Disclaimer: I don't own nothing.
Ranko's Journey
Chapter 1
Ranko walked into the bar. She was fast running out of money. She hadn't realized how much Genma's thievery was getting them buy during the training trip.
This bar was said to be the best place to make a little cash. As she walked into the place she saw a big cage made out of chain-link fencing. Looking at the top she saw it was surrounded by barb wire. Looking over at the fighters, all over developed steroid using body builders. She smirked 'easy money'.
Moving over to the bar she smiled at the bartender and calmly asked, "So who do I talk to get in on these fights."
The bartender looked at her, pulling out a little black book, told her "I take the bets here."
"No I mean who do I talk to to enter the fights."
Giving her a speculative look, "these are real fights girl. You go into that cage and they won't go easy on you because you are a girl."
"My last name is Saotome."
"What does that have to do wi……Saotome?"
She smirked and nodded.
He picked up a phone on the counter and hit the intercom button. She took another look around the bar paying little attention to the phone conversation. She found out early on her journey that the name Saotome had become a dark legend around Japan in recent years. It seams that a lot of Ranma's exploits had become quite well known. It had helped her end a few fights before they even started and it helped her get into these pit fights. After all who would let seventeen year old girl that was short for age fight.
"She says she is a Saotome."
"……"
"Ya, okay I'll send her back." hanging up the phone he turned to her and said, "okay just go to that office in the back there and he will talk to you.
Nodding to him she turned and walked to the office. Knocking on the door she heard a muffled "come in" and she walked into the office.
Looking at the man she saw that he was a type that she had become alto familiar with since she had started fighting for money. Slightly overweight, oily black hair slicked back, thin moustache, and a weasel like smile.
"So you think you can fight with the big boys just because you have a name like Saotome?" he said wile talking to her chest.
She sighed, one of the first things her mother did was make her wear a bra. It was a sports bra, she refused to wear any other kind, but it actually made her "assets" more defined. And the fact she was wearing a tight tank top didn't help.
Looking over at the wall beside her she saw that it was made of concrete. She drew back and threw her fist threw it. Carrfuly controlled as the punch was it only made a hole that was slightly bigger than her fist.
"No, but I think that should prove my qualifications to fight with the "Big Boys" as you called them."
Visibly shocked he stammered, "S-So would you like to start tonight?"
"That would be great," she smiled. "The name is Ranko, I think we should leave the Saotome part out for now don't you?"
Think that would be a good idea so he could fix the betting in his favour he nodded.
"So when is my first fight?"
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Setsuna was board. The inner scout had all been born but it was going to be fourteen years before any of them were awakened. She something to do. She thought that maybe watching so men beat the crap out of each other would help pass the time a little.
She walked into the bar that she knew was holding a tournament tonight. She was instantly recognized buy the bartender and her drink was ready buy the time she reached the bar.
"So any thing new today? " She asked him as she picked up her drink.
"Well we have a unique fighter tonight"
Her response was a raised eyebrow in his direction. "And who is he?
He chuckled, "SHE is a little redhead about 5' 3" and at most 45kg(about 100 lbs)"
"A woman!"
"No a girl she looks like she is about fifteen years old."
Whatever she was going to say was cut off as the manager came out and announced that the fights were going to start and that they had a new challenger. They all looked at the black board at the back and saw that the scorekeeper had chalked a new name in at the odds 20 - 1. The name written in was just Ranko.
"Who is she," She asked.
"Never seen her before," he leaned toward her and said, "but she told me that her las name was Saotome."
Setsuna looked at him and then took out a wad of bills and said "100,000 yen(roughly $1000) on Ranko."
Others were coming over to place their bets as well but as many were about put their bets on the newcomer as well. The manager said, "lets welcome the new challenger into the ring." They all looked over at the ring and saw who they were about to bet on.
Many thought thank Kami that they didn't make the mistake of betting on the little girl. Buy the end of the betting for the first fight only one person other then Setsuna had bet on Ranko.
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Ranko was standing in the cage looking across her first opponent of the evening. Almost a foot taller then her and probably outweighed her buy at least 75 kg (165 lbs) and was danm ugly to boot. Looking over at the contestant board she saw that his odds were almost as bad as hers.
"You pretty thing. I take you home tonight after I beat you up."
"Intelligent to," she muttered under her breath.
"FIGHT"
The brute lunged at her she just sidestepped and his head slammed into the corner post that was behind her. The crowed laughed. She watched as he got up rubbing his head a little.
"You fast but I lucky, Hit head a lot growing up, don't hurt much anymore."
"You don't say"
She lunged at him and threw three quick hard punches into his gut. And an uppercut right at the edge of his jaw. He may have been tough for any one else to have hurt him with as few hits as she did but then most of them had never faced Royga. He had only started to bend over from the shots to the gut when the uppercut connected which sent him flying back into the corner post. This time he did not get up.
There was a few minutes of silence then the crowd started cheering. Among the cheers were a few groans from those that were stupid enough to bet on her opponent.
They hadn't seen nothing yet.
Setsuna smiled. She didn't need the money that the winnings would bring if Ranko went all the way and won every thing but it was always good to see a man get his ass kicked by a girl.
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Most of the fights had gone a little longer than the first one but not because they were harder fights but because she was holding back more. She always forgot that the fighters she usually fought with were in a league far above these underground fighters.
In fact in whole fight she only had been hi once. She had been to careless and she had been hit right in the forehead with a wild haymaker. She flew across the ring and fit the fence bounced off and to the surprise of all those present landed on her feet. She shook her head and looked up at the guy that hit her. She was angry. Not at him but at herself for not taking the fight seriously enough. She might not of been angry at him but he was standing there smirking at her just asking for her to vent that anger on him.
He was down in one hit.
Now she was facing her final opponent of the night. They were the only two fighters left. Most of the crowd had their bets on the ogre standing across from her as he was the favoured fighter.
Skull Harvester, as he was called, had, she was told, shown up about a month ago and had yet to loose a fight. His head was shaved and a tattoo of something that tickled her memory was on it. She couldn't remember ware she had seen that symbol before. Her danger sense was going off mildly in the back of her head but it was not even as string as when Royga attacked her so she ignored it.
This fight might be interesting.
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Setsuna cursed under her breath as she saw the symbol. She knew exactly what that meant. She grabbed her transformation pen in her pocket and hopped that her suspicions about the girl holding back all night turned out to be true.
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Ranko thought that maybe she should take down this guy fast and hard because her danger sense was growing.
So as soon as the words fight were yelled she let a little ki seep into her run and sped across the ring and let him have an almost full strength punch to the gut. He casually backhanded back across the ring.
Quickly getting to her feet he still stood there smirking at her. She looked him right in the eye and smirked back. "I guess I don't have to hold back against you eh?"
"It does not matter mortal I shale defeat you regardless."
'Mortal?' Ranko's eyes widened in sudden understanding 'That symbol, it was on one of Happosai's summoning scrolls.'
Her voice came out in a growl, "Daemon."
"Oh you know what I am? I guess I can't let you live mortal. I shall enjoy tearing you limb from limb."
Jumping at her he was unprepared for her to dodge into his reach and yell, "KASHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN," and release 103 punches into his gut. He flew back and landed on his back.
The crowd was going wild. No one had ever seen the Harvester taken down. Most of them may have had their bets on him but this was turning out to be a great fight.
He sat up easily and grinned. "You have spirit little girl. I think that will enjoy breaking it in quite depraved ways."
He raised his fist and suddenly claws appeared sprouting from between his knuckles. They were jet black and probably sharp as hell. They extended out 20cm (9inchs) from his fist.
He swiped at her and she dodged. He had both fists going now in speed that should have been imposable for a creature of his size. Luckily she was faster.
She jumped on to the chain-link fence and used it as a springboard to back flip over his head. He brought the claws down on the spot that she had been on the fence. The claws sliced cleanly through the steel links that made up the cage.
The crowd took a few steps back from the cage.
'Shit' she didn't want to use her more exotic abilities in such a public place but she didn't think she could escape alive with out them.
Using a technique that she had only recently learned she went into to the neko-ken part of her mind and retrieved the ability to form claws of her own. She had been trying to cure the neko-ken with meditation but as far as she got was to form the claws. None of the other abilities came with it like the insane agility and near invulnerability but then the insanity didn't come with it either.
This time instead of dodging the attack she blocked it. Instead of stopping the claws they sliced through them. As they dropped to the ground the demon looked at them and backed up.
He looked at Ranko with a little more caution. "Who are you?"
Smirking "Ranko Saotome," her grin grew wider, "the one who took down Saffron."
He didn't react to the name Ranko but he did to the name Saffron.
"You defeated the Phoenix Lord?" He growled, his voice sounding less and less human.
"And took down half of his mountain with him."
The demon Growled then said in voice that was strait out of hell, " I guess that I will have to reveal my true form then."
'Oh shit' Ranko thought.
The harvester was suddenly engulfed in flames. After a few seconds the flames seamed to burn them selves out and standing were the man was before was a creature strait out of a horror movie. He had red skin with horns poking out of the side of his head. His ears were now pointed and all his teeth were all pointed. But the most disturbing thing of all was the symbol that was tattooed on his head was now on his chest. It was no longer a tattoo but a raised area on his chest like a scar.
'Well so much for not bringing attention to my self' she thought.
"FIERCE TIGER OPENING GATES BLOW!" She yelled as she threw his arms to the side as hard as possibly could while throwing a snap kick at the demons jaw. There was an audible crack.
"ASSAULT OF THE ENRAGED BEAR!" As she brought both hands down in a knife hand strike right on his horns snapping them off.
"WELCOME GATE IRON FAN FINGERS!" Bracing her legs to get as much leverage as she could she stiffened her fingers and flooded them with as much Ki as she could and stabbed them into his chest breaking past his ribs and grabbing onto his heart. Quickly bringing up her foot she braced her foot against his chest and heaved. Pulling his heart free. Of the beasts chest it screamed in rage and pain. Using her ki enhanced strength she crushed the still beating heart in her hand. Screaming now in fear he was again engulfed in flames this time they were black and were slowly consuming him.
Every one was rooted to the spot watching the grim spectacle even Setsuna how was still holding her Transformation Pen in her pocket.
It took five minutes for the Demon to be completely consumed. The flames never touched any thing but the demon. All of the blood spilled ad the still beating heart were also consumed. Ranko watched as it was sent back to whatever hell it came from. Sighing she looked around and saw shock on almost all of the faces around bar. Not surprising really she chuckled to herself. 'It's not every day you see a small girl rip the heart out of a demon. Even in Nermia it only happened once every couple of months or so.
She walked out of the ring once the hell fire vanished she walked right up to the manager and asked him for her winnings. He shakily handed it to her. Walking up to the bar, standing right beside Setsuna, she asked the bartender for the return on her bet. He handed it over with more confidence then the manager had showed. She looked over at Setsuna. She sensed magic in her. Looking over her she saw green hair, red eyes, and a figure to die for, probably the sorceress that summoned the demon. Turning back to the back of the bar were she left her bag she retrieved it and calmly left the bar as all the eyes followed her.
TBC
A.N.
What do you think?