[Episode 47334] [Episode 47334]A few key observations should now be taken note.
First, although no one knew quite how it happened (and it was considered a minor miracle by some), Ranma was a freakin' paragon of virtue when compared to his father Genma. One of the ways this manifested was in Ranma's incredibly gentle heart.
The proof of Ranma's innate gentleness lay in the fact that it was rare for anyone he fought to receive more than bruises. The Anything Goes style, after all, was originally designed by stealing the most effective moves from every martial art Happosai had encountered, in a much more violent time when life was held much more cheaply then now. This meant that Ranma's usual arsenal of take downs and incapacitation techniques were actually the tip of a far more brutal iceberg, all of which Ranma had mastered by the age of thirteen.
Second, if you asked Akane, Shampoo or Ukyo who the best Martial artist in Nerima was they would all answer "Ranma." And they would all be lying.
Akane secretly thought that she was the best martial artist in Nerima. Ranma relied on nothing but tricks and cheating. Shampoo used magic and hid behind her tribe when trouble threatened. Even Ukyo was hobbled by her reliance on weapons.
Shampoo, ironically, held the other girls as inferior because they were born Japanese, and not as Amazons which proved their spiritual weakness. Ranma himself was male, and thus also inferior, although his strength and skill in the Art elevated his status to 'worthy of being used as breeding stock and of potential use in manual labor.'
Ukyo considered herself master of culinary arts and martial arts, and superior to the others on that basis.
The three girls all agreed among themselves, however: Ranma was definitely inferior to them. If they had had his strength and skill, they would crush anyone who messed with them. Ranma allowed his enemies to return time and again, proving his true weakness.
All of which contributed to the real irony: that when the girls told people that Ranma was better than they were, their lies were actually the truth.
Third, and most important for the fiancee brigade, was that none of them had ever faced an angry Ranma. Hell, the three of them had barely even seen Ranma truly angry, much less Ranma with the kid gloves off and striking with everything he had.
Not that that would have changed anything.
Ranma lashed out with a kick, driving Akane back for a moment. Unfortunately, the other girl kept her grip on Ranma's wrists, keeping them high above Ranma's head. Akane's counterattack slammed Ranma's head into the brick wall, making the redhead see stars, if only for a moment.
I never thought of you as a man, Ranko... Always acting like a weak woman... Running away from your problems...
The words stabbed deep into Ranma's heart. He'd always tried to find a solution to salvage everyone's honor, no matter what the cost to him. And he'd thought that the girls understood that. He'd thought that they appreciated his unwillingness to act solely for his own happiness, no matter how cruel he had to be in the process.
Instead, the joke was on Ranma. The girls appreciated his mercy, and respected him less for it.
So, they don't want my mercy thought Ranma grimly. Fine.
Ordinarily, Ranma would never allow himself to fight while angry. It was too easy for anger to cloud the mind. Tonight was far from ordinary. Tonight, Ranma welcomed the anger. Tonight, the anger brought clarity.
Ranma brought his leg up and kicked Akane in the side of the knee. Distracted by her molestation of Ranma's body, Akane was caught by surprise. Shrieking in pain, she crumpled...
Ranma's feet touched the ground again, granting precious leverage. Instantly, she twisted, and before Akane knew what had happened, her hands were empty and she was reeling backward feeling like she'd just been hit in the face with one of her own mallets.
Shampoo darted in, looking to strike a pressure point that would send the pigtailed fighter unconscious.
FIERCE TIGER GATE OPEN!!! The words screamed though Ranma's mind, though he did not bother to say them aloud.
The expression of shock on Shampoo's face was almost comical as she slid to the ground.
Ukyo stared, frozen, as Akane struggled to rise to her feet and attack Ranma from behind. The pig-tailed martial artist spun, there was the sound of movement and flesh striking flesh, followed by a sickening crack! and now Akane was unconscious, both legs bending in ways human legs were not supposed to bend.
And Ranma's gaze fell on his 'cute fiancee.'
"Now, Ranchan," her voice quavered nervously. "Don't do anything we'll regret later, okay?"
"Unlike you, Ucchan?" Ranma's voice was loaded with enough venom to wilt flowers at thirty feet. "Tell you what: I'll consider forgiving you if can remember this blast from the past: 'Crouch of the Wild Tiger.'"
Ukyo blinked, then fell to her hands and knees, her head bowed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry."
"Only because you were caught," said Ranma coldly. "No, Kuonji, you're not sorry. But you will be."
Ranma reached down and grabbed her by her wrists.
And then Ukyo began to scream.
Back in the 'Last Hope' bar, Kuroda rinsed the glass he was washing and put it away as the last screams faded into silence.
"Noisy night," he commented to one of the regulars, who merely grunted in reply. Despite his words, Kuroda made no move to investigate. Dark alleys were dark alleys the world over, and with noise, even worse.
That was when Ranma walked back in. "She leave my bottle here?" he asked Kuroda point blank.
Kuroda nodded and set the bottle on the bar.
Ranma took a swig and re-stoppered the bottle. "By the way," said Ranma as if mentioning an after-thought. "Someone should call an ambulance. These three girls in the alley two buildings over look like they picked a fight with the wrong guy and got stomped for it."
"Sure thing," said Kuroda, watching the pig-tailed boy leave. And he pitied in his soul the poor bastards that crossed the man leaving his bar.
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(Posted Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:13)
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