Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ Vampire Kasumi ( Chapter 109 )

Nabiki 1/2

(A Very Scary Thought)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

Based Upon the Altered Destinies Storyline

Inspired by the works of such fans as

Wade Tritshler

Richard Lawson

James Jones

And Many Others

Standard Disclaimer: This is inspired by the work of Takahashi Rumiko and is not my original creation. All characters belong to her. This is only a fanfictional work, and is not intended to compromise the rights of the original owners, distributors and publishers of the Ranma series. I have no money to spare and would very much appreciate if no one tries to sue me.

"Fiend!" Tofu cried, rushing forward with stake and mallet poised, "How dare you do this to her?"

"Tofu-Sensei!" Ranma cried, rushing forward in an attempt to intercept him, but as fast as he could move Dimitri proved much faster.

"How dare I do this?" Dimitri asked as he lifted Tofu from his feet with one hand, "Little man, I dare do what I please and I do not need the approval of others, least of all a brave fool ready to throw his life away for nothing."

With that Dimitri casually tossed Tofu aside, only with such force that the Doctor was heading for a stone marker at such a breakneck pace that it would like snap his spine in passing. Ranma managed to angle his forward rush, however, just in time to catch the somewhat older man and partially absorb the kinetic energy of his horizontal flight. Unfortunately, there was more than enough energy there to slam them both into a headstone, hard enough to shatter it into pieces.

As the others were crying out in dismay at this, however, Dimitri found himself moving to dodge the twin axes that were hurtling his way. They both passed right by Kasumi, kicking up a breeze in their passing while doing her no harm, then they arced back towards Perfume, who was already in full motion rushing up to meet the Vampire with a snarl of feral fury.

Talbain blinked his eyes as he saw the Amazon Enforcer turn into a whirling dervish of steel as she tried to lay into Dimitri Maximoff with her broad axes. It seemed impossible that anyone could move as fast as the Amazon, let alone fast enough to keep even a Prince of the Vampire off-balance, but the brown haired girl was making a credible effort at chopping Dimitri to bits, and were it not that the larger man was twice as fast as she it might well have been over within the first dozen passes.

Of course, she was only human, so it was inevitable that she would tire and slow a little, giving Dimitri the opening he needed to unleash a Chi-blast of negative energy almost directly in her face. Perfume was picked up and carried a good distance by the blast, but somehow managed to remain conscious and also maintain her firm grip upon both of her axes.

Meanwhile, Soun and Genma were confronting Kasumi, the two men shaken by the sight of the gentle-mannered girl with the glowing eyes and slightly otherworldly air that made her seem somehow less innocent than the Kasumi that all remembered.

"Father," Kasumi asked, "What is wrong? Don't you want to see me now that I am freed by my new Master?"

"Kasumi," Soun was weeping, "What has he done to you? My little girl…"

"Easy, Tendo-kun," Genma cautioned, "That's not really Kasumi, that's some fiend from the pits of the nine Hells that's taken her image."

"Saotome-san?" Kasumi sounded genuinely confused, "I don't understand. Why would you say that about me? I really don't see that it's called for…"

"Now, my servant!" Dimitri gestured in her direction.

Suddenly Kasumi's whole attitude changed. She stood taller, smiled more deeply, revealing her fangs once again as she spread her arms wide and said, "Let me show you how much I've missed you…"

Suddenly Nodoka was there with her katana unsheathed, balking Kasumi's advance with its gleaming edge leveled in clear threat about neck level.

"Let's not for now, shall we dear?" Nodoka asked calmly, "I know you're not to blame for all of this, but until we sort things out I think you should just remain where you are like the good girl I know and raised like my own daughter."

"Yes Auntie," Kasumi replied, seeming all the more puzzled as if there were something within her that was struggling against the urge to embrace them.

Talbain, meanwhile, seized the moment where Dimitri was distracted to launch his own attack upon the Vampire, coming on like an rushing tide of fur and claws to try and lay out at Dimitri, who instantly responded by riding out the attack before countering with his own offensive.

"You suck," Talbain snarled, "Using that girl against her own family…"

"What of it?" Dimitri asked, completely unruffled as he hammered away at the werewolf, "She is but a tool of my will and there is nothing you or anyone else can do about it…"

Meanwhile, far overhead, a rebuttal to that notion was circling over the area making a quick appraisal of the layout of the battle.

"There they are," Beatrice noted, "And I believe that is your sister, only it looks as if she is being threatened by your Aunt Nodoka."

"Huh?" Nabiki gulped, still not quite used to seeing Nerima from an altitude of three hundred meters. She tried to focus as best she could on the part of the graveyard in which she could detect some movement, but her night vision was not as good as the Ocular sensory displays that were available to the silver haired Beatrice via her helmet.

"Just set us down and let me do my stuff, Beiko," said the redheaded Aiko, who was supporting Nabiki in her strong arms, just as Aiko was herself being supported by Beatrice, "I see the bastard who's responsible for all this. Looks like he's fighting some big dog or something…"

"By the fact that the creature you indicate is moving around on two legs," Beatrice remarked, "I would surmise that the fellow in question is none other than a werewolf…"

"Yeah, so what?" Aiko snorted, "All the same to me."

"Put me down next to my sister," Nabiki said, "I want to make sure that Kasumi's all right."

"I will endeavor to do this," Beatrice assured them, "One moment while I look for a clear space…"

Perfume was just managing to shake off the effects of the blast she had taken when she saw Beatrice land with the redheaded Alison in tow holding Nabiki. They were coming close to Kasumi, which set alarm bells ringing off in her mind as Perfume fought to regain her bearings. Before she could, however, Cologne tapped her on the shoulder to gain her attention, then gestured with her staff towards the continuing battle between Vampire and Werewolf.

"Help Talbain, he is the one most in need of your assistance, child," her elder informed her, "I will do what I can to help defuse the situation with our dear Miss Tendo."

Perfume knew better than to question her Matriarch. She might have issues with Cologne on other matters of a personal nature, but when it came to battle she knew where the authority resided, besides which her own private estimation of Talbain's situation confirmed that he was in sore need of some assistance. She headed off at once to battle, praying fervently to her gods that the gentle Kasumi could be spared from the life of the Undead, knowing well how her loss might affect her adopted family.

Besides this she just basically liked Kasumi and didn't want to see her suffer.

"Kasumi?" Nabiki said as soon as her feet touched ground, "Oneechan…?"

Nabiki stopped in mid-sentence when she saw the look Kasumi turned her way. It so happened that she was beyond the coverage provided by Nodoka's sword, leaving her vulnerable as Aiko had rushed off to join the fight against Dimitri while Beatrice held back and swept the area with her wrist as if it contained a miniature tricorder.

"Imoutochan," Kasumi's smile revealed her fangs as her eyes gleamed crimson, "How wonderful to see you again. Oh my…you look good enough to eat…"

Kasumi moved more swiftly than Nabiki would have thought possible and was almost upon her when a blue light shot up and blocked her sister's progress. Kasumi bounced off an invisible barrier that Beatrice was projecting with her wrist, to which the Vampiric Kasumi looked faintly puzzled…and not a little bit frustrated.

"I think you had best remain where you are, Kasumi-san," Beatrice said calmly, "At least until we can sort out the particulars of your condition."

"I know what has to be done," Nodoka said grimly, only to find Cologne had interposed herself in her path.

"Let's not be hasty, Saotome-san," she cautioned Nodoka and the others, "Our Kasumi may not yet be lost to us completely. Be mindful that the true villain in this piece is the one who is attempting to pull her strings, but I-for one-do not count our Miss Tendo out just yet completely."

Meanwhile, Ranma was stirring from where he and Tofu had been fallen. He was in somewhat better shape than Tofu, who-while an excellent martial artist in his own right-was far less resilient than the battle-hardened Ranma. Young Saotome immediately sought to know the lay of the situation as he fought to get back to his feet, seeing Kasumi apparently contained by his elders while the battle between Talbain and Dimitri had just been joined by the tag-team of Perfume and the redheaded Aiko.

The only problem was that the pair were not focusing on the exact same opponent.

Talbain was caught unawares when Aiko came barreling into him from the side, and not only was he surprised by the suddenness of this attack but the sheer physical power of his new antagonist, who laid into him with punches that hit like atomic-powered sledgehammers.

"What the…?" Talbain yelped as he went flying, even as Perfume closed in on Dimitri, who was just recovering from his own surprise at having the fight be so rudely interrupted.

"You again?" Dimitri sniffed as he once more easily kept out of reach of her axes, "This grows tiresome. You are starting to annoy me."

"Stand still and I'll do more than that!" Perfume snarled, pausing to aim a blow at the ground instead of Dimitri as she hurled the fearsome cry, "BAKUSEI TENKETSU!"

To the Vampire Lord's surprise the ground exploded in all directions and kicked up a cloud of dust that he only avoided by taking to the air and levitating.

"Clever," he remarked, "There is more to you than I would have expected."

Perfume snarled like a cat and was about to renew her attack with an aerial assault when the unexpected happened and it started to rain, which caused her a brief moment of panic before her curse took effect and she started to collapse inward.

Aiko meanwhile was stalking towards the stunned Talbain with the intent of finishing off the inhuman-looking creature. Talbain just gave her a bleary-eyed look and groaned, "Why me?"

"Your lucky day I suppose," Aiko snarled as she grabbed hold of him by his fur and prepared to give him an uppercut that would enable him to achieve geo-synchronous orbit.

All at once Ranma grabbed her by the arm and said, "Don't do it, Ai-chan! He's one of the good guys!"

"Huh?" Aiko looked at Ranma skeptically, "You've gotta be kidding!"

"He's helping us out!" Ranma all but shouted in her face, then pointed at Dimitri and said, "THAT's the bad guy who's turned Oneechan into a Vampire!"

"What?" Aiko turned around, depositing Talbain back on his furry feet, "Somebody hurt Kasumi? I'll pound him into hamburger!"

"Go right ahead," Talbain said, "Be my guest. Hey, Dimitri! You wanna challenge? Come and get it!"

"Feh," Dimitri alighted on the ground a mere six meters away, "What challenge? All I see before me are a few paltry humans."

"Oh," Aiko purred, "You want a challenge, do you?" she slapped a fist to her palm and said, "Like the man-uh-wolf said, step right up and get it."

Aiko charged the man, but Dimitri easily sidestepped her as if he were a matador and she a bull. His cunning smile only left his face when Aiko continued right on into and through a huge stone monument, shattering it completely before she was able to finally break her momentum.

"Eh?" he started to inquire when the redheaded rocket launched herself at him for a second time, only now she connected with a solid punch that picked the Vampire Lord up and sent him tumbling backwards. He hit a stone marker and went right on to collide with another, then another, bouncing off a statue before finally coming to a halt fifty meters away when his back collided with the entrance to a mausoleum.

"Not bad," Talbain said, finding it difficult not to be impressed.

"Kinda hooked it to the left a little though," Ranma observed, "Might want to try that again to see if you can get him dead center."

"Good idea," Aiko grinned hugely, "This guy ought to be good for a little workout…"

Nabiki had, meanwhile, been sufficiently distracted from the situation with Kasumi to take notice of the fact that Perfume had disappeared the moment the rain had started to fall, which prompted her to ask, "She has a Jusenkyo curse…and Ranma doesn't???"

"Oh yes," said Kasumi, who now sounded perfectly normal again, "She turns into a cat. It really is unfortunate that she doesn't carry an umbrella like Ryoga."

The rain began to lessen once more until it became light drizzle. Nabiki had to check to be certain that no one else was turning into anything. Genma was in his panda form, so at least that was normal, and she was relieved to see that her father and Aunt Nodoka did not change, while Kasumi…

She swallowed there and said, "Oneechan…do you have any idea what's happened to you?"

"Well…no, not exactly," Kasumi replied, "I do feel a little different, though. I can see much better now, and this rain doesn't seem to be bothering me as much. Other than that and a slight hunger I don't feel all that much different."

"Except for a slight overbite problem," Beatrice remarked pointedly, "Do you notice anything at all unusual about your front canines?"

"My…what?" Kasumi blinked, then she ran her tongue against her teeth and discovered the difference there, which prompted her to remark, "Oh my…how did this happen? I brush my teeth regularly after every meal…"

"Just don't take a bite out of me, will you?" Nabiki joked casually, then winced as she saw the pained look in her older sister's expression.

"Are you saying…that I've…changed?" Kasumi asked.

"Not at all, my dear Kasumi," Soun replied, "You're still your Daddy's little girl, even if you have been turned into a Vampire."

"Vampire?" Kasumi blinked her eyes, "But that's silly. If I were a Vampire don't you think I would know about it?"

"That all depends," Cologne observed, "One moment you seem perfectly yourself, but then when Dimitri Maximoff focuses his attention towards you, that is when you revert into his creature. I believe he may have imbued in you some of his foul essence. Do you know whether or not you were bitten in the past hour? Do you have any marks that might indicate a blood transference?"

"Marks?" Kasumi automatically felt along her throat then said, "Why no…I'm pretty sure I wasn't bitten. In fact I was sitting down in a chair all tied down when he started looking at me…and then I had this funny taste in my mouth and I found myself standing here with all of you. It's all very odd, and I don't quite know how to explain this…"

"I think I know what that peculiar taste signifies," Cologne said grimly, "Most people mistakenly believe that it is a Vampire's bite that causes Vampirism when it is in actuality their blood that conveys the transference of a Vampire's essence."

"Of course," Beatrice remarked, "He did not have to bite Kasumi, he merely had to hypnotize her, then cut himself and have her drink some of his blood. Only-if I do not miss my guess-that should not cause an immediate conversion into full-fledged vampirism. The change is subtle and takes times to metamorphosize to such a considerable extent…"

"Unless the process was accelerated artificially," Cologne interrupted, "In which case there is still a chance to save the Kasumi we know, provided you do not drink human blood. That would be what is needed to finalize your transformation."

"Oh my," Kasumi said, "Drink blood? Is that what I feel so thirsty for? I had no idea…"

Nabiki blinked as she saw her sister run her tongue over her fangs again, then turned back to see the ongoing battle between Aiko and the demonic Dimitri, who was currently bouncing around the graveyard like a pin-ball in a giant arcade. Dimitri seemed so painfully outclassed by Aiko on a physical level that it should have been painful to watch but was instead oddly satisfying.

Unfortunately, Aiko did not take into account that her foe did not have to remain solid. While she had been pounding on him she had kept Dimitri off balance, but the moment she gave him enough slack he shifted his mass into ethereal form and became mist that she passed harmlessly through on her next offensive.

"Hey!" Aiko whirled around, "Where did he go?"

"Alison-behind you!" Beatrice called out.

"Huh?" Aiko started to turn around when Dimitri materialized directly behind her, seizing her in a powerful grip before she had time to react and brought her up to where he would be in a position to bite her.

Alison gasped as his fangs sank into her tough skin, but before he could go very far Ranma launched himself into a flying dragon stamp kick that caught the Vampire by surprise and gave Aiko time to wrest herself free then turn her position to her advantage as she picked him up and threw her assailant.

"Alison!" Beatrice cried out again, and then her normally composed features twisted into a snarl as she extended one gauntleted arm and said, "You hurt my Aiko! DIE!!!"

Nabiki flinched as she was standing a little too close when the salvo of mini-rocket shot from the silverhaired girl's arm to strike at the spot where Dimitri landed. The Vampire barely had time to register his danger when the area in which he sat became a free fire zone. A cloud of smoke was kicked up to obscure the whole area as Beatrice extended her other arm and cried, "Akagiyama Missiles! SHINAI!!!"

More explosions rocked the graveyard area and for a moment it seemed as if nothing could live where the missiles detonated. Aiko paused as she felt alongside her neck and stared incredulously at the sight of her own blood, then turned to look at Ranma and said, "Thanks for the save."

"Any time," Ranma replied with an affable shrug, then frowned, "Did she get him? Is he toast?"

"Don't hold your breath just yet," cautioned Talbain.

"Hey, even I'd have a rough time riding that out," Aiko replied, "I…"

The dust dissipated revealing the cloaked form of Dimitri. He dramatically allowed his cape to fall, then regarded them all with haughty disdain before he spoke again, "If that is the best that you can do, then this battle is as good as over."

"Huh?" Aiko reacted, then her eyes suddenly took on a glassy appearance and without turning to look her arm shot out and casually backhanded an unsuspecting Ranma.

"Uh-oh," said Talbain, having sensed the change in mood in the redhead in time to catch Ranma as he went flying.

"Ranma!" Nabiki called out, only to find Kasumi's strong arms had encircled her since Beatrice had carelessly dropped her protective force screen.

"Is that you, Tendo Nabiki?" Dimitri called out, "How nice of you to finally put in an appearance. One moment and I shall attend to you, but first…these other distractions."

That was when a peculiar noise began to be heard, and suddenly all around the graveyard there were bodies thrusting themselves up out of the ground. Bony, rotting corpses crawled up out of their graves to take flanking positions from all around them.

"I had hoped to keep this between just the two of us," Dimitri said, "Such a pity you could not abide by such honorable constraints, much though I did enjoy this vigorous engagement. Now my minions will entertain you while I attend to the more promising engagement."

Everyone who could still fight looked nervously around as Soun said to Genma, "Saotome?"

"Doesn't look like we have any choice," Genma replied, "We'll have to make a fight of it."

Nodoka flashed her katana and said, "Let them come."

"Agreed," Beatrice said, "Nabiki-san?"

"I'm…all right," Nabiki grunted, feeling the hot breath of her sister on her neck belie the lie she had just spoken, "You guys do what you have to…"

Tofu chose that moment to regain full possession of his faculties, glanced around himself and said, "Uh…is somebody remaking Dawn of the Dead here?"

"Stand close beside someone who can watch your back, Doctor," Cologne cautioned as she stood strategically poised very close to Kasumi and Nabiki.

Aiko continued to stand glassy-eyed and ready, only she was facing the party and not the army of undead that was crowding them from all directions.

A normal Japanese funeral-unlike with western burial practices-involved cremation as a preferred means of burial, but Dimitri had stacked the deck earlier by planting his own undead minions, drawn from Christian graves and vitalized with dark enchantments. His evil infected these rotting corpses, but they were under the control of another, forming a Zombie legion that was ready to do the Vampire Lord's dark will and together they posed a credible threat to the beleaguered family of Martial Artists.

Just as the Zombies were about to attack, however, there came sudden flash of a ribbon that sliced through heads and body parts as a laugh split the night, followed by the clash of a thunderous explosion.

"What?" Dimitri cried in outrage, "More interruptions?"

From one end of the graveyard seven figures made their presence felt, beginning with Ryoga, who came hurtling out of the night with his umbrella extended to strike an area between several rotting mummies, causing an explosion that scattered them about like ten pins. Next, a fleet-footed Kurumi appeared to dart and dash amidst the shambling corpses like a straw blown by a hurricane, and then following her came the slash of silver chains that caught and immobilized other zombies as Mousse appeared, lashing out like a swan kicked high on acid.

Akane was next to arrive, barreling through midst of undead zombies like a charging ram, knocking bodies into the air to mark her passage. Behind her came Natsume with her trademark rug beater laying about herself in all directions. Then a marker exploded and out of the dust tumbled a redheaded fury known as Arigami Keiko.

"This is absurd," Dimitri scoffed, "Is there no end to this rabble that I must deal with?"

The tap of a wooden blade against his shoulder heralded a voice that spoke behind him, "I believe that you will find that we more than sufficient to the challenge, villain. My friends and I shall gladly show you the error of your ways."

"Looks like the cavalry's finally arrived," Talbain sniffed, then raised his voice and said, "Don't hesitate to strike out at these guys, people! They're dead so they can't feel it, just don't turn your back on Dimitri!"

"Huh?" Akane blinked her eyes, "Who the heck are you."

"I'm on your side, cute stuff," Talbain grinned wolfishly, then at once stood alert as the undead creatures reformed their ranks and began to press in from all directions.

Cologne chose this moment to touch a spot between Kasumi's shoulder blade, and suddenly the oldest Tendo daughter blinked her eyes and lost her iron grip on her little sister.

"Oh my," Kasumi said, looking down as Nabiki freed herself from her grasp, "Imoutochan? Is something wrong? Why is everyone standing around…oh…who are they?"

"They are threatening your sister," Cologne said smoothly, "I do trust that you will do your best to protect her now that I have temporarily blocked out the nerves Dimitri was using to control your actions."

Nabiki was feeling her neck, wondering it there would be a red mark from the way Kasumi had held her when Kodachi and a girl who looked surprisingly a lot like Ranma-chan-only much taller-came to stand at her side as Akane and Ryoga joined them, then as one they all turned to stare as one at the older Tendo girl before Keiko asked, "Hey, what's with Kasumi? Why was she trying to twist your head off?"

"Oneechan?" Akane spared a nervous look in Kasumi's direction.

"It's a long story, girls," Nabiki decided to refrain from asking any questions of her own, even though several things were confusing her greatly, not the least was the relatively sane expression in Kodachi's eyes as she stood back-to-back with the redhead as though the two were joined at the hip.

"What do we do, Nab-chan?" Ryoga asked as he stood close by Akane, as always ready to protect her.

Nabiki stifled her first impulse, which was to say, "How the hell should I know?" These people were clearly used to a Nabiki who was much more accustomed to weird situations such as this, so she said the only thing that came to mind, "Don't look them in the eyes and stay sharp and focused. These guys are poison, so don't let them bite or scratch you."

She had only meant the words to apply to the Zombies she knew strictly from the movies more than a class on comparable mythologies that she had taken many semesters ago. It was a guess on her part, based on Cologne's words, that prompted her to suspect that letting themselves be touched by the creatures would be VERY BAD. She hoped she had put enough force in her tone to sound as authoritative as her counterpart, though at the moment she was wishing very badly that she had studied the martial arts to the same extent as Akane.

"Oh my," Kasumi said as she turned around and surveyed the situation, then found Tofu was standing by her side and said, "Tofu-Sensei?"

"I'm here," he said as reassuringly as he could, "I won't let any of these creatures harm you."

Kasumi was not sure why but that simple declaration did make her feel a lot better…

Meanwhile Ranma-who had just shrugged off the latest assault to his manhood-saw the situation with Aiko and was about to come to the aid of the werewolf, Talbain, when a small cry to his right brought him around to see Perfume-neko was being threatened by some Zombies. Putting aside his general feelings of concern for Nabiki and the others, the brown haired Amazon Enforcer was clearly the one in the most need, so he rushed to her side, scooping her up into his arms on the fly while dealing savage kicks to her would-be assailants, then hastily wended his way back towards the others with his precious cargo. He was about to hand her-from sheer force of habit-over to Kasumi when he belatedly remember that someone else was nearby and turned a sheepish look her way.

"Uh…" he said hesitantly, "You don't have a problem with cats, do you?"

Nabiki actually blinked at that, "No, why do you…?" she blinked again, "Don't tell me my counterpart studied the Nekoken?"

Ranma flashed her a smile before handing her the cat, then said, "Anybody got a canteen with some hot water? We're gonna need Perfume back in full fighting trim."

"Allow me," Nodoka said as she produced said canteen from her side, and within seconds Perfume was restored to full normal. (And Nabiki blinked her eyes as she saw what normal passed for with this girl, for she was built like the proverbial brickhouse without the visual obstruction of her Chinese-style outfit).

"You could have grabbed my axes at the very least, Airen," a naked Perfume complained as she darted from Ranma's side to head off into the area where she had dropped her belongings.

"Hey, you're welcome," Ranma said dryly with a slight smile as he spared a glance to study the naked girl in her full glorious free motion.

"That's it," Nabiki growled to herself, "As soon as I get back home I'm selling that old panda to the zoo…!"

Dimitri, meanwhile, was finding himself being surprisingly hard pressed by the bokken-wielding Samurai as wood was his natural enemy and the youth in question was far more skilled than might be expected. No sooner did Dimitri think himself in a position to turn the tables then the young man in the hakama was joined by a fleet-footed girl with dark hair who also wielded a wooden rug beater as if it were a club to pummel him senseless.

"Is there no end to this effrontery to my person?" Dimitri scoffed after having traded dozens of blows with his two opponents, "Mere humans are not worthy to be my enemies."

"That remains your opinion," Tatawaki countered with a confident smile, "But I believe that you will find us no mere peasants to be lightly dismissed."

"That is so," Dimitri said with grudging respect, "But I waste my time with you anyway since the real prize is near at hand, so I shall finish this now before you become a further annoyance."

Dimitri separated himself from the battling pair then raised his arms and summoned his power, unleashing a torrent of hell-fire in their direction.

"Behind me!" Natsume cried as she spun about with sweeping passes of her rug-beater, summoning a cold wind that blew hard against the hellfire, deflecting its wrath though some managed to get past her defenses.

"Nachi-chan!" Tatawaki cried as he caught the slender girl in his arms, seeing that her clothing had been mildly singed by the hellfire. Natsume was no more than lightly stunned by the psychic flames that had but briefly overwhelmed her, but it was enough to light a blazing inferno in the eyes of Tatawaki, who gently set her on the ground then raised his sword and cried, "You go too far, Monster."

Dimitri was about to turn his back in a show of contempt for the youth when he became aware of a swirling of energies as the young man called upon the power of his ki then raised his sword in both hands as a faint blue glow played about the wood. Kuno made a sudden slashing gesture without leaving the place where he stood and that glow shot from the blade to slice the air where Dimitri had been standing. That Dimitri was now standing some measure to one side of the attack only meant that the Vampire was spared the fate of the statue that had exploded behind him.

"Impressive," Dimitri said, "You are indeed more than you might seem, but it changes nothing."

Tatawaki did not spare any words as he came rushing at Dimitri and made a series of rapid slashes that caused the Vampire to dissolve into mist, but when Dimitri reformed Tatawaki was prepared and stabbed in a backwards that struck home exactly in the place where the Vampire lord materialized.

Incredibly, though, Dimitri only seemed annoyed at having a meter of rosewood sticking into his chest. His expression was pained but he mastered it well, growling malevolently, "Let us see how you fare without your toy!"

A backhand smash forced Tatawaki to release his grip on the bokken, giving Dimitri the chance to pull it out of himself and toss it to one side. He was about to press his attack when Ranma came rushing up to strike at the Vampire from his blind-side, punching and kicking him with a rapid series of blows that staggered Dimitri and caused him to retreat to a safe distance.

"Another annoying insect?" Dimitri snarled as he threw up his cape to deflect the attack from his latest opponent.

"I ain't no insect, Creep!" Ranma snarled, pausing to raise one hand, which started to glow with a swirl of energies that erupted into a blazing inferno, "I'm Saotome Ranma of the Anything Goes School, Master of the Senken, and you're ass is MINE!" he cried before unleashing a holocaust in the Vampire's direction…

Meanwhile, Talbain was having trouble keeping out of the reach of the possessed Aiko, having already tasted the power of her fists as she fought with mechanical energy, right up until Beatrice surprised her with a full Nelson from behind her.

"Fight it, Aiko!" Beatrice grunted while using every bit of leverage she could gain to imprison the arms of her companion, even wrapping her legs around the redhead's waist to thwart all attempts to dislodge her, "Don't let him control you!"

Aiko gave no sign that she even heard those words and instead sought to dislodge her erstwhile partner by sheer brute force, causing Beatrice to strain all the more, even bolsted as she was by the power suit she was wearing.

"Some assistance, please!" Beatrice grunted.

"I'm game, lady," Talbain replied, "Only how? That girl's got rocks for muscles!"

"She has a human frame and nervous system," Beatrice managed to say calmly in spite of the titanic struggle that she was gradually losing, "Just find a way to break her concentration!"

"Break her concentration?" Talbain blinked, then grinned a wolfish expression, "Why didn't you say so?"

He turned around and thrust his hindquarters at Aiko then brought his fluffy tail up into play, wagging it back and forth in front of Aiko as she flinched from the contact, then began to writhe as if being tickled by a bushy feather duster.

The effort was just enough to make Aiko relax, and Beatrice took advantage by thrusting a diamond-tipped needle from her gauntlet into the neck of her best friend and partner. She withdrew it at once as Aiko immediately stiffened then started to go tense all over. Beatrice let go and rolled on the ground before righting herself gracefully, then touched the controls on her bracer and sent a charge along the length of a wire taser.

"GAAAH!" Dimitri cried before staggering under the assault of the psychic backlash. He recovered almost instantly to confront the flaming dragon that Ranma was employing to keep him off balance, then snarled like a fiend from the pits and summoned up his own dark powers to confront Ranma's Senken maneuvers, pitting demonic force against elemental energies that shook the air with reverberations and drowned the thunder of the heavens for several long, tense instants…

Aiko cried out and slapped herself on the neck. Aiko's eyes lost their glassy focus and she blinked them twice before looking around and saying, "Where am I?"

Beatrice retracted the wires back into her gauntlet and said, "Welcome back to the living, Aiko-chan. I trust you are refreshed enough to help us bring an end to this matter."

Aiko felt where the bite-mark had almost healed back on her then growled, "He did something to me? That bastard's gonna pay! I'm gonna pound him into his next three incarnations!"

Ranma relaxed his fire burst and stared at the smoldering spot where Dimitri had been standing, sensing no remains of his villainous foeman, which gave him the faint hope that the fiend had been cremated to mere ashes.

"Hey, Tachi-kun, old buddy," he smiled as he saw Tatawaki get back to his feet, "Have a nice nap, because this party is just getting started."

"Ranma, my old friend," Tatawaki said as he accepted his bokken from a recovered Natsume, "I am gratified that we stand side-by-side once more against this fiend from the hell-pits. We will send him back to the flames of perdition for his many foul transgressions."

"Right back at you, pal," Ranma grinned before the two men struck fists together and shared a smile like comrades in arms, shoulder-to-shoulder.

"I don't believe this," Nabiki shook her head, standing a little ways off and hearing dialogue that would have choked on the lips of the Kuno and Ranma that she knew.

"Are you feeling well, sister?" Natsume asked, "I would have thought that you would have been at the forefront of the battle fighting alongside your iinazuke."

"Ah…about that," Nabiki said sheepishly, "There's a really funny story I've been meaning to tell you…"

All at once the ground beneath their feet shook like an earthquake, and then Ranma gave a yelp of dismay as a black column of inky night burst through the fused ground of their battle and Dimitri rose up from the pit like the demon he so resembled.

"Uh-oh," the redheaded Keiko rumbled, "Looks like this rumble just went into extra innings…"

"Insolent whelps," the Vampire snarled, standing as if unaffected by these displays of camaraderie and bravado, "You are formidable fighters but you have but delayed my inevitable victory. That, while no small achievement in itself, barely warrants my respect. You have yet to face my real power, and now that you have obligingly gathered together in one place…" he grinned, exposing teeth that would have frightened a Tasmanian devil.

All at once, hands sprang up out of the ground and snared at legs and feet, holding immobilized those who were unprepared to counter this new assault. From the ruins of one of the tombs a figure burst out into life looking partly like a skeleton but with rotting grey flesh attending to bones that were clad in a peculiar leather outfit, a twelve-string guitar clutched in bony hands as the figure strummed the keys of a heavy metal funeral dirge.

"Sorry I'm late, Mate," the skeleton-like figure called out, "I was a bit detained finding my way to this gig, but I was looking for my cue so's I could jump in and crash this little shindig. Anybody mind if I do a little head banging?"

"Deal with them, my ally," Dimitri said dismissively, "I weary of these pointless battles when the true challenge awaits me there."

"Sure thing, Boss," the Zombie grinned like the rotting skeleton that he was, and his fingers ominously worked the chords of his instrument, producing sounds that was jarring to the nerves and quite unpleasant to the senses.

Ignoring the efforts of the martial artists who sought to break free of the hands that gripped their legs Dimitri purposefully strode across open ground to where Nabiki struggled helplessly with her own ankle grabbers. Nabiki pursed her lips to scream in uncharacteristic panic as Dimitri seized her with one hand and lifted her from the suddenly releasing handlers, then brought her up to eye level and showed her a set of fangs that looked to her to be the size of lion-tusks.

"NABIKI!" Ranma cried, summoning up his power once again as he sought to break loose from the hands that gripped him.

"Nabiki!" Nodoka also cried out as she was momentarily distracted from her own efforts with her katana.

"Nabiki?" Soun did as best he could to whirl around with his legs still held fast to the stop, "What is he doing to her?"

The panda at his side held up a sign that read, "I don't know, but I don't like it."

"Nabiki-chan?" Kasumi gasped, and since she alone was not being held by anything she started to take a few hesitant steps forward.

"What is wrong?" Dimitri snarled as his eyes narrowed, "Everyone else has given me a fight but you. What are you holding back for? Show me your true power!"

"I-I can't," Nabiki gasped as she felt herself being squeezed to death by the monster.

For one moment nothing moved or breathed, then Dimitri almost casually remarked, "So…the girl did not lie. You are not the Tendo Nabiki that I was seeking, which means that you are worthless."

With that he almost contemptfully tossed her to one side. Ranma cried out her name and fought even harder to free himself, but it was Mousse who was able to act, unleashing chains that wrapped around Nabiki and broke her momentum. She started to fall towards the ground only to find Kasumi's surprisingly strong arms caught her up in an embrace. She was held closely by her Vampiric sister, who soothingly murmured, "There, there, Imoutochan…I won't let anything hurt you. You're safe with me."

"How disgusting," Dimitri sniffed, "It seems that I have wasted my time after all, and the fight was looking so promising. If you had truly proved better than these, your minions, then I could have enjoyed a battle royal. So be it, Raptor. You may do with them as you will."

"With pleasure, Boss-man," the Zombie King responded.

"Raptor!" Talbain growled, "You worthless bag of bones, when I get free I'm gonna bury you!"

"Sticks and stones, Wolfie," Raptor grinned a toothy grin, then strummed a few notes on his guitar as he added, "I got myself a little melody here I been meanin' to play, I call it 'Slaughter 'Round The Clock All Night,' and I personally think it's one of me best efforts."

He struck a few off-chords and the resultant sonic blast not only caused Talbain to howl but Perfume, who doubled over clutching at her ears with fists that had regained possession of her axes.

It had taken her precious moments to fight off the zombies while hastily dressing herself so that she would have a modicum of modesty for all her troubles, but this new assault was too much for her to ignore. To escape her torment she thrust one of her axes down at the ground that was gripping her and called forth another Bakusai Tenketsu which caused the ground to erupt and throw her to freedom.

Kasumi gently lowered her sister to the ground, seeing the red marks around Nabiki's throat where Dimitri had held her. A sudden need arose in her to do something, to find some way of protecting her family and loved ones. It was no longer even a question of saving herself, it was her fault anyway that everyone had come rushing into such peril.

For once in her life Kasumi regretted that she had chosen not to pursue the martial arts. She had never really needed combat skills until now, had always stood to the sidelines and let others fight, believing for herself that there was a different way to live that did not involve having to hurt other people. She knew objectively that being a good person was not really a defense against evil beings who would want to have their way with her, but it had somehow never seemed to her as if she would ever be facing such a danger. Violence was something that happened to other people, it mostly washed over her with no ill effects as she went about her daily routines, taking pleasure in her simple existence.

But now Nabiki was paying the price for her choices, and so was everyone else. It was so unfair for them, really, Kasumi had never foreseen a situation where things could become so unreasonable, and now they were saying that she had been tainted by evil and become a vampire.

A vampire? But that was silly! How could she be a creature who took joy in causing suffering to others like Dimitri? It had to be a mistake, she couldn't really be a creature of such evil. There had to be a way to prove to everyone that she was essentially the same person. Perhaps if she had some garlic or a cross, maybe some other holy sign, or possibly even a mirror…

That was when she remembered the bulge that was in her apron. She had put the Nanban mirror into her pouch just moments before Dimitri had surprised her. It must never have occurred to the vampire lord to search her. She gently set Nabiki down to one side then fished it out now and held it up, knowing that her enhanced night vision would allow her to see her own reflection even in the faint cloud-dimmed moonlight.

Her faint hope died when she found nothing looking back at her but the reflection of a damaged monument that stood directly behind her. It was true then…she had no reflection! The sudden pain this caused her made her weep a single tear then hold the mirror up to her breast, thinking to herself that it was so unfair. Not only was she cursed but she could not help Nabiki, not if the vampire lord had some power over her that could make her do his bidding.

If only she were someone who was not so cursed, who could fight and protect those whom she loved. If only…

"What are you doing?" Dimitri asked, suddenly standing over her as if drawn like a moth to the sense of power that the mirror radiated, "What have you got there, my servant?"

"I…" Kasumi started to say as she felt the mental compulsion come over her once again, only something very odd was happening to her. Waves of strange energy washed over her person, causing her outline to briefly ripple and distort, and suddenly she was dressed differently and had a very different expression on her lovely features.

"Eh?" Dimitri frowned, confused as the girl before him suddenly leaped back and assumed a fighting posture.

"Who are you?" asked the Kasumi who was now wearing Chinese-style clothing and wore her hair in a different sort of pony tail, "Where am I? Where is Shampoo?"

"That mirror," Dimitri frowned, "It has done something to you…caused you to change as a person. But how is this effected?"

"The mirror?" Kasumi frowned, then glanced down to see the odd way that Nabiki was looking at her. She could not miss noticing the red mark around her younger sister's neck as she turned a hard look back up towards Dimitri and said, "What have you been doing to my sister?"

"Oneechan?" Nabiki asked in evident puzzlement.

Kasumi was confused at finding herself in a graveyard of all places surrounded by her family and friends (plus a few she did not recognize), who seemed to be fighting against cadaverous opponents, and this one gentleman before her whose eyes glowed with malevolence and fairly read of negative ki to her senses. It was not hard at all to make him out to be the bad guy.

Especially since Cologne chose that moment to call out, "He has threatened to hurt your loved ones, Tendo Kasumi! He is evil and must be stopped!"

"You…" Kasumi hissed as she focused her attention towards Dimitri, "Threatened my little sister?"

She began to glow a faint blue, and Dimitri murmured to himself, "Perhaps this night will not be so wasted after all…"

He began to take a step forward when Kasumi launched herself into an attack that was as swift as it was unexpected. Dimitri barely got his arm up in time to deflect the first strike, but Kasumi spun while still in mid-air and gave a back-kick that penetrated his guard and knocked him on his heels long enough to follow up with hands that glowed with unmistakable power…

Kasumi found herself in dark surroundings and looked around, trying to regain her bearings. Her enhanced visual powers allowed her to make out objects that had a distinctive heat signature. She was indoors inside someone's room, and after only a few moments she concluded that it was the bedroom of a young girl, most probably a teenager.

There were books on shelves and a writing desk upon which she could see a personal home computer. There was a poster of some idol singer but for the most part, the room was basically quite Spartan. Everything was neat and well organized, reflecting a personality that was no doubt very down to earth and practical in outlook. Of course, the fact that the heat signature was strongest coming from the bed was no surprise as someone was deep asleep there, and after a few brief moments of study Kasumi concluded that it was her sister, Nabiki.

Relief flooded through her at the sight of her sister's peaceful face exposed from beneath the bedsheets. Kasumi crept over to the bed and looked down with great fondness, watching Nabiki's chest rise and fall in a regular manner and feeling overwhelming affection.

Nabiki was all right, then, the whole thing in the graveyard must have been some manner of nightmare. It was curious that Nabiki was sleeping alone on a regular bed instead of a tamati mat with Shampoo curled up beside her, but at the moment Kasumi wasn't looking into the mouth of any gift horses. All that mattered to her was that Nabiki was uninjured. She knelt down before the bed and felt a motherly protectiveness extend from her to her younger sister. Normally Nabiki seemed so rugged and capable, but to see her like this made Nabiki seem both vulnerable and in need of her big sister.

"Imoutochan," she murmured faintly, forgetting as she did so that her sister was a light sleeper.

Nabiki had been experiencing a dream about being with her older sister, only Kasumi was in male form in this dream and holding Nabiki in his powerful male arms, saying all the things Nabiki wanted to hear and inspiring such desire that the waking Nabiki would profusely deny experiencing in real life. The dream was still with her when she opened her eyes very slowly, sensing a present hovering above her. Only half-awake Nabiki turned to look up at the dark form highlighted in the dim moonlight, being slow to recognize the features as belonging to her big sister.

"Nabiki-chan," Kasumi said with her own intense longing, not realizing as she did so that she exposed her fangs, or that her eyes were glowing from within, betraying her Vampiric nature.

It only took Nabiki a few seconds before she started screaming…

"Wow," Ranma said, "Get a load of Oneechan."

"The fair Kasumi does strike the base villain like a woman possessed," Tatawaki remarked.

"Yeah," Kurumi agreed, "And he obviously is feeling it this time."

"Perfume!" Mousse saw the Amazon rushing past them, "Surely you can free me so that I can fight by your side."

"No thanks," she said, "I like you right where you are, but I will help these others get free so they don't have to listen to your whine so much."

At the sight of Mousse's stricken expression Kurumi rolled her eyes then went immediately to his rescue.

"Oneechan?" Akane asked as she saw the battle royal break out between the monster they had been fighting and what looked like a more aggressive version of her sister.

"She fights almost like Nabiki," Ryoga noted.

"Looks like the lady's just gotten a whole lot better," said Talbain, turning back to Raptor, "It'll be a whole new ball game as soon as I get free…"

"Not a chance, mate," Raptor said as he prepared to strum another sonic assault, only to start as something went whirling past his head, narrowly missing the Zombie King in its passage, "What the…???"

The axe struck the ground with explosive results, and suddenly Talbain was freed, leaping to the attack against Raptor before his foe knew what had happened.

Perfume came running up to retrieve her axe, having successfully liberated everyone so that they could fight the remaining Zombies. Nodoka was reducing several of them to their constituent body parts while her panda husband protected her flanks and Soun fought hard to win a path closer to Nabiki and Kasumi.

Nabiki meanwhile was taking stock of this new version of her sister, a Kasumi who was a capable fighter in every sense, whose hands were glowing with ki-force, making her punches and kicks a more than credible threat to the vampire, who-oddly enough--seemed to be relishing the punishment that she dealt him.

"Magnificent!" Dimitri said after two minutes of furious exchanges, "This is the fight that I yearned for! You do yourself better credit than any of these others, which means that my inevitable victory will taste all that much sweeter."

"You mean you enjoy torturing my family?" Kasumi said in what-for her-sounded like outrage, "This carnage is your idea of entertainment?"

"But of course," Dimitri said as both sides paused to take stock of the other, "I live for the slaughter, the flow of blood, the suffering of my victims as I crush the life from the puny forms and draw their vital essence. The carnage of battle is as sweet as mother's milk to me, for what else can a man live for when he has lost his fear of death? You have given me the sport that I crave, and for that I do thank you."

"Yeesh," Keiko remarked to Kodachi, "This guy's a real glutton for punishment."

"Indeed," the Black Rose sighed, "And to think they used to call me crazy…"

Kasumi was in the process of trying to take in the manifest evil before her when Nabiki came rushing up and said, "I know how to double your sport! You came to face me, right? Only I'm not the Tendo Nabiki that you were looking for."

"Nabiki?" Kasumi looked at her in confusion.

"Do you have the Nanban mirror, Kasumi?" Nabiki asked.

"Do I…?" Kasumi paused, looking momentarily confused, then she reached to her side and pulled it out with a note of curiosity, "Is this what brought me here? I was in your room holding onto it when I felt this odd tug pulling me somewhere, and then I was here."

"Let me have it, Oneechan," Nabiki said, holding out a hand, "I know what to do, if you guys will just give me a moment."

"So that is the object of power that I sensed before," Dimitri mused, "Very well, I am sufficiently intrigued that I will allow you to proceed. Your aim is to exchange places with the version of yourself that I came here to meet?"

"You got it, buster," Nabiki smiled as she held the mirror to her, the paused a moment before saying, "This'll take a moment. The mirror works with human tears…"

"Then it is of little use to me," Dimitri said, "I cause suffering, but I have rarely known suffering myself, and I do not shed tears like a human."

"I kinda figured that," Nabiki said, then did something that was very rare for her which was to open up to her emotions. In a way she hated to do what she knew had to be done to effect her return to her own version of Nerima, much though the thought deeply pained her as she had been granted a glimpse of what her life could have been like in this world.

In fact that was the thing that made it easy for her to cry, the sense of longing and regret that leaving this world would cause her. Here she had love, affection, respect from her peers, real friendship, a family, while in the other world…she had her schemes and her isolation, and nobody there much liked her for herself. It was her own fault, she knew, the choices she had made to experience a life without constant grief and pain, such as tormenting Akane. For a fact it would be hard to give up a world where there was a Shampoo who clearly loved a Tendo Nabiki enough to bear a child by her, and with the pain of loss that inspired in her Nabiki felt her tears begin to flow, more than enough to trigger the Mirror's dimension warping potential.

What she did not count on, however, was that Ranma would see the tears from close nearby and be moved by them, enough so that he approached and said, "Don't cry, Nab-chan. We'll miss you as much as you'll probably miss us."

"Ranma…" Nabiki gasped as she felt his hand touch her shoulder, only now that the mirror was activated she felt a link open up between them, and all at once they both vanished from that world together…

"So, what do I have to do?" Nabiki asked, now restored to her proper gender and in the safety of her family garden.

"That would depend," Miyu replied, "Objects of power such as this mirror must have an activation spell or component, something that will cause it to become active."

"That's easy," the now-male Ranma said, "The mirror works on tears. You just cry and think of where you want to go and it takes you there."

"Only this time we must wait to see if the mirror will become active on the other side," Cologne said, "When you see a glow from within that will be the time for you to shed your tears and think of the place from whence you came, then will yourself there."

"No problem," Nabiki nodded, "I got that."

"Are you sure?" Akane asked, "You'll need tears to make it happen."

"That's right," Ukyo said, "No offense, but you're not exactly the most emotional person we've ever known."

"Maybe you get help from father?" Shampoo asked, "Him cry enough for whole army."

"The things I must put up with in my own house," Soun shook his head, looking as if tears were a very real option. Beside him ,the panda held up a sign that read, "You said it."

"Unfortunately, the tears must be shed by the person who is using the mirror," Cologne said, "And since the idea is to exchange Nabiki with her other self and not her father I would council that you find sufficient motivation to cry your own tears."

"No problem," Nabiki said, "I'll just think of my wife and kid going on without me. That'll get me started. If that doesn't work then I'll try thinking of the stock markets."

"Oh my," Kasumi observed, "It does sound a little odd when you say that. The thought of you having a wife who bore you a child…"

"Yeah, no fooling," Akane averred, "This must be a really weird place you call home, Neechan."

"I just call it home," Nabiki smiled, "I leave the weird part for others to explain, but from what I've seen it looks as if you have your own standard for weirdness."

"Huh, you got that right!" Ranma snorted.

Nabiki stared at the mirror and said, "It's hard to imagine the sort of power this thing must have. The ability to create a time corridor, to be able to go anywhere with a thought…even with all I know about magic it still seems pretty amazing."

"I just wish I could use the thing to find a cure for my curse," Ranma huffed, "But according to you, not even Jusenkyo can help me."

"I didn't exactly say that," Nabiki cautioned, "I said that the curse may not be as easy to get rid of as dipping yourself in Nanniichuan water. I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, Ranchan, only I think there might actually be a reason for why I have the curse, and until that purpose if fulfilled I don't think that I'll be allowed to remove it. Besides…I've kind of gotten used to being Kaneda, and I don't want to disappoint Shampoo by disregarding her wishes."

"You mean you've accepted it?" Ukyo asked.

"In a way I have," Nabiki glanced down, "It's not really that easy losing a part of myself like my sex to some curse, and every time I find myself holding something between my legs that shouldn't be there…I feel as if I've abandoned a promise to myself that I'd never lose what it means most to be a woman. I can't help but wonder what my mother would say if she could see me now…would she be proud to acknowledge me as her daughter?"

"If not then it would be her loss," Cologne said sagely, "True Amazons are forbidden to indulge in the curse of Nanniichuan. There is an ancient law forbidding the practice of using the water to achieve the same ends that you have. Obviously my counterpart on your world has managed to make allowances in your case, no doubt because you are merely Amazon by adoption."

"I guess so," Nabiki lifted her eyes, which were tearfully moist, "Still…there are times when being in control, being the head of my household, of having to balance the strong personalities of my family off one another, trying to make a home that we all can share…sometimes it can be pretty overwhelming."

"Hey, don't cry," Ranma moved closer to Nabiki, "You got a great life from the sound of it, and if you're the best in your world then the Ranma over there must be a pretty lucky guy."

"You really think so?" Nabiki intended her question to be rhetorical, but it felt good to know that the Ranma here at least had enough consideration for her feelings to make such a statement.

"Sure," Ranma patted her on the shoulder, only belatedly aware that the temperature in the yard was rising rapidly from the direction of Ukyo, Shampoo and Akane.

"Ranma," Nabiki started to say, a tear rolling down her cheek as she considered his strong features, so very much like her beloved iinazuke, "I…I guess this is goodbye here. You have a nice life, but remember what I said. Don't let anybody rush you into marriage until you really think about it."

"Ah…" Ranma was uncomfortable with the way this Nabiki was looking at him, her expression unlike anything he had ever seen in the face of the Nabiki he so well remembered.

"What are you doing, you hentai?" Akane started forward, "That's my sister…!"

The tear fell from Nabiki's cheek and struck the mirror at a glancing angle. Nabiki looked down, startled as the thing flared to full activation, and then a disorientation overcame her senses, reaching out to include her and the person nearest to her. She and Ranma began to glow with a faint blue aura, and-seeing this-Akane gasped and said, "Oneechan…Ranma?"

And by sheer reflex she reached out to touch her iinazuke and found the glow extending in her direction…

Nabiki looked around, finding the setting entirely different from anything that she might have expected. Ranma gasped as he looked around too, then Akane said, "Where are we? What's going on around here?"

"Ah," Dimitri remarked, "So you didn't lie…or should I say that of your counterpart? I take it that you are the Tendo Nabiki that I sought out for the purposes of challenge?"

"N-Nani?" Nabiki turned to regard the tall, aristocratic Vampire Lord and had the oddly sinking sensation that she had just walked in on the third reel of a Thriller movie.

"Who the heck are you?" Ranma started to demand.

"Dimitri Maximoff," the tall man bowed, "At your service. Now, with the pleasantries thus dispensed, shall we resume this as our fight was originally intended?"

"Careful, Imoutochan," said Kasumi, who was standing close nearby, "He's stronger than he looks."

Nabiki barely sized up her older sister with a side glance and decided that some interesting things had been going on during her absence…

Nabiki almost felt regret to find herself in her own familiar yard surrounded by people she knew (and two that she did not, but this was par for the course in Nerima). It was good to be away from that Zombie-filled battlefield, but considering what was waiting for her in this frame…

"Huh?" Ranma said beside her, "What the heck just happened? That felt…really weird…"

"Tell me about it," Akane agreed, turning towards Ukyo and Shampoo as she smiled, "Hey guys, did we win or not? I was half expecting you to be right there in the thick of things, like usual."

"Huh?' both Ukyo and Shampoo said in chorus.

"Interesting," Cologne remarked with a narrowing of her eyes and a slight smile of bemusement.

"I do believe that something unexpected has just occurred," ventured Miyu with a thoughtful expression while her silent masked companion just nodded his head in mute agreement.

"Ah, what the heck," Ranma clapped Nabiki on the shoulder before turning to smile at the astonished pair of suitors, "We're home and that's what matters, right? How's it going, Ucchan, keeping the home fires burning?" he lightly chuckled the motionless Ukyo with a mock punch to her chin, then leaned forward and murmured, "If Perfume's not keeping you too busy maybe we can go for a stroll later, if Sham-chan here doesn't mind very much."

"No mind?" Shampoo blinked, then before her surprise could turn to anger Ranma nudged her with his elbow and said, "Hey, I wasn't going to leave you out…that is if Nab-chan and you don't mind making it a double-date. And if Perfume wants to come, well…I guess that'll make it a full house, won't it?"

His suggestive grin made both girls feel incredibly awkward. Ranma never paid either of them this much attention, let alone without prodding, and it unselfconsciously made Ukyo and Shampoo turn their heads to glance in Akane's direction.

To their utter amazement their longtime rival was giving them all a friendly smirk before turning away and saying, "I wonder if Ryo-chan found his way back? Sure hope he didn't get lost on his way from that cemetery."

"Cemetery?" Cologne raised both eyebrows.

"Um…Akane-chan?" Nabiki hesitantly asked, "Ranma-kun…there's something you guys ought to know…"

"Huh?' both translated youth asked in unison.

"Very interesting," Miyu commented softly, then gave Cologne a side-glance and asked, "Does this sort of weirdness happen much in these parts?"

"You have no idea," Cologne said simply.

"Interesting," Miyu smiled, "I think I'm going to like it around here even better than I'd imagined."

Larva could not offer any comment on his own, but as he heard this pronouncement he silently shook his head and glanced with his masked eyes rolling towards the heavens…

"Dimitri Maximoff, huh?" Nabiki mused as she regarded the tall nobleman, who looked like he had just walked off the set of a vampire movie, "Fancy name for a foreigner. Have you been giving some trouble to my people?"

"I consider it a mere warm up for our real battle," Dimitri said as he took a commanding pose and smiled in a way that revealed his fangs and the inhumanity of his nature, then without further adieu launched himself in an attack towards Nabiki.

She, Ranma and Kasumi all three scattered in different directions, Nabiki taking to the air with a powerful leap that was matched by the Vampire Lord as the two found themselves facing off with the ground far beneath them. Dimitri moved the flaps of his cape forward and stiffened them to form razor-sharp blades, which Nabiki avoided by twisting her body in mid-air then lashing out with a kick to his head that solidly connected.

The Vampire Lord easily shrugged off the attack and sought to counter, but Nabiki proved elusive as she curled around his assault and counted with an Amaguriken, then dropped back down to the ground before Dimitri could fully recover.

"Yes," Dimitri smiled as he rubbed his bloodied chin and licked the back of his hand clean, hovering in the air as he looked down with menacing glee, "This battle will be all that I had hoped it will be. I…"

All at once, Ranma's foot connected with his chin, catching Dimitri by surprise as he had not been prepared for a second assault from his direction.

"Ranma!" Nabiki called out, "What are you doing?"

"You want to pick a fight, fight me!" Ranma snarled, as he pounded Dimitri with a thousand blows in mid-air, then retreated to the ground again, assuming a defensive crouch as he brought his hands together and concentrated before unleashing a Mako Takabishi. Dimitri barely got his cape up in time to deflect the brunt of the powerful Chi-blast.

"Oh dear," Kasumi remarked, "I didn't know that Ranma had mastered such a high-level attack."

"It's kind of a long story," Nabiki paused as she gave her older sister a quizzical look, "Um…Oneechan…do you know any special maneuvers?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Kasumi replied, then blinked her own surprised look and said, "You seem so…different, Nabiki-chan…"

"Right," Nabiki said, "Save that thought, I think we'll need our strength in another moment."

"Yes," Dimitri smiled as he remained hovering in the air, having shrugged off the worst effects of the Mako Takabishi, "This fight will be exceptional! Since you do not intend to respect the limits of fair play, then neither shall I. I will take you all on individually or as a group, but for now I wish to test the limits of your lovely wife, and you others are but a mere distraction. Raptor!"

The Zombie King appeared unexpectedly alongside Ranma, who had a moment of blind panic as the undead Rock Star entrapped him in a bone cage and started to soul-drain him.

Nabiki did not hesitate to break into a run, and with a flying leap she shattered the bones Raptor was using, scattering him about the Cemetery and thus freeing Ranma. The minute she stood alongside him, though, she was furious in venting her displeasure.

"Just what the hell did you think you were doing, Baka?" Nabiki yelled at him, "This is my fight you're butting into!"

"Your fight?" Ranma rounded on her, "Like hell it is! I had everything under control until you butted in and tried to hog the limelight! I don't care if you think you are me, I've been dealing with this kind of thing since I can remember!"

"What did you just say to me?" Nabiki was outraged, "Let me tell you, buster, this is my turn, and you don't talk to me like that in my own back yard! You may be hot stuff on your timeline, but…"

"Hey!" Talbain called out, pointing towards Dimitri, "Bad guy, remember?"

"Who are you?" Ranma and Nabiki chorused as they each took notice of the werewolf..

"Oh my," Kasumi said as Dimitri stood with a somewhat bemused expression, "I do hope you won't think badly of the way my sister is acting…she doesn't quite seem to be herself at the moment. In fact, I don't think I quite really know who she is myself…"

"Quite all right," Dimitri smiled, raising his cape again as his form shifted to assume the likeness of a gigantic demonic bat, and then his wings began to glow, "I know just how to regain their attention…"

"Haiiyaaa!" cried Akane as she landed a solid blow against the Vampire's chest, a blow that actually staggered the Demon and made him take notice. Unfortunately that was all the effect that her punch seemed to have, and as the horrific face looked down at her she had a sudden sense of her own vulnerability, to which she nervously said, "Um…or maybe not…?"

All at once a ribbon snagged around her waist and she was yanked to safety before Dimitri could react. Akane found herself deposited alongside Kodachi and a total stranger who looked something like the female version of Ranma.

"Are you all right, Akane-chan?" Kodachi asked with evident concern in her expression.

"Pretty gutsy move," the redhead remarked, "But you don't want to wind up like Kasumi, it might upset poor Ryo-chan."

"Ryo-chan?" Akane was about to ask who the redhead was since she could see Ranma standing plainly at the side of Nabiki when Ryoga was suddenly there beside her clutching her hands and looking into her eyes with obvious emotion.

"Akane," he said as he looked deep into her brown eyes, "I-I…"

"This constant stream of continuous interruptions is beginning to bore me," Dimitri said when he found Kasumi standing before him once again, "What do you want?"

"You were threatening my little sisters," Kasumi said, her fist glowing once again, "I'm afraid I can't allow that."

She threw her punch but the Vampire's hand intercepted it in spite of the power that she was manifesting. Dimitri smiled and said, "How delightful, but my power is the greatest that this world has ever seen!"

His whole arm suddenly lit up with the hellfires that he had manifested before and where his force collided with her own there was a sudden clash of opposing energies. He retained his hold upon her hand as Kasumi was forced to her knees, the fierce energy surrounding them both briefly illuminating the whole area, causing onlookers to flinch, including the reformed Raptor.

"Oy maties!" the Zombie King winced, "Looks like the boss man is pouring it on to impress the ladies."

"Kasumi!" Nabiki and Ranma called out as they saw the oldest Tendo daughter humbled by the fearsome vampire.

"Kasumi!" Soun wept openly, which was hardly novel in his case.

Dimitri relented as Kasumi collapsed at his feet, gloating in his triumph, "You are powerful indeed, but my power is by far the greater."

"We'll see about that," Kasumi managed to say, summoning up all the power that she could once again and thrusting forward at the nearest part of the Vampire that she could reach from her nearly prone position.

Dimitri's gargoyle grin suddenly took on a very different continence, and his outward form reverted to human with an expression that looked decidedly non-plussed, his eyes bulging and his mouth puckered up as though he were sucking on a lemon. His knees began to buckle and cross while Kasumi managed to roll out from underneath him and stagger her way to relative safety.

"Kasumi!" Nabiki's tone was suddenly livid with anger, her expression focused with tightly controlled rage while her hands shot out to her sides and she began to make sweeping motions in the air as if to summon up the totality of her power.

Ranma felt the hairs stand up on the nape of his neck and his pigtail stood on end while he turned to regard Nabiki with a look of genuine surprise. She was reaching out to grab at invisible lines of force, and all at once her hands cupped together to form claw-like grasping motions.

"You-!" Nabiki's voice suddenly resonated with life as her body began to glow with a powerful battle aura, "-HURT-" the power grew and intensified in her hands like a collapsing star, then exploded from her hands as she cried out, "MY BIG SISTER!!!!"

The blast shot from Nabiki to strike Dimitri full in the chest and all at once the Vampire was not standing there any more, not that anyone was able to tell for the next several seconds. When the flash died and the sonic boom dissipated, allowing them to turn and look again they found a cone of destruction radiating out to the limits of the graveyard and beyond it. In that wake of destruction there was…nothing, not a single object remained standing, not a gravesite or a marker. The silence was almost deafening as everyone turned to stare at Nabiki, who wavered on her feet for a moment until Ranma offered her a hand to help steady her balance.

"Wow," Aiko remarked, "She disintegrated the bastard."

"Not quite," Beatrice replied, "My helmet sensors indicate that he was knocked five-point-two kilometers by the blast and is currently motionless.

"Nice shot, big sister," said Kurumi happily.

"Not too shabby," Talbain remarked, "That he had coming."

"What was that?" asked Ranma.

"I'm not sure exactly what to call it," Nabiki said a bit more softly than usual, "It's just something I learned from Master Happosai…"

As if on cue the pervert sprang up and said, "I'm here! Now where's that party-pooping Dimitri at? I got all my latest vampire slaying equipment and…"

"Oh, bugger off," Cologne said tiredly, giving Nabiki a proud smile as she added, "Good one, my child. He'll be feeling that into his next three incarnations."

"And of course you didn't feel the need to intervene yourself, Elder?" Nabiki asked with a weary smile.

"I was prepared to act in the event that you could not handle yourselves," Cologne replied, "But once I saw the real you had been restored I knew that everything would work out for the better."

"Eh," Raptor frowned, "What about me?" Y'ain't dealt with a real live man 'afore…"

"You saw what she just did," Talbain reminded, "Do you really want to start something?"

There was a slight pause before the Zombie King said, "Fair point, 'sides which it seems like some of your friends've decided to finally show up, which is my cue to make meself scarce. Ciao!

He dissolved into a pile of bones that vanished into the earth just as other figures began to crowd in from all directions.

There was a swirl of color and light, and then a blue skinned girl with enormous arm-like wings in Chinese dress appeared, looking around with a puzzled expression before she said, "Bummer, did we miss it?"

"What happened here?" a terrifying figure demanded to know looking like a Samurai in a strangely repulsive set of armor, his face a demon mask as he flashed a sword much larger than a standard katana, "Has that scum Raptor been making himself a nuisance yet again?"

"You guys just missed him," Talbain replied even as a tall figure garbed as a wandering holy man strode into the clearing with a smaller form trotting along at his side, "As for Dimitri, went that way," he pointed a paw in the same direction of a blast damage.

"Dimitri," the tall man said with very little discernable emotion, turning to look at the even less emotional small girl near his bare feet who was clutching a headless doll to her bosom.

A familiar roar heralded yet another strange arrival as an oversized motorcycle and driver appeared, rolling over land obstacles to park up close to the group before killing the engine and dismounting. He pulled off his goggles, looked around and said, "Are we too late for the party?"

"Doctor Steinberg, as I live and breathe," Nabiki smiled, "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"They were supposed to be my backup," Talbain glared accusingly at the others, "Only it looks like you guys took a wrong turn somewhere."

"Ah, don't get your fur ruffled," said a cat with blue fur, which a moment later transformed into a human-sized girl with long ears and a tail, which same made Perfume pay more attention, "It's not like we wanted you to hog all the fun, fur-face."

"A CAT!!!" Nabiki, Ranma and Kasumi all reacted in chorus, turning to flee in the opposite directions.

"Huh?" the cat-girl asked as she looked around to see the three retreating martial artists.

"What got into them?" the blue-skinned Chinese girl asked.

"You wouldn't believe it if we told you," sighed Beatrice, "Alison?"

"Right," nodded Aiko as she sighed, "I'll go round up the kitties," and with that she started to chase after the terrified trio…

Dimitri gasped, coming to with a sense that he had just survived being blasted out of a humungous cannon. He ached all over, but that would pass in due time. He was more impressed at discovering just how powerful the Tendo girl really was, powerful enough to make him realize that he had a ways to go before he truly would become the greatest of all powers.

"Incredible," he remarked, attempting to sit up so that he might renew his quest to absorb the girl's vital energy. The attempt convinced him that he should lay still and relax so that he might heal a bit more before attempting it again. In fact, going to sleep seemed like a perfectly logical thing, and he was too numb to even hope that his enemies would not find him in this state, unable to defend himself. He would be better in a while, and then he could go about plotting his enemies' destruction.

Raptor appeared a moment after he shut his eyes and went to sleep, and the Zombie said, "Boss…you okay? That Sheila sure knocked you for a loop and…Boss? Are you really out of it or just faking?"

When several more attempts to get Dimitri's attention failed the Zombie rocker smiled to himself and pulled out a marker pen, saying, "No offense, Boss, but I've always wanted to do this…"

Continued

Comments/Criticism/Can I wind this up in one chapter? Shadowmane@msn.com