Guest Ki: Chapter 56
Sound and Fury
"You blew up my house!" shouted Nodoka. She crossed the space to Taro and swung the sheathed katana at the young man. He easily blocked and, having no reservations about striking an aggressive female, knocked her down.
The monster-man sneered at her. "Don't be ridi—! (BAM!)" Barry's counterstrike undiminished by limits, sent Taro through a wall and into the side of a parked car.
"Move it, tomboy!" Barry snarled. "Get them someplace safe. Do the same for your family. Taro might be after them next." Akane, about to retort, froze, mouth open. "Get hold of Cologne! Taro might as well be Godzilla with that thing in his hands."
It really honked her off that he was right.
"Let's go, people!" she snapped, gathering up Nodoka, only slightly bruised from Taro's blow. "The sooner we get you and my family to someplace safe, the sooner I can help him!" She cut off Natsume and Kurumi as quickly as they opened their mouths. "No! Stay out of it! He's as good as Ranma and has the weapon of a kami! Move it!"
Taro shook himself as he peeled his body out of the depression in the car. Saotome had gotten faster. That was okay, so had he. Ranma wasn't going to catch him by surprise again.
Barry set himself, instead of following up on his blow to Taro. He'd have to be careful. Kinjakan was modified somehow. It didn't really surprise him that it could throw fireballs, and if anyone besides Ranma could figure out how to use it, it would be Taro. If the battle got going in these houses, the whole neighborhood would be in flames in seconds. They didn't need another Jusendo, here.
His alertness went up as Taro lightly vaulted the wall and walked toward him as if nothing had happened. To one side, the Saotome residence crackled almost cheerfully as smoke billowed into the air. He could hear voices in the night, excited shouts that indicated the growing awareness of something wrong. Faintly he heard the sirens wailing as the fire was reported and emergency crews were alerted.
Taro opened his mouth, probably to demand where Happosai was again.
"I don't know, I said," Barry interrupted him. "You made a serious mistake, cow-shit for brains!" he continued, "That was my mother's house and, on top of that, you hit her, you bastard!" Barry focused on Taro with ki-vision as well as sight. Even had it been broad daylight, instead of nearly dusk, it would have been a tactically sound thing to do.
The staff was very strange to look at on the ki-level. It was actually quite pretty, appearing more ornamental than the dangerous weapon it was. But to ki-sight, it was a huge sucking orifice, drawing energy from everything for a hundred meters. Barry could even feel it sucking at his aura and made adjustments to avoid the field. In a sense, it was an infinitely more powerful and subtle form of Hinako's ki-vampirism. As long as he watched the signature of his ki, he should be safe.
What had Taro done to it? Kinjakan used to be about 1.2 meters long, or a little more. This staff was twice as long and the other end looked like… He gasped. Gekkaja! The realization triggered one of Ranma's memories.
Ranma and Saffron had clashed over the slopes of Jusendo. Savagely, desperate over Akane's ebbing life, Ranma had slashed at the nearly incandescent creature before him using the sickle blade of Gekkaja. Earlier, Saffron had mockingly told him that he would have to dismember the kami-lord to win. Fine then!
Saffron had blocked with Kinjakan. "Surprised?" he had mocked. "Gekkaja and Kinjakan are precise mirrors of one another. Fire and ice. You're going to die, groundling."
He came back to himself and found he had moved up within striking distance of Taro. Somehow, Taro had combined Kinjakan and Gekkaja into one weapon. Perhaps they were even designed to do that. He wondered if the Phoenix Mountain folk even realized that it could be done? Or what this configuration could do. Kinjakan heated; Gekkaja froze. Akane had grasped Kinjakan as it was heating the cursed Jusenkyo waters, and had been almost instantly dehydrated. What would Gekkaja have done? He couldn't imagine, but the combination before him ate at his aura like a hungry sucking mouth, so powerful its presence acted on his ki sight like blinders – creating an odd sort of tunnel-vision. Had he been a normal person, he would have been slowly sucked dry of ki, far worse than Miss Hinako had ever done. Taro pointed the staff toward him, grinning evilly. Why wasn't Taro affected?
"Why did you steal Kinjakan and Gekkaja, Taro, and why destroy Mom's house?"
"Gekkaja?" Taro paused and twirled the staff slowly. "The freak said he'd rename me if I proved myself by stealing Kinjakan. The other piece was just a bonus."
"You didn't know which was which, did you?" Barry asked rhetorically. Taro's smirk became a grimace. "How the hell did you get them to fit together like that?"
Taro's smirk returned. "I have a brain, Saotome." They glared at one another in the glare of the burning house.
"Oh! I see," Barry said suddenly. "You noticed there were holes in the butt-end of Kinjakan and just had to stick something in them. Okay, why Mom's house?"
Taro flushed and his arm trembled. Barry carefully avoided grabbing at the staff. The memory of Akane's fate at Jusendo warred with Taro's apparent safety. Even back then, Ranma would have noticed if the Kinjakan or Gekkaja had been eating at his ki. Perhaps their union allowed both to be active without being in contact with water?
"Where is Happosai?" the other demanded again, raising Kinjakan/Gekkaja firmly.
"How should I know? When I see him, I know where he is," Barry said, crossing his arms as if he didn't care.
"All right, then. If you're going to be that way about it." Taro attacked. He used the staff as if it were a monk's spade, thrusting and slicing with short extended arcs, but not neglecting the shaft for defense. Barry dodged and retreated up the street. He decided to try physical interaction first, and found the means in a tall wooden laundry pole. He turned and counterattacked, bringing the battle back to Taro. They exchanged a flurry of strikes and counters before the shaft in his hands began to smoke. A particularly savage counter reminded Barry that Gekkaja had an edge as his pole was sliced in half and he barely evaded the crescent arc of the blade as it swung through the silk of one of Ranma's Chinese shirts. The edges of the cut crackled with frost as he countered escrima style and trapped the weapon overhead long enough to get in two hard kicks to Taro's ribs and thigh.
Taro's counter was hard, fast and unexpected. "Shindoo Keru!"
Barry felt a tremendous impact against the shielding force of his ki. He somersaulted further down the street, glad that the attack forced him away from the weapon. "So ya finally figured out ki attacks," he called to Taro. Then, to cover his concern, he added, "I've had rabbits kick me harder!"
"Yeah, right!" Taro was unimpressed by his sally and simply glided forward, ready for more. "Your girly side is beginning to show even when you're in hot water, fem-boy." He twirled the staff lazily and fire and fog swirled into an eerie disc of light and white. Taro laughed and did it again. "Interesting. It seems this thing is an expression of Tao. Tao," he repeated thoughtfully, "Taochinpang."
Barry decided that Taochinpang needed to go, no matter what it meant for the Phoenix Mountain people. As Taro closed in again, he surged into Nekoken intending to slice the dangerous implement into pieces. "Arrgh!" His fingers went numb and he barely had enough presence of mind to break off the attack and put some distance between them. Keeping it was another matter. He now confirmed in his own mind that closing with the weapon was a bad idea. His ki-claws had been sheared off by the absorbing presence of the device. He could regenerate the claws, but had his flesh touched the shiny surface of the Taochinpang …
He broke and ran, Saotome Secret Technique. He knew he wouldn't be fast enough to lose Taro, nor was that really his intent. They were still in a heavily populated area, but there was a park nearby and the crowds wouldn't be large on a cool evening like this one. With any luck, he could make it there without too much collateral damage and work on wearing Taro down. He hoped he could eliminate the Taochinpang before Akane returned.
Akane drove the Saotomes relentlessly back to the Tendo's then chased her family out of the house, setting out for Ryoga's residence. It was doubtful that Taro knew the location of the lost-boy's home. Before setting out, she phoned the Nekohanten and contacted Shampoo, telling her to meet them at Ryoga's. Cologne was quick to understand the danger to the entire Tokyo region if Taro went unchecked. The Amazons prepared for war. Ukyo was also called. She was already aware that something was wrong. As she closed her shop, she had seen the flames glinting off the clouds. She was out the door and heading toward Ryoga's before her phone stopped rattling on the hook.
At the train station, Ryu Kumon was talking to Nabiki Tendo. Their trains were headed in opposite directions, but they had time. Besides, Nabiki was having fun teasing Ryu and conning him into believing this behavior was standard practice in her family and Ranma's. He'd just have to put up with it.
"Wow! Look at that!" He pointed to a rosy glow that sprang up. Smoke was soon billowing into the sky, lit by the fire beneath.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Nabiki said with habituatedresignation.
"Hmmph!" commented the martial artist, "Now that I think about it, you're probably right." He scooped her up and ran to the end of the platform. With an easy ki-boosted leap, he gained a window ledge and then the high station roof.
"You know, if you trip you'll probably be all right, but I'll be library paste," she informed him, locking her arms around his neck. "And watch where those hands go, hentai-Ryu! Or Natsume will get a very graphic report from yours truly." Ryu gulped and picked up speed. The sooner he put Nabiki down again, the safer he was. He angled toward the Tendo dojo.
"Hey! The fire's over there!" she pointed.
"I am not putting you down at ground zero in a fight, Nabiki Tendo," he growled, "so live with it!"
"You're a stubborn jackass, aren't you?" she muttered.
"Your point is?"
Without further comment, they dropped into the deserted yard. "Huh! Nobody's home." Ryu looked around. Nabiki went in, called Ucchan's and, when she got no answer there, the Nekohanten. The irate young voice of Ling-Ling complained that they were being left out of a fight and it wasn't fair, but that everyone had gone to Ryoga's house, wherever that was. Nabiki knew and hopped on the Ryu-rooftop express once more to discover what was going on. They arrived at about the same time as the Chinese contingent, but Akane was already gone.
Barry ducked and wove, trying to keep his distance from Taro. He didn't have the breath to spare for taunts or recriminations or requests of why Taro was doing this. Taro was moving as he always did when on attack; ruthless and relentless in his determination to win. As long as Barry kept reasonably close, he attacked physically. If Barry managed to get too far away, the Taochinpang was used, blasting fireballs three meters across and hot enough to melt steel. Several melted cars and a garage were victims to that attack. Twice Barry had tried ki techniques on his opponent, only to have the Taochinpang suck them away like tasty treats. Taro had a winning hand, unless…
Barry drew Taro in close then sliced the top off a fire hydrant with Nekoken. Monster-Taro roared, a deafening sound in the night. The Taochinpang was still gripped in a huge fist. Barry darted in, female, faster and armed with the Nekoken. Taro was now far more powerful, but slower. Hopefully, Nekoken would make the difference. She slid past a powerful blow of his fist, to rip at the back of his knee and then attack his belly. She got a second shock. Taro knew how to shield!
They were rough, imperfect, rudimentary, but they were enough to keep from being crippled by her attack. She considered the strategy she'd used on Akane's shields and sheathed her forearms in ki, harmonizing with Taro's technique. Again and again, she had to dodge as the time it took to work the technique negated the advantage of speed she possessed. She tried to work up onto Taro's shoulders, only realizing too late, that there was a perfect counter for that move.
(CRUNCH!)
Taro fell away from the side of the building against which he had flung himself back first. Barry reposed in a feminine depression in the brick building, stunned by the impact. Taro groaned and tested his wings with concern, if he had been at all slower, he would have been crippled! He could feel the blood run down his back where neko-claws had dug into the muscle right through his shields. Ranma was far more dangerous than he had ever let on. He turned to examine the smear Ranma should have been, but saw instead the redhead drop toward the ground, a reddish ball forming between her hands.
He laughed in his deep voice and swept the Taochinpang at his foe. The ball was nearly a meter wide as it hurtled toward him. He could have dodged it, even in monster size, but it was an easy target for his reflexes. He swung the staff, intending to treat the ball of ki like a baseball, but his weapon passed through it without perceptible effect. Then it was too close.
"Sugoi!" cheered Barry, pumping an arm as the ball shrank rapidly as it closed on the minotaur. Its final size only centimeters across.
Barry dodged the swing of the Taochinpang as the tiny shield ball that she had used to compress air radically finally destabilized. Its ki was tied directly to the earth and metal of the streets they fought in. This had made it resistant to ki-sucking power of the staff. Designed to burst when the air pressure within reached a critical point, the air trapped inside the compressing ball had been superheated by the staff's passage. Far sooner than expected, there was a crackling boom like thunder and Taro was hurled across the street. Barry fared only a little better. The light, female form was also hurled back by the explosion and she lost valuable seconds recovering from the experiment. Dazed and staggering, she made for the entrance of the park, trying, as she escaped, to work out a way to tie her shields and neko-claws to the newly discovered ki source.
Taro had been thrown into the side of a house, crushing the bathroom area and sending warm water from the furo all over him. The side of the house collapsed on him. It took him valuable time as well, to extract himself from the mess. With a curse, he hurried out into the street and looked around. Ranma could have gone anywhere by this time. He felt energy surge and brought up the Taochinpang just in time to deflect and absorb a Mouko Takabisha from inside the park. He hurried toward the source of the attack.
The park was a large modern one with lots of concrete and a rectangular reflecting pond. There were large trees, century-old oak and ash that sprang from oasis of green here and there. Part of an older park before the war, it had been reconstructed by the occupying army, who had no understanding of the Japanese penchant for imitating nature. It had its charm however and during daylight hours had plenty of room for children to play. At night it was cold, serene and linear. Barry looked about, assessing the geographical vantage points and looking for something to give her an edge over Taro.
(FWOOOOSH!)
She jumped aside, but the blast had not been aimed at her. One of the huge trees, burning like an oil-soaked rag, toppled and smashed down into the water. It blocked a potential escape route. Seconds later, another tree ignited and fell creating an arena bounded by fire and water. "That's enough running, fem-boy," Taro chuckled. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"
"At least we're outa the houses, bull-boy." Barry cracked her knuckles as inspiration struck. Perhaps the key to fighting the Taochinpang was indirect attacks. Attacks where physical damage from natural sources could be brought to bear on Taro despite Taochinpang presence. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" Barry stabbed the ground then snatched a large fragment out of the air. "Bakusai Tenketsu, revised: Hapoo Oichirasu! (Scatter shot)" Cupping her hands, she directed the force of the blast toward Taro.
Taro dropped and rolled as shrapnel sang over his head like a blast from a shotgun. He dodged again as another blast ripped his way. Ranma was playing for keeps this time! At the third shot, he set his shields and took the blast, staggering from the impact, wondering how the slight frame was dealing with the recoil of this technique. He took two more successive blasts this way without gaining ground, before responding with another attack using the Taochinpang. A fireball shot down the center of the arena, causing Barry to dodge frantically and impacting the water with a blast of steam. The breeze off the lake quickly covered the area with a dense fog.
Barry grinned viciously. She didn't think Taro had ki-vision yet, so now he was practically blind. His shields would still block her gravel shot technique so using the stealth techniques developed by Ranma's father, she glided in to attack physically at point-blank range, focusing on the arm that held Taochinpang as the first priority.
Taro grunted in pain as Ranma's grip caused his hand to spasm, releasing the weapon. As the staff clattered to the ground, he was driven away by a barrage of strikes and kicks that led to attempts at lethal blows, something he had never known Ranma to do before. She was fighting all out, shields impenetrable, strikes slipping disconcertingly through his own shields in a manner he couldn't comprehend. He was driven back two steps, then three, further from the tool he had stolen to gain Happosai's acquiescence to his name change, only to have the little freak trick him once again. Though flushed with rage and growing despair, he suddenly noted the patterns that Ranma's attacks made. It had to be a trick! But…
Desperate, Taro swung, anticipating the kick that should come in response. There! And blocked the follow-up punch so! And… Success! His kick caught Barry on the hip sending her staggering away into the fog.
His hair literally rose on end as a scream like all the pain in hell sounded out of the mist. "Ranma?" he whispered. What the hell had just happened?
Akane surged over the rooftops. She had to get to Barry fast. She could sense him to the east of the Saotome house and could see the emergency vehicles beginning to fight the fire ignited by Taro. She tore down the street then stopped in dread. Suddenly, Barry wasn't there anymore. Akane probed frantically. He seemed to have vanished. Whimpering slightly at what this could imply for her friend and Ranma, she hurled herself down to street level and through the park gates, dropping into ki-vision and seeing…
Taro was standing only meters away, the composite weapon in his hands, looking as pale, worn and tired as she had ever seen him. Looking sick, as if…
"No!" She hurtled at him. "No-o-o-o!"
Taro flinched and tried to fend her off one-handed, holding the Taochinpang behind him. It was not a good idea. She promptly threw him through one of the pillars at the park entrance, and followed up with a vicious technique she judged might destroy the weapon that had, so nearly ended her life months before.
"Kagayaki Shindoo!" she screamed. The air seemed to congeal as the technique rolled in a wave toward Taro. He leaped straight up over the wave and sweated as the steel rebar in the brick and concrete exploded. Somehow, things had gotten out of control here. He fired off another fireball to gain time and space and boggled as Akane rocketed right through it, shields flaring against the heat.
Almost regretfully, he brought the Taochinpang around to block. Her hands slapped down on his wrists, well away from the dangerous length of metal, flipping her over his shoulder. He was flung the opposite direction as her heels drove into him in an airborne mule-kick. Even as he rolled on the pavement, pain blazing from the damage to his already torn shoulders, he could hear the impact and skid of her feet on the pavement and the running steps that told him she was returning to the attack. He spun blindly and launched a series of tiny ki-bursts to slow her charge. Damn! The tomboy was worse than the femboy these days!
Akane shrugged off the blasts. Blackened and smoking, she drove through and attacked again before Taro could set himself, driving him against the building previously damaged by the two men. Desperate, the other martial artist flailed with Taochinpang. He was shocked when the disc-shaped head went rocketing off to ricochet about, its magical edge and heat going through brick and concrete like butter and causing the side of the nearby building to collapse on them. The combatants were buried under an avalanche of brick, mortar and steel. After the crumbling racket of cascading brick, there was a long moment of local silence. The night was still again except for the wail of sirens. Water from broken pipes hissed.
Then debris convulsed and Taro's monster form surged up and staggered away from the ruined building. He patted himself as if he were recovering from the world's worst hangover and beating all at the same time, which was close to the truth. Gazing blearily over the wreckage, he saw the gleam of a particularly shiny rod and pulled the Taochinpang from the rubble, leaving scorch marks on the bricks where it passed.
A delicate hand protruded from under an edge of the debris field. Taro laid aside the staff and almost tenderly lifted aside the bricks that covered Akane's body. He vividly recalled how she had recognized the threat of the falling bricks and had jerked back, raising an almost spherical shield as she did so. That had resisted a steel re-rod for a heartbeat, until the Taochinpang had momentarily robbed her defenses of their ki and allowed the rebar to swing through the collapsing shield to strike a glancing blow to her head. Even then, the shields must have protected her from the crushing weight of brick and steel, sliding her out from under the collapsing structure like a hand squeezing a wet bar of soap. Taro reached out a huge hairy hand and caressed her cheek, searching for a sign of life, then gathered her up in one arm like a mother cradling a child. Picking up the Taochinpang with his free hand, monster-Taro launched himself into the night, bearing her away.
Nabiki sat in a chair and gritted her teeth while Ukyo paced back and forth like a caged animal. Shampoo and Mousse discussed something quietly to one side while Natsume and Ryu were similarly engaged in another corner. A call to the Unryu farm had revealed that Ryoga and Akari were already in transit and would show up any time now.
"All right, people," Cologne graveled. "I need volunteers to act as scouts. Before anyone jumps up and down, I'm going to lay down some guidelines. Shampoo, Mousse, Ukyo and Ryu are not part of the volunteer pool. We're most likely going to need their experience and training in ki-techniques if we have to battle Taro." She looked expectantly at the others. "Nabiki and Kasumi are not martial artists. That leaves you two gentlemen," she nodded at Soun and Genma who blanched, "and Nodoka, Natsume and Kurumi as our pool."
"I'll go!" exclaimed Kurumi.
Her sister scowled, but nodded, "We're both in."
"My son's life may be at stake," Nodoka said calmly, "I will go." She turned and looked at her husband, who nodded white-faced. He had been at Jusendo and had a good idea what they might face.
Soun frowned and looked at the floor. "Years ago, an Amazon by the name of Ma Wa Shu pursued me with the intent of making me her husband. I was fortunate, I suppose, that I never fought with her and before she left agreed to be godmother to my children. Kimiko thought the world of her, but after my wife died, we lost touch." Soun seemed to search for some easy way to speak of the past. "If something were to happen, I would not have my daughters alone in the world. Can you make some arrangement to contact her?"
"Daddy!" exclaimed Nabiki irritated. "I'm in college, for heaven's sake! Kasumi's been managing the house for years! We will be fine," she huffed. "You just make sure Akane's all right!"
"Yes, dear," Soun replied automatically.
"Ma Wa Shu?" Cologne sniggered slightly. She turned to Shampoo and Mousse. "Shampoo! Were you aware…?"
"No!" Shampoo gave Soun and undecipherable look. "Ask Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung. They would know."
"Ma Wa Shu…" Kasumi murmured, head tipping to one side. "Auntie Mouthwash?" she exclaimed suddenly. "She had green hair!" She looked at Shampoo with a startled expression. Shampoo shrugged noncommittally.
"Well, well," Cologne chuckled. "Call Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung if anything happens to us, dear. I'm certain the Joketsuzoku can give you some assistance. Jan-Jan would be a good contact as well, since she was also a fosterling of Ma Wa Shu."
"Why am I getting the feeling this Ma Wa Shu would adopt anything?" Nabiki grumbled.
"T'ch! T'ch!" Shampoo clucked at her. "You think you never hear of kind Amazon before?"
"Well…" Nabiki retorted.
"Be that as it may, we have work to do," Cologne interrupted, clapping her hands. "Mousse! Give us a heads-up on Akane and Barry's positions."
"Barry was leading Taro toward that awful park the Americans built after the war," Nodoka observed. "There should be enough concrete there to limit the fire damage."
"I don't understand how Taro is using it to throw fire around like that," Mousse muttered as he focused. "I mean, sure, it can throw the fighting ring that is the head of the staff, and you can ride it like a motorized unicycle, but what Akane described is almost like Taro had turned into Saffron."
Cologne frowned rubbing her chin. Slowly the focus of the room centered on her. "Well," Genma growled, "what does three million years of Amazon lore have to say about this?" (Bop!) "Ite!"
"Moron," Cologne croaked. "I've never heard of this either. The only contact Amazons have had with Phoenix Mountain has been in opposing their slave taking."
"Akane is off that way," Mousse interrupted, pointing. "She may have been in battle. There was some flaring to her signal. Barry was that way," he pointed to one side.
She shot Mousse a sharp look. "Barry was that way?"
"I can't find him now," admitted Mousse. "I was watching Akane close on his position and couldn't find him again when she left."
There was a moment of silence as they considered the implications.
"It's possible that Ranma has returned and Mousse can't identify his signature," offered Cologne. "If so, he should be with Akane."
"Or he could be dead," Nodoka said quietly. "I'm going to that park. Genma, I want you to go with Soun to check on Akane. Natsume and Kurumi will come with me."
"But…" Genma began to protest.
"If our son is gone, I will join you soon enough, dearest," Nodoka said and turned to Ranma's sisters. "Daughters, if it comes to pass that something happens to your father or I, know that I have had your names added to the Saotome lineage. If Ranma is gone, you will guard Kasumi and Nabiki in lieu of the family agreement. Do you understand?"
Kurumi gulped and nodded. Natsume turned a glance toward Ryu then turned back and nodded as well. "Let's discover the truth before we make any plans, Mother," she said.
"You all have the number, here? Good!" Cologne exclaimed. "Call us as soon as possible. As soon as Ryoga arrives, we'll set out."
Genma and Soun leaped to the rooftops and headed in the direction given for Akane. Nodoka and the girls moved off toward the park. It seemed like only seconds later that the huge bulk of Katsunishiki hove into sight, Akari riding and Ryoga alongside. The lost-boy got a wary look on his face as he realized just who was in his house. "Ummm… Is something wrong?" he asked.
Pain. Barry had experienced pain before, many different kinds of pain. One tended to accumulate such experiences as one aged, and each was as unique as the action that had created it. He tried to classify this pain as a way to understand it. Control it. He had to control it; there was something that needed done. Getting kicked by a horse was a sharp, almost painless impact followed by dull, throbbing pain. Falling off a bike at twenty miles an hour onto gravel was a shredding, trickling pain. Breaking ribs after falling on a wheelbarrow was a grating pain that left you gasping for breath. Falling off a horse was usually a dull ache. Food poisoning… ah… Food poisoning came close to what he felt, a blinding pain that left you gasping for breath, that was continuous, that eventually overrode the body's will to do anything but wish for it to be gone.
"Saotome…"
A voice? Concentrate on the voice! It might distract from the pain.
"What happened?"
What happened? What had happened? Oh… Yeah. "Stepped on that thing… sucked leg dry of… ki." As she drifted on waves of pain, she considered what had happened. She had staggered back from Taro's strike and stepped on the shaft. Had she not trained extensively with this body's ki, she would have been drained dry, just like Akane had been at Jusendo. As it was, she had only saved her life. Her leg… "Kinjakan heats water, but fuels itself with ki. Only royal family of Phoenix can touch when it feeds."
"What are you talkin' about, Saotome! I'm not one of those bird-men."
"Taro?"
"Yeah, It's me, uh… Taro. I'm sorry about this, but…" He could hear the other scuffing his feet. "The pervert renamed me when I showed him Kinjakan. He named me…" Taro paused, holding his gorge down both from the shame of his name and the mess Ranma's leg was. "…re-named me… Lacy Darling. Why the hell can't he be serious!" he screamed at the night sky. "All I wanted was a normal name!" He looked at the shivering redhead at his feet, hands clasped about the stump of a shriveled leg. "Happosai's gonna pay for this! I swear!"
"Give… Kinjakan and Gekkaja back to… the Phoenix," whispered Barry.
"Wh—What? You're delirious, Saotome!" Taro looked over the damage once more. "I can't leave you like this, man. You'd make a poor cripple. I'll end your pain. Uh?" Shields flared and the redhead seemed encased in a bubble of force. Faintly through it, he heard her whisper, "Give it up, Taro. You haven't beaten me yet."
"You're nuts!" Taro exclaimed. He punched the bubble, then struck it with the Taochinpang, but the most he got was sparks. "Be that way then, you asshole! If you can beat me after this, I'll announce my new name to the whole world from the top of Tokyo Tower!"
Barry didn't notice him stalking into the darkness. He didn't hear the flurry of fighting outside the park, nor the hummingbird beat of wings carrying Taro and Akane away. The shield continued to glow faintly in the shadows near the reflection pool, while inside, a voice murmured over and over, "You have not yet beaten me."
"Mother, he's over here!" Barry heard a gentle tapping. "Barry-san! What happened? Barry-san!"
Kurumi? Mother? That meant…
"Kamisama! His leg…" Nodoka's voice was tinged with horror. Light hands rubbed on… something. "Barry-san! Barry-san! We can't help you if you shut us out!"
"Nodoka?" Barry rasped. "Kurumi?"
"I'm here, too, Barry-san," came the practical voice of Natsume. "Taro is gone. I think he has Akane."
"Akane?" No, he couldn't fail! Ranma was depending on him to… The redhead dropped the shield and struggled to a sitting position. "Where?" Her agonized voice shook. "Can't let Ranma down. Not when… Ahhh!" The withered leg brushed the ground. She suddenly came to an awareness of who and what she was and how this had happened.
"You need to get to a hospital."
"No! A hospital will take the leg! They won't understand!" Barry babbled. "They'll think the leg is dead."
"It looks dead," Kurumi said with a gulp.
Barry looked at the leg and carefully traced it with a finger. It was as if someone, for a joke, had attached a doll's leg to the middle of her hip. Barry recalled how Akane had looked at Jusendo. Of course, if she had been dehydrated, Akane would have instantly died. The guide had claimed that the Jusendo waters made the difference. That they would return her lost fluid and she had been revived with the combined waters of Jusenkyo. Barry vaguely recalled what she had said in delirium to Taro. Ki… "Get me down to the lake," Barry gasped, twisting to balance on her good leg and rising unsteadily to her feet.
"But…"
"Now! Before it's too late!" Driven, they supported her to the water's edge. "Now, into the water." Her idea was born of desperation. There were no sure options within five thousand kilometers - this had to work.
"Barry, the leg will become infected," Nodoka tried to reason with her.
Barry surged away from them to balance unsteadily, waist deep in the water. She searched for the ki there, but it was too diffuse. She found too little that she could tap into for what she needed. The ki was bound, tied to the lake as if it were part of a living organism. Barry balanced, gasping, feeling ki begin to seep into her ruined leg, but it was too slow. There wasn't enough ki directly accessible, unless…
She cast her aura out upon the waters. She might, barely, maybe be able to align the lake's ki to her body. It would be enough, but it would destroy the lake and kill the fish and life within it. But if she could heal herself, repair the Taochinpang's maiming, she could stop Taro from destroying more of the city.
Even through her pain, she realized that she was making excuses to delay in a hopeless cause. If there were another way... So much of Japanese and Chinese mythology spoke of the spirits who inhabited the countryside. Even the folklore of her own native past, of Ireland and of America, spoke of such. Only modern theology ignored them, deeming them irrelevant or dangerous distractions from the All Highest. But had He ever asked for that? She called out with her aura. For a long moment she wondered if the spirit of the place was gone, driven out by the interference of the occupying forces. Then she felt the waters lap at her awareness, a sense of puzzlement, and she spoke from her center, calling to what she sensed was there. "Spirit of the waters, help me. The children who walk your shores are in danger."
"Who calls?" It was a whisper in the mind, but it seemed real.
"I am part of this world and part of another," she replied in a murmur, "I am injured in defense of the children of this land."
"Why should I help you?" the voice finally asked. It was not angry or hostile, merely vaguely curious. "I admit some interest. But then few actually seek to speak to me this way."
"Don't you care for those who walk your shores?" Barry was a little surprised. She thought the land responded to its people, didn't it?
"Mildly. I have trouble these days being interested in people who barely stop to feed the ducks and koi, or watch their reflections. Amusing, considering that is what this pool was supposedly designed for." Barry was certain now that the voice of the lake was in some way feminine. Not necessarily a good thing if yin and yang actually boiled down the way everyone said they did. He reminded himself again of the warning he gave Mio, the Tarot reader. Spirits may be good or evil and you can't know ahead of time. Opening oneself could lead to disaster.
"I am injured. I can, perhaps, heal myself, but to do so would injure your pool. I thought that would be inconsiderate," Barry said louder.
"Who are you talking to?" whispered Kurumi, staring out over the dark waters.
"Shhh…" warned Nodoka.
"Inconsiderate?" There was a chuckle and a sense of greater awareness. "I suppose that would be true." The water seemed to swell and become denser around her. "How might you do this?"
"If I told you, you would be able to block my attempt, would you not?" The waters swirled, as if moved by a monster koi. Barry felt agitation. "Understand, please, that I spoke in that manner to let you know I understand what I give away." Then she told the spirit of the pool about Jusenkyo and Jusendo, and the action of the Taochinpang on humans and how it might be reversed. She added a very brief summary of how she came to be in the body. There was another long silence.
Water suddenly swirled up in a column that slowly gained humanoid form. It was feminine, young looking, with lake weed for hair. As it shifted, looking at them, Barry startled a little. The lake spirit was using two small koi suspended sidewise to them to have eyes in her face, and a larger carp to give her a mouth. Occasionally, fish would be caught in her vortex to swim up into her body and back down again, or lose their place and fall into the lake through her watery skin.
"It wouldn't work, you know. Not the way you want." The words were spoken, not experienced. The water spirit glided closer. "Your attempt to take the ki of my lake would lock you as a female."
"Why?"
"Jusendo must not only be rich in ki, it must be strong in the duality of nature. Opposites attract. The yang of my lake is bound up to balance the yin of my presence here. You would attract only yin. What you really need is a concentrated source of balanced ki. Water would help with the healing of your leg. Water permeates like air, but can be contained like stone or metal, but the ki is most important."
Barry hissed, partly in frustration, partly in pain. "I am in your debt, though I may never be able to repay it. I might have acted in ignorance."
"You didn't. And you have been polite, more than I can say for some of the litterbugs around here." A piece of paper trash briefly slid up her body and swirled around in her head, disturbing the fish there. "I sense you have a patron. Perhaps he or she may help? Can you tell me who it is?"
"The only patron I admit to is the All Highest God through his Son. I'm a Christian." Barry almost expected the creature to have a fit and flee. He'd read enough stories where they did. Yet, this one did not.
"Hmmm… You know that He really wants you to go directly to Him?"
"He also expects us to do our best with the tools he has given us. I had come to the lake with that in mind, but remembered that one like you might be here. I will go."
"There is a way you can do this." The spirit swirled closer. "But you will need their help." She pointed to the Saotomes. "They must offer some of their ki to aid you. They are even of your blood, which is better. I can concentrate the ki close to you where you can use it."
"But they are female."
"All mortals contain their balance. They are yin and yang."
"What payment do you require?" Barry conceded her point but raised another issue. Payment was almost always an issue with spirits and leaving it unsaid almost always produced a blank check in the spirit's favor.
"I like you," the water spirit said, "I'm also going to see you do something I've never seen before, and that's special. Perhaps I should waive…"
"Perhaps I have something to offer?" suggested Nodoka. The spirit turned to her. "I am well known to the ward council that oversees this area. Perhaps I could convince them to restore your lake to the way it was before the War? I've seen photos. It was quite lovely."
Barry could have sworn the eyes of fish managed to blink. "That… That would be nice. Very well! Petition your council as payment for my help." She waggled a finger at Nodoka. "And none of this 'I tried' business! Pester them! Or I'll visit you in your kitchen sink!"
"Don't tempt me," retorted Nodoka. "I think you'd be far better company than some I've had." Her retort caused the spirit to lurch with bubbly little hiccups that Barry finally decided were giggles.
"Then let us begin!" burbled the lake spirit. "This is what we shall do…"
Ten minutes later, a healthy red-haired girl stood shakily on two good legs beside the lake, water cupped in her hands. "Let's see if this works!" she said, and drew ki to her hands till the water steamed. Even as she poured it over her head, the body was swelling, growing taller, till Ranma's boy-type stood beside the still waters. He took in a breath and nodded to the women around him, weak as if they were recovering from a Hinako-type ki-draining. Barry sensed movement and turned to see Genma dropping into the park.
"What's wrong with you, No-chan!" he exclaimed. "And girls…" Somehow he managed to squeeze them all into a bear hug as he exclaimed over their weakened states.
"Urk! Not so tight, husband," Nodoka gurgled. "Why aren't you with Soun?"
Genma scowled. "We found Akane. Taro has her tied to a concrete bench over at the high school. Soun is keeping watch in case he tries something." He glared at Barry. "Where have you been? Why didn't you protect her?"
"I was out of action. Nodoka will explain," Barry said quietly. "There is no excuse for my failure to this point, but I think I know how to deal with Taochinpang now." His eyes caught Genma's. "You mean Taro has her at Furinkan?"
"Over by the pool. She looks like she put up a fight." Genma paused. "So did Taro for that matter." He frowned. "What's Taochinpang?"
"Taro's weapon. That's what Taro calls the fusion of Kinjakan and Gekkaja," Barry answered him shortly. "You contact Cologne and meet us there. If Taro won't give up Taochinpang willingly, I want us all to hit him. If he's not stopped, he could easily burn down the ward like Saffron did Jusendo."
"Where will you be?" Genma asked.
"Where else? I'm going to get Akane clear before the fireworks start, then, if I can, lure him down to the soccer field. If we take him by surprise, you'll have cover and height advantage. If not, at least you'll have escape routes. I'll be trying to keep him on the ground and immobile enough for a good shot." He leaped into the night.
Soun watched silently in the shadows. His daughter, his baby girl, still seemed to be unconscious, tied with numerous loops of wire stripped from the surrounding fence, to the concrete bench alongside the Furinkan swimming pool. The damage from the 'Ranma-iichuan' incident was still evident, the stumps of the diving platform twisted and stark in the light from the pool. He glanced up to where Taro squatted on the roof of the high school overlooking the scene. If anything had ever said 'bait' to the Tendo patriarch, this was it. His fingers itched. In his hand were the bow and arrows of his samurai heritage.
Though kyudo had been only one of the forms he had taught Akane, he had been inordinately pleased with the accolades she achieved at the martial arts competition in September. He hoped his own skills had not deserted him, but he would wait for the others. Saotome should be back soon.
Taro was well aware of Soun below, hidden in the bushes at the corner of the building. He felt a mild contempt for the man for not coming out to challenge him for his daughter, regardless of the fact that if Taro could match Ranma, the man would be totally outclassed. Though Taro was well acquainted with war and the no-holds-barred combat of trail and back street, he was, at the moment, still treating this as a martial artist's duel. He pondered the fortune of his life and this artifact he held that promised immense power, yet had left what could have been a satisfying victory as ashes in his mouth.
No normal male could help but feel a twinge of attraction to Ranma's girl-type. It was one of the things that made him nervous about the other man, that and the almost inhuman way Ranma solved martial arts challenges. The sight of the redhead writhing in agony on the ground in the light of the burning trees haunted him. He had done his best to keep the Taochinpang from touching Akane, and had taken some damage solely because he had been unwilling to duplicate what had happened only moments before.
He was on the roof of Furinkan for two reasons. He didn't want to be near Akane when she woke to answer questions about what he had done to Ranma. He gagged anew at the memory of that tiny, flopping leg attached to Ranma's hip. The other, of course, was tactical. He knew someone would come. Possibly Ryoga… probably one or more of Ranma's fiancées, thirsting for revenge. He'd met the Amazon and understood that the pretty noblewoman he'd helped deal with Happosai some time ago was another of the crowd. They were all martial artists, capable of doing damage. He had to find some way of defeating them without a repeat of the obscenity that had been his greatest rival's fate.
"Taro?"
He stiffened. The tomboy was finally awake. He wondered if she would call for help or simply try to work free of her bonds when she decided he had left her there.
"Taro, I know you're up there on the roof with Kinjakan, so don't even try to pretend you're not!" Her voice was angry and held a resolve that told him she was not merely casting in the dark. His curiosity warred with his disinclination to talk to her. Finally, he dropped from the roof, letting his free hand trail along the wall to use window ledges to slow his descent.
"Feh! So, how do you like my new toy here?" he asked twirling the staff. "I call it Taochinpang." At her unimpressed glare he shrugged. "How did you know I was up there?"
"Where's Ranma?" she countered. They glared at one another for a long moment. When Taro turned away, Akane added desperately, "Wait! He's alive, isn't he?"
"He was when I left him," Taro replied neutrally. "Now how did you know I was up there?" Taro returned to her side. "I can find out anyway, gorilla-girl. You'd be surprised what Taochinpang can do." He poised the crescent shaped blade over her head. Akane cringed at the cold radiating from the silvery blade.
Akane glared at him, but finally relented. "Ranma and a… friend of ours discovered a way to see ki and auras. If you went inside the school right now, I could tell you what room you were in and probably what you were doing in it."
Taro blinked and reared back. "Feh! He was telling the truth! Only he would come up with the ultimate 'peeping tom' technique!" He glared at Akane with contempt. "I can guess what your friend demanded for his help, too!"
"What?" Akane didn't understand the sudden change of tone. She knew nothing of Happosai's lie about their ki-training. She marshaled her thoughts and returned to what she felt was the subject at hand. "Where's Ranma?" she fairly screamed at him.
Taro opened his mouth and shouted, but not an answer to her question. His wrist was suddenly encased in a steel grip, the wrench disarming him of Taochinpang even as it tried to break the limb. He twisted and surged into an airborne flip about the trapped limb and swung a strong kick at his new attacker. He was released and thrown into the pool, half-full of fresh water to winterize it after the disaster with Kodachi.
"Barry!" Akane whispered, relieved. The way Taro had been acting…
"Little hard to use neko when yer tied like that, isn't it?" he asked, slicing the wire away with quick movements of his hands.
"Just a little," she agreed. Beyond them, Taro's monster form surged high with a roar, orienting on them, eyes burning with rage. Barry countered with a regular Mouko Takabisha. Without Taochinpang in his hands, such attacks should be more effective.
Taro brushed the ball of ki aside with a shielded forearm and raised his own palm. Spinning, flaming crescents seemed to erupt to glance off Barry's hasty defense and crash explosively into the building. As was often the case for Barry or Ranma, cold water erupted from shattered pipes to induce the Jusenkyo curse.
"C'mon, tomboy, together we can take him!" snarled the sudden redhead.
"I can't feel my hands or feet," Akane exclaimed desperately, "I can't fight yet!"
Barry turned a glance toward her in concern and Taro used the distraction to snatch Taochinpang with one of his octopus tentacles. Raising the staff high, the monster began to glow as he prepared a huge fireball. Barry had an awkward moment trying to pick up Akane in her smaller girl-type arms, wincing, knowing that her shields were about to be tested to the limits in the tight confines of the courtyard.
An arrow glanced off the heavy snout beside the left eye of monster-Taro. He bellowed and raised his hand to determine the damage in time to intercept a second arrow in its cabled back. With a roar, Taro swung toward this new attack and leveled Taochinpang.
"Run, Soun!"
Soun reacted instinctively to the warning, jerking back just in time to let the building shield him from the blast of flame. As he backed hurriedly away, he heard the concrete crack and shatter as heat as intense as a kiln superheated the surface layers of the building. He cursed when he saw that his bowstring had been fried. Without a long-distance weapon, he was forced to retreat. He only hoped that gaijin in Ranma's body could get Akane clear.
Barry ran like a bat out of hell, dodging through the corridors that led through the gymnasium from the pool to the soccer field. She couldn't believe her luck. Taro had been so enraged that he was literally burrowing through the building after them. While Barry couldn't just drop Akane off in one of the side rooms, she had hopes now of hiding Ranma's fiancée safely, once outside, before luring the big cow out into the field. There was always the chance that Taro would injure his wings in the passage and save her the trouble of clipping them later. Furinkan High School was not, unfortunately, doing too well, but at least no one was here at this hour… was there?
"What is de big coconut breakin' goin' on out heah?" bellowed Principal Kuno dressed in palm-tree print pajamas and wearing a night-mask that looked to be two slices of pineapple. "People be tryin' ta sleep!"
"Oops!" Barry had forgotten that the fruitcake lived somewhere in the school. He was a jerk, but even jerks deserved their chance. "Look out! It's a monster!" she screamed rocketing past.
"Say what?" exclaimed Kuno blankly. "What two wahini be doin' in de school this time o' night?" He turned at the roar. "Ahhh!" Taro was almost on top of him, shoulders filling the hall from wall to wall, horned skull dipping out of the drop-ceiling tiles, trailing wires and light tubing in his wake. He was glowing. "Wow! One big em-effin' demon, yah," the fruitcake screeched, as he pulled two pineapple bombs from somewhere and tossed them at Taro before diving back through the door.
(PLAM! PLAM!)
His numerous injuries now soaked in stinging pineapple juice, Taro was less than pleased. He thrashed about and roared, bringing the second floor down on his admittedly large shoulders, demolishing the hall and, at least momentarily, trapping himself under concrete and steel.
Barry dodged out of the door just ahead of a billowing wave of debris and headed for the equipment shed that had the controls to the field's sprinklers. There were bushes there where Akane could recuperate in relative safety and yet it was close enough to the action that she could get back in as soon as she was ready. The redhead laid her down in that shelter and dropped to her knees.
"The gang is comin' loaded for… Well anyway, they're comin', Akane. Protect Shampoo and Ukyo and help them get in close with their new moves. It may be the only chance we get. I wish ta God I'd managed to teach the Amazon and the ghoul how to tie personal shields to earth-ki. It has trouble absorbing that! It'd be better if we had two groups or even three." They heard the roar from Furinkan and watched a section of wall topple out from the punch of an enormous fist. "No time left – Here – take this. Wish me luck!" Barry forced the knowledge of the earth ki technique into her ki-awareness. She gasped at the feeling of excitement, compassion, fear and determination that swept in with it.
Barry gave her a kiss on the forehead and ran out into the field. Akane looked after her bemused. "What?"
"Hey, freak! Over here! Ya want a piece a me, ya overgrown steer?" Barry danced down toward the soccer field as a huge form burst out of the side of Furinkan in hot pursuit.
Barry retreated toward the field. This would draw the minotaur away from Akane and allow her to limber up her revised weaponry. If Taro was foolish enough to try to use Taochinpang as a weapon… Taro leaped from the rise and hummed across the intervening space, crane wings blurring. Flame blossomed and balls of fire streaked down to bracket the martial artist in a strafing run that did a fair imitation of a napalm drop. The octopus ink didn't help, either, streaming in inky splatters or flaming from Taochinpang's ignition. Barry quickly found herself in the middle of the only ground in the field that was not on fire. As Taro passed again, Barry sent up a barrage of the shrinking earth-ki-spheres, with their deadly cargo of compressing gas. There was a shocking series of detonations and Taro slammed down in the midst of the hell he had caused with a bellow of pain. More roaring sounded before the monster, smoking and staggering, surged out of the flames, shields raised to confront the tiny human that had caused him so much grief. He still held Taochinpang. They charged one another.
"Akane Tendo?"
Akane jumped. She had been so concerned with getting feeling back into her limbs that she had not been scanning her surroundings. "Mousse?"
"I've found her," Mousse softly called to someone behind him. Akane was suddenly enveloped in a Shampoo glomp, an experience that guiltily reminded her how often she had blamed Ranma for not escaping from them.
"Is Akane all right?" gasped Shampoo anxiously. "Aiya! Monster-boy tie you up, yes?" She quickly took over massaging Akane's hands with almost brutal pressure. Her victim groaned with the advance of returning sensation.
"Barry said I should conserve myself as a shield for your ki-techniques," Akane gasped. Shampoo moved to her legs with competent authority. "He's going to try to get Taro to sit still long enough to be a target. Ukyo and Shampoo are to take him out with the Okonomiyaki Sogu and the Megami Hamaya." She winced and flexed one hand as Shampoo moved on to another. "Taro calls the joined staffs, Taochinpang. I get the impression that it is much more than a weapon."
Ukyo blanched. She really didn't want to try that on a human being. The apparent damage to Senbei and his two demonesses had been a bit too graphic in retrospect. Still, she had heard what Barry's/Ranma's leg had looked like after contact with Taochinpang. Taro had gone too far this time.
"We need to catch him in a cross-fire to be sure, dear," advised Cologne. She pointed to Ukyo and Ryoga who loomed large and silent in the ruddy light. "You two move over to the bleachers. It's good cover and closer to the action. Shampoo?" Her great-granddaughter stood and nodded. Akane shakily got to her feet, still wiggling her hands a bit to get out the pins and needles. "We will use the brush over there." She pointed to a spot not far from where a pigtailed goddess first confronted a deluded kendoist. "I think I have the shield technique worked out; but if not, there is room to retreat. Akane, you shield for Genma and Ryu as they use their Yamasen techniques. You have the strongest shields and will need to get in the closest for them to be effective." Cologne glowered at them. "I want you to understand something." She scowled at them all. "Taro must not leave here with Taochinpang. You cannot believe how much trouble this will cause as it is. If Taro keeps that item, it is possible all of Asia will shortly see massive destruction and war with millions dying. Only the ignorance of the various bureaucracies to the true power of the ancient ways has let them play at government with any restraint. The more they understand that things like Taochinpang exist and can be used, the more likely it will be that they will strive to unleash powers far beyond their comprehension and control. Thermonuclear bombs are not the worst that can happen." Her audience shuddered. "Let's go help Barry, then."
Barry gasped in the heat of the field and wondered how Taro could stand it with all that hair. The heat generated by the flames, and the energy generated by her body while trying to avoid those flames, were taking their toll.
"Hey, yak-head! Ya sure ya don't wanna take another swim?" she taunted, dodging a fist as large as her torso. She took the opportunity to rip at his shields and skin where she could reach it, but damaging a creature as naturally well protected as Taro, was made doubly difficult because of his shields. Still he had numerous cuts and abrasions, some of them fairly serious.
Though outwardly unharmed, she was beginning to reach the limits of her endurance. The constant shielding and ki techniques were draining her. If something didn't change soon… Hmmm… In the ground, beneath her feet, was a metal access hatch almost a meter across. It seemed to lead into a sewer or maintenance crawl-way. She couldn't spare the energy to see if Cologne and the others were in position. She had to hope they were ready, and that the delay was because she and Taro hadn't stopped dancing around each other. If she could hit him with that hatch, then drop into the crawl space, it would give them the still target and clear field that they needed.
With a variation of the ki-ribbon, she contacted the latent ki in the earth and in the hatch and began to motivate it at Taro. Taro hesitated. He could tell Ranma was up to something, but wasn't sure what, his huge form stood poised to dodge or defend.
For Ukyo, Shampoo Genma and Ryu, this was the moment.
A blazing disc formed in the air above the chef's straining hand, spinning to life like a hungry buzz saw. She took aim on Taro's hand gripping the staff. Power arced up and down as Shampoo, eyes half-closed in concentration, drew her ki-bow, its elongated ends reducing the strain of her first attempts, the curve of its span framing her body in profile like a crescent moon. Her forming ki-arrow, or Megami Hamaya, sparkled like a star in the night. The trio of Genma, Ryu and Akane had worked out a path of jumps that would land them close enough for the Yamasen techniques to work. If they were lucky, Taro would end up immobilized with broken legs. Designed to cut the foundations from under a house, they needed to be fairly close, as the effect acted like a cutter-charge of explosive. As Taro hesitated, they moved, Akane's hands grasping Genma and Ryu's belts to link them all in unison. She could not raise her shields until after they had attacked, and the heat from the flames raised blisters on her exposed skin. They made their position as Shampoo released her ki-arrow. Ukyo's disc blazed off in response to Shampoo's attack and, seconds later, dual attacks of ki were fired from outstretched palms of Genma and Ryu.
Then the ground erupted from under Barry's feet, and Taro convulsed as 100 kilos of charged steel punched him in the gut. Ukyo's ki-disc took the tip off a horn instead of Taro's hand as he staggered back, clutching his abused gut. The Hamaya, aimed for his body,exploded under his chin, flipping him into the air just in time for the Yamasen attacks to slice harmlessly beneath his heels. Fortunately, the Hamaya' detonation had also dumped Barry on her backside. The cutter-charge compressed air blades swept overhead to disperse their force against air and landscape.
Taro surged to his feet with a bellow of rage and shot off three massive fireballs in as little time as it took to blink. He knew when he was attacked, and he had always made it a habit of making ambushers really pay for such bad manners. He laughed as he heard screams of fear and consternation vanish as flames engulfed the positions of his foes. His laughter shut off abruptly as the fire almost bounced back in his face, and he found himself enclosed along with Ranma in a hemisphere of force nearly sixty meters across.
"Youbastard!" He turned to face a livid pigtailed girl, glowing in crimson anger. "You arrogant son of a bitch!"
Taro almost backed up as the figure advanced across the charred ground. He noticed nervously that the fires nearest them were now dying unnaturally, and the figure before him was growing ever more powerful where seconds ago, he would have sworn she was nearly unconscious with fatigue. He set himself, Taochinpang across his body. It was as if Ranma were draining the ki from everything around her, even the ground. He tried to counter with Taochinpang, but the staff was unresponsive to this technique.
"All this for a name?" The redhead spat at him. "A stupid eff-ing name?"
Taro stumbled, and realized the sphere was collapsing, closing in on him. The air was getting thick. Taro eyes grew wide. Was Saotome insane? Was he going to set off a gigantic compressed air bomb, with them inside of it?
"That was Akane, you bastard! And Ukyo and Shampoo and Ryoga and Ryu Kumon and Cologne and Mousse. You murdering sub-human! There's nothing left! You are not walking away from this." The martial artist stood gazing with contempt at the astonished monster.
Taro charged. He had to drop Saotome before she could set off the technique or they'd be scraping his guts off buildings as far away as Nagasaki. He slashed with the sickle edge of Taochinpang and watched it glance off a bubble that suddenly surrounded only Ranma. The walls continued to shrink in. He punched and kicked at the barrier and slammed at it with alternating blows of Taochinpang. He was met with a contemptuous sound that missed being a laugh by several degrees.
"I so wanted to go home," he heard her say. "But how can I have everything I love when you've destroyed everything of his?" Taro stared at the figure inside the sphere. His wings were beginning to be hampered and the air was close and tight. The redhead hugged herself across her chest and wept silent tears as Taro continued to try to get the leverage or power to stop her. Shaking as if she could barely stand, she murmured, "I'm not Ranma... I've been holding on, pretending till he got back, praying there was someplace for me to go home to. Up till now, I thought I at least had my finger in the dike, but this…" Tears continued to pour down her cheeks.
"Grwaaaaw!" gasped the trapped martial artist-monster. He no longer had room to swing Taochinpang, but used it to frantically file and saw at the wall that kept him from the redhead. What did she mean 'not Ranma'? Taro stared, panting as he tried to grasp what she was saying.
Barry felt she might have just enough power left. She raised her eyes.
"On the other side of the world, Taro, there was a type of kami who sang for the dead. It was known as the Banshee." Barry felt pain beginning to crawl across her body as Taochinpang sucked in every loose bit of ki from her shields. There was no way to stabilize the shield enough to prevent it, so she had to endure it. "I'm going to sing you off, Taro." She giggled suddenly, a sound of madness that raised the hairs along Taro's spine.
"Hush, my babe, for the red bee hums, a si-lent twi-light's call…"
The song was an old Gaelic lullaby. As Barry sang, she accessed the ki technique they called ki-radio. She used it to harmonize with girl-Ranma's almost delicate soprano then began octave jumps to search down for what she needed. She knew that, somewhere between five and fifteen cycles, there was a sonic waveform that killed, if the energy was sufficient. No material had ever been developed to make it feasible for military use; the backlash destroyed the equipment producing it. But ki presented answers as it had so often and she had all the energy left in this body. If she could find the right pitch, it might be enough.
"E-vil fro-om the gray rock comes to cast the wo-orld in thrall…"
If only she had thought of this earlier, she could have stopped this, could have captured or killed Taro despite Taochinpang. But it was too late. "I hope somehow, that you can take care of Gwen," Barry thought before remembering; Ranma was bound to this body – their deaths would be mutual. "I'm so sorry, Ranma" she whispered.,
"Too-ro-lei, my joy, my child; my love, my own true heart's desire…"
The power continued to build even as Taro, breathless and sick on the dense atmosphere of the outer sphere, began to realize it was finished.
Akane coughed and groaned, slowly rising to her feet, maintaining the shield even as the embers died around her. The whole field was blackened, charred, almost glazed in places. Faintly she heard… singing? She looked around. Genma and Ryu were choking on smoke. Earlier, she had seen the fireball arcing toward the Amazons and sensed the attack on Ryoga and Ukyo. She had barely managed to get the shield up in time, but it had trapped them in a smoke-filled sphere, unable to breathe the air within, not daring to attempt the air without. Then the flames died down as if doused and she dared to release them from her ki-fortress. Now there was only a flame-wreathed ball with a gibbering demon capering around an angel who sang within the flames. She staggered forward, wincing as she burned her feet on coals that had not had a chance to cool.
"The cric-ket si-ings a lul-la-by, beside the dy-ing fire…"
With crystal clarity, Akane saw the tears, saw the face and realized what must have happened and what the pigtailed singer was thinking. Taochinpang was like a great ki-emitting arc-lamp. Between its 'light' and their shields, Barry couldn't see or sense them. Barry thought they were all dead.
Barry had gone over the edge.
"Bar-ry!" she screamed. It turned into a cough. "We aren't dead," she tried to croak. "Don't give up hope!" She stumbled forward. She had to reach Barry before…
Barry had gathered the power. She thought she had found the note, a tone that would set off an almost instantaneous multiple-octave drop to six cycles per second. She had eyes only for the laboring beast before her. She didn't savor the moment. It was simply time. She drew in breath for one final shout.
(((((("TARO!"))))))
The shock wave rolled out across the field in all directions like a tidal wave.