Intro: I finally got it out! Yay! Anyways, here is the long awaited Chapter 07. Enjoy! Ah yes, Finishing Moves 2B is also almost done. Expect that to be out in another few weeks.
Warnings: Manga Language, Manga violence, Unedited
------------ Chaos 1/2 ------------
------ Episode 07: Enter Ryouga! Opposites Meet Again! ------
A familiar scene fades in as we begin our episode. A lone traveler slowly walks through a a windy, barren desert. This is where the resemblence ends, however. THIS traveler is not hunched over, with a cloak pulled about him to avoid the sting of the wind-blown sands on his body. THIS traveler does not wear goggles to cover his eyes so as to protect them from sand. This traveler walks proudly along, his head held high, seemingly un-heeding of the winds and the sands blowing around him.
This traveler does not wear a cloak because he does not NEED one. The wind is blowing the sand, true. But the sand does not reach him, for an invisible shield seems the stop all of the tiny stones mere inches away from his body. The traveler walks inexolerably onward, his head held high as the wind attempts to blow him over. He is unaffected by the wind, and the sand that it carries never reaches him. He is like a rock. No, he is like a cliff. He will not bow the the wind. The wind will bow to him. Just like the earth bows to his beck and call.
Indeed, the traveler continues onward, unheeding of the wind and unheeding of the sands around him. His feet leave no mark on the malleable sand. Just as the sand makes no mark on him.
------ Somewhere in the Country-sides of Japan ------
The traveler has come to the end of the desert. He now stands at the top of a cliff. He gazes down impassively at the town below, taking in the scenery for a moment before he sheathes the umbrella he has been using to block the sun on top of his back-pack. With a shrug of his giant shoulders he leaps of the cliff. The umbrella stays attached the the top of his large pack.
The very ground shakes for a moment when the traveler lands at the bottom of the cliff. He slowly rises from his crouch and continues walking, unaffected by the long drop. He finds a nearby road and follows it, keeping the same slow-but-sure pace that he had been keeping through the desert. A pair of small craters at the bottom of the cliff are the only sign of his passing.
------ In a Nearby Village ------
"It's coming! It's coming!!" A loud squeal accompanied the shout as a young man ran desparately for the warning bell. The huge boar squealed again as it ran aimlessly through the village, leaving a swathe of destruction in it's wake. People screamed in fright as it plowed straight through their stands and burst roughly through their homes.
Except for one elderly couple who merely blinked in surprise as their dining table suddenly went missing.
The young man finally reached the warning bell and began to frantically pound on it with the nearby gong hammer. The boar continued it's aimless path of destruction as more people heard the bell and began to clear the streets. The young man suddenly stopped his pounding and gaped at a tall man that he hadn't noticed before slowly walking down the street.
"H-hey!! Look out!!!" He shouted at the man, who didn't seem to hear him. "D'ja hear me?! I said, LOOK OUT!!!" His vioce raised even more as he noticed that the boar had stopped its aimless destruction and was now heading straight for the stranger. The boar reached the stranger.
The young man dropped the hammer and flung an arm over his eyes. He couldn't bear to see the poor guy die like that. It would be bad enough to hear the screams of pain. Then he noticed that there was something wrong. There didn't seem to be any screams of pain. In fact, there didn't seem to be any sounds at all, even thought the streets had been filled with cries of panic just a moment ago. It was just as well. The poor guy probably didn't even know what had hit him. He probably hadn't even had time to scream. Another moment passed by before the young man dared to lower his arm and look at the carnage wrought by-
Uh, that couldn't be right. He raised his arm again, only to rub at his eyes disblievingly. No, the hallucination was still there. He stared, speechless at the sight before him.
The stranger continued slowly on his path, while the wild boar... The wild boar lay unconscious in a crater of it's own making in the middle of the road, a large welt rising on it's head. The tall man paid no attention the the gasps of amazement and wonder as he deliberately continued his wandering.
For the benefit of the reader, I will now explain what exactly happened in those few seconds that the young man had covered his eyes. It was very simple really. In the first second, the tall boy turned around and bopped the boar on the head. In the next second, he had turned back to his path and continued on his way. The rest were spent placing one foot in front of the other. Yes, that was it. Now you can understand why the young man was having trouble believing his eyes.
------ Nerima, Tendo Compound ------
Ranma ran through katas in, on, and over the back yard. His body moved at a furious pace as he blurred through one kata and moved on to the next. A quiet rumbling sound accompanied his workout. A rumbling caused by his body consistently breaking the sound barrier.
Kasumi smiled serenely as the wind generated by his movement billowed the clothes that she was hanging up on the clothesline. Nabiki glanced at him in annoyance as the wind blew over several pages of the manga she was currently reading. Akane sat on the back porch and watched him as well as she could with an unhappy expression on her face. Soun and Genma both took a glance at the blur of movement the the back yard before returning to their game of Shogi.
Abruptly, Ranma slowed down. He continued doing katas, but he seemed to have changed styles now. Where before, he had moved as fast as he could, with no finesse at all, now he simply moving quickly and with as much grace and agility as he could muster.
Kasumi paused in the middle of hanging up a sheet to watch the red-haired boy dance. Nabiki glanced at him again. And continued to stare. Akane smiled to herself as she watched him flow across the yard, her troubles forgotten for the moment. Even Genma and Soun stared a moment longer than they had intended. Then they went back to their game.
Eventually Nabiki found herself fanning her face as she watched the pony-tailed boy flow through his katas. The realization of what she was doing puzzled her. She didn't think that the forecast had mentioned anything about a heat wave. If she recalled correctly it was only supposed to get around seventy degrees today. So why did it feel like it was going on a hundred??
She glanced toward Ranma again. This time she noticed that the air around him seemed to shimmer, just like it did over hot asphalt... Her eyes widened as she realized the RANMA must be generating the heat she was feeling. She continued to watch him more closely. The red-haired boy's eyes were closed in concentration as he gracefully flickered about the yard, and if she looked very carefully, he was also glowing slightly. She noticed that even though he was generating a fair amount of heat, he didn't seem to be the least bit warm.
Then he stopped. He held his last pose for a moment and opened his eyes- Whooof!! He gasped sharply as the heat wave struck him like a solid object. Beads of sweat broke out on his face as he fanned himself rapidly. "Woah!" he breathed faintly. "Guess that means I'm on the right track, then..."
------ Elsewhere ------
The tall traveler finally paused in his relentless journey. He stood in a large hilly area, surrounded by mountains on one side and a forest on the other. In front of him stood a farmer in over-alls and his cow. "This he-ah ain't To-kee-oo, Bo-ey." the farmer drawled, handing back the map the traveler had given him.
"What??!" the tall boy screamed. "What do you MEAN 'This ain't Tokyo'?!! If this ain't Tokyo, then WHERE THE HELL AM I?!?" He glared angrily at the farmer, clenching his fists tightly.
Then he let out a sigh (as did the relieved farmer) and unclenched his fists, letting his anger drain away. He gave another depressed sigh, "Let me guess: Hokaido." The farmer nodded uneasily. The tall boy sighed again, this time resignedly, and turned to continue on his journey, "Thanks for your help..."
A short while later found him asking for directions from another farmer, "If y'all want ta git ta To-kee-oo, y'all jes' gotta go stee-rate down that thar road. Yep, stee-rate as th' crow flies. Yessir."
"Thanks a lot!" The tall boy waved thankfully to the farmer and headed down the road at a ground-eating jog. "Damn this sense of direction! I can't ever seem to get where I'm going! Why?? WHY does it still plague me?!? Damn it, Randy! This is all your fault!! When I get my hands on you, I'm gonna- Huh?" He stared ahead of him in confusion.
Ahead, the road veered off to the right and the forest that had been at his side this whole time suddenly cut in front of him. Which way? Which way?? Well, he said straight as the crow flies, so... "Straight it is!" With that, he plowed straight through the guard rail and jumped down the incline into the forest.
"I'm almost there! Just gotta keep going straight!" He glared at an upcoming tree, "I'm gonna go straight and there ain't NOTHING gonna stop me!!!" He ran straight at the tree and punched it. A loud crack echoed through the forest and the tree fell over noisily, it's trunk snapped in two by the force of the punch. The tall boy continued his ground-eating jog, never stopping. Even for a tree.
His run continued into the night, and all of the animals were kept awake by the disturbing sounds of trees giving way to the unstoppable force of destruction as he made his way through the forest. It was the next evening by the time he finally emerged on the other side of the forest, breathing heavily from his extertion, and exhausted from his day-long run. He stood there, panting for a moment. Then he took a look at his surroundings. They were green. They were mountainous. They were unfamiliar. But most importantly, they were NOT Tokyo!
"DAMN IT!!!" he screamed, slamming a fist into the ground. A five foot crater appeared at his feet and the ground shook with a small tremor. I KNEW I should have taken that road!! I just KNEW it!!! He turned and headed back into the forest, stumbling a little as he went. "Damn it! Just you wait, Ranma!!"
------ Nerima, Tendo Compound ------
"Just you wait, Ranma!!!"
Soun made another move with his pieces, just as Ranma flew by the door. This was not as disturbing as the sight of Akane stumbling past them, her clothes nearly obscured by an assortment of weights. This was STILL not as disturbing as the sight of Nabiki following both of them, clutching her ribs in laughter. Genma paused in mid-move to stare. He was accompanied by Soun.
"You get back here!!"
A short moment later, Ranma flew by again, wearing a large smirk and doing a pirouette in mid-air. This was not particularly disturbing, but the sight of Akane stumbling by again, nearly incapitated with more weights, was. As was Nabiki stumbling by again, nearly incapitated with laughter. Genma and Soun, still frozen in mid-move, followed their movements with wide eyes.
"I'll get you for this, Ranma!"
Just as they were about to go back to their game, Ranma flew by again, this time stopping to stick out his rear derisively and smack it a few times. He disappeared, but Akane stumbled into view and collapsed face down on the porch, immobilized by even MORE weights. Nabiki followed once more, and had to lean against the wall of the house to support herself. Ranma appeared once more, a large smirk still present on his face.
He knelt in front of Akane's prone body, "Hey, you wanted training, I'm giving it to you! Stop complaining. I just had to find your limit. Now I'll take some of these weights off ya." He reached down and unfastened a few of the weights.
Akane suddenly swiped at him angrily, but missed as the red-haired boy casually moved out of the way. "Whoop! You're gonna have ta do better than that if ya wanna hit me, Akane. I didn't say I'd take all of 'em off, anyway. Just some of 'em."
Akane growled and lurched to her feet, taking another swipe at the pony-tailed boy. He dodged again and moved on down the porch, out of sight. Akane followed slowly, still stumbling under the weights. Nabiki recovered herself somewhat, and followed the two, still giggling at her younger sister's antics.
Genma and Soun sat frozen for moment longer, but no more surprises made themselves known. Finally Genma shivered and held up a sign, Almost as bad as the Master, I tell ya! Soun nodded in agreement.
------ Somewhere in Hokaido ------
The setting sun cast a long shadow on the dirt road leading into a small village. A tall figure cast an even longer shadow as he stumbled into the town. He had been running for nearly three day straight now and he was beginning to get a little tired. Just a little, mind you.
He paused next to an important looking building from which voices wafted through the air and looked around the mostly deserted town. A few buildings looked like they had been through a battle or something, but he paid it no mind. He turned toward the building where the voices were coming from, "Maybe I'd... better ask for... directions..." He slammed the door open and yelled, "WHERE IS FURINKAN HIGH SCHOOL??!"
There was complete and total silence as he slowly scanned from left to right to left again. There were the townspeople from the town in which he had beaten the boar into the road three days ago. There the boar which he had beaten into the road three days ago. And they were all staring at him in surprise. And, much to his embarrassment, recognition. Finally one of them spoke up; the young man who had tried to warn him of the boar, "Well, howdy thar. We didn't know y'all wuz still he-ah!"
The tall boy tried desparately to keep the flush of mortification off of his face as he slowly closed the door, "Sorry... to bother you." He was mostly successful.
The townspeople continued to stare at the closed door for a moment. Then an older villager voiced the thought they were all thinking, "Ah hev a feelin' he'll be back agin'. The rest of them nodded solemnly.
The moon rose into the night sky, perfectly defining the silhouette of a tall boy as he ran over the ridge of a hill. Damn it all! Seems like I've been traveling forever! WHY can't I make it to Tokyo??! WHY?!! Ranma Saotome!! I will NEVER allow you to escape!!!
The tall figure headed into another forest. Or maybe it was the same one, he didn't really care. The sounds of mindless destruction began once more. Then a shout echoed the the increasingly empty woods, "Just you wait, Randy!!"
------ Furinkan High School ------
"Just you wait, Ranma!!"
The crowd of students heading for the exit heeded their senses of self-preservation and moved aside for a chuckling Ranma and his angry fiance. Especially since said fiance was wearing several sets of weights and appeared to be glowing.
------ Outside ------
The tall boy maintained his deliberate pace as he walked past the walls of a school of some sort. Then he noticed the crowd of students making their way out of the gates. He paused beside them and looked at the school itself, Maybe I should find out where I am... He waited until a random boy had gotten close enough and snagged him as he walked by. He hauled the poor guy up by his shirt collar and shouted in his face, "WHERE IS FURINKAN HIGH SCHOOL?!?"
The student tried to make sense of what he had just been asked. Not only was he nearly deaf from being shouted at, it was also hard to think when your feet are dangling in mid-air. Because a seven foot giant who looked like he could squash you with his pinkie finger has you by your shirt collar. And he looked like he was about to squash you because you weren't answering fast enough.
"Huh?" he answered intelligently.
The giant glared at him and repeated his question in a slightly louder voice. Which was amazing, because the student hadn't though that anybody could yell that loud the FIRST time around. Oh boy, he REALLY looked like he was about to squash somebody now! What was the question again?? Oh yeah. Furinkan High School. He knew he'd heard the name before but he just couldn't place it. Furinkan. Furinkan. Wait a minute...
The student gave the giant a flat-eyed look and pointed behind him. With one hand still holding the frightened student, the giant turned around and stared at the sign behind him, "Fu...rin...kan... High... School..." At- at last!!! I've finally MADE IT!!! He turned back to the student, "Tell me I'm not dreaming!!" The poor student nodded rapidly in response. "Now tell me where I can find Ranma Saotome!"
"Uh, Saotome??" The student blinked in surprise, then began desparately searching the grounds for Ranma.
------ The School-yard ------
"Wait, Ranma! How DARE you? Come back here, you jerk! You heard me!!" Akane screamed at the laughing boy. She didn't even notice the weights she was wearing as she plowed through the student body in her quest to punish the evil perverted jerk who had tricked her into wearing said weights and was currently laughing his head off at her embarrassment.
Said evil perverted jerk laughed out loud as he nimbly moved among the students without upsetting them in the slightest. An angry Akane was like a- a- Oh well. Forget the anology, an angry Akane was funny, but dangerous. He was glad he'd taken up the job of training her again.
Suddenly his danger sense screammed at him and he glanced around in mid jump. On impulse he glanced up into the sun, where a shadowy figure descended directly toward him, screaming a battle cry, "RANDY, PREPARE TO DIE!!!"
Desperately, he twisted his body to halt his momentum and landed on one hand in front of his attacker. They stared into each other's eyes for a split-second before Ranma pushed off and landed upright a fair distance away. Aparrently it was far enough because he landed at on the inside edge of a twenty foot crater that had appeared in the ground in the short moment that he was in the air.
A shirtless giant wearing a pair of brown pants crouched in the middle of the crater, a huge hiking pack slung across his back. A red bamboo umbrella was stuck into the center of the crater at his feet. A tan and black striped bandana kept his black spikey hair out of his eyes, and tan furs were wrapped around his calves. He also appeared to be barefoot, just like Ranma.
The giant slowly lifted the umbrella out of the ground and stared intently at the red-haired boy as he recovered from his unexpected landing, "Finally... I've found you... Ranma Saotome!" He grinned evilly.
------ Eyecatch ------
(Missed one last episode; Sorry!) Genma-panda juggles some peices of fruit and snatches them out of the air with his mouth. Then he spits them back out because they've been switched with some rocks in mid-air.
------ End Eyecatch ------
The giant stood up to his full height, an intimidating seven feet, two inches, and brandished his umbrella, "Long time no see, Ranma. I've been itching to finish our fight." Ranma stared at the him intently. All was quiet for a moment.
Akane came up behind Ranma and bashed him into the ground, "Serves you right, you stupid jerk!" She huffed angrily a few times, then paused as she finally noticed the new arrival. She blinked at him a couple of times, then pulled Ranma out of the small crater he'd made when he hit the ground, "Hey, Ranma. D'you know this guy?"
"No-no, Red. The snorkle hasn't been fed yet." he mumbled, dazed. Gingerly, he shook his head to clear it. He resumed staring at the giant in front of him.
The new arrival stepped forward, glaring angrily, "I feel like I've been waiting for this very moment for thousands of years!"
Akane looked back and forth between them, "Hey, you DO know him don't you?"
Ranma scratched his chin with one hand and frowned in concentration.
The giant lowered the umbrella, still glaring, "Don't tell me you don't recognise me??!
Akane also glared at Ranma, "Come on! Do you know him or not??!
Ranma stopped staring off in to the distance and pinched the bridge of his nose.
The other boy stopped glaring for just a moment, "Y-You mean... You really don't recognise me??"
Ranma shook his head rapidly. Then, "Aha!" he snapped his fingers and looked over at Akane, a big grin on his face.
She leaned forward and looked at him, "Do you remember?"
The giant stepped up to his face, "DO you remember??"
Ranma paused, "Uuummmmmmmm..."
Akane stared at him, flat-eyed, "I wouldn't want you to strain your brain, Ranma."
"ENOUGH!! Forget the whole thing!! Let's just FIGHT!!!"
Ranma perked up immediately, "Okay!" The sudents who had gathered around face-faulted.
The red-haired boy and the black-haired giant faced off. Akane hesitated, but then moved back along with the rest of the student body. That giant had made a pretty big crater with his first attack, and who knew whether that was his strongest attack or not. Low whispers to that effect wafted through the air.
"That guy's really strong!"
"Yeah! D'you think Ranma can beat him?"
"Nah, I think that was his strongest attack. I mean, nobody can be THAT strong!"
"Yeah, but what if..." And the whispers continued.
Akane watched intently as the two combatants stared at each other. Neither one of them moved. A long minute passed before Ranma held up his hand, "Before we start, I got a question for ya."
The giant threw up his hands in exasperation, "I'm Ryoga Hibiki, for crying out loud!!! Or I was..."
Ranma blinked, nonplussed, "Uh, That's nice. But that's not what I was gonna ask ya."
"Oh." Ryouga deflated, then cocked his head to the side, "Then, what??"
"What's the weather like up there?" The red-haired boy maintained a straight face while his question sank in.
"What's the weather li. . . . . ." Ryouga trailed off, rage growing on his face. He crouched low and his battle aura shot up around him, an angry red-brown, "Why you!! I'll make you eat those words!!!"
Akane paled, "What does Ranma think he's doing??! He's going get himself killed out there!!"
Ranma merely smirked at the glowing giant, unfazed by the sizable aura he was putting out. Then he noticed the silvery-black metallic material rising out of the ground and wrapping itself around Ryouga's entire body. By the time it was finished, the giant was wearing an entire suit of armor. Then the gaps and joints sealed themselves together so that he was encased in the strange material, causing him to resemble a fancy golem. He slammed his hands together in front of himself, causing sparks to fly from the point of impact and creating a small shockwave.
"Oh crap." Suddenly the red-haired boy was sweating bullets. Something in the back of his mind, specifically the area of his psyche where Randy's memories had taken up residence, told him that the black-haired giant was dead-serious already. He was suddenly struck with a memory from the dream he had had several weeks ago.
---Randy drew his Crescent Knives from sub-space and let go of his Spirit-boosted strength to enhance his already blinding speed. Ryla drew her Katana, faded into the shadows, and hid her Spirit as best as she could. Jase switched places with Rocky, who summoned Tentite armor around his entire body. Surprisingly, the huge weight of the armor only seemed to make him stronger. His first punch slammed into the Entity's palms (much like Jase's had) and forced the Entity backward!---
"Oh, shit. If that's what I think it is, I'm in trouble!" Ranma almost took a step backwards, but steeled his resolve. "Oh well. No use backing out now." He raised his aura and began gathering light-energy in preparation for a lightning bolt. It was easier to use his own Ki-energy for the process, but he needed to save all the energy he could. He hadn't even gathered half enough energy when Ryouga attacked.
The giant swung an armor-clad fist at the shorter boy, who leaned to one side to avoid it. As expected, the punch missed. The air pressure -involved- in the punch -didn't-. Ranma spun across the length of the field before crashing into the side of the school hard enough to leave a crater. His body flashed as he released his hold on the light-energy he'd been storing and sank to the ground in a daze. "Oh yeah." he mumbled into the dirt. "I forgot how powerful he gets when he puts on that armor."
At this point, most of the students heeded their screaming survival instincts and evacuated the area. A few of the braver ones stayed to watch Ranma get beaten up. Not that they didn't WANT Ranma to win, of course. But when a guy MISSES you and STILL hurls you all the way across the field hard enough to leave a crater in the side of the school, it's time to throw in the towel. Ranma, however, painfully pulled himself to his feet and smirked, "Betcha can't do THAT again." The remaining students began pounding their heads on the nearest solid object.
Ranma drew himself into a crouch for a moment before he dashed across the field towards the armor-clad Ryouga, his aura going full blast. A couple of yards in front of the enraged Ryouga, he blurred from sight and reappeared behind the giant, sliding to a stop. Ryouga merely turned around to face him again, while Ranma shook his throbbing hands in a vain attepmt to rid them of the pain resulting from pounding on Tentite, a metal equal adamantium, with his bare hands, "O-ooooookay. Time for plan B."
Ryouga stomped the ground in front of him, which sent a shockwave through the ground toward Ranma, who jumped out of the way. By the time he had landed, he had charged enough light-energy to point at Ryouga and fire a particularly large lightning bolt at him. It fizzled out against the Tentite armor. "Right. Earth negates Lightning. Time for plan C."
The pony-tailed boy suddenly stopped and planted himself in front of Ryouga, "Get ready, Ryouga. 'Cause I ain't gonna hold back!! Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts Final Attack!!!" The golem-like Ryouga paused, readying himself for anything. "Ready! Set!! Run Away!!!" Ranma took off in the opposite direction from Ryouga.
The living golem stood there stupidly for a few seconds before he realized what had happened and let out a wordless roar. His aura built up until it was visible even outside the Tentite shell encasing his body. Then he made the shell (and therefore himself) rise up off of the ground and fly after the fleeing boy, who was almost out of sight by now.
Ranma darted through the streets like a pinball, knowing that Ryouga wouldn't be far behind. Okay, what I REALLY need need right now is some way of getting through that armor. Lessee, how did I do it while I was Randy? Wait a minute, how did Ryouga pick up Rocky's mastery of Earth?? Did the same thing happen to him that happened to Jack?? Wait a sec, who's Jack?? Aaargh!! Never mind, gotta concentrate! Um, where was I?? Ah, yes, the armor. Damn! If I had my Crescent Knives I might could pull it off, but I don't have 'em on me. Or do I?? Randy kept 'em in sub-space most of the time, so maybe I can still grab 'em.
The red-haired boy turned a corner and stopped. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on Randy's weapons and reached behind him into sub-space. "Come on, come on, come on! Please work! Please! Please-please-please-please-please!!!" His hands closed on something and he pulled them forward, relief flooding his body, "Thank you!! Thank you, thank-" He opened his eyes and stared at the object in his hands. "...What the Hell??!"
Instead of the Crescent Knives he had been aiming for, he held a long Staff. It appeared to be made entirely out of Tentite, and its six foot length came to a point at both ends. Engraved along its whole length was a stylized dragon, coiling around the metal in a spiral.
Ranma stared at it, perplexed, "What the- Where the heck did THIS come from?? I mean, it's GOT to by Randy's, 'cause -I- certainly never had anything like this! But... I didn't know Randy had anything like this!" A nearby crash brought him back to the world and warned him that Ryouga was in the vicinity. "Well, I suppose I'll have to make do, somehow. Let's see what this baby can do!" He turned and jumped off in the direction of the crash he had heard.
The pony-tailed boy hadn't gotten very far when he heard another crash, this one even further away. "What is that idiot DOING?? Oh wait, I forgot. He has a horrible sense of direction. RYOUGA!! Get back here!!!" He put on a burst of speed to catch up with the enraged boy.
He had almost caught up the the rampaging golem known as Ryouga when he spotted the Sailor Senshi headed straight for it from the other direction. He grimaced, "I tell 'em to stay out of fights, and here they are. And they aren't even wearing my weights! But if they're doin' what I think they're doin', I need to take care of Ryouga before they get to 'im. Yeah. THEN I can punish 'em. Heh. Anyways, Ryouga first. I need some way to get through that armor of his."
The red-haired boy glanced down at his newly acquired staff, taking note of the pointed ends. "Maybe if I throw this thing like a javelin, I can penetrate it." He gave it another glance, a dubious frown on his face, "Still, it'd cause a pretty big wound if it went too deep; I better be careful about this..." He gave another mighty leap and landed in front of the heavily armored Ryuoga, braced in a defensive stance with his staff.
"Hold it, Ryouga! Calm down!" The berserk boy just gave another wordless roar and caused his armor to flow to the end of his arm and form a huge sword, more Tentite rising from the ground to replace what parts had been used to make the sword. "Whoa!!" Randy looked decidedly nervous at the sight of the shining silvery-black weapon, which was as tall as it's wielder. Which was pretty damn big. What the REAL cause of Ranma's nervousness, however, was the fact that Ryouga was wielding it easily. IN ONE HAND.
Ryouga swung at Ranma in a wide arc, cutting through the air with a whistle. The pony-tailed boy jumped over the path of the swing, remembering what had happened to him when he thought he'd avoided Ryouga's punch. His fears were realized when the air pressure drom the swing slammed into a building behind him and caved the wall in. He caught a glimpse of the Sailor Senshi closing in at the peak of his jump and took a moment to estimate the time of their arrival on the way down. He'd have to hurry.
He turned his attention back to Ryouga just in time to duck under another swing and stab at the armor encasing the other boy. He retreated and watched the small hole he'd made close itself up in satisfaction. Now he knew what he could do. Now he had a plan.
Ranma jumped back, gaining some space to work within. He casually dodged another swing from Ryouga and started to charge his staff with Lightning. He ducked under a slice and realized he'd better pay a little more attention to the fight. A few strands of his hair floated down in front of his face as testament to the near miss.
Ranma finished charging his staff with Lightning and reared his arm to throw it, but not before giving it another dubious glance, "Too bad this thing ain't smaller. I'd hate to think what would happen if I aimed wrong. I mean, I don't wanna KILL 'im, just knock 'im out..." He trailed off as the staff abruptly shrunk in his hands, leaving him with a needle-like shuriken full of Lightning. He blinked at it once, then smirked, "Perfect."
He ran toward Ryouga, blurring from sight again. He weaved out of the path of one last attack from Ryouga and jumped over his head. Landing in back of the living golem, he threw the needle with all his might at the back of the armor. The results were spectacular.
Ryouga began to turn as the needle closed in, but it was too late. The Lightning-charged projectile sank into his armor and into the flesh of his side, where Ranma released the charge within. A bright flash emmited from various cracks that suddenly appeared in the metal encasing the boy. Then it exploded, sending chunks of Tentite everywhere. Ranma was forced to avoid the pieces that were sent his way, watching as the rest slammed into the walls of the buildings around them. Some of the shrapnel sank into the walls, while most of them went straight through. In the center of the explosion stood a burnt and smoking Ryouga, who twitched spasmodically every once in a while.
Ranma casually walked up to the twitching boy and snapped his fingers in front of Ryouga's face. There was no response. Ranma smirked, "Heh. Didn't think he'd react QUITE like that. Oh well."
"Halt, evildoers! For the crime of- Eek!!" Sailor Moon was forced to cut off her speech as Ranma looked over at them and smirked, then clapped his hands together. A bright bolt of lightning slammed into the roof in front of them, blinding them long enough for Ranma to heave Ryouga's unconscious body over his shoulders and run off.
Not leap off, jump off, or even hop off. Run off. Even unconscious, Ryouga's huge body weighed every bit as much as it looked like it did, probably more. It was putting a strain on Ranma's body to even run like this. He shrugged Ryouga's body into a better position and smirked. It was a good training opportunity.
He mildly regretted not stopping to punish the Sailor Senshi, but he figured he could get them later. Right now he had to get some answers from Ryouga. Like how he had mastered the Earth like Rocky. Or why he was so angry with him when they'd met. Or how he had gotten here in the first place.
Speaking of which, where WAS "here"?? Ranma stopped and looked around, a sweat-drop appearing on his head, "Ooookaay... Where am I??"
------ End Episode 07 ------
Author's Notes: Well, there it is; Episode 07. More plot twists again. Ryouga appears to have mastered Earth, Akane has started to train again, and the Senshi get very little air time. And if the end if this one seems like it was rushed, that's because it was.
If you still have any questions regarding the Elements, e-mail me and I'll try to answer them.(Check my profile for E-mail info.) I've pretty much covered all I'm going to about the Elements and how they work in the story. Also, tell me if you want me to bring in more of the Elemental fighters, or if should I quit while I'm ahead. I wasn't originally intending to bring in more than Lightning and maybe Earth, but if you review and let me know, I may change my mind!
Hello?
Anyone out there?
Anybody?
sighs
Warnings: Manga Language, Manga violence, Unedited
------------ Chaos 1/2 ------------
------ Episode 07: Enter Ryouga! Opposites Meet Again! ------
A familiar scene fades in as we begin our episode. A lone traveler slowly walks through a a windy, barren desert. This is where the resemblence ends, however. THIS traveler is not hunched over, with a cloak pulled about him to avoid the sting of the wind-blown sands on his body. THIS traveler does not wear goggles to cover his eyes so as to protect them from sand. This traveler walks proudly along, his head held high, seemingly un-heeding of the winds and the sands blowing around him.
This traveler does not wear a cloak because he does not NEED one. The wind is blowing the sand, true. But the sand does not reach him, for an invisible shield seems the stop all of the tiny stones mere inches away from his body. The traveler walks inexolerably onward, his head held high as the wind attempts to blow him over. He is unaffected by the wind, and the sand that it carries never reaches him. He is like a rock. No, he is like a cliff. He will not bow the the wind. The wind will bow to him. Just like the earth bows to his beck and call.
Indeed, the traveler continues onward, unheeding of the wind and unheeding of the sands around him. His feet leave no mark on the malleable sand. Just as the sand makes no mark on him.
------ Somewhere in the Country-sides of Japan ------
The traveler has come to the end of the desert. He now stands at the top of a cliff. He gazes down impassively at the town below, taking in the scenery for a moment before he sheathes the umbrella he has been using to block the sun on top of his back-pack. With a shrug of his giant shoulders he leaps of the cliff. The umbrella stays attached the the top of his large pack.
The very ground shakes for a moment when the traveler lands at the bottom of the cliff. He slowly rises from his crouch and continues walking, unaffected by the long drop. He finds a nearby road and follows it, keeping the same slow-but-sure pace that he had been keeping through the desert. A pair of small craters at the bottom of the cliff are the only sign of his passing.
------ In a Nearby Village ------
"It's coming! It's coming!!" A loud squeal accompanied the shout as a young man ran desparately for the warning bell. The huge boar squealed again as it ran aimlessly through the village, leaving a swathe of destruction in it's wake. People screamed in fright as it plowed straight through their stands and burst roughly through their homes.
Except for one elderly couple who merely blinked in surprise as their dining table suddenly went missing.
The young man finally reached the warning bell and began to frantically pound on it with the nearby gong hammer. The boar continued it's aimless path of destruction as more people heard the bell and began to clear the streets. The young man suddenly stopped his pounding and gaped at a tall man that he hadn't noticed before slowly walking down the street.
"H-hey!! Look out!!!" He shouted at the man, who didn't seem to hear him. "D'ja hear me?! I said, LOOK OUT!!!" His vioce raised even more as he noticed that the boar had stopped its aimless destruction and was now heading straight for the stranger. The boar reached the stranger.
The young man dropped the hammer and flung an arm over his eyes. He couldn't bear to see the poor guy die like that. It would be bad enough to hear the screams of pain. Then he noticed that there was something wrong. There didn't seem to be any screams of pain. In fact, there didn't seem to be any sounds at all, even thought the streets had been filled with cries of panic just a moment ago. It was just as well. The poor guy probably didn't even know what had hit him. He probably hadn't even had time to scream. Another moment passed by before the young man dared to lower his arm and look at the carnage wrought by-
Uh, that couldn't be right. He raised his arm again, only to rub at his eyes disblievingly. No, the hallucination was still there. He stared, speechless at the sight before him.
The stranger continued slowly on his path, while the wild boar... The wild boar lay unconscious in a crater of it's own making in the middle of the road, a large welt rising on it's head. The tall man paid no attention the the gasps of amazement and wonder as he deliberately continued his wandering.
For the benefit of the reader, I will now explain what exactly happened in those few seconds that the young man had covered his eyes. It was very simple really. In the first second, the tall boy turned around and bopped the boar on the head. In the next second, he had turned back to his path and continued on his way. The rest were spent placing one foot in front of the other. Yes, that was it. Now you can understand why the young man was having trouble believing his eyes.
------ Nerima, Tendo Compound ------
Ranma ran through katas in, on, and over the back yard. His body moved at a furious pace as he blurred through one kata and moved on to the next. A quiet rumbling sound accompanied his workout. A rumbling caused by his body consistently breaking the sound barrier.
Kasumi smiled serenely as the wind generated by his movement billowed the clothes that she was hanging up on the clothesline. Nabiki glanced at him in annoyance as the wind blew over several pages of the manga she was currently reading. Akane sat on the back porch and watched him as well as she could with an unhappy expression on her face. Soun and Genma both took a glance at the blur of movement the the back yard before returning to their game of Shogi.
Abruptly, Ranma slowed down. He continued doing katas, but he seemed to have changed styles now. Where before, he had moved as fast as he could, with no finesse at all, now he simply moving quickly and with as much grace and agility as he could muster.
Kasumi paused in the middle of hanging up a sheet to watch the red-haired boy dance. Nabiki glanced at him again. And continued to stare. Akane smiled to herself as she watched him flow across the yard, her troubles forgotten for the moment. Even Genma and Soun stared a moment longer than they had intended. Then they went back to their game.
Eventually Nabiki found herself fanning her face as she watched the pony-tailed boy flow through his katas. The realization of what she was doing puzzled her. She didn't think that the forecast had mentioned anything about a heat wave. If she recalled correctly it was only supposed to get around seventy degrees today. So why did it feel like it was going on a hundred??
She glanced toward Ranma again. This time she noticed that the air around him seemed to shimmer, just like it did over hot asphalt... Her eyes widened as she realized the RANMA must be generating the heat she was feeling. She continued to watch him more closely. The red-haired boy's eyes were closed in concentration as he gracefully flickered about the yard, and if she looked very carefully, he was also glowing slightly. She noticed that even though he was generating a fair amount of heat, he didn't seem to be the least bit warm.
Then he stopped. He held his last pose for a moment and opened his eyes- Whooof!! He gasped sharply as the heat wave struck him like a solid object. Beads of sweat broke out on his face as he fanned himself rapidly. "Woah!" he breathed faintly. "Guess that means I'm on the right track, then..."
------ Elsewhere ------
The tall traveler finally paused in his relentless journey. He stood in a large hilly area, surrounded by mountains on one side and a forest on the other. In front of him stood a farmer in over-alls and his cow. "This he-ah ain't To-kee-oo, Bo-ey." the farmer drawled, handing back the map the traveler had given him.
"What??!" the tall boy screamed. "What do you MEAN 'This ain't Tokyo'?!! If this ain't Tokyo, then WHERE THE HELL AM I?!?" He glared angrily at the farmer, clenching his fists tightly.
Then he let out a sigh (as did the relieved farmer) and unclenched his fists, letting his anger drain away. He gave another depressed sigh, "Let me guess: Hokaido." The farmer nodded uneasily. The tall boy sighed again, this time resignedly, and turned to continue on his journey, "Thanks for your help..."
A short while later found him asking for directions from another farmer, "If y'all want ta git ta To-kee-oo, y'all jes' gotta go stee-rate down that thar road. Yep, stee-rate as th' crow flies. Yessir."
"Thanks a lot!" The tall boy waved thankfully to the farmer and headed down the road at a ground-eating jog. "Damn this sense of direction! I can't ever seem to get where I'm going! Why?? WHY does it still plague me?!? Damn it, Randy! This is all your fault!! When I get my hands on you, I'm gonna- Huh?" He stared ahead of him in confusion.
Ahead, the road veered off to the right and the forest that had been at his side this whole time suddenly cut in front of him. Which way? Which way?? Well, he said straight as the crow flies, so... "Straight it is!" With that, he plowed straight through the guard rail and jumped down the incline into the forest.
"I'm almost there! Just gotta keep going straight!" He glared at an upcoming tree, "I'm gonna go straight and there ain't NOTHING gonna stop me!!!" He ran straight at the tree and punched it. A loud crack echoed through the forest and the tree fell over noisily, it's trunk snapped in two by the force of the punch. The tall boy continued his ground-eating jog, never stopping. Even for a tree.
His run continued into the night, and all of the animals were kept awake by the disturbing sounds of trees giving way to the unstoppable force of destruction as he made his way through the forest. It was the next evening by the time he finally emerged on the other side of the forest, breathing heavily from his extertion, and exhausted from his day-long run. He stood there, panting for a moment. Then he took a look at his surroundings. They were green. They were mountainous. They were unfamiliar. But most importantly, they were NOT Tokyo!
"DAMN IT!!!" he screamed, slamming a fist into the ground. A five foot crater appeared at his feet and the ground shook with a small tremor. I KNEW I should have taken that road!! I just KNEW it!!! He turned and headed back into the forest, stumbling a little as he went. "Damn it! Just you wait, Ranma!!"
------ Nerima, Tendo Compound ------
"Just you wait, Ranma!!!"
Soun made another move with his pieces, just as Ranma flew by the door. This was not as disturbing as the sight of Akane stumbling past them, her clothes nearly obscured by an assortment of weights. This was STILL not as disturbing as the sight of Nabiki following both of them, clutching her ribs in laughter. Genma paused in mid-move to stare. He was accompanied by Soun.
"You get back here!!"
A short moment later, Ranma flew by again, wearing a large smirk and doing a pirouette in mid-air. This was not particularly disturbing, but the sight of Akane stumbling by again, nearly incapitated with more weights, was. As was Nabiki stumbling by again, nearly incapitated with laughter. Genma and Soun, still frozen in mid-move, followed their movements with wide eyes.
"I'll get you for this, Ranma!"
Just as they were about to go back to their game, Ranma flew by again, this time stopping to stick out his rear derisively and smack it a few times. He disappeared, but Akane stumbled into view and collapsed face down on the porch, immobilized by even MORE weights. Nabiki followed once more, and had to lean against the wall of the house to support herself. Ranma appeared once more, a large smirk still present on his face.
He knelt in front of Akane's prone body, "Hey, you wanted training, I'm giving it to you! Stop complaining. I just had to find your limit. Now I'll take some of these weights off ya." He reached down and unfastened a few of the weights.
Akane suddenly swiped at him angrily, but missed as the red-haired boy casually moved out of the way. "Whoop! You're gonna have ta do better than that if ya wanna hit me, Akane. I didn't say I'd take all of 'em off, anyway. Just some of 'em."
Akane growled and lurched to her feet, taking another swipe at the pony-tailed boy. He dodged again and moved on down the porch, out of sight. Akane followed slowly, still stumbling under the weights. Nabiki recovered herself somewhat, and followed the two, still giggling at her younger sister's antics.
Genma and Soun sat frozen for moment longer, but no more surprises made themselves known. Finally Genma shivered and held up a sign, Almost as bad as the Master, I tell ya! Soun nodded in agreement.
------ Somewhere in Hokaido ------
The setting sun cast a long shadow on the dirt road leading into a small village. A tall figure cast an even longer shadow as he stumbled into the town. He had been running for nearly three day straight now and he was beginning to get a little tired. Just a little, mind you.
He paused next to an important looking building from which voices wafted through the air and looked around the mostly deserted town. A few buildings looked like they had been through a battle or something, but he paid it no mind. He turned toward the building where the voices were coming from, "Maybe I'd... better ask for... directions..." He slammed the door open and yelled, "WHERE IS FURINKAN HIGH SCHOOL??!"
There was complete and total silence as he slowly scanned from left to right to left again. There were the townspeople from the town in which he had beaten the boar into the road three days ago. There the boar which he had beaten into the road three days ago. And they were all staring at him in surprise. And, much to his embarrassment, recognition. Finally one of them spoke up; the young man who had tried to warn him of the boar, "Well, howdy thar. We didn't know y'all wuz still he-ah!"
The tall boy tried desparately to keep the flush of mortification off of his face as he slowly closed the door, "Sorry... to bother you." He was mostly successful.
The townspeople continued to stare at the closed door for a moment. Then an older villager voiced the thought they were all thinking, "Ah hev a feelin' he'll be back agin'. The rest of them nodded solemnly.
The moon rose into the night sky, perfectly defining the silhouette of a tall boy as he ran over the ridge of a hill. Damn it all! Seems like I've been traveling forever! WHY can't I make it to Tokyo??! WHY?!! Ranma Saotome!! I will NEVER allow you to escape!!!
The tall figure headed into another forest. Or maybe it was the same one, he didn't really care. The sounds of mindless destruction began once more. Then a shout echoed the the increasingly empty woods, "Just you wait, Randy!!"
------ Furinkan High School ------
"Just you wait, Ranma!!"
The crowd of students heading for the exit heeded their senses of self-preservation and moved aside for a chuckling Ranma and his angry fiance. Especially since said fiance was wearing several sets of weights and appeared to be glowing.
------ Outside ------
The tall boy maintained his deliberate pace as he walked past the walls of a school of some sort. Then he noticed the crowd of students making their way out of the gates. He paused beside them and looked at the school itself, Maybe I should find out where I am... He waited until a random boy had gotten close enough and snagged him as he walked by. He hauled the poor guy up by his shirt collar and shouted in his face, "WHERE IS FURINKAN HIGH SCHOOL?!?"
The student tried to make sense of what he had just been asked. Not only was he nearly deaf from being shouted at, it was also hard to think when your feet are dangling in mid-air. Because a seven foot giant who looked like he could squash you with his pinkie finger has you by your shirt collar. And he looked like he was about to squash you because you weren't answering fast enough.
"Huh?" he answered intelligently.
The giant glared at him and repeated his question in a slightly louder voice. Which was amazing, because the student hadn't though that anybody could yell that loud the FIRST time around. Oh boy, he REALLY looked like he was about to squash somebody now! What was the question again?? Oh yeah. Furinkan High School. He knew he'd heard the name before but he just couldn't place it. Furinkan. Furinkan. Wait a minute...
The student gave the giant a flat-eyed look and pointed behind him. With one hand still holding the frightened student, the giant turned around and stared at the sign behind him, "Fu...rin...kan... High... School..." At- at last!!! I've finally MADE IT!!! He turned back to the student, "Tell me I'm not dreaming!!" The poor student nodded rapidly in response. "Now tell me where I can find Ranma Saotome!"
"Uh, Saotome??" The student blinked in surprise, then began desparately searching the grounds for Ranma.
------ The School-yard ------
"Wait, Ranma! How DARE you? Come back here, you jerk! You heard me!!" Akane screamed at the laughing boy. She didn't even notice the weights she was wearing as she plowed through the student body in her quest to punish the evil perverted jerk who had tricked her into wearing said weights and was currently laughing his head off at her embarrassment.
Said evil perverted jerk laughed out loud as he nimbly moved among the students without upsetting them in the slightest. An angry Akane was like a- a- Oh well. Forget the anology, an angry Akane was funny, but dangerous. He was glad he'd taken up the job of training her again.
Suddenly his danger sense screammed at him and he glanced around in mid jump. On impulse he glanced up into the sun, where a shadowy figure descended directly toward him, screaming a battle cry, "RANDY, PREPARE TO DIE!!!"
Desperately, he twisted his body to halt his momentum and landed on one hand in front of his attacker. They stared into each other's eyes for a split-second before Ranma pushed off and landed upright a fair distance away. Aparrently it was far enough because he landed at on the inside edge of a twenty foot crater that had appeared in the ground in the short moment that he was in the air.
A shirtless giant wearing a pair of brown pants crouched in the middle of the crater, a huge hiking pack slung across his back. A red bamboo umbrella was stuck into the center of the crater at his feet. A tan and black striped bandana kept his black spikey hair out of his eyes, and tan furs were wrapped around his calves. He also appeared to be barefoot, just like Ranma.
The giant slowly lifted the umbrella out of the ground and stared intently at the red-haired boy as he recovered from his unexpected landing, "Finally... I've found you... Ranma Saotome!" He grinned evilly.
------ Eyecatch ------
(Missed one last episode; Sorry!) Genma-panda juggles some peices of fruit and snatches them out of the air with his mouth. Then he spits them back out because they've been switched with some rocks in mid-air.
------ End Eyecatch ------
The giant stood up to his full height, an intimidating seven feet, two inches, and brandished his umbrella, "Long time no see, Ranma. I've been itching to finish our fight." Ranma stared at the him intently. All was quiet for a moment.
Akane came up behind Ranma and bashed him into the ground, "Serves you right, you stupid jerk!" She huffed angrily a few times, then paused as she finally noticed the new arrival. She blinked at him a couple of times, then pulled Ranma out of the small crater he'd made when he hit the ground, "Hey, Ranma. D'you know this guy?"
"No-no, Red. The snorkle hasn't been fed yet." he mumbled, dazed. Gingerly, he shook his head to clear it. He resumed staring at the giant in front of him.
The new arrival stepped forward, glaring angrily, "I feel like I've been waiting for this very moment for thousands of years!"
Akane looked back and forth between them, "Hey, you DO know him don't you?"
Ranma scratched his chin with one hand and frowned in concentration.
The giant lowered the umbrella, still glaring, "Don't tell me you don't recognise me??!
Akane also glared at Ranma, "Come on! Do you know him or not??!
Ranma stopped staring off in to the distance and pinched the bridge of his nose.
The other boy stopped glaring for just a moment, "Y-You mean... You really don't recognise me??"
Ranma shook his head rapidly. Then, "Aha!" he snapped his fingers and looked over at Akane, a big grin on his face.
She leaned forward and looked at him, "Do you remember?"
The giant stepped up to his face, "DO you remember??"
Ranma paused, "Uuummmmmmmm..."
Akane stared at him, flat-eyed, "I wouldn't want you to strain your brain, Ranma."
"ENOUGH!! Forget the whole thing!! Let's just FIGHT!!!"
Ranma perked up immediately, "Okay!" The sudents who had gathered around face-faulted.
The red-haired boy and the black-haired giant faced off. Akane hesitated, but then moved back along with the rest of the student body. That giant had made a pretty big crater with his first attack, and who knew whether that was his strongest attack or not. Low whispers to that effect wafted through the air.
"That guy's really strong!"
"Yeah! D'you think Ranma can beat him?"
"Nah, I think that was his strongest attack. I mean, nobody can be THAT strong!"
"Yeah, but what if..." And the whispers continued.
Akane watched intently as the two combatants stared at each other. Neither one of them moved. A long minute passed before Ranma held up his hand, "Before we start, I got a question for ya."
The giant threw up his hands in exasperation, "I'm Ryoga Hibiki, for crying out loud!!! Or I was..."
Ranma blinked, nonplussed, "Uh, That's nice. But that's not what I was gonna ask ya."
"Oh." Ryouga deflated, then cocked his head to the side, "Then, what??"
"What's the weather like up there?" The red-haired boy maintained a straight face while his question sank in.
"What's the weather li. . . . . ." Ryouga trailed off, rage growing on his face. He crouched low and his battle aura shot up around him, an angry red-brown, "Why you!! I'll make you eat those words!!!"
Akane paled, "What does Ranma think he's doing??! He's going get himself killed out there!!"
Ranma merely smirked at the glowing giant, unfazed by the sizable aura he was putting out. Then he noticed the silvery-black metallic material rising out of the ground and wrapping itself around Ryouga's entire body. By the time it was finished, the giant was wearing an entire suit of armor. Then the gaps and joints sealed themselves together so that he was encased in the strange material, causing him to resemble a fancy golem. He slammed his hands together in front of himself, causing sparks to fly from the point of impact and creating a small shockwave.
"Oh crap." Suddenly the red-haired boy was sweating bullets. Something in the back of his mind, specifically the area of his psyche where Randy's memories had taken up residence, told him that the black-haired giant was dead-serious already. He was suddenly struck with a memory from the dream he had had several weeks ago.
---Randy drew his Crescent Knives from sub-space and let go of his Spirit-boosted strength to enhance his already blinding speed. Ryla drew her Katana, faded into the shadows, and hid her Spirit as best as she could. Jase switched places with Rocky, who summoned Tentite armor around his entire body. Surprisingly, the huge weight of the armor only seemed to make him stronger. His first punch slammed into the Entity's palms (much like Jase's had) and forced the Entity backward!---
"Oh, shit. If that's what I think it is, I'm in trouble!" Ranma almost took a step backwards, but steeled his resolve. "Oh well. No use backing out now." He raised his aura and began gathering light-energy in preparation for a lightning bolt. It was easier to use his own Ki-energy for the process, but he needed to save all the energy he could. He hadn't even gathered half enough energy when Ryouga attacked.
The giant swung an armor-clad fist at the shorter boy, who leaned to one side to avoid it. As expected, the punch missed. The air pressure -involved- in the punch -didn't-. Ranma spun across the length of the field before crashing into the side of the school hard enough to leave a crater. His body flashed as he released his hold on the light-energy he'd been storing and sank to the ground in a daze. "Oh yeah." he mumbled into the dirt. "I forgot how powerful he gets when he puts on that armor."
At this point, most of the students heeded their screaming survival instincts and evacuated the area. A few of the braver ones stayed to watch Ranma get beaten up. Not that they didn't WANT Ranma to win, of course. But when a guy MISSES you and STILL hurls you all the way across the field hard enough to leave a crater in the side of the school, it's time to throw in the towel. Ranma, however, painfully pulled himself to his feet and smirked, "Betcha can't do THAT again." The remaining students began pounding their heads on the nearest solid object.
Ranma drew himself into a crouch for a moment before he dashed across the field towards the armor-clad Ryouga, his aura going full blast. A couple of yards in front of the enraged Ryouga, he blurred from sight and reappeared behind the giant, sliding to a stop. Ryouga merely turned around to face him again, while Ranma shook his throbbing hands in a vain attepmt to rid them of the pain resulting from pounding on Tentite, a metal equal adamantium, with his bare hands, "O-ooooookay. Time for plan B."
Ryouga stomped the ground in front of him, which sent a shockwave through the ground toward Ranma, who jumped out of the way. By the time he had landed, he had charged enough light-energy to point at Ryouga and fire a particularly large lightning bolt at him. It fizzled out against the Tentite armor. "Right. Earth negates Lightning. Time for plan C."
The pony-tailed boy suddenly stopped and planted himself in front of Ryouga, "Get ready, Ryouga. 'Cause I ain't gonna hold back!! Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts Final Attack!!!" The golem-like Ryouga paused, readying himself for anything. "Ready! Set!! Run Away!!!" Ranma took off in the opposite direction from Ryouga.
The living golem stood there stupidly for a few seconds before he realized what had happened and let out a wordless roar. His aura built up until it was visible even outside the Tentite shell encasing his body. Then he made the shell (and therefore himself) rise up off of the ground and fly after the fleeing boy, who was almost out of sight by now.
Ranma darted through the streets like a pinball, knowing that Ryouga wouldn't be far behind. Okay, what I REALLY need need right now is some way of getting through that armor. Lessee, how did I do it while I was Randy? Wait a minute, how did Ryouga pick up Rocky's mastery of Earth?? Did the same thing happen to him that happened to Jack?? Wait a sec, who's Jack?? Aaargh!! Never mind, gotta concentrate! Um, where was I?? Ah, yes, the armor. Damn! If I had my Crescent Knives I might could pull it off, but I don't have 'em on me. Or do I?? Randy kept 'em in sub-space most of the time, so maybe I can still grab 'em.
The red-haired boy turned a corner and stopped. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on Randy's weapons and reached behind him into sub-space. "Come on, come on, come on! Please work! Please! Please-please-please-please-please!!!" His hands closed on something and he pulled them forward, relief flooding his body, "Thank you!! Thank you, thank-" He opened his eyes and stared at the object in his hands. "...What the Hell??!"
Instead of the Crescent Knives he had been aiming for, he held a long Staff. It appeared to be made entirely out of Tentite, and its six foot length came to a point at both ends. Engraved along its whole length was a stylized dragon, coiling around the metal in a spiral.
Ranma stared at it, perplexed, "What the- Where the heck did THIS come from?? I mean, it's GOT to by Randy's, 'cause -I- certainly never had anything like this! But... I didn't know Randy had anything like this!" A nearby crash brought him back to the world and warned him that Ryouga was in the vicinity. "Well, I suppose I'll have to make do, somehow. Let's see what this baby can do!" He turned and jumped off in the direction of the crash he had heard.
The pony-tailed boy hadn't gotten very far when he heard another crash, this one even further away. "What is that idiot DOING?? Oh wait, I forgot. He has a horrible sense of direction. RYOUGA!! Get back here!!!" He put on a burst of speed to catch up with the enraged boy.
He had almost caught up the the rampaging golem known as Ryouga when he spotted the Sailor Senshi headed straight for it from the other direction. He grimaced, "I tell 'em to stay out of fights, and here they are. And they aren't even wearing my weights! But if they're doin' what I think they're doin', I need to take care of Ryouga before they get to 'im. Yeah. THEN I can punish 'em. Heh. Anyways, Ryouga first. I need some way to get through that armor of his."
The red-haired boy glanced down at his newly acquired staff, taking note of the pointed ends. "Maybe if I throw this thing like a javelin, I can penetrate it." He gave it another glance, a dubious frown on his face, "Still, it'd cause a pretty big wound if it went too deep; I better be careful about this..." He gave another mighty leap and landed in front of the heavily armored Ryuoga, braced in a defensive stance with his staff.
"Hold it, Ryouga! Calm down!" The berserk boy just gave another wordless roar and caused his armor to flow to the end of his arm and form a huge sword, more Tentite rising from the ground to replace what parts had been used to make the sword. "Whoa!!" Randy looked decidedly nervous at the sight of the shining silvery-black weapon, which was as tall as it's wielder. Which was pretty damn big. What the REAL cause of Ranma's nervousness, however, was the fact that Ryouga was wielding it easily. IN ONE HAND.
Ryouga swung at Ranma in a wide arc, cutting through the air with a whistle. The pony-tailed boy jumped over the path of the swing, remembering what had happened to him when he thought he'd avoided Ryouga's punch. His fears were realized when the air pressure drom the swing slammed into a building behind him and caved the wall in. He caught a glimpse of the Sailor Senshi closing in at the peak of his jump and took a moment to estimate the time of their arrival on the way down. He'd have to hurry.
He turned his attention back to Ryouga just in time to duck under another swing and stab at the armor encasing the other boy. He retreated and watched the small hole he'd made close itself up in satisfaction. Now he knew what he could do. Now he had a plan.
Ranma jumped back, gaining some space to work within. He casually dodged another swing from Ryouga and started to charge his staff with Lightning. He ducked under a slice and realized he'd better pay a little more attention to the fight. A few strands of his hair floated down in front of his face as testament to the near miss.
Ranma finished charging his staff with Lightning and reared his arm to throw it, but not before giving it another dubious glance, "Too bad this thing ain't smaller. I'd hate to think what would happen if I aimed wrong. I mean, I don't wanna KILL 'im, just knock 'im out..." He trailed off as the staff abruptly shrunk in his hands, leaving him with a needle-like shuriken full of Lightning. He blinked at it once, then smirked, "Perfect."
He ran toward Ryouga, blurring from sight again. He weaved out of the path of one last attack from Ryouga and jumped over his head. Landing in back of the living golem, he threw the needle with all his might at the back of the armor. The results were spectacular.
Ryouga began to turn as the needle closed in, but it was too late. The Lightning-charged projectile sank into his armor and into the flesh of his side, where Ranma released the charge within. A bright flash emmited from various cracks that suddenly appeared in the metal encasing the boy. Then it exploded, sending chunks of Tentite everywhere. Ranma was forced to avoid the pieces that were sent his way, watching as the rest slammed into the walls of the buildings around them. Some of the shrapnel sank into the walls, while most of them went straight through. In the center of the explosion stood a burnt and smoking Ryouga, who twitched spasmodically every once in a while.
Ranma casually walked up to the twitching boy and snapped his fingers in front of Ryouga's face. There was no response. Ranma smirked, "Heh. Didn't think he'd react QUITE like that. Oh well."
"Halt, evildoers! For the crime of- Eek!!" Sailor Moon was forced to cut off her speech as Ranma looked over at them and smirked, then clapped his hands together. A bright bolt of lightning slammed into the roof in front of them, blinding them long enough for Ranma to heave Ryouga's unconscious body over his shoulders and run off.
Not leap off, jump off, or even hop off. Run off. Even unconscious, Ryouga's huge body weighed every bit as much as it looked like it did, probably more. It was putting a strain on Ranma's body to even run like this. He shrugged Ryouga's body into a better position and smirked. It was a good training opportunity.
He mildly regretted not stopping to punish the Sailor Senshi, but he figured he could get them later. Right now he had to get some answers from Ryouga. Like how he had mastered the Earth like Rocky. Or why he was so angry with him when they'd met. Or how he had gotten here in the first place.
Speaking of which, where WAS "here"?? Ranma stopped and looked around, a sweat-drop appearing on his head, "Ooookaay... Where am I??"
------ End Episode 07 ------
Author's Notes: Well, there it is; Episode 07. More plot twists again. Ryouga appears to have mastered Earth, Akane has started to train again, and the Senshi get very little air time. And if the end if this one seems like it was rushed, that's because it was.
If you still have any questions regarding the Elements, e-mail me and I'll try to answer them.(Check my profile for E-mail info.) I've pretty much covered all I'm going to about the Elements and how they work in the story. Also, tell me if you want me to bring in more of the Elemental fighters, or if should I quit while I'm ahead. I wasn't originally intending to bring in more than Lightning and maybe Earth, but if you review and let me know, I may change my mind!
Hello?
Anyone out there?
Anybody?
sighs