Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Mist ❯ Chapter 23 ( Chapter 24 )

Started 12/10/2007 Completed 12/10/2007

Chapter 23

Ranma arrived, rising from the shadows in a way that was reminiscent of watching ice melt in reverse. The first thing he noticed was Kiima huddled on the dais, her body wracked with sobs. This was an interesting turn of events,' he mused as he hurried over to Kiima's side. He knelt and held her in his embrace until she was able regain control over her emotions.

With the last sniffles Kiima looked up into the eyes of her lifeline; it was the groundling who dominated the air, Ranma. “R-Ranma…?” Seeing the greatest warrior she knew with the sole exception of Saffron, she knew what she had to do…

 

In Outside, the realm of the Elder gods, Selene entered the room, a guest trailing her. Her guest stood, arms crossed, with an aura of power that rivaled even Ryu's. His long wings of gold and fire were tucked behind his back as he stood before them in archaic battle attire - pristine white top made of micro-diamond fiber a golden helmet with a cross-slit showing his eyes, nose and mouth; the warrior's skirt made of an impenetrable hide in several long strips, each reaching his knees, and his feet rested on leather sandals laced up his lower legs holding a set of grieves in place.

Selene shot a pointed glare at Ryu, knowing he would have something annoying to say about her tastes. “May I present the candidate I have selected to fill in Shinnok's position… Saffron, last of the Atlantan Phoenix-guard.”

“The Phoenix-guard? I thought you and Maya saw to their end?” Ryu shouted. If Selene had been allowing slip-ups like these to occur in all her missions, then the Elder gods might just be in for some trouble.

Selene raised a cautious hand, signaling silence from Ryu. She knew he would cause her trouble. Of course Reese, sitting off to the side, showed no amount of consideration for anything taking place. `Must be a good sign,' she pondered. “Calm yourself, Ryu. Saffron is the only survivor of the Atlantis races. Maya saw to that end when she sacrificed herself. At the time, Saffron was too powerful for me to defeat, so I escaped and allowed some Mortal male to take Saffron's Nova blast. He was sealed on the planet Saturn until around ten thousand years ago.” Selene offered by way of explanation.

Allure, finding another chink in Ryu's armor, threw a few rocks at it. “You of all people should understand the difficulty it requires to rid the Earthrealm of a single Phoenix, or have you forgotten Quetzalcoatl?” it asked, refreshing the Elder's memories of the time Ryu chased a Phoenix across four Realms and was only able to pin it to the surface of a forest in Earthrealm, creating the deserts in southern North America.

Ryu grit his teeth. How he longed to rip the flesh from Allure's body and feed it down the beast's neck. Idly, Ryu finger his favorite claw, flicking motes of old flesh into the expanse of the Nothing Sea. “When this tournament has concluded, I will have Azure as my servant-bitch,” Ryu swore - it was more to himself, but he had spoken aloud.

For the first time in millennia, Allure's screen of aloofness was broken and it lashed out at Ryu, hurling a bolt of electricity at Ryu, which faded from existence as it tried to strike him. “I've told you before, NEVER call me that, Ryu,” Allure's nostrils flared and great gouts of blue flame spewed from them.

Ryu continued picking at his claw, ignoring the ramblings of the lesser skilled Allure. “You know, if you spent a third the time training as you do grooming, you would possibly be a challenge to me.”

“If you spent a moment grooming at all, you wouldn't reek of the Mortal sluts you entertain nightly!” Allure returned, his smoke form solidifying into that of purple Chinese Dragon.

“Enough,” Reese commanded, drawing all to silence. He had seen where this conversation was headed and it was pointless. “If I might make a suggestion,” he paused to stare down any complaints and glares, “I propose we return Saffron to his kingdom now. Otherwise we will meet our end. Even now a war council is being drawn to see to your end.”

All went silent. They knew Reese was a precognizant and there was no way to get the drop on him, but the same did not hold true for the others. Selene gazed between her newest lover, the man she raised from an infant into being her perfect consort, then to Reese, the being that knew everything a few moments before it happened. It was because of him they were able to defeat the One Being.

 

Ranma stood at the head of the table, looking at the assembled warriors with respect; something he would never do on the battlefield. From the left side of the table was Ryoga, Kiima, Herb, Mint and Lime. On the left side was Mousse, Liu Kang, Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage, and on the opposite side of the table was Raiden.

Ryoga was looking around the room in a daze, wondering just where he was. It had taken a bit a of luck to find him, but if Ranma had anything it was luck, both bad and good. “Where am I, now?” Ryoga questioned, something he was quite used to asking. He spent a few minutes searching his whereabouts before his eyes landed on his rival… “RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!!”

With a blaze of battle aura, Ryoga leapt to his feet and ran after his sworn adversary. Ranma weaved about, dodging strikes nearing the speed of sound as the two warmed up for a real fight. Ryoga was grinning from ear-to-ear, enjoying the feel of a real fight against an opponent of his caliber - which was rare to come by, with the exception of those gathered in the room.

Ranma increased his speed when Ryoga increased the tempo, moving into speeds only measurable by Mach. “I should tell you Ranma, I got seal in a different world-“ Ryoga threw a fist at a speed that warped time/space for an instant. “I was there for nearly a million years! I only got out when this spiky-haired guy came in! It's your fault I got lost, I know it!”

Ranma smirked, this was something he could deal with. Give him a death-duel and watch Ranma go, but make him a father of three goddesses and he was at a complete loss. “How could it be my fault when I wasn't around a million years ago, P-Chan?” Ranma dodged the retaliatory punch, aimed for his head.

“Don't call me “P-Chan”!” Ryoga yelled, his battle aura springing to life and basking the room in green and red. Ryoga swung at Ranma with his most powerful strikes, but all fell short.

“STOP IT!” Kiima demanded, her seagull-like wings bristling with her anger. This situation was unnecessary. “WHILE YOU TWO ARE FIGHTING, THOSE BASTARDS HAVE MY BABY-SAFFRON!”

Ranma and Ryoga froze mid-swing, Ranma holding Ryoga by the collar with a fist cocked back and Ryoga was driving a knee into Ranma's gut. Both had the decency to hang their heads shamefacedly.

Ryoga narrowed his eyes and whispered to Ranma, “What's Kiima doing back in Nerima?” The fact that the surroundings weren't familiar to his memories of Nerima mattered little, as Ranma was here.

Ranma rubbed his face in annoyance.

 

 

LWH (laarcae@laarcae.com)