Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ Sister Moonshine... ( Chapter 128 )

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.

In a quiet corner on the outskirts of Tokyo city there exists a shrine that has seen occupation by an unusual cast of characters who have made it their home and refuge, and chief among them were a modest couple of college aged students attending Naoko Tech University, a man and a woman of literally two different worlds yet one heart and one purpose.

At the moment, however, one of this pair had stirred from a restful state and felt a drawing of the moon calling down to her from some unknown quarter. She now stared up at the moon from the garden square that attended the main shrine itself, and her expression made it plain that her mind was very far away from the place where her body present resided. She seemed to be searching for something important in the face upon the moon, and in this somewhat disturbed frame of mind she heard a voice calling to her, calling her "Mother" and beckoning from far away for the return of its main source from the narrow passage of their relative locations.

"Belldandy?"

At first she did not stir or seem to hear the voice softly calling to her, but then she turned slowly to regard the young man looking at her with concern in his eyes and she said, "Oh…Keiichi-san…I'm sorry, was I disturbing you just now?"

"You weren't disturbing me," the young man replied, "I just wondered what you were doing outside of your room, that's all. You looked so far away, I thought…well…maybe…you were lonely…or something…"

She smiled at him, the man she loved, the mortal with whom she resided in tranquil harmony (which was not at all easy considering the turmoil that was often stirred up by her two resident siblings). In a soft voice she said, "I'm not lonely, Keiichi-san…I am never lonely when I am with you."

"Really?" the young man seemed to feel his voice catch in his throat, but he tried to control his eagerness since he knew from experience not to get his hopes too far up, "I mean…if you want a little company, I wasn't feeling too tired myself…"

"Nothing would give me greater pleasure, Keiichi-can," Belldandy replied, "However…the loneliness you mentioned before…it does not belong to me so much as to one of my Aspects. I feel her calling to me now, I must go to her at once. Forgive me."

"Forgive you?" Keiichi Morisoto asked, "For what?"

"For leaving you just now," the goddess Belldandy replied, "But I will return shortly…after I have helped her to find the resolution that she is seeking."

"Huh?" Keiichi asked, only to see his lovely goddess rise up into the night air as the facial markings she wore started to glow brightly. A moment later and she was gone in a silvery halo that attended her parting, leaving him feeling stunned at her unexpected desertion. He called out her name, half fearing that she had left him for good this time, only to hear the annoyed voice of one of the other resident goddesses calling out to him from the temple.

"Hey, will you keep it down out there, K-boy? Some of us do have to get our beauty sleep you know…"

"Urd," Keiichi didn't know whether to be grateful or to panic, "Belldandy…she just took off all of a sudden…"

"What?" the lanky form of the dusky-skinned goddess of the Past appeared at the entrance to their home, only semi-clad (as usual) and looking slightly hungover, "Bell's gone again? What is it this time? A stray cat stuck up a tree?"

"She said something about one of her Aspects calling out to her," Keiichi related, "Do you have any idea what she meant by that?"

"An Aspect?" Urd blinked, then shrugged, "Now it makes sense. I wouldn't worry about it, Kei-san, Bell's just attending to her programming duties, nothing too much out of the usual for us goddesses."

"Huh?" Keiichi blinked, "What do you mean…?"

The tall, silver-haired goddess just smiled at him and said, "It's a side-effect of our being linked into the central computer banks of Yggdrasil. Every goddess has her own personal program file, and then there are various program backup copies that get made to preserve various aspects of our overall nature. Certain mortals are designated by the filing system as Backup copies of these Aspects, and each Aspect is a unique and special person, though none of them are aware that there's any kind of connection between themselves and us. You can think of them as independent replicas of some important element to our nature given human form and personality, and they reflect a small portion of our own divinity, so maybe one of Bell's aspects is having a personal crisis or something. It'd be just like my soft-hearted sister if she feels the need to hold her hand or something…so you see what I'm getting at, K-the-man?"

"No," Keiichi truthfully admitted.

Urd just smiled and patted him on the head, much as someone might do to a favorite pet, and said, "Don't worry about it. She'll be back before you know it, and besides, it's not like the two of you were sleeping together when she got up in the night to take care of personal business, right?"

"Ah-hah?" Keiichi blandly responded, much as he tended to do whenever thoughts of Belldandy in an "improper" light came to mind, and as he tried to imagine what sharing a room with his favorite goddess might be like he found he had to hold his nose against the possibility of a bleeding, half dreading that Skuld might show up at any minute with that hammer of hers, which she was all too willing to employ against those she deemed as "Sex Fiends" trifling with the affections of her older sister…

Yet far away (as mortals measure distance) Belldandy appeared in the space where a certain young lady was holding a sacred bloodstone, and by taking a hand in her own the goddess drew her Aspect away onto another plane where the two of them could converse without disrupting the flow of the central processing system.

Kasumi felt a warmth suffuse her very being as she held the pulsating bloodstone, her being filled with the light of the silvery moon as she rose into the night sky clutching a star between the palms of her hands and sensing the expansion of her horizon and boundaries. When the angelic being came to her she had a sense of her own departed mother descending down from heaven, and as they were drawn away to a different level of being, she found herself asking in an almost plaintive, hopeful voice, "Mother?"

"You could call me that, if you like," the heavenly vision informed Kasumi even as the radiant light died down to a less intensely blinding level, "However, I would much rather call you my sister since you and I share a light and are bound by the program structures that link our very beings."

Kasumi found herself standing in the middle of what looked like a park that existed on the edge of town, and nearby were a set of benches that the beautiful young lady with the odd facial markings urged her towards. They sat down together clutching hands while Kasumi's other hand held firm to the bloodstone, and then she searched the face of the stranger, finding an odd familiarity though there were differences between them that went beyond the mere physical right down to their respective internal makeup.

"Oh my," they both said at the same time, and their voices matched so perfectly that they actually resonated harmonics. Both smiled, then Belldandy said, "It's good to finally meet you, Tendo Kasumi. I've good things reported about you, though in truth I haven't been to the office much lately to keep track on possible updates."

"Um," Kasumi sought for a polite way of putting her feelings, "You…seem familiar…but you have me at a loss. I am Tendo Kasumi…and yourself?"

"You may call me Belldandy," the radiant vision replied, "How can I help you? I felt a great need from you and I came to see if there might be some way in which I can offer you comfort."

"Why…thank you," Kasumi replied, "I'm not sure how you can be of service to me since we have only just met, Belldandy-san. At least…I think that's the case. Um…forgive me for asking this, but…have we met somewhere before? You seem…"

"Familiar?" Belldandy replied, "Don't let it trouble you. There is nothing to be afraid about, you and I are…old friends. So…forgive me for asking this…but I sense a great sadness in you. Can you tell me the reason?"

Kasumi looked down at the hand that she was holding, then at the goddess before her, then she said, "I…I suppose maybe…I am a little bit…lonely. But that's not entirely true…I have my family, whom I dearly love, and I can never be truly lonely whenever I am with them…"

"But there is another that you long for," Belldandy said with deep sincerity and conviction, "And he belongs to another, and this makes you sad. You feel envious of the joy had by another, and yet you love your rival in a different way, so there really isn't a conflict between your two loves. You just feel that the one you love doesn't belong to you…and it is making you unhappy."

"You understand?" Kasumi asked in surprise, glancing to the side before adding, "Hardly anyone really does. I have tried to tell myself that it's wrong to be feeling these emotions…but…I cannot help myself, and at times…"

"At times you feel temptation…to take steps to secure your love which you know you would regret later," Belldandy concluded for her, "Don't feel guilty…many of us feel similar such temptations, but it takes a strong will to remain totally resolute in the face of conflicting needs and desires. Our minds tell us one thing but our heart refuses to listen. Yes…I do know what you are feeling, Tendo-san, and I do not hold you to blame for feeling so conflicted. It is just one of many conditions of humanity that our honest desires are often met with frustration."

"You do understand," Kasumi almost felt like weeping, "I am glad to have met you…I almost feel as though I have found another sister."

"I feel the same way about you, Tendo-san," Belldandy replied, "So again I ask…what can I do to help you?"

"I'm…not even certain that you can," Kasumi responded, "But perhaps it is enough…just knowing that someone else understands…just as I know what I must do to take charge of the rest of my life…but…I am afraid…"

"Of change itself?" Belldandy asked, "Change is also a part of life, and it is good to grow with these changes that you are going through. You do not lack for courage, only resolution. It is easy to hold onto the things with which you are familiar, but take the first big step into a larger world that is unfamiliar…that does take real courage."

"I'm afraid of losing the things I value," Kasumi replied, "I want to remain a part of my family…but I know now that living at home has been too constricting, that I need to explore other options, to branch out and stretch my wings as it were…"

"Then do so," Belldandy urged, "And you will find the rest takes care of itself. No one is asking you to give up your family, after all, only to see yourself as being more than just another family member. I can help you with that…if you are willing to take the risk that it will offer?"

"Oh?" Kasumi asked, seeing something curious in the friendly way that Belldandy made this offer.

"I have been reading you the whole time while we have been sitting here holding hands," Belldandy indicated their still-interlacing fingers, "And I know of the other burden which you must now bear, a fate that has been chosen for you by the powers that be for the protection of your loved ones. Know that you have been chosen to wield this power for a reason…and that the fates have entrusted you with this gift so that you will be prepared for the trials of the coming months where your resolve for your family will be severely tested."

"You mean…I was made a vampire for a reason?" Kasumi gasped.

The goddess nodded in the affirmative, "Long ago a crisis gripped the world, and the Elder Gods of that era permitted a group of mortals to cast a fateful spell that has had long-ranged and unintended consequences for the entire planet Earth. The Modrecai Program, the creation spell that started the Vampire race. We goddesses are well familiar with its function and purpose, and the reason why it has been allowed to continue these past twenty-five thousand years, and why the gift has been passed along to you, and for what purpose. I cannot tell you more than this, what I have said may well be too much already, but I can tell you that you were well chosen to manage this burden. You have soul that is clean of the taint of Darkness and evil, and though you fault yourself for your temptations, you have stood up well to many tests that would have daunted most other persons…so I can assure you that you have no need to fear Heaven's judgement of your actions. You are part of a greater story, a saga that has yet to be fully told, and so you are well armed for the coming battle. But your primary weapon is not aggressive in nature…it is your innate gift for limitless compassion."

"So…I was made like this so that I could help Nabiki…or is it Natsume who needs my protection?" Kasumi wondered.

"That is for you to say," Belldandy replied, "I can reveal no more. The future is too fragile, a single word or miscast gesture might alter the pattern of the weave. Just do what is true to your nature and you will get by, I promise you that."

"Thank you," Kasumi smiled, "I feel as though a great burden has been lifted from my shoulders…but…you speak of another burden? One that comes as a duty for the control of my…appetites?"

"Yes," Belldandy smiled, "But in that you have the means in your hand of curbing your thirst for human blood. The Bloodstone has the power to sustain you indefinitely so long as it is in contact with your body. You can absorb what you need from holding it close to your very person. It is formed of the tears of a god from long ago, and it carries within it the force of life that is nourishment to all vampires."

Kasumi turned to see the bloodstone in her other hand, seeing that it pulsed a soft red glow as though in tune to a heartbeat, and with a start she realized that it was her own heart beating that she felt after what had seemed like a silence of ages. She stared at the thing in wonder and said, "Oh my…with this, I feel almost…human."

"And now that you have that," Belldandy said, "There is one other thing which you need in order to complete your transformation."

"Excuse me?" Kasumi blinked as she met the silvery stare of the goddess.

Belldandy nodded with firm resolution and then turned her head to the side to bare her neck to full view. Kasumi looked at the vulnerable throat of the goddess and felt the pulsebeat of her life's blood calling out to her, and she said, "But…"

"It's all right," Belldandy reassured her, "You need a portion of my essence to complete your evolution. I am willing to share with you, so you do not need to feel as though you are taking something…improper. Go ahead…I gladly give you what I have to offer in full knowledge that you will use the power I bestow upon you wisely."

"Um…" Kasumi pursed her lips then said, "If…you think it would be all right…"

She leaned forward in much the same manner that she had used with Nabiki, but rather than do something so…improper…as to bite her sister on the breast, instead she brushed her lips against the neck of Belldandy, paused to feel where the vein was that could be sampled without severely hurting the goddess, then gently pricked her neck with the tip of her fangs as Belldandy gave a soft noise in response to this gesture, and then Kasumi felt her mouth fill once again with the rich nectar of a warm and living goddess…

And yet the potency of this particular wine was like fire in her mouth, and Kasumi had the sense as though she had just drunk liquid sunlight, feeling it melt through her and suffuse the very makeup of her body with new life and new vitality, burning away the old Kasumi and replacing her with a new and fresher model. For the brief time that Kasumi drank of Belldandy there was a sense of total kinship, and then her transformation began in earnest, and with a cry not unlike a newborn babe she felt herself emerge from the dream with her entire being in a swirl of cascading energies and primal rejuvenation…

Beyond and below her the awed expressions of both her family and the Darkstalkers greeted her return to the mortal plane of existence. Kasumi gently touched bare feet upon the ground once again and felt the folding of wings behind her back as her dress altered abruptly and strange markings briefly appeared upon her face, to fade away moments later, leaving her much the same in appearance as before...yet somehow radiating an inner light that was breathtaking.

It was Nabiki who broke the silence that followed the slow fading of the light, and she asked very softly, "Oneechan?"

"Well…I'll be scrapped," Frank murmured in dull amazement.

"Pinch me and tell me I'm dreaming," Talbain pleaded, unable to look away from the vision that was Kasumi.

"Indeed," the mysterious D remarked, "Then we're all sharing the same dream."

"Words fail me…utterly," Tatewaki admitted.

"Ditto," Keiko replied, finding herself unable to look away from the transfigured Kasumi.

"Oh my," Nodoka murmured with a faint smile of appreciation.

"K-Kasumi?" Soun asked as if unable to believe that he was gazing on his own daughter.

"Well what do you know," Genma averred softly.

"In your case I'd say that was a trick question," Happosai absently retorted, himself drawn intuitively to the celestial beauty that was Kasumi.

"If I had not witnessed it with my own eyes…" Miyu marveled.

"Morgan," Larva turned to the succubus, "What you were about to say before about the Bloodstone…and why you thought it was a bad idea to give it to a Queen under full moonlight."

Morgan absently nodded her head and said, "According to legends…if you do so, then a Queen can be transformed into a…a…"

"A goddess?" Leguire finished for her, swallowing thickly and looking as if he were about to trash his "Agnostics" union card altogether.

"Well…I'll be staked," Raptor murmured softly.

"Don't give anybody ideas around here," Lenore warned, though she, too, was visibly affected by the transformation of Kasumi, with Chloe and even Kiima seeming quite visibly affected.

Only Donovan seemed unaffected by the transformation, and he gave Kasumi a frank regard before saying, "Well, Miss-Tendo? Do you now feel ready to perform your duties?"

"Of course I'm ready," Kasumi replied, and her voice had a musical quality to it as the slight movement of her head caused the unusual set of earrings that she was wearing to reflect the light…revealing the fact that one of them was quite obviously a miniaturized Bloodstone, "Let's go find and rescue my brother, Ranma…Nabiki…Natsume-chan?"

The novice Slayer was even then stirring from her swoon into her fiancé's arms, but looking up from Kuno's side she could perceive that there was something greatly different about her sister, and to this she could only nod in agreement, sensing that the time was indeed at hand for some collective butt-kicking as their Posse dished it out to certain deserving party named Dimitri…

Ranma looked down upon himself…or rather he was staring down at his own body, which presently was wrapped up in chains, ropes and harnesses to prevent mobility of any sort, except for maybe twitching his nose and wiggling his eyebrows. To him it looked a little like serious overkill, like someone had been piling it on to considerable excess, and yet the effect was to trap his mortal form but good. It made working his way free that much more problematic, and that was even assuming that the bad guys did not have something even nastier in mind as a failsafe or backup.

"Don't worry about your physical body, Master," Karina urged, "It will remain safe until you return to it, I promise."

"What an amateur this Bulletta character must be," Latisha sniffed, "All that metal and none of it is cold iron, or even magnetic. As if anything less would stop the three of us from liberating our Master."

"Yes, but we're all agreed that freedom comes after we liberate the Earth elemental," Sharil urged, "And time is of the essence since it is never a good idea to leave your body unattended to for more than twenty minutes while Astral projecting…"

"Twenty minutes?" Ranma started, "You guys never said anything about that!"

"A technical oversight," Karina reassured him, "Your Akashik body is composed primarily of Astral energies given coherent form by your mind and imagination. It is patterned to resemble the memory of your real body right down to the cellular level, so it will behave much as your real body while on the elemental planes of being. What is left to the body is your residual and external Astral shell, the part of you that stays in the body unless it is cremated. It should be safe with all of the wards that we have placed upon it, at least so long as we get back in time before the energy and integrity fields weaken."

"The body will maintain itself with heartbeat and respiration greatly slowed down to an almost imperceptive level," Latisha noted, "But once the integrity field begins to fade your autonomic processes will gradually cease to function and the body will die of its own accord, unless one of us remains behind to sustain it. Also too, your body would be vulnerable to astral possession without the wards we have placed upon it to keep away any foul or unnatural invading spirits. You will be safe for now, but I suggest that you make haste to free N'gsha from her entrapment so that we can reunite you with your body…else all contracts with you are voided."

"Meaning you'll be dead," Sharil translated, "Which sucks a great deal, you can take my word on that."

"Er, right," Ranma said, "Well, better get a move on, ladies, we don't want to keep this Nagisha person waiting…"

"This way, Master," Karina urged, and like that they seemed to cross a limited space from one part of the catacombs to another, arriving in a somewhat larger chamber.

"Whoah," Ranma said, not yet accustomed to this means of near-instant transportation. He looked around for a moment then spotted the most prominent object in the room and said, "Is that what we're after?"

"That's it," Karina nodded, indicating the large gold-embossed sarcophagus, which was ornately carved yet clearly very ancient, "Used to belong to an Egyptian lady…I think she was a princess or a queen or something, only Anakaris rigged it to be like a storage batter and prison for C'thonic energies. Nagisha's trapped inside there, only…well…she might not want to come out to play unless you coax her. The truth is…you'll probably have to enter her world in order to convince her to take you on as her new Master…"

"What?" Karina reacted, "Are you mad, Sylph? That thing is designed to be a prison!"

"No, worse," Sharil observed, "A maze…it's like a labyrinth in there, I can feel the twisting passages that wind their way towards the very center…"

"Heh, too bad my brother, Ryoga, ain't here with me," Ranma sniffed.

"The one who gets easily lost?" Latisha asked, "Why?"

"'Cause he's good at solving mazes," Ranma said as he moved closer to the sarcophagus, "He gets lost in a room with only one door, but he's uncanny when it comes to picking the right direction to go when you got so many possible choices."

"Knowing him just from your memories, that almost makes sense, Master," Sharil noted in surprisingly dry humor.

Ranma examined the sarcophagus, noting its intricately inlaid surface that followed up towards a jewel inlaid insect whose ruby eyes almost seemed to be staring back at him, and as he brushed his fingers over the surface he said, "How am I supposed to get inside this thing again…?"

All at once he felt the insect come alive beneath is fingers, and then its eye expanded to become a portal, and all at once Ranma felt himself being sucked into the thing, gaining a first hand impression of what it was like to be drawn through a straw, only to manifest again instants later in what looked to be an entirely different kind of chamber.

"Whoah," he said as his senses attempted to reorient, "What a rush…"

"Does that answer your question, Master?" he heard Karina say, and Ranma jumped in alarm to see his three elemental familiar had accompanied him into the vessel.

"Hey, I thought we agreed that you guys were gonna stay back and keep out of harms way!" Ranma sputtered in dismay.

"Foolish Master," Latisha crackled, "As if you could face this challenge all by yourself without our help?"

"He will have to when it comes to facing N'gsha," Sharil reminded, "But we intend to stand beside you and assist you where needed, Master. Feel free to call upon our powers whenever they are required."

"But be careful to mind the limits that this place imposes upon all of us," Karina cautioned, "The energy patterns here work differently from the world outside the Scarab Beetle portal, so if you try to use us against Nagisha our spells may not work exactly as intended."

"Great, now you tell me this?" Ranma grumbled, glancing from side to side, "Well, too late to back out now…only we've got a lot of area to cover, and there ain't enough time to explore ever corridor and passage…"

"Let me lead the way, Master," Karina urged, starting off in a certain fixed direction.

"Oh?" Latisha said, "And I suppose that you've been here before?"

"Of course not, Silly," Karina called back, "I just have a feel for wind currents, and I can tell which passages lead to dead ends and which continue."

The Salamanth Queen and Undine Princess exchanged looks, then Ranma sighed and moved on ahead, compelling them to follow him as even they did not relish being alone in a place this dark, dank and foreboding.

The journey was impossible to fathom in terms of time itself, but Ranma felt the urgency of knowing that he was on a deadline and so made haste to keep pace with Karina, and soon they were in a different set of corridors where the feeling of weight pressed the very air itself against his imaginary lungs. Karina seemed to feel it too, as did his other elemental servants with Latisha being the one to voice aloud, "We are in a C'thonic region…there can be no doubt of this. This is deep under-earth territory where dark things grow and the blood of the earth flows like molten lava."

"I feel the presence of many underground streams nearby," Sharil duly noted, "It's not like the sea, my home, but there is a kind of…hominess about it. It definitely does feel like a dwelling of some sort or other…"

"Hey, wait a second," Ranma said as he looked straight ahead at a bend in the corridor, "I feel…something…there's somebody nearby…feels almost like…a person."

"Two persons, Master," Karina corrected as they rounded the bend and came out into a much, much larger chamber, "Yet more prisoners of my former Master."

Ranma gasped as he saw a pair of figures stuck to the distant wall off to his left, a pair of women who seemed to be ensnared by roots or branches of some type of underground plant. He studied them from a distance of ten meters then said, "Hey, I know those guys! They showed up at our house…only…I don't remember their names too clearly…"

"Their names are Tsien-Ko and her twin sister, Mei-Ling," Karina informed him, "One is a Chinese Vampire, also called a Hopper Ghost, and the other is a Spiritualist linked to her as her familiar. Both are formerly of the Shao tribe but were adopted into the Tsiel vampire bloodline by their blood cousin, Ling-Ko, who is the Queen vampire of her nation."

"So what are they doing here?" Latisha wondered.

"Suffering from the looks of things," Sharil answered, "See how those roots are feeding off of their bodies, draining their energies and bleeding them to where they can barely survive their ordeal?"

"Looks bad," Ranma said, "We gotta get 'em down from there while there's still time…"

He took a step forward only to feel something yield slightly under his weight, and instinctively he jumped back and stood prepared in case there was trouble, but then he saw the dark cable moved, thumping the ground in displeasure before rising again…and as he followed its length he saw that it came attached to a much larger body, and with a slow sense of pending dread Ranma turned to see the creature rising from the floor, covered in dark, coal-black scales and terminating in a triangular head with eyes that gleamed with a dark burgundy color.

"WHO DARES TO DISTURB MY LAIR?" it rumbled in a voice that sounded like shale grinding against granite, rising up to its full height and looming large before the eyes of Ranma and his elemental cohorts as the Saotome heir looked up and up and swallowed a thick lump that formed in the back of his throat.

"Oboy," he said softly, "It's a dragon…"

"Nagisha!" Karina called out, "It's me! I lead him here, he's our new…!"

The dragon struck the ground with its tail and almost bowled Ranma and his trio of elementals off their feet, then it rumbled again, "KARINA…I MIGHT HAVE KNOWN, YOU FLIGHTY-HEADED DITZ! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF BRINGING THIS MORTAL INTO MY STRONGHOLD?"

"Your prison you mean?" Karina called back after regaining her bearings, "He's my new Master!"

The dragon lowered its head and stared hard at Ranma, who had to fight to keep control over his nerves as the primal terror inspired by the sight of the creature threatened to send him running for terror. He could not help recognizing that the head of the creature was many times the overall size of his own body, and he was none to happy about the way the dragon was sizing him over, displaying fangs that looked at this range like a row of stalagmites.

"SO…YOU GOT YOURSELF A NEW MASTER?" the dragon said scornfully, "DOESN'T SEEM LIKE MUCH, BARELY EVEN A BITE FULL…"

"He's not for eating, Nagisha," Karina protested, "He's here to help! I brought him here so he cold free you!"

"FREE ME?" the dragon replied with scorn, "THIS PUNY, SCRAWNY EXCUSE FOR A MAN IS GOING TO LIBERATE ME FROM DIMITRI MAXIMOFF? AS JESTS GO THIS IS BARELY WORTH A CHUCKLE."

"Hey!" Ranma flared, "This ain't no jest! I've come to rescue you…and these other two with you, so how about showing a little appreciation?"

"YOU…HAVE COME TO LIBERATE ME?" the dragon cried, widening its mouth, "THE JEST GETS EVEN BETTER! I LIKE IT HERE, LITTLE MAN, AND IF YOU THINK TO TAKE ME, THEN LET'S JUST SEE WHAT YOU ARE MADE OF!"

The Dragon moved forward and attempted to bite Ranma in half, but he was quick to leap away and avoid the attack as the dragon dove down literally into the earth and vanished for a moment, only to resurface again as its head burst forth from the ground almost exactly where he had been standing the instant before this.

Ranma took to the air and instinctively called upon the Arashisenken to cancel out the pull of gravity so that he could hover above the ground at a reasonably safe distance. Something went awry, however, and the force he summoned got out of his control and called up a wind that slammed him into a wall, almost stunning him had he not braced himself at the last instant.

"HAH, WHAT AN AMATEUR HE IS!" the dragon scorned, "HE DEFEATS HIMSELF WITHOUT MY HAVING TO WASTE THE EFFORT…"

"Master!" Latisha cried as she, Karina and Sharil appeared to flank Ranma as he started to recover.

"LATISHA…IS THAT YOU?" the dragon scowled, "WHAT IS A QUEEN OF THE SALAMANTH RACE DOING ATTACHING HERSELF TO THE LIKES OF HIM?"

"That is my business, not yours, N'gsha!" snapped, "And if you must know, I serve this man willingly as his ally since he has proven to me to be a worthy and fair Master."

"I DON'T KNOW WHETHER TO WEEP OR CRY TO HEAR SUCH WORDS FROM YOUR LIPS," the dragon snorted, "MY MOTHER WOULD NEVER HAVE BELIEVED THAT YOU WOULD GO SOFT IN YOUR OLD AGE! WHAT HAS BECOME OF YOUR PRIDE? AND WHO IS THIS NYMPH WHO DARES TO ACCOMPANY YOU IN THIS FOLLY?"

"Leave them alone!" Ranma snapped as he straightened himself out, flexing his arms to make sure that nothing had been dislocated, "Your fight is with me, lady! You think I'm just some cheap punk come down here to get laughed at by the likes of you? No way! I'm Saotome Ranma, the Senken Master!"

His elemental companions eyed him as though wondering if he had taken leave of his senses, but the dragon reacted to his defiant tone by snarling, "WHY YOU…YOU DARE ADDRESS ME IN THAT TONE, LITTLE MAN? YOUR AMUSEMENT FACTOR CEASES TO HAVE INTEREST TO ME AS OF THIS VERY MOMENT!"

"Bring it on, lady," Ranma smiled cockily, "I'm betting you ain't got what it takes to beat me, so give it your best shot and you'll see how amusing I can be!"

"THEN DIE!" the dragon cried as it lunged ahead with jaws parted wide to engulf this defiant human.

"Master run!" Latisha urged, "Let us handle this one…"

"No way," Ranma seemed to draw into himself and snarled, "I can handle this! Just watch me!"

To their collective amazement he stood his ground and waited for the dragon to attack him, then at the last possible instant he unfolded his arms and gripped the dragon by its jaws, exerting a strength that was clearly superhuman as he dug his heels into the ground, plowing up a field as their combined lurch drove them back almost to the wall an entire fifteen meters.

Time itself seemed to hesitate as the elementals stared in disbelief at their human Master, who was holding the jaws of the dragon apart through force of will, and then Ranma smiled even as he grit his teeth, and the dragon itself gasped, "W-WHAAAT?"

With great effort Ranma snarled out, "YAMASENKEN SPECIAL MANEUVER-ROARING GATES TIGER ROAR!!!" and with that he leaped forward and planted a spinning razor kick that caught under the chin of the beast and sent the dragon reeling backwards as though propelled back by a catapult. He completed his leap with a one-point careful landing then grinned, seeing the dragon recover itself while looming up almost to the high vaulted ceiling.

"Surprised?" Ranma grinned, "And that was only just a basic maneuver."

"HOW?" the dragon scowled, "HOW CAN A MERE MORTAL DO SUCH A THING TO THE LIKES OF ME?"

"You expect me to just tell you up front?" Ranma sniffed, "No way! You want answers, lady, you've gotta work for them."

All at once he sensed danger and moved in time to avoid the crash of the serpent's tail, and then the dragon attacked again, seeing him exposed and vulnerable in the air, an easy target to swallow.

But no sooner had she attempted this but the image of Ranma faded out before its eyes and the dragon went crashing into the wall behind the image, for a moment stuck there like a dart as the real Ranma materialized at the opposite end of the chamber.

"That was the Umisenken maneuver, Mirror Reflection," Ranma revealed, "Care to almost see it again?"

"YOU…" the dragon pulled itself loose from the wall, "SO…YOU DO KNOW A FEW ODD TRICKS, MORTAL? VERY WELL THEN, I WILL GET MORE SERIOUS IN CONCLUDING THIS BATTLE."

"W-Whoever you are…get away from here…" a voice said weakly from near to where Ranma was standing.

"Huh?" Ranma turned to find that it was the helpless Tsien-Ko who had spoken, the blue skinned lady in the strange robes with her oversized wing-like claws looking down at him with ruby eyes that were pained and almost glassy.

"You've…gotta…get away…" she said again, "You're no match…for an elemental…"

"Huh, doesn't seem so tough to me so far," Ranma snorted, "And I ain't leaving here without you guys lady. You obviously need a hand, so count me a Prince Charming."

"You…are…wrong…brave mortal…" the other one, Mei-Ling, said even more weakly than her sister, "N'gsha…is too dangerous…for the likes of…you…"

"Why?" Ranma asked, "What's she got that's so-huh?" Ranma reacted as he felt something clawing up his legs, and as he turned to look he found in dismay that there were roots sprouting up from the ground and winding their way around is ankles.

"HAH…NOT SO COCKY NOW, ARE WE MORTAL?" the dragon sneered, "THE POWERS OF THE EARTH ARE AT MY DISPOSAL. YOU ARE NOTHING WHEN COMPARED TO ME, AND ALL YOUR CHEAP BRAVADO HAS DONE IS TO INSURE YOUR DEATH…"

"Oh yeah?" Ranma firmed his lip and took on a grim expression, "Well, two can play at that game, lady! HONOSENKEN-FLAME BURST FROM A GROUND SOURCE!"

Latisha began to glow as fire erupted from around Ranma's right hand, and all at once the ground beneath his feet forth and consumed the clawing roots with force enough to propel Ranma into the air as he effortlessly vaulted to safety.

"UMISENKEN-SPECIAL ATTACK!" Ranma cried, "FLOODS SWEEP WIDE DRAGON FIST RYU!" and he moved his left fist forward as Sharil began to glow a faint blue coloration, and suddenly a jet of water shot out from his hand to take the form of a blue dragon.

The black dragon was amazed to find itself assaulted by a fellow elemental, but even more so to discover the surge of Ki-force that empowered the creature as it collided with the dark scales of its body, and like a garden hose turned against a snake it washed the black dragon back and away to the far corner of the room, at which point the power of the attack was fully expended.

Ranma landed with a nimbleness that disguised the fact that this attack had taxed him dearly, but rather than show weakness he stood proudly forth and said, "Now whatcha gonna do about that, huh?"

"THEY ARE HELPING YOU," the dragon declared as it loomed up once again, even more angry than before, "BUT I WILL NOT BE BESTED WITHIN MY OWN STRONGHOLD, EVEN IF YOU CALL UPON THE POWER OF THESE…TRAITORS!"

With that the dragon dove into the ground again, vanishing with an ease that made its huge bulk appear to slide into the earth like a swimmer merging with the water. Ranma looked down in dismay as he heard the elementals inside his head say, "Careful Master! She flows through the earth as though swimming…"

"I know that," Ranma said, then called out to his third elemental servant, "Karina, are you ready?"

"Huh?" she said, "Ah…sure, Master…what do you have in mind?"

"You'll see," Ranma said, only to glance sharply to the side before vaulting into the air once again as the black dragon burst forth from the ground sprouting a number of roots that it attempted to use to spear him like a pincushion.

Ranma raised both fists then called out, "ARASHISENKEN SPECIAL ATTACK-WIND SHEERS TILES OFF ROOF RYU!"

And with that he brought both hands down and charged himself with his remaining reserves of Ki, and all at once a cyclone formed in the air all around him as he directed its winds to move like invisible knives, sheering through everything that stood forth against it.

To the amazement of the dragon it felt its own scales being attack by winds that dove under the overlapping plates and ripped them asunder, pulling them loose and spinning them in the air so that they became like deadly weapons unto themselves, slicing at roots and vines and battering away at the dragon itself like a thousand fists of relentless fury. After only a few moments of this assault the dragon collapse to the ground and landed with a heavy thud, bleeding a kind of moistened ooze from scores of different slashes it had taken. It's tongue lolled out of its huge mouth and it breathed in ragged breaths with great deliberation.

Ranma drifted back down to the broken ground of the chamber near to the fallen beast then allowed his Ki levels to return to normal. At once fatigue threatened to overmaster him, but he fought to conceal this as he eyed the fallen dragon and said, "Do you yield?"

"I…I…I YIELD…SORCERER…" the creature said with ponderous deliberation.

"Good," Ranma approached the dragon and set a hand to its broken scales, only to see the creature wince at the contact, to which he said, "Hey, easy…I ain't gonna hurt you! At least…not any more that is. Jeez…didn't expect my attack would do such a number on you. Any of you guys know a remedy for this?"

"I do," Sharil spoke into his mind, then from his left hand waves of soothing blue energy rolled out, flowing over the bleeding scales and rents in armored flesh and covering them with a balm-like fluid that eased the suffering of the stricken creature.

The dragon reacted to this with a start, raised its head and stared in disbelief at the youth whose touch was gradually repairing the wounds to its body, and then in a rumble of dismay it said, "WHA-WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU ARE…HEALING ME? WHY?"

"Hey, what good would you be to me if you were all banged up like this?" Ranma smiled at the creature with good humor, "Besides, I can't stand seeing anybody hurt that way…not at my hand at least, and you sure don't deserve it."

"BUT…I TRIED TO CRUSH YOU, TO DESTROY YOU…" the dragon said, "WHY WOULD YOU SPARE ME?"

"Because I'm Saotome Ranma, and it's what I do," he replied, "You were fighting for your pride, right? Because that Dimitri guy forced you to be his slave. Well, I said I was gonna free you from that, and I always keep my promises. Don't matter to me if you're an enemy or just another innocent dupe, you ain't my real enemy. My enemy is Dimitri."

"HOW…HOW CAN YOU BE SO KIND? SHOW SUCH MERCY?" the dragon asked, then all at once its body collapsed in upon itself, and within moments it took on a human shape, entirely female and brown-skinned with dark green hair and eyes as flinty as shale, "How can you say that you want to help me when I…I do the bidding of Dimitri?"

"And why's that?" Ranma asked as he turned to face the now-humanoid elemental, grateful that she had manifested some type of robes to cover her body rather than appear before him as naked, "Do you like working for the guy?"

"No," Nagisha answered, "I hate him. No man loves Dimitri Maximoff…and he cares nothing for anyone but himself. To him I am but another slave who does his bidding."

"Well then," Ranma said, "Any objections to coming with me? I think I got room enough for one more companion…might be a bit of a tight fit, but…"

"You…would have me?" Nagisha asked, "Why?"

"I dunno," Ranma shrugged, "But the other girls seemed to think I could use you…something about restoring a balance, or something like that. Actually, though, I kinda hate the idea of leaving you here…it just don't sit right, know what I mean? And besides, there's these other two to worry about."

"Them?" Nagisha glanced at the wall, and all at once the fines withdrew, releasing the two sisters, who both slumped to the ground like broken puppets, "I was told to keep them here by Dimitri, but they are harmless to me. I was draining them of their energies, but there was not enough there to be of much nourishment for my needs."

"Guh…" Tsien-Ko grunted, "Don't…look now, Sis…but…I think we've just been…insulted…"

"Go with it, Tsien-Ko," Mei-Ling urged, "Never look…a gift nag…in the mouth…"

"Thanks," Ranma said, smiling at Nagisha, "Ready to get out of here, lady?"

"But…how do you mean to carry me?" Nagisha asked, "I am trapped here by powerful spells, and I cannot leave this place without the permission of Lord Dimitri."

"Ain't a problem for me," Ranma said as he stretched out his left hand, then concentrated on his remaining energies, expanding a Ki-field around him like a bubble, surrounding both himself and the Earth elemental within its sphere before calling out the technique in an almost-airless vacuum, "YAMASENKEN SPECIAL MANEUVER-DEEP SEA CHASM REMODIFIED-ENVELOPE AND CONTAIN RYU!"

All at once he collapsed the field and Nagisha suddenly found herself being sucked into his arm, transforming into greenish-brown energy as she vanished into the palm of his hand altogether.

"Oh my…" he heard her voice say, this time within his mind, "That certainly is…different…"

"Our Master is a peculiar one," Latisha's voice responded, "But in time you will grow to know him as we do."

Ranma felt a tingle along his left leg then sighed, "Hope I don't have to do this again…I'm running outta places to store you guys. Now…how about you two girls? You feeling all right enough to travel out of here now?"

"Girls?" Tsien-Ko muttered, "You hear what he just called us, Sis?"

"Deal with it, Sister," Mei-Ling said as she forced herself into a sitting position, giving Ranma an appreciative nod, "You are a most unusual fellow, Saotome Ranma. Well met indeed."

"I'll take that for a yes," Ranma smiled, only to feel a certain tingling come over his body, "Uh oh…now what?"

"What we feared might happen, Master," Sharil spoke into his mind, "You are nearing the time limit for being away from your body, and you expended so much energy during the fight…"

"Sis," Tsien-Ko said with some alarm, "Look at him…he's starting to fade out on us!"

"I believe that I know what his problem is," Mei-Ling straightened out then offered her sister a hand, "We cannot afford to wait until our own strength returns. We must help this young man to get back to his real body."

"His real body?" Tsien-Ko blinked, "Oh, I get it now! He Astral projected!"

"Yes, but fortunately he could be the means for our own deliverance," Mei-Ling raised her hands, closed her eyes and made a ritual gesture, and all at once the world seemed to spin out of control for Ranma, only to reorient once again as he felt his body tingle all over, and then he opened his eyes, saw where he was and mentally groaned, (Oh man…I forgot all about this…!).

"Whew, what a relief that is!" Tsien-Ko smiled as she flexed both her arms and her massively clawed wings, then did a double-take as she got a full good look at Ranma's position, "What the hey…?"

"Oh my," Mei-Ling also goggled as she saw the bound up position that Ranma was in, "This is the way they left him in captivity?"

"He looks like a poster boy for bondage anonymous," Tsien-Ko remarked, then smiled as she raised one of her clawed wings and said, "Well…they say that one good turn deserves another…"

Ranma's eyes almost bulged from their sockets as he stared in dismay, but because of the rubber ball currently strapped into his mouth he could not say aloud, (NOW WAIT A MINUTE-CAN'T WE TALK ABOUT THIS?)

Tsien-Ko went to work shredding the chains, ropes and other forms of restraint, and a moment later Ranma was able to stand clear, at which point he tore the ball gag out of his mouth and said, "Thanks…!"

"Hey, don't mention…it…?" Tsien-Ko's eyes traveled up and down Ranma's length as it became apparent that he was not wearing any clothing, a fact that Ranma cottoned onto after only a moment of wondering why she was staring at his crotch like that, then all at once he colored abruptly and cast a wild look about in search of his clothing.

"Oh my," Mei-Ling said as she could not help but duplicate the expression of her sister.

"Not such a little boy after all, is he?" Tsien-Ko faintly murmured.

"URK!" Ranma hastily moved his hands to cover up his privates.

"Here, Master…allow me," a familiar voice said, handing him his shirt and pants, which Ranma gratefully took and wasted no time in pulling back on, minus his shorts which had somehow gone missing.

"Thanks," he said before turning to see that the one who had assisted him was none other than his newest convert, "Nagisha?"

"A pleasure to service you, My Lord," she smiled before fading into a greenish glow and vanishing back into his body.

Ranma stared at the place where she had been standing for a moment before Tsien-Ko said, "What's the deal with you, guy? Out to coral yourself an Elemental harem?"

"I hope not," Ranma averred, "I got four women in my life already, and that oughta be enough for any man."

He fetched his slippers then turned to the Chinese Vampire and her familiar Spiritualist sister then said, "Okay, so what do we do now?"

"Now we have to find Dimitri Maximoff and put a stop to his evil plans," Mei-Ling replied.

"Yeah, and then we gonna flatten him on his Eurotrash butt for the stuff he put us both through!" Tsien-Ko flexed an arm and raised one of her wings for emphasis, "The nerve of that guy, taking liberties with a couple of sweet virgins like us with some fancy new maneuver he picked up, and when I get my claws on the guy who came up with such a perverted system…"

"Er, right," Ranma said hastily, "Sounds like a working plan. Only…where do we go to find the guy?"

"Up above ground," Mei-Ling pointed towards the ceiling, "Over our very heads. At midnight they intend to sacrifice our cousin, the Blood Queen."

"So what are we waiting for?" Ranma asked, "The guy needs stomping, so let's stomp him!"

"After you, Hot Stuff," Tsien-Ko grinned as Ranma took the point and headed towards what he hoped would be the nearest exit, then in conspiratorial whisper she glanced at her sister and mouthed the words, "Is that butt worth dying for or what, Sis?"

"I believe that I heard someone say that he is already married, Tsien-Ko," Mei-Ling patiently reminded her sibling, though in truth she could not help also studying his manly profile.

"So…do you think maybe his wife is into threesomes?" Tsien-Ko asked, then the two of them cheerfully made haste to follow Ranma on his quest for payback against the fellow who had inconvenienced them so tartly, little realizing the full extent of the climactic battle towards which they were heading…

Continued

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