Chapter 14: Ignition

Ryoga stood with Akari looking out the window at the sunrise. There were deep circles under his eyes, but he was still wide awake. The serpent had been trying to break his grip all night, but Ryoga never let go. Ranma had been sleeping soundly since 8PM last night. Kasumi was asleep on the couch. Doctor Ando was asleep in the staff quarters, but he had a pager on him and left orders for the night nurses to wake him if Ranma or Ryoga needed anything. The police officers had left a few hours back saying they would return at 8AM. The sunlight began to fall on the patient's bed. "Should we close the curtains?" Akari asked.

"No," Ryoga said. "Ranma is waking. She'll want the warmth." Akari nodded.

Ten minutes later, Ranma stirred on her bed and opened her eyes. Akari was surprised to see that Ranma's eyes were now blue cat eyes. "Pig-Brother, Brother-Wife," Ranma quietly hissed.

"Hey, sis," Ryoga said quietly. That brought an amused look to the girl's face.

"Hold little longer," Ranma hissed.

"Whatever it takes," Ryoga told her. Ranma nodded at him.

Kasumi stirred on the couch and looked at the bed. When she saw the cat eyes watching her, she sat up. "Ranma, how are you?"

"DenKeeper," the cat hissed in acknowledgement. After a pause, Ranma said: "Help up."

Kasumi got up and helped Ranma sit up. The red-head nodded at the bathroom and Kasumi led her to it. A short time later, they came out with Kasumi guiding Ranma back to the bed. "Fight soon. Water. Food," Ranma hissed. Akari took the bowl Ranma had been using and filled it in the bathroom. Ryoga went to his backpack and pulled out some rations he kept there. Ranma nodded her head and accepted the beef jerky, eating quickly. When Ryoga held up an apple, Ranma nodded again, so Ryoga handed it to her. She held the apple in one hand and ran her other hand over it twice. The apple fell apart. Ranma removed the apple core and passed her hand over the apple pieces again. She now had a handful of diced apple.

"Oh my," Kasumi said as Ranma popped the apple pieces into her mouth, one after the other.

Ranma flex her hands and carefully took the water bowl Akari handed her, drinking deeply (and noisily). Then she handed the bowl back to Akari and watched as Akari set it on the night stand. Ranma beckoned them all a little closer and then leaned forward and hugged Kasumi. She did the same for Akari and squeezed Ryoga's shoulder, causing the couple to blush a little. Ranma then lay back on the bed and seem to settle herself. Suddenly, she looked at Kasumi. "Tell Healer 'Thanks'. Back soon." With that the Cat closed her eyes and seemed to place herself into a deep trance.

The three friends were watching her for a few minutes when Ryoga startled suddenly. "Whoa," he said in a low voice.

"What happened, Love?" Akari asked.

"Ranma just took back the dragon. She pulled it from my hands," he told her.

"The Cat Fist is back at full power, isn't it?" Kasumi prompted.

"Yeah," Ryoga agreed. "Everyone is back on-line again; that's why her eyes had become cat-eyes and the teeth were longer. Ranma's not bothering with the full cat-shape though. Something has changed, and the cat-shape is not necessary." He seemed to shake himself a little, and some of the night's weariness left him. "I'm starting to charge again, but very, very slowly. She's using most of the power in the fight. This time, she's ready and aware of the potion. The dragon is very powerful, but so is she and she's taking the fight deep inside herself to home turf. I'm afraid, there's not a whole lot more we can do for her."

"That's all right, Ryoga," Akari told him. "We've helped a lot. Ranma's got the upper hand now."

"She'll win," Kasumi said. "She always does." Kasumi moved down the bedside and grabbed a few blankets. She brought them up and covered Ranma to the chin, and then felt the girl's pulse. After watching the wall clock, Kasumi said: "Exactly thirty beats a minute and one breath every 30 seconds. Now that's control." She sighed then and straightened up. "You two should get some sleep." She nodded at the couch. "This is my normal wake up time and I'm pretty good. I'll fill in Ando when he shows up. I'll also keep anyone from disturbing Ranma."

Fifteen minutes later, Isamu walked in and noticed Ranma's trance form. He turned to Kasumi and asked: "What did I miss?" Kasumi filled him in and mentioned Ranma's thanks, which brought a brief smile to his face. "All right," he said. "I will make sure she's left in peace. Let's hope she kills this thing quickly."

Sasuke left the hospital and let out a sigh of relief. He had already recovered the money and returned it to Toshio, who would see that it was deposited on Monday. He walked out of the hospital plaza and crossed the street to one of the hotel complexes and walked up the stairs silently to the floor Toshio Kuno had taken over. As he walked into the command center, he noticed that his boss was already up and about – not that this was unusual for the man. "What's the status?" Toshio asked the little ninja.

"Ranma is starting to heal. She was speaking briefly to people and has had breakfast of a sort. She's also placed herself into a healing trance. Kasumi and Ando are watching over her. Three policemen are also back on Sanu's order, over Ando's protests. He may kill Sanu for you at this rate," Sasuke told him.

"I'm not that lucky," Toshio said. "Where's the rest of them?"

"Ryoga and Akari are in Ranma's room, out cold. I think they were responsible for Ranma's improvement, and now they are beat." Sasuke said. "Shizuka has called Kasumi and told her about the phony file Sanu has. It's pretty much what Kato already told us."

"Good. We can work with that later," Toshio commented.

"Hideo Jouda has been working through the copies that Cologne gave him, looking for a short cut. We haven't been able to get a copy ourselves. Both Cologne and Hideo are a little too crafty. Daisuke is working on his door actuator – we may want to watch him – he's got some original ideas there." Toshio nodded, so Sasuke continued: "The Amazons are sitting tight. I think they are out of the picture for now; Cologne's a little too fond of her skin to go near the Cat Fist and Shampoo's ticked off one too many cops. Mousse is just listening for gossip about his friend. So are Ukyo and Konatsu – they probably will not be by until Ranma is back to normal."

"And Akane?" Toshio asked.

"Hiroshi and his uncle picked up Akane and company this morning shortly after dawn. Our informant was the boat owner. Apparently the women already knew something, because they were packed and ready to go. No one on Niijima knows about Ranma's status yet. Kasumi has not tried to call anyone there believing them to be out of reach. Nabiki doesn't know where Kasumi is. We are hoping the two will talk shortly, now that Nabiki is on Niijima proper. Hiroshi's parents are unaware of Ranma's status other than he's in the hospital and Ando is with him," Sasuke reported.

"When will they leave Niijima?" Toshio asked.

"Hiroshi's uncle works for a cargo company – he's cheating by taking passengers. He has to be in the air within two hours. It's a 90 minute flight for him. It sounds like he'll take Nodoka and Akane and the rest will follow on a passenger plane. The earliest they can grab is a 12:45 flight. They should be in Nerima about 3PM," Sasuke said.

"But Akane and Nodoka will be in Nerima about noon," Toshio stated.

"At the latest," Sasuke qualified. "It's possible they could be here by 10AM."

Toshio shook his head. "No, you have to understand how the cargo planes work. Empty space is money lost. That plane will not leave until just before the deadline. If it does, and a package doesn't make that flight that could have, the owners will rip the pilot apart. Hiroshi's uncle will not want to risk scrutiny if he is carrying passengers. Any word on Tatewaki?"

"They found the boat, sir," Sasuke informed him.

"O.K. That's good news. What's the bad news?" Toshio prompted.

Sasuke winced. "It's possible Tatewaki could be in the city by 10AM."

"Great. Just bloody great." Toshio grabbed the top of his head and raked his fingers through his hair. He looked at the small ninja. "O.K. You are to go get two hours sleep and then get yourself out to the cargo terminal. Stay with Akane and if that idiot nephew of mine gets within 200 meters, knock him out immediately. Take plenty of sleep bombs. If you accidently hit Miss Tendo with one, so be it. Then just tie up Tatewaki and get Akane to Ranma. I'm going to place as many obstacles in Sanu's path as possible. With any luck, he will not see Ranma again until after Akane gets to Ranma. We get Ranma sane, get him away from Sanu, and defuse this whole mess."

Sasuke looked straight at his boss. "Until the next mess, Sir. And the next one might not involve Ranma…"

Toshio sighed: "One problem at a time, Sasuke. If I can defuse this crisis, then maybe I can work on getting Sanu out of Nerima and get someone less inquisitive in his place. I can't have anyone poking at the Nexus…"

Akane sat with Hiroshi's uncle, Niko, up front in the cockpit. Nodoka was behind her on the stowaway seat. "How much longer?" she asked the pilot nervously.

"About 30 minutes. Hang in there. Last word my sister got was from one of the officers – Ranma's asleep and likely to stay that way for a bit after the day she had yesterday. Your sister is with him, and so is Doctor Ando. It will be all right."

Akane nodded in agreement, but didn't really believe it. She had been unable to find Ranma again. Something was wrong, something was very wrong. He had been hurt deeply, deep enough that his life force was extremely low. Ever since Jusendo, she always knew were Ranma was. Even if he invoked the Umisen-ken, she could still find him. She knew this wasn't reciprocated, because he always had to check up on her, but she never had to check. She could just close her eyes and know he was fine. That vanished last night. She knew he had been attacked the previous night, but she could still find him then. She had been worried, but not panicked. But last night, she lost touch with him all together. She didn't want to live her life without Ranma; she could not stand to lose him again.

She remembered Jusendo. She remembered dying and being with her mother. She never told anyone about it. She remembered her mother talking about how Ranma had died and met Kimiko as well. Her mother had told her about the despair that had poured out of Ranma when Kimiko had said Akane was about to die too. The silly boy never heard the "too". He believed Akane was about to leave him forever and absolutely flipped out. His soul literally exploded and ripped apart the curtain of Death. He returned to his body and tried to save Akane, not quite making it – Akane was too far gone when the Water hit her. But now he was alive and she was dead, and his soul exploded again. It shredded the curtain of Death once more. Akane felt the love in his soul. Indeed, she felt his very soul. She couldn't leave him, ever – not when he loved her that much. So she had returned, following the path he carved out. Since that day, she could always feel the path to him.

Until last night. She had to find him again, had to have her Love. And if she couldn't find him in this world, then she would blast a path through the curtain of Death, just like he had done for her…

It was 11:30AM and Sasuke was at the airport watching Akane's plane land. Things were not going well elsewhere. Tatewaki's father had poisoned all the ninjas at the Kuno residence by doping their breakfast this morning. All of them were recovering courtesy of an antidote Toshio had beat out of his brother. Tatewaki had been at the house and picked up a fresh gi, then vanished again. Toshio had his brother locked in his bedroom and told him to pack his things – he was joining his children up north. All this had happened while Sasuke was sleeping at the hotel.

"Great, just great…" Sasuke thought. "I just lost my post, and I didn't do anything wrong. Oh well. At least Toshio isn't mad at me. He'll find work for me elsewhere. Maybe there's still something else in Nerima to do."

He checked the sleep bombs he had. He was sure one would be enough to drop any martial artist, and he had packed ten. If worst came to worst, he would just knock out Akane and get her away from Tatewaki.

Toshio was furious as he stood on the grounds of his brother's estate. His brother had defied him again. Enough was enough. The lunatic was going to the Hokkaido estate and staying there. To hell with what the family wanted! Thank heavens that the poison the idiot used had an antidote. Now, Tatewaki was definitely in Nerima and on the loose. He had that damn gi on, and he was armed with a sword. Toshio began cursing. He had to get back to the hospital. That was where Akane would go. As a precaution, he had ten ninjas watching the Tendo dojo. There was a chance Tatewaki would go there instead, but Toshio didn't think he'd get that lucky.

Tatewaki watched the hospital entrance. Already, there were over fifty of his former classmates waiting for Akane and even some new ones who were enamored with the high school senior. They were not at the hospital entrance, but hidden among the hotels and shops surrounding the hospital plaza. "Fools!" he thought viciously. "You're here to do my bidding, whether you know it or not. None of you are worthy of her. She belongs to me! I will defeat you all for her honor!"

Cat fought the Dragon deep in the Jungle. She was ripping into the Dragon, but the Dragon was fighting fiercely as well. Still, the Dragon was not healing as fast as Cat anymore. What was worse for the Dragon was that the Girl was awake now, feeding power to Cat and fighting in Her own chains. The Dragon could feel those spiritual chains starting to cut into It. The Girl's higher functions were also working, feeding Cat strategy. Twice the Dragon had stumbled into traps Cat would have never thought of by herself. Then there was that Wind. The Dragon was a creature of Sea and Air, but that Wind cut straight into It and never let up. The Wind didn't seem to come from either Cat or the Girl. The Boy was still held prisoner, and was only now starting to stir, so the Wind wasn't coming from Him either. Still, if the Boy was stirring, that was bad news for the Dragon and It knew It was in trouble. Should the boy awake, the Three might be able to push the Dragon out, and then Death would surely come for the Dragon.

Judge Sanu was furious. Someone had sabotaged his car this morning, and got Ryuu's motorbike in the bargain. His phone had been ringing off the hook as well. All of a sudden, the other judges had to consult with him about one case or another. "Since when did they accept me?" he thought. "The other judges have been dead set against my appointment. Now they can't make a move without me?" Finally, Sanu ripped the phone out of the wall. "Something is happening at the hospital. Something to do with Ranma Saotome and they are trying to keep me away," he thought angrily.

His cell phone rang. He saw it was Ryuu and answered. "Go!" he yelled into the phone.

"A little testy today, Boss. Aren't we?" his henchman scolded him.

Sanu ground his teeth. Only Ryuu could get away with that, and the judge swallowed his retort. "Did you get a car?" he asked instead.

"Yep. I'm outside now," Ryuu told him.

"I'll be there in fifteen seconds."

Akane sat next to Nodoka in the car. She was counting down the blocks to the hospital. Her mind was searching desperately for her fiancé.

Tatewaki had left his rooftop perch and was now on the street. He was just two blocks from the hospital, and one block from some of Akane's most fervent admirers. He'd know she had arrived when they moved. "Then I will save her from them. She will proclaim her love for me, and we will be married quickly! Finally, my dreams will come true!"

He was so enraptured in his fantasy that he never saw the fist coming. Toshio Kuno struck with four months of accumulated frustration. Normally, he'd be no match for Tatewaki, by the boy was totally unprepared. Tatewaki's head slammed into the wall and he dropped to the ground.

Toshio stood over his nephew. "Thank god!" he thought. He had seen the boy hiding in the alley totally by accident. He had order the car stopped and leapt into action. Somehow, someway, Tatewaki never noticed him running at the boy. The alley was suddenly full of ninjas. "Take him, stuff him in the trunk, and bind him so he cannot move! If he gets away, I'll have all of you killed! That's a promise!" Toshio pulled out his radio and ordered the snipers he had set around the hospital to stand down, but stay at their posts just in case Tatewaki got free. He put the radio away and watched as Tatewaki was tied up where he was – the ninjas took Toshio's threat very seriously.

Tatewaki was coming around as the ninjas manhandled him to the car. "NOO!" He screamed. "One of the others will get HER! She's - " His yell was cut off as one of the ninjas hit him with a syringe.

"Others?" Toshio thought. A horrible suspicion filled his mind. He sprinted the one block and studied the hospital plaza. Nothing seemed amiss there. Then he looked at the hotels and shops surrounding the plazas. His racing mind instantly picked out the teenage boys hanging around and watching the hospital. "Ah hell!" he shouted. The worst case scenario was still about to happen. Akane Tendo, one of the four Children of Fate, was about to have her heart broken and the hospital was damn near the center of Nerima. Suddenly, he went into shock his brain supplied the names of two other Children of Fate – these two had been possibilities, but his mind moved them into the "definite" category:

Fire.

Wind.

Earth.

Oh my god.

All the blood drained out of Toshio's face.

His brain kicked out of high gear and into light-speed trying to out-race the disaster: He couldn't use the snipers, but maybe he could cause a disruption. He grabbed his radio just as he noticed a car pull up to the hospital plaza and two women get out. One of them was Akane Tendo. Right behind the car was Sasuke on a motor bike. He saw Judge Sanu walking out of the parking garage between the Sasuke and Akane. He switched the radio to Sasuke's channel, but the radio was knocked out of his hand as a teenage boy shot out of a store behind Toshio and pushed Toshio to the side.

"Akane! Be my love!" the boy was yelling as he tore off across the street.

Judge Sanu walked out of the garage. Ryuu had driven like a maniac to shake the car tailing him, but he had done it. "Let's hear it for Yakuza Driving 101," he thought. He strolled across the hospital plaza toward the front door when a series of shouts caught his attention.

"Akane! Be my love!" seemed to chorus from all the shops around him.

"Akane?" Sanu thought. "Akane Tendo?" He noticed two women in front of him had stopped cold at the shouts. One was a middle-age woman who looked an awful lot like Ranma Saotome. The other was a young woman with short blue-black hair. He immediately identified her from her file photo. "Finally!" was one of his thoughts, but his other thoughts were lost in surprise as teenage males began to flood into the plaza all yelling for Akane Tendo's attention.

He saw the look of terror start on the young woman's face, but that terror faded into a vast anger. As he watched, anger became out-and-out Rage (definitely the capital letter was called for). Akane held up her hands in front of her about 60 cm apart and Sanu swore that the whites of her eyes became blue. The girl yelled "THUNDER STRIKE!" and a white electric fireball exploded between her hands. A roll of thunder blasted away from the young woman, the pressure wave flowing straight into her rushing admirers. The judge staggered back into a little man behind him. The woman next to Akane lost her footing and fell, but Akane remained standing. Her admirers did not fare as well. The sound/air blast lifted them off their feet and tossed them rolling across the plaza. Not one of the fifty or so some odd males was left standing.

"GO AWAY YOU RAPISTS!" Akane yelled at the top of her lungs.

All the teenage boys looked stricken. "I'd never do that to you Akane!" one yelled out.

"OH, BUT ASSAULT IS JUST FINE? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU? WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I WOULD EVER WANT ANY OF YOU?"

"But Ranma is gone now! We are all you have left!"

A look of complete and total loss appeared on Akane's face. Her mouth opened in despair, but no sound came out. Tears poured down her cheeks. Akane closed her mouth and seemed to concentrate. Fire burst out around her body. The flames burned brightly despite the fact they did not hurt the girl – the flames didn't even burn her clothes. Akane Tendo closed her eyes, wrapped in her ball of fire. The judge somehow got the feeling she was searching for something. Nodoka tried to shout something at Akane, but the sound of the flames blocked everything. The woman was forced to scramble away from the girl due to the heat. The little man behind the judge threw something at Akane, but it never reached her – it vaporized before it touched Akane. Her attackers lay stunned by what they were seeing.

Suddenly Akane opened her eyes. Sanu shuddered as he saw they were brightly glowing with white light. Even though tears were still running down her cheeks, Akane's face filled with an inhuman determination. Sanu felt that he heard a massive switch being thrown somewhere deep inside the earth. Akane half-lifted her hands in front of her with the palms facing up. Try as he might, the judge would never forget what happened next. He would read the reports in the newspapers and would always know they lied. Nodoka Saotome's survival instinct kicked in and she rolled away from the young lady. The little man behind the judge was whipping little balls of something at Akane for all he was worth, but the flames absorbed all the projectiles. Sanu watched as a thick pillar of blue flame erupted with a roar from Akane Tendo. The pillar shot straight into the sky and the fiery shockwave engulfed all around her.

A/N: No hints this time. See you in seven days.

A/N: 4/8/13: Clarified description of Akane's weapon against the Hentai Horde. Thanks to Saggit for the review showing the ambiguity. My original description was very unclear, but sometimes one needs a reviewer to point out these things. For those curious, Akane's weapon, the Thunder Strike, was introduced in the Chapter 4 of "Genma's Job." Its effects are due to the sound/pressure wave generated by the blast that appears between Akane's hands. She can shape the blast to focus the sound.