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| Part Twelve: Power in the Face of Evil | |||||||||||||||
| By Richard LeBlanc | |||||||||||||||
| Talon smiled as he saw his enemies closing in. He smiled as he led them inward in a defensive spiral. Too late did they realize why their enemy was smiling. | |||||||||||||||
| "Hiryu Shoten Ha!" Talon shouted as a tornado sent all of his attackers into the unforgiving roof. Ukyo and Ryoga watched as the four attackers fell to the floor. Talon was about to address them the four began to stir. "You people don't give up easy," he remarked. | |||||||||||||||
| "We will never stop," Genma and Soun stated as they shook off the effects of the impact they had soaked - ignoring the pain from the numerous broken bones and torn muscles. | |||||||||||||||
| "I will never yield. I shall rise until I can rise no more! You will be made to pay for what you did to Shampoo!" Mousse added. | |||||||||||||||
| "If you think for an instant that we are letting you leave here - you are out of your delusional mind," Ranma added. Talon quietly laughed at the bravado. In spite of the fact that they were clearly outmatched - they chose to fight him - challenge him. | |||||||||||||||
| "I do not remember the last time I have been so entertained. By all means children - show me your righteous fury," Talon remarked as he took on a defensive posture. The battle-weary fighters charged in to resume the fight. | |||||||||||||||
| Ukyo watched as Ranma managed to keep at least an inch out of harm's way of each of Talon's lethal looking strikes. | |||||||||||||||
| Ryoga watched as the others had Talon on the defensive - hitting him with numerous weapons - kicks and punches. It was then that Talon's battle aura flared. He dodged to the side. The hands of the martial artists became a blur as he touched a dozen some odd spots on Soun. Soun tensed up as he fell to the ground. | |||||||||||||||
| Talon then slid across the stone floor as though it were coated with ice and kicked Genma across the face. He then spun around in the opposite direction - landing a devastating backhanded punch that caused Ranma's father to spin around and land face first on the floor. | |||||||||||||||
| Mousse charged in hoping to catch his enemy while distracted - but no such luck would be his. Talon punched the concealed wrist of the robed fighter - knocking loose a number of concealed weapons. | |||||||||||||||
| Talon then landed dozens of potent blows to Mousse's face - shattering his glasses. Ranma did what she could to try to stop Talon - but everyone heard the sickening cracks that resounded from two strikes that targeted the near-sighted fighter's knees. | |||||||||||||||
| Mousse began to fall but was caught by Talon. | |||||||||||||||
| "Go sit with the other walking wounded!" he shouted as he kicked Mousse up and over to where Shampoo was. Ranma tried to take him down with everything she had. She kept telling herself that everyone was counting on her. "You are pretty fast dear," Talon remarked. Ranma realized she was too close! She tried to hop away but his foot slammed down on hers. | |||||||||||||||
| "Get off me!" Ranma shouted as she tried to kick him. Talon effortlessly blocked the kick - leaned forward and gripped her by the throat. Ranma tensed up as Talon held her completely still for a moment. | |||||||||||||||
| "At the risk of sounding repetitive - you lose," he whispered. He stared at the only two people left standing as he slammed his open hand against the upper chest of Ranma - slamming the back of her head - neck and shoulders into the unforgiving floor. | |||||||||||||||
| They watched as Ranma fought to remain conscious - but the skill - power and speed of Talon was just too much for her. Her body went limp. Talon smiled as he tossed Ranma aside like a limp doll. | |||||||||||||||
| "In all my years - I have never met a bunch quite like this. So determined - so set in their ways against the impossible. Sure I have encountered the odd so called hero - but never so many willing to face certain death to stop me," Talon remarked as he concealed his hands in his robes. | |||||||||||||||
| "This looks bad," Ukyo muttered. | |||||||||||||||
| "Tell me about it," Ryoga added. | |||||||||||||||
| "You two - strike me as being somewhat more reasonable that - some that are present," Talon began. It was then that Ranma's body twitched. "I honestly - have no desire to hurt any of you any more than I already have. I believe - I have made my point in showing you the futility of trying to fight someone like me," he continued. Ranma rolled onto her side and looked over to where Talon was. His back was to her. | |||||||||||||||
| "What do you want?" Ryoga muttered - noticing Ranma's slight movements. | |||||||||||||||
| "My empire - my rule will expand and nothing any of you do or could have done - would have changed this. But - as - you showed me that - the spirit of the warrior exists in you - I will allow you to leave - unmolested. You may take the wounded with you even the - Akane - girl - I believe her name was," Talon began. | |||||||||||||||
| "At what cost?" Ukyo asked - not seeing Ranma behind the evil martial arts master. | |||||||||||||||
| "Well - nothing is free. The one you call Ranma - she will remain," Talon remarked. The statement sent Ukyo over the edge! She lunged towards the beast that was daring to suggest that she would even consider sacrificing her precious Ran-chan. But her attack came up short as Ryoga caught her by one of her spatula belts. | |||||||||||||||
| "Let me go!" she ordered. From the corner of Ryoga's eye he saw that Ranma had forced herself up to her knees. | |||||||||||||||
| "An interesting offer - but what if we refuse?" Ryoga asked - holding Ukyo suspended in the air. Ranma did her best to silently stagger up to her feet. talon quietly laughed. | |||||||||||||||
| "You have been watching what has been going on haven't you? Right now - all I have done is hurt them - with the exception of one or two. Push me further - and I do promise you that - death will be a reward that is begged for," Talon retorted seriously. | |||||||||||||||
| "If you think we would sacrifice Ran-chan!" Ukyo emotionally began. | |||||||||||||||
| "Hush up!" Ryoga interrupted. | |||||||||||||||
| "You filthy little pig! You are actually considering his offer? How could you betray Ranma like this? He trusted you!" she shouted indignantly. Talon quietly laughed at the arguing duo. | |||||||||||||||
| "You saw what he did to Ranma and the others. Do you think that we would stand a chance?" Ryoga asked as he saw Ranma standing on his own power. | |||||||||||||||
| "So we should just give up? You call yourself a man?" she shouted as she got ready to hit him with her giant spatula. Ryoga grabbed it and removed it from her. | |||||||||||||||
| "You think I like the thought of doing this? What choice do we have?" Ryoga asked. It was then that Ranma pounced. Ukyo was going to shout at Ryoga some more when she saw Ranma landing a strong punch to the back of Talon's head. "Ranma can't win this one on his own. Stay here and protect Akane!" he said as he leaped over to help his friend and rival take down the evil that threatened them all. | |||||||||||||||
| For a few tense moments - Ukyo stood stunned. | |||||||||||||||
| Ukyo looked at her weapon and then at the three people that were fighting. Ryoga knew that Ranma was coming round. It was all just a ploy to stall for time. She felt a bit of her anger and anxiety melt away as she looked over her shoulder at her unconscious rival - a woman she had been asked to protect - a woman that would take her Ran-chan away from her. She closed her eyes and shook her head. A part of her wanted to walk away - leave an opening or something - anything to get Akane out of her life. | |||||||||||||||
| She sighed as she realized that she couldn't do such a thing even if she wanted to. If she did - Akane might be out of the way - but instead of winning her Ran-chan's heart - she would merit his hate. | |||||||||||||||
| That was something she wasn't willing to risk earning at any cost. She loved him too much to be willing to risk losing what little she had with him. | |||||||||||||||
| "So long as I live Akane - nothing is going to hurt you," she said to her sleeping rival. | |||||||||||||||
| To be Continued... | |||||||||||||||