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| Part Fifteen: The Fall of the Avenging Angel | |||||||||||||||||
| By Richard LeBlanc | |||||||||||||||||
| In the temple - all of the spectators watched as Ukyo glared at Talon. Never had any of them seen her so focused - so enraged. | |||||||||||||||||
| "If you are so willing to throw your life away little girl - who am I to stand in your way?" Talon remarked casually as he motioned for her to bring it on. Ukyo screamed out as she charged at him. | |||||||||||||||||
| * * * | |||||||||||||||||
| At that moment just outside of the temple - laying on the roof where she fell - Ranma remained. It was then that - something began to happen. The heat from the intense battle auras within the temple were heating the rain to near boiling. Ranma's finger twitched. Slowly - like many times before - the heated water began to change her back to her true form - that of a man. | |||||||||||||||||
| Ranma gasped as his eyes fluttered open. Pain unlike anything he had ever felt stabbed at every fiber of his being. In his head he heard hundreds of voices screaming - screaming at him. he rolled around covering his ears - hoping it would stop. He closed his eyes. | |||||||||||||||||
| He was in a different place. The place was seemingly surrounded and shrouded with mist. | |||||||||||||||||
| He opened his eyes - he was back on the roof of the temple. Below him was at least a hundred foot free fall. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Ranma my boy - it's up to you," a familiar voice stated. Ranma twitched as he looked over his shoulder and saw Happosai. | |||||||||||||||||
| "You - you're dead," Ranma muttered. | |||||||||||||||||
| "So it would seem. That doesn't matter now though. What matters is that Talon must be stopped - at all costs," the perverted old master stated. | |||||||||||||||||
| "What do you think I've been doing?" Ranma retorted. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Listen - time is not our ally boy. Open your mind to me and let me impart with you all that I know," Happosai stated. Ranma went near cross-eyed at the thought of learning everything the old pervert knew. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Like I want to know that," he pointed out. | |||||||||||||||||
| "There is no time for this foolishness Ranma! For once in your life be man enough to receive the whole of my years of study and training," he ordered. Ranma closed his eyes and once again found himself in a place of mist and fog. Happosai appeared before him. | |||||||||||||||||
| "If this is a trick," he muttered. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Nothing of the sort. Talon must be stopped - and this is the only way," he reassured as he became translucent. Ranma watched as Happosai floated over and became one with him. Ranma stifled the urge to scream as his mind was flooded with all of the tricks- techniques and powers that the old master knew. "Good luck my boy - I'm counting on you," he concluded as Ranma opened his eyes. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Son-in-law," Cologne stated. He looked to the side and saw the old ghoul perched atop her walking stick smiling at him. "I hoped that we would meet again," she added. | |||||||||||||||||
| "You planning on doing what that old freak did?" Ranma hesitantly asked. | |||||||||||||||||
| "I wouldn't have worded it quite that way - but in a manner of speaking yes. Are you willing to learn - all that I can teach?" she asked seriously. Ranma's head was still splitting from what he had seen from the old man's life. He closed his eyes again and found himself in mist filled place. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Open your mind - and see what three thousand years - of Chinese Amazon history has done and can do," Cologne whispered as she became ghost-like and floated over and vanished into Ranma's body. | |||||||||||||||||
| His eyes instantly opened as he rolled around on the roof - as a pain unlike anything he had felt overcame him. so intense was the throbbing pain in his head that he almost failed to notice that he was about to fall off the temple roof and down to the unforgiving ground below. His hand shot over and grabbed the ledge. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Nice going Ranma. You'll have a hard time saving everyone if you get yourself killed," a familiar voice remarked. Ranma pulled himself up and looked over and saw Ryoga. His rival and best friend looked at how the rain splashed against his bare skin - and how he still remained a man. "I am finally free of the pig," he said with a smile as he looked over at Ranma. "I know we had our differences Ranma - and the way you treated Akane - lord knows you don't deserve it," he began but stopped. "But - if you fail - she and everyone will pay for your failure," he stated seriously. | |||||||||||||||||
| "You'll help me?" Ranma asked as he pulled himself up. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Don't mention it - I might come to my senses," he rebutted. Ranma closed his eyes. Ryoga appeared before him and looked around. "You messed up a lot in your life Ranma - you hurt a lot of people. This is your chance to make a difference - don't - blow it," he concluded as he turned into a mist and flowed into Ranma. | |||||||||||||||||
| His eyes fluttered open as he felt everything his friend and rival felt - learned almost instantly everything Ryoga had learned. He fell to his knee gasping. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Saotome," another voice remarked. Ranma looked over and saw Kuno perched on the ledge - looking at the storm. "I remember well when first we faced. It was on the dawn of a storm - a storm not much different than this," he continued as he turned and glared at him. | |||||||||||||||||
| "You can't be serious. You want to fight me?" Ranma asked in disbelief. Kuno aimed his weapon at Ranma for a moment - but merely smiled as he rested it on his shoulder. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Now is no time for petty differences. Talon has felled me and countless others and must be punished. As I am clearly unable to do such - the duty falls onto you. As you are clearly no match for one such as I - against him you would surely fall," Kuno said - with his usual sense of modesty. Ranma smirked. | |||||||||||||||||
| Oh yeah right - like I'm buying that. He thought. | |||||||||||||||||
| "So allow me to teach you the secrets known only to my and my family," he offered seriously. Ranma sighed and closed his eyes. Kuno appeared and vanished into him as the others before him had. | |||||||||||||||||
| Ranma opened his eyes and muffled a scream as more knowledge was forced into his head. He panted as the hot rain washed over him. In his mind he could hear Ukyo? She was yelling at him? | |||||||||||||||||
| He closed his eyes. He could see Ukyo attacking him. he backed away but opened his eyes. He realized then - that - he was seeing through the eyes of Talon. It was then that he heard Ukyo cry out. | |||||||||||||||||
| "Ucchan," he muttered as he hurried back into the temple. He stood paralyzed as he watched Talon knock Ukyo's spatula weapon aside. He wanted to run but it was as though something inside him knew - it was too late. He closed his eyes as he heard the sickening crack - from the punch that killed her. | |||||||||||||||||
| Talon laughed as he slowly rose to his feet. | |||||||||||||||||
| "At last - at long last it is over," he said triumphantly. | |||||||||||||||||
| "I wouldn't be saying that just yet," a voice said from behind him. Talon turned around and saw Ranma balanced on one leg holding a long wooden staff. | |||||||||||||||||
| "And just who pray tell are you boy?" Talon asked. Ranma could feel a tear escape down his cheek as he saw where Ukyo had fallen. He then focused all his attention on the man that had beaten him repeatedly until that moment. | |||||||||||||||||
| "I am Ranma Saotome - heir to the Anything Goes school of martial arts. Student to the ways of the Amazon Tribe and Happosai. Friend to Ukyo and Ryoga and the instrument of their vengeance on the animal that murdered them," he stated seriously. "In the names of them and the countless others you murdered - I will put you down!" he concluded. | |||||||||||||||||
| Talon blinked as he looked to where he believed he felled Ranma and saw that there was no body and then studied the man that was before him. beside him he could see the girl he had been fighting up until that point. | |||||||||||||||||
| "You are just full of surprises lad. You wish to take up the struggle where your female side failed? Then by all means boy - show me what you got!" he taunted as the two got ready for the next round of their war! | |||||||||||||||||
| To Be Continued... | |||||||||||||||||