|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Part Fourteen: The Soul Survivor | |||||||||||||||||||
| By Richard LeBlanc | |||||||||||||||||||
| A wave of cold fear washed over Ranma as she watched Talon toss Ryoga aside. Nothing was working against this monster. Every time she tried any technique - Talon found some secret - some method of evading it or turning it against her. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Ucchan - get Akane away from here," Ranma requested. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Ran-chan! You can't beat him on your own," she cried out. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Get her out of here! Talon - your beef is with me - let them go," she added. Talon looked over at Ukyo. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she wanted nothing more than to fight by Ranma's side. Talon slipped his hands back into the sleeves of his robe. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "A noble sacrifice. Amusing. Very well - consider it a - courtesy. You two ladies are free to go," Talon stated calmly. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Ran-chan - please," Ukyo pleaded. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Do you want me to beg? I have lost too many friends as it is - I don't want to lose any more. Please - take her far away from here," Ranma requested - tears escaping her eyes. Ukyo shook her head as she piggybacked Akane. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "I'll be back Ran-chan - I promise," Ukyo reassured as she hurried out of the large room. Talon smiled as he watched Ranma's friend leave. He then returned his attention to the redheaded girl that was still defying him. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "You are the most stubborn girl I have ever encountered," Talon remarked as he walked over to where his throne was. He brushed some debris from it and sat down. "Are you afraid?" he asked curiously. Ranma wanted to be defiant - she wanted to deny it. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Yes," she reluctantly admitted. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Then why go through all of this? It is needless - pointless. If your wish was to show your courage - you have. If it was to save your friend - you have. Why fight further? What do you hope to prove by sacrificing yourself in such a way?" Talon asked seriously. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "I refuse to give up. I may not survive this fight with you - but I could not live with myself if I gave in without trying my best to stop you," she replied seriously. Talon blinked as he shook his head. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "One hand can not stop the wind. I guess I am a fool for seeking to sway you. Your death - is the loss of a potential master among masters. Your death - will be the end of a great legacy - that could have been envied - by millions. Your death - will have been - for nothing," Talon said solemnly as he slowly got up. "With no friends to save you Ranma - when you get taken down this time - I do so swear - that - you will not ever rise again," he warned grimly. | |||||||||||||||||||
| * * * | |||||||||||||||||||
| Amidst the wasteland that surrounded the sinister temple - Ukyo stopped and looked up at the storm clouds that were brewing and how the eye of it seemed to be directly above Talon's temple. | |||||||||||||||||||
| In her head she could see Ranma fighting Talon with everything she had - never giving an inch as she always did. Only this time - she knew that Ranma could not overcome this foe on her own. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Why did you send me away Ran-chan? Together we might have had a chance," she said as a light rain began to fall. "Hold on Akane - I have to get you away from here," she muttered as she noticed the same kind of spirit fighters they had encountered before swaying - looking to the temple. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ukyo ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She knew that all she had to do was get Akane out of danger. If she got her out of the canyon - rescue crews could look out for her and she could return and help Ranma - hopefully before it was too late. | |||||||||||||||||||
| As she ran she found herself stopping dead in her tracks - amidst the ruins - she saw what was left of her restaurant. In her mind she could see all the times that Ranma would stop by for some free eats and talk. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Ranma," Akane slurred. Ukyo shook her head and looked over her shoulder. Akane was slowly coming too but was still seriously out of it. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Hold on girl. I have to get you out of here," she stated as she picked up her pace and headed for one of the slopes that led out of the canyon. As she drew closer she could see police standing with weapon's ready. "Don't shoot!" she shouted out. She collapsed at the feet of one of the police officers. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "What are you doing down here? It's dangerous?" the officer asked. Ukyo shook her head and forced herself up to her feet. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "You have no idea how much so," she began as she began to head back into the canyon. The police officer reached forward and grabbed her arm. "I do not have time for this. Ran-chan is in terrible danger and I will not let you stop me from helping him!" she said as she spun around and flipped the officer over into other rescue workers. "I am sorry about this - protect Akane!" she shouted as she raced back. The officer was quick to his feet and had his weapon aimed at the retreating girl. He shook his head and looked down at the twitch girl that Ukyo had brought. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Get her to the trauma center and make sure she pulls through! So far she is the only survivor next to that girl that we have seen since this fiasco began!" the officer shouted as two paramedics carried Akane up the slope. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Shouldn't we go after the girl?" another officer asked. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "No," he replied. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "But she'll," the other officer began. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "We have to make sure that nothing gets out of here," he replied. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Out? What do you?' the officer asked as his colleague pointed to an area behind a collapsed building. The officer saw something that looked to be a cross between a ghost and a living man. "What is that?" he asked. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "I don't know - but there are a lot of them. And we have to make sure that they don't get out," he replied seriously as more and more spirit fighters began popping out from behind toppled vehicles and buildings. | |||||||||||||||||||
| * * * | |||||||||||||||||||
| Back in the temple - Ranma took four hard hits that sent her reeling. She staggered back - refusing to fall. Talon shook his head and wiped Ranma's blood from the back of his hand. Talon raced in again. Ranma began to faint. Talon laughed as he caught her in his arms. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Ranma opened her eyes as she landed a focused kick to the side of his head. He staggered back. Ranma shouted as she pressed the advantage. She threw hundreds of punches and kicks at her seemingly invincible enemy. None of which he could stop. | |||||||||||||||||||
| On the other side of the room - those that had been by Ranma's side - Genma, Soun, Mousse and Shampoo - helplessly watched as Ranma hit Talon with everything she had left. They watched as Talon staggered back. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Ranma - still fighting?" Shampoo slurred. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "The boy is running on fumes," Genma muttered. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "He has to win - he always does," Mousse reassured. "Make him pay for what he did to Shampoo!" he shouted out. Ranma did not look away from her foe as she knocked him down - straddled him and relentlessly hammered him. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Stay down!" Ranma hissed. She was about to hit him again when she realized he wasn't moving. "It's over?" she muttered. Talon's eyes blinked open. Her heart froze. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Not quite yet my dear. Mantis Leg Strike!" Talon rebutted. Before Ranma could react. Talon had one of his legs raised up - and across her neck - then slammed her hard into the floor behind her causing her to roll away from him. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "This isn't possible," Ranma muttered as she watched Talon slowly getting up as though Ranma had done nothing to him whatsoever. "There is no way," she muttered as she nervously backed away. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "You have grasped so much of the mandate of my school - yet - you understand so little," Talon remarked as he vanished. Ranma gasped as she rolled to the side. Talon's fist exploded into the floor where Ranma had been just a second before. "The time for lessons is at an end," he stated. | |||||||||||||||||||
| He leaped up and seemingly froze in midair. Just then Talon exploded into a burst of fighting fury. Never had anyone seen someone fight so skilled so fast - so accurate. Ranma recoiled from every hit and near hit until she was finally sent up in an arching motion towards where Ryoga had been taken down. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "The fight is over Ranma. I will recant my warning and offer you - but once more! Refuse me and your death will be assured!" Talon shouted. Ranma staggered up to her feet and felt the rain splashing against her. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Her mind was in a fog from all the abuse she had taken. She remembered how much she hated the rain - how it always changed her at the most inappropriate times and made things uncomfortable for her. She shook her head and tried to focus of the enemy she was fighting. Everything was spinning. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "What is your answer woman?" Talon demanded. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Never," she slurred. Talon raced at her. Ranma tried to hit him with what little she had left. Her attack widely missed him. Ranma felt a jolt of pain as a strong punch sent her hard through the remnants of the wall behind her. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Get up and receive more," Talon taunted. Ranma twitched as the rain washed over her. Then like the times before - a darkness washed over her. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Forgive me Akane - I couldn't. Ranma thought as Talon stepped out and towered over his unconscious challenger. Talon knelt down over Ranma and patted her on the cheek. Her eyes fluttered open. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Prepare for your journey - into oblivion," Talon whispered. Ranma couldn't focus. He heard voices rambling in his ringing ears. She tensed up as she felt a sensation much like the one she felt whenever Hinakozapped her chi - only this felt ten times - a hundred times worse. Her eyes fluttered as she fought the sensation that he was sucking her very soul from her body. "By all means fight it - it will make the process far more enjoyable for me," he taunted. Ranma gasped as her body went limp. Her eyes spaced out. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "Ran-chan!" a voice screamed out. Talon sighed as he slowly got up and looked over his shoulder. Ukyo glared at him with a hate he hadn't seen - a hate he hadn't felt in ages. "What have you done to Ran-chan!" she demanded. Talon stepped away from Ranma's unmoving body. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "She chose to refuse me - so I killed her. All that oppose me die child. It is a reality as real - as darkness," he stated as he stepped back into the temple. "So I ask you girl - are you opposing me now?" he asked seriously - as a powerful battle aura pulsed around him. Ukyo backed away as the heat from the aura was that intense. | |||||||||||||||||||
| "For what you have done to my Ranma - you had better believe it!" she replied as she got ready for the fight of her life. | |||||||||||||||||||
| To be Continued... | |||||||||||||||||||