Summary: Ranma and Akane have faced and fought many opponents and challenges during the 2 years that were short but completely life-changing for them. From the delusional mind of a samurai wannable to the waking of a perverted monster to learning a new move to the fight against the Prince of the Musk to one of them becoming a 5-year old kid to proving his manhood to his mother to the battle against Saffron to waking of the Chaos Emperor himself, Kasou-Taiso, to battling a space dragon alien in his spaceship.
They have manage to prevail though against these opponents and challenges, getting closer and loving each other even more despite their ups and downs, ironically thanks to them.
However, their newest opponent, someone that they don't know about, was going to be the most hardest, most dangerous, and most powerful opponent that they'll ever face in their entire lives... (Finished on 2-14-2019)
(Part 1: Don't Make Wild Like You)
Everything was peaceful and quiet at the Tendo Dojo, which was quite rare in Furinkan and Nerima, due to the regular amount of chaos that happen in those places, if you already know about it at this point. Genma, in his panda form, and Soun were playing their games of Go without a care in the world while Nodoka was sipping her cup of tea, waiting for the rice to be finished, as Kasumi was out shopping. It was quiet and peaceful...
That was... until the only window to Akane's room was slowly creep open. Happosai poke his head out for a moment, making sure that no one is around to thwarted his plan to go on his daily panty raid when they're not looking, seeing that his idiotic students were playing Go and no one else was here, before he jump up and grab the girls' panties that were hanging by the window. He chuckle softly to himself as he put the panties in his bag before jumping onto the clothes line and walk steadly on it. He walk on the clothes line for a moment... until he bump right into a familiar-looking pair of legs. Happosai then slowly look his eyes up... to see Ranma-kun looking down at him with an scrowling expression on his face, before the cursed boy asked the Grand Master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. "Alright, Old Freak. What are you planning on this time? Going on your usually panty raids?"
"Ranma, m'boy! It's good to see you!" Happosai said, trying to play and acting innocently to the half-boy while trying to squrim his way out of this situation like a worm, before he tried to make a deal with Ranma-kun for a offer. "Hey! How about I split the panties with you so that you can get Akane's panties?"
"HECK NO, YOU OLD CREEP!"
It was at this point that a loud scream of a girl was heard, all before Akane came running to the only window of her room and look around for a moment before she then see Happosai standing in front of Ranma-kun, which cause her to become angry at the centuries old man with a glowing red aura around her as she instantly knew that he took her panties before she grab one of her small dumbbells before she shouted. "YOU OLD PERVERT!" She yelled in anger as she immediately threw it at the old prehistoric prevert. However, Happosai heard Akane and immediately reacted to throwing her small dumbbells is to dodge it by jumping right up, causing it to completely miss him and landed right on Ranma-kun's foot before the small dumbbell cause the rope to snap with its weight, causing the half-boy to fall, but not before he took Happosai down with him by grabbing his furoshiki bag with his right hand, before landing right into the water of the pond. Akane grasp before she called out loud to her fiance in a worried tone of voice. "Ranma! Are you okay?!"
"Don't worry, Akane. I'm completely fine!" Ranma-chan called back to his fiancee as he was sitting knee-level in the water of the pond, now in his female form, before he then growl in frustration while his hand started to twitch. "But that goddamn, dwarf, prehistoric old man..." However, he didn't notice that Happosai suddenly drop an confused tabby cat onto the palm of his left hand before he then shouted. "IS ANNOYING!" That was when his brain have finally register of feeling something furry in the palm of his left hand. When he slowly turn and took one look of what it was in his hand, Ranma-chan screamed. Loudly. "AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" He have scream so loud that his screaming was heard in one of the other dimesions, making the Godzilla Planets of Monsters version of King Ghidorah confused as it was wondering of where the hell the screaming itself was coming from, all before it finally stop when Nekoken-mode was actived and Ranma-chan went into it, becoming a cat in mind. "Meow meow."
Happosai immediately fled the scene by jumping over the stone wall of the compound, so he could get back to doing his usual panty raid.
"What the-?! GET BACK HERE YOU PREVERT!" Akane shouted angrily as she jumped out of her room, angry that Happosai going one of his raids again in which she accidentally hurt Ranma-chan and use Ranma's own overwhelming fear of cats to his advantage and use it to make an escape just to do one of his usual panty raids, and landed on the grass of the garden before she the ordered Neko-Ranma-chan. "RANMA, GO AFTER HIM SO I CAN HAVE HIS HEAD ON THE PATTER!"
Neko-Ranma-chan, sensing that his "mate" was angry at "prey" for making her angry, meow in response to his "mate" as he immediately did of what he was told by her before he jump over the wall and chased after "prey", in which Akane quickly follow suit after Happosai and her fiance.
Everything was now back to peace and quiet in the Tendo Dojo, as the 3 adults didn't react at all to what have happen in the backyard since they were already use to the weirdness, before Nodoka told the men. "The rice is now almost done."
"Okay." Soun answered.
[Okay.] Genma answer his wife with the words on his sign that was made out of wood.
Meanwhile... at Ryoga's house...
Ryoga had tried lead Akari and her pet pig Katsunishiki to his house to meet Shirokuro's litter of puppies again. The word "tried" is emphasized as he have already gotting lost and wander around Nerima for about 4 hours before his pet dog Shirokuro found her master and brought him back to the house, revealing that Akari and Katsunishiki were already at his house since they've been there before.
"Oh, Ryoga. Aren't your puppies so kawaii~!" Akari said as she was overwhelm with cuteness by looking at Shirokuno's litter of puppies while they were jumping and playing around her, Ryoga, and their mother outside in front of the house.
"Yeah... they are, Akari." Ryoga said to his girlfriend with a smile before he petted Shirokuro on the head, which she reply by barking happily at this. However, that was when the ground around the area suddenly shook for a few second just before a pair of shouting along with the sound of a human sound like a cat was heard.
"GET RIGHT BACK HERE SO I CAN BEAT UP, YOU OLD PERVERT!"
"MEOW!"
"I DON'T THINK SO~!"
"Huh?" Ryoga turn his head around to the right in confusion... all before Happosai suddenly jump right toward his face. He yelled when he scared by him and was took by surprise before the ancient grandmaster then landed right on his face, stopping his yelling, and immediately jump off of it as well. Ryoga growl in annoyance for a moment... before he truely scream in terror with his eyes widen and bulging from their sockets in complete and utter horror when he suddenly see Neko-Ranma-chan pounced straight at him while letting out his meow and swiping rapidly with his chi claws. Neko-Ranma-chan then jumped off of the shivering wreck of Ryoga's body, that was bleeding profusely from a multitude of lacerations of claws and bite marks on his body, to continue to chase after the "preverted mouse", as Akari and the animal were just silently staring with widen eyes of shock of what they just saw... all before Akane, rather unknowingly, stomp right onto Ryoga's face as she followed after Neko-Ranma-chan and Happosai as she shouted. "GET BACK HERE!"
Ryoga just growl in anger while laying on the ground for a moment... before he got up from the ground and turning around in the direction they were running in.
"DAMN YOU RANMA! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Ryoga shouted angrily as he then begun run down the street to chase after them.
"Katsunishiki! Let's go after them!" Akiri told her pet pig as she, Shirokuno, and the litter of puppies got on top of him. Katsunishiki comply before he begun to join in the chase.
"What is up with him? He's like the freak of nature!" Akane said to herself as she and Neko-Ranma-chan continue to chased after Happosai himself... before Kuno jump right into their view from a side-street.
"PIGTAIL GIRL AND AKANE-"
Neko-Ranma-chan hissed in agitation at the delusional samurai wannable before pouncing right onto Kuno and attacking viciously and aggressively with his teeths and chi claws upon him, twisting and contorting his body into a perfectly shaped ball... all before Akane then kick the ball into the atmosphere like a soccer player before she and Neko-Ranma-chan continue their chase after Happosai.
They quickly ran by the Nekohanten.
"WAIT UP! I SAID WAIT UP, YOU OLD PERVERT!" Akane shouted as she and Neko-Ranma-chan then run pass Nekohanten before Ryoga, Akari, and their animals then ran pass the restarant as well, catching the attentions of the residents.
"OH? Was that Ranma?!" Shampoo ask as she suddenly perking up when she heard a familiar cat-like human meow before she then ran out of Nekohanten and begun to chase after them with the others as she called. "Ranma! Ranma! Take Shampoo on date!"
"WAIT FOR ME, MY BELOVED SHAMPOO!" Mousse cried as he follow after Shampoo out of the restaurant before getting out several of his giant swords so he could cut up Ranma into tiny pieces.
"This look like it might get interest." Cologne said to herself after pogo sticking out of the restaurant on her staff before deciding to join in the chase, as she already knew that it might get interest, like what she said, due to Ranma and Akane being involved.
The only one now left in Nekohanten was Gel himself. He just chuckle softly to himself at the chaos and antics in Ranma and Akane's lives, knowing that on the up side is that their lives will never be a dull moment now and on the down side... their lives will never have a dull moment now, as he continue to eat his ramen soup of slice pork, corn, nori, and green onion with the side of Tamagoyaki, minding his own business as he ate his lunch. However... that was when his eating of his lunch was interrupted when he've, all of sudden, suddenly sense and felt something, before he immediately run outside of the restaurant and check it out. He look around in the area with his shuted eyes to see of what he felt was in the area right now, but all he saw was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, nothing. The dark warrior begun to feel unease by this... as it have been a long time since he felt this feeling before...
Ukyo walk out of her restaurant to put out her Noren to open it. However, she didn't notice that her sign started to slowly creep toward her, slighty too close for comfort... until Konastu dive kick it, knocking it down with a yelp, revealing to be none other, not surprisingly, than Tsubasa. "Not so fast! You're getting anywhere near Mistress Ukyo!"
"Damn you, bastard!" Tsubasa cursed at Konastu angrily.
"Thanks, Konastu." Ukyo comment.
"You're welcome, mistress Ukyo."
However, that was when they have heard loud screaming and turn their heads... to see that Akane and Neko-Ranma-chan were both running down the street after Happosai while the growing horde were chasing after them. Ukyo just shrug at this and thought it was not a big deal... only to do a double-take when she realized that Shampoo was in the horde as well and she immediately join in the growing horde in the chase after them, with Tsubasa and Konastu joining in with her.
Happosai quickly stolen some food from a stole before he devour it and spit out the skews and spoke to himself. "Now that I have some appetizer, I guess I go home for some lunch!" Just then, Happosai is grabbed from behind by Akane, who's still running, with Neko-Ranma-chan running beside right her. He turn his head to see who grab him, Happosai give a hearty laugh at this before he spoke happily to the blue-haired girl with her own fiance-turned-cat-in-mind running beside her. "If isn't Akane! How are ya?" That was when he heard rumbling from behind them before Happosai turned and saw a crowed of the entire Nerima Wrecking Crew- No, wait. Scratch that. The entire cast of the Ranma 1/2, ranging from the manga to the anime to OVA to video games, running down the streets of Furinkan and Nerima while they chasing after them. Happosai express his confusion. "What's this? Some kind of marathon?"
"Who... Do you think... Is responsible for this whole fiasco? YYYYYYYYOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU PPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEERRRRRRRTTTTTTT!" Akane shouted angrily at Happosai before letting him go and kicking him so far up in the air that he was sent flying far above to the point that you could see the entire area of the Furinkan community and entire Nerima ward as he scream through the air.
However, unknown to Akane and Neko-Ranma-chan, and the running horde that were chasing after them, a unknown figure, clad in an tyrian purple cloak, was standing atop of an tall chimney, watching the scene of the chase from it in complete silence, as his cloak sway along with the quiet winds coming from the west. He remain silent as he contine to watch... before he pull out his right hand from the shadow of his cloak and point it directly at the chase itself before he begun to summon his battle aura from his right hand, cackling with energy...
Happosai landed right in front of the still chasing horde of people and immediately keep on running before Akane shouted at him. "Get back here so you can face your punishment!"
"No way, Akane! You maybe one of my favorite girls, but I like to live more, thank you very much!" Happosai answered as he continue to run in front of Akane and Neko-Ranma-chan.
"Oh, you better come to me so I can beat you to a pulp, throw you to Ranma, and watch her play around with you as a toy!" Akane yelled at Happosai in anger... before she spoke sweetly to Neko-Ranma-chan. "Isn't that right, Ranma?"
Neko-Ranma-chan respond to Akane's question by letting out a meow... before the ground suddenly shook when they heard a explosion from behind them and wonder what is going on.
"What the...?"
It soon reveal why... as it was reveal to be a massive streaking and powerful black ki-blast made of condensed amd packed battle aura, cackling with red energy on it, coming straight at them rapidly from behind. Everyone scream in a combination of shock, horror, and terror at the sight of it coming straight right at them before it struck upon them...
Both Genma and Soun were laughing to themselves after they've tasted Nodoka's curry rice before the Tendo patriach spoke to his old friend. "Genma, my old friend! Your wife certainly knows of how to make a good meal out of rice."
"Oh, why thank you Soun for that compliment of yours." Nodoka said with a smile... before her face turn to a frown as she wonder before she spoke to herself. "I wonder when my son, Akane, and Happosai will be coming back?"
"Don't worry about, Nodoka dear. I'll bet they'll smell your delicious scent of your curry rice and come running to it." Genma told his wife as he joked before they start laughing at his terrible joke.
However, he was unknownly right. As soon as they begun laughing the ground beguns to shake and shook the washitsu room for a moment... before all three of the adults are send flying when the massive wave of battle aura crashed right into the washitsu room. When the attack made of battle aura was now disperse and is finally over, it have left a long trail of destruction in its path on the street of Furinkan before craving right into the stone wall of the Tendo dojo and destroyed the washitsu room, while everyone else that were in the horde that were chasing after Akane and Neko-Ranma-chan, with all of the three adults (Soun, Genma, and Nodoka) that were in the house, were now laying all over across the now ruined washitsu room and garden of the Tendo Dojo, knocked out and made unconscious by the impact of the condensed battle aura blast itself.
But strangely enough, neither Akane nor Ranma-chan themselves were not seen among the unconscious bodies of the people, animal, and mystical being that they knew of... all before Akanma, which Akane fused with her fiancee thanks to their fusion rings before they would be hit by the ki blast, landed right on top of the japanese-style roof of the stone wall that surrounded the house, managing to dodge the ki blast attack just after being fused, and right by the destroyed part of the wall. They look at the long path that are once the streets and see that were carved from the resulting attack before breathing a sigh of relief at this.
'That was a close one.' Akane mentally said to herself, after she quickly took control of Akanma to dodge the attack and landed their shared body on the roof of the stone wall, before turning Akanma's head to see that everyone else was knocked out by the incoming blast and frown mentally to herself, wondering of what sort of technique that it was or who have use it. That was when she heard a murmer from a familiar voice.
'Uuuuuhhhh... Huh? What happen?' Ranma ask, after waking from his temporary nap after his fusion with Akane and falling asleep out of Nekoken, before Akane spoke.
'You have a nice nap, sleepyhead?'
'Yeah, it was nice. But seriously, what happen? All I can last remember is seeing a cat on my hand before blacking out.'
'Well, Happosai put a cat right on your hand, causing to be so scared that you've gone into Neko Ken. Then me and neko-you chased after him because I was pretty angry with him of what he did to you.' Akane mentally said as she explain to her fiance in their shared mind.
'Okay. Then what?'
'We both chased him though the entire area of Furinkan, but during that, we were both chased by a horde of everyone that we know.'
'Well, that sound like a lot of fun.' Ranma mentally deadpan.
'You have no idea. However, that was when the weird thing happen...'
'What?'
'A blast of battle aura that sudden;y came out of no where and toward at everyone from behind. You and I manage to dodge it after i've fused with you into Akanma when you're still in Nekoken and taking control of our body to dodge it by jumping up, but the blast knocked everyone out when it hit the house.'
'Oh, so that's explain why we're on the roof of the wall and why everyone is laying everywhere unconscious.' Ranma noted as Akanma was looking at everyone, still unconscious from the mere impact of the attack.
'Yeah, Ranma. That's explain of what is currently going.'
'But... do you know what technique it is was?'
'In all honestly, Ranma. I don't really know. Since I've never seen it before.'
Akanma then frowned at this as she right sat down on the rooftop of the wall and cross her legs together, as the two components that have made her up were wondering to themselves in their shared mental landscape together. What was that technique? And who use it? Who was he or she? And why did they target them and everyone else? What was their purpose on targeting them? Did they know them from their past? Or was it just someone who was just looking for a fight? If so, then why did they target everyone else? Their mind were filled with so many questions of what is exactly going and why... before Kasou-Taiso, the Chaos Emperor himself, suddenly pop right into the Tendo garden to view the damage and chaos for himself.
"HOLY FUCK! Look at the damage and destruction going on! Whoever did it must have cause chaos from it! I mean, I AM IMPRESS!"
Akanma just look at the Chaos Emperor with a deadpan expression on their face while he was rambling on and stuff that they didn't care to listen... until they suddenly sensed a pulse of a rather enormous ki coming from behind them. They quickly turn their head to look of where they felt it came from, but they saw nothing out of the ordinary, nothing at all. They stared at the distance that it came have from in silence with suspicion in their gleaming eyes, knowing that, whatever it is, was nothing like they have felt before in their entire lives...
However, unknown to Akanma... Kasou-Taiso was staring at them on the rooftop with a blank expression, knowing of what they have felt... before his mouth turn into a grin, as he know that things are about to get interesting...
Meanwhile... where Kasumi was...
Kasumi was walking back home down the now quiet street of Furinkan with a shopping bag in both of her hands. She was disappointed, as most of the foods that she wanted to buy on her list were currently out of stock until later, which contribute to the frowning on her face. She was walking back to home all by herself with the few things that she have manage to get in her shopping bag... until she stop when she notice an rather thug-looking guy, who wouldn't look out of place in the world of Hokuto No Ken as one of the bandits, slowly came up and stop before he spoke to her. "Why hello there little missy, how are you doing?"
"I'm fine. I can help with you?" Kasumi ask him politely with an slight tone of concern in her voice, as she got a bad feeling from him. It only grew worse when he just give a little chuckle to her.
"Oh, it's nothing. Except..." He said... before the thug grinned before he put out an pocket knife from his jacket and fold it up as a few more thugs join up beside him, equipped with a bat and a chain, chuckling smugly at this. Kasumi was now worried as she back up from them, seeing the hunger in their eyes with murderous grins on their faces, before the leader yelled at her. "How about you give us of what you got?!"
The thug leader instantly lunged straight at her, preparing to kill Kasumi with his pocket knife in cold blood. When she saw this, Kasumi immediately shut closed her eyes at this with fear, preparing for the worst.
However... a fist suddenly appear from right behind Kasumi's back before smashing right into the thug leader's face, destroying all of his teeths instantaneously and cracking his face, at a speed faster than a bullet, before sending him plowing right into several houses in front.
Kasumi notice that nothing had happen to her yet as she slowly open her eyes and was shock of what she saw before she see the thugs shaking in complete and utterly fear, not knowing why though.
"Oh shit! It's one of 'em MADMS (Martial Artist Death Machines)! For ya lives, 'cuz it's game over, man! Game over!"
They soon fled from the scene in complete terror, not wanting to dead from Kasumi's savior as they wanted to live, while they ran in many different sort of directions, anywhere to get away from the streets of the Furinkan community itself.
Kasumi wonder to herself of what just happen or why the rest of the thugs are just suddenly fleeing in fear... before she grasped in shock as she was startled when she have finally notice a fist hovering right beside her head before it retracted from behind her and she turn around to face her savior... which reveal to be none other than the unknown figure in the purple cloak standing in front of her. Kasumi just look with pure awe and wonders in her eyes at her savior, even though she couldn't really see his face due to the shadow of his hood covering it, before she then spoke to him.
"Um, excuse me? Thank you for saving my life, mister." Kasumi said politely to her savior as she bow down to him in respect before she ask him. "I got a question? What's your name?"
"... My name is not of importantance." The unknown figure answered, revealing a rich, deep, powerful, intense, and baritone voice that made Kasumi smiled dumbly for a moment, as it was a nice sound that was rather handsome, which fit perfectly for her savior, as he told her. "However, I suggest you should be more careful, as reality is a cold and cruel place breath its face."
With that, he turn around and slowly walk away, walking down the street of Furinkan. Kasumi look at her savior as he was walking away, wondering of what he meant, before she then felt a feeling of sadness coming from him...
(Part 2: War Cry From The Zephyr)
It's been already a few week after the stampede of the entire cast of Ranma 1/2 (One Half) run through the entire ward of Nerima itself. Since then, many martial artists (except for a certain few) in the Nerima ward or were traveling through it were all being laid low by a mysterious and unstoppable fighter that was attacking them, taking all them down, one by one, whether or not if they were either alone or were in groups. Now that would have been unusually enough, but here's the weirdest and strangest part of it: Ranma and Akane were connected, and only one at that, to these strings of incidents since all of the martial artists that were being attack by this unknown martial artist are the ones that Ranma and Akane have faced and fought before in the past, with that being the only connection to Ranma and Akane and the only clue of why is this... mysterious martial artist... is attacking them. One thing is certain though: Whoever it is was giving the martial artists that he have faced a beatdown of their lives.
Both the Saotome and Tendo families were in the washitsu room of the Tendo house before the most recent news of it came on the TV screen.
"Breaking News: Last night, the mysterious attacking individual has struck and attack another martial artist, but this time, a doctor that was visiting back to Furinkan community." The news reporter said. All of the Saotome and Tendo family's own eyes, excluding Soun and Genma, as they weren't in the washitu room, were glued to the screen of the TV itself as he told the reports of what have exactly happen last night. "Doctor Tofu Ono was walking into Furinkan, apparently, planning on visiting for quite some time now, before he was suddenly then attack by the unknown attacker. He fought against the mysterious attacker, but lost in the end, with the bones in his body being complete broken and no know apparent damage on the attacker's body, said by his own words. He couldn't give any details of what this attacker look like, only that he was wearing what he describe as a 'purple cloak'. Currently, he is resting at a nearby hospital, General Furinkan Hospital to be precise, with his entire body being in bandage and cast for now. The only one other evidence at the scene of where the fight have took place in was an footprint impression in road, which it have been measure at least around about 48 cm (18.8 to 9 inches) long and, what a few policeman of the police force with a couple of expierence detectives that were at the scene invastigating said in their words "appear to be some sort of a boot-type footwear at best". We're shall tell you more informations once we have gotting them."
The TV soon changes to the commericals that were going on right now (back in the last years of the 1980s at least). The Saotome and Tendo families were staring at the TV in silence, not sure of what to say of this, before Ranma-kun manage to broke the silence.
"What the hell is exactly going on? Why are the martial artist that me and Akane have faced before are getting beaten up for?" Ranma-kun asked himself of those questions, scratching the side of his head in confusion at this situation that is going on right how, as he thought about it on his mind. "Why are me and Akane are connected to this? And why are we being not attack by this guy yet?"
"I wish that I knew, my son..." Nodoka answer her son's series of questions at this as she put her hand on his right shoulder. "I really wished that I knew..."
Kasumi, on the other hand, was thinking to herself silently, as she remember the words from her savior that told her of still ever so clearly, wondering of what he exactly meant by those words of his that he spoke. She wonder what kind of experience that her own savior have to influence him into saying those meaning of the words that made her grow lost thought for a few moments and was starting to get a headache from overthinking it. Akane then notice the sudden distance look on her older sister's expression and spoke to her.
"Something the matter, Kasumi?" Akane asked. Kasumi look to her youngest sidling before flashing her sister a innocent and guilty look.
"It's nothing, Akane. I was just thinking of something." Kasumi answer with a innocent smile on her face.
There was a silence that loomed over the washitu room... before Kasou-Taiso suddenly whizz by. "LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!" Everyone was silent from what they just saw fly pass the room they were in... before Ranma-kun got up from his spot.
"You know what? I'm gonna find either Happosai or Gel, and ask one of them." Ranma said as he stretch out his limbs after getting up from the floor.
"What for exactly, Ranma?" Akane ask her fiance, as she curiously wonder of what Ranma-kun is exactly thinking in his mind.
"To prepare a meeting for all of the martial artist that were attacked by this guy at the dojo. After all, me and you know that I don't want to sit here and wait around and do nothing while the other martial artists that we know and faced are being attacked. So i'm not going to wait around and let the problem come to us. I want fix it as soon as possible, before it get really serious."
"Good idea. I'm gonna come with you on that."
A day later...
It was now already a day later since Ranma and Akane when out to find either Gel or Happosai, which they have found both. Ranma, Akane, and the two centuries old male elders were now sitting in inside the Tendo Dojo, along with the martial artists that were attacked and have been beaten down to a pulp (except for a few that were not martial artists at all and join the meeting out of interest), most notably: Soun, Genma (in his Panda form) with Nodoka sitting beside right him, Ukyo and Konatsu, Hinako Ninomiya, four of Ranma and Akane's friends (Yuka, Sayuri, Hiroshi, and Daisuke), Pantyhose Taro with his girlfriend Morningwood sitting beside him, Ryoga with his girlfriend Akari also sitting beside him, Shampoo with Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung sitting beside her right to left, Cologne, Mousse, Pink and Link, Ryu Kumon, and, surprisingly enough, Herb and his two bodyguards Mint and Lime (although he was twitching in complete annoyance at Lime and Mint as they were currently fawning over the two different Amazon twins, Ling-Ling & Lung-Lung and Pink & Link right now).
Everyone were conversing with each other, mostly about the mysterious martial artist and his reasons for why he is doing it, before Gel called out loud to everyone in entire room with his voice alone.
"Alright, everyone! Enough chit-chat! The meeting is now in session!" Gel said, causing the room to go silence as everyone became quiet when they heard his voice. Once everyone was quiet and were now paying attention, Gel begun the meeting. "Okay. I'm pretty sure that all of you know why that we're all here." Everyone murmering with each other of what Gel have said as they all do agree with Gel of why they were all here before he continue to speak to them. "As all of you know, we martial artists (except for a couple of some certain people) are being attacked and beating down by a mysterious martial arist whose identity we still don't know about yet for over the past few weeks now. The only clue and connection, , that we all got between these "fights" is that all of you have faced and fought either Ranma or Akane in the past. Frankly, Ranma and Akane here are not going to wait for the problem itself to come right to them and fix itself, and by what is going on right now, I agreed with them on that one and I'm pretty sure some of you do also." Everyone were then murmering in agreement again at what he said, and by extansion, Ranma-kun and Akane's feelings about this situation as well, before Gel then continue to speak to them. "Since the police themselves and a few of their experience detectives are still invastigating behind the reason for these attack, but it's going slowly since there are absolutely no clue of what this guy look like. The only other clue that we got is one huge footprint of this guy and that he wear a purple cloak around his entire body, concealing his true identity. Look we have to tried our best guesses, why the reason this mysterious martial artist is attacking most of us and what is his motivation behind it. I guess we have to get a clue for one of these reasons by recounting your personal story with your counter and battle with him. What happen exactly in your battle against him and either what were you doing before it suddenly happen or what kind of injuries that you have received from the fight? Don't be shy into telling us and be truthful about it." Gel explained to everyone. There was complete silence over room as everyone was quiet, waiting for one of them to speak first... before Soun raised his hand. "Soun Tendo. Please tell us your story."
"Me and Genma were out drinking during that." Soun said, beginning his and Genma's own account of what happen when they counter him. "We were walking home from the local bar in the area before we were attacked by him. He manage to broke both of my arms and one of Genma's arms during the fight before Genma manage to make a fake version of himself out of the signs that he use previously with his only good arm and manage to tricked the attacker attacking the fake panda into it before Genma slip into Umi-Sen Ken and got us out of that fight before we got to the nearest hospitial."
"I see, I see..." Gel said, noting that this was first recorded attack of him, before he spoke to Ukyo. "What about you, Ukyo?"
"I've sustain a concussion from being hit over my hand with my own battle spatula when he was holding it, putting my body though it and giving it a hole in its blade." Ukyo said before she frown at the memory of that fight on that day, her head still feeling the throb of the pain when that happen. "I didn't know how he manage to grab and pull my battle spatula from my hand easily before he then use it against me. Konatsu manage to fight him for at least a while before he grab his scarf and throw him right into the wall. That finally ended the fight before he then walk away from us."
"Ouch..." Ranma said with a grimace, as he gave a sympathic look to his old friend, before he then notice something, or rather, a lack of it, as he didn't any family trio of a certain samurai wannabe, a crazy martial art gymnast, and a nutjob of a principle, when he ask about it. "Huh? Hey, where's one of the Kuno? They'll bound to make a enterance at any given moment..."
"They were all beaten up at once by that guy too." Hiroshi said, answering Ranma's question, as he told him of what he heard. "In fact, from what I heard, they were beaten so badly that the doctor aren't sure if their bodies will make a full recovery or not within an year, but that just the rumors of what I heard."
"Yeah, but have you heard Ms. Ninomiya fight against the attacker? She tried to drain him of his battle aura." Daisuke said as he told them. "But he didn't fight back. He didn't even bother to lift one finger at her. Why? Because this time, her strategem backfired again, like how she've tried to absorb Kasou-Taiso's battle aura, knocking her unconscious."
"It was no fair! He cheated!" Hinako complained about it, like a small child that she mentally and physically was at the moment. Everyone just ignored her complaining before Gel then ask Ryoga, noticing a thick bandage around the top side of his skull.
"So Ryoga, what about you?"
"It all begun when I was trying to find my way back home..." Ryoga said as he begun his story of his run in with the mysterious attack. "He got my attention when he flick a peddle while I was walking by the side street he was in before I've sensed it and dodge the peddle... which instantly destroyed the wall right behind me. When I ask him of who he is, he just told me that his name doesn't matter. However, what he did told me is that he claim that he was going to give me a fight... without even using either his fists or his feets to defeat me, only his tongue. I got mad by that claim of his before I attack and begun the fight with him, thinking that he was just some overconfidence coward, but however, he have shown me he was not joking around during the fight as he easily dodge all of my flurry of punches and kicking at him. He've even manage to dodge my Shishi Hokodan once. All before he suddenly dodge one of my punches and came to my right side before defeating me, staying true to his words, by using his tongue to strike the side of my head, putting a minor crack on my skull and knocking me unconscious from it."
Almost everyone were quite shock of what they heard from Ryoga, even through Ranma have faced many powerful opponents, he was still consider a powerful rival of Ranma. Him being so defeated that so easily, from just one strike of this attacker's tongue no less, was shocking and made them more uneased by this, scared for a couple of them, some of them whispering to each other. That was when the silence was broke when Pantyhose Taro spoke after taking a breath and a sigh of confirmation. "So I guess the strength of this guy is geninue."
"So you want to tell us your personal counter too?" Gel asked with an raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, and it was just right after I have unexpectly ran into Rouge." Pantyhose Taro said and explained before he begun to tell them his own counter. "We were in the middle of throwing insults at each other... before he suddenly appeared and attack us at once. Luckily for us, there was a fountain full of cold water that was close to us, so we splash in and we transformed into our cursed form before we then fought him all at once. Despite this, however, we barely did any damage to him in our cursed forms, even a few dozen lightning bolts of Rouge's full-powered Flames of the Storm technique, the same one that knocked me out combine with the impact of the fall for a few minute, didn't even fazed him at all."
"What?! Rouge's Flame of the Storm technique didn't even fazed him at all?!" Ranma-kun asked as he and everyone were completely shock of what they heard.
"Yeah..." Pantyhose Taro answered as he remember the memory of the fight itself, making him badly shake a bit at that memory, causing Morningwood to tighten her hand around his own, before he continue to speak. "Anyway... he, on the other hand, absolutely destroyed us to the point we were in full body cast for a full week, which we were lucky that we're turn back to our original forms with warm water, after he was done with us and finishing the fight, with my girlfriend and a couple of doctors and nurses that were checking keeping us accompy while we were healing."
This have caused everyone murmer to themselves and to each other at this development, seemingly seeing that, whoever the identity of the mysterious martial artist was, being much more powerful than they previously thought, if he was able to take down both Pantyhose Taro and Rouge in their cursed forms at once so easily, before they all quiet down again.
"Alright then..." Gel said, keeping his emotion in check thanks to his centuries of experience, as he begun to see a pattern and having a feeling of déjà vu at this, before he spoke to his mother, his grand daughter, and his pupil. "Mother. Shampoo. And Mousse. I believe it's one of your turns to tell your personally counter and battle with him, since all of you three were there at the time. I do believe that you would speak first about it, Mom, if either Shampoo or Mousse doesn't want to talk about it."
Both Shampoo's and Mousse's expression suddenly turn into that which seems to be frozen in a rictus of terror on their faces. Cologne did a better job at not showing it, but it was there, if you looked carefully, as she spoke. "I see..." She said, before she had to swallow a couple of times, before she told them. "Yes. He attacked us as well. Right in front of the Nekohanten no less, while Gel was out on a doing errand of getting the mail from the village. I couldn't believe it at first, but I was vitually helpness. And that was after he nearly beaten both twins, Ling-Ling & Lung-Lung and Pink & Link despite using all of their skills and techniques, before he suddenly attacked us. I haven't faced anything quite so overwhelming in the last hundred years. I... I need to contract the other elders of our village and the other villages soon. Not any further. My people... it would appear." She took a deep breath to calm down her nerves. "I think that this is an enemy that we do not dare antagonize. If he wish to retaliate against one of us."
Some of them then nodding quite grimly with her, agreeing with Cologne on that statement, before Shampoo then spoke. "Not believe he hurt Shampoo like that! Skill were terrifying! Scary!" She shuddered. "Shampoo not think even airen is that powerful!"
"What happen to Mousse?" Ranma-kun asked, wondering about Mousse's part of the fight. "Did he fought him?"
Mousse frozed in complete fear as Shampoo closed her eyes in remembered pain. "He... he try. Shampoo never seen so much chain come out of robes. Wrapped around entire body. But not work. He shatter chain with strength. Grab one of chain to pull Mousse and finished him instantly with one punch to the chest. Sending him flying into wall. Injuring him. Gravely. His body still healing and won't be fighting for a while."
Almost everyone shrudder at it. Not only that this martial artist attacker was particulary some sort of powerhouse monster, but he was no non-sense and dead serious. Silence have loom over the inside of the dojo again... before Yuka spoke as asked one of the three. "So he was attacking Ling-Ling & Lung-Lung and Pink & Link before he attack you three?"
"Yes."
"I have heard that another pair of twin got attack too, but they weren't so lucky." Yuka said.
"You mean Natsume and Kurumi?" Sayuri asked, which Yuka nodded, before she spoke, in a nervious tone of voice. "I heard about that too. I heard that they were beaten badly, but they said that Natsume got the blunt of it. It was so bad that while he manage to broke some of Kurumi's bones in the fight, mostly her arm and a few of her ribs, while he have utterly destroyed Natsume in the fight before he've snap and broken her back, mostly her spine, after he just have given her a speech that have broken her, mentally."
Akane was shocked by what she heard from them. Sure, Natsume and Kurumi did took the claim of her and Ranma's inheritance of the Dojo from them, they were still pair of nice girls and didn't do anything wrong other than the mention above due to a misunderstanding that happen in the past and plus promising not, before she then ask her longtime friends in an worried tone of voice. "They are okay? Are both Kurumi and Natsume alright?"
"Yeah, they are. However..." Yuka answered before she then told Akane the bad news part of it. "The doctor said that due to her back is now broken and she's now confine to a wheelchair, she won't able to fight or do martial arts again unless she had extensive surgery."
Most of everyone felt sadness and sympathy to Natsume and Kurumi, especially Natsume, of what they are put through, it had lasted for a while before Ryu Kumon spoke in order for him to distract everyone of what they just recently heard.
"Anyway, I think it's my turn now to tell my counter with him." Ryu said. Everyone then turn their attention to him before he told them his own personal counter. "I was out in the woods near Tokyo, training and testing out my techniques that I have developed on my own, before he've gotting my attention when he threw a log right at me, which I easily dodge, and walk out of the wood that he threw it from. He told me that he wanted to fight me, which I agree to, since I wanted to tried out my new technique on a opponent. Even through my own new technique would have given Ranma a run for his money, he've manage to tank all my attacks as they did barely any damage to his body, but I kept on fighting despite me fully knowing it that my technique barely work on him before he finally and swifty defeated me, but he state that since I've manage to impress enough with my resolved and determination to beat him despite using my new technique that I haven't tested it out yet, he decide to spared me of giving me a brutal defeat."
This caused everyone to murmer to each other interest, seeing it was a 180 degree difference of what he usually did to his opponent(s) in a fight. Gel, however, with a sweat running down on the side of his head, was seeing the pattern between the stories and begun to suspect that it was something, or rather, someone, from his past... before he shook his head and push his concerns in the back of his head for later as it was not the time right now, before he then spoke to Herb. "What about you, Herb? What's your personal counter with him?"
"Well... it all begun when we enter Nerima. I was heading toward where Ranma lives with my two bodyguards, Mint and Lime, since I wanted to fight him to kill time and my boredom. However, that was when he got our attention by throwing a Yamato No Orochi right over our heads before we were attack by him when he suddenly appear and threw his fist at me and Mint, which we manage to dodge, before it hit the ground, creating a crater in the middle of the road. He told me that he want to fight me, to see my skills and abilities." Herb said as he told his personal counter with the mysterious martial artist. "Mint fought him first, using his enhanced speed of his wolf heritage to dodge the unknown martial artist's attacks while also throwing his throwing knives at him with it too. However, all of Mint's attacks did absolutely no damage to him, not even his Wolf Fang Meteor Bullets technique, as all of his throwing knives were shattered upon impact on his body, all before he know where Mint was gonna attack next and, with just only his index finger, poke Mint right on his chest, instantly breaking all of his ribs and sending him flying before he've then gone through first a wall, then a few houses, and finally another wall right before landing against a third wall. All but instantly finishing his fight with Mint." Herb then clench his fist together in frustration. "I was shock by what I just saw before I became enrage by this. Then he ask me if I wanted to fight him now, which I gladly answer and accepted his request. Soon as the fight begun, I attack him with everything that I got, using every single special techniques that I have learned. However, despite using all of my techniques, he was unfazed by them as he easily plow right through my attack techniques like they were Mint's throwing knives, but I manage to evade all of his attacks by flying in the air... before he suddenly jumped into the air itself and got to the same height that I was flying in, much to my shock. All before he struck my head by doing an karate chop, ending the fight and finishing my battle with him, before I struck into the ground by the mere force of his attack, creating a crater in the process, before he left the scene of my battle with him. Luckily for me and Mint, which I was glad and thankful for, Lime, who got distracted and was occupy during the fight with a couple of girls checking the Yamato No Orochi, came to the scene and was uninjured. He had arrived too late on the scene to interfere with the fight against my opponent, but he had been in time to immediately scoop me and Mint up and run with us in his arms and on his shoulders all of the way to the nearest institutions that I believe to be called a hospital, something that my father and advisor have mention when I was young. However..." Herb closed his eyes, that were twitching in annoyance... because he was annoyed, as he remember of how well that gone. "Lime and Mint then started to fawning over the nurses that were taking care of us, much to their embarrassment and my annoyance at them."
Lime and Mint then nerviously and sheepishly chuckle at it while a pair of sweatdrops appear on the side of their head as Herb glared at them in annoyance. However, Ranma-kun was shocked that Herb was defeated that easily before he spoke. "So you were defeated by him easily?"
"Well, my arrogance got the better of me as I thought he was just another weak opponent... only for him to prove me wrong about that, but yes." Herb answered Ranma-kun's question. "But it made sense, since, as I've mention before, throw a Yamato No Orochi over us."
This caused everyone to murmer and talk to each other at the light of this development about this unknown unstoppable fighter that was attacking them. However, Gel was now thinking to himself silently as he now thought about the pattern eariler now that everyone were finished with their personal encounters of him, having already notice them in the accounts of all of the martial artists in the Tendo Dojo at this moment. He saw of what were consisant parts of the pattern: This mysterious martial artist have overwhelming strength, speed, durable, endurance, and stamina, beating all of his opponents and destroying them in battle easily, and wearing a purple cloak over his entire body to conceal his identity. 'Hmm... This have overwhelming power in just about every category, completely destroying them in a fight, and wear a purple cloak? I wonder... what about his height? No one said of how tall he was. Wait a minute... his footprint!' Gel thought about the footprint of this mysterious martial artist and he remember that tallest human in the recent part of history was over 8.11 feets (2.4 meters) tall and the size of his shoe alone were between 47 to 48 cm and message from Laysan himself of what happen at Ho'o Peak a month ago. With those in mind, he connected all 3 of those patterns and came to one conclusion in his mind before he spoke to himself. "It was him."
Happosai heard of what Gel said to himself before he then spoke to his biological son. "So you've faced him before?" He asked.
"Oh yeah... I did."
Cologne had listen to their conversation with each other, now that she know of what they are dealing with thanked to it, as all three centuries old elders were now silence, uneased by the thought of it. Ranma-kun and Akane notice the aura of the uneasy silence over them, and by extention, the entire room of the Tendo dojo, before the blue-haired girl spoke. "Something is wrong?"
"Yeah, what's the matter?"
The three elders turned to look at the engaged and Gel open his mouth to answer. However, before he could, something suddenly bursted through the wooden pair of doors of the dojo, flinging them across the room, before struck upon the wall at the end of the Tendo dojo. This startled everyone from the shock of what just happen before they all calm down and took a closer look at what is in the wall, which was reveal to be a spear with an letter attached to it that appear to be a challenge for Ranma and Akane, which read this:
"Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo-
You may not know me, but I know who you are by listening to the rumors and watching you from afar. Despite what you may think, no, I don't have a grudge against two of you or any relation to you two, like the most of your opponents that you've faced. I just wanted to have a fight and I want to fight with you two.
However, I will give you two the hardest fight in your entire lives. Even more so than your battle with Saffron himself. I have already settled on which site of where we will fight. Meet me at around the base of Mount Fuji. There we'll shall have a battle to the death to see which one of us will live or dead at the end of this fight. Or I will repeatly punch the ground around the volcano until it cause a eruption, either if you don't come or lose. Trust me, I keep my promises."
Everyone in the dojo express confusions on all of their faces at the letter... before Kasumi came into the dojo with a worried look on her face, which Akane quickly notice before she ask her older sister. "What's wrong, Kasumi?"
"Everyone..." Kasumi said before she then told them. "There's something on the news that you should all see."
With what she said, everyone immediately rushed outside of the dojo to the washitsu room and got to it before they watched the TV and listen to what is going on right now.
"Breaking news! Mount Fuji is appear to be active once more! Scientists aren't sure of why it is suddenly now actived once more after more than nearly three hundred years of dormancy, but they theorized that some type of distance is causing it..."
Everyone soon realized that this mysterious and seemingly unstoppable martial artist was not joking around and was dead serious about causing Mount Fuji to erupt. Gel was silent at this before he breath in calmly and let out a relax breath... before he then spoke to Ranma-kun and Akane. "Ranma and Akane..." The half boy and short-temper girl turn their head to the dark warrior, who turned his face to face them, revealing his eyes were now open and revealing his amber eyes, with an serious look in them, before he then told them. "I'm gonna tell about this opponent that you'll be facing..."
"... He is someone and an opponent that I've faced back, when I was in my prime and before I've rediscovered Hinyamata No Orochi Shōten Ha technique. Despite using every part of my skills and experience that i've learned at that point, I was still defeated by him, but he was impressed enough for him to spared my life. I got a message from Laysan that he attacked Palace for some unknown reason that he had, like he want to check out to confirm for himself or another reason like that. All that I know right now is that he's going to be probably the most hardest, dangerous, and powerful opponent that you two will ever face in your entire lives..."
"Man, I didn't know that Gel was defeated that easily by this guy back in his prime..." Ranma-kun said to himself, thinking of what Gel said to them with the words from him still ringing in his head, as he and Akane were now right at the base of Mount Fuji itself, along with Ryoga, Pantyhose Taro, and Herb with Mint and Lime. "I mean, he is right on the same level as that old prevert."
"I feel the same way as you, Ranma..." Akane said, now in her favorite gi, as told her fiance. "Still, if he is that strong and is that serious that Gel said he was, then we have to get serious about it too."
"Yeah..."
"Which remind me... why did you take 5 of us along with you?" Ryoga interrupted Ranma-kun and Akane's conversation with each other as he ask his question to them.
"Just to be prepared in case of things, Ryoga." Akane answered before she told him. "Beside, if one of us needed to rest or is unconscious, so one of you could fight him until one of us get back in. And since you five are easily the strongest martial artists that me and Ranma know of, we've brought you guys with us just in case. Of course, I am pretty sure some of you have a grudge or two with him since he've beaten you guys badly."
"Oh, you have no idea." Pantyhose Taro deadpan.
"Oh, most certainly of it." Herb comment on it... before he and Pantyhose Taro then knocked out both Lime and Mint with a single punch to their dome, evidence by the growing lumps right on top of their heads, as they were looking at Akane's boobs with a drooling expression on their faces, much to their annoyance with a twitching vein on their temples.
"... You just want to see me get beaten up again, do you?" Ryoga said bluntly with a deadpan look, knowing the bits of his recent loses against them, causing Ranma to laugh out loud while Akane giggle at him before the half boy then patted him on the back.
"Come on, Ryoga! You know that we're all of us martial artist from Furinkan are either mind-numblingly stupid, utterly bat shit insane, or whatever kind of combination of them." Ranma said to him with a laugh.
However, their fun was cut short were the ground itself suddenly shook, causing to float up in the air for a second before sitting back on the soil of the ground. It was all before a sound of explosion was heard as black smoke rise from the peak of Mount Fuji. Suddenly, their sixith sense have suddenly alerted them of something coming from the now active volcano and with a massive battle aura, the same one that they've felt before. They turn their heads to see in the direction of where it is coming... before a tall figure clad in an concealing tyrian purple cloak walk out of the misty fog and stop in front of them.
Ranma and Akane immediately got up from the ground and turn to face him... all before the mysterious martial artist spoke to the engaged couple. "You two came. Good. Just what I was expecting... Ranma and Akane."
(Part 3: White Tiger of the West Byakko)
"I was expecting that you two would come. I am your opponent, Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo."
Ranma and Akane just stood in silence with a serious expression on their faces as they look at the mysterious martial artist, who is clad in a purple cloak, before he then notice the other five martial artists: Ryoga, Pantyhose Taro, and Herb with his two bodyguards, Mint and Lime, and spoke. "And look what we have here. I see that you have brought some allies along with you. I can guess that a few of whom want to defeat me for giving them their most humiliating defeat by any opponents that they've faced."
"Humiliating?! Do you have any idea of how many humiliation and hardship that I got in my life?!" Ryoga yelled angrily at him with in his voice before he begun into attacking him. "I'll show you humiliation!"
"Ryoga, wait-!"
It was too late as Ryoga already charged at the unknown martial artist, yelling out his battle cry at him, as Ranma-kun and Akane's shots fell on deaf ears, before he swing his fist right at him. The mysterious martial artist just give unimpress huff at the no-sense-of-direction boy before he easily dodge Ryoga's attack by jumping backward a few times, just before Ryoga fired his Shishi Hokodan at him, causing to him to dodge by moving to the right, as he then tried to throw his fist at him one more time. However, he easily dodge it when he suddenly as Ryoga punch the air at the spot where he once was with his cloak drifting in the air, much to the lost boy's shock, before the enigmatic martial artist grab his cloak and wrap it around him before then throwing him down to the ground with it, unwrapping Ryoga from the cloak as he was thrown to the dirt as his body skitted toward Ranma-kun and Akane's feets with the cloak itself flying away with the gustlings of the wind, its purpose to him now finished. Ryoga lifted his head up with a grunt and a fierced expression, revealing that he was alright and still want to fight him, but Ranma-kun and Akane could speak to him, the mysterious martial artist spoke again with his rich, deep, powerful, intense, and baritone voice.
"Why do you bother to charge in and fight me headfist without a thought? If I've beaten you before, then I can beat you again."
They all turn their heads to where they heard his voice and saw the mysterious martial artist with his arms folded on his chest, revealing his true appearance now without his tyrian purple cloak on him to conceal it and showing what he look like: He appeared to be a young man that about around their age (much to their surpised) who was over 9 feet tall with a well-proportion muscular and toned body except that his arms was about 10% longer than a normal person, a handsome-looking and sort of femine face that was sorta of similiar to Ranma and Akane, hands with nails that were sharp as a tiger's claws, a pure white hair with black stripes and hindlights at the tips of them, and blue eyes with a serious and cold look that were like that of a white tiger, as he wore a sleeveless leather armor on his torso, a pair of large shoulders pad on his shoulder with one diamond and red coral trims around them in each one, four metal bracelet cuffs on his arms and legs, a traditional chinese-style pant, a pair of tradition chinese-style boots, and a pair of leather fingerless gloves on his hands with eight pearls surrounding one ruby each embedded on the back of them. What surprised them the most of just how similiarly he is to Lime greatly, making them wonder if he is somehow his father or at least related to him, before they pushed back that thought for right now as Ryoga then growled at him. "Why you-"
"Ryoga, stop!" Akane said, stopping Ryoga in his track, before she told him. "This is not your fight! He want us!"
Ryoga just look at Akane with a blank look. "But..."
"Akane's right, Ryoga. And you know she's right about this." Ranma-kun said to his friend and rival as he and his fiancee step then forward. "This guy want to fight us. And us alone. So get back."
"They're right, you know." The unknown martial artist comment bluntly to Ryoga.
Grating his teeths together at this, but knowing full well that they were right about it, Ryoga relented and move with the other are.
Ranma-kun and Akane then step forward once more and walk to him until they were now in front of him a couple of feets away, standing face-to-face, eye-to-eye, at each other, looking with their own eyes in complete silence. They didn't move a inch while the wind blew across the battlefield they were on... before Ranma-kun then ask him. "First thing first, what's your name? We don't know to what to called you by."
"My name is not of importance. However, since this is going to be a battle to the death, it's doesn't matter now, so i'll tell you anyway." The mysterious martial artist said to Ranma-kun and Akane... before he then told them. "It's Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu."
"Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu?" Akane said.
"Yes. And if you were wondering, to get it out of the way... Yes, it was me who have fired that beam made from my battle aura, which was my Sennami (Battle Wave) blast technique. And why did I attack every opponents that you've faced before? I wanted to wanted to see of how far you have come. However, locating them was thanked to him."
Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu point his left thumb to the left, everyone turning their head to the direction that he was pointing... to reveal Kasou-Taiso on the sideline while waving his hand at them. "HELLO!"
"... God dammnit, Kasou-Taiso." Ranma-kun muttered.
"You really like to make huge amount of mayhem and chaos in our lives and every where you go, huh?" Akane snarked right at the Chaos Emperor.
"Hey. It's my job to make chaos everywhere I go. So deal with it, bitches." Kasou-Taiso said to them with a smug grin on his face.
"Now then... enough talk now. It's time to fight."
Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu drop into his battle stance, starting the beginning of their battle. Instinctively, Ranma-kun and Akane immediately dropped into their own battle stance, now ready to fight him. There was silence over the battlefield, as one of them waited for the other to make the first move. Ranma-kun and Akane noted that Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu's own battle aura was seemed to be around Happosai, Gel, and Motomumata's level, making them wonder if he is holding back and wonder if he was actually the same person that have defeated Gel long ago back in his prime, but they push those thoughts for now into the back of their minds.
The only sound that was made was the gusting wind that over the quiet battlefield, rusting the leaves of the tall trees and the blades of the gree grass in its wake, as the chaos magnet couple and the mysterious martial artist stood in silence, glaring at each other...
... All before a dip of a water droplet fall from one of leaves of the tree and hit upon the field of grass.
Ranma-kun and Akane made their first move by immediately dashing toward Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu from two different angles, attacking him from different direction, as Ranma-kun thrown his right fist right at him, but Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu easily block it with the bracelet cuff of his right forearm, before Akane throw her left fist at him, attempting to do a liver shot, which he block with the palm of his left hand. Ranma-kun then manage to get a hit on Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu by flipping himself upside down using his blocking arm and doing a 360 crescent kick on his neck, his feet striking the back of his back precisely. However, Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu wasn't fazed by this attack from Ranma-kun before he launch him into the air by throwing him off of his forearm, but Ranma-kun landed by doing a backflip and landed on the ground on both of his feets before facing Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu again, as Akane quickly jumped back from Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu to avoid from getting attack as well.
Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu turn his eyes toward Ranma-kun before he clench his left hand together into a tight fist and coiling it up backward... before throwing his fist, the movement of his arm were so swift that he'd created and launched an vacuum of different air pressures that have same kinetic energy and the same equvalent of the 800mm shells that were fired from one of the Schwerer Gustavs of World War II, right at Ranma-kun. When he saw the vacuum sphere of air pressure differences, thanks to the experiences of the Umi-Sen Ken and the Yama-Sen Ken techniques created by his own bumbling father, coming right at him like an speeding cannon shell that was unstoppable when it was fired, Ranma-kum immediately dodge the incoming attack at by jumping to the right, the attack barely missing him as it blitzed right by him while heading straight toward the part of the forest that surround Mount Fuji before it destroyed and obliterated several sets of tree in its path, leaving behind a long trail of destruction made of broken and destroyed trees laying on the forest floor from its wake... with a wooden sign that is standing by them that said "Don't oblitarlate trees with air vacuum attacks".
Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu then turn his eyes on Akane, which she quickly notice and prepared herself for whatever he's gonna do, before he open up his right hand... and swing it backward, creating 5 glimmering sprectum-coloured blades, made of both vacuum and ki, and sending them right toward Akane. When she saw this, Akane instinctively and immediately dodged the attack by arching her own back backward, causing the five flying sprectum blades to fly right above her and missed her completely before all of them cut another several sets of tree down in their path... with another wooden sign that is standing by them that said "Don't cut down another set of trees".
Those attacks of his were his Bakuskinkūryūseiha (Destructive Vacuum Meteor Blast) and Hinijisōgaouda (Fire Rainbow Claws Strike) attack techniques.
When Ranma-kun saw this with his own eyes and see an opening right now, he knew that this was his chance now and immediately dashed right toward Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu before delivering a series of sucker punchs at his stomach. However, this didn't affected Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu at all and just merely let him noticed him before turning his head down and seeing Ranma-kun in front of him before then curling his right hand into another tight fist and swung it in an hook punch right at him, forcing Ranma-kun to dodge it again by jumping backward, just before it missed him and hit the ground instead, creating an 5 meter wide crater in the process before Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu then jump himself out of it.
Ranma cursed this and grinded his teeth together, now knowing after dodging his attacks that he gonna need to use more quicker tactics if he and Akane were gonna win this fight, before he then shouted to his fiancee. "AKANE!"
"Right!" Akane yelled, knowing what her fiance wanted, before she took out an water bottle from her gi and throw it to Ranma-kun, which he caught it with hands before splashing cold water onto himself and turning into his female form, which he was thankful for as he told his fiancee in gratitude.
"Thanks, Akane!"
"You're welcome!"
Ranma-chan then rushed in right at Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu before delivering a series of jabs right at him while Akane ran by them to get behind him, but it didn't affect him at all before he tried to swing his fist at the cursed boy. But this was Ranma-chan's plan all along as he dodge it by flipping himself right over Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu's head, his fist missing his target completely, and throwing himself right into the air. He then landed right by his own fiancee before Ranma-chan and Akane then jumped into the air and flew themselves toward Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu before delivering a flying kick to his back. However, again it didn't affect him before he swung his leg around in an 360 crescent kick at them, causing the engaged couple jump backward again to dodge it before Ranma-chan and Akane landed back on the ground as Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu put his leg down to face them, his expression still stoic and serious.
The battle itself continue and raged on as Ranma-chan and Akane continue to consistly dodge and evade his incoming attacks while continuing on to fighting him with their own attacks as Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu continue to fight and attack with his raw and refined strength while blocking or his body easily taking the hits from them.
As the battle continue on. While on the sidelines... the five martial artists themselves looked in astonishment, or at least, a few impressed, by what they are seeing with their eyes in the battle between the engaged couple and the mysterious martial artist while consistly dodge the incoming attack created by Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu, all as Kasou-Taiso continue to hover in place in the air itself and looking at fight with a neutral expression on his face like a spectator who just want to enjoy the fight itself... before a few of them then frown in confusion as they have notice something rather odd. When they first fought Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu during his attacking and battling spree on them, he was surprisingly incrediblely fast for his size, at least around between Ryoga's and line range of speed, but yet, for some reason, he's far and much more slower that he is right now as he fought against Ranma-chan and Akane. It's have made them wonder if Ranma and Akane have gotten better somehow.
However, their question of the reason of why about this will be soon answer for them...
Ranma-chan then throw his fist right at him, but Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu, suddenly and unexpectedly, responded to this is to dodge it... by unexpectly jumping straight into the air. This made everyone confused for a moment, except for Kasou-Taiso, before they look up and saw Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu high above them in the air with their own eyes.
"... Now it is the time..." Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu muttered to himself before, with a single click of each four bracelet cuffs on his arms and legs, unlocking them, before he then tossed all 4 of them off of his arms and legs, sending them free falling in the air. Almost everyone were confused by this as to why did he flung off his bracelet cuff into the air.
'What the...? Why did he do that? What is he doing by casting off a couple of normal items off of his-' Ranma-chan and Akane mentally mused the same thought about it to themselves... all before when a few of those 4 same bracelet cuffs hit the ground and suddenly created large smoking craters from their collision upon it, as one of them instead crashed right into a tree, splitting it into oblivion before creating the final crater made from their drop in the air by the now destroyed tree... with a wooden sign that was standing by them that said "Don't make crater or destroyed trees with ridiculously heavy items".
All seven of the martial artists were shock of what they saw... before they quickly look up and see that Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu was still in the air just before he suddenly dashed downward toward it as he impacted the ground, kicking a lot of dust and creating a dust cloud rising from the crater in the process. He then slowly walk out of it like it was nothing before he give a death stare to Ranma-chan and Akane, with his expression still cold, stoic, and serious, before he spoke to them.
"... Now it is time for me to get serious..." Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu suddenly disappear from their sight like a flash before Ranma-chan and Akane felt something whizz by them. They stood there in silence... before the wind blew pass them and felt the coldiness of it on their skin coming from an certain spot of their and look down to see that the upper parts of their clothing, on the right side on Ranma-chan and the left side on Akane, were cut and torn into what appeared to be claws mark before the engaged couple turn their heads to the direction of their backs were facing and saw Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu standing right behind them with his back turn toward face to them as both of his arms were extended outward with his clawed-nail hands before the cursed boy and the macho tomboy then stared at each other in complete silence, being dumbfounded from disbelief at what they saw just happen. Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu then stood straight up right at his true height before he turn around to face the engaged couple and told them. "I was restricting my speed with those four weights on my arms and legs to see your abilities. Now that I have seen them, I can get serious now."
Ranma-chan and Akane realized in both awe and horror at the implication that when fighting against him with his speed restricted by those 4 small, but heavy weight that he was wearing around his forearms and his legs, they weren't even fighting him at his true power. But now that he have judge their abilities, he can now fight them at his true power.
Before Ranma-chan and Akane could even react, however, Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu then immediately dashed toward Akane, which was close to Mint's own speed, and came right up to her, close and personally, before he swung his left fist in a uppercut punch into her chest, causing to spit out some blood from her mouth by the force and refined strength of his punch before sending the former violent tombay flying across the air with her feets skitting across the ground due to them before she then used her feets to skit to a stop, but not before then dropping with one knee and puking out some more blood from her mouth onto the ground, due to those same force and refined strength.
Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu then dashed right toward Ranma-chan before he swing his right fist at him in a right hook punch, but the half boy manage to notice it and dodge it by jumping backward into the air just before he hit the ground, sending shockwave across the earth, cracking it. However, Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu then swung his left leg in a 360 crescent kick right at Ranma-chan, hitting the right side of his body before sending him flying across the air. Seeing the cursed boy coming straight at her, Akane back up for a bit just before she caught her fiance, hitting right into her, causing her to skit across the ground due to power of the force in Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu's kick before that same force toppled her over and cause her to fall right onto her back, right into one of the craters made by the battle itself.
Ranma-chan and Akane were breathing in and out, taking deep breaths in between, panting from the intense pain in their entire bodies that they were feeling from when they have felt the speed and strength of Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu's punch and kick, before the tomboy spoke to her fiance. "Ran... Ranma?"
"Ye... Yeah Akane?"
"He's... He's a monster... a monster on a completely different level... to the others we've faced... even Saffron..."
"Yeah... Yeah, I... I can see that... this... this guy is... is nothing that... that I can't describe but... but nothing as a monster..."
Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu was silence as he stood completely still... before he spoke at this. "Let's see if you two can survived this..." He said to himself... before the mysterious martial artist punch his right hand right into the ground and then ripping right out a massive piece of earth that was around between the size of the original Godzilla's 50 meters (164 feets) and Godzilla Earth's 300 meters (984 feets) heights as he hold it up with just one hand. Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu jumped right into the air and hurled it right at Ranma-chan and Akane, but they couldn't dodge the descending boulder from right above then in time due to the intense pain that they were still feeling thoughout their entire bodies before it then crashed and landed right on top of them , sending the couple down into underground of the rocks, embedding them deep below the earth...
(Part 4: The Heart Of Madness)
The five martial artists that were on the sidelines look in shock of what they have saw with their own eyes, with Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu landed right back on the ground, before they all slowly stared at the massive piece of rock that was covering right over Ranma-chan and Akane themselves above, blocking and preventing the couple from escaping the enclosed confined of their underground prison in complete silence... all before Ryoga let out an roar of anger at the sight of his two friends, Ranma-chan and Akane, being destroyed in battle and are now buried deep below the earth itself, all by Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu, before he shouted an enraged yell right at the mysterious martial artist himself with his eyes leaking tears of sadness. "DAMN YOU, LǍOHǓ JÙ SHÒU! PREPARED TO DEAD!"
"Ryoga, wait-" It was too late as Ryoga immediately charged with of his might right at Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu with berserker tears in his eyes. "That thickheaded idiot, charging without thinking it though first." Pantyhose Taro muttered to himself in a tone of annoyance at this before he splash cold water onto himself from the water bottle that he was carrying and transforming him into his cursed chimera form before heading into battle and went after Ryoga before he could do something really stupid.
Ryoga ran toward him with berserker tears before he swung his fists, rapidly, in an series of dozens upon dozens of punches in a rapid succession at the mysterious martial artist with all of his might. However, Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu look at him incoming in silence... and give a huff at this, as he then let him come at him... before he started to dodge his relentless attack, dodging every single one of Ryoga's punches with ease, as if they were nothing to him. This lasted for a bit until it was all before Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu suddenly have grab Ryoga's attacking left fist with his right hand out of the air that stopping his rapidly-firing punching attack, much to Ryoga's shock, and before finally punching him with a left hook punch across the right side of his face, sending Ryoga across the ground as his feets skitted and deepen themselves in it, making a long before he finally skit to a stop and fall onto one of his knees.
Ryoga then spit one of his teeths, specifically, one of his molars, out of his mouth, due to the pure refined strength and force of Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu's punch forcing it out of its socket, onto the ground and let out a enraged growl as he glared straight at the mysterious martial artist, who just look at him in complete silence with a still stoic and serious expression that seemingly cold, before Pantyhose Taro in his cursed form came right beside him.
"Damn it... why can't my punch or kick hit this guy?" Ryoga said to himself, frustrated by this... before he notice that Pantyhose Taro was giving him a deadpan look, that just all but basically saying "It's because you're a damn pigheaded moron, Ryoga", which have made Ryoga angry in utterly annoyance at this. "DON'T GIVE ME THAT LOOK, YOU PANTYHOSE BASTARD! HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER THAT I CAN'T GET A HIT SINCE I HAVE A THICKHEAD!" Ryoga yelled with a scrowling expression, which made a vein pop on Pantyhose Taro's head and it twitch in annoyance at what he is called by as he give a scrowling look in return, before something hit on Ryoga's own mind... but not litertially through, just metaphorally speaking. 'Wait a minute... if I can't hit with either my fist or legs, then what about...?' Then a idea pop up in Ryoga's head like a light blub turning on... until it then suddenly exploded into a million pieces, before he spoke to him. "Pantyhose Taro, can you district him for me?" He asked the cursed chimera. Pantyhose Taro just gave him a weird look with an raised eyebrow, much to Ryoga's annoyance. "DON'T GIVE ME THAT LOOK! JUST TRUST ME ON THIS ONE!"
Pantyhose Taro rolled his eyes as he flew into the air with his heron wings and fly right toward Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu, while Ryoga begun to think of and remember the most depressing things that have happen to him and remember it all too cleanly...
The mysterious martial artist wasn't sure of what Ryoga is planning, but he does have a pretty good guess of what it is and decide to see what is it before the Jusenkyo chimera throw a couple of punches right at him, which he easily block. Pantyhose Taro then swung his leg in a spin kick at him, which he dodge by jumping backward before Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu throw his fist in a uppercut punch at him, which he dodge in return by jumping backward also. Pantyhose Taro then swung one of his tentacles right at him, which Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu easily dodge by arching himself backward, before he jump into the air and thrown his left fist in a downward punch at the mysterious martial artist, but he then dodge the attack by flipping himself over backward, causing Pantyhose Taro's fist to miss him, before he landed right on both of his legs. He then tried to swing his right fist in a right hook punch right at him.
However, this time, Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu caught his fist with the palm of his right hand before he then tighten his grip around it. Pantyhose Taro quickly recongized and all knew too well of what is gonna happen next thanks to his own experience, all before Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu have then unleashed dozens and dozens of punches in such a rapid succession upon him that he've broke every single bones in his entire body once more before he finished his fight with Pantyhose Taro by doing a roundhouse kick with his right leg into his skull, sending him right into several sets of tree that he plow right into before laying on top of the destroyed trees.
Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu was now silence as he put his right leg down after finishing his fight with him... before he notice a pinkish-purple glow above and turn his head straight up to the air... to see a massive orb of chi that was around the size of a small mountain that is made from Ryoga's own depression.
The Musk Dysnasty Trio all realized of what he is going to do, since they've seen it before when they have fought him, Ranma, and Mousse on Horai Mountain for the Pot of Liberation, where it was kept at that time. All before Ryoga then shouted his attack.
"SHIN SHISHI HOKODAN!"
Once the pinkish-purple sphere of depress chi start descending from the heaven themselves, Herb and his two bodyguard Mint and Lime immediately put themselves farther away from the blast zone of the incoming Shin Shishi Hokodan as they don't want to be got up in it and have zero interest of being so. However, Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu stood absolutely still, not moving a single inch of his body, with his arms across of each other on his chest and his expression still not changing, looking at the sight of the globe of destruction coming right at him... all until it finally struck upon him, enveloping the mysterious martial artist into it.
Everyone that were still conscious watch in silence as the pinkish-purple glowing orb digging itself slowly right into the ground, making a crater in the process as it continue to dig into the earth itself... until it have suddenly stop in the midst of it. Everyone were confuse at what just happen before the Shin Shishi Hokodan have started to move slowly up and up... and up... and up... and up... and up... until it is reveal that Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu himself was the one who is pushing it upward, holding the true version of the Shishi Hokodan with just one of his hands, as he slowly walk out of the crater.
"Impressive... but not enough to kill me..." Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu said. He toss into the air and with a single slash of his clawed-nail hands, cleave the Shin Shishi Hokodan, causing 2 simultaneous explosions at once. The mysterious martial artist then walk out of the smoke and dust caused by the 2 explosions without a single scratch on his body...
Ryoga stared at him in shock and confusion... before he let out a roar of berserk rage and fury as he dash toward once more at Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu. "WHY?! Why can't I beat you?! Why can't I beat you with all my fullest of skills and abilities?!" He yelled in an mixed of complete frustration, confusion, and anger as he unleashed another rounds and rounds of punches and kick at him.
"I am quite impressed by your determination to defeat me. Ah, yes. But I was wondering..." Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu said... as he grab one of Ryoga's fist, breaking his hand with his strength alone, and breaking his arm with a punch, erecting a painful scream from him. "What would break first?" He said before striking him with a quick low kick from his right leg, breaking both of his legs, grasping in pure shock, and knee striking him in the torso, breaking all of his ribs, taking his own breath away. "Your spirit? Or..." He then elbow strike the back of his head, hitting Ryoga by shock as he slutter out blood from his mouth, before he use both of his hands to grab him by his shirt and lifted his body up into the air. "Your body?" With just one single swift motion, Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu drive Ryoga down across onto his knee, breaking and snapping his back, causing him to grasp and unable to yell in complete and utterly pain as more blood came out from his own mouth. "Here the difference between you and me. Your own pride is what cause you to not accept reality for a long time. But I have, on the other hand, have long accepted that I am too powerful for anyone to beat, but going to dead one day. So I suggest something: Wait for Ranma."
Without any more words to say, Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu cautiously throw Ryoga aside to the ground. However, Ryoga didn't make a sound or a move... as he was unable to have the will to fight him anymore as he was broken now, both in body and in spirit.
The trio from the Musk Dynasty have noticed that Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu was now looking at them, they having his full attention now. Herb instantly knew of why he was looking at them now. "Now look like we're the ones he want to fight now." He said.
"Then i'll fight him first!" Mint said.
"Mint, wait-!"
It was too late as Mint have already ran toward Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu at highest of his speed before sidestepping from him to the right, to avoid into getting direct contract like last time, as he hurl a quarter of his obsidian-made throwing knives right at the mysterious martial artist with a new version of his signature attack, the Obsidian Wolf Fang Meteor Bullets attack. Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu just stood still as all of the obsidian-made throwing knives thrown at him have just crack into many pieces upon contracting his body, before Mint decide to do it again with the same attack as he hurled the much bigger half of his obsidian-made throwing knives right at him. However, when Mint's second wave of obsidian-made throwing knives of his Obsidian Wolf Fang Meteor Bullets attack have just came near to him, Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu suddenly then flash his eyes... before, all in just one mere blurr, he manage to caught all of them at once without any trouble and was holding them all with no cuts nor bleeding on his hands, like if it was nothing at all. Mint was shocked before the wolf hybrid then jumped backward quickly to avoid being hit, but it didn't do any good as Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu drop all of the obsidian-made throwing knives to the ground... before in just one step, he immediately sprinted right toward him and caught up to him before he loom over Mint personally with the full height of his own body. "Haven't you seen it with your own eyes? My speed is quite near to yours. So that's means I can keep up with you." He said before he grab Mint's head with his left hand and smash him right into the ground, instantly knocking him out cold.
Herb and Lime were in shock of what they saw before the prince of the Musk Dynasty let out a enraged growl at this, filled with fury of bloodlust, as his aura burst up with life at the sight of him hurting one of his subjects and a few of the only ones that he consider friends before he let out a wrathful roar at Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu. "You dare to hurt one of my own subjects?! YOU'LL SHALL DEAD!" Herb instantly flew and bolt right toward at the mysterious martial artist before letting out a dozens upon dozens of supersonic punches right at him, but Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu just casually react to this, his expression still not changing, and nonchalantly dodge all of them with ease, like it was the easiest thing in the world to him, much to dragon-hybrid's own frustration and anger at this before he summon his ki-sword from one of his hands and tried to slice Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu's head right off with it... which it was easily block by his forearm, much to Herb's shock, before he then swung his fist in an downward punch, forcing him to dodge it by jumping backward. Grinding his own teeths together in complete frustration at this, Herb decide fired his own ki-blasts at him, but he block every one of them with only one hand and the other behind his back, much to the prince of the Musk Dynasty's outrage at this before he decide to use his most dangerous and powerful attack as he shouted the name of his attack. "HITO RYU-ZAN HA!" Herb fired several dozens of blades made of Ki from his hands as all of them went toward the mysterious martial artist himself. However... Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu just plow right through into the dozens and dozens of Ki blades attack like it was child's play.
This what finally froze Herb in his track by shock, as this technique was his most powerful and yet this man of unknown origin just went through like it was a everyday thing. He remained frozen before Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu rushed up beside him and deliver a punch into his stomach and a karate chop on his neck from his right hand, instantly knocking him out cold...
"HOOHOOHOO! This is freaking fucking awesome!" Kasou-Taiso comment at the scene of the battle itself, after popping out to visit Disney Land for a moment and popping back in.
Lime stood still, frozen in shock of what he just saw happen to Mint and Herb... before he saw Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu turn his head to his direction and look at him in silence, as if waiting for him to make... before he started move forward, walking toward him.
However, before he could do anything to Lime, a shout was suddenly heard before a blade of vacumm appear out of no where and strike Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu right on his neck, which he easily tank, but however, it did caught his attention and turn his head from the direction where it have came from... to see Genma Saotome, in his human form surprisingly enough, standing in front of him. The mysterious martial artist was silence at this before he spoke and ask him a question. "Aren't you Genma Saotome, the father of Ranma Saotome?"
"Yes, that's me alright." He answered.
"I am quite suprised that you're in your true form since you don't mind about your cursed form at all."
"Yes, that's true." Genma said. "Quite frankly, I didn't want to go alone, but my old friend who train under the same teacher with me is being a coward and decide to hide right now." He said as his eyebrow twitch in annoyance at remembering Soun being too terrified and cowardly of going with his old friend to face Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu with him while being in a fetal position rocking back and forth.
"Why are you here then?"
"Well, to be rather honest, I have made many screw ups in my life, including raising my own son, causing problems in the end." Genma said before he adjust the belt on his gi. "However, when it come to push to shove, I will face my problems and will take my respondabilities, just like a real man would." He said, all with his own battle aura have all but risen up in full power with confirmation at this, ready and prepare to fight Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu all by himself, which have impress him.
"Hm. Impressive. Alright then, i'll fight you instead." Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu said.
With that said, Genma and Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu immediately got into their battle stances. There was a moment of silence, with the winds themselves blowing over the land of the battlefield itself, as one of them wait for the other to make the first move...
Deciding to do a simple change of pace, Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu decide to make the first move first and attack Genma by dashing and running at his full speed while charging right at the panda man as he was prepare to punch right at him before his curled fist and swing it. However, Genma have already thought of just one simple but effective strategy to keep him at bay while also avoiding his attack: Keep his distance away from him and avoid his attacks at all times, before he slip into Umi-Sen Ken and vanishing from sight as the fist hit nothing but air. This caught the mysterious martial artist by off-guard and geniuely surprised by this, since it have been a while since he've seen martial art styles that were similiar to the Umi-Sen Ken style, before Genma reappeared behind him and use the Demon God Multiple-Strikes attack of his Yama-Sen Ken, the style that he created, firing and sending several blades made of vacuum right at Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu, which his body have easily tank and reiceived no damage.
The fight between them mainly consisted of Genma manage to dodge the attacks from Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu by slipping into Umi-Sen Ken, dodging his attacks every time before he could hit him, causing him to miss when he tried to hit him with one of his attacks, while using the multiple of the vacuum blades from his Demon God Multiple-Strikes attack of his Yama-Sen Ken style to hit him, with the mysterious martial artist's body absorbing the damage from the incoming attacks and didn't affect him with ease like it was nothing.
This have geniuely impressed Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu, as it have been a while that he fought such an tricky opponent for him to fight in such a long time all while also able to give him a hard, or at least, a more difficult, fight than his usual fights. This was enough for the mysterious martial artist to be impress by the cursed man... before he let out a burst of the true size and power of his battle aura, allowing Genma to sense it, which have took him by complete shocked, enough for him to appear out of Umi-sen Ken as he frozed in shock, before Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu spoke with a respective tone in his voice.
"... You have manage to be a tricky opponent for me to get a hit on while giving me a harder, or, at least, a more difficult, challenge fight than most of the other fights I usually have. I have to say, you've manage to impressed me, Genma Saotome."
However, before Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu could finished his fight with Genma, a bomb suddenly appear out of no where and when it hit right on the side of his head, it then exploded into a small explosion. It didn't affect nor damage him, but it did caught his attention, as the mysterious martial artist turn his head in the direction that he felt that it came from... to see Happosai and Gel standing in front of him in their fighting stances.
"So, this is the same guy that you've face in your prime, Gel?" Happosai ask with a smug look on his face as he whirl his kiseru around before he then put it in his mouth and blew a whisp of smoke from it.
"Yup. This is most definitely, and no doubt in my mind to be him alright. Because there's no one with that familiar look in his age and time... unless this guy is his relative or something." Gel said to himself before he shook his head. "But that's not really likey since I have sense magic on him and all that crap when I first fought him."
"M-MASTER?!" Genma splutter in confusion, as he was took by shock at the sight of his own old master being here with his own blood-related son, before he then ask him. "What are you doing here?!"
"I'm here because I don't want to see a few cities filled with my favorite things in them to be destroyed and beside, I wanted to fight him anyway. So me and my son silently follow you to here." Happosai answer. "To be honest, I am actually quite impressed that you've not only made two different styles that I wasn't aware of, but also manage to fight him to mostly an standstill while figuring out a strategy on your own. You're definitely an master martial artist to be reckon with."
"Yeah, it's impressive despite you being a lazy idiot. But enough of that. Genma, take Ryoga, Mint, and Herb off of the battlefield. So-" Gel said... before he notice that Genma, back in his panda form, have already as he waved at them while standing behind them with a sign in his hand that said "Got it". The two old men just stared at the panda with blank looks on their faces. "... He's a guy who prefer to like to live more. Huh, dad?"
"Yupe."
"Gel." Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu said, as he spoke to the dark warrior. "I see you have a change a lot. You look different when I remember you in your prime since we last met."
"Yeah, I would have said the same thing to you. But unfortunately for me, you didn't change much." Gel said. "In fact, you still look the same as the last time I saw you, both figuratively and litertially."
"Hm. If you're just here to fight me, then it's fine by me." Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu said after his huffed at them before he got into his fighting stance and was prepared to fight them.
The old father-and-son duo immediately wasted no time as Happosai threwn a barrage of his Happo-fire Burst Bombs while Gel have thrown various type of weapons from his slevees in rapid succession at Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu, who plow right through them as Happosai's bombs didn't affect him while the item Gel threw just shattered upon impact on his body, before he dash toward them to attack, but they have dodge his attack in unison. The fight mainly consisted of both the anicent preverted grandmaster and the old dark warrior throwing their attacks at an distance from him while dodging his attacks as the mysterious martial artist himself kept on attacking them with his techniques while their attacks just harmlessly shattered on his body, receiving no damage from them, as the fight itself was long and difficult... for the old mens at least. Both Happosai and Gel have noted that the toughness and endurance of his body excel his strength, meaning that he can't be defeated or even kill that easily.
However, that was an rock, a rather big one at that, suddenly flew right in between the old men and the mysterious martial artist before it crash into the ground and broke into pieces. This have stop their fight before they turn their heads and saw Lime was the one who threw that rock before the tiger-hybrid spoke to Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu.
"You originally want to fight me you man of a monster... right? Then come right at me like the monstrous beast that you are! BECAUSE I WILL FIGHT YOU WITH ALL MY MIGHT AND EVERY SINGLE INCH OF MY LIFE, LǍOHǓ JÙ SHÒU!" Lime yelled with a mixed of courage, wrath, and determination in his voice, while the tone of his have not a single traced of fear in them, stating his own words to the mysterious martial artist as he was prepare to take him on his own. Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu... just huffed in irrigation at this, but he does admit to himself that the tiger hybrid's boast was quite impressive to say the least.
"If you wish."
Lime and Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu soon charged at each other with zero concern for their safety before they thrown their respective fists at each other, entering their fight into a slugfest of punches and kicks at each other, striking at each other to see of who shall last the longest, like a fight between two tigers, one that was orange with green eyes while one that was white with blue eyes, both fighting over territory and the right to mate. As they threw their punches and kick at each other, Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu was not affect and felt no damage to him by the punches and kick hitting on his body due to his toughness and endurance while Lime himself was receiving the damage from the older fighter's onslaught of his stronger punches and kicks with his body being worn down while his armor was being chiping away from it, but the tiger-hybrid kept on fighting with all of his might and the power of his will. Despite knowing that he will most definitely lose against his opponent, Lime kept on fighting against Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu himself with determination from his body, heart, and soul of every inch of his life.
The fight itself lasted until Lime have manage to broke both of his arms and one of his legs, with all but now gone and destroyed by the onslaught from the older martial artist, as he still stand with one of his legs.
Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu, however, was still standing from the fight as his body show no damage from it, before he spoke to Lime, impressed by his performance and determination to beat him. "I am quite impressed by you. Despiting losing in the end, you still kept on fighting with your determination. A something that I can respect."
That was when the ground itself suddenly shook breath their feets. Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu raised his eyebrow at this, with his expression still not changing, before he notice that it was coming from the large boulder covering over the crater... all until something suddenly burst through the massive piece of rock, destroying it into pieces, and went into the air. He saw it flying in the air before it flew over him and landed behind him. He turn around, his expression still didn't, and look... to see standing right in front of him was the fusion of Ranma and Akane themselves, Akanma.
"So... are you ready for round two now?"
(Part 5: It's Love)
"... You are, I assume, Akanma, the fusion of Ranma and Akane... correct?" Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu ask, curious of this as it was the first time that he met the fusion of the couple in person.
"Yupe." Akanma answered with a cocky smile on their face. "What? Impressed?"
"My first time seeing it in a while, but yes, i'm impressed. Now, it is the time for me to test out your fused form to its fullest abilities while resuming our battle to the death."
However, despite this fight being a death battle between them, Ranma and Akane, the two components that made her up didn't like killing a opponent, only defeating and knocking them out, and only when they are push to their limit that they will forced to kill a opponent, so they decide to ask Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu of one question that they were curious of, buying them some time from continuing the fight and hoping that they would knock him, or maybe even convince him to stop fighting, but knowing the universe itself, it is not very likey, making Akanma frown at this before she then ask the mysterious martial artist... "I got one question to ask of you through."
"And what is that?"
"Your backstory." Akanma answered as they told him. "We don't know about your story since you've never told us your origin before the start of this fight."
"... My backstory is more of a excuse of how I came to be of who you are looking at. But since this is a battle that will lead to one of our deaths anyway, I will tell you about it if you insist." Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu said... before he then begun to tell the tales of his backstory and the origin of how he came to of what he is now today. "I was found, and possible born, at one of the many rivers of China around the time of when Genghis Khan himself have roamed the earth. I had never knew of who my birth parents were at all since I was abandon at that side of the river, before I was found and been tooken in by a female member who is from a traveling tribe of a nomedic minor Mongolian clan and been raised as one of their owns for the majority of my childhood. When I was nearing the beginning of my teenagehood by a couple of years, the same clan that have adopted me was completely killed and slaughter by a rival clan, leaving me as the sole survivor of that attack. I travel the land of that would be the China of today until I came across a school that taught martial arts to any potential students who are willing to join it, which I did. It was there that I had learn the basic of martial arts itself and learn that school's style... before it was destroyed by a group of bandits. Since everyone who was close to me have either died by fighting, disease, or anything that you can think of, I'd decide to dedicate the entirely of my life into only martial arts and fighting, cutting myself from other poeple and harden my own heart to stone, traveling the earth itself for many years to come, hoping that until one day that someone that I am facing will grant my wish by managing to kill me in combat. I was so dedicated to this goal of mine that I told and allow Kasou-Taiso, the Chaos Emperor himself, to put a curse on me, cursing me with immortally and regeneration from damage inflicted, not allowing me to died by any other means unless I am completely destroyed and killed in combat." To show them his curse and emphasis it, Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu took off one of his gloves off of his hands... before he then promptly rip off the said hand from his own arm, much to their shock. The mysterious martial artist then causally toss his hand away, which turn into smoke, before his arm then regrow a new hand to replace the old one as he put one of his gloves back on it as he told them. "Curse do have advantages, like the time that I was walking in the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, struck by a comet in the Tunguska in 1908, and the Tsar Bomba in 1961. So I will continue to walk the earth until I am completely by death. That is my reason for who I am now..."
Akanma was shock by his origin and backstory, but also have felt both sadness and sympathy to him. Ranma and Akane have both just realized and noted that Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu was, in some ways, like Ranma himself, if he decide to dedicated to his entire life into martial art... if it weren't for some of his friend and family and, most importantly in his life, his fiancee Akane for keeping him on the right path, he would have end up like him, consistly walking the earth itself, seeking opponents until the day that one of them have gave him the death he wanted. They were sadden by this fact alone...
"However... when I say I will keep my promises... I meant it." Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu said... before he suddenly rised his fist into the air and punch the ground breath his feets, causing the earth to be shaken and cracked by the mere force of his punch... before Mount Fuji started to erupt, spewing out more lava, as the mysterious martial artist spoke to them. "Of course, I wanted to keep my prolife down after I had attack the Phoenix Palace that month ago... so I decide to take a walk and travel under Earth's curst for a few days to get to Japan."
"Wait, WHAT?! You took a walk under the Earth's own curst?!" Akanma yelled in shock, at just what they heard him say.
"Yes. And i'm pretty you would know that pressure points attack will not work on me." Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu said "But that's enough of that now. Now... it is time for us to fight to the death!" He said... before he jumped right into the air and he shouted the name of the technique of his attack. "AKARIHASHIRAKONGŌCHIRIGODDOHIKARI! (Light Pillar Diamond Dust God Rays)"
When Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu called that attack, dozens and dozens of light-glowing arrows made of Ki spawn and spewing out of thin air itself before they all but focus their attacking on Akanma, forcing them to dodge the incoming projectile right at them as all of the ki-made arrows hit the ground and exploded. Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu just took one step forward to run at them and when he did that, he was so fast that he disapper in a blurr, before reappearing right in front of the fused couple. This have begun their fight at close-ranged, throwing their punches and kicks at each other, almost matching and even in strength, with Akanma consistly dodging his attacks thanks to their speed and agility while Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu's body nullified their attacks thanks to his toughness. Akanma's components, Ranma and Akane, cursed under their shared breath as Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu is, unfortunately, right about pressure points attack won't work on him, mainly due to the toughness of his body and the years of experience that he have, therefore making them useless in the long run of this battle. They ended their fight at close-range when both of them threw their fist right at each other and punching each other on the sides of their own faces, striking each other simultaneously, thus causing the area around them to be shaken and cracked by the sheer power of the cross counter, before they were knock backward and slided from each other by the force from the same cross counter as their feets skit across the ground until they stop.
They silently glared at each other from a distance before Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu spoke to them. "Your strength manage to be near match-to-match to my own. I have to say, it is quite impressive."
"HOLY SHIT! Thing are about to get awesome right now!" Kasou-Taiso comment at the sight of the battle.
Akanma just look at Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu in silence as they breath in and out repeatingly, both of the two minds that were sharing a body thinking countless of plans to defeat him without killing him and discarding one plan after the another when finding one serious weakness in it after the other, before they both have decide on one technique, the most powerful one learned from Cologne, to use on him without killing him: The Hiryū Shōten Ha technique. However, due to sheer toughness of Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu, they both knew that it wouldn't likey work but they're just hoping for the best of it. Once they have decide on that, their battle aura turn to cold-ice before Akanma started to run around him in a cirular motion, their cold aura swirl and mixing into the hot aura from Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu, creating a instensive spiraling temperature of opposite clashing hot and cold aura around him.
Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu narrow his eyes at this, having already noticed this and recongized of what technique they're using due to the pattern that they are using necessary for it to work... but he just let them do it as he then cross his arms together. Instead, he decide to give a bit of unwanted help... by unlocking and unleashing the true power and fighting spirit of his battle aura, causing to spilling it out of his body in a style like that of the Flood of Genesis in the bible. Akanma was taking over by shock when they sensed the sheer size and the true and pure raw power, heat, and intensity of his battle aura, which was not anything that they have sensed before and was far way above between Happosai and Motomumata's battle aura and their league, as they have felt that it was far more hotter than even the Sun itself! Nonetheless, they've manage to shook off the shock and they pressed of continuing to run around him... Until the time had came. When the time was finally right, Akanma immediately stopped running, still maintancing their ice-cold aura, all before throwing their punch in an upper corkscrew strike as they shouted the name of the technique itself. "HIRYU SHOTEN HA!" A chi-laced tornado manifest from their right fist as it hurled and launched itself from it right straight toward Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu at a speed that was nearly-unavoidable for anyone to dodge it... before it simply bounced off of his chest and into an different direction before it hit right the top of Mount Fuji itself, unable to pierce and penetrate the toughness of his body and causing the now actived volcano to be even more actived.
Akanma cursed this under their breath before they heard Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu spoke to them.
"... At least you've tried. But now... it's my turn to show my own ultimate technique, the most powerful out of all my technique..." Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu said... before he cross his forearms into a shape of an "X" and open both of his hands, revealing the palms of them. He concenrate this as the gems on his glove and shoulder pads started to glow omniously... before two glowing orbs that are appear to be like the minature versions of the mixture of the sun and the moon themselves, all before he finally roared the name of his most powerful attack and technique itself. "ZUKŌGENJITSUGETSUTSUINTORAHOSHINOVUA! (Halo Sun Moon Dog Twin Tiger Star Nova)"
Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu thrown both spinning two glowing orbs in unison at Akanma, forcing the fusion to instantly and instictively dodge them, causing the spheres to fly right by the fused couple and straight into the sky, right above the waters of the Pacific Ocean... before exploding into glowing sphere of light of incredible power, yielding the equivalent of about 500 gigatons of TNT.
The two components of Akanma were in shock of what they are seeing through the two eyes of their fusion and realized just how powerful Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu really was, all before they heard him huff and turn their head to see him, just standing there with his expression still the same as it was before he spoke to them.
"You see now? If you want to live... so you'll have to now kill me in combat!" Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu then jumped, straight into the air. He'd jumped so far and high that he was practically flying in it, as he let the massive amount of his battle aura to pour out of his body and right onto the battlefield where the fused couple were still standing on. Akanma was surprised by the out-pour of his battle aura onto them, surrounding them in it, just all before they saw that he was beginning to do another attack of his most powerful technique. Seeing that there was no way to convince and no other choice about it, Akanma immediately turn their chi into an aura of ice-cold and allow to spiral around the intense hot aura around them, gathering its strength every single seconds as the vortex of oppositing temperature surround the fusion of Ranma and Akane...
Once they were done with charging their respective attacks, Akanma thrown their punch in a upper corkscrew strike at him while Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu then throw both of the glowing orbs from his hands at them, as they both roared the names of their most powerful attack, unleashing the Hinyamata No Orochi Shōten Ha and the ZukōGenJitsuGetsuTsuninToraHoskiNovua, all in unison.
"HIYATAMA NO OROCHI SHOTEN HA!"
"ZUKŌGENJITSUGETSUTSUINTORAHOSHINOVUA!"
All at once, eight spiraling vortexes of intense clashing temperatures from Akanma's fist and two glowing spheres of destruction from Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu's hands were unleashed from them, two monstrous attacks of different techniques charging right straight toward at each others, like a eight-headed dragon rising from the earth below while a dog twin-headed tiger falling from the sky above, ready to strike each other at their throats. When the eight whirlwinds of conflicting aura and two glowing balls of the destruction collided with each other, they clash with all of their power, causing the energy of their confrontion to spread out with utterly no limit, causing the earths itself to crack in agony, mountains to erupt in awaken rage from their sleep, waves splashing around with no hesitation in excitment that was full of blood lust, all at this. The battle itself was long and intense with these natural occurrence going into chaos and out of control... Until all but finally, the Hinyamata No Orochi Shōten Ha have overwhelm the ZukōGenJitsuGetsuTsuninToraHoskiNovua when the eight twisters of immense strength from collision of desert heat and polar cold went though the two globe of mass destructive energy, piercing and dispersing them, absorbing the heat and power from them that made it far more powerful, all before it gone after Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu above them.
Akanma's face felled into a sorrowful and regretful look when they saw Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu... just calmly closing his eyes with an serene look at this and gave an peaceful smile at this with no fear in it, accepting that this is the death that he long for all of his immortal life and facing at it with dignity and magnificence in them... all before the eight superstorms of overwhelming powers penetrating right through his body from different directions, completely destroying his body, killing him instantly, ending Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu's immortal life on the mortal realm for good...
Akanma look on with sorrow in their eyes at the piece of Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu's armor falling from the sky onto the ground... until they that notice one of them was coming at them before they caught it with one of their hands, opening their fingers, to it which reveal to be... a top half of one of his gloves, with the gems in it still intact...
However, that was when the ground of the earth breath them suddenly crack and lifted into huge pieces, temporary knocking them out from their depression for now, as the earthquake itself threaten to collapse the entire country of Japan into the dark depths of the oceans...
"Alright. My funtime is now over. Time to fix it up a bit." Kasou-Tasoi said. All before with an single snap of his fingers, everything that was happening now have stopped and everything else was instantly repaired and back to normal, as if nothing has ever happen beforehand and never been out of place. There was silence for a moment before Lime shouted at the God of Chaos himself in shock.
"YOU CAN DO THAT?!"
"Yes. Yes I can. And if you were wondering why I didn't do that... because I thought it would be more entertaining for me." Kasou-Taiso then laugh at this evily while everyone else were glaring dagger at him with intent of trying to murder him with their eyes, despite the fact that he was the Chaos Emperor.
Akanma, however, return looking at the piece of Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu's gloves with a mournful and heart-broken expression... before digging a hole with their hole and after they put it into the hole, they cover up it and turn into a small mound, creating a grave for Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu. Ranma and Akane put their hands together and prayed for him, hoping that Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu would at least have a peaceful afterlife...
(Epilogue)
It was a month after the battle with Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu, on the same day that Ranma and Akane have first meet each other, it was now Fall, around the early days of Autumn itself to be precise. Both the Saotome and Tendo families, along with the Amazons and Ukyo's shop, are on vacation and were visiting a rock formation of a shine at a beach, which were five rocks that were high out of the water set in an circle-shape pattern around a hole as an shinmenawa surround them and was placed on them with shides on it. Soun was telling everyone the details of how he first met his decreased wife at this very same shrine... but most of everyone were not interest in details and the group just ignored him and his talking while they were doing other things that they are doing. Ranma-chan and Akane were looking at the rock formation in complete silence before a old monk from a nearby temple came over to the group and spoke to them. "Are you enjoying the sight, I assume?"
"Nah, we're just looking." Ranma-chan answered the old monk's question.
"We're kinda jealously that monks and mikos are able to have peaceful without being follow by chaos everywhere we go, with various of strange things happening to us." Akane said, which made the old monk himself chuckle at this.
"Trust me, we've enshrined that hole for generations since my ancestors' times. Ryūjin-sama dwells with inside of it, protecting this land. So as a results, we have witnessed many strange phenomena since long ago before the temple was build. We've recongized those events as the divine grace of Ryūjin-sama himself." The old monk said as he told the couple... before he then noted something else to the engaged couple. "Through, there was one event that bears mentioning, however... It was the strangest thing we've seen and it was just the most recent event."
This has now caught everyone's attention...
Later... inside of the temple...
"A heart?" Gel said, after everyone were now inside of the temple itself and sat on the floor and look at the head of the temple as they listen to him, which the head monk answer by nodding his head before he spoke.
"Yes. When we first caught of sight of it was the carcass of an animal that had drifted in there... But we soon realized we were wrong when it drifted onto the shoreline of this same beach. It was not carcass of an animal as we first thought... It was not even animal at all..." The monk of the temple explained, as he told the group the tale of the event that transpired, before he told them of what he saw and it was that have most definitely got their attention about it. "... It was a heart. A beating, living, breathing human heart. It was a disembodied heart sure. But it was alive. When we brought it in, it turn into a mass of meat that did not even look like a living thing, just within a few hours after we have brought it into the temple. Before long, within a few days, it had change form, and begun to take shape. And that was just this week." The head monk then gesture one of his students to bring it and show it to them. It was a just few moments later that the same student from before came back into the room, holding something in his arms, as the old monk told them about it. "But... well... even we aren't quite sure how say to this. Honestly, it's quite difficult to believe, but... I believe it's better when if you take a look at it with your own eyes."
When the old monk gesture the student to do it, he finally showing them of what it is in his arms. Everyone was shocked of what they are seeing with their own eyes as they all but give various reaction to it.
"What the...!?" Ranma-kun and Akane shouted.
"THE HELL?!" Nabiki and Shampoo yelled.
"What on earth...?!" Soun, Genma, and the three centuries-old elders shouted.
"Dear god!" Nodoka and Ukyo said.
"Oh my!" Kasumi exclaimed, all in complete shock, at what they are seeing.
There, right in the arms of the student, and wide awake... was a baby. A young child that was not remarkable... all except that the child look exactly like Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu himself if he was child who was one or a few weeks old at most. They were all but certain that this child is, in fact, Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu himself, or at least, the reincarnation of him, in the student's arms, due to the unmistakeable white hair with black tiger-like stripes and striking blue eyes of the child. Instead of the eyes being filled with coldness of Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu himself, they were filled with innocent to them instead, just looking at everyone with an look of curiosity at this, curious of them, indicating that despite being a reincarnation of him, the child was not Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu himself. Everyone in the group just look in complete silence at the baby in the student's arm before Akane spoke to her fiance. "Ranma... do you think that this is...?"
"Yep. There's no doubt about it, Akane... it's most definitely him." Ranma-kun answer. "Or at least, a reincarnation of him at least. Postively, since he's looking so innocent at us."
"So... this is the child resulting from it?" Gel asked the head monk as he adjust and crack his shoulders into place.
"Oh yes. Indeed. We're planning to rise this child in the temple..." The old monk answered as he told them. "Because, we have honestly no idea if anyone want to adopt this child or not..."
There was silence that hung over the room for a while... before Kasumi, who have heard the backstory of Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu from Ranma and Akane just a few days after their battle with him, thought about it and decide to do one thing she need to do: She got up from her spot on the floor and walk to the student before taking the reincarnation of Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu into her arms.
"Kasumi...?" Akane ask, surprised by this.
"I'm taking him." Kasumi answered, before she point and give one of her fingers at the baby, letting the reincarnation of Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu grab one of them in curiosity, as she give a kind smile at the child in her hands before she told everyone. "After all, I need to raise a child if I am going to be a housewife. Beside, everyone should deserve a happy ending..."
"OH, KASUMI! You are just too nice for your own good!" Soun cried at this as his tears sprout out like a water foundation.
"Yeah, that's Kasumi for you." Gel said bluntly.
"Yup." Ranma-kun and Akane comment about it.
Three years later...
Kasumi was sitting down on the floor of the washitsu room of the Tendo House, talking to her two of her old childhood friends from her days when they were still in high school, Anjokaze and Nodoame, after not seeing them for such a long time.
"So isn't today the day that you sister is getting married to Ranma?" Anjokaze asked.
"Why yes it is, Anjokaze." Kasumi answered. "Even through it took a while for them to plan out their wedding and getting prepared to get married due to their rivals consistly trying to intervine and trying to stop them and their wedding from happening, but they persevere and are now are able to get married today."
"Oh, they're so luckly. Those two are gonna get married while we still beautiful maidens are still single. It's not fair." Nodoame comment as she pouted, causing Kasumi to giggle at her old friend.
"Oh, Nodoame. You're so silly."
However, that was when Anjokaze and Nodoame notice a tiny hand clinging to Kasumi's shirt before a head pop out from behind her, revealing the tiny 3-year old adopted son of Kasumi and the reincarnation of Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu himself, Torako Tendo, with his curious eyes looking at them in silence, as if wondering what they are doing. This cause the two older girls to go "Awww~" at this.
"Is this your adopted son?" Anjokaze ask, curious of Torako.
"Yes. This is Torako, but we affectionate called by his nickname Koji for short." Kasumi smiled as she pick Torako up with her hands and put her adopted onto her lap. He wasn't bother by it as he look at both Anjokaze and Nodoame in silence.
"Oh my. Isn't he so adorable?" Anjokaze noted with a smile as she put her hand on her face.
"Yes, he is."
"Though, Torako is not much of a talker, isn't he?" Nodoame noted before she asked Kasumi. "He is just being shy?"
"Well... the doctor said that he has a somewhat between major to minor form of autism." Kasumi explained to them. She also remember about Kasou-Taiso telling them that Lǎohǔ Jù Shòu himself has also a form of autism.
"Autism? Oh my." Anjokaze comment at this before she spoke to Kasumi. "Is that going to be a problem? Because I heard that those with autism have difficulties having social interacting and communication."
"Yes. But as long as he talk to people, I don't mind." Kasumi answer as she look down at her son and smiled at him. "Beside, Ranma want to train him when he's older after he had notice that he was interest in martial art."
"Really? And why is that?" Nodoame asked. She got that answer when Happosai jump into the room and landed beside Kasumi before he notice Anjokaze and Nodoame.
"Oh boy! Hello there sweet things!"
However, Happosai was stop when Torako turn his head to look at the ancient prevert and flick his finger at his face as he spoke two words...
"Ma-ma."
... Sending the prehistoric grandmaster of the Anything Goes School of Martial Art himself through the roof and flying into the orbit of Jupiter. Kasumi, Anjokaze, and Nodoame look at this with blank expressions on their faces before Nodoame spoke of a well-placed sentence. "Oh my. Torako is strong despite being so young."
"Yes, he is." Kasumi said.
"Which remind me: Aren't you worried that your sister's wedding will be ruined?" Nodoame ask in concern. "After all, several of their rivals are invited there too."
"Oh, I wouldn't be worry about that." Kasumi said as she give a smiled at this as she told her old friends. "Beside, a certain god is making that they'll behave themselves..."
Meanwhile... in the Dojo...
The wedding of Ranma Satome and Akane Tendo was taking place inside of the Tendo dojo... with Kasou-Taiso supervisoring it himself.
"Alright, people! Sit down at whatever spot that you like to sit on so we can get this wedding over with, I don't care which." Kasou-Taiso told the invited guests. "And if one of you tried to interrupt the wedding process, i'll zapped you."
"Huh... with you giving orders, everything is going nicely. I'm surprised that it's going well." Ranma-kun, in his groom clothing, comment about this before he spoke to Kasou-Taiso. "I'm honestly surprised you, of all people, is supervisoring my wedding. And I alway thought you'll be the one who gonna caused our wedding to descend into chaos."
"Eh, I am just putting it off for now. Allowing it to build up until I poke it and unleashed it." Kasou-Taiso answered as the Chaos Emperor himself shrugged at this. "Beside, Kasumi had ask me nicely to supervisor, since nobody would want to mess with me, even if they wanted to."
"Ah, good point." Ranma-kun said... before he wondered a bit "... So why did you let Kasumi slide despite, you know, getting angry at people who tried to order you around."
"... Sigh... Ranma, i'll tell you about it: It all begun about several thousand years ago, a few thousand years after I was born. I was untamed and uncontrollable hurricane of chaos that cause disorder and chaos everywhere I go, even more so than these days now. So my father, the Yellow Dragon, decide to create someone who is the Yin to my Yang. However, as it turns out, there is already someone who already exist. A girl who is just like Kasumi herself: Nice, kind, polite, and gentle to everyone she came across, opposite to my personality. Despite our difference in personalities, we fell in love anyway..." Kasou-Taiso's expression suddenly turn grim before he spoke with sadness in his voice. "However, unfortunately, I was an immortal being while she was a mortal being and she wasn't interest in living forever. So she died peacefully in her sleep from old age while I was at her side. Her soul reincarnate into different lives that they have live through, with Kasumi being the most recent of my love's reincarnation. So every time that I see her reincarnation, I desire to be with them, but force myself not to... as I want them to be happy with their lives."
"... Oh... umm..." Ranma-kun said, surprised by the story from Kasou-Taiso and didn't really know what to say about that before he spoke to the Chaos Emperor. "Sorry that I ask."
"Eh, don't worry... I've already accepted this nowadays." Kasou-Taiso said with bitterness in his voice... before he suddenly brighten up at this. "And speaking of now. Look at the time now! The process of you getting marry is soon!" Grabbing the halfboy's shoulder, Kasou-Taiso teleport himself and Ranma-kun up to the shrine in the back of the dojo, with the Chaos Emperor himself taking the place as the priest. A moment later, the doors of the dojo went open as Akane, dressed in her wedding dress, came into the dojo with Nabiki by her side and walk to the shrine where her fiance and the Chaos Dragon are at until she was now at it. The God of Chaos start and begin the process of Ranma and Akane's marriage. "Okay. Let's begin this stuff so we can make it quick and simple: Akane. Do you want this cursed halfboy to be your handsome husband?"
"Yes."
"And Ranma. Do you want this maniac tomboy bride to be your sexy wife?"
"Yes."
"And does anyone have a problem with this?" Kasou-Taiso asked as he send a glare to the guests, causing some of them to shift nerviously at this. "Good. Now, you two can kiss each other. So chop-chop."
Ranma-kun tenderly cupped Akane's face and leaned down to place a loving kiss on her lips... All before a water bubble suddenly float above then and popped, shredding cold water onto them and activing his curse. Ranma-chan gave a annoyed look while Kasou-Taiso was amused by this before Akane reached down and held Ranma's hands to her cheek as she leaned down to finish their first spousal kiss...
"Okay. We're done with that final part of the wedding. NOW LET GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Kasou-Taiso said as he was suddenly dressed like a rapper now before he begun to start the music. Once the music started, chaos then descend onto the wedding when the rivals finally utterly and completely lash out in rage and wrath at this, causing punching and kicking at each other that send anyone caught in them flying, various items of many kind of origins flinging in the air, and explosions to occur with utterly awesome epic over-the-top music playing loudly in the background of the insanity by the Chaos Emperor himself.
Yet, strangely enough. Ranma and Akane were no where in sight of the disorder in the dojo...
All before Akanma landed right on the rooftop of the house and looking back at the insanity and chaos that was happening at this wedding.
'Gee. Even when we're now married, everything still goes out of control.' Ranma mentally said.
'Yeah, but that's our lives now. At least it won't be boring now thank to it.' Akane said.
'...'
'...'
'Together?'
'Together.'
Akanma smiled at this before the fused lovers then jumped rooftop to rooftop, heading in whatever direction. Now together, they are already to face whatever that challenge together as one, both figuretively and litertially... all thanks to the unexpected help from easily the most unlikey source of getting them together at all, Kasou-Tasou the Chaos Emperor. Why?
It's Love
The End