Send C&C to: oddball22@hotmail.com Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000 Ranma 1/2: New Challenges Bonds and Connections Chapter 8 "So, which way is it?" Soun asked, somewhat frustrated. They had been in the building for ten minutes, yet their guide seemed to become more and more unsure as they walked along. Konatsu glanced down the right hallway, then the left, then down the right one again. "Um... I think..." "Yes?" Genma leaned closer "It's most definitely... In fact I'm almost sure..." "And...?" Soun leaned foreword as well, as the kunoichi seemed to come to a decision. "I don't know," he replied sheepishly, placing a hand behind his head and looking embarrassed. After the two men dragged themselves off the floor, Soun grabbed Konatsu by the shoulders and shook him. "Come now, you must remember something! There are three woman in here that need our help!" Konatsu shook his head slightly. "I was knocked unconscious when I came in, and I wasn't paying attention on my way out." "I think that the three of you are in need of more help than the three girls you came to save," an amused, elderly female voice declared from the end of the left hallway. Konatsu smacked his right fist into his left palm. "I knew it was the left!" "And who are you?" Genma asked, studying the short shadow at the end of the hall. The old woman cackled. "Why, I'm Zhao Len, Saotome Genma. Surely your children told you all about me?" "YOU!" Soun bellowed as he took off down the hall. "You kidnapped and threatened my little girl!" "Wait, Tendo!" Genma called as his friend took off in a rage, then sighed. "Guess it's up to me to keep you out of trouble." He sprinted down the hallway after Soun. Konatsu stood there for a second, blinking after the two men, before running after them as well. "Wait for me!" Zhao Len shot off down a perpendicular hall as Soun was about to reach her, and he gave chase, Genma not far behind. Konatsu was unable to follow, however, as his danger sense pinged and he came to a sudden halt, just as the wall exploded, revealing a familiar black-clad figure blocking his path with a slightly curved wakizashu outstretched. If Konatsu hadn't stopped, the weapon would have taken his head off. "Oh no, little ninja boy," Kae said, voice dripping with menace. "You will fight me." Konatsu froze for a second, then his features hardened. "As you wish." There was a tense moment of silence as the two fighters locked gazes. Then, by an unspoken signal, they suddenly leapt towards each other in a rapid flurry of attacks. "Well, which is it?" Kodachi asked, hands on her hips. It suddenly occurred to Nabiki that while she overheard Konatsu say what area they were in, he didn't mention which building. She glanced around nervously while the black-haired gymnast frowned at her. "I... I don't know," she admitted. "But it has to be one of the buildings on this street! These are the only condemned structures in the Meji district!" Kodachi sighed heavily, then scanned the boarded-up houses, warehouses, and office buildings scattered around them. "Never fear," Tatewaki declared, drawing his katana "For I possess the ability to find those in danger." "Oh really?" Kodachi said, eyes half-lidded. "How come I have never heard of this talent of yours?" "A samurai reveals not all his skills until needed!" her brother countered, then knelt in the middle of the street, his sword held upright in both hands, a streetlight shining down on him. When he spoke next, it was in a voice barely above a whisper. "Please... honored ancestors... if you can hear me. Somewhere nearby there are maidens in danger, but I cannot find them without your help. If you can hear me... then guide my sword!" Nabiki blinked. "Wha-?" Sasuke and Kodachi groaned. "Don't tell me you've been watching _that_ movie again, oniisan?" The kimono-clad girl asked her brother, tiredly. Then she began to snicker and giggle as Tatewaki stood and wobbled around, following where his katana tilted. "Well, I suppose that is better than standing around wondering where to go! Ohohohoho!" Nabiki shivered and backed away as Kodachi laughed, but the other girl cut it off when she noticed the Tendo girl's reaction. "Tell me something, Tendo Nabiki," Kodachi asked, suddenly looking quite serious and troubled. "Do I... scare you?" Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Considering what you've been and done in the past? Most definitely. I mean, let's face it. No one ever knew what you were going to do, unlike your predictable brother. And your laugh is just unnerving." Even though she felt a little bothered by what she just said, Nabiki felt perfectly justified in saying it. However, the look on Kodachi's face made her think twice. The black-haired girl suddenly looked sad and downcast, even as her eyes dropped to study the ground. "It is as I thought. Ranma-sa...n looked at me the same way. As did the girls at my school. I am quite detested and feared." Nabiki felt that twinge again and sighed heavily. Several yards away, Tatewaki swerved back across the street. "Look. You're not really crazy anymore, right? I mean, you're mind's longer being messed up by that hideous creature?" As Kodachi's head slowly came back up and nodded, Nabiki continued. "Then you should be able to be whoever you want to be now. If people still hate you, then that's their problem. That's how I live. If they like me, fine. If they don't, then I don't care." Kodachi looked at Nabiki strangely and with a confused expression. "Surely, you can't be serious?" "Look, if you don't laugh like that anymore and start acting like a normal human being..." "Then, I wouldn't mind being around you so much." Nabiki grimaced. Kodachi tapped her chin in thought. "Perhaps... perhaps you right. I shall do as you say, Nabiki-san." Nabiki looked wide-eyed at the other girl. *Thump!* "Eureka!" Further thought was cut short by Tatewaki's cry of success. Both girls and Sasuke turned to where Kuno's sword rested in the wooden gate to one of the office buildings. "This be the fiends' hiding place. Come, let us make haste!" "Oh come now, Tatchi," Kodachi told him in a condescending voice. "You don't really think that little trick worked?" A small explosion sounded from inside the building as if in reply, even as it shook slightly. To those outside, it almost felt as if an elephant had been let loose inside. Tatewaki grinned triumphantly. "You were saying, Dachi?" Nabiki waved it off as she stalked up to the gate and swung it open. "I'm not going to ask. Let's just go. If that is my father in there fighting, then we have a short window of opportunity to free the girls and get out." "I am with you, Nabiki-san," Kodachi declared as she flashed a wicked smile at the other girl's frown, then jumped and somersaulted over her. Nabiki and Tatewaki ran to catch up to Kodachi as she sprinted up to the main entrance doors, Sasuke trailing behind them. With apparently not a lot of regard for caution, the gymnast threw the doors open with a *bang*, then strode inside, followed in the same manner by her brother. "So much for a quiet entrance," Nabiki sighed, then entered after the Kuno siblings. The sounds of combat were much clearer now, kiyah's and bodily impacts echoing from somewhere deeper within the rickety, rundown structure. The occasional crash indicated that a another wall had failed to withstand something being thrown against it. "Hark!" Kuno declared, katana at the ready. "The sounds of battle come from within. I go to join our comrades and assure victory!" Immediately following his noble pronouncement, he took off in the direction his senses told him was where said combat was taking place. "Not now!" Nabiki told him sharply as he ran off. "We have to find and free the hostages first, then you can go off and heroically get yourself killed!" "One almost might think you still cared for my brother," Kodachi said wryly. "I do NOT care for that arrogant, insensitive baka!" Nabiki hissed, then froze and winced while Kodachi and Sasuke turned their attention upon her. She shook her head. "All I meant was that it would be easier to find the girls if all four of us looked!" "Riiiiight," Kodachi agreed in a condescending voice. Nabiki threw her hands up in disgust. "Whatever, I don't care. Do what you want." She turned and stormed off in a different direction. "Sasuke, follow my idiotic brother and protect him!" Kodachi ordered. The little ninja stood at attention. "Yes, Mistress! But what about you?" Kodachi glanced down the hallway to where Nabiki had gone, a wicked grin forming on her face. "I think Tendo Nabiki will need at least one of us protecting her, don't you agree?" Most people who have watched Ranma's fights would tell you that at times the two combatants moved so fast, they tended to blur, making it difficult to tell what is going on. However, if one were to watch the current fight between these two highly-skilled ninja, they wouldn't be able to tell what was going on at all. The clash of metal against metal, or metal on wood, and the smack of flesh on flesh was all that could be detected. Konatsu and Kae moved to and from, and struck while inside, the litany of shadows that littered the hallways and rooms. Every once and awhile, one or the other would be visible as they leapt through a lighted area, but for the most part the fight was good as invisible. They both knew, that a single mistake would spell the end for either of them. Kae had hundreds of years of experience, but was limited by Kenji's body. Konatsu had high natural talent, but not much experience. As their eyes locked during a brief scuffle, they both knew the other was well aware of the stakes. "Hiyah!" Zhao Len easily turned aside the thrust kick with her staff, sending Soun crashing through yet another wall. The building shook slightly with each piece destroyed. "Pathetic. And to think you two are the ones who trained your children." "We're just getting warmed up!" Genma sprinted foreword and attacked, surprising the old woman that he could move such bulk so quickly. Still, everyone one of his punches was turned or blocked with the staff, until he overextended with his left and Zhao Len poked him under the armpit with the tip of her staff. The arm went limp as Genma grunted in pain. He tried a reverse roundhouse, but she ducked under the flying foot and thrust the head of her weapon into his chest. As it impacted, not only did Genma 'oof' with the wind being driven out of his body, but his large frame was sent flying backwards. Before he struck the pillar behind him, however, Genma managed a one-arm Kijin Rashuu Dan. The vacuum blade sped towards Zhao Len, who nearly had her head taken off, but sidestepped just in time so all it tore was the sleeve on her right arm. "Surprising. You do have some skill. Maybe I'll take you both back to the tribe, in addition to your son and daughter. We could always use more breeding stock, which is what you're children will be if they don't cooperate." "YOU WON'T TOUCH MY DAUGHTER!" Soun roared, coming out of seemingly nowhere with a series of rapid-fire punches and kicks that flared and then were gone. Zhao Len was forced to give ground under the rage-fueled onslaught, not finding an opening in the man's defense. She snarled as she twirled the staff around, then her peripheral vision caught the flash of something silvery coming straight at her. Again, she brought her own weapon up just in time to block, then back-flipped to give herself a breather from the enraged man's attack. Sensing more than seeing the projectiles coming at her, she spun her staff and blocked both of them, feeling the *thunk* as they lodged in her staff. But when she finally stopped and observed her weapon, there was nothing on it except for two small holes. And a quarter of the staff on the tip-end was gone, shaved clean off. "What!?" Zhao Len did a double-take at both her staff and the Tendo patriarch. Genma stared wide-eyed at his friend. "Tendo... You actually..." He had seen everything, and because Soun had mentioned it once before, he kind of knew what had happened. But for his old friend to do that... Soun's eyes never left the outcast Amazon. "You won't touch my daughter," he said in a quiet but deadly-serious voice. Zhao Len's lips curved upward in an evil grin. "I won't have to. But there are plenty of male Amazons who will." Soun screamed in rage and shot foreword at this, while Genma yelled, "Tendo! Don't!", knowing the old woman was just baiting him. His breath back but arm still numb, Genma hauled himself up just as Soun nearly collided with the deceptively frail-looking woman. Instead of blocking his attacks, however, Zhao Len thrust the staff downward and the wooden floor exploded under them. She was already airborne while the breaking point blast went off, but Soun stumbled through it, the wooden chips pelting him and the dust cloud blinding him. Acting on instinct, he jumped as he felt the floor give way, but Zhao Len was above him and clonked him in the back of the head with the staff, sending him head first into another wall. This time, Soun didn't get up. "Tendo!" Genma cried, trying to get to his fallen friend, but finding an old woman blocking his path. "Well," she said, grinning and idly twirling her staff. "It looks like it is down to you and me." Ukyo broke into wide, relieved smile. "Nabiki! What in the world are you doin' here?" Then she caught sight of the person behind her rescuer, and started. "Kodachi!" "Relax," Nabiki waved the chef off. "She's good." Ukyo eyed the kimono-clad gymnast warily, still remembering Kodachi's attack on Akane and kidnapping of Ranma, as well as all the other insane things the Kuno girl had done. "I don't know, Nabiki-chan. But I guess, if you say she's alright..." She still didn't feel alright, but there was nothing she could do at the moment, other than keep an eye on her. "See any keys around here?" Nabiki asked, taking note of the manacles and chains binding Ukyo and Yuri. She began to search. Ukyo shook her head. "Sorry. I was unconscious when they chained us up. And don't ask why there are cells and manacles in the basement of an office building." Nabiki shrugged. "Some businessmen have exotic tastes." Kodachi and Ukyo stared at the middle Tendo. "Dare I ask how you know that, Nabiki-san?" Kodachi asked. "I make it a point to know the business world, since I plan to rule it one day." She smirked while she continued to search the large room, discovering something in the cell on the other side of Ukyo's. "Yuri! She's here, too. Why didn't she say anything?" Nabiki opened the cell door, surprised it wasn't locked, then knelt down next to the young ninja girl, who was sitting against the wall and staring off into space. Ukyo inwardly winced. "She hasn't exactly had the best of times lately. I think she's still in shock over what happened to Kenji." "What did happen to him?" Nabiki asked the chef, as she checked Yuri for any injuries. "Don't really know. We at first thought someone kidnapped him, but it looks like either his mind has been totally warped, he's possessed, or something is just imitating his body." Nabiki poked her head around the stone partition that separated the two cells and cocked an eyebrow at the chef. Ukyo shrugged. "Hey, I've had plenty of time to think down here." "Nabiki-san, I have found another little girl here," Kodachi's voice rang out. "Could this be that 'Selah' you were speaking of?" Nabiki walked on over the last cell on the end while Ukyo asked, "Is she alright? I didn't know where they were keeping her." "She's unconscious," Nabiki called back. "But she's only tied with rope. If we had something sharp, we could cut it off her." Kodachi reached into her kimono sleeve and produced a small knife. "Allow me. You should continue to search for the key." Nabiki nodded and stood, prepared to start searching again, but was never given the chance. Instead, she mimicked the others and froze as the door creaked open and someone stepped inside, still partially hidden by shadows. "Looking for this?" the figure asked idly while holding up a steel key in the light. "Kenji!" Ukyo moved as far foreword as her chains would allow. In the cell next to hers, Yuri blinked and slowly crawled over to look at her brother with hope in her eyes. "Oniichan?" she asked softly. 'Kenji' chuckled dryly. "I already told you he's not available. My name is Kae." "No!" Yuri screeched. "Where's my brother!? What have you done with him!?" "He's gone, and the sooner you accept that fact, the better," Kae told her in a cold voice. With that, the ninja dragged something from behind her and dropped it just inside the room. Ukyo's, Nabiki's, and Yuri's eyes went wide, while Kodachi narrowed hers. "Konatsu!" This time both Ukyo and Yuri screamed, railing against their shackles, but were unable to go anywhere. "What did you do to him!?" Ukyo demanded to know. Kae shrugged. "He made a mistake. He paid the consequences." Nabiki suddenly wished Tatewaki was here, for protection of course. She backed up a step and knew that anybody who could take down Konatsu, could take her out with barely a thought. She suddenly found Kodachi beside her, handing her the knife. "You work on freeing the child," she whispered to Nabiki, then in a slightly louder voice declared, "I shall deal with him!" "You are welcome to try, girl." Kae sounded almost amused. "I shall do more than 'try'," Kodachi retorted, then began to undo the sash on her kimono. "For I am Kuno Kodachi, the 'Black Rose!'" The other girls stared in disbelief as the Kuno girl pulled off her kimono in one smooth move, revealing a midnight-blue, full-body, skin- tight leotard underneath. The only parts not covered were her hands and head, above her neck. She tossed the garment at her adversary and immediately set a ribbon twirling. Kae sliced through the kimono with one smooth stroke from her wakizashu, that wasn't in her hand a second before, but the Black Rose was already in motion. "Take my Petal Storm! Ohohohohoho!" Kodachi loosed a volley of black rose petals, bathing her opponent in a literal storm of blossoms. Kae backtracked through the door to avoid the attack, and Kodachi bounded through after the ninja, still laughing. Nabiki shook her head, forcing herself out of staring at the gymnast to go and cut Selah's bonds. It didn't take her long to finish the job Kodachi had started, and soon she was picking the girl up and carrying her over lay near Ukyo, stopping to check on Konatsu. She nodded to Ukyo, signaling he was still alive. "What are you doing, Nabiki?" Ukyo asked in disbelief as the Tendo girl began to try and pick the lock on her shackles with the knife. "You've got to get Selah and Konatsu out of here! I don't know how good Kodachi thinks she is, but that Kae was able to beat Konatsu not once, but twice. He'll be back soon!" "I came to save all of you," Nabiki told her, fiddling with the lock. "And that's what I'm going to do." Ukyo looked at her strangely. "Why? I don't recall you ever getting this personally involved in our fights before." Nabiki froze in mid-lock-pick as understanding failed her. She had left the relative safety of her house only to put herself in a life-or-death situation that was best left to the martial artists. Her throat suddenly became dry as the motivation for her behavior was comprehended. Nabiki had always been a intelligent thinker, not taking long to come to the most logical conclusion. She didn't figure that out until now, when Ukyo had asked her the question, and she realized she didn't have an answer. "Nabiki?" Ukyo waved a hand in front of her friend's face. "You in there?" "I'm fine," she spat angrily, then resumed work on the lock. "Besides, you still owe me money. If you die here, I can't collect now, can I?" Ukyo just shook her head , while Yuri continued to watch the doorway where her brother had vanished, as well as the fallen form of Konatsu. Before Zhao Len or Genma could initiate any more actions, the steady rhythm of a pair of running feet drew both their attentions to the doorway across the ravaged room. Both wondered who it was, but they didn't have to wait long. Tatewaki Kuno burst into the room and surveyed the situation. Akane's father was laying in the far corner against a pillar, while the man he recognized as Ranma's father was facing off with a short, withered old hag who reminded him of the other old woman who used to run that noodle emporium, the Nekohanten. Kuno blinked. This was the dangerous Amazon one that once kidnapped both Ranma and Akane? he almost felt like laughing, if not for a small, long unused part of his brain told him that a little caution wouldn't hurt and not to underestimate his enemy. "I demand you free the maidens you have imprisoned, or you shall feel the wrath of mine blade!" He brought said instrument of war up, while gauging the old woman's reaction. Zhao Len nearly burst out laughing. "Oh, that's rich! I had heard the Kuno family were a bunch of loons, but I never expected this!" She quickly parried an attack by Genma, who sought to take advantage of a supposed distraction, and sent the man flying across to the other side of the large hole in the floor. "Silence, old woman!" Kuno commanded, while circling around to face her. "As much as it is detestable to me to fight such an old and frail matron, I shall not hesitate if means freeing those you hold captive." The 'old and frail matron' cackled. "Well, perhaps you'll be good for a few laughs. Let's see what you got, boy." Across the room, Genma picked himself up once more and sighed as he watched Kuno attack Zhao Len, then get sent on a flying trip of his own. Somehow he knew, things had just gotten worse, not better. "Ohohohohoho!" "Would you shut up," Kae growled, becoming increasingly annoyed by his opponent. This 'Black Rose' didn't seem highly skilled, but so far she had stayed out of close range, flicking that damned ribbon and spouting that irritating laugh. On the next flick, however, the ninja blurred foreword and sliced half the ribbon away. "Time to end this, little girl." "I have not yet begun!" Kodachi declared, flipping backward and rebounding off the wall, grabbing something attached to her waist and flinging it foreword. It whistled as it flew, but pinged off the metal of Kae's curved wakizashu as she brought it up to block. Kodachi was already moving on, flicking out a whip with the other hand as she flipped over her opponent. Kae found the whip wrapped around the upper hilt of her sword, even as Kodachi gave a fierce tug, trying to pull the weapon away. Kae resisted, the strength of the boy's body being slightly greater then that of the Black Rose. As Kodachi landed, Kae caught the familiar sound of whistling once more. It pinged once off a far wall then struck the back of the ninja's head, sending Kae stumbling foreword. It pinged once more as it rebounded of another wall, then Kodachi caught it and re- secured it to her waist. It was only then that Kae saw it: A slivery, circular chakram. The spirit in Kenji's body snarled. "I've had enough!" He sprung foreword at top speed, wrapping the whip around his weapon as she went. Kodachi attempted to leap back but Kae caught her in mid-air, sending an elbow into the girl's stomach. He then somersaulted in mid- air, swinging his feet up to catch Kodachi in the chin and rocket the other girl into a wall. Kodachi moaned dizzily as she slid to the ground. "Give it up, girl," Kae spat. "The only reason I didn't kill that pretty boy ninja is because Zhao Len forbids it a the moment. You, on the other hand, she didn't say anything about." He pulled the whip off her weapon and tossed it to the ground, then readied to take Kodachi's head off. "I've been waiting and planning my vengeance for almost a thousand years, and I'm not going to be stopped by you." "Just who ARE you?" Ukyo demanded to know. Kae turned to see the chef and the ninja girl, Yuri, on the other side of the room. "I was a warrior a long time ago, but was trapped within the earth for nearly a millennia until this boy foolishly wandered into my trap. My body had long since decayed, but my spirit lived on. And now I have a new body with which to extract my revenge, as soon as I fulfill my bargain to the old woman." Kae suddenly smiled and looked up at the ceiling, as if hearing something only she could hear. "And it appears I've finally been given the right to kill you." "I don't know what you want," Yuri said in a low, dangerous voice. "But for what you've done to my brother, Konatsu, and all my friends, I will stop you." She brought her own, shorter wakizashu up. "It wasn't that smart to leave our weapons nearby," Ukyo said, ginning and hefting her battle spatula. "How about I show you what this 'short-order cook' can do now?" "Do not count me out either, Kuonji-san," Kodachi said, rising and readying a pair of tonfa. Kae's eyes narrowed, then she grinned evilly. "Well then, come and get me, little girls. If you think you can." ------------------------------------- Author's Notes: Just a little clarification, in case you're confused. Kae is female, but Kenji's body is male. Nobody knows Kae is female, so all Ukyo and everybody see is a possessed boy. This explains why they refer to Kae as a male.