Can't think of anything interest to say. Can you? Tell me: oddball22@hotmail.com My fanfiction is at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000 DISCLAIMER: Okay! I give up! I don't own these characters! I don't own anything! Even my body belongs to... Nevermind. Back to the show... Ranma 1/2: New Challenges Winds Calling Chapter 9 "MOKO TAKABISHA!" Ranma loosed the ki blast as soon as Krynn turned around. It impacted and knocked him back a few feet, but left him otherwise unhurt. he decided. Krynn snarled and retaliated, letting a dozen fireballs loose. The four dodged out of the way, though they were mainly aimed at Ranma who just barely escaped harm. However, the roof now had several large holes in it, decreasing the available maneuvering space. Chains and spatula's flew, but impacted against an invisible barrier and were turned away. Ranma gritted his teeth. "There's no room up here to fight!" he told his comrades. "We have to get back down to the ground!" "I hate to break this to you, Ranchan," replied Ukyo, looking down. "But the ground is even worse." Ranma risked a glance down during a jump. It was crawling with elemental mages. Krynn let loose another wave of fireballs. "Puny mortals! You cannot harm me. I am now a god! I killed those two old ones who tried to sneak in with you and they're power was greater than yours!" Ranma gulped. The trio outside the walls watched the figure fly up out of the recently created hole in the building. They heard his command to retrieve the Tendos. They observed the four figures emerge on the top of the main building. And they watched them attack. Kenji and Ryoga realized who they were as soon as Ranma released his signature ki blast. "Now?" Ryoga asked nervously. Kenji could tell he itchin' to fight. The word was given. "Now!" The trio jumped up from their hiding place and rushed downhill for a bit, stopping just before they hit the bottom. Ryoga and Kenji began to gather their ki energies. Ryoga gathered up his feelings of depression: the fact that he could never tell Akane how he felt, the fact that he was always getting lost, his pig-curse, that he was always alone, that he couldn't find Akari, and that it was all Ranma's fault. Kenji concentrated on all his friends and the desire to protect them, especially his newly found sister. When they were both charged, Ryoga to led off, Kenji following a second later. "SHISHI HOUKODEN!" Ryoga's beam of yellow and white energy smashed through the outer guards and into the wall. He swept the beam from left to right, demolishing the wall and any who stood in it's path. "KIJIN BOUHUUKEN!" Kenji's blast of 200 mph winds followed a second later and blew past the demolished wall and into the courtyard. Bodies were tossed around, slamming into walls and into each other as the outer wall that protected them was no longer there. When the fantastic energies dissipated, both guys dropped to one knee and tried to catch their breath and recover. "Wow `niichan!" Yuri exclaimed. "That was impressive! You too Hibiki-san! I don't know why Oka won't let any of our clan learn stuff like that." She laid a hand on her brother's shoulder and gasped. She could almost feel how weak his ki had become. She silently wished she could lend him some of her strength and then a funny thing happened. She felt as if something had sucked energy right out of her. She was dizzy for a second, but then recovered. It only lasted a moment, but Kenji was back on his feet and holding her arms. "I felt it," he said. "You transferred some of your ki to me. How?" "I-I don't know," she admitted. "I just kinda felt how weak you were and wished to give some of my strength to you and then it happened. I guess, maybe since we're both half-elementals and siblings we can share our strength?" "Uh, guys?" Ryoga spoke up. "You think we can get back to the task at hand?" Kenji nodded. "Right, Hibiki. Let's go!" The trio continued their run towards the compound, encountering resistance as they neared the wall. Not all of the mages had taken the massive attack and there was still a dangerous number to deal with. Yuri whipped out a pair of her battle yo's and leapt into the fray, swinging them around wildly. Ryoga let loose some bandanna's, then pulled his umbrella out, yelling his berserker cry. Kenji was just about to join the fight, when he risked a glance upward to the battle on the roof. The floating figure in the black cloak had just launched another attack of exploding fireballs. He heard a cry of "UCCHAN!" then watched in horror as a girl with a large spatula was blown off the roof. And not just a little ways off. She was practically launched a good distance out of the compound before beginning her downward descent. Kenji felt bile rise in his throat when he realized what direction she was heading; namely, over the cliff and down the long, sharp drop-off into the ocean below. Without even thinking about it, Kenji sprang foreword into the air and activated the technique that he had only practiced once. And only with the aid of Yuri, for it was only with both of them that they got it to work before. It was during the night before they left for Nerima. Kenji was unable to sleep and decided to take a stroll. Apparently his sister was feeling the same way, because he found her hunched over the box, looking through the contents. In particular, she was studying a singular scroll and she showed it to Kenji when she noticed him there. It deatailed the forming of an aerodynamic wind shell to facilitate flight. She was trying to learn it, but failing. After a few practices, they managed to levitate off the ground for several minutes by combining their ki. The experience left them drained and they stumbled back to their beds for a good night's sleep. Now, propelled by the force of a tornado, Kenji formed the air shell instinctively and shot over the cliff after the disappearing okonomiyaki chef. He didn't even hear his sister call his name. As he cleared the cliff and started down, he could see Ukyo tumbling out of control. He poured on the speed in an effort to catch up with her. Ukyo had begun her fall somewhat stunned. When enough of her wits had been recovered, they promptly fled again when they took notice of her predicament. she repeated to herself, unknowingly echoing Nabiki's earlier thoughts. A glance upward revealed someone falling after her. Her panicked mind registered only one thought. "KENJI!?" Ukyo realized he was reaching out to her, so she held up her hand and reached for Kenji's outstretched arm. Thirty feet before the bottom, they locked hands and Kenji strengthened the shell, pulling out of the dive a few feet before impacting the rocky ocean crags below. As he began the flight upward, he pulled Ukyo closer to him, and she automatically clamped her arms around his neck, tears staining his shirt. When she was firmly holding on tight, he stuck out his arms to either side to better manipulate the air shell. "Kenji-kun?" Ukyo gasped through her frightened tears. "You've got me? Who's got you!?" She looked around. We-we're flying! You're flying! How!?" Kenji chuckled. "An old techniques of my father's. Hang on!" Ukyo squealed as Kenji increased the speed and cleared the cliff line, bringing the compound and the battle zone into view. The figures on the roof were now on the ground. As they swept over the compound, more than a few people stopped fighting and gazed wide-eyed at the two figures soaring through the air. Kenji suddenly realized something and gulped. Ukyo caught that gulp and looked up at him. "Kenji, what's wrong?" "I, uh, suddenly realized something." "What's that?" "I don't know how to land!" he blurted out. "WHAT!?" "Hang ON!" Kenji left the compound and came low to the ground, aiming for a patch of soft ground (as if such a thing existed). "Alright, I want you to jump off me!" "What?" "Don't argue! Do it Now!" "Okkkkkkaaaaaaaayyyyyy!!!" Kenji twisted so he was flying on his back and Ukyo jumped straight up. When she came down, Kenji was no longer underneath her and she hit the ground and rolled, rapidly coming back to her feet. Looking up, she saw Kenji trying to slow down, but to no avail. He crashed through some bushes and disappeared, followed shortly by a *thud*. "Kenji!" She ran through the bushes after him, but stopped on the other side. She then broke out laughing. Kenji was laying against the trunk of a tree, upside down, obviously dazed. When he regained some of his wits and glimpsed the girl laughing at him, he lost his precarious balance and fell forward, landing on his stomach with an `oomph'. Ukyo continued to chuckle while she gave him a helping hand up. "You okay, sugar?" "I've been better..." "NO! KENJI!" When Kenji took off, Yuri couldn't imagine what he was doing. Then she saw the figure fall off the cliff and Kenji take to the air, diving off the cliff after her. In that instant, her heart was wrenched in her chest once again. Stepping up her attacks, she whipped the twin yo-yos around her body, whacking a couple in the face and wrapping the lines around a second pair. With a mighty heave, she launched the two unlucky wizards into the last group, then screamed out her brother's name again as she sprinted towards the cliff he had fallen off of. Ryoga heard the scream and glanced up to see Kenji disappear off the cliff. Rage increasing as he fought on, he swung his mighty umbrella around and took off like a shot. . Bodies began to fly as Ryoga, the unstoppable bullet train, plowed through them. As he reached the other end of the courtyard, he froze, mere inches from striking another individual. It was Akane. "UCCHAN!" Ranma yelled as he saw his old friend blown off the roof via a particularly large fireball explosion. He sprinted to side of the roof and looked down in horror as she began to descend off the cliff. Before he could jump after her, a gray figure flew off the cliff after her. Then he head Krynn's voice again. "I told you I am a god now!" he bellowed. "You cannot stop me!" Ranma turned to face him, dead calm in his voice. "No problem, I've already killed one god. What's another one to a godslayer?" In anger, he rushed the floating figure, jumping off the building and met his opponent in the air, all the while dodging the various attacks Krynn threw at him. Krynn saw him coming and expected Ranma to get close and then attack him from behind. After all, that's what the two old ones did. That's why he was surprised when Ranma attacked his front. "KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" Ranma's fists blurred as he reached his target, delivering several hundred punches in the span of only a few seconds. The first hundred hit some kind of invisible barrier, but then broke through and the remaining ones struck the target. As the attack ended, Ranma grabbed ahold of the man and dragged him down as he began to fall. A split second later, they cratered the ground upon impact. Tofu's entourage burst out of the door, into the open, and were presented with a scene of chaos. Explosions were going off, bodies laying around, fights happening, golems wandering around, two figures impacting the ground, and something flying overhead. Not that they had their own problems. The group had to work their own way through several of the elemental wizards in their haste to exit the building and escape. Fortunately, they had help in the way of their new friends. Ariko was firing off lightning bolts from her hand and Toshi's shadow detached itself and attacked on it's own, taking the shape of a large panther. "Let's move everybody!" Tofu urged the startled group along as Ryoga barreled through a group of mages and stopped in front of them. "Akane-san?" Ryoga gasped, surprised. "I've come to save you!" "Ryoga-kun, where's Ranma?" Akane asked, worridly. Ryoga froze as he felt his heart break. He was saved from further contemplation as a groan emanated from the recently created crater and a figure in a tattered red Chinese shirt climbed out. As he stood up, Akane gasped and ran over to him. "Ranma!" she exclaimed while giving him a quick hug. "Are you okay?" He coughed a few times. "Akane! Yeah, I'm fine. I was gonna ask you the same thing." He smiled at her and Akane's heart skipped a few beats. "Well, I am NOT okay," a voice growled from behind Ranma. Everybody turned to see Krynn float out of the crater. With the exception of a little blood that trickled from his lip, he appeared to be uninjured. "And I am NOT happy. You insignificant worm, you shall pay for touching me!" The fireball storm renewed, directed solely at Ranma. The pig-tailed martial artist grabbed his fiancee and attempted to leap out of the way, but he was a bit too late. Several of the projectiles scored hits against his back in mid-air, causing Ranma to grunt and grit his teeth in pain. Despite that, he mange to land some distance away and set Akane down before collapsing to one knee. "Akane, get out of here!" he said through clenched teeth. Akane shook her head. "No, I'm a martial artist, too. I'm going to fight." Ranma looked up at her. "You stupid tomboy! GET OUT OF HERE!" Akane fumed. "WHAT did you say!? I..." Ranma stood up and grabbed her by the shoulders. "This isn't a game! This guy took out Cologne and Happosai. Let those of us who take martial arts seriously and not just as hobby, handle this! All you can do is smash bricks and get in the way. Now GO!" Akane stood there in shock for a few seconds, then slapped Ranma across the face. "Ranma no baka," she said softly, then turned and ran away crying. Ranma sighed. The attack on Ranma and Akane affected two other people. Ryoga saw her under attack and immediately became further enraged that anyone would hurt her. He yelled his infamous battle cry (PREPARE TO DIE!), and charged the attacker. He flipped a few bandannas at the target as a precursor, then struck the ground with his finger when he got close. "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!" The ground exploded and Krynn was pelted with a ton of rock fragments. He was forced back a foot or two, but his now-visible, light blue translucent, full body shield blocked the rock storm. Shortly after delivering the attack, Ryoga leapt into the air came down with the point of his umbrella, striking the shield above Krynn's head. He paused for a few seconds while attempting to push the umbrella through the shield, and at first he seemed to be making progress. Then Krynn reinforced his barrier, sending a burst of magical energy into it. But id didn't stop there, instead continuing on to travel up the shaft of his attacker's umbrella and into Ryoga, the energy backlash exploding in a soundless flash of light and sending the lost boy flying away. The second person it affected was Hikaru Gosunkugi. Seeing Akane in danger triggered something deep inside him, something he had thought was there but never could pull to the surface. His magic. All the failed voodoo, spells, rituals, had never given him the power he wanted to defend himself against the bullies who picked on him. Having been taken by the wizard sect and seeing what they could do, Hikaru was almost ready to join them willingly, despite the fact they kidnapped him. Then he saw the one called Krynn attack Akane and only one thing mattered: he knew he had to protect her if Saotome couldn't. That was why he leapt into action when the floating madman launched his second attack. Kyrnn raged and continued the assault of fireballs at Ranma, adding in rock spikes and a hydro blast this time. He wanted that one dead, since he could pose the greatest threat. While Hikaru wouldn't have particularly cared if Saotome died, Akane was also in the way and he couldn't let any harm come to her. He ran foreword and whipped his hand out, concentrating on the lethal barrage of power. An instant before the attack hit, Gos felt the power and willed it to act. The fireballs, rock spikes, and water streams suddenly veered away at ninety degree angles and landed several yards away. When it was over, Hikaru was a bit shocked on what he had just done, but recovered. Turning to face the floating god, he gathered his courage, preparing to show Akane what he could do. He didn't see her run off. Genma and Mousse had arrived down on the ground by this time, and were helping Tofu get the non-combatants to safety. That included Kasumi, Soun, Toshi, and Miyo. Genma and Tofu went with them since their skills weren't up to the task of battling the powerful figure. But Ariko stayed behind with Hikaru. When she saw what Gos did, she was mightily impressed (not to mention he was kinda cute). Hey, there's no accounting for taste, right? Also, the way she had been kidnapped, had all of her magic books and items stolen, dragged out of her home, locked up in cell, and mistreated, had imprinted upon her a high desire for revenge. She decided that now was the best time for payback. Her situation was similar to Hikaru. All through school she had been shunned from all the girl groups because she liked to read and do school work as oppose to gossip and go shopping. The same traits also made all the boys avoid her, leaving her to grow up alone. Eventually she stumbled across a magic book in a used books store when she was 13 and was intrigued by the possibilities. Three years later, she had managed to decipher a bulk of the text and perform several spells, a few of which she now knew by heart. She was still alone, but now she walked with confidence that she could handle anything. That confidence was shattered when she was kidnapped several days ago. When she saw what the Gosunkugi boy did, she knew she had found a possible kindred spirit. When Hikaru advanced on the floating figure, she was beside him, recalling all the spells she could remember and preparing to do battle. Ranma recovered and turned around as Mousse joined him. They both saw Hikaru and a strange girl advancing on Krynn and the fallen form of Ryoga. "What does that idiot think he's doing!?" Ranma asked, dumbfounded. "He's going to get himself killed! Mousse, go see if you can revive Ryoga, I'll go get Gosunkugi." Mousse nodded and the pair split up. Yuri had stared in awe as her brother flew overhead with someone else, heading into the trees. She quickly followed after them. She glimpsed the figure holding onto her brother jump off as Kenji cleared the outer wall and disappeared into the undergrowth of some bushes just beyond. By the time she got there, her brother and the strange girl had emerged and were returning to the fray. "Oniichan!" Yuri glomped her brother. "Don't you ever worry me like that again!" "Oniichan?" Ukyo raised an eyebrow. Yuri disengaged and Kenji made the introductions. "Oh, so this is the woman you've had your eye on!" she teased, to which Kenji strenously denied. "Uh, while I'd like to continue this line of conversation, I think we had better go and join the fight," he told them, changing the subject. "This battle is far from over." Yuri gave her brother a look that told him this would come up later, but she complied and together they began to move back to the compound. They passed Tofu's group on the way and picked up their pace when they saw Ranma and two others engage Krynn. Happosai slowly opened his eyes. He wasn't aware of how long he'd been out, but the little rest had allowed him to recharge some much needed ki energy and to heal a bit. He struggled to his feet and walked over to Cologne's fallen form. As he approached, he was relived to see her still breathing. "Still alive, eh?" he commented. Cologne opened her eyes and coughed. "Of course! I've lived for 300 years and I don't intend on dying today." Happosai shook his head. "You're a pretty good liar Cologne, but I always could see through you. You're only 100. And you're dying." She laughed bitterly. "I'm surprised I'm still alive. Surely you felt the power of that man?" Happosai nodded. "I know. He's carrying an Elemchrys which is granting him the all great powers he's wielding." "You've got to stop him Happi, I fear the others won't be up to the task." The old master grinned. "I will, but I can't do it alone. I'll need your help." A confused look appeared on the old woman's face, then widened in shock. Happosai took a small bottle out from somewhere and drank it. Then he began to change. "Happi, what have you done?" "It seems the Nanniichaun water I drank at the wedding has had an effect on me," he explained. "I become young by drinking cold water. Convenient, ne?" Cologne continued to stare in shock as she realized what this meant, but Happosai shook his head as if reading her thoughts. "No, it's not a fountain of youth. I'll still age and die on the same day, but it does have it's benefits." The thoughts of what the future had in store had an effect on him and he knew the carefree days of his past was over.