All characters and suchnot, save Feather, are copyright by Rumiko
Takahashi, Viz, and whomever else owns a piece of the wonderful
world of Ranma 1/2 They aren't mine, and I'm borrowing them for a
purely non-profit fictional work.
A Feather in the Wind
Chapter 4
Darkness, a foul taste in the mouth. Akane
felt like she had been thrown into a dryer as she
started to wake up. Her head was pounding, and her
hands were tied uncomfortably behind her back.
She tried to listen, to see if her captors were
there, but was greeted by silence. Cautiously, she
barely cracked open an eye. The room was dark, but
she could barely make out someone that appeared
to be Ukyou in front of her. She worked her way
into a sitting position, and was reminded that her
head hurt. She looked around, and saw quite a few
others in the darkness, most of them just staring
idly at the newcomers. ::It's like they've lost
their will to escape...:: Akane thought to herself.
A dull roar startled her, and the room suddenly
jerked. Akane fell back onto her side as she
realized that they were in a tractor-trailer. While
she was struggling to sit up again, Ukyou
started to groan.
"Ukyou, you ok?" She asked in a whisper.
"I feel like roadkill" Ukyou grumbled. She
tried struggling with her bonds, but they were
bound too tight. "What's going on Akane?" Ukyou
asked as she sat up.
"I'm not sure, but there's a lot of people in
here." Startled, Ukyou looked around, and let
out a low whistle.
"And I thought Toma had an odd way of inviting
people over to his place." Ukyou said, trying
to keep a sense of humor. Akane forced out a
chuckle, and then started looking around. "What are
you looking for Akane?"
"I'm looking for Feather, if they got us, I'm
sure they got her as well." Abruptly, the
trailer pitched, throwing its unwilling occupants
around like ragdolls. None of the other girls
complained, but Akane and Ukyou were steaming. "When
I get my hands on the guy whose driving this
thing..." Akane started to say menacingly, when she
heard a stream of curses that would make a
sailor blanch.
"That.." Ukyou starts to say.
"That sounds like Feather, come on!" Akane and
Ukyou made their way closer to the front of the
trailer, having to work their way around several
sprawled out girls. When they got to the front,
they found Feather. She didn't just have her hands
tied behind her back, they had also tied her
ankles together, and had a rope going from her wrists
to her ankles.
"Oh my...." Akane paused, then she knelt
next to her, "Are you all right?" she asked, but
Feather just growled.
"She's been hog-tied, and from the looks of
things still out cold. I wonder if she was really
the one who was cursing." Ukyou said, as she tried
to maneuver herself to try and untie Feather's
ankles. "You try and get her hands free." Ukyou
grunted as she worked on the ropes. Akane
repositioned herself, and added her efforts to
untying her friend.
After a few minutes, Ukyou had managed to untie
Feather's ankles.
"I'm done here. How's it going with her
hands?" Ukyou asked. Akane sighed.
"Not good, these ropes are tight." The trailer
hit another bump, sending them sprawling.
Akane skidded into one of the other girls, and when
she went to apologize, she gasped.
"Ukyou! Take a look at this!" Akane said, a
look of horror on her face.
"What is it Akane?"
"Look at her!" Akane nodded towards the girl.
Ukyou peers closely at the girl, then backed
away making a gagging sound. Akane nodded. "She's
not tied up, and her eyes look empty. These guys
are playing with mind control."
"Why are they doing this?" Ukyou wondered
aloud, as she absently tried to struggle with her
bonds again.
Back at the dojo, all hell was breaking loose.
When the rest of the Tendos got home, they
discovered the wreckage and Ranma and Ryouga turned
into pincushions, Mr. Tendo lost it. He was in
full gusher mode and Nabiki had to move him outside
to prevent any water damage. Kasumi and Genma
had started to pluck the tranks out of the two boys
when Shampoo had busted through a wall, followed
by Mousse. While Genma tried to keep them at bay,
Kasumi was stuck with pulling the darts out by
herself.
"Oh my, who could have done this to them?"
Kasumi asked out loud, and was gratified by the
sudden silence around her. Shampoo knelt next to
Kasumi.
"Maybe Shampoo can help yes?" She asked,
unusually meek. Kasumi smiled.
"That would be very nice of you. Here,"
Kasumi handed her a cloth that had been soaked in
alcohol, "wipe off the spot where each dart was after
it's pulled out." Kasumi and Shampoo bent to
their task, while Genma tried fruitlessly to calm a
hysterical Soun.
"Why Ranma hit with so many dart?" Shampoo
pondered as she pulled yet another dart out of
Ranma's chest.
"We don't really know Shampoo, when we came
home we found them like this." Kasumi said softly
as she pulled a dart out of Ryouga. Shampoo
continued working for a few seconds, until she let
out a
gasp.
"What is it Shampoo?" Kasumi asked as Shampoo
gingerly pulled a tattered scrap of cloth out of
Ranma's limp hand.
"Shampoo found something." Shampoo examined
the cloth carefully, and she narrowed her eyes
when she saw the embroidered patch. "Is scrap of
cloth with patch on it. Shampoo no recognize
pattern, but maybe great-grandmother would." Shampoo
looked at the cloth again, then over at Mousse.
"Mousse!" She called. Mousse sprang to his feet,
ran over, and knelt before Kasumi.
"Yes Shampoo?" He asked. He felt a sharp
hit on the back of his head, and he put his
glasses on and turned around. Shampoo scowled at him
as she spoke.
"Shampoo need Mousse go get great-grandmother.
Tell great-grandmother about what found here,
and show her this." Shampoo held the cloth out to
Mousse, who took it and nodded.
"Anything for you Shampoo!" He said as he
leapt to his feet and sprinted for the Nekohanten.
Shampoo turned back to the task of tending Ranma.
"So Shampoo," Nabiki drawled, "why are you so
nervous about that cloth?" Shampoo looked at
her, irritated.
"Shampoo never finish helping Ranma if keep
getting interrupted." she said flatly and turned
back to her work. Nabiki, not satisfied with that
answer, sat and stared at Shampoo hoping to
distract her enough to get her to talk. Shampoo
remained focused, however, until the last dart was
pulled from Ranma and Ryouga and bandages applied.
"Let me ask you again, what was the big deal
about the patch on that cloth?" Nabiki asked
again, a bit of a scowl on her face this time.
Shampoo opened her mouth to give a scathing remark,
when an ancient voice interrupted her.
"It is the crest of the Viper clan." Cologne
said, after seemingly materializing next to
Nabiki. Nabiki, nonplussed by her entrance, turned
to the old woman in interest. "They are a clan
of assassins, who pride themselves in being able to
use others to do the dirty work. Regular members
of the clan are little more than caretakers." She
paused to puff at her pipe, "The true horror
behind their clan is the manipulation they practice
to get their assassins. Through certain herbs
and pressure points, they are able to literally mind
control their intended 'trainee'." Kasumi gave
a little gasp at this, and Mr. Tendo wailed even
more.
"Their going to make daddy's little girl into a
killer!!!" He wailed. Genma leaned forward in
interest.
"So, they control their assassins, and if they
get caught, there is no real way to trace them
back to the clan is there?" he sat cross-legged, and
crossed his arms. Cologne nodded.
"Yes, it works very well. Their assassins have
absolutely no memories left to them, and the
treatment takes quite a bit of time to wear off.
Until they do, they're very susceptible to
suggestion, and will do just about anything they are
told." The old woman smirked. "If it were that
easy, son in law would have been in China with us
long ago. But, with out a mind, the strongest
warrior on earth becomes a baby, and that's not how
we do things." Shampoo looked over at her great-
grandmother, a look of worry on her face.
"If them makes others do killing by taking
their minds away, how we fight them? And how we
keep same from happening to us?" Shampoo asked.
Cologne turned to her and cackled.
"Easy child. Don't let them hit any pressure
points. I will show you where they would be most
likely to strike." Cologne looked thoughtfully at
the pile of darts. "Maybe I can do something
about those as well." Ranma started to stir a bit,
and the room fell silent. After a minute had
passed, Ranma had opened his eyes, and started to
brood. Shampoo glomped onto him.
"Shampoo happy to see husband awake!" She let
go of him quickly, when she realized he wasn't
responding to her at all. "What wrong, Ranma?" She
asked, looking at him in concern. She was
distracted by the sudden green glow that sprang from
around Ryouga. Everyone, save Ranma, stared at
Ryouga as he slowly stood, green energy from his
building depression and anger swirling around him.
He growled as he looked around the room, the aura
around him building. Then, it dissipated, and
Ryouga sank back to the floor. Ranma lifted his
head.
"Those guys are dead when I catch up with
them!" Ranma said, clenching his teeth against the
tempest in his head, and the nausea in his gut.
Ryouga's head snapped around.
"Not without me, I have something for them as
well!" Ryouga said viscously, the intended
violence practically dripping from his tones.
Cologne chuckled.
"Well, it appears sleeping beauties are awake."
She then told them about the viper clan.
"Ok, so they control the minds of their
assassins, and like to use poisoned darts, they can't
be that tough." Ranma remarked, but there was
something gnawing at his gut. Ryouga looked
thoughtful for a second, and turned to Cologne.
"Any ideas as to where they're hiding?" he
asked. Cologne nodded.
"One of their 'training camps' is not that far
away. It's on the peak of one of the closer
mountains. The face of the mountain has been
purposely scarred, in order to scare off tourists."
Cologne gazed at them with a serious expression on
her face. "Finding them isn't the hard part,
it's getting out alive. Once the 'trainee' has been
under the influence of the clan, they stop
feeling pain. They will continue to attack till
they're dead, or you are." Ranma swallowed
nervously.
"Ok, whatever." He mumbled, when the feeling
in his gut suddenly became clear. He looked up
at Cologne in alarm. "How long does it take for them
to get someone under their control?" At his
statement, every eye turned to Cologne, anxious for
the answer.
"I don't know." Everyone collapsed at her
words. Ranma sprang to his feet and raised his fist
into the air.
"Then what are we waiting for! We need to go
now and rescue Akane and the others!" Ryouga
stood next to Ranma.
"Let's go Ranma! Those vipers need their fangs
broken!" Ranma nodded at Ryouga's words, and
then turned to the others in the room.
"So who is with me?" He yelled, raising a
clenched fist into the air to emphasize his point.
Shampoo glomped onto him.
"Shampoo go with Ranma anywhere!" she squealed
as she hugged him tightly. Mousse stood as
well.
"I would follow Shampoo through the gates of
hell and back, so I shall also go." Mr. Tendo's
tears threatened to flood the house.
"The loyalty! The friendship! This is youth!"
He cried out, "Akane is so lucky to have such
good friends!" In a startling change, Mr. Tendo
calmed down, and took the Tendo family sword from
it's place. "I shall go with you son, and whet my
families sword with the blood of those who would
dare hurt my little girl." Ranma stared at him in
shock, while he turned to Genma. "You're coming
too, right Saotome?" Genma looked at his friend, and
merely nodded.
"Aren't we the great crusaders," Nabiki
remarked, absently noting the sound of someone
barefooted rapidly approaching. Ranma rubbed the
back of his head.
"Uh, yeah well.... Let's go get em!" He said,
flustered by Nabiki's comment. As he turned to
lead the way out of the dojo, Kuno burst into the
room.
"I, the great Tatewaki Kuno, would be most
grievously offended if this were to transpire
without me in attendance. I, the Blue Thunder of
Furinkan High, offer my assistance in this, the
most noble of quests." Kuno announced to those
assembled. Ranma's jaw worked uselessly, as it was
too busy becoming aquainted with the floor, so Ryouga
spoke.
"And just how did you know what was going on?"
Ryouga asked, a bit suspiciously. Kuno looked
to one side, and casually swept some hair out of his
eyes.
"My good Sasuke informed me as to what had
transpired. It is to my regret that the message I
had him carry went undelivered, as the foul brethren
of the devil himself were already spiriting away
Akane Tendo. He also spoke of the possibility that
the fiends had the pig-tailed girl as well, so I
made haste to offer my blade into the service of this
noble mission." Kuno brandished his bokken,
and took on a noble pose. "Let us be off on our
quest!" Ryouga put his hand to his face, Shampoo
giggled, and Ranma shrugged.
"He's got a point," Ranma said, "Let's go!"
Ranma started running in the general direction of
the mountains. Ranma, Ryouga, Shampoo, Kuno, and
Mousse disappeared in a large cloud of dust. When
it settled, a dumbfounded Soun and Genma were left
standing in the doorway.
"Tendo, do you have any idea where they were
headed?" Genma asked.
"Not a clue Saotome. Not a clue."
Ukyou gave one more frustrated tug at the ropes
tying Akane's wrists, and was gratified to feel
them suddenly go slack.
"Alright Ukyou!" Akane shouted, "Now, let's
get you untied" Akane worked on Ukyou's bonds as
the trailer bounced along the road. While Akane
struggled with the ropes, Ukyou looked at the other
occupants, she could see at least five others by the
light of the single, dim lamp. Ukyou was
freaked again by the blank stares the girls were
wearing. The silence that they maintained, despite
the jolts from the trailer and the overall
unpleasantness of the journey, was beyond human.
Ukyou
craned her neck impatiently to look at Akane.
"Hurry up Akane! I don't want to be tied up
when this thing stops." Ukyou hissed. Akane
didn't respond, but rather concentrated harder upon
the knots. A few seconds later, Ukyou was free,
and they finished untying Feather.
"When do you think she'll wake up?" Akane asked
as she gently held Feather's head in her lap.
"Dunno, but I'm all for busting out of this
thing, and making a break for it." Ukyou fitted
words to action, as she stood and walked to the back
of the trailer. She started examining the doors
in the back.
"You think we can bust out Ukyou?" Akane asked
as she tried fruitlessly to wake Feather up.
Akane was thanked for her effort by a light slap on
her hands, and a groan from Feather. Akane had
to smile a little, ::It's progress at least::
Ukyou strained against the door, and the metal
screeched it's complaint. ::Where's that
jackass Ryouga when you need his bull strength!::
Ukyou thought to herself as she started to kick at
the door. She wasn't expecting the door to suddenly
bust outwards, and she certainly wasn't
expecting to be thrown out when the truck started up
a steep incline. Ukyou screamed as she started
to fly out the back of the truck. Desperate, she
grabbed at the door as she went past. Her fingers
barely caught the metal cross bar, and she could feel
it starting to cut into her hand. With a
tremendous effort, she managed to get her other hand
onto the cross bar, and hook one of her feet
onto the lower lip of the door. The blood and wind
roared in her ears, and she felt like she was
going to faint, but one look at the road rushing by
beneath her gave her enough adrenaline to stay
conscious.
"Ukyou!!!" Akane screamed as she rushed to the
back to try and help Ukyou back into the truck.
Akane knelt on her knees and reached out with one
hand, "Grab my hand Ukyou!!" she called out
desperately. Ukyou reached, but missed by a few
inches. Encourage by how close it was, Akane leaned
out a little further and reached again.
Unfortunately, the truck hit another bump, causing
the door
to swing outwards, and Akane found her face in the
cold metal of the trailer, and her legs and waist
were leaning out the back of the trailer. "Akane!!
Hold on!" Ukyou reached for Akane, knowing that
perched on the door was infinitely safer.
With both doors being open, there was nowhere for her
to grab, and she was slowly slipping out. Akane
managed to get her feet onto the bumper, and was
starting to catch her breath, when she lost her
grip. Time seemed to slow down, Akane would later
swear that she had been able to see every pebble,
every crevice, and every tire mark on that stretch of
road. The only thing Akane could see was the
pavement below her, and the feel of the wind rushing
past seemed to stop for a while. Then every
thing started moving full speed again, and she opened
her mouth to scream.....
And a slim hand darted out of the truck,
grabbed her blouse, and yanked her back into the
truck. Feather looked at Akane, worried.
"You ok?" She asked, but Akane was shaking, and
couldn't seem to be able to talk. Akane
pointed out towards Ukyou, and Feather realized that
she needed help as well.
"Good save Feather!" Ukyou cheered, and then
winced. The cross bar had finally cut her hand,
and a small trickle of blood could be seen. Feather
looked critically out to where Ukyou was, and
pushed her hair out of her face. Suddenly, Feather
grabbed a lock of her hair, and looked at it
critically. She then untied the bandanna that held
her hair in a ponytail, and she tied a thick knot
at the end. Ukyou looked at her exasperated, "This
is no time to be playing with your hair
Feather!" Feather finished tying the knot and nodded
to herself.
"Just shut up and catch my hair when I toss it
to you!" she yelled as she threw her long hair
toward Ukyou. It took several tries, but Ukyou did
catch her hair. Feather then pulled as hard as
she could, and slowly the door began to close. When
Ukyou was a foot or so away, Feather let go of
her hair and grabbed Ukyou off of the door. Over
balanced, they fell backwards into the truck.
"Feather," Ukyou gasped, "If anyone ever
tries to make you cut your hair short, I'll beat
them into a bloody pulp!" Ukyou hugged Feather in
relief. They sat there for a few minutes,
gathering the strength to try and leave the truck
without getting hurt.
"Feather," Akane asked, "Do you think you can
fly us out?"
"I'm not sure," she shook her head, "I should
be able to slow us down enough to be able to
tumble safely." Right after Feather said this, the
truck lurched to a stop, the doors banging
noisily closed.
"Too late.." Ukyou said. They could hear
shouting outside, and the running of many booted
feet. The doors were forcefully opened and a large
man, dressed in a deep blue suit, entered the
truck. Two smaller men that were wearing dark
cloaks, flanked him. The man held a cane that had a
chrome skull on the top, and the girls could also see
a pistol in a holster low on his hip.
"So, these are our new recruits?" He asked the
man on his right. The cloaked man snapped to
attention and answered.
"Yes sir, one of them is also the stolen one."
"STOLEN?!?!?" Akane yelled, her battle aura
flaring as she angrily stood up. "What do you
mean stolen? We're not property you jerk!" The
man's face got flushed with anger, and he swung his
cane at Akane's face as he yelled at her.
"Shut yer mouth!" He sneered in contempt. He
was utterly stunned when Akane grabbed the cane,
and used the momentum of his swing to fling him into
the wall. He created a large dent, and he sunk
to the floor, all sense knocked out of him. The two
cloaked men pulled out trank guns and took aim,
ready to shoot if they approached. Akane froze, not
wanting to be tranked again. Ukyou and Feather
stood up, and moved next to Akane. Akane was about
to ask the cloaked man what he meant by stolen,
when a stern voice could be heard from outside.
"What on earth is going on in there?" One of
the cloaked men replied, without taking his eyes
off of the girls.
"Unusual resistance sir." He called out. They
could hear a hurried conversation, and then the
man outside replied.
"I'm coming in." A second later, a tall,
graying man entered the truck, and the cloaked man
who had spoken earlier snapped to attention and
saluted. The man was wearing the same style of suit,
but he had several odd looking devices on his
shoulder. He looked around the inside of the truck,
and raised his eyebrow when he saw the other man
slumped against the wall. He turned towards the
cloaked man who saluted and spoke. "Report"
"Sir, Lieutenant Yama had begun his inspection,
and one of them took offence to the terms used
to indicate that the stolen one was one of them.
When Lieutenant Yama attacked her with his cane,
she threw him into the wall sir." The gray man
nodded.
"Take the others to the reception area, I'll
deal with these three personally." The cloaked
man saluted, and he and his partner moved all the
other girls out of the truck. Akane got an angry
look on her face, and she took a step towards the
man.
"Ok, just what the heck is going on here? And
just who are you and what do you want from us?"
"My name is Ryuutsu Maruyama, and I am one of
the elders of the Viper clan." He gave a slight
bow to the girls. Flustered, they bowed back, more
out of habit than respect for the man. Akane was
not satisfied with his answer so far.
"We really don't care who you are, we want to
go home!" Akane yelled. Ryuutsu grinned, baring
his teeth a little, as he looked at Feather.
"But one of you is home now." He said calmly,
as he smiled a warm smile at them, "Welcome home
Feather."
"Hhh how... how did you know my name?" Feather
stammered. He chuckled at her.
"I should know, I named you."
Ranma and the others were impatiently riding in
a train. Mousse was occupying himself with
sharpening his weapons, while Ranma and Ryouga
quietly discussed the different ways they would take
apart the people that attacked them and took away
what was the most important things in their lives.
Shampoo and her great grandmother were speaking
quietly in Chinese, and Kuno was meditating, and
doing his best to ignore the 'common rabble' that he
was surrounded by. Most of the other passengers
were watching them nervously, half expecting them to
just go nuts and tear the train to pieces.
"About how long till we get there?" Ranma
asked during a pause in his conversation. Cologne
looked out the window at the scenery rushing by.
"I'd say we'd reach the station in about an
hour, and then it's a long hike up the mountain."
She said calmly. Ryouga looked at her angrily.
"How can you be so calm about this? Our
friends are in grave danger, and you're calmer
than...
than Kasumi!" Ryouga glared at the old woman, the
anger he felt was showing clearly on his features.
"It's no use to wear ourselves out worrying
about something we cannot change right now, so
relax, and save your strength for what we are about
to do." Cologne said without looking away from
the window. Ryouga glared at her for a second, and
then leaned back in his seat rather forcefully.
With a loud crack, the seat back snapped and Ryouga
ended up sprawled backwards. Without his usual
jibes, Ranma helped Ryouga sit up. Ryouga muttered
his thanks, and glared around, daring someone to
laugh at him.
"Relax man," Ranma said, "We'll get them
back. It's only a short time from now till we get
there. Once we're on the mountain, then we can let
loose." Ryouga looked at him angrily for a
second, then visibly relaxed.
"Shampoo anxious too," she commented while she
casually cracked some walnuts to munch on. "No
want violent tomboy or winged girl to lose soul."
Cologne chuckled, and looked seriously at them.
"It's been many years since the last time I
tangled with the Viper clan, so we will have to be
on our toes." They nodded at her words, "Their
methods may be different now. If they didn't adapt
to their surroundings, they would have perished a
long time ago. I think that we would want to
approach the compound with great caution, and learn
everything we can about them before we strike."
Ryouga got angry again.
"Why can't we just go in and beat them all up?"
Ranma nodded in agreement with his friends
word. Cologne glared at them for a second before she
responded.
"They have the girls in there, and they are
using more advanced technology. Remember how they
beat you before?" Ranma and Ryouga winced at the
reminder. "We need to be cautious when we approach,
lest we all fall victim to the same tactics." They
all fell silent for a while, and when they felt
the train start to slow down, they all anxiously
stood and moved towards the door. The second the
door was open wide enough, Ranma and Ryouga forced it
open the rest of the way, and rushed away from
the train. Or they tried to. Before they had gone
more than two steps, they both suffered from a
severe application of Cologne's staff.
"Slow down you two, remember what I said while
we were on the train? We need to begin
exercising caution now." They started to stand,
glaring at the gnarled old woman.
"Old ghoul" Ranma muttered under his breath.
He got another whack on the back of his head for
his trouble. Grumbling, Ranma and Ryouga let Cologne
lead the way from the station. Shampoo and
Mousse followed closely behind.
They began their long hike up the side of the
mountain, and were surprised.
"I thought you said they scarred the side of
the mountain, to scare off tourists...." Ranma
said as he gazed at the tall trees and lush foliage.
"If this is scarred, I'd love to see what you
call a beautiful retreat" Ryouga commented as he
shifted his pack slightly.
"Didn't I say that they may have adapted to the
changing times?" Cologne glared at the teen-
agers that surrounded her, "They obviously found a
better way to avoid curious eyes." Kuno grunted,
and then he struck a dramatic pose.
"These fiends of hell shall not go unpunished
by my righteous wrath! They shall fall like the
quivering vermin that they are before the might of
Tatewaki Kuno, and I shall rescue my beloved Akane
Tendo!" He would have continued, but Ranma had
backhanded him.
"Will you shut up already?!?" Ranma hissed,
"We don't need you to give away our position with
your posturing" Kuno looked like he was about to
speak again when Cologne rapped the back of his
head. Kuno whirled on the old woman, and was
rewarded with another knock on his skull.
Surprisingly, he took the hint and remained silent.
Ryouga glared at Kuno before starting off again.
Several hours passed, and the thick forest
started to lighten. Cologne motioned for Shampoo
to search ahead. The purple tressed amazon nodded,
and moved forward swiftly. The rest of the group
waited anxiously, and were startled when they heard
the distinctive pop of a tranquilizer gun.
Mousse rushed ahead, ignoring the warning glare from
the others. All he was concerned with was that
Shampoo may be in danger. Silently, Mousse perched
in a tree and looked out into a wide clearing.
Pushing his glasses back down over his eyes, he was
able to make out two uniformed men carrying an
unconscious Shampoo through a gated fence. The fence
was tall, and had barbed wire strung across the
top. Furious, Mousse examined the defenses that he
could see. He saw several cameras, a lot of
barbed wire, and a two story brick building that at
once struck him as huge, and foreboding. Taking
note of the patrol patterns, he regretfully turned to
return to the rest of the group. ::Patience my
dear Shampoo:: He thought to himself, ::I will rescue
you from those fiends!!::
When Mousse returned, they could see his
rage stamped on his face. He motioned for them to
huddle, and he spoke quietly and quickly.
"They got Shampoo, near as I can tell either
she was careless, or she let them take her so that
she could get inside. She may think that her ability
to turn into a cat will enable her to escape.
I don't think that is possible..." Mousse carefully
outlined the defenses he could see, and those
that he suspected as well.
"This is a grim situation, we cannot afford to
lose any more members of our team." Cologne
spoke softly, but her tone was enough to drive her
point home. "There is a shiatsu spot that should
enable you to resist their tranquilizers, but it is
risky."
"How risky ghoul?" Ranma asked quietly.
"If you are not hit by a dart, you will be
unable to sleep for three or four days. That is
enough to drive a man mad." Ryouga cleared his
throat before he spoke.
"It's risky, but we have no choice. If they
manage to mind-control Shampoo, we will be at a
serious disadvantage." Ranma and Mousse nodded,
while Kuno looked on with his attitude of haughty
superiority. "They may not be able to fight very
well, but she can. Not to mention she was the key
to our most dangerous weapon..." Ryouga trailed off,
and looked meaningfully at the now nervous
Ranma.
"You don't mean....?" Ranma asked and
shuddered when Ryouga nodded gravely. Kuno chose
this
point to speak.
"The men on patrol are likely to be alert after
the fair Shampoo appeared at their gates.
Methinks it wise to wait until they become
inattentive at their posts. We should strike during
the
darkened hours to facilitate their unwise
inattention." Ranma looked at Kuno in shock.
"You're scaring me Kuno, that actually made
sense."
"Then be wise, Saotome, and heed mine advice.
It would ill benefit Akane Tendo should we
attack in haste, as Shampoo did, and become
imprisoned as well." Cologne nodded.
"Get some sleep now." She said, "I will keep
watch while you gain the energy you'll need for
tonight." Ryouga was starting to protest when the
old woman poked the side of his neck with her
staff. Ryouga collapsed, snoring into the soft dirt.
"Anyone else need help getting some sleep?"
She asked. Ranma swallowed hard and nodded.
"I don't think I'll be able to without help."
Nodding grimly, Cologne tapped Ranma's sleep
spot, and he too collapsed. Kuno and Mousse tried to
get to sleep on their own, and only after a
while did they manage to drift off. Cologne
carefully covered them all with some large branches,
and
disappeared into the trees. She gazed out over the
small group and sighed. It was all to similar to
when the Viper clan had stolen her own daughter many
years past. The guilt she felt over the long
past incident welled up again. She was unable to
rescue her daughter, and her husband had died in
the attempt. Thankfully, she had escaped, and was
plotting her revenge when she discovered her
daughter, unharmed, just outside her tent. When she
had asked her daughter what happened, all she
could say was;
"The little man helped me"
Cologne shook herself out of her memories.
::Happy, why can't you be here to help this time?::
"You WHAT?!?!" Feather screamed, totally
confused. The man simply looked at her and repeated
himself.
"I named you. Sixteen years ago, when you
first showed up." Ryuutsu motioned for them to
follow him as he left the truck. Stunned, the
confused girls followed him. He walked swiftly,
ignoring the assembled ranks of men and women, and
entered a massive brick building. Once inside, he
started to show them around.
"A long time ago, I was the head of a research
project, code named Raven. The purpose of
project Raven was to learn if teleportation was
feasible." He abruptly turned and started down a
narrow flight of stairs. Akane leaned her head over
the railing, and couldn't see the ground. She
gulped nervously, and followed. "After many
failures, and many unfortunate deaths of volunteers,
it
was decided that we would try and take something
inanimate from where it was located. We reasoned
that it would help us gain a better understanding of
our would be teleportation device without any
other deaths. We were wrong."
The old man stumbled, but quickly righted
himself. The girls were too shocked to fully believe
Ryuutsu's story, but the sincerity of his words was
half convincing them that he was speaking the
truth. "When we made our first attempt at moving
some rocks, they appeared to have been moved
without any changes. However, when we tried to move
them, it became apparent that they had changed.
Underneath a thin film of dirt we discovered that the
device had changed it to a crystalline
structure. We were undaunted as we studied the
results and moved on, heartened by the first partial
success of project Raven, or we thought it was the
first success."
"What we discovered later still haunts my
memory. We had tried to figure out what had happened
to the people that had disappeared during some of the
previous tests. Using the data from those
tests, and a new, stolen processor, we attempted to
fetch our people." He started to look sick. "We
got them back, partially. I'll never forget the
bloody mess that appeared on the platform. Other
than the fact that they looked torn limb from limb,
it was definitely our people. Unable to
determine if someone did that to them, or the machine
was an open debate that raged for days. At the
end of the debate, it was determined that we would
use the machine to pick up whatever happened to be
at the same coordinates that we found... the bodies
at." He shook his head. Ukyou absently noticed
that they were nearing the bottom floor.
"That day forever marked our lives here. We
got our answers, and something more." They had
reached the bottom floor, and there was a pair of
massive steel doors chained shut. Akane gasped
when she noticed what looked like a fist shaped
protrusion from one of the doors. That alone wasn't
what shocked Akane and the others. It was the size
of the impression that scared them. Ryuutsu
looked at the doors, and calmly removed the chains.
When he pulled the doors open, the girls
screamed. In a liquid filled tube, a monstrosity
hung motionless. It looked vaguely humanoid, but
the long head and foot long claws quickly dispelled
that notion immediately. The thing was covered
in what looked like large scales, and they could
easily see holes where heavy weaponry had pierced
it's chest.
"What is that thing?" Ukyou screamed as
Ryuutsu calmly waited. When the room was silent
again, Ryuutsu continued.
"We're not sure what it is, but that and two
other beings were brought with it. One was a man
of great strength, and the other was a woman in hard
labor. That thing killed the man after a long
battle that destroyed most of this lab," He waved
one arm over towards the wreckage, "and killed
many of our men. It wasn't until we were able to get
the heavy weapons out were we able to stop it.
The woman... didn't survive. She died during
childbirth, and we had to cut the babe from her
stomach. The child we saved was you Feather." He
paused to let this information sink in. "Even
though the wings were quite apparent on your mother,
we didn't even think twice about it at the time.
After this had happened, we closed the lab and ceased
work on project Raven. I had become your
father, and would have raised you if it weren't for
that traitor." Feather looked at him in shock,
not comprehending what he was saying. Akane and
Ukyou were not in much better shape.
"You, you mean, that thing.. killed my
parents?" Ryuutsu nodded at her words, "And, your
project is the reason I have my wings?" he shrugged.
"I'm not certain about that. It's possible
that you would have had them naturally, but that is
a slim possibility. We never got a chance to speak
with your mother, or your father." He could see
tears starting to form in her eyes, so he quickly
continued. "Unfortunately, one of our trainers
decided that he wanted out of the clan, and he took
you and ran, likely because he knew we wouldn't
be able to shoot at him while he had you in his arms.
It's been fourteen years since he escaped, and
now he's finally facing his punishment. For stealing
away your childhood, and then making money off
of you for all those years while we vainly searched
for you. We never suspected he would join a
roving carnival, or to use his techniques to make
your will more pliable to him during that time."
Ryuutsu gently guided Feather towards a door. The
others followed quickly, not wanting to leave
Feather alone. When Ryuutsu opened the door, he
revealed a fair-sized room that looked like an
apartment. Ryuutsu looked at the girls with a faint
smile.
"Welcome to my home. I'm afraid it's rather
spartan, but please, make yourselves
comfortable." He gestured towards the couch. After
they were seated, he pulled a chair up and sat
down. "Now, do you have anything you want to ask of
me?" After a moment of silence, Ukyou spoke up.
"Now that you mention it, why did you send your
goon squad to capture her, and why did they
take all of us?" Ukyou asked angrily, but calmed a
little when they saw his shocked expression.
"They did what?" Ryuutsu yelled, springing to
his feet. When Ukyou explained to him their
method of capture, his reddened face, and the veins
sticking out of his forehead from suppressed rage
gratified her. Ryuutsu stormed from the room, and
could be heard yelling over some kind of intercom.
A moment later he returned, looking much calmer, and
had a satisfied look on his face.
"What's going on?" Akane asked. Ryuutsu
looked apologetic.
"I must apologize greatly for the way you were
treated. I had not made myself clear when I
told them to invite you and your friends here so that
I could see how you had grown, and meet the
kind of people whose company you enjoyed. They
thought that I meant to recruit you and your friends
into the clans line of work."
"What kind of work is that?" Feather asked,
very curious.
"Information and elimination." Ryuutsu looked
at their dumbfounded looks, and he clarified
himself. "Spying and assassination." That got a
reaction. The girls on the couch immediately
looked at him with fear in their eyes. He spent
until after nightfall attempting to allay their
fears, as he explained the clan's methods of
remaining undetected, despite capture.
"Let me get this straight, your trainers
manipulate the recruits chi to make them forget about
the clan and the mission if they are caught, and then
they remember everything if they make it back
here?" Akane exclaimed. When Ryuutsu nodded,
Feather shot another question at him.
"So how come my memory is swiss cheese?"
Ryuutsu looked at her sadly.
"The traitor used the technique on you
constantly for years. We only use it right before or
after a mission. It hasn't been used in the other
methods since my great grandfathers day. Ever
since a small man came and devastated this camp to
get a young recruit back. The clan used to use
more severe methods of recruitment than we do now."
They looked at him in disbelief, "Now we only
recruit by approaching those dissatisfied with their
lives, and give them a choice. The tranks are
taken as a precaution against a violent response.
Some of the other elders are in favor of the more
extreme method, but I have been holding them at bay.
We.." He was interrupted by a fax machine
beeping loudly, and it spat out several sheets of
paper. Ryuutsu excused himself and started to read
the papers. He frowned, and then put them down
before he started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Akane asked. Ryuutsu did
not stop laughing for a few minutes.
"That was the report from the assault team
that picked you up. They claim that two young men
had violently disagreed with their methods, and
basically hospitalized more than half of a thirty man
team before succumbing to more than fifty tranks in
each." Akane and the others traded a knowing
look while Ryuutsu continued, "I'm not inclined to
believe them," he paused at the serious expression
that his guests wore, "Or should I reconsider my
position?" Akane nodded gravely.
"Ranma and Ryouga are two of the best martial
artists in the world. More likely than not, they
are on their way here to 'rescue' us from you. I
think we need to..." Akane was cut off by a loud
klaxon. Ryuutsu looked at them and sighed.
"Too late."
"Wake up, Son-in-law!" Cologne poked at the
comatose form at her feet. Slowly, Ranma was
roused from his enforced sleep.
"What time is it, ghoul?" He muttered as he
rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The ancient
amazon chuckled.
"It is starting to get dark, and the others are
already getting prepared." She gestured
towards where Ryouga was going through a kata, and
Mousse was carefully going through his weapons.
Ranma nodded and stood. He began to go through his
kata, letting the flowing forms help him regain
his focus. Absently, he noted that Ryouga's kata
flowed with fierce, restrained power, and the
usually angry face showed an inner calm Ranma had
never expected to see. ::I guess it shows how
seriously he takes the art:: Ranma thought as he
moved as smooth as running water through a kick,
::It must be how he keeps his depression from
overtaking him, by finding his focus::
Once darkness covered the earth, the small
group gathered around the old woman to discuss
strategy. After a hushed conversation, Cologne
tapped their hyper-activity pressure point, and they
melted into the woods. When they reached the
compound, Mousse disabled the cameras with a few well
thrown knives. Silently, they rushed an unwary
patrol. A few fierce blows, and the half-asleep
guards were fully asleep. Using keys they found on
one of them, Ranma unlocked the gate.
Occasionally, Mousse would throw a knife, disabling
more cameras.
"It won't be long before they realize something
is wrong." Ranma said after they had ambushed
another patrol. Kuno nodded.
"Dally not, my comrades, for it would be our
deaths to be caught in the open." Ryouga looked
towards the building.
"We don't have time to find the door, let's
make one!" He said as he padded towards the
building, like a tiger on the hunt. The others
followed swiftly, and when they reached the building,
Ryouga boosted Ranma up to peek through a window.
When Ranma looked inside, he gasped.
"What do you see Ranma?" Mousse asked
urgently. Ranma hopped down off of Ryouga's
shoulders.
"Shampoo is in there, and it looks like their
torturing her." Mousse's face went red with
rage, and Ryouga struck the wall with one finger,
crying out his special technique.
"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!!"
Shampoo was not happy. The tree branch she had
crouched on to observe the camp had broken, and
she had been an easy target when she lay stunned on
the ground. She awakened to find herself in a
prison-like room, tied tightly to a chair. Once they
had noticed that she was awake, a burly man had
entered the cell, and proceeded to interrogate her.
Now she was being treated roughly by the man,
who was speaking way too rapidly in Japanese for her
to understand in her recently awakened
condition.
She lifted her head and winced at the bright
light placed right in front of her. Her captor
said something else, and when she didn't respond, she
got a fierce slap from the man. Shampoo
feigned unconsciousness to avoid being hit more. She
heard the man talking, but still couldn't make
out the words. Her cheek stung from where the man
had slapped her, and she could feel the other
bumps and bruises she had gotten earlier in his
interrogation. Something warm was running down her
face, and Shampoo resisted the urge to spit her own
blood out of her mouth. The man grabbed her hair
and roughly yanked upwards, causing Shampoo to cry
out involuntarily. She opened her eyes again, and
this time the light wasn't there. Instead she could
see a man in a blue uniform, with what looked
like surgical tools on a table beside him. She
suppressed a scream as she realized what he intended
to do with those implements. ::Ranma!! Mousse!!!
Ryouga!! Hurry up and get me out of here!:: She
thought frantically as he picked up a curved and
spiked implement from the tray and brought it close
to her face. Shampoo closed her eyes in resignation
and waited for the question, and the inevitable
pain afterwards.
The pain never came. Right after the man had
barked his question again, the wall behind him
exploded. He was thrown from his feet, and the chair
Shampoo was in fell over backwards at the force
of the blast. Shampoo heard familiar voices, and the
sounds of a hurried battle. With a sickening
crunch, the room was silent again. Shampoo felt the
chair being righted, and someone cutting the
ropes that bound her. She blearily opened her eyes,
and was greeting with the sight of a furious,
but relieved, Mousse cutting her bonds. Without the
ropes holding her upright, she fell forward into
his arms.
"My god, Shampoo! Are you alright?" Mousse
asked her in Chinese. Shampoo tried to respond,
but a lump in her throat prevented her from speaking.
Mousse gathered her up in his arms and strode
back out through the hole, despite her weak protests.
"Don't worry Shampoo, I'll get you out of
here." Mousse said again, and he quickly leaped over
the fence. Shampoo heard several quick
impacts, and a grunt of pain from Mousse. Ignoring
the tranks that now stuck in his back, Mousse
quickly moved deeper into the forest. More of the
darts struck home, but he continued on.
Akane, Ukyou and Feather were running down a
corridor, desperately running from the other members
of
the Viper clan. Ryuutsu had bought them some time,
but at the cost of his life. The guards had
gunned him down on the orders of the man they had
seen in the truck. What they hadn't seen, was the
toppled, but now empty, glass tube. Nor did they
hear the shrieks of pain from the guards who were
foolish enough to face the monstrosity who was
running loose. Leaving death and destruction in it's
wake, the thing made it's way out of the building,
killing all it encountered. Moving swiftly, it
disappeared into the woods.
Some time later, Mousse and Shampoo were
resting near a tree. Shampoo was carefully removing
the darts from Mousse's back. The soft moonlight
illuminated the pair, and a gentle brook bubbled
nearby.
"Mousse, you no have to do that." She said
softly.
"There was no way I was going to leave you in
there to be tortured and mutilated by that
fiend." Mousse grunted as she removed another dart.
Shampoo was glad that he was unable to see the
tears falling from her eyes. She bent to her task
again, unawares of the form creeping up behind
her. Mousse saw it, however, and stood quickly.
"Mousse! What you doing?" Shampoo said,
dashing the tears from her eyes. She noticed Mousse
was tensed for a fight, and she followed his gaze.
What she saw made her blood run cold, and she
screamed. The moonlight didn't seem to be able to
penetrate the dark aura that surrounded the
monstrosity before them. The misshapen form lunged
for them, knocking Mousse away, his blood
spattering onto Shampoo. Too weak to run, Shampoo
stared up at the monstrosity standing over her.
She gaped at the large holes in it's chest area, and
the forked tongue that lapped the blood off of
it's talons. She saw it raise an impossibly long
arm, and she closed her eyes, waiting for the final
blow. She heard a sickening tearing sound, a scream
of pain, and then a bellow of outrage, suddenly
cut off. There was a heavy thud, and a gurgling
sound. Shampoo opened her eyes and saw a very
bloody Mousse standing over her, a large scimitar
covered with some sort of yellow ichor held in his
hands. She also saw the severed arm of the beast,
and it's decapitated corpse lying nearby. Mousse
snarled at it.
"No one hurts my Shampoo and gets away with
it." He walked over and stabbed his scimitar deep
into the corpse. When he turned back to Shampoo, she
stifled a gasp. His robes had been torn open,
and his bare chest had three very long, bloody tears
in it. He staggered towards her.
"I beat it for you Shampoo..." He managed to
say before he collapsed.
"MOUSSE!!!!"
Opening a door, the girls dashed through it and
slammed it shut behind them. Gasping for
breath, they looked into the room, and froze.
Standing before them was a tall man, wielding a
sword.
"Welcome, I never expected you to just run in
here, but now we don't have to look for you." He
grinned maliciously at them. The girls trembled
where they stood, not believing their bad luck. The
man started to laugh, blood-lust gleaming in his
remaining eye, and started to swing his sword in
rapid strokes. Dodging the best they could, the
girls scattered. Akane's school dress was severely
shortened, and a small cut appeared on her leg.
Ukyou was dodging the best she could, wishing she
had her spatula with her. Ukyou's clothes were
partially shredded from the near misses, and it
looked like she was wearing little more than a halter
top and a pair of cut offs. Feather was faring
no better than the others, as she frantically dodged
the deadly sword. The yellow tank top was now
ending just below her breasts, and scraps of her
pants were still held in place by the cords around
her calves, looking like absurd leg warmers.
Ukyou misjudged one swing, and got hit on the
side of her head by the flat of the blade. The
force of the blow caused her to lose her balance, and
she fell, hitting her head on the hard floor
knocking her unconscious.
"Hahahahahaha!! What's the matter? Can't you
do more than just dodge?" He laughed maniacally
as he swung his sword again and again. Suddenly the
door burst open, and a dramatic figure burst
through.
"Hold thou honorless dog!" Kuno yelled,
holding not his bokken, but a real katana. The
swordsman stopped and contemplated this new
adversary.
"Go away whelp, before I hurt you." And he
swung his sword to emphasize his point. Kuno
calmly blocked the attack and yelled at the girls.
"Escape while I defeat this wretch. I will see
to it that the fair Ukyou is safe from this
hound of hell" Kuno glared at the swordsman as the
girls squeezed behind him through the door. Once
the girls were clear, Kuno advanced.
"You have this one opportunity to surrender
before the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High. Be quick
in deciding, for my patience is thin." The swordsman
laughed at Kuno.
"Me, surrender to the likes of you? I shall
spit upon your grave!" The swordsman lunged
forward, intent on dismembering the arrogant boy
before him. Kuno smiled briefly before he raised
his katana.
"And so the hounds of hell bark furiously,"
Block slash and counter, opening a slight wound
upon the swordsman's chest, "But mine eyes see a
toothless cur barking loudly to hide his insecurity,
and weakness."
"Shut up!" Their blades locked in between
them, and Kuno looked into his enemies eye and
smiled.
"A coward dies many deaths before his true
death. Mayhap I shall deliver you unto that
oblivion before long. I shall defeat you, and then I
shall decide whether or not I shall take your
pitiful head as a gift to mine beloved."
"I said shut UP!!!" He swung his sword
furiously, but Kuno blocked every strike. The clash
of
steel upon steel echoed down the empty corridor.
"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!" Ryouga roared as he broke
through another wall. He and Ranma had split up
to search for the girls more effectively. A dart or
two protruded from him, but he was unaffected
thanks to Cologne tapping some hyper-activity shiatsu
spot.
"Akane! Feather! Ukyou!" He called out as
he moved cautiously down a hallway. A lone
member of the Viper clan attempted to tackle Ryouga,
but was kicked back down the hallway, where he
crumpled. Ryouga forcefully opened every door he came
across, and occasionally fought with some
guards. He heard someone running rapidly down the
hall, along with what sounded like a large bird
flying. Ducking into a doorway, Ryouga peered out,
ready to get a surprise attack in. Hearing that
the runner was almost right in front of the door,
Ryouga jumped out ready to slam the individual into
oblivion.
"Eeeeeeekk!!! Ryouga, don't scare me like
that!!!" Akane screamed, and then pounded on the
startled Ryouga's chest. Feather was hovering
nearby, her wings moving rapidly. She landed quickly
and hugged Ryouga fiercely.
"It's about time you showed up!" Feather said,
starting to cry into his chest. Akane backed
up a step with a faint smile. Ryouga was quickly
turning red.
"Ah, Feather, we still have to get out of here,
remember? And where's Ukyou?" Feather stopped
sniffling for a second as she told him about the
swordsman, and Kuno's timely rescue.
"Great, let's find Ranma and get out of here."
Ryouga said, and started walking back the way
he came. Akane ran a bit to catch up.
"How are we going to find Ranma?" Akane asked
as she stepped through one of Ryouga's impromptu
doors, and then she looked around her in shock.
There were piles of unconscious guards littered
across the room. Ryouga grinned.
"Simple, we follow the trail of destruction."
They broke into a run, while Feather opted to
fly down the hallway. It wasn't long before they
could hear sounds from a viscous battle, and a
familiar voice could be heard over the bedlam.
"Where's Akane you bastards!" Akane's heart
jumped in her chest when she heard Ranma's voice.
Akane started to run towards the noise, when someone
crashed through the door just in front of her.
The individual slammed into the wall on the opposite
end of the hall, and went limp. Akane rushed
towards the door and peeked in, vaguely aware of
Ryouga and Feather moving up behind her. Akane
gasped at the sight before her. Ranma was moving
through the room at a dizzying pace, dealing out
punishment wherever he went. His shirt was shredded,
and his fists were covered in blood. Anxious,
Akane looked harder and realized that the blood that
covered his fists were the result of the now
toothless, broken nosed men that lay scattered about
unconscious. When the last of the guards fell,
Akane gave a shout.
"Ranma!!!" She ran into the room, and just as
he turned around, she glomped onto him, Shampoo-
like, and then fiercely kissed him. Ranma's brain
suffered from shutdown, but he managed to stay
standing and hug her back.
"Hi Akane, sorry I'm late." He grinned after
Akane broke off the kiss. Feather cheered from
the door.
"Go for it you two! Wooo hooo! Look at that
hot couple!" Akane and Ranma separated,
thoroughly embarrassed, but happy at the same time.
Ryouga strode into the room, and clapped Ranma
on the shoulder.
"Nice work Ranma, Mousse got Shampoo out
right after we split up, and Kuno is probably
getting Ukyou out right now. I think it's time to go
home." Ranma grinned.
"This wasn't so tough..." Ranma started to
say, before a wall exploded, revealing two men, one
holding a spear, the other was twirling nunchuks.
"Then again... Akane! Feather! Get out of here
while we take care of these guys!" Ranma yelled,
dropping back into his stance. Ryouga started to
twirl his bandannas in preparation for the attack.
Before the girls could react, Ranma and Ryouga
launched themselves towards the men. Ranma attacked
the one with the nunchuks, while Ryouga threw
his bandannas at the spear wielder.
Ranma's opponent dodged Ranma's initial
attack, and slammed his nunchuks into Ranma's back.
Ranma arched in pain, but spun kicked the man in the
face, knocking him backwards. Ranma didn't stop
there, he closed rapidly and unleashed the full power
of the chestnut fist. The dazed man lashed out
with a kick, that Ranma gleefully dodged, and
countered with a roundhouse that sent the man flying.
Ranma gaped as the man stood up and rushed to the
attack again, still silent. Ranma grabbed the
man's arm, yanked him off balance, and delivered a
chop to the back of the neck. The man slammed
into the ground, but stood again to continue the
attack. ::Is this guy human?:: Ranma thought as he
danced the deadly dance with his foe.
Ryouga had missed with his bandannas, and
closed in with his opponent. The enraged man swiped
his spear towards Ryouga, and was shocked when Ryouga
grabbed it one handed, and then lifted the man
into the air and slammed him back down. The spear
shattered from the impact, and Ryouga moved in
closer. Ryouga was slightly startled at how much
faster he was moving, ::Must be that shiatsu point
the old ghoul hit..:: He thought absently as he
blocked a kick. Ryouga attacked with a fierce
combination of punches and kicks, and ended in a
headbutt. His opponent flew away from him into the
wall, and groggily stood up. Ryouga grinned a bit,
and then charged the man. Ryouga tackled him,
and punched him in the throat while the rolled, and
then he abruptly stopped the roll, and used the
momentum to fling his enemy into the wall again.
When the man stood again, he remembered Colognes
words in the dojo 'Once they are under the influence
of the clan, they stop feeling pain. The only
way they stop attacking is if they're dead. Or you
are.' The thought of dying in battle fighting
someone not quite human anymore depressed Ryouga.
Following that chain of thought, the idea that he
and Ranma might not be able to get the girls out
alive depressed him further. Also, the thought that
he'd never see Feather's smiling face again threw him
into the deepest pit of despair.
"I. Will. Not. Let. That. Happen."
Ryouga ground out as green energy flowed around him
like a cyclone. The force of his aura kept his
opponent at bay. Ranma spared a glance away from his
battle, to see that Ryouga was getting ready to do a
full shi shi hokoudan, and that the terrified
girls were still watching from the door.
"Run!!" Ranma yelled at them, and was
gratified to see them run off down the hallway.
Ranma
got an idea for a devastating combination.
"Ryouga, release the shi shi hokoudan when I
tell you too." Ryouga nodded slowly, a single
tear running down his cheek. Ranma got ready for his
combination strike.
"NOW!" Ranma yelled, and Ryouga released the
pent up energy of a full shi shi hokoudan,
while Ranma simultaneously jumped up behind Ryouga
and called out his attack.
"Hiryu shoten ha revised, horizontal
depression cyclone strike!!" Ranma released his
blast,
and it sucked in the tremendous power of the full shi
shi hokoudan. The cyclone of energy was
charged further by Ryouga's strike, and it streaked
towards their opponents. Ranma didn't wait to
see the result of the attack, he grabbed Ryouga by
his shirt and ran for cover.
Akane and Feather heard a massive explosion
behind them, and turned around. Billows of smoke
and green flame licked from the shattered doorway,
obscuring all sight.
"Ranma!!!" Akane screamed and fell to her
knee's.
"Ryouga!!" Feather duplicated Akane's
performance, and knelt beside her stricken friend.
She
quickly grabbed Akane, and hugged her fiercely,
crying. Akane felt like she was about to cry as
well, when she noticed something.
"Feather, look!"
Two silhouettes could be seen in the smoke, and
they were slowly approaching. The girls stood
up and got ready for trouble. Slowly, the figures
gained definition as they neared the edge of the
smoke. Akane slowly started to smile. The figures
broke through the edge of billowing smoke, and
revealed a battered pair of weary fighters. Ranma
and Ryouga walked with weary movements towards the
girls. Akane was smiling widely now, and a shout got
her attention from a different hall. Down that
hallway, Kuno and Ukyou strode towards them, too
tired to run. Akane and Feather were both smiling
hugely at this point, and waited for their friends
to reach them. They had a quick reunion inside
the destroyed hall. After a few quick hugs, Ranma
spoke up. Everyone relished his words.
"Let's go home."
Wearily, they left the compound, and walked
towards their agreed meeting place. The moonlight
only increased the beauty of the surrounding forest,
and their spirits were lifted by the sight.
They weren't prepared for the sight that greeted them
at the rendezvous. Shampoo was still trying to
bandage up a badly wounded Mousse, who appeared to be
out cold. Cologne was nearby looking at the
monstrosity that nearly killed the young amazons.
The other girls gasped, recognizing the thing that
was contained in the basement of the building. When
they got closer, it was apparent that Shampoo
had been crying heavily, and she didn't get up to
glomp onto Ranma. She looked up and smiled
slightly.
"Nihau, Ranma. Shampoo glad to see you got
everyone else out." Her voice cracked, and she
turned back to bandaging Mousse.
"What happened Shampoo?" Ranma asked, stunned
that she was staying by Mousse's side. Not that
he minded, but he was concerned about the sheer mass
of blood that covered the area. The other girls
looked at the thing Mousse had killed, and shivered.
It was still moving, but the scimitar in it's
back prevented it from getting up. The remaining arm
was trying to reach the weapon, but failing.
"I never thought I'd see one of these again."
Cologne said as she pogoed over to the battle
weary group. "A damned creature, formed from malice
and cursed souls who died from treachery, and
were never buried. We must burn the remains to
prevent it from freeing itself again."
As they built a pyre around the thing, Shampoo
related to the rest of the group what had
happened. She burst into tears again when she told
them how Mousse had taken the deathblow meant for
her, and then defeated the thing.
"Shampoo no know what to do now. Shampoo must
marry Ranma, but now Shampoo in debt of honor to
Mousse. Great-grandmother, what Shampoo do now?"
She looked pleadingly over to the ancient woman,
who was calmly lighting the fire. Without turning,
the shriveled leader of the Amazons spoke.
"These circumstances are dire, and I must send
a letter to the rest of the council for advice
in this matter. Until I get a response from them,
you will continue to pursue Ranma, but be more
mindful of Mousse, child. I fear the next few months
will be difficult for you, but keep this in
mind. Mousse has proven himself as a man today. He
has killed in your defense, and that cannot be
ignored. It would not be dishonorable for you to wed
him." Cologne's words struck Shampoo to the
core. She bent over Mousse's still form and cried.
The ancient amazon turned to the rest of the
group. "We depart in the morning, after the fire has
gone out. This place is still dangerous, so I
will watch tonight." Kuno stood and lifted his
katana.
"I shall keep watch by your side, ancient one,
as the great Tatewaki Kuno was not wounded
during this skirmish. I would be honored if I could
guard the beautiful Akane Tendo, and the lovely
Feather whom I am much pleased to have made
acquaintance with." The others were too tired to
object
to his speech, and settled in for the remainder of
the night.
The morning came all too quickly for the weary
group, and after insuring that the fire was out,
and nothing remained of the creature, they started
back down the mountain. Once on the train for
Nerima, they all slept again, too weary to even talk
about their individual fights. It wasn't until
they were back in Nerima, with Mousse in a hospital,
Shampoo at his side, and the rest trudged into
the Tendo Dojo. Feather looked over the old wooden
house, and the neatly kept lawn.
::I'm home now, and nothing is going to change
that.:: She thought cheerfully as she joined in the
quickly growing victory party.
End of Chapter 4
Whew!!! I had a slow start on this one, and there were
circumstances that were out of my control that delayed my writing
even more. Today <4/25/1998>I have spent more than ten hours
working on this almost nonstop, and I am finally done with this
chapter. It's not the end of the story, not by a long shot.
Here's a little hint of what comes next.....
Feather gratefully sank into the warm water, gritting her teeth
slightly as the water lapped over the small scrapes and bruises on
her arms. She leaned back and closed her eyes, her red hair
floating around her like a red aura. She didn't notice two beady
eyes open up in a darker corner of the bathroom, and she
definitely didn't hear it's silent footsteps. It crept slowly but
surely towards the unsuspecting girl, and rubbed it's tiny hands
together in anticipation. Suddenly it leapt for it goal, and
Feather opened her eyes to see......
More on chapter five later. :) Guess who's coming to dinner?
<4/27/1998>
Many thanks to Lyn Daniel and Willie Collins for noticing an
omission, and e-mailing me to inform me of my errors. Their
efforts have helped improve the story dramatically.
Comments and Criticism are craved for. E-mail me at:
ryouga1100@hotmail.com
