Previous parts (except 19) are available on my web page at 
http://www.emich.edu/public/llb/fanfic.html

The end is in sight!  Sort of.  :)




Twisted Destiny 20
by Lara Bartram


"Has he gone mad?" Kuno asked, breathing heavily.  He and Akane were
currently hiding in an abandoned alley after running for a bit, barely
grabbing on to a bus, running more and ending up closer to Nerima.  Of
course, as Ryoga had followed them, all the streets had become
abandoned and deserted.

Akane gasped for breath next to him, bent over with her hands on her
knees.  "I... I don't know.  I've never known him to be so... so
emotional.  Why..."

"Our moment of... shared emotion, I presume," Kuno answered, wiping
the drops of sweat away from the side of his face.  "Jealousy,
perhaps?"

"What would Ryoga be jealous of?  And I don't think he would get so
upset even if he was."  Jealous?  Just what was he jealous of?  He
didn't really...  He couldn't...

There was a rumbling, then something that sounded like a jumbo jet
taking off.  Explosions soon followed, and some rubble rained down
from the sky.

"I do not believe it matters at this point.  He seems to be..."  There
was another explosion closer than the previous one.  "Not himself."

"How long do you think he was like that?" Akane asked.  "Could he
have... gotten us?"

Kuno considered it, knowing their time for speculation was growing
short.  It couldn't have been before they left China, could it?
Hibiki had certainly seemed well enough, but he had seemed fine in the
cab too.  "Truly, I do not know.  I think we have been fairly safe;
his change in behavior seemed rather sudden, did it not?"

That was a good point, to which Akane nodded.  "I just can't
believe...  A crush on me?"  How long had this been going on?  Did
Ranma know?  He was Ryoga's best friend after all.  And maybe...
Akane silently mouthed Ranma's name.  All the teasing and fighting.
Ryoga was jealous of Ranma, and Ranma didn't want Ryoga to get too
close to her?

"I suggest we abandon this location.  Hibiki approaches ever closer,"
Kuno warned.  He peered around the corner of a building and down the
street.  While he couldn't see Ryoga, there was a considerable cloud
of dust indicating where another building had collapsed.

He grabbed Akane's hand again and began to run.  He didn't know where
to go, as they were found each time wherever they went, however fast
they traveled.  What Kuno really needed was to have Akane and the
statue wait some safe place while he confronted Hibiki alone.

"I... I can't run... much more," Akane huffed.  Her lungs felt like
they were on fire, and her legs were fatigued.  All her morning jogs
and conditioning hadn't prepared her for this, her life being
threatened.  "Back... back to the... dojo," she suggested.

"I do not know if that is wise.  Your family..."

"I can't keep running.  We have to... do something."  She looked at
Kuno, seeing he was sweating, but looked barely winded.  She wished
she hadn't slacked off her training so much.

"Very well.  You must hide.  I will face Hibiki on my own.  We can not
continue to run."  That didn't make him feel any better about what he
was going to do.  "Down here," he said, heading down a slight hill so
they were standing at the edge of the canal.  He wanted to get away
from the homes, but that was virtually impossible without actually
leaving the area.  He didn't think that was something either of them
were willing to do.

"Now run.  I will hold this position as long as possible so you may
escape," Kuno said, looking down the street.  As soon as Hibiki showed
himself, the fireworks would begin.

"But I..."

"No!  I must protect you!  There is no compromise in this.  Run, get
away from here.  Never stop if it is necessary.  Until our situation
is resolved..."  He would protect her to the ends of the Earth; he had
to.

Akane looked at him and already knew it was the truth.  They wouldn't
stop, wouldn't stop using her friends and family against her.  She
nodded, then turned and sprinted away.  She refused to simply run
though.  There was no way she would prove herself a coward.

Kuno watched Akane hide.  He did not necessarily approve of the risk
she was taking, but she wouldn't listen to him either.  It just meant
he had to try harder to protect her.  Of course, that was easier said
than done when he was weaponless.

It didn't even need to be a live blade; a bokken would have been just
as good.  Yet, he had neither and his enemy was close.  If it even
mattered.  He knew the battle would be equal to suicide.  He could not
win, not against Hibiki, not while he was under Kaiyanwang's power.

No matter.  The bright green flash of light down the street alerted
Kuno just in time for him to throw his arms up across his face.  He
was lucky he had closed his eyes, or they might have been burnt from
his skull from the heat of the blast.

In fact, for even a few moments, he was able to withstand the force of
it.  But it continued to bombard him with its power until he was
pushed back a little, and a little more, until he was finally blown
off his feet and through the fence behind him.

Shot backwards and slightly to the side, he landed in the canal,
mercifully low at the moment, with a splash.  Sitting up immediately
in the water, Kuno shook out the cobwebs and cleared the water from
his eyes.  He had to locate Hibiki and...

"You!  Prepare to burn in hell!"  Ryoga was standing at the edge of
the canal, where the fence had been ripped away, looking down at Kuno.
"Tell me where the sanjiyan is and I'll make your destruction a
merciful one."

"Never!"

Ryoga laughed in a most sinister manner.  "Such bold words from so
helpless a child."

Kuno tightened reflexively, hearing the manner in which Ryoga was
speaking.  It wasn't even his voice; it was all Kaiyanwang.

"And how will you stop me from draining every thought in your
worthless little mind before letting you rot in eternal agony?"  Ryoga
continued to glare, not moving from his spot at all.  "You couldn't
even hope to defeat me in this body.  You are weaponless, you are
helpless, you are nothing, and the sanjiyan is mine."

Kuno got to his feet in the cold shallow water.  Everything Hibiki
said was true, but he couldn't let that stop him from trying.  He
watched Ryoga cup his hands forward and point them directly at him.
Distraction.  That was all he could do, but he could at least make it
a good distraction.

A tiny spark appeared in Ryoga's hands that steadily grew in size.
When it was roughly the size of a cantaloup (much smaller than Kuno
would have thought), there was a high-pitched whine and the ball of
energy was released as a beam heading straight for Kuno.

Barely able to anticipate the blast, Kuno barely managed to leap to
the side.  The blast ripped through the space his chest had been  a
second before, and struck the water, soaking him again.  Now that he
definitely was acting as a distraction, Kuno figured it was time to
put his feet to use and run.

The water, even though it was shallow, was awfully difficult to run
in.  And he was a fairly easy target while Ryoga stayed up out of the
canal.  One of the small bridges that crossed the canal was up ahead
though, and Kuno thought it might be adequate shelter for a moment or
two.  Good distraction.  That was what he had to be.

To his surprise, as he ran under the bridge and hid behind a support,
Ryoga had not attacked him once.  He had to wonder just what his foe
was waiting for; he was practically a sitting duck, completely
defenseless.  He reached for a his weapon to comfort him, but cursed
when there was nothing there.  Defenseless, yes.  He could not afford
lapses of concentration like that.

The concrete of the bridge support was cold at his back, and his
clothes were wet and filthy.  It wasn't exactly the way he would have
liked to spend the day.  And the insane guy trying to put a hole in
his chest didn't help either.  Speaking of...

Kuno peered around the support to see Ryoga standing up on the
sidewalk, looking down at him.  He had his hands apart and there was
another ball of ki forming, this one larger than before.  Even as Kuno
watched, Ryoga grinned and the ball seemed to just... pop.

Kuno watched as the blast flew at him, frozen in place.  "Shit," he
muttered as it hit the support, clipping him in the side and face, and
sending concrete flying everywhere.

There was a muffled explosion, followed by an immense rumbling sound,
and a great cloud of dust began to rise from the obliterated support.
The entire bridge shuddered, then slowly crashed down under its own
weight.  A small tidal wave was sent racing down the canal.

The dust cloud got even thicker at that point, and the remains of the
bridge and much of the surrounding area was obscured.

Akane watched it all from her hiding spot, biting her lip to stop
herself from yelling out, or doing anything else foolish that would
get her caught.  She knew Kuno would make it, no matter how bad it
looked.  He couldn't be killed.  But there was something in her that
quivered violently at the sight of the bridge collapsing.

It was the same thing that made her want to run out and see if Kuno
was OK and blow the living hell out of Ryoga for doing it.  Akane had
a pretty good guess at what it was, but she refused to give in.  She
told herself it was some other influence.

This was simply not a situation she could force to give in to her
concern.  She had to force herself to stay where she was crouched,
more than positive that Ryoga would just be waiting for her to show
herself.

"Now I'll have all your secrets and know everything you know."
Ryoga's voice drifted out of the slowly settling cloud.  "I'll know
the experience of tasting her flesh."

Akane shuddered at that.  If she had known, had any idea, maybe...
She shuddered again.  She couldn't blame herself for not knowing what
Ryoga's feelings were; that hadn't been her fault.  The shuddering was
more violent this time, and she succumbed to it.

Ryoga was slowly picking his way down the pile of rubble amidst the
cloud.  It had been foolish of him to bring the entire bridge down
because now he would have to dig out the worthless wu himself.  It
would be worth it though, to know what he knew...  All of it.  "Don't
worry, little wu," he called out.  "I'm coming for you."

"You'll do no such thing.  Former friend or not, you'll die before you
touch him," came Kamiko's voice from behind him someplace.

"And you'll stop me?  I think not!  I saw the way you ran, just like
all the others.  And once I have your wu, there will be no one to save
you.  You can use your power to exhaustion, and then it will be as
picking a flower.  Kaiyanwang will have the ultimate power, the last
of the sanjiyan, and there will be none to stop him!"

There was still silence except for some faint sirens.

"No.  If you think I have no way of stopping you, then you are a
fool."  There was a faint ticking noise, like a car engine cooling,
and a glow pierced the dust.

Ryoga looked around in surprise for a moment, then started to clamber
down the pile of debris as fast as he could.  He stood on one slab and
could feel  suddenly.  The wu was under his feet, and all he had to do
was reach him.  He pulled his arm back, meaning to drive it into,
through the slab when everything around him exploded.

It was almost like a volcano, the way everything was thrown violently 
into the air, Ryoga included.  He laughed at the futile effort.  He
had survived much worse before, and he would survive this with barely
a bruise.

The debris, as it continued to rise, exploded into little clouds,
adding more dust to the air.  Indeed, Ryoga felt the invisible force
that was causing the destruction, but it could not harm him.  Nothing
could!

Then his descent began, as did his laughter.  He was not even bruised!
The foolish sanjiyan!  But... what was that noise below him?  It
sounded like...  "Nooooo!" he screamed as he plummeted into the cold
rushing water.

Kamiko hovered a bare inch over the water and watched the little black
pig be washed away down the canal.  She smiled smugly as the little
beast disappeared from sight.  "Now to take care of you," she said,
looking down at her very, but temporarily, dead wu.

His body was lodged against the remains of the  pillar, preventing it
from being carried away too.  Kamiko reached down and grabbed the
collar of his shirt.  They had to get away before the authorities
arrived; fortunately the cloud was providing them a measure of
secrecy.

Kamiko pulled carefully, trying not to jar his head too much, as it
seemed not completely attached at the moment.  Getting him to the
point where he could recover was just going to have to wait until she
found them a place to hide, far away from what had just happened.

***

Kamiko removed the last of the concrete reinforcement rods that had
pierced Kuno's chest, and removed most of the concrete shards from his
skin.  "That should be enough," she said, her voice sounding very loud
in the small space.

She pulled him up so he was half-laying in her lap and smoothed his
damp hair.  It had happened much quicker than she had expected it too,
much to her own consternation.  It sometimes made things very
difficult to deal with.  Often she was handcuffed by what she wanted
and what she needed to do, having to choose between emotion and
necessity.  It wasn't easy.  But if she could just...

The process began and was finished in moments, leaving Kuno whole and
healthy again.  He didn't move for a moment, getting his physical
bearings.

He was alive once again, there was no pain and he was looking up at
Kamiko.  He seemed to have his head in her lap.  Kuno blinked a few
times then started to sit up.  "Where is Hibiki?" he asked, looking
around.

Kamiko's hands on his shoulders pushed him back down.  "He is gone.  I
took care of him.  Akane finally released control to me after the
bridge collapsed."

"She was..."

"Yes, though I had to force the issue.  I... I was as well."

Not for the first time in his life, Kuno was befuddled.  Anyone at all
being concerned about him was still confusing, let alone Akane or
Kamiko.

"I must go.  I've used far too much energy, and I fear an encounter
with Kaiyanwang will be forthcoming very soon.  You are not ready for
this.  Benares will be there and do as much as he can to utterly
destroy you."  In spirit first, using torture, waiting for the
sanjiyan to beg for it to end, giving in.  Only then would death come
for both of them.

But this time, she couldn't allow it to happen.  It had happened once
before to her, and before to others she had known.  Her friends were
bad enough, for herself it had been worse than any torture.  Not again
would she allow it to happen.

"I am perfectly able..." Kuno began.

Kamiko's fingers over his lips silenced him.  "He is a powerful
sorcerer with hundreds of years of experience.  Your good intentions
would mean very little to him.  And Kaiyanwang is even more powerful.
If you think my powers are great, his are greater, especially while I
am in this weakened state."  She removed her finger from over his lips
and briefly caressed his cheek.  "I have no doubt that if you had an
equal time to train, you would defeat Benares, but you have had only a
few days; Benares has had more than a few lifetimes."

Kuno opened his mouth to speak again, but the fight with that woman
and Alexander told him all he needed to know.  If he couldn't defeat
them without crippling himself and almost getting Kamiko killed, then
what would he do against the most powerful sorcerers.

"Besides," Kamiko continued, "I think there are a few things you
should know before then.  All our lives could hinge on it."

"What..."

"Not now.  When we are back with the other Tendos.  As much as I may
not like it, I think we shall be involved further before this is
done."  Kamiko waited a moment to see if Kuno would say anything else,
but when he didn't, she sighed.  "I will be waiting."

Kuno sat up, removing his head from Akane's lap before she was fully
aware.  That wouldn't have been a very good way to build trust between
them.  He looked at her with simple concern as she blinked rapidly.
"Are you feeling well?" he asked.

"What... what happened?" she asked, looking back at him.  Well, he
looked healthy enough, and she sure felt fine, so what had happened?
"I hate doing that," she added.

Kuno nodded.  This time, he could relate to the feeling.  "I am
unsure.  Once the bridge fell, I was... removed from the battle.  I
awoke here only a few minutes ago with Kamiko.  She told me nothing of
what happened.  Though she did say she had something to tell us once
we have returned to your home."

Akane nodded and absently wiped her hands on her dress.  There was
something sticky all over them.  "So, I guess that means we should go
then."  There was a fluttering in her stomach that she assumed was
nervousness, but it wasn't so.. bad.

Maybe it was the idea of returning home.  Maybe it was the idea of
seeing Ranma again.  Maybe.  Letting out a little grunt of exertion,
Akane got to her feet and looked at their locale for the first time.
The small, dark room they were in didn't tell her a lot about their
location, and she could only hope they had finally lost Ryoga.

"Do you think she killed Ryoga?" Akane asked hesitantly, waiting for
Kuno to get to his feet.

"I do not know, and forgive me if I sound harsh, but it matters not
to me.  Hibiki was a... liability," he answered.  Kuno slowly stood,
then picked up the ningen.  It was too large and bulky, and certainly
no replacement for a true weapon, and that was what he really wanted.
"Indeed, we must go.  We are entirely unprepared for anything that may
happen."

If a confrontation was forthcoming, he wanted to be in more familiar
territory, and he wanted a weapon, he wanted to do something more than
run away or throw himself in front of everything.  It was a matter of
either being a distraction and giving Kamiko one more minute to live,
or being part of the solution.  He wanted to be part of the solution.

"Sempai?"  Akane was waving her hand in front of his face, looking at
him curiously.

"Uh, I...  Pardon me for my lapse of attention."  Being dead wasn't
really a replacement for sleep and he was feeling decidedly run down.
"We have to go."  Before he passed out on his feet.

Akane opened the door and peered out cautiously.  It looked like they
were in some sort of unfinished office.  The area outside the closet
they had been in was empty of furniture, there were some bare light
fixtures, and several ladders resting against walls.  The tiled floor
had some sort of whitish dust on it that she normally associated with
painting for some reason, and there were some boxes stacked in one
corner.

Opening the door all the way and stepping out, Akane let out the
breath she had been holding.  She hadn't been sure what to expect, but
it hadn't been this.  Not that she was going to complain after what
they'd just been through.

Kuno followed, carrying the statue.  He rubbed his face with his free
hand, trying to wake himself up; this wasn't really a good time to be
tired, but it felt like he hadn't slept in days.  "We must hurry.
Fatigue is setting in and it would be most unwise if we were found in
such a state."

"But I'm perfectly... Urgh!"

Kuno grabbed Akane's hand and was moving as quickly as he could
manage.