Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that I claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:
For Love and Money, the War of the Horse. A Y3 story.
Chapter 6: Hunters become hunted.
Ranma continued his hunt after he had checked over a few items. The main group was a bit larger than he could easily take at short range, at least in hand to hand combat.
That said, he had a few ways to even the odds. The handguns would help, but the real ticket puncher was going to come in handy, that was for sure.
He just wished he could just shoot Bo Bi Pyn and Parsley with the rifle. It would just make things so much easier.
Ranma shadowed the group until they stopped in a village for the night. Where they were, they would likely be heading for the village in the morning.
More than likely they had settled in to wait for the other trucks. The first group Ranma had taken out was not the only one to break off. There had been one other, and he had dealt with them the same way as the first. They hadn't had much more to add, so it seemed that they controlled just how much information had been allowed to be passed along. The one thing that had been different was the second truck had plastic explosives as part of it's cargo. He had taken as much as he could. You never knew when a bit of a demolition charge would come in handy.
That just meant he would have to take care of everything tonight before they could join up with their forces in the village. If they had intended to wait for their detached forces, they would be waiting for far longer than just the morning.
Ranma made his way to an overlook and carefully set up his firing position. He waited until the sun had set to move his rifle into position. He had fifteen rounds to work with on three box magazines. The guards near the trucks would have to be the first targets, after that anyone besides the two top dogs who showed too much initiative would be the next recipients. It would be ideal to just snipe them all, but that would not be how this played out. Once the vehicles were out of play, Ranma would handle things up close.
He slipped the pistols and extra clips into his harness and made sure that his knives were properly seated and ready to use. The bow and arrows were carefully placed to the right of his firing position.
Everything was as ready as it ever would be. He just had to take care of this, and then he would be one step closer to the answers he needed.
And to set things right again. People needed to pay for what had happened to his daughter. And he had to see who could still be saved at the village. He had friends there, and people he considered family.
He just hoped that Xian Pu and Khu Lon had managed to get themselves and the rest out safely. He couldn't imagine anything happening to either of them, they were some of the best fighters he had ever known. And people that underestimated the Old Ghoul did so at their own peril. Khu Lon was crafty, sneaky and wise.
Ranma settled in behind his rifle and breathed a few slow breaths as he readied himself. He had chosen a place with elevation, and surrounding hills. The rifle was not silenced, but the echoes should help hide where the bullets were coming from in the darkness. He worked the bolt to chamber the first round and sighted in on the first truck. There were two guards visible, so it looked like they were sticking to the same routine he had seen before. The trucks were positioned in two areas, probably so that they could return to the trucks quicker from anywhere in the village, and no one could take out all of them at once.
That suggested that there was still resistance in the area, and a reason to be wary. It was quite possible that Xian Pu and the others had made it out of the village and were attacking small groups.
It brought some small comfort to Ranma as he squeezed the trigger and the first of his target's heads jerked to the side as the round found its home. Ranma hadn't waited to see the results as he worked the bolt quickly and fluidly before he lined up on the second guard who had started to react. As he looked out into the darkness and raised his rifle, the second round took him in the head.
Ranma shifted his aim quickly and smoothly as the second group moved to the cover of the truck itself. When one of them looked over the hood, Ranma shot him through the eye. He could hear the shouts from within the village as he watched figures moving for cover. Ranma grimaced as he took what shots he could, scoring three more hits before he left the rifle in his hide along with it's five remaining rounds and moved to take up his bow.
As he expected, his old position was soon being fired on, as Ranma moved as fast as he could in a half-crouched posture. He smoothly knocked and drew his bow as he moved and fired with the skill and accuracy of someone trained by some of the greatest archers you'd find.
He fired as he moved, letting his instincts and training guide his shots as the raiders started to yell that the damn Amazons had attacked them. Ranma grinned as he confirmed that at least some of the warriors had made it out and were still fighting back.
Ranma continued to circle and take his shots whenever they were available. He could hear Bo Bi Pyn yelling orders, telling the men to watch the rear, that the warriors firing arrows were a distraction.
She was not entirely wrong, after all. He kept his movement and the smooth, steady pace of shots until there were enough watching the rear, then quickly stashed the bow and the remaining few arrows in his quiver behind a tree as he quickly reversed course and pulled his knives out.
Ranma moved swiftly in the shadows cast by the few outdoor lights as he seemed to appear behind one of the raiders and slit his throat with quick efficiency before he descended on the other three like a bloody reaper collecting souls. His knife flashed and flickered like a viper, the blade a blur of steel and death.
This first group had not been ready, or expected the powerful, fast killer that had seemed to appear in their midst. The fight had ended before some knew it had begun as Ranma left one of his knives buried in the ribs of his last kill.
He knew he had to move fast, and he had accomplished about all he could through stealth as his hands slipped the paired Glocks free with a smooth motion. He thought the next group was ahead of him, that was where he had heard the last shots coming from. The silence from where he had figured they should be didn't fill him with confidence.
He much preferred stupid enemies.
Ranma took a breath before he cleared the corner, as his pistols snapped up to a ready position. He snapped off a pair of shots into the chest of the raider who faced him, and moved forward in a rush as he dropped to his knees and slid into the falling body and draped the corpse over his shoulder. Ranma heard the shots as they were fired and felt the body jerk from the rounds that slammed into it. Ranma continued his slide as he passed one of the other soldiers, he aimed to the side with his free hand and fired several rapid shots into the side of the next raider.
Ranma ducked under the body he had used as a shield as he shot the third raider in the foot then another round into his groin as he rolled out from under the body as the fourth raider fired a full auto burst into it, and the rounds ripped through. While the raider pulled his gun around to try to keep it on Ranma, the Japanese martial artist tightened his circle until he was able to come within the arc of the barrel.
Ranma grabbed the rifle just behind the muzzle and pushed it upwards as he stood and socketed the muzzle of his Glock up under the terrified raider's chin. There was no hesitation, no mercy or remorse as Ranma pulled the trigger and sent the body flailing away from him, the round having ruined the raider's face and ruptured the top of his skull.
The body came to an abrupt stop as a thick hand wrapped around the throat from behind and held the limp form aloft for a moment before Ranma had to dodge as it was thrown back at him.
As Ranma rolled to his feet, he saw Parsley as he rushed to close the distance.
Ranma dropped his pistol as he looked the big brute over. "Good. You found me. Thanks for saving me the effort!" Ranma snarled as he rushed to meet the bullish man head on.
The two combatants met like an avalanche, as muscle and mass met skill and determination. Parsley grunted in surprise when Ranma didn't budge when he parried Parsley's powerful punch.
"You're going to have to do a lot better than that, tiny. I spar with someone who is faster, tougher, and stronger than you as often as he can find his way to Tokyo." Ranma said dismissively.
Parsley snorted before he shoved hard against Ranma and made the smaller martial arts expert slide backwards on his feet. "I find that hard to believe, you little pest. I'm going to crush you like a fly."
Ranma smiled as he bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. As Parsley advanced on him, he observed how the bigger man placed his feet, the stance he had and his posture. A variation of kung fu, he would say. One of the ones that specialized in body hardening. Parsley was going to try to just soak up blows while returning heavy hits. He probably didn't have the speed that Ryouga had developed over the years, but there was a good chance that he had more power and stamina. If nothing else, just by body mass alone.
Of course, that meant Ranma already had a good idea how to win this fight.
Ranma didn't visibly shift his stance as he changed up his fighting style. He would be borrowing from things that Khu Lon had taught him, some of them the very hard way.
Pressure points were hard to truly defend against, even if there were some things that could reduce the effectiveness of them to some extent.
The biggest issue would be that some of the points would be buried under slabs of muscle. The one he would be able to strike easier were some of the lesser ones, or in awkward places.
Still, one of the basic tenets of Anything Goes was to use what works, what was needed for the situation at hand. Force would not suffice, so he would attack his ability to fight and defend himself.
First though, it was time to use one of the tenants of the style his lunatic of a father taught him.
"You're just so slow, it's amazing you even made it to me before I took out your boss. It's obvious that Bo Bi Pyn calls the shots. I bet she sent you to the front because she didn't trust you to be able to handle the real fight, eh?" Ranma said in a demeaning tone of voice.
Parsley glared at Ranma as he snorted. "How dare you speak to me like that! Those worthless Amazons would never be able to pull this off without us!" Parsley snarled out before he lunged at Ranma and seemed to just get angrier as Ranma swayed out of the way of his attack at the last moment.
Ranma focused on avoiding his opponent as he put the most bored, disinterested look on his face he could muster. Fighters like Parsley and Ryouga tended to take themselves way too seriously, and we're likely to get angry if you didn't take them just as seriously.
They acted like they were the only ones to make sacrifices, to suffer for the smallest advancements. Honestly, Ranma had never liked people like that. Ryouga had earned his respect over the years, but this big buffoon never would.
Ranma was a serious martial artist as well, but he still remembered when he had been younger, before his idiot father had ended up in the situation that had him kill himself. And that was what he had to tap into now, to try to get Parsley to overextend himself.
So that Ranma could kill the mountain of muscle.
Ranma reached out and tapped Parsley, a fast and light strike. A probing attack that he followed up with a harder strike as he swayed the other way to avoid another heavy strike.
"Is that really all you have? My wife is a better sparring partner." Ranma said as he weaved around another strike.
Ranma already had a feeling that he was dealing with a chauvinist. His comment about the renegade Amazons spoke volumes about him and his relationship with his allies.
Parsley gritted his teeth as he started pushing himself a bit harder, faster and with heavier attacks. Ranma made sure that he dodged the blows by the smallest margin he could safely, as he continued to land light, fast attacks on the bigger guy.
Ranma had to get Parsley to ignore his attacks, to not expect anything so that he could start landing the real strikes. And the more angry Ranma got the big guy, the easier it would be to beat him into submission. He was fairly sure that he could beat Parsley in a straight up fight, but the odds were he would have to kill him to do it.
And Ranma wanted to see if he could get any answers out of the big guy before he put him down.
Ranma dodged under a particularly vicious strike and decided to take advantage of an opening. With a quick weave to the side he was in perfect position as he drove his palm upward before quickly rolling clear of the larger fighter. Ranma bounced to his feet to see just what effect the rather low blow had accomplished.
Parsley let out a long, slow breath as he attempted to shake off the strike to his genitals. No matter how good you were at soaking hit, that was one blow that was a bit harder to shake off. It was also the kind of low, classless strike you would expect from someone who didn't respect the Art.
"You… Stupid, worthless little shit… I'm going to break you, then make you watch as I use your women for my own enjoyment!" Parsley roared before he started to move aggressively towards the smaller martial artist.
Ranma grinned a grim smile. It seemed that he had succeeded in finally really getting under Parsley's skin.
Now the fight could really start.