Send C&C to: oddball22@hotmail.com Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000 DISCLAIMER: Don't worry, I'll return what I borrowed when I'm done. Though I'll never actually BE done. Heh, heh, heh. Ranma 1/2: New Challenges All That We Have Known Chapter 10 "Saotome, look out!" The man known as Saotome Tenma backflipped behind the man who tried to stab him in the back with a sharpened polearm. A powerful kick sent the dark shogun warrior stumbling into his companions. Using the brief break, he concentrated his ki and sent a medium-sized ki-ball into the group, knocking them together and sending them to the ground in a jumble of arms and legs. He looked up to see his companion, Akara, maul her opponent. He winced. Her adversary dropped to the ground, unconscious. "Are you always this brutal in your attacks?" he asked. "You haven't been fighting the dark shogun's men as long as I have," she retorted. "When you have, you tend to forget the niceties of combat." Tenma shook his head. True, he hadn't fought the Dark Shogun's men until a few days ago, but his sensei had always stressed the use of minimal force and honor in combat. He really missed his sensei, but he had passed on to the next world and left a message for him to seek out a man name Tendo Senshin and aid him. Tenma finally made arrangements to meet him at the Inn, but met his daughter instead, a feisty warrior by the name of Tendo Akara. "Shall we get going?" she asked, almost perturbed. "Have to wait for Neko," he replied. As if on cue, the huge black cat emerged from the woods and bounded up to Tenma, rubbing against him. "Easy girl. Did you get him?" The puma nodded. "Good girl. Now we can go." Neko was his sensei's companion, but decided to come with Tenma when her master died. He couldn't dissuade the big cat, so he brought her along, much to the annoyance of Akara. "We should reach my father's camp in a little under two hours if we hurry," she said in a tone that meant that she would hurry and he would have to if he wanted to keep up. As they began to move, Tenma became tired of the way his guide was treating him. "Look, I don't know what you're problem is with me, but can't you at least try to act civil?" She snorted. "Why?" "Well then, what is your problem with me?" She seemed to hesitate, then answered, "I don't know you. My father may trust you, but I don't. As far as I am concerned, you're a spy sent by the Dark Shogun. If you want my trust, you'll have to earn it." "That's fair. To be honest, I've never met your father, but supposedly he was friends with my sensei, who was my only family with the exception of Neko." "What about your parents?" His face fell a bit. "I never knew them. I don't know any of my family, or what happened to them." "So you're an orphan?" "Pretty much." The rest of the trip went in silence. Sure enough, two grueling hours later, they entered the large encampment. Akara quickly led him to the command tent. Stepping inside, he was introduced to the man in command of the little army, Tendo Senshin, who was dressed in sturdy brown, samurai armor. Tenma executed a short bow as taught by his sensei. "Saotome Tenma, eh?" Senshin asked. "I'm sorry to hear of your sensei's passing; Satsu was an old friend of mine." "Thank you for your concern, Tendo-san." "No need to be so formal, call me Senshin. How old are you?" "Nineteen... Senshin-san." He stumbled a bit over the name, feeling slightly uncomfortable saying it. "Father, who's the guest?" came the voice of a new girl entering the tent. She was followed by another girl, slightly shorter than she was. Senshin's face brightened. "Ah, Allow me to introduce to my old friend's pupil, Saotome Tenma. Tenma-kun, these are my daughters. My oldest daughter Kimiko, she's 22." He indicated the tall, mild mannered girl who was dressed like a Shinto priestess. She bowed. "My middle daughter Nayrumi, she's 20." The second girl with the short brown hair smirked at him. "And you've already met my youngest daughter, Akara, she's 19 as well. They are all available if you are seeking a wife." Tenma blanched. He could see the reactions of the three girls were almost the same as his. "I'm sorry father, but my priestess duties come first, no offense Saotome-san," Kimiko said. "I might be interested," Nayrumi said as she began to look him over. Something about her gaze made Tenma decidedly uncomfortable. "Nah, on second thought, he's too much of country bumpkin for my tastes. You can have him, Imouto-chan." Akara fumed, something Tenma had seen quite a bit the past two days. "Oh sure! Pass him off on me! Well I don't want him!" Though a part of her couldn't help but think his short pony-tail gave him a certain attractiveness factor. The rest of her fought that thought off as she stormed out of the tent. "You'll have to forgive her, she's a bit... high-spirited." "Oh good, daddy," said Nayrumi. "Like that explains everything." Senshin cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'm glad you could join us, we could really use your help. Nayrumi is our main tactician, and plans all our strategies." Tenma blinked. "A girl plans your strategies?" "And I'm quite good at it, thank you very much," Nayrumi replied evenly. "Why don't you explain the current situation and the proposed mission?" Senshin suggested. "Certainly daddy." She gestured him over to a map of Japan. "Now we know the this Dark Shogun has been steadily advancing his army northward from the south end of Japan. Where he's getting his men, supplies and equipment from is still a mystery I'm working on. "I've sketched a preliminary plan to eliminate the Dark Shogun and his armies, but we currently don't have enough manpower to carry it out. Our army only consists of about 500 men and women who have flocked to our banner for one reason or another, while the Dark Shogun seemingly has thousands of troops. To that end, we've been seeking to gain as many allies as possible. The House of Kuno has recently, and secretly, joined our cause. However, most everyone else has decided to stay out of it until the war is finished." She scoffed. "They're scared, so they sit in their little huts, hoping this will all blow over." She shook her head. "In any case, we have learned of one ninja clan that may help us if we can contact them." She pointed at a spot on the map and grinned. "This is your mission... Miyo awoke and sat up. She collapsed back onto the bed. She sighed. She turned over, closing her eyes. Light gradually spilled into the room of Tendo Nabiki and she groaned. Off-hand, she wondered how much she could pay the sun to disappear for a few more hours. It was Sunday, so she could sleep in and she could've used it, too. She was up late last night trying to figure out a mystery, and nothing gave her greater satisfaction that solving a mystery. Then she remembered what the mystery was and decided she needed to get up. She opened her eyes and rose to a sitting position, yawning and stretching. All was quiet in the house. She frowned. She yawned again and got up. Looking at the clock, she deduced that at least Kasumi would be up fixing breakfast. And who knows, maybe she could get the bathroom first this morning? She walked down the stairs with a change of clothes. Kasumi was humming to herself in the kitchen, but the dining room was empty. She was the first one up apparently, besides her elder sister. Nabiki quickly made her way to the bath to wash up. Several minutes after cleaning herself and relaxing in the furo, there came a knocking at the door. "Nabiki? Are you in there?" She smirked. "Yeah, you can come on in, sis." She could hear the door to the changing room open and some muffled sounds that said someone outside was stripping. Then the door to the bathroom opened and in walked Akane, a tired look on her face. To Nabiki's eye, it looked like her little sister was slightly upset about something. "What's up, Akane?" she asked as her sister sat down on the stool to wash herself. Akane sighed. If she told Nabiki, chances are it could end up all over school. If she didn't, Nabiki would find out anyway, she always did. "If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone. Ranma's hurt enough about this as it is." That perked up her ears. If Ranma is hurting about something, it's either a really tough fight that he lost, or some emotional thing that he wasn't good at dealing with. She debated the pros and cons, before deciding that her sister's best interests were her own. "I promise sis, now what's going on?" "Last night at the party, Ranma got drunk and tried to... to... grope me." Akane was slightly red. Nabiki's eyes narrowed. "I'll kill him." "No!" Akane said quickly. "Don't do anything, you haven't heard the rest of the story." Nabiki nodded and waited for her to continue. "After I slapped him, he ran off. The next time I found him, he was a she and... I found her... in one of the bedrooms upstairs." A lone tear fell down her cheek and she wiped it before continuing. "She was passed out and there were three guys there undressing her." Nabiki's eyes widened as she considered this. "Did they rape her?" Akane shook her head. "No, I think I got there in time, but Ranma remembers some of it and he feels terrible. He even cried last night." Nabiki was shocked. "Mr. Man-Among-Men cried?" Akane nodded. "He's feeling a bit touchy about his `weak' female form, so please don't tease him about it." She finished washing and slipped into the furo with her older sister. "It's okay sis, I won't say anything." She cocked her head. "Besides, I think I'm gonna need your's and Ranma's help with something. In case you haven't noticed, Kuno's been missing from school for the past week." "I wondered a bit about that. I just put it up to good luck." "Now Akane," Nabiki scolded. "He has been getting better. He's all but given you up and I almost had him give up on his `pig-tailed goddess'. Now he pulls this disappearing trick. Also, there's been no sign of Kodachi either." "Think they're related?" "I don't believe in coincidences," she said evenly. "I believe Kuno is in his estate somewhere, but not Kodachi. I asked at the door for them and the servant who answered the door said Kuno was in, but not seeing anyone, and his sister was gone." She tapped her chin. "I haven't seen Sasuke either." "So you want us to sneak in and look for him?" Nabiki smiled. "That would be ever so helpful of you. You two are the martial artists of the family." She leaned foreword. "Also, you need to deal with both Kuno's if you ever hope to marry Ranma in peace. You already said Ukyo gave up and you beat Shampoo, so they're the only ones left." Akane blushed a bit, but nodded. "I'll see what we can do. Ranma will probably have a bit of a hangover, so if we go, it will be later tonight." As a matter of fact, Ranma-onna did have a hangover. Not as bad as normal people, thanks to her amazing healing factor, but it wasn't pleasant. She groaned and got up, going through the motions of getting ready for the day in a zombie-like state. When it was her turn for the bath, she washed quickly and slipped into the furo, feeling the change come over him, like it always did. Amazingly, it seemed to help his condition somewhat. He entered the dining room and took his usual place next to Akane. She smiled at him and he felt a wave of happiness wash over him. She kissed him on the cheek and squeezed his hand. "So what's this I hear about a training trip, Ranma-kun?" Soun asked. Ranma sighed. He knew this would probably get brought up. "Gotta do something with my summer break. With the way my fights have been goin' lately, I think it's a good idea to brush up my skills." "And you're taking Akane with you?" he asked, smiling and hopeful. He glanced at her. "Yeah, I am her sensei, so there's a lot I need ta teach her, and I know a place where it'll be easier ta do that. Besides, It's only for a week or two, depending on how much we can accomplish and how long our supplies last." Soun nodded his approval and gave him a knowing glance. Ranma sighed. They may have stopped trying to push him and Akane together, but they still were over eager to help the process along. He hoped the two fathers weren't planning anything. Nabiki saw what Ranma did not. She sighed. She looked at her sister and smirked. Akane caught the meaning and blushed bright red. All of this passed right by the young Saotome. Of course, breakfast was served and the rest of the world was forgotten as Ranma dove into his food with a vengeance. Akane sighed and Nabiki thought that her younger sister had her work cut out for her if she wanted to tame Ranma into a proper husband. Hikaru concentrated. Behind him, Ariko had her hands on his shoulders and was trying to send him magical energy. The glass in front of him moved slightly. Hikaru groaned. After several days of study, Ariko found that Gos's problem was that he was a magical sponge. He could absorb expended magical energies from around him, and concentrate them into telekinetic abilities. That's why they worked so well during the fight with Krynn; the evil wizard was emitting high levels of the stuff. Nerima had a slightly higher concentration of magics, but he was having trouble tapping it. Even with Ariko sending him some of her powers, he could barely do move anything. "This isn't working," Hikaru said, exasperated. "Calm down, Hi-chan," Ariko soothed. "You're getting better, you just need to learn to better absorb and control the energies. Also, if you spend some more time storing up the magic, your power would grow." Gos leaned his face into his hand and sighed. "You think so?" She smiled. "Of course, silly." She snapped her fingers. "And I think I know something that'll help you!" She ran over to wear their magic books lay and began flipping through them. Finally, she found her page. "Ah, here it is!" Hikaru looked it over. "A magic amplifier amulet? Can we make one?" "I think so. All the ingredients are easy enough to obtain. Here's the spell and ritual. Yeah, I think it's doable. And if it works, you should have an easier time gathering and using magic." "If." Gos said simply. None of his spells ever worked right. He hoped Ariko was better than he was. That evening two figures moved silently through the darkness, going from shadow to shadow. Their target was the mansion at the end of the street. With a final burst of stealthy speed, they reached the outer wall of their target and leapt to the top. "What do you think?" Akane asked. She was wearing dark sweat pants with a matching dark shirt, same as the person next to her. Ranma studied the interior a bit before responding. "Looks good so far. Still, who knows how many traps Sasuke's got out there. Man, I can't believe I'm doing this." Akane smiled. "How did Nabiki get you to help anyways?" Ranma grimaced. "Uh, I'll tell ya later. Right now, I think we should go." He leapt down and Akane followed. "Man, it's too quiet." Akane nodded in agreement and the two made their way to the mansion. As they flattened themselves against the wall, the couple peeked into one of the many window and beheld only a darkened room. Ranma nodded to Akane, and he slid the window open. As he did, a panel underneath Akane opened up and she fell in. "Ranma!" Acting quickly, Ranma dropped to his stomach and grabbed her hand. "I've got you!" She latched onto his arm with her other hand and he began to pull her up. "Ugh! Akane, you're gettin' pretty heavy, you know that?" Akane started a quick boil. "Raaannnnmmmaaa!" He smiled. "But that's just because you're strong, and I like you that way." He pulled her all the way back up and kissed her. "Ranma!" she exclaimed as she slugged him. "That's not going to work everytime. Let's go." They climbed into the room and moved silently to the other door, passing through it and into a darkened hall. "Now which way?" Akane asked. "Should we split up?" Ranma shook his head. "Naw. Too many traps and unknowns. We should stick together." Picking a direction, they moved silently down the hall. "Hey Nabiki-san!" Yuri greeted the middle Tendo as she walked into Ucchan's. The ninja girl was behind the grill, cooking. Well, cleaning up. "We're almost at closing time, but I can still make ya something." "Sure, that's be great," Nabiki said, sitting down on a stool. "Is that Tendo Nabiki-san I hear out there?" Kenji called from the back where he was washing dishes. "Sure is!" his sister replied. Kenji walked out and looked at her. He didn't really hate Nabiki, but she wasn't exactly his best friend either. He still wasn't happy at the way she had put out the information that allowed the Fire Lord to find and capture him. "How are things at the dojo?" he asked evenly. "Same old, same old." Nabiki caught the hidden message. "Where's the main chef?" Kenji turned away while Yuri spoke up. "She's up in her room. She didn't feel much like coming down today, so we ran the restaurant instead. Apparently she can't handle her liquor very well." "We actually had to shut down for awhile while Yuri trained with our new sensei," said Kenji. Nabiki gave a questioning look. "New sensei?" Yuri finished the okonomiyaki and handed it to Nabiki. "Yeah. Apparently he was sent from our clan to train us." Yuri looked thoughtful. "Say, why don't you practice martial arts, Nabiki-chan? You do live in a dojo." "I did for awhile," she explained between bites, "but Akane quickly became better at it, and I found my time taken up by keeping the dojo afloat, financially. Just don't have the desire much anymore. Mmmm, this is pretty good. Not as good as Ukyo makes, but still pretty tasty." Yuri bowed. "Arigato, I'm a quick study and Ucchan's a good teacher. By the way, how are Ranma and Akane doing?" Nabiki blanched. "Nowadays I look foreword to their fights. Their lovey-dovey act makes me sick. I assume they'll get married as soon as the Kuno's are dealt with." "Any sign of Kodachi?" Kenji asked. Nabiki shook her head. "Not really. I've had a few contacts say they saw her leave the city, but that's about it. I don't know what she's up to, and that worries me. But that can wait. The bigger mystery is what's happening with Tatewaki. He hasn't been in school all week, so I had the lovebirds go check out his mansion." "Kuno Tatewaki..." Yuri tapped her chin. "He's the guy in the blue samurai garb and wields a bokken?" The middle Tendo sister nodded. "I thought I saw him practicing when I went to meet with Sensei. Only he was wielding a real katana and saying something about finally having his two loves." Nabiki stopped eating. "When and where was this?" "Earlier today when I went to meet our sensei in the park. I didn't pay much attention to him, but he said something about tonight being the night when he gets his vengeance against the `vile sorcerer' and frees his two loves. Said he had it all planned out." Nabiki frowned. "I thought I got him out of his dreamworld. Why would he..." Her blood ran cold. "Oh no. I sent Ranma and Akane to his mansion. I think they're walking into a trap! I have to stop them." She got up and felt a hand restrain her arm. It was Kenji. He may not have liked her much, but Ranma and Akane were a different story. "We'll go with you." Yuri nodded in agreement. "Give us a minute to get ready." "I'm going, too," came a voice from a nearby doorway. "Ukyo-chan?" Yuri questioned. "Are you sure? Are you feeling okay?" Ukyo nodded. "I've been sleeping all day. If Ranchan and Akane- chan are in trouble, count me in." She snapped on her bandoleer of spatula's and grabbed her battle spat off the wall. "Okay, but we have to hurry," Nabiki said. The Soyokaze siblings disappeared into their rooms and returned a couple of minutes later, wearing twin grey, ninja bodysuits. With a nod, the quartet took off into the night. From an isolated room, a figure watched several monitor screens, paying attention to one in particular. On it, two figures could be seen walking down a hallway. He smiled. Kuno reached forward flicked a few switches. On the screen, the two people were boxed in as walls blocked off either end of the hallway. Another flick of a switch, and the walls started closing in. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's notes: You make ask yourself where I'm planning on going with this series. I ask myself that same thing. I have a definite direction I'm heading in, and I'm slowly building little things up to that point. I'm also trying to have some fun and good character development along the way; just like a normal continuation series. Here's a hint: Miyo's dream sequences have a major bearing on the characters.