Gold Digger Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Grave's New Life ❯ Chapter 27
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Nanya 
Anime/Manga: Gold Digger Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 06.30.2009 | Pages: 4 | Words: 7.8K | Visits: 380 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Gold Digger Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 06.30.2009 | Pages: 4 | Words: 7.8K | Visits: 380 | Status: Completed
Chapter 27: 25
Grave's New Life
Chapter 25
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Ranma, Ninja High School or Gold Digger. Now, will you lawyers leave me alone?! Shee!
Note: As of right now, I'm thinking of just ending this story. I mean real life is... hears a cough behind him Hmm? Turns around and sees a glowing Ranma and Grave Digger Uhhh... AHHH!! Not the face! Sounds of gratuitous violence
Grave Digger: Sorry about that folks. The baka author isn't going to end the story just yet. At least not without an ending to it.
Yeah, yeah... Limps back to the computer, bruised and bloody. I wasn't really going to end the story... So, here you go. A late Christmas present to you all.
She hated speaking Japanese. Not that she wasn't fluent in it; it was just that she sometimes messed up on the undertones and accents. She was glad that she had a genius intellect though; otherwise she might be like her larger, furrier sister, who had a tendency to speak like a bimbo when speaking this language.
Though, sometimes, Brianna wondered if Britanny was a bimbo, not that she'd say that to Britanny's face, or even within forty miles of her, just to be safe. Not that her sister was a violent maniac, she just had one hell of a temper on her. And memories of when she lost it were just a bit too much to bear. Though, to be fair, her other sister had one on her as well, just that she kept it under control better. Considering that Gina had an insane IQ and could be very vicious in getting back at people, anyone that really knew her tended to not try to get her to that point. Unless they had a serious back up plan, or were insanely tough. Either way, most of the people that dealt with Gina didn't get her to that point. Mostly because she had a good handle on her temper, which was something that most everyone was grateful for.
The tall blonde was just thankful that Gina wasn't there looking for her alter ego. Genn was, thankfully, able to help them understand Japanese due to her ability to translate whatever language was being spoken into the listener's native language. Otherwise, she was sure she'd probably commit some sort of offense to someone. Not that she was worried about having any problems to deal with, but dealing with an international incident wasn't something she really wanted to have to have her dad, mom or the government deal with. The paperwork was horrendous. Why, Brit's friend Asrial bitched about it all the time, what with problems in America, Japan, and... What was it again? Oh, right! Cylutia. Probably someplace in Europe.
"Any luck yet?" She asked as her brother-in-law and sister caught up to them, having split up to ask several people if they knew anything. Not that they went far, that would've most likely been suicide. There were lots of reports of crazy people in this part of the world; heck, even Ace had said something that this place was a hot spot for weird activity.
"None yet." The large tiger man said, shaking his head at their abysmal luck in finding information so far. Did Brianna's alter ego manage to completely slip under the radar? He sure hoped not. But someone had to have seen something, either they weren't looking in the right places, or they just weren't asking the right questions.
Questions about, "Have you seen anything weird lately?" were responded with comments of, 'I was able to have a calm breakfast' or 'I had a quiet day at school', or the popular, 'I wasn't drained of my energy and held hostage by a monster'. It was... Unnerving, to say the least. Even people in Atlanta knew what was normal and what was weird by most standards, though it seemed like no one in this area had any idea of what weird really was.
Britanny frowned lightly; she was surprised that most people didn't think her cat-like appearance was too weird. Heck, most of them were muttering something about hoping that she and her husband wouldn't absorb their life or something like that.
Not that she’d ever do something like that. For one, she couldn't and for two, she wasn't like one of the horrible monsters in the movies that were always showing on the old classic monster movie channel back home. Even if she were, she’d probably be eating them instead of absorbing them.
“Same here.” Brianna muttered and sighed, dammit; she was getting upset and agitated at all these dead ends. Hadn't anyone in this whole city, albeit it was rather large, seen the news on a short, furry, cat girl? Well, okay, so maybe her alter ego wasn't short in this part of the world, nor for most of the world, now that she thought about it a bit more, but she sure was shorter than Brianna was. Sweat-dropping as she realized that most of the world hadn't seen a Werecheetah before, the tall blonde shook her head and sighed, that was going to make finding Grave Digger a lot harder than she originally thought, that was for sure.
Maybe she should try a TV advertise...no, no. Then Gina and her parents would know and she'd be in big trouble. Stupid Channel-Surfing devices that were keyed into words like 'Werecheetah', made it so hard to find real, actual Werecheetahs.
Lowering her head, the youngest of the Diggers sisters groaned. "Damn, this is gunna take longer than I thought...” Usually when things came up like this, it took awhile, but not so long that it seemed like they’d be stuck in a foreign country for over a month.
Hmm... perhaps she should take a break? HEY! Across the street was an ice-cream parlor! Well, okay, it wasn't really a parlor, more like a Dairy Queen on wheels. That was okay, she could still get something to eat and relax.
“Where are you going?” Britanny asked, before spotting the cart herself. “Oh.” She muttered, thinking that maybe she should get some ice cream herself. Seeing as it wasn't a bad idea, she shrugged and followed her younger sister to get a treat and hopefully relax.
The cashier, a thin, middle-aged man with light gray hair, looked at the two women as they walked up to him, that wasn't too surprising, after all, he had people of all ages and even genders approach him throughout the day, even if the males would be caught dead in a pink tutu than eating ice-cream. What was really surprising was the fact that the taller of the two looked just like that one customer of his a couple of days ago. Definitely wasn't a common sight, a woman with yellow skin, actually, as he got a better look at it, it seemed more like fur, and a white face like that. Maybe she was related somehow to the shorter one?
"Is there anything I can do for you ladies?" The man asked as he looked between the two of them. "It's a hot day and you must be hotter in that fur...” Left unsaid was that they were both 'hot' women, rather sexy despite their foreign appearances.
Brianna shook her head and rolled her eyes. Why was it that nearly ever man seemed to notice Britanny before even glancing at her or Gina? It was getting to be annoying. Her sister was married for goodness sake! Never did help matters any that Britanny seemed to eat up the attention that those men would give her.
Britanny nodded. She knew what she wanted. The only problem that she could see that she wouldn't be able to get it the way she wanted. "I'd like to get a milkshake please. To go?"
The man nodded his head. "Yes, we do serve milkshakes in paper cups."
"Oh, good," Britanny said. She'd be able to have a cool treat while walking around searching. It rather sucked to have to go around in the hot air looking for something or someone and being hot and thirsty to boot.
"And you?" He asked, giving the slightly shorter blonde a look over. If only he were ten years younger. The blonde looked like one hell of a wildcat in the sack. That voluptuous body, the eyes, the curves... They were all just perfect. (1)
"Actually I'm looking for..." Bri stopped as she saw that the menu had, "Oreo mint?" That was surprising, to be honest, she had been expecting more traditional flavors. “Got a medium sized cone?”
“Sure thing.” He smiled at them as he got them what they wanted. “Do you have a sister?” He asked while looking up at the Werecheetah. He sweat-dropped as he saw her twitch and glare at him, now that he thought about it, he did realize that it sounded like a come-on of sorts. “I didn't mean it like that. It’s just that the other day I saw someone who looked a lot like you, just shorter.” And less developed, but he didn't want to get beaten up over something like that.
As the vendor went about getting their orders, he failed to notice both of his patrons stop, pale and do very credible imitations of statues. When he looked back up to hand them their order, both had a peculiar look on their faces, one that nearly made him drop their order. "Y, yes?" He managed to stutter out at the peculiar gleam that entered their eyes, making him nervous, which was easy for him to admit, seeing as they were easily larger than him.
"Did she look like me, with only one eye-stripe?" The larger of the two asked, leaning in close and narrowing her eyes slightly. Seeing the man nod, she tapped her chin and nodded thoughtfully. Finally, something to go on.
Needless to say, it would make finding Grave Digger much easier than before.
(---)
Sneezing, the Lycanthropoid in question shook her head and rubbed her nose. "That was... Odd...” She murmured, wondering what that was about. That sneeze had been quick and unexpected, not to mention that there were no lingering after-effects. If she were more superstitious, she may have believed something was going to happen, something big, unexpected and highly chaotic. She wondered why she got a sudden chill when it was fairly warm outside. Her eyes narrowing, Grave Digger knew this could only mean trouble...
(---)
"Akane..." Yuka said slowly to her friend as she hid herself in a bush; binoculars in her face. "What are you doing?"
"Yeah, this isn't like you at all," Akane's other friend, Sayuri pointed out. "I don't remember you owning a set of binoculars either."
"Rented them from Nabiki," the youngest Tendo sibling explained. "As for why... I'm keeping an eye out on... her..."
Blinking their eyes in unison, both Yuka and Sayuri turned their heads to the direction Akane was facing. There stood that little furry girl from the tournament not too long ago.
It was Yuka that turned back to Akane first. "What about her?"
"What about her? Just look at her!" Akane hissed. "She was hanging out with that weird guy and,” Akane paused, trying to collect her thoughts as she tried to sort out what she felt, “well, something just isn't right with her!"
Now Sayuri turned back to her friend as well. "Akane..." the girl spoke in soft tones. "Since when is anything 'right' around Nerima?"
Her eyes narrowing, Akane glowered over her situation. "Something's just 'off'. Not so much with her, but with that, that... BOY she's always with...” the Tendo heir declared as she continued to watch her target through her binoculars. "I get a feeling if I follow her, I'll get to see more of that guy she hangs with. And then I'll see the truth. We'll all see how he's nothing but a cheating foul sorcerer ensnaring girls to his whims and... and..."
Akane trailed off and blinked her eyes a few times. Bringing the binoculars down from her face, she said, "Holy shit... I sound like Kuno."
Her friends nodded. "You need to quit hanging out with him." Yuka said, shaking her head. Okay, so he threw himself at the youngest Tendo all the time, got beat up constantly by her, but most people wondered why Akane hadn't done anything more serious to Kuno to keep him from her yet.
"Yeah, yeah...” Akane muttered. She shook her head and wondered just what her problem was with the girl. She was just... So unused to seeing furry people in her life.
It made her... well, the feelings she got from seeing Grave were unfamiliar... they were strange, yet... comforting. Needless to say, it confused the hell out of Akane. She knew she didn't hate the girl, nor was she in love with her... but there was something... SOMETHING about this girl that called out to her.
Flashback...
"Mommy? Wha dis?" A very small girl asked as she looked up to an older woman who was holding out a small plushy toy to the young girl.
"It's a cheetah." Said the smiling older woman.
"Cheewah?" She said, blinking in confusion.
"A cheetah is a big kitty, Akane-chan."
"PRETTY!" The young girl gushed and hugged the plushy for all she was worth.
Seeing her daughter squeeze the plushy for all she was worth, the woman smiled, happy that she could make her youngest so happy.
Sadly, it was the last time that she could make her daughter happy like that.
End flashback...
Now, if only she could figure out what it was. She wasn't into girls; that much she knew, but she couldn't ignore the fact that she wanted to run up to the girl and hug her for all she was worth. "Hey, she's moving!" Akane said as she got up to follow the furry girl. Her friends gave each other a look, before sighing and following her.
(---)
Grave sighed as she walked to the park. She just hoped that Ranma had remembered to show up there after he was done helping his mother out. Not that she was annoyed, but it was boring to go around town without being able to hang out with her best, okay, really her only, friend and do stuff. Well, that and she really wanted some alone time with him. Which was really hard to do ever since she got here. Ranma was either doing something at school, was training in some open parking lot, which she didn't mind, since she got to watch him practice without a shirt on. She shook her head and smirked, she was so glad she didn't have to deal with certain people that she knew were just going to take care of her, and not in a good way.
Sighing, the smirk left her face as depression started to seep over her being. That wasn't something she needed to think about. But it was so easy to remember it, since it was right there in the back of her head at all times, teasing her, reminding her that she still was in their shadows, even if she now had her own life. 'Or at least as much of a life as I can have...’ She thought, sighing as memories flooded her brain.
Memories of a cold night, one where she was freezing in a cave, only to get hit by a short redhead bombarded her mind. What happened next caused the girl to sweat-drop as she recalled the ensuing argument and fight. Though, she had been scared, confused and slightly angry. Turning her head, she spotted a trio of girls talking about something on the corner of the street, narrowing her eyes, she could've sworn that she had seen one of them before, though she couldn't quite place where it was. She brushed it off, deciding that it wasn't important enough to worry about, but getting to the park was.
(---)
Punch.
Kick.
Punch.
Kick.
Punch.
Kick.
It was all in the mind. That was how Ranma took to his training. He was engraining moves so he would be able to use them on reflex without having to think to do such. These past months with Grave had really shown Ranma a lot of the world around him, the world beyond him, and the world in his own backyard... okay, his mother's backyard, but the point was the same.
For years, he'd been a pompous ass-hole, figuring himself to be the greatest martial artist ever. After all, he was starting to beat his old man, whom he had viewed as the strongest. Now, with his adventures with Grave, tournaments, Ryoga... Ranma realized he was just a drop in the proverbial bucket. He was nothing but another face in the crowd when it came to fighters, and he'd yet to really do anything that would make him 'stand out', make people take notice of him... and that might be because he didn't have what it took...
Snorting, Ranma continued attacking the futon mattress wrapped around the tree, his attacks coming quicker to it now. He'd realized that he was nothing but an 'average Joe' of martial artist. Sure, he felt he was good, but there was so much greater out there. In hindsight, he could see now that his father had really, for lack of tact, FUCKED UP his training! He just had to make up for lost time. He had to... or be left in the dust before he even got a career in the martial arts truly started. Balling his hand into a fist, he lashed out, destroying a good chunk of the tree that was in front of him. His eyes smoldered with determination, even as his hand throbbed slightly in pain. He couldn't just let himself be left behind in the dust. He turned his head as he heard his name being called out by someone he knew very well. "Over here, Grave!" He yelled, waving her down from the tree she was sitting on.
Smiling as she jumped down, the petite Lycanthropoid ran up to her friend. Her smile dropped slowly though as she noticed that there was something wrong with him. Nothing physical, that would've been obvious, well, maybe his hands, which were a bit red and looking sore. Narrowing her eyes, she wondered just what was wrong with him.
"Uh, what's wrong?" Ranma asked, blinking as she narrowed her eyes. He couldn't feel anything in the air that was wrong, the ground wasn't shaking, people weren't shouting at him, so, he honestly didn't think that there was anything amiss.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He blinked in confusion, was she upset with him or something?
Anything Grave would've said was cut short as a call caused them both to stop and look up as a figure was leaping into the air, not that they could see much about the figure, as the sun was directly above the person, though the yell was certainly from a male attacker, rather than a female one. "RAAANMAA! PREPARE TO DIE!"
"Eh?" Ranma asked as he and Grave jumped back, as the figure smashed into the ground, a crater about the size of a Buick appearing under him. "Ryoga?!" He yelled, surprised as he jumped back another foot. He wouldn't have even really bothered with getting into a stance against anyone, but the last few fights that he had been in had really been off the chart. People just had to be insanely tough, didn't they?
There was a look in the lost boy's eyes that Ranma really didn't like, a deep rage and insanity that just screamed out an intent to maim, injure and kill. Why the hell did he have to be the target of it? 'What the hell did I do to him?' He asked himself as Ryoga sneered and hefted his umbrella up.
"Hey!" Grave yelled at the lost boy, causing him to turn to look at her. Frowning she pointed to the ground. "What the hell is up with you?! What if there were some innocent people there?!" Not that she really cared, but dammit, she had been nearly flattened by that stupid umbrella.
Ryoga blinked and thought about it. He never had such a problem, since most people tended to run away after seeing his temper and strength displays. "You know... I never thought about it."
She tried, she tried so hard to ignore it, the pull of gravity had never felt stronger, and she had never felt so much extra weight on the side of her head before, but she couldn't resist the pull, it was too strong. The crash to the ground caused her face to make an impression while her lower body stuck straight up. It was fairly humorous, as well as painful, to go through a face fault, she decided after thinking about it for a few seconds.
Ryoga shook his head and turned back on his most hated nemesis. "YOU! I'm going to... HEY! GET BACK HERE!" He bellowed and jumped after his rival, who had jumped away to the trees. Growling, the lost boy jumped up after his rival, before pulling a few bandanas off of his forehead and throwing them forward as though they were spinning knives, in an attempt to cut the branches out from under him and get the fight onto the ground.
Twisting and ducking under, around and over the flying projectiles of doom, Ranma shook his head as Ryoga seemed to have some crappy aim, even worse than he would've expected from the idiot. Sure, the guy had a hard time hitting the side of an office building when it was less than five feet from him, but those shots were way off their mark. 'Almost like he wasn't trying ta hit me.' He thought, before snorting and turning his head. "What's the matter, Ryoga? Blind as well as lost all the time?" He smirked, before ducking as another spinney object of doom flew right at him. 'Either Ryoga's gotten better, or that was just lucky.' He thought to himself as he spotted the edge of the park just up ahead, and thankfully, there wasn't anything really public nearby, save for that construction zone, well, he just hoped that there wasn't anyone working today, otherwise they'd have more to worry about than just a falling construction beam or a missing washer. Touching down softly, Ranma jumped back as Ryoga crashed down behind him. 'Well, not exactly crashed.' Ranma thought bemusedly as he saw that Ryoga barely made more of an impact than he did.
"Ugh...dammit Ranma..." Ryoga blearily called, "Get back here...ooh..." He growled before snapping the umbrella up to point at Ranma, before throwing it as though it was a spear, aimed right at Ranma, who twisted to the side to avoid the projectile and the follow-up charging kick aimed at his face. Bringing up his right hand, he deflected the kick to the side, before jumping up and over the slightly off-balance Ryoga, all the while twisting so that he was upside down in mid-air and smacking the lost boy in the back of the head, causing him to tumble forward slightly, before he slapped a hand onto the ground and flipped into a roll a few feet before righting himself and sliding to a halt just in front of a small cliff. Small in the fact that it was only fifteen feet from the top to the hard earth below. ‘Well, that and all that construction equipment’, Ryoga balefully reminded himself as he turned to face his hated rival with a gleam in his eyes.
Ranma narrowed his eyes as he saw Ryoga stop himself from falling down, not that he really expected the Lost Boy to fall down and get lost, but he could always hope. ”Shee, what the hell did I do to you?”
”You did enough!” Ryoga yelled out before jumping at his foe, who blinked, sweat-dropped, and twitched his body to the side slightly, causing the bandana-clad fighter to sail harmlessly to the left. ”Dammit, stop running you coward!” He growled as he landed and spun around with a kick aimed at Ranma’s head.
Jumping and leaning back, Ranma mentally shook his head, at least as he was now, Ryoga wasn't too hard to deal with. He was still as straight-forward as ever, which made it fairly easy to deal with him. Flipping in mid-air, Ranma touched down a foot away from the edge and smirked at Ryoga as the idiot was rushing at him. ‘Shouldn't be too hard.’ He thought to himself.
So, why was he getting this horrible feeling?
(---)
Grave rubbed her head as she stood up as Ryoga ran after her friend. Oh, she wasn't’t too worried about Ranma. He could handle that idiot in a normal fight with no problem. ‘But, then why do I feel so worried?’ She frowned, before blinking as a revelation came over her. ”Wait a second... Didn't he have a curse?” Paling as she remembered just what happened the last time the idiot’s curse activated, Grave got to her feet and ran in the direction that the two fighters had gone in.
She didn't dare use magic to fly, not yet anyway. The thought of her ”family” finding her because of her magic use was still prevalent in her mind. She knew that old man that her ”sisters” called dad was quite strong and skilled when it came to magic, those memories of that flaming skull were bad enough, she didn't want to know what he could do if he was truly motivated.
(---)
In a hidden city on another plane of existence, an older man sneezed as he lit up his cigar. Sniffling, the elder man wondered what that was about, before he went back to his paper work and looked over a few papers and plans of his. He smirked as everything was going according to his plan.
(---)
Dodging, twisting and weaving around trees, Grave Digger ran, worried for her friend, not if he fought that idiot normally, but if he fought that idiot if said idiot was in cursed form. ‘What was his name again? Byogi? Ryogen? Ryogi? Ryoga!’ Not that he deserved to be called anything but idiot, jerk or moron in her opinion. After all, who the hell went around trying to... Grave skidded to a halt, her eyes widening as something... Horrible overcame her. ”Am... Am I like that?” She wondered aloud as she thought about her past actions, the attack of Genn, even though he was trying to help when she was first created, and all he had tried to do was warn Gina and Britanny. She didn't think those mages were innocent in the least, they had been talking about killing her right in her face! Those two Werejaguars were just trying to help her and protect the people around them, okay, so those weapons were lethal, the shorter one, Sheila, had said so, but it wasn't until she had attacked them that they fought back against her.
An image of herself wearing brown pants, a yellow shirt, and a bandanna flooded her mind as she tried to kill Britanny and Gina. That didn't bother her too much, it was the after-effects that did. She closed her eyes and staggered in place as images of people bombarded her, most of them she didn't really know, were looking pained as they tried to get through their lives with missing limbs, fingers, feet, and other body parts. ”Could... Could I have turned out like him?”
She shivered at the unpleasant thought. Was... Was she really like him? Terrified, she sat down, thinking about how she was and her future.
(---)
Ryoga grunted as he hit the ground. He wouldn't have even felt it normally, but the kick to his gut and the subsequent twenty-five foot drop down to the base of the construction zone managed to knock the wind out of him. Grinning as he felt a rock under his hand, he pulled the large slab of earth out from the ground and threw it up at Ranma, who was still practically floating in mid-air. ”Get down here, you bastard!” He called out, grinning savagely as Ranma dodged, but came down to earth quicker. His grin was short-lived as Ranma’s foot was introduced to his face, again. Growling, he back-flipped to get the jerk off of him, his foot flying up in a desperate attempt to hit Ranma’s back.
Ranma grimaced as Ryoga’s foot connected to his back, sending him flying off of the lost boy. Flipping in mid-air, he landed on his feet and shook his head. The hit wasn't that powerful, it was still annoying that he allowed himself to get hit like that. ”Oh, come on, Ryoga... That all you got?” He smirked, feeling better about this already. Ryoga wasn't anything too seriously dangerous without his cursed form giving him extra size, strength, reach and power.
Growling at the insult, Ryoga smirked back. ”I don’t know. At least I don’t hit like a little girl.” He nearly laughed as Ranma’s expression changed from arrogant to indignant. ”What’s wrong? Can’t take the truth?” He smirked, before blinking as Ranma seemingly disappeared from in front of him, only to appear two inches away from him. ”What the?” He managed to stammer out, before he was punched in the face three times, grabbed by his shirt and thrown over Ranma’s shoulder and back-first into a support beam that was standing straight up. Groaning as he slumped to the ground, Ryoga shook his head and stood back up. ‘Okay, don’t call him a girl in the future.’ He thought bitterly. Those punches had not only hurt, but the speed and the throw was surprising as hell. His eyes gleamed as he noticed something less than a foot away from him. Even if he heard voices in his head when that change over-took him, if he could just pound his revenge into that jerk of a rival, that would be more than enough for him. He’d deal with those stupid voices later.
Standing up and shaking his head, he looked at Ranma, who was glaring at him, before rushing at him. Grimacing, he dodged the first punch, but the knee to his gut was much harder to avoid. Grimacing as he hit the steel beam again, Ryoga head-butted Ranma, causing him to stagger back a couple of feet. While he was stunned, the lost boy turned and jumped forward, cupped his hands and dunked them into the murky, muddy water puddle, before bringing it up to his face and splashing himself. He grinned as he could feel that small amount of cool water activate a familiar change in his body.
Ranma shook his head to clear the dizzyness away, when he looked, Ryoga was off to the side and splashing himself with something. His eyes widened as he realized just what that was. ”Oh shit.” Was all he could say as Ryoga grew in size and muscle mass. He took a step back as Ryoga’s hair grew longer and wilder, going down his back, as a strange body suit covered the lost boy.
Ryoga grinned and turned to face his rival. Sure, he was well over seven feet tall now, but his new strength and height gave him some advantages. Namely that certain people wouldn't be able to hit him in the head. ”Now, DIE!” He cried out, lashing out at Ranma’s head with a kick that the pigtailed martial artist was hard-pressed to avoid. Growling as his attack missed, Ryoga twisted slightly and punched straight down, causing a small crater as Ranma rolled out of the way. Grinning as he stood back up, Ryoga chuckled and cracked his knuckles; oh this was going to be fun. Well, at least until those stupid voices spoke up again. Ryoga felt that steel beam that Ranma had thrown him into earlier. While he knew he could lift beams and telephone poles right out of the ground, it still took a bit of effort to actually do so, in this form though...
”Aw fuck...” Ranma cursed as Ryoga grabbed that I-beam, his fingers dug into the steel, before yanking it out of the ground. He wasn't too surprised that the rest of the building that was already being built didn't fall over, after all, it was just one support beam out of a few dozen. It did, however, look a bit like a gently curving U-shape at that moment. He quickly jumped to the side as Ryoga tried to smash him like a bug.
Ranma grinned sardonically as he jumped up and onto the wire-framed building. ‘Boy, aren't these guys going to be mad in the morning?’ He thought and slipped around on the beams, trying to avoid Ryoga as he broke the beam that was in his hands into pieces and started throwing them at him every time he caught a glimpse of his red shirt. ‘Hmm...’
Ryoga growled as he held less than half of a steel beam. He could’ve lifted this in his normal form with ease, that umbrella of his was at least a few dozen pounds heavier than the beam was. Seeing a flash of red, he threw the remaining half of his beam with all he had, though he blinked as all he tore through was a red shirt with no one inside. ”What the?”
”That was my favorite shirt, ya jerk!” Ryoga turned, just in time to catch Ranma’s foot impacting his jaw and sending him sliding back several feet. ”Now, why’d you go and do that?” He winced slightly, damn, did Ryoga’s face get harder or was that just him?
Wiping some spit off of his face, Ryoga smirked at him. ”That all?” He asked, before rushing in, his hands glowing and crackling with energy. He chuckled as Ranma jumped back on top of the beams. ”That won’t help you this time!” He called out as he punched forward at the beams, the collected energy leaving his hands and breaking through the hard steel as though it wasn't even there.
The structure shuddered, groaned and valliently tried to hold on. In the end though, it couldn’t support itself with the loss of its middle portion.
Ranma stared at the damage, before his body’s instincts took over and he jumped from one falling beam to another as dust and debris were tossed up into the air. The last thing he needed was to be squished and injured by the falling metal bars. He breathed a sigh of relief as he managed to jump completely out of the wreckage without getting hit by any of those falling beams. He felt, rather than saw, Ryoga appear right behind him. Twisting his body was fortunate; otherwise he would’ve taken a serious hit to his spine. As it was, his side was hit with enough force to make him grit his teeth in pain, and go flying back into the ground in a heap. Groaning as the dust settled, Ranma rolled out of the way of the foot that was coming down to crush his face. ”Ya know, you could’ve hurt me!” He complained while bouncing back a couple of feet.
”What do you think I was trying to do!” Was the snarled reply.
Ranma narrowed his eyes slightly and slid into a defensive stance. His best bet was to somehow get Ryoga wet with hot water, wear him out, or somehow get the idiot lost.
(---)
Stryyp looked at his wife as she took him, Genn and Brianna down the street with purpose. Yes, he was worried about this ”alter ego” of Brianna’s, but he was also worried about his wife. She was nervous, fidgety and strung higher than a kite. The Kryn frowned thoughtfully as they walked down another section of the city. He honestly didn't know what the whole purpose of them finding this ”Grave Digger” was. Even if they found her, what were they supposed to do? Sure, he could hope that she’d be friendly with him around, but from what he knew, Brianna’s other half wasn't too friendly with the other three people in the group.
Behind the large Tiger-man, Genn shared his thoughts privately. As far as she knew, Grave would just turn on them as soon as look at them. She looked at Brianna, who was just in front of her, and was even more worried. The blonde was her best friend, even if she did some crazy, unusual and sometimes downright idiotic things, she needed to face this, even if it could kill her. Genn was worried though. This wasn't Jade, this was Earth, and it could be even worse for Grave Digger to go crazy here compared to what happened in Seer’s Hamlet. The Rakshasa shivered at the thoughts that ran through her head at that moment. That was probably the last thing that they needed, an insane little aura mage running around and attacking everyone just to get rid of them. She was shook out of her thoughts as she ran face-first into Brianna’s back. Due to the unexpected stop, she lost her balance and flopped down on her butt. ”Owwie.” She groaned, darn cement was pretty darn hard. ”Why’d we stop?” She asked while rubbing her bruised posterior.
”Britanny said she heard something.” Was Brianna’s reply as she looked around, trying to figure if there was something out there making unusual noise.
”Huh?”
”It’s like... There’s an explosion that just happened.” Britanny muttered and frowned. Dammit, she had just heard it too.
”Which direction?” Stryyp asked as he looked around, no one was reacting to anything, so it was probably pretty far off.
”I think... There it is! That way!” Britanny snapped her head up as she pointed to the west. That time she was sure she heard an explosion of sorts. Hopefully they could find out where that girl was.
(---)
”ACHOO!” Grave shook her head and sniffed slightly. That one had hurt slightly. She ran forward as she heard another explosion. Now something bad was happening, really bad by the sounds of it. As she got to the edge of the park, she noticed the construction zone across the street. Running, she jumped on top of the moving cars in an attempt to get across quickly. While she didn't have any extra-ordinary human skills like Britanny or Brianna, she could still use her magic to give her small boosts to her abilities. Like jumping over cars that were moving fast enough to seriously hurt her if one hit her.
Landing on the other side of the street, she ran into the construction area and stared at the pile of fallen, melted, mangled and destroyed beams of steel that were in a haphazard pile. ”Wow...” She muttered, impressed with the destruction.
She shook her head and looked around, before finally spotting Ranma. ”Oh no!” She gasped, shocked as she saw that the guy from earlier had managed to get splashed with water again. ”Dammit!” She cursed and ran out, noticing that Ranma was in trouble. Well, at least she thought he was in trouble. He might have been fine, but she had to know for sure.
(---)
Ranma rolled away from another punch downwards at him. It was taking every ounce of his concentration and speed to avoid those punches and kicks. Even so, he had taken a few blows to his body. Nothing too serious, but it looked like Ryoga wasn't going to wear out any time soon, and the lost boy seemed to be too focused on him to get lost this time. And without any hot water around, he wondered just what he could do. He needed to practice a bit, but he was sure that he could figure out just how Ryoga was throwing those Ki blasts around at him. ‘That is, if I get through this.’ He thought balefully.
Ryoga growled slightly, even with his more powerful form, he had a hard time hitting and hurting his rival. Not to mention that while he was weaker, he still managed to wind him slightly. A few attacks here, a few there, and all the chasing and dodging had started to get to him. Not that he’d pass out at the moment, since he still had a lot of stamina and endurance left. ”Trying to wear me down, Ranma? That’s not going to work and you know it.” Ryoga blinked as Ranma started smirking at him. ”What’s so funny?”
”Nothing much, but if I had some hot water, you’d probably be very worn out, wouldn't you?” It was a gamble, Ranma knew. He didn't know much about the cursed form that Ryoga had or how much transferred from one body to another. He just hoped that if he could change Ryoga back to normal that he’d be worn out enough that he couldn't put up enough of a fight to do anything. He winced; the few blows that he had taken were taking their toll on him. Any more and he was sure that he’d lose this fight. ‘Dammit, I... Can’t lose like this!’ He mentally cried out.
Seeing Ranma stagger slightly, Ryoga brought his hands up to his chest and cupped them. He grinned as Ki energy started gathering and condensing between his hands, arcing and snapping from one hand to another. ”Now try this! AEGIS...”
”No you don’t! Scalding MYST!”
Ryoga lost his concentration and turned to the sound of the voice. ”It’s you!” He shouted, surprised, before he felt something hot and wet fall over his skin. ”What the?”
Ranma chuckled as he saw what was going on. ”Sorry, Ryoga, but you do remember that hot water reverses the curse, right?”
”Whaaa?!”
”That’s right, you asshole!” Grave growled at him as the curse was reversed.
”N... NOOO!!” Ryoga cried out as he felt himself lose size, strength and power. ”I..Impossible!” He panted, feeling all the energy and extra stamina leave his body in an instant. He turned his head as he felt a polite tap on his shoulder. Turning his head, his eyes widened as a fist impacted his face hard enough to send him flying back a few feet and onto the ground. ”Urrgh...” He groaned as he struggled to stand up.
Ranma smirked tiredly, so he was right, the more tired Ryoga got in his cursed form was highly compounded when he returned to normal. Walking over to the lost boy, Ranma picked him up. ”I don’t see why you’re so upset, Ryoga. Your curse isn't that bad... At least you get stronger with it.” He said, sighing, before letting go of Ryoga and punting him into the distance.
”Couldn't you have done that earlier?” Grave asked him as she walked up to him. She was concerned though, Ranma was sweating, panting and had a bit of a glazed look to his eyes.
”Would’ve... If I could have...” Ranma panted out before slumping down onto the ground.
”Ranma?” Grave asked worriedly as she grabbed his side and had him lean against her. ”Come on, let’s get you home.”
Ranma was too exhausted at that moment to put up much of an argument, he just nodded and let her lead him home.
As she helped him, Grave smiled to herself. Ranma was safe, the idiot was beaten and on top of it all, she got to feel him without a shirt on. ‘Mmm... Muscely.’ She thought to herself giddily.
As she led Ranma away from the construction site, she missed several eyes that spotted her leading him away. ‘Finally.’ Several of the people thought at the same time.
Preview of next chapter:
“Hey! Grave here! Well, that wasn’t very fun at all! What the? Who’s that? No . . . Not you! Not here!”
Note: Sorry for not getting this out sooner. Been playing a bunch of games, both video and traditional, work's been a pain, (and trying to find a second job so that I can have some spending cash), and worrying about my health, (been into the clinic, had a test and a lab and I still don't know what the hell's wrong with me), life has been horrible lately. (Recently found out that my health is good, but it still took them forever to figure that out.)
(1) Been channeling my inner Jiraiya and Happosai lately. What do you expect?
(2) Just a bit silly “Spinney object of doom”. Been watching too much Naruto and Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged Series lately. Go to Youtube and look for them.
(3) What? You think I forgot about that spell? HA!
Grave's New Life
Chapter 25
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Ranma, Ninja High School or Gold Digger. Now, will you lawyers leave me alone?! Shee!
Note: As of right now, I'm thinking of just ending this story. I mean real life is... hears a cough behind him Hmm? Turns around and sees a glowing Ranma and Grave Digger Uhhh... AHHH!! Not the face! Sounds of gratuitous violence
Grave Digger: Sorry about that folks. The baka author isn't going to end the story just yet. At least not without an ending to it.
Yeah, yeah... Limps back to the computer, bruised and bloody. I wasn't really going to end the story... So, here you go. A late Christmas present to you all.
She hated speaking Japanese. Not that she wasn't fluent in it; it was just that she sometimes messed up on the undertones and accents. She was glad that she had a genius intellect though; otherwise she might be like her larger, furrier sister, who had a tendency to speak like a bimbo when speaking this language.
Though, sometimes, Brianna wondered if Britanny was a bimbo, not that she'd say that to Britanny's face, or even within forty miles of her, just to be safe. Not that her sister was a violent maniac, she just had one hell of a temper on her. And memories of when she lost it were just a bit too much to bear. Though, to be fair, her other sister had one on her as well, just that she kept it under control better. Considering that Gina had an insane IQ and could be very vicious in getting back at people, anyone that really knew her tended to not try to get her to that point. Unless they had a serious back up plan, or were insanely tough. Either way, most of the people that dealt with Gina didn't get her to that point. Mostly because she had a good handle on her temper, which was something that most everyone was grateful for.
The tall blonde was just thankful that Gina wasn't there looking for her alter ego. Genn was, thankfully, able to help them understand Japanese due to her ability to translate whatever language was being spoken into the listener's native language. Otherwise, she was sure she'd probably commit some sort of offense to someone. Not that she was worried about having any problems to deal with, but dealing with an international incident wasn't something she really wanted to have to have her dad, mom or the government deal with. The paperwork was horrendous. Why, Brit's friend Asrial bitched about it all the time, what with problems in America, Japan, and... What was it again? Oh, right! Cylutia. Probably someplace in Europe.
"Any luck yet?" She asked as her brother-in-law and sister caught up to them, having split up to ask several people if they knew anything. Not that they went far, that would've most likely been suicide. There were lots of reports of crazy people in this part of the world; heck, even Ace had said something that this place was a hot spot for weird activity.
"None yet." The large tiger man said, shaking his head at their abysmal luck in finding information so far. Did Brianna's alter ego manage to completely slip under the radar? He sure hoped not. But someone had to have seen something, either they weren't looking in the right places, or they just weren't asking the right questions.
Questions about, "Have you seen anything weird lately?" were responded with comments of, 'I was able to have a calm breakfast' or 'I had a quiet day at school', or the popular, 'I wasn't drained of my energy and held hostage by a monster'. It was... Unnerving, to say the least. Even people in Atlanta knew what was normal and what was weird by most standards, though it seemed like no one in this area had any idea of what weird really was.
Britanny frowned lightly; she was surprised that most people didn't think her cat-like appearance was too weird. Heck, most of them were muttering something about hoping that she and her husband wouldn't absorb their life or something like that.
Not that she’d ever do something like that. For one, she couldn't and for two, she wasn't like one of the horrible monsters in the movies that were always showing on the old classic monster movie channel back home. Even if she were, she’d probably be eating them instead of absorbing them.
“Same here.” Brianna muttered and sighed, dammit; she was getting upset and agitated at all these dead ends. Hadn't anyone in this whole city, albeit it was rather large, seen the news on a short, furry, cat girl? Well, okay, so maybe her alter ego wasn't short in this part of the world, nor for most of the world, now that she thought about it a bit more, but she sure was shorter than Brianna was. Sweat-dropping as she realized that most of the world hadn't seen a Werecheetah before, the tall blonde shook her head and sighed, that was going to make finding Grave Digger a lot harder than she originally thought, that was for sure.
Maybe she should try a TV advertise...no, no. Then Gina and her parents would know and she'd be in big trouble. Stupid Channel-Surfing devices that were keyed into words like 'Werecheetah', made it so hard to find real, actual Werecheetahs.
Lowering her head, the youngest of the Diggers sisters groaned. "Damn, this is gunna take longer than I thought...” Usually when things came up like this, it took awhile, but not so long that it seemed like they’d be stuck in a foreign country for over a month.
Hmm... perhaps she should take a break? HEY! Across the street was an ice-cream parlor! Well, okay, it wasn't really a parlor, more like a Dairy Queen on wheels. That was okay, she could still get something to eat and relax.
“Where are you going?” Britanny asked, before spotting the cart herself. “Oh.” She muttered, thinking that maybe she should get some ice cream herself. Seeing as it wasn't a bad idea, she shrugged and followed her younger sister to get a treat and hopefully relax.
The cashier, a thin, middle-aged man with light gray hair, looked at the two women as they walked up to him, that wasn't too surprising, after all, he had people of all ages and even genders approach him throughout the day, even if the males would be caught dead in a pink tutu than eating ice-cream. What was really surprising was the fact that the taller of the two looked just like that one customer of his a couple of days ago. Definitely wasn't a common sight, a woman with yellow skin, actually, as he got a better look at it, it seemed more like fur, and a white face like that. Maybe she was related somehow to the shorter one?
"Is there anything I can do for you ladies?" The man asked as he looked between the two of them. "It's a hot day and you must be hotter in that fur...” Left unsaid was that they were both 'hot' women, rather sexy despite their foreign appearances.
Brianna shook her head and rolled her eyes. Why was it that nearly ever man seemed to notice Britanny before even glancing at her or Gina? It was getting to be annoying. Her sister was married for goodness sake! Never did help matters any that Britanny seemed to eat up the attention that those men would give her.
Britanny nodded. She knew what she wanted. The only problem that she could see that she wouldn't be able to get it the way she wanted. "I'd like to get a milkshake please. To go?"
The man nodded his head. "Yes, we do serve milkshakes in paper cups."
"Oh, good," Britanny said. She'd be able to have a cool treat while walking around searching. It rather sucked to have to go around in the hot air looking for something or someone and being hot and thirsty to boot.
"And you?" He asked, giving the slightly shorter blonde a look over. If only he were ten years younger. The blonde looked like one hell of a wildcat in the sack. That voluptuous body, the eyes, the curves... They were all just perfect. (1)
"Actually I'm looking for..." Bri stopped as she saw that the menu had, "Oreo mint?" That was surprising, to be honest, she had been expecting more traditional flavors. “Got a medium sized cone?”
“Sure thing.” He smiled at them as he got them what they wanted. “Do you have a sister?” He asked while looking up at the Werecheetah. He sweat-dropped as he saw her twitch and glare at him, now that he thought about it, he did realize that it sounded like a come-on of sorts. “I didn't mean it like that. It’s just that the other day I saw someone who looked a lot like you, just shorter.” And less developed, but he didn't want to get beaten up over something like that.
As the vendor went about getting their orders, he failed to notice both of his patrons stop, pale and do very credible imitations of statues. When he looked back up to hand them their order, both had a peculiar look on their faces, one that nearly made him drop their order. "Y, yes?" He managed to stutter out at the peculiar gleam that entered their eyes, making him nervous, which was easy for him to admit, seeing as they were easily larger than him.
"Did she look like me, with only one eye-stripe?" The larger of the two asked, leaning in close and narrowing her eyes slightly. Seeing the man nod, she tapped her chin and nodded thoughtfully. Finally, something to go on.
Needless to say, it would make finding Grave Digger much easier than before.
(---)
Sneezing, the Lycanthropoid in question shook her head and rubbed her nose. "That was... Odd...” She murmured, wondering what that was about. That sneeze had been quick and unexpected, not to mention that there were no lingering after-effects. If she were more superstitious, she may have believed something was going to happen, something big, unexpected and highly chaotic. She wondered why she got a sudden chill when it was fairly warm outside. Her eyes narrowing, Grave Digger knew this could only mean trouble...
(---)
"Akane..." Yuka said slowly to her friend as she hid herself in a bush; binoculars in her face. "What are you doing?"
"Yeah, this isn't like you at all," Akane's other friend, Sayuri pointed out. "I don't remember you owning a set of binoculars either."
"Rented them from Nabiki," the youngest Tendo sibling explained. "As for why... I'm keeping an eye out on... her..."
Blinking their eyes in unison, both Yuka and Sayuri turned their heads to the direction Akane was facing. There stood that little furry girl from the tournament not too long ago.
It was Yuka that turned back to Akane first. "What about her?"
"What about her? Just look at her!" Akane hissed. "She was hanging out with that weird guy and,” Akane paused, trying to collect her thoughts as she tried to sort out what she felt, “well, something just isn't right with her!"
Now Sayuri turned back to her friend as well. "Akane..." the girl spoke in soft tones. "Since when is anything 'right' around Nerima?"
Her eyes narrowing, Akane glowered over her situation. "Something's just 'off'. Not so much with her, but with that, that... BOY she's always with...” the Tendo heir declared as she continued to watch her target through her binoculars. "I get a feeling if I follow her, I'll get to see more of that guy she hangs with. And then I'll see the truth. We'll all see how he's nothing but a cheating foul sorcerer ensnaring girls to his whims and... and..."
Akane trailed off and blinked her eyes a few times. Bringing the binoculars down from her face, she said, "Holy shit... I sound like Kuno."
Her friends nodded. "You need to quit hanging out with him." Yuka said, shaking her head. Okay, so he threw himself at the youngest Tendo all the time, got beat up constantly by her, but most people wondered why Akane hadn't done anything more serious to Kuno to keep him from her yet.
"Yeah, yeah...” Akane muttered. She shook her head and wondered just what her problem was with the girl. She was just... So unused to seeing furry people in her life.
It made her... well, the feelings she got from seeing Grave were unfamiliar... they were strange, yet... comforting. Needless to say, it confused the hell out of Akane. She knew she didn't hate the girl, nor was she in love with her... but there was something... SOMETHING about this girl that called out to her.
Flashback...
"Mommy? Wha dis?" A very small girl asked as she looked up to an older woman who was holding out a small plushy toy to the young girl.
"It's a cheetah." Said the smiling older woman.
"Cheewah?" She said, blinking in confusion.
"A cheetah is a big kitty, Akane-chan."
"PRETTY!" The young girl gushed and hugged the plushy for all she was worth.
Seeing her daughter squeeze the plushy for all she was worth, the woman smiled, happy that she could make her youngest so happy.
Sadly, it was the last time that she could make her daughter happy like that.
End flashback...
Now, if only she could figure out what it was. She wasn't into girls; that much she knew, but she couldn't ignore the fact that she wanted to run up to the girl and hug her for all she was worth. "Hey, she's moving!" Akane said as she got up to follow the furry girl. Her friends gave each other a look, before sighing and following her.
(---)
Grave sighed as she walked to the park. She just hoped that Ranma had remembered to show up there after he was done helping his mother out. Not that she was annoyed, but it was boring to go around town without being able to hang out with her best, okay, really her only, friend and do stuff. Well, that and she really wanted some alone time with him. Which was really hard to do ever since she got here. Ranma was either doing something at school, was training in some open parking lot, which she didn't mind, since she got to watch him practice without a shirt on. She shook her head and smirked, she was so glad she didn't have to deal with certain people that she knew were just going to take care of her, and not in a good way.
Sighing, the smirk left her face as depression started to seep over her being. That wasn't something she needed to think about. But it was so easy to remember it, since it was right there in the back of her head at all times, teasing her, reminding her that she still was in their shadows, even if she now had her own life. 'Or at least as much of a life as I can have...’ She thought, sighing as memories flooded her brain.
Memories of a cold night, one where she was freezing in a cave, only to get hit by a short redhead bombarded her mind. What happened next caused the girl to sweat-drop as she recalled the ensuing argument and fight. Though, she had been scared, confused and slightly angry. Turning her head, she spotted a trio of girls talking about something on the corner of the street, narrowing her eyes, she could've sworn that she had seen one of them before, though she couldn't quite place where it was. She brushed it off, deciding that it wasn't important enough to worry about, but getting to the park was.
(---)
Punch.
Kick.
Punch.
Kick.
Punch.
Kick.
It was all in the mind. That was how Ranma took to his training. He was engraining moves so he would be able to use them on reflex without having to think to do such. These past months with Grave had really shown Ranma a lot of the world around him, the world beyond him, and the world in his own backyard... okay, his mother's backyard, but the point was the same.
For years, he'd been a pompous ass-hole, figuring himself to be the greatest martial artist ever. After all, he was starting to beat his old man, whom he had viewed as the strongest. Now, with his adventures with Grave, tournaments, Ryoga... Ranma realized he was just a drop in the proverbial bucket. He was nothing but another face in the crowd when it came to fighters, and he'd yet to really do anything that would make him 'stand out', make people take notice of him... and that might be because he didn't have what it took...
Snorting, Ranma continued attacking the futon mattress wrapped around the tree, his attacks coming quicker to it now. He'd realized that he was nothing but an 'average Joe' of martial artist. Sure, he felt he was good, but there was so much greater out there. In hindsight, he could see now that his father had really, for lack of tact, FUCKED UP his training! He just had to make up for lost time. He had to... or be left in the dust before he even got a career in the martial arts truly started. Balling his hand into a fist, he lashed out, destroying a good chunk of the tree that was in front of him. His eyes smoldered with determination, even as his hand throbbed slightly in pain. He couldn't just let himself be left behind in the dust. He turned his head as he heard his name being called out by someone he knew very well. "Over here, Grave!" He yelled, waving her down from the tree she was sitting on.
Smiling as she jumped down, the petite Lycanthropoid ran up to her friend. Her smile dropped slowly though as she noticed that there was something wrong with him. Nothing physical, that would've been obvious, well, maybe his hands, which were a bit red and looking sore. Narrowing her eyes, she wondered just what was wrong with him.
"Uh, what's wrong?" Ranma asked, blinking as she narrowed her eyes. He couldn't feel anything in the air that was wrong, the ground wasn't shaking, people weren't shouting at him, so, he honestly didn't think that there was anything amiss.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He blinked in confusion, was she upset with him or something?
Anything Grave would've said was cut short as a call caused them both to stop and look up as a figure was leaping into the air, not that they could see much about the figure, as the sun was directly above the person, though the yell was certainly from a male attacker, rather than a female one. "RAAANMAA! PREPARE TO DIE!"
"Eh?" Ranma asked as he and Grave jumped back, as the figure smashed into the ground, a crater about the size of a Buick appearing under him. "Ryoga?!" He yelled, surprised as he jumped back another foot. He wouldn't have even really bothered with getting into a stance against anyone, but the last few fights that he had been in had really been off the chart. People just had to be insanely tough, didn't they?
There was a look in the lost boy's eyes that Ranma really didn't like, a deep rage and insanity that just screamed out an intent to maim, injure and kill. Why the hell did he have to be the target of it? 'What the hell did I do to him?' He asked himself as Ryoga sneered and hefted his umbrella up.
"Hey!" Grave yelled at the lost boy, causing him to turn to look at her. Frowning she pointed to the ground. "What the hell is up with you?! What if there were some innocent people there?!" Not that she really cared, but dammit, she had been nearly flattened by that stupid umbrella.
Ryoga blinked and thought about it. He never had such a problem, since most people tended to run away after seeing his temper and strength displays. "You know... I never thought about it."
She tried, she tried so hard to ignore it, the pull of gravity had never felt stronger, and she had never felt so much extra weight on the side of her head before, but she couldn't resist the pull, it was too strong. The crash to the ground caused her face to make an impression while her lower body stuck straight up. It was fairly humorous, as well as painful, to go through a face fault, she decided after thinking about it for a few seconds.
Ryoga shook his head and turned back on his most hated nemesis. "YOU! I'm going to... HEY! GET BACK HERE!" He bellowed and jumped after his rival, who had jumped away to the trees. Growling, the lost boy jumped up after his rival, before pulling a few bandanas off of his forehead and throwing them forward as though they were spinning knives, in an attempt to cut the branches out from under him and get the fight onto the ground.
Twisting and ducking under, around and over the flying projectiles of doom, Ranma shook his head as Ryoga seemed to have some crappy aim, even worse than he would've expected from the idiot. Sure, the guy had a hard time hitting the side of an office building when it was less than five feet from him, but those shots were way off their mark. 'Almost like he wasn't trying ta hit me.' He thought, before snorting and turning his head. "What's the matter, Ryoga? Blind as well as lost all the time?" He smirked, before ducking as another spinney object of doom flew right at him. 'Either Ryoga's gotten better, or that was just lucky.' He thought to himself as he spotted the edge of the park just up ahead, and thankfully, there wasn't anything really public nearby, save for that construction zone, well, he just hoped that there wasn't anyone working today, otherwise they'd have more to worry about than just a falling construction beam or a missing washer. Touching down softly, Ranma jumped back as Ryoga crashed down behind him. 'Well, not exactly crashed.' Ranma thought bemusedly as he saw that Ryoga barely made more of an impact than he did.
"Ugh...dammit Ranma..." Ryoga blearily called, "Get back here...ooh..." He growled before snapping the umbrella up to point at Ranma, before throwing it as though it was a spear, aimed right at Ranma, who twisted to the side to avoid the projectile and the follow-up charging kick aimed at his face. Bringing up his right hand, he deflected the kick to the side, before jumping up and over the slightly off-balance Ryoga, all the while twisting so that he was upside down in mid-air and smacking the lost boy in the back of the head, causing him to tumble forward slightly, before he slapped a hand onto the ground and flipped into a roll a few feet before righting himself and sliding to a halt just in front of a small cliff. Small in the fact that it was only fifteen feet from the top to the hard earth below. ‘Well, that and all that construction equipment’, Ryoga balefully reminded himself as he turned to face his hated rival with a gleam in his eyes.
Ranma narrowed his eyes as he saw Ryoga stop himself from falling down, not that he really expected the Lost Boy to fall down and get lost, but he could always hope. ”Shee, what the hell did I do to you?”
”You did enough!” Ryoga yelled out before jumping at his foe, who blinked, sweat-dropped, and twitched his body to the side slightly, causing the bandana-clad fighter to sail harmlessly to the left. ”Dammit, stop running you coward!” He growled as he landed and spun around with a kick aimed at Ranma’s head.
Jumping and leaning back, Ranma mentally shook his head, at least as he was now, Ryoga wasn't too hard to deal with. He was still as straight-forward as ever, which made it fairly easy to deal with him. Flipping in mid-air, Ranma touched down a foot away from the edge and smirked at Ryoga as the idiot was rushing at him. ‘Shouldn't be too hard.’ He thought to himself.
So, why was he getting this horrible feeling?
(---)
Grave rubbed her head as she stood up as Ryoga ran after her friend. Oh, she wasn't’t too worried about Ranma. He could handle that idiot in a normal fight with no problem. ‘But, then why do I feel so worried?’ She frowned, before blinking as a revelation came over her. ”Wait a second... Didn't he have a curse?” Paling as she remembered just what happened the last time the idiot’s curse activated, Grave got to her feet and ran in the direction that the two fighters had gone in.
She didn't dare use magic to fly, not yet anyway. The thought of her ”family” finding her because of her magic use was still prevalent in her mind. She knew that old man that her ”sisters” called dad was quite strong and skilled when it came to magic, those memories of that flaming skull were bad enough, she didn't want to know what he could do if he was truly motivated.
(---)
In a hidden city on another plane of existence, an older man sneezed as he lit up his cigar. Sniffling, the elder man wondered what that was about, before he went back to his paper work and looked over a few papers and plans of his. He smirked as everything was going according to his plan.
(---)
Dodging, twisting and weaving around trees, Grave Digger ran, worried for her friend, not if he fought that idiot normally, but if he fought that idiot if said idiot was in cursed form. ‘What was his name again? Byogi? Ryogen? Ryogi? Ryoga!’ Not that he deserved to be called anything but idiot, jerk or moron in her opinion. After all, who the hell went around trying to... Grave skidded to a halt, her eyes widening as something... Horrible overcame her. ”Am... Am I like that?” She wondered aloud as she thought about her past actions, the attack of Genn, even though he was trying to help when she was first created, and all he had tried to do was warn Gina and Britanny. She didn't think those mages were innocent in the least, they had been talking about killing her right in her face! Those two Werejaguars were just trying to help her and protect the people around them, okay, so those weapons were lethal, the shorter one, Sheila, had said so, but it wasn't until she had attacked them that they fought back against her.
An image of herself wearing brown pants, a yellow shirt, and a bandanna flooded her mind as she tried to kill Britanny and Gina. That didn't bother her too much, it was the after-effects that did. She closed her eyes and staggered in place as images of people bombarded her, most of them she didn't really know, were looking pained as they tried to get through their lives with missing limbs, fingers, feet, and other body parts. ”Could... Could I have turned out like him?”
She shivered at the unpleasant thought. Was... Was she really like him? Terrified, she sat down, thinking about how she was and her future.
(---)
Ryoga grunted as he hit the ground. He wouldn't have even felt it normally, but the kick to his gut and the subsequent twenty-five foot drop down to the base of the construction zone managed to knock the wind out of him. Grinning as he felt a rock under his hand, he pulled the large slab of earth out from the ground and threw it up at Ranma, who was still practically floating in mid-air. ”Get down here, you bastard!” He called out, grinning savagely as Ranma dodged, but came down to earth quicker. His grin was short-lived as Ranma’s foot was introduced to his face, again. Growling, he back-flipped to get the jerk off of him, his foot flying up in a desperate attempt to hit Ranma’s back.
Ranma grimaced as Ryoga’s foot connected to his back, sending him flying off of the lost boy. Flipping in mid-air, he landed on his feet and shook his head. The hit wasn't that powerful, it was still annoying that he allowed himself to get hit like that. ”Oh, come on, Ryoga... That all you got?” He smirked, feeling better about this already. Ryoga wasn't anything too seriously dangerous without his cursed form giving him extra size, strength, reach and power.
Growling at the insult, Ryoga smirked back. ”I don’t know. At least I don’t hit like a little girl.” He nearly laughed as Ranma’s expression changed from arrogant to indignant. ”What’s wrong? Can’t take the truth?” He smirked, before blinking as Ranma seemingly disappeared from in front of him, only to appear two inches away from him. ”What the?” He managed to stammer out, before he was punched in the face three times, grabbed by his shirt and thrown over Ranma’s shoulder and back-first into a support beam that was standing straight up. Groaning as he slumped to the ground, Ryoga shook his head and stood back up. ‘Okay, don’t call him a girl in the future.’ He thought bitterly. Those punches had not only hurt, but the speed and the throw was surprising as hell. His eyes gleamed as he noticed something less than a foot away from him. Even if he heard voices in his head when that change over-took him, if he could just pound his revenge into that jerk of a rival, that would be more than enough for him. He’d deal with those stupid voices later.
Standing up and shaking his head, he looked at Ranma, who was glaring at him, before rushing at him. Grimacing, he dodged the first punch, but the knee to his gut was much harder to avoid. Grimacing as he hit the steel beam again, Ryoga head-butted Ranma, causing him to stagger back a couple of feet. While he was stunned, the lost boy turned and jumped forward, cupped his hands and dunked them into the murky, muddy water puddle, before bringing it up to his face and splashing himself. He grinned as he could feel that small amount of cool water activate a familiar change in his body.
Ranma shook his head to clear the dizzyness away, when he looked, Ryoga was off to the side and splashing himself with something. His eyes widened as he realized just what that was. ”Oh shit.” Was all he could say as Ryoga grew in size and muscle mass. He took a step back as Ryoga’s hair grew longer and wilder, going down his back, as a strange body suit covered the lost boy.
Ryoga grinned and turned to face his rival. Sure, he was well over seven feet tall now, but his new strength and height gave him some advantages. Namely that certain people wouldn't be able to hit him in the head. ”Now, DIE!” He cried out, lashing out at Ranma’s head with a kick that the pigtailed martial artist was hard-pressed to avoid. Growling as his attack missed, Ryoga twisted slightly and punched straight down, causing a small crater as Ranma rolled out of the way. Grinning as he stood back up, Ryoga chuckled and cracked his knuckles; oh this was going to be fun. Well, at least until those stupid voices spoke up again. Ryoga felt that steel beam that Ranma had thrown him into earlier. While he knew he could lift beams and telephone poles right out of the ground, it still took a bit of effort to actually do so, in this form though...
”Aw fuck...” Ranma cursed as Ryoga grabbed that I-beam, his fingers dug into the steel, before yanking it out of the ground. He wasn't too surprised that the rest of the building that was already being built didn't fall over, after all, it was just one support beam out of a few dozen. It did, however, look a bit like a gently curving U-shape at that moment. He quickly jumped to the side as Ryoga tried to smash him like a bug.
Ranma grinned sardonically as he jumped up and onto the wire-framed building. ‘Boy, aren't these guys going to be mad in the morning?’ He thought and slipped around on the beams, trying to avoid Ryoga as he broke the beam that was in his hands into pieces and started throwing them at him every time he caught a glimpse of his red shirt. ‘Hmm...’
Ryoga growled as he held less than half of a steel beam. He could’ve lifted this in his normal form with ease, that umbrella of his was at least a few dozen pounds heavier than the beam was. Seeing a flash of red, he threw the remaining half of his beam with all he had, though he blinked as all he tore through was a red shirt with no one inside. ”What the?”
”That was my favorite shirt, ya jerk!” Ryoga turned, just in time to catch Ranma’s foot impacting his jaw and sending him sliding back several feet. ”Now, why’d you go and do that?” He winced slightly, damn, did Ryoga’s face get harder or was that just him?
Wiping some spit off of his face, Ryoga smirked at him. ”That all?” He asked, before rushing in, his hands glowing and crackling with energy. He chuckled as Ranma jumped back on top of the beams. ”That won’t help you this time!” He called out as he punched forward at the beams, the collected energy leaving his hands and breaking through the hard steel as though it wasn't even there.
The structure shuddered, groaned and valliently tried to hold on. In the end though, it couldn’t support itself with the loss of its middle portion.
Ranma stared at the damage, before his body’s instincts took over and he jumped from one falling beam to another as dust and debris were tossed up into the air. The last thing he needed was to be squished and injured by the falling metal bars. He breathed a sigh of relief as he managed to jump completely out of the wreckage without getting hit by any of those falling beams. He felt, rather than saw, Ryoga appear right behind him. Twisting his body was fortunate; otherwise he would’ve taken a serious hit to his spine. As it was, his side was hit with enough force to make him grit his teeth in pain, and go flying back into the ground in a heap. Groaning as the dust settled, Ranma rolled out of the way of the foot that was coming down to crush his face. ”Ya know, you could’ve hurt me!” He complained while bouncing back a couple of feet.
”What do you think I was trying to do!” Was the snarled reply.
Ranma narrowed his eyes slightly and slid into a defensive stance. His best bet was to somehow get Ryoga wet with hot water, wear him out, or somehow get the idiot lost.
(---)
Stryyp looked at his wife as she took him, Genn and Brianna down the street with purpose. Yes, he was worried about this ”alter ego” of Brianna’s, but he was also worried about his wife. She was nervous, fidgety and strung higher than a kite. The Kryn frowned thoughtfully as they walked down another section of the city. He honestly didn't know what the whole purpose of them finding this ”Grave Digger” was. Even if they found her, what were they supposed to do? Sure, he could hope that she’d be friendly with him around, but from what he knew, Brianna’s other half wasn't too friendly with the other three people in the group.
Behind the large Tiger-man, Genn shared his thoughts privately. As far as she knew, Grave would just turn on them as soon as look at them. She looked at Brianna, who was just in front of her, and was even more worried. The blonde was her best friend, even if she did some crazy, unusual and sometimes downright idiotic things, she needed to face this, even if it could kill her. Genn was worried though. This wasn't Jade, this was Earth, and it could be even worse for Grave Digger to go crazy here compared to what happened in Seer’s Hamlet. The Rakshasa shivered at the thoughts that ran through her head at that moment. That was probably the last thing that they needed, an insane little aura mage running around and attacking everyone just to get rid of them. She was shook out of her thoughts as she ran face-first into Brianna’s back. Due to the unexpected stop, she lost her balance and flopped down on her butt. ”Owwie.” She groaned, darn cement was pretty darn hard. ”Why’d we stop?” She asked while rubbing her bruised posterior.
”Britanny said she heard something.” Was Brianna’s reply as she looked around, trying to figure if there was something out there making unusual noise.
”Huh?”
”It’s like... There’s an explosion that just happened.” Britanny muttered and frowned. Dammit, she had just heard it too.
”Which direction?” Stryyp asked as he looked around, no one was reacting to anything, so it was probably pretty far off.
”I think... There it is! That way!” Britanny snapped her head up as she pointed to the west. That time she was sure she heard an explosion of sorts. Hopefully they could find out where that girl was.
(---)
”ACHOO!” Grave shook her head and sniffed slightly. That one had hurt slightly. She ran forward as she heard another explosion. Now something bad was happening, really bad by the sounds of it. As she got to the edge of the park, she noticed the construction zone across the street. Running, she jumped on top of the moving cars in an attempt to get across quickly. While she didn't have any extra-ordinary human skills like Britanny or Brianna, she could still use her magic to give her small boosts to her abilities. Like jumping over cars that were moving fast enough to seriously hurt her if one hit her.
Landing on the other side of the street, she ran into the construction area and stared at the pile of fallen, melted, mangled and destroyed beams of steel that were in a haphazard pile. ”Wow...” She muttered, impressed with the destruction.
She shook her head and looked around, before finally spotting Ranma. ”Oh no!” She gasped, shocked as she saw that the guy from earlier had managed to get splashed with water again. ”Dammit!” She cursed and ran out, noticing that Ranma was in trouble. Well, at least she thought he was in trouble. He might have been fine, but she had to know for sure.
(---)
Ranma rolled away from another punch downwards at him. It was taking every ounce of his concentration and speed to avoid those punches and kicks. Even so, he had taken a few blows to his body. Nothing too serious, but it looked like Ryoga wasn't going to wear out any time soon, and the lost boy seemed to be too focused on him to get lost this time. And without any hot water around, he wondered just what he could do. He needed to practice a bit, but he was sure that he could figure out just how Ryoga was throwing those Ki blasts around at him. ‘That is, if I get through this.’ He thought balefully.
Ryoga growled slightly, even with his more powerful form, he had a hard time hitting and hurting his rival. Not to mention that while he was weaker, he still managed to wind him slightly. A few attacks here, a few there, and all the chasing and dodging had started to get to him. Not that he’d pass out at the moment, since he still had a lot of stamina and endurance left. ”Trying to wear me down, Ranma? That’s not going to work and you know it.” Ryoga blinked as Ranma started smirking at him. ”What’s so funny?”
”Nothing much, but if I had some hot water, you’d probably be very worn out, wouldn't you?” It was a gamble, Ranma knew. He didn't know much about the cursed form that Ryoga had or how much transferred from one body to another. He just hoped that if he could change Ryoga back to normal that he’d be worn out enough that he couldn't put up enough of a fight to do anything. He winced; the few blows that he had taken were taking their toll on him. Any more and he was sure that he’d lose this fight. ‘Dammit, I... Can’t lose like this!’ He mentally cried out.
Seeing Ranma stagger slightly, Ryoga brought his hands up to his chest and cupped them. He grinned as Ki energy started gathering and condensing between his hands, arcing and snapping from one hand to another. ”Now try this! AEGIS...”
”No you don’t! Scalding MYST!”
Ryoga lost his concentration and turned to the sound of the voice. ”It’s you!” He shouted, surprised, before he felt something hot and wet fall over his skin. ”What the?”
Ranma chuckled as he saw what was going on. ”Sorry, Ryoga, but you do remember that hot water reverses the curse, right?”
”Whaaa?!”
”That’s right, you asshole!” Grave growled at him as the curse was reversed.
”N... NOOO!!” Ryoga cried out as he felt himself lose size, strength and power. ”I..Impossible!” He panted, feeling all the energy and extra stamina leave his body in an instant. He turned his head as he felt a polite tap on his shoulder. Turning his head, his eyes widened as a fist impacted his face hard enough to send him flying back a few feet and onto the ground. ”Urrgh...” He groaned as he struggled to stand up.
Ranma smirked tiredly, so he was right, the more tired Ryoga got in his cursed form was highly compounded when he returned to normal. Walking over to the lost boy, Ranma picked him up. ”I don’t see why you’re so upset, Ryoga. Your curse isn't that bad... At least you get stronger with it.” He said, sighing, before letting go of Ryoga and punting him into the distance.
”Couldn't you have done that earlier?” Grave asked him as she walked up to him. She was concerned though, Ranma was sweating, panting and had a bit of a glazed look to his eyes.
”Would’ve... If I could have...” Ranma panted out before slumping down onto the ground.
”Ranma?” Grave asked worriedly as she grabbed his side and had him lean against her. ”Come on, let’s get you home.”
Ranma was too exhausted at that moment to put up much of an argument, he just nodded and let her lead him home.
As she helped him, Grave smiled to herself. Ranma was safe, the idiot was beaten and on top of it all, she got to feel him without a shirt on. ‘Mmm... Muscely.’ She thought to herself giddily.
As she led Ranma away from the construction site, she missed several eyes that spotted her leading him away. ‘Finally.’ Several of the people thought at the same time.
Preview of next chapter:
“Hey! Grave here! Well, that wasn’t very fun at all! What the? Who’s that? No . . . Not you! Not here!”
Note: Sorry for not getting this out sooner. Been playing a bunch of games, both video and traditional, work's been a pain, (and trying to find a second job so that I can have some spending cash), and worrying about my health, (been into the clinic, had a test and a lab and I still don't know what the hell's wrong with me), life has been horrible lately. (Recently found out that my health is good, but it still took them forever to figure that out.)
(1) Been channeling my inner Jiraiya and Happosai lately. What do you expect?
(2) Just a bit silly “Spinney object of doom”. Been watching too much Naruto and Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged Series lately. Go to Youtube and look for them.
(3) What? You think I forgot about that spell? HA!