Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ The Fist of Kenshiro... ( Chapter 50 )

Nabiki 1/2

(A Very Scary Thought)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

Based Upon the Altered Destinies Storyline

Inspired by the works of such fans as

Wade Tritshler

Richard Lawson

James Jones

And Many Others

Standard Disclaimer: This is inspired by the work of Takahashi Rumiko and is not my original creation. All characters belong to her. This is only a fanfictional work, and is not intended to compromise the rights of the original owners, distributors and publishers of the Ranma series. I have no money to spare and would very much appreciate if no one tries to sue me.

"Mou," Nabiki groaned, "Me and my big mouth. If I ever have a bright idea like that again, somebody please kick me."

Shampoo and Perfume exchanged amused looks, and then Shampoo said sweetly, "Airen mean this, or is being rhetorical?"

"Ah," Nabiki quickly reconsidered her statement, "On second thought, I retract the offer."

Ukyo shook her head as she looked down at Nabiki, who lay prostrate (and topless) on her mat with Shampoo massaging her aching shoulders, face down and half-turned into her pillow, a picture perfect sight of a Martial Artist who had just come near to pulling every muscle in her body.

"I don't get this," Ukyo voiced aloud, "This guy is really that good?"

"He took Ranchan and Ryoga on in less than a minute," Nabiki replied with a grunt as Shampoo tended to some indefinable tension in her shoulders and spine, "I managed to hold my own just a little bit longer than that, and I think he was going easy on me. Make no mistake about it, Ucchan, he's good…"

"We could have told you that," Perfume sniffed, "North Star and Southern Cross systems legendary even to Amazons. Great Grandmother tell us both no go against either order, and if Elder say this it mean it very good idea no go against Kenshiro."

Ukyo had to take stock of this in light of having only caught a glance at the young boy who was working out in the back yard even as Nabiki was recovering from her workout. Her first impulse, upon hearing about their sparring match, was to take her baker's peel and smash it against the skull of anyone who would do this to her friends and iinazuke, but in light of what she was hearing now she had come to realize that all this would achieve for her was the loss of her favorite weapon.

Ukyo knew that she was a good Martial Artist. She had trained all of her life in her family's own special style of Martial Arts Okonomiyaki cooking. There were very people her own age who could stand up against her in a straight fight, and three of them were present, the other two were still sleeping it off in the yard. If they could not defeat this Kenshiro--and both Amazons thought it suicidal to even try--then it meant that there was still a plateau in her training that they all had yet to aspire towards.

Of a certainly it was a very disturbing thing to learn that there was somebody who was that much better than Tendo Nabiki!

"I don't get it," she admitted, "What is it about this North Star system that makes it so much better than Amazon or Anything Goes training?"

Shampoo looked up from where she was presently kneading Nabiki's kidneys and said, "North Star and Southern Cross have special technique that no even Amazons know. It involves learning to channel great power throughout body, toughen up through use of special pressure-point technique training, body become like living stone, can withstand great punishment, even arrows no penetrate skin."

"I've heard of something like that," Nabiki murmured softly, "Iron skin training, an ancient Chinese Taoist technique…"

"No," Perfume corrected, "This no like that. Iron Skin only make body strong by focus of Chi in certain place. Currents of force circulate around body, make tough only where you concentrate. Stone skin like this, but always leave one spot vulnerable to attack. North Star system make whole body impervious to pain or injury. Only another with same training know how to penetrate defenses."

"In other words it turns you into a superman, Per-chan?" Ukyo asked her Amazon partner.

Perfume seemed to consider the question before she answered, "Make one man many times as strong as ordinary. How strong hard to say, but legends suggest that Fist of North Star as strong as mountain. Fist of Southern Cross just as tough, but ancient legend also say that Fist of North Star and Fist of Southern Cross must no ever fight. Is said very bad thing happen if two ever meet in combat, end of world, or something almost as bad."

"A doomsday scenario, huh?" Nabiki considered this, "Well, I've never put much stock in 'End of the World' phenomena…no profit in it. I'll just take your word that it's a bad idea to cross either one of them in a fight and leave it at that. I only wish you guys had told me this before I accepted his challenge."

"You no ask," Shampoo tisked, "If you real Amazon, you be married to boy, then what would Ranma say?"

"What would you say?" Nabiki asked, then winced, as Shampoo's hands became momentarily rough with her, which caused her to gasp, "Ow, It was just a rhetorical question…"

"You no joke with Shampoo about that, Airen," Shampoo mildly scolded before resuming her gentle ministrations to Nabiki's tired body.

Perfume smiled in approval of the way her cousin had deftly moved to put her Airen back in her place, then turned to her own Airen and said, "Boy say it brother who be Ronin. This very bad, mean we up against outcast from North Star clan. Shampoo-Airen no can beat him."

"He can't be totally invincible," Ukyo reasoned, "And if he's such a hotshot Martial Artist, why did he need all those goons to work for him? Why did he rely on a pair of guns instead of a real Martial Arts weapon?"

"No everybody fight honorable, Airen," Perfume replied, "Weapon kill just as bad if axe or gun. All it take is one shot in wrong place and fight over."

"Point taken," Nabiki growled, "That shot at you, Sham-chan, most definitely means that this guy has no sense of honor. If he's anything like his younger brother…"

"Fortunately he's a lot better than Jaggy," said Saki as she entered the dojo, "Don't forget that he defeated his brother a year ago, and he's improved a lot since then, or so his father assures me."

"Don't tell me you know all about this North Star system?" Nabiki asked with a slightly pained expression.

"Who me?" Saki asked, "I only know a little more than what we've got in the police records, which is less than nothing. I just came away from talking to Master Ryuken a moment ago and he told me his son was training you to fight the Ronin. I guess he meant to say that he sparred with you to learn how much you know and how much you need to know in your training."

"Is that what he was doing?" Nabiki arched a weary eyebrow, "Good. For a while there I was almost convinced that he was trying to kill me."

"If he did that, you'd have been dead by now," Saki replied, "Believe me, you haven't even begun to see what these people are capable of. There are stories about Ryuken in his youth that sound like something out of a Manga, and he's killed more men than any ten armored divisions during the last Great War. Off hand I'd say in terms of allies he's pretty close to what you'd want on your side at Armageddon."

"So boy being groomed to be next Fist," Perfume nodded, "Is good idea to avoid making angry."

"I'm not worried about making him angry," Nabiki said as she started to force her way back up to a sitting position, reaching for her silk top as Shampoo desisted her treatment (just shy of going to more interesting places), "But I have to learn everything I can about the Ronin if I'm going to survive our encounter in the morning."

"Yeah, well, he might be able to give you some valuable pointers in terms of Martial Arts," Saki noted, "But to really beat him you'll need an ace in the hole. The Ronin is into cars and bikes, so you won't just be facing him on foot. You know anything about fighting guys who fight on two wheels, or four?"

"Ah…no," Nabiki admitted.

Saki nodded as if already knowing the answer to that question then included the others of them in her glance, "How about the rest of you people? Anybody here even own a drivers license?"

Ukyo saw the blank looks on the faces of the two Amazons, and the equal chagrin in Nabiki's expression and decided to answer for the rest of, "I don't think any of us are old enough or have ever had occasion to practice."

"Thought as much," Saki smiled, "So I took the liberty of calling in a few favors. Some old friends of mine should be showing up in a little bit who will generously volunteer their time to assist you."

"That's good news I hope," Nabiki said as she straightened up, fixing the wooden ties to her jacket.

"Depends on how you look at it," Saki smiled, "My friends are a couple of real characters, both uniformed police, but for this job I've asked them to stop by in plain clothes. Since our mutual superiors might frown on anything even resembling an official police presence…"

"Cops, just wonderful," Nabiki grumbled, "Well, any port in a storm, I suppose. You wouldn't happen to be at liberty to share their names, would you?"

"I'll save that for when they get here," Saki replied, "But let's just say that they ought to fit in just fine with your crowd. They're not exactly conventional officers, but they're not lone wolves like me either."

"I'll take your word for it," Nabiki said, "At this point I don't suppose I've got anything to lose by meeting them in person."

"By the way," Ukyo said, "Where is one one-man demolition crew at the moment?"

"Him still practicing outside," Perfume replied, "Want I get him?"

"Not just yet," Nabiki replied, "I'm more concerned with Ranma and Ryoga. Are they still sleeping it off?"

"Same as before," Shampoo answered, "Last I go check."

"I don't the headaches they'll have when they wake up, though," Nabiki mused, silently thanking her Amazon wife for helping to relieve Nabiki after her drumming at the hands of Kenshiro. For the first time in her life she actually found herself missing Ranma's chivalric disdain for striking a woman…not that she had any intention of telling him that in the very near future…

"Owww!" Ranma said as he finally regained consciousness, only to regret it. His head ached in a manner not unlike a pair of cymbals crashing against his ears, and the rest of him felt sore all over. He started to sit upright then found a pair of hands restraining him. Not feminine hands, he noted with some surprise, opening his eyes to find himself looking up at the anxious faces of Akane and Ryoga.

"Take it easy, Ranma-kun," Ryoga said, "If your head's anything like mine, you'd better take it slow for the next several minutes. How many fingers am I holding up on this hand?"

"Uh…six?" Ranma hesitated.

"Close enough, Baka," Akane sniffed, trying to sound less anxious than she was about the condition of her former iinazuke.

"What happened to the guy?" Ranma asked, finding himself laid out on the back porch of the House.

"You mean him?" Ryoga nodded towards the garden area where they could see young Kenshiro was still working out, practicing his katas in steady rhythm as though the idea of a break were foreign to his makeup.

"Man," Ranma said as he felt the sides of his temples, "That guy is good, and I thought Nabiki was tough to spar with…"

"Perfume told me that he's in training to become something called the Fist of the North Star," Akane remarked, "She thinks it's a pretty tough system, one the Ronin trained in. In fact, according to her, the Ronin is actually his older brother."

"Nani?" both Ranma and Ryoga replied in chorus.

"That's right," Akane noted grimly, "So if either of you have any sense you'll keep far away from him. He's here to train Nabiki to fight the Ronin, and that's it. Now if you two hard-heads are done taking up my time, I've got stuff I need to do, so you will excuse me."

She turned to reenter the house, leaving Ranma and Ryoga sitting where they were, looking slowly from her retreating backside to the boy working out in the garden. It only took a moment of hesitation for them to decide which way to go, and shortly after this thought crossed their collective minds they sought out Kenshiro, careful not to approach too closely as they studied his moves, taking notice of the way he performed a set of one-step katas with peculiar finger motions that seemed so well practiced that they could have been performed by a robot.

"Uh, Domo," Ranma said after watching this go on for another full minute.

"Domo yourself," Kenshiro replied in a neutral tone of voice, "Sorry if I was rough with you two before, but I was curious to meet you."

"You were?" Ryoga asked.

"Sure," Kenshiro came to an abrupt halt and turned to face them both, "When I watched you two fight earlier I thought maybe you could provide me with a good workout. It's not often I meet Martial Artists of your caliber, and there aren't too many who can force me to go all out, even for a few seconds."

"Ah," Ranma and Ryoga exchanged looks, uncertain of how to take the implied compliment since it sounded as though this other boy was claiming to be much better.

"Mind you," Kenshiro said as he stretched out one leg, resting it against a boulder while setting his other foot on the ground in such an angle that he was totally extended, "It was more your style that interested me…Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu Kempo, right? Anything goes…a basic philosophy for utilitarian fighting."

"You know about our system?" Ranma asked him.

"Not before today," Kenshiro replied, "I've done a lot of traveling in my time, studying various styles and schools to familiarize myself with the way other people fight, but I've never come across a system that's so basically elemental. North Star system is as constant as its name implies, not a lot of flexibility there, but your style seems highly adaptable and incorporates bits and pieces of other systems in a way I've never before encountered. Usually the mix is pretty unwieldy, but you somehow manage to pull it off."

"You think so, huh?" Ranma asked, "So…you think Anything Goes has something to offer?"

"A lot to offer, actually," Kenshiro straightened up again and faced them with a totally open expression, "For a long time now I've felt a basic inadequacy in my overall technique. I'm too predictable at present…you can see my moves coming from a long ways away, and that gives an enemy way too much time to react and form a counter. The fact that I hit hard and move faster than most opponents is no reason to get sloppy. Your defenses are nearly perfect, while your friend over here has a pretty good attack style, if a bit eccentric, and you overextend a little. Mountain Style of the One Righteous Fist, correct?"

"Um, yeah," Ryoga answered, "How did you know?"

"I met a master of that style some time ago," Kenshiro replied, "He was a wandering nomad, no sense of direction whatsoever, but he seemed to know a lot about delivering a good punch…"

"Oh," Ryoga said, "That would be my uncle on my mother's side, Hibiki Katsuhiro. Haven't seen him since…well…since I was just a boy, really…"

"I can see the resemblance," Kenshiro nodded, "Mostly in the fangs, and that bandana is as good a give away as any other. I also noticed that you're as strong as a wild boar."

"I guess it runs in the family," Ryoga put his hand behind his head and looked slightly embarrassed, "I don't know why it is but I never seem to be able to get where I want to go when I want to get there…"

"I've heard of worse complexes," Kenshiro noted before turning back to Ranma, "It's obvious you two work out a lot, in spite of the differences in your styles, but if I didn't know better I'd almost think you both were brothers."

"What, me and him?" Ranma looked and sounded appalled, as did Ryoga.

"Well," Kenshiro seemed to grow sad as he added, "You look more alike than I do with either of my two brothers."

"Do you and your father live on the road?" Ryoga asked, picturing his own nomadic life, always lost traveling from one place to the other.

"No, we have a small temple up north, where I grew up and spent the majority of my formative years," Kenshiro explained, "We only travel from time to time in order to further my training and familiarize me with all the local landmarks."

"What was that thing you were doing just now?" Ranma asked, carefully repeating the motions with fingers and hands that he had seen Kenshiro display, movements copied with fluidity and grace almost exactly as he had seen them, which caused Kenshiro to arch an eyebrow.

"Not bad," the other boy noted, "You learned that just by watching?"

"Yeah," Ranma said matter-of-factly, "What's it mean?"

"It's a training exercise," Kenshiro reported, "It involves learning to channel and direct the currents of energy that flow throughout the body. It's believed that by performing this maneuver day-by-day will help condition the body to absorb and channel great amounts of energy. I've been doing it for as long as I can remember. It toughens me up and gradually hardens the body so that you can do most anything. It's why I can take more punishment than what either of you can dish out, and why my blows are so powerful…"

"Really?" Ranma and Ryoga exchanged glances.

"Yes, but there's more to the maneuver than simple exercises," Kenshiro cautioned, "You have to visualize an exact map of the human body with emphasis on the nerve endings and energy currents. You have to feel the power flowing through your limbs and gathering strength around the navel and forehead, like a straight column of energy. You need to be careful or else you could make a mistake and do yourself more harm than good…"

"But the result is that you become tougher and stronger?" Ranma persisted, hearing only the parts that mattered most in his quest to become as good at Martial Arts as Nabiki.

"That is the goal," Kenshiro cautioned, "But you must be careful in practicing the form with the right corresponding mental image. I learned to do it with my father watching me all the time to see that my attention never wavered."

"Do you always practice so hard?" Ryoga asked.

"Every day of my life," Kenshiro said, "Never had much time for anything else. Father always insists that I have to be the best to fulfil this great destiny he's always going on about."

Ranma and Ryoga sensed the bitterness in the other boy's tone and stared a moment before Ranma responded, "All you do is practice? Nothing else?"

"That about sums it up," Kenshiro sighed, "Mind you, I don't mind being this good, but it's cost me in a lot of ways I'll probably never be able to completely comprehend, and those few times I'm not in training I fight against some enemy who always seems to be out to destroy me for some reason or another. There's not much time for a social life with all my travels."

"Don't you have anyone else in your life?" Ryoga asked, finding this story strangely familiar.

"I have one friend," Kenshiro replied, "And he's trained in the Southern Cross system, the opposite school from North Star, so we can't really spar since it's against the rules for North Star and Southern Cross to fight under any circumstances. He's probably just as good as me anyway, I could always tell that Shen has a lot of ambition and will probably wind up as the Fist of the Southern Cross when he gets older."

"What about your brothers?" Ranma asked, feeling strangely moved by this other boy's story.

Kenshiro's sigh seemed to contain all the weariness of the world as he replied, "We don't really get along much. My oldest brother, Rao, left home five years ago, when father chose me instead of him as his heir. Our middle brother, Jaggy…well, you probably know by now that he's calls himself the Road Ronin."

"You mean that giant who wears a mask?" Ryoga noted.

Kenshiro's expression was profoundly sad, "The reason he wears that mask is because I destroyed his face a year ago. It was an accident…I used the Fist against him when he came at me, trying to prove that he was better suited to being Father's heir. It was stupid of him, really…he tried to use a shotgun instead of the art. I…hit him…mostly from reflex, but I put all of my Ki-power into the blow, just like I'd been trained to and it…" he paused, then said, "If he takes that mask off now he'll probably die. The Fist is like that, it does…terrible things to the human body. I can't even imagine what kind of suffering he must be experiencing every second of his existence, even when he's sleeping."

"You…did that to your own brother?" Ranma said in dismay.

Kenshiro looked down, "And I'd probably do it again the next time we meet, only this time I'll have a better reason. He's brought only shame and disgrace to our family, and he's tried to do much the same to yours. I may be the only one who has even a chance at stopping him, but I doubt he'll stand still and let me get close enough to finish him off. He may be an honorless bastard, but he's too smart to risk another Fist in a close-encounter engagement. That's why he uses the guns on his opponents."

"Using guns sure doesn't sound very honorable," Ryoga noted.

"Maybe so," Kenshiro said with renewed resolve, "But your lady friend will be in just as much danger if she lets him get a clear shot. Jaggy's very good, a crack-shot, and he wouldn't hesitate to blow a pretty girl away if it meant advancing his name through terror."

Ranma frowned at the mention of Nabiki, "Well, hopefully Nab-chan will figure something out by tomorrow, just don't get any fancy ideas about her or nothing."

"Don't worry," Kenshiro smiled, "I'm not after your iinazuke. She's a fascinating woman, to be sure, but I already have a girlfriend, and she's more than I can handle."

"What's her name?" Ryoga asked.

"Julia," Kenshiro's expression grew faintly wistful, "We've known each other since we were both kids. After Shen she's the closest thing to a friend that I have, and maybe someday we'll be even closer."

He gave a harsh-sounding laugh as if a new thought came to him, but there seemed little enough humor in the gesture, prompting Ranma to laugh, "What's so funny?"

"I was just considering what you two must think of me," Kenshiro replied, "A guy who spends all of his free time training to be the best Martial Artist in Japan, never has time for schoolwork or friends, always traveling with his father in search of new insights that can better my Martial Arts training. It must all sound pretty weird to the both of you…"

"Ah…maybe," Ranma temporized.

"Not as weird as you might think," Ryoga replied with even less subtlety in his voice and expression.

"It hardly matters in the end," Kenshiro sounded as close to depressed as he had appeared to be all morning, "I'm still locked into this pattern against my will and choice. You think I would have chosen this path if I'd had any say in the matter? I'm a great fighter, and I'm not boasting when I say that, but you two have had all of the advantages that I've been denied, and I envy you both for it. I'd trade it all in a heartbeat to live a normal life with friends and a family I cared about. The art has cost me everything, especially the love of my two brothers. I don't know if I'll even be allowed to have any sort of relationship with Julia when this 'Great Destiny' of mine finally happens…and it scares me more than you could ever imagine."

Ranma and Ryoga both rocked back on their heals at this confession, hearing the frank despair in the voice of the youth who had defeated them both so handily not quite an hour ago. They were about to change the subject when they heard Nabiki's softly mocking voice calling them from the vicinity of the Dojo.

"There you are, Ranchan," she smiled as she got their attention, "Glad to see you three getting along so well. I trust that there are no hard feelings between you and our guest?"

"Ah, no," Ranma and Ryoga exchanged looks, then between them they affected as blandly innocent a pair of expressions as Nabiki had ever seen on two boys pretending that they had not a care in the world, "No problems, why?"

"Just asking," Nabiki said as she approached with two Amazons and an okonomiyaki chef looking after her with anxious expressions, "Because I'm going to need Kenshiro's help if his brother is anything like him, and keep in mind you were pulling your punches with us, weren't you?" she directed her question towards the other boy in question.

"I had to," Kenshiro said with no sense of pretense or immodesty in his voice, "Going all out would have defeated the purpose. I wanted to know how you three fight, not write your epithets."

"Believe me, it's appreciated," Nabiki smiled as she came up beside him and smiling charmingly, taking note out of the corner of one eye how Ranma bristled slightly, "Now, as honestly as you can, mind telling me where you think I need improvement?"

"Well," Kenshiro inclined his head as he examined her thoughtfully, "You're fast and you've got good control of your power, and you didn't hold back with me, which is good since Jaggy won't be pulling his punches and will definitely not hesitate to use his full power. The problem is that you're a risk taker, you push yourself right to the edge and hope that the other guy won't be faster and trickier than you. Sticking your neck out in a fight is well and fine if your opponent doesn't wind up handing you back your head, but Jaggy's fast too, probably a lot faster than you are, and I don't need to remind you about what could happen if he gets one good shot in."

"Right," Nabiki winced slightly. Saki's description of the Fist had been altogether too graphic, but there was no reason to illustrate the point where Ranma was present, "So I need to keep out of his reach, avoid giving him a target and most of all not give him a clear shot with those nine millimeters he's packing. Anything else?"

"Jaggy's biggest weakness is his ego," Kenshiro continued, "He covers his face because he knows one look at him would scare a demon. He's in a lot of agony, and it makes him quick-tempered. He can be very rash if you goad him into taking the initiative. The problem is that he also likes to cheat and have the advantage in every encounter. He also has a very low opinion of women, so he might get careless and underestimate you."

"That's good to know," Nabiki smiled, "But I have a few surprises of my own in mind, and besides, the challenge I gave was actually made in the name of my cousin, Kaneda."

"Kaneda?" Kenshiro said with curiosity, "Well, if he's the one who'll be doing the initial fighting, then maybe I should be talking to him. How good is he as a fighter?"

"About the same as me," Nabiki replied, "You see…we had the same teacher and…"

There was a loud cry that came from the house, followed near-instantly by the sight of Saotome Genma as the burly man came sailing out of the out over the porch on a one-way collision course for the Koi pond.

"Speak of the Oni," Nabiki murmured faintly as she braced herself for the inevitable when Genma's huge bulk made a considerable splash as he landed headfirst in the water.

"Let that be a lesson to you, Genma old boy!" Happosai called out from the house, "Never try to beat out Cologne when it comes to snatching up egg noodles!"

Kenshiro sputtered slightly as he looked down at his wet body then asked, "Does this sort of thing happen very often around here?"

"More than you think," said a deep sounding voice right beside him, and when Kenshiro turned to look it was into the face of a stranger…albeit a stranger who had similar features and an identical hair style to that of Nabiki, but who clearly was not female.

"What the…?" Kenshiro gasped.

Ranma saw an opening and gleefully took it, "You wanted to meet Nab-chan's cousin? I give you Tendo Kaneda."

"You change…?" Kenshiro said, then double-took as he saw a panda break the surface of the koi pond, looking very non-plussed. It took a second before he said, "Jusenkyo?"

"How did you know?" Nabiki asked in surprise.

"My studies in the martial arts have been very extensive," Kenshiro said as he took a second look at "Kaneda," then for the first time anyone could remember seeing him do so, he smiled and said, "Cool. Spring of Drowned Man, right?"

"You're not…um…freaked out or anything?" Nabiki asked him nervously.

"I've seen stranger things in my time," Kenshiro replied, "You're still a girl in spite of this curse, right?"

"You'd better believe it, sugar," Ukyo said as she approached them at a leisurely stroll, "She's all woman with just a little bit extra, right Sham-chan?"

"Hmmph," Shampoo hmphed as she came up alongside Nabiki's left arm and took hold of it possessively, giving Kenshiro a very challenging expression.

The other boy raised both eyebrows then looked Nabiki directly in the eyes and said, "Don't tell me you challenged an Amazon to combat and won?"

"Well," Nabiki gave a sheepish smile and just shrugged meaningfully.

Now Kenshiro really surprised everyone by giving a hearty laugh as he shook his head, saying, "You people certainly have some interesting lives. I think I'm going to like visiting here in the future. Don't tell me the other one hanging close to you is also your Airen?" he directed his question in Ukyo's direction.

"Ah," Ukyo glanced at Perfume, who was--as usual--hovering so close by her side that she could have easily been the Okonomiyaki's chef's shadow, "Yeah, well…actually, we are…very close, but I'm actually Ranma's iinazuke…"

"Your…" Kenshiro turned around with an incredulous expression and pointed at Ranma, "Two iinazuke? And both married to Amazons? As in a clan marriage?"

"Yeah?" Ranma's tone was challenging, "Want to make something of it?"

"Not me," Kenshiro chuckled as he turned away, murmuring to himself, "And I thought I had problems…"

There came a sudden sound of an engine roaring with the screech of tires just outside the walls of the dojo. Nabiki looked up sharply and said, "What now?"

"It could be another attack," Ukyo said, reaching for her baker's peel out of sheer combat reflex.

"Don't worry everybody!" Saki called out as she exited the dojo, "I'm pretty sure I know who this is, and they are expected."

"That help you were telling us about?" Nabiki asked as she turned to follow the pink-haired policewoman, who was herself moving towards the front gates.

"Sounds interesting," said Kenshiro, who just then noticed that the panda was now standing next to him holding up a sign that read, "Don't tell us she knows Speed Racer?" Kenshiro shook his head then simply followed the Amazons and Ukyo, who themselves started trailing after Nabiki.

Ranma and Ryoga hesitated to confide a moment in private, then Ranma murmured, "He is good."

"Even better than us," Ryoga agreed.

"And Nab-chan likes him," Ranma added with a bitter undertone.

"Can you blame her?" Ryoga asked, "He's pretty handsome, and a nice guy besides that."

"And he wasn't freaked out at seeing her change either," Ranma's expression darkened, then as though the two had choreographed the moment they both said aloud, "I hate him!"

It took a half second to register in their minds that they had just been agreeing about the same man, which caused them to share astonished looks before hastily dropping the matter and heading out to catch up with the others.

Nabiki was very surprised to find that the car awaiting them just outside the gates was a Subaru sports vehicle, a car that was normally not made for domestic import because of its greater size and fuel requirements. Inside was a pair of ordinary looking (but very attractive) young women, one of whom honked the horn as Saki waved back in friendly greeting. One of the two women then rolled down the window on her side and slid herself out of the vehicle without bothering to open the door, like her companion.

"Hey, Saki!" the one who left on the passenger side said, "We got your message and made tracks to get here. Is it really true that we're going after the Ronin?"

"It's true, Natsumi," Saki replied, nodding to her and the driver, "Miyuki. I see you brought the car I requested."

"One of my specials," the one named Miyuki replied, "I've practically rebuilt her from the chassis on up. I think it'll be up to your requirements."

"Only if you're the one doing the driving," Saki nodded towards the others, "These are my friends who we're going to help out. The Ronin's been bothering them lately, but we're going to have to handle this outside of normal police procedure."

"Uh oh," Natsumi eyed the other woman suspiciously, "You sure you've cleared this with higher ups?"

"Nope," Saki promptly responded.

Natsumi grinned, "Just checking. So what's the deal, and why all the civilians?"

"Well," Saki turned and for the first time took notice of the fact that Nabiki was in male form, "Ah, this is my friend…?" she arched the statement to imply a question.

"Tendo Kaneda," Nabiki replied, extending his hand, which Natsumi accepted after just a slight moment of astonished hesitation.

"Wow," she blinked her eyes, then gave her partner a wicked look and said, "He's lots handsomer than Nakajima-san, right Miyuki?"

"Would you give that a rest?" Miyuki snorted as though the subject were an old sore point between them. Of course once she got a good look at Kaneda her expression also became slightly flustered, but she preferred a formal bow, and her speech was entirely proper as she smiled at him and said, "Officer Miyuki at your service."

"Charmed," Nabiki replied, wondering why this soft-spoken woman reminded her in a way of Kasumi.

Saki wasted no time introducing the others, but hesitated when she got to the panda. She had introduced Shampoo as "Tendo Shampoo," and Perfume as "Kuonji Perfume," which greatly pleased both girls but left Ukyo feeling a little bit flustered. She covered it up well enough, though, when Natsumi looked at her and asked, "What's with the kitchen implement? You planning on attending a back sale?"

Ukyo just smiled, and like a flash she whipped out her favorite weapon and had it up against the side of Natsumi's head before the other woman could blink. Natsumi did blink, so astonished was she at the speed with which the Okonomiyaki chef moved, while Officer Miyuki reacted by drawing a gun from concealment and using the roof of her car to steady her arms in one swiftly practiced motion.

"Hold it everybody!" Saki cried, "Time out! We're all just friends here, right Perfume-chan?"

"Huh?" Miyuki gasped, only just then becoming aware that there was a golden axe pressed up against her neck as the brown haired girl in the pink silk pajamas had somehow managed to maneuver behind her without being noticed.

"Sorry," Ukyo said as she slung her baker's peel over her back, "Didn't mean to startle you, and it's okay, Per-chan, no harm done or intended."

"As you say, Airen," Perfume withdrew her axes and somehow made them disappear from view.

"Okay," Natsumi slowly took the group in with a newer and healthier respect, "So this bunch isn't your ordinary group of high schoolers, right?"

"You could say that," Saki said with a smile but chose not to elaborate.

"So, you guys are here to help, right?" Nabiki asked casually, "I'm told I could use a driver."

"No problem," Natsumi grinned, "Miyuki there is the best in all of Tokyo, maybe even all of Japan…"

"That's a bit of an exaggeration," Miyuki said modestly as she sheathed her gun then added, "But I'm at least as good as anyone the Ronin might hire."

"So what's the plan?" Natsumi asked as she slammed palm-to-fist, "Do we go in there and bust heads or is this one of your 'Search and Destroy' raids, Saki-chan?"

"Actually a combination of both," Saki replied, "But they're the ones who'll be doing most of the head-busting. We mean to take down the Ronin, gang and everything, gather his bunch all up in one place and crush them like a serpent. This won't be one of your by-the-book busts, Miyuki-chan…in fact, there's a good chance we could all be on suspension if our superiors catch wind of any of this."

"Well, if it is for a good cause," Miyuki was obviously bothered by the unauthorized nature of the raid, but she was clearly a trooper.

On the other hand, her partner did not even have the slightest hesitation in rolling up one sleeve to flex an arm and grin, "All right! After all the crap that bastard has done to innocent people, it's about time somebody took him down hard and permanent, but don't expect me to sit on the sidelines."

"We wouldn't think of it," Nabiki smiled more sagely, "If you think you can match our speed, go right ahead. As a matter of fact…just how good are you with hand weapons?"

"I'm a certified marksman," Natsumi bragged, "I can shoot the wings off a fly at a hundred meters."

"A dragonfly, maybe," Miyuki sniffed, but added, "She is good enough if you want something hit, either stationary or moving, but I thought this wasn't going to be a regular gun battle?"

"It's not," Nabiki replied, "But we need an ace-in-the-hole to deal with this enemy, and I figure a cop can be trusted to use her own judgement once I explain what needs doing. You don't mind hearing me out, do you?"

"Mind?" Natsumi grinned as though the question were not even about to cross her mind, a look that Nabiki had grown all-too-accustomed to, if not entirely accepting, "Why should I mind being around a cutie like you?"

"Because his wife will skin you alive if you try anything," Saki murmured in helpful warning, indicating the purple-haired Amazon currently glaring in their direction.

"Wife?" both Natsumi and Miyuki seemed to register together, then exchanged a look and as one said, "Kuso."

Nabiki breathed a silent prayer of thanks for Saki's hasty intervention then forced herself to smile again as she noted, "Okay now…here's my plan, or at least as much as I've managed to come up with at the present…"

Continued

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