Ukyou sat in her bed, rolled in a ball unable to sleep.
Everything had fallen apart so completely, so quickly, her head spun. Her entire reason for living for the past...who even knew how many years anymore, was Ranma. She wanted revenge against him and his father for making the engagement and running off soon after, taking her dowry with them. Then, after they reconciled, she focused on following through with the engagement, all the plots, all the schemes, all of the, admittedly, underhanded things she did she wasn't really proud of...all for him. And now, he was gone.
She covered her face with her hands and asked herself for the thousandth time that night, how did things get this bad?
The bad thing was, she had no one to talk to, no one to open up to so she didn't have to keep everything bottled inside. She had always been alone since leaving her father to pursue the Saotomes, but it had never bothered her before until now. She desperately wanted to get rid of the weight on her chest, but she had no outlet...no one to unload on. The only ones who she counted as friends were, ironically, Ranma and amazingly enough, Akane. But how could se go to them? They were the source of her pain.
She was forced to back up. There was another who had proven to be a very good friend to her. One Ryouga Hibiki. They have shared their dreams with each other, plotted together, fought side by side (and complemented each other so well, it was as if they did so all their lives, even though it was that one time). He had even been her hero, saving her from a less than fortunate fate, albeit reluctantly. Ryouga Hibiki, whom she recently threw out of her life.
His parting words were like a dagger repeatedly plunged into her heart. She couldn't believe he'd have the nerve to say she was like Shampoo. What was worse was the fact he was right. It was one of those underhanded things she wasn't proud of; that she would use another human being as a tool, something of no more value than one of her cooking utensils. She prided herself on being better than that. Of everything that happened, that was the bitterest of pills to swallow; finding out she wasn't near as good as she thought she was.
She sighed heavily and looked out her bedroom window. It was probably divine punishment for those things she did pursuing Ranma. Now that he was out of her reach, she'd have to reevaluate her life and determine where to go from there. She'd also have to make things right with Ryouga. He didn't deserve what she put him through.
Squinting her eyes, she crawled out of bed and walked over to the window. "Why is it so bright outside?" she wondered. Night had fallen already and while the rain had passed, the sky was still covered with a thick blanket of clouds. At any rate, neither the sun nor the moon could explain the reddish hue the light was painting everything in.
Ukyou's eyes widened. Running to her closet, she redressed herself, grabbed her spatula and went out into the night. She recognized that glow, having experienced it earlier that day and if she was right, she was just as responsible for it as everyone else. Her emotional outburst must've been what sent him over the edge and she felt it was her responsibility to help him...or, if worse came to worse, stop him.
"Ryouga, I'm coming!"
-
Dreamweaver Studios Presents
Ranma½
And the Beat Goes On
"Lost –Part Three"
-
"You can't be serious!" cried Akane. "Ryouga has to die?"
"To put it bluntly, child, it's us or him," Cologne said. "As you said, you've already tried to break him out of his depression and it hasn't worked. I hate to say it, but right now, it's the only option left to us." She really did. Ryouga was one of the strongest kids she knew. It was always in the back of her mind to find some way to get him into her tribe after she and Shampoo got Ranma in.
Ranma looked back out to the battlefield. Kuno had gotten himself reinvolved, but he wasn't doing well. It wouldn't be long before he fell...again. Time was short. "Somebody get me some hot water," she said.
"Ranma! No!" pleaded Akane.
"You heard her. We don't have a choice anymore."
"Ranma." Cologne stared at her sternly. "Do you mean to tell me you have what it takes to kill Ryouga?"
Ranma returned her stare with the same intensity, "You better believe I do. After what he did to Akane, I'm gonna rip his head off."
"Stop your ridiculous posturing, boy and look deep within yourself. This isn't just another one of your little duels where you get to brush yourself off afterwards, go home and do the whole thing over again the next day. This will be for keeps. Do you REALLY think you have it in you to take another human life?"
Ranma stopped and looked down at her hands. In the short number of years she had been live, those hands had been used to defeat many a foe. But they had never been used to take a life before. Then her thoughts turned to Ryouga. He had already been through so much at her hands, some things she wouldn't wish upon anyone. Could she really kill him, on top of everything else she had done? Ranma took a deep breath, dropped her hands, looked back at Cologne and admitted, "...no."
Cologne nodded, "I didn't expect you too. Trust me, son-in-law, the decision to kill is never one to be taken lightly. It can weigh heavily on your young heart and lead you down some very dark paths to which there may be no return. That's why I'm here...to spare you from having to make that decision."
"Old woman..." Ranma started.
"One so young shouldn't have to bear such a huge burden. I'll keep those hands of yours clean a little while longer."
----+----
It wasn't going too well for Furinkan's shining star, Blue Thunder. Surely, this Hibiki fellow was no mere man, but a demon spawn from the lowest depths of Hades. Not that it would matter in the end. Just as the hero did in every epic, surely, he would find a way to be victorious in the end. Plus, he had to meet vengeance upon the spawn of the underworld for accosting his beloved pigtailed girl in the boorish manner in which it did.
The thing of it was, how would he be able to? The fiend was already beginning to shrug off his lightening bolt attack. Kuno panted heavily from all of the damage he had taken so far. Unfortunately, there was only one recourse left to him. The strain would probably kill him, but there was no sacrifice too great for the one he loved.
Kuno brought his bokken to bear and growled at Ryouga, "For the sake of my beloved pigtailed girl, I will make sure you will never threaten her again, no matter what it takes!" He gathered his energies and his entire being began to crackle with electricity. "NOW DIE! WRATH OF HEAV-"
-BONK-
As Kuno fell to the ground, unconscious, Cologne brought her giant staff back to her side. "You foolish children," she said. "Always with your big, flashy attacks. Like I just told Ranma, they won't work against Ryouga now. They'll either make him stronger, or will speed up our deaths, like you were about to do with your fool stunt."
Ryouga raised an eyebrow, "Wow, you've decided to step out of your kitchen and get involved yourself, 'ay old woman? I'm honored."
Cologne shook her head, "Again, I have no one to blame but myself. You'd think I'd know better by now than to underestimate you kids. I didn't think you, even with your normally depressive nature, could make the leap from the Roaring Lion's Bullet to the Soul Cry. Otherwise, I would've taken you in and trained you again once I found you had learned that horrible technique."
"Genuine concern?" went Ryouga. "Why, I'm touched. So, what happened that stopped you from doing so? Those usual, mundane chores in everyday life were too important to take attention away from for too long? Or, perhaps you had another plot to cook up to get Ranma to marry your stupid granddaughter? As I recall, the only reason you took me aside and trained me the first time was because you saw a useful tool to split Ranma and Akane up. So, what? You couldn't think of a way to use me and Ranma's Shi Shi Hakodan duel to your advantage, so you decided to just let it go?"
A bead of sweat ran down Cologne's forehead. So that was what he was using to fuel the rage and depression that gave the Soul Cry its power. Usually, the Soul Cry clouded one's vision, only letting them see the bad side of everything they've endured to stay in the 'snapped' condition while they were powering up. Ryouga's vision didn't need too much in the way of clouding, though, as he had, indeed, gone through some very horrific experiences. She was surprised he didn't mention the fact that just before she gave him his training to use the Breaking Point, she tried to cook him while he was in his pig form.
"Oh yeah...I also remember that you tried to cook me before you started training me!"
Well, there we go.
"So what now?" continued Ryouga. "That concern finally built up enough in you to try and 'knock some sense' in your wayward student?"
The answer was, likely, going to play into his hands, but she wasn't about to lie to him. "No, unfortunately, we're passed that now."
"Ooooh...I've made too much noise now. I haven't sat quietly in my corner and waited to be used again like a good tool and now I need to be disposed of, am I right?"
"I'm sorry, boy. But you leave me no choice." This was going to be bad. A person whose negative memories were mostly a product of his own perception would've been problem enough. For someone like Ryouga who, as she had just realized, had gone through very real and very unimaginable hardships...it was clear she had completely underestimated the amount of damage he'd be able to do, as she had underestimated the severity of his experiences. She had to make this quick.
She tapped the ground with the tip of her staff and it exploded in a large column of dirt and debris front of her. Subsequent explosions erupted, trailing it way to her opponent, until it completely enveloped the lost boy. Instinctively, he covered his face to protect it from the brunt of the attack. While her move looked impressive, there was really no force behind it. It just kicked up a lot of dust. A light bulb flicked on and Ryouga jerked his head to the side just dodging a tiny, wrinkled hand that shot forth from behind.
Ryouga grinned, "You'll have to do better than that."
As Cologne landed from her first strike, Ryouga launched a counter attack. While Ryouga was unable to land a punch due to her incredible speed, Cologne, much to her surprise, couldn't land a strike either. She narrowed her eyes, "What's the matter, boy? You've absorbed all the hits from everyone else, why are you dodging my attacks now?"
"Because, you're trying to end my bit of fun earlier than I intend," answered Ryouga. "I'm not blind, not anymore, anyway. While the others were just wailing away, trying to beat me into submission like they normally do, you're going after specific spots on my body." Cologne's eye twitched, listening to him. "With the experience I know you have and the way you were talking earlier, it's a safe bet that you're going after 'kill spots'. If you think I'm just going to let you kill me, you've got another thing coming. As I said before, I will die on my own terms...and not alone."
Cologne cursed under her breath. This is much worse than she thought. Not only was his tolerance for pain increased, but so was his speed. They were fighting at a level even Ranma would've had trouble keeping up with. It also seemed his senses were drastically sharpened as well, as he was able to decipher what she was up to easily. She shook her head, "I should've paid more attention to you, my boy. You have such great potential. I hate to see it go to waste like this."
She held her cane up and spun it above her head. The cane began to crackle with energy, generating an energy disk just above it. Cologne brought the staff down in front of her, pointing the business end at her opponent and the disk of energy shot forward at Ryouga. Ryouga deftly managed to jump out of the path of the attack. His eyes widened as he saw her attack slice right through an unlucky light pole that stood behind him.
"Now that's an interesting attack," Ryouga said. "Another one of your ancient Amazon attacks that date back three thousand years?"
Cologne smiled, "No. Actually, I saw that on a rerun of one of those martial arts cartoons. A lot of their attacks looked absolutely ridiculous, but a couple of them looked plausible and I've always wanted to give one of them a try. This one in particular seemed best for this situation. You see, while most energy attacks are high impact and either hit you with a powerful concussive force, or explode on contact, this one is so compact around the edges, it acts like a razor and cuts through most everything like a hot knife through butter. Quite an imaginative attack, I must say."
Ryouga couldn't help but smirk, "I didn't think you were in to watching those kinds of shows."
She shrugged. "We don't have TV's in the village and I thought I'd give it a try. Most of what's on is garbage, but every once in a while, I find something that piques my interest." She raised her staff above her head and spun it around again. "And amid all of the mind-numbing trash, you can find something useful that you can learn." She threw the second energy disk, aiming to cut off his head.
Calmly, Ryouga removed his belt and snapped it straight. Just before her energy disk struck, he cut it in half, the two pieces exploding on either side of him. He could see the disbelief in Cologne's eyes, so he explained, "Your description of that attack sounded very much like a move I used to use a long time ago. I used my belt the same way, so I figured I could use my technique to counter yours. Looks like mine was better than yours, hmm?" He held up his belt as sort of a gloating maneuver. He lost his smirk as half of his belt fell to the ground, cut mere centimeters from his hand. "Okay, so maybe it was a tie..."
Ryouga threw what was left of his ki-sharpened belt at Cologne's head. While she dodged his projectile, Ryouga launched himself at her, trying to land a flying kick while she was distracted. However, the aged matriarch had the wherewithal to dodge that strike as well. Unfortunately, while in mid air, she was swatted down by one of the tendrils of energy that danced around the suicidal martial-artist.
As Cologne tried to push herself back up, Ryouga loomed over her. "You should be happy, old woman. After all, isn't the proudest moment for a teacher when their student surpasses them?"
She looked at him defiantly. "You really think you've surpassed me, boy? Just because you got a lucky shot in, you shouldn't become so full of yourself. I still have a...huh?" She stopped, noting he wasn't paying her any attention any longer. Instead, he was gazing passed her, the interesting look of smug depression replaced with one of a barely controlled rage. She followed his gaze and found one of Shampoo's rivals for Ranma, the girl Ukyou Kuonji.
Ukyou navigated her way through the rubble, appalled at the devastation. In the middle of it all, she found Ryouga, red wisps of energy dancing angrily about him. It seemed, just as he had a profound impact upon her before they parted ways, she, indeed had an impact upon him. "Ryouga!" she called to him.
"What are you doin' here, Ucchan?" Ranma yelled from the sidelines. "Get out of here!"
She didn't even notice when he moved. In one moment, Ryouga was standing menacingly above Cologne. The next moment, he was in her face. Before she could say or do anything, Ryouga buried his fist into her stomach, causing her to collapse to her knees, gasping for air.
"NO! UKYOU!" Ranma rushed over to help her childhood friend.
"Stupid girl..." Cologne stood to her feet and bounded off to help Ukyou as well.
Ranma reached first and poised herself to strike, but Ryouga acted faster, kicking Ranma in the face, knocking her into Cologne and causing both to crash into a demolished building, burying them in debris.
"Do you two mind?" went Ryouga. "I'm trying to have a moment with my friend here." He turned his cold gaze back to the okonomiyaki chef, "Oh, that's right. We were never really friends, were we?"
"Ryouga..." she croaked, still trying to refill her lungs with oxygen.
He hoisted her up by the front of her shirt and held her close. "I do have to apologize...I know you can't stand being so close to me. But not to worry, after today, you won't have to see me ever again." He let her down gently, allowing her to stand shakily on her own legs. Taking a step back, Ryouga struck her in the face with one of the dancing tendrils. She began to fall backwards, but he used another tendril to make sure she stayed upright. He struck her in the face with the tendril again and again, careful not to cause any permanent damage…yet.
On the sidelines, the gathered audience was having a difficult time with this latest turn of events. "Aiya...even Shampoo not wish to have spatula girl go through that!"
Autumn trembled, baring her teeth, "I can't just stand here and watch this. I have to do something!"
"Like what?" asked Akane. "He's already made short work of us. Besides, anything we're capable of doing would just add to his strength, like Cologne said. We'd only make things worse. Like it or not, there's nothing we can do..."
Ranma groaned and tried to shake the cobwebs out of her head. She pushed a wall that had fallen on top of her off and sat up. She hated to admit it, but things were looking more and more hopeless. She wasn't about to sit there and watch Ryouga torture her friend, but she couldn't think of anything she could do that wouldn't make things worse.
"Hurmmmph"
Ranma blinked, "What in the world was that?"
-FLING!-
All of a sudden, Ranma found herself sailing through the air, coming back down face first on the sidewalk. Looking back in the debris, she found Cologne sitting where she once sat."Hey! What was that for?"
"I had to get your butt out of my face somehow," the old Amazon said. "And you should really go on a diet, son-in-law. You weigh a ton."
"What! Why you..."
"Shh...Ranma, look!"
Ranma looked to where Cologne was pointing. All she noticed was Ryouga still assaulting Ukyou. Immediately, she forgot about how she was unceremoniously dumped to the ground and she grit her teeth again. "Dammit, I have'ta do something!"
"No," ordered Cologne. "I told you, I have to do this. He's progressed a lot farther than I thought. Any more damage and he could blow. However, Ukyou's appearance may bode well for us. Now could be the last chance I have to end this, while he's distracted with her."
"You mean you're going to use Ukyou as a pawn while you hit Ryouga from the back?" went Ranma. "And what about her? What if she gets hurt in this attack of yours too?"
"I'm sorry boy. I will try to keep from hurting her, but I can't make any promises. If she does perish, then we will remember her as a great heroine who sacrificed herself to save the rest of our lives."
Ranme couldn't believe what she was hearing. She thought Ryouga was rambling nonsense when he was talking about being used and the like. After hearing what Cologne had in mind, what Ryouga was talking about made a whole lot more sense. It was as if using other people came second nature to them and it didn't matter what happened to the person they used. But what could she do to stop this? As much as she tried to think of another way to handle things, still nothing came to mind.
With a wisp of his aura, Ryouga held Ukyou's limp form by the arm. She had ki burns all over and had trouble even holding her head up. With all of his rage spent, Ryouga's face donned the same expressionless façade as before. He figured he had finally done enough to everyone who contributed to his torment in life and decided it was time to finish things. "Any last words?"
Ukyou forced her head up so she could look Ryouga in the eye and she croaked, "Yes...just that...I'm sorry."
Ryouga raised an eyebrow. "'You're Sorry?' Heh, NOW you're sorry?"
"I hate to admit it," Ukyou continued, "but you were right about me. I-I did try to pass myself off as the better, nicer person; trying to get Ranma to marry me instead of Akane. It was all a fraud. What I said to you about using you proved that. But the part about us not being friends was wrong. That was me lashing out at an easy target because of how hurt I was. I'm sorry..."
"Very touching," spat Ryouga. He formed a ball of ki in his hand, "Maybe if you said that an hour ago, it probably would've meant something."
"We've run out of time," said Cologne. "It has to be now!" She started her razor disk attack again.
"Wait!" yelled Ranma.
"What are you doing, son-in-law? If I don't stop him now, we're all dead!"
"No, look!"
Ryouga still had his attack ready, poised to strike; yet he couldn't. His hand...his whole body trembled. This was it. This was the end he longed for. One last attack and it would all be over. He and all of his enemies would finally be put out of his misery. Yet, now that the moment of truth had finally arrived, he hesitated. Why? Was it because Ukyou said she was sorry? He had to hand it to her; she was the only one out of the whole, sorry lot that made an attempt at an apology. It was easy to see why she said those words, though. With her life and the lives of everyone else in town at stake, she'd say anything to stave off his wrath...to get out of paying for what she...what they all had done to her.
But if that was the case, why wasn't she struggling to get free, to try and fight back once she realized her pitiful attempt to appease him failed? She was definitely smart enough to realize that Ryouga would see through her phony attempts to placate him and have a backup plan. Yet, there she was, with her eyes closed, waiting for the inevitable, not lifting a finger to fight back. Come to think of it, she hadn't fought back during the whole ordeal he put her through. She let herself get caught right from the get-go. She put herself at his mercy and he savagely mauled her.
It was as if something in his head clicked back into reality.
He dropped her and staggered backwards. Was he really about to murder someone in cold blood? Especially a woman? That went against his entire code as a warrior. And the town...did he become such a monster that in his grief, he was willing to kill countless innocents to get back at those who wronged him?
"N...no," he said finally. "W-what have I become?"
Ukyou, still prone on the ground, looked up at him, "Ryouga!"
"Ukyou! I-I can't believe I nearly...ah, I'm sorry! I'm so-"
"Ryouga," she said again, "your power..."
That's right. He had accumulated so much energy during his assault. He had to get rid of it before he accidentally popped and destroyed the town anyway. He focused as much energy as he could into his hands and fired it skyward. The wind from the force of his attack reached near gale force, prompting everyone to brace themselves against the few remaining stable structures. It seemed to take forever to get the blast out; Ryouga never wielded so much power at once before and was straining against his own attack.
After what seemed like an eternity, the winds died down and everyone chanced a glance at what was going on. Ryouga was kneeling on the ground in front of Ukyou, panting heavily. The reddish aura that danced around him had gone.
"Hey," went Ranma, walking up behind her rival.
"It's over," Ryouga told her.
Ranma bopped him over the head, "You idiot. What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't. I was running on unbridled emotion and alcohol and it nearly destroyed me."
"Not to mention the rest of us," Ranma quipped. "Though, in that rage you were in, you were saying things that are starting to make a lot of sense. That stuff about using people...I thought it was just a bunch of nonsense, but now I see what you're saying all too clearly."
Ryouga nodded. "Seems Ukyou sees this as well. It's a good thing she did when she did. She's the only reason we're alive now."
"So what're you going to do now?"
"Ukyou saved me, so I'm going to return the favor." Ryouga picked Ukyou up, "I'm going to nurse her back to health. Can you let everyone know how sorry I am over all this?"
"Sure."
"Thanks." And with that, Ryouga began to walk away.
"Ryouga."
"Hmm?"
Ranma pointed in the opposite direction, "Ucchan's is that way."
"Oh...right." And with that, Ryouga began to walk the right way.
As Ryouga went off, Cologne came up besides Ranma. "Good call, son-in-law. How did you know he wasn't going to follow through with his attack?"
"I didn't. It was all a gamble." Cologne sweatdropped.
"So, this is it?" asked Mousse, as he, Shampoo, Autumn and Akane crowded around them. "After all of that, he just stops?"
"Better than him following through and killing us all, right?" Ranma said.
"And he just gets to walk away like nothing happened?"
"No. He will be paying. I think Ukyou will make sure of that."
Mousse shook his head, "Geez, I really don't like how this is ending."
Cologne raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And how would you have liked it to end?"
Mousse shrugged, "I guess I'd feel better about it if I got to hit him a couple of times too..."
----+----
"Brother! Brother dear!"
The eyes of Furnkan's champion, Tatewaki Kuno, fluttered open, finding his sister kneeling over him. He sat up and took stock of his situation...The night had passed, the sun shining brightly in the sky. The streets were cleared of debris and the demolished buildings were already undergoing reconstruction.
He looked around and asked, "What has happened, sister? Where are our opponents?"
"They have gone, brother. Apparently, they have been gone for quite some time."
Kuno leapt to his feet. "Hah! Surely they feared our prowess as warriors and have fled for their lives."
Kodachi nodded, "Undoubtedly."
The Kuno siblings laughed manically.
----+----+----+----+----
----+----+----+----+----