========================= RELENTLESS A Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction By Grayson Towler ========================= ----------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Cataclysm ----------------------------------------------------------- Akane slumped against the rickety wooden slats that made up the wall of the boxcar. Dawn was still a few hours off - she and Shampoo had traveled at a somewhat reckless speed through the night to reach the train tracks. As fortunate as the disappearance of the Reikoku had been, Akane wasn't ready to put her faith in the notion that it was really gone completely. Ranma had slept through the whole journey. She wouldn't have minded letting him sleep a few hours more while she got some rest, but Shampoo said it was important to get some nourishment into him. So, in spite of the protests from her cold and tired limbs, Akane arranged the inert Ranma into a sitting position while Shampoo warmed up a cup of soup on their little portable burner. "Hey," Akane whispered, shaking her fiancee gently. "Wake up. Wake up, Ranma." For a moment it seemed like she'd have to do something more jarring to rouse him, but then Ranma's eyelids twitched, blinked, and opened. He gave her an unfocused, bleary look. "A... Akane?" he rasped. She pressed the lip of the warm little bowl to his lips. "Here, drink this." "Did you ma..." he paused, then licked his lips. "Did you... manage to get my backpack?" She smiled, knowing what it was that he was going to ask. It was rather comforting to see him suppress his reflex to pick on her cooking, for once. Maybe he was just afraid she'd pound him... but still, it was nice. "Shampoo made it," she said, answering his unspoken question. "And yes, we got your stuff." He sipped at the soup at first, then began to gulp it down more enthusiastically. That was good - if he had his appetite, he was probably going to be all right. "Got any more?" he asked. "Shampoo go make more food," the Amazon said. She shuffled away to the other side of the boxcar, fidgeting with their provisions to put together some kind of meal. Akane was grateful for the privacy. "How do you feel?" "Not... so bad," he said, his voice creaky as he spoke. She handed him her canteen, and he took a long swallow. "I've had worse." "Hmm," she said. "I'm not so sure about that." She chuckled, remembering a very similar conversation she'd had with Dr. Tofu. "What's funny?" "Never mind." Akane waved a hand. "We bandaged up the cuts already. Shampoo thinks you're mostly just exhausted." "Yeah." He closed his eyes, falling into memory. "Hey... the Reikoku. Did it get up again from bein' in the fire?" "It did." She considered for a moment what she'd say next. "We got you out of there in time. But Ranma..." He thumped his head against the slats in frustration. "Damn it! I shoulda been more careful. I saw what happened when Pantyhose tried to torch the thing. Hey..." The pig-tailed boy fidgeted, then gave her a look that was almost shy. "I guess... I guess that's twice I owe you my life now." She felt the color rising to her cheeks. That wasn't the sort of admission you usually heard out of Ranma. "A... about that," she stammered. "Something weird happened back in that valley." "What do you mean?" He worked himself into a more comfortable sitting position. "Well, the Reikoku. It was coming towards us and then... it just disappeared." Ranma's wore a puzzled, blank expression. "It did what?" "It disappeared," she repeated, shrugging helplessly. "Just vanished into thin air. I know... it's really weird." Her fiancee simply looked boggled. "Shampoo told me," Akane continued, "that Ryouga and Ukyou were going after Happosai when they left he Amazon village. Cologne gave them some sort of clue about how to find him. We thought maybe they did find him, and found out some way to make it go away." The young Saotome scratched his head. "If he could make it disappear, he would've done it from the first." "Maybe it's chasing him instead?" Ranma frowned. "I'd think it'd just turn and start walkin' towards him. I don't know... I don't know everything about the damned thing, that's for sure." He rubbed his eyes, grimacing. "I just... I don't know what happened, but I don't want to just assume this is all over." "That's what I thought too," Akane agreed. "When we get to a place where we can phone home, maybe we can find out more." "I guess." She patted him on the arm. "Hey, cheer up! With any luck, they've figured out some solution, and we'll be able to go home. Maybe the Reikoku's gone for good!" "Yeah," Ranma said, looking her in the eye. "But what if it isn't?" An uncomfortable silence hung between them. Akane forced a smile and tried to sound casual. "Oh, let's not worry about that now. You just get some rest..." He gave a sharp shake of the head. "Promise me," he whispered. "Promise me that you won't attack it." The cheer she'd affected vanished in a heartbeat. Her throat tightened - partly with dread, partly with anger. "How can you say that to me?" she asked, the tightness in her jaw clipping her words as she spoke them. "After all I've been through to get here... after all I've had to endure. After I've saved you twice. After..." She thought about the feel of his arms around her, the taste of his kisses. "After everything. How can you ask me to do that?" "Because I love you, Akane," he answered. Suddenly, she felt like she couldn't breathe. She leaned forward, pressing her head against his chest. "Ranma..." "I shoulda said it ages ago," he told her, stroking her hair as she clutched his shirt. "I've been such a moron. I've been such a jerk to you." "I've been... just as bad," she sobbed. "I want to make up for it! I don't... I don't want you to die..." "Don't you get it?" he said. "That's the thing. That's why I want you to promise me not to fight the Reikoku. Even if I die, I want to know that you're gonna be okay." "I WON'T be okay!" she cried. "Not without you..." She felt his embrace tighten. "Akane... you know what I mean. Think about if it was the other way around. If you were the one bein' chased instead of me. Would you want me to fight it? Even to save your life?" He was right. She knew it at once. "I wouldn't... but would that stop you? Would you really hold back if you thought you could save me?" "I don't know," he rasped, his voice strained. "I don't know if I could! But you see why I have to ask you to promise? You understand?" "Yes..." Ranma took her gently by the shoulders and pushed her back so she could look into his eyes. "So promise me," he whispered. "Even if I'm lyin' there and that thing is movin' in for the kill. Promise me that you won't step in the way. Promise me that you'll go on and live. Promise me that you won't let it kill you too." It wasn't fair. She wanted to protest, to argue with him. He'd pretty much admitted that he wouldn't be able to hold back if their roles were reversed - why should he expect it out of her? Couldn't he understand that she'd give her life to save him? How could he ask this cruel, cruel thing of her? she thought. Elder Cologne had given her a plan when she'd been in the Amazon village - a risky plan, to be sure, but there was a chance that it could make the difference between life or death if Ranma fought the Reikoku for a final time. But for it to work, he HAD to trust her. That was the most critical part. "I... I promise," she choked out the words. "I promise, Ranma. But only if you promise not to run away from me again." He swallowed hard. "Uh..." "You CAN'T!" she insisted, shaking him. "I... I can help you, Ranma. Not by fighting it. I'll keep my promise. But... I learned something from Elder Cologne that can give you the edge. Something to do before you fight it for the last time." "Yeah?" The look of excitement in his eyes was as familiar to Akane as her own reflection. He always looked that way when there was a chance to learn some new technique or skill in martial arts. "Yes," she assured him. "So you can't run off. Okay?" "Okay," he agreed. "I promise I won't try to leave you again." He drew her to him again, holding her tight. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for takin' off before... for making you promise... aw hell. Thanks, Akane." "It's okay," she lied. It wasn't okay - it felt like her heart had been ripped in two. "It's okay. Besides... we may not even have to worry about it, right?" "Yeah," he agreed, the optimism in his voice only partially forced. "Maybe the guys came through for us." "Ukyou and Ryouga," Akane said. "Maybe they're just waiting for us to call in, so they can tell us the good news about how they made the Reikoku disappear." Ranma chuckled. "Man, if Ryouga really did pull MY bacon out of the fire, I'm never gonna hear the end of it. He's probably just laughin' it up now, waitin' for me to show my face so he can rub my nose in it. Heh... I bet he can't wait." - - - - - Tears streamed down Ryouga-chan's cheeks as she took her place in the center of the arena, and she didn't care, didn't care, just didn't care. Despair like she had never known flowed through her whole body. She felt like her heart had been turned to cold lead, like her blood was black with sadness. Each breath was a ragged torment. she thought. The women in the audience watched her, their faces tense and unsettled. Natsume had told Ryouga-chan that the crowd hadn't been prepared for the power they'd seen in the Reikoku when it had fought Ukyou. While all veterans of the Temple of Three were familiar with the creature's presence, almost none of them had seen it in its second stage, when its power was doubled and the aura of fear it exuded was far stronger. If they thought that was bad, they were really going to hate this fight. High Priestess Aoki Nariko addressed her. "Who is this girl that stands before us, seeking to become Guardian of the Temple of Three?" Ryouga-chan thought bitterly. She remembered that she had protected Akane - that was how she ended up in this mess to begin with. It didn't exactly cheer her up, but the thought gave her enough strength to find her voice. "I am Hibiki Ryouga," she said. The words she had been taught came back to her, and she spoke them with a raw voice. "I stand before you, and await the trail." There was more to it - words about her family, the Three Goddesses, the past, present, and future - but Ryouga-chan barely registered it as she mumbled her way through the ritual. she thought. Then the words were finished, and the time had come to summon Ryouga-chan's adversary. The women of the temple fidgeted nervously, clearly reluctant to begin the ceremony, but the elite priestesses beckoned them on. The crowd of onlookers joined their will as one, and power began to flow into the voice of Aoki Nariko. "Let she who would guard us face the wrath of the storm..." Ryouga-chan raised her tear-blurred eyes and glared at the crowd. "You thought it was bad before?" she challenged, as the High Priestess continued her chant. "Let the darkness coalesce..." "Well, here it comes!" Ryouga-chan rasped. "This is the third stage!" "... let Death take a form." The bandana-clad girl swept an arm at the crowd. "THIS is the thing you send out into the world! THIS is the monster you summoned. THIS is the result of your carelessness!" "By the power of the Three, I call upon thee ..." "Well, take a good look!" Ryouga-chan screamed. "... the target is Hibiki Ryouga!" "Because this is going to be one short fight," she told them. "And soon..." her voice trailed off, dropping down to a whisper. "Come forth now... REIKOKU!" "...soon, we'll be together again, Ukyou." Her voice was as faint as a breeze, and the sobs that followed echoed across the arena. "REIKOKU!" Pure terror exploded through the arena. The women in the Temple of Three had many duties, and only a few were trained fighters - they had never encountered such raw psychic force. Shrieks and screams rippled across the crowd as the hideous aura of fear roared in invisible waves across the arena. Even the battle-hardened veterans of the Guardians could barely hold their ground against the onslaught to the soul brought by the Reikoku's presence. For her part, Ryouga-chan barely felt the fear. So deep was she in the caverns of her own despair that the terror aura washed over her, somewhere above her in the catacombs of her own psyche. She unslung the great battle spatula from its place on her back, the weapon that Ukyou had given to her in trust... but she didn't think she would be using it. She didn't think it would come to that. The blast of cold water hit her like cannonball. As expected, the Reikoku had adapted the water attack it had used before to activate the Jusenkyou curse that had once made Hibiki Ryouga turn into a helpless piglet. This time, the ice-cold water came with such velocity that even the hottest battle aura Ryouga-chan could have mustered wouldn't deflect it. Ryouga-chan had been cured of the pig, but the water blast still served to blow her off her feet. She lost her grip on the battle-spatula, and the great weapon scraped sparks off the stony floor as it spun away from her. Suddenly desperate to retrieve the weapon, this last gift that Ukyou had given to her, Ryouga-chan rolled to her feet and scrambled towards the spatula. she thought desperately. The Reikoku didn't give her the chance to reach it. It withdrew the tube of an arm that had launched the water attack and extended another appendage - a rubbery mass that split into a host of writhing tentacles. The whip-like protrusions extended toward Ryouga-chan in a storm of thrashing fury, too fast for her to dodge. They coiled around her throat, her wrists, her ankles, her waist - digging into her flesh with thorn-like barbs where they touched. Ryouga-chan struggled, but the tentacles lifted her off the ground. She had no purchase, no surface off which to push. Her great strength was useless against the flexible prison in which she was held. And the barbs gouging themselves into her skin dashed all hope of being able to wriggle free. she thought as the thing hefted her aloft. The Reikoku drew her closer, extending a pair of scythe-like arms, like the forelimbs of some giant mantis. There was no mistaking the purpose of those arms - the monster intended to dangle her in the air and cut her to bits. The energy of utter misery built within the heart of Hikbiki Ryouga. she told herself bleakly. She had used the lesser Shi-Shi Hokoudan on the Reikoku before. While she had speculated that the full version, the Perfect Shi-Shi Hokoudan, might be different enough to overwhelm whatever defense the creature had evolved, she didn't believe that would really matter. The thing was too powerful, even for this. The certainty of her failure fueled her depression. she asked herself. Then she would live on, while Ukyou was dead. Her heart recoiled at such a thought. To keep living with this kind of pain... how could she hope to bear it? Better to die here. Better to fail. The Reikoku brought her closer. Curved claws, covered with chitinous armor and sharper than the edges of broken glass, reared back to strike. Heavy ki-energy pulsed from Ryouga- chan's body as she prepared to unleash the attack that she was certain would fail. Then, she heard Ukyou's voice. "RYOUGA!" She screamed from the stands, and Ryouga-chan could see her. She was bruised and bandaged, her arm was in a sling, and some of the other women were trying to hold her back, but she was there. Kuonji Ukyou was there, crying her name in desperation, her good arm reaching out as if to touch her. A single moment seems like nothing - they rush by like a river every day, these seconds and split-seconds that make up our lives. Yet there are times, important times, when time slows down for us and releases us from its relentless grasp, and we find ourselves suspended in a perfect space of revelation. A single moment is all it takes to change everything. Ryouga-chan saw the despair in her heart with new eyes, seeing it for what it truly was for the first time. The misery and depression that she had lugged through her days and lonely nights was only a shadow, a shadow cast by the light of something greater. The only reason her despair could be so deep was that her capacity for love was so very, very great. It was that love that she found now in herself, a burning sun inside her that she had only glimpsed before, but which now dazzled her with its infinite radiance. she thought in wonder. She reached for that sun, that endless, brilliant fountain of love, and drew from its power. In her soul, in the energy of ki that was the source of her life, pure despair and pure love occupied the same space at the same time, each complementing one another, feeding off one another, creating a whirling dynamo of power. It was no longer the Shi-Shi Hokoudan - she didn't know WHAT it was - but when the surge of power built to release, there was only one word she would use to call it forth. "UKYOU!" - - - - - Ukyou heard Ryouga-chan cry out her name, and suddenly there was light, so intense that she could barely see what was going on. Fiery golden radiance roared forth from Ryouga-chan's outstretched hands, searing away the sinewy tentacles that held her pinned. The column of blinding energy slammed into the Reikoku, lancing through the thing's robes and blasting it away from Ryouga-chan with the force of a runaway freight train. The creature's body seemed to disappear in the surging pillar of light. The attack ripped stone and shattered support columns, blowing a huge furrow along the length of the arena, collapsing a huge section of wall in an avalanche of pulverized rock. She felt herself laughing. Her ribs hurt like crazy, but that pain seemed a thousand miles away. "Ryouga!" she cried out, weeping and laughing. The bandana-clad girl came to her, swept her up in a fierce embrace that she could barely endure, but that she wanted all the same. She threw her good arm around Ryouga-chan's shoulders and pulled her close, hugging her back with all her strength. Blood from the wounds on Ryouga-chan's wrists and neck smeared Ukyou's blouse as the two pressed themselves together. "I'm sorry!" she wept, her fingers digging into Ryouga-chan's dark hair. "I told them to tell you... I thought it would help you in the fight, to get depressed. But then I realized... I realized how much it meant to me to know you were there, that you were with me when I was fighting. I realized I was wrong! I should never have..." "Ukyou..." Ryouga-chan choked, unable to say more. "I love you," she gasped. "Do you hear me? I love you!" "I..." Ryouga-chan began, but Ukyou went on, unable to stop the flood of words pouring from her lips. "When I realized that, I knew I had to tell you. And I was able to pull off my Soul Spatula! But it was still hard... that thing still thrashed at me with what was left of its damned tentacle, see... and my arm was broken. I passed out from the pain after I won, otherwise I would have come straight to you and... and..." She realized that Ryouga-chan's embrace had loosened, and the Lost Girl was turning away. Ukyou understood, and cold dread gripped her heart. "It's not finished," she whispered. She could still feel the Reikoku's aura, seeping forth from the mound of debris where it had fallen. "No," Ryouga-chan agreed. "It's not." The rubble where it had been buried shifted. A huge chunk of boulder tumbled aside, and three points of crimson light burned forth from the darkness. The Reikoku came forth once again, ready to fight, ready to hunt, ready to kill. Ryouga-chan turned back to her and looked her in the eye. "I won't lose," she declared, her voice feverish and impassioned as she grasped Ukyou's hand in a grip that could crush steel. "Not after this! I WILL NOT LOSE!" "Don't you DARE lose!" Ukyou shouted back, squeezing in return with all her might. "Go out there and KILL that DAMNED THING!" Ryouga-chan released her, and the battle was joined once more. Ukyou could see a smoldering hole in the Reikoku's robes where Ryouga-chan's ki-blast had found its mark. One of the scythe arms of the thing had also been burned away, leaving a twitching stump that jutted at an awkward angle from the thing's misshapen body. But it still had many of the barbed tentacle-whips left, and one of the deadly mantis-like arms as well. "Ryouga!" she called. "Remember what happened to Pantyhose!" Several of the temple women looked at her with bewilderment, but Ryouga-chan understood immediately. The only other time they'd seen the Reikoku at its third stage was when it had killed Pantyhose Tarou at Jusenkyou. When Tarou had punched the creature, it had sucked his arm into the folds of its robe and chewed it up, like he'd shoved his fist down a giant blender. Attacking it bare-handed at this point was too dangerous to risk. Ryouga-chan gathered up Ukyou's battle spatula from the ground, and held it ready. When the Reikoku had captured the Lost Girl in the lash-like tentacles the first time, she had not been able to avoid them. But then, she had been lost to despair, convinced of her own inevitable defeat. This time, her eyes were clear, her heart was pounding, and she had no intention of losing. The spatula that she had sharpened to a razor-keen edge on the road flashed and whirled, severing the writhing whips as they snaked towards her. Soon, the remaining tentacles fell to the ground, disappearing in black smoke where they lay. "Come on!" Ryouga-chan shouted, advancing with the spatula ready to strike. The Reikoku came. It met the spatula mid-swing with its scythe claw, following up the parry with a murderous cut towards its prey's neck. Ryouga-chan jerked away in time, taking a glancing slice across her shoulder. Her counter slashed a chunk from the creature's robes. Ukyou's fingers dug into her palm as she watched this deadly dance unfold, back and forth between the monster and the one she loved. Ryouga-chan trusted her endurance to see her through a fight like this, but would she be able to outlast something like the Reikoku? It had plenty left, unfortunately. It drove its sickle-arm towards Ryouga-chan in a downward cut that would have pinned the young fighter to the floor like a bug, had it hit cleanly. She brought the spatula up to take the blow, blocking with the wide, flat steel. The Reikoku's arm punched through the metal, stopping an inch away from Ryouga-chan's chest. The creature slashed, carving a furrow through the tempered steel until its mantis-claw came free. It sliced again, catching the spatula in the grip and shearing clean through the shaft. The mangled head of the weapon tumbled off, leaving Ryouga-chan only with a short length of steel. "NO!" Ukyou screamed. The Reikoku reared back for another attack. Ryouga-chan, who had always lived by the principle that the best defense is a good offense, threw aside the useless fragment of metal and charged into the creature's assault. Ukyou's breath caught in her throat as she saw Ryouga-chan draw back her fists to punch, terrified that she would see a repeat of the awful scene in Jusenkyou when Tarou had lost his arm within the creatures's black robes. "KACHUU TENSHIN DONGURI-KEN!" Ukyou thought as she watched, and she let out a giddy laugh in spite of her terror. She understood now - while Ryouga had never quite managed to pull off the Amaguriken technique in male form, he had been very close. Like Ranma, Ryouga-chan lost some strength as a girl but picked up an edge in speed. That edge was enough to execute the attack. Powerful fists struck with lightning speed, churning too fast for whatever trap lay inside the robes of the Reikoku to catch. Instead, a crackling storm of impacts echoed through the arena as Ryouga-chan's fists slammed into the monster over and over. It took only a split-second for what happened next to unfold. Ryouga-chan saw it as well as she did - the rubbery, tube-like appendage that the Reikoku used to launch its cold water blast emerged from under the robe, while it hooked its scythe arm around behind Ryouga-chan's back. It planned to blast her into the grip of the mantis-like claw, then shear her in half once it had her. Sensing this, Ryouga-chan dropped low, beneath the outstretched scythe, and unloaded a spinning kick with all her strength behind it. The water blast and the punch connected as one. Ryouga-chan and the Reikoku separated, both hurtling apart from the impact. The Lost Girl slid along the stony floor of the arena in a sluice of freezing water, while the black-robed demon bounced and tumbled off the stone floor. Ryouga-chan recovered her footing and wiped a slick smear of blood away from her cheek. The edge of the sickle-arm had caught during the impact and given her a shallow cut along her scalp, slicing away her yellow-and-black bandana wrap. Her drenched hair fell in black tendrils around her shoulders, and her eyes blazed with battle fury. "This is it," she declared. "All or nothing!" Ukyou wondered, leaning forward. The Lost Girl's battle aura flared to life, fiery and red, yet tinged with the same golden radiance that had Ukyou had seen before. Ryouga-chan squared herself to face the Reikoku, then drew back her right arm, extending a single finger. "Final Combination Attack... BAKUSAI TEN-KETSU HAKYOKU!" Ukyou thought. Ryouga-chan charged, running at a full sprint, leaning forward so far that if she tried to slow down she would surely fall. As she ran, her hand moved in a blur, pistoning into the ground at Amaguriken speeds. With each strike, she triggered a Breaking Point, rocking the arena at the Temple of Three with a chain of immense explosions. Ukyou understood what she was seeing. With the extreme angle at which Ryouga-chan was leaning, most of the shrapnel blast from the Breaking Point explosions hurtled forward, toward the Reikoku. With her battle aura charged, the debris missiles burned with fiery energy, becoming what Ranma had dubbed a "meteor swarm." Ryouga-chan had used a single ki-charged Breaking Point against the Reikoku before, and true to its nature, the monster had developed a defense. It extended a flap of membrane, not unlike a single bat wing, and shielded itself against the debris. Against one of these meteor swarms, or even a few of them, the shield of leathery flesh would have protected the demon. But this wasn't a single blast - this was a maelstrom. Ryouga-chan's finger jabbed the ground, igniting explosion after deafening explosion at a jackhammer pace. The tsunami of burning stone enveloped the Reikoku, shredding its shield- wing in the fiery storm of shrapnel, then punishing its black- robed body with an unbelievable torrent of fury. The ground quaked and ripped away as Ryouga-chan charged, yet somehow she kept her footing as she hurtled herself towards her enemy, a volcanic eruption of searing missiles preceding her as she ran. Black robes ignited and gave way to the hail of fire. Insect- like armor crunched and buckled, and sharp shards of stone lanced through the body of the Reikoku. The thing was lifted from the ground and carried backward by the unspeakable force of the Breaking Point Cataclysm. When Ryouga-chan finally reached her foe, the Reikoku was backed up against the outer wall of the arena. With an inarticulate scream of rage, she launched herself at the battered creature, her gold-tinged battle aura roaring around her like an inferno. The soaring uppercut she delivered blasted both of them clear through the stone outer wall of the Temple of Three, sending them hurtling into the forest beyond. Ukyou heard the splintering of tree trunks as the combatants plowed through the woodlands. Ukyou ran forward, following the trail of devastation left in the path of Ryouga-chan's Breaking Point Cataclysm. Behind her, the women of the temple coughed and spluttered in the clouds of smoke dust which had been kicked up in the wake of the attack, utterly stunned by the display of sheer power they had just witnessed. Even veterans like Natsume and the High Priestess looked at the wreckage in the arena with open awe. Ukyou didn't care about them. she thought, dizzy with triumph and indescribable relief. The fear aura of the Reikoku had finally abated, changing from a furious black storm of terror to the low psychic hum of unease that the thing still exuded when it was dormant. She made her way through the gap in the wall, following the trench through the forest that marked the trajectory of Ryouga-chan and the monster, and finally found the Lost Girl. Ryouga-chan was a true fright to behold - covered head to toe in scrapes and lacerations, coated practically black with a paste made of dust, sweat, and smeared blood. The Reikoku had opened dozens of wounds in the fight, and the Breaking Point Cataclysm had inflicted its own share of injuries as well with those stray bits of stone that had not flown towards the monster. But when she saw Ukyou, the Lost Girl managed to wobble to her feet, leaning on a listing tree trunk for support. "You WON!" Ukyou cried, hefting Ryouga-chan in her good arm. The fanged girl hugged back, lacking the strength she had put into their previous embrace. "Didn't know... if that... would work..." she wheezed. "You tried an untested technique out in a fight like that?" the young chef chided, then laughed in glee. "You moron! You stubborn, crazy, reckless..." "Thought... you said you... loved me..." "I do," Ukyou agreed, tears streaming down her face. "I do love you." Ryouga-chan had barely enough strength to breathe right now, but she managed to whisper back: "...love you, Ukyou." "Ahem. Excuse me..." The two martial artists broke off their embrace to see who had spoken. Standing before them on the shredded forest floor was the High Priestess of the Temple of Three, flanked by Tendou Natsume and several of the other Guardians. "Shall we finish this up now?" asked Aoki Nariko. Ryouga-chan leaned on Ukyou for support. The two faced the High Priestess and waited. "You have proven yourself in combat," Nariko said, "and shown your worth to the Three who are One. Do you swear now to fight the battles that must be fought, to stand against those who would cause us harm, and to live your lives in the service of the Goddesses of the Temple of Three?" "I swear," Ukyou said, and Ryouga-chan whispered her oath as well. The High Priestess nodded. "Then let it be so. By the grace of my ancestors, by the will of the heavens, in the honor of past and present and future... I welcome you, Guardians. We welcome you, sisters." "Welcome, sisters," the other Guardians echoed. A hissing sound rose from the forest floor. Ukyou and Ryouga- chan turned with the others to watch as the prone form of the Reikoku, now nothing more than a tattered heap of black rags, began to dissolve into vapor. Streamers of inky smoke curled into the air, then spread and vanished, until there was no trace left of the creature. "What... happened to it?" Ryouga-chan asked, then coughed. "It no longer hunts you, sisters," Nariko explained. "Now, it returns to the place where it was before, to resume its other hunt." "Ranma..." Ryouga-chan wheezed. "You have to... to tell him..." Ukyou nodded vigorously. "We have to get in touch with Ranma right now!" She turned to Natsume. "Can you reach him through the Tendous?" Her fellow Guardian nodded. "I'll head out at once. The Temple of Three is protected by certain enchantments that create a field of interference, so I will need to travel some distance before I get to a point where a phone can work. But we'll reach him and tell him what needs to be done. Don't worry, Ukyou-san." The tall girl favored her with a smile that was almost shy. "Sister." - - - - - Ranma listened stoically to Nabiki's voice coming over the phone as she gave him the bad news. It really didn't come as a surprise. Somewhere, deep down, he knew that deliverance would not come so easily. An even deeper part of him didn't WANT to be saved by someone else. Though he would never say it out loud, especially to Akane, there was a part of him that wanted to fight the Reikoku to the finish, just to see if he could do what everyone seemed to believe could not be done. Now, it looked like that fight would happen, no matter what. "So wait," he said to Nabiki. "Let me make sure I got this straight. Ryouga and Ucchan are okay? It's stopped chasin' them?" "Right," the middle Tendou said. "They have to be part of this secret temple now, and have some kinds of responsibilities to fulfill. Natsume was a bit vague on that, but the long and short of it is that they were freed from the Reikoku after defeating it for their initiation." "But that won't work for me," Ranma said. "'Cuz I already beat it three times. Even if I went to this temple, I'd have to fight it a fourth time to get in." "I'm afraid so." The normally cool Nabiki sounded genuinely miserable. "There'd be no point." "I get it," the young Saotome said. He looked up at the sky, partially obscured by the overhang at the train station. "I'm glad." "You're WHAT?" "Glad that Ryouga and Ucchan got free," he said softly, thinking of his friends as he stared off into the distance. "Way to go, guys. You really came through." He heard Nabiki clear her throat. "Yes, very wonderful for them. However, I think we ought to concentrate on your situation here. According to Natsume's information, the Reikoku rematerialized at the spot where you last fought it after those two finished their initiation rites. That happened about two days ago." "Can you figure out how long before it gets to where we are now?" he asked. She gave a little sniff. "Now that you've got a guide who can pinpoint where you are? No problem. Plotting that thing's course is easy - it moves at the same speed in a straight line for its target. According to my calculations, you have about three days lead on it. Fortunately, you're already at a train station, which makes it easy to plan your next move. There's a freight express that's supposed to run..." "I'm not takin' a train," Ranma cut her off. "I'm not runnin' from that monster anymore." Silence greeted this proclamation. He heard the little sounds of shuffling papers for a few moments. Then: "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that." "Yes you did," Ranma remarked. "A few miles west there's some open forest. We're gonna head that way, find a good spot, and wait for that thing to come to us." He could hear the seething tension in Nabiki's voice as she struggled to keep her voice even. "Ranma. Perhaps you've taken a blow to the head which has impaired your judgment. Might I remind you that you just fought the Reikoku?" "I remember." "Ah, I was beginning to wonder." Something clicked - probably Nabiki tapping her pen. "Then let me further remind you that you have not had time for any sort of training. And if my sister's report is accurate, you collapsed in a bloody heap after that conflict." "I know I did." "So it's too soon to fight it again!" Nabiki's composure began to crack. "You're going to need to get even stronger. You realize that, don't you?" "I was holdin' back that last fight," Ranma assured her. "This time, I'm goin' all out." "Oh, how comforting." Her tone was acid. "The kid gloves are off this time, then? Well, I shouldn't have worried." "I know you don't believe me," he said, "but I have some aces to play. I don't intend to lose this fight." "Nobody INTENDS to lose, Saotome!" she snapped. "Look... fine. You have some techniques you held in reserve. That's terrific. It still couldn't hurt to travel some more, and to get more training under your belt, right? Why are you in such a hurry..." "What's the weather report say, Nabiki?" A few seconds of quiet static greeted this question. "I don't see what that has to do..." "Shampoo showed me a local paper," he interrupted. "Got a storm front coming out of Siberia that's gonna hit in a few days. It's likely to drop four or five feet of snow on us." "It's just as likely to turn north and head out to sea." "Maybe," Ranma agreed. "But I can't risk that. Even if this one doesn't get us, the next one will. Winter's gonna catch up with us one way or another. If we get caught in the mountains during a blizzard or somethin', the Reikoku may not have to kill us. I sure as heck won't be able to fight it worth a damn if it does catch up to us at a time like that..." "Then go south," she suggested sharply. "Make like a goose, Ranma. Head for warmer regions." "The farther south we go, the less good Shampoo can do us as a guide," he explained. "She ain't as familiar with the territory down there. But that ain't the real problem. If we strike south from here, we start to hit towns and cities. We're out of the backcountry and into populated territory." Nabiki clicked her tongue. "So? That thing marched straight through Tokyo to get to you..." "Causin' panic and accidents all the way," Ranma cut in. "It's a walkin' disaster, Nabiki, and if I lead it right through a city or somethin', it's on MY head if someone dies. I won't have anybody else die because of this creature. Not a stranger, not an enemy... most of all, not Akane." "Akane," Nabiki repeated. "Yes. Think about her, Saotome." "I am." "No you're not! If you throw your life away by fighting that thing too soon, she's the one that suffers most." Her voice dropped to an accusing simmer. "I don't think you have any idea what she's gone through for you, Ranma." Saotome Ranma turned his head to look towards Akane, who stood at a distance with Shampoo. He watched her as the sunlight danced across her face... watched how she shaded her eyes and brushed a strand of hair back into place. He thought about his friends. About Ukyou, with her white ribbon holding back her cascade of dark hair. He remembered how he had tried to teach her - how she had withered under his bullying approach at first, then blossomed into a true warrior when he had changed to building her confidence up instead of tearing her down. It was Ryouga who had shown him a different way of teaching martial arts, one that was better than the unforgiving approach he'd learned by imitating his father. Ryouga the Lost Boy - Ranma could picture the fanged smile and the bandana with perfect clarity. Somehow, Ryouga had bounced back from the injuries he took in Jusenkyou to beat the Reikoku in its third incarnation. Ranma remembered how he had always teased his rival about being a chicken about women, about being less of a man than Ranma himself, because of Ryouga's shyness around girls. Now, he realized that he was the one who had been cowardly. Ryouga got tongue-tied expressing his feelings, but at least he wasn't afraid to FEEL them. He didn't hide from his own heart, like Ranma had for so long... hiding like a coward from his own love for Akane. Just thinking her name made his heart beat faster now. Ranma could only imagine how hard she had worked to get so far in her martial arts. He wondered what it would be like to apply the lesson he learned from training Ukyou to living with Akane. How would she be if he stood behind her, instead of always getting in her way? What kind of person would she become if he gave her his support, his encouragement, his love... how would she flourish? How would she grow? For that matter, what kind of person would HE become? He desperately wanted to find out. He could think of nothing he wanted more than to spend his life finding out. "I know more than you think," Ranma told Nabiki. Something in his voice gave her pause. "R... Ranma. Are you sure about this?" "I'm sure," he said. "I'm takin' on this monster for the last time, Nabiki. And then I'm comin' home. I'm comin' home with Akane." - - - - - Ukyou had never felt less like moving, and it looked like Ryouga-chan was feeling about the same. Tendou Kurumi moved enough for the both of them. The pint-sized martial artist practically bounced off the walls as she orbited the infirmary chamber, chattering all the way. "... see, if anybody had told us that the monster following you guys was the Reikoku," she bubbled, "then we maybe could have GUESSED it came from here! Nobody wanted to talk about it back home, though, and we didn't want to pressure anyone to talk because daddy and the others were all so anxious about it. Anyway, me and sis hadn't been back here for, like, over a year or so. If somebody had told us about the whole Master of Anything-Goes business, maybe we could've put two and two together..." "How often do you have to come here?" Ukyou asked. She was curious about what their new duties as Guardians entailed. The girl paused, then reversed direction and started pacing the other way. "Oh, about every year or so. Our old master, the one who taught us Elements of the Soul, she used to be a Guardian here, and we came back to see her more often when she was around. It's good to check in to see if you have assignments, but so long as the priestesses can find you when they need you, it's okay..." Ryouga-chan gave a little snort. Ukyou smiled. "Hmm?" Kurumi asked. "Nothing," Ukyou said, though she knew what Ryouga-chan had meant. As the consummate wanderer, Hibiki Ryouga was not the easiest person to track down at a moment's notice. Nor should these priestesses expect punctual check-ins from a person who could barely find her way out of a broom closet. They might've picked up an exceptional fighter with Ryouga-chan as a Guardian, but the priestesses of the Temple of Three shouldn't hope for her to be around whenever they wanted. she thought, Ryouga had a tendency to appear at opportune times. He'd been there for almost all of Ranma's most dangerous adventures, showed up when Ranma needed him after being weakened by Happosai's moxibustion, even managed to make it on time to a date with Akane... Ukyou frowned at the thought of Akane. The heat of battle had died, the fires of passion had cooled, and now in the aftermath full of aches and mending bones, she was beginning to think about some of the things that had happened. She still could barely believe that the Reikoku was really gone. The monster had been the driving force in her life for what seemed like an eternity. Hard to accept that she didn't have to listen for the sound of frightened animals in the night anymore, ready to run for her life at a moment's notice from that merciless hunting thing. Now, she was starting to think about more personal matters. she affirmed to herself. That was true - her heart told her no lies on that subject. But what of Ranma? There, her thoughts were more ambiguous. Certainly, she still loved him - at least like a friend, perhaps a brother. But part of her still wanted him as well, wanted her fiancee. The boy who had taken her feminine identity away without knowing it, then given it back to her with a single word. The rude, cocky, brash, smiling Ranma, the bottomless pit Ranma, the tender-hearted idiot Ranma... Being on the run, with her life on the line, had changed Kuonji Ukyou. She could feel that in herself. Living on the edge of death had a way of stripping away artifice, baring your heart in the heat of the moment. Once certain truths are seen, it's hard to go back to being blind. Truths like the ones Pantyhose Tarou had thrown in her face before leaving the group. Ranma saw her as a friend, but never once on this long journey looked at her as anything more. Truths like seeing his face when they found a phone and called back to Japan. Seeing him light up when he heard Akane's voice coming across the line, seeing him try to hide it and fail. Truths like knowing that respect, camaraderie, and trust were rare and precious things. They were not the same as romantic love, but they were gifts to be cherished all the same. You could lose those things by playing games with the heart too long, even with those who have faced death by your side. The fact was, Ukyou realized, she just didn't like to lose. No good fighter did. Once she'd decided to engage in the Saotome Ranma challenge as one of his fiancees, her warrior's heart kept her going every bit as much as the feelings she bore for Ranma. She stole a look at Ryouga-chan, and caught the Lost Girl staring at her. Ryouga-chan turned away, blushing, but leaned her shoulder into Ukyou a little more. she thought, grinning as she felt Ryouga- chan's warmth through the bandages on her arms. But she hadn't precisely won yet, either, she realized. There was still this girl, Akari. How did Ryouga feel about her? Surely after all the two of them had been through together, he couldn't still be pining for that pig farmer. There was a lot they were going to need to sort out, after Ranma was saved from the Reikoku, after they had some time to be alone and let themselves think. At least she didn't think there was a threat from Akane anymore regarding Ryouga... Ukyou thought sourly. As far as she knew, Akane was still loitering around Nerima, going to school and waiting for Ranma to overcome death and return to her. Ukyou had learned enough about herself and Ranma to accept that he probably wanted Akane, and that she could live with that herself... but that didn't make her happy with the girl. She considered Ryouga-chan again, wondering if the Lost Girl's thoughts were tumultuous as her own. Ryouga-chan seemed to feel her gaze, and cracked her eyes open to look back at Ukyou. "I'd kill for a hot bath right now," the fanged martial artist whispered. Ukyou sighed and patted her on the shoulder. "You and me both, sugar," she assured her. Given that Ryouga-chan had to stay female while she was in the Temple of Three, a hot bath was out of the question. Cool water and warm compresses only went so far. Ukyou had felt so bad for Ryouga-chan that she couldn't bring herself to go for a soak while her companion stayed high and dry. "There are hot baths here," Kurumi began, then remembered. "Heh... yeah, that curse thing. Stupid me. I guess it could be worse, right? You could turn into an animal, like Mr. Saotome. He seems to like it as a panda, though. He goes to work as a panda, you know." "He's got a job?" Ukyou was mildly shocked. The fabulously lazy Saotome Genma, actually working... it seemed so incongruous. "Is he working for Dr. Tofu again?" Ryouga-chan asked. Ukyou was surprised to hear that Genma had worked before. She suspected he'd been fired for stealing something. "No," Kurumi said. "For Nabiki." Ukyou started in surprise. "Wait... Nabiki has that fat old loser working in MY restaurant?" Kurumi nodded. "As a panda." "He'll eat my stock!" she protested angrily. "What's she paying him?" Kurumi shrugged. "I think he's doing it as a favor. Anyway, Miss Sanae is supposed to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't steal any food." "The chimp? Has Nabiki gone INSANE?" The young chef clutched her head. "It's supposed to be a restaurant, not a zoo!" "Miss Sanae's very responsible," Kurumi insisted. "And Mr. Saotome just does the cleaning up. It's so Nabiki and Konatsu can have some time away from work together." "Time away... together?" It felt like someone kept pulling the rug out from under Ukyou's world. "You mean like... dates?" The fiery girl gave her a huge grin and a thumb's-up. "Man," Ukyou muttered, reeling. "You get chased around for a demon for a few months and the whole world turns upside-down." Something occurred to her. "Hey... you were in Nerima. Do you know why Shampoo shaved her head?" "Oh, that!" Kurumi chirped. "Yeah, well what happened is..." Just then, a figure appeared at the door to the infirmary. Ukyou and Ryouga-chan turned to see Tendou Natsume entering, still dusty from the road in her traveling gear. A harrowed look haunted the tall girl's eyes, and Ukyou felt her stomach tighten. "What?" the okonomiyaki chef asked. "Did... did you reach Ranma?" Natsume rubbed her forehead. "He's... he's already defeated the Reikoku in its third incarnation," she told them. Ukyou and Ryouga-chan looked at each other in surprise, then dawning realization. "Wait," the Lost Girl said, "if he's done that... then even if he comes here to become a member Guardian..." "... then there's no point," Ukyou finished. "He'll still have to fight it in its last form for the initiation!" "I fear it's so," Natsume said. "That's... that's not RIGHT!" Ryouga-chan shouted. "Can't you... can't you count the fights he already won or something?" The adopted Tendou shook her head. "I'm sorry. If we could do that, we would have done it for you. This is enchantment we're dealing with here, sisters. The rules must be observed, or it will not work." "DAMN the stupid rules!" Ukyou cried, feeling tears stinging her eyes. Pain shot through her arm as she rose to her feet too suddenly, but she didn't care. "There has to be something we can do!" Ryouga-chan stood beside her, still weak from exhaustion but burning with determination. "We're going." "What?" The fanged girl stepped forward. "Me and Ukyou are going to Ranma in China. I don't know what we can do, but we're not going to leave him like that." Natsume looked at each of them and saw the same resolve on their faces. She gave the barest of nods. "All right," she said. "Let me speak to the priestesses. The temple has resources, and this matter still rests on our shoulders. We'll help. We'll find some way to help Saotome Ranma." - - - - - - end of part seventeen... ----------------------------------------------------------- AUTHOR'S NOTES ----------------------------------------------------------- COMING SOON: The last showdown... COPYRIGHT STUFF: All the Ranma characters belong to Takahashi Rumiko, and are licensed in America by Viz Communications. GRT - April 2005 Thunderstruck_comic@comcast.net All existing chapters of this story may be found at: http://www.talesfromthevault.com/relentless