Send C&C to: oddball22@hotmail.com Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000 Ranma 1/2: New Challenges Bonds And Connections Chapter 5 Selah Lenwith huffed as she ran along the ground. A short time ago, she had seen all three of her housemates take off, saying something about Kenji. She had tried to catch up with them, but had lost them when they took to the roof. Not as physically able as the three martial artists, she quickly ran out of breath after several blocks of sprinting. She paused at the next intersection, unable to determine which direction they traveled in. "Oh pooh! I'll never find them now!" She stomped her foot in anger. "How dare they leave me behind! If it is Kenji-chan, he'll need me!" The young water mage sighed and collapsed on a bus stop bench to catch her breath, letting the chilly night air cool her overheated body. she asked herself, running her hands through her shoulder-length, light-blue hair. As her body temperature dropped, she suddenly had her answer and shot to her feet. "Of course!" she exclaimed. "They must be running warm, too! I'll just take a reading on the moisture in the air. If it hasn't been too long, they should have left a slight trail!" Buoyed by this revelation, she closed her eyes and concentrated, letting her magic mingle with water moisture around her. Her aura of detection grew in diameter as she gauged the humidity of the air in all directions. She had it! It was faint, but there was a slight trail of warmer air drifning over the housetops. Refreshed and recovered somewhat, Selah took off down the street, homing in on her friends' trail. After ten more minutes of travel, Selah stopped. The trail had practically dissipated by now and she was hard pressed to follow it much further. Glancing around revealed that she had ended up in a more run- down section of Nerima, with several boarded-up houses and larger buildings scheduled for demolition. she wondered in despair. She hadn't a clue where they could have ended up now, as the trail ended here. She sighed and leaned up against one of the concrete walls surrounding one of the condemned properties, wondering what she should do now. And then she heard the scream. The martial artist crouched, hands out to either side, while he awaited the attack. He didn't have to wait long. The arrow approached from his right, and he twisted to catch it in his right hand, while his left flung three sharp knives in response. Three deep *thunks* sounded in the distance, letting him know he had missed his opponent completely, but a not a tree trunk. It was quiet again, and Mousse scanned for his attacker, but couldn't even hear the leaves rustle. Trying to see his adversary was pointless even if he was wearing his glasses. With a new moon, the night was pitch black, and the forest canopy shielded him from the stars above. Without sight, and with no noise being made by his attacker, Mousse was really blind. "" his male opponent told him disdainfully in Chinese from the darkness. Mousse didn't bother with a reply, twisting a quarter-turn and moving ever so slightly to his right. His tactic paid off. The spear that would have skewered him, landed in the soft ground he had been standing in moments before. Grinning to himself, he laid his hand on the cool metal of the shaft and pulled it out of the ground. By the angle if its entry, Mousse could tell which direction it was thrown and from how far away. But as he hefted the weapon and prepared to throw, it was suddenly jerked from his grasp. He managed to get a tighter grip on the spear to hold onto it, but he was still pulled off balance. That proved to be a nearly costly mistake, as the dull whistle was his only warning of the inbound projectiles. Mousse flicked the weapon up, deflecting the first dart, but the second one struck his upper arm. He winced in pain, and his grip lessened enough for the spear to finally be yanked from his grasp. As it flew out of his hands, the myopic Amazon tumbled to the ground. Wincing, he reached over and pulled the dart out of the cloth covering of his arm, finding himself unable to do much else at the moment. he wondered. A very light *thump* was his only warning of someone landing beside him. A snap of his wrist sent the dart up at the general location he perceived the man to be, and was rewarded with the ping of it hitting metal and a short grunt from his adversary. Rolling away quickly, he sent a singular weighted wire flying out of his sleeve along the ground. With a twitch of his wrist, the line wrapped itself around the legs of his opponent. Mousse gave a quick tug to trip the other man up and slipped a sword out of his other sleeve, into his hand, and prepared to finish it once and for all. "STOP!" Mousse froze while his sensei turned the light on his helmet on, forcing Mousse to squint and then replace his glasses. His eyes widened in fear when they finally adjusted to the scene. Fen Wu's clawed boot was mere centimeters above Mousse's throat, and the wire that he had launched was only wrapped around the other leg. If Mousse had given a quicker tug on that line, or if Fen Wu and simply dropped his leg, Mousse's throat would have been rendered a bloody mess. The near-sighted Amazon gulped as Fen Wu lowered the other foot to the ground, claws retracting into the boot, while untangling the wire from his other leg. By the expression on the bigger man's face, Mousse could tell he had screwed up badly. He accepted the hand from his sensei and stood. Fen Wu replaced his weapons and equipment into his own robe. "" Mousse sweatdropped in nervousness. "" "" the weapons master reprimanded. "" The old man sighed and regarded his student. "" he picked up the small wiry chain, "<-was ill-thought out. You assumed I landed on both feet, when I only landed on one. I could have crushed your neck when I first came down, but I held back to see what you would do.>" Mousse felt dejected. After all he had learned, it still seemed he couldn't ever reach the high plateau that his sensei expected of him. "" Fen Wu's voice was enough to bring the other man's head back up. "" "" Fen Wu practically yelled at his student. "" Mousse looked up, perplexed. "" "" The aged weapons master paused, then turned his back and began to walk away. "" The confusion on Mousse's face only grew. "" When his teacher didn't stop or respond, the boy ran to catch up to him. "" Fen Wu stated, not looking at his student. "" As they walked back to the cabin, Mousse hoped his sensei would elaborate, but he would say no more, and the trip was made in silence. "Hello?" the nervous girl called out. "Oniichan? Are you in here?" Her two companions joined her inside, and together they scanned the darkened interior of the condemned office building. Yuri's call went unanswered while she squinted into the musty and spiderwebbed corridors. The walls were cracked, boards on the floor were broken and missing, and an unpleasant scent of erosion wafted past their noses. "Well, what now?" Ukyo asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Are we even sure he came in here?" Yuri's face became determined and fierce. "I know my brother! I know he came in here!" Ukyo sighed. "But why? Yuri-honey, something about this doesn't make any sense!" "I don't know!" the young ninja girl practically shouted in an exasperated tone. "There must be some reason! Maybe he needs some help or something!" Picking a direction seemingly at random, the flustered girl took off down the darkened and frail hallway, scanning left and right for any sign of her wayward sibling. Ukyo glanced to Konatsu, who reflected her disconcerted and perplexed gaze. He shrugged in reply to her unasked question and the two took off after their runaway friend, the boards under their feet creaking and groaning in protest. "Yuri-sama!" Konatsu called out. "Please slow down!" The two companions caught up to the sprinting girl, but only after a long sprint. They each grabbed an arm, stopping her at a three- way hallway intersection. Yuri railed against her 'captors'. "Let me go!" "Not until you calm down!" Ukyo snapped at her. The tone of voice stopped the struggling girl and brought her head up. "But, we have to help-" "We know that already!" The chef told her, cutting the other girl off. "But running off half-cocked ain't gonna help anyone! Don't you think we want to find him, too?" The ninja girl sagged, and the other two released her. "I just can't lose any more of my family," she said so quietly it was nearly a whisper. She walked over to the wall and placed her forearm against it, resting her head against her arm. "It was my fault my family is dead. If I hadn't snuck out of the house that night, I would have been there and could have done something. And if I hadn't left my brother and grand- mother alone, he would still be here." "It is not your fault, Yuri-sama," Konatsu offered, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You cannot blame yourself. If you were with your family, you would have been burned alive as well, and Kenji-sama would have no one. Whatever killed Oka-sensei, would have killed you too, had you been there." Yuri sniffed. "Maybe." Her head came up. "But I just know he needs my help now. I can't explain it, it's just a feeling, but something terrible has happened to him and the longer we wait, the less chance we have to help him." "Okay, Yuri-chan," Ukyo replied, wrapping her arms across her chest and rubbing her shoulders to generate warmth from the chill of a passing breeze. "But we have to be careful. This doesn't feel right, and this building is old and weakened." As if on cue, the chef took a few steps backward and stepped on a section of flooring that was more rotted away that the rest. With a startled squawk, Ukyo plummeted into darkness as the wooden boards gave away. Despite her fatigued state, Selah nearly jolted out of her skin when she heard the obviously female scream. Trembling, she turned toward the abandoned building it came from, only to have to have her apprehension increase as she beheld the ruined and boarded structure, just barely visible in the starlight. The word 'Eerie' popped into her mind, yet she somehow knew they were in there. She wasn't scared, no, she was absolutely terrified. The thought lingered in her head. Swallowing her nervousness and taking a deep breath, she quickly made her way to the ruined structure and put her hand on the door, whose hinges squealed with protest as she opened it. By now the scream had cut off, leaving her wondering what direction to go in. Grumbling to herself and trying to quell the fear that had returned, she picked a direction that felt like the scream came from and started walking. "Ukyo-sama!" "Ucchan!" Both ninja leapt forward in an attempt to grab the falling chef, but neither one was able to grab her before she disappeared into the darkness below. As they knelt at the edge of the darkened hole, they scanned for any sign of their fallen friend, but could see nothing. "I'm going down after her," Konatsu declared, getting ready to jump. A hand on his arm stopped him. "No, it's my fault she's in this mess. I'll go." "But Yuri-sama..." Konatsu stared into Yuri's worried, yet determined face, and acquiesced. "Very well." Unfortunately, neither one were able to take any further action, as a black blur shot out of the pit, it's path taking it right between the two teens. Yuri felt the blunt end of something strike the side of her neck, while Konatsu just barely managed to bring a hidden sai up to block the blade aimed for him. Still, the impact propelled him away for the mouth of the hole. As Konatsu stumbled back, Yuri toppled sideways, dazed from the strike with stars still dancing in her vision, and fell into the darkness below. "Yuri!" Konatsu cried, lunging for the girl, only to have his movement halted by the black blur that reformed itself into a black bodysuit-clad ninja. His opponent brought a slightly curved 16 inch blade up, holding it horizontally in front of his body. "If you want the girls," he spoke with an unnaturally rumbling voice, "you will have to go through me." The male kunoichi slowly withdrew the takemitsu from its sheath and held it up. "I will not let you have them!" Konatsu sprung forward and attacked, bringing the weapon around in an arc that would have struck his adversary's neck and disabled the man, had it not been knocked aside. Konatsu felt a fist find his ribs, driving the air from his lungs as his body folded over it. Then a backhand from the other fist aimed to practically take his head off. He barely managed to twist away, turning the blow into a glancing one, but it was still enough to send him stumbling drunkenly backward once more. A mistake, he realized. He didn't take his opponent seriously, thinking only of getting to the girls. At the edge of his vision, he detected movement approaching and he could hear the near-silent whisper of his enemy's blade coming for his throat. Mustering his concentration, he managed to bring up his own bamboo weapon and turn aside the thrust of his adversary's metal one, by striking with the flat of the blade. With a *thunk*, the metal sword lodged itself the plywood of the wall behind Konatsu, just barely missing his neck. Fully regaining his senses, Konatsu his other hand up, flicking his wrist and sliding the sai hidden in his sleeve into his fingers. He planted the butt end of the handle in his opponent's stomach, the blow shoving the other man away and forcing him to abandon his sword. Konatsu twirled, lashing out with his foot and striking several blows across the body of his enemy, sending him to the ground. A split second later, Konatsu was on him, the edge of his takemitsu resting against his enemy's throat. While not a sharp weapon, with the right skill he could easily cut the jugular out, turning it into a killing move. "Konatsu..." The downed ninja whispered in a now very familiar voice. The kunoichi's eyes widened, even while he grasped the top of the black mask and pulled it off, revealing a pained and very familiar face underneath. "Kenji-sama! Why?" The edges of Kenji's lips curved into a sneer. "Weakling... fool!" And that's when Konatsu realized he had made his second mistake, as he felt a hand place itself flat against his chest. Kenji spoke a single word. "Hitohuki." A powerful force shoved Konatsu upward, where he slammed into the ceiling. His head struck a thick wooden beam and shattered it, and as his vision began to fade out, his last sight was the sight of a face that was Kenji's, and yet was not, sneering at him. "That was a very poor performance," an old voice clucked from the darkened hallway. "He almost had you." "He got lucky," Kae spat, regaining her feet. Despite having a male body now, she still thought of herself as female. Her only consolation, was that she would be able to revenge herself on the one who imprisoned her in that hole. "Have you secured the two females?" "Of course. The drop wasn't that great and they were already unconsciousness when I captured them." Kae pulled her blade from the wall and walked over to the fallen boy's form, preparing to sever his head from his shoulders. "I shall kill him now." "Stop." The singular word froze Kae's body, despite all her attempts to move, and her eyes flashed several different shades of hate and menace. "Why did you stop me!? If you kill your enemies now, they cannot stop you later! And you have the two girls for hostages, already." Zhao Len emerged from the shadows, her eyes narrowing. "Oh, I will kill him later, but only when I have all of the ones responsible for my downfall together. Then, and only then, will they watch each of their friends die in turn." Selah flattened herself against the wall, hearing the tail end of the conversation. The two voices she heard were that of an old woman and Kenji, but the tone of the boy's voice she had such an infatuation for, was not what she remembered. It seemed... darker somehow, less forgiving and not as happy. she wondered, her heart pumping so loud and fast, that she was sure the two just down the hall would hear it. The she heard the part about killing them, and her legs finally gave out, sending her sliding to the floor. Her last confrontation with death, had been when her mother and several others had made a rapid departure from their Tibetan village. Many homes were already on fire, and people were running around in confusion. During the exodus, she had seen several dead bodies, getting a first hand look at exactly what "death" was. When her mother told her that her father wasn't coming with them, the young girl made the connection of what had happened to her daddy. And now three of her friends were being scheduled to die, and she was powerless and too scared to do anything. After all, if Ukyo, Konatsu, and Yuri were all beaten, what could she possibly do? Especially since it looked like Kenji was the one responsible for it. The tears began to leak out once more. She was alone again, having been driven many miles from a place she had once called home. She had just come to think of the restaurant as a new temporary home while waiting for her mommy to return. But without the people who had taken her in there, it wouldn't be home any more, either. Zhao Len and Kae had already moved off, or else they might've heard the sobs of a young girl as she broke down, crying in fear, loneliness, and despair. Ukyo groaned as she awoke, feeling decidedly uncomfortable. The surface area she was laying on, was not as soft as she remembered. She figured she'd have to get Konatsu to re-fluff the futon and pillow later, right after she took some aspirin to kill the pounding jackhammers in her brain. Then she realized she hadn't fallen asleep. The uncomfortable position she was in, was due to the stone floor she was laying on and the steel manacles attached to her wrists and ankles. With that, the activities of... was it the night before? Only a few hours? Ukyo couldn't tell how long she'd been out. All she knew was that her head hurt like hell. She sat up as best she could, while getting a look at her surroundings. It appeared to be some sort of small cement cell, the manacles connected by a thick chain to the stone wall. The only light was cast by a single candle resting on a table in the center of the room, causing a myriad of shadows to dance on the walls. "Hello?" she called out hesitantly. "Anybody there? Konatsu- chan? Yuri-chan?" A feminine groan was her only response, leaving her wonder if it was Yuri or Konatsu. "Wake up!" she nearly yelled, trying to get the other prisoner awake without alerting her captors. "Come on, Ucchan, 'nother five minutes..." Yuri's voice mumbled from the cell next door. Ukyo sighed and counted silently to ten, before practically shouting Yuri's name. "Ahh! I'm up!" Yuri blinked while jerking upright. "Where am I?" She spied her current captive state, manacles restraining her movement. "What happened to me?" "You were taken prisoner, same as me," Ukyo told her, dryly. Yuri's head came up and she took a look at her surroundings. "Ucchan? Where's Konatsu? Is he with you?" Ukyo shook her head, then realized Yuri wouldn't be able to see that. "Sorry, sugar. I don't know what happened myself." She winced as the pounding in her brain intensified for a moment. "But I can promise you that when I find out who's responsible for this, they're gonna be in a world of hurt!" she didn't add. "Are you sure about that?" an old voice asked over the opening creak of a rusty door. Ukyo and Yuri observed a Cologne-like woman walk into the room, followed by a ninja in black. "Zhao Len!" Yuri exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" Ukyo's eyes widened, not having actually seen the old woman, but hearing the name later. "You're that old ghoul that kidnapped Ran- chan and Akane-chan all those months ago!" The old ex-Amazon chuckled. "Guilty as charged." "What have you done with my brother!?" Yuri yelled. Zhao Len feigned innocence. "Why, my dear, what makes you think I did anything to him?" "I know he's here!" Yuri retorted. "Where is he!?" "You're in no position to make demands little girl!" the wrinkled old woman barked, then tapped her chin thoughtfully. "However, I think I can allow you to see his face once more, just to let you know who you'll have to kill to escape." She gestured to her silent companion, who removed his ebony mask. "Kenji!" Yuri gasped. Ukyo's mouth went dry. It was Kenji all right, but something about his face was wrong. His features were harder, eyes darker, and lips curved upward in a superior-looking smirk. Not at all an expression she was used to seeing on the boy's face. Kenji walked over to Yuri's cell and sneered at her through the bars. "Hiya, 'sis'. What do you think of your 'big brother' now, eh? Don't worry, I won't let anyone else lay a hand on you. Your death will come at my hand alone." He glanced over at Ukyo. "You, too. Zhao Len's being generous in allowing me your lives." "Why!?" Ukyo asked, her headache taking a backseat to her growing horror. The smile that appeared on his face was not kind at all. "Because I can. There's another reason, but I'll leave it a secret for now." He winked at them. "However, it is not yet time for you to die. You can have your lives for a little longer." "NO!!" Yuri screeched. "What have you done to him, you witch!? That's not my brother! You're controlling his mind again!" Zhao Len cackled again. "Oh, brilliant girl! Oh course I am, but not to the extent you think. He needed some... persuasion, but then we struck a deal. Your lives for his. He agreed quite readily." "WITCH!" Yuri forced herself to her feet and began to concentrate her wind energies. But before she could act, Kenji struck first, thrusting his palm outward and sending a forceful wind blast into Yuri's cell, slamming the girl into the stone wall behind her. She promptly crumpled to the floor when he let the attack off. "Stop it!" Ukyo cried. "Kenji, you IDIOT! Why are you doing that to your own sister!?" His eyes swung over to meet hers, and Ukyo felt a chill go down her spine at the dark depths in them. It appeared the normal silvery- gray in them had darkened considerably. "Why not? You see, I'm not Kenji anymore; I'm merely using his body. You're 'Kenji' is quite gone." "No..." came the choked and pained sob from Yuri's cell. "How can you use the wind? It's based on the desire to protect..." Kenji tsk'ed as he examined his fingernails. "Actually, it's just based on desire. If you want it to happen, it does." "Enough," Zhao Len commanded. "We must go. We have more plans to make. Do not think of using your wind tricks to escape, girl." She directed that last statement at the sobbing girl. "If you do, I will kill Konatsu." "What about me?" Ukyo asked, trying to infuse her voice with as much bravado as she could, and not entirely succeeding. Zhao Len snorted. "Don't me laugh. Without your weapons, you're a weak little girl, hardly a threat. Just a short-order cook is what you really are, only pretending to be a martial artist." She turned and headed for the door. "I suggest you make peace with whatever Japanese kami you believe in." With that, she left, Kenji following. Ukyo sighed and sat back against the wall, the sounds of Yuri's pained sobs drifting to her cell.