Chapter 4: The Battle Within
Well, as I sit here, about to start this chapter, I am admittedly angry. I am angry because I realized it had been forever since I had updated, and so I worked extremely hard to produce an absolutely mind-blowing 3rd chapter. As I sat re-reading it over and over, I couldn't help but notice how much my writing had evolved in my 8 month hiatus. I was really looking forward to reading the reviews. Unfortunately, I received only three.
Now, I'm not angry about receiving only three reviews. A little disappointed, but not angry… No, I'm angry because one of the three reviewers chose to not give any criticism, or even an opinion on the chapter. No, all they wrote was "Please update faster"
…
I had already said I was going to work harder to update faster and acknowledged it had taken a long time to produce that chapter. I'd also pointed out all the extra effort that went into the chapter. That said, this person thought it appropriate to order me to increase my production speed… I'm not getting paid to do this. I'm not your slave. And putting "please" does not make it any less rude or irritating. Please do not use reviews to demand that I increase the speed of my updates, as though I am a machine in a factory that you need only turn a knob on to increase the speed. If you don't have anything to say about the chapter or the writing, then don't even bother leaving a review… That said, I do hunger for criticism, so I beg thee noble reader, please… write something about my work, even if it's just "Lol! (Quote chapter) Nice! Good Work!" If you can write more, great! If you have some actual criticism, fantastic! That said, here's chapter 4
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma, damn it!
"You know… in hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to have Ryoga lead the way…" Ukyo ruminated.
"Since when did Tokyo get so high up?" Ryoga asked.
"We're on top of Mt. Fuji dumbass…" the chef replied.
"Shampoo knew this was wrong way. Shampoo think Great Grandmother should lead."
"Don't worry Shampoo, I'll take care of everything! I'll find this 'Noboru' that Ranma's too scared to fight, and I'll finish him off myself to prove my love for you!" Mouse declared, holding his beloved in his arms.
A look of contempt washed over Tatewaki's face, as he looked down at the blind man holding him. "Me thinks that perhaps thine luck would benefit greatly, if thou wouldst wear your damn glasses you idiot!"
"Say Happosai," Cologne began, "What exactly does this Noboru look like?"
"Well, he… that is… How do I describe it?" Happosai ruminated.
Ukyo sweat dropped. "You saw the king of demons up close and you forgot what he looked like?"
"If the great Tatewaki Kuno may venture a guess, does he sport long claws, messy black hair, and red and black armor, with a red cape?"
"Yes that's it! How'd you know that Kuno?"
Kuno then pointed to an old mountain man watching Noboru destroying a section of Nerima and screaming, "Where are you Ranma Saotome!?!" on his television
"I know how to get there!" Ryoga shouted. He then proceeded to run off in the exact opposite direction.
As Akane walked back into the house, her mind was swirling with thoughts. Would Ryoga be okay? Would Noboru be defeated? Would Ranma ever turn back to normal? How long had Ryoga felt that way? Did these shorts make her butt look big?
Burying her worries, she decided to go looking for Ranma and see if she could try to snap him back to normal one more time. It didn't take long for her to find him. He was sprawled out on the couch, face down in a cushion. Drool dripped down from the couch, as it often did when he napped in that position. But when he looked up at her, his expression wasn't a tired one, but a sad, empty one, and his eyes were so red… Had… had that drool actually been tears?
Ranma's sad expression quickly turned to an angry scowl as he flipped over on his back, determined to find the wall more interesting than his short-tempered fiancée. 'Well that's odd… Now he's not just a pacifist. He also hates me… again…'
Shaking off the sudden cold shoulder, Akane sat down on the couch next to Ranma and began rubbing his shoulders. Ranma blushed at the sudden contact, feeling the tension in his shoulders melt away. He smiled as Akane laid her head down on his back and said, "You know Ranma, if something's bothering you, you can tell me…"
These moments had become more and more common since the Saffron battle. Even though he fervently denied it to friends and family, Ranma had finally admitted his love for Akane (And she'd admitted hers, in her own way). This had caused much of the tension between the two to melt away, allowing for them to finally express their feelings.
As Akane wrapped her arms around Ranma, he tenderly stroked her hands, allowing all of the pain and sadness he was feeling to melt away. Why, he couldn't even remember what had got him so down! After all, with a girl like Akane-
Oh right! He was angry at her, damn it!
"AH! Get off me Akane!" he suddenly shouted, throwing her hands to the side, and moving to the nearby chair. "What's wrong?" she asked, giggling at what she perceived to be shyness. "I thought you were enjoying it…"
"Enjoying it!?!" he screamed. "What makes you think I want an uncute tomboy like you climbing all over me!?! God! Now I need a chemical bath!" He had to push her away. He just had to push her away. He knew he could never stop loving her. The only way to make the pain stop was to push her away.
'Uncute tomboy!?! What the-!?! He hasn't insulted me like that in ages!… Well, maybe it means he's getting back to normal.' Akane thought.
"Fine Ranma! I just thought that you might want some affection, since you apparently love me so much. I was feeling charitable after all!" she shouted back. After all, if this meant he was going to go back to normal, she was willing to play their old games.
"YOU'RE talking about charity. I'm the one who's generous for even acting like I don't completely hate you! You're lucky that I'm even willing to be around someone as annoying and uncute as you! In fact, you're lucky that anyone can stand being around someone as annoying as you, you freak!" he shouted, staring at the wall, unwilling to look at her face as his emotional torpedo rocked her.
Whoa! Did Ranma actually just say that!?! Sure, he'd always insulted her, but it was a childish kind of thing. That was just outright hurtful! What had gotten into him now!?!
"Excuse me!?!" was all she could manage to scream back.
"Just get out of here! It's obvious you'd rather be with someone else. Why don't you go stick your tongue down Ryoga's throat for a few hours. Hopefully that'll shut you up, and I won't have to listen to all your nagging!"
'Ryoga? What does he- Oh no…'
"Ranma, did you see us just now?"
"Duh… Gee you think? I ain't blind Akane!"
"No Ranma! It's not what you think, Ryoga was just- I mean- We didn't- We don't- I mean"
"Just get out of here Akane! I ain't in the mood!"
Ranma turned just in time to see Akane's trademark battle aura, predicting a visit from mallet-sama. But before he even had a chance to try to dodge, it disappeared. Akane's head just hung down, her hair blocking any view of her face, but just before she ran out of the room, he saw a single tear fall to the ground.
The pang of guilt that always rocked Ranma whenever he made Akane cry hit just as hard as always, but this time, no thoughts of apologies or making it up crossed his mind. He just got back on the couch, buried his face, and brought up thoughts of seppuku to keep the tears back.
"BRING ME RANMA SAOTOME, DAMN IT!!!"
Nerima's citizens ran and screamed in fear as the violent King of Demons tossed cars left and right and blasted energy from his palms. The entire city block was in complete ruin, and the damage was just escalating. If something wasn't done soon, the entire city would be leveled.
Maybe even the entire island.
"SHI SHI HOKODAN!!!"
What was this? A sudden burst of ki? Noboru turned to the source of the energy spike to find a blast of red energy flying towards him. A quick swipe of his hand was all it took to deflect the blast into a nearby orphanage.
"NOBORU! WE'RE NOT GOING TO LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS ANY LONGER!!!"
"Who's that!?!" the demon king shouted, looking for the source of the surprise attack.
"Up here!" came the reply. Sure enough, standing atop the remains of a ruined building was Ryoga and Co.
"Nobody wrecks Nerima but the Nerima Wrecking Crew!" he shouted.
"That's an absolutely terrible name…" Noboru replied.
"I told you." Mousse grumbled.
"Shut up!"
Noboru ignored the in-fighting of his new foes, proclaiming, "I don't know what you hope to accomplish, but I suggest you leave humans! No one will stop me from taking my revenge on Saotome!"
"Saotome is our friend!" Ukyo shouted.
"I won't let you lay a hand on my son!" Genma added.
"Saotome… WHAT A COWARD! HE SENDS HIS PATHETIC FRIENDS TO FIGHT ME INSTEAD OF FACING ME HIMSELF!!!"
"Why demon-king hate Airen so much? Airen good man! Always nice to everyone, except mean people!" Shampoo cried out in broken Japanese.
"Mere words cannot describe the depths of my suffering. Thanks to Ranma Saotome… I HAVE SEEN HELL!!!"
Ryoga just chuckled solemnly. "I used to have the same look in my eyes as you pal… It's a road that leads nowhere…"
"What can you possibly know about my pain!?!" Noboru countered.
"Because… Ranma became my best friend… After I swore to destroy him for ruining my life!!!"
At that, Ryoga leapt from the building with a spinning axe kick, determined to finish the fight quickly. Noboru simply smirked and raised his arm, taking the full force of the kick.
"He blocked Ryoga's kick with just one arm!?!" Soun shouted in shock.
Recovering quickly, Ryoga pushed off of Noboru's arm and flipped in the air. He then launched 2 flying side-kicks, both blocked as easily as his first kick. As Ryoga landed on the ground, Noboru brought down his claws to hack at his foes body, but felt a sudden jolt as they were somehow blocked.
In an instant, Mousse had appeared in front of Ryoga, producing twin blades from the inner confines of his robes, blocking Noboru's claws. He slashed at the demon's chest, but Noboru simply leapt into the air.
Retracting his blades, Mousse cried, "You're not getting off that easily!" And launched several weighted chains from his sleeves, ensnaring the foul beast. He then spun on his heels, swinging Noboru into the wall of a building.
As Noboru freed himself from the resulting crater, he was greeted with the cry of "HAPPO FIRE BURST!!!" and several bombs in his face. It appeared that the explosion had destroyed Noboru, until he flew from the dust unharmed. He brought his knee into Happosai's gut and drop kicked him into the dirt. His energy blasts then knocked Mousse back into a tree, and stunned Ryoga long enough for him to come crashing down into him with an elbow smash.
Shampoo and Ukyo, in a rare instance of comradery, charged Noboru together. Noboru was forced to use both hands to block the spatula and bonbori, allowing for Cologne to surprise him with a thrust of her staff to his chest, bringing him to his knees. Soun then proceeded to launch a flying side kick to the demon's face, finally bringing him to the ground.
"NOW SAOTOME!" he cried out, hoping their new technique would finish Noboru for good.
"What!?!" Noboru exclaimed, noticing an ever expanding shadow around him. He only had enough time to sweat drop before a gigantic panda fell from the sky and crushed him.
Proud of having felled the supposedly omnipotent king of demons, Genma proceeded to celebrate as he always did: By rolling around with a tire in his paws. The tire was soon incinerated as an energy blast launched Genma into the air. Noboru was quick to fire two more into Shampoo and Ukyo, knocking them out. As Cologne charged with her staff, Noboru merely grabbed it and flung the 300 year old Amazon into a car.
Ryoga and Mousse charged the foul demon once more, and were rewarded with an elbow in Mousse's face and a right cross in Ryoga's for their trouble. As Noboru turned to wreak vengeance on Soun, the man, quite predictably, broke down and began weeping openly. Noboru stared at him uncomfortably for a few moments before turning to continue carving his swath of destruction.
But as he turned towards the setting sun, a silhouette stood in the distance, its hair bouncing in the wind.
"Foul beast. You may think thyself mighty for besting the mere commoners, but how will thee fare against a noble modern-day Samurai."
"A samurai?" the beast asked in disbelief.
"You should be proud, demon. For once you are back in Hell, you may tell the other demons that you had the honor, nay, the privilege, of being slain by the Blue Thunder of Furinkin High: The Great Tatewaki Kuno, age 19…"
"Is he still the Blue Thunder of Furinkin High if he graduated two years ago Tendo?" Genma asked.
"No Saotome. In fact, I find it quite odd that he keeps going back to that High School, considering he should be in college at this point." Soun answered
"Kuno's going to fight the demon?" Ryoga asked as he picked himself off the ground.
"Somehow, I don't expect this to go well…" Ukyo muttered.
"HAVE AT THEE!!! TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA!!!" Kuno shouted, charging with his bokken. The NWC was shocked to see Noboru actually having trouble defending against the attacks Kuno threw at Ranma every day, with little to no success.
"Of course…" Mousse realized, "Ranma avoids Kuno's attacks so easily because Kuno uses the same combination every time, and Ranma's learned to predict it. To Noboru, who's never seen it before, it's actually a threat!"
Though he was able to avoid most of the strikes, one or two of Kuno's attacks had been able to catch Noboru in the gut, and his patience was wearing thin. "ENOUGH!!!" he shouted, grabbing the bokken in his mighty claws. Try as he may, the great Tatewaki Kuno was unable to extricate his weapon.
"Fool! What kind of stupid samurai charges a demon with a wooden sword!?!" the demon asked, laughing. He was then shocked when Kuno began to laugh as well. As his chuckling died down, he cast Noboru a cocky grin.
With the calm and elegant poise he was so known for, Kuno whispered, just loud enough for everyone to hear,
"Many commoners think Tatewaki Kuno to be a fool… 'Tis a reputation he happily reinforces, as it make it all the more easier for Tatewaki Kuno to fool them…"
Before Noboru could question what the semi-delusional kendoist meant, Kuno unsheathed an actual katana, hidden within his apparently hollow bokken and slashed at Noboru's chest. Noboru's surprise was so great that he just barely avoided being sliced in two, although the cut Kuno left would certainly be a great scar.
Clutching at his wound, Noboru seethed with anger. It was time to destroy this "samurai" once and for all. He leapt high into the air, preparing a great energy blast with which to wipe out Kuno and all of the NWC.
It was then that Kuno shocked everyone else for a third time that day, by leaping into the sky, just as high as Noboru, and cutting him a second time, this time deeper than the first. He then launched a flurry of attacks, this time different than his usual pattern. A swipe at the neck! A chop at the arm! Noboru was hard pressed to block all of these attacks with his claws, and more and more wounds were appearing on his body.
"When crazy samurai get so good?" Shampoo asked.
As the two combatants fell back to Earth, they leapt away from each other, assuming their stances once again. A grin crept across Kuno's face as he heard the girl's question.
"Fair maiden of the Amazon, allow me to explain. 'Twas near the end of the last school year, when I witnessed Ranma Saotome battling Ryoga Hibiki. I was shocked to my utter core when I saw them unveil their new techniques. The Shi Shi Hokodan. The Moko Takebisha. It was then that I realized that I, the great Tatewaki Kuno, had been surpassed by warriors far greater than I. And so, as any great warrior should, I chose to, rather than get depressed, seek to better myself. I trained until the hilt of my sword had sprouted roots within my palms. I prayed to my ancestors for wisdom and guidance. I poured through scroll after scroll, determined to once again be seen as a worthy rival by Ranma Saotome. As much as I may hate him, I feel gratitude towards him, for without him, I would not be the mighty samurai that I am now!!!"
As Kuno told his story, a great blue aura swelled around him. For the fourth time, he had shocked his compatriots, this time with his newfound battle aura.
"Foul Beast! Forgive me, for I just recently developed this new technique with the hopes of using it on Saotome. I know not yet how to completely control it…"
For the first time since the battle began, Noboru started to show signs of actual concern, and perhaps even fear, as Kuno's mighty aura grew larger and larger before finally focusing around his blade.
"Saotome has his confidence… Hibiki his depression… And me?... I obviously have my… WARRIOR'S PRIDE!!! TATEWAKI KUNO STYLE KENDO! SECRET TECHNIQUE! AOI KAMINARI OUDA!!!
The blue light shot fourth, crashing into Noboru at blinding speed. All onlookers were blinded by the magnificent explosion. Noboru could be heard cursing Kuno's name, just over the blast.
He could not believe it.
Ryoga Hibiki could not believe it.
The day had been saved… by Kuno…
The same Kuno who once had to be rushed to the emergency room because he thought that if he swallowed the ashes of his samurai ancestors, their spirits would be with him in battle... had just saved the day…
"That was a good one… 'Samurai'…"
It couldn't be…
"But it wasn't good enough…"
It was…
When the smoke cleared, Noboru was unscathed, save for a mark on the hand he had stretched out to stop the blast, and the cuts Kuno had given him before. He opened and closed his fist, trying to awaken his, now numb, hand.
Kuno seemed more annoyed than anything else. "You still live, foul beast? Then have another! AOI KIMI-"
Before he could finish, Noboru was right in front of him. "TOO SLOW!" he shouted, as he punched Kuno in the face. As the samurai was still reeling from the blow, Noboru shot several kicks into his gut, before finally slashing at his chest with his claws. Blood spattered everywhere
"Don't worry. I made sure not to wound you fatally. I still have more cuts to pay you back for!!!" the demon laughed as he raised his claws in the air.
The entire NWC leapt to their feet to save their… friend? Sure, why not?
But they all knew it was a futile effort. They wouldn't reach him in time.
And yet, when Noboru's claws finally made contact, it was with street and street alone. Furious, he looked around, trying to find where his prey had escaped to.
"You know, I'd appreciate it if you didn't kill my best customer. If it wasn't for him getting hurt all the time, I don't think I'd have any business at all."
The NWC was shocked to see who had saved Kuno. The samurai was now slung over the newcomer's shoulder. The man emanated a vicious killing intent, and yet the look on his face was a calm, peaceful one, with a warm smile. His appearance and aura clashed so violently.
"What are you doing here?" Mousse asked.
"I saw you guys were having trouble on my TV, so I thought I'd lend a hand." The man answered.
"Well, we're sure glad to see you Sensei," Soun said, relieved at the reinforcements. The man just smiled.
"I think you can just leave everything to me…" Dr. Tofu replied.
After being gone for over half of the manga, Dr. Tofu returns! Ranma had sensed he was a powerful martial artist on their first meeting, but just how strong is he? Can this man, who has spent his life repairing the bodies of humans, possibly destroy the body of a demon? And what of Ranma Saotome? Will he stop being a little emo, pacifist douchebag in time to save the day and get the girl? The answers to these questions and more, next time!!!
Hopefully this chapter will get more reviews. Or at least better ones.
For reference, Kuno's attack "Aoi Kaminari Ouda" is Japanese for "Blue Thunder Strike", assuming my use of online translators was accurate. And Soun refers to Dr. Tofu as "sensei" because you use that title for teachers AND doctors. I'm looking forward to the next chapter. I have so many cool ideas about what to do with Dr. Tofu.
I ran out of little clever ways of asking for reviews, so just review or I'll come into your house tonight and sprinkle Jusenkyo water on you! Yeah! I'm thinking of Spring of Drowned Dominatrix. Or perhaps Spring of Drowned Platypus! You could be God's prank on mammals!