Don't worry, Happy and Cologne's big moment is still coming... uh, bad
choice of words.
Sorry `bout this.

E-mail: oddball22@hotmail.com

DISCLAIMER: Everything you read is real; the names have been changed to
protect the
innocent. Hmm? What's that? The names HAVEN'T been changed!? Oh boy...

Onward...

Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Winds Calling

Chapter 8




         The battle wasn't going well.

         Cologne continued to circle her opponent, but none of her
attacks were getting through, so she decided to try an all-out assault.
Summoning her reserves, she launched into a complex pattern of ki-
blasts, hitting him from all sides.

         Krynn was dodging and blocking with that shield of his as
Cologne hoped he would. While he was distracted, she moved around behind
him, jumped into the air and tossed her staff at his back. Bouncing off
the wall, she moved over to his right and shot towards him. As
predicted, when the ki-blasts stopped, he deflected the staff the same
way he had deflected her attack earlier.

         Then she saw the opening. With him slightly twisted away from
her, Cologne sped in a and hit a few pressure points, before an attack
from him knocked her away.

        "WITCH!" he screamed when his right arm and shoulder went limp.
"What did you do!?"

         Cologne backflipped away, caught her staff, and smirked.
"You're 100 years to early to beat me sonny. Just give up now."

         She expected him to get even angrier and attack. Instead, he
laughed. "Nice one! But you should know I've only been toying with you.
Time to end this."

         Krynn thrust out his left hand and Cologne began to dodge,
expecting some kind of distance attack. Before she could move, however,
she was knocked off her feet and slammed into a wall.  Cologne tried to
scream, but all the air was forced from her lungs with the impact.

         She felt her body being grabbed again as she was flung into
another wall.

         Then again.

         And again.

         With each impact, the old woman found more and more of her
defensive ki-energy drained and was unable todo much to heal herself.
Eventually, Krynn dropped her onto the ground in a crumpled heap.
Cologne knew that more than a few bones had been broken and she'd need
to spend a long time recuperating to fully recover.

         If she survived.

         Above her, Krynn set about creating a large fireball to finish
the job. He smirked at her, then prepared to deliver the blow that would
end her life.

        "HAPPODAIKARIN!"

         Krynn looked up just in time to see several sphereical objects
explode in his face, propelling him backwards to the ground. Happosai
leaped into the gym to land by Cologne's side.

        "Cologne?" he whispered. "Are you ok?"

         Cologne coughed up a little blood. "Do I look ok?" she groaned.

         Happosai's aura began to glow. "Don't worry, I'll kill the
bastard who did this!" And he turned his back on her to advance on the
recovering form of Krynn.

         Cologne tried to stop him. "No, Happi! He's too powerful!" But
he didn't hear her.

        "Alright young man, it's time someone taught you to respect your
elders!"

         Krynn stood up, dusted his robe, and grinned.






        "Did anybody hear that?" Mousse whispered. They were now in the
center of the room, sitting down in a circle with their backs to the
figures lining the room. They had been talking in quiet tones so the
twelve mages in the room wouldn't hear them.

        "Hear what?" Ukyo asked.

        "I thought I heard a low rumble," Mousse replied. "With my bad
eyesight, my other senses have sharpened."

         Genma cocked his head. "You think it's the signal?"

         Ranma shook his head. "No, when Happosai or Cologne give the
signal, we'll know."

        "I hope you're right, boy," his father said.







         Tofu wound his way through the building he had started in, but
was unable to find the Tendos. Now he was on his way outside to check
the other buildings. He had relieved another mage of his passcard, so he
was hoping he would have access to some of the other buildings. He held
his breath, then opened the door and stepped outside.

         Walking briskly through the courtyard, he could see several
other robed figures glance at him through his peripheral vision. At any
moment, he fully expected one of them to see something wrong, sound the
alarm, and the jig would be up. But his cover was miracously left intact
as he approached another building and swiped his card through the
reader. The lock beeped and the door opened.

        <So far so good,> he thought.

         As he slipped inside, he thought he felt the ground rumble a
bit, but decided it must have been his imagination.






         Happosai, through the power of his impressive battle aura, had
grown to monster size. Krynn was actually quite shocked.

         "Feel free to give up anytime," the old Musabetsu Kakuto master
taunted.

         Krynn's shock turned to anger. "It'll take more than size to
scare me!" As if to prove the point, he unloaded various size fireballs
and hydro-blasts. He even tore up equipment laying on the ground and
sent it at the giant.

         The projectiles impacted, exploded, and Happosai's image
disappeared. Suddenly, Krynn felt an impact to his stomach which
launched him up a wall. He never saw it coming, or the half-dozen that
followed it.

         Krynn roared and charged the old man. As they were about to
connect, both forms flickered for a minute, than vanished. If one was
standing in the room watching the battle, all they would see is two
blurs, bouncing off walls and into each other, only to bounce away and
rebound off another surface.

         Happosai was hard pressed. He admit to admit the kid was fast
and powerful; though not as skilled as the old master. Happosai's
attacks were more often than not, deflected by some sort of barrier
before they could impact. Still, he would lose when he ran out of
energy, and there were no lingerie or young-beautiful women present for
him to recharge.

         Eventually, the old man slipped up. Or maybe he made an error
in judgment. In either case, he didn't see the blow coming. Pain lanced
in his side, knocking him back. That blow was followed by several more
before Happosai's body dropped to the floor. He rolled over on his back
to see Krynn floating over him like he had been with Cologne.

        "You are quite powerful for your age," he complimented them.
"I'd like to thank you for the workout, but you know what they say about
youth defeating experience."

         Happosai grinned. "It's actually old age and treachery that
beat youth. HAPPODAIKARIN!" He gathered all his strength and tossed
several of his special fuse bombs up into his adversary.

         Krynn leaned to the side as the bombs flew by him. "You
missed."

        "Did I?"

         Krynn looked up as the bombs blew up the ceiling and sent a
mass of steel, iron, and cement careening down. He face twisted in
horror as the thick debris rained onto him and buried him on the gym
floor.

         Seeing his attack succeed, Happosai relaxed and tried to regain
his strength. "I'm getting too old for this."






         Akane was working on loosening the ropes which bound her. She
had just finally retrieved enough strength to break the bonds around her
wrists, when the ground shook. Her first thought was an earthquake. Her
second thought was how she better get out of the way as the shelves
tipped over, threatening to crush both her and Nabiki.

         Moving quickly, she stood up and gave her sister's chair a
vicious shove, even as she dove to safety. She almost made it. While the
falling shelves missed them, the bottles that were on them fell out and
shattered, spraying water everywhere. One of the bottles flew farther
then it's brethren and Akane felt the water completely soak her
backside.

         For the first time, she felt the change.

         Nabiki recovered from having her chair knocked over just in
time to see the guards open the door and rush in. They froze instantly,
and Nabiki thought she saw terror etched heavily on their faces. She
sensed something leap over her and caught sight of what the guards were
afraid of.

         A giant yellow and black striped tiger.

         She watched, fascinated as it tackled one of the guards,
slamming him first into the wall and then the floor. The other guard
backpedaled quickly, partly from fear and partly from being knocked off
balance. His backward momentum was halted by the corner, and attempted
to dash out of the room.

         He never made it.

         The tiger was on him a second later and he soon joined his
unconcious comrade. Nabiki was somewhat relieved to see the two men were
still breathing. That's when the tiger turned and began to pad its way
towards her.

         Nabiki felt an emotion which she hadn't really felt for a long
time: fear.

         It wasn't often the `Ice Queen' could be scared of anything,
but this definitely qualified as one of those times.

        "Nice kitty," was her attempt to soothe the savage beast. <Like
that's gonna work.> The tiger stopped in front of her and sat down.
Nabiki was sure it almost looked confused. "Akane? Where are you? I
could really use you right now..."

         The tiger looked at her and growled. It then walked over to her
until Nabiki could feel it's hot breath blowing across her face. <I'm
gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die,> she repeated to herself, eyes
clenched shut in preparation for the end. <And I never even had a real
boyfriend!>

         Then the tiger licked her cheek. Nabiki's eyes shot open as the
tiger rubbed it's face against hers, then walked around behind her. She
soon felt it biting on the ropes that bound her. In a minute, she was
free. Standing up slowly, and noticing Akane gone, it suddenly hit her.

        "Akane?" she said nervously. "Is that you?" The tiger did it's
best to nod. Nabiki slapped her forehead. "Figures we had to be stuck in
the room with the spare Jusenkyo water." She smirked. "You know, this
really puts a damper on your relationship with Ranma since you know how
he feel about cats." Akane growled. "Calm down, I'll figure out
something."

         She walked over to the fallen shelves and looked around,
careful to not step into any puddles. A few unbroken bottles had rolled
off to the side and she picked them up. <Yes! They're marked!> She went
through about twelve bottles, before finding the one he wanted. She
turned around and presented it to the waiting tiger.

        "Spring of drowned girl!" The tiger stood up and walked over to
her, rubbing against her legs. "I take it you want this?" Akane nodded
again. "5000 yen." The tiger face-faulted. "Just kidding! I wouldn't do
that to my baby sister. Now hold still." She proceeded to uncork the
bottle and pour the contents over her bestial sister. In no time, the
tiger had reformed into a naked Akane.

        "Nabiki!" she admonished her sister. "I can't believe you were
even tempted to charge me for the cure."

          Nabiki shrugged. "Gomen. But old habits die hard."

         As Akane got dressed, a thought hit her. "Hey! I wonder if
there is some Nannichaun water around here for Ranma?"

         The two girls looked for a few minutes, before Nabiki found the
bottle. Akane sighed when she saw that the bottle was broken and the
contents all gone.

        "Oh well, I guess we better get out here and find dad and
Kasumi," Akane said.

         Nabiki nodded and the two crept to the door. Taking a quick
peek outside, Akane pulled her sister back inside quickly when she
spotted a hooded figure approaching. She directed Nabiki to stand in the
middle of the room, while Akane flattened herself against the doorside
wall.

         The footsteps grew closer and louder, and eventually the figure
entered the room. It passed Akane, not noticing she was there, then
stopped when it saw the young woman in the center of the room wave at
him.

        "Nabiki!?" was all he said before Akane tackled him. As they hit
the ground, something clicked in Nabiki's mind.

        "Akane, wait!" Nabiki and the figure said at the same time.

         Akane stopped and removed the hood of her opponent.

         It was Dr. Tofu.






         Krynn's office rocked with the explosion and knocked a few of
the unsuspecting guards off their feet. Several volumes of large
hardbound books were jumbled loose from the surrounding shelves to fall
on the guards below, distracting them. Ranma nodded to the group and
they sprung to the attack.

         Ranma let loose a ki blast. The energy ball slammed into a
guard and made him one with the bookshelf behind him. Ukyo launched a
handful of throwing spatula's pinning another guard against a wall,
before drawing her main battle spat' . Mousse sent chains, knives, and
wooden training potties fly, dropping three more.

         By this time, a few of the mages had recovered and were on the
attack, but it was too little too late. The four highly determined
martial artists were upon them, and within a few minutes, it was all
over.

         Ranma motioned them to the door and casually opened it. Noting
that nothing unusual had happened, he took a hesitant step outside, the
others following. Shouts of alarm from down one end of the hallway could
be heard and robed mages soon appeared. Fireballs and hydro-blasts
filled the small hallway and the group had no choice but to flee.

         They quickly piled into another door and headed up the stairs
and out the door at the top. It was then that Ranma realized they had
made a mistake. They were trapped.

         They were on the roof.






        Outside, the waiting trio saw the roof of a big building, next
to the main structure,
explode. The guards outside turned their attention inward, stunned.

        "Now do we strike?" Yuri whispered excitedly.

         Kenji shook his head. "Not just yet."

        "Oh pooh," she replied.






         Inside the gym, there was a groan.

         Then a yell.

         Then the pile of debris exploded as Krynn emerged, glowing with
a dark red aura, and looking extremely angry.

        "THAT HURT!" he roared. Turning his attention down, he saw that
neither the old man nor the old woman were moving and their energy
levels were at incredibly low levels. "Hmph. That takes care of them.
Now to see to the others."  He heard yelling outside and flew up through
the hole in the roof of the gym.

        "Bring me the Tendos!" he yelled at his minions. He heard a
sound behind him and turned to see what it was.

         He grinned evilly at the four figures who had emerged on the
roof of his office building.






         "Tofu!" Akane immediately hugged him and then they both stood
up.

        "Are you girls all right?" he asked. They both nodded, but he
noticed a few bruises on Akane. "I take it you were fighting when you
were kidnapped. Now where are Kasumi-san and Tendo-san?"

        "We don't know," Nabiki answered.

         Tofu nodded and peeked out into the hall. He also glanced down
at the two unconscious guards. "What happened to them?"

         Nabiki smirked. "Cat fight."

         The doctor wore a confused expression, while Akane elbowed her
sister. "We'll explain later. Shouldn't we be leaving?"

         Tofu nodded and the trio left. They padded silently down the
hall, checking the rooms as they went. Rounding a corner, Tofu had the
girls wait while he went ahead. After a few moments, he called to them.

         He was standing over a pair of bodies that were obviously
guarding a door. He opened it with a key he had obtained off one of the
guards, and discovered the other two missing Tendos inside. It was a
simple matter to free them, but Nabiki thought for sure Tofu would go
haywire when he saw Kasumi.

         Instead, they were all surprised by a completely different
reaction.

        "Kasumi-chan, are you alright?" Tofu asked tenderly. "They
didn't hurt you, did they? If they did, I'll tear them apart!"

        "Goodness, I'm fine Tofu-kun," Kasumi replied. "I'm glad you
were worried about me." She smiled lovingly at him and brushed his cheek
with her hand. "Thank you for coming to save me, though."

         Three jaws hit the floor.

        "What the...!?" Akane stammered. "How long has this been going
on!?"

         The pair looked up at the three stunned faces, then Tofu's
glasses fogged up. "Ka-Ka-Kasumi! What a concidence to meet you here of
all places!"

         Nabiki waved him off. "Forget it doc, we're on to you."

        "But.. I... well..." stammered Tofu.

         Kasumi stopped him by lightly grabbing ahold of his hands.
"It's okay, Tofu-kun. The secret is out now. We should concern ourselves
now with our escape."

         Tofu sighed, then nodded. "You're right, let's go."

         As they left, Akane pulled Kasumi aside and whispered. "We're
going to have a serious sisterly chat after this!"

         Soun was so stunned, he couldn't even wail.






         They retrieved the two robes and left the guards inside. Akane
donned one and the other went to Nabiki since they were still in their
PJ's from that morning. Heading back out into the hall, the sounds of
shouting outside and explosions echoed from outside, but all that was
dwarfed by a loud booming voice. Several faint voices crying for help
could also be heard, drifting from a different direction.

         The group dashed down the hall to yet another room and were
surprised at what they found therein. Four people were locked in
separate cells.

        "Akane-kun?" one of them called.

         Akane's attention was drawn to the speaker, and was surprised
when she recognized the girl. "Miyo? How'd you end up here?"

         Nabiki cocked her head. "Wait a minute. You're that Tarot Card
reading fortune teller that was at our school for awhile, aren't you?"
Miyo nodded while Tofu unlocked the cells.

        "She helped us when Happosai was sick and dying," Akane
explained to the others. "She told me how to make that potion that saved
him and the rest of you." She glanced over at another boy. "Hikaru-kun!
So they did get you, too."

         Hikaru Gosunkugi looked almost ready to faint from the
attention he was receiving from his goddess. "A-Akane-san. Y-y-you saved
me!"

        "No problem!" Akane smiled at him and he did faint. Then she saw
the other boy and girl. "Who are you guys?"

         The other girl identified herself as Henki Ariko and the other
guy said his name was Yamato Toshi. It turned out Ariko was a novice
sorceress in-training and Toshi claimed to have a link with a 500 year-
old spirit named Yabunaga.

        "Just as I thought," Nabiki said idly. "The sects were targeting
those with mystical abilities."

         After all introductions were made, Tofu suggested it was time
they made their escape.

         Nobody argued with that idea.