Ranma 1/2
A Saiyan Tail.
Part 12: Ryoga returns.
Akane Tendo sat on the back porch of the Tendo home looking weary, but
not as much as she had been in the past month and a half since Goku had
begun training her. Her mind wandered onto thoughts of her older sister
as a wistful smile crossed her face. Each day brought her another day
closer to the time when she could bring the girl back.
Ranma appeared next to her and smiled as he sat down looking over the
koi pond in his own thought. "Do you feel it?" he asked her suddenly.
Akane froze and blushed for a moment. "What?"
"He's near again, to the south, I wonder what he's looking for?" Ranma
gazed off in the direction he had indicated and frowned.
Akane's expression changed instantly as she followed his eyes and
noticed a faint power pulling at her. "He'll be gone by the time you get
there?" she asked coolly.
"Most likely, I haven't had much luck trying to catch him," said Ranma
lazily as he lay back and looked up at the sky. "He'll be back Akane,
don't worry about that."
The girl nodded her head and sighed deeply, the Hibiki boy would pass by
on occasion and Ranma knew when he was near every time. Unfortunately any
attempt to meet with him was fruitless. The boy was just too erratic in
his patterns to catch easily; it was almost as if he just flew off in
some random direction.
Ryoga Hibiki snarled as he walked out of a store with a bottle of hair
gel in his hands, over the past few months he had tried everything to
keep his hair down short of cutting it off. Nothing was strong enough to
hold it down and it continued to stand on end ever since his battle with
the demon Piccolo. He knew he was near Nerima ward again and snorted as
he thought of finding it again, a memory of the young girl he killed
played through his mind and a sharp pain entered his gut. "I'll find you
Ranma..." suddenly he froze. A strange feeling pulled at his life force
slightly and he looked around. "A power? From...there!" he blasted into
the sky homing in on the energy signal.
He stared at his surroundings in wonder as he landed and noticed
thousands of people in the stands of the baseball stadium staring at him
in shock. A large gruff looking man rushed up to him followed by a few
angry players screaming for him to get off the field. He ignored them and
turned his gaze on one of the dugout boxes searching for the energy he
felt. His eyes fell on its source and a small frown crossed his face.
"You're not Saotome," he muttered under his breath as the man approached
him.
"Who the heck are you?" asked the man with a smirk as he stood and
cracked his knuckles. He had several scars on his face and a small
worried looking cat at his side.
"Yamcha, I don't like this!" whined the animal as it backed away from
the man.
"Relax Puar, I've got it covered, he's just a kid," the man closed in on
the boy and tapped his shoulder.
"What do you want? You're not the one I'm looking for," snapped the boy
angrily as he prepared to fly away.
"I just wanted to say, I don't appreciate you interrupting my game,"
said Yamcha with an evil looking grin. He was not about to let this
opportunity go to waste.
"With that score? You should be glad I did," snapped the boy in retort.
Yamcha jumped in surprise at the comment and rushed forward punching at
the boy. Ryoga easily side stepped him and put a short kick into his gut
sending the man to his knees in pain. The man rolled aside and jumped
back to his feet in an instant with the smile once again returning to his
face.
The lost boy smiled slightly as he realized what was happening and put
up his fist. "So, you think you're strong enough to take on Ryoga Hibiki
do you?"
The man wiped his nose and spread his legs apart slapping himself on the
knee as he observed his opponents fighting style. "That's interesting,
where have I seen that stance before?"
Ryoga merely smiled and rushed forward slamming a fist into the man's
chest before the man could react. He was thrown into the wall hard enough
to crumble it before jumping up as the boy's kick powdered the remaining
rubble underneath him. He turned in midair holding his hands at his side,
unfortunately the boy's attack was not finished. He shot upward like a
bullet and appeared over his head kicking him downward into the ground
with a powerful blow. Yamcha grunted with effort and managed to stop
himself just above the ground.
Puar looked on in amazed shock and fear as Yamcha traded blows with the
mysterious stranger, unfortunately she recognized the stance instantly.
"Yamcha no!" she screamed before sighing in relief as he righted himself
just over the ground. She rushed out to try and stop the fight before it
ended, because if she was right Yamcha would probably die if he lost. The
man put up a warning hand telling her to stay back and she looked
nervously back and fourth between the two men with a strange fear growing
inside of her.
Hibiki appeared just in front of his opponent with a smirk on his face.
The man jumped back with another shocked expression on his face in a
defensive stance. "Surprised?" he asked wryly.
"You have yet to taste my Wolves Fang Fist!" snarled the man as he
rushed forward in an incredibly complex attack pattern.
Ryoga chuckled as he dodged the move easily, at point blank range.
Yamcha's jaw dropped and he felt an incredibly powerful blow to his
stomach that sent him flying back. The boy's arms remained crossed in
front of his chest though in a terrifyingly familiar pose.
It hit the martial artist like a ton of bricks. "He fights like
Piccolo!" Slowly he stood his ground and was unprepared for the next
shock to hit him. Floating behind the boy's back, was a tail. Yamcha felt
his jaw drop suddenly as he staggered back, quickly composing himself he
realized that the weakness there might be his only hope.
"Are you finished? I've got places to be," snapped the boy impatiently.
The man was holding his wrist and putting out a visible effort as he
gathered his ki from the air around him. "I'll show you, my true power
now!"
Ryoga snorted sounding unimpressed, casually he leaned against the wall
and waited patiently for the attack to come. "Just don't take all day."
Yamcha snarled in anger as the ball of ki formed in his hands, he pushed
it forward sending it flying towards Ryoga at an amazing rate of speed.
The lost boy simply flew backward matching the speed of the energy easily
as he inspected it. His expression changed when the energy ball suddenly
changed direction and slammed into the ground boring through the earth.
He smiled and shifted slightly as the energy ball erupted directly in
front of him missing a hair's length. Yamcha moved his hands around in a
complicated pattern through the air and the ball arced and buzzed by
Ryoga seeming to just miss him. The lost boy smiled and pointed his had
at it blasting the ball and sending a shower of sparks and small pieces
of chi flying in every direction.
Yamcha froze and seemed to vanish causing Ryoga to frown. He felt a
strong grip on him from behind and slowly turned to look at the man
grabbing his tail in a death lock, the man had an almost insane looking
grin on his face. "I've won!"
"What are you talking about fool?" said Ryoga with an odd looking
expression on his face as he picked the man up with his tail. The man's
face fell into a look of complete shock. The lost boy promptly swung his
tail sending the man flying through the air and head first into a nearby
wall. He was knocked out cold as the strange cat creature floated over
his head covering his body.
"Yamcha, Yamcha! Nooo!" it cried with tears in its eyes.
"What is it? He's not seriously hurt," snapped Ryoga as he walked over
to be certain of this.
"You stay away from him you demon!" snarled the cat as it covered the
man's body with it's own.
Ryoga frowned deeply and looked at the expectant eyes in the stands
staring at him, even the teams watched in silent expectation. "Is that
what you think of me?" he wondered aloud before floating into the air
away from the stadium. Piccolo's words echoed through his mind again. "I
don't need to train you anymore boy, you're a fast learner."
The lost boy leaned forward and stared the man down. "You said you'd
help me defeat Ranma without his father interfering?"
"I have my own score to settle with the elder Saotome, you just
concentrate on your opponent boy," snapped the demon.
"Right," said Ryoga simply as he started to float away. He wondered if
he had just sold his soul, then pushed the thought away bitterly. "I
already lost it." An image of the young girl and her sister's tears
appeared in his mind again and he forcefully pushed it away.
"Aiya! What stupid monkey boy doing in bath with Airen?" called a voice
from the bathroom a few moments after Ranma returned from the store. He
had been in an incredible hurry when he came in and now Akane realized
why.
"He must have run into her on the way home," noted the girl as Kasumi
still stood in the doorway trying to figure out just how the groceries
had magically appeared in her hands.
"Hey, where Ranma at?" called the pidgin voice angrily as Ranma stumbled
out of the room with an embarrassed and slightly relieved face.
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how she wanted to look at it.
Ranma had forgotten to wear any clothes as he rushed out of the room.
Akane frowned and glared at him "Put on some clothes pervert!"
He stopped long enough to look at her and disappeared into his room.
Shampoo emerged from the bathroom a moment later with a confused and
disappointed look on her face. "Hey, Angry turtle girl seen Ranma
around?"
"Angry turtle girl?" repeated Akane in slight annoyance. "He's in his
room."
"Not stupid monkey boy! Girl type Ranma!" snapped the girl in
frustration. She was starting to wonder why they did that to her every
time she asked.
"She didn't come through here," replied Akane with a shrug.
Shampoo frowned, she was certain she had seen her come in this way.
"Ranma, she so good. Even trick Shampoo!" the girl gave a small squeal of
contentment before skipping away leaving Akane with an ill look on her
face.
"Like that's very hard," she muttered under her breath.
"Hey Akane, ready to train again? Your break is over," said Goku as he
entered the room dressed in his orange Chinese clothes again.
"I guess so, she muttered while adjusting the straps on her shell idly,"
she followed him and jumped over the wall easily as they started to jog
away.
An hour and a half later Akane stood gasping for breath at the foot of a
lake. "What are we doing now Sensei?" asked the girl in confusion as the
man attached a large boulder to her back.
"Swimming," replied Goku. "We'll come out here and do this every day
from now on."
Akane went white as a sheet as she stared at the lake. "Uh, Sensei..."
he gave her a light shove on the back sending her into the water before
she could finish.
To say Akane Tendo sank like a rock would be pointless, especially since
she had a rather large one tied to her back. For a moment she struggled
in the water desperately trying to swim and losing most of he air in her
lungs in an instant. Suddenly she noticed the rather large animal
swimming towards her. Its mouth was open and rows of sharp teeth lined
the inside of the mouth. Just as the jaws of the shark closed on her she
felt the world suddenly become light again forcing her to suck in a quick
breath of air.
"Gee, you're not very good at this, you're supposed to swim," said Goku
making swimming motions with his arms.
"I can't swim!" snapped the girl angrily.
"Hmm, I guess we'll have to teach ya then," replied the man with a
shrug.
"What?" gasped Akane in shock.
Several hours later...
Son Goku was perplexed. Akane Tendo was upside down in the inner tube he
had given her as a last resort kicking her feet through the air and
drowning herself quite nicely. With a resigned sigh he pulled her up and
sat her on the edge of the pool. "Man, I didn't think anyone could be
this bad," he said with a heavy sigh.
"What?" gasped Akane as she stared at him in complete shock.
"We'll work on it some more tomorrow, don't worry. You'll get it!"
consoled the man as he handed back the boulder. She looked at it in
confusion. "In the mean time we have to make up for all the missed
training, you'll wear that on the way back."
She fell to the ground and twitched under the weight for a moment before
struggling to her feet in determination.
"We'd better hurry home! It's almost dinner time, and we have to get up
bright and early to deliver all those papers!" said the man cheerfully.
Soun Tendo looked at the letter in his hands and frowned, "I wonder what
this is about?" he said out loud flipping it over in his hands a few
times.
Son Goku walked into the door followed by a struggling, but not far
behind him Akane. She stopped at the door and strained for a moment not
sure quite what was wrong with her as she attempted to enter the house.
Ranma walked up and pulled on the rope tied across her chest. She snarled
and was about to slap him when the boulder fell off of her back sending
her to the floor. She stayed there for a moment and merely glanced up at
him. "Pervert."
"Hi Akane, how did it go today?" said the boy as he stepped over her and
shoved the boulder aside pushing it into the yard and out of the doorway.
"Could have gone better," she said honestly.
Goku appeared back in the hallway with his traveling pack sitting on his
back. He had a hard look of determination on his face as he looked down
at his son. Soun appeared behind him with a similar expression etched
into his features.
"Hey pop, what's up?" asked Ranma in confusion.
"The Turtle Hermit has asked us to come see him, he says it's
important," replied Soun. "We must go, don't worry it shouldn't take more
than a few days or so."
Ranma jumped up, "Can I come too?"
Goku smiled and pat his son on the head. "Sorry son, I need you to stay
here and keep Akane's training up for me. She'll need to be strong if she
wants to come hunting the dragon balls with us." The boy nodded in
understanding and smiled.
"You can count on me pop!" chimed the boy cheerfully.
"Thanks son," said the man as he headed out the door. "Sorry but we have
to leave right away!"
"Quite so Saotome!" agreed Soun.
"But dinners almost ready!" cried Kasumi from the kitchen.
"Sorry but we have to leave right after dinner!" said Goku in exactly
the same tone of voice.
"Quite so Saotome!" agreed Soun again.
Akane gave the two men a small stare before turning and walking towards
the table.
TBC...
Send C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com
Previous parts can be found at:
Http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/fountain/3203
Well, now we're starting to catch up with a few other Dragon Ball
characters! Yamcha is living his life as he did in Z, and the fate of
Kame Senin will be revealed next time, you might be surprised too!
Ryoga continues his search for Ranma after discovering that he can use
his new abilities to follow his energy pattern. Unfortunately he isn't
sure which pattern is Ranma, so it could take a little time.
Also, Akane continues her training under Ranma's not so gentle schedule.