Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Hellsing Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Daimakaicho Ranma ❯ Rude awakenings ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer on page 1.

Authors note: To all those reviewers of chapter one. I sincerely thank you. To those of you making suggestion on how “Bad” you want to see Ranma… be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. But really for the most part this story is all predetermined in my brain. A very dark twisted and dangerous place admittedly; but still almost all there.

I'd further like to thank “deathgeonous” of “The Rebirth of the Daimakaicho” of “The Merger” rewrite fame, for volunteering to be the first beta reader of this fiction, and his diligent testing to make certain it won't cause insomnia, drowsiness, unexpected multiplanular extra-dimensional travel, seizures or mass-hysteria. If you experience any of these symptoms, please discontinue use of “Daimakaicho Ranma” immediately…

 

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Daimakaicho Ranma: Rude Awakenings…

Chapter 2.

 

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(The fight Ranma's POV)

 

Ranma was facing Cologne and fairing poorly `Dammit! She's right, at this rate I'll lose! Why can't I fight back!?' Ranma thought as she began to pull away as she felt the stinging pain of a bandana-ken in her left shoulder.

She was then off-balanced in her landing, as Soun with his demon head trick had entered her landing spot… shouting… something. With a quick roundhouse kick, she kicked at his side with enough force to put him to his knees and give her room to maneuver.

Then before she can catch her second wind, her parents are right in front of her `Damn! No matter what, I can't hurt mom!' Ranma thought as in a flash she recalled the happy day that the seppuku pact was burned, and she they could finally get to know each other…

Just as Ranma finished roughing up Genma, she felt it… And tucked and rolled to avoid the giant spatula, turning she saw the face of Ukyo in rage shouting at her to die… then there's a flash and she can't help but to think of the five year old girl crying along the road being left behind, then the smiling face of the Okonomiyaki master fiancée as she whipped up another “Ran-chan” special…

Ranma is only distantly aware of shouting back “Sorry Ukyo, but that'd mean I'd lose. And Ranma Saotome never loses!”

 

She then notices Ryoga charging up a ki attack… the enraged face of Ryoga holding the ball of destructive energy is so… alien, so distant from the shy, directionally lost boy at the all boy's school clamoring for the last bread, or the stammering nervous boy constantly bringing gifts from far away exotic lands for Akane…

 

`Dammit all! These are my friends! My family! I can't fight `em for real! I've gotta' find a way to stop the fightin'!'

 

`Wait, what am I forgettin'?...' (mental pause) `…AKANE!' Ranma thought as she saw that Akane was in the line of fire and would be hit if she'd just dodge the ki-attack. Years of fighting instinct in overdrive, she runs, sprinting to get Akane out of the path of destruction before it's too late….

`Gotcha'!' Ranma mentally crows as she releases Akane, who she's vaguely aware is screaming, as she whirls about to fire off her own “Moko-Takabisha!” right back at Ryoga and Genma. Then Ranma's eyes widen as she notices the odd stance of Genma…

`No! The fat fool wouldn't use the Yama-sen-ken to deflect… he can't! There's too many non-fighters pops! Don't do it!' Ranma's internal contradictions go unanswered as she sees that was exactly what he used to deflect her ki attack, as the glowing yellow curves of light clash into and effectively deflect then dissipate the moko-takabisha. Then a scream… `That's Akane's scream!' Ranma shouts mentally, to then see Akane… and to see that Akane knows that a stray vacuum blade is heading right for her, and all she can do is watch… `Not if I can help it!' Ranma vows in her mind, and in an instant flash of speed Ranma is there, and knocks Akane down to the ground hard. To then look up and see right in front of her face, in a oncoming sideways stroke the steel of the Saotome family katana… Her peripheral vision then picks up several whirling yellow bandana-kens coming from her left, and three spatu-kens from her right… `Don't forget about the vacuum blade at your back Ranma!' she laughs to herself then thinks `Hey, always knew it'd end, somethin' like this…'

 

Then there's the pain, excruciating, mind numbing pain in her leg, arm, belly and neck. She opens her mouth to say `sorry…' to Akane, but can only wheeze out blood, so smiling, she just raises her left arm to wave “bye” to Akane as a lone tear escapes her control and slides down her cheek. Then there's nothing.

 

Suddenly the next thing Ranma knows is pain, unlike pain in life, this is pain of the very mortal soul itself, then Ranma is ripped from the darkness and into the fading evening light of the Tendo yard once more, to see Kasumi, Nabiki, and Shampoo emptying their stomachs, and Akane wailing at her in hysterics, and the horrified visage of her mother.

Then she's all too aware of the constricting snake-like ropes of dark light holding her above the four mangled chunks of her corpse, seeing such a horror as her own decapitated head, Ranma begins screaming hysterically and struggles with her bonds.

 

Then there is THE voice, and Ranma feels violated by the voice alone, then the words it spoke register to her mind… “I'm dead… My Soul? MY OWN MOTHER SOLD MY SOUL!?” Ranma screams out loud in rage, not noticing the others didn't seem to be able to hear it.

She then notices that her bonds are pulling her towards a round void in the earth, wails and promises of pain springing forth from it, as the hands of spirits paw around the fiery angry maw as the black wisps pull and pull and pull. She's flat on her belly now, feet and legs already disappearing into its depths. In a desperate attempt she tries to grab at the ground, but in dismay she notices her ghostly fingers can find no purchase in the soft ground and are only leaving thin gouge marks. She's dimly aware that there are tears streaming down her face, as she admits to herself that she's afraid… no petrified in absolute fear. Then just as her face is being drawn in and down, she catches a glimpse of all those she loves. Her parents, her teachers, her friends and family, all are just gapping at her! In a blink of an eye, her fear evaporates turning into rage, a rage one thousand fold greater than any experienced in life as she shouts at them “Killers! You're all my killers! Ranma Saotome doesn't lose! I'll get you! All of …” she was unable to finish as she was finally and fully pulled into the black and fiery abyss and lost consciousness…

 

 

- - - - - -

 

 

With a sharp gasping intake of air Ranma was forced back into full consciousness, and immediately regretted it as she was in pain, lots of pain she realized as there was a cold dull throbbing seeping through her entire body. She then noticed she was nude and flat on her stomach on a cold, slimily damp stone floor, and as a girl with “charms” as generous as hers were, was possibly more uncomfortable than the pain.

So with an effort and a grunt of exertion she rolled over to her side and then opened her eyes. Only to screw them shut tight immediately, from the inrushing light from in front of her. Opening her eyes again more slowly this time, allowing her eyes the chance to adjust to the light, she sees she's in front of a large open balcony in what must be a high-rise as the panoramic view of the burning city below was quite extensive…

`Wait a sec… burning city? FIRE!' Ranma thought as she jumped to her feet ignoring the pain as natural instincts to avoid the fire were the paramount thought in her head, she then turned to find an exit, only to bump right into a tall very bishonen young man, with soft grey eyes and long shocked-electric-teal hair in a ponytail, dressed in a blindingly bright neon-purple full body cloak that seemed to shimmer like water.

“Hey! Get outta' the way! There's a fire and we gotta' get outta' here!” Ranma shouted to the man… who was now chuckling softly?

 

He then opened his mouth to smile and the bishonen appearance gained a flaw as rows upon rows of jagged yellow teeth were revealed. He then spoke, fully shattering the bishonen mystic his voice was a cracking amalgam of a serpentine lisp and a smoker's voice as he said “Be calm Ranma Saotome, look at the fire. Notice how it does not consume the buildings or inhabitants?”

Doing as the infinitely creepy bishonen man said she turned back to look out the balcony, squinting to look past the bright flames, to see he was right! It was though the buildings WERE the fire, and the people passed right through! Unnerved at this, Ranma turned back to look into the darkness of the room to see the yet unnamed man still standing there smiling… or maybe it's smirking?

Remembering she's naked and in front of a man, Ranma “eeps!” and quickly covers her chest and crotch as best she can with her hands and blurts out.

“How?! Why? Who are you? And were am I anyways?!”

To which the man just chuckles some more for a moment and says in his rasping voice “My, aren't you the inquisitive one… Well Ranma Saotome out of Nodoka Saotome by Genma Saotome, I do suppose it is only polite to introduce myself…” He pauses to really smirk at her and continued “… I am the third class limited license Shikima demon, Th'rignal, we are in my tower in the Keep of my Master, the great Prince Sith in the Fire city Muspelheim. And you!...” he points at her “… are now my property!” With that he laughs a laugh the chills Ranma to the bone.

 

Backing away from the crazy creepy bishonen man, Ranma raises a shaky finger to point at him accusingly and mumbles out “You!... You're the voice from before in the yard!”

Instead of answering her, he just looks her over amusedly, then says “Yes my dear, your quite observant… that was I… I've been told I have a flair for being overly dramatic in such things, give a good show and all that…” He smirks again seeing her backing away into the darkness of the room and away from him and says “… Oh Ranma where do you think you're going? I'll have none of that… Come, stand by me and watch the city burn for a moment…” with that he made a sweeping hand gesture, and Ranma stiffens as though she's been shocked, as a unseen force gradually pulls her beck to stand beside him, facing the city ablaze.

 

A few moments later, Ranma gulps nervously, and says through a shaking voice “How? Why me?”

The man identified as Th'rignal turns his gaze towards her, utter glee dancing in his eyes as he says “Why I thought you'd never ask!...” with a flourish of hand movements there is a flash of green light, and when the flash subsides there in his hand is a small scroll. “In the twenty-seventh year of Nodoka Saotome, I think you would've been around 9 at the time, I paid her a little visit at night as I tend to do with women on Midgard every couple of years, for a one-night stand if you will…” he paused to smile at the disgusted look on Ranma's face and continued “… well, she certainly wasn't my best, but she seemed most thoroughly enthralled afterwards, quite the unusual occurance really. She said I was very “Manly” for her…” he laughed at that like it was a private joke “… and before I could leave her, she pleaded with me for a wish! Can you believe it? Pleaded! With ME of all beings!” with that he truly cackled.

 

Ranma knew she'd regret it, but asked “What… what was her wish?”

Calming slightly he said “Ah Yes! The Wish! So wonderfully vague! It reads…” he cleared his throat “… I Nodoka Saotome, wish for my son, Ranma Saotome to be drawn to, and attracted to lovely young women whereever he goes in life!” with that he burst into more laughter, and through his laughter said “And the best part! Haha! The best part is when I asked for payment in this wish! Haha! She chickened out! Haha! And so as your rightful legal mother and guardian, offered your soul instead of hers! Hahaha!”

Ranma went white as a well… ghost, hearing this and through her shock of learning the specifics of how her soul was sold could only mumble out “Why all of this?”

 

Wiping a laughter tear from his eye Th'rignal just looked over her for a moment, she was still painfully aware of her nakedness and tried to conceal more of herself behind her hands to no avail, when he then spoke again in his serpentine rasp “Ranma, do you collect anything?”

Caught flat-footed at this unusual question Ranma says “Well, I've got some martial artist trading cards, but no not really. Didn't have to the time to while me an' pops were on the road…”

He then nodded knowingly and said “Well to answer your questions Ranma, I'm an avid collector, with a particular fondness for soft… young… female curves… you see…” he made an absent hand gesture and the light in the room suddenly came on, very slowly a sickly green that hurt the eyes grew throughout the room, illuminating it, and Ranma boggled at what she saw.

The room appeared to be a perfectly round room with no end in sight; a look in one direction would seemingly show a wall only a few feet away, in another direction the wall seemed to be miles and miles away with only the occasional balcony overlooking the orange glow of the flaming city to prevent to room from being a perfect unbroken loop. But what was more frightening to Ranma were all the women, hundreds, maybe thousands of women, being held to the pale green stone wall by an unseen force, all naked with brightly polished brass name and dative plates above their heads and their pained and pleasured moans making a soft almost musical din in the great round room.

 

Ranma's mind rebelled at the sigh. `No! This can't be happening! I can't be in Hell! I was a good person! Mom wouldn't have sold my soul to this! It can't be! It just can't be!' she thought backing away from Th'rignal until she backed right into a free space in the wall. As a crazed frantic look came into her eyes a shiny glint caught her eye, and she looked up to see… a new shiny brass plate labeled “Ranma Saotome”.

Th'rignal then spoke again, all his earlier pleasant demeanor dropping like a stone in the ocean “You see Ranma what a meticulous collector I am? And of course what kind of collector would I be if I didn't sample my newest acquisition?” with that Th'rignal dropped his neon-purple body cloak, revealing him in all his terrible naked glory as Ranma screamed. Prehensile tentacles, all vaguely in the form of the human-male member began to uncoil and slither away from his body. From his back, from the ends of his wrists and his groin, some possibly ten feet long or more, and as Ranma continued to scream, the tentacles began to hold her tight against the wall, as others began to caress and stroke her skin, leaving trails of slime and thick viscous mucous as they went. Th'rignal then opened his mouth and globs of slimy saliva began to pool at the corners as he said in the perverse glee of a man gone mad, “Yes Ranma! Scream! Scream for all eternity!...” he then dipped forward and a long forked snakes tongue came from his mouth and he licked her cheek, drew back with a shuddered breath and said “Oh so sweet! Ranma, you taste exquisite! So innocent! So pure! I'll just have to eat you all up!” With that Th'rignal once again began licking her and kissing her as his tentacles fondled her in the most depraved ways possible, as his head slowly started going lower on her body along with his ministrations and lower and lower… and then Ranma screamed in absolute primal female fear of personal violation…

 

- - - - - -

 

“…Excuse me, Mrs. Saotome? Mrs. Saotome? Mrs. Saotome!”

Nodoka was jolted out of her blank gaze of the back yard and the police activity there, to look up to a middle-aged man in a rumpled brown business suit, answering absently she said “Ah, yes excuse me, may I help you?”

“Hopefully so Mrs. Saotome. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Officer Hiro Takajitsu a Detective with the Greater Metro Tokyo Police, from the Martial Artists Crime Division, and I'd like to ask you some questions involving the incident here this evening if I may. Nothing major just routine stuff, and confirming what the other witnesses said, you know…”

Looking back into the now spot-lit yard from her seat in the tea room, the photographers there placing little numbered cards by seemingly random things and taking photos, Nodoka said tonelessly “Of course officer, it'd be my pleasure to answer your questions.”

“Thank you Ma'am, first of all the descendant, Ranma Saotome, she was your… child… as I understand it, correct?”

Still staring into the yard, not looking at the detective she replied “Yes officer, Ranma was my son, he was under a transformational curse to be a female, so please refer to Ranma as a male if you would…”

Nonplused by Hiro said “Ah yes, this curse is already in mentioned in the file, pardon my slip, but after seeing the remains I assumed… anyways there's some confusion I'm hoping you'll be able to help us with…” he paused to flip through several pages of hand written notes “… ah here it is. Now then the preliminary forensic pathologist on site believes that the throwing spatulas imbedded in the outer compound wall, are responsible for the bisection of the leg, the, surprisingly enough, pieces of cloth bandana bisected the arm at the shoulder, your family katana was the weapon of the decapitation of the head, and a as of yet to be determined weapon was responsible for the complete separation of the upper torso from the hips…” Hiro notices how he is now the full attention of her unblinking scrutiny as he continues “… now Mrs. Saotome the initial reports from one Mrs. Cologne, your husband Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo all indicate that this was a “training mishap”? Would you be so kind to explain to a novice such as myself what type of training this was?”

Hiro could tell that if Nodoka picked up on the implied doubts, she didn't show it as she calmly said in a tone devoid of emotion “It was a simply a martial arts exercise at avoiding multiple highly skilled weapons users in close quarters combat.”

Hiro mumbled an absent “I see…” as he scribbled furiously in his notepad, then said to Nodoka “Now Mrs. Saotome, there's another thing, it seems our forensic pathologist believes that what ever weapon was used to separate the torso as it was, had a micron thin cutting edge that cauterized as it cut. Now he says the only thing he knows of that could do that would be a… lets see here… ah, a `trans-micronometer laser nano-scalpel.' Could you possibly explain how this peculiarity could have occurred?”

For a moment Nodoka's shoulders quiver a bit and Hiro thought excitedly `YES! Come on you lying bitch break! Confess already!'

Just as suddenly as the quivering started it stopped, and she just said tonelessly “I'm sorry officer, but that is a secret technique of the Saotome School of Martial Arts. You'd have to ask my husband about that.”

`Damn, so close!' Hiro thought, then said “I see… I'll be sure to do that Mrs. Saotome. Just one more question, when I first arrived on the scene, the young Miss Akane Tendo was screaming hysterically “They Killed Her!” over and over again, we're still waiting for the tranquilizers to take effect to get a report from her, but could you possibly enlighten me as to whom she might've been referring to as “They”? it is after all a very broad term, open to speculation…”

For a moment Nodoka is silent, then turns her lingering gaze away from the yard once more, to look up at the detective again and says in a flat voice that almost seems sarcastic in tone “Why, I'd have no idea what she means officer. The poor dear has been through so much tonight, after all…”

 

For a moment Hiro considers this while think `Bull shit lady… tell me another one…' then says to her “Mrs. Saotome, on a personal note, you're handling this tragic situation awfully well, how is that, if you don't mind my asking?”

Nodoka is silent for a moment as a siren of a fire truck rumbles past the Tendo Dojo, then says quietly. “I'm a wife and mother to a martial artist's family, death is to be expected, once done there is no point in shedding tears over the fallen, but rather to be pleased they fell in the honorable duty and perfection of The Art. So is Bushido.”

Hiro blinked at that and though `Damn, now that's just cold…' then said to her “Mrs. Saotome here's my card with my cell number on it. If you think of anything else, don't hesitate to give me a call, day or night, alright?”

After he had handed her his card and was turning to leave, he turned back and said “Just one more thing Mrs. Saotome. I can't confirm this yet, but the police rumor mill is working in overdrive and is saying you should be expecting a call from the Emperor himself. Seems he wants to give a full Honor State Funeral to Ranma…”

To this Nodoka's jaw just drops and in her first real display of emotion; surprise, she says “The Emporor? A Full Honors State Funeral? Why?”

 

Hiro smiles at this, flips randomly through his little notepad and says “Well it seems the Government kept tabs on Ranma. Seems as though on two separate occasions Ranma intercepted heavily armed Chinese Warlords that had aspirations of conquest of Japan who were also here illegally in Japan, one “Herb” of The Peoples Musk militia, and one “Saffron” leading The Phoenix Dawn rebels. Both of the Quing-Hai province, and forced them both back to China. Then there's an incident involving the Emperor's son and daughter in law, the High Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, when they were touring Juuban, and there was a Youma attack. Seems Ranma deflected the attacks away from their royal limousine until the Sailor Senshi Moon, Mars, and Mercury arrived on the scene and they all worked in concert to eradicate the beast, Saving the Crown Prince and Princess. You should be proud Mrs. Saotome, your son died a national hero/heroine. Now if you'll excuse Mrs. Saotome, I've still a report to file, Good Evening…” So saying Detective Hiro Takajitsu walked away. Fully aware that after he turned and took a few steps, Nodoka had slumped forward and put her face in her hands and shook…

 

Minutes later after going around the compound, Hiro snagged a random uniformed officer and asked “Hey, have you seen those Chinese Amazons? The one named Cologne in particular? I still have some questions…”

The officer just looks nervous and says “Well, that's the thing sir… no one knows where they are…”

“What do you mean no one knows where they are? What about the guard detail around the witnesses?” Hiro replied hotly.

The officer squirms under his superior officer's hard gaze and mutters lamely “Well sir… it seems they… the guard detail that is… don't remember any Chinese people as witnesses at all…”

“No memory of then at all?” Hiro asks with a single raised eyebrow. And the subordinate just shakes his head in a `affirmative'.

With a deep sigh Hiro says “That's odd, well, I guess they might be over at their restaurant establishment, that Nekohanten. I'll head over there then after I'm through here I guess…”

“Um sir about that place…” the officer mumbles.

“Well, what about it?” Hiro asked impatiently `Of all the days to not have a cigarette…'

“Well, you see sir, not but five minutes ago we got a call from the fire marshal… and the Nekohanten Restaurant is ablaze. They're expecting it to be a total loss…”

“Thank you for telling me this, now carry on…” Hiro said to the young officer with narrowed eyes, turning he thought `Dammit! What the Hell, is going on around here!?'

 

 

- - - - - -

 

Hild was bored, bored, bored, bored, as the list kept scrolling by. Even at a speed no mortal could read at she was barely paying attention to it as on another screen she had on a soap opera. Absently munching some popcorn she mumbled “Oh Deborah, don't go with him on the cruise, he'll only use you, break your heart and leave!”

A spectator of this might've thought that Hild was transferring her own life experience to the fictional character of `Deborah'…

Hild glanced back at her holo-terminal as it slowed to a crawl for the last few hundred thousand new arrivals within the last few hours… when a blinking name with a demonic marked header already on it caught her eye. Her attention now fully on the scrolling list, she commands “Terminal, scroll up to last demon marked header and display.”

After glancing at it she says “Hmm, Ranma Saotome, typical demonic soul-contract… probably nothing…” Hild has a thought to pay it no mind and just go back to her TV show, but there's something nagging at the back of her brain about this one…

So with her mind made up she commands “Terminal, display full profile of recent arrival Ranma Saotome.”

After a few quite moments of reading, Hild is appalled, bewildered and enraged by this young child's life, muttering randomly…

“Seppuku pact…?”

“Ten year martial arts training…?”

“His own mother sold his soul for that crappy wish!?”

“Jusenkyo Nyannichuan cursed at age 16? Oh you poor baby, so young…”

“Killed Saffron…?” Hild lets out a low whistle “So that's why we got a chunk of that demigod's soul…”

“Coaxed into a lesbian relationship by a possibly abusive fiancée…?”

“Deceased today at age 19 and 3 months and 19 days… so very young…”

“Additional file note; always did what he/she saw as right…”

 

After reading through the file, Hild leaned back into her large chair and thought `Could this child be molded into my heir? Even if not; he never deserved that kind of wretchedly bad and short life…'

Hild wasn't certain why, maybe it was a desire for affection, maybe it was long dormant maternal instinct wanting to come to the surface to give love and protection to a child that made up her mind for her as she said “Terminal; To which demon was the soul of Ranma Saotome sold to?”

A moment later, in a soft feminine voice the terminal replied “To the third class limited license Shikima demon, Th'rignal, in the Keep of Prince Sith in Muspelheim.”

 

After hearing this, the deeply tanned white haired woman pales considerably, and instantly phases out of her nightgown, and back into her regal purple dress with its plunging neckline that stops below her navel, as she then opens a dark transportational gate, and quickly strode through it, in the hopes she wasn't too late.

 

- - - - - -

 

Th'rignal was comfortably relaxed as he reclined in his massive throne in the center of his collection room. He couldn't help but to smile cruelly as he watched his newest addition twitching sporadically in her invisible confines on the wall. He took especial pleasure in watching the slime and goo from his earlier sampling of her drip and plop to the stone floor beneath her.

 

Suddenly there is a crackling in the air and a smell of ozone, and with an audible rip in reality a black doorway forms, and no sooner has it formed then Hild herself came through, regally striding into the room with the gate soon dissipating behind her.

`Hild herself... coming to see little ol' me? This is going to be good…' Th'rignal though to himself in mad glee, then said in his best ass-kisser voice, “My Lady Hild! What a pleasant surprise, what may I do for you this fine evening?!”

At first Hild ignores him as she looks for Ranma within the massive room, though the redhead is quickly spotted on the contrasting green wall.

Hild is then repulsed and then saddened by how she finds Ranma, stuck to a wall, violated in every imaginable way with a glazed look in her eyes as she twitches and spasms randomly.

Righteous female rage begins to build in Hild as she whirls around to face the smirking Th'rignal as she growls out pointing to Ranma, “This one. I want Ranma, now!”

 

Th'rignal seems as though he's considering something for a moment, then looks at Hild and says is a sarcastic tone “Why, my dear Lady Hild, had I known you prefer women, I most certainly would've saved her for you! But if you wish you may be all means sample her yourself!” he pauses, then continues with a leer at her, that makes her feel dirty by his gaze alone “Of course, if you want manly companionship I'm sure I could… squeeze you in…” he emphasized this by one tentacle forming an “O” and another thrusting through it…

Hild then glowers at Th'rignal as she purples in rage and growls out through clenched teeth “That's not what I meant, and you are in no position to make such lewd comments to Me, WORM! Now give me the contract to her, Now!”

 

For a moment Th'rignal loses his grin, as he approaches Ranma, where he then caresses her cheek, she flinches and averts her eyes at his touch. Then his grin is right back in place as he asks Hild in a playful tone “Now Hild, don't you know I'm part snake, not worm? Get it right! And then why exactly should I just hand over such and exquisite soul? Why, she's not even fully broken in yet!”

 

`He's right, why should he just hand her over to me? There's no extenuating circumstance after all, and it is a valid contract. Think Hild, think! Something… leverage… ah! I've got it! Patronage!' Hild thought to herself, and then said to Th'rignal “Patronage! I as Queen demand this soul as payment in Patronage from you Th'rignal!”

Hild then smirks her own smirk as she sees Th'rignal sputter in surprise then shout at her, “Patronage!? You've not demanded Patronage from any denizens for eons! Why me!? Why now!? What's so special about this one small mortal soul?!”

 

Hild can only broaden her smirk as she says “Well first of all, you're right it has been eons since I last demanded Patronage. So that means I'm obviously due a surplus. As for why you… lets just say I consider you and your kind some of the vilest things to ever grace existence with your presence. Though, that might just be my perspective as a woman. And as for this soul… all you need to know is that I want her… now!”

 

In a sudden bout of courage to keep his newest prize, Th'rignal's smirk once again forms and he says “Ah, but my Queen! Why would you want this one lowly soul? Aren't there others I may offer you? Just peruse my hall… maybe you'll find one more to your liking!”

Hild then looks over the disgusting thing with narrowed eyes and says in an arctic cool voice “Why I want this specific one is of no concern to you, and your bribe is a foolish attempt. Now release her to me or I'll castrate you!...” she smirked as his grin faded slightly then continued “… all twenty-four times!”

To this Th'rignal pales as his eyes widen in shocked fear and his tentacles all flail about him wildly, also in shock. Not seeing any merit in risking his very infernal existence on just one mortal soul, Th'rignal in a flash of green light flashes the contract into existence in his hand, then another flash away, where in a purple flash of light it is in Hild's hand. Then to Th'rignal's shocked dismay and as a surprise to the dimly aware Ranma, Hild incinerates the contract in a flare of purple hued flame of damnation, not even leaving ash.

As soon as that happens, the invisible bonds that had been holding Ranma to the wall dissipate and she begins to fall bonelessly, until she's caught by Hild.

And immediately Hild opens a portal gently supporting Ranma as they cross into the dark doorway. Then they're gone.

 

Th'rignal then just sighs, and mumbles “Well, sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose some…” then turning to face his room of thousands of other women; he clasps his hands together and says excitedly “Well ladies! Seems we've lost a player! So… who's next?!” A collective groan of female torment is his only reply…

 

- - - - - -

 

Hild and Ranma had just moments ago stepped into Hild's chambers, where she materialized a large comfortable couch and sat Ranma on it, as she then materialized a bowl of warm water and a rag to begin wiping the filth and glop from Ranma. When quite suddenly, just as she was starting to clean Ranma, Ranma began shrieking hysterically, unsure of what exactly to do, Hild just does what comes naturally, and quickly embraces the severely traumatized girl in a tight hug, cheek to cheek, and rocking her with cooing calming words into her ear.

After several minutes the shrieking subsides to piteous raged wails and sobbing, then after a long while just Ranma mumbling through long raged shuddering breaths “I'm dead”, “He… he… to me… and…”

It was in these moments that Hild's long, long dormant maternal instincts truly started coming back as she just help Ranma saying “I've got you now Ranma… you're safe here honey, no one will hurt you ever again, I promise.”

So enraptured in her comforting of Ranma, Hild never even noticed the System Force registering her promise and adjusting reality itself accordingly…

 

 

- - - - - -

 

A/N: Oh wow, just wow. Even I'm surprised by this. This is also probably the last bit of horrible evil stuff happening TO Ranma…

About the, “Herb of The Peoples Musk Militia”, and “Saffron leading The Phoenix Dawn Rebels”. Can you really see any government placing the knowledge of the existence of a Dragon Prince/Princess and a Phoenix Demigod in official reports? No! So…instead they hide the truth in a lie.

Also, in case you noticed the Sailor Moon reference, I hope you enjoyed it, as there is no way in Hell I'm turning this into some sort of Fuku-fic. Just ain't gonna' happen.

Furthermore, those are the ACTUAL names of the Crown Prince and Princess of Japan.

I would also like to thank the fine folks at Fukufics for their helpful comments. In particular: Metroidvania, Dumbledork, DCG, Musouka, Nadrek, Innortal, deathgeonous, Hazard, TerraBull.

 

 

T/B/C! Till next time!