FATE
A Ranma1/2 fanfic by PansutoTarou5925
Disclaimer to follow at end of chapter
DISCLAIMER: Ranma ½ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shonen Sunday, Viz, and other parties; I make no claims of ownership of any of the intellectual or other properties pertaining to it. Oh! My Goddess belongs to Kosuke Fujishima, Studio Proteus, Dark Horse, and other parties, and I make no claims of ownership of any of the intellectual or other properties pertaining to it, either.
Morning found the two teenagers making breakfast. Neither of them had slept well, and the adult contingent had found various reasons to shove the chore into the laps of the youngest people present. It was just as well that they were put together, since they had a lot to talk about.
Chiyeko in particular had been thinking over the last night. After her father startled her out of her actions, she'd thought over them again. She'd never done anything like that before, and it dawned on her that on some level, she'd realized that there were no rules for her any more - as Atasuke had put it, what was she going to do, go to hell? Nothing restrained her actions but her wants and her mother, really.
Atasuke, on the other hand, had a similar (but opposite) revelation the day before. There really was an afterlife, and that meant he really couldn't continue holding onto even the vestiges of what the old master had taught him. "Chiyeko, about yesterday-"
"Forget it, I wasn't really myself," she said, cutting him off.
"Ahh, I wasn't talking about the tent," he went on. "I meant before, when you told me about, you know..."
"My mother?" Chiyeko said, thinking that was a good way to talk about the whole 'I am a demoness' thing without announcing it to the whole world.
"Yeah. I know it's a bad time to mention it, but... you know how I studied Happousai's old techniques?"
Chiyeko stiffened. She was still pissed about the underwear incident. And the furo incident. "Yes..." she said icily.
Atasuke grimaced. Well, he supposed he deserved that. "There's more the old grandmaster left than just techniques..." He let his mind flicker back, to some of the stuff he'd found. After hearing some of the stories from the old Nerima gang on the airplane, he'd concluded that the really dangerous stuff had been thrown out. Even so... "Some of it was, uh, dangerous stuff. So I've had a little experience with magic before."
"And you want to help me learn how to use mine?" Chiyeko asked, her earlier annoyance at being reminded of certain incidents leaving her entirely at the thought of maybe learning something more at her level.
"Actually, I was thinking that I want the magic as far from me as possible," Atasuke said, sweating. "I'll make an exception for yours, though. I trust you." Chiyeko smiled at that. "But I think some of Happousai's stuff has a lasting effect on me." He looked around. "I was wondering if you knew how to check."
"I don't," Chiyeko admitted. "I don't know much about this magic stuff. Hey, watch it - you've almost burned the eggs."
"Oh, right!" Atasuke said, taking the pan away. "Breakfast!" he yelled, getting everyone's attention. They came over, one or two at a time, having been preoccupied.
Ranma sat down and yawned, holding out a hand for her food. "Is Taro back yet?" she asked idly.
"No," Chiyeko replied. She looked at her mother. "I don't trust that guy."
"Neither do I," Ranma cheerfully said back. "But he's great muscle to have in a brawl."
"That's what I figured, Ranchan," Ukyo chimed in. "I figured he was just here for backup."
"Yeah, like Saffron and Herb. But more... immediate, if you know what I mean."
Ryoga shrugged, scratching his beard. "Your call, Ranma. I think he's a bit more up to a fight than I am, nowadays."
"Ryoga, when your friends are counting on you, you'll never let them down," Ranma said, getting nods from everyone and a smile from Ryoga. "I can't say that about Taro. Hell, I don't even know if he has any 'friends' as we'd use the term, just occasional allies. I can't trust him to give his all in these one on one fights." She smiled, remembering a couple epic bar brawls in her last visit to China. "On the other hand, you'd need a gun to keep him out of a battle. Or a riot."
Ryoga snapped his fingers. "I thought that was him in Beijing! 'Escaped genetics experiment' my ass!"
"How could you mistake anything for the Pantyhose Monster?" Ukyo asked, with some justification. That cursed form was rather distinctive.
"Bad camera angle," Konatsu guessed. "I didn't know he was involved in the rioting, either. Which side had he joined?"
"Neither, he was just out to raise hell," Ranma said, shrugging.
"As we all are, out here," Hild said, the smile on her face just daring Ranma to say more. Instead, she just got a fishy look, which made her smile even wider.
"Glad you could make it," Ranma muttered to the straying member of his team as he finally returned. "You barely beat the Amazons here."
"Yeah, whatever," Taro said lazily, and cracked his knuckles. "I'm wondering why you cut me out of this little tournament, though. I was looking forward to kicking some ass."
"They're probably going to try to stab me in the back when they lose. Feel free to run wild when it happens." That done, Ranma tossed the core of the apple she'd been munching on behind her, and stood up, facing the Amazon delegation. There was another one of the shriveled up prunes leading the group - Perfume, who'd taken over for Cologne after she'd killed the old matriarch - two women he didn't recognize, and a purple-haired one that he did.
'The years have not been kind to you,' she thought, with more than a touch of vindictiveness. At least her curse had treated her nicely in that regard, maybe because it was the spring of drowned 'young' girl.
There was a distinct tenseness in the air. They were all gathered together - not just Ranma's party and the Amazons, but her... witnesses, she supposed would be the correct term. Certainly Saffron's presence was unnerving to the Amazons, although he was almost as distracting to her own team.
"So we meet again," Perfume said gravely.
"For the last time, you mean," Ranma said, crossing her arms. There wasn't a hint of fear in her stance, despite the people facing her - or the people surrounding her. There was good reason for her confidence, and everyone knew it: slayer of Saffron, killer of Cologne, and perhaps a dozen other would-be Amazon heroines.
The Amazons had not been idle, either; the scope of the challenge Ranma presented had ensured that. Whether that training and focus would help them now - that was the question.
"Whatever happens," Ranma said, her one eye glaring coldly, "the kiss of death and the kiss of marriage will not hold for the others here. This is between your honor and mine - if you have any."
Perfume narrowed her own eyes. "That will be acceptable to us - but your fights, Saotome, will be to the death."
"Perfect," she said, smiling. There was a sharpness to that smile she found unnerving. "It will protect you as much as it protects them." With that, the redhead waved everyone back, opening up more room in the clearing, and released her battle aura.
Despite Ranma's barely controlled killer intent, mixed with unshakable confidence, Shampoo's eyes flicked from Ranma's display to the woman who'd stolen her away. Alone of all the people watching it, Hild didn't look at Ranma's vengeance-fueled chi with some mixture of grim seriousness or fear. Instead, she had a look of barely suppressed glee.
That worried her almost more than Ranma.
"So who will fight first?" Ranma asked.
"I will," Perfume said, stepping forward.
Konatsu stepped forward without hesitation. "I'll be your opponent," he said, not giving anyone a chance to dispute it.
The others nodded, respecting the crossdressing ninja's level of dedication to his friends. He probably was the worst of the four at martial arts, and was going to force Perfume to reveal as much of her arts as possible.
"Then let us begin," Perfume intoned, and the other fighters gave them space.
Konatsu was hard pressed almost at once. Ranma had been a force of nature for almost two decades, pushed by war; her daughter was trained and pushed harder than Ranma had been, and Ryoga was, well, Ryoga. Against an Amazon of Perfume's caliber, who had been working furiously just to keep up with Ranma's progress, he was sorely outclassed.
But he wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime genius ninja for nothing.
Raw speed served him well, dancing out of the way of the aged woman's strikes, using reach and weapons to counteract her skill and explosive agility. Parry the cane with a sword, keep out of the tiny crone's hands and feet, and fight on the defensive.
He was going to lose. He'd known that going in - but this was about more than one fight.
Constantly retreating, and trading space for time, he wasn't surprised to find himself being led into a spiral. It was interesting, since he wasn't releasing any hot chi, but then again, there was plenty of it from the spectators, so maybe that was the matriarch's game.
Once he hit the center of the spiral, he didn't even hesitate, but flattened himself against the ground as the elder forced the air into a violent tornado. He knew that he was vulnerable down here, and wasn't surprised to see her thrusting her cane at him as if she were going to pin him with it like an insect. He couldn't dodge without letting go, and he couldn't let go without being sucked into the tornado.
He'd planned to fight dirty from the start, however. He took a deep breath, bit down on the pill he'd put in his mouth before, and exhaled flames that were whipped to a white heat by the wind.
Perfume leapt up, was caught by the tornado, and spiraled around once before canceling her technique and descending gracefully, her white hair trailing behind her like a streamer. "So," she said, amused, "you were planning for that. I am impressed."
Konatsu smiled.
"Not impressed enough." And she vanished.
The male kunoichi twisted and blocked, deflecting dozens of blows, before suddenly crumpling to his knees. Perfume reappeared behind him, twirling her cane like a baton. "Too easy," she said, and her expression suddenly grew hard. "Take your friend away, Saotome."
Ranma and Ukyo were already moving. They took Konatsu under each arm and dragged him to their side of the clearing. Atasuke was next to them in a flash, checking him over expertly.
"You're surprisingly good at this," Ranma noted, as she stood up.
"I've had a lot of practice, with Akane as a dojo master," he answered quickly, distracted by his quick-check of the injured man. "No major injuries. He'll be fine."
Ranma walked forward, claiming the next turn in the tournament. She waved forward her challenger. her smile a thing of pure vengeance. "It's time to take out the trash," she said, getting an angry murmur from her opponents, and even her witnesses were offended by her brashness. Only Taro laughed, being that sort naturally.
She didn't care who was offended. In the end, Ranma Saotome never loses.
And judging by the fearful feel of her opponent's chi, that opinion was shared by the Amazon.
"You have much to answer for, enemy of all Joketsuzoku!" she said, pointing a thin rod at Ranma. With a fluidity born of long practice, she flipped it around in her hand, revealing a long blade inside. "I will make you pay for your crimes."
Ranma laughed. "What's your name?"
The Amazon blinked. "What?"
"What's your name?" she repeated, crossing her arms. Her smile changed, more amused, and her one visible eye relaxed as well.
"Brush! My name is Brush! Remember it!"
Ranma smiled. "Well, Brush, I'm not here to answer for my crimes. I'm here to make you and yours answer for theirs. Got it?"
A glare was her only answer.
Chuckling, Ranma uncrossed her arms.
Then, she vanished.
Brush barely had time to even move before her balisong knife was kicked free, spinning end over end out of the clearing, her wrist bent at an unnatural angle. On instinct she blocked Ranma's knife hand to the throat, but the older woman's leg ended right behind hers as Ranma finished off her roundhouse kick, and the force of Ranma's left hand slamming into her right arm twisted her around and tripped her.
Ranma's right arm continued its natural downward swing, counterbalancing the knife hand, and fired off a Moko Takabisha into her stomach as she hit the ground. The Amazon's legs kicked up involuntarily, and Ranma grabbed hold of a leg just long enough to follow up by punting her into the air.
With no leverage, the airborne Amazon couldn't hope to dodge her Kijin Raishu Dan, and the bloodied warrior flopped on the ground, mercifully unconscious.
"Take her and go," Ranma said, turning back to her side.
"Ranma has gotten stronger," Shampoo said, a line of sweat the only sign of fear she showed. Brush was young, but strongest of the younger generation. Everyone expected her to lose; Ranma had killed Saffron and Cologne, and now was in the prime of her life and was at the very event she'd spent the whole of her adulthood preparing for: revenging herself on the Amazons once and for all. To say that it was a bad battle was a great understatement; it was one they would have refused.
Apparently Ranma had foreseen that, and forced them into this fight. Privately, Shampoo thought they should have denied this battle. Run before Ranma; she would not live forever.
But no. The elders had stuck with the laws, the laws that had stood them well for centuries - for millenia. And those laws had worked... until they ran into a Ranma.
What Shampoo now saw, and now feared, and the elders did not seem to realize, was that Ranma must inevitably come. If the great Khan had this curse, and had to deal with the Kiss of Death, would they have survived? Perhaps they could have killed him, but their lands would have been burned, the weak slain, and siege and starvation would not have sufficed. If their laws had run them afoul of the Chinese, what would their arts do against the missile that would catch them without warning? The Bakusei Tenketsu did not protect against radiation.
"Have faith," Perfume said confidently. "Perhaps Ranma could defeat any one of us, but even she cannot defeat all of us."
Shampoo turned away slightly, so her face did not reveal her misgivings. She glanced at Hild, at the far end of the clearing. Ranma's lover still had that expression that gripped her with fear.
As far as she knew, Hild was a non-factor. So why was she so terrifying?
This would not end well.
"Well, that was brutal," Ukyo said, a bit unnerved at Ranma's dismantling of her opponent.
"Every second spent fighting is a second I could be spending as a man," Ranma said cheerfully. "So I have a good reason to keep things quick, don't I?
Hild smiled. "More incentive than just that," she said playfully, then turned to her daughter. She gave the teenager a cutesy look and clapped her hands. "Chiyeko-chan, can you come here for juuust a moment?"
"What do you want?" she asked, rather warily. Her mother was giving off the same sort of vibes her grandfather did, just before he was about to get her in trouble.
Hild leaned over. "Don't use magic in your match," she whispered.
"Oh, is that all?" Chiyeko said, relaxing.
Her mother looked upwards pointedly. "See those clouds?" Oddly-colored storm clouds were gathering over the valley, dented where they passed over a few of the mountains, and were growing in height. "Feel the magic in them?"
Indeed she could, despite her short acquaintance with magic. "I guess so..."
"Now, really, there's only a few people with the power to have done something like this around here," she said, giving her a sickeningly sweet smile. "And neither Saffron nor I would do something like this. You didn't do anything foolish, did you?"
Chiyeko gave a fake smile back. "You mean like spitting in Jusenkyo?" she answered, sweating.
"That's exactly the sort of thing I was talking about," Hild responded, her whisper turning into a hiss. "You know, I thought Urd inherited it from her father, but maybe it's just recessive. Whatever. Don't cast any magic, and let me worry about the storm. You worry about your opponent."
"All right," Chiyeko answered, and turned back. It seemed she wasn't up next anyways. Ryoga had stepped forward into the middle with Shampoo, and everyone's attention - save Hild's - was on the most even matchup so far.
"It's been a while," Ryoga said conversationally.
"It has," Shampoo said simply. "I wish it could be otherwise. And the beard looks very nice on you." If things had gone as they should - if that little girl had never been born - she would be on his side, Ranma's side. She was sure of that. She refused to believe Akane or Ukyo would have won that battle.
Unfortunately, it had ended before it had even really begun.
Ryoga scratched his beard absently. "It's practical when you're away from a mirror for weeks at a time," he said idly. It was pretty much a Hibiki tradition for that reason. He shrugged. "Enough talk, though. Don't think I'll go easy on you, just because of the past."
Shampoo smiled, readying a bonbori. "Keep that in mind as well," she said, and advanced on him, slowly at first, then making a quick charge at the end.
Her initial attack was brushed aside by Ryoga's umbrella. He was as strong as ever - no, stronger - but she'd become much stronger as well. She moved with the deflection, using it to help her. His head swayed back under her second strike, then he ducked one and jumped over the other of two quick snap kicks. He lashed out with his own kick; she blocked it.
Ryoga flipped away from her block, and Shampoo rolled backwards with the momentum, smoothly rolling back to her feet. She paused and cracked her neck slightly. "Very good. You've been in practice."
He nodded, then tapped the ground in front of him with his foot. It exploded into a plume of debris, followed a heartbeat later by an incredibly fast blur.
Only lightning reflexes saved her as Shampoo threw herself backwards, as Ryoga's heavy umbrella slammed into a tree like a cannon shell. It was followed by several bandannas; Shampoo laid flat, then kicked up, only to have two strong arms burst out of the ground below her and wrap around her neck.
Her face took on a panicked look, and then she jammed her fingers in the ground, finding her own breaking points to use. Shampoo folded up double, locked her ankles around Ryoga's head as the explosion freed the dirt protecting it, and flipped him over her head.
He landed as easily as she got to her feet, both of their heads ringing from the point-blank breaking point. No rest, no stopping. These were not the kiddie fights of long ago. First to pause lost.
They each immediately attacked.
Shampoo threw her bonbori low, forcing Ryoga to hop over them. He fired off a spinning backhanded blow that she easily dodged... save that hitting her wasn't actually the point of the move. She felt herself being pulled violently forward as she prepared her own strike.
'Air pressure! He's using it to pull, rather than strike-' she realized, before she caught a thunderous knee to the stomach. Her hand slapped against his ribs and leg before being thrown back, all the wind knocked out of her.
The Amazon just barely rolled out of the way before Ryoga crashed down, sinking his arm up to his elbow with a mighty punch. Then he tried to stand up and failed, and could barely even breathe. "How-"
"Pressure points," she said simply, picking up her bonbori.
Even short of breath and unable to stand, Ryoga was hard to put away, but there was no question of what the outcome would be at that point. Eventually Ryoga Hibiki fell down unconscious, and was pulled back by his friends.
Shampoo walked back to the cheers of the Amazons, as the last two fighters stepped up.
Meanwhile, the team's "medics" looked over Ryoga. "He's a lot less banged up than I thought," Atasuke said, frankly amazed.
"He's always had a hard head," Ukyo said.
"Still, he's going to bruise a lot, and we'd better make sure his eyes don't puff shut." Left unspoken was the reason: a probably better than 50/50 chance that this whole thing would end in a general fight out of Amazon inflexibility or Ranma's ability to mortally offend people. They'd need everybody in that general melee.
Next up was Chiyeko, and the youngest Saotome was filled with emotions. Fear, certainly, and anger - these were the people who'd taken her father away from her. She'd seen photos of him - the real him, not the redheaded woman he'd been forced to live as - but she'd not met him.
Yet.
There was another emotion there, too. It was something Ranma lived for in the fights, and she had always loudly denied: excitement. These battles meant something. It meant she was getting her family back, a normal family with a normal mother and...
Her brain came to a screeching halt as she rethought that last sentence. She would have a father who was at least halfway normal... no. Scratch that. Her father would be happy. Yes. That was worth fighting for.
It was worth beating this particular Amazon into a mudhole for. She didn't even bother with any sort of pre-fight conversation; she simply charged the staff-wielding adversary and started swinging.
Granted, that sort of straightforward mindless attacking wasn't so effective - the Amazon was agile enough with the staff that she had to pull several strikes, lest she leave an opening, and left few of her own to compensate. Her style seemed defensive in nature, putting a high emphasis on counterstrikes. Chiyeko tested that with a second pass, this time deliberately overextending a strike a bit.
Having expected the blow, she rolled away from it so it only stung a little and smiled. Definitely a counterpuncher, this one, and an egotist, too, given the way she showed off with a quick twirl of the staff after landing the first blow of the match.
Well, she'd land the last blow, so it all evened out for showing off.
But first things first - and the first thing was to get rid of the staff. Chiyeko tumbled back in gracefully, snapped off a few quick few blows, and hopped back. All deflected, of course; her opponent was no slouch, reacting fast to every threat. That was fine, she just wanted a general feel for how she liked to block.
The young Saotome came in for another pass, feinting with a quick jab and then suddenly reversing her momentum and struck with a blindingly fast side kick right at her opponent's chest.
Exactly as planned, her opponent reacted to the sudden change by shoving her leg away with a firm two-handed grip. Chiyeko's right hand had moved back towards her head, catching the headband she hid the demon-mark on her forehead with, and whipped it loose, charging it with her pishogue as it went. Anything Goes borrowed useful techniques from anywhere; her 'uncle' Ryoga would be proud.
The whirring headband neatly struck the staff halfway between her opponents' hands and cut it in half before whipping over the Amazon's shoulder, taking a few strands of hair off in the process. She immediately followed up on the attack before the woman could react to the destruction of her weapon. No techniques were off limit in this fight, so she swept aside both arms with a fluid movement and kicked out with her heel, hard. "Moko Kaimon Ha!" she shouted.
Despite having the attempt to kick her heart through her spine, the Amazon merely grunted and staggered back in pain, and Chiyeko's face twitched. 'Breaking point training,' she thought, annoyed. Time to improvise.
She dodged and blocked quickly as her opponent went on the offensive, using her broken staff as two shorter weapons. Really, this would be a nice time to be able to use her magic - she didn't care how tough it made you, it wouldn't make you fireproof, or help if your opponent could fire lightning bolts.
Then her opponent overextended slightly, and she elected to end the match. Chiyeko grabbed her arm, channeled as much energy as she could into her legs, and laid into her ribs like a jackhammer. The Amazon's other hand came across, smashing the stick across her knee, and she hopped back, grabbing her leg as it throbbed.
Her opponent went pale, dropped her weapons, and crumpled over, coughing blood.
She winced. She hadn't meant to break her ribs, but ever since her mother had made her an 'official' demon of Niefelheim, she'd had more energy than before and still hadn't compensated fully. The other amazons were already moving, bringing their injured sister back. Chiyeko put weight on her leg, testing it - pain, but not serious. She was still good to fight.
"Don't worry about the Amazon," her father said, clapping her on the shoulder as she walked back. "You know she'll be back in a few days."
She nodded. Injuries like that weren't too uncommon, from training or crazy opponents. It was just that she didn't normally set out to injure people.
Well, except for some crooks who really picked the wrong junior high student to hassle, but that wasn't a deliberate fight.
"Let's check that leg," Atasuke said calmly, turning around from where he'd been taking care of Ryoga. The older man seemed to be recovered enough for another fight, if needed, but was still sitting down taking sips from his canteen, with a frustrated expression. Chiyeko sighed as she rolled up the leg of her pants. She'd be frustrated too if she had lost; no one wanted to let Ranma down.
"It feels fine - just a bit sore," she said, poking at her knee. He was all business right now, even while holding a lot of very nice leg, if she said so herself. Instead, he poked and prodded at it in a way she'd expect of his father.
He took his glasses off and wiped them, relieved. "Yeah, it's nothing major. You want me to wrap it?"
She considered it for a few moments, weighing the disadvantage in mobility compared to the possibility of injury. "Wrap it; I'll try a few kata afterwards. I can always take it back off if it hampers me."
He nodded and got to work. Her father gave her a thumbs up and walked out to meet the current Matriarch. Thunder rang out from the gathering storm - though, at the moment, it was still giving them a wide berth. She looked at her mother, and could feel - even if no one else could - the subtle flow of magic outwards, building in strength as the distance grew. Exactly why the clouds were bad news she didn't know, but she didn't need to be the Daimakochou to know that storm clouds from Jusenkyo couldn't possibly be good.
"Although there could be more fights, his ends here," Perfume said confidently, walking out. She was not as quite short as Cologne, nor was she quite as old and wizened as her predecessor. She still reminded all present of the former Matriarch even so.
More importantly, Ranma believed she was not as powerful as the old ghoul, either - and she'd killed that particular bane of her life. "I really doubt that," she said neutrally. She smiled cutely. "I've killed better than you."
"All luck runs out eventually," Perfume said. No, there was no lack of confidence in the Matriarch. Ranma's smile turned predatory. Her pigtail flapped in the growing fresh breeze like a samurai's banner, and she flared her battle aura, a thing of equal parts unshaken confidence and pure murderous intent. Perfume responded in kind, and with a similar mix; there was no love lost between Ranma and the Amazons.
As if they'd agreed on it beforehand, the two snapped into motion at the next thunderclap, charging against each other. Amaguriken met amaguriken in a contest to see if pure speed could decide the outcome right at the start. Then they withdrew, circling warily.
"Fast, girl, you are very fast," Perfume said approvingly.
Ranma narrowed her eye. "Faster than you. Interesting trick you have there." She'd blocked or deflected every blow, and snaked a few of her own in - yet none connected.
The Matriarch cackled. "You don't think all of us have the same techniques, do you? Did the Tendo school have those two schools of the thief?" She glared at him. "So why would you think Cologne knew all of our most powerful techniques?"
"I didn't," Ranma said, the smile returning. "Do make it interesting, granny. Because otherwise-" She vanished, appearing next to her opponent in a flash. "-you're a hundred years too *old* to beat me!"
Seventeen years of intense training, first under Happousai and then on her own, fearing for her own life and her daughter's, and all the while wanting revenge for what they'd done to her, had pushed her hard. It was the pressure of the Saffron fight, multiplied a hundredfold, and rarely letting up. What it had forged was a sight to behold, as Ranma moved with a speed and precision that awed everyone, even Hild. Perfume backpedaled quickly, barely deflecting most of the blocks and barely dodging all the rest.
Ranma was growing annoyed. It was like - no, not like, it was - as if her own attacks were moving the Amazon's arms and legs away. She stopped, settling into a casual slouch. If the Matriarch's plan was to tire her out, then she'd force her to drop this silliness. Any technique that pushed the two apart like the north ends of two magnets would hamper the user's own attacks along with their opponent's.
She quickly revised that opinion when the Matriarch formed two short chi blades extending slightly from her hands - a really impressive feat, that - and attacked. Sure, she couldn't touch Ranma with her hands, but apparently, she wouldn't need to. Ranma fired off a Moko Takabisha, only to have it slapped away. That didn't surprise her; Cologne had learned that trick, too.
Then Perfume attacked, and it was Ranma's turn to back up. The deflection trick was annoying, the chi-blades a wholly unwelcome addition to that. Konatsu had smoked out the generalities of her form - nothing Ranma couldn't handle - but the last thing she needed was something unexpected and dangerous. She'd need to smoke out any more techniques.
Ranma's aura dropped from raging to indetectable in a minute, then, despite Perfume's best efforts, she lost track of the cursed martial artist herself. She allowed a brief moment to appreciate the technique, the dreaded Umisenken, and then flared her aura even brighter, detecting Ranma by the shadow cast in her aura by the martial artist. "Did you think we would never devise a counter to that?" she said arrogantly.
"No, but now I know," Ranma said, the insufferable smile still there. The Matriarch's aura surged, seemed to grow heavy, wanting to crush her down, pushing her backwards; then the elderly woman surged in with her chi blades.
At the last moment Ranma whipped her hands out, each of them cracking loudly before pushing Perfume's hands up and away. The Amazon elder looked at the hands holding her wrists in surprise. "But how? The Amaguriken-"
"-isn't fast enough to beat your little trick with the air. Didn't you think about it when you flared your aura? I could see how you bent and compressed your chi around your body. No, the Amaguriken can't defeat that." Ranma smiled, now knowing victory was at hand. "Cologne would have known better. She'd have expected me to do the impossible. Relying on this trick to beat me? You are no Cologne. You are only a disappointment." The smile grew apologetic. "Don't worry. You'll never see it coming."
The next thing anyone heard was a sound like gunfire, as swirls of cloud erupted behind Ranma's limbs. Flashes of light could be seen within the hazy veils. It was over in a heartbeat, a dazed Perfume held in Ranma's grip. Smoke was rising off Ranma's sleeves, as the blackened silk still glowed at the extremities, and her arms and legs had a raw redness to them as if they'd been burned. She picked up Perfume's staff with her free hand loosely, then kicked through it with a resounding crack.
"End it," Perfume said, glaring at Ranma.
"As I said, you're no Cologne," Ranma replied neutrally, and then, violently, slammed the elder Amazon over her knee with a crunch, earning a wince from the onlooking fighters. She dropped her on the ground. "Take her away."
Chiyeko was of two minds. First, she was nervous; she was pretty sure she couldn't match up well against Shampoo. Second, she was pissed.
Her father hadn't ever even hinted at anything like that last trick.
"And what the hell was that?" she asked the redhead as she came back.
"Atasuke, bandages and burn stuff, now," Ranma told the boy, ignoring her daughter for the moment. The exposed skin was already starting to blister, and Ranma listened to no one until the soothing gel was applied to her skin. Then, and only then, did she bother talking to anyone else. "My father isn't the only one to invent a dangerous school of martial arts. Mine is more dangerous - a way of the desperate assassin, rather than any sort of mere thief. Raisenken. Very fast. Too fast; it burns you badly. And-"
"And?" Ryoga asked, very interested in Ranma's newest crazy technique.
She held up her hands in response. Each trembled violently as Atasuke wrapped long bandages around them. "It does a real number on your muscles, too." Ranma looked at her daughter. "I'd have taught it to you, if I had the problems ironed out. I don't, not yet."
"Are you coming to fight, or will you forfeit in favor of Ranma?" Shampoo called out loudly.
"I'm coming!" Chiyeko said, but was halted by Ranma's arm.
"Two things."
"Yes?"
"First, buy me time. I need to recover from this," Ranma told her, blue eye gazing seriously at her. Then it softened. "Second, good luck. I believe in you. Go beat up Shampoo!"
She smiled, heading out to her opponent with more confidence.
"You don't really think she'll win, do you, Ranchan?" Ukyo asked nervously.
Ryoga agreed. "Shampoo hasn't been out here watching the grass grow. She's much stronger."
"Chiyeko's stronger than I was at that age," Ranma argued back. "And she has special techniques of her own," she added, casting a hopeful look at Hild.
Hild shook her head in annoyance, getting a frown from Ranma. What the hell had she taught Chiyeko, then? Then the mother of his child pointed up, at the storm still building above them, and mouthed 'bad idea' to him. Magic was a bad idea right now? Why? The frown deepened.
They nodded to each other. There was no fear, only understanding. Shampoo was mentally comparing the girl in front of her to her two children. Older, of course, but strong, very strong; even stronger than her Airen had been at this age. After all this time, and children of her own, she couldn't really hate this girl. Still, she was going to have to beat the daylights out of her, and fast; every second was another one closer to Ranma recovering from that terrifying technique she'd unleashed. She had no chance of stopping that, if Saotome recovered enough to use it again. Perfume's sacrifice must not be in vain.
Not that Perfume had intended to be a sacrifice; it was just her backup plan. One Shampoo was very happy to see necessary, now that the person who'd ordered her children to be kidnapped had been beaten to a pulp and crippled. After this was over - yes. Payback was in order.
But she'd need to get through Ranma first. And before that, even, this girl.
Chiyeko was calm, too. Win or lose, she had confidence, the confidence that she was strong enough to ensure her father recovered fully from what she fully intended to learn someday. She'd rather win, though. As a demoness she didn't worry about lasting injury, but it was only the 'lasting' part that was beyond her fears. If she could help it, she didn't want to be unconscious when her father won.
"We start?" Shampoo asked politely, giving Chiyeko a short bow.
Chiyeko bowed back, her grandmother's insistence on manners coming back to her. "You'd better hope it isn't going to rain," she said impishly. 'Especially since I have no idea what these weird clouds could do to people.'
"Ranma was too smart to teach you catfist, I see," Shampoo said agreeably. "Begin now?"
"Yes."
The beginning was simple, and entirely defensive on Chiyeko's part. Delaying was even more important to her than trying to win. From Shampoo's face, she knew it, too.
Shampoo threw her bonbori to the side, shedding the weight for more speed, and touched the ground lightly, causing it to explode in a shower of dirt. Then she seemed to split, multiple Shampoos swirling around the younger girl.
Chiyeko Saotome glanced at the gathering storm and frowned. Magic would make things so much easier. "Kijin-Gun Dan Raibu!" she called out, warning people of what was to come, as she spun around quickly and fired off vacuum blades in all directions. The whirling horde of Shampoos easily dodged around the mostly-unaimed projectiles, but it bought Chiyeko just enough time to produce a large silk sheet and whip it over her, obscuring her from view.
It fluttered to the ground, with the youngest Saotome no longer visible.
Shampoo continued to hold the Splitting Cat's Hairs warily, looking carefully for the missing girl. Time passed and stretched into a minute, and she dropped the technique, unwilling to waste energy. "Saotome Final Technique is not allowed!" she yelled out angrily, stamping her foot on the discarded silk sheet. "Show yourself!"
The last thing Shampoo expected was for a hand to grab her ankle and pull her straight into the ground. Chiyeko burst out of the ground behind her, coated in dirt and grime, with a long cord uncoiling. "Kinshi Kinbaku Sho!" she cried out,Whipping the cord into a quick knot aroun the top of her silk sheet, tying Shampoo in the sheet. She slipped her feet under the handles of Shampoo's bonbori and flipped them up, catching them easily, and swung the oversize maces at the trapped Amazon.
Ranma and her team clapped from the sideline. "Good going, Chiyeko!"
Sensing the blow, Shampoo rolled back, was clipped by her on bonbori, and stumbled. Then she pulled out her backup weapon, her trusty sword, and stabbed through the bag, nearly skewering Chiyeko in the process. The older woman quickly tore apart the silk sheet, looking annoyed and slightly embarassed. "Play-time is over," she announced, and pressed home a more determined assault.
Chiyeko dropped the two bonbori for her more familiar unarmed style and managed to capture Shampoo's sword on the second strike, flipping it aside. Unfortunately, Shampoo had planned on that and was already moving inside her guard.
One quick flurry of punches at a speed and strength she couldn't handle and Chiyeko was out like a light.
Atasuke and Hild accompanied Ranma out this time. Ranma looked down at his unconscious daughter as the other two picked her up carefully. Seeing the murderous look on Hild's face, Ranma decided to act quickly and prevent a major scene. "Ahh, Chiyeko will be alright, Hild, it's not like she's seriously injured," she said.
Hild shot her a frightening look as well, but then visibly subsided. "If you say so," Hild said, in a voice that was a bit too nice and sweet for the moment. Ranma shuddered, and Shampoo wondered for the third time about Hild.
She shook her head, dismissing that. She could afford no distractions in the coming fight. At least Ranma was still suffering the effects of that insane speed jutsu she'd used earlier. There was still a tremble in her muscles, and her chi seemed much lower than it had been. Shampoo stood and smiled. "Wo da Airen," she told him, for the last time.
"It's fitting that the last Amazon I fight is also the first Amazon I fought," Ranma said by way of reply.
"This isn't the right place for us to fight," she told him, smiling. "Come!" With that, she set off out of the impromptu arena the clearing had become, and ran back towards Joketsuzoku.
Shrugging, Ranma turned to his team and his allies. "I've got a feeling I know where she's going. Bring Chiyeko and follow us." Then he took off after the purple-haired woman.
The Nerima crew looked uncomfortable as they entered the village. "This is not the greatest place to be," Konatsu said, shifting painfully. He was good enough to fight... barely, and not against the first team. He had a terrible feeling it was going to be necessary after all.
"You're telling me," Ryoga said, his head still ringing. "Prime territory for an ambush."
"Let 'em come," Taro said, his voice betraying pent-up aggression and boredom. "I want a fight." His fingers twitched towards his canteen.
Sure enough, she lead them right back to the old challenge log, jumping on top of it gracefully. Ranma jumped up on it as well. "Brings back some old memories."
"That it does," Shampoo responded, and stepped closer. "I want to take my Kisses of Marriage and Death back," she said impishly, "and make the end the same as the beginning."
Ranma sweated, and glanced over to Hild, who shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
The first kiss was a quick peck on the lips, but when she planted the second, she whispered, "They kidnapped my children. They're holding them hostage."
"Where?" Ranma whispered back, unwilling to have a longer conversation.
Shampoo glanced towards one of the larger huts as she stepped back.
"I see," Ranma said, nodding thoughtfully. The end being the same as the beginning, huh? Now what did she intend by that?
The two bowed, then struck, Amazon wushu and Anything-Goes kempo flowing back and forth easily on the challenge log. It was easy, almost casual sparring, something not lost on either of them, or on many of the onlookers.
One of them was the now-crippled Perfume. She motioned one of her loyalists closer while the spectacle on the log distracted them. "The perfect time to strike will come soon. Shampoo will do as required. When it is finished..."
"Yes, Matriarch?" the other warrior answered.
"Finish them both - Saotome and his friends, Shampoo and hers among the villagers."
"But Matriarch-"
"Shampoo will seek vengeance someday for what we have done. Best to end everything today."
Ranma was still thinking about Shampoo's request. Old friend or not, she had absolutely no compunctions about beating the crap out of her Amazon 'former wife' to end their harassment at the hands of the Amazons and their looney laws. On the other hand...
On the other hand, as a parent herself, she knew just how far she'd go to protect her children. That some of the Amazons would go so far as to threaten Shampoo's children to force her to fight her first love was a new low, even for them. Did Shampoo want her to help? Or did she just want her to think she wanted help, so that it would screw her over at the wrong time?
Then Ranma faltered. "What the-" Her chi was ebbing, sputtering really, and totally out of her control.
"I'm so sorry, Airen," she said apologetically, tears tracking her face. "Poisoned lipstick. For my children..."
"...you'll do anything. I know the feeling myself." Ranma glared at her. No chi techniques? No problem. "You really should have left it strictly to martial arts, Shampoo." She reached up and ripped loose her eyepatch, revealing a smooth, round ruby sphere that replaced the eye. Her scarred eyelid blinked over it a few times. "You should have - because I'll do anything for my child, too. And Chiyeko will not lose a father today."
"What is that?" she shouted.
"Why should I tell you?" Ranma replied flippantly. She'd been avoiding using this little toy before; it still felt too much like cheap power to her. Now, though, she activated it with a mental command as Hild had taught her once more, and information surged in - where everyone was, who they were.
And, everywhere, the things normally hidden: the pathways of chi through the body. The weak points in the bones, the injuries the opponent hid. Even the breaking points of body parts, as Cologne had discovered, too late.
Shampoo trembled, then attacked anyways; with her childrens' lives at stake, there was nothing to do but go on. Still, when Ranma's block broke her arm, she backed up at once, clutching the now useless appendage. Her bonbori rolled off the log onto the ground with a clatter. The skies opened up around the village, the village itself strangely free of rain, as the building storm was finally unleashed.
"Give up," Ranma demanded. "I'll save your children."
She trembled, then nodded.
"Now," Perfume said, feeling the sweet joy of vengeance and the heady pain-numbing sensation of the opium mixing in her. "Kill them now!"
The arrows came in bunches, suddenly, and well aimed. Ranma scooped Shampoo up and dropped behind the log, out of the way of fire. Taro, Ryoga, and Ukyo protected those near them as best they could, although Ukyo took an arrow to the leg and dropped to the ground with a brief scream.
Several arrows shot towards Chiyeko, the dangerous ones caught expertly by Atasuke. The last one he caught in his gut, positioning himself so it wouldn't hit anything vital. Hopefully he wouldn't bleed out, and the arrows weren't poisoned. If not, he thought as he collapsed painfully, at least he was probably perverted enough to see her in the next life.
He rolled over as best he could to protect Chiyeko, ignoring the arrow stuck in her leg. Wasn't her mother the Daimakochou? Shouldn't she be doing something, he wondered, as he passed out.
It was only half a second later that the earthquake began.
Author's Note: Wow, long chapter, huh? There's only a bit more to go. Hopefully, very soon. I noticed FFnet added some weird ASCII spam to the beginning of this chapter, hence the resubmit - sorry if this causes double-posts for those of you who have story alert. My apologies!