Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Two Wallets ❯ Going Out Like A Bang ( Chapter 113 )

A Tale of Two Wallets

(An Altered Destiny)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

"My lady Ganglot?"

Ganglot looked up from where she was seated, seemingly staring off into space but in actuality fully in tune with her monitoring equipment, having been silent witness to the battles being waged in the Tendo dojo. With her physical eyes the Oni Princess turned to regard her servants, Romeo and Julian, gazing at her with very anxious and distraught expressions…nor was it difficult for her to fathom the reason for their seeking her council.

Aloud what she said was, "Yes, can I help you two with something?" but silently she acknowledged that it was long since time that she provided these two with some answers.

"We were wondering if there was something that we could do for you," Julian put it as diplomatically as he could, though it was obvious to Ganglot that he actually meant to ask her a question.

"Why?" Ganglot asked innocently, "Do I look like I need something?"

"Ah…that's just it," Romeo ventured, though she was plainly the one least comfortable with words, being more a woman of action, "You looked so…well…needful, and with what you were saying before…"

"Ah…" Ganglot nodded knowingly, "You are wondering if there is any sort of problem brewing in the works. Well…yes, I'm afraid there is, but no, you can do little to help me in that regard…at least for the moment. Some battles I must wage on my own terms, and in that regard no one can fight for me…I must somehow rise to the challenge for myself, as would any Elder of your village."

"I don't understand," Julian said, "From what you were saying to your kin earlier, I thought the battle was being waged somewhere else…"

"The Tendo dojo," Ganglot replied, "It is a school devoted to the teaching of the martial arts system known as 'Anything Goes,' or 'Indiscriminate Grappling.' The members of the Tendo clan are my unknowing allies in my war against my daughter-in-law, though very soon they will learn about my part in this whole affair and that will change the dynamics on many, many levels. For now they are the targets of an unfair persecution engineered by my enemy, and to that end I have directed what forces and allies I have to helping them stave off a critical challenge of their own. So far the venture has been successful, but I fear Cybelle has other designs of a more subtle nature, a secondary plot in the works that will bring the battle directly to my doorstep."

"We are under attack?" Romeo asked, seizing on the one part of that statement that made sense to her warrior nature.

"Shortly we will be attacked," Ganglot replied, "But I don't want the pair of you involved. It is no less than my own great-grandson who will be heading this assault and he is a warrior of the first caliber with few peers in this land and even fewer in his age group. As good as you are with your tonfas, you would not last a second against him, and if losing to him meant accepting his forced engagement you would make Julian very sad. He is almost an unstoppable force, you see…a Hibiki, which practically makes him a force of Nature when fully aroused and motivated for battle."

"But if he's your great-grandson," Julian reasoned, "Then why would he attack us?"

"Ah…there is the rub," Ganglot smiled lopsidedly, "Ryoga is powerful, but he is rather simple minded in some ways, not given to thinking on his actions before reacting to situations with only half the needed information…"

"He must have relatives in our village," Romeo said with irony, thinking of far too many of her fellow Amazons who might fit that cursory description.

"Indeed he does," Ganglot replied, "Though he doesn't know that he is part Amazon. Approach him in a calm state of mind and Ryoga can have levels of complexity and depth that would surprise you…the soul of a poet in the heart of a warrior, how very…samurai-like his, and possessed of a rude chivalry as rough-hewn as the rest of him. Such a boy can be quite noble in his own way, but also easily misdirected, and not just because he lives under the curse of the Hibikis."

"Like his grandfather, your son," Julian reasoned, "Only not as absent-minded?"

"Exactly," Ganglot nodded, "Given strong motivation, Ryoga will act on what he deems the purest of intentions, and Cybelle is counting on that since she has planted the thought in his mind that I am the threat to his family and loved ones, not her. He is coming to destroy my Capstone, which Cybelle knows is the root of my power here on the mortal plane, away from my homeland in China. Without it I would be unable to maintain a corporeal existence here in Japan and would sucked back into my prison for another centuries-long slumber, if I am not outright banished back to the plane of the Oni and the loving company of my cousin, Queen Hild, whom I have not laid eyes upon in over a millennia."

"But that's terrible!" Julian replied, "Without you to guard your clan…"

"Cybelle would be free to act as she will," Ganglot replied, "And now you see my dilemma. I cannot harm my own flesh and blood, but I cannot allow Ryoga to destroy me. A diabolical plan to be certain, and I must somehow find a way to convince my great-grandson that I am not his enemy, that he need not do Cybelle's evil bidding."

"Won't he listen to you, lady?" Romeo asked.

"My dear Romeo…he has never even met me," Ganglot replied, "At best he has only heard half-remembered stories about what I was like when I was still bitter over the loss of my husband. I used to be quite the mischief maker, taking delight in tormenting those who caught my amused fancy…ah, the follies of youth…" she shook her head sadly, "Unfortunately old legends always remember the bad parts and hold them up to torment you when you grow older and have a better grasp of the true working dynamics of the Cosmos…"

Romeo and Julian exchanged troubled looks, each wondering in their hearts just how much of those old legends were true, and how that contrasted with what they had personally observed in their mutual benefactor.

"So you see," Ganglot resumed with a sigh, "Ryoga may be in attack mode and will not listen to anyone until he has achieved his objective. That is why I do not want the pair of you to stand in his way, you wouldn't have a snowball's chance in an inferno of doing more than slow him down, and trying to talk him out of this might be worse than folly as he will construe you both for enemies merely for siding with me."

"I've dealt with that kind before," Romeo said gruffly, "You have to hit them between the eyes just to get their attention…"

"But there may be a way," Julian paused to stroke his chin, "If he can be slowed down…long enough to hear our voices…my lady, you were able to stare down the Matriarch of our tribe, I cannot believe that you would find a mere warrior…even of your blood…more formidable than that…"

"Perhaps," Ganglot replied with a sober, sage expression, "We will see…when he gets here…"

And the two Amazons standing by her side exchanged worried expressions, having noted the wistful tone of dread in the voice of the Oni Princess, and privately they shared a collective shudder...

Nabiki could not believe how suddenly their victory had turned to defeat with the actions of that holographic demoness forcing a netting to fall around the entire dojo. They were trapped good and solid, and by the crackling sound that she could hear at points of contact she had little doubt that the thing was electrified and surely offered a world of pain to anyone foolish enough to attempt to physically grip it.

"Now that's management loyalty to employees for you," remarked the girl dressed like a Ten card, "I thought you Japanese at least had some kind of sense of honor…"

"What did she just do?" Ranma asked, as if sensing that someone had to voice the question.

"Sealed us in most likely," Cologne answered sagely, "The whole room has been rigged as a giant trap to keep us in, no doubt so Cybelle can work whatever mischief she is actually planning in our forced absence."

"In our absence?" Soun repeated.

"You mean this entire business with the Gambler King was just a smokescreen to cover her real intentions?" a now fully recovered Genma asked, "She was never serious about Tendo-kun's dojo to begin with?"

"What do you mean 'Not serious?'" Soun rounded on his friend, "Are you saying she never actually wanted my dojo?"

"Calm down, Soun-chan," Silk assured, "I'm sure she fully intended to make the dojo her target because she knew how much it meant for us all…"

"Yes," Comb agreed, "As both a symbol and the center of all the activity that seems to be happening in this part of Japan."

"Oh my," Nodoka remarked, "I suppose Tendo-san's dojo does seem to involve an awful lot of people in one way or another…like another kind of Nexus…"

"There's that word again," Yumi remarked, glancing at Ranma.

"Hey, that's right…" Ukyo responded, "Isn't Ranma supposed to be the hub of realities, or something like that?"

"That depends on if you ask him or not," Akane growled as she glanced towards the aforementioned Saotome.

"We've got to get out of here somehow," Makoto (aka her Senshi incarnation), "Whatever that Nega-creep is up to, we've got to put a stop to it."

"That my own brother would be a part of this," Kodachi shook her head in dismay, "Tatewaki was never like this before…"

"Before he began working with this Cybelle person?" Kasumi finished for her, "Oh my…do you think maybe she might be controlling his actions?"

"More like influencing his behavior," Silk amended, "I thought it rather odd how quickly he went from village idiot to well-groomed CEO with no easy transition."

"Mom!" Atsuko growled, balling her fists, "You're not gonna keep me here for long, and you know it! We'll bust out of here and when we do, you're gonna regret this!"

"Probably," her father said with a sad expression as Razor scanned the interior with a look of regret and longing.

"So…Mom?" Ryomi asked, "Got any suggestions?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna bust us outta here!" her mother replied, and started to take a step towards the nearest wall.

"Wait, you idiot!" Comb cried out, failing to restrain the half-Oni as she stormed right past, only to be stopped in her tracks when an electrical spark lashed out and briefly highlighted Atsuko in a strobe-like halo, briefly altering her appearance from normal human to a bat-winged Oni and back again.

"MOM!" Ryomi cried out, even as Razor's head swerved and his eyes briefly turned golden.

"Oh my," Nodoka remarked as she somehow managed to appear behind Atsuko before her slightly charred body could fall to the floor, "I guess she forgot about the traps that have motion sensors."

"You think?" Aki reacted, glancing nervously around as she had been about to attempt the same imprudent course of action.

"That's the problem," Ten observed, "She obviously didn't."

"Is she…?" Genma asked his wife with a surprisingly concerned expression.

"I believe so," Comb responded as she more cautiously moved to Nodoka's side and began to examine her charge as they lowered the Oni to the floor together, "She took a nasty jolt, but her hide is thicker than a normal person's. She's a bit singed along the edges, but I think she will recover."

"It figures," Yumi commented while her eyes scanned the room and her body remained as motionless as a statue, "No one move any more than they have to. I believe that this trap is activated from a device located near the center of the dojo. The floor may be lined with electrical contact points, and the air is doubtlessly ionized to provide a proper conduit. The sensor will doubtlessly be a laser reflector working on an oscillating beam and is probably set to react if it detects movement above that of three kilometers per hour…"

"How do you know?" Ranma asked.

"Trust a ninja to know these things, Boy," Yumi replied, "I may be retired, but I keep in touch with people who know these things like it was second nature."

"Uh…Aunt Yumi?" Ukyo murmured nervously, "You think the current might be attracted to our spatulas…"

"More than likely," Yumi replied, "If we stand too close to somebody who makes a hasty motion.

"But still…" Akane reflexively began to flex her wings, then stopped herself in the act with a self-conscious glance in Ukyo's direction, "Ah…if we move real slow, won't we be able to escape?"

"I doubt that it would be that simple, Akane," Soun replied, "Cybelle is hardly the sort who would rely on a single strategy to contain her enemies."

"Good thinking," Cologne noted, then used her staff to tap the floorboard nearest to her foot, and instantly a beam of red hot light flashed the center of that panel, smoking it in the immediate center.

"Impressive," Siren observed shrewdly, "And I doubt very much that this is the extent of her deviousness. Traps both lethal and benign unquestionably await the unwary and will be discovered if any one else attempts escape in a similar manner."

"But of course you are not affected by any of this," Cologne said without looking directly at her companion, "You could no doubt walk out of here at any time of your liking."

"Perhaps I could at that," Siren mused with a thoughtful expression, "But somehow I don't think Cybelle would neglect to think of magic in designing these traps. There may be risk even for me should I attempt to test her resolve…"

"But will you do it?" Cologne asked somewhat impatiently.

Siren just smiled, "I was just waiting to hear you ask, Kho-chan. You know I never could resist a challenge."

Siren raised a hand, moving slowly but with pure deliberation, her focus seemingly relaxed as she stared out into the space before her, her slender hand forming a symbolic gesture that caused the air to glow and form a glyph that hovered there for several seconds before the spell was activated.

And then the power of her spell was discharged at the nearest wall, only to strike and be dispersed before it had actually made contact with the wooden surface.

"I was afraid of this," Siren sighed, her expression becoming more sober, "A clever move on Cybelle's part…she's saturated the air with some kind of invisible mist that not only conducts the electrical sparks but apparently disrupts the formation of strong manna fields. Aggressive magic is absorbed into the air before it can effect solid matter, and I doubt even teleport or phasing spells will be reliable under these peculiar conditions."

"Meaning you're as helpless as the rest of us," Silk remarked, then blinked her eyes as she glanced around, "Where is Grandmother? I thought she was here with the rest of us?"

"Aiyaa," Shampoo reacted, "Elder Lotion no here? But she always stay close to Nabiki…"

"That is true," Comb noted from where she was tending to the still-unconscious Atsuko, "It is very untypical behavior for her to leave the side of her apprentice during a crisis, especially in light of the fact…"

"The fact that Nabiki-san is not quite herself at the moment?" Nodoka finished for her.

Nabiki felt the eyes turning her way as well as saw them, even as she had been thinking much the same thing and silently compared notes with the other version of herself who seemed to have briefly taken charge of her actions. That version of Nabiki rose up within her once again and said, "Never mind who I am, we have to get out of here somehow, and the sooner the better. There's no telling what Cybelle is actually up to!"

"We're game, Nabiki," Ranma said supportively, "Got any ideas how to do it?"

That was the magic question, and Nabiki was about to say no, when suddenly she had a sense that drew attention and caused her to look away into seeming nothingness. Without really knowing why she scanned the interior of the dojo as if seeking something out that was not there from a conventional point of voice. As her POV was anything but conventional, she stared at the air around them and her gaze became unfocused. Without knowing quite why she sensed that this was important for some unfathomable reason…

And then her gaze became totally unfocused, and it was as if the air itself became thick, gray and misty, and full of ruby lines, some fixed in place, others strobing about the room in constant motion.

"I see…" Nabiki hesitated before trying once again, "I can see…there are lines all about the room…I can see where they are and everything…!"

"Really?" Silk blinked her eyes, then stared about the room and said, "You're right! It's all a matter of sensing the energy patterns…but why didn't I think about this before?"

"Gee, I wonder," Comb snorted, rolling her own eyes in mild exasperation.

"Hmm…" Silk ignored the barbed comment and scanned the room with a professional gleam in her eyes, then aloud she revealed, "There are pressure-sensitive grids along the floor, and the cycling for the laser motion sensor is regularly timed. I believe that it is possible to negotiate a path out of this dojo without tripping off the alarms, provided one travels slow and makes no sudden motions."

"Right," Akane replied, "Only…how do we see and avoid all these traps?"

"Yeah," Ukyo agreed, "You guys are the only ones who can see them."

"That's right," Makoto frowned as she studied the air around them, "I can feel the currents but I don't actually see them. I have some resistance to electrical attacks, so maybe I should be the one to risk it."

"So do I," Razor made a fist, "I'm tough enough to make it."

"You also have the Hibiki sense of misdirection," Siren noted, "Tough as you are, I definitely would not risk it."

"What about you?" Ryomi asked of Ten, indicating her still-unconscious teammates, "You and your guys are in the same boat we are."

"Well," Ten said reluctantly, "I'd like to help, and I'm fast enough that I could probably dodge the lasers…if I could see them coming like your friend there…"

"Whatever we do it had better be quick," Genma remarked, "Whatever Cybelle is planning, it can't be too healthy."

"Right," Nabiki nodded, and without stopping to let herself think about it she started to move forward.

"Nabiki?" Ranma turned so fast he nearly got himself electrocuted, "What are you…?"

"Just stay where you are!" Nabiki called out without impeding her slow forward motion, carefully placing one step onto a floor panel that "felt" safe to walk upon, "Ranma…just don't interfere…I know what I'm doing here!"

"Airen?" Shampoo asked with clear hesitation in her voice.

It was odd to hear herself addressed that way, but Nabiki was used to dealing with the weird and the odd, in either incarnation, just as she was expert at shutting down her emotions and focusing on the here-and-now, letting her intellect rule while her heart took a backseat and let her brain do the driving.

In this case she had a sense of certainty in her actions, a feeling that left no room for doubt as she took one step forward, then another. She was not hurried in her motions, keen to stand where she sensed that the strobe light would not detect rapid movement while avoiding the more obvious traps, never setting foot where a sense of danger warned her not to, and always moving relentlessly forward, feeling growing confidence that to do so was not to court danger but to avoid it for the others.

"Nabiki…" she heard Akane murmur into the ensuing silence, where a pin falling to the ground would have sounded like the crack of a rifle.

"Nabiki-chan," Kasumi sounded even more fretful, but her voice reminded Nabiki of what was at stake in the matter, and that alone helped her to overcome any lingering doubts or fear for her own safety.

Nabiki was normally a very private person, content to look out for herself and no one else, but the thought that her family could be threatened by anybody, that her home-even her family dojo-could be fodder for someone else's ambitions was more than she could stomach, and the sense of building outrage helped her to focus her senses on avoiding actual danger. One step followed another, but always it was the goal that she kept in mind, just as she always put goals ahead of the means needed to obtain them.

**Really?** a voice asked in the back of her head, **That's so sad…I never realized that I was ever this lonely…**

Nabiki almost lost her train of focus, and savagely reacted with an internal, **WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING, SAYING SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO ME AT A TIME LIKE THIS?**

**Sorry,** the voice in her head responded, **Just making an observation.**

**Well, make it on your own time,** Nabiki savagely informed herself, then mulled the added thought, **And keep your observations to yourself next time…**

**Pardon me,** the voice replied, **I thought that was what I was doing.**

Nabiki avoided thinking her next thoughts to herself, but just the same her emotions were aroused and angry, and it took more effort than before to calm herself down enough to continue forward.

"Be careful," Ranma urged very tensely, and nearly threatened to upset the delicate balance of her emotions.

"I will," Nabiki managed to say in a calm and coherent manner, though the warm spot that she was feeling in her chest made the risk seem a little more worth the bother.

Another few steps later and she reached the wall that had been the focus of her attention. With an almost anticlimactic manner she touched a button that caused a panel to open up beside her hand, then pulled the lever that she thus discovered. A glance over her shoulder confirmed what her instincts had already made plain, that the traps had been deactivated and the dojo itself was relatively back to normal.

She heaved a sigh as she heard the Amazon named Silk confirm her own conclusions, "They're gone…the traps are off, you did it!"

"Well done, Nabiki!" her father called out, words that had seldom reached his lips in the past but which now caused Nabiki to feel an odd thrill of family pride, a curiously unfamiliar sensation, "You saved us all!"

"Hiyaa!!!" Shampoo all but bound across the room and swept Nabiki up in her embrace, relief and other emotions causing the gesture to almost be worth the loss of a rib or two for Nabiki, "Airen, you did it! Shampoo so proud of you!"

Ranma was only a step behind the Amazon as he put an arm around both of their shoulders, "Yeah, you sure are something, but next time would you have a little mercy on a guy? I think I almost swallowed my tongue when you stopped moving for a few seconds!"

It was becoming harder and harder for Nabiki to ignore the way her heart had started beating quicker, the embrace of both Shampoo and Ranma, the praise of her father and her sisters, and the knowledge that she had been the one to save the day all combining to create the most disturbing of all sensations within her. Was it pride…or something else? Whatever it was, it was threatening to melt her icy persona into a limp, warm puddle.

Of course the relief this gave them was short lived, for almost instantly Cybelle returned, and holographic or not, she certainly looked angry!

"What the hell are you doing, interfering with my fun?" she cried as Ranma and Shampoo immediately interposed themselves between the Demoness and Nabiki, "This isn't a game where you win points for scoring or get neat little prizes, this is supposed to be your prison!"

"Yeah?" Nabiki found herself reverting back to nonchalant type, "So?"

"So THIS!" Cybelle made a dramatic gesture and Nabiki's eyes went wide as she felt an electrical charge building up as if the trap had been reactivated.

Before the charge could hit, however, a man-wall appeared in the space between them and Razor took the brunt of the shock, shrugging it off as a duck might do with water. His hair curled slightly and smoked around the edges, but other than that he remained relatively unaffected.

"Gramps!" Aki and Ryomi shouted in chorus.

"Whoah…dude!" Ten remarked, "That was frigging gnarly!"

"Cybelle!" Razor spoke with surprising sharpness, "NO! You will not hurt her or anyone else!"

"You stay out of this!" Cybelle yelled in the big man's face, "You're the last person who should be lecturing me about somebody else's welfare!"

"Geez, these guys are worse than a daytime soap opera!" Aki complained.

"Yeah," Ten agreed, "They're worse than my parents!"

"I heard that, little lady," groaned a voice from the floor as the King of Spaces began to feel his crown with a much-distressed expression.

"Consider yourself grounded for a week," agreed the Queen as she began to pry herself up off of the tarmac.

"What, you losers are back?" Cybelle growled, "At least have the decency to crawl off into a corner or something…."

"Y'know lady," the Ace of Spades growled, "I'm starting not to like you very much."

"Agreed," said the Jack of Spades, "This Gig is starting to make me reminisce about the Great G'nort and his odd entourage…"

"What, you guys want another crack at us?" Makoto growled as she assumed a fighting crouch.

"Not necessary," the King waved a hand in a dismissive gesture, "Lady Cybelle has made it plain that our services are no longer wanted, ergo we have no quarrel with you lot and no cause for further antagonism."

"Too bad," the Queen observed as she eyed Comb in a speculative manner, "It was just starting to get interesting at the end there…"

"Sounds like you've got a new admirer," Atsuko groaned as she sat up and rubbed her head, then turned and growled, "MOM! Enough already! What the hell are you trying to do, almost turning me into a fricasseed Oni?"

"Excuse me?" Cybelle said archly, "Are we on speaking terms again? Do you know how many times you've disappointed me, child? Siding with this lot against your own mother…"

"Well why the hell not?" Atsuko ignored Comb's warning and fought her way (albeit unsteadily) to her feet, "These are my friends and the guy I'm in love with…a guy I'd never have even met if you hadn't sent me out to seduce him in the first place!"

"Don't remind me of that fiasco," the Demoness growled, "If I hear one more-WHAT THE HELL?"

Those words, even as she spoke them, were drowned out by the sudden crash of something tearing into one of the walls, and then an armored figure appeared, ripping both wood and netting apart with gauntleted hands with as much ease as if he were no more than shredding mere paper.

"There you are!" cried the Ochre-hued armored figure as he strode with heavy metal tread into the gap that he had just created, "You're the cause of everyone's suffering, I take it?"

"And who the hell are…?" Cybelle stopped herself then answered her own statement, "That bodyguard who came with Nakajima…"

"Kento of the Hardrock, at your service!" the heavily armored figure declared, whipping out a studded wooden rod that he whirled about like a baton around his body, at last thrusting it forward like a staff in Cybelle's direction, "Let's see you try your stuff against somebody who's used to fighting major demons!"

"I know you now," Cybelle snapped her fingers, "You're part of that crew that dispatched that born loser, Lord Tulip a few months back…"

"That's Tulpa," Kento corrected, then frowned, "You knew him?"

"Knew him?" Cybelle snorted, "I used to date him…a long, long time ago, back before he had his armor fetish. The guy was always going on about how evil he was with his Dynasty and all that. I just knew he was gonna take a fall one of these millennia…"

"You used to date a man named Tulpa?" Razor asked of the Demoness with a much-surprised expression.

"It was centuries before I met you," Cybelle cooed, "Don't be jealous."

"I'm not jealous," Razor growled as he cracked his knuckles, "But if I ever meet the guy, it's gonna get ugly…"

"He's dead," Kento explained, then paused before adding, "At least I think he is…kinda hard to say with a guy who ain't got no body."

"Too bad," Cybelle shrugged, "Used to have a body like an Adonis and a rod between his legs that was big enough to fit both hands around…"

Razor's expression darkened noticeably, "Good thing he's dead or I'd probably have to kill him…"

"You know," the Queen of Spades remarked, "They do sound a little like us, dear."

"Quite right, my love," the King turned to Ten and said, "Very well, your grounding is hereby suspended. Just watch whom you compare us to in the future."

"So glad that everyone is finding this so amusing a new voice added to the mixture, "But I believe it is time that we…how do you put it, Husband?"

"Crash the party?" Tofu replied.

"Exactly," Kachu noted as she leaned on her Chi C'hi with a particularly grim expression.

"Sister?" Kasumi was first to respond.

"Kachu?" Silk turned to regard her only daughter.

"Kachu-chan," Soun remarked, "What are you doing here?"

"My job of course," Kachu replied without taking her eyes away from Cybelle, "Good to see you again, Mother, Father, Sisters…but I believe it is time that you all leave the dojo now that Kento-san has been kind enough to make an opening. I will be the one to deal with this foul demon."

"You?" Cybelle turned about, "Don't make me laugh! I'm not even actually here, you backwoods hick! What could you possibly do to me with your Amazon bag of tricks?"

"Don't underestimate me, Foul Fiend," Kachu's voice was level but her tone held barely constrained fierceness, "It will be the death of you and your kind to ignore the warning of a Devil Hunter."

"I like her act," Ten remarked to Aki and Ryomi, "She's got that gritty Film Noir edge down perfect…"

"Aye," said Jack, "There's a trenchcoated fellow named Constantine who wouldn't mind the cut of her giblet."

"Back off, boys, the lady's married," Comb warned them in a thoroughly no-nonsense manner.

"Mother," Kachu said low and precisely, "Please honor my request and evacuate everyone now…before I get angry."

"You get angry?" Cybelle snorted, "Like when are you ever calm, other than the time you spend with your Boy Toy doctor? You're nothing more than an accident, a mistake made by your mother…"

"MY DAUGHTER IS NOT A MISTAKE!" Silk cried out in outrage.

"Oh?" Siren asked, "In other words you meant to have her?"

"Er…well…" Silk fidgeted slightly, weathering a questioning look turned on her from Soun's direction.

"Press me not, Demon," Kachu warned as she flashed her trademark weapon, "I care not what you say of me, but when you insult my mother and the man I love…"

"So, what are you going to do?" Cybelle scoffed, "Bore me to death?"

Kachu did not verbally reply, but instead she began to spin her Chi C'hi about as Tofu backed out of reach of its arc. Faster and faster the weapon in Kachu's hands began to move until it was no more than a blur to the eye, and then it started glowing…

"Wow!" Ten spoke aloud, "And I thought I was fast! She really is something!"

"She's a Devil Hunter," Aki replied with a nod of her head, "Just watch this!"

All at once Kachu brought her weapon forward, and the glow of energy built up around the thing was discharged directly at the holographic image of the demoness, striking Cybelle full in the chest and momentarily disrupting that image. Cybelle reasserted herself moments later, but it was plain from her expression that the effect had not been without its consequences.

"OW!" Cybelle blinked her eyes, "How did you do…?"

"That was a warning!" Kachu declared with fatalistic resolve, "Leave now or far worse will be in the offing!"

"You think I'm intimidated by a few cheap tricks?" Cybelle scoffed, "Well, I have a few of my own in reserve too!" and with that she waved a hand towards the wall through which Kento, Kachu and Tofu had entered, and before their eyes it magically sealed itself up in mere seconds.

"It's just a stupid illusion, Mom!" Atsuko declared, "You don't actually expect that thing to hold us?"

"Maybe not for too long," Cybelle leered, "But it should hold you here long enough to rid myself of you annoying pests forever!"

With that her image faded out, leaving a rather unpleasant silence in her wake, into which Akane said, "What do you suppose she meant by that?"

"WARNING!" a voice spoke in immediate answer, "THIS DOJO IS RIGGED TO SELF-DESTRUCT IN FIFTEEN SECONDS…"

"Fifteen Seconds?" Ukyo almost screeched in echo.

"FOURTEEN…"

"You and your big mouth," Makoto chided Akane.

"THIRTEEN…"

"Quick everyone!" Atsuko spun on one heel, "Follow me!"

"TWELVE…"

"No thanks," the King of Spades replied, "We'll make our own exit…Ace?"

"ELEVEN…"

"I'm on it!" the big man in the white and black costume replied, turning and charging at the repaired section of wall as if expecting it to yield before his massive bulk. When it gave him some resistance he started to dig his hands into its illusory substance, muscles bunching with effort as he strained to tear the illusion asunder.

"TEN…"

"Everyone pitch in!" the King ordered, and the Royal Flush Gang dutifully combined their efforts to help Ace unseal the rupture.

"NINE…"

"Where are we going?" Aki asked as everyone else but Kento followed Atsuko into one corner.

"You'll see," Yumi promised.

Eight seconds later some high explosives that had been planted under the floor of the dojo went off with a massive explosion that rocked the hills and rattled windows for miles all around them. Naomi, who had taken shelter inside the Tendo House with her daughter, reflexively clung to Rachael as both were pitched to the floor from the concussion, and their ears were ringing long after the dust and burning debris began to settle.

For a few moments nothing was visible in the yard, but gradually visibility was restored as a number of dark figures appeared, one looming much larger than the others

"Kento-san?" Naomi asked at the level of a mere whisper.

But then she saw that the bulky shape was not Kento but rather a giant of a man dressed like a playing card, the Ace of Spades, flanked by other card-like characters whom Naomi recognized as the Royal Flush Gang. They strode through the debris as if totally unaffected by the blast and altogether familiar with the sights and sounds of wanton carnage.

"Well," remarked the one named Jack, "That certainly brought back unpleasant memories. At least we got paid half-rate for this buggy assignment."

"F-" the giant started to say when he caught sight of Rachael and reflexively curbed his speech, "Nix the other half of the fee, this gig was a bust all around. Who woulda thunk a buncha fancy-pants martial artists could put up that much of a rumble?"

"Indeed," remarked the King, "It could well mean that Japan may prove to be a more interesting place than we previously imagined."

"I just hope my next dance partners are a little more lively than that lot," the Queen added as if in side-note.

"I dunno," Ten murmured to herself, "I think that one girl was kinda neat, and she was almost my age, I wouldn't mind taking her with us…"

"You can have your pets another time, Dear," the King promised, "But now I think the prudent course of action would be to make ourselves scarce before the local constabulary puts in its usual appearance."

"You the boss," Ace replied as the five oddly dressed characters casually walked out through the gates of the Tendo dojo.

"Mommy," Rachael asked after they were alone again with only the smoldering remains of the dojo, "Were those the bad guys?"

"I…think so, Dear," Naomi softly responded.

"But where are Kento and the others?" Rachael asked as if confused at not finding an immediate answer.

"Well…" Naomi started to say when she detected movement from the rubble, and another moment later an armored figure reared up into full view, casually shaking off a burning timber as he leaned upon his studded staff and surveyed the signs of carnage.

"KENTO-SAN!" Rachael cried in delight while Naomi stood still with her mouth hanging open.

"Hey," the big man in the samurai-like armor replied, "How's it going, squirt? Some party, huh? Sorry if you guys got a little worried…"

"You're alive?" Naomi realized the foolishness of her own statement, but some part of her just knew that someone had to say it aloud.

"Hey, I'm a Ronin Warrior," Kento replied, "Takes a lot more than that to slow me down. Ah…but where are the others?" at that last point his tone began to sound a note of anxious caution.

Naomi was just starting to think that one through when a sight as wholly unexpected as any other greeted her already astonishment-weary eyes. A square of light appeared in the air, then formed a rectangle approximately the size and dimensions of a door, and then a door appeared in the place of the light, as real as a prayer, and it slowly began to open. Out through the black shape that hung behind this portal came Atsuko and the others, slowly filing out from this impossible-seeming phenomenon to take a look all around at the remains of what had once been a proud family dojo.

Soun wept as he cried, "My dojo!"

"There now, dear," Silk instantly reassured him, "We can rebuild it…we can make it as good as it ever was. What matters is that we're all still alive and able to do it."

"Yeah, no thanks to Mom," Atsuko growled, staring at the burning remains as though personally affronted.

"Oh my," Kasumi said in bland understatement as if considering the level of effort it would take to clean up the mess all around them. Without a word Kodachi took her hand and gently squeezed it, sharing a supportive moment as the two took in the wreckage all around them.

"That was amazing!" Ryomi stared at the black rectangle through which she had just emerged, then tried to look around and behind it only to find nothing greeted her vision. She shook her head and muttered something about a cartoon by the company of Warner Brothers™.

"Well done indeed," Siren admired as she nodded to the Oni, "You have improved much over the years, has she not, Kho-chan?"

The Matriarch at her side chose not to voice her own comments, but she nodded silently in token acknowledgement of the effectiveness of that protective illusion.

"You know," Comb remarked aloud as she gazed reluctantly at Atsuko, "As galling as it is for me to admit this, I have to concede that your illusions do sometimes come in handy."

"Yeah, ain't I something?" Atsuko tried to smile in smug triumph but all she managed was a half-hearted grimace.

Then her father's hand came to rest upon her shoulder and in a gruff voice he said, "I'm proud of you anyway, At-chan…you saved everybody, and that's what's important. As for your mother…" he sighed, "There's going to have to be an accounting."

"No fooling, Gramps," Aki agreed, smacking fist-to-palm as if anticipating another rumble.

"I never thought that I would be in the debt of an Oni," Kachu remarked aloud as she regarded Atsuko with a frankly level expression, "But for the sake of my family and my husband…I thank you."

"Don't mention it," Atsuko sniffed, "It was enough seeing you give Mom a smack in the kisser."

"Next time you'll nail her for sure," Yumi smiled, "She'll know better than to scoff at your powers."

"Maybe so," Genma was unusually sober as he stared first at his friend, Soun, then at what was left of the dojo, "But we shouldn't have underestimated her either, and we almost paid a penalty that was too high."

"Poor Soun-chan," Nodoka sympathized in a low murmur, sharing her husband's concern for the Tendo elder.

Nabiki stared at the dojo, her nominal dowry, now trashed beyond all recognition. It had been the foundation of her life for as long as she could remember, almost as much a part of her life as the house itself, even when she had given up on her martial arts training. The dojo symbolized something to her that was sacrosanct, almost holy. It was her mother's dojo, after all, and she knew that it was meant to remain within the family for generations yet to come, and that on this timeline it had been HER legacy to pass on to her prospective children…

She felt Ranma and Shampoo move to comfort her, and it helped a bit…but for some mysterious reason there was moisture in her eyes, perhaps induced by the smoke, though she savagely chose not to reflect on the other possible reasons that came to mind at that very unpleasant moment.

"Gosh," said Makoto aloud for her as the Senshi surveyed the burning rubble, then added, "The place really got trashed good this time. Who's gonna pay for the repairs?"

"I will."

All heads turned to regard Naomi, who had addressed them with an almost apologetic expression, even bowing to Soun as if to acknowledge the importance of her own statement.

"Tendo-san," she said aloud, "Please humbly accept my sincere apologies for any and all unpleasantness that you and your family may have suffered as the indirect consequences of my company's involvement. Understand that the firm that I represent in no way, shape or form ever intended you harm, and while the fault may not be exclusively with us, it may be said that we did play a part in these rather unfortunate circumstances, so I will personally authorize the funds to supply you with whatever you need in order to make repairs to your family school so that you may continue to teach your Ryu to others."

"That…that is very gracious of you," Soun started to say when Silk spoke up for him.

"Nabiki is the one who usually handles the finances in our house," the Lore Master said simply, "Please consult with her and she will specify our requirements."

Nabiki turned and actually stared at this woman who looked so much like her mother, and for the first time since arriving on this warped version of her timeline she actually considered the woman a good match for her father. At the very least she seemed to have a talent for heading off the water-works before a crying jag could get fully started! It made Nabiki wonder privately if such a woman had a counterpart back on her own timeline…

"I will do what I can," Kodachi said quietly, "I cannot ignore the responsibility that my family must share due to the actions of my own brother."

"No one is holding you to blame for his actions, Kodachi-chan," Kasumi reassured her, clearly moved by Kodachi's offer as the two girls turned and shared the kind of look that as much as said that the world beyond them both had momentarily ceased to exist altogether.

"This is just great," Ranma cracked his knuckles, "The dojo gets trashed and somebody else has to pay for it…but what about that Cybelle lady? We gonna let her get away with this?"

"Aiyaa…Ranma is right," Shampoo declared, "No one hurt family of an Amazon and no pay penalty! Shampoo say we find where Demon hide and have Devil Hunter show what vengeance mean!"

"Noble sentiments," Cologne remarked, "But only Happosai knows where Cybelle's lair is actually located…unless we consider those who once actually lived there…"

"Ah…" Atsuko rubbed the back of her head and said, "I'd…like to help, guys…but it's been a long time since I was back home, and finding Momma's tree…well…"

"I think you can see our problem," Razor concluded for her, "And I'm not yet angry enough to want to actually hurt my wife. She may have turned evil, but…she's still the woman I loved and wronged so long ago…"

Naomi regarded the man she now knew to be her grandfather with silent admiration, thinking to herself that there were worse fates than to claim kinship with such a person.

"Actually," Siren's voice drew all attention back in her direction, "There is something that's been bothering me, which I deem to be of a more immediate relevance than seeking vengeance. What was it Cybelle said about keeping us preoccupied? That would imply to me that she has some other purpose in mind, and I doubt very much that it will be pleasant."

"Hey," Atsuko glanced around, "I've gotta an even better question…where's Ryo-chan been during all of this? I told Shirokuro to keep an eye on him…"

"Oh," Ukyo spoke up, "He left a while ago, back during the card game."

"Yeah," Akane frowned, "It was weird too…he stared to say something, then he ran off in a blind panic."

"I remember that," Makoto agreed, "Something about not letting it happen…whatever it was. Mina-chan and that girl, Kennou, went after him along with the dog-lady and they've not been back since."

"Uh oh," Cologne's eyes widened noticeably as if a thought had only just then occurred to her.

"Grandmother?" Comb turned a questioning look in her Elder's direction.

"Grandmother?" Aki repeated.

"Long story," Ranma replied, sensing the tension in the former Matriarch's expression, "What's up?"

"Oh…nothing, Son-in-law," Cologne said evasively, "It is just…Ryoga's absence, no doubt induced by one of Cybelle's illusions, has to have been arranged for more than simply keeping him away from the fight to increase the odds in the Royal Flush Gang's favor…"

"Uh oh is right," Siren sounded suddenly quite sober, "I'm beginning to get a nasty idea of just what that Cybernetic Slut is up to…"

"Well, don't hold it back from the rest of us," Silk urged, "What could Cybelle want with her own grandson that could be important enough to want to keep us out of the way for…oh…dear me…"

"What?" Comb saw her lifelong friend grow pale, which was more alarming for the Healer than the sight of a charging horde of Mongols.

"I…don't really know," the Lore Master replied, "But I have a sense…that she is using Ryoga as a weapon to take out the one whom she perceives to be her greatest threat…greater than the rest of us combined…"

"GRANDMA!" Atsuko cried out, "She's after my grandmother! It finally makes sense!"

"Granny?" Aki declared in no little alarm.

"Mother!" Razor's eyes went wide and he looked on the verge of a blind panic, "We have to stop her!"

"Grandma…oh no!" Ryomi exclaimed in a dull whisper.

"What?" Nabiki asked, "What's gonna happen?"

"Grandma told me about her weakness," Ryomi said, "If my big brother smashes the Capstone to her temple…she'll get sucked back into that prison she escaped from in China!"

"A prison that someone rather foolishly cast her into, if I remember correctly," Siren eyed Cologne with an almost chiding expression.

"It suddenly all makes sense," Comb declared, "Ganglot is possibly the greatest threat to Cybelle's plans that she could face outside of China…"

"Ganglot?" Kachu asked with a puzzled expression, "The fabled Oni Princess trapped by the will of the Elders and the power of one of my predecessors?"

"No time to explain now," Siren flexed her fingers then made a series of rapid finger motions as she traced a pattern in the air, and moments later another rectangular void appeared in the space before them, "We need to make tracks, people, and we're about three steps behind Cybelle, not to mention her grandson!"

"Why are you suddenly so concerned?" Cologne eyed the blonde Archmage with lifted indigo eyebrows.

"Because whether you want to admit it or not, we need her, Kho-chan," Siren said in a completely no-nonsense manner, "And if Cybelle thinks taking her out is this important, then that's exactly the reason why the rest of us should thwart her ambitions."

"I second the motion," Comb agreed, giving Cologne a stern look before adding, "No back talk this time, Grandmother, we are going!"

Cologne's surprise was absolute at being addressed in such a manner, but she offered no resistance when Siren took her hand and urged her forward, followed in close step by the rest of their odd entourage, who were as eager as the rest to see these matters brought to a favorable (if not completely happy) resolution.

Kachu hesitated for a moment, though, to turn to her husband and ask, "Am I understanding this right, or are we really going to rescue an Oni?"

"Well," her husband shrugged, "After all…around here, stranger things have happened."

"I am beginning to fully appreciate that," Kachu reluctantly agreed, and then followed close on the wake of her mother, father and sisters…

Continued

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