Akane Tendo (Ranma knew her name, he had read the files of the trainees before coming) walked to the mat with a confident stride, almost bordering on arrogance. She and Ranma saluted each other then Akane took a classic horse stance, if a bit rigid. Ranma stayed in a casual pose, apparently not bothering to take up a combat position.
Of course, Akane took it as a dismissal of her skills The nerve of that boy... "Hey, how come you're not taking a stance? You better take me seriously or..." She let the threat hang, growling a little. Stupid jerk, believing himself so much better than her. Well, she would teach him a lesson! Someone so young couldn't be a qualified sensei.
Ranma shrugged "My martial arts style doesn't believe in stances. One has to be ready to fight anytime and anywhere"
The two opponents stared at each other for a few seconds, not making any move. Akane was the first to lose her patience and charged, fist forward "YAAAAH!"
Ranma rolled his eyes and ducked to the right, Akane's fist missing him completely. A palm strike sent her crashing to the mat "Finished already?"
Akane stood up, clearly angry "That was a cheap shot! I'm ready for you this time! KYAAAH!" She charged again with a flurry of punches and kicks, all neatly dodged or deflected with seemingly no effort at all on Ranma's part. This infuriated her "YOU JERK! TAKE ME SERIOUSLY, DAMMIT!"
*WHAM!* "Ooof..." Akane bent over, nearly losing her lunch. She hadn't seen ranma's kick to her stomach coming "You... You hit me... You jerk... I'LL... Urk!" Ranma's other leg did a roundhouse kick to her face and sent her flying over the mat. She landed in a heap several meters away. Everyone in the room winced at the crashing sound, that had to hurt "Be careful what you wish for, Tendo-san, for you might just get it!"
Still, if Akane Tendo was something, stubborn definitely qualified. She stood up again, if a little shakily. She resumed her stance "Okay, you know some tricks. Big deal, for real this time!" No one hurt her like that and got away with it!
Ranma sighed "Your kempo skills aren't that bad but if you believe you can fight the Invaders with that kind of skills, you've got another thing coming. You'd die on your first sortie with an attitude like that"
"Shut up! What would you know? You're just a perverted boy like the others! There's no way I'll let you win!"
"And what has it got to do with anything?" asked a puzzled Ranma. His face turned serious all of a sudden and he fell into a strange combat stance "All right, let's do a little role-playing. You're a Gatekeeper and I am the Invader. Needless to say, I want to kill you and will go full out to do it"
Akane humphed and shifted her own stance somewhat "Less talk and more action! Bring it on, you arrogant macho jerk!"
"As you wish..." Ranma seemingly teleported right in front of her in the blink of an eye. She didn't have time to raise any kind of defense as Ranma punched her in the face. He wasn't finished however, several more punches followed as well as kicks, elbow smashes and knee strikes in rapid succession. It ended with another palm strike who sent her crashing down on the mat for the third time "Had enough, Tendo-san? Or shall I have to beat you up for you to understand?"
The trainees loudly gasped. How could Ranma fight so viciously? It was only practice, right? There was no need for him to crush Akane like that. Nabiki Tendo was torn. On one hand, she relished the sight of her arrogant little sister taken down several pegs but on the other hand, she didn't want to see her hurt too badly in the process.
"You... *cough*" Akane wiped the blood coming out of her mouth. She didn't believe it. She was the best martial artist back in Nerima. How could that jerk overpower her so easily? Anger mounted again, returning some measure of strength and energy to her hurting body "I'll... beat you!" Hardly noticed by the spectators were the two glowing revolving circles in her eyes.
"You are persistent, I'll grant you that. Time to finish this..." Once again, Ranma effortlessly got through Akane's defences and struck. Except this time, she didn't seem to register the blow. Ranma narrowly escaped her counterattack by doing a backflip. He frowned and lauched several attacks. Akane shrugged them off, going totally on the offensive. Ranma dodged all her strikes and jumped over her, to get some breathing space.
The two combatants paused. Ranma was the first to break the silence "You're using your Gate, aren't you?"
"So what if I am!?" sneered Akane "I am Akane Tendo of the Tendo school of Anything Goes martial arts and I won't lose to the likes of you! You can't hurt me anymore..." Her mouth quirked into an evil-looking smile "But I can certainly hurt you!"
"Gotta hit me first for that, Tendo. We have yet to see you manage that" Ranma had raised an eyebrow at the mention of her style's name. Maybe he should investigate it further at a later time.
"Shut up! I'll wipe that smug smirk off your face! You'll see!"
"The Gate of Iron..." Ranma's voice took a lecturing tone "When you open it, your body becomes nearly invulnerable to physical damage of any kind. Bullets, blades, explosions, energy blasts..." Ranma's eyes suddenly focused on Akane, burning with obvious determination and confidence "However, there's no such thing as the Perfect Defense!"
Ranma charged Akane in what seemed a suicidal attack. She smiled widely and prepared to pound him once and for all. She threw a power punch straigth for his face. Time seemed to slow down as the two fighters closed on each other.
Suddenly, Ranma disappeared! Or more exactly, he dropped into a crouching position and slid between Akane's legs, leaving her dumbfounded and overextended. Then Ranma grabbed her from behind.
"You see..." said Ranma as Akane futilely struggled to break his hold "Your Gate is like a suit of armor. It doesn't make you quicker or stronger, a fact I and any Invader out there can take advantage of. While I can't deal you direct damage when it is active, I can do... THIS!" Ranma put an arm over Akane's neck in a choke hold and squeezed.
Akane thrashed wildly, trying to escape, but lack of air got the better of her. The circles in her eyes flickered out and she fainted, her body collapsing in Ranma's arms. Setsuna thought back to the myth of Hercules' trials and how the demigod had defeated the invulnerable Nemean Lion in the same manner.
Ranma looked at all the shocked trainees in the room, his expression serious again "We are waging a war against an enemy who seeks to enslave us all, no more and no less. The Invaders don't play by any rules, forget it and you'll die. While miss Tendo' martial arts skills are respectable, they are nowhere near enough for frontline fighting, especially since we're always outnumbered"
Everyone, including Setsuna, dazedly nodded. They could feel Ranma's brutal honesty and the reality of the situation sink in by his words. Some considered getting a nice bridge bunny job.
Nabiki tentatively spoke "Um... Okay, I think all of us understand what you're trying to say. Shouldn't we bring Akane to the infirmary?"
"No need for that. She should regain consciousness soon. A revised wrestling sleeper hold shouldn't be enough to knock her out for long" Ranma clapped in his hands, getting back his students' attention "Now! I hope you're ready for your lesson"
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(Posted Mon, 30 Jun 2003 22:22)
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