Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ Pyron versus Kasumi--Fight!... ( Chapter 134 )

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.

"What in the world?" D exclaimed as he and his hand caught up with Happosai, finding the wizened old man standing in front of a massive ice sculpture through which vague shapes could be discerned in mere shadowy outline.

"Looks to me as if someone's been put on ice for the duration," the wizened old martial arts master remarked in a casual, off-handed fashion.

"It would appear that we have found at least two of our traveling companions," D noted, "And-unless I miss my guess at that massive broad chest and imposing frame-I think that I know who in particular was singled out by Dimitri and his allies for just such a demobilization."

"The little shadow next to the big shadow is definitely another give away on that front, Boss," his hand observed, "I'd say that they took out their most powerful opponent first figuring the rest would be easier to dispose of…"

"No, not the most powerful on our side," D smiled grimly, "In that respect Dimitri and his colleagues have…miscalculated. I only hope that nothing ill has befallen anyone else or this could become a rather sticky situation."

"You're telling me that?" Happosai sniffed as he scowled at the ice block, "I don't mind what warriors do to one another…playing rough is all part of the business, but I draw the line at anyone doing a thing like that to a mere child. I've always hated big bullies who pick on smaller and weaker targets, and this Dimitri clown is no exception. The only question is how to break them out of there without harming anybody, and for that I've got to determine the weakest point of this ice block so I can shatter it and not the people we intend on saving."

"Perhaps I can assist with that," D held up his hand, "Or rather…my ally can do the job for us."

"So now I'm your ally, huh?" the hand sniffed, "Oh well, at least you're a nicer sort that the fellow I used to be attached to. Don't mind if I do inhale a bit of slushy on the sideline, but this could give us the chills, Boss, so I hope that you're prepared for the brain-freeze headache…"

All at once a screeching banshee-like cry filled the air and before either D or Happosai could turn their heads, something whizzed right past them like an icy wind and struck the ice-block dead-center, causing it to fragment and explode into a hundred frozen shards without touching the two figures trapped inside, releasing them unharmed from the embrace of their silent slumber.

At once Donovan Bane began to shake off the effects of cold, his Damphyr metabolism giving him a natural resilience to extremes of temperature, though when the young girl at his side began to sneeze he reflexively said, "Bless you."

"Thanks," Anita said as she rubbed her tiny nose with her fingers.

"What the heck was that?" the hand remarked, sounding both surprised and a little flustered at being upstaged in such a dramatic and unexpected a manner.

"I thought…it had the outline of a woman," D observed even less casually.

"That was no woman," Happosai declared, "That was a goddess! Or rather, I should say, a Class Nine elemental spirit, a Sylph, I believe…yes, definitely a wind spirit…and pretty well stacked at that…"

"It matters not the means of our release," Donovan declared, turning to regard them then nodding off towards the distance, "What matters is that we are in time to prevent a tragedy of immeasurable proportions, and now that my evil half-brother has unleashed his hellish plans for the earth, it is up to me to help put a stop to these affairs before any more innocent lives are sacrificed to his dark ambitions."

"It's butt-kicking time," Anita pronounced in her usually flat, inflectionless tone of voice (albeit this time there was just a hint of real anger hidden beneath her seeming lack of emotions).

"You know where Dimitri and his allies can be found?" D asked, anxious to himself be going into action.

"Sure, can't you see, Boy?" Happosai answered for him, "They're right over there plain as day…and surrounded by really ugly looking buggers."

D turned and indeed saw what the old man was referring to, surprised to find that they were standing less than two hundred yards away from the main scene of the action, to which he remarked a rather crestfallen, "Oh."

"Distance is only relative on this plane of being," Donovan reminded his companions, "How near or far you are in relation to anything or anyone else is a matter of perception. But come, there is not a moment to waste if our allies are to be rescued."

That said the broad-shouldered man started forward, accompanied by a resolute Anita, to which Happosai gave a cheerful cry of, "Yowza! Let's go rescue the cuties!"

"Something tells me this is going to be one of those days, Boss," the hand informed its master.

"You are just figuring that out?" D replied with a shrug before making haste to catch up with the rest of his allies…

Meanwhile-not at all that distant as things were measured in the Limbo-like realm of Subspace-another pair were getting their bearings reoriented as Morgan and a limping Dimitri came to within the periphery of the ring of angry Rakshasa surrounding Kasumi and her friends, who were being held at bay by the globe of purity that the novice Vampire Queen was projecting, a fact that did not go unnoticed by either the renegade Vampire Lord or his comely Succubus companion.

"Incredible…such power she possesses," Dimitri remarked as he felt the radiance of Kasumi's energy from a distance, "If I could but take that power and claim it for my own…"

"I'd say your chances of that are a bit dim at the moment," Morgan remarked, "Neither one of us can get near the silly chit while she's putting out like that, and besides which, there's about a million of your father's boyos standing between us and them…

"Immaterial," Dimitri said confidently, squaring his shoulders and standing proudly on his own power, then striding forth with a resolutely determined expression, "Dimitri Maximoff does not allow lesser beings to stand between him and his ambition. Turn and face me now, Monsters, if you dare, or step aside to let me pass. Either way you shall not bar me from my course."

And-much to Morgan's surprise and everyone one else who was observing-the tide of the Rakshasa gave back before him allowing Dimitri and Morgan to pass through all the way to the edge of the circle whereupon Dimitri paused and stared directly at Kasumi, giving her his full regards as if to compel her to look back at him, which she did in a moment of mutual recognition.

All other eyes were turned towards him (save only for the huddled blonde form of a shuddering BB Hood clinging to Talbain's protective shadow), universally hostile stares that Dimitri ignored (especially the glares shot his way by a naked Nabiki and semi-clad Natsume), as if only one opinion mattered to him, and that opinion was decided when Kasumi relaxed one area of her field and created a corridor through which Dimitri and Morgan were permitted access.

"Oneechan?" Natsume asked as she felt a tightening in her belly, far more intense than with any of her previous vampiric encounters.

"What are you doing, Kasumi?" Nabiki asked, "How can you let that…monster come near us?"

Dimitri nodded towards Frank, "You let him near you, but who is raising any objections?"

"We are," Ranma said as he flashed a hand into which a white streak passed like descending lightning, causing the tattoo on his arm there to briefly ripple before resuming its normal outline as he turned and growled, "Kasumi's our sister, and you ain't welcome."

"I was her Sire, Boy," Dimitri sneered, "I only laid my mark on you, but with her I shared my essence, and though she has mutated much beyond my control, there remains a special bond between us that even my half-brother's formidable powers cannot rend asunder."

"Actually," Kasumi said, "I just let you into this sphere because I thought that you might be able to help us."

"Say what?" Talbain and the others responded, turning incredulous looks in Kasumi's direction.

"You would trust this…creature to side with us against his own father?" Tatewaki sneered with undisguised contempt.

"Considering who your father is, and how you feel about him, you can honestly ask that?" Kurumi noted in the samurai's direction.

"As frightening as that analogy is," Mousse remarked, "I would have to agree with you, Airen."

Tatewaki did not reply to this, but the side-glance that he turned on them was telling.

"You need not fear betrayal from me at this juncture," Dimitri said, "We have a mutual enemy of far greater concern than the petty disputes that separate us…"

"Petty?" Keiko asked with an arching eyebrow.

"You think we can brush our differences under the table and make nice…just like that?" Nabiki asked, reflexively covering her breasts with one hand while placing another over her loins, unlike Keiko, whom she noted was flaunting her nudity in a totally shameless manner.

"And after what you did to me and Kasumi?" Ranma scowled, "Not likely."

"You only loathe and despise me because I seek world domination and prey upon the weak and the innocent," Dimitri pointed out before nodding towards the glowing hole through which a face of evil was projecting, "But my father and his ilk would do far worse things to the people of this world, and humanity would gravely suffer if these foul creatures were to spread their demon seed to the fertile young women of the entire planet. Imagine a world populated by their kind with both vampire and human races hounded to extinction?"

There was silence for a moment before Nabiki growled out, "I hate it when they start talking sense…"

"Me too," Frank growled, giving Dimitri a hard look, "Try anything and I'll be on you like a ton of bricks…but in the meantime, mind explaining what you and your pals were trying to do opening a gate for your old man and his buddies…and why things didn't work out the way you intended?"

"I…miscalculated a bit in my projections," Dimitri confessed, "It was my intention to lure my father fully through the passage into this middle-realm, whereupon I had hoped to ensnare his essence…but since that has not materialized and he has-much to my dismay-chosen to forward his emissaries instead of his own foul presence…"

"I get you, Fangs," Talbain noted, "Somehow we gotta get the old guy to commit himself directly instead of only working through these lesser types of demons. Only I don't like the implications that you intended to siphon his powers into yourself directly, thereby becoming almost like unto a god yourself, so what makes you think we'll just go along with the program?"

"I do not expect you to relish the thought of my ascension," Dimitri sneered, "But at the moment you have little choice but to trust me and my plans. That is unless you think to ask my dear brother to close the gate and shut out our demonic father for good…or do you think he can manage that feat without any other kind of assistance?"

"I don't know," Keiko remarked as she glanced off towards the side, "Why don't we ask him since that looks like the big man himself pulling up this way…and he's got other company with him."

"Huh," Ranma and the others followed her expression in time to see Donovan Bane striding up to the place where his massive sword lay half-buried in the ground due to Ranma's own earlier actions. To their mutual surprise they saw Donovan casually withdraw the blade from its terrestrial prison even as the focus of the Rakshasa turned in his direction.

"Is that really him this time?" Nabiki asked with a frown, "What if it's another shadow, like the last one?"

"The proof will be in the pudding, or tofu, as ye may have it," Morgan remarked.

"Indeed," Dimitri said with a faint smile, "Donovan's actions should speak volumes for the nature of his intentions."

Indeed, Donovan Bane regarded the monsters that began to surround him with an impassive expression and golden eyes that reflected some deep, impossible to fathom emotions. Then he hefted his massive sword into the air and it slung itself across his back, even as he squared his stance and assumed a posture of readiness…and all at once a shadowy outline rose up from his body to take upon a shimmering aspect, one of a warrior in armor whose huge relief dwarfed the wandering monk and drew the eye like a twenty-foot-tall magnet.

"Though I am of the Dark and share blood with your kind, I have nothing else in common with either you or your foul appetites," Donovan declared in somber tones, "You are beasts who thirst for the flesh and souls of the innocent and know of no other way to live. Mutual existence between humanity and your kind is therefore impossible, and yet still you thirst to come over into the human world, and therefore the human half of my blood cries out to prevent you from advancing one step further beyond this threshold!"

As he said this he made a dramatic gesture, and all at once light exploded from the giant figure towering above him, radiant energy that lanced out at the Rakshasa and struck their forms before any of the hideous creatures could react, and at one by one they began to explode, their bodies ripped to pieces by a hailstorm of energy bullets that tore into their ranks and dispersed them in all directions.

"How typical of my sentimental brother," Dimitri sniffed, "Always so melodramatic, but one cannot deny the effectiveness of his methods, whether you are on the receiving end or merely a witness."

"He does have a way of making his presence known," the hooded figure of D remarked as he somberly joined them in their protective circle, watching the fireworks display with a cool demeanor.

"Cousin D?" Dimitri glanced sidelong at the cloaked man, "So…you followed us here, why am I not surprised?"

"Father wanted me to investigate your activities, Dimitri," D noted, having to arch his voice to make himself be heard over the explosion, "He is rather upset with you…but I suppose you already knew that…"

"How horrible," Kasumi said from the safety of her globe of protection, seeing the creatures who had threatened them fly apart and vanish into disintegrating proto-matter.

"Could it be worse than what they intended for us?" Mousse remarked.

"Perhaps those creatures deserve what they are receiving," Natsume replied, "But that doesn't mean we should celebrate their suffering."

"Indeed, my love," Tatewaki declared, "Unpleasant yet necessary tasks are not so much to be enjoyed as endured for necessity's sake."

"I think I am going to be ill," Kurumi remarked as she covered her mouth with a hand upon witnessing the creatures being struck down all around them and the gruesome way their bodies seemed to melt into a puddle.

"How is he doing that?" Ranma asked.

"It's called channeling, Kid," Frank explained, "The power works through him…he's a got a number of familiar guardian spirits he can call on when he needs them…"

"Just glad to see him using them against the bad guys and not us this time around," Talbain rumbled.

Donovan released the power and the towering figure over his head faded away, leaving him to survey his own handiwork with grim-eyed satisfaction before he turned to regard the glowing circle of light overhead and said, "Is this the best that you can send against me…you who claim to be my father?"

**Donovan Bane,** the voice of Mor'ghul replied with a faint sneer in its projection, **Once again our paths cross, my prodigal son, and yet still you do impress me even if you abuse the power that is the legacy of your birthright, seeking to turn it against me, who gave you your existence.**

"You ravaged my mother and expect that it entitles you to lay claims upon my birthright?" Donovan said with a hint of genuine wrath in his tone and expression, "Should I thank you for the torture that was my birth and the hard road that you put me upon as I learned to gradually master the dark gift of your nature, which has tainted me and denied me the life of a normal man…father?"

**Of course not,** the voice from above declared, **Gratitude is a human emotion, not Rakshasa. We feel the kinship of our blood yet are ruled by stronger passions than any mere human could hope to know, among with is the pride in seeing our offspring grow to challenge us, testing their strength against the strength of those who bore them to prove the viability of our bloodlines. The stronger the progeny, the greater the service and honor you bestow upon your father. So…yes, it pleases me to find your strength has grown so much in the mere century or so since I first mated with your mother. You do not bow your head or bend the knee to any other, and that makes you the strongest of my progeny and not some weak excuse who disappoints me so like that pathetic creature you call your brother.**

"What is that?" Dimitri bristled, "You find fault with me and yet praise him?"

**Do not forget that I have watched both of your careers from a distance with great interest,** Mor'ghul replied, **And while you each have shown potential in your time, the paths which you have separately followed has led you here through very different junctures, and I have witnessed the many defeats and trials that you have both sought to overcome in order to make yourselves the strongest of your kind. You each are mighty in your own separate niches, but while you struggle to gain supremacy over all vampires your brother had forged his own path and seeks only to master his own nature, which makes him the stronger of the both of you, the one who is most worthy of challenging me to prove his worth as my spawn, not an embarrassment like you, always whining about your endless defeat at the hands of one opponent or another!**

"Wait a minute," Keiko spoke up as Dimitri bristled, "Am I getting this straight here? You mean you WANT to be challenged in battle by your own sons, and if they win that'll make you happy?"

**Of course, it is natural selection,** the Rakshasa lord replied, **What you humans call the survival of the fittest, that only the stronger may replace the strong and the strongest bloodlines alone who deserve to survive to perpetuate the species.**

"Sheesh," Ranma winced, "Even Pop was never that extreme about training…"

"Not so strange really when you think about it, Kid," Talbain commented, "Every sire wants his cub to one day surpass him…"

"This ain't a zoo," Frank retorted, "Chuck Darwin would roll over in his grave about now if he could hear his theory quoted out of context like this. Life's more than just an endless struggle to see who's the strongest or most viable lifeform."

"Indeed," D agreed, "And yet you cannot deny that the survival is the fittest is a well respected law of nature and evolution…"

"Survival of the fittest?" Kasumi repeated, "How sad and cruel that sounds, and how lonely you must be living only to see one of your sons replace you."

**Loneliness is a human concept,** the Rakshasa lord declared, **Rakshasa need no companionship to define our existence, save only when the urge to mate is upon us.**

"And that's the kind of guy you want to be more like?" Ranma asked as he turned a hard look on Dimitri, whose sullen expression displayed just how much the remark was telling.

"I disagree with you," Kasumi spoke up once again, "Strength is hardly everything, even in martial arts, and the weakest things are often the most necessary when it comes to survival."

**Ridiculous!** the Rakshasa lord thundered dismissively.

"Not so ridiculous, actually," Kasumi insisted, "The soft-bodied worm gives us silk to make for dresses, and water is soft yet essential to our existence, and if food were too hard to eat then we would starve to death, yet you can't make muscle, sinew and bone without it. Soft and hard go together, and the weakness of a baby can still grow to become a strong adult when given time. As for survival…well, it takes two to make a baby, and many, many people to create a civilization."

D regarded the willowy girl sidelong and murmured towards Frank and Talbain, "Where did you find her? She speaks with an authority…almost heavenly…and yet there is no doubting her nature."

"I'm kind of wondering about that myself," Frank whispered back as he regarded Kasumi with a sobering expression.

**I will not quibble with you, Woman,** the Rakshasa lord disdained, **You humans squander your time with trivial concerns that have no bearing on your survival…**

"I disagree entirely with you, Lord Mor'ghul-san," Kasumi answered, "Human beings create art, poetry and music…we have literature and song, and we love each other…even when we do not show it very well…in all senses of the word we create things of lasting value and enduring meaning…"

"Yeah, and what have you Rakshasa ever created?" Kurumi joined in, "Do you even have cities where you come from? Do you have toys for your kids…or even inventions to make like more fun?"

**Rakshasa do not need these things!** Mor'ghul insisted, **We have existed for countless millennia, we are far older than your own weak species…!**

"But you don't know how to love, do you?" Keiko asked, "You don't even care about the guys who just got blown away, your own minions?"

**They were weak,** Mor'ghul insisted, **Hardly worthy of a second thought…**

"Yet they once lived…and now they are no more," Tatewaki pointed out, "Enemies or no they at least deserved the consideration of acknowledging that they once existed."

"There's more to life than just existing," Ranma snorted.

"Kid," Frank sniffed, "You just said a mouthful."

"Life defines itself," Keiko said with hands on her hips as she regarded the blazing eyes above them with scornful indifference, "How we live depends on how we choose to make use of the gift that we've been given, and some of us prefer to flaunt it to the hilt, eh Nab-chan?" she winked in Nabiki's direction, earning a slight frown from Ranma's direction.

"Not everybody gets dealt a fair hand, you know," Nabiki pointed out, only to yelp as she felt a pair of tiny hands pry loose her arms in order that their owner might snuggle up between her bosoms.

"SWEEET!" Happosai declared, "How kind of you to bless your master with a taste of the promised land-OOOFFF!!" he winced as his erstwhile student pounded her master into the tarmac.

"Hello 'Master,'" Nabiki said scornfully, "Been wondering when you'd show up and take advantage of our present inconvenience."

To no great surprise the little man bounced up again and this time planted himself squarely on Keiko's bosom, causing the redhead to stagger a little, though unlike Nabiki she took no defensive action.

"Enjoying a good squeeze, old man?" the pigtailed kickboxer asked without more than a slight inflection of sarcasm in her voice.

"Oh yes…this is heavenly…" the old man cooed in delighted contentment.

"Jeez…how can you put up with him doing that?" Ranma grimaced in distaste at Keiko's seeming non-reaction.

"Aw, let the old bird have his fun," Keiko replied, "I'm trained to handle much worse, and he's actually kind of sweet when you get to know him better."

D shook his head wearily and murmured, "As I said before…an extraordinary pervert…and yet he seems to have met his match in an even more extraordinary woman…"

"Yeah," Talbain glanced from Keiko to Kasumi to Nabiki, then sidelong at Natsume and murmured softly, "But which is the most extraordinary one here? That's what I'm thinking…"

"Truly you are a creature of very perverse temperament, Arigami-san," Natsume remarked with a weary shake of her head.

"Hey, don't knock the training until you've tried it, Tendo-san," Keiko winked in her direction, "Besides, life's too short to waste making a fuss about an old guy's honest need to find meaning to his life through feminine companionship, and it's the least that I can do to show respect to the master of the Anything Goes tradition."

"You understand!" Happosai sobbed, "You really understand…oh, bless you, you sweet, sweet child you…"

"No doubt about it," Frank said, "Lao really trained you good, Kid…which ain't necessarily all that great a thing I'm thinking…"

"Yeesh," Nabiki rolled her eyes, "Have some dignity about it…" all of a sudden she blinked her eyes and it was as if a lightbulb went off over her head, "Hey, the training!"

"Ah…how's that again, Nabchan?" Ranma asked.

With great effort Nabiki forced her hands away from her breasts and genitals, and then she affected to mimic Keiko's nonchalant stance as she regarded the glowing eyes gazing down upon them from high above, and then in a confident voice that belied her actual uneasiness she said, "Keiko-chan's training…it's all about making the best of her life, and who's got more reason to complain about it than she does? Bad hands go with the territory, but she always rocks back from adversity because Lao taught her to see the best in any situation…and that's something you Rakshasa can't begin to grasp, can you?"

There was a slight rumbling in the sky above, then the voice of Mor'ghul thundered down, **And what mean you by that remark…human?**

"Just that you're all about raping us poor defenseless girls and forcing us to bear your kids…unless you just want to make a quick snack out of our bodies," Nabiki answered, "But what have you got going for you besides that, huh? Nothing! You don't know how to enjoy life, you wouldn't know how to sustain a relationship, and you don't even feel that special connection with your fellow Rakshasa! In my book that makes you the inferior life form!"

The rumble in the sky intensified, and Mor'ghul's eyes blazed, **You dare…you dare place your puny selves above the Rakshasa?**

"Well duh," Nabiki sniffed as she deliberately squared her shoulders and arched her back to enhance the prominence of her fulsome breasts, "You think of girls like me as nothing more than a means to an end, but there's more to life than just surviving, not that I expect you to understand that with your obvious…limitations."

This time the sky crackled with lightning, but Nabiki refused to flinch, even while the others hunched their shoulders and looked wary, all save Kasumi, who seemed enthralled at the courage and spirit that Nabiki was displaying…as well as other attractive features thus boldly flaunted.

"That's it, isn't it?" Nabiki said, "You don't value anything, not even your own personal survival. You only value being strong and impregnating lots of girls so you can have more half-breed Rakshasa kids to grow up and challenge you for their right to survival?"

**That is the order of nature as defines the Rakshasa!** Mor'ghul insisted.

"Then maybe you oughta consider another way to live," Talbain snorted as he bent down to examine the unresponsive BB Hood, who barely acknowledged the touch of his paw with a slight shudder, "Like take my own ancestors…you think Werewolves could survive for this long if we were the mindless beasts everybody takes us to be? We've had to learn to fit in, to pass unnoticed among the humans by keeping a low profile, otherwise they'd have hunted us to extinction, like they did in most parts of Europe."

"What is this?" Morgan spoke up in tones of disbelief, "An ethics debate or a biology lesson?"

"Bear with us," Nabiki urged, "I'm just telling butt-ugly up there that he's probably not up to showing us just why he thinks he's the one who should be at the top of the food chain. In fact, I was just wondering…if you think you're so high and mighty up there on your side of the fence that you don't need to prove anything, then I guess it's all right if you can sit pretty and make a lot of disparaging comments about us poor primitive humans rather than come down here and try to impress us with your greatness."

**You MOCK me, HUMAN?** Mor'ghul thundered in dangerous wrath.

"Mock you?" Nabiki sniffed, "Why should I waste my time mocking someone as cowardly as you when you don't even have the nerve to show up in person. You just send your bully-boys to do your hard work while you try and impress us as some kind of glowing light-show with a nebulous disembodied voice? If you're too dickless to come over here as yourself rather than sending your minions to play cannon fodder…"

The air shook around them, and all at once a crackle of lightning split the air directly overhead, descending down upon their position like a bolt from the blue, but when it encountered Kasumi's fully erected mental shields it broke apart and dispersed the energy without harming the occupants within the radius of her globe, causing the elder Tendo sister to wince slightly though she stoically bore the brunt of it without complaint, much to the astonishment of those who knew her best.

"Oneechan?" Kurumi asked, silently rating the force of the blast and standing a little in awe that her adopted sister had somehow withstood it in good order.

Another crackle split the sky and Happosai suddenly let go of his perch, releasing Keiko and staring up at the heavens with nervous anticipation.

"Uh…Nabchan…what are you doing?" Ranma murmured at the level of a stage whisper.

"Trust me," Nabiki murmured back, then she raised her voice and said, "Some mighty and powerful Rakshasa lord you turned out to be! Can't even take on my big sister! Guess maybe you're not as tough as your boys seem to think you are, or maybe you are just afraid to face us directly mano-O-mano…"

"You are trying to make him angry?" Keiko asked very faintly, her expression showing the tension that was reflected in the faces of many of the others.

D raised an eyebrow from beneath his broad-brimmed hat and said, "I believe I sense a method to her seeming madness here…"

"Of course," Dimitri murmured faintly, "How very clever…" he suddenly raised his voice and said, "Perhaps the human is correct in her assertions. Perhaps I have seriously overrated you, Father. The girl may be spawn of my blood, yet she clearly surpasses you in abilities that have yet to be fully measured."

An incoherent growl split the air like a thunderous wrath, and all at once the whole in the sky expanded dramatically as something huge and horrible looking began to crawl through, manifesting before the eyes of humans and monsters as the most horrific of Rakshasa shapes yet to be encountered, and towering over five meters above their heads with slavering jaws and six clawed hands that looked ready to rend vulnerable flesh like paper.

"Oh yeah," Frank murmured faintly, "Now he's definitely pissed…"

"YOU DARE TO DEFY ME, MORTALS?" the creature snarled, displaying tentacles that began to project from the sides of his body.

"Father," Donovan said simply without acknowledging the fear that was generated in others at the sight of the horrifying creature.

"Uh oh," Happosai winced and promptly made himself scarce while nobody else was watching.

"Oboy," Talbain grimace, instinctively sheltering the blonde huddled next to him from the view with his proto-canine body, "Talk about getting ugly…"

"Look at the size of him," Natsume averred softly, "How do we fight that?"

"You don't," Morgan replied with a confident smile, "My lord?"

"At last," Dimitri exposed his row of fangs, showing off his resemblance to his father, "Welcome to my parlor, Father…I do hope you will make yourself comfortable during your stay here?"

"WHAT?" the creature declared, when all at once energy flared all about its gigantic body, and without warning a magical circle appeared in the space underneath it, forming a barrier to entrap the enormous Rakshasa lord and hold him fast against its attempts to struggle, formed of some sort of semi-invisible bindings.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that this was all a trap set to capture you, my dark Sire?" Dimitri gloated, "I did mean to prepare a proper reception for your benefit, but with Jeddah's unfortunate demise one has to improvise with the spells already prepared in advance. You know how it is…after all, this sort of thing is common for your kind, is it not?"

"YOU-WILL-NOT-HOLD ME!!!" Mor'ghul declared as he fought against the energy bands that were driving him to his bestial knees.

"Perhaps not indefinitely," Dimitri said as he strode forward, passing through Kasumi's protective barrier with a clear intent in his own demonic expression, "But those wards should hold long enough for me to absorb your powers and grow in strength as I add it to that which I have acquired through my countless battles when I sought to prove myself the strongest one of all. I wonder how powerful I will become in another moment? Perhaps powerful enough to even challenge the gods and-eh? Can I do something for you…Brother?"

"Your kinship to me is an embarrassment that we both must endure, Dimitri," Donovan replied as he came to stand athwart the path between Dimitri and the Lord of the Rakshasa, "But surely you do not expect me to stand by and watch as you gain the power that you have always craved, the power to dominate the lives of others?"

"No, of course not," Dimitri sniffed, "I expect you to stand here pontificating and debating with me over the propriety of my actions, and all along the spells holding our father in check will fray and fragment, thereby releasing him to do far worse than even I would do if I were made master of the planet. Do you really want this on your conscience…Monk?" he spat the latter word as though it were an epithet.

"I do not relish the thought of Mor'ghul being free to ravish our world, no," Donovan replied, "But though you may be the lesser of two evils, you would still be a threat to all that I hold dear, and so I cannot allow you to complete your dark ambitions."

"You…cannot allow it?" Dimitri sniffed, and all at once the ground rose up and swatted Donovan aside, knocking the huge man for a loop and thereby clearing the path between Dimitri and his father, "You forget yourself, dear brother…but what does a man who has renounced all ambition know about ambition anyway? You have forgotten this world responds to the force of my will, and that was a very careless thing to do when stating your opposition to my plans. Now if it is all the same to the rest of you…"

"Hey, we can't let him do this!" Ranma suddenly declared, "If he drains the kind of energy that demon is putting out…"

"I follow you, Ranchan," Nabiki agreed as the two of them leaped forward beyond the range of Kasumi's circle, only to be met by another invisible force that caught and swept them back before they could even begin to get close to the renegade vampire lord, who was generating his own level of telekinetic field reinforced by his will and the power of his imagination.

"Fools," Dimitri sniffed, "You barely even comprehend the nature of this subspace realm and what can be accomplished here, yet you would challenge me? How pathetic."

"Can't get through this thing," Frank pounded on the invisible wall that stood before them, "It's like pushing against a huge Mylar soap bubble."

"Yeah, but soap bubbles can get scratched and punctured," Talbain snarled as he left BB's side and leaped forward, only to rebound against the force that he encountered, "Uh…guess not…!"

"Dimitri…!" D growled, finding his own powers being rebuffed as he struggled against the telekinetic barrier of his renegade cousin.

Dimitri ignored the attempts to penetrate his barrier as-one-by-one-the heroes took their turns attempting to pierce the unseen wall, and all the while Morgan watched her vampiric lord advance upon his father, being struck by random energy bursts, yet ignoring these discharges as Dimitri neared his target.

"So," the vampire said in a voice that faintly hinted of his displeasure, "You find me the lesser of two sons, is that it? You praise Donovan because he is a determined loner who seeks betterment by contemplating his own navel, yet for me you have only words of scorn, Father? I think that you have badly underestimated me, and here is where I show you just how powerful I am, and why I deserve to be your successor."

As he made this declaration the vampire raised his taloned hands high above his head and shifted his form to a more demonic aspect, and all at once his aura began to radiate an entirely different sort of emanation, shifting from bright red to deep indigo with a dark edge of malevolence that seemed to drink in the light and began absorbing energy from the demon entrapped within the magic circle. Mor'ghul cried out while Dimitri laughed, a terrible sound full of hunger and retribution and growing stronger by the moment even as the others looked helplessly on and watched as he siphoned the life essence of his Rakshasa sire, seeming to grow a little in the process while the demon grew weaker and began sagging under its own weight on wide-spaced bowed legs and six arms all braced against this crushing onslaught.

"Dimitri…" Morgan breathed as she saw her nominal ally becoming something entirely other than the man she knew him to be…or vampire.

"At last!" Dimitri crowed, "The power is mine! I can feel it flowing into me, I-WHAT?"

All at once the half-demon vampire was struck by a massive force that penetrated through his mental shields and struck him bodily with such impact that he was picked up and thrown for a great distance. Dimitri recovered, shifting back to his more human aspect and snarled the words, "WHO DARES?" with a reverberating echo.

"Come now, did you forget all about me?" the fiery Pyron cheerfully inquired as he stood near to the magical circle, "Did you really think I was going to let you have all that power to yourself, Dimitri? Just what sort of a fool did you take me for, or did you not know that I was biding my time for the moment when you finally let your guard down?"

"Sheesh," Ranma winced, "Just how many double-dealing schemes were these guys plotting against each other anyhow?"

"Everyone needs a hobby, Kid," Talbain remarked in a blasé tone of voice, "These guys just take back-stabbing to the level of an art form."

"To put it mildly," D agreed with a hint of feral anger in his voice.

"What is this?" Dimitri reared to his considerable height, "Are you saying that all along you were plotting to take the power of my demonic father for yourself?"

"My dear Dimitri," Pyron replied, "Have you forgotten that I am power personified? I hardly need to drain more power into myself in order to achieve my ambitions, unlike you who was born to be a parasite. What I needed, however, was for you to drain enough strength from your sire so that I could do…this!"

And with that the fiery demon stretched out a hand and projected an intense blast of fire into the magical circle, causing Mor'ghul to scream as his form was consumed in the heat of a star's own corona, covering the Rakshasa's huge body in a massive pyre that caused many to avert their eyes lest they be blinded.

"How horrible," Kasumi softly averred.

"No honor among thieves," Frank sympathized.

"Though he is evil and my father," Donovan remarked, "I am hard pressed to take much pleasure in his passing."

"Ordinarily I'd say let them do each other in and be done with it," Talbain remarked, "But still…"

"How dare you!" Dimitri spat in angry wrath, "He was my prey to dispose of as I saw fit, Pyron! You go too far even by the measure of one who thinks himself above both god and demon!"

"Say what you will of me, Dimitri," Pyron sneered, "Even with the tiny portion of Mor'ghul's strength that you have stolen you know you are no match for me, and the same goes for the rest of you! And now that I have removed yet one more rival in my path to glory…"

"I beg to differ with you," D said as he stood there in the flowing robes that covered most of his body, "You have not triumphed just yet, Lord of Hatred."

"Oh?" Pyron asked, "And does that mean that you intend to oppose me as well, son of Dracula? Surely you don't believe that a mere Vampyr like yourself is more of a match for me than a full blooded vampire like Dimitri?"

"Hardly," D smiled from beneath his wide-brimmed hat, "But what I meant was that you crowed prematurely. Mor'ghul is hardly dead, and all that you have managed to do for him is free him from the circle."

"W-What?" the fiery demon turned around in dismay, only to see a flaming figure raising up a taloned hand and bringing it down against Pyron with the speed of a striking cobra. All at once Pyron found his body pierced by the talon, which ignored the flames of its own consumption and instead began to leach the energy of Pyron's body, thus returning a favor as the alien fire demon cried out in dismay as Mor'ghul began to drain his vital essence.

"Well now," Dimitri remarked, "This is a most unusual reversal of fortunes."

With a great effort Pyron managed to free himself from the talon that held him, but as he backed away to take the measure of his foe the flames surrounding Mor'ghul's body began to wither out and die as though being absorbed into its blackened and heavily scarred body.

"That hurt," Pyron snarled.

"It was meant to hurt, fool," Mor'ghul snarled back, "My son did more harm to me than you, but even weakened as I was I am still a force far greater than you appear to have conceived, and now I will take back the rest of your energy, and then I will destroy these petty worms and teach my sons what it means to oppose their father, and then the earth itself shall be mine to possess and…"

"That is enough!"

All heads turned to the one who had just spoken, surprised, disbelieving and even incredulous stares, for the angry tone that had been used was totally unexpected of Kasumi, nor were any prepared to encounter the stern look that was in her eyes as she regarded the combatants with a level and entirely uncompromising expression.

"That is enough from all of you," Kasumi said with a tone and authority that she had never before displayed in her entire life, "This conflict has gone on for far too long and has claimed far too many victims…and for what is it that you are fighting? Earth is not for any of you to claim…it belongs to itself, and to the people who live in our world, people whom you would try to hurt with your petty bickering and mindless power trips. Don't you see how pointless it all is? You are fighting over nothing, and it must stop here and now before you allow it to go any further."

"What is this?" Dimitri asked, "Has the housewife developed a warrior's backbone?"

"Shut your mouth about Kasumi!" Ranma snapped, "Oneechan's right, this fighting is pointless, and if you keep this up more people will get hurt, but it's time somebody made you see what a mistake you're making."

"And who are you to tell us what to do, Boy?" Pyron sneered, "Do you think a mere human has the temerity to oppose the likes of us?"

"I might," Ranma replied, raising his arms so that his tattoos were fully displayed, "And some friends of mine are gonna back me!"

With that declaration his arms began to glow with contrasting flames of red and blue rising up to both sides, only to divide once again into four distinctive creatures, including a golden head and a green one, all shaped like hovering dragons.

"R-Ranma-kun?" Nabiki gasped as she saw the forces that her husband was now commanding with seemingly little effort.

"He controls four of the eight primary elements of nature?" Mor'ghul exclaimed with a puzzled expression, "Who is this…human?"

"Four elementals…not just two?" Dimitri blinked, then all at once he cried, "Karina, Nagisha, why have you betrayed me by going over to the side of this mere…boy?"

To the amazement of the others the golden dragon and the green one each turned baleful eyes towards the vampire lords, then the former said, **You no longer own us, Maximoff! Our new master has won our allegiance and has proven himself to be a far better master than you!**

**I have waited long for one who would come along to free me from your twisted dominion,** the green hued dragon growled in menace, **Beware now lest you taste my wrath for daring to imprison me and making me a mere pawn for your dark amusements!**

Keiko turned to Ranma and said, "Whoah, you have been busy, Boyo…"

"But I don't understand," Natsume exclaimed, "How can Ranma-kun be controlling such powerful creatures…and of such wildly divergent elemental natures?"

"I was wondering the same thing myself," Mousse commented with a puzzled expression.

"Can't be easy," Frank remarked, "The force of personality that it would take to keep those elements in balance…"

Indeed, Nabiki-who was standing nearer to her husband than any of the others-could see the strain behind Ranma's seeming calm and purposeful expression, the way his eyes seemed to suggest an inner struggle to find the sort of harmony and balance that was needed, and the beads of sweat that formed about his brow as the effort of maintaining equilibrium threatened to overwhelm him altogether.

"Ranma-kun," Kasumi said calmly, even going so far as to smile in his direction, "My little brother…I am heartwarmed to hear your willingness to defend me, but it's quite unnecessary, I assure you. I know that fighting is your way, as well as Nabiki's, for solving these sorts of problems, and that I…hate fighting for its own sake…but in this respect I will do what is necessary. After all, I alone possess the power that is needed to bring these three to justice. Please stand back and let me show you what I can now do, and I will try to see to it that no one other than them is made to suffer."

"What?" Pyron said in disbelief.

"You intend to oppose us…by yourself?" Dimitri's expression was incredulous.

"That lass has flipped her gourd," Morgan declared in almost sympathetic dismissal.

"I wonder," Mor'ghul narrowed his nictitating eyes and said, "I sense a power laying dormant within the human female…she would make excellent breeding fodder if I could but take her and implant my seed…"

"Try it and you'll be sorry!" Happosai himself suddenly declared as he appeared from seeming no where, "No one picks on a member of my family, especially Kasumi, without first going through me! Now which of you bozos cares to take on the Master?"

"Master?" Dimitri sniffed, "Don't make me laugh!"

"You are but an annoying insect whom I should have squashed on our first encounter," Pyron snorted.

"Such a tiny bug deserves to be swatted for daring to speak that way towards me," Mor'ghul extended one slightly charred appendage and attempted to do just that but for the way that Happosai stopped it in mid-thrust with the tip of an outstretched finger.

"Just for that," Happosai reared back, displaying genuine anger far greater than anything ever before witnessed by his kinfolk, "You can go first, Bug-Breath-!"

"Please, Grandfather," Kasumi's gentle voice stopped the little man in mid-lunge, and with a look of dismay Happosai turned to regard the willowy Tendo sister as she softly padded by him on bare feet and strode to meet the curious gazes being turned upon her by demon, vampire and Rakshasa, "I prefer to do this in my own particular way. Besides, it will be all right, I promise you that."

"This is a night for surprises," Pyron's eyes narrowed, "But you should not make promises that are beyond your power to keep, young lady."

"To oppose your own sire is a rare enough thing that I could almost salute you for the courage which you are displaying," Dimitri averred, "However, if you persist in this folly then I fear it may destroy you."

Kasumi suddenly turned a look towards him that caused a shudder to pass down Dimitri's spine (even as Morgan began to bristle in green-eyed fury), then in a remarkably clear voice Kasumi said, "On the contrary, Maximoff-san, it is you who would be hurt if you attempt to go against me. Please stand aside and do not cause me any trouble…but as for you two…I am afraid that I cannot be quite so generous."

"Generous?" Pyron said in sheer disdain for the temerity that the young and pretty girl before him was demonstrating.

"Yes," Kasumi replied, "You see, I've been listening to every word that you have said so far, and it is plain to me that you have no love in your heart and seek only to doom others. You manifest an evil that is the opposite to everything in which I believe and there can be no peaceful reconciliation of our two viewpoints. Therefore, I regret to say, I am going to have to destroy you…and you as well, sir, if you think that you can take me on as you have done to so many other countless women before me, including the mothers of Lords Donovan and Dimitri."

Stunned silence filled the air for several long, tense seconds, then Nabiki gasped, "Oneechan… Kasumi?"

"That's it," Kurumi declared, "She's finally gone nuts…"

"Cracked under the strain," Talbain agreed with a sorrowful expression.

"Beautiful and brave," D remarked as he quietly studied the elder Tendo sister, "But hopelessly outmatched, unless there is more here that I am not perceiving."

"We can't let her sacrifice herself like this…" Frank started to lunge forward, only to find a brawny arm was thrust up to block his forward movement.

"No," Donovan contradicted, "On the contrary, your sister knows exactly what she is doing."

"You sure about that?" Ranma asked.

"He is," Happosai said in a suddenly quite stunned tone of voice, "Kami and Oni preserve us…I think I know what's going to happen…"

"Me too," Keiko averred, "And I could almost feel sorry for the bad guys."

"Nani?" Natsume gasped, wondering why her guts were churning with such contradictory impulses, sheer nausea being projected by the demonic beings in their midst…and yet not by Kasumi, who was radiating an inward calm that was so intense it was almost…inhuman.

Finally Pyron managed to sputter, "You what? Destroy me?"

"Yes," Kasumi replied, "I'm afraid that I must do this, sorry."

"Enough of this insolence!" the Rakshasa lord started to lunge forward, only to rebound off the invisible shields that Kasumi generated with but a casual thought and a passing impulse.

"What the…?" Dimitri gave back in dismay as he saw Pyron launch his own attack with a flaming fist that should have battered through Kasumi's wards…but rather was absorbed into them, much to the dismay of the flaming demon.

"Violence isn't the solution to everything, Pyron-san," Kasumi calmly informed him, "In fact you will find that with me it is the least preferable means of resolving our differences…"

"Excuse me if I beg to differ with you on that!" the demon roared as he launched a more powerful attack than the first, only this time Kasumi casually side-stepped his flaming thrust and seemed to work her way around behind the demon, at which point the flat of her hand met a spot square between his shoulder blades, which sent the flaming giant tumbling face-forward into the tarmac.

"K-Kasumi?" Nabiki gasped in disbelief.

"Oneechan?" Ranma exclaimed in the same low tone of dull wonder.

"Force without direction is a poor substitute for reasoned dialogue," Kasumi explained, "But then again, if you were capable of understanding that there would never be any need for violence in the first place."

"YOU DARE?!?!?" Pyron roared as he thrust himself back to his massive feet, and then he rounded on the slightly built girl with the clear intent on crushing her beneath his flaming mass, only his next attack went wild of its target as Kasumi easily stepped within his guard and delivered a stunning uppercut that sent Pyron soaring skyward like a flaming missile.

Too quick to be imagined, Kasumi seemed to sprout feathered wings from her back and then launched herself like a streak of light to intercept the alien space tyrant at his epode, at which point she delivered a stunning blow that sent him plummeting like a meteor, plowing back into the ground with such force that he kicked up pseudo-matter in all directions.

"Incredible," D exclaimed as he tracked these movements by the valiant novice Vampire Queen.

"That ain't near enough to the word I was gonna use," Frank said in low wonder as he saw Kasumi descend to the ground, her wings vanishing as swiftly as they had been summoned.

"How is Kasumi doing this?" Natsume asked as she and the others ducked away from the debris, shielding their eyes against stray bits that threatened to get into their faces.

"It's like she's just playing with the guy," Kurumi marveled, "Like…with all his powers, he's like…nothing next to Kasumi!"

"No," Donovan replied, "What you see now is the potential that I have always sensed laying dormant within your sister. Somehow it has been unlocked and given a focus, a purpose by which it can be harnessed to the ruin of enemies such as Pyron and my father."

The hellish firelord tried yet another tactic to turn the tide of battle back towards his favor, striking the ground with a fist and causing a fiery wave of molten lava to form along a crack within the ground aimed in Kasumi's direction, but quick as a shot the eldest Tendo sister made a gesture with her hands and caused a counter-force wave to split the crack in two directions, leaving her unaffected at the wedge formed by the lava, then with a second series of rapid hand gestures she seemingly pushed against the very air in front of her and sent a third wave of force hurtling towards the astonished Pyron, who was picked up and hurled backwards by the stunning effect that this created.

"How…how is it that she can fight with such calm…yet such contained ferocity?" Dimitri marveled, "I had thought her a harmless cow who was as tame as a lamb, she yet is dealing with Pyron as though she were no true stranger to such violence."

To their considerable surprise Kasumi turned to regard Dimitri with a sadly poignant expression, then she calmly remarked, "I am no stranger to violence, Dimitri-san…I have lived with it for years, but it has never touched me directly until now, and in all truth I do not very much like violence…"

One second later she moved to the side as Pyron burst forth from the ground like a volcanic eruption, his fist raised skyward as if anticipating a target that had eluded him entirely. The next instant later he met a foot in his face that was backed by the power of Kasumi's incredible chi, and as she spun about he went flying once again in an altogether involuntary trajectory, plowing up the ground while Kasumi calmly landed in a pirouette, then turned and faced her audience once again and spoke as calmly as if she had been uninterrupted.

"…but you will find that I am very good at it, and-after all-I grew up in a dojo," she explained with a slight shrug of her slender shoulders, "So…even without absorbing the memories of my sisters…you still tend to pick things up…"

The next instant following this she was dodging yet another attack launched by a wrathful Pyron, moving with such fluid ease that defense and offense were easily shifted from one style to the other.

"Oneechan," Ranma marveled, appreciating his adopted older sister in a way that was entirely new to him, seeing her body as a miraculous tool for poetry in motion, and thus earning a suspicious glance from his wife, who had just made a similar such appraisal of her older sister.

"The way she fights…she is using the Anything Goes style," Tatewaki marveled, "But in an extraordinarily unorthodox manner."

"That's because she's got more than human level abilities to back her up, Boy," Happosai explained, "Gravity and inertia are no longer obstacles weighing her down and keeping her from utilizing her full strength, and with perfect control over her inner power she's more than capable of knocking the stuffings out of that loser."

"What?" Mousse exclaimed, "You mean…that she…?"

"Is the very embodiment of the Anything Goes style of aerial attack Ryu," the old man confirmed, studying Kasumi's movements with a critical eye and nodding in slight approval, "Though she lacks the training that you others have had, she's absorbed enough basic knowledge from her blood sharing with you girls that she can now utilize your techniques to their best advantage. Which-I believe-is the whole reason why you suggested they do it in the first place, eh Donny-boy?"

"This is true," Donovan confirmed, "I knew that Tendo Kasumi would need the practical knowledge of armed and unarmed combat styles to properly harness the powers that she has inherited in order to deal with the likes of Dimitri and the others."

"Really?" Keiko exclaimed, then her tone took on a note of disappointment, "And she never even thought about sharing like that with me…"

"Huh?" Nabiki, Ranma and the others said as they all turned in the redheaded Kickboxer's direction.

"Ah…not that I mean like I'd want to be bitten by her or anything like that," Keiko hastily amended, then added in undertone, "Of course…you did seem to enjoy that part more than a bit yourself, eh Nabchan?"

"Er," Nabiki colored slightly and avoided the glance Ranma turned in her direction.

Donovan (wisely) chose not to pursue the matter and instead said, "Also too, your knowledge of harnessing Chi techniques has also proven invaluable for teaching your sister the method for channeling her energies in creative and useful directions, as you can see there by the weapon that she is manifesting even now to employ against Pyron."

Heads swiveled back towards the fight (much to the relief of a certain pigtailed tomboy) even as they saw Pyron down for the count while Kasumi was casually raising a hand and causing the air around it to shimmer…and all at once the outline of a long pole-arm manifested, taking the shape of a glowing naginata that solidified into a convincingly real object one moment later, and this she held with expert ease as she assumed a fighting crouch, leveling the point of the curving blade in the fire giant's direction.

"I would ask that you surrender now and rethink the error of your ways," Kasumi said simply, "But I don't believe that you would sincerely mean it, and as long as you exist you would remain a threat to the earth and my family…"

"W-Wait!" Pyron protested with an upraised hand, "You can't do this! You are not a killer, it is not your way…"

"And who are you to define what my way is, Pyron-san?" Kasumi asked, "Would you plead for mercy…the same mercy that you have willingly denied to others?"

"Yes-I mean-that isn't what I am saying!" Pyron protested, "It is obvious enough that you have grown powerful, but has power so corrupted the essential you, the person you were before you changed into what you now are…?"

"Power does not corrupt, Pyron-san," Kasumi replied, "It magnifies and intensifies the corruption that is within you, but I am neither corrupted nor deceived by your pleas. You are a creature who feeds upon rage, hate and madness. You encourage fighting because it is the only way you know how to live, and to expect you to change now would be…unrealistic."

"Is that Kasumi talking?" Ranma asked.

"Doesn't exactly mesh with the Kasumi we know," Keiko remarked, "But…I kind of like this new and improved version, and I also like her line of reason."

"To show mercy to the merciless is an act of senselessness," Tatewaki pronounced, "It is compassionate and fully human, yet ultimately futile."

"That may be true for us," Mousse pointed out, "But…Tendo Kasumi…"

"Is not a warrior…and certainly not ruthless enough to be a cold blooded killer," Natsume pointed out, "However justified it might be."

Kasumi turned her head towards them, surprising everyone with the sharpness of her hearing, then she raised her naginata and said, "Perhaps you are right, my sister. It was not like the Kasumi you knew to act with such deliberate assertiveness. Yet how would you expect me to behave in the face of such…evil?"

She fully turned to regard the others, exposing her back to her erstwhile opponent and seemingly leaving herself open to treachery, which the villain chose to take as an invitation to strike, and with predictable eagerness he rose up with venom blazing in his eyes as this was clearly his intention, a fact that was not missed by the nearby observers.

"Doll face, watch out!" Talbain cried out first, even as Frank began to lunge from the group with the clear intent of intercepting the source of danger.

But before he could even get three paces Kasumi was already in motion, whirling about with her naginata and stabbing backwards without even looking where she was slicing, and suddenly Pyron halted in his tracks, staring down at the thing that was protruding into his fiery chest. A moment of shock and realization was followed by the alteration of the weapon into its purest energy form, and then that energy was released inside the fire demon's body, disrupting him from within and causing the alien tyrant to cry out in shock, horror and dismay, followed rapidly by his total dissipation as a blue-white light filled the air and caused everyone to avert their eyes lest they be struck with blindness.

Moments later the radiance ended, and Kasumi stood alone in the field of battle. There was no sign nor trace of Pyron anywhere, only a soft, heartfelt sigh as the eldest Tendo sibling slumped her shoulders and said, "I regret having to do that, but I knew that it had to happen."

"Wh-what did she do?" Kurumi asked.

"She killed him," Morgan said as if totally stunned, "She killed lord Pyron."

"And most effectively at that," D said in an openly admiring tone of voice.

"Ashes to ashes, and good riddance," Dimitri said with only a token hint of dismissal.

"But…Kasumi?" Nabiki gasped, "How did you…?"

"Oh, I knew that he would attack me as soon as my back was turned," Kasumi assured her sisters with a soft (if sad) little smile, "It's what villains always do in the movies when women turn their backs on them, after all."

"That…isn't quite what I think Neechan meant," Natsume explained, "How did you strike him so precisely…and why did he dissolve like that?"

"That is easily enough explained," Donovan replied, "The weapon was a reflection of its owner, being a creation of pure mind, imagination and will. Her light and purity proved greater than Pyron's hate and rage could withstand…"

"You mean…?" Talbain asked, unable to finish his own question.

"She killed him with kindness?" Frank asked with a dumbfounded expression.

"Yes, that and this maneuver that mother once showed to me when I was very little," Kasumi explained, "You see, the naginata was mother's favorite weapon and…"

"Such power…such beauty," Mor'ghul declared, "Such a formidable example of the hidden potential locked within the frail bodies of most humans. Such a splendid progenitor for a new and more powerful bloodline of the Rakshasa…"

"Oh my," Kasumi turned around, "I beg your pardon?"

"You have proven your worth to be my newest mate," the Rakshasa lord said in what might have passed for human lust were he not already so inhuman to gaze upon, "And now I shall claim you for my prize, after disposing of these others, who would naturally seek to oppose me."

"Now wait a minute here…!" Nabiki started to declare when all at once a new group of Rakshasa began to manifest in the space all around them, and before anyone had time to so much as state the obvious-that they were clearly surrounded on all points, these inhuman lust demons launched yet another attack, and without the benefit of Kasumi's protective aura to hold them at bay there was nothing that the defenders could do but fight desperately for their own survival against impossible odds and a seemingly endless stream of enemies bent towards their and (not incidentally) the entire human races' ultimate destruction…

Continued

Comments/Criticisms/Catastrophic Encounters: Shadowmane@msn.com