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Dragon's Destiny
Derakon growled as he tossed a spanner at the machinery before him. "Well, it has all the flight capability of a lead anchor now," he huffed as he closed the access panel to the flying chariot.
Derakon turned to Endrea and shook his head. "There's not enough mana for another flight I'm sorry."
Endrea shook her head in denial, tears streaming from her eyes, "We still haven't found my parents! We can't leave them there while Atlantis sinks!"
"I've done everything I can! Whatever happened on Atlantis caused a reaction along the Dragonlines. There isn't enough mana around to cast a cantrip let alone power a transport chariot. I'm sorry love but we've saved everyone we can," Derakon said as he embraced his young wife.
Endrea sobbed quietly in the arms of her husband's human form. A few nearby refugees had the courtesy to look away politely.
When war had broken out between Lemuria and Atlantis over mineral rights in North America, Derakon had tried to remain neutral. His loyalty was strong to Atlantis yet his valley was very near the Lemurian colony in Tibet. In order to protect the people in his care he decided not to take sides. Saffron and the Phoenix had respected his decision even if many of the people in the lowlands did not. Still, with the exception of a few people leaving to join the Atlantean army, Jusenkyou valley was peaceful. Very few people were willing to anger a fully mature dragon, especially one who had designed or built most of the gear their armies were using.
The war had escalated from minor infantry clashes to aerial combat. When the two opposing sides began to resort to sub-orbital missiles, Derakon knew it was only a matter of time before both sides lost. He still wasn't sure of the nature of the bomb that detonated on Atlantis, only that the backlash destroyed Lemuria as well. The results were much worse than just the destruction of two opposing nations. The very life-force of the planet had been damaged resulting in many races and creatures fleeing to alternate dimensions like rats leaving a sinking ship. A few had even attempted to escape to outer space before the ambient mana became too low to operate any of the technology.
With news of the Atlantis' demise, Derakon and Endrea began a rescue mission to save as many people as they could before the waves claimed the ash-encrusted continent. Volcanoes had erupted all along the mountain range as the very plate the nation rested on sank into the mantle. It had been a seemingly futile effort but they had saved over five thousand people, some from the roofs of their homes as the water crested higher and higher. Of all the people rescued however, there had been no sign of Endrea's parents. It was very likely they had been killed in the initial blast since they worked closely with the government. Derakon knew better than to say anything to his wife. Right now, she needed to cling to hope in order to be able to help the refugees.
"Come along love, we need to see about getting these people some food and shelter. If your parents are still alive, they will be doing their own relief efforts and they know where we are as well."
That seemed to motivate the young Lady Steelweaver. Wiping her tears away, she began organizing the people into groups and assigning work details. There was a village to plan and build before winter.
Ranma held Nabiki's limp body in his arms. A quick check told him she'd be all right, as she was only unconscious. At the most, she only had a mild concussion. That was all beside the point. Someone had hurt his mate, it didn't matter if it was official or not. After all, one cannot rationalize emotions.
"You," Ranma began in a low voice, "are dead."
"Brave words for hiding behind a girl Saotome! You haven't changed a bit. Still running away..."
Ranma calmly laid Nabiki against a stone barrier wall and turned back to the bandana clad person.
"I don't know who you are but you will pay for hurting my fiancé."
There was a brief flash of concern directed at the middle Tendo daughter on Ryouga's face before it was quickly overwhelmed by hate.
"I promised I would destroy your happiness for what you did to me and I will, even if I have to go through everyone you love to do it," said the boy with a fanged snarl.
"I'll be sure to write that on your tombstone," Ranma replied as he began to move towards his attacker. He approached at an angle, hoping to draw his opponent away from Nabiki. He couldn't sense any enchantments on the person's weapon so Ranma wasn't too concerned even though the way bandana boy moved spoke of an experienced martial artist of no small skill.
"You had no reason to attack us. I don't even know who you are." Ranma said as he took his stance of 'lazy man goofing off'.
"Don't tell me you forgot already? Tell me why didn't you wait for me so we could finish our duel?"
Ranma frowned as realization struck. "Ryouga Hibiki. I see you are still blaming others for your own shortcomings. I waited three days at the lot behind your house for you to show up. I was there at the time you requested. The fact I waited at all was a courtesy to your poor sense of direction. You have no right to be angry, nor to attack innocent people to get to me," Ranma growled.
"Hah! Likely story! When I arrived on the fourth day, there was no sign of you. I vowed then that I would track you to the ends of the earth to pay you back for the slight to my honor."
Ranma rolled his eyes as Ryouga attempted a quick one two combination followed by a leg sweep that Ranma simply stepped over. Ranma retaliated with a quick jab to Ryouga's jaw, snapping the lost boy's head back and forcing the two combatants apart.
Wiping blood from his lip, Ryouga snarled at Ranma. He had no idea Ranma had become so strong. "Since that day, you have heaped dishonor upon dishonor upon the Hibiki name. Only by killing you can I restore my clan to its former glory."
Ranma dashed in with a punch to the gut followed by an uppercut that missed by a fraction of an inch. Coming back down he attempted to use a downward kick to Ryouga's shoulder but the bandana clad boy parried with his umbrella and pushed Ranma back with a flat hand to the chest.
Ranma winced at the power behind even that light of a blow and realized that Ryouga had come into monstrous strength. He'd always been tough before but this was ridiculous. It was time to kick things up a notch.
"I haven't even seen you since the day you challenged me to that stupid fight! What could I have possibly done to you since then?" Ranma sprang at Ryouga with a quick combo that launched him into a wall, turning it to powder.
"As if you didn't know! You were always running off. Every time I finally tracked you down, you had already run off leaving someone behind to take the fall for your cowardice!" Ryouga screamed. He was worried now. It seemed like Ranma was playing with him, testing his limits. Ryouga began to wonder if maybe he needed more training.
Ranma winced at that. It was entirely possible given his father's predisposition for leaving unpaid bills and I.O.U.s behind but something wasn't making sense. That didn't let Ryouga off the hook for hurting Nabiki.
Nabiki came aware to someone shaking her shoulder gently. She opened her eyes and winced at the headache that was developing. The figure kneeling before her slowly resolved into the shape of one of the female police officers from the nearby koban.
"How are you feeling?" She asked.
"Headache," Nabiki responded, "Where's Ranma?"
"Is Ranma your boyfriend?"
"No, fiancé," she replied automatically, "Is he all right? We were attacked..." Nabiki trailed off at the sounds of combat still going on.
"I've already called for backup. Your fiancé is very brave to take on the Pigtail Crusher by himself," The officer commented as she helped Nabiki into a more comfortable sitting position.
"The what?" Nabiki asked as she became more coherent.
"The Pigtail Crusher. This is the first time I've ever seen him, except for his wanted posters. He's killed over twenty seven people all over Japan, except for a couple that we think are copycat murders since they happened on the same day on opposite ends of the country. The victims all wore their hair in a pigtail just like your fiancé there. I really hope the others get here soon, we've been told not to approach him unless we have a large backup force handy," The officer explained. She then winced as an entire storefront exploded into a cloud of debris from Ryouga flying back from a nasty combo from Ranma.
Ranma wasn't liking where this battle was going. Ryouga was using lethal techniques. This wasn't just a fight, the lost boy was seriously trying to kill him. Ranma wondered what had happened to make his opponent that angry as he went over his options. He knew his technique was better and he'd wear Ryouga down eventually but that allowed for the potential of more collateral damage and Nabiki had already been hurt. While Ranma had techniques and even spells that could easily stop or even destroy Ryouga, Ranma couldn't guarantee the safety of the nearby bystanders or the surrounding property. Even a simple fireball could incinerate Ryouga but it would turn the surroundings into a sheet of fused glass. He still had to end this quickly as the surroundings were being demolished anyway. Also was the fact that Ranma, even after being cursed, was reluctant to take a life. He needed more power than was available to his human form currently. Coming to a decision, Ranma shape shifted.
Ryouga nearly had his head taken off as Ranma suddenly changed and grew to nearly ten feet tall with brown fur and wide white wings. Ryouga gasped as he stepped back and took in Ranma's full form. He appeared as a winged minotaur with arms as thick a Ryouga's waist. Pavement cracked and cratered as Ryouga barely dodged a strike from pseudo-minotaur. He was shocked to see his most hated enemy turn into some sort of monster. Luckily, his martial arts training kicked in and he was able to fight mostly on autopilot until his brain absorbed the situation.
Ranma growled in frustration. The form he was in was certainly tougher but his speed was greatly diminished. Seeing that Ryouga was mostly just dodging at them moment, he risked a look towards Nabiki and saw that she was awake and talking to a police woman. Knowing that she was going to be ok, Ranma calmed down and began to fight smarter again.
Ryouga was now certain that his mission to destroy Ranma was justified despite all the suffering that had occurred. His enemy was some sort of demon and once it was known that Ryouga had destroyed the evil creature, he would be exonerated for all the foul deeds he had committed and Ranma's deception. He would be the hero finally, his suffering would end, women would flock to him.
Ranma became confused when Ryouga began laughing hysterically. Obviously, the fanged youth was mentally deranged. Just as he was about to begin a new offensive to put the lost boy down, he heard sirens from many police vehicles converging from different directions.
The sounds of approaching authority seemed to shock Ryouga back to reality. He stepped back out of range of the huge minotaur and snarled.
"You've gotten a reprieve monster! Mark my words though, I will destroy you!" Turning, Ryouga began running off in a random direction.
Ranma shook his shaggy head then shifted back to human form. Once Ryouga was out of sight, Ranma quickly ran to Nabiki's side.
Nabiki was being supported by the law officer and was staring at Ranma with wide eyes. "So what was that?" his fiancé asked.
"The monster form?" Ranma asked. Nabiki nodded. "Spring of drowned Yeti-riding-yak-while-holding-an-eel-and-crane."
Nabiki gave Ranma a 'you've got to be shitting me' look. "You've got to be shitting me," she added with uncharacteristic vulgarity.
Ranma smirked. "It wasn't one of the original forms I could take, but apparently a few things drowned at Jusenkyou after I cursed it." He suddenly shrank down into a short redheaded girl that smiled cutely at Nabiki. "Like this hot little number for instance."
Nabiki felt a little dizzy at seeing her fiancé become a girl. Ranma quickly changed back and helped Nabiki sit back down. The officer who had been tending Nabiki was still in shock over not only the battle but also seeing a man turn into a huge mythological monster. Still, this was Nerima where the weird happened on a daily basis. The area soon became clogged with police cars and their drivers who were quickly setting up the crime scene and dispatching officers to try to find the Pigtail Crusher. Like always before, there was no sign of the Hibiki boy.
An old lady was halted by one of the officers who had cordoned off the area. He took her statement and asked if she'd seen which direction Ryouga Hibiki had gone when he ran off. The old lady balanced on her staff, something not entirely unheard of in Nerima, and politely answered all the officer's questions. She did not see where the boy had gone, she told him as she stroked her pet pig that was sleeping in her arms. The officer jokingly asked if the pig was a pet or lunch. The old woman replied that it would depend on how well behaved it was when it woke up and proceeded on her way back to the Chinese restaurant that served as the headquarters for her and her Amazon charges.
As Khu Lon made her way back to the Nekohanten, she hoped the instant spring of drowned pig was would prove worth the trouble of saving an enemy of the Dragon. With the right training, the boy could do the Amazon's dirty work without implicating the women in the murder of a Japanese citizen.
Ranma had been very helpful answering the officers' questions. The questions became more numerous once it was known that he was the Ranma Saotome that Ryouga always proclaimed made his life hell before he attacked someone. He told them everything he knew about the lost boy, his poor sense of direction, the fact Ranma led him to and from school everyday, even the duel they were supposed to fight when Ranma left that Ryouga was four days late to. There were many expressions of disbelief even though one or two of the policemen who had encountered the lost boy before just nodded their head once the Hibiki boy's condition explained how he had disappeared so often before.
When the question came as to why the young couple weren't in school, Nabiki explained where they were going and why. More than a few eyebrows raised at the thought of these two meeting the spiritual leader of their country. Finally though, Ranma and Nabiki were given a phone number to call if they had any more information and were left to their own devices once again.
"I don't know about you Ranma but I think I need a nap when we get home," Nabiki commented.
"Ugh, where am I?" Hibiki Ryouga groaned as he regained consciousness.
"Somewhere safe young one I assure you," came an aged voice.
Opening his eyes, Ryouga saw a nondescript bedroom. There were no decorations or personal touches that would mark it as belonging to someone. That was when he noticed the only other person in the room.
"Ah! A dried up monkey mummy!" he cried.
The blow he received to the head almost knocked him unconscious again. Rubbing the growing knot on his head he re-evaluated the diminutive Amazon matriarch before him. Once he was satisfied she was just an old lady and not some sort of spirit or monster he began to look around for a means of leaving the room.
"You should respect your elders boy. Especially after I smuggled you away from under the noses of the police."
Ryouga shrugged. "I could have gotten away. I always do." He wondered how she had gotten him away. For that matter, why had he been unconscious?
"It's all Ranma's fault that the police are even after me," He growled.
"Perhaps you could explain boy." Khu Lon prompted.
"After Ranma ran out on our man to man duel, I decided to go after him. I couldn't let a slight to my honor go unpunished like that. That was when the true horror of my life began. I found where he had been staying almost a week later. So when I spotted a person from behind that looked like Ranma, I immediately cried out and attacked. But it wasn't Ranma. He had tricked me by leaving a defenseless person behind in his place. The poor guy couldn't take a hit that had been meant to kill Saotome and I believe I crushed the guy's head," Ryouga sighed, "The girl he was with started screaming and I tried to tell her it was all Ranma's fault but she wouldn't listen and started yelling for the police. I ran away, not knowing what else to do. He's done it again and again ever since. Every death heaps upon my dishonor. Only when I kill Saotome will I finally clear my family's honor."
Khu Lon was staring at the lost boy in mild shock. Never before had she ever met anyone so disconnected from reality. The boy, Mu Tsu, back home was the only one to come close. She would most likely have to kill the boy herself once this was all over due to the slim chance that Ryouga would somehow think Ranma had again escaped and continue his killing spree even after the young dragon had died.
Khu Lon certainly didn't see herself as an evil woman. As far as she was concerned, she was working on behalf of humanity to prevent their re-enslavement to the evil her ancestors had sealed away. The only reason she had gone along with the attempts to bring the boy into the tribe that her young charges were assigned was that she knew opportunity when she saw it. The half-dragon children would be incredibly strong, have an enhanced life span and being raised by Amazons, be totally loyal to the tribe. The fact she was even contemplating working with the lost murderer was because in the likely event that the girls should fail in their task, Khu Lon could use a lesser evil to defeat a greater evil while keeping her hands relatively clean.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Khu Lon coughed slightly to gain the ranting boy's attention.
"I understand your position and sympathize. The Saotome boy has also wronged my people. That is why we are in Japan rather than our homelands in China. As you could see, Ranma Saotome has become a monster from the deepest pits of hell. He attacked our village and wounded many of our people. It was only a miracle that no one was killed. If he had simply left it at that, we could have repaired our buildings, tended our wounded and forgotten the whole matter, thankful the beast had left our lands. But before he left our village however, he stole a priceless artifact, the absence of which, threatens the future of not just our village but of the whole world."
Ryouga snorted, "That's just like the honor less bastard to attack innocent people."
Khu Lon did her best to ignore the hypocritical comment. "My people are warriors, with over three thousand years of martial arts history. Because of our mutual foe, I would be willing to teach you some of our techniques for you to have a more decisive battle against the young demon."
Ryouga snorted, "What could a withered old troll like you teach me?"
Ryouga didn't even see the cane move as it connected with his forehead. While he rubbed the sore spot, the elder woman glared at him.
"I may not look much to you young one but I do have almost three hundred years more experience in the Art than you. How would you like to learn a technique that will turn you into walking tank with the ability to not split boulders but instead shatter them into thousands of pieces? Or maybe a technique to throw hundreds of punches a second? How about one that creates a tornado from your opponents battle aura?"
She could read Ryouga's emotions getting more and more excited as she listed off various techniques. The three moves she spoke of were limited in their use and each had their own weaknesses. The main benefit of the techniques were to prepare the body for more advanced moves, moves that were secrets of the tribe that only the most adept warriors of the tribe could perform. Males of course were never taught beyond the basics and of course were never told of the inherent flaws in them lest they try to revolt against the elders. After watching the battle between the two young men, Khu Lon figured that if Ryouga could learn these three moves, he would have no problems defeating Saotome even if he was to change into his dragon form.
"All right old ghoul, I'll give it a shot. What do we do first?" Ryouga asked.
Khu Lon gave Ryouga a grin that sent shivers down his spine. He wondered briefly if it was too late to get lost.
"You'll stay here and train in the restaurant for now. You'll need a disguise of course so the police won't find you." Her hand pulled a packet of powder from her robe and dumped it into a bucket of cold water she had sitting on the counter. "It will also give you better motivation to learn the technique." She upended the bucket in Ryouga's general direction then flashed out with her cane and hit a small pressure point on Ryouga's chest.
Ryouga felt a change wash over him with the water. It was akin to the feeling of your foot falling asleep only all over the body. Standing up and brushing platinum blonde hair out of the eyes, Ryouga gave the Amazon matriarch a dirty look. Feeling off balance, Ryouga shouted, "What the hell did you do that for?" The voice that came out wasn't Ryouga's. With a stunned expression, the Lost Boy looked down and saw the two reasons he was off balance. With hands trembling in fear, Ryouga reached down into his pants and instead of his little P-chan (P for penis and chan for cute, ne?) he found a woman's most prized treasure box.
With a spurt of blood from the nose, the platinum blond over-endowed bimbo formerly known as Ryouga Hibiki fainted dead to the floor.
Akane grumbled to herself as she sat waiting for her first class. There had been no morning fight, especially since Kuno was still off on what he considered his holy mission. No, Akane was actually happy she no longer had the pervert squad attacking her every morning. Her problem was that her older sister had decided to skip school with her demon fiancé to go shopping of all things. How in the heck was she supposed to protect her sister from the monster if she kept running off to be alone with him?
She was broken from her inner ranting by the homeroom teacher coming in followed by three girls. Akane immediately recognized two of them as Amazons who had accompanied the elder who had warned them of Ranma's secret.
"Class, we have three new students here today who have come all the way from China to learn more about Japan and it's culture. Let's all give a big nihou welcome to Shampoo, Talcum, and Comb," The teacher said as she gestured to each girl when she said their name.
The girls bowed to the class then Shampoo spoke up, "Is big honor be here. Where Ranma?"
Many of the boys groaned in disappointment. It figured that three sexy girls would immediately go for the pigtailed martial artist.
Akane hung her head and sighed, she just knew it was going to be a long day. Still, if she could maybe become friends with these girls, she could keep her sister safe from Ranma.
He couldn't believe it! There had been no sign of the bastard when he had arrived after four days of trekking across the country to find the lot. To think he had almost believed Ranma when he asked to be friends. It was so obvious now. Stealing his bread every day when he could barely find his home often enough to get a decent meal. Calling him names while he chased the jerk to school every morning and home every night. And now, not even having enough honor to wait the extra time for him to arrive, even knowing about his problem with directions!
"The honorless bastard probably left the first day. I'll find him and make him pay if it's the last thing I do! I swear on the Hibiki family name!" Ryouga swore as he wandered randomly down the streets of Kobe.
"Tee hee! I love your hair. Especially the way you've got it in a pig-tail like that. It makes you look like a rugged warrior."
Ryouga paused as he overheard a girl's voice speaking. A pig-tail was how Ranma sometimes wore his hair. Could he have caught up to his nemesis so soon? He began to follow the sounds of conversation and the occasional giggle. Turning a corner he saw a couple walking slowly down the road hand in hand. The girl was fairly attractive even if her hair was done up in a spiky punk blue. The boy however instantly had Ryouga's attention. While he couldn't see his face from behind, he was wearing a white gi and walked with an arrogant strut. Most importantly was the pig-tail that was the same length as the one Ranma wore.
Ryouga closed in on the couple ignoring the commercial dojo the couple had likely just exited. How dare that bastard run out on a man to man fight just to go on a date! He knew how good Ranma was at dodging his attacks so Ryouga crept up on the man in the gi to strike in hopes of a quick win.
As soon as he was in leaping distance Ryouga drew his umbrella and charged. "How dare you run out on a man to man fight! Prepare to die Ranma!"
The umbrella connected to the man's head with a sickening crunch and Ryouga and the girl were suddenly showered with blood, skull fragments, and bits of brain tissue.
There was a brief stunned silence. Ranma was better than that! Why didn't he dodge? Then the screaming began.
"Oh My God! Tenchi! Tenchi!" the girl fell to her knees, cradling the limp body of the man she had just been walking with. She looked up at Ryouga with wide eyes upon seeing the gore splattered umbrella before screaming in incoherent fright.
Ryouga was confused and horrified. What happened to Ranma? He had been so sure that it had been his rival there but now there was some guy named Tenchi. Had Ranma known Ryouga would come seeking revenge? That must have been it. It was the only thing that could explain this horrible tragedy. Ranma had purposely led him astray in order to avoid his righteous wrath, leaving behind this poor soul to take the fall in Ranma's place.
Ryouga attempted to quiet the girl. "Please don't scream. It wasn't my fault! Ranma mislead me on purpose to get away. He left this guy here to fool me. Please, you have to believe me!"
The screaming got louder. Then she began to shout for the police and a crowd began to gather and Ryouga knew it was time to run. Somehow Ranma would have to be brought to justice and Ryouga knew the cops would not believe him without him first defeating the true culprit. Muttering apologies, Ryouga turned a corner and promptly became lost.
"I can't believe it only took ten of those gold coins and the small ruby to get those Kimonos ordered," Nabiki remarked happily as the couple walked down the street towards their next destination.
Ranma shrugged, he wasn't sure if it had really been a good deal or not but took Nabiki's word for it.
"Hopefully this place will let us open an account with what we have," he replied finally, "How's your head?"
Nabiki unconsciously rubbed the red spot on her head. "The swelling's gone down and I don't have a headache anymore. What was the deal with that guy anyway?"
Ranma sighed as he organized his thoughts on the subject. He'd been thinking it over ever since the encounter and revelation that his old friend was a serial killer.
"Ryouga and I went to the same boy's school when I was in junior high school. Lunchtimes were pretty rough and we often had to fight over the last of the bread in the cafeteria. Being a martial artist, I usually won. Ryouga was good, but I was better. Apparently, he was used to bullying the other guys out of the way, getting the last bread of the day before I came. After about the sixth or seventh time I beat him, he challenged me to a duel over his slighted honor. At the time I had no idea what his problem was but Pop always taught that I should accept any challenge for the honor of the School. Anyway, after waiting three days in the lot behind Ryouga's house waiting for him to show up, Pop got tired of waiting and told me I'd won by default and dragged me off to China for the next leg of our training trip."
Nabiki chewed on the information thoughtfully. "So when he finally showed up he what, claimed you'd run away?"
Ranma nodded, "Ryouga always had a poor sense of direction. I think it was a family curse since I never saw his parents often either. Apparently he decided to follow me to redeem what he saw was a slight to his honor."
"So according to what the police woman told me, the first time he saw someone who had hair like yours he attacked without warning and killed the guy because he wasn't a martial artist like you. So why did he keep on killing after the first time?" Nabiki wondered.
Shrugging Ranma thought about it. "It seems he blames me for leaving these people behind to take punishment that should rightfully be mine. Apparently it's all my fault."
Nabiki grabbed his arm and brought the copper haired boy into a hug. "It's not your fault Ranma. The guy is obviously crazy to think you're responsible for all his problems."
"I know, but I can't help but feel partly responsible for all those people getting hurt or killed by him," Ranma said.
Ranma just nodded silently as they approached the doors to the bank Nabiki had told him about.
Ryouga woke again for the second time that day.
"What a crazy dream I had."
"Oh good, you're awake Mr. Part Time, or should I say, Ms. Part Time?" and aged voice spoke.
Ryouga sat up, opened her eyes and looked right at a mirror on the wall of the restaurant. Seeing the blond hair kept out of her eyes with the tiger striped bandana, she stared lower. Seeing the figure in the mirror move as she did bought the correct assumptions to Ryouga's confused mind...
... and it promptly shut down again.
Khu Lon sighed. It was going to be a long day.
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