Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Balance of Power ❯ Journey Death at Jusenkyo ( Chapter 19 )

Journey

Chapter 13

Death at Jusenkyo

Minoru watched in horror as Ranma tore through the guards inside the cabin. The boy's speed was beyond human and he was attacking with a ferocity that could only be described as animal-like. He turned and ran out the door with Koga and Kimura. He could feel Ranma's aura rapidly approaching them and then felt something slam into the ground behind him.

He was carried off of his feet and slammed to the ground. His breath was knocked out of him and he couldn't rise to his feet. He managed to raise his head and was greeted to the sight of Ranma moving towards him. Just as Ranma was about to pounce on him, Minoru heard the unmistakable report of a dozen AK-47's being fired. One second Ranma was there, and the next second he wasn't. The bullets whistled by him, narrowly avoiding Minoru himself, so he took the opportunity to sit up.

Ranma had released some kind of energy blast that bored down on the guards. He looked to his right and saw Kimura slowly staggering to his feet. Minoru motioned for Kimura too come over to where he was. Once Kimura was at an appropriate distance he whispered sharply.

"We've got to get out of here."

"Do not state the obvious you fool!" Kimura replied. "I doubt that we will be able to get out of here if that child decides that we should be the next targets to inquire his wrath."

Minoru understood what Kimura meant and quickly scanned the area. His eyes rested upon the girl that the Hibiki boy seemed infatuated with.

"Run to the cars Kimura, I'll be there in a moment," Minoru said. With that, he flipped to his feet and ran at Akari, while Kimura made a mad dash to the cars. Minoru grabbed Akari and ran into the bush.

Kimura quickly leapt over the hood of the car and opened the driver's side door. He had no intention of waiting for Minoru, especially with that insane child behind him, so he started the car and began to turn around. At the moment he was about to slam his foot to the accelerator, a door in the back was opened and one of the girls from the cabin was tossed inside. Minoru quickly climbed in after her and slammed the door, motioning franticly for Kimura to go.

As the car sped away, the girl began to attempt to open one of the doors. She wasn't able to because Minoru threw himself on top of her and pushed her to the floor of the car. She screamed her protest and Minoru answered her by punching her across the face. He did not hit her fast enough to knock her unconscious, but it was hard enough to get the message across.

Kimura sped as fast as he thought he could without having to worry about the car conking out.

After driving for an hour, Kimura stopped the car along a dirt road. As they stopped, the girl in the back recognized an opportunity and before Minoru could react, she slammed her knee into his crotch. Minoru gasped and fell to the floor of the car as she dove forward and slammed Kimura's head down onto the steering wheel. She quickly opened the car door and jumped out. Kimura recovered first and quickly took off after her. The girl could run fast but Kimura had been a soldier and was an avid runner, and he quickly caught up to her, throwing himself onto her. She fought valiantly and Kimura was forced to use his belt to tie the girl's arms behind her back.

Minoru came stumbling towards them with his one of his hands covering his crotch. He was red-faced and was wearing a very angry scowl. His other hand held a gun.

"I'm going to shoot the bitch!" He snarled angrily.

Kimura laughed and got off of the girl. "I think that you would want to be a little less forceful with the girl you just risked your life to kidnap."

"I was merely grabbing her so those sonsofbitches won't try and kill us the second they catch up," Minoru said grabbing the girl off of the ground. He half-dragged, half-carried the girl back to the car. He tossed her into the back, turned and regarded Kimura.

"We can use her to blackmail the others and lead them to where we want them to go. That way we can get some soldiers and kill Seiji and them."

Kimura nodded but did not find himself agreeing to what Minoru was saying. "Look, I'll watch the girl in the back and you drive until we find a hotel."

He climbed into the back and smiled at the girl. She looked at him with hatred and tears rimmed her eyes. She began to lightly weep. Kimura felt a pang of guilt for what he was doing and for a second he had the horrible thought of what Mariko would think of him if she were to find out what he was doing.

As Minoru started down the dirt road again, Kimura spoke softly to the girl.

"What's your name?" She didn't answer him. "I will promise that I will not hurt you. Now, can you please tell me your name?"

She looked at him and slowly nodded. "Akari, Akari Unryuu."

He smiled. "You have a very beautiful name Akari Unryuu, my name is Isamu Kimura."

Akari didn't smile back, her expression still showed that she was scared, but her eyes were displaying curiosity.

"Will you let me go?" she asked. When Kimura's smile widened she grew angry. "Don't you make fun of me!"

"I will release you, but only when the time comes. Until then I would suggest that you remain on your best of behavior."

"So where are you taking me?" Akari asked.

"I'm not sure, we had hoped you would tell us," Kimura said.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that we would like for you to tell us exactly where you and the others were headed."

Akari was about to answer but immediately shut her mouth.

Kimura sighed. He didn't expect the girl to tell him that much. There wasn't much he could do, short of actually striking the girl, and he would never do that. This girl reminded him of what Mariko must have looked like in her younger days.

He looked out the window and as he looked further down the road, he saw the distinct sign of a motel.

===============

"Well what the hell are we supposed to do now!?" Ryoga shouted.

It had taken all of Seiji's, Phil's, and Ishii's strength to keep Ryoga from running off, and they had only succeeded because they reminded him of Akane and Ranma's condition. Though it didn't keep him from taking his anger out on them, which he expressed in words.

"We will have to worry about that once we get a feel for Ranma's condition Ryoga, you know that," Seiji answered him reasonably.

Ryoga's aura was flaring and he hid the tears that escaped his eyes. "I am going to go outside, send someone to get me in about two minutes."

"But how will we know where you are?" Phil asked.

"Trust me, you'll know," Ryoga said as he walked out of the cabin.

Ryoga ran, stumbling and smashing through the brush, tears flowed from his eyes as he repeated the same words over and over again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

===============

"What did he mean by that?" Ishii asked.

He was answered by shrugs of helplessness. As he turned to go and remoisten the cloth on Ranma's head, he heard someone cry out.

Immediately following the cry there was an explosion.

They ran from the cabin, in time to see trees and rock hurtled into the air as an enormous tower of chi was blasted into the air. The chi stood in the air for a long second, before finally hurtling towards the ground. As it impacted, the ground shook with the fury of an earthquake, sending Seiji, Ishii, and Phil to the ground.

"Jesus," Phil muttered as he got to his feet. "What the hell was that?"

They quickly made their way through the trees to find the impact area. Fallen trees and rocks lay strewn about inside the crater.

"Ryoga!" Seiji shouted as he ran down the slope. Phil quickly followed with Ishii behind him.

Ryoga was standing in the center of the crater, his arms held out pointing downwards, fists clenched painfully. His jaw was clenched painfully, so much that his fangs had bit into his lower lip. There were dried tears in his eyes. He turned his head slowly, almost drunkenly towards the others.

Just as Seiji was about to reach him, Ryoga collapsed.

They carried him back to the cabin, where he was placed beside Ranma and Akane. Akane had woken up, much to their surprise.

"What happened?" she asked. Her head was pounding; every move she made sent a wave of pain flowing throughout her head.

The others looked a little uncomfortable, and Ishii went and quickly through a blanket over the bodies that were sitting in the corner.

"Where's Ranma?" she asked next. Phil pointed to her right and Akane slowly turned to see her fiancée. She lay back down and grasped Ranma's hand in hers. As an afterthought, Akane grabbed Ryoga's hand with her other free hand.

"Akane," Phil said softly. "Were going to have to tell you something that may upset you."

Akane looked at him and slowly nodded her head.

"You're going to have to promise that you will not get upset and try and move around, alright?"

"Yes, I promise."

"Okay, Ranma attacked all of the people holding us and sometime during the fight Minoru and some other guy grabbed Akari and took off. We haven't been able to find them."

Akane's face drained all it's color. She was about to sit up when Phil quickly grabbed her head with his two hands and held her steady.

"That's also the reason why Ryoga is unconscious," Phil told her. "He ran into the woods and did one of those things Ranma did, but it was huge."

"The Shi Shi Hokodan," Akane breathed. She took a glance at Ryoga. "It's a technique that was developed to help with clearing rubble and debris, using depression and sadness as a fuel. To perfect the technique you must reach a level of ultimate depression. It sends a tower of chi into the air, to come crashing down. But Ryoga has so much depression and sadness that he turned the technique into a deadly move. I think that Ranma and Ryoga could be the only one's that could survive a hit by the perfect version."

"What are you talking about? Ryoga's not a depressed guy, he was always happy around that Akari girl."

Akane shook her head. "Ryoga has known Akari for about six months. Before that he was always alone, except for when he came by our house. You see, Ryoga has the world's worst sense of direction. He will get lost inside his own house. Also," Akane said, blushing a little, "Ryoga had a crush on me and he would always fight Ranma whenever he thought Ranma was mistreating me. So when he was trying to perfect the technique, Ryoga asked me to tell him that I hated him. I did and it had its desired effects."

Parker looked at Ryoga with a hint of pity in his eyes. Akane saw this and had to smile.

"Don't let Ryoga see you do that. He can't stand people pitying him."

While they were talking, Ishii and Seiji had moved all the bodies outside. They came back in and kneeled in front of Akane.

"I'm so sorry Akane," Seiji said, bowing his head so low that his forehead touched the ground.

"This is not your fault Seiji," Akane told him. "You had no idea that this was how things would go."

"I'm still sorry," Seiji told her. "But this is not the time to be worried about that. Akane, I'm going to assume that Phillip told you about how Ranma's condition reached a peak and he snapped-"

"What!?" Akane shrieked.

Seiji glared at Parker, who answered with a shrug.

"What do you mean Ranma snapped? He didn't kill anyone did he?"

She could tell what the answer was when Ishii, Phil, and Seiji traded looks.

"Oh god, what caused him to snap?"

"It was when Koga hit you with the rifle butt. When you hit the ground Ranma freaked out," Phil told her. "He killed everybody but the two guys that took Akari."

Akane started crying and Phil carefully sat her up and hugged the girl. He bent his head down and spoke softly into her ear.

"It will be okay Akane; Ranma was forced to kill them. If he didn't, we would never have been able to get out of here. They would have killed us otherwise."

It was at that moment that Ranma woke up. He jumped to his feet and held a battle stance. Ishii and Seiji backed up; the memory of what Ranma did to the others was still fresh in their minds.

"Where's Akane?" Ranma asked. Everyone relaxed when they saw that Ranma had returned to normal.

Parker stood and silently handed Akane to Ranma. Ranma held her in a hug, gently running his hand through her hair.

"I thought you had left me," Ranma whispered into her ear. Akane responded by holding him tighter and pushing forward a little so Ranma would sit down.

Phillip, Ishii, and Seiji tried to make themselves as invisible as possible. Ryoga was stirring so they decided to take him outside.

"I'll never leave you Ranma," Akane said. "Never, never, never."

Ranma started to cry with her and he gently lowered his head to kiss her.

"We can't do this now Ranma," Akane told him after the kiss.

"Well duh, I'd think that you would have the decency to wait until we found a nice motel room," Ranma replied with a sexy smile.

Akane blushed and shook her head. "There's more Ranma."

She had to tell him. But she knew that it would destroy him.

===============

Akari sat down on the motel bed. She regarded her two kidnappers warily. She could tell that they could easily beat her in any sort of attack she made, so she would have to make sure she picked her chances carefully.

The man she had kneed in the crotch was still very angry with her. But the other one, the one that seemed to be nice, was actually very polite to her. They had rented two rooms, and Minoru had opted to sleep alone, saying Kimura could watch her. Akari was glad he had left, because otherwise she might have taken it upon herself to attack the jerk.

"So, would you like to tell me just what you have been doing here in China?" Kimura asked her as he sat down in a chair.

"I'm not going to tell you what you want so maybe you should just stop trying," Akari said.

"I've already told you that I'm not going to hurt, why would you be willing to keep this from me?"

"Because if I do tell you what you want you're going to use it to get to Ryoga and the others," Akari told him.

Kimura sighed. He didn't really know what he was supposed to do in this situation. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that Minoru wanted her friends dead, but he couldn't tell her that because she would try and escape. He needed to try and show her that he meant no harm.

"Look, I know you probably think that I'm just some lunatic that joined the underworld but I'm not. I was blackmailed into the Yakuza, and they are using someone else's life to keep me there," He said. It wasn't really a lie. He had joined the Yakuza of his own free will at first.

"I don't want to be in the Yakuza anymore, I wanted to live my life as a normal man, but they've ensured that my life will end with me being a Yakuza member. If I had my way I would release you and you could go back to your friends, but I can't, if I disobey the Oyabun one more time he will kill the girl that I love.

"I want to help you but I don't know if I can. What if I did help you and the Oyabun decided to kill her. I can't risk something like that."

Akari's steely gaze melted as Kimura talked. The man seemed sincere.

"You said you wanted to live your life as a normal man. How can you expect to do that if you don't stop what you're doing? If you want a clear conscience than you have to help me, otherwise you will remain in the Yakuza and this girl that you love will not get to be with you. Please," Akari said, her eyes pleading. "You have to do the right thing."

Kimura looked at Akari for a long moment before nodding.

"Okay, your right. I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror if I was to help Minoru. But I need to find a way to make sure that Minoru doesn't find out that I've betrayed him. I need a plan."

===============

Ryoga slammed his fist through the tree in front of him. His anger was at its peak. After finally awakening, the lost boy had been immediately informed that there was no word on what exactly happened with Akari.

"Were going to find her Ryoga," Parker told him.

Ryoga snorted. "Would you please explain exactly how we are going to find her? We have absolutely no idea where she was taken and all were doing now is waiting. What do you expect that she's going to just suddenly phone us?"

"No," Phil admitted. "But we need to have a plan before we can go and look for her."

"A plan is not going to be of any help," Ryoga told him. "What we need to do is get off our fucking ass's and go find her!"

Parker raised his hands in defeat. "Alright Ryoga, we'll go look for her but it can only be me and you. Ranma's in some sort of mental shock or something and Akane's trying to comfort him. I don't know how useful Seiji or Ishii would be so were just going to go."

Ryoga nodded and headed back into the cabin. Once he was in he went for his backpack only to see Seiji on the phone.

"There taking you to Jusenkyo?" Seiji asked whoever was on the other end. There followed a very long moment which Ryoga presumed was the other person talking.

"Okay I'll remember, I'll tell Ryoga what you said Akari."

Ryoga rushed to Seiji's side and grabbed the phone from him.

"Akari! Where are you!?"

But the line was dead. Tears filled his eyes as he turned back to Seiji.

"What did she say?"

"She was taken by those two men, but one of them isn't committed to their cause and has decided to help us, in return were going to help him later."

"So she's alright then," Ryoga said breathing a sigh of relief. Then he realized something. "Wait, didn't you say that something about them taking her to Jusenkyo?"

"Yes, it seems that the man that's helping her has decided to go to Jusenkyo with her and that way we can leave China the second were done. But were also going to have to deal with the other man that was with Akari and our defector."

"Heh," Ryoga smirked, cracking his knuckles. "You just leave him to me; I'll make what Ranma did to those other guys look like a merciful death once I'm through with him."

Seiji didn't bother reprimanding Ryoga for his foolishness. The boy just didn't understand what it was like to kill someone. Something Ranma would now have to live the rest of his life with. The blood of fifteen men's lives on your hands was a terrible burden to put on someone so young.

===============

Akane watched as Ranma buried the last of the men. When Ranma had first seen the bodies, Akane thought he might pass out. She nearly did. But Ranma had steeled himself and informed her that he would give them all proper burials before they left.

Once he had finished filling in the last of the graves, Ranma said a prayer for each man and turned to leave. There were tears in his eyes. He wrapped his arm around Akane's shoulder as he passed, pulling her with him.

"That was a very nice thing to do Ranma," Akane told him. "You are an honorable man."

Ranma shook his head. "No Akane, I'm not honorable. I lost control; I killed those men when I could have easily knocked em` unconscious. Those are not the actions of an honorable man."

Akane looked at Ranma and saw the grief he was feeling. She stopped and pulled his head down to meet hers. Ranma tried to resist the kiss but Akane held his head to hers. She released him and wrapped him in a fierce hug. She cried for him.

"You lost control because of me Ranma," she told him, and decided to tell him everything.

"So I'm going insane then?"

"No, but you shouldn't worry about it until we get back home."

"Okay Akane, but you have to promise me that you will not put yourself into anymore dangerous situations," Ranma said.

"Okay," Akane complied. Normally she would have argued, but she knew what Ranma meant. `Don't make me have to kill again'.

They made their way back to the cabin and saw everyone waiting for them.

"What's up?" Ranma asked the group.

"Akari called, they're taking her to Jusenkyo," Ryoga said, and explained everything else to the couple.

"Jeez, I hope this goes smoothly," Ranma said. Ryoga nodded. "You going to be okay man?"

"Yes," Ryoga said.

"Were just going to have to wait for the car that I called for comes," Seiji told them. It had taken a lot of persuasive talking, not to mention money, to convince the car rental place to send the two cars all the way out there. And then to explain that they could not drive the two rental personnel back. So in the end, and several thousand Yuan later, they would send three cars, two of which would be kept by Seiji.

"So we'll be driving non-stop to Jusenkyo then?" Akane asked.

"Only as far as the road permits, after that were going to have to walk," Parker said.

"Then lets go," Ryoga said. The others could see how tense he was and decided that it would be best to not make any unnecessary stops along the way.

===============

Minoru picked up the phone inside his hotel room and dialed a number from memory. It rang several times before someone answered.

*Yes?*

"This is Minoru Hitonda; I need to speak with the Oyabun."

*Just a moment.*

There was a shuffle and then some hushed voices and then finally the voice came back.

*I'll transfer you over now.*

A new voice immediately came over the line.

*Minoru, how nice of you to call,* the voice did not sound like he meant it.

"I apologize for phoning you at such an hour, but I feel that I must relay this information. My operation is coming too a close, I'll need a few more troops if I am to accomplish it."

*Where is Koga? I heard that he was traveling with you.*

"He is still asleep and he left me with the impression that he was not to be awakened. I'm not to sure where Kimura is."

*Never mind. You were saying something about needing more troops?*

"Yes, it turns out that Koga's men were anything but the ideal soldier, and I am need of some more men," Minoru said, hoping the Oyabun would not ask to see Kimura.

*Okay, I'll call over to the Chinese Defense Minister's office and see if he can't get you some more troops. Where exactly are you?*

"I'm about to head to these coordinates," Minoru read them off, "And I'm going to need those soldiers by tomorrow."

*Alright, keep up the good work. Oh, where did you say Kimura was?*

"I'm not to sure but I think that he is in another room."

There was a grunt on the other end and then the line clicked, signifying that he was now the only one on the line.

Minoru set the receiver down and let out a breath. He had just lied to the Oyabun. For some reason he felt very excited. That was when realization hit him. He was going to have to explain to the Oyabun exactly what happened to Koga. Now there was a conversation to dread. But if things worked out now, then the Oyabun would surely be able to forgive him. All he had to do now was hope that those soldiers would arrive tomorrow.

Minoru whistled happily to himself, oblivious to the fact that the fates were running against him.

===============

"Jesus!" Phil shouted as the car wheels bounced of the ground.

"Can't you keep this car on the ground Phillip!?" Seiji shouted as he tried to readjust his seat belt.

"It's the goddamned roads Seiji! They're about as paved as a grassy meadow."

The car went through a rather nasty section, which ended up having Ryoga smack his head against the back of Seiji's seat, which in turn smacked Seiji's head against the dashboard.

Phil turned and smiled at them. "Heh, sorry about that."

"Just keep your eyes on the damn road!" Seiji yelled as he rubbed his forehead.

===============

Over in the other car, Ishii, Ranma, and Akane were having a hard time as well. But their problem was they couldn't keep up with Parker's erratic driving.

"Damn that man, he doesn't even know what a speed limit is," Ishii said as Phil accelerated once again. He checked the speedometer. They were going about ninety kilometers an hour.

"Hey," Ranma said as he poked his head between the seats. "You gotta remember that over here, cars only have two speeds, on or off."

Ishii chuckled and smiled at Ranma. He turned his attention back to the road and saw Phil's car pull into a driveway. It led to a house that seemed a little to well-built for being out here in.

===============

"Are you sure this is wise Phillip?" Seiji asked as he followed Phil up the steps to the house.

"Of course," Phil answered happily. The others stood a good distance back while he and Seiji knocked on the front door.

A short chubby Chinese man opened the door.

"Hi," Phil greeted. "It seems we've run into a bit of car trouble."

"I saw you drive up here," the man said.

"You see," Phil went on, "Our cars are feeling very tired and they are getting a little hungry. And as you can tell, it's getting to be pretty dark. So we were wondering if there might be some way you would be able to maybe keep the cars here overnight and maybe give them something to eat."

The man looked past Phil to the others. He sighed and waved his hands, signaling them to follow him. He led them to a nicely decorated living room. There were two women there and the chubby made a few quick orders in Chinese for them to leave. They complied.

"You didn't have to make them leave," Phil said. "I'm sure it would have been possible for me to make them feel more comfortable with my presence."

The chubby man shook his head and finally spoke.

"What is it you want?"

"Well, now that you mention it, we were planning on going into the jungle tomorrow and we were a little worried about wild animals, and I was just wondering if you might have a little something that would help protect us?"

The Chinese man shook his head again and held out his hand.

Phillip extracted his wallet and extracted a wad of bills that looked to be hundreds. He counted out twenty of the bills and handed them too the Chinese man.

"When you come back with what I need, there will be more where that came from," Phil told him.

The Chinese man nodded and left the house.

"Jesus Phillip, how the hell did you do that?" Seiji asked from where he was sitting.

Phil turned to them and smiled. "Didn't I tell you guys before that a little American money can go a long way?"

"But how did you know that the man would help us?" Seiji asked.

"Counter-revolutionary my friend, I had him pegged the moment I saw the house," he sat down on one of the couches. "Now, I'm going to go fix us a dinner, and later, I'm going to see if I can't ply the two young girls here with alcohol and see if they'll give up their youthful inhibitions."

He got up and walked out of the room. When he reached the kitchen he found one of the girls there.

"Hello," Phil greeted. "I was wondering if you might know where I could find a skillet. It seems I have been stuck with the duty of preparing dinner for those barbarians in there."

The girl smiled at him and Phillip thought it was a beautiful smile.

"How old are you?"

"27," the girl answered. Phillip thought she had a beautiful voice.

"I can't tell you how happy I am that you can speak another language, as it turns out there are quite a few people in this country that can only speak Chinese, and not very well."

The girl kept smiling at Phillip. He decided that either the girl was having some problems, or she was quite smitten with him.

"Are you going to help me with making a late dinner?"

"Yes," the girl told him and grabbed his arm and led him to the stove.

Phillip thought she had a beautiful touch.

===============

After they had eaten dinner, Seiji decided to tell some stories about Phillip.

During the stories, the Chinese man's daughter didn't leave Phillip's side for a moment.

"I still remember the first thing Phillip said to me when he first saw me when I wore my Green Beret to a reunion," Seiji said, a smile on his face. "He looked at me and said, `Hello little girl I would like two boxes of your chocolate wafers and a box of mint surprise.'"

After Seiji explained what a Green Beret was, they all laughed.

Phillip pretended to yawn. "Well, looks like I'm about ready for bed."

The girl looked at him and Phil could see the excitement in her eyes. Hell, he thought, I'm excited.

Before he left Seiji pulled him aside.

"I want you to be careful Phil," Seiji said seriously.

"I believe the girl isn't carrying any sort of diseases Seiji. But if you wish I'll make sure I don't give her the world famous Phil workout."

"I'm serious Phillip, I don't want to wake up to find that Chinese man in here running wild about how the evil black man has used his evil ways on his poor daughter."

"I know my friend, I'll be careful," Phil said and wrapped one arm around Seiji's shoulders. It didn't last long but it was a genuine show of affection.

Phillip turned and walked up the stairs to follow the girl.

Seiji walked back into the room, Akane and Ranma were trying to cheer Ryoga up.

"C'mon man," Ranma said. "You know were going to get her back, it's not like anything bad could happen."

The words were optimistic, but it didn't even matter because Ryoga didn't even seem to be listening.

Ranma threw up his hands in defeat and decided to have a look around the house. Akane wouldn't give up that easily though.

She grabbed Ryoga's hand and she held it between hers.

"I know that there's nothing anyone can say that will make Akari come back any sooner Ryoga, but you can't be like this. If Akari were to see you right now, what would she say?"

Ryoga didn't even blink, he just sat there.

Seiji placed his hand on Akane's shoulder.

"It's alright, I'll talk to him."

Akane nodded and left the room.

Seiji sat down on a chair that was opposite to where Ryoga sat.

"Ryoga, we haven't known each other that long but I would like to tell you something that I haven't told many people. I don't know if you knew this but I used to be married. I met her when I went to Vietnam, and I took her home with me when I left. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. My parents and family didn't exactly approve of her but I didn't care. To me she was perfect. We got married a year after I met her. We moved to Tokyo soon after and started a restaurant. We lived like that for about five years, and then she got pregnant. I was very happy and so was she. Our life seemed to be going perfect, at least up until a year after my son was born. I was sent to Iran, it seems the United States was having some trouble there and because I was still a reserve, they sent me."

"I was in Iran for two years Ryoga, and I was not permitted to see my wife or talk to her. When I finally went home I learned that she was killed in an automobile accident, shortly after I left. My son survived the crash and he was at an orphanage. It seems that some drunken quarter-master sergeant ran a stop sign and slammed into her car. The man was not charged because his commander had told police that the QM was actually on duty and he had been given specific permission to speed. It was a lie, but the police couldn't do anything about it."

"I lost my wife and for almost two years I didn't even know that she was dead. The person responsible for her death got off free, and he didn't even receive any punishment."

"My point in telling you this story Ryoga, is to show you that there are many injustices in this world, but you must overcome them. Otherwise you will lose everything. I miss my wife and there isn't a single day that goes by that I don't wish that she were here with me. But she isn't, and I am still able to make it through the days and weeks. You are lucky Ryoga, Akari was taken from you, but you are going to get her back. I don't have that option."

Ryoga looked at Seiji for a long moment before tears flooded his eyes and he hugged the older man.

"I'm so sorry Seiji," Ryoga said.

"It is alright Ryoga. There was no way you could have known."

Ryoga sobbed louder and Seiji held him.

===============

In the morning, everyone was wakened by the smell of breakfast, drifting through the house. Once everyone flocked to the kitchen they found Phil preparing breakfast, wearing one of the frilliest aprons any of them had ever seen. Underneath the apron they could easily tell that he was only clad in boxers.

"I admit that this is not the manliest things I've done, but I know that if I were not wearing this apron, I would make my dear Akane blush, and she might just decide that Ranma is not the best choice."

Akane laughed and Ranma looked confused. Even Ryoga chuckled a little.

"That's okay Phil, you don't have to worry about having me try and get you into bed, I've been through enough with Ranma."

This caused Ranma to blush and Phil, Ishii, and Ryoga to laugh. Seiji was too busy watching the car approaching the house to worry about laughing.

The short Chinese man came out of the car and walked into the house. He motioned for Parker to come with him. Phil left the food to Seiji and followed him.

Outside Parker went to the man's car and looked in his trunk. Once the Chinese man had opened it, Phil let out a long whistle.

"Damn, now were talking."

Inside the trunk there contained: Four Sig Sauer P226, One MK3, Six Colt Sawn Off CAR15, One Colt M4, and finally one Barrett "Light Fifty" Model 82A1. There also contained plenty of magazines and standard military issue grenades.

They were in business now. All he had to do was show everyone else how to use them.

===============

Parker brought them all outside and laid the weapons on the front lawn.

"Okay, today were going to learn all about how to use a gun. I'll be your teacher, I will call you by your real name, and you can call me Major."

Everyone gave him appreciative laughter.

"Okay," Phil said, holding up the Sig Sauer P226. "This is what you would call the standard military issue pistol. But that was five years ago. The Israeli's use this for most of their operations. I will now demonstrate how you load and unload the Sig Sauer."

And so it went, Phil showing them how to load and operate the guns and accessories.

"This is a Colt M4, I'm sure that you have seen it in your stupid war movies, but today I'm going to be using this, same with the Barrett Model 82A1 0.50 caliber sniper. You will get to chose which of the other weapons you want. Parker gave a Colt Sawn Off CAR 15 to everyone. The CAR 15 was the standard weapon of most Israel commando teams in the early nineties. The Sawn Off part came from the other teams that didn't have a big enough budget to buy the newer versions. To improvise the teams would make `home-made' alterations to the weapon. This was by chopping the barrel down from its usual 14.5 inch length to a 10 inch length.

He gave a Sig Sauer to Seiji, Ishii, Ranma, and Ryoga. Akane got the MK3. The MK3 was the upgraded version of the HP, which was the standard issue handgun in 1983 for all Israeli troops.

"I don't expect us to actually use these guns, but I suppose they're just going to be security," Phil told them. He grabbed one of the Sawn Off CAR 15's and threw it over his shoulder. The strap made it possible for him to carry it as well as the M4 carbine. He carried the Barrett Model 82A1 carefully in his hands. The sniper rifle would be their most useful weapon. Not only for it's accuracy, but because he could see a great distance while using the scope (1000 yards).

"Alright, let's move it out!" Phil said and pumped his arm twice over his head.

===============

Kimura and Akari sat in the back of the car as Minoru sped down the completely unusable road. It was a very unstable ride and it didn't take long before the car gave out. That meant they would now be walking the rest of the way to Jusenkyo.

"I sure hope that Ryoga and the others have better luck," Akari said as she pushed a rather large branch out of her way.

"From what you've told me Akari, they've been to this place more than once, so I'll bet they know not to take the roads as quickly as Minoru tried to."

Akari looked back and saw Minoru struggling to keep up.

"Do you think we should take a rest before he passes out?" Akari whispered to him.

"No, this will be a good lesson for him," Kimura told her. "Once this is all over, I hope I will find a way so he can leave the Yakuza."

Akari didn't know how Kimura would do something like that, but she smiled and nodded anyways.

===============

"Were almost there, hurry up Ryoga!" Ranma shouted as he sprinted ahead of the group.

"Wait up, there's no way I'm going to let you be cured first!" Ryoga shouted at Ranma as he ran after him.

"Where the hell do those two get their energy?" Ishii asked, panting for breath as they made their way through the thick jungle.

"I suspect that they are running on pure happiness," Seiji told him.

"Alright, I'm going to go find a place to set up, you guys go on ahead," Parker said as he left the trail and disappeared into the dense trees.

Akane decided to run after Ranma and Ryoga. She reached the bottom of the steep incline and rushed down the trail. She spotted Ranma and Ryoga dashing towards the guide's house.

"What the hell?" Ranma asked the empty house. He walked in and was knocked down when Ryoga burst through the door.

"Eh, where is everybody?" Ryoga asked from where he was lying on top of Ranma.

"That's what I was trying to find out when you knocked me down idiot," Ranma told him, annoyance clear in his voice.

"Sorry," Ryoga climbed off of him and walked into the room. "Hey, there's a note lying on the table."

Ranma quickly joined him and picked up the note. He read it aloud.

"I have gone to nearby Amazon village with daughter, be back at nightfall. Jusenkyo guide."

"Damn," Ryoga cursed.

Akane ran into the small guide house, panting for breath.

"Well?" she asked them.

"Guides not here, seems he went down to Shampoo's village with Plum," Ranma told her. "Should be back by tonight."

"Oh well, I guess it could be worse," Akane said.

"Yeah, the springs could dry up again," Ryoga added dryly.

"C'mon you guys, cheer up."

Ranma and Ryoga looked at each other and shrugged.

"I guess we could look for a map of this place then," Ranma suggested.

"Yeah," Ryoga agreed.

Akane smiled as the two martial artists set out to find a map of the Jusenkyo springs.

===============

"So were going to have to wait for the guide to come back?" Seiji asked.

"Yeah, I don't really want to go wondering out by those springs without a clear indication of exactly where the spring of drowned man is. I know this place well enough to say that it would not be wise to get close to any of those pools," Ranma told him.

"Okay, I'll go find Phillip and tell him what's happened," Seiji said. "Ishii you stay here, and if our friends show up don't do anything until I get back."

Seiji walked for at least half an hour before he could see the ridge where Parker had set up. He slowly moved through the brush. Once he had cleared it, he called out.

"Phillip? Are you there?"

"Look down," a voice said, right below him.

Seiji looked down and saw that he was two steps away from where Phillip was lying. He was lying in such a way that you would miss him completely, unless you moved at a slow crawl.

Seiji knelt down beside him. Phillip was looking through the scope, slowly adjusting the scope rings.

"They won't be able to find the spring they need until dark," Seiji told him.

"Well, we'd just better hope that our friends don't come until then," Parker said. "Wait, shit I think I can see them."

"Who, Ranma and Ryoga?"

"No, our kidnappers," Phillip said.

"Damn," Seiji got up and turned to go when he felt a hand on his leg; he turned and saw Phillip looking at him.

"Please be careful my friend, I have a bad feeling about this."

Seiji smiled. "I will thank you." He left through the brush, moving quickly.

"Just don't make me have to my father that I let you die," Phil said as he turned back to the sniper scope.

===============

Ishii watched in surprise as Kimura, Minoru, and Akari walked towards the hut. He quickly ducked inside, telling the others to grab their weapons and he came back outside, holding his CAR 15. There was a round chambered and the gun was on full-auto. He wasn't going to let Minoru get away this time.

As the others got closer, it was evident that Akari was bound in rope, and Minoru was holding a handgun to her head.

Ishii heard a low growl escape from behind him. He turned and saw Ryoga, his aura was burning brightly.

Ranma was instantly behind him, he whispered something into Ryoga's ear and the enraged boy calmed down.

"Where is Seiji?" Minoru called out.

"What does it matter? I am here, is that not enough?"

Minoru shook his head. "No, unless Seiji is here, I will not give this girl up."

Kimura looked between the two. He really wanted to run over to where Ishii was standing, but he wasn't exactly too confident about that course of action. You don't usually run towards four people holding assault rifles.

===============

Parker watched through the sniper scope. He lightly adjusted the scope rings and shifted the rifle. He made sure the Bipod was stable, and he flexed his hand on the rear grip. He could see the entire exchange from where he was sitting. He slowly moved the rifle south and watched as Seiji ran towards the others.

Something caught Phillip's eye. There looked to be something shiny that the sun was bouncing off of, over in the trees and thick vegetation located behind all the Jusenkyo pools. He adjusted the scope rings and looked closer. There seemed to be something sticking out of the trees. A long barrel. Almost like the one he had on his sniper rifle.

Shit! Parker's mind raged, this is a trap!

He swiveled back in time to see Seiji, waving his hand at the group, right before the first shot rang out.

===============

"There he is there!" Ranma shouted as he saw Seiji come into view. The others turned in time to see Seiji Inafune for the last time.

The loud crack of a rifle rang out. Seiji was thrown to the ground, a large puff of red exploded from his shoulder.

"Shit!" Ishii shouted as he turned back to Minoru, just in time to watch as the forest behind him erupted in yellow fire.

===============

Parker saw Seiji take the hit. The soldier inside of him told him that Seiji would live, but his arm would most likely be useless now. Letting himself forget about that for the moment, Phillip began to pick off targets hidden in the deep foliage that the unseen enemies were situated. The soldiers inside were obviously not expecting to be targeted by a sniper, as they were not doing very much to hide their positions.

Parker wasn't paying attention to Ishii and the others anymore. He needed to take out the shooters before they killed everybody else.

===============

Minoru smiled as Seiji went down. Mission complete, his mind said smugly. His smile faded when he heard the sound of over fifty assault rifles rattling off. He watched as Ishii lifted his CAR 15 and took aim. Minoru was about to move the girl in front of him when someone punched him on the side of his head. As he staggered back, he saw Kimura grab the girl and run towards Ishii and the others. His mind was in shock so he simply watched as Kimura ran across the small clearing.

===============

Kimura set Akari down and quickly freed her of the ropes. He grabbed the CAR 15 from Akane and the ammo pouch that hung loosely off her skirt.

"Run away!" He yelled at the others before turning to Ishii and motioning him to follow. Sprinting as they went, they dove into the small hut.

===============

Ranma and the others ran for their lives. Bullets were whizzing overhead and impacting the ground beneath them. Running straight down the middle of Jusenkyo, moving and dodging the pools as they went, they managed to get to the edge of Jusenkyo. But just as soon as the four had reached the last pool of Jusenkyo, the tree line in front of them erupted in gunfire.

Ranma quickly stopped in his tracks and, twisting as he did so, jumped to his left and began to run towards the thick foliage. Akane grabbed Akari and pivoted sharply to her left and took off, following Ranma. Ryoga, forgetting where he was, dove to the side as the bullets passed through the space he had previously occupied.

He hit the water of a spring and sank to the bottom. Not realizing what he had done, Ryoga swam to the surface and climbed out of the pool, still not aware that he was still human. As bullets came whizzing by, he turned and saw Ranma lead the girls into the brush calling for him to hurry.

Sprinting to the tree line, Ryoga heard a large explosion behind him. Turning quickly, he saw that someone had fired a rocket at the spring he had jumped into, the spring was now the size of a crater.

He ran and caught up with the others. Ranma was leaning against a tree, panting for breath ass the two girls lay on the ground, trying to regain their breath.

"You okay Akane?" Ranma asked. He got an affirmative grunt. Akari gave him the same.

"How are you doing Ryoga?" Ranma asked not facing him.

"Fine Ranma," Ryoga answered.

"I was asking Ryoga, Akane, not you," Ranma said irritated. When he turned he saw Akane and Akari staring at something in disbelief. He followed their gaze.

There, standing where Ranma had heard Ryoga come in, was Akane, in Ryoga's clothing.

===============

Phillip watched through the scope of his rifle as the soldiers from the trees walked out, confirming his suspicions. They were PLA soldiers, obviously working for Minoru, as the little bastard was up and walking now.

He took aim on Minoru's head, deciding to end the man's life, and fired. There was nothing but a click. He looked disbelievingly at the gun and saw that the magazine was done. He hadn't even noticed it locking up.

Parker quickly got to his feet, chambering a round in his M4 carbine. He also chambered a round in the CAR 15. He crawled his way through the brush and ran down the path to where Seiji's body lay.

===============

Minoru walked over to Seiji's body as the PLA soldiers emerged from the trees, their guns held up and ready for any type of resistance. He removed the Berretta from his waistband and pressed the muzzle against the forehead of his former employer. Seiji's eyes opened and they locked on Minoru, shining with contempt. He was about to pull the trigger when Seiji suddenly swung his body around and locked his legs around Minoru's waist. Minoru was flung backwards, and smacked his face against the hard ground.

Seiji reached out and grabbed his CAR 15, which had fallen to the ground when he had been shot, and fired four shots at Minoru's body, all hitting true.

Seiji's shoulder burned as he slowly lowered his gun. He struggled to get to his feet but he couldn't find the strength. Just as he was about to fall to the ground, Seiji felt himself being lifted off the ground. He looked up into the face of Phillip Sheridan Parker IV.

"I could have sworn that you had learned to duck by now," Parker said as he took off towards the hut which he had seen Ishii and Kimura enter. Carrying Seiji, Phillip knew that he had a good chance of being shot. The PLA soldiers had spotted him, and were just raising their guns as Parker jumped the last four feet and slammed the door of the hut closed with his foot. Seiji fell from his arms and hit the ground hard. Ishii almost shot Parker when he exited the room where he and Kimura had been hiding.

"Jesus Parker!" Ishii shouted as he lowered his gun.

Phillip didn't respond as he got to his feet and picked up Seiji's body. He carried him into the room Ishii and Kimura were in and set him against the wall. He began to slowly manipulate Seiji's damaged shoulder and arm.

"You can say goodbye to ever using this arm again Seiji," Phil told him.

Seiji didn't seem to hear him, as he was deep in thought.

The soldiers outside will figure out that the walls are about a centimeter thick very soon and will smash down the wall. There are only four of us, and probably one hundred of them. If the soldiers get inside, all of us will be killed.

"You three go," Seiji said finally.

"What?" Phil said incredulously.

"Those soldiers will track us all the way from Qing Hai to Japan if we run away. We won't be able to leave this country after they close down the border," Seiji said, his voice oddly calm. "There is no other way."

Ishii looked very much like he wanted to cry but he held in his tears.

Seiji saw this. "I'm sorry Ishii, please understand."

Ishii nodded sadly and turned around, but not before a sob escaped his throat. He climbed through the window with Kimura very close behind him.

Seiji watched him go, tears rimming his eyes. He turned to Phillip. "I need to do this Phil."

Phillip nodded but there were tears in his eyes. "You make sure you kill one of those sonsofbitches for me Seiji." He handed Seiji his CAR 15 and one of his grenades.

Seiji nodded. "If it's not too much to ask, could you tell your father that this was the way I went out?" Seiji asked his voice cracking. "Killing as many of these godless bastards as I could."

"You got it buddy," Parker said, a sad smile crossing his face. He took one more look at Seiji before finally crawling out the window and following Ishii and Kimura.

Seiji watched as Parker went through the window. He smiled, but it was a content smile. He turned and saw that the PLA soldiers were standing just outside the door.

Just wait for me a little longer my love; I will be with you soon.

The soldiers broke through the door and dashed into the room.

Seiji fired a quick three round burst with the CAR 15, hitting the first soldier in the chest. He checked his aim and fired again, hitting the next soldier through the door. The soldiers were now running into the hut, their guns firing at everything inside.

Seiji took two rounds in the stomach from the soldiers. He nearly blacked out from the pain but he held on, for just a little longer. Reaching down to his side, Seiji grabbed the grenade that Phillip had given him. He pulled the pin and let the cap release. Summoning the last of his strength, Seiji lightly rolled the grenade across the floor as the soldiers ran towards him. The last bit of his strength left him as the soldiers fired into the room, unaware of the small grenade rolling towards them. A smile lit up his face just before everything went black.

The sound of the grenade going off was the last vestige of Seiji Inafune.

===============

Author's Notes: This is the final chapter of the second volume, Journey. This also marks the final chapter that my wife wrote and released. I'd like to take this moment to thank her for her help and for keeping my readers interested in this story.

I received some messages concerning the fact that a major character in this story was killed, but I hold by my decision to end Seiji's life at this point. Seiji was my favorite character in this story, outside of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi, and if I had my way, I would keep him inside the story. But, unfortunately he just does not fit into the rest of the story, and with his death creates a whole new bunch of problems that the characters must face.

I am still toying with the idea of releasing a small story about Parker's father and Seiji when they were with the Green Berets in Vietnam.

I hope everyone is enjoying the story, and I would like to think that everyone is reviewing this story.