Part 4: Defeat
Akane's purple-bruised left cheek did not go unnoticed to the rumor machine of Furinkan high school.
By lunch Akane was crowded by fellow students peppering her with questions. Trying to dispel some of the crazier theories that her classmates were spreading, Akane told them the full story. It was the type of outlandish tale Nerima inhabitants had begun to accept as common place. All but two students paid it no further mind.
Kuno handled the news by declaring he would "go forth and vanquish the vile villain who dared to mar the fair Akane's face".
However, Gosunkugi's already pale face turned to ash upon hearing the description of the mysterious challenger, Kaimen. In the past week he had convinced himself that the demon in the medallion was a bad dream. After listening to Akane's story, his bubble of denial burst. He had to do something. Attacking Ranma did not concern him in the least, but he would not stand by while this demon molested Akane.
The minute the bell rang to excuse class, Gosunkugi gathered his courage and approached Akane.
"Uh, A-akane?" he stuttered.
"Yes?" Akane answered. Her smile made his brain feel numb, but his task was an important one. "I-I need to talk with you," he choked out.
Akane glanced over at Ranma who simply shrugged. "No problem. I'll go on ahead."
"But Ranma--" Akane protested, knowing who he would encounter.
Ranma shot her one of his overconfident smirks. "No, Akane. Today I'm facing him. Alone."
Before she could protest further, Ranma left the room. Akane groaned in frustration. It was just like Ranma to try and tackle this problem by himself. At least she knew Ranma was more than a match for Kaimen. She pushed aside her worry for her fiancée by concentrating on Gosunkugi.
"You had something to tell me?" she asked.
Gosunkugi swallowed hard, unsure of how to begin. "Kaimen isn't human, but I do know what he is," he whispered.
Akane placed her hands on Gosunkugi's shoulder, encouraging him to continue. "Tell me!"
He nodded and continued, "He's a 5th dimension class demon."
Akane's eyes widened. Quickly, Gosunkugi recounted how he came across the medallion and unwittingly unleashed Kaimen.
As crazy as Gosunkugi was known to be, Akane believed him. Far stranger things had happened to her in the past two years. It wasn't a far stretch of the imagination to think of Kaimen as a demon. Sudden realization hit her.
"Oh no! Ranma went to fight him, alone!" Akane was about to bolt from the room when Gosunkugi grabbed her arm, holding her back.
"Y-you can't defeat a demon like that with martial arts!" he warned. Gosunkugi could hardly believe he had the courage to touch her arm. In other circumstances, he would have been on cloud nine.
Akane stopped, impatient to leave and help Ranma. "Then what will?" she demanded.
Gosunkugi pulled two scrolls out of his book bag. "These were written by the monk who managed to seal Kaimen," he explained. "It says the only way to destroy him is to use this exorcist scroll," Gosunkugi handed Akane the smaller of the two manuscripts as he continued to read. "All demons have a single place on their bodies where they are vulnerable. Place this on his weak spot and he will be destroyed. Anywhere else, though, and it won't work."
"Does it say where that spot is?"
Gosunkugi shook his head sadly. "The monk never found out, which was why he had to settle for sealing it."
Akane nodded. She knew what she had to do. "Thanks, Gosunkugi!" she called out, making a beeline for the exit.
"Wait! You're not going to fight him yourself, are you?"
Akane ran, ignoring Gosunkugi's protests.
She had to reach Ranma!
As Akane approached the usual encounter spot, she heard the sounds of battle above. She turned her gaze upward and found Ranma and Kaimen bouncing on the rooftops. Kaimen, who had only been at Akane's level the day before, was now holding his own against Ranma.
Akane could see that Ranma was trying to lead Kaimen away from the housing district. She chased after them on foot, but they were too fast for her to keep up and they were soon out of sight. Akane paused to think. Where could Ranma be leading him? She looked off into the direction they had been heading and smiled. There was still hope! Akane crossed her fingers and ran, praying her guess was right.
Ranma couldn't believe Kaimen's increase in skill, and he was glad he left Akane safely behind. Despite the creepy, skin-crawling feeling he got whenever he approached Kaimen, part of him was thrilled at the challenge. This was what Ranma lived for.
The martial artist took in his surroundings, roughly pleased. Kaimen showed no regard for the safety of others in the area they fought. If anything, he seemed to take a sick pleasure by placing people at risk. After several close calls with innocent bystanders, Ranma knew he had to lead Kaimen away from Nerima, so he led him past the outskirts of town. It was a wooded, hilly area and one of Ranma's favorite training spots. The location was particularly useful as there were several streams and, even more importantly, a hot spring.
"So this is where our merry chase ends, ne?" asked Kaimen tauntingly.
Ranma frowned. Kaimen still looked fresh, whereas he was starting to feel a bit winded.
Ranma circled Kaimen, watching for any possible weaknesses. Kaimen looked displeased. He needed more power. For all of Ranma's impressive strength and skill, his fighting style did little to feed him. The martial artist preferred to rely more on speed than strength, and he controlled his blows to use only the necessary amount of force needed. Kaimen would have to provoke Ranma into attacking more recklessly.
"This fight is boring me, Ranma." He began, forcing a look of ennui on his face. "I should find someone else to play with." Kaimen grinned sinisterly. "Your little fiancée, perhaps?"
Ranma took the bait. "I told you, hands off Akane!"
"Who will stop me?" he taunted, and turned his back on Ranma pretending to make his way back to Nerima.
Ranma knew he was being goaded, but he no longer cared. Ranma attacked, holding nothing back. Kaimen made little to no effort to defend, purposely absorbing each blow.
The pain was luscious. He felt his power build to a climax. Kaimen roared and swatted his opponent aside.
Ranma stared in awe as Kaimen began to glow a dark gold as he transformed.
He stretched and lengthened to a monstrous seven feet in height. His ears grew to spiky points, small sharp fangs protruded from his mouth, and his fingertips extended into silver claws. His feet enlarged and mimicked his hands, toes forming into talons. There was something unmistakably canine in his appearance.
"What the hell are you?" Ranma asked in utter astonishment.
The thing that called himself Kaimen laughed. "Finally realized I'm not human, mortal?"
Kaimen flexed and stretched his muscles, feeling out his new form. He turned his amber eyes on Ranma and licked his lips.
"Uh oh," murmured Ranma as he dodged a lightning fast swipe from Kaimen.
'Time to pull out the ki energy attacks', Ranma thought. All of his other physical attacks had proved useless thus far.
"MOKO TAKABISHA!"
Kaimen's eyes widened as a blue sphere smashed directly into him and exploded in a brilliance of light.
Ranma stood several feet away, his breathing hard and his arms outstretched; his wrists were together, palms open.
When the explosion cleared, Ranma's jaw dropped. Kaimen stood before him without a single scratch.
'I'm in deep shit now,' Ranma thought. He was exhausted. He had spent the remainder of his strength on that final attack.
Kaimen smirked at Ranma and licked his lips again. "My thanks, mortal! You serve an energy demon well."
Ranma wanted to smack his head for his stupidity. All this time, he had been feeding him?!
"You and your Akane have helped restore me to my proper form," Kaimen continued, clearly gloating. "Until I regained my true form I was completely dependent on the energy of others. In this body, I can sustain myself by absorbing energy directly from the universe around me."
Kaimen looked down at Ranma as if staring at a bug on the sidewalk. "But you have outlived your usefulness, mortal. Farewell."
Akane ran and ran, ignoring the stitch in her side. Her mind was entirely focused on finding Ranma. A sickening dread lined the bottom of her stomach.
Akane could hear the sounds of combat. She was close! She climbed the steep hill with a renewed vigor and was stunned into place at the sight before her.
With his left arm alone, Kaimen held a struggling Ranma in his claws. Slowly Kaimen brought back his right arm, the palm flat and facing towards Ranma.
Akane watched in openmouthed horror as Kaimen unleashed the largest ki attack she had ever seen -- directly at Ranma. The light was so bright she has to avert her eyes and shield them with her arm. When next they opened, Ranma was no where to be seen. The demon sniffed the air around him and smiled, satisfied.
Akane stepped forward, her eyes searching in vain. "Where's Ranma?!" She shrieked at him. "What did you do to him, you demon!"
Kaimen smirked and leered at her. "Dead, of course. Disintegrated in my ki blast."
'NO!' Akane's mind screamed, but as she looked over the cliff edge she saw no sign of Ranma anywhere.
"You're lying! Ranma can't be dead."
"Child, his delicious scent is no more, and my nose can sense anyone's presence for miles."
Akane felt herself shake with a rage stronger than anything she had ever felt before. Heedless of her own safety, she charged him. Kaimen braced himself, but made no move to defend, letting her blows wash over him as he absorbed the kinetic energy behind each strike. One hit, however, caught him off guard; a flying kick struck him directly on the bridge of his nose.
Kaimen howled in pain and instinctively swiped a clawed hand at his attacker. Akane twisted and dodged, but she wasn't fast enough. His claws ripped through her school uniform and into her lower left side.
She fell to the forest floor, angry at herself for being injured this quickly into the fight. She wanted to beat that demon to a bloody pulp for what he did to Ranma, but at this rate she would achieve nothing but her own death. If Ranma couldn't beat him, how did she think she could?
She remembered her schoolyard fights with Kuno-sempai. Kuno was not defeated by her skills at the Art alone, but because he let his guard down around her. Kuno was vulnerable through his infatuation, but the demon held no such feelings for her.
Yet, there were other ways to make someone drop their guard, and now she knew his weakness.
The gash across her side wasn't deep, but it burned and bled fiercely just the same. She crawled away from him, purposely feigning a worse injury.
Kaimen stopped howling and began to step towards his prey. "Do you know how much that HURTS!" he bellowed.
Akane clutched her bleeding side and mumbled something he couldn't make out.
"What did you say, you disgusting piece of mortal flesh?!"
Akane repeated herself, but it was even softer than before.
Kaimen grabbed Akane by her shirt collar and shook her in front of him.
The girl who had been cowering before him moments before suddenly snapped her head to look directly in his eyes. Akane's face twisted in rage as she slapped a small scroll on his large broad nose.
Kaimen screamed. The wretched sound was a cacophony of pain only a demon could produce. He dropped Akane and clutched his tortured face. Akane's eyes were transfixed at the grotesque sight. His flawless, golden tan skin slowly turned a sickly grey as his body shriveled and warped into a skeleton before exploding into dust.
A/N: Please review. I have the next chapter done, but I'm not posting until I get at least one new review! Both negative and positive comments greatly appreciated. I'm always eager to improve my stories. I read every review and constantly revise my work based on your input!