Send C&C to: oddball22@hotmail.com Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000 Ranma 1/2: New Challenges Trials Chapter 10 Ranma-onna had been delayed in her attempt to reach Akane. As she ran down the path towards the ravine where her iinazuke had been ambushed, she ran into an ambush of her own, namely, a short Chinese man (but twice as big as Happosai, she noted) that hopped out a tree and blocked her path. The yellow Chinese shirt with white lining and small fez-like hat, as well as the black pants, told Ranma her enemy was the same one who had kidnapped Akane in the truck. He held a wide blocking stance, preventing Ranma from running around him. "I'm afraid the path up ahead is closed, miss," he told her. "You'll have to go another way." "Out of the way, or you're gonna get hurt!" Ranma challenged, taking up an attack postion. He seemed somewhat amused. "Interesting, you wish to fight me?" "You tried to kidnap Akane!" she accused. Part of her wanted to beat this man into a pulp, but an even stronger part said she better get to Akane and make sure her fiancee was alright. "Now move!" "I'm afraid I can't do that, miss," he replied sadly. "Too much is at stake." Ranma didn't bother with anymore words, but instead charged forward with an attack designed to either incapacitate her opponent, or force him to move out of the way. Neither option happened, however. The pig-tailed girl found herself flying through the air back the way she came, surprise written on her face. She landed neatly, unhurt, then turned back to her adversary. His smiling expression caused Ranma's to darken. She charged again, leading off with the same attack, but this time took careful observation of how he turned her punch around and flipped her back into the air. This time, Ranma was ready for it. Twisting in mid-air, she tapped into her gathered confidence. "Moko Takabisha!" The ki-blast caught the Chinese man off-guard. Though he was able to avoid the worst of it, the explosion upon it's impact into the ground pelted him with debris and tossed him several meters back. Ranma was already moving as soon as she touched down. She came flying through the cloud of smoke and debris, feet poised in a lean jump kick. Her opponent was able to bring his defenses back up in time, however, and flip Ranma into the ground. She rolled away and sprung back at him, fists blurring at Amaguriken speed. Her skilled opponent somehow managed to turn away each punch in the barrage away, then ducked and shot both hands straight up. The next thing Ranma knew, she was receiving several strong blows to her midsection that sent her flying to the ground. She groaned as sat up slowly and studied her opponent, but he appeared only mildly winded. "You are very good, young lady," he told her. "I am called Wen Ho. May I have the pleasure of your name?" The red-head stood up slowly. "Saotome Ranma of the Musbetsu Kakuto-ryu. And you made a big mistake messin' with me!"" The Chinese man's eyes widened in surprise. "Saotome!? But you're supposed to be a boy!" Ranma grinned. "Heh." She began to walk toward the man blocking her path. As expected, he went back into his defensive stance, awaiting the attack. Ranma could see the confusion on his face as she walked, wondering what she was up to. He appeared to grow even more nervous as she got closer, close enough to see the sweat starting to form on his brow. When Ranma had closed to within a meter, she suddenly blurred sideways. There was surprise on Wen Ho's face for a split second before he took off after the rapidly-moving girl, trying to keep her from getting past him. After several seconds of rapid movement, Ranma reversed direction, moving at top speed the back the way she came. Wen Ho mirrored her almost immediately, but there was a split-second gap. Fortunately for Ranma, that split second was enough. She sprinted around him, moving as fast as she could go and thankful to be a girl at the moment for the extra speed. Her foe, trying to stop her, lanced out with a foot that would've stopped Ranma cold had she been where it was targeted. Instead, she came to a dead stop, grabbed his foot, then lanced out with the same leg, foot blurring as it struck the Chinese man over and over. A final snap sent him tumbling away as Ranma let go. He didn't get up. "How-?" he wheezed from the ground. Ranma smirked. "I thought so. Your counters are near-perfect, but ya must've spent so much time workin' on `em, that I figured ya neglected other stuff." The smile disappeared. "I studied under a counter attack master for awhile. Took me several days to figure out the weakness in the style, though. All I had to do was get ya to attack me." An explosion sounded in the distance, causing Ranma to look. "You'll `scuse me now, gotta tomboy ta catch." Wen Ho watched wearily from the ground as the red-headed girl sprinted away. The rooms and halls were all identical to the real thing, but the layout was vastly different. Passages didn't lead where they were supposed to and rooms were located in odd places. But to Tatewaki, it was the Kuno mansion; the old one that was destroyed during the fight with Galfgar, albeit much bigger. Not only that, but the interior seemed to be changing, creating a maze-like effect that prevented the mother- son pair from finding any sort of path. Tatewaki glanced sideways at his mother. She hadn't said much since they arrived in Kodachi's dream world and he wondered what to make of her. His last memory of her was clouded from when he was very young. Something about her going away. As he got older, he just assumed she had died. His father didn't speak much of her after she left and several years later his behavior became increasingly odd, culminating with his trip to Hawaii. He made the decision that after this was over he would demand to know where she had gone and why. The silence eventually became too much for him. "We have been traversing this mockery for hours! Where be my kin!?" "Patience, Tatewaki," his mother answered. "We will find her. Galfgar cannot hide her forever; this is her mind, after all. In time, she will sense our presence, and I'm hoping she will reach out to us." Tatewaki frowned. "Hoping?" Her eyes cast downwards. "If Galfgar's dream construct hasn't totally preoccupied her attention. You... know her better." The words were hard to say, since she was basically admitting that she hadn't been around enough to know her daughter. "Is there something that she could fixate on so much as to ignore everything else around her?" "No, not that I-" He stopped, realization dawning on him. "Saotome." "Ranma?" She had seen the crush her daughter had on the young Saotome boy through her viewing pool, but didn't think it was that severe. Kuno closed his eyes. "Aye, `tis one thing we had in common, that our thoughts were consumed by him. Myself with hate and Kodachi with infatuation." "If she were able to have Ranma, where would she take him?" Tatewaki's mother asked him. His visage darkened as he frowned. "Only one place." He could almost visualize the location. The scene around them blurred a bit after Tatewaki finished speaking, and one of the nearby doors grew in size, splitting in two in the process. Mother and son stared in astonishment at the huge double door set, wondering what to make of it, when the sound of faint gentle and carefree laughter echoed from the other side. His mother spoke while he was still trying to comprehend the change. "Of course, since this isn't a physical plane, simply visualizing where you want to go would work. Good thinking, Tatewaki." Kuno broke out of his surprise, tentatively reaching a hand out to the door. He stopped just short of the doorknob, as if fearing what he would find on the other side. He glanced sideways at his mother, who nodded slowly. Gathering his courage, he grasped a hold of the brass door handle and and pushed open the door. She stepped inside. The room was just like she left it. Dark except for the two candles, and quiet, with just the faint labored breathing coming from the room's only occupant. The shadows from the candles made interesting shadows dance off the room's dull-white shoji panels. A single dresser stood off to one side, that she hadn't noticed before, but even now she gave it only token thought. Her main concern was the dying man lying in the futon on the floor. Silently, she padded forward to kneel beside the bed, as she had yesterday. His eyes were closed and, except for the rythmic rise and fall of his chest, he showed no other signs of life. It was if the disease had already claimed most of him. "You came back." It was more of a statement of fact than anything else. Ukyo bit back the reply she was tempted to give. "Yes, Father." "Why?" His eyes remained closed. Ukyo closed her own eyes. "I've... thought over your request, and... I've decided to accept. And... I'm sorry for yelling and running out on you." He slowly opened his eyes to look at her, then he nodded slightly. "Then I will... transfer ownership to you and Kanzaka will run the day-to-day operations-" "No." Ukyo's fierce statement cut her father off. "I am your child. You are my... father. I am registered as a boy with a boy's name. If I am going to inherit your business, I will manage it as I see fit!" She fixed him with a steely glare. "That's what a son would do, ne?" Surprised by her words, he was unable to formulate a reply. Ukyo toned her voice down, determined not to end this by yelling and running out again. "I may not like how I was raised, but you are my father and I... love you." She then noticed that water had started leaking from her eyes. "Just this once, can't you... can't you say the same?" She tentatively reached out a hand to grasp on of her father's. It was larger than her own, but not quite as warm. "I..." His eyes were still wide with surprise, as if seeing the girl before for the first time. "I have always... loved you, Ukyo." Ukyo's own tear-filled eyes widened. "Then why...?" He closed his eyes again and sighed. "I did what I had to. I make no apologies nor excuses for the decisions I made." "Father..." "Now, I am feeling tired and would like to rest." "I..." Ukyo stopped and retrieved her hand from her father's. "Yes, of course." She stood up slowly, never taking her eyes off his resting form. As she walked silently back to the door, she heard his voice speak up one last time. "Arigato, Ukyo." She turned her head back and smiled wanely. "Your welcome, Father. And, thank you." "Ahhh!" The skinny antagonist yelled as his back hit the rock wall. He was bleeding from his nose and his mouth, his body was incredibly sore, and both his shock whips were laying several meters away. He knew he had lost this fight, his opponent was just too strong. Glaring at him from the other side of the ravine bottom, Akane panted heavily. This latest bout had been tough and had taken quite a bit out of her. The whips had left several marks on her, her left ankle was lightly sprained, and her body was still somewhat numb from the electrical discharges of the whips. But she had beaten him, as evidence by his body peeling off the wall and hitting the ground. She beathed a sigh of relief, then winced as she accidentily set too much weight on her left foot. "Akane!" came Ranma's feminine voice. Akane turned and smiled at the approaching red-head, who was waving at her. "Ranma!" Then she frowned. Ranma wasn't waving at her, but was... pointing? Up? The hairs on on the back of her neck stood on end, as Akane ducked and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the scissor kick that would have taken off her head. She returned to her feet to see a woman with short, light brown hair and reddish-brown gi with white trim confronting her. Her fists were pulled to her waist, and her feet were stationed apart in an combat ready stance. Akane sighed noisily in frustration. "Another one!? Who are you people!?" "I've watched you," her new opponent said simply. "You're very good, just as we were led to believe." The dark-haired martial artist blinked. "Uh, arigato." The brown-haired girl smiled evilly. "But now you're worn out. You won't be able to defeat me." She slid her right foot back as she crouched a little at the waist, preparing to strike. "I am Li Chun. Give up now, before I'm forced to hurt you." Akane snorted, while sliding into her own stance, injuries temporarily forgotten. "Fat chance!" "Very well, Hyaaa!" In the next instant, the two girls clashed, beggining combat anew. "Kodachi!" Tatewaki's sister looked lazily up at him. "Oh, brother dear, how nice of you to visit!" She snuggled up to the other person in the huge, four-poster bed with her. "Aren't you going to congratulate me on my marriage?" "Sister..." The elder Kuno boy stared darkly at the pig-tailed boy. He may not hate Ranma as much as he used to, but he still didn't like him much, either. After all, he took Akane away from him. "This... isn't real." She looked at him strangely. "What are you saying, oniisan? Of course it's real! My Ranma-sama has finally admitted his feelings for me, just like I knew he would!' "But he does not really love you!" Tatewaki protested. "You yourself knew that, even in the real world!" "Shut up!" she hissed at him. "And go away if you're going to be this way." Tatwaki felt his mother move around from behind him, then saw her gaze sadly at his sister. "'Dachi.... How I have missed you." Kodachi recoiled in near-terror as she hid behind Ranma, pulling the bedsheets up around them. "Wh-who are you!? Go away!" "Surely you recognize our own mother, `Dachi?" Tatewaki asked. "NO!" Kodachi screamed. "SHE IS NOT MY MOTHER! Mother was an ugly, useless troll that abandoned us a long time ago!" The kenodist glanced sideways to see his mother visibly recoil from the outburst, shame on her face. He had held the some of the same feelings as his sister, but not to the same degree. He did feel that their mother had abandoned them, but he he really wanted to know why. Unfortunately, this was not the time. "Imoutosan, listen to me, this world is not real! Galfgar created it to keep you trapped in here!" He strode up to the side of the bed and took his sister's trembling hand in his. "Come, `Dachi. Come back to us. Your family and friends await you on the outside..." She snapped her hand back, anger on her face. "I have no friends! Commoners fear me, as they should, but they are not my friends!" "Perhaps it is time to change that," he told her. "I had no one to call friend, either. But that has slowly begun to change for me. It is has been... rather pleasent. It can be that way for you, too." The mistrust and anger still shone in her eyes, but Tatewaki could see the hope and longing building in them as well. She had been alone too along, as he had been, and now those needs were finally coming to the surface. "No, no, no, no," a new, gruff voice commanded. "Why would she possibly want to go with you when she's got everything she needs here? She's got her Ranma-sama 24 hours a day, and no worries or hassles from anyone else. If she wants friends, I can buy her a few!" "But it wouldn't be real," Lady Kuno said. "All you offer is illusions and trickery, but the price is too high. She would lose her body to you, and eventually, her soul as well. True friendship and love is earned. There are no shortcuts, nor any worthy subtitutes." "Oh please," the voice commented. "You sound like a bleedin' PBS special." Kodachi glanced back and forth between Ranma, Tatewaki, and her mother, confusion written over her face. "Ranma-sama...? I... I don't know what to do... I don't understand." "Think, my daughter, and decide for yourself." The Kuno matriarch took several steps towards the bed and gestured toward the fake Ranma. "Do you want a man to love you just because he's made that way? Or would you rather have him love you of his own free will?" "I... want..." Kodachi mumbled, becoming more distressed and confused by the moment. "But... Ranma-sama..." Tatewaki knelt by the bed, taking his sister's hand in his own. "You are many things, `Dachi, but I have never known you to settle for anything that wasn't of the finest quality. You have also never been a quitter." Her black eyes gazed uncertainly into his own. "Do not give up on us. Please." "You've got everything you could possibly want!" Galfgar offered, enticingly. "Your Ranma-sama, a fancy house, a cushy room with a view, and I even threw in a satellite dish! 784 channels for your viewing pleasure!" Kodachi glanced back up at the image of the smiling Ranma, looking for some answer, but seeing nothing. Tears began to appear in her eyes. "It's... not... real." "Oh come on, does it really matter?" said the exasperated demon figment. "Isn't just being happy the most important thing?" Her eyes clenched shut, as she tried to cut off the sob that welled up from deep within her, and failed. "IT'S NOT REAL!" With that scream, the scenery around them shattered, plunging them all into darkness. "We did it, sister," Tatewaki exulted, while cradling his still sobbing sister, who was now clad in a leotard. "You did it." His mother shook her head. "Not yet. We still have to escape." Kuno blinked. "What-?" "Dang it all!" the much-disliked voice rang out. "Now why'd ya have ta go and do that? Can't a demon get any breaks around here?" Tatewaki scowled, then handed his sister off to his mother, drawing his bokken in the process. "Foul demon! Thou hast taken advantage of the noble house of Kuno for the last time! As heaven is my guide, I shall send thy hated carcass back to the hells that spawned thee!" Galfgar sighed. "Oh, all right, already. You want your showdown, you can have it." The blackness seemed to ripple, then his grisly blood-red arm pushed through the emptiness, followed by the rest of his body. To Tatewaki's eye, he looked much the same as during the fight at the Kuno estate. Sharp bone spikes protruded from his back, arms, and legs, and his face was that of a disfigured mutt, topped by two white horns. He was just as ugly as the young Kuno boy remembered. "Truly, thou art the most hideous creature mine eyes have yet to behold!" the kenodist remarked. "Truly, thy speach is the most backwards my ears have ever heard!" Galfgar mimicked. He flipped a quarter at Kuno. "Buy yourself a modern dictionary, boy." Tatewaki's anger rose several notches, then he screamed and attacked. "One hundred strikes! TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA!" The bokken blurred as it intercepted it's target. The evil creature took several strong attacks, then exploded into bits and pieces. Kuno stopped and held his weapon in a triumphant pose. "I am victorious!" That was when he felt the tap on his shoulder. "Huh?" Galfgar's ugly face greeted him. "Dream on, stick-boy." *POW!* Kuno went flying away from his opponent's mighty punch. "This isn't the real world and I control half of this mind already." Tatewaki Kuno struggled to his feet. "I fight on!" "Of course you do," the beast remarked. "This wouldn't be much of a showdown if you didn't." "Silence! HA!" Kuno slid in slower this time, planning each strike caustiously. He thrust and sliced all over the place, but couldn't seem to land a single blow on his grotesque advesary. *POW!* The Kendoist went ballistic once more. Kuno's mother watched all this from the sidelines, worry etched on her face. In her arms, Kodachi's sobs were fading, but she still wasn't that calm yet. Lady Kuno pulled back slightly from her daughter so she could look her in the eyes. "Daughter, you must listen to me," her mother told her soothingly. "Your brother needs your help." Kodachi stared at her mother, tear-streaks down her cheeks. "'Tatchi...?" "Only you can help him now, for this is still your mind." She brushed the hair back from her daugther's face, relishing the touch after so long. "Take control!" "Okasan..." The leotard-clad girl studied her mother's face, still not quite believing it was her. Then a sound made her turn her head, where she watched her brother attacking... that thing. As the grotesque creature batted her brother around, Kodachi's face twisted into anger. THIS was the thing that plagued her sleep with nightmares. THIS was the creature that had made her act psychotic. THIS was the demon that had tried to steal her mind. IT was going to pay. Galfgar lifted Tatewaki up, where the kendoist was smashed between two large pieces of bread. "Hey look! A Hero sandwhich!" "YAAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHH!" With a banshee-like scream, Kodachi flung herself out of her mother's arms, a ribbon suddenly in her hand and flashing outwards. It coiled itself around a surprised demon's arm and tossed him into a brick wall that wasn't there a second ago. "Wazzit?" he asked deliriously while trying to get out of the collapsed remains of the wall. He shook off the little succubi that were flying around his head and stood up. The enraged gymnast was on him a second later, clubs blurring in her hand as she delived strike after strike to her hated enemy. Galfgar shook off the attack, grabbing her arm and flinging her away. "You know, missy, you're startin' to become more trouble than you're worth," he commented. Tatewaki was back up by now and prepared to move to assist his sister when he found a hand on his arm. He looked up into the face of his mother. "What-?" "This is a fight only she can win," his mother told him. "We must let her fight it alone." "DIE!" Kodachi snarled in return. The air was suddenly filled with hoops, angling toward the surprised demon. Galfgar did the tokyo shuffle as he danced around wildly, trying to avoid the lethal razor-like objects as they swirled around him, removing some of his bone spikes. He fired off several shots of his blood-red energy beams in reply, but found them all intercepted with exploding balls. Kodachi smiled evilly (which made even a demon shudder). "This is my mind, vile dog." A dozen ribbons exploded into existence around around her as they streaked toward their target. The attempt to dodge them met without success, as the sticky fluid they secreted had him rooted to the ground. The rest coiled around his arms, legs, and body, wrapping him in a new ribbon suit. Galfgar groaned. "Oh, ya gotta be kiddin' me. When the other demons here that I was beaten by a gymnast wielding pink frilly ribbons... I'll never live it down." He looked up to see his enraged opponent approaching, twirling two more of the razor hoops. "Oi, at least other demons that fought girls were beaten by blasts of fire, lightning, and such." He turned thoughtful for a second. "Of course, there were quite a few that were sliced in half by a tiara... "Don't worry, dear," she said in mocking tones, readying her deadly razor hoops. "I'll cut you free! OHOHOHOHO!" His ears drooped, as his lower lip quivered. "Mommy..." "You have a choice, demon," Lady Kuno informed him. "You can take your chances with my daughter, or I can exorcise you back to your own plane." Galfgar glanced wildly back and forth from mother to daughter. "But, if I run away now, the other demons won't let me hear the end of this, and-" "You know as well as I," she said, "That if your astral body is destroyed here, you will simply cease to exist. And the explosion of your astral energy could damage Kodachi's mind." The psychic backlash might make her daughter truley mentally disturbed. Galfgar took a last look back towards the approaching gymnast, hate, death, torture, murder, and many other nasty things reflected in her eyes, and made his decsion. "Alright, but step on it, lady!!!" Lady Kuno nodded, then raised her hands into the air and began to draw symbols into the air. Her fingers left red trails where they passed, as she started to dance around the creature' s prone body. Tatewaki stared in wonder, while Kodachi halted her murderous advance in surprise. They watched as she not only danced around the demon, but over and under him as well! Finally, when a sphere of runes were enscribed around Galfgar, Lady Kuno clapped her hands once and spoke one word. "Begone!" The sphere glowed brightly, then flashed. When the light died down, Galfgar was gone. The middle-aged woman collapsed to her knees. "Okaasan!" Tatewaki strode rapidly to his mother's side. "Are you injured?" "Just over-exerted myself a little," she replied. "I'll be fine in a few moments." Her son nodded. "Then, I am relieved." Both glanced up at Kodachi, who was still frozen in place. She still looked like she didn't have a clue as to what had just gone on, nor any idea of what to do. She was nervous, scared, unsure, angry, and confused all at once. She no longer felt obsessed, and she could think a little clearer, but her confidence had dropped off quite a bit. She had been ready to kill a minute ago, but now the hate had dimmed. Or maybe it had just switched targets? She watched as her brother helped her mother to her feet, wondering what to think. As far as she could remember, her mother had abandoned them 12 years ago. She had held plenty of blame for her mother for the way her family turned out after that. It wasn't always on the surface, instead simmering silently underneath. But to know now that it was that... horrid thing that was responsible for her family's madness. What reason did she have to stay angry at her own mother? She took one step, then another, and soon she was running into her mother's arms. "Okaasan!" The Kuno matriarch ger her daughter a loving squeeze. "'Dachi, how I've missed you." She then looked up at her son, holding out an arm to him as well. Tatewaki glanced at the proffered arm with some trepidation, but gave in to the moment and joined his sister and mother in the group hug. The scene around them dissolved, the blackness fading away to be replaced by the hospital room where their actual bodies were. They were still in the same group hug as before, tears running down the female's cheeks. It was at that moment that Tatewaki happened to glance up and out the window, to where an oddly dressed figure was heading towards them. He watched, fascinated, as the strange muscular man in dark green plate armor raised a hand and pointed it at the trio. In the next instant, the window and wall exploded. -------------------------------- Author's Notes: She's baaaaaaack! How's that for the return of Kodachi? *grins* I hope all you Kodachi fans are happy with it. Expect to see her more often now, and be surprised at the new life she makes for herself. It may not be what you're expecting, but I guarantee you'll like it.