Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma 1/2: The Truth and the Tempest ❯ Taking Out the Trash: part 1 ( Chapter 27 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

[Author’s Note: The characters and setting herein- with the exception of one or two O.C.’s of my own design- are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. Any similarities to real persons, living or dead, is entirely impossible- real people can’t obey the laws of anime physics. Long story short, this written for fun, not profit. But you knew that already, so on with the show.]

Ranma ½: The Truth and the Tempest

Chapter 27: Taking Out the Trash, part 1

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Nabiki hummed a merry tune to herself as she examined her most recent acquisition from the local electronics store. Her eyes sparkled like a child’s on Christmas day, taking in all the features and- more notably- the rather lofty price tag. Of course, given where the money had come from, she had reason to smile at the expenditure. “Isn’t this the greatest thing you’ve ever seen?” she said, turning to show off the purchase to her shopping companion. “I’ve been dying to get my hands on this for weeks now.”

“Well, it is a rather nice-looking camera, Nabiki,” replied Nodoka, who was carrying a modest bag of groceries, “but don’t you think it was a little too expensive? That money probably could have been put to better use… home repairs, maybe, or perhaps planning for the future? You did say you were applying to Waseda University, after all.”

“Relax, Auntie, if I didn’t know how to plan ahead financially I wouldn’t be me, now would I?” she replied with a grin. “This is one of the best mini-cams on the market yet, 24x optical zoom, 800x digital zoom, image stabilizer, SD memory card… the works. Just what I’ve been needing.” She paused, then gave Nodoka a knowing look. “Besides, Mr. Saotome was more than happy to pony up the cash for such a worthwhile cause.”

Nodoka blinked, then relaxed as she responded with a knowing look of her own. “I see… I take it, then, that the fat fool finally got tired of eating bamboo for breakfast?”

“And lunch and dinner, too. Didn’t hold out long before he agreed to that ‘installment plan’ I told you about.” Nabiki slipped her new video camera into its carrying case and frowned. “Course, whatever money he’s got squirreled away is gonna run out at some point…”

“I wonder about that,” said Nodoka, a slight shadow passing over her eyes. “I also wonder how many people he cheated in the process of accumulating it.” She shook her head slowly and pinched her nose before sighing and looking up again. I feel like such a fool for not seeing it all sooner. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t be surprised if his insistence at the arranged engagement lies more with being able to mooch off of his own son and daughter-in-law for the rest of his days. His behavior of late certainly seems to lean that way… but he never acted that way before taking up with that despicable master of his… She bit her lip. “One way or another, I am going to put things right,” she murmured.

“Well… anyway,” said Nabiki quickly, “like I said, his so-called ‘secret stash’ won’t pay off most of the bill I drafted, so he’ll have to come up with the rest somehow… and with that collar on his leg I’m pretty sure he won’t be so keen to try and sneak out and steal the cash.” She scratched her chin in thought. “I guess he could always go back to work at Doc Tofu’s clinic… or maybe we could rent him out to the zoo…”

“Nabiki! That’s a terrible thing to suggest,” said Nodoka sharply with a disapproving look on her face. The look, however, was marred slightly by the fact that a corner of her mouth was twitching upwards. “I’m sure there must be some other way Genma could pay off that debt… even if it might be amusing to watch him penned in like that.”

“Eh, just a thought. And it’s not like I don’t have the contacts to draw up ‘official’ paperwork proving ownership of an endangered and exceptionally intelligent panda…” Nabiki drawled, prompting another brief smirk from Nodoka. “Then again, he might like it too much. All the panda chow he could eat and no real work, after all.”

Nodoka stifled a giggle at the mental image Nabiki was provoking. “And let’s not forget he has more than just the debt to your house to repay,” she said, her serious demeanor returning. “Not to mention penance for what he did to my son…”

“Oh, I get the feeling once Ranma and my kid sister get back from this little trip of theirs, he’ll be more than happy to help you in that department, Auntie,” Nabiki replied with a nod. “Now, was there anything else we were supposed to get before heading…”

A sudden screeching sound blazed through the air, cutting Nabiki off mid-sentence. “What the hell?”

“Oh my goodness…” Nodoka gasped. Nabiki blinked and spun around, her eyes widening slightly. Seven blocks from where they were standing, the road met another in a T-intersection edged up right next to a nearby low lot that Nabiki knew had been razed and left empty for months. Nobody had begun building in the lot just yet, so the fact that something was making an industrial screech and giving off a bizarre neon green glow at the same time was something of a surprise. Nabiki blinked and stared at the light display, her brow knitting in consternation as a sudden trio of shadows flickered just above the guardrail around the lot… and a moment later, the screeching stopped and the light disappeared.

“That was… unexpected,” Nabiki deadpanned. More than a little bizarre, too. Kinda like what happened when that thing got pulled out of Ranma, only different… or maybe just some industrial thing, though I seriously doubt that. She paused and blinked. Hey, wait a moment…

Nodoka paled slightly; memories of what she had seen at not one, but two Spirit Purges were asserting themselves, and something at the back of her mind was telling her that what they had just seen and heard was far from normal. Not to mention potentially dangerous. “Nabiki, perhaps we should be going,” she said in a low tone. “We have everything we came to get, after all.”

“Yeah, I know,” Nabiki replied, her hand darting into her new camera bag. “Still… whatever just made that sound can’t have been normal…” She pulled the mini-cam out and flashed a grin the Cheshire Cat would be proud of. “What better time or reason to give this bad boy a test drive?” And if it is something of a paranormal nature, so much the better… I can always sell the shots to Daisuke if the tabloids don’t want them! She flipped the lens cap off and took off towards the lot. Nodoka gasped and promptly followed Nabiki, part of her intending to grab the young woman’s hand and lead her away from the lot… and part of her, against her better judgment, curious in her own right as to what the screech had been.

They were both about a block away when the second screech hit the air and a sustained green light began boiling out of the ground. Their pace slowed- then came to a halt as they caught sight of what was happening.

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“This isn’t going to be easy, you two,” said Shingen fiercely, jamming his right hand into his jacket and producing a fistful of throwing knives. “We’re going to have to work fast; those oni can hit really hard if you let them.”

“Eh, bring ‘em on!” Ranma quipped, slapping his right fist into his left palm. “I’ve been waitin’ for an excuse to cut loose today; all we gotta do is get that katana outta the ground, right?”

“Right- and get that idiot kendoist out if we can, too.” Before them, several more ogres joined the growing squad; the glowing patch of earth they were emerging from was almost completely hidden from view. Just on the edge of the squad, a small panicky figure emerged from within, dragging a much larger figure by the ankles; Sasuke’s legs became a veritable blur as he dragged Kuno’s limp body across the lot as fast as he could. Kuno, for his part, was barely aware of much of anything as his servant’s actions repeatedly banged his head against the ground, the odd rock, an old bicycle seat…

Akane gulped. Ranma, I really don’t like the looks of this; you really think we can take these things on? I know we’ve been training and all, but…

Don’t worry ‘bout it, Akane, Ranma replied through the Link. It’ll be just like fightin’ off last year’s Hentai Horde. He turned to look at her and winked. Besides, I’m not gonna hold back like I have been up till now… Akane blinked and turned to stare at him, wondering what he was talking about, but his attention had already snapped back to the ogres nearest to the three of them. Suddenly one ogre raised his club and bellowed, then pounded across the dirt towards them with three of his colleagues hot on his heels.

Akane snapped to attention and drew back, like a coiled spring ready to burst free. Don’t think, just do… And an instant later, they did.

Shingen’s wrist snapped forward, unleashing a burst of six knives into the faces of the nearest three oni. Two snarled and batted the offending objects off their faces, while a third dropped his club and clutched his eyes in agony. Shingen burst forward and slashed at the first across the chest with his naginata, spun and upward-slashed the second, then brought the butt of the staff down on the back of the third’s neck. The first two clutched at their wounds before charging their prey from behind; they were almost on top of him when the naginata’s blade snapped out in a reverse thrust, impaling the first ogre in the belly. The second oni continued, swinging a massive fist downward which was barely countered by one of Shingen’s glove shields. The tall man ripped the blade through the first oni’s body, causing it to burst into particles of white light, only to face the second wounded one’s relentless assault coupled with a new, fresh assailant. He gritted his teeth and began to bob and weave, swinging his weapon in wide circles, knocking aside the onslaught of club and fist.

“HIYAH!” Akane shouted, barreling into a cluster of three more oni faster than they could bring their clubs to bear on her. She landed smack in the middle of them and lashed out low with her right heel, catching one behind the knee hard enough to make him stagger. Following through with her spin, she pulled her arms in, snapped the clasps holding her own training weights on her wrists and then snapped her arms outward. The centrifugal motion, coupled with the fact that each weight band had gradually climbed to six pounds over the time she had worn them, meant that the two other oni in the group suddenly suffered massive headaches as a weight smashed into each of their foreheads with a sickening crunch. Akane crouched low to quickly undo her ankle weights, then noticed a shadow looming over her as the oni she’d kicked in the knee was attempting to beat her skull in with his club. “Don’t even think about pulling that on me, rock-for-brains!” she said with a smirk, spinning on a heel to face him. “RYOUKO…” Her left fist shot out, smashing the ogre in a very delicate place and prompting a falsetto squeal of pain. “TSUME KEN!” she continued, her right fist impacting the beast’s stomach, chest and chin in a single, fluid sweep. The ki-powered punch snapped his head back so fast and hard that he actually lifted off the ground a full foot before collapsing in a lifeless heap.

Akane recovered, then spun back just in time to see more ogres coming towards her. For a second, it brought back memories of past fights- especially Ryugenzawa, with all the oversized beasts- but this time, there was no surprise, no shock. Her arms and legs felt like they were blazing with energy, a fire from within that had been little more than a flicker not so long ago. She felt a pulse wash through her, a deep, calming wave that seemed to focus and refine the energies within; had she been paying more attention, she would have noticed the wrapped wakizashi strapped to her back had begun to resonate with her aura. Glancing at the approaching ogres, she smiled and cracked her knuckles. “Ranma was right- you guys aren’t that big a hassle at all. Just big and dumb!” Akane shivered slightly as a tiger’s roar echoed deep within her mind, then launched herself into the thick of the ogres with the grace of a ballet dancer, punching and kicking through them with the same ease that had regularly dispatched the Hentai Horde at school before Ranma had ever shown up.

Barely a few yards away, Ranma had become a human buzzsaw, slicing through the ranks of the oni like cordwood. “Alright! This is the kinda workout I was hopin’ for!” he shouted gleefully, springing up and executing a split kick to two ogres that were charging from either side. One was caught in the chest, the other in the throat, and both fell backward gasping for breath. Several more lumbered forward to take their places, but quickly stumbled back again as Ranma landed hands-first on the ground and spun in a complete circle, sweeping the ogre’s legs out from underneath them with ease. Another swung his club directly at Ranma’s head; the massive thing created a sizeable crater, but Ranma had leapt over the incoming weapon with ease. He landed lightly on the ogre’s elbow, giving the beast just under one second to stare in shock. “Dodge this, ugly bastard. JINRAI TEKKEN!” His knuckles met the oni’s forehead with an incredibly thunderous report; the beast’s head promptly exploded into powder, followed by the rest of him.

No sooner had Ranma’s feet touched ground than two additional oni charged him from behind, one of them lunging forward with a straight punch, the other raising his club to strike. Ranma spun around, leaned to the side at the last possible second, then grabbed the puncher’s wrist as his fist missed completely. He shifted his grip and yanked with his left arm, pulling the oni off balance, then jammed his own knuckles into the beast’s elbow, dislocating it as he launched the oni directly into the path of the second ogre’s club. The speed and ferocity of the throw meant the second ogre couldn’t stop in time, with the end result that he smashed his own comrade’s skull in. The second ogre stared in shock- and two seconds later collapsed as Ranma dug his heel into his gut, then followed with an Amaguriken uppercut that snapped his neck in two places.

“Akane! Are you doin’ okay?” Ranma shouted as two more assailants converged on him, peppering him with jabs which he either blocked or dodged with some slight difficulty; he quickly dropped into a spinning hook kick, smashing the knee of one and tripping up the other by the ankle.

“I’ve had better days,” she hollered back through gritted teeth, grabbing an ogre’s punch and flipping him into another like a baseball card. “These things just keep coming out of the woodwork!” Another ogre lunged towards her with club held high, but she darted in and pummeled him in the gut with six lightning-fast punches, causing him to topple forward. As he fell, she stepped in and grabbed him around the neck, then pushed back with her feet, slamming the beast’s forehead into the ground with a bloodcurdling crunch. Springing back to her feet, Akane spun to face another oni duo, grinned and produced two mallets, one in each hand, which she promptly used to parry both their clubs and strike their kneecaps, groins and foreheads, in that order.

“They’re gonna keep coming out of the woodwork if we don’t get that damn katana out of the ground!” Shingen bellowed over the cacophony, still trading blows with no less than three ogres at once. Two of the oni attacking him had been sliced up pretty badly, but were giving no quarter, and the third was spinning his club so fast that Shingen barely had any openings to strike. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a fourth was charging up to join the fray with more just a step behind; he gritted his teeth and began swinging his naginata in his favored figure-8 pattern… and began to pick up speed. I really, REALLY hate fighting groups of oni this large… didn’t want to risk this technique with other people close by, but I may not have a choice…

At the exact same moment, an opening appeared in the midst of the growing ogre platoon as Ranma and Akane continued to punch, gouge, kick and pummel their way through. Akane couldn’t help but thrill to the sensation of what she was doing, how much faster and stronger she felt after the weekend’s exercises and use of the training weights. She looked up… and suddenly gasped as she saw Ranma deliver a reverse crescent kick to the faces of three oni in a row, dropping them all like flies. The kick wasn’t what surprised her, though. The fact that his aura was blazing like an inferno and was palpably growing stronger every moment was what gave her pause. Oh, gods… I don’t think I’ve ever seen him at that level before… except for maybe that time at Phoenix Mountain…

“Akane, DUCK!” She snapped out of her reverie just in time to notice two things- one, he had spun to face her. Two, there was a rather angry oni directly behind her- and from what she could feel via her own growing aura sense, it was about to try and club her. She promptly dropped into a crouch and spun around, gathering her ki at the same moment Ranma was gathering his.

“MOKO TAKABISHA!”

The battle cry came in stereo as both teens unleashed simultaneous ki blasts into the oncoming oni; the twin energy blasts caught him head-on, tearing him to pieces and continuing through to strike the ogre directly behind him. The second ogre didn’t fare much better against the blasts and was promptly scorched beyond recognition. Akane and Ranma quickly recovered and pulled themselves back-to-back as oni continued to emerge from the nearby patch of glowing earth.

“This is taking forever!” Akane scowled. “We keep this up and they’re gonna just tire us out, then pound us to bits anyway!”

“We gotta get that sword pretty damn pronto then, Acchan,” Ranma replied. “Which means we probably need to kick it up another notch.” Another group of oni rushed the pair, and an idea suddenly entered Ranma’s head. Let’s take this group out together; just follow my lead, he said via a Link. Akane nodded, and the two of them locked their elbows together before launching into a perfectly timed dual kata that they’d been discussing over the weekend. In fact, it wasn’t dissimilar to the joint technique they had used to defeat the Dojo Destroyer so many months prior, only this time they were using it to fend off a horde of rampaging ogres. The two of them spun and lashed out in a series of acrobatic kick combos that sent the oni flying left and right; at one point they loosened their elbow lock, spun and gripped each other by the wrists instead, followed by Ranma swinging Akane in a wide circle as she kicked out repeatedly, literally running over the faces of multiple assailants at once.

“IKUSEN YAIBA NO TEIKIATSU!!!” Shingen bellowed from his position on the fringe of the fight. Ki poured into his rapidly spinning naginata, which he promptly hoisted above his head and continued to rotate, faster and faster… until suddenly a series of scythe-like ki projections began shooting out in all directions. The ogres surrounding him shrieked as the glowing blades flashed through the air, gouging deep furrows in the ground and tearing vicious wounds across the ogre’s bodies. Several began dropping or disintegrating as Shingen continued to spin the naginata, producing blade upon blade with completely random trajectories.

Akane had just stopped their acrobatic maneuver when she paused long enough to stare at Shingen’s frenetic attack. “What kind of a technique is that supposed to be?” she gasped.

Ranma’s eyes narrowed. “Looks to me like he’s using a variant of his stone cutting strike, just spread out over a wider area,” he murmured before flinching and pulling Akane backwards; one of the scything blades tore right through the area where she had just been standing. “Yeah, that’s gotta be it- actually, it probably ain’t so different from those vacuum blades of the Yamasen-ken.” A chorus of angry oni growls promptly cut his analysis short.

“Guess we’ll have to ask him ‘bout it later,” muttered Akane as she spun back around to face the still-growing platoon. “Now where is that stupid katana?”

“Right in the middle, I’ll bet,” Ranma replied, pausing long enough to block an incoming oni’s club and throw it and its owner across the lot, where it was promptly skewered in Shingen’s blade cyclone. Akane did likewise with another attacker, choosing to jump over his club and slam him in the head with her mallet before punting him across the lot. Just then the two of them noticed something. The remaining yet still growing platoon wasn’t sending out small groups of two or three anymore. Instead, they were gathering together, slowly but surely, and it wasn’t hard to see that the foremost ones were tensing up in preparation…

“Oh hell… they’re gonna charge us all at once,” Akane whispered, her face pale. A few yards behind her, Shingen stopped spinning his polearm and dropped to one knee, breathing hard and glaring at the ogres in front of them.

“Then we’re just gonna have to deal with them first,” Ranma replied, cracking his knuckles. One hand whipped up to the bundle on his back, undoing the silk wrapping that held the Sagara wakizashi in place. “I think it’s about time we started using these clan swords, Akane… no sense holding ’em back if we don’t have to.”

The next few seconds were nothing short of chaos incarnate; neither Akane nor Ranma had time to retrieve the aforementioned swords before the pack of oni burst forward like a tidal wave. Akane flinched and drew back two steps before thrusting her hands out in front of her. Ki began pouring through her palms as she struggled to replicate the Faith Shield maneuver Shingen had showed them… and just as the wave was about to hit, her eyes snapped open and the ki barrier exploded between her and the nearest group of oni. “Get away from me, you freaks!” she hollered as several clubs rained down on the barrier in succession, causing it to waver and dip in its intensity slightly. One club broke through and clipped her across the shoulder, when suddenly Ranma jerked his hands in towards his chest, then thrust outward, both palms extended as he executed a move he had only done a few times before- a double Moko Takabisha. And not merely a standard blast divided in two; each ki orb was easily comparable to one of his regular blasts. Shingen and Akane both gasped as the blaze ripped no less than five ogres to shreds.

Great Kami… is this what you meant when you said you were holding back? Akane thought to herself in semi-shock. You… you’ve been holding THAT much power inside of you, Ranma?

Shingen stood up and lunged forward to join the others, his own eyes widening. Good Lord, what kind of a man is this? I knew he was keeping himself in check during some of our exercises, but… how the devil could I have missed something like this? TWIN ki blasts? Even I can’t do something like that and have them both at full power… He shook off the shock, vowing to examine the issue more closely at a later time as more ogres continued to emerge. The front lines, however, were becoming noticeably irked and even a little hesitant.

Several oni began lunging out from the sides, circling around in a slow, determined pincer attack. Ranma pounded his fist into his palm and crouched low for a split instant. “Hey, Akane, Shingen, you guys might wanna step back for a moment; things are gonna get a little nuts.”

“What’re you talking about?” Shingen shouted back just as two oni reached him; he promptly impaled one on his naginata, then spun around and jabbed three fingers of his right hand into the other’s face. “KONPAKU KAKI BAKUHA!” he snapped, sending a white ki blast directly down the ogre’s throat, bursting him from the inside out.

Akane blanched as a vision of Ranma’s plan swam through her mind from his Astral Link. “I think what he means,” she said, jamming a ki-coated fist into one oni’s gut and throwing him to the ground, “is that it’s going to get pretty windy here in a moment.” Another oni swung a club at her, which she promptly used as a stepping stone to leap upward, catch his head in a leg scissors and twist, breaking his neck. You better know what you’re doing, Ranma… and so help me, you hurt yourself doing this and I am going to slap you silly!

Ranma smirked and snapped his attention back to the main horde- and sprang forward, feet pounding the ground like a man possessed. There was no subtlety to his stride, just a mad dash directly into the face of the platoon of oni. The beasts grinned and charged him in unison, raising fists and clubs to strike… when something happened. For an instant, Ranma glowed bright golden- and suddenly kicked into higher gear, bursting out of the light in his smaller, faster, female body. Onna-Ranma’s hand flew to the hilt of the wakizashi on her back just as she ducked down and executed a baseball slide right through the legs of several startled oni. A quick series of wet cutting noises was followed by no less than three ogres collapsing onto their faces and bursting into white powder, their legs and lower abdomen ripped open by a series of lightning-fast slashes. The other ogres grunted and began shifting their position, trying to attack the red-haired blur that had just invaded their ranks. One smashed his comrade on the foot trying to get a bead on her, only to be struck three times in the chest by a bizarre combination of sword jabs combined with the Amaguriken.

Onna-Ranma scrambled and ducked madly through the crowd around her, making a beeline for the glowing patch of earth in the center of it all- when suddenly she changed directions, making a quick 90-degree turn to the right. Her wakizashi flashed like liquid steel as she skirted through the ogres, who were rapidly becoming incensed at the audacity of their ‘new’ foe. The cuts delivered were now not deep enough to do serious injury, but Ranma had no intention of cutting deep at this speed. She was angering them, making them stumble over one another to strike her, causing their own battle auras to flare hotter still. She smirked and began clearing her aura of all emotion as she lapsed into the spiral.

She could feel power building up, bit by bit, with every step she took that brought her closer to the center- where she knew she would find the katana that was causing it all. She could vaguely hear a warhorse’s whinny in her ears, drowning out the sound of the oni all around her. Their anger was burning hot as a furnace, while all the while the Soul of Ice was driving her ki colder and colder still… so cold that frost was beginning to form on the wakizashi. The sudden drop in air temperature was not ignored by the oni; they could feel a strong wind beginning to pick up, pulling them in. Suddenly the ogres thinned out and she saw the katana in the midst of the ground, with the scabbard lying nearby where Kuno had dropped it. Just a few more steps… three more… two… one… NOW! With barely a flicker of exertion, Ranma transformed back to his male body and swung his clan sword upward at the exact instant his left leg snapped out, catching the katana by the tsuba and launching it skyward.

“So long, suckers! HIRYU SHOTEN HA!!!”

The vacant lot promptly erupted in a maelstrom of wind, ki and debris as Ranma’s attack exploded outwards from the clan sword. Oni gasped and screamed as they were tossed about like rag dolls, sucked into the rapidly expanding cyclone and torn to shreds by the energies erupting within the funnel’s walls. Akane and Shingen both winced just before slamming their few remaining opponents towards the cyclone, then dug their feet into the ground and covered their faces, bracing against the unprecedented strength of the hurricane-like winds. Countless screams echoed across the lot as several dozen oni were crushed to pieces by the wind, the debris, and each other.

Then, just as suddenly as it had happened, it stopped. The winds died down. Several remaining ogres flopped gracelessly out of the sky, collapsing on the cold ground below. Ranma swung his wakizashi down once, then lifted it back up and resheathed it across his back. A light whirring sound above him gradually grew louder, then louder still. Suddenly he nudged the sheath on the ground with his foot, flipping it up in the air and catching it with his left hand. A second later, he raised his right hand and, without looking, caught the descending Sword of Ogres by the hilt. He twirled the katana once, then slammed it into its waiting saya with a deft flick of the wrist.

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Nabiki stood stock-still behind the guardrail at the top of the lot’s sloping edge, her right eye glued to her camera’s viewfinder. “Holy crap,” she breathed in a very un-Nabiki tone of voice. “If I hadn’t seen it I don’t think I would’ve believed it… was that really Ranma and my kid sister out there?” And what the hell were they fighting? Those red things… they can’t REALLY be the oni mentioned in my Japanese folklore books… can they? She panned her camera along the lot, focusing on the faces of the few remaining ones- smirking once as she caught sight of their eyes spinning in their sockets. Unbelievable… un-frickin’-believable… one weekend out of the house and Akane’s skill starts shooting through the roof… Her train of thought stopped as her camera stopped on Kuno’s limp body on the edge of the lot, resting against the far embankment. She zoomed in on his delirious face as it was being poked and prodded by a nervous Sasuke, blinked… then snickered. Nodoka, for her part, simply stood to the side, one hand to her mouth and her eyes widening in surprise.

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Ranma breathed out a long sigh, then opened his eyes and smirked. “Guess I overdid it a little bit,” he quipped before wobbling and dropping to one knee.

“A bit?” said Akane with an eyebrow raised as she jogged to his side, pulling him to his feet. “I think I’d call it a little more than just a bit, you dummy! Didn’t you hear me earlier?”

“Well, yeah, but I ain’t hurting that bad, just worn out a little… so ya don’t get to slap me silly, I guess,” he replied before straightening up and looking at her with a serious eye. “Hey, what about you? You didn’t get hit too badly, did you?”

“Ranma, I’m fine; they nicked me a couple times but it’s nothing. Like you said, it wasn’t that different from the Hentai Horde- just a bit bigger, that’s all,” she said, a little too firmly. Ranma raised an eyebrow and touched her lightly on her left shoulder; she promptly gasped in pain and clutched at the spot he had touched. “Hey!”

“I think that was more than a nick,” he said with a smirk, focusing his aura into his palm and running it along her shoulder again, this time barely brushing her gi; a cooling wave washed through her arm and she sighed in relief. “You’ve really got to let me know if you’re hurting, you stubborn tomboy,” he added in a gentle tone.

“Look who’s talking, extra-stubborn baka,” she retorted in an identical tone, poking a rather large bruise on his right forearm. Ranma flinched, but only grinned in return.

“Perhaps we could save the lovey-dovey chatter for some other time?” said Shingen as he joined the pair. “We still have a few oni left to deal with, but from the looks of things they’re too dazed to be any sort of a threat for now. One quick cut should be all we need to take them out.” He turned to Ranma and took the katana out of his hand; digging into his jacket pocket, he quickly produced a length of rosary beads with a koa wood crucifix. “And we might as well cut off the source as well.”

“What’s that for?” Ranma asked.

Shingen spun the strand of beads through the air, wrapping them around the juncture of the sword’s sheath and the tsuba time and again, effectively peace-binding the katana and tying the strand at the tsuba with the crucifix resting along the length of the sheath. That done, he straightened up- and banged Ranma on the top of the head with his fist.

“OW! Hey, whadja do THAT for?”

“This,” Shingen replied, pointing to the katana, “is to further dampen its power and keep it in check. That,” he continued, pointing to Ranma’s head, “was for holding out on me this past weekend. I knew you were reining yourself back because of the whole Jusendo incident, but… damn. How the hell could you have had that much ki at your disposal and still be able to conceal it?” Just then a nearby oni groaned and tried to stagger up; its progress was quickly cut short by Shingen’s naginata impaling its forehead.

“Geez man, I don’t know, okay? I just do,” Ranma shot back, clenching his fists. “Ya don’t think this freaks me out, too? Hell, it’s been freakin’ me out ever since I got back from China; it’s like I got something inside me that wants to be let out, but if I do let it out…” He gestured around the ruined lot. “You saw it yourself; if I hadn’t reined in that last blast a little I could’ve lost control and blown this whole block up!” He paused, then slumped his shoulders. “Probably would have, too, if I’d still had that curse spirit inside me…”

Shingen paused, then looked around at the remaining unconscious oni. “Yeah, I can see that,” he murmured, then straightened up. “Look, all I was trying to point out is that I never once saw that kind of power these past few days, except a slight glimpse when we fought that wildcat spirit. Not even when we were sparring together.” He straightened his bandanna. “Guess I got a little thrown, thought maybe you hadn’t taken things seriously when I told you not to hold back.” Perhaps his blood is awakening faster than I thought… or it could be from the training he endured at the hands of his idiot father. Shingen blinked and looked at Ranma carefully.

“I know, I know,” said Ranma as he straightened out the remains of his shirt. “It’s not that I wasn’t taking it seriously, man. It’s just me. Part of it was the weights ya had me wearing- and part of it was just me being me. I don’t like showing my whole hand if I don’t have to… so I guess I wind up crippling myself till I get a bead on what my opponent can do.” He looked down at his hands. “I haven’t really cut loose like that in a good long while… least, not against the people round here.”

“He’s not the only one who got thrown, you know,” said Akane softly. “I could feel it, too… it was like something really big had flared up inside you during the fight, Ranma.” She paused and rested a hand over her heart. “Maybe it’s something to do with our blood awakening, because… I felt a flare inside me, too. Or… I don’t know. It was kind of scary… but, well… exciting at the same time.”

Ranma let out a long sigh. “Yeah, well… fact is, I could say the same about you, Shin, what with that meatgrinder move you pulled a moment ago. That was a pretty big ki jump you made, too.”

“It’s not a move I use lightly, I’ll admit,” Shingen replied. “I wasn’t that keen to risk it, what with the chance of hitting you two at the same time, or that samurai-wannabe… or the audience we picked up just before the fight.” He smirked and nodded his head once towards the guardrail at the edge of the lot.

“You felt them too, huh,” said Ranma, rolling his eyes a bit before shutting them. “Don’t tell me… one of them’s probably Nabiki with that camera of hers.”

Akane glanced over his shoulder back towards the rail, blinked and looked back at him quickly. “Yep, Nabiki’s there all right… and your mom, too, Ranma.”

Ranma’s eyes shot open. “Mom? She was… you mean she was watching this whole time?”

“Well, it isn’t like she hasn’t seen this sort of thing before; she was there when your curse was Purged, remember?” said Shingen, casually flinging a throwing knife between the eyes of another mortally wounded oni, thus causing it to burst into white light.

“I know, man, but…”

“If it’s about the blade cyclone, I told you I didn’t want to risk it around others,” Shingen continued. “I wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t been sure they wouldn’t get caught in it. The embankment took most of the damage thrown that way; I knew what I was doing.”

“That’s not what I meant, I just… ah, never mind.” Ranma groaned and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Now she’s probably gonna be paradin’ all over the house, spouting out about how ‘my son is so manly’ or some other kinda junk…” he mumbled.

Akane giggled. “What’s wrong with that? I would’ve thought you’d want your mom to be proud of you, especially after a fight like that!”

“Well, yeah… but I just know it’s gonna turn into something embarrassing, and gods know what Nabiki’s going to do with that camera of hers.”

Akane shrugged, stealing a glance towards the embankment once again; neither Nabiki nor Nodoka had moved or said anything the entire time, and Nabiki’s lens was still scouring the scene. Sometimes I think you still worry far too much, Ranma, she thought to herself… then grinned as an idea popped into her head. “Say… how’d you like to blow one of my sister’s circuits for a moment?” she purred in a wicked tone.

“Huh?” Ranma replied, one eyebrow raised. Then an image of what she was planning popped into his head via a Link, and the confused expression fell, replaced by a sly one of his own. “Oooh, I see… you mean show her what she’d least expect at a time like this,” he said softly. “But you know she’d probably turn right around and cash in on it.”

“I doubt it; she did promise she was on our side now,” said Akane. “Besides- even if she did, I don’t really care anymore. The way things are going these days, who cares if anyone else knows?” But she wouldn’t sell us out anyway… not unless she wants to meet the business end of the mallet, she added via the Link.

“Hmm… yeah, you got a point.” Beyond Akane, he suddenly caught sight of Kuno stirring and stumbling into a seated position, and his smile grew a little more. “Maybe we could blow what’s left of Kuno’s mind at the same time?”

“Oh, you are devious!” Akane replied with a snicker.

“Takes one to know one,” was Ranma’s answer before the two of them turned and pulled each other into a passionate embrace, something straight out of a Hollywood romance film. For a moment, they shared a flashback to their disastrous Romeo & Juliet production, remembering the kiss-that-wasn’t and wishing it could have been more like what they were currently experiencing. The two of them did ham it up a little for the benefit of anyone watching, but it was no less passionate because of it.

Nabiki almost dropped the camera as she saw what she once thought she’d never see in public. “Holeeee… they’re really… her and him…” She knew they’d seen her behind the rail, she’d figured they’d shout at her to turn the camera off or something else that she was used to- not a full-on display of emotion following the heat of battle! That’s it… all bets are off, they actually did kiss in broad daylight before the wedding… Just then her brain re-engaged and she broke out in a big grin. Guess that makes it official, those two ARE crazy about each other! And I got it on tape! “Nice going, Saotome!” she hollered, giving the two of them a thumbs-up. “Way to go, little sis!”

“Oh, my manly son…” Nodoka murmured, one hand still over her mouth. I thought I’d seen him at his peak that night when his curse was eased… but this was so much more! This is… this is at least ten times beyond anything I ever thought humanly possible… not to mention the way that he and Akane fought in unison! Her smile faltered ever so slightly. Even though it really isn’t very ladylike of her to be so aggressive… still, that was such a sight to behold! Those two have grown so much in the last few…

She paused in her train of thought and her smile faltered again. Grown so much… Her hand dropped to her side and a tear began to form in her eye. That’s right. My son’s a grown man now. And I never got a chance to see him grow or help him through all the pain he’s endured. All because I took Genma at his word, trusted him to take care of my baby…

A battered and bruised Kuno took one look at his beloved Akane, wrapped as she was in the arms of his most hated rival- and willingly so, from the looks of her posture and the way she clung to him- and promptly passed out cold. Shingen merely shook his head and decided to let the two be for the moment, then proceeded to eliminate the remaining incapacitated oni at a casual pace with his naginata- which somehow resembled popping large balloons with a trash kabob.

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Somewhere in the seas South of Japan, a Korean cargo vessel lay adrift and in chaos, the result of an unexpected visitor making its way onboard and into the main cargo hold. Several crewmen were trying to get a lifeboat launched, others were grabbing whatever they could find to try and defend themselves from the visitor. The visitor, in this case, happened to be a giant octopus that had wormed its way onto the ship for three very important reasons. One, it had at one point in the past swallowed a magic pill that would cause it to fall in love permanently with the first male being it saw. Two, the being in question happened to be a diminutive, perverted martial arts master. Three, said perverted martial arts master was a stowaway in the cargo hold in question.

This, needless to say, meant nothing but trouble for the Korean sailors, let alone the aforementioned Happosai.

“RRRRAAAANNNNMMMMAAAA! YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS, I SWEAR IT!” the pint-sized perv shrieked as he bounced around the hold, scrambling like mad to avoid the oncoming octopus embrace. Sadly- for him, anyway- he was unsuccessful due to the lack of space in the cramped hold, and was soon trussed up in a massive, slimy hug, the type of which he had wanted to avoid ever since his first encounter with the beast. The beast, on the other hand, was in heaven, cuddling up with the one it adored.

Shortly thereafter, the octopus abruptly departed the cargo vessel, carrying the screaming Happosai with it as it plunged back into the sea- allowing the sailors to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

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Whoa; either I kicked up more dust than I thought, or someone’s talkin’ about me, Ranma thought as he stifled a rather large sneeze.

“Hey, you’re not getting sick on me, are you?”

“Keh, as if. I don’t get sick that easy; just a little dust, Akane, that’s all.”

“More than a little dust if you ask me, little bro,” said Nabiki in a teasing tone as she jogged towards the two of them, camera still rolling. “Boy, you sure know how to pick your fights, dontcha? Where the frick did those big red apes come from, anyway?”

“Let’s just say a certain Kuno clan moron decided to find something even stupider than that Phoenix egg he bought months ago,” Akane replied with a sigh. “But that’s not important right now; what on Earth were you doing up there, oneechan?”

Nabiki shrugged. “I just happened to be in the neighborhood, saw something going down with those weird green lights and decided to give my new mini-cam a try. Didn’t know it was you two until I actually got here- and I’ve got to admit, little sis, you impressed the hell out of me with that display you put on.”

Akane flushed slightly and scratched the back of her head. “Well, this was supposed to be a training weekend anyway, so…” She shook her head and gave Nabiki a hard look. “That’s not the point; you know you could’ve gotten hurt if something had gone wrong?”

Nabiki sighed. “The thought had crossed my mind, but you’re forgetting I’ve been ‘at ringside’ for some of Ranma’s other big fights… like with Ryoga, or Miss Hinako, remember? Okay, so maybe I was there mostly for setting odds… point is, I had a feeling it’d be rough. I was ready for it.”

“You were ready for all of that?” Ranma asked, gesturing around the lot.

“Well… maybe it was a little more than I expected,” she replied. Guess I can throw my skeptics badge out the window- and here I thought they’d exaggerated about what went down in China, but if something like that horde of ‘whatevers’ can crop up here, then… “Didn’t expect you two to take it in stride like that either; you didn’t get hurt, did you, Akane?”

“Sis, I’m fine,” the younger Tendo admonished. “I was a bit nervous going in, but once we got started… I don’t know, I just sort of got into a groove and it got easier all of a sudden.” She straightened her gi top; for a brief moment, her eyes flickered in the direction of the Saito wakizashi, still sheathed across her back.

“Yeah, all that work we did really paid off,” said Ranma proudly, resting a hand lightly on her right shoulder. Akane just nodded and smiled.

“So I guess you two really did get around to some training, after all,” Nabiki said before grinning slyly. “Not all just fun and games, I see… or was it?”

“NABIKI!” the two teens chorused.

“Hey, chill, okay? I’m just giving you two a hard time, that’s all,” she replied innocently. “I wouldn’t tease if I didn’t care about you both, ne?” she added with a wink before strolling across the lot to take a few close-up shots of the comatose Kuno. “By the way, you gotta tell me where you picked up those swords you’re carrying; those are mighty fine pieces of work!”

Ranma sighed and put one hand to his head. “I don’t think I’m ever going to figure out that sister of yours,” he groaned.

“WOOHOO! Hey, Akane, you were right, Kuno-baby does like to wear teddy bear boxers!” Nabiki hollered from across the lot; just beyond her, they could see Sasuke frantically scrambling to push her away and drag Kuno home as quick as possible.

“You and me both, Ranma,” Akane added with a groan of her own. Ranma folded his hands behind his back and stretched out his arms- then stopped as he felt a hand lightly touch his wrist.

“Son?”

“Wha…” He turned around and blinked as he noticed the person behind him. “Oh, Mom… sorry, I wasn’t ignoring you or nothing, I just…” He stopped. “Mom? Are you okay?”

Nodoka looked at him with a mixed expression in her eyes- one of extreme pride, but mixed with a shadow of regret, some surprise and no small amount of personal shame. “I don’t think so,” she murmured, drawing closer to him and placing a hand on his chest. “I’ve done a lot of thinking this weekend, not to mention found out certain things that… things I wish I’d found out so much sooner. I…” She shook her head and pulled him into a tight embrace. “I’m sorry, Ranma… I’m so sorry…”

“Auntie?” said Akane in a worried tone.

“Mom, what’s going on?” said Ranma in an identical tone. “What’ve you got to be sorry about? What’s the matter?”

Nodoka shook her head again and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her kimono. “It’s… it’s about Genma,” she said shakily. “And what he did to you when I couldn’t be there for you.”

To Be Continued…

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Author’s Note 9/18/05: I was planning to incorporate a few more elements, but with the length of this chapter it made more sense to split it into two parts. There is definitely some more trash in need of taking out, but not all of it could fit into one chapter. Hopefully this installment was enjoyable. Now, on to a few points.

First off, in my own defense I did not intend to make Shingen into a Mary-Sue type OC. His intentions have nothing to do with pairing people up- Ranma and Akane had already admitted their feelings to each other before he ever appeared. Yes, when he and Ranma first fought they were evenly matched, but then again the same thing usually happens anytime Ranma meets any new fighter. He doesn’t always win the first time, and uses what he’s seen to fare better the next time(that’s how he beat Kirin and Toma). Not to mention Shingen is ten years older with more combat experience against demons- but Ranma is not only catching up to him; with his blood awakening Ranma has begun to surpass Shingen in raw power and combat ability. If anything, I created him as a comrade in arms of sorts; he’s not a godlike character. At least, I hope he isn’t. He’s just in Nerima to do his job.

I decided to refer to Ranma in girl form as onna-Ranma instead of Ranma-chan mainly because it makes more sense in Japanese. The phrase has been used by other fanfic writers, and I figured it made a little more sense.

Ikusen Yaiba no Teikiatsu: Loosely translated, Cyclone of a Thousand Blades. A weapon technique of Shingen’s spear-fighting style which creates vacuum blades in all directions; derived from pumping one’s ki into the edge of a rapidly moving weapon. The comparison to the Yamasen-ken refers to Ranma’s fight with Ryu Kumon in a past volume of the manga.

The fight sequence was partially inspired while I was listening to the song What Drives the Weak by Shadows Fall, one of the finest metal bands performing today IMHO.

To all my readers, thank you for stopping by. If you could leave a review on your way out, I’d love it; constructive criticism is appreciated, flames will be thrown into the burn bin and used for toasting marshmallows. Until next time.

Neon Ronin