What am I supposed to do now? Sigh… Oh well, might as well take a breather.'
He bought a bottle of juice at a vending machine. Chris then sat on a bench and tried to relax for a bit. "It would've been a lot easier if I know what to look for." He mumbled to himself.
"But why am I the one to have these kinds of dreams? I'm just an ordinary kid; at least I think I am. I don't like talking to people much, but I do like criticizing people… myself included. I just wish I know what to look- mrph!" Chris couldn't finish as a flyer stuck itself on his face.
"What the?! Band audition? Looking for band members willing to travel around the world. Must at least have some experience with musical instruments. Please go to the music shop at Av Montaigne for more details." This made Chris wonder. 'Interesting turn of events, I think I'll check it the place out right now. A band that travels around the world huh? Let's see what it has to offer.'
Av Montaigne
Chris entered the music shop at Av Montaigne. 'Wow, a lot of people are gathered here… are they auditioning too?' He was shaken out of his thoughts when he bumped into a familiar face.
"Um, you're that kid I ran into a couple of days back… Chris right?" Seeing the boy nod, she smiles sweetly at him. "Bonjour! Comment allez-vous? (1)"
Chris smiled back albeit hesitantly. "Err… right. Je vais bien (2) Shermie." He meekly replied.
The ponytailed girl's smile widened even more. "Oh! You remembered my name! How sweet of you!" she said as she reached out her hand to try and pat Chris' head, only to be shoved rather violently. "Ow! What was that for?!'
"Don't treat me like a kid! I-I hate it when people do that." The blue-eyed boy quickly replied.
Shermie's face softened. "I'm sorry Chris, I didn't know. I promise I won't do it again, ok?"
Chris nodded and smiled briefly at the twin ponytailed woman. "By the way, are you here to audition for the band as well?" he asked. Shermie laughed in response. "What's so funny?"
"No Chris, I'm the one that thought of this idea in the first place. Are you here to try out?"
Chris nodded once more. "Yes, I want to see if I have what it takes."
The red-head smiled. "Well then, follow me… I'll introduce you to Yashiro."
Hokkaido Mountain Outskirts
Kagura Shrine
"Brrr… why do I get the feeling that something big is going to happen soon?" Ranma muttered to himself. He really didn't like this, every time he gets this kind of feeling a major event happens in his life. Be it a fiancée, a curse, a rival, an enemy claiming to be a god/demon or whatever. 'It's probably gonna be another one to add to my messed up life.'
He made his way up the beautiful pathway and onto a large open gate. Ranma stared in awe at his surroundings, thinking that whoever owns this place must be really, really, really rich.
'This place is huge! I wonder where the shrine is? For that matter, the shrine maiden. Might as well see if anyone is around.'
"Hello…? Anyone here?" Ranma shouted.
"Just a minute please!"
Ranma turned towards the source of the voice and saw a dark-haired girl, around 14-15 years of age, has brown eyes and about the same height as Ranma's female form. The girl finished whatever she was doing and looked at the blue-eyed boy; she studied him for a bit before giving him a cute smile.
"I'm sorry; I was tending to Chizuru-sama's plants. Welcome to the Kagura home, I am one of the caretakers of the Kagura estate… Reiko Iwasaki. May I know the purpose of your visit sir?"
The ponytailed boy could only stare at her in awe. 'I thought she would act like a teenager but it seems that she's way more mature than most people her age!'
Reiko was getting uncomfortable under Ranma's gaze; she coughed a few times to get his attention. "Sir, can you please tell me the purpose of your visit?"
"Huh? Oh! I'm Ranma… um; can I see the shrine maiden? I'd like to ask a few questions regarding the Orochi myth."
The dark-haired girl thought for a minute. "Hmm… Chizuru-sama is meditating at the moment, but I think that she'll be done with it anytime now. Please follow me; we'll wait for her at the Kagura house."
"Thank you very much." He said, trying to be formal.
Reiko led Ranma up the steps and onto another large gate. A large house can be seen from a distance, Ranma could already tell that the house was built pretty well.
"Woah… this place is huge!"
Reiko smiled. "Yes, the Kagura house has always been a historic landmark along with the Kagura shrine. I take it you haven't heard of the Orochi legend?" she saw Ranma shook his head.
"I'll tell you a brief summary, it all started 1800 years ago. Orochi was a monster running rampant all over the countryside destroying villages and slaying humans along the way. It continued for quite awhile until a time came when three persons appeared and challenged the serpent. They were the known as representatives of the Kusanagi, Yasakani and the Yata clans. Despite the powers of Orochi, the three managed to defeat it in the end, Yasakani negating the beast's powers, Kusanagi dealing the final blow with his magatama and Yata imposing the seal on the monster so it can never return to its rampaging ways."
"What about the Yagami clan? Weren't they apart of it too?" Ranma asked, a bit confused by the story.
Reiko looked up to him and said. "Ah, the Yagami clan. It's very simple to explain because the Yasakani clan and the Yagami clan are one and the same. 660 years ago, the balance that existed between the three clans took a sharp turn. Throughout the past, the Kusanagi's were considered to be the stronger clan by the people while the Yasakani and Yata clan lived in their shadow.
The Yata clan, now called the Kagura clan, was impartial to all of this but the Yasakani, overcome with greed and jealousy, craved for more power until they finally decided to form an unholy pact with Orochi. Since then, the Yasakani clan were labeled as traitors, they soon changed their name to Yagami and has been in a blood feud with the Kusanagi clan ever since… resulting in the deaths of countless clan members on both sides."
As Ranma listened to Reiko's retelling of the myth, he couldn't help but feel angry for some reason. 'Why do I feel as if I'm about to explode? The story doesn't seem right for some reason…' "Uh, did you say something?"
Reiko half-pouted. "Mr. Ranma, I asked if there is any other reason for you to visit the shrine."
"I guess it's mainly because of this…" he said, making his flame appear from his palm. He snuffed it out moments later and he started moving towards Reiko. He was about to say more when he felt someone kick him hard on the ribs.
"Ugatsu!!! (3)"
Chizuru has just finished her daily task as the shrine maiden and was now walking towards the Kagura home to rest up for the day. She was about to open the door to her home when she noticed someone talking to one of her servants, Chizuru would have ignored the interaction between the two had it not been for the Orochi aura that was lingering in the air.
'What…? That man has Orochi blood in him!' Her suspicions were confirmed (In her POV anyway) when Ranma moved in closer to one of her servants, Reiko.
Thinking that he was there to attack the shrine (4) and possibly to obtain the mirror, Chizuru quickly summoned a very realistic illusion of herself and proceeded to advance towards the ponytailed boy.
"Ugatsu!!!"
Ranma was taken back by the surprise attack but quickly recovered to face his attacker. He almost had the urge to bang his head on the entrance gate when he saw yet another girl glaring at him for reasons unknown.
"This place is forbidden to the likes of you! You will not get the mirror from me!" Chizuru bellowed.
The ponytailed boy blinked at the heated exclamation. "Huh? What are you talking about? What mirro- yikes!" He rolled to the side as Chizuru suddenly appeared right in front of him.
Reiko was watching the exchange from the sidelines. "Please stop Chizuru-sama! Calm down please…! I don't think that he knows what you're talking about!" she pleaded, though already knowing that Chizuru was in 'another time'… just as her mother said she would if 'it' happens again.
Meanwhile, ol' blue eyes was having trouble locating the priestess. 'Damn, she's using illusion techniques like it is second nature to her. Cologne did something similar… how did I beat it…? *twitch* Ugh… never mind, it's not going to work on her.'
"Utsu!"
Chizuru appeared above the ponytailed boy and delivered a kick to the back of Ranma's head. He staggered, leaning forward as the impact took effect. The priestess then appeared to his side and drove her knee to blue eyes' stomach. Ranma grimaced in pain; he stood back up while clutching his sides.
"Zan!"
The dark-haired girl twirled a couple of times before stopping in front of Ranma. She then delivered a hard palm strike to the ponytailed boy's heart causing him to be catapulted backwards into the woods. Chizuru was far from finished as she raised her arm and sent an illusion towards Ranma to perform an aerial spinning kick that connected to the dazed boy's chest.
Chizuru let off a startled gasp as Ranma vanished and reappeared behind her. Ranma grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to talk some sense into the angered woman. "Hey! I don't want to fight you so calm down!" he basically implored.
An illusion crept up to him and pried his hands off the priestess. Chizuru pulled something from her clothes and launched it towards Ranma. It was a piece of paper with some type of inscription written on it, but it somehow managed to graze the ponytailed boy's left arm.
Ranma was about to retaliate but stopped when he noticed blue smoke coming from his wound. 'What the…?' The blue-eyed boy screamed as his left arm felt like it's on fire. He fell to his knees and immediately clutched his injured arm.
"That seal is used specifically to those tainted with Orochi blood. It neutralizes the demon's blood and leaves that area paralyzed for a long time." Chizuru said coldly.
The ponytailed boy's eyes flashed and took a violet hue for a brief moment. "Fine by me… Mouko Takabisha!" A wave of golden ki surged towards the priestess, engulfing her entire body. His eyes widened when he realized what he did, he was about to rush over to help the priestess when he heard a female voice echoing through the woods.
"The seal that binds, the seal that holds, darkness that flows within… shall be engulfed by the guiding light… let thy mirror show the way…"
Ranma stood up and looked around his surroundings, trying to locate the priestess.
"…sono chikara… fuujimasu!!! (5)"
As Chizuru said those words, Ranma felt a hit connect to his back. Next thing he knew, he feels like throwing up. He could sense that his ki has been drained almost to its limit, just like those times with Ms. Hinako. The dark-haired woman appeared a few feet from Ranma. Her clothes were ripped on some places and a few wounds were visible on her face.
Ranma barely had time to recover as an illusion worked its way towards him with a flurry of arm swings and leg sweeps. To make matters worse, Chizuru joined the fray and performed graceful yet deadly moves against the ponytailed boy. They moved higher and deeper into the mountain woods as Ranma continued to evade Chizuru's attacks and illusions, little did he know that he was slowly being pushed backwards to the edge of a cliff.
Reiko along with the rest of the Kagura servants arrived at the scene of the fight. Reiko noticed that Chizuru was using her Ichimen Ichi Tatsu: San Rai no Fu Jin on Ranma. "Ranma! Behind you!"
Ranma heard the shout, causing him to look over his shoulder. 'Crap, so that's why she was passive on her attacks. I've got to try something…' "Now or never… Kijin Raishu Dan!" he yelled. A vacuum blade, though obviously weak, made its way to the priestess. It still did the trick as Chizuru jumped over the projectile and lunged at the ponytailed boy.
Ol' blue eyes rolled forward, narrowly evading the powerful downward strike that caused some cracks on the ground. Ranma stopped in a kneeling position and looked at Chizuru, who summoned yet another illusion of herself. Without saying a word, she rushed forward to continue her assault.
'Dammit come out you stupid flame!' he thought as he held his right arm in front of him. 'Come out! I won't be beaten by some ki drain attack or some mumbo jumbo seal! Come OUT!!!' His hair took a reddish hue for a bit before returning to black. Ranma saw the flame slowly flickering on his hand; he chuckled slightly before facing the oncoming priestess.
"HA!" he exclaimed, summoning his flame with his good arm and creating a wall of fire between him and the priestess. The mirror keeper managed to do a high arching back flip just in time to avoid getting singed by the flames.
"Watch out!" Ranma shouted, trying to warn the priestess.
Chizuru barely had time to understand what Ranma said as she landed back onto the edge of the cliff but the ground was too weak to support her now so it crumbled, causing her to fall off the precipice.
"Chizuru-sama!!!" The Kagura servants shouted at the same time.
Chizuru was too shocked to do anything, she just allowed herself to fall off. She was snapped back into reality when she felt someone grab her hand; she looks up and saw Ranma, who had a pained look on his face. The ponytailed boy has both of his arms stretched out, one was holding the girl while the one that Chizuru 'sealed' was struggling to hold onto the edge of the cliff.
The priestess' eyes widened as she realized what the blue-eyed boy did. 'Why is he saving me…? No…! Impossible! He shouldn't be able to move that arm let alone use it in such a way…'
"Hold on! I'm gonna try to jump up…" he was cut off as his fingers slipped causing both of them to resume their fall.
Chizuru screamed in terror while Ranma dove for Chizuru and managed to grab the screaming girl by the waist with his good arm.
"Geimon Tetsu Sen Shi!!!" He buried his supposed 'sealed' arm deep into the side of the cliff creating a human lifeline of sorts. Ranma let off a sigh of relief for the moment but he doesn't know how much longer his injured arm can hold out.
"Why…?" Chizuru's voice was weak but Ranma still heard it.
Ranma turned towards the priestess, only to find her out cold. 'Probably fainted from shock…' The Kagura servants soon tossed the ponytailed boy a rope to hold onto, the two were then pulled back to safety.
Kagura Shrine
It has been a couple of hours since that incident, Reiko tended to Ranma's wounds while Chizuru has been carried to her house to rest for the day.
"I'm truly sorry Mr. Ranma… I should have stopped Chizuru-sama from attacking you from the start." Reiko said with an apologetic look.
Ranma just chuckled, wincing a few times as he did so. "Don't blame yourself; things like this happen to me all the time."
The dark-haired girl looked at Ranma with a questioning gaze. "All the time?" she asked. Seeing the boy nod, she could only blink in response.
As Reiko put the finishing touches in the boy's bandages, Ranma quickly gathered his stuff and gets ready to leave the shrine. "Well, I should get going… I'm sorry for causing a lot of trouble." He said, bowing his head.
The shrine caretaker bowed as well. "No kind sir, it is I who should apologize. Please hold no ill will towards us, I, along with the Kagura clan give you our sincere apology."
Ranma merely smiled and begins to walk towards the front gate. 'Heh, can't believe I relied on the one thing that I hate. I did found out about the Orochi myth but something about it seemed off… I really can't explain it. Perhaps I can learn more from the Kusanagi shrine…'
France
Chris played the drums with his extraordinary quickness and expertise. Yashiro and Shermie gaped in awe as the blue-eyed boy continued to play in an almost soothing, hypnotic sound. His performance got the attention of the crowd as well as those that were there to try out for the band.
"He's perfect for the job! Hey Yashiro, I think we have ourselves a winner!" the twin ponytailed woman happily exclaimed.
Yashiro grunted. "Look at him, he's still a kid! I wouldn't want to- HEY! What was that for?!" he asked, rubbing the back of his head.
"Don't call him that! Just because he's a bit young doesn't mean he can't cut it. Besides… I think of him as if he's my little brother already."
The blonde became silent. 'Hmm… he does have talent but I sense something deeper than that, wonder what it is? Sigh… if I don't hire him Shermie will throw a hissy fit, might as well… he seems popular to the crowd already.' "Alright… you win, he's our third member. We better announce it already; we have a long way to go…"
Tendo Home
"Right, thanks for the info."
Nabiki hung up the phone and stared at the photos in her hands once more. 'It is you Saotome. I don't know why you haven't contacted us yet but whatever the reason is, you shouldn't have deceived us like that. I think there are quite a number of people that would want this info for a price.'
The middle Tendo daughter then began to write a list of people to sell the info to. 'Yes, definitely quite a number of people…'
She picked up the phone and dialed the number of her first client.
"Hello, Kuno-baby? I have some information regarding your pigtailed goddess…"
Osaka
"Strange… this city has a different feel to it now. Ah, it's probably just my imagination. Let's see here… the Kusanagi shrine is only a couple of miles from the other end of the city so there's no need to rush." Ranma said to himself.
Unfortunately, he decided to take a short cut on Uehommachisuji Avenue…
"Hey, is that…?"
"Yeah, I think it is! What is he doing back here?!"
"Call the police! Hurry!"
Ranma of course, was totally oblivious to all of this… that is until he saw a couple of police cars coming his way. His muscles tensed and his eyebrow started to twitch for some reason. True enough, the police cars stopped right in front of him and the officers quickly surrounded the ponytailed boy.
One of the officers stepped up. "Hold it right there young man! You are under arrest for…" he was cut off by Ranma's sudden outburst.
"What did I do now?! Why is it that you people always blame me all the time?! Can't you find some other guy to blame your problems to?!" he bellowed to the officers and spectators.
A man from the crowd shouted. "Hey! You're the one that destroyed this area so it's just right to blame you!!!"
Ranma blinked at the accusation, he looked around and realized that this was the place where he fought Iori a few days back. He had an embarrassed look on his face as he tried to think of something to say. "Err… Oh, right… my bad…"
"My bad?! My bad?! Is that all you have to say?! Officers, arrest this man at once!!!"
The officers started advancing towards the ponytailed boy, clubs and tasers in hand. Ranma felt the urges inside of him grow but quickly suppressed it with his soul of ice. Tired and frustrated, he does something he rarely uses…
"AHHH!!! What is that?!" he exclaimed, pointing up to the sky. Seeing everyone fall for it, he used the Saotome secret technique… he ran away, leaving dust trails along the way.
There was now a city-wide manhunt for Ranma Saotome, wanted for destruction of private property, endangering the lives of the citizens and for resisting arrest not to mention he's also wanted for information regarding the whereabouts of his father, Genma Saotome (6).
A couple of police cars passed by a dark alley, Ranma poked his head outside to see if there are any more officers running around. He was caught in a mental struggle to either give up to the police or run away and hide via Umisenken like a certain panda would. He was caught off guard when a hand suddenly covered his mouth and pulled him back into the dark alley.
"Shhhh!! Please be quiet Ranma."
Ranma was released from the hold after the figure said those words. The ponytailed boy relaxed and tensed at the same time because of two reasons: one, the voice was female and two, she knows who he is meaning it could be another one of his father's stupid promises.
"Who are you? Show yourself!" he demanded.
The figure nodded and stepped into view, she was about the same height as Ranma, has dark hair and eyes. Her bangs are curled and her long hair was being held in position by a single hairpin. She was wearing dark, ninja-style clothes that reminded Ranma of Konatsu for some reason but the one that got his full attention was the katana she's holding tightly.
"I'm not here to fight Ranma; I'm just here to tell you to go back to your mother… she'll explain everything." She calmly said before jumping to the rooftops, leaving a confused Ranma behind.
City Outskirts
Ranma leaned on a tree as he was gasping for air. 'Geez, I didn't know they'd take property damages seriously! I guess I got used to what it was like in Nerima… and who was that woman? She's like my mother, especially with that katana of hers… my mother…?' he paused in mid-thought.
The blue-eyed boy opened his side pack and checked the list once more. 'Hmm… can't go back to Osaka so the Kusanagi shrine is out. I think it's time for that mother and son talk… only this time… I won't take no for an answer.'
Gathering his things, he heads back to Tokyo…
A person can only be pushed so far… the question is how much can that person take? For once that person loses control; there is nobody in the world that can pull him back…
(1) – Hello! How are you?
(2) – I'm doing well.
(3) – Drill! (…don't ask… ^^;); Utsu means strike; Zan means slash
(4) – What? Don't tell me you didn't see this coming considering Ranma's track record.
(5) – I will… seal that power!
(6) – Personally, I'd like to see him get shot to death by the people he swindled. Either that or have his fat ass fed to the lions, dip him into a pool full of crocodiles and then finally sell his furry butt to the highest bidder. =)
# # #
AN: It is rather short and doesn't advance the story much but the next part will be posted in a couple of days along with another interlude… I'll be updating three times this week if all goes well.
** Yes, I'm revising the Orochi myth for better story flow if that's what you're wondering.
I'll be frank, Chizuru sucked in KOF '03. She's slower (again), less powerful (yet again) and her reaction time is one second too late (SNK Playmore lives to destroy huh? At least they're not as bad as Eolith ^^). So I based the Chizuru on this fic with the '96 Chizuru (Gotta love her illusion juggles back then) where she was still one helluva fighter (Eheheh, hear that Gonads? =]), hard to master but when you do get the hang of it; the game becomes pretty easy from that point on.
Wow! There are a lot of Ranma/KOF fics popping up as of late. Good, can't get enough of those. ^^ And WAIIIII!!!! Drakuzz-sama updated!
Till next time, Ja ne!
Next Chapter Secrets Revealed II: Origins
"S-son…?"
"Why is this happening to me?! I never wanted any of this! I just wanted a normal life!!! Was that too much to ask for?! Kami-sama, WHY?!"