A New Challenge
- Chiba Hiro
(I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its contents. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, its creator.)
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Chapter 10: Ryoga is Captured
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Under the grounds of Jusenkyo lies a secret base, and a cloaked figure is sitting on a throne-like chair, facing Shiru.
Shiru is kneeling for was appears to be a while, but the cloaked figure began speaking to him.
"Shiru." The cloaked figure said. "I see that you have succeeded in carefully dispatching the new apprentices, and those meddling kids are temporarily immobilized."
"Yes, Master Hikari." Shiru replied.
"Move the plan into fruition, Shiru. We must inform our companions of these people." Master Hikari said.
"A very wise decision, master." Shiru said.
"We need to keep our enemies under surveillance. I want you to bring Ryoga Hibiki to me." Master Hikari ordered.
"But Master, why do we need to bring Ryoga Hibiki here? Surely we can take Ranma out ourselves, and he'll be wiped out in the blink of an eye. My Shikigami has already wounded him. What use is it if we use his rival?" Shiru asked.
"You are doubting my judgment?" Hikari said in a menacing tone.
"No, sir! I do not judge!" Shiru exclaimed almost immediately, and bowed his head, almost to the point of touching the floor with his forehead.
"Good. Go now."
"Yes, Master Hikari!" Shiru responded, and disappeared from sight as he was told.
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"Jeez, will you just stop moving around?" the village elder criticized as he was dressing Ranma, Mousse, and Ryoga's wounds inside the cottage.
"Ouch! I can't do that when your bandages will more than likely kill us first! I'm suffocating here!" Ranma shouted through choked breathing. The bandages that wrapped around his chest were woven as tight as a belt, and it kept him from exerting his energy while talking.
"Well, you should be grateful! Why if I hadn't found you, you all would've died, and we can't allow you to die on the job. No indeed." The elder said, and slapped Ranma in the back as hard as he could.
"Ouch! Don't do that!" Ranma warned, and the elder proceeded to loosen the suffocating bandage.
As for Ryoga and Mousse, they were watching, quietly eating, and seeing Ranma suffer like that was pure pleasure for them. At least they got it easier than him.
"Hey, Ranma, why don't you be a man for once and take this treatment like one! After all, I like the look and sound of you right now! You're ridiculous!" Ryoga exclaimed, and laughed in between bites of food.
"Ryoga, don't eat in front of me! I hate when you people do that when I'm not doing it!" Ranma complained, and received a slap on the back again.
"Are you quite finished yet, old man?" Ranma demanded.
"I've been done for the last fifteen minutes, you fool! Now, go and eat!" the elder exclaimed.
"I don't need to be told twice!" Ranma fumed, and leaped onto the table where Ryoga and Mousse were pigging out.
"Leave some food for me, jerks!"
"No way! We worked hard for this meal!" Mousse argued.
"Who do you think cooked this for you?" Ranma shot back.
"You. But, we already finished the second course." Mousse said, and Ranma realized that Ryoga and Mousse had finished most of the food, but all that was left was rice.
"I hate you guys, you know that." Ranma said under his breath, and finished the last of the rice.
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Later on that evening.
"So, there I was trying to convince this girl that Jusenkyo was too dangerous to train, and out of nowhere, she challenged me to a hidden weapons match. Sure enough, her skills in the art of concealed weaponry surpass even my own!" Mousse explained.
"I was attacked unnecessarily by a boy, and he beat me so easily! I was tied up in rope! So I got it worse than you, Mousse!" Ryoga explained his side of the story.
"Wait. Both you and Ryoga were attacked by strange people too?" Ranma asked.
"Weren't you listening? Strange people attacked us, and what's worse is we were beaten by some strangers too! I'll admit that I was embarrassed to be beaten by a female." Mousse said regretfully
"I'll admit that the boy was formidable, and I haven't seen anyone with those kinds of wits, fighting style, and looks that could easily defeat me, the greatest man in the world!" Ryoga boasted.
"Ha! You guys are both embarrassing yourselves! I can't believe a kid and a woman beat you! I mean, altogether we make a pretty unbalanced team." Ranma pointed out.
"You don't have anything to be boasting about! After all, you were defeated by some strange guy!" Mousse and Ryoga shot at him like a poison arrow.
"At least he was close to my age. But, it kinda makes me wonder if I'm really that famous in China." Ranma wondered out loud.
"Don't be so smug! How do you know that guy didn't just hear about you in the rumors? This guy actually did us a favor and kicked your hide for us!" Mousse said.
"Well, that guy had some style, at least. He managed to get away from my final attack." Ranma said.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, when I shot my ki-technique, I was hell bent on killing this guy before he killed me, and when I struck him, it didn't feel like he was blasted into cinders."
"What's your point?" Ryoga asked.
"It means that the fight was undecided, and he was lucky enough to get away. You see when I fired my attack, I didn't sense the full impact, and when the smoke cleared, the guy disappeared. When I tried to track down his ki energy, it completely vanished. Normally, when someone was burnt to a crisp, and left nothing but ash, his ki energy should leave a trace, but with him, it vanished altogether." Ranma explained.
"Oh, I get it. So, what you're saying is his ki signatures have vanished along with him. In extreme cases like these, one would normally assume that the victim has escaped at the last minute and maybe this guy possesses super-human abilities, and he ran away." Mousse theorized.
"No, if he had run away with super-human speed, he could still leave behind a trail of ki energy, and I could still follow him no matter how far, or fast, he may go. He just vanished, like a ghost." Ranma said.
"Either way, we have to find a way to stop these people. Somehow, the three people must be in a conspiracy, and they must have formed an attack strategy to completely destroy us one at a time." Ryoga input.
"I agree. When we work tomorrow, we have to try out this theory, and if we see that this is an attack pattern, then we have no choice but to face this threat. If not, then we're dead." Mousse said.
"Do you have to be so skeptical? After all, if we find out who the mastermind behind the attacks, then they'll stop once and for all." Ranma said.
"But, who could their leader be if we don't know they're working together? It really could be a separate attack on opposite ends." Ryoga said.
"If it was, then it wouldn't have happened at the same time, or place." Mousse pointed out.
"You're right. So, how do we know this for sure?" Ryoga asked.
"We'll have to be careful, guys. Tomorrow, we have to be alert and be ready for anything. Also…I should give you guys these." Mousse said, and gave them what looked like to be a pair of hearing aids.
"What are they?" Ryoga asked, and they all took one.
"It's to stay in touch with each other. We have to stay in contact with each other at all times, and if one of us is in trouble, then we'll help him out, and lure the attackers to the center point, finally, we'll find out for sure if they're really working a conspiracy against us." Mousse explained.
"That's really clever, Mousse!" Ranma praised. "I never knew you were so smart!"
"Well, I was top of the class in the hidden weapons style. So, it helps to be a little strategic. Alright, guys, let's get some rest. We need it for tomorrow."
"Okay." Was their reply, and the lights turned off for bed.
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"Now, we'll see who will be getting who. You will be in for a big surprise tomorrow." Shiru said, spying on the cottage again.
Shiru placed a slip of paper to his forehead, and chanted out a spell in an ancient tongue, and threw the thin sheet of paper in the direction of the cottage.
"It's time for Shin to do his job. You will all fall prey to this one, for now, I send you with a will from Master Hikari to capture the one known as Ryoga Hibiki!" Shiru ordered, and the paper transformed into 'Shin' once again.
Shin slipped into the cabin, and attempted to take Ryoga by surprise, but he was surrounded by the group, and a furious Ranma.
"I knew you would be back here again, Shin. Come here for more, have you?" Ranma asked, and folded his arms across his chest as his mood instantly became hostile.
"Give up. You can't take all of us at the same time, Shin! Tell us who you've been working for, and why you guys are after us." Ryoga demanded, but Shin did the impossible. Shin disappeared from their sight, and he was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, an invisible force sprung up around Ryoga, and dragged him along the floor. Ranma and Mousse struggled to keep him from being dragged into the shadows of the night, but he slipped out from under their grips.
"Damn it! They took Ryoga!"
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A/N: Well, I hope this chapter finds you well. And, I'm sorry that I haven't updated in almost a week. I'm just putting this up so I don't end up forgetting. I am back in school again! Yay! Now, please rate, comment, and review. Thanks for reading! More updates yet to come!