Ranma Tales ½: Chapter 10- Enter the Amazons

Part 1: Neo Neko-Ken

Even the creatures that Xian Pu sent to fight Akane and kill the girls understood things had changed... They leaped back from their targets and looked up at their mistress. Akane pants during this interruption and glances at Ranma and Xian Pu. Of course looking on her friend and sensei and seeing things are very different than they had been she's awfully confused... 'What the hell is that? Does Ranma have more than one curse? Is that some weird technique? What the heck am I thinking about that for now of all times? I have some monster ass to kick first!'

Akane takes the fight to the distracted creatures, smacking one of the creatures upside the head with her still flaming fists. It howls at the heavy blow to the head and takes a swipe at Akane's head with it's claws. Akane evades the swipe and kicks it in the side in a round house kick.

Unfortunately where the first group would be basically dead now these new merged ones just seemed to be getting angry after the pair of heavy blows from Akane. Not good news for Akane, since she was really starting to get tired... Well at least the second one seemed more interested in watching it's mistress fight than killing the girls.. That was good news at least.

While Akane's been fighting with the creatures some more Ranma has slowly been circling Xian Pu. Xian Pu wasn't sure exactly how to handle this, so she just kept turning to face Ranma as she moved. Xian Pu was really starting to wish she could be elsewhere about now, this smiling Ranma was just freaking her out. She was supposed to be the warrior and the hunter, not Ranma this was just going all wrong...

Seeing the briefest turn in Xian Pu due to her thoughts, Ranma strikes passing by and ending up behind the stunned Xian Pu. Xian Pu recovers and realizes she now has five thin slashes on the left side of her belly. Ranma had cut through her dress to leave the tiniest cuts possible. Xian Pu hadn't seen any signs of an attack in Ranma's aura like normal and it had been faster than Ranma normally moved ki assisted. That was supposed to be impossible from Xian Pu's understanding of things. Ki enhancements should show up within a persons aura before they can use them.

Ranma does the same thing two more times, leaving another set of marks on her arm and another on the right side of her belly to match the one on the left. Finally Xian Pu decides to get out of this circle she's in and she tries to do a backward somersault, only to have Ranma grab her head with one hand as she goes upside down and slam her face first into the ground.

Xian Pu slowly pulls herself back up and has to spit out part of a broken tooth. Things just weren't going as they were supposed to! She was the amazon huntress, Ranma was just an imitation girl due to a curse that hid the fact he was a weak man! Xian Pu rises to her feet and takes a Hsing-Yi Chuan 'ready' stance, figuring it had worked before and so gave her the best chance now.

Ranma says "Well I guess you've decided to fight now. That's just so boring... Oh well..." She looks at her right hand still holding her sword and adds "Whoops I forgot I had this! Haha. Well just to be 'fair' I guess I should get rid of it..." She tosses the sword point first into the ground at her feet. Then she cracks her knuckles and sticks her right hand out, turns it over and motions with her fingers for Xian Pu to come at her.

Xian Pu smiles, her now bloody smile, and charges. Throwing a series of short quick blows to test Ranma's defenses. Ranma actually swats her hand every time it gets close. Xian Pu ups the ante, by letting some of her Ki flow into her limbs. Most of her ki training had come in bending spirits to her will not direct application of ki like this, but she had figured it out on her own.

Xian Pu sends another series of attacks, now a combination of quick punches and kicks, against Ranma. Ranma still parries or avoids every attack, but doesn't get quite the chance to attack back now. While pressing her attack Xian Pu does a set of set of rapid fire kicks and then launches the same sort of power blow pressure point attack that had proved effective earlier.

It lands on Ranma without being blocked. However the result is less than what Xian Pu had hoped for. The result was a laugh from Ranma and a comment of "Well that was almost tingly! To bad I don't have pressure points when I'm like this... Wanna try something that hurts next time, Shampoo?" Not at all what Xian Pu had hoped for.

Xian Pu attacks again however and this time tries a straight forward power blow to the face. Her supreme desire to wipe that smile off of Ranma's face however fails. Ranma catches her arm one handed and before Xian Pu can pull her arm back and break free, Ranma reaches up with her other arm. With a quick twist of her upper body Ranma launches Xian Pu into the air. Xian Pu lands partly on her feet about two dozen feet away. The landing wasn't all that good though, so Xian Pu scrapes up both her legs.

As she tries to stand she calls out "Defend!" in Chinese. Both of her creatures immediately leave their fight and charge toward Xian Pu. Once they arrive they spin and face outwards in front of her. Akane hops up to stand a few feet back from Ranma.

Just before Ranma starts to say more a sudden blaze of light comes from the side where the trees are and strikes one of the two creatures. The night is lit up as the creature explodes into a ball of flame. When everyone can see again they all turn to look at the tree line.

Part 2: Xian Pu's Escape

Standing at the tree line were five people. One standing in front holding a large black katana with a grin on his face. An tiny old Asian woman standing on a staff. A young Chinese man in white robes wearing glasses. As well as two younger Chinese girls who were probably about thirteen or fourteen and looked like twins.

Reactions were very mixed at the sight that greeted them. Ranma was relieved, at least by the one standing in front of the others. Akane wasn't sure if they were friends or foes, so readied herself for either case. Xian Pu was most displeased. Her creature wanted to run away in fear, only it's need to protect it's mistress kept it there.

"Why hello again Xian Pu. It wasn't very nice to leave like that after these fine amazons came all the way to see you." The smiling man said.

The withered old woman added "Child, return with us to the village and all can still be forgiven! I do not wish my great grandchild to be killed... You are all I have left."

The young man nods "Please Xian Pu! This does not have to end badly!" The two twin girls just nod after the young man says that.

Xian Pu screams "None of you understand! You all weak! I won't return without my revenge!" She however does realize a lost cause when she sees one. Akane she knew she could take, Msu Tse as well, and her sisters would fall easy enough. But Ranma, his master, and her grand mother would be much harder to kill.

So Xian Pu uses her last resort tactic and yells in Chinese "Enshroud!". Her last creature dissolves into a quickly expanding cloud that covers the area around her and even obscures Ranma and Akane from the others briefly. When they cloud finally dies down Xian Pu is gone.

The man sighs and looking at the elderly woman says "See Kho Lon? I told you that elder couldn't be trusted. I think you have truly lost her."

Kho Lon frowns and says "Not yet I haven't." she glances at the younger amazons around her and says "Spread out and see if you can find her, but don't engage! Simply trail her and report back later." The younger amazons run off in various directions.

Akane looks at the changed Ranma and asks "Ranma? What happened to you...?"

Ranma frowns slightly and says without looking at her "I'll answer you later Akane... I uh... Need to be alone for awhile... Meet you back at the dojo." Then she leaps to the top of the school leaving an angry Akane behind.

The man walks up to Akane and says "Don't be to mad at my protege, I promise you Ranma will explain it later. When she does that though, she has to pay a price... I think it's funny, she doesn't..."

Akane blinks at this rush of information and says "Your Ranma's sensei!"

Shadow smiles and says "Yes, that would be me. Though most people call me Shadow... Kho Lon over there however calls me 'Peacock' these days it seems..." The last said with a bit of a grimace.

Kho Lon hops over on her staff and cackles before saying "I swear your vain and only you can't see it!"

Right about then is when blood loss and fatigue (not to mention extreme ki depletion) catch up to Akane and she starts to collapse toward the ground. Shadow however catches her. Promptly taking her in his arms he starts to take a look at the wound on her arm. Shadow idly says "You really shouldn't exhaust yourself and get injured all at once like that, it's simply not good for you... Stick to one or the other in the future."

Kho Lon laughs and says "Even if she could hear you right about now, I doubt she'd listen to that sort of advice! Not that most people can choose which of the two they'd prefer anyways..."

Akane however can hear even if Kho Lon thinks she's out cold. She just doesn't have the energy to move or talk. Listening however takes no energy.

Shadow lays his hand on Akane's injured arm and after his hand glows blue for awhile he takes it away. Akane feels so much better as the pain in her arm fades away to nothing. Kho Lon is impressed as always at how easy he makes that look.

Kho Lon asks "As easy as you make that look, one would think you could have contained my great granddaughter long enough for us to arrive."

Shadow sighs "Like I said before I underestimated her slightly. That elder I mentioned to you must have trained her much better at external uses of Ki than I thought. Still she only broke free a few hours earlier than I wanted.."

He pauses and adds "Besides you know I don't like the girl. If I'd done things my way her bisected corpse would have been waiting for you, instead of a still breathing girl. I decided to do you a favor however and let her keep her head attached. Next time I see her I will just cut off her head, that way I don't have to try feeding her again until you show up."

Kho Lon has the grace to take his statement in stride. She replies "No I am very glad you handled it the way you did. Though It is still annoying how you blame an elder for corrupting her, yet you provide no proof!"

Shadow smiles and says "Well you saw the taint for yourself did you not? The dark shadowy edge to her aura didn't happen overnight you know. As far as other prof, well I don't have any your likely to believe yet. I'm sure though if you stay in Nerima long enough you will come to understand."

Kho Lon sighs and says "Yes I saw the taint. You couldn't miss it. You said the same thing earlier though about how you know, so I guess between needing to discover where my great granddaughter has gone it gives me all the chance I need to stay here long enough to find out what you mean." She pauses and adds "Now where to? I'm assuming you have a plan past staying overnight in this school next to us."

Shadow smiles and says "I know the way to a dojo we can go to..." He then frowns and adds "Though your going to have to help me drop off those girls who ended up fainting over there..." He points to the collection of girls who had finally fainted again sometime during the battle.

Kho Lon looks over the girls and says to Shadow "Your evil you know."

Shadow shrugs with a smile and says "Sure, whatever."

Part 3: A time for explanations

When they finally arrive at the Tendo dojo, Akane is able to walk on her own again. She lets them in and at first they hope no one will notice them arriving at three a.m., they aren't nearly lucky enough for that however.

Kasumi walks downstairs and stops when she sees this group. She pauses for a second and smiles to say "Hello." Then she looks at Akane and adds "Akane dear who are these people and what are they doing here at three a.m.?"

Shadow raises an eyebrow and looks at Kasumi strangely when he sees her, but says nothing. Akane answers for them "Hello, Kasumi. This is Ranma's sensei Shadow." She points at Shadow. She adds pointing at Kho Lon "This is amazon elder Cologne. They had to help me and Ranma earlier when Shampoo attacked."

Kasumi frowns slightly looking around and then asks Akane "Since I don't see anything broken, I'm going to assume this didn't happen here... Where were you Akane?"

Akane sighs as Kho Lon cackles and Shadow grins ever so slightly. Finally Akane replies "It's a long story sis."

Kasumi nods and says "I'll put on some tea then." When they all gather around the table Akane recounts the nights events for everyone who wasn't there. Leaving out only those things to embarrassing for her to tell anyone. Otherwise however the events of the night stay intact. Though it takes about an hour to retell.

Just as Akane finishes her story Ranma comes back in through the garden entrance, already back in his male form. He sees the group gathered and says "Hello. I see everyone managed to find this place easy enough, huh?"

Akane glares at him, Shadow looks amused (which doesn't surprise Ranma), Kho Lon looks impatient, and Kasumi... Well Kasumi looks like she always does, Ranma never could read her at all. He decides to take care of things one at a time and says "Akane, I should explain now... So uh, could you come with me upstairs?" Kasumi frowns ever so slightly at the phrase 'I should explain', but says nothing.

Akane nods and follows Ranma up stairs. Ranma goes into his room and sits down, Akane does the same. He starts to say something several times before he ends up stopping. Finally Akane gets angry again and says "Spill it Ranma, what the heck was that and why did you leave?"

Ranma sighs and says "Well I guess I should start from the beginning... And like a lot of stories, the beginning is all about pop doing something stupid. Before he got me cursed pop discovered a training manual of powerful techniques. He choose to try to train me in one that didn't require to much work on his part, which was pretty normal for him. Anyways it said you were to find a group of cats and put them in a pit. Then you don't feed them for a few days. Finally you wrap the student in fish sausages and drop them into the pit with the hungry cats."

Akane was angry, but ends up being sickened by what she hears. Ranma continues "I however survived, yet I hadn't learned any technique during it. So pop tossed me back in wrapped in one type of food after another, until I did indeed learn a technique called Neko-Ken (Cat Fist). However pop forgot to read the next page, which basically says you'd have to be stupid to train someone in this because it would drive them insane. I came out of the pit a feral cat in mind and I kicked pop silly. Luckily for me an old woman came by and managed to calm me down. I managed to learn how to suppress it soon after, but as far as I know I'm one of the only survivors of it ever. Let alone sane, though I know a lot of people would argue the sane part."

A horrified Akane comes over to Ranma and wraps her arms around him. Then with tears in her eyes she says "Oh Ranma I didn't know! How could anyone do that to their own child?"

Ranma replies with a very slight grin "Oh I'm sure he's more than likely suffering in the afterlife for most of what he did to me right now. Nothing was ever to high a cost for him if it meant becoming the best martial artist." He pauses and then says "Anyways... Later on sensei decided to give me a test. The test basically was me fighting the Neko-Ken spirit which causes me to be able to do the Neko-Ken. However rather than simply defeating it I ended up absorbing it. I didn't realize what exactly that meant till the first time I got angry afterwards and accidentally transformed like I did tonight."

Akane just listens holding him as Ranma continues "It seems first that I can currently only do this when I'm in my female form. Probably because I get very emotional in this new Neko-Ken. We think it's because I tend to be more emotional in my female form, that it's therefore easier to slip into Neko-Ken from that." Ranma feels Akane tense and adds "Uh, don't take that the wrong way! I don't think women are more emotional than men or anything. It's most likely due to pop again and how he taught me women were weaker than men and more emotional as well. Being a woman part of the time and having sensei around cured that stupidity from staying in my head. However I do tend to be more emotional as a woman than a guy... I can't seem to help it." This seems to stop Akane from performing any death holds on him.

Ranma thinks a bit and adds "As I was going to say before. We found that when I change like that now my Ki spreads out. If you try hard enough you can probably see the ki focus spots in people and maybe even the lines of ki that connect the points."

When he pauses Akane says "Sure, I can see the lines with just a bit of effort, the focus points are fairly easy."

Ranma blinks and thinks to himself 'Ok, make a note... Akane is much more sensitive than I am. I have to work really hard to see lines of ki... Guess I need to go into more training on those now.' Out loud he says "Ok, well anyways... When I change like that my ki spreads out filling me everywhere rather than clumping together into lines and points. This does two things... First it makes me invulnerable to pressure point attacks that connect with ki focus points, which is the majority of them. The second thing it does is enhance my normal senses, my speed, agility, and strength as if I was augmenting them with Ki... Which in a sense I am. The sort of crazy thing is my internal ki reserves can be low or empty and I can still change... We have to guess and say that's because of the curse feeding it power in some way."

Akane frowns and says "That sounds awfully handy..."

Ranma replies "Don't even get tempted, I'm not letting anyone I care about undergo the first step it requires if I'm an example. I barely lived through that and I don't want to ever lose someone else to it." Ranma sighs "Besides it's not all it's cracked up to be... In this kind of Neko-Ken I'm completely emotional, almost everything do is by emotional response. Well that and instinct, earlier most of that fight with Shampoo was either hunting instinct or a desire to play, or both depending on how you look at it. That's why I forgot I was still holding my sword for instance. I also get distracted very easily, unless my hunting instincts are active I tend to chase moving things or start to play with anything vaguely interesting... Sensei also had me test it and I can stay like that for a day max, after which I have to sleep for a whole day to recover. Short times don't seem to drain me, but anything very long does. I also can't do any fancy Ki attacks, I just don't have the patience to use them or the concentration I need..."

Akane nods. Then she looks at Ranma in a confused way "Then why did you have to leave like that?"

Ranma squirms "I, uh, um... get 'excited' easily in that state... Heck it's kind of euphoric just being in that state. Though I um... Tend to stay 'excited' for awhile afterward and that's why I left..."

Akane frowns confused "'Excited'? What do you mean..."

A voice from the doorway says "He means, as the British might say, that he needs a good shag... Among many other terms I can think of... Basically something in the hunt or the thrill of victory ends up causing him, or at that time her, to get aroused... If he didn't go away she'd probably end up having to relieve the tension in front of us and die of embarrassment. Which wouldn't be good."

Akane starts to say 'Ranma you pervert!', but gets interrupted by Shadow saying "No, it's not by choice. I think he'd rather have control over that sort of thing" Ranma nods repeatedly. "So anyways, unless you want to tell him you'd like to watch her next time, your both needed downstairs. The younger amazon's are back." Ranma looks shocked and Akane blushes furiously, Shadow of course just smiles.

Part 4: Parting gifts

Over the next few hours Ranma and Akane are introduced to Msu Tse, Ling Ling, and Lung Lung. The later pair apparently being Xian Pu's sisters and the first one being Xian Pu's childhood friend. None of which had been able to find any clue to where Xian Pu might have gone.

The Tendo family slowly starts to wake and their reactions to all these early morning visitors is mixed. Kho Lon and Kasumi seem to get along pretty well, talking about cooking when nothing else gets in the way. Soun doesn't seem to care as long as he can read the paper, though he does ask once if anyone can play Shogi. Nabiki is annoyed until Kho Lon asks her, after breakfast, if she could find a good place they could turn into there base of operations while in town. With a finders fee thrown in of course. Nabiki promptly goes into business mode and not long after heads out with the amazons.

Shadow talks with Ranma for awhile and then sounds him off to practice in the dojo. He then comes over to where Akane is sitting drinking tea, while Kasumi starts the laundry and Soun retreats back to his room. Looking over Akane he asks "So how are you doing young lady?"

Akane shrugs "Confused mostly."

Shadow nods "I figured as much."

Akane asks "How did you seem to know what I was thinking before?"

Shadow sighs and says "Can you keep a secret?"

Akane curious now replies "Of course."

Shadow says "My senses are a little bit... Overpowered. I don't just see Auras, Ki patterns, and other obvious things. I can see aspects of fate, emotional conditions, affinities are practically written on people for me, and even thoughts are sometimes clear enough I can pick them up." He pauses as he studies her than says "I think you are closer to some of that than Ranma is. I doubt you have to much to worry about, though. I doubt peoples thoughts and feelings are in your range." He thinks, but doesn't add 'Your sister however is a different story.'

Akane frowns and asks "What did you mean by 'Aspects of Fate'?"

Shadow smiles and says "I can see things like the red ribbon of fate that connects you to Ranma."

Akane's jaw drops and she stammers, before Shadow interrupts "Relax, he doesn't know. Though I'm guessing you already did... I figured that you knew anyway though. I doubt you could see it on anyone besides yourself and the one connected to you though. Ranma isn't ready to know. Well at least specifically. A little longer though..."

Akane looks decidedly uncomfortable discussing things like that with someone she's just meet. Shadow smiles a knowing smile and says "Please don't force him away just because of your silly father and the whole engagement thing. He needs you more than he understands he does." He pauses than adds "Besides, he can be good for you. In more ways than you realize."

Akane blushes furiously again and Shadow pulls Akane to her feet. "Now Ranma is practicing in the dojo, why don't you go practice with him? I can let myself out." Akane frowns slightly, but walks out the door and heads into the dojo.

Shadow without looking behind him asks "So when did you start listening in?"

Kasumi smiles and comes around the corner she was standing behind. She then says "You are fairly amazing no one else would ever know I was here... I got close enough to overhear when you started talking about the red ribbon that connects them."

Shadow nods "I thought so, just checking. By the way, you can see it can't you?"

Kasumi nods "Yes. I thought it was quite strange when Ranma showed up as a girl, but then after they explained the curse it made a lot more sense. Thank you for helping them along by the way." She pauses and asks "They'll be good together won't they? I mean I don't doubt they already are a positive influence on each other, but... They'll be happy right?"

Shadow nods and says "Quite possibly. I don't read the future though... Well not because I can't, but because I'd rather not..." Kasumi looks at him strange as he says that and then still without looking at her he says "I'll see you again Kasumi. Take care of them while I'm gone." Then he turns and walks out to the entryway and leaves the house. Soon Kasumi goes back to her chores.

In the dojo however, Ranma and Akane have started practicing together. After an hour or two they feel a certain presence they hoped they'd seen the last of for awhile just in time for yet another hole to get smashed into the dojo. Glaring at them is one of Xian Pu's basic creatures. With a sigh both Akane and Ranma launch themselves at the creature. It fights pretty well, but two against one odds means it doesn't last very long. It does however manage to break a good part of the dojo before it's gone.

Ranma and Akane sink to the floor in exhaustion. After all they still haven't had any sleep since before school Saturday. Ranma looks at Akane and says "I think she just wanted to be annoying."

Akane sighs and agrees "Yeah, seems like something she'd want to do." Akane adds in her own head 'If I ever see her again, I'm going to kick her ass'. Then they both notice someone standing in the doorway.

Kasumi walks into the dojo while Ranma and Akane rest on the dojo floor. She looks around at the damage to the dojo again and sighs. She looks at them and asks "If you must play with that Chinese girl's pets, couldn't you at least avoid destroying the dojo in the process? We don't need any more holes in here. I expect you both to clean this mess up."

Ranma and Akane both blink as the both catch on the same phrase. Ranma asks Kasumi "How did you know this was caused by Shampoo's creatures?"

Kasumi smiles and says "I saw them come over the wall earlier and rush toward the dojo." Then she frowns slightly and adds "They really must be more considerate of the walls or we may need to get them fixed soon."

Surprised Ranma asks "You saw them?"

Kasumi nods "Of course. Why do you seem so surprised?"

Ranma shrugs nervously, not even wanting to try to explain that and says "No reason, no reason at all."

Ranma and Akane glance at each other.

Ranma thinks to himself 'Those were just like the first creatures Shampoo sent. Kasumi like most people shouldn't be able to see them. So why can she see them and how does she see them?'

While Akane thinks 'Wait, hold on just one minute here! I thought you had to have active second sight to see those type of creatures! What gives? Can Kasumi already have that? Why would my sister be like that?'

Ranma turns to Kasumi and says "Sorry for the mess, we'll take care of it Kasumi. Though some of it is going to require another visit from the construction crew I think. I'll ask Nabiki about that later."

Kasumi nods and says "Lunch is almost ready, so you two should get cleaned up." She then turns and walks away.

Akane stares at Ranma as Ranma watches Kasumi depart. Then when she's gone Akane asks "I thought normal people couldn't see these spirit creatures! What gives?"

Ranma gives Akane a look consisting of complete confusion and says "That's exactly true, normal people can't." He pauses as Akane frowns and then adds "I don't think Kasumi is as simple as she seems..." They both stare in the direction Kasumi just went.

Author's Notes:

I hope everyone is still enjoying this story. I also hope I hear more comments from some of you out their who read this faithfully, but never leave any feedback! I also thank everyone who does leave feedback on this story!

As you might be able to guess by now this Neko-Ken has something of a resemblance to Naruto's Nine-tailed fox demon. Though this world is not exactly like the world of Naruto I decided I liked the imagery from Naruto the best to represent a new type of Neko-Ken... Besides it makes Ranma's female side into something of a pseudo catgirl, I was never one to pass up a catgirl reference... Also much like Naruto, it's more of a last resort tactic... So don't expect every fight to use it, as it is I think I gave it a kinda interesting after-effect anyways, which also plays into the concept within the original series...

I should also mention I have some new takes on other normal characters in this series, RA:ALS hinted at expanding the concept behind certain characters in the future, but was abandoned before ever doing that. I'd hint at my plans of this type, but that would give things away that are to far down the road right now for me to want to do that... I also plan on adding some unexpected turns to past history since certain characters (like the Tendo mother who died before the series began) are left wide open. I'm just letting you know to expect the unexpected, that butterfly effect can be rather huge...

Oh and before I forget... Martrex, I hope this answered some of your Shampoo questions in this chapter... An evil elder helped corrupt poor Shampoo's mind... Now you have to admit wasn't all to sane even in the original series ('Obstacles are for killing!' And all). The final straw for her sanity here was her great grandmother being afraid of Shadow (mere man and all), internally she knew she couldn't take him (though she won't admit that even to herself) and so decided to take it out on his protege Ranma instead. Bad blood already anyways with that, fairly easy to accomplish to with the aid of the evil elder or so she thinks. Shampoo was always a follower anyways, in the original series it was Cologne she followed blindly, here instead it ends up being Cologne's rival. I may do a side story about Shampoo's 'fall from grace' to explain things better, but I'd have to know you guys wanted to read it to do that...

Well that's enough hinting at the future of RT ½ for now... See you all next chapter...