Dark Titans – Arc 5 - Pre Wedding Jitters

Epilogue - Part 1/3

Enjoy if you Will, Tolerate if you won't.

A police scanner can be a pretty useful device when it comes to finding crime. It does not, however, hold a candle to having a multimillion-dollar computer system tied directly into Law Enforcement databases and communications.

"Sighting confirmed. Description matches that provided by the Titan in relation to the Exchange break in. Lone figure, female, dressed in black, skull motif on the mask. Requesting back up to Bixby's Electronic Boutique on Elfwood Ave. Moving to secure the perimeter."

If Speedy had been back in the tower, there would have been lights flashing everywhere as the 'Crime Computer' was alerted to the officer's report. As it was, already leaping from roof to roof on his patrol, the computer fed the information directly into his communicator. He had to admit, the cop sounded professional, though part of that might have just been knowing better than to go in against a mostly unknown Metahuman (potentially, anyway, definitely armed and dangerous) on their own.

He skidded to a stop before sprinting to the east. Luckily, he wasn't too far from Elfwood, just a few minutes. He slid a trio of grapnel arrows into his hand, scanning the horizon for anything to swing from. Thankfully, Jump City was a city on the rise, so there was never a shortage of massive cranes looming over skeletal frames of up and coming condos.

Speedy swung through the air in a wide arc, sending him soaring for forty - fifty feet before he landed on the next rooftop. He slid nearly that far again before breaking into another sprint. Gravel was sent flying with each step as he pushed himself to his fullest. No way was she getting away again!

Landing from another long jump, he pulled out his communicator. Flipping it open as he ran, his finger hovered over the button to contact his back up. A moment later, he flipped it back closed.

Lord knew how far out the pair were, and, frankly, he wasn't exactly jazzed about the idea of calling in a potential natural disaster and her gym teacher to deal with the curvy villainess. Well, maybe if she got really out of hand... No, he had this in the bag, leave the nuclear option for the Godzilla threshold situations.

He hit the sidewalk a minute later and strolled up to the ring of police vehicles forming a perimeter around the entrance of the store. Officers were arrayed behind the cars, most of them holding tasers and gas launchers; even though a Meta was involved, it was still just a break in. He made his way to the officer with the most stripes.

"Sergeant, you need a hand?"

The tall woman with long dark hair pulled back into a loose ponytail falling out from the back of her hat turned to regard him. She gave a bit of a smirk, her eyes quickly darting from belt, to chest to mask. He could just see the Robin comparisons in her eyes, but she managed to keep them internal.

"That would be appreciated… Speedy, right? You're the only one that has had contact with the perp, and I don't want to send any of my people in blind here."

"If you allow, I'd like to go in alone, first. Confirm that it's her and see if I can suss out what her goal is," he suggested amiably.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "It's risky. You don't have four other quirky super kids to back you up today."

Such concern. The crimson archer felt touched. On the other hand, he didn't need anyone holding his hand anymore, either. If he wanted to get patronized, he'd still be hanging with Olly. Hmm, a thought.

Smirking, he held up his communicator and gave it a jaunty shake. "Hey, who said I was alone? I got my backup waiting in the wings."

Rather than look relieved, the sergeant's eyes hardened. "Backup? You mean… Terra?"

"I'm sensing some bad blood here," he replied in a cool tone.

"Who do you think was on the front line after the Titan's vanished?" Her hand drifted unconsciously to her gun but stopped halfway there. "We made sure that Slade and his attack dog had to fight for every inch of Jump City… for all the good it did."

Hm, hard to blame her for holding a grudge. He gave a helpless shrug. "Well, that's why I have them waiting in the wings. Let's not complicate things, right?"

The Sergeant gave a loud, dissatisfied huff, but finally gave a frustrated wave of her hand. "Fine, go on in. Call us if you need back up. Just… make sure that you have your… teammate pointed in the right direction. I won't blame any of my people for getting panicky after what happened."

"Duly noted." Sheesh! Maybe this camping trip was a better idea than he'd thought. On the other hand, no apparent opinion on Hibiki at all. If the bandanna kid was as good as the rumors said, and he did need backup in the end, maybe just calling in Ryouga might be best.

Filing away his mental notes, Speedy unslung his bow and approached the door. No visible signs of entry. Through the glass door, he could see the lights of a tv and hear... muffled singing? With a gentle push, the door popped open, not nearly as locked as it should have been for this time of night.

"Tonight, isn't it sweet?"

Hmm, not a bad singer, though it was a little thrown off by the voice distorter. He quickly slipped through the door, making his way toward the lights and sound. He could see the top of the TV being used for the Karaoke and could hear the speakers blaring.

He hoped that suit of hers had hearing protection.

"They're by the beach, a car; two lovers talking."

Moving quickly, bow drawn and arrow nocked, he flitted along the shelves of electronics and made his way to his quarry. She was into this song, too, really belting it out. Man, was she throwing a party for one? He'd make sure to give her a good dance this time around.

"It's true! I saw it too,"

There! The Crimson Archer spun around the end of the shelf and leveled his arrow directly at the… television? It was definitely a karaoke set up, Big TV, big speakers, though for some reason there were five machines out, one currently hooked up, but wires trailing from all of them.

The only thing missing was the singer. Even weirder, the words were trailing across the screen, lighting up as their time came, and the voice singing was matching them perfectly.

"They held each other yet seemed far away."

He spun around, his arrow drawing a bead on the Game Station display, then a fancy coffee maker. Was it just a recording? Did she set this whole thing up to draw him in while she was pulling off another crime elsewhere?

"Invisible barrier…"

The voice shifted from belting vocals to a more intimate tone. He spun around again, backing up slowly towards the door. The music was still blaring, but the voice was warm and kind, which only made it creepier to his ears.

"Somethings come between, you know what I mean."

He took another step. Maybe the Sergeant was right, a little bit of help wouldn't kill him. Especially if Red X had already moved on. He was about to call out when sudden silence made his blood run cold. The words still rolled across the screen, bouncing ball following the beat, but large white letters spelled out 'MUTE' along the bottom of the screen.

"See the tears begin to flow.'

The words tickled his ear.

Too close! He began to spin, only for a heavy cord drop down around him, suddenly drawing tight. His bow was pinned to his chest and he saw a black clad arm slide around him from behind, two notable objects, both soft and warm pressing against his back as it did.

His eyes widened in shock at the flash of metal on the gloved hand. The cross shaped red blade did not move up for his neck, but moved instead to his bow, and with a deft tug, the razor-sharp blade snapped his bowstring like nothing. His bow, suddenly bereft of tension, recoiled painfully into his leg and shoulder as he was pushed forward.

Speedy staggered a few steps before he could recover enough to figure out what happened.

The microphone thumping lightly against his side explained what was binding him. The cable didn't make a good lasso, though, and a few twists and turns were enough to loosen it up and let it drop to the floor.

Unfortunately, the damage was done. Holding his straight bow, now more staff, he turned around to see the architect of his frustration. Lounging provocatively against one of the karaoke machines, Red X was casually swinging around another microphone. It struck him, now that they were in closer proximity, and both vertical for a change, that the villainess was taller than him by a bit.

"So, did you like my singing?" She shrugged a shoulder coquettishly. "I admit, I do love that song."

Speedy eyed his weapon. Well, there went like ninety percent of his options in a fight. He could still fight, no doubt, but he didn't like the idea of going against a known gimmick villain without any gimmicks of his own.

"Know that song by heart, I see?" he mused rhetorically. Well, there was still one option left, as loathe as he was to use it. "Say, what is that song? I haven't heard it before."

"Oh, well-"

Whatever she was going to say was lost as he snagged the dropped microphone with his foot and launched it at her unsuspecting face. Even as she recoiled and scrambled to catch the harmless projectile, he dashed back behind a refrigerator for cover. The archer dug out the yellow disc at his waist and flipped it open.

"Calling all Titans! I need backup!"

...And nothing. Not even a busy signal!

"What's that? Inviting a third wheel to our date?"

The squeal of steel on steel was his only warning, his body already rolling forward before he realized what he was doing. Behind him, the top half of the burnished steel appliance toppled to the floor with a series of ringing clangs. The murdered appliance revealed Red X, a long set of red blades extending from her wrist, glaring at him with frightful intensity.

"How rude."

His answer came in the form of his bow flashing towards her temple. He lunged forward as she leaned back to avoid the strike, his staff blurring as it spun between his hands. The leggy villainess no doubt relied heavily on her glue projectiles, he had to close in and overwhelm her in melee before she could get to distance.

A lightning fast offensive of swings and thrusts was answered with the ringing of steel and showers of sparks. His arms burned as he pushed himself to keep his bow moving, until he was forced to disengage and leap back, his chest heaving.

Standing before him, her fists held up defensively and red, x-shaped blades projecting from the backs of both wrists, Red-X was breathing heavily as well. A moment later, she dropped her guard and let out a light laugh.

"Don't tell me. You just thought 'I bet she can only fight at range, I can beat her in hand to hand!', right?" She held up a hand before her mask, tittering daintily. "That's quite amusing, from the boy that brought a bow to a fist fight."

Speedy felt his cheeks start to burn at the insight. It was the Tournament of Heroes with Robin, all over again. He replayed their last exchange in his head, analyzing every movement. Actually, it was a lot like that. She'd been expertly blocking his attempts to use his bow as a staff, and he realized why.

His training with the bo staff was nearly identical to Robin's, except the Boy Wonder got a lot more practice than him. And Red X had been battling Robin, so of course she'd be accustomed to fighting a staff wielder. If he didn't think of something else, she'd outmaneuver him without even needing to bust out her tricks.

That in mind, he held his bow out before him, making a big show of it. Red X watching him with large owlish white eyes, impassive, but raising her guard. He then dropped the bow and with lightning speed, brought his leg up and kicked the weapon as hard as he could, launching it at the villainess.

Using the distraction, he reached over his shoulder and pulled a pair of electro-arrows, grasping them with a reverse grip like daggers.

The loud 'thwap' sound of his bow slapping heavily into Red X's palm - stopping dead so abruptly that the ends of the weapon vibrated violently - cut his surprise attack short. The dark criminal contemptuously tossed his weapon over her shoulder, sending it clattering to the floor behind a distant shelf.

"I think I realize what the problem is here," Red X began conversationally. She tilted her head as she regarded him, giving her hand a small shake before clutching it back into a fist. "Why you're just not living up to my expectations."

"Oh, that hurts, lady," he countered mockingly. He began shuffling to the side, watching for an opening with his improvised weapons. Again, something Robin did from time to time with his lame boomerangs, but would he have used them like this against her?

"Why don't you illuminate me?" He lunged forward, spinning and lashing out with the sparking arrowhead, aiming for her shoulder.

Rather than panic at the sudden charge, she swept up her arm, his forearm slapping meatily into hers, stopping his strike. Pulling back quickly, he tried to drag the electrified tip down into her wrist, only for the red, cross like blade to shoot out from her hand once more, snipping it off.

She followed it up with a startlingly fast palm strike to his chest, pushing him back several feet. He winced, rubbing his solar plexus.

"The problem is that you think that because Robin and I are about the same level, that means that you must be on that level too."

Drawing another arrow, he started circling the villainess once more. "Not sure what the problem is. Robin only beat me by luck in our last fight. I am on his level."

She nodded; he could almost see her smile through the mask. "I'm sure you were... at your last fight. There's just one problem there."

Suddenly, her form flickered and blurred. Instinct kicked in and he spun around, slashing with an arrow directly behind him.

Only to watch in shock as the dark figure behind him evaporated away from his strike, already flashing away in a burst of speed. The Crimson Archer desperately spun, his eyes struggling to track Red X's movement as she flitted around the entire store, only reappearing for brief flashes, before vanishing again.

He swung again, and again, so sure that what he was aiming at where she was, but every single time, his attacks met nothing but air.

His frantic spinning was halted as a pair of hands suddenly slapped down on both of his shoulders. Not a strong grip, almost like a friendly pat on both of his shoulders. The red headed archer looked down just in time to see the hand on his right pull back, revealing a stylized red 'X' decal planted firmly on his shoulder.

Wha- was all he had time to think as the X on his shoulder suddenly flared red, crackling with crimson lightning. His eyes had just a fraction of a second to widen in shock before the surge of power arced between the X's on both of his shoulders, carrying the charge right through his torso.

His entire world was ruby agony, stretching on for eternity…

When it finally, thankfully, ended, all he could do was drop bonelessly to his knees, staring blankly at the wisps of smoke rising from his body.

A companionable hand came to rest on his shoulder, the only thing stopping him from slumping to the ground completely.

"You might have been Robin's equal before, but he's gotten much faster since the last time you fought him." Kneeling, Red X gently laid him onto his side, setting up an errant box as a pillow for his head. "Fighting you is like fighting Robin at half speed."

Standing, she dusted off her knees before making her way to the back of the store.

"Frankly, this isn't as fun as I was hoping it would be."

She looked back over her shoulder at him as she walked.

"I suppose… that we'll just need a lot more practice to get you up to speed!"

And then she vanished again, flickering away into the darkness.

All he could do was struggle to draw in breath as he laid motionless on the floor.

He heard panicked shouting and bodies surging through the entrance behind him but couldn't see anything. He felt hands on his back next, then on his neck and his wrist. There was some chatter back and forth, and he was at least rewarded with the news that he wasn't dying or anything.

It was a welcome relief, until a pair of legs finally stepped into his field of vision. The shiny black boots kicked his communicator towards his hands, just now starting to twitch and move once more.

"So, your friends were just waiting in the wings, eh?"

His body started to relax, allowing him to curl up into a ball. He couldn't think of much to say as the Sergeant knelt down next to him. The look in her eyes was one he had done much to avoid over the past year. He needed disappointment even less than he needed coddling.

"You lied to me. You let the bad guy get away. And, worst of all, you managed to get yourself hurt, all because you couldn't trust me."

The older woman let out a tired sigh, gingerly getting her hands under his arms she helped him back up to his feet. His legs still felt like jelly, though that was far from the worst thing he was feeling at the moment.

"Look, kid," the Sergeant said in a deliberate voice. "If you won't let us help you, then we can't afford to let you help us."

"I-" he began haltingly, but, honestly, he didn't really have anything to say.

She held him there for an embarrassingly long time before he felt stable enough to stand on his own. Finally, she released her hold on him and stepped back. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him, that damned look of concern and disappointment in her eyes.

"Until the other Titans get back, we're taking you off the system, got it? I don't want to see you on another crime scene."

With jerky movements, he knelt to pick up his communicator, snapping it closed before staring at the piece of plastic. In the end, all he could do was nod.

Seeming satisfied, the Sergeant reached for his shoulder, as if to give him a reassuring pat… only to stall out about halfway there. Giving her head one last shake, she turned and left the store, leaving him standing amongst the officers attending to the crime scene. Not one of them said a word to him, most didn't even glance his way.

It was a minor mercy, anyway.

Still, considering everything that had just happened, there was only one thing he could think to say.

"Shit… Robin's really better than me now?"

Ryouga took a deep breath, enjoying the invigorating smell of petrichor in the morning. It was still dark in the cave they'd found, but the natural edifice was doing a splendid job of keeping the rain off of them. He stood at the mouth of the cave, his hand resting on the wall next to him, staring out into the light drizzle that showered the desert.

He gave a loud chuckle. Who else could have luck so bad as to get caught in a rainstorm in the desert? Either that, or he was getting a serious kickback from his curse, what with it not having been able to put him into any seriously humiliating situations for some time. Jusenkyo must be getting pretty desperate if this was the best it could come up with, though.

The sound of clumsy shuffling from behind alerted him to Terra's awakening. He kept his gaze on the falling droplets of rain, giving the young girl her privacy as she changed. They hadn't bothered with tents, being in a cave and all. A few moments later, the shuffling made its way to his side.

"Well crap. What a waste of a day."

Ryouga looked over to his pupil, and almost recoiled at the sight. The thin girl's hair was dropping heavily over her face, obscuring her right eye completely, and shading the rest of her face in a way that really accentuated the dark ring under her eye. The grim expression on her face was something else, too. For the first time, he could almost see the tiniest glimmer of that girl that everyone considered a terrible villain.

Meh, probably just teenage hormones.

"You aren't still grumpy, are you? You made a lot of progress yesterday; you should be proud."

Terra mumbled something under her breath he couldn't make out.

"What was that, pupil?"

"I said, 'If I left your body in the desert, no one would ever find it'!"

She turned, glaring at him with that one eye. Gingerly, she rubbed her exposed arms, her fingers brushing over the numerous welts that covered her skin.

He gave a loud chuckle. "Good. That's good. There's nothing like a healthy dose of deep-seated resentment to motivate you."

Her glare grew incredulous. "Really? That's your take on me contemplating murdering you?"

"Hey, hating Ranma drove me to all kinds of insane lengths to best him." He flexed an arm jokingly. "You could say Ranma made me the man I am today."

Terra looked thoughtful for a moment as she considered that.

"Hmm, well, I guess I have my own reason to hate Ranma now."

The fanged martial artist clapped his hands together excitedly. "That's the spirit! Now let's channel that rage and get some real training done today."

The slight blonde just stared at him blankly, before gesturing beyond the cave entrance.

"Um, what? In case you didn't notice, it's raining out. We can't train in that!"

"You worry too much." To punctuate his point, Ryouga took several long steps forward, letting the light rain cascade over him. Honestly, compared to his old transformation, he barely even noticed the change now. Going from five foot something to a bit over four feet tall was less jarring than instantly seeing the world from ankle level. The arms, legs and opposable thumbs were just gravy after that.

He took a moment to kneel down into the sodden sand, not wet enough to really be called mud yet, and rolled up his pant legs, then his sleeves, and finished up with a few bandannas to tie everything off and make sure clothes weren't going anywhere. Standing up once more, he gave one last cinch to his trusty belt, and he was good to go. Turning around, he swiped a bit of water from the tip of his nose and offered his pupil a broad grin.

"I've been meaning to do some training in my cursed form for quite awhile now, but I never got the chance." He bounced back and forth a few times, trying to get used to his new balance and proportions. "This will give us both a chance to practice."

Terra continued to stare at him for a long moment, until the tiniest grin finally cracked her stony facade. She took a step out into the rain as well, her golden locks quickly plastering to her skin and clothes. "Well, never let it be said that I was out-toughed by a little kid."

He tried to chuckle, but in his current state, it came out as more of a high-pitched giggle. "Good, but don't let go of that intensity yet. You're going to need it for the training I've planned."

She moved to his side and joined him in looking out over the expanse of the damp desert. It really was a rare sight, even for him. "And what training is that? I swear to God, there better not be any more acorns!"

"You needn't worry about that," he replied ambiguously. "The goal today is to build on what you learned yesterday."

Her burning glare dissolved into curiosity at his words. Instead of explaining straight away, he gestured to the ground. "Pull up a rock from the ground, would you?"

A quizzical expression dominated her face, but she did as he asked. With a simple gesture, a small rock, about a foot in diameter erupted from the earth and floated patiently by her side. He looked at the stone appraisingly for a moment, before shaking his head. "Hmm, no, let's go bigger."

She shrugged, looking even more confused, before gesturing again. This time, the ground quaked beneath their feet, nearly sending them both stumbling, until a hugely impressive boulder tore itself violently free from its earthen tomb. Almost a dozen feet in diameter and in the serious tonnage range, Ryouga analyzed the boulder excitedly.

He then paused for a moment, considering his current form and conditioning.

"Umm. actually, maybe something about half that size?"

"Sure, no problem."

Rather than summon yet another boulder, Terra just motioned with her hand, almost like crumpling up a ball of paper, as she did, the outer layers of the boulder crumbled and sloughed off, revealing a much more manageable land mass.

"So, what are we doing with this?"

Smiling, he pulled off two of his bandannas, handing one to her and keeping the other for himself. "You're going to be doing your very best to smash me with it."

The surly geokinetic perked up noticeably at that. "Reeaally?"

The boulder wavered ominously in the air, Ryouga could almost smell the inanimate object's blood lust.

"Don't think it's going to be so easy, though. This is a test for your senses, and reflexes. So, to make this interesting, you are going to be doing this exercise blindfolded."

"So, I have to try to figure out where you are, and then throw boulders at you?" She laughed happily. "Like Marco Polo, but with slightly more physical trauma!"

Ryouga had no idea what she was talking about but played along. "Sure. And don't worry, I'll be giving you hints of my position as we go." He chuckled evilly to himself, subtly patting his pocket full of acorns. "So, put on the bandanna, and let's get to work."

As she did so, he took a few leaps away until he was about forty feet from the girl. He spent a few moments focusing on her fighting spirit, surging with excitement he noted proudly, before tying a bandanna over his own eyes as well.

He spent a few more long moments, listening and focusing. He could hear the rain fall all around him, pattering lightly on every surface - it was a distraction he wasn't used to after so long avidly avoiding rain for fear of the pig - he could also hear Terra's halting steps in the wet sand.

However, his hunch had proven correct. No matter how much he focused, he couldn't see anything beyond the basic Breaking Points around him, numerous but diffuse in the sand. The faint golden lines that linked the points together no longer revealed themselves to him, He could no longer 'see' the world, or Terra, or much of anything else for that matter, just a few random points of light, like he was standing on a black ocean of starlight.

Moving silently to the side, he could still 'feel' Terra's presence, could sense her frustration and anger. The next step he took, he stamped down hard into a puddle, sending water splashing out.

"Haaa!" Terra's outburst was part excited shout, part grunt of exertion. He could hear her arm swing forward through the rain. A moment later, the air cracked as a large mass fired towards his position. From this distance, a single leap carried him clear long before the boulder crashed to the ground sending dirt and sodden sand flying.

He'd felt the temptation to try shattering the boulder, but that wasn't what this training was about, for him, or for her. If his guess were right, and it was starting to look more like it was, he was quite sure the technique itself would work fine.

It seemed like this new body had all his knowledge, all his training, but it lacked his conditioning. He'd noticed it several times over the last few months, on the few chances he'd had to fight while cursed. He could do the Bakusai Tenketsu fine, but he couldn't take a hit. He could perform the Shi Shi Houkodan better in his child form, since it seemed to revert to the emotional state he had at that time in his life, namely a crappy one.

And now he just confirmed that, while he knew how to visualize life energy, and emulate elemental ki, this body hadn't gone through any of the long days and weeks of acclimation that his older body had.

He continued his slow stalking around Terra, noting her beginning her own hunt, stepping lightly in the direction she'd just targeted. This time, he let out a small bark, more of a yelp, unfortunately. Again, the boulder sailed towards him and again he evaded it with relative ease.

It was a puzzle he'd never thought about before. After all, the only person he knew that had a 'person' curse was Ranma. Mousse, Shampoo, even Panythose, none of them, or himself, really had any reason to try training in their cursed forms. Why train when your main concern was getting out of that damn form?

Well, not counting Pantyhose, he was just an ass.

Ranma, though, didn't seem to have any such issues carrying training over from one form to the next. Maybe it was because Ranma's curse was almost identical to his normal body, just differently gendered? Or maybe because Ranma had his curse before he had started all the crazy training that had punctuated the last few years, while Ryouga had just recently acquired his new curse?

Maybe P-Chan had actually been a Shi Shi Houkodan-ing, Bakusai Tenketsu-ing engine of destruction, and he never knew, because he'd just never thought to try?

Time to up the ante a bit. Ryouga pulled out one of the acorns and aimed it in Terra's general direction. It didn't take long for a curse mumbled in frustration to give him a target.

The acorn whistled through the air.

"Ow! Son of a-"

This time the boulder flew much faster, but she hadn't been able to target him, and he leapt far from danger before the boulder landed.

Or so he thought! He was caught completely off guard when something much smaller and faster drilled into his side, blasting the air from his lungs. The hit slammed him to the ground as he gave a pained shout.

"Ryouga!"

Gingerly, Ryouga pulled off his bandanna and spotted the culprit. The small, one-foot stone Terra had pulled up first. Between the crashing of the larger boulder and the falling of the rain, he hadn't noticed it hurtling towards him. His talented student no doubt heard his own landing, possibly even predicted it after the last few jumps.

His breathing was starting to come easier, and he was about to get to his feet, when he was suddenly slammed to the ground again. Luckily, this time it was the near weightless form of Terra crashing into him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Ohmygod! Are you alright! You're not dying, are you?"

The fanged youth gave a pained chuckle, this time completing his transition back to standing. Planting his arms firmly on Terra's shoulders, he pushed her back to arms length, having to reach up a few inches to do so now.

"I'm fine, Terra. In fact, that's what I was planning from the start."

Terra rolled her eyes. "Oh, sure, you planned to get hit by a speeding boulder?"

He shook his head, still grinning. "No. I plan on getting hit by a lot of boulders. I would think you, of all people, would understand why."

She stared at him, plainly confused for several seconds, until a light finally flicked on in her eyes. "The rock breaking thing? Wait! Are you using me to do that training on you? But you already know that trick."

He nodded, rolling his shoulder to get some of the stiffness out. "I know the technique, but that's only half of the benefit of that training. The repeated impacts also increase your durability by a staggering amount. If I don't want my kid half to be too much of a liability, then I need to start bringing it up to speed as much as possible."

In fact, with his knowledge of the training in various techniques, and his new younger body… would he be able to short cut his cursed form to actually reach his current level sooner, and even exceed his normal body as his curse body aged up?

Well, that was if his cursed form even aged at all. No one he knew had actually had their curse long enough for him to really notice any major differences. Stupid, oddly specifically worded ancient Chinese curses.

"And you think that I'm just going to sit here and bludgeon you half to death all day?" Terra spun and stalked away, her voice nearly cracked, obviously upset at the idea of harming him. It really was sweet and filled him with pride. On the other hand, the path of a martial artist was fraught with peril.

"Hey Terra?"

The young blonde gave a quick sniff, shivering slightly in the rain now that the adrenaline was running low, turned to glance at him over her shoulder.

"Y-yeah?"

The acorn blurred through the air; his aim true.

"Yeow! There was already a bruise there!" Terra's eyes snapped up, now glowing gold with rage and power. "I'm gonna flatten you!"

Ryouga was already running as fast as his little legs could carry him, chuckling excitedly. He could already feel the ground quaking as several more sizable boulders began to tear themselves free from the ground.

"Blindfold on!" he yelled over his shoulder.

There was some exasperated cursing from behind him, but he had no doubt that she was donning the strip of cloth. He did so himself, after leaping over two boulders that collided loudly beneath him.

He was glad they were past the initial stages of her training. Working on the basics and control involved a more focused and gentle approach. Now that she was ready to really start improving her skill, he felt she was ready for some proper, life and death martial arts training methods.

Speaking of which, he needed to find a way to test his theory of how the cross training with his cursed form worked. Knowledge flowed back and forth fine, but obviously conditioning didn't go backwards. However, could training travel forward? It felt weird, kind of like he was talking about one of Cyborg's Time Travel blogs.

He avoided another flying boulder, spinning around to the side to avoid it by the absolute minimum so as not to cause any obvious commotion by jumping a large distance. The fanged boy heard the smaller stone arrowing through the air, arcing around towards the landing site of the last boulder. It was flying blind and would miss him by a mile.

Grinning, he jumped over and planted himself into the projectile's path, setting himself to receive the hit. It smashed into his shoulder, but deflected to the side, a glancing blow. It still hurt, but even in this body, his strength and toughness were still well above normal, and he held his ground. A second later, he was on the move again, not wanting to test himself against the larger boulders yet.

It was a deep concern. If there was no connection between his two bodies, then he'd always be splitting his time, training his real body, then wasting time training his younger body just to try to keep pace. At that rate, if he didn't find a cure, he'd keep falling behind Ranma, who could train in either body and not lose any benefits.

At least if the benefits of training moved forward, then training in his child body wouldn't be a waste of time. But if he wanted to prove his point, then what could he train in his child form that he didn't already have in his adult body?

He noted Terra's attack pattern slowing, growing more methodical, so fired another acorn to maintain her… motivation. Ah, the joys of teaching. Cologne would be proud.

A sudden thought occurred to him, and he felt quite pleased with himself for it. Without the Pig, he could try the Chestnut Fist training again. He remembered the method Cologne had shown him, and they had passed a few streams on the way here.

Adding some fresh fish to their meals would certainly be a plus as well.

Though, Ryouga frowned - leaping onto, and then over, another speeding boulder - gauging one's own speed was hard to do. Even Ranma hadn't realized how much his own speed had increased from the training. On their first encounter after Ranma learned the technique, the pigtailed fighter had been so accustomed to his new speed, that he'd assumed that Ryouga had just gotten slower.

Well, what else did he know the training method for, but hadn't actually learned the technique? Unfortunately, the list was vanishingly small. He knew Ranma had an entire library of tricks, but he hadn't even seen all of them, let alone know how they were done. The only thing he had really innovated himself lately was the utilization of elemental ki, and he'd already unlocked the root secrets of Earth ki.

It wasn't like there were other… elements…

Ryouga held a hand up to his face, watching with fascination as the rain pooled quickly in his palm. A wide smile began to form on his face. It was just crazy enough to work, wasn't it? After all, by very definition, if his cursed form was around, that meant that water was present somehow.

It wouldn't be easy, and it would definitely take time, but he couldn't think of anything else that could more perfectly prove his theory.

"Yes! I'm a genius!"

A fraction of a second later, as the massive boulder crashed into his back, Ryouga felt obliged to retract his last statement.

"Ryoouga!"