"How is he," Nabiki asked about her father. Even though the confrontation between Soun and Arame had been completely and surprisingly one sided in Soun's favor, it left him completely drained. However, as the hours passed, it looked as though he was getting better. He was already sitting upright again, and the pain he looked to have been seemed to have stopped. However, Nabiki would only feel better when she got the word from Dr. Tofu. The good doctor was giving Soun one last check before he gave the family his final word. He was still amazed at the story they had to tell about the legacy the Tendo matriarch left to her daughters. It left him with many things to think about, most of which had to do with the eldest Tendo daughter. After finishing his check-up, Tofu stood up, "Well, I've done everything I could. He seems to have recovered from his ordeal, but his ki is still very weak. He'll have to take it easy for the next few days. Other than that, he should be fine." "That's good." In an uncharacteristic show of genuine emotion, Nabiki sat down by her father and gave him a hug. "I must say, daddy, that was incredible, what you did with Arame." With a smile, Soun returned the hug. "Thanks, Nabiki. I must admit to being a little surprised as well. I guess this old horse still has a few laps in him." "If the old horse knows what's good for him," interjected the doctor, "he'll take those laps with a sprint. You may not recover if you go full gallop again." "Not to worry, doctor. I don't plan on doing that again," said Soun with a laugh. "Good," Dr. Tofu said with a nod. With his physical completed, Soun got up and walked over to his life-long friend, who was staring out in the waning night. He didn't have to look Genma in the eyes to know how concerned he was about the battle that raged elsewhere in town. Soun shared in his concern. "Ranma really is a remarkable boy," Soun said, breaking the uneasy silence. Genma nodded, "He sure is. Still, I have to wonder if his strength will be enough to beat Arame and bring Akane back?" "If anyone can do it, he can. Did you know that, just before we told Akane about her true heritage, Kasumi, Nabiki and I caught them in the front of the house, admitting their love for each other?" The look on Genma's face changed from concern to elation, "Really?" Soun smiled and nodded. "I know his love for her rivals my own. He will do everything in his power to save her, and then some. I have faith in him. He'll bring my little girl back safely, you'll see." Genma beamed with pride, "I wouldn't expect anything less from the boy." He nudged his friend in the ribs with his elbows, "So, what do you say we go plan a wedding?" Soun's smile became a mischievous grin, "Sounds good!" Dreamweaver Studios Presents Ranma½ Legacy Chapter 9 Cautiously, Ranma entered the interior cavern. He couldn't afford to be reckless anymore, with how much he was beaten up. And he still had Arame to deal with, probably the most powerful being he'd ever had to face. There had to be no more major screw-ups, otherwise he...or worse, Akane, wouldn't make it out of this alive. He took stock of his new surroundings. Cavern? It looked more like a dungeon. While the preceding cave had all sorts of arcane scrolls, symbols and such, this one was full of binding apparatuses and torture devices. While some were the standard racks and chains to hold up victims for flogging, there were some really scary looking ones that Ranma never saw before. He shuddered to think what they could've been used for. In approximately the middle of the large room, he spotted Akane bound on what looked like a giant alter. And at the base of the alter, stood Arame. "Akane! Are you alright?" called Ranma. "Yes, I'm fine," she said. "She hasn't done anything to me yet." "And she won't either. Don't worry, I'll get you down from there." "Be careful!" So far, nothing happened. There were no traps springing, no more 'playmates' popping up between them. It looked like he was finally going to get his shot at her. Sure there was nothing else; Ranma strode deeper into the cavern. He had a stern looking on his face, denoting the seething anger he felt, not to mention to mask the incredible pain he felt from his run-in with a supercharged Kuno. He couldn't let Arame know how much he was hurting, else she would home in on his weak spots and overwhelm him right off the bat. For her part, Arame couldn't help but stare at Ranma as he walked in. She licked her lips like a hungry beast ready to devour a large meal. "There you are, my boy. I was wondering what took you so long." "I told you Kuno wasn't the smartest choice for a guardian," Ranma said. "Actually, I made the perfect choice. I didn't want him to keep you out. I just wanted him to rough you up a bit before he let you in. And by the looks of it, he did his job perfectly." She licked her lips again, "You really are a sight to behold. The messy hair, the broad shoulders, the heaving chest...and I can just imagine that sweat soaked body. I must say, it's all very...stimulating." Well, gee, when she put it that way, Akane had to agree. She suddenly became "stimulated" as well, but dammit, that wasn't the proper time for that sort of thing. "Tell you what, I'll make you a deal." Ranma raised an eyebrow, "What sort of deal?" "I'll let her go if you renounce your engagement and come away with me. I promise, it'll be a whole lot of fun. Certainly will be more fun than a fight." "Forget it!" he spat. "Y-you're turning me down? For HER?" Arame looked up at Akane, "You certainly have lousy taste in women. I mean, she's certainly isn't what I would call cute." Ranma shrugged, "Yeah, I know that." "HEY!" shouted Akane. "ARE YOU GOING TO RESCUE ME? OR ARE YOU GOING TO STAND THERE INSULTING ME WITH HER?" He shrugged again, "Can't I do both?" "How about this, then," Arame continued, "If you come away with me, not only will I let her go, but I promise to leave the rest of her family alone. What do you say?" "Hell no. I don't care how cute Akane is...or ain't. I love her and I'm not gonna betray her, even if doing so saves her life. Make no mistake, though. She WILL be going free, and you WON'T be bothering the other Tendos." Ranma got into a fighting stance and ended, "But it's gonna happen MY way!" Arame shook her head, "If that's the way you want it. Such a waste, though..." Bringing her hand up, she fired an energy blast at Ranma. He managed to jump out of its path, but he did so slower than usual. With the shots he took from his previous battle, the sudden moves he had to make in this confrontation promised to be painful to pull off. He would have to get in closer. She fired another energy blast and instead of dodging again, Ranma broke through the rocky ground beneath him, dug up a large slab of stone and threw it at the oncoming blast. When the two connected, it exploded, shielding him from her view. When the smoke cleared, Ranma was gone. Arame looked around the room, frantically, "That blast wasn't powerful enough to vaporize him! Where did he go?" "Behind you!" Arame turned around and came face to face with the pigtailed martial artist. Now, Ranma usually wasn't one for hitting women. Then again, this 'woman' was really a demon. Besides that, she dared to threaten Akane's life. Woman or not, that was not something Ranma was going to tolerate. With no hesitation, he punched her in the jaw. The punch caught Arame off guard and it caused her to stagger back. "You don't go down easy, huh? Fine with me! KATCHU TENSHIN AMAGURI-KEN" Ranma let loose a furious barrage of, at least, a hundred punches a second. Arame, however, got over the shock of Ranma's sudden move and quick strike. With her bearings back, she managed to avoid every one of his punches. With a smile, she said, "You're right, I don't go down easy. Not in a fight, at least." With little effort, she danced around his punches and caught him in the stomach with an energy charged open palm strike that threw him backwards, crashing into the base of the alter. Ranma clutched his stomach, unable to even scream at the intense pain. 'She can avoid my chestnut fist,' Ranma managed to articulate in his head. 'Should've figured she would be able to.' Slowly, he pushed himself back to his feet and got battle ready. "You're every bit as amazing as I imagined," said Arame. "Your speed, your strength and especially that stamina of yours. We could've put that to so much better use. But, alas..." She flew back and fired another energy blast at him. Again, he was able to roll out of the way, baring the pain. 'Well, she likes throwing those blasts around, let's see how she likes it!' Once he set himself upright, he shot back at her with his Mouko Takabisha attack. Once more, she was caught off guard by his abilities. This time, however, she managed to get over her shock and glide out of the way before his attack struck her. "My, my...you are full of surprises, aren't you?" went Arame. "You command more power than I gave you credit for. I guess I'll have to start taking you more seriously." His eyes widened. She wasn't fighting seriously yet? In that case, he was seriously screwed...and not in the good way either. What was their left for him to do? He did have one major attack left in his arsenal, but to do that, he'd have to get her mad and exuding an extremely hot aura. So far, she's been cool and collected through the whole thing. He could probably generate the hot ki if needed, but he doubted he could generate enough to cause a light breeze with his attack. She already proved too fast for his other attacks. What could he do? He looked at his hands. His fastest attack was the chestnut fist, but she danced around that already. There had to be a way he could make it go faster. He looked back at Arame, in particular, her hands, which she used to fire, her energy blasts so liberally. Something clicked in Ranma's mind. He may not have been able to make his hands actually move any faster, but with a little alteration in the attack...it could work. "Come on, my boy!" taunted Arame. "Don't stop now. This was just getting interesting. Don't tell me you don't have any more tricks to show me." "Okay then, lady! You asked for it! KATCHU TENSHIN AMAGURI-KEN" "Oh, please! Not this attack again. I already showed you, it's usele-" -WHAP!- "WHAT?" The shock returned to Arame's features. Not only did Ranma manage to hit her with the attack this time, but he hadn't moved from his previous position. Somehow, he managed to hit her from long range. "I don't know how you managed to do it, but don't think that one lucky shot will win this!" -WHAP!- -WHAP!- -WHAP!- -WHAP!- -WHAP!- -WHAP!- A smile crept on Ranma's face. It was working. At the full extension of every punch, he fired a ki blast at her. With the speed of his chestnut fist on top of the speed of his ki blasts, the strikes were almost instant, leaving her no time to dodge. The ki blasts themselves were only strong enough to sting her as he tried it out, but upon seeing its success, he poured more of his battle energy into it. The strength of the attacks became more than she could bear, and she started backpedaling, until she had her back to the wall. Ranma didn't let up. He continued bombarding her with hundreds of ki blasts per second. She took so much of a pounding that she actually went through the wall, a painful feat, as there was nothing behind the wall but miles and miles of rock. A thick cloud of dust and smoke covered her due to the incinerating rock wall and the mini explosions caused by the torrent of ki blasts; still, Ranma persisted. He persisted through the immense strain put on his body by the pain he endured, and through the rapid energy depletion of using his chestnut fist and a ki attack. His knees became shaky and he found it increasingly difficult to keep his eyes open, but he had to milk this opening for all it was worth. He doubted he would get another shot. Finally, the pace was just too much for him to keep up. Panting heavily, he dropped his hands to his sides. He was completely spent, but it looked like the effort was worth it. The thick smoke that covered the hole she made was slowly dissipating, revealing a pile of rubble where her body should've been. Had he got her? Was the fight really over? If it were any other opponent, there would be no question, but with a being such as her, he couldn't be sure. So, for good measure, "MOUKO TAKABISHA!" Taxing himself farther than he ever had, his full ki blast landed, nearly destroying the entire wall of the massive cavern. Ranma fell forward, teetering on unconsciousness. He had given everything he had and then some. After an unmerciful attack like that, it had to be over. Once again, when the smoke cleared, the mere pile of rubble became a mountain. Ranma watched the mountain as best as he could from his prone position to see if there was any movement among the rocks indicating her survival. There wasn't. "Ranma! You did it!" cheered Akane. Ranma still wasn't completely convinced. However, he hoped he, at least, bought them enough time to make their escape. "Hang on, Akane," he said, dragging himself to his feet, "I'll get you down from there." "Hang on, he says," went Akane. "Like I have much choice..." Ranma got to the base of the alter and looked up. Under normal circumstances, it would be nothing for him to jump up there. He was so beat up, though, he doubted he could've made it half way. Where was Mousse or that Autumn girl when he needed them? Oh well, nothing left to do now, but climb. Suddenly, a flash of light erupted from the mountain of rubble, blowing many of the rocks away. An object shot out of the opening in the rocks and landed a few feet in front of them. The object in question was Arame. Her clothes, what little there was to start with, were in tatters; her body was badly bruised and she was bleeding from various cuts. She was hurt; unfortunately, just not hurt enough. The playfulness apparent in her eyes, even in the heat of battle was gone. This human managed to hurt and humiliate her. She wanted blood. In less time than it took to blink, she was on top of Ranma, landing a punch to his stomach, doubling him over, causing him to cough up blood. She followed up with a rising kick to his face, propelling him into the wall opposite of where she was buried. "RANMA!" This wasn't good. Arame was slowly stalking over to Ranma, with another energy ball ready to be fired. Akane could tell that Ranma was still conscious, but he wasn't moving. If something wasn't done, quickly, he was going to die right then and there. "Arame, stop!" She did, looking up at Akane. "I'm the one you're supposed to be torturing, right? It's my family you have your vendetta against. You've won already...Do to me what you will, just leave him alone!" Arame gave her a cold, sinister smile, "You're right. I do want to torture you. Now tell me, is there anything that could torture you more than seeing the man you love killed right before your eyes, with you helpless to do anything about it?" Arame laughed cruelly, but Akane didn't hear it. At that moment, everything escaped Akane's perception outside of the ball of energy that was just fired from Arame's hand, heading for her helpless fiancée. Their entire life together flashed before her eyes: the first time they met, her finding out about his curse; all of the times they fought for each other; all of the times they fought against each other; the engagement, the breaks in the engagement and their reforms; everything down to the last few days where they finally admitted they loved each other. Was this how it was all going to end? After all they had been through, after all the hardship it took for them to finally and openly give their hearts to each other, were they really going to have everything taken away from them in that instant? "NOOOOOOO!" Something deep inside Akane came to the surface. Her demonic aura, which was said to have been much weaker than her sisters' had exploded, literally, freeing her of her bonds and causing a portion of the roof to falling, crushing the alter and, once again, burying Arame. Appearing to move faster than light, Akane jumped in front of the energy ball meant for Ranma. Accepting the sacrifice with arms wide open, the ball impacted with her body, exploding on contact. The bright flash caused Ranma to avert his eyes momentarily. When he was able to look again, he saw his fiancée before him, badly bruised and singed, but still standing with outstretched arms. "A-Akane?" he called tentatively. Lifelessly, her arms fell to her sides and her body went limp, falling forward. "Akane!" Ranma called more urgently. Immediately forgetting his own condition, he crawled over to her and put her head in his lap. "C'mon, Akane, this ain't funny! Wake up!" He patted her face, trying to get her to regain consciousness. It didn't work. Her eyes remained closed and from the stillness of her chest, it didn't appear she was breathing. Everything about real men not crying went out the window. Ranma held his fiancée's lifeless body to his chest and he began sobbing openly. "C'mon...wake up you dummy...WAKE UP!!!" "Do you mind not yelling in my ear? I'm not deaf, you know..." He nearly jumped out of his skin as she spoke to him. Not thinking, he dropped her, her head hitting the ground with a loud thud, and crawled back to the wall. Akane sat up and rubbed the back of her head, "Well, that was some thank you..." "A-Akane! You...you..." He was so sure she was dead, in that instant; he contemplated living the rest of his life without her. Even in his imagination, he knew he couldn't. He didn't know how or when it happened, but Akane became an integral part in his life. They made two halves of one whole...without one; the other would wither and die as well. Seeing her alive and looking at him with those beautiful brown eyes, filled his heart with so much emotion, he couldn't hold it in...so, he didn't. "You...you incredible IDIOT!!! You could've...you SHOULD'VE been killed by that blast. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING???" "Silly me, I was thinking about saving your life!" Akane shot back. "You should've stayed out of it instead of risking your life like that," went Ranma. "I had everything under control!" At that point, Arame dug herself out from underneath the rubble again. She made herself ready for another attack, but was immediately put aback, seeing the young couple angrily in love fighting each other. "Oh, I see," returned Akane. "I guess you had a plan all along, right?" Arame walked up to them and stared waving, "Hello?" "Of course," said Ranma. "I suppose that plan was to get blown to bits by that blast so that you could haunt her as a ghost or something?" taunted Akane. "No. Looked like the stupid plan you came up with, though," countered Ranma. "Excuse me!" Arame tried to interrupt again. "Evil demon over here...wants to torment and kill you? Remember?" "BUTT OUT!" Ranma and Akane yelled in unison, punching Arame back into the wall of rubble, burying her for a third time. That was it. Another explosion and Arame cleared away all of the rubble surrounding her. The energy she commanded didn't dissipate for her next attack; instead, it intensified in magnitude. It increased to such a level, the ground began to shake. "Playtime's over, kids! I'm ending this fight now! I didn't want to kill you so quickly, but you've pushed me too far!" With all of the explosions and cave-ins, the cavern had become very unstable. The rocks up on the roof began to fall in on them. "She's going to bring the whole cave down on us," yelled Akane. "And she's blocking the way out! What do we do?" "I still have the dragon blast," said Ranma. "But without the hot ki, I can't make it work. Even if I did, if she sees it comin' she's just gonna dodge again." "I think I can take care of both of those problems. I'm counting on you!" Akane gave Ranma a thumbs up, which he returned. Akane flared her red-hot ki to its fullest and launched herself at Arame. In mid 'flight', she began to spin, causing the super heated air in her wake to form a compact spiral. Akane tried to land a punch on Arame's face, but she ducked, letting Akane go harmlessly over her head. "Since you're in such a hurry to die, little girl," said Arame, "I'll gladly oblige you!" "RANMA! NOW!!!" Arame turned back too late, as Ranma, standing in Akane's still superheated wake, pulled off his finishing move, "HIRYU KORIN DAN!" The flash of cold from his Soul of Ice cut through the superheated air like a knife, puncturing her equally cold heart, while the clash of the contrasting air pressures created a compact, yet extremely powerful tornado, that ripped into her. It drilled her back into the demolished wall, forcing her through even deeper into the mass of rock. Though the cause of the tremors had ceased, the damage was too extensive for the cavern to take. The cave in continued, unabated. "We've got to get out of here!" ordered Akane. "Can you make it, Ranma?" "Yeah!" he said, running as fast as his drained form could. "Let's go!" ** ** The night was done, and the sun was working its way up in the eastern horizon. The students and teachers were already filing their way onto the school grounds, getting ready for another day of learning. Mousse was still in back of the school with Autumn. On his way out to get her help, she regained consciousness and refused to leave until she knew whether the battle was won or lost. Unable to change her mind, Mousse remained with her. One of the early arrivals, Hikaru Gosunkugi, was working his way towards the back as well. He passed Mousse and Autumn, on his way back to the abandoned shed. He wasn't sure why they were just sitting there on the soccer field, but didn't spend too much time worrying about it. He was anxious to get back to the shed and try to make another summoning. He hoped this time, his efforts would prove more fruitful. "Hey!" yelled Mousse. "Where are you going?" "Huh?" Gosunkugi turned around, "A-are you talking to me?" Mousse stood up and walked over to him. "Yes, I'm talking to you. This area isn't safe. You have to leave now." "You see that shed?" Autumn said in a raspy voice, pointing to the very shed which was his destination. "There's a very dangerous creature there! If you're not careful, you could get hurt!" A dangerous creature? It must've worked after all! Though, without him to claim it as its master, it must be running amok. He had to get down there to make sure it didn't hurt anyone other than Ranma. Inexplicably, the ground began to shake. Earthquakes were a common occurrence in Japan to be sure, but for it to be happening now was an extraordinary stroke of bad luck. Suddenly, the door to the shed flew open. Akane ran out first with Kuno on her back with Ranma following closely behind her carrying a human Taro on his. "GET AWAY FROM HERE! HURRY!" Heeding his warning, Autumn, Mousse and Gosunkugi ran further away from the shed. The ground that they were once sitting upon began to break apart and it sloped in on itself. At the epicenter of the tremor, the ground underneath the abandoned shed opened up, completely swallowing it. Once the shed was gone, the 'earthquake' ended. After sneaking a peek at the carnage, Ranma and Akane looked at each other with wide grins on their faces, elated that they, once again, emerged from danger unscathed. "Oh Ranma!!!" Akane gave Ranma a glomp Shampoo would've been proud of. "AAACK! Watch the ribs!!!" Ranma yelled. So they emerged from danger ~nearly~ unscathed. "It's good to see you," said Autumn. "I'm glad you made it out okay." Akane gave Ranma a warm smile, "I owe it to you. You saved my life yet again. Thank you." Ranma gave Akane's hand a squeeze, "Couldn't have done it without ya." Gosunkugi's head dropped. Not only was his creature defeated before he could even claim it, but it looked as though his goddess, Akane was actually in love with that swine Ranma. He wondered how he would be able to function in school that day with such a large dagger in his heart. Mousse smiled too at the irony of the situation. After all that time he wanted Ranma to give his heart to Akane so that Shampoo would finally give up on him. But now that he was the one to give up, Ranma and Akane appeared to have finally accepted each other. Mousse stopped, considering what he was just thinking. He didn't know when it happened, but it seemed as though he finally made his decision. He considered the consequences of his decision as well, but the thought of them didn't faze him much. Looked like he was due one last conversation with Cologne. Putting his mind back on the situation at hand, Mousse gave Taro's limp form a nudge with is foot, "Did you really have to bring these two back up also?" "Of course," said Akane. "We couldn't just leave them down there." Mousse looked at her, "Why not?" Akane opened her mouth to answer, but couldn't come up with one. She looked at Ranma and he merely shrugged his shoulders. "Erm...I'll get back to you on that when I can think of a good answer." The four teens stood to their feet and began to hobble off of the school property, leaving Kuno and Taro unconscious on the ground and Gosunkugi wallowing in self-pity. Autumn and Ranma would need medical attention as soon as possible for their injuries. Unfortunately, they didn't get far before the ground started rumbling again. "Now what???" As had happened a few times before during battle, a light appeared from the center of the crater where the shed was swallowed. The ground exploded sending debris flying everywhere, and a figure jumped from the center of the light and landed at the crater's mouth. Arame looked at the group of teens and smiled, "You missed me, didn't you?" "Aw, damn...not again!" groaned Ranma. Immediately, Arame went on the attack again, firing an energy ball at the group of teens. Each ducked, and the fireball passed over their heads, coming into contact with the main building of the high school, obliterating it completely. The growing number of Furinkan's student body stared blankly as their school was reduced to ash. They suddenly broke out in cheers and had an impromptu party. "Gee, I hope Principal Kuno was inside," said one of the celebrating students. "You kids," went Arame. "Why don't you have the common decency to die when I try to kill you? Huh?? Well, let's see how you do against THIS!" Arame raised her hands above her head and began building up her power. Suddenly, a gigantic monster, about as tall as the main building used to be, appeared behind her. Its appearance was similar to Taro's; only it was completely red and had no wings, tentacles or snake tail. "Oh no!" said Autumn. "She summoned a helper!" "Just fighting her was bad enough," added Akane. "How in the world are we supposed to fight that thing???" Arame laughed manically, "Now, DIE!!!" The giant creature stretched out its monstrous hand. The teens got themselves as ready as they could for what promised to be a crushing blow, but it never came. Instead, the creature used its hand to encase Arame in a cage of light. The giant aura that surrounded Arame went away, "What...what is the meaning of this???" She turned around and audibly gasped, noticing the large creature herself for the first time. "Arame!" the creature boomed. "So there you are. You are nearly twenty-five years late for work. For such gross negligence to your duties, you will be punished severely!" The monster closed its fist and on command, Arame disappeared in a ball of light, cage and all. "NOOOOOOO!" screamed her disembodied voice. In another ball of light, the giant creature made a giant clipboard with the DemCo logo on the back materialize. It put on a pair of glasses and read a few lines from a piece of paper attached to the front. "Is there a Hikaru Gosunkugi here?" "I'm Hikaru Gosunkugi," he squeaked, looking up at the fearsome beast. "I'm terribly sorry about the mix-up," the creature said. "One of our new employees completely screwed up your summoning, bringing Arame here without authorization." He took out a fiery pen and scribbled something down on the paper. Ripping it off he let it drop and in yet another ball of light, the paper shrunk to a size manageable for a human. "Here, this coupon is good for one free summoning. You can get what you want without having to sell your soul in return. And thanks again for your patronage." With a bow, the monster disappeared back into the ground. The strip of paper landed in Gosunkugi's hand. "Wow...this sounds like a really good deal!" The sound of cracking knuckles behind him made Gosunkugi go pale...paler than usual that is. "So," started Ranma, "this whole mess was your fault, hmm?" Ranma grabbed Gosunkugi by the scruff of his jacket and reared his fist back. "Ranma! Stop! Don't do that to him!" ordered Akane. Ranma humphed and let the smaller teen go. Before Gosunkugi could go anywhere, Akane grabbed him in Ranma's place, "Let me!" "AAAAAAAAAH!" ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **