Welcome once again to another episode of Bill Erd the science nerd. Today we shall look at what happens when we mix cold water with various martial artists from Nerima... *SPLASH* "Mrrroooowwww! Quack quack! Woof! Bweeeee! Growf! What'd you do that for!?" All in the pursuit of science! Ahem---> e-mail address: oddball22@hotmail.com DISCLAIMER: The characters I'm borrowing (with the exception of Kenji) are all the property of Rumiko Takahashi. When I'm through using them I'll rewind and dry-clean them before returning them to her. Heck, I'll even pay the late fee... And now for our feature presentation (now in dolby digital surround sound!)... Ranma 1/2: New Challenges Winds of Change Chapter 7 The movie they ended up seeing was some Hong Kong produced martial arts flick. Kenji wouldn't be able to remember the name afterward, since he slowly found himself paying more attention to the chef's company. She was friendly and a great conversationalist. And she didn't seem to be trying to get him to do anything. She was just talking to him like a normal human being. Ukyo, for the most part, was enjoying herself just as much. She could see that her companion had withdrawn into himself, and that he was just trying to be polite. Normally she might not have cared. But for some reason, she was curious about what sort of guy this Kenji really was, and was working to get him to open up more. Ranma and Akane never did show up for the movie. As they left the movie theater, they continued to talk about the movie while walking along the streets towards the restaurant. If either one had bothered to look up, they might've caught a glimpse of a lone dark figure who was following them by rooftop. The figure stopped when his master contacted him by way of a translucent floating head. "Where is he now?" "With a girl. They just left a movie theater and are now walking alone down the street." "Perfect. I'm sending two others to you now. Wait until they arrive and then capture them. There will be no individual rewards, so do not attack alone, but work together. When you have them, inform me by way of the signal and I will arrive. Understood?" "Yes my lord." The face nodded, then faded out. the lone figure thought gleefully. *RIIIIIIING!* "I got it!" Akane yelled, then picked up the phone. "Moshi moshi." Ranma was also in the room, so he only heard Akane's side of the conversation. They had met up at the bridge after Ranma ditched his pursuers, then Akane decided they should just head home and leave Ukyo and Kenji alone. "Oh, hello Cologne," Ranma caught Akane's gaze. "We were hoping you'd call so we could ask you about this fire lord guy." "Yeah, he attacked Kenji-san last night, but Ranma saved him." Ranma grinned and struck a heroic pose which was attacked by a flurry of pillows from Akane. "Well, he called himself the Fire Lord." "Yes, that's what I said: Fire Lord." "Yeah, Ranma said he was burning and tossing fireballs around. He also cursed Kenji with Jusenkyo water so now he turns into a wolf." "Yes, that's what I said, a wolf." "Sure, no problem. Bye!" Akane hung up. "What did the old ghoul want?" Ranma asked. Akane sat down. "She said she may have figured out a possible way to reinstate Kenji's memory. For some reason she got all excited when I mentioned the fire guy and Kenji's curse. Told me to make sure nobody to leaves the house and she'll be right over." Ranma shrugged, then went back to the T.V. When Cologne hung up the phone, her hand was almost shaking. She sighed. She smiled slighty. The smile vanished. "Shampoo, Mousse, come here at once!" The two Amazons came running into the kitchen at Cologne's urgent call. "What wrong, great-grandmother?" Shampoo asked. "Hurry, get your weapons and prepare for battle," she commanded. "We have a most urgent task to perform." Her two charges wasted no time questioning, but rushed to obey. Ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Kasumi answered it and in came the Amazon trio. The rest of the family was gathered in the living room. As soon as she bounced in on her staff, she scanned the room, her face unreadable. "Where's Kenji-san?" she asked. "Out on a date with Ukyo-chan," Akane replied. "Why?" Suddenly Cologne looked very worried, and Akane knew that when Cologne is worried, it couldn't possibly be good. "We have to find him!" "Why's that?" Ranma asked, standing up. "Because not only is his left in danger, but the fate of the world is at stake!" "Ukyo-san, look out!" Kenji yelled. "I see it!" She jumped to the side, dodging a golem's fist and swinging her battle spat', neatly slicing her attacker in two. Then she backed up looking for the next threat. They had been attacked a few minutes ago by three cloaked and hooded individuals. One of them was shooting fire, and one was creating humanoid rock monsters, golems, out of the ground. The last one was hanging back and doing nothing. Currently, there were four golems attacking, minus the three they had taken out. Still, they both sensed it was a losing battle as three golems appeared for every two they managed to destroy. Kenji leapt to the shoulder of one golem and got the attention at another. It promptly shot both fists at him, but Kenji jumped off and golem #2 only succeeded in tearing apart golem #1. He swung in front of another and got the attention of the fire tossing individual. "Hey, what's the matter?" he taunted. "My grandmother's got better aim!" The fire thrower turned his attention to the amnesiac, telling Kenji his ploy had worked... maybe too well. A very large fireball streaked towards him and Kenji found his body unresponsive to his commands. His limbs began to tremble uncontrollably, while his mouth suddenly went dry. The blood in his veins turned to ice as he fell under the mezmorizing spell of the approaching inferno. "Kenji!" Ukyo yelled as she tackled him out of the way, just as the fireball passed them and struck the golem, blowing it up in a shower of sparks and gravel. They tumbled off the street and into the grass with Ukyo on top. "You okay?" Kenji slowly began to recover and shuddered. "Yeah, I... I don't know what happened. I just... couldn't move." "Might have pyrophobia." "What's that?" "Fear of fire." "Ah!" Suddenly Kenji locked his arms around Ukyo and rolled away just as a golem's fist came down and struck the ground they occupied a second ago. "As much as I enjoy rolling around with you," he said with a nervous smile when they stopped, "we really should get back to the battle." Ukyo grinned, then somersaulted off him, heading for her dropped spatula. Kenji kippuped and re-entered the battle after her. Ryoga could hardly believe his luck. He was still in Tokyo! Better yet, he had made it back to Nerima! Now he just couldn't wait to get his hands on that punk who blasted him away, just as he was gonna finish Ranma. He stopped to look at his map again hoping it would tell him where to go. Unfortunately, it was a map of Indonesia and was being held upside down, but maps and Ryoga weren't exactly compatible anyway. As if to answer his question, an explosion sounded in the distance and Ryoga looked up. Squinting, he managed to make out a battle taking place way down the street. Intrigued by what was going on, he headed in that direction. Being as it was a straight line to the fight, Ryoga was relatively he sure could make it without getting lost or sidetracked on the way. "This is hopeless!" Ukyo yelled. "We have to get out of here!" She smashed another golem to pieces with her large spatula. "I think you're right," Kenji responded, ducking and rolling away from a stone piledriver. "Either that or take out the guy who's creating the golems. If only I had time to work up a wind strike!" The number of golems had increased to seven, minus the one Ukyo had just destroyed. They were surrounded and the fire thrower was blowing things up whenever they tried to make a break for it. The golems were slower, but not by much. Approaching the battle, Ryoga could make out two people fighting off half a dozen bigger guys. Then he caught sight of a giant spatula and confidently made two decisions: to intervene, and to fight the ones attacking the girl with the giant spatula.. All Kenji could do was move as fast as possible and get the golems and the fire thrower attack each other, since he didn't have any weapons like Ukyo and wasn't strong enough to damage rock with his hands. He had to hand it to her, she was fighting like a woman possessed. Despite their efforts, sooner or later there would be too many golems, and/or he would slip, and/or make a mistake, and it would be over for him. Unfortunately, that moment came all two soon when Kenji felt two strong hands grab him from behind. Locked in the golem's grip, it began to squeeze. Elsewhere, several figures ran through the night. "Mind telling us where we're going and what exactly we're up against?" Ranma asked as he, Akane, Soun, Genma, Cologne, Shampoo, and Mouse moved through the streets. "You'll soon find out, son-in-law," she replied. That address earned a smile from Shampoo and a frown from everyone else. "Kenji-san!" Ukyo cried as she saw him being squeezed in the golem's death grip. But there was no way to get to him as two golems were in her way. *WHACK!* Make that one. Another one stepped in to fill the gap to make it two again. She was almost out of maneuvering space and knew her time was coming. A golem loomed over her and as she prepared to smash it, it suddenly broke apart on it's own as a welcome and familiar fang-faced figure came barreling through, wielding an umbrella. "Ryoga!" Ukyo could almost hug him, if she weren't involved in a life or death struggle for survival at the moment. "Uh, hi Ukyo-san!" Ryoga smiled, his fangs showing. "Mind telling me what's going on?" A flash hit her. "Ryoga-kun! These guys are solid rock! Use your breaking point and help me save my friend!" She pointed and he nodded. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" he shouted, placing a single finger on a golem. It exploded as Ukyo slashed another. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" he shouted again and yet another golem exploded. Ukyo followed it up by sending her battle spat' slicing through another. It immediately crumbled. The golem guy's sneering grin at the far end of the battle began to vanish as his golems started disappearing faster then he could make them. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" Ryouga struck again, this time on the golem holding Kenji. The captive Kenji dropped to the ground as the golem exploded. Ryoga caught him, jumped back, and got a good look at the guy he just rescued and realized who he was. "YOU!" Ukyo made her way over to him, right through another golem. "What's the matter Ryoga?" "This is the punk who blasted me when I was about to finish Ranma!" he exclaimed. "Kenji-san did that?" Ukyo asked. Ryoga nodded. "Look, you can have your revenge later! We need to survive now!" As if to underscore that, several fireballs exploded nearby knocking the trio off their feet. The remaining golems closed in. The jolt served to awaken Kenji, who sat up. "Okay, but after this is over, we're," Ryoga said indicating Kenji, "gonna have a match." "Who're you?" Kenji said groggily. "Kenji-san, I heard you mention a wind strike earlier?" Ukyo asked. "Yeah, haven't had much time to use it though." Kenji scratched his head. "Didn't know if it would work if I tried it." "Look, Ryoga and I are best suited to keeping the golems off you. While we do, you hit the golem maker, and maybe we can end this!" Ukyo proclaimed. When Kenji nodded, He stood up and concentrated as they left to cover him. he thought. Desire welled up in him and a gray aura began to form around him. An explosion could be heard in the distance. Six figures ran on, with one additional person bouncing on a stick. All hoped they wouldn't be too late. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" Another golem exploded. Ukyo slashed another. she thought. "Hurry up Kenji-san!" Fireballs exploded at her feet, sending her tumbling along the ground. She glanced down the see that last attack left quite a few burn marks on her pants. she promised to herself while returning to her feet. The wind was gathering. Kenji stretched his hands out, palms forward. He concentrated on his targets, the three individuals down the street. He closed his eyes. He heard Ukyo scream. The wind blew passed Kenji and gathered in his palms. As his ki built, his insides ran into that same barrier the last time he tried his wind strike, meaning he couldn't gather any more power. It was now or never. "KIJIN BOUHUUKEN!" he yelled. The explosion of wind was almost visible as it headed straight toward it's first target, golem guy. The horizontal jet stream slammed into him, picking him and tossing him against a wall like a rag doll. Kenji fought to hold his concentration, then swept the wind to it's second target, the fire thrower. 200+ mph winds did roughly the same thing to him as they did to his partner. He was left lying against a wall, unmoving. After that, Kenji was unable to keep the attack up. he thought as his strength left him and he collapsed. The wind attack dissipated. With a "Bakusai Tenketsu!" and another slash for Ukyo, the last two golems fell. "All right Kenji-san!" Ukyo yelled, then saw him laying on the ground, not moving. "NO!" She ran over to him, dropping her spatula and picking up Kenji's head, holding it in her lap. "Speak to me!" Kenji wearily opened his eyes. "Did we do it?" Ukyo choked back her tears and smiled. "Yeah, you did it." Ryouga walked over. "Uh, Ukyo-san, now might be a good time to get out of here before reinforcements arrive." Laughter echoed around them, but they couldn't make out the source. "Oh please don't leave so soon!" A patch of ground several yards away exploded, and a figure appeared when the fireworks died down. Flames bathed the newcomer from head to toe. His gaze darkened. "I insist you stay." Ryoga turned to him. "I don't know who you are, but nobody tells Hibiki Ryoga what to do!" He swung his umbrella defiantly. "A pity." He snapped his fingers. The third figure emerged from the shadows, touched the ground with both hands, and raised them to the sky. The ground began to rumble, then it erupted. Multiple geysers roared into the sky and began to rain all present as the water mains under the ground broke. The droplets just fizzled and evaporated when they hit the burning guy, but they had more disastrous effects on two other people. Ukyo looked down to see she was now holding a small grey wolf. Some part of her mind noted that Ryoga was gone; that he must've been cursed as well. Suddenly, the realization hit her that she was alone. She grabbed her spatula which was laying nearby, and stood up, hovering protectively over Kenji as the flame-enveloped menace approached. "You ANIMAL!" she roared and sprang forward on the attack. "SILENCE WENCH!" The Fire Lord launched a human sized fireball at the charging okonomiyaki chef. Ukyo managed to block it in time with her spatula, but the force of the explosion blasted it to pieces and sent her sprawling. Her back slammed into a tree and she slid down the trunk, barely able to move with the wind knocked out of her. The Fire Lord moved over to her. "Well fought, but you lose," he said with a grin. "Tell the one called `Ranma' if you or he wants to see this one again," he pointed to where water man had picked up the small wolf and placed him in a cage, "then you can meet me at the summit of Hago mountain. Please don't be late or he may not survive. I don't think he'll last more than 6 hours." "No..." Ukyo managed weakly. Fire guy grinned evilly, exploded into a fireball, then roared skyward. The two blasted servants had awakened and joined the third. Together they made a circle around the cage containing the unconscious wolf. They said a short chant and disappeared in a blue flash. Ukyo watched them go, helpless to do anything. You wouldn't have known she was crying unless you listened closely for her sobs, as the artificial rain masked her tears. "Kenji..." was all she could say quietly before passing out. --------------------------------------------------------- Author's notes: Yes, Kenji does have a fear of fire from the trauma of his burning house and seeing his family killed in the blaze. It's not as bad as Ranma's fear of cats, but it will be a problem for him. And no, it doesn't help him in any way, like Ranma's cat fear does. Of course, he doesn't know why he fears fire since his memory is gone...