Chapter V

Akane was furious. Ranma had been expected some time ago with an order from the Cat Cafe.

The conference at the Tendo Dojo was lively and the guests were hungry. Within intervals of presentations by the attendees in the dojo, people took breaks, and thus enjoy refreshments. But they were running out. And this was what Ranma was sent out to replenish.

Where is he? And what sort of punishment will I give him for this?

Several things ran through her mind and all of which would hurt!

Akane knew she could be hot-headed, but there were times Ranma could be such a jerk. But how did that translate into a relationship if she kept blaming him for everything?

She told herself that she would try harder. Still, it was difficult. Their arranged marriage by their parents thrust them together against her will and she hated being chained to an old tradition. She hated being told what to do when it came to her future.

But it wasn't Ranma's fault. He was being coerced too.

And yet, he didn't much mind being "attached" to Ukyo or Shampoo and their delusions of being married to him. He was a regular casanova, suiting any girl he wanted. Granted, Akane had to admit, Ranma was pretty good looking. He was also very strong. But he didn't want to take responsibility for anything in life and that even meant the his inheritance of the Tendo Dojo.

Was lifting the curse all Ranma cared about?

Ranma had given her a tube of cream from Shampoo, claiming it cured the Jusenyko curse. But even Ranma had his doubts, fooled more than once.

Akane carried it with her. Ranma had given it to her for safe keeping and just on the off-chance it was legit, she didn't want to lose it. She preferred Ranma as a guy, although the curse didn't really bother her. It was who Ranma was, who he had been since the first day they had met. But she wondered this time, would it work? She shrugged.

She headed down a street next to the canal that ran through the town. Akane knew Ranma would take this route on his way back from the Cat Cafe, so she was hoping to run into him, and then ask—no, demand—why he was so late.

Akane looked up and saw a construction site. A new building was going up, about three floors. It was surrounded by metal sheet fencing and its structural shell was already fixed with steel girders and the beginnings of concrete reinforcement.

She suddenly heard shouting coming from inside the site. And the voices were familiar.

Akane ventured to the entrance where a door was partially open. She was both shocked and surprised. Not only did she see both Ranma and Ryoga, but she also saw a stranger dressed in priest clothes, all black, and he had red hair. Damage had already been done to the interior of the site, fighting had taken place.

Akane was angry. If anyone saw who caused the mess, there would be hell to pay, and the Tendo Dojo would have to fit the bill.

However, unlike Ranma and Ryoga fighting each other—they were battling the priest.

Why were the pair battling it out with a man of the cloth? It was beyond incorrigible and disrespectful. Akane knew Ranma had his opinions on certain matters, believing martial arts was the be—all and end—all of everything, but to insult a priest for his beliefs on pacifism?

Or was there another reason? She wanted to find out.

"He murdered my uncle; our village treasure," the red-haired priest said, implicating Ryoga, "and now he's going to pay with his life for the crime!"

Ryoga murdered someone? That's not like him, Akane thought. Ryoga was a passionate person in his beliefs, but he would never hurt anyone—Ranma being the exception.

Akane opened the door fully. "What in the world is going on here?" she asked.

Ranma said, from a second floor girder, "Akane! Stay back! This guy's dangerous!"

Akane looked at him, as per the damage she had seen, Ranma and Ryoga looked to be in strategic positions against the priest. The priest was near a storage shed and he had his hands up, with his fingers slightly bent in, as if he holding something—an invisible object.

Something suddenly ignited in the priest's hands and to Akane it looked like a ball of fire. It was surreal. She had been privy to individuals from Ranma's past that had unusual abilities, but none that could generate fire spontaneously from their hands. Then she saw something under the priest's sleeves, objects of some sort that produced the flames. His hands must have been coated with fire retardant to prevent them from burning. Small flame throwers.

The priest launched an attack on Ryoga, and a ball of flame was sent rocketing across the compound, striking a forklift that was just beyond where Ryoga stood. Ryoga leapt out of the way and then followed with an attack of his own with a small blast of his Lion's Roar Shot. The priest jumped out of the way as the shot completely destroyed the storage shed.

"Hey! What the hell is going on here? You're going to destroy everything!" Akane said. "We may be getting some good money for the conference at the dojo, but that doesn't mean you guys can spend it all on repairs for this place! I demand to know what's going on here!"

The priest suddenly went after Akane, redirecting his attack.

"Akane!" Ranma shouted.

Ranma jumped down and then grabbed her. He leapt back up on to a second floor girder with her, his arm wrapped around her front. His hands clutched her breasts a little tightly. And she slapped him.

Ranma recoiled, releasing her. "Ow! I save you and this is how you show your gratitude?"

"Save me from what? Who is that guy?"

The priest cracked his knuckles, looking up at Akane and Ranma. Then he dodged a sudden attack from Ryoga with the Breaking Point. The priest jumped away to a safe distance, then sneered. "You stole him from me! And you're going to pay for it!"

"I didn't—"

But before Ryoga could finish, the sky produced a thunderous rumble followed by a loud crackle. Clouds had rolled in and it was getting dark, fast. Lightning coursed throughout.

The priest cursed at the sky, then pointed at Ryoga, and said, "This isn't over, Hibiki! I will have my revenge. I will never forgive you for what you've done!"

Then the priest suddenly turned and ran, leapt over the fence, and disappeared.

With the immediate threat gone, Ranma picked up Akane and jumped back down. He put her down. Akane was curious with what happened.

Ranma said, "You have some explaining to do, pal. And I wanna here your side of the story. Who was that guy, really? I don't believe him when he says you murdered his uncle."

"I…" Ryoga began to say.

Suddenly, the sky let out a loud thunderous crackle with jettisons of lightning coursing through the darkness. It looked like it was going to be a nasty storm.

Scared, Akane jumped into Ranma's arms.

Ranma smirked. "Oh, c'mon Akane, it's nuthin' but a little thunder and maybe some lighting. Nuthin' to be scared about."

"Unless it's followed by rain, Ranma," she said condescendingly, pushing away from him. She chided herself for throwing herself into his arms with an irrational fear.

Ranma's eyes suddenly widened.

Ryoga was already making his way to a safe place under a canopy of wooden boards that had been erected over a section of the first floor, probably used by the workers.

"Come back 'ere, ya coward!" Ranma shouted.

But Ranma then followed suit. Akane figured, under Ryoga's guise, he could save face and prevent from changing when his body got wet with cold water.

Just then, a strong flash of light struck the area, and Ranma was throw asunder. He landed and there was the sound of a gloop. The impact of fork lighting against a steel girder was enough to cause a cascade of raw power to send him flying and into a pit of recently poured wet cement. It was so new, apparently, that it hadn't even had time to partially solidify yet.

To be continued...