Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2, nor claim to.
Chapter Twenty Six: The Human Inferno:
"The world is my expense, the cost of my desire. Jesus blessed me with its future, and I protect it with fire." Rage Against the Machine: Sleep Now in the Fire
Without a sound, Keira landed on the roof, directly in front of the bomb. "Keira! MOVE!" Ranma shouted.
The ninja looked up to see Happosai's bomb less than half a meter away. Her arms swung up to protect her face.
"KEIRA?!" Sauske screamed, taking a few steps forward, before he was stopped by the force of the explosion.
BOOOOMM!
"KEIRAAA!"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEE!" a female voice screamed, filling the air, before the fire began to dissipate. Instantly, Sauske was through, running across the roof after the girl. Jumping down, he saw Keira's tumbling body smash roughly into the ground, bouncing across the black asphalt several times, before landing on the concrete sidewalk and rolling over and over to a stop. A total, motionless stop.
Sauske fell to his knees as soon as he was next to her. "KEIRA?!" he shouted, grabbing her shoulders and rolling her over onto her back, the kunai clinking on the pavement as he turned her over. She wasn't too burned, but her sleeves were scorched and some hairs were singed. But the force had not only smashed her bracer into her cheek and knocked her off the building, but also had knocked the girl out cold.
Or worse; Sauske couldn't tell yet.
He slid a pair of trembling fingers onto her neck, like his uncle had taught him, feeling for a pulse. The body was limp, flopping around however Sauske moved her. It took him several seconds to calm himself down enough to actually feel the pulse under his fingertips. He held his breath, hoping there was one under there.
There was a pulse in the girl; it was weak, but it was there. And then, Sauske broke down.
"Keira!" he muttered, dragging the girl against his chest, clutching onto her like a child holds onto his mother when he's afraid. Her arms and head flopped around a bit, before they came to rest on the boy, her breathing random and uncontrolled. And there, he began to cry.
"Why?!" he shouted in a whisper. "Why?! Why why why?!" It was all he could think of at the moment, his heart racing faster than a bullet train. Nothing in him wanted to let go.
He could feel a gentle trickle, blood, slipping onto his neck, probably from the small cut on her face where her bracer contacted her face. He didn't want to go anywhere. He wanted Keira to get up, smile, laugh, and say "Hello, Sauske-kun!" just one more time right now. He didn't want to wait.
But the girl didn't move.
"Why did this have to happen?!" he muttered to himself, before he realized what the answer was. There was nothing else to be done. The culprit was known, and there was no question.
"I have to." He muttered to himself quietly between whimpers in his sobbing.
"Sauske?" A voice came up, before it continued by screaming "KEIRA?!"
Sauske could hear footsteps run up to him, before stopping and lowering the body down on the other side of the girl. Sauske continued to clutch her, protecting her as best he could, even if he was too late.
"SAUSKE?! WHAT HAPPENED?!" The voice continued to shout, but Sauske wasn't listening.
"I have to." He muttered to himself quietly again.
"WHAT?!"
"Naruto." Sauske replied, a little louder. The boy in front of him froze at the coldness in Sauske's voice. "Take Keira to Dr. Tofu's. Don't stop for anything. Don't let anything happen to her, understand?"
Naruto nodded immediately. "Of course!" he shouted, before looking back to Sauske. "What about you?"
"There's something I have to do. I can't take her, so I need you to."
Slowly, Sauske began to loosen his hold on the girl, swinging her out into Naruto's waiting arms. Lifting her up gently, Naruto slowly stood, holding the unconscious ninja, one arm midway up her back, the other underneath her knees. He looked up to see Sauske's face, flushed red with a few tears, which were quickly wiped away.
"What are you waiting for?" Sauske asked in the cold voice. "Get going." The redness of his face had vanished by now.
Naruto paused a moment more, before nodding. "Right. I'm going." He turned, taking a few steps, before turning back to Sauske. "Make him pay." He muttered, before running off.
Sauske turned to the building he had just come off of. "No need to remind me, Naruto. He'll pay for this." With that, he sprinted forward, hopping onto a parked car's roof before jumping all the way up, to the battered roof.
- - -
The roof was in tatters. The red clay was shattering easily, leaving sharp, broken fragments strewn around, and little slips where other tiles would fall away. The battle continued on unabated, however.
Ranma fired off a Tenba Hibashira, which missed easily again. He needed to get Happosai distracted, or behind him, at least, while he's in the air. He could take him down with the geyser, but it was too easy to dodge. And now, with Keira knocked off, he couldn't concentrate.
Kite, Sakura, and Aki had raced to the other side to look for the girl. "Naruto's there!" Sakura shouted.
They waited as the girl was transferred over. "He's taking Keira to the Doc's!" Kite shouted as well.
"Where's Sauske?!" Ranma shouted, as he dashed in several steps to throw a punch at Happosai.
"He's . . ." Kite began, before he realized the boy was in the air, barreling towards them. The three split just fast enough to let the boy land and sprint off after Ranma and Happosai. His eyes were completely unconcerned; all three noticed that. But only one knew what it meant.
"RAAAAHH!" Sauske shouted, racing between Ranma and Happosai, swinging, and contacting, the old man on the cheek with his fist.
Happosai spun away, before landing gently on the edge of the roof. Sauske stopped immediately, his inertia sliding him across several shingles before he halted completely. Ranma just looked on dumbfounded.
"Father! Sauske's going to use it!" Sakura shouted, knowing exactly what those determined eyes meant.
Ranma blinked, turning and glancing at Sakura, before looking back at Sauske just in time to see Happosai leap past him, smashing the boy aside and away by hitting him in the chest with his tobacco pipe. The boy flew away, smashing into the raised end of the taller roof at the end of the battlefield, bashing and cracking the boards behind him. His body slid down an inch, but otherwise, he was still, his feet limply supporting the body against the wall.
"Sakura, can ya stop him if he uses it?!" Ranma shouted to his daughter.
"Are you crazy?! I've only been able to stop it in the middle once, and that was with Keira! By myself, especially with Keira being the one hurt, . . . it's suicide until he's at the end!"
"But you were . . . Damn!" Ranma muttered, trusting in his daughter, before starting to step away from Happosai. "All right, Happy, it's up to you. You can give up, or get beaten into the ground."
The old man tilted his head at Ranma, before chuckling a bit. "Ranma, you expect too much from . . ."
"You!" Sauske shouted.
Happosai turned back to see the boy, still leaning against the wall, slowly lifting himself off of it. He wasn't pointing or looking at him, his head hanging down with black hair draped in his eyes, but it was clear whom he was talking to. "What do you want?" the old man asked.
"You . . . is this what you want to do? Go around hurting people . . . without a thought about what happens to them or the people they care for? . . . Do you think that's a good system for life?! Hurting anyone you want?!"
"She shouldn't have been where she was, if that's what you mean." Happosai replied, before taking a deep breath from his pipe.
The boy was silent for a moment. "You don't care, do you? About what happens? If someone gets hurt, it's just collateral damage to you, isn't it? Whether or not someone gets hurt isn't your concern. People are responsible for themselves, but not for their actions?!" Happosai tilted his head again. "Well, I won't let you get away with hurting anyone else! You've hurt enough people for no reason!" Sauske slowly looked up, staring directly into Happosai's eyes.
Happosai stepped back one step, staring back in fear. Sauske's eyes were a calm blue, but the look he gave him made them look blood red. There was pure rage in his eyes; pure, unadulterated rage, all directed at him, and not even a twinge of fear or uncertainty appeared in the boy's face. The old man gulped slightly, but then held his ground.
"You're not getting away with this anymore. And you're not getting away with what you did to Keira!" Sauske shouted, clenching his fists, his knees bending as he prepared to attack.
There was a sudden change in the environment. Happosai felt a surge of hot air blast into him, totally unexpected, causing him to shield his eyes for a moment, letting the dust that had been kicked up by it whip past him. After a moment, he lowered his arms, before gasping.
There stood Sauske, still with the bloodthirsty look in his eyes, surrounded by red. Not figuratively, but literally. A huge aura surrounded the boy, a good ten to fifteen times his size, all a bright, crimson hue. It flowed and flickered with the wind, forming the shape of a giant flame. Anyone who would have seen it might have sworn he was on fire, but Happosai knew better. That was a battle aura. Far bigger than most could accomplish.
"Oh god!" Sakura shouted. "It's out!"
"RAAAAAAAAH!" Sauske screamed, the bright red flow flickering brightly at the boy's cry. The color grew deeper and stronger, before it suddenly began to move.
In a moment, Sauske was up to Happosai, swinging a right hook over and down his body, smashing into the ground. Happosai slid away, and so, Sauske's fist impaled the ground. The tiles smashed, flinging debris everywhere, shingles within a good half-meter around the point of impact shattering under the pure force of Sauske's blow. Drawing up his scratched hand, Sauske then took off after Happosai again.
The old man jumped back again, trying to put some distance between himself and the enraged assailant, but the boy did not halt, doggedly chasing him down each and every hop away. Every few steps back, the Saotome would swing at him, dropping him back more when he missed, before bolting to catch back up and swing again. Happosai landed softly again, before noticing the wall was at his back.
Perfect.
Jumping into the air, the old man flipped as Sauske went to pound him into the wall, missing completely. Swinging out his pipe, the master smacked the boy in the back of the skull, hurtling him forward the last half meter into the wall, causing a loud CRASH! and a thin puff of dust and crushed wood to flush back out.
And so, safe, Happosai landed gently on the ground.
Until he was kicked in the back, tossing him a meter into the air, his back to the ground, his arms flailing, before a hand appeared over his face. His body felt a huge shift in direction as the hand slammed him directly into the ground, crushing the tiles underneath him. His vision returned an instant later, when the hand raised up, balled into a fist, and came shooting down at him.
Sauske let his red-sheathed hand come crashing down into the ground, shattering all the tiles within a half-meter wide circle around the point of impact. He grimaced slightly, before turning his head up. His body was crouched and poised to run, and in his eyes, several meters away, he saw the one person he wanted right now. Standing, breathing heavily, but escaped from his grasp again.
Happosai stared in horror. The boy slowly stood again, as the old man took up a traditional fighting stance. The red aura flaming from the boy was huge, almost as large as his own aura. The dust and small cut on his cheek seemed totally ignored by the boy, as he watched Happosai with a vengeful disdain.
"This could be a bit more difficult than I thought." The old man muttered in his head.
- - -
Aki gulped loudly again. Sauske was standing perfectly still, staring down the man known as Happosai. But her interest wasn't there; no, it was much more focused on her "future-husband".
And the fire that was sprouting from him.
The boy held his hands clenched, his arms taunt in a standard stance. And his whole body was that tight, ready to spring in an instant. But flowing from him, from every pore and fiber of being that Saotome Sauske was, a deep, thick, crimson aura dripped out, forming a huge field, surrounding him and flowing gently. It was formless and directionless, settling instead into the form of a great flame, flickering and flowing in the breeze, little tips whipping around along the edges. The warmth it gave off built a wall of heat, radiating off even to them, some distance away, just slightly. The girl could feel the slight difference between the cold air nipping at her backside, and the slightly hot air plastered onto her face.
Glancing to her side, first at the partner she had been with, Kite, standing beyond Sakura, she saw a look of surprise and doubt. She guessed she looked the same. Neither of them really knew what was going on, but yet, here they were. Then, something else caught her eye. Sakura.
Turning her eyes to focus on the other Saotome, she saw something she wouldn't have expected. Fear. She was grimacing with pain, but her eyes were afraid. Following their path, although it was obvious what she was looking at anyway, she confirmed the belief. Sakura was afraid of Sauske, or whatever the aura was, or . . . something about what was going on. Aki wasn't quite sure. Glancing across to the other side of the roof, she saw a similar expression on Saotome Ranma's face.
Aki turned back to the battle when Happosai released a large flow of aura, forming a huge version of himself behind his body, equal in height to the boy's, although not quite as clear. But the same question bugged her in the back of her mind. "What is that aura?" she thought to herself.
- - -
"RAAAAGH!" Sauske shouted, running forward again, the red flame trailing behind him as he bolted forward, his arms staying close to his face for protection.
Happosai merely set his feet in. "HYAH!" he shouted, swinging his arm out, as the giant aura form did as well. The aura swung forward, speeding towards the boy. Sauske dodged aside at the last moment, sidestepping to safety as the aura arm crushed the ground he was in a moment before. And then, Sauske kept running.
Turning to face the boy, Happosai swung again, launching another blast of aura, which the boy jumped over. Arching his body back and drawing his fist into a ready position, Sauske punched down with all his might as he fell towards Happosai. The old man, unable to move, was crushed down into the roof again, his aura shrinking back somewhat from the blow.
The boy, now on his feet again, reared up, and slammed his fist down into the ground again, and again, missed Happosai, shattering the tiles on the roof. But, instead of dodging this time, Happosai escaped a different way. Rolling aside, before hooking onto Sauske's arm with the bend in his pipe, he swung himself up and around, before kicking the boy in the face.
Sauske's body was forced back under the blow, followed by the old man unleashing a devastating combination of blows. Swinging up with the pipe, Happosai knocked Sauske up into the air, and onto his feet, his legs stretching to touch the ground. There, he jabbed several times into the boy's ribs with the same pipe, the final one having a very satisfying CRACK! Then, he swung and hit the boy's arm, before spinning around and smashing Sauske in the side of the face, sending the boy's body spinning.
SMACK! Happosai was thrown away when the spin he put on the boy ended up against him. Sauske, without missing a beat, forced the spin more, before back-roundhouse kicking the old man away, and then landing roughly on his feet, the spin still going.
Lowering his body, Sauske twisted in a crouch, his hand reaching out at the broken roof, snatching up two halves of a broken clay tile. When he had almost spun completely around again, he stood, and looked to the falling form of Happosai.
The old man reached the ground just in time to turn back to his opponent, and see two pieces of red clay come shooting at him. Knocking one away with his pipe, he leaped to get over the second, escaping the attack to the head, but still getting nicked on the arm. With the broken edge at front. Happosai landed with a cut in his sleeve and his arm. Turning back to Sauske, trying to collect his breath, he saw the boy standing, totally calm, and not even winded.
- - -
"How can he shatter tiles like that?!" Kite shouted to nobody. "Is his aura smashing all the ones around his fist?!"
"No." Sakura replied calmly, never turning away her eyes. Aki and Kite, however, turned to her, very interested. "His aura doesn't give him any special abilities, or new techniques, or anything like that. Just two things. One is strength."
"Strength? You mean . . ."
Sakura nodded. "When Sauske hit the ground with his fist, all the tiles in a half meter circle didn't break by his aura. His strength is to the point that the shock from his fist can shatter them all with just one punch." She paused. "And if we get in his way, he won't even hesitate to crush all of us with that power." Noticing the spooked glances from the Amazon and the Hibiki, she sighed. "Why the hell did you think we were waiting over here?!"
- - -
"Auska?" Joseph asked. "Where are you going?"
"It's been five minutes. I'm just going to make sure he doesn't need any help." The girl replied with a smile. "Don't worry. I won't be long."
Everyone in the room, both Joseph, Amy, and Pai at the table and Brandon and Nabiki sitting by the far side of the room, watched her go out the door. The silence from the time they were waiting was deafening, only occasionally being broken by the sounds up on the roof. Like right now.
- - -
"I told you, I'm going!" Akane shouted, pulling wildly against Ukyo's firm grip on her wrist, the three women all looking out at the large flame in the sky, set next to the giant shape of Happosai.
Ukyo shook her head, pulling more to keep her friend here. "No!" She shouted. "We're supposed to stay here, hon'! In case Happosai . . ."
"HAPPOSAI IS THERE, NOT HERE!" Akane screamed, before renewing her struggle.
"DOESN'T MATTER!" Ukyo screamed just as loud, before snapping her arms back with all her might, dragging the other martial artist back and onto the ground. Dropping to her knees, Ukyo caught the woman on the front of the shoulders, before slamming Akane into the ground. "Ranma said to stay here!" she continued, quieter but still firmly.
Akane stared up, fear in her eyes. "But, if that's Ranma, someone has to go calm him down!"
"And if it's not Ranma?! What if it's Sauske?!"
"If it's Sauske, then someone's probably hurt! We have to make sure they get to Ono's!" Akane replied immediately.
Ukyo shook her head, her voice quieting more. "We can't do that, Akane! We've got a job to do, remember! We have to make sure everyone here is safe! . . . A martial artist's duty, remember, sugar?"
Akane stopped struggling, turning her eyes away. She opened her mouth to reply . . .
"HAKU?!"
Immediately, the three women looked up, trying to find where the voice came from. It was feminine, young, from . . . INSIDE THE HOUSE?!
- - -
Auska rolled the fallen camera back, turning the boy over onto his back, placing his head onto her lap. Haku was lying on the floor, unconscious, when she came in the room, the camera that he must have been working on laying on the ground beside him. It probably fell, hitting him on the head . . . and here he was.
She brushed his hair, a few tears in her eye. She was scared. He didn't seem hurt, but . . . she couldn't tell. "Haku!" she muttered to herself quietly, before the sounds of footsteps running up the stairs overtook anything she heard or said.
"Auska! What's . . . Oh my god! HAKU!"
There were similar shouts from everyone, all crowding around. The whole house was here in the hallway, making noise and doing their best to figure out what was going on. It was Ukyo, however, who ended up being able to lift Haku up, and was first to start running. Auska was close by, along with Pai, trying, and failing, to get everyone's attention with a sign, and the three went out, Ukyo shouting for everyone else to stay behind. She meant Pai and Auska too, but those two followed anyway.
- - -
Sauske took off running again, to which Happosai reacted simply. Drawing his hands back, he focused his giant self, and shot another blast of his aura straight for Sauske. This time, however, Sauske wasn't able to dodge in time.
The wave smashed into the boy, shoving him back, as his arms feebly rose to help absorb part of the attack. His red aura swirled as the blast approached, tearing through his own as it continued to push him back. Sauske slowed to a stop a moment later, his arms still crossed over his body, several minuscule cuts along his forehead and hands.
- - -
"What is that?!" Chii shouted, pointing off into the distance. Tenchuu turned back, running up to his brother, before stopping and staring up. "It looks like an aura."
"I think it is! That figure is an aura, for certain, but that flame . . . it's so pure!"
"Could it be Aki?!"
"I don't think so . . ." Tenchuu paused, watching the flame, before pointing. "The flame! It's moving!"
"Let's go!" Chii shouted, which Tenchuu immediately nodded to, and both began running towards the big, red flame.
- - -
"RAAAGH!" Sauske shouted, barreling straight for Happosai again, his eyes never wavering, the flame never shrinking, and the fury stronger than ever.
"A bit repetitive, aren't you?" Happosai mumbled, before preparing another aura blast. Waiting for Sauske to get too close again, he fired at the last possible moment. And was rewarded.
The boy was able to get his arms up faster, just as his aura began to swirl as the attack approached, but was still shoved back along the ground, cracking and shattering tiles under his feet as he slid away. His eyes noticed something. The last vestige of rational thought was able to put the idea into words for only a moment. "That's when the attack is coming!" was the whole response.
Sauske snorted. "I have my promise to keep, you old bastard!" The boy repositioned his hands, cocking and curing his fingers slightly, but not into a fist. They were open, as if to catch something. He raised his hands in front of his face, before starting to run again, straight for Happosai.
Happosai looked on with a curious eye, before charging his aura again, concentrating it into another blast in his hands, before looking up at Sauske. "Didn't you hear me?!" was his shout, before releasing the blast again, headed straight for Sauske.
The Saotome made no attempt to dodge, simply forcing his hands in the way of the blast. The red aura swirled again, the surge of energy getting closer and closer. As soon as he felt it, the conscious thought drifted away, and his fingers dug into the force, even though it hadn't reached him yet. Yet there was a substance there, and once he had dug in, he wouldn't let go.
"RAAAAAGHH!" he shouted, before flinging his arms to the side, taking whatever he had along with his hands.
- - -
"CHII! Look at that!" Tenchuu shouted, pointing his hand at the spectacle, as the giant aura of a man was ripped nearly in two, starting at the arm, a rough, unfocused edge wherever the aura was torn.
Chii paused a moment with his brother, before his eyes became afraid. "It must have been Aki! Somehow! But . . . how did she get her burst to last so long, and get so large?!" The two paused for another moment. "Let's hurry!"
And then they were off running again.
- - -
"GAAAAAHH!" Happosai screamed, clutching his arm as his own aura was ripped along his blast.
"What the hell was that?!" Kite shouted in Sakura's ear, as the three of them watched the battle continue to unfold.
Sakura paled a bit, shaking her head. "I . . . I don't know! I've . . . I've never seen him do that before!"
"What do you mean you don't know?!"
"Stop shouting in my ear, stupid!" Sakura shouted back. "When I say I don't know, I mean I DON'T KNOW!"
Aki ignored them, watching Sauske. "How did he do that?!" she thought in her head. "I couldn't even see the edge of the aura, and I know he can't! The only person I know who could split an aura . . . how did he do it?!"
- - -
Happosai could feel his whole arm, and most of his body, burning in pain. He couldn't understand what happened, but he had never felt this hurt before. His aura stood, torn in two, above him, slowly healing, mending itself back together. He turned his head upwards, watching it collect and reform, slowly. As it did, the pressure and pain began to lessen. But it was slow. He turned his head to look back at Sauske.
Sauske, clenching his hands again, raced forward, running over the shattered holes that remained from his previous attacks and the battles of before, dodging around the imbedded kunai and chains, his entire focus still planted on Happosai. The giant figure's aura was starting to recover, rebuilding itself and reconnecting together. He saw the old man slowly begin to stand as he reached a distance of ten meters.
Happosai shuddered under the pain it took to stand, before realizing how close Sauske was. "It hurts!" he thought to himself. "The pain is far too much!" Suddenly, something clicked in his mind.
Sauske shot his right arm back, elbow bent, ready to punch, before leaping up, readying himself to slam down on Happosai again. "But . . ." The distance closed to only three meters, Sauske flying down to deliver his attack. Happosai tightened the grip he had on his pipe.
THWOCK! "I'll still fight!" the old man shouted as he slammed the pipe with all his might into Sauske's chest again, launching the boy up into the air. His whole body shuddered in strain, but the attack worked. The boy was tossed a good forty meters into the air, his arms and legs flailing as his body spun around wildly. He seemed to gain control of his movement as he came tumbling back down, turning his body so that he was face down as he approached the roof.
BOOM! A wave of dust flew out as the boy crashed into the tiles, sending bits of red clay and smoke around, obscuring any sight of the fallen boy. Happosai sighed, taking a deep breath. It was done. A moment later, his aura was fully restored, and while he was exhausted, he wasn't seriously hurt.
Running on instinct and reflexes, however, was just enough to allow him to escape two more tile shards that came spinning at him. Turning back to the smoke, he noticed that the giant field of red was still there. And, with a gentle breeze, he saw a panting boy, crouched down, staring at the old man with blood in his eyes.
"Why don't you ever give up?!" Happosai shouted as the boy began running towards him again.
"SHUT UP!" Sauske screamed, sprinting forward with total disregard for anything. The boy clenched his fists, before the distance was close enough to swing. Happosai jumped up to be at equal height. "It's over!" he shouted, swinging out with his left arm.
"For you, yes!" Happosai shouted, grabbing the boy by the wrist, and using it to swing around and kick the boy in the face and twist his arm out to the side.
SNAP! WHAP! With a kick to the elbow and a backhand to the back of the head, Happosai sent the boy tumbling forward onto the ground, before gently falling down to the ground himself, landing smoothly on his feet. "And, it's done." Slowly, the man began to walk away, less because he was victorious, and more to assure himself distance in case the unthinkable happened. Which was very, very unlikely, considering . . .
- - -
"OH GOD!" Aki shouted suddenly, staring in horror at what just happened. The blow to the head wasn't too bad, but . . .
"He just dislocated his elbow! Dammit, that's got to hurt like hell!" Kite shouted. "It's all over." He tacked on quietly.
Sakura gulped. "If that's what you believe, you better turn away." Aki and Kite turned to her, pale, with questioning looks on their faces. "It's not going to be pretty."
- - -
Ranma ran quickly, since he had to make sure he stopped him. Sliding to a stop, he pointed an accusing finger at Happosai. "It's not over yet, Happosai! Don't you forget about me!"
The old man smiled, shaking his head. "All right then, Ranma, let's . . ."
"We're . . . NOT DONE YET!"
- - -
Sauske stood, panting, his forearm twisted the wrong way at the elbow, hanging limply at his side. The bright flame was ever-present, and flaming to its fullest.
"Don't you know when to quit? Your arm is useless now." Happosai commanded, turning back to the boy as Ranma suddenly backed off.
"I changed my mind from before." The boy commanded equally, reaching over and grabbing his left wrist in his right arm. "Before, I was just going to beat you into the ground. Now . . . I'm going put you down forever."
SNAP! Pulling with al the might he could muster in his right arm, he relocated his elbow properly with a sickening noise, before releasing his left wrist, and calmly swinging both arms into position, each gently rising and falling with each labored breath. "I'm going to kill you, you stupid bastard!"
- - -
"What the hell did he just do?!" Kite shouted. "How can he do that to himself without even flinching?!"
"His aura." Sakura replied, clenching her good hand. The two other teens with her turned to her again. "The second thing is . . . when it's out, he . . . can't feel pain, or stress, or fatigue. He doesn't feel anything beyond his hatred. To him, he doesn't get tired, he doesn't get hurt. All that matters is the fight. We don't feel anything else."
Aki gulped, before turning back to the fight. Nothing had moved yet, but something new entered her thoughts. "But . . . Sauske looks tired!"
Sakura suddenly looked up. "WHAT?!" Her eyes turned immediately to the boy. It was tough to make out in the darkness, but after a moment, she could clearly see the boy panting heavily. She turned to Ranma. "FATHER! LOOK AT SAUSKE!"
The man looked over, gasped, and stood in a ready fighting stance, his hands clenched into a single fist.
"Sakura, what's going on?!" Kite shouted.
"Sauske! He has, maybe a minute of strength left, tops, before he's going to go out like a light!"
- - -
Happosai shuddered. He needed to do something. Escape seemed the only viable option. This . . . Sauske was a monster, or a demon, or something! Nobody, not even him, could have taken that much punishment and stand as strong as he was. He had to distract him, and get away. And hope the plan was a success. It should be, but he was supposed to crush everyone here . . . aw, the details didn't matter anymore.
"So, you want to kill me?" Happosai muttered, a plan already formed in his mind. Sauske nodded. Happosai secretly drew one of his firebombs. "Well, then," he muttered, lighting the match, "what do you do now?! HAPPO FIRE BURST!"
Throwing the bomb, he watched, knowing it would draw a reaction out of the boy. He already knew, from the two weeks observance they had done, that he cared deeply about his sister, and he wouldn't abandon his friends. Ranma was too far away to do anything, and so, with the bomb hurtling towards them, Sauske would run to their rescue. Who else would stop a bomb hurtling towards the three besides Sauske?
Sauske didn't even look, slowly starting to walk towards the old man.
- - -
"SHOOT! It's coming right at us!" Kite shouted, before grabbing the sword from Sakura's belt, and stepping forward. "Batter up!"
WHAM! Like the old Babe Ruth, Kite, using the sword like a bat, swatted the bomb away, and back across the path between Sauske and Happosai.
- - -
WHAM! The sound of bat on bomb changed Sauske's slow, calm pace greatly. He began sprinting forward, before reaching out and grabbing the bomb out of the air. "Like I said, you're dead!"
- - -
Happosai had to think, fast. Sauske was running for him, carrying a single bomb in his hands. He was less than ten meters away, when something caught his eye. Sauske began to draw back the bomb, holding it directly at his side, ready to throw.
"SAUSKE! THE FUSE!" Ranma shouted.
Happosai smirked as the boy ignored him, watching the fuse disappear inside. He jumped back, well into the air, covering his front with his arms.
BOOM! "RAAAAAAGH!" Sauske screamed, the bomb exploding in his hands and throwing him aside. It wasn't the biggest one tossed that day, but it still blew him to the edge of the roof, crashed and down. And the red flame had died away. Completely.
"It's over." Happosai muttered to himself over the explosion as he floated down to the ground.
"It's not over yet, Happosai!" Ranma shouted, running into his planned position. The old man turned his head to see the adult Saotome standing ready, hands clenched and driving towards the ground. "You forgot about me!"
"TENBA HIBASHIRA!" Ranma shouted as his hands impacted the ground.
Happosai felt the huge explosion of Ki smash into his back, snapping his arms and legs behind him as it rocketed him past the whole field, over the higher roof, and beyond the other side, out of sight, and out of consciousness.
- - -
Aki, for whatever reason had shot into her head at that moment, raced across the roof as the old man sailed over her head. She could clearly see the boy on the other side, on the edge in the darkness, resting on the gutter of the roof. If he moved even the tiniest amount, he would fall over the edge.
Racing down to get to him, the boy began to slide away from the girl. And then, fell from sight, down towards the ground.
"No!" She shouted, jumping down towards the ground, trying to catch up. "Sauske!" Her whole body shot down the few stories in an instant. She flipped as fast as possible, crunching down on the pavement, her legs bent and struggling to slow her descent. Her body shuddered under the stress of her body's impact, and the inertia of another.
After the moment of stress passed, the girl took a slow, deep breath, before laying her bundle onto the ground for a moment. Once he was flat on his back, she breathed back out, before glancing up at the sky.
"It's over." She thought to herself, before turning back to Sauske. She reached down, brushing some dust from the side of his face. "It's all over. Happosai's done."
Next Chapter: The battle may be over and done, but at the end of every fight, someone has to pick up the pieces.
And there you go, chapter 26. I've been waiting to do this chapter since the beginning of the story, and I've finally done it! This has got to be the longest chapter I've done so far, and I think the fight turned out well. But, please tell me if there's something I can do to make this chapter better, or anything.
Anyway, on with the reviews:
Sleepingbear: Thanks for the nice review!
Eames: YAY! A new reviewer who likes my story!
Krizz: YAY! Another new reviewer who likes my story! I hope this chapter turned out at least as good as you were expecting.
Shinjiku: Whoa, calm down a second! I know you want it to be a AkixSauske story, and I know Keira has been a large focus of the story for the last few chapters, but Aki will be back in the story. Besides, the story isn't over yet. It's still possible for the couples to go all different ways. Right now, though,I think everyone's much more focusedon not getting smashed into the ground instead of falling in love. The romance half of this story is coming back in a little while, but not right now.
Kirizaki: Yay! Another new reviewer who likes my story! And another AkixSauske fan! AllI can say on that subject is that I'm going to try to make the story good no matter who ends up together.
Paige C: Well,I have a feelign that you already know if Keira got hurt or not, and who makes it there to fight and who doesn't. And yes, Sakura is pretty stubborn, but so is Ranma and Co. As for new attacks, I've put better descriptions of all the new techniques at the end of the chapter, if you wanted to know.
nonengel: Well, I don't know if I should reveal to you whether or not you're going to see someone's aura soon, sinceI hate giving away the story before it happens. But, since you've probably already read the chapter,I guess it doesn't matter whatI say. And yes, many of the children are pretty stubborn.
Techniques:
Endless Moko Takabishi: By forming a blast of Moko Takabishi, Ranma further extended the shot by not releasing the entire sphere at once. Instead, he places large amounts of pressure on the sides, causing the Ki to fire out in a straight stream of energy. It's main use is for moral defeat by inflicting increased amounts of pain, since it lasts several seconds, instead of severe amounts of damage. Sakura was working on learning this move, but has stopped since she started learning Kendo a few months ago, while Akane will be as soon as she masters the Moko Takabishi and Shi Shi Hodokan.
Tenba Hibashira: "The Geyser of the Rising Horse": Ranma's most powerful technique that he has created, power wise, where he forces Ki, through his hands and then the ground, to blast up underneath opponents. The amount of force is several times greater than the Moko Takabishi, on average, and as of right now, only Ranma knows this technique.
Saotome Fire Burst: A mix of the Happosai Fire Burst surrounded with a blast of Ki, causing at least twice the explosive power of the bomb itself. Only ever used once, against Happosai after he had brought Auska along on a training trip.
Tobihi Kaen: "Flying Spark Flames": Another form of the Moko Takabishi, where a ball of Ki is formed in one hand, and then crushed, forming millions of tiny blasts of Ki. The best description is that it is similar to a shotgun, where it fires very weak blasts, but it's sheer numbers that do the damage. It is not designed to cause injury or pain, like the Endless Moko Takabishi or the Tenba Hibashira, but instead to make an unavoidable attack when facing faster opponents. Since the attack can be swung and spread over a large area, it's used to stop someone moving too fast just long enough to attack them in hand to hand combat. Ranma has also taught Sakura this move, and Akane will learn it as well after she has master the Moko Takabishi and Shi Shi Hodokan