Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ The Forgotten Primarch of Chaos ❯ The Conclave of Khorne ( Chapter 14 )

Ranma/Warhammer 40K/Sailor Moon/Tenchi Muyo Crossover Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, Warhammer 40K, Sailor Moon or Tenchi Muyo. Ranma 1/2 belongs to Lady Rumiko Takahashi. Warhammer 40K belongs to Games Workshop. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi. Tenchi Muyo belongs to Kajishima Masaki. This story is created solely for entertainment purposes and no profits are gained from this.

The Forgotten Primarch of Chaos

By Montymouse

' ' - Thoughts

" " - Speech

( ) - Action

Chapter Fourteen - The Conclave of Khorne

***

"Sometimes the good and innocent must perish so that the rest survive. The lot of courage is to be sacrificed upon the altar of battle."

***

Timeline: Far in the Future - 41st Millennium - Date Unknown

Location: Eye of Terror - Nemesis

Somewhere on the harsh, dark surface of Nemesis, Angron, the Daemon Prince of Khorne, formerly known as Primarch of the Worldeaters, was currently inspecting the condition of his best Berzerkers, who were currently camped outside the citadel. The Berzerkers had flocked from all corners of the Eye of Terror to answer their Primarch's call.

The Berzerkers were making sure that their chain axes and weapons were in prime condition for the eagerly awaited massacre of the local population of Nerima. Those who had answered Angron's calling were the toughest, bloodiest, most merciless and most dedicated SOBs in the entire Worldeater's legion. Although Angron was a Daemon Prince now, he still felt a connection with his legion and always kept an eye on their recent activities, which had so far pleased him with their acts of genocide and butchery.

As he was walking proudly among his men, he noticed that someone was missing from the group. Deciding to find out if he was here, Angron approached a Berzerker who was sitting on a large rock and watching the volcanic mountain range. He could see that he was a mighty champion as his blood-red power armour was adorned with various skulls of different races and badges of chaos, topped off with a massive icon of Khorne across his chest. In his gloved right hand was a legendary Daemon weapon that only the best and the most insane could wield-The Berserker Glaive. Angron could see the man was in some sort of trance and as he got closer he could see in his eyes that he was struggling with something for dominion over his mind and body.

"Where is Kharn?" Angron demanded in an authoritative tone of voice.

This immediately snapped the Berzerker champion out of his trance and he looked up at the monstrous figure of the Daemon Prince. An ordinary man would have died from pure fear and shock, but not these warriors; they were totally fearless and willing to fight to the death without hesitation, no matter how impossible the odds may be.

The Berzerker champion didn't say a word, but merely pointed to his left. Angron looked to see where the champion was pointing and saw the silhouette of a tall figure.

"Why is he over there? Shouldn't he be with the rest of the Berzerkers?" Angron asked the Berzerker lieutenant.

"We all admire his single-minded devotion to slaughter and butchery, but ever since the Skalathrax incident we have become wary and cautious of his presence. It is better for us to leave him alone with his own devises until the call of battle-this way some of us might survive the night!" the champion replied before he fell back into his trance, struggling to regain his sanity from his Daemon weapon.

Angron stared at the Berzerker for a few moments before turning his attention to the silhouetted figure.

"KHARN! COME OVER HERE!" Angron bellowed. The figure turned around slowly to see the Daemon Prince waiting for him to come.

The blood-soaked ravager took a final glance over his shoulder before making his way towards his Primarch. He had been looking at a huge mountain of skulls dedicated to his God Khorne.

"Khorne expects the blood to flow, so what are we waiting for! We should be out there gathering skulls for the Blood God!" Kharn gripped his ancient chain axe as his lust for slaughter and butchery became stronger. The only cure for his lust was to kill, whether friend or foe.

"You shall get what you want, but you must wait until M'Kachan opens up the warp gate," Angron said, knowing that Kharn's mental hold over his thirst for slaughter was weakening. "Kharn, do you understand what you are supposed to do once you reach Nerima?"

"Yes, Angron. I fully understand my mission-kill everyone. I shall personally leave no child or woman alive, and I will be dedicating this for Khorne."

"Remember, Kharn: always pillage before you burn the whole place to the ground," advised Angron.

"It shall be duly noted - BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" Kharn bellowed out. Angron notice that Kharn had managed to whip the whole group into blood frenzy.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR KHORNE! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" was the constant chant of the Berzerkers, their harsh, guttural voices sounding anything but human.

'This shall be a great day for Khorne!' Angron thought as he watched Kharn and his men chanting and shooting wildly into the air as they prepared for M'Kachan's signal.

***

Location: The Gates of Time

Sailor Pluto-aka Setsuna Meiou- was still trying to figure out if the two individuals who had came to save the Inner Senshi from destruction were potential allies or enemies as the Time Gate was still showing incomplete images of them. The images she had so far received made absolutely no sense; the only thing she got was that the one with the pigtail went by the name of Ranma Saotome.

Feeling a bit tired, Setsuna decided that a cup of her favourite tea would help to loosen her up while she continued her study of the Time Gate. She still hadn't decided if she could trust this Ranma yet, as the gate had given no clear indication.

Once Sailor Pluto had left the massive chamber housing the ancient Gate of Time, a dark portal suddenly appeared and a robed individual stepped out clutching a long, thin, black staff in his right hand. Underneath his regal robes the blue and yellow power armour-easily recognised as the armour of the Thousand Sons-was clearly visible.

Walking towards the gate, the mysterious sorcerer climbed the few steps and placed his left hand on the gate, trying to get a feel of its arcane powers. M'Kachan had told him that this was the key to turning the Sailor Senshi against their only hope of survival, and well knew of Sailor Pluto's reliance on the gate as a source of guidance. With a bit of dark magic of both Tzeentch and Slaanesh, and a little manipulation of the gate, they can easily get the pathetic Sailor Senshi to destroy the one threat that could undermine their invasion of Earth and the Universe-Ranma Saotome.

"Hmm…" the sorcerer thought. The gate was showing the GOOD PATH of the future with the Chaos force defeated by the combined efforts of Ranma and his allies.

He had to act fast if this was going to work before anyone noticed. Kneeling down to one knee, the sorcerer placed his staff beside him and started to work on the gate's arcane runes. The images that the gate was showing changed from projecting Ranma, the key to the survival of the universe, to a more suitable image.

"Much better." The change he had made was making Ranma look like the Warmaster of Chaos and champion of the Dark Gods.

Sensing that the manipulative Senshi was about to return, the Sorcerer quickly finished constructing the false image before picking up his staff and immediately vanished into thin air. Sailor Pluto was holding a cup of her special herbal tea and was about to take a sip of it when she saw the image of the gate suddenly clear up for the first time.

Pluto gasped in pure shock and her cup fell from her grasp and shattered on the steps of the gate. Her hopes were crushed at what the gate was projecting to her, and she came to her own conclusion on what to do with Ranma.

She now knew what she would do… eliminate Ranma Saotome at all cost for the sake of the future of humanity. This meant that she has reawakened the Outer Senshi, Sailors Uranus and Neptune, in order to get rid of him.

***

Location: Nemesis

N'Kari and M'Kachan were pleased that their master's plan was going so well. Kharn and his Berzerkers were already underway as Tzeentch had finally opened a warp rift as promised. The Sailor Senshi would hopefully be persuaded by Sailor Pluto to destroy Ranma Saotome in Nerima while the Dark Kingdom's forces took the necessary energy for the Negaforce in Juuban.

"I've got to admit, turning the Sailor Senshi against Ranma was an ingenious plan; but I think I could have done better," N'Kari smirked.

"Whatever." M'Kachan rolled his eyes. "Anyway, he will never expect the Sailor Senshi to attack him, and he will see their attack as a sign of betrayal. Hopefully, they will destroy each other while we claim this planet for Tzee… err… our masters." N'Kari's eyes narrowed at M'Kachan, wondering if he had heard him right.

"It better be, or they be hell to pay!" N'Kari warned before walking off down the corridor.

***

Location: Somewhere on the outskirts of Nerima

Jadeite was waiting patiently along with a couple of Youma Guardians for M'Kachan's forces to arrive. So far, Jadeite had been waiting for hours and was about to leave when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. A dark portal had opened up and scores of red-armoured warriors stepped out wielding numerous chainaxes and swords.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR KHORNE! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" Their continuous chant was beginning to annoy Jadeite, and he wondered why he had to deal with these crazed warriors.

The leader of group noticed the blond-haired general waiting for them. He lowered his massive axe to indicate to his men to be silent as he approached Jadeite slowly, just stopping a couple of feet in front of him. Jadeite gulped as he slowly reached for the hilt of his sword in readiness. The tall and muscular warrior remained silent for a few moments as an eerie hush settled amongst the two parties. He glared at Jadeite before speaking in a rugged and dangerous tone of voice.

"You must be Jadeite. I assume you've already pledged your loyalties to our master and blood God, Khorne?" the warrior inquired as he spotted the mark of Khorne pinned onto Jadeite's uniform.

"Actually I'm…" Jadeite noticed a deadly glint in his eyes. "Why of course, blood for the Khorne." Jadeite gave weak laugh in an attempt to save his skin.

"GOOD!" The warrior gave him a big slap on the back. Jadeite was sent crashing into a nearby tree due to the sheer power that this warrior possessed.

"Sorry about that, I forget that not everyone is as tough as me. Don't know my own strength sometimes." The warrior roughly picked Jadeite up off the forest floor.

"You may call me Kharn, and we are known as the Khorne Berzerkers of the Worldeaters.

"Now that the pleasantries are over, we are ready to do some killing and maiming, and hopefully some pillaging along the way, on the local population. So point us in the general direction and we shall handle the rest from here."

Jadeite dusted himself off and straightened out his uniform as he glared at the Kharn. "I am still unconvinced that you and your men can handle this. I'm not sensing or picking up any magic," Jadeite observed as Kharn glared at Jadeite.

"Pah, magic is for the weak and the foolish!" Kharn answered in a bitter tone. "Give me a solid chainaxe and men willing to go to Hell and back, and it shall be done!" Kharn exclaimed as he swiftly turned his back to Jadeite and walked back to his men.

"M'Kachan promised me troops capable of handling this mission, which I had assumed would be either Daemons or magically-enhanced creatures. I think M'Kachan has made a serious error in sending a bunch of mortals," Jadeite mocked as Kharn stood still.

"Kharn, he just mocked your abilities as a warrior!" a Berzerker cried out.

"Yeah, Kharn, show him what you can do!" another one shouted.

Kharn nodded and turned around towards Jadeite.

"Perhaps a little demonstration is in order to prove to you why I and my loyal men are the best choice for this mission." Jadeite nodded at Kharn's suggestion.

"Very well, Kharn. I propose a simple fight to the death between one of my Youma guardians and one of your men. If he wins, you will have my respect and confidence." Jadeite smirked.

"You call that a challenge!"

Jadeite raised an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong with my challenge?"

"No there is nothing wrong with it, it's just there's no challenge or danger in what you are proposing," Kharn answered.

"Oh… and what do you suggest?" Jadeite asked.

"Make it two of your pathetic Youma guardians to make it more interesting, and if I don't beat the living daylights outta of them within five minutes I shall be your slave!" Kharn proposed as extra conditions to Jadeite's challenge.

Jadeite was wondering if this warrior was suicidal as not even the Sailor Senshi could handle two of his guardians by themselves or without their magic powers.

"Hmm… what is it that you want from me if you somehow do beat my guardians?" Jadeite enquired.

"Simple-you shall accompany me at all times when we head towards Nerima." Kharn grinned evilly.

For some reason, Jadeite could see Kharn's men shaking their heads and some even wished him good luck as he would need it if he was going to accompany their leader. Jadeite was confused as to why they were acting like that.

"Oh, all right, Kharn, I accept your little wager. You- and only you-shall face two of my guardians and there shall be no mercy given; is that understood?" Jadeite said to check if Kharn understood what he was getting into.

Kharn nodded as his men formed a large ring around Jadeite's Youma guardians and their leader as they cheered encouragement and support, chanting his name.

"KHARN! KHARN! KHARN!"

"I want him to scream before dies, do you understand?" Jadeite whispered to his guardians as they stepped forward. He then used a levitation spell in order to get a better vantagepoint. And quite frankly, he really didn't want to stand next one of those blood-crazed lunatics.

"This will be over in a minute," Jadeite said to himself as he predicated an absolute massacre of this obviously insane warrior. Little did he realise that he was about to be proven wrong.

The first Youma was a huge, ugly creature with large talons, while the other was more bulky than the first but had a pair of blades for hands. The Youma charged forward and reared back it talons. Kharn instinctually dived forward and rolled beneath its legs as the Youma missed him by inches. He then jumped back to his feet and levelled his trusty MK1 plasma pistol at the backside of the Youma as the pistol started to charge up.

Kharn's sixth senses suddenly warned him of imminent danger from behind him and he span around to see the second Youma stalking towards him. Kharn grinned as he fired a salvo of highly volatile plasma bolts before his pistol overheated-as indicated by the flashing red bar on the side of his pistol.

Kharn rolled forward along the ground, narrowly avoiding being skewed by the Youma behind him. Cursing his lack of awareness, Kharn leapt high into the air, gripping his Gorechild with both his hands, and let out a battlecry.

"BY MY HANDS! YOU WILL DIE FOR KHORNE!" Kharn bought his massive chainaxe down on the Youma with all of his strength.

The Youma raised its arm in an attempt to block Kharn's incoming attack, but the gesture proved to be futile as the mighty Gorechild went cleanly through the Youma's armoured skin, splitting the Youma from head to crotch. Blood was sent everywhere and Kharn's Berzerkers roared with delight and encouragement at first blood. Jadeite watched with astonishment and awe at the sheer strength and ferocity that Kharn had just demonstrated.

Kharn slowly tuned around to face his remaining opponent. The Youma hesitated for a split second at the look of pure fury and hatred on his face. Not wanting to give the warrior a chance to strike, the Youma charged forward with its large talon-like blades outstretched as it tried to clothesline him. Kharn had already anticipated the Youma's next of course of action and waited until the last moment before reacting. Jadeite thought that Kharn was exhausted, as the Youma's blades were seconds from decapitating him.

SHING!!!

Kharn had effortlessly blocked the Youma's blades with the shaft of his chainaxe and repelled the Youma with his enormous strength.

"Ha! Is that the best you can do!" Kharn taunted the Youma, which infuriated the Youma to no end.

The Youma countered by swinging its blades in a pincer movement. Kharn managed to block the left blade but failed to prevent the other. It slammed into Kharn's side, and would've sliced a normal man in half; but the armour that Kharn was wearing had been blessed by Khorne himself and prevented any serious damage.

"Nice try, but it's not good enough to beat me!" Kharn mocked as he swung Gorechild towards the lower region of the Youma with all of his strength. The Youma was already dead before it was sent crashing to the ground. Kharn wiped Gorechild clean and kissed his chainaxe for being reliable, and that he had bought more blood for Khorne.

Glancing over his shoulder, Kharn could see Jadeite standing behind him, indicating to his watch. "Not bad, Kharn. It seems you have done what you had promised within the conditions set."

"Bah, that was nothing!" Kharn shrugged. "I've fought and killed just about every sort of creature and foe there is to be killed- all in the name of Khorne!" Kharn shouted as he raised Gorechild into the air in a victory pose. Behind him, his Berzerkers started to chant Kharn's name in respect and awe as once again their leader had proven himself to be the best and toughest SOB in the Worldeaters' legion.

"Kharn, our men are ready and awaiting your command. I must advise that we should attack as soon as possible as some of our men are beginning to show early signs of blood frenzy," Kharn's lieutenant said before turning his attention to the weapon he was holding.

Kharn nodded as he watched his lieutenant fight for his sanity with his daemonic weapon. "Tell our men, we shall attack at first light! Surprise will mean more skulls for Khorne! Our men MUST be ready for our assault on Nerima."

The lieutenant nodded after he had managed to gain control over his weapon-for now-and walked back towards the troops, relaying Kharn's orders. Kharn then turned to face Jadeite.

"You will be accompanying me to the battle as agreed?"

"Yes, Kharn," Jadeite answered. "I shall be here at first light with my minions."

"Good, it would be a shame if you weren't here with me when we pillage and raze this pathetic city to the ground." Jadeite nodded and started to walk away from the crazed warrior.

"One more thing, Jadeite."

"What is it, Kharn?" Jadeite inquired.

"If you are not here at first light," Kharn warned, "I shall chase you to the ends of Hell till I have your head around my waist!"

"As I said before, I shall be here as promised; I am a man of honour," Jadeite answered in a confident voice.

Kharn nodded at Jadeite's statement before walking back to his men. Jadeite was about to leave Kharn and his crazed followers to return to the Dark Kingdom.

"I see you already met the Khorne's followers?" said a seductive voice.

"M'Kachan!" Jadeite growled at the Daemon Prince of Tzeentch who emerged from the forest undergrowth in his humanoid form with an evil grin on his face.

"What do you want now, M'Kachan?"

"Oh, nothing much; I just want to see how you and Kharn are cooperating." M'Kachan inquired.

"Oh, it's going fine. But I do have one question to ask you."

"And what is that you want answered, my child?"

"Why on Hell did you have to set me up with that crazed lunatic and his merry men!" Jadeite screamed in M'Kachan's face.

"Would you want the minions of Slaanesh instead?" M'Kachan answered in a calm and collected voice.

Jadeite thought about it for a moment before sighing, "Maybe not."

"I knew you would see it my way. Anything else you want answered?" M'Kachan grinned evilly.

Jadeite shook his head. "That is all, M'Kachan."

"Excellent!" M'Kachan melted back into the forest.

'That guy gives me the creeps!' Jadeite thought as he opened up a portal back to the Dark Kingdom.

Meanwhile, somewhere over the Sea of Japan, something very unusual was skimming along the sea. Upon closer examination could just be made out three individuals; but what made them so special was that they were flying with huge, bird-like wings. They were heading towards Japan at high speed and at a low attitude to avoid attracting unnecessary attention. Leading the trio was a blond-haired man wearing a red and white regal toga-like robe that had been modified to accommodate his large, white, swan-like wings. Near his waist was his ancient sword, given to him by the people of Baal as a sign of honour and respect to their saviour and leader before he had left with the Emperor to embark on the Great Crusade where he was reunited with the fearsome Blood Angels legion.

"Are you sure we're heading in the right direction, Saffron?" he enquired of his winged companion on his left.

Saffron nodded. "Of course, Lord Sanguinius, although we do not possess the advanced and sophisticated technology that you have. We prefer to rely on the traditional method that our people had used for many centuries-magic."

Sanguinius nodded. "I must admit, I do agree with what you are saying, but remember that anything to do with magic and the power of the mind are susceptible to tampering and manipulation. Sometimes a little magic does goes a long way over conventional methods."

"Anyway, our sources detected a high level of chaotic energy somewhere on the Island known as Japan, though our people cannot determine the source of the energy."

"What have you found out so far?" Sanguinius asked.

"Apparently, from what we can gather, the energy emitting from Japan during the past couple of days seems to be concentrated pure chaotic energy, the likes of which we have never seen before," a feminine voice answered.

Sanguinius looked to his left to see his other companion, a female Phoenix warrior who had similar bird-like features to Saffron and who was flying much closer to him than necessary. She was smiling at the Blood Angels' Primarch, having started to take a liking to him, especially after generously giving her his master-crafted powersword in exchange for mutual trust and friendship.

She was still amazed at how he had managed to keep up with her Lord; even more defeat him in hand to hand combat. Sanguinius had an air of nobility and self-confidence that was very similar to Lord Saffron, but not as arrogant-something she was always interested in when looking for a potential husband. Most of the other Phoenix warriors were either naïve, arrogant or interested in their rise to power, and she had almost given up hope until this stranger arrived at Mount Phoenix on that day. Maybe there was some sort of Phoenix law that she could use in order to get him?

"Lord Sanguinius, may I ask you a question?" she asked.

"Of course, Kiima, what seems to be bothering you?" Sanguinius smiled gently at Kiima, and she found herself blushing.

Saffron was thinking of how to get Lord Sanguinius into their tribe. Bringing Sanguinius into the tribe would strengthen it and bring security to the Phoenix people for generations to come, especially against the Musk Dynasty and the Amazon tribe. Saffron smirked as he had suddenly found a solution of how to bring a very powerful figure into the Phoenix tribe; and besides, he had noticed that Kiima was acting a little odd every time she was around him, rather than her rather strict, well-disciplined self. Saffron had also noticed that Kiima was showing some emotion like affection towards the Primarch.

"What is it that is so important in Japan that we must go all the way from China to here?" Kiima asked.

Sanguinius sighed before telling them the truth, wanting to build up a friendship between himself and the Phoenix tribe as he had finally found a group of people that he could relate to. Although he wasn't part of the Phoenix people, his stay with them made him feel at home-something he hadn't felt in ages.

"Listen carefully, I am going to say this once." Kiima and Saffron flew in slightly closer to listen in to what he had to say.

"There is someone that could either be the saviour or the conqueror of this world. I must find him first before the others do."

"Even more powerful than you, Lord Sanguinius?" Saffron asked as a look of fear and hesitation appeared on his face.

"Potentially yes, but I don't know what exactly he is capable of."

"What are you going to do once we find him?" Kiima asked.

"If he has turned to Chaos, hopefully we can defeat him before he reaches his true strength and power." Saffron and Kiima nodded.

Sanguinius looked towards the horizon as he saw the position of the sun. "Hmm… we should reach Japan before dusk at our present speed; my men are ready at my command. We should use the cover of darkness, as there is no full moon tonight. This shall provide us the cover we need to enter Japan undetected."

"Wise decisions, surprise and swiftness is the key," Saffron commented as he saw the logic behind his reasoning.

"Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance, when you defeated me in our tribal duel?" Saffron asked suddenly.

Sanguinius smirked. "You are still young and brash." Saffron glared at him. "But I can see the spirit of your people within you which I won't see wasted by the action of your tribal laws." Saffron's glare softened in understanding of what Sanguinius was getting at. "Besides, you will be of better use to me as my general and speaker of your people as I am not part of your tribe."

"Well, not yet, anyway," Kiima whispered as the trio doubled their efforts to get to Japan. Sanguinius had a feeling that there might be trouble coming soon as his foresight went into overdrive.

***

Location: Outskirts of Nerima

Kharn and his Berzerker troops were waiting for the arrival of Jadeite and his minion as sunrise could be seen on the horizon. Kharn was having trouble controlling his blood lust as he hadn't killed anything for the past few hours; unless he were to start killing in the next hour he would probably turn against his men to satisfy his lust for blood.

"Where is that blond-haired general!" Kharn shouted as his patience was wearing thinner by the second. "If he doesn't appear in the next hour, I'm going to hunt him down till the end of time after I finishing razing this pathetic place down to the ground! Who is with me!" Kharn pointed in the general direction of Nerima as he raised Gorechild into the air.

Kharn's men murmured in approval and acknowledgement and they were about to follow there insane but dedicated leader when…

"Kharn, you should exercise some more patience and control rather than go in blindly like a raging bull," a sinister and cold voice said from behind Kharn.

Kharn instinctually spun around, whirling Gorechild at the intruder behind him regardless of whether they were friend or foe. Kharn was sent reeling as he struck a powerful magical force field, which had absorbed the impact of Gorechild. Kharn looked up to see the huge figure of the Daemon Prince of Tzeentch-M'Kachan.

"M'Kachan!" Kharn hissed as he tightened his grip around the handle of Gorechild.

M'Kachan glared straight into Kharn's glowing eyes for a few moments. "Kharn, we MUST wait for Jadeite as he plays a crucial role in our campaign! You do not want to displease your master Khorne due to your incompetence, do you!" M'Kachan's eyes glowed red in anticipation of Kharn's reaction.

Kharn's glare of death at the Daemon Prince intensified with every second before he backed down. "Very well, M'Kachan," Kharn muttered quietly. It was a complete shock for his men that Kharn had backed down from the potentially dangerous situation. "BUT remember, M'Kachan: I am not afraid of you or your minions. I am doing this for Khorne as agreed by our war pact with you. Once I am released from our pact, I shall relish having your head around my trophy belt!"

M'Kachan rolled his eye as he reared back his long neck. "Whatever you say, Kharn." M'Kachan glanced towards his left as he had suddenly picked up the magical signature of the Dark Kingdom. "Ah, here he is," M'Kachan said as a dark portal opened up in the forest clearing.

Emerging from the dark portal was Jadeite and a dozen of his improved Youma guardians which M'Kachan had generously enhanced with his Tzeentch magic in toughness and strength, and with the addition of a daemonic aura similar to that which the Daemons of Chaos possessed. Jadeite seemed a little different than before as he had been visited by the Daemon Prince of Khorne, Angron, and had been given some enhanced abilities and powers that he was entitled to due to the mark of Khorne he had been given.

Kharn approached Jadeite, staring directly into his eyes, and recognised the early stages of blood frenzy that he had seen before in his men. "Jadeite, are you feeling alright?" Kharn enquired.

Jadeite glared at the Berzerker champion. "Just fine, Kharn. We shall destroy this pathetic district, all in the name of Khorne!" Jadeite unsheathed his sword and raised it into the air.

"Now you're talking in my language!" Kharn laughed out loud, but stopped as recognition and surprise appeared on his face at the sword Jadeite was wielding.

The blade of the weapon was completely jet black; no reflection or marks appeared on the perfect satin darkness of Jadeite's sword, save for the hilt, pommel and grip which were richly embellished with jewels laced with gold.

"The Dark Blade of Nemesis." Kharn whistled at the sheer power the blade was emitting. Kharn respected the sword-this was as dangerous as Gorechild, though it had a slight problem, which Gorechild didn't: it contained the bound essence of a powerful denizen of the Warp, a Daemon weapon. Dark Blade was a hungry killer that feasted on souls of the slain and urged its bearer on to further acts of barbarity until it was sated.

Kharn glared at M'Kachan. "Why in hell did you give him THAT weapon?"

M'Kachan smirked as he approached Jadeite and pointed towards his neck, around which Kharn could see a brass collar with strange runes and icons of Khorne. "This will keep the Daemon from trying to possess Jadeite as he wields the weapon of death when he accompanies you to the battlefield. His battle rage is a side effect of the Mark of Khorne he possesses as he had almost given up on his magical abilities which is a disappointment." M'Kachan sighed as he watched Jadeite wielding his blade in a swift, complex motion which was beginning to make the Berzerkers closest to him take a step back as they realised the potential threat he possessed.

M'Kachan watched Jadeite for a couple of minutes before turning his attention to a piece of paper which materialised in his hands. "Kharn, before you raze this district to the ground, I want these people to be captured alive and unharmed as I have further plans for them." M'Kachan dropped the paper and Kharn caught it before it fell to the ground.

"Hmm…" Kharn started to read the piece of paper, which had quite a few crossed out. "Who is this Akane Tendo?" Kharn inquired, looking at the name, which was heavily crossed out quite a few times.

"She is no use to us, you can do whatever you like with her, but apparently every single villain and Prince seems to want to kidnap her and marry her for some particular reason. She doesn't possess any qualities that would be of any use to us; for example, she can't cook or fight, and nor does she possess any magical powers or abilities." Kharn looked at the picture of Akane attached to the document. "She's cute, that's is all I can say about her. She would make a marvellous addition to my trophy rank."

"BUT I want the people not crossed out alive and unspoiled." Kharn nodded and grinned. "You know what I mean!" M'Kachan added.

"Damn!" Kharn muttered.

"To ensure that you do not fail, you shall aid Jadeite in his mission to gather the energy required for the Negaforce and I will be entrusting him a retinue of the Thousand Sons legion as bodyguard and fire support."

"What! Those tin cans!" Kharn replied.

"Kharn, you will be handling the close combat part of the mission, who do you think will be laying down the fire support as you advance? Although I expert the resistance to be laughable, we cannot not take any chances, especially when Ranma and Cypher arrive and open a can of ass whipping on you and your men, do you understand?"

"Bah, I can take them on!" Kharn said confidently.

"That's what Doombreed said before he got his ass sent back to the warp!" M'Kachan reminded him, having watched the fight between the Daemon Prince and Ranma.

Kharn sighed. "Oh right, M'Kachan, I'll take your tin cans with me; but don't expect them to be returned in pristine condition, okay?" Kharn turned around and walked back towards his men.

M'Kachan signalled the blond-haired general to come over. "What is it now, M'Kachan?" Jadeite said.

"If Kharn meets some fierce resistance and the odds don't look in our favour," M'Kachan whispered, handing him a tall, thin flagpole with the head of it covered with a veil of cloth to prevent its power from being realised accidentally. "Plant this in the middle of the battlefield and let its magic work."

"What does this do?" enquired Jadeite. M'Kachan grinned evilly.

"That's a secret," M'Kachan replied as he waved his clawed forefinger in front of him before dematerialising into thin air.

Jadeite's left eye started to twitch; this was really beginning to annoy him. He handed the flagpole to one of his Youma guardians and walked towards Kharn. Behind him, he could hear the mechanical sound of armour and joints moving. Jadeite sighed as he glanced over to the sound to see the blue and yellow armoured warriors of the Thousand Sons' legion as they walked at an incredibly slow pace. 'This is going to be a long day,' Jadeite thought, resting his hand on the hilt of his Dark Blade.

He saw Kharn signal the invasion of Nerima by firing a couple of plasma rolls into the air. Khorne Berzerkers armed to the teeth, along with Jadeite's enhanced Youma guardians, rushed towards the district.

***

Location: Masaki Household

It was a beautiful morning outside the Masaki temple; everything seemed to be normal-apart from the very large crater near the lake from when Ranma had decided to spar against Ryoko. Surprisingly enough, it was Ranma who had actually created the crater, rather than Ryoko, for a change, when he had tried to perform a revised version of the Hiryü Shöten Ha. At least no one had been hurt apart from Ryoko and Ranma who had been caught off guard when she fired a fireball the size of boulder towards him before she was caught up in the tornado. The two spent the night in Washu's regeneration tubes recovering from the injuries sustained during the brief fight.

Today, Cypher was wearing a dark blue shirt and pants that he had borrowed off Katsuhito when Sasami somehow managed to take his usual attire from him to wash when he decide to take a bath. Thank goodness she didn't pick up the cube box, otherwise the Masaki home would probably have been sucked in by a dimension vortex. In the future, Cypher decided, all of his equipment would be safe in his subspace pocket rather than leaving it with his robes. Cypher sighed from the Masaki porch as he watched Ranma and Tenchi sparring with each other again. Their first match had resulted in Ranma beating Tenchi. Everyone had been surprised, apart from Cypher and Washu, when Ranma seemingly disappeared from view and then reappeared behind Tenchi, disarming him with a swift blow before knocking him out cold with the hilt of his Lion Sword. Tenchi was now determined to beat Ranma at every single opportunity, and so far he hadn't succeeded in doing so. Although Ranma would never completely go all-out against his best friend, he wouldn't go lightly against him either, as he did with his other opponents.

During his stay with the Masaki family, Cypher had begun to like Ryoko for her carefree attitude to life and had gotten involved in a couple of drinking games with her. Cypher would sometimes win due to his unique metabolism and unique organs that he had received as a space marine, but he didn't tell Ryoko about that particular aspect of him. He respected Sasami's dedication and hard work, although sometimes he was a little suspicious of her when she was around Ranma, especially the look she gave him when she thought that he wasn't looking. The look she had wasn't of a twelve year old child, rather, a mature and adult look, similar to how his fiancées would sometimes look; but it was just for a brief moment before returning to her childish self. Ranma, on the other hand, had no clue about what was happening and assumed that Sasami was being friendly.

Sasami's sister, Ayeka, was beginning to annoy him as he viewed her as a spoilt princess, but then again Ranma considered her a friend so he didn't say anything about it as he didn't want to disrupt the relationship between him and the Masaki family. When it came to Washu, Cypher had mixed feelings, she was a great scientist, something he greatly respected her for as her superior knowledge on weaponry and machinery would have made the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars green with envy. They would kill to possess only a small fraction of what she knew. On the other hand, she would sometimes make him tense and cautious, especially when she was in her nurse's uniform, asking for a sample or something. One thing that bothered him was that every time he would see Washu, she always appeared a young child rather than a mature woman.

He was grateful for Washu upgrading his weaponry to the level that in the Imperium would classify as forbidden technology. In return for Washu's generosity, he gave her a STC disk as a gift. Inside were the blueprints and layouts for a long-range fusion rifle (meltagun). Cypher was surprised as he had thought it to be impossible as most weapons of this type could only be fired at a short distance as heat dissipates rapidly at longer range making it less effective. Something else that he and Washu found quite interesting was the blueprints for a modified force field quite similar to Rosarius or an Iron Halo. Instead of producing a small force field, the modification made would make the individual invulnerable to practically everything, but only for a couple of minutes before it needed to shut down to recharge. Both Cypher and Washu started a small project on constructing some of these weapons. Basically, Washu would construct the weapons and Cypher would test them out. The problem was that sometimes Washu would forget to tell him of additional modifications that she thought were 'suitable'. For example, a plasma charge rebounding around the room likes a bounce ball.

Cypher sighed again as he watched the sparring match between Ranma and Tenchi turn from a proper training match into a wrestling match as they somehow managed to disarm each other. He genuinely liked Ranma Saotome for his strong spirit and good nature to people, but sometimes he was a little too forgiving, especially to his opponents, and there was the danger of them using this against him. Then again, if he didn't have that particular characteristic he wouldn't be Ranma, so unlike some of the people he had worked with who would sell their own mothers for power. Although he had practically told him as much of what had happened during the Imperium and why he was here, Cypher still hadn't told him his past yet, when he was considered as a Fallen Angel, and was thinking about whether to tell him or not. He was afraid that Ranma would distrust him or keep him at a distance. Whatever the consequences, he would still act as his guardian, and when the time came he would sacrifice his life for him…

"Is something bothering you?"

"Huh?" Cypher snapped out of his deep thought. "Oh, nothing much, just thinking about the past, Katsuhito." Cypher had temporary forgotten that he was playing a quiet game with Tenchi's grandfather.

"Would you mind telling me about it?" asked Katsuhito politely as he made his move on the board. "Anyway, it's your move now," he added.

Cypher blinked before looking down at the board. Though he hadn't played this game before, he was beginning to get the hang of it quite rapidly.

Katsuhito watched as Cypher made his move. 'Damn! He's good at this even though he's only played two games,' Katsuhito thought.

"Your move," Cypher simply said.

Katsuhito nodded and adjusted his glasses. "I know there is something bothering you, and it's better to let it out rather than keeping it to yourself. I promise not to tell anyone about what you have to say unless it has something to do with anyone I know," he said as he moved his piece.

Cypher stared at Katsuhito for a couple of minutes. Cypher looked around to see if Ranma or Tenchi was nearby. "Don't worry about them, those two are over there so they can't hear what you are going to say."

Cypher nodded and was about to open his mouth…

Washu appeared from nowhere with a concerned but serious look on her face. This was quite unusual as she usually had a mischievous and carefree expression. "What's seems to be the problem, Washu?" Cypher asked.

Washu typed on her computer as large widescreen TV screen appeared in the middle of living room and played a recent bulletin from Nerima of crazed warriors on a killing spree across the whole district.

"So it has begun…" Cypher whispered.

Cypher watched the first few minutes of the news bulletin and immediately ran out of the living room to fetch Ranma, Tenchi and Ryoko as he recognised the crazed attackers immediately, having fought against them during his past life.

Soon Cypher came back with the trio. Ranma had a serious expression on his face while Tenchi, Sasami, Ayeka and Ryoko looked on in horror at the carnage.

Ranma turned to face Cypher with a deadly glint in his eye. "Cypher, do you know who they are?"

Cypher nodded and pointed to a still image of the leader of the pack. "That is Kharn, Khorne's champion of the Worldeaters legion." Cypher asked Washu to fast-forward it. "That one with the two axes and armoured like a monster is your brother Primarch, Angron."

Ranma's jaw dropped and everyone gasped at the sudden revelation from Cypher. Turned around to watch the beautiful landscape Ranma whispered, "I can't kill my own brother." Everyone in the room heard him.

Cypher walked behind him and spun him round, staring directly into his eyes. "Ranma, listen to me, Angron was ONCE a brother to you, but he was corrupted and tempered by the Dark Gods of Chaos. He will not hesitate to kill you or anyone you care for. You must defeat him before he kills you. Do you understand?" Ranma's resolve strengthened at Cypher's words. "Remember the promise you made to Ukyo, the one you told me about."

"But how are we going to get to Nerima? It's miles away from here and by the time we get there, Nerima will probably be burnt to the ground," Ranma replied as fear and desperation appeared on his face. Cypher was about to say something but stopped, as he was right. Even though Ranma was a fast runner, he would probably be too exhausted to fight, especially against the Worldeaters legion, famed for their ferocity in close combat.

"Oh, that's easy, we can get there in no time," Ryoko casually said as a grin appeared on her face.

"How?" Ranma asked, approaching her to listen to what she had to say.

"RY- OH - KI!" Ryoko shouted out loud. Ryoko then noticed that Ranma was shaking and blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry about that."

"What did you say, Ryoko?" Ranma said, though all he could hear was a constant ringing in his ear.

"Miya!" Ry-Ohki appeared on the windowsill and Ryoko picked her up.

"Ry-Ohki, I want you to take us to Nerima now and there's a bunch of carrots in it for you." Ry-Ohki meowed loudly in acknowledgement as Ryoko threw her straight into the air. She suddenly transformed into a crystalline ship.

Cypher and Ranma just stared at the ship in astonishment. To think that a little creature such as Ry-Ohki could turn into huge ship like that.

"What are waiting for? Let's go!" Tenchi said as they all boarded the ship and headed towards Nerima.

***

Location: Nerima (or what left of it)

By the time Ranma, Cypher and the Tenchi gang arrived, from what they could see from Ry-Ohki's monitors, a large majority of the district was now in ruins, and many homes and businesses were in flames. The sky was thick with smoke, the once, clear blue sky now replaced with a red haze. Sasami and Ayeka watched in horror at the sheer carnage and destruction, while the Tenchi and Ranma watched in disbelief that it was happening on their homeworld. Not Cypher and Katsuhito, both of whom had seen this before, but on a larger scale, and were well aware of the effects it was having on the rest of the gang.

"So much death and destruction, it's unimaginable," Sasami whispered. Ayeka nodded in acknowledgement. Washu was furiously typing on her invisible keyboard, trying to gather data and information about the situation.

Ryoko stared as she received some extremely uncomfortable flashback from when she was under the control of Kagato. Cypher noticed that Ryoko was not acting like her normal self and walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Ryoko almost jumped out of her skin and glanced over to see Cypher give a rare smile that reassured her that he knew what she was thinking of and going through. Ryoko let a small smile creep onto her face and she nodded slightly in return for Cypher's support. During the time she had spent with Cypher, she had begun to trust him and had eventually told him about her past, of when she was under the mind control of Kagato. She was surprised that Cypher fully understood her and accepted her for who she was as he, too, had been down that path before. When she had asked how he could accept her so easily, he had explained that he was once quite different to today until he was cast out of his own organisation and branded as one of the fallen.

"We are nearing our destination, Ranma," Washu spoke as the ship moved closer to the centre of the district.

"Yea, even though thou pass through the Valley of the Shadow of Death…" Cypher found himself muttering aloud watching the all-so-familiar scene.

"What did you say, Cypher?" Tenchi was standing nearest to him.

"What? Oh, it's just a saying I heard during my travels," Cypher explained.

Ranma tore his attention from the view screen and looked towards Katsuhito for answers. "Why should this place be of such interest to bring the Worldeaters to pillaging this city?" Ranma said.

"Damn, I should've had expected this!" Cypher cursed himself.

"It's not your fault for this, Cypher." Sasami said.

"Yeah, who could have predicted that this would happen?" Tenchi added.

"You don't understand!" Cypher said. "I should have predicted this would happen! It's his kind of style."

"Who are you talking about?" everyone apart from Ranma asked.

"M'Kachan," Ranma whispered quietly.

Cypher nodded. "Who or what is M'Kachan?" asked Tenchi.

"I have only met him twice, once during my travels and now in Juuban. He is a very cunning and dangerous foe whose intelligence far exceeds any mortal creature. His true form is a powerful daemon known only as the Lord of Change."

"But why would he lead an assault on a defenceless population?" Tenchi asked, aware that this district had little value in strategic or assets.

Cypher silently answered Tenchi's question by pointing towards Ranma.

"M'Kachan must know all about Ranma Saotome by now; about where he lives, his strengths and weaknesses, even his favourite colour. I have found that on this world information is too freely available. But I do wonder who would give that particular information away?" Cypher asked.

"Nabiki Tendo," Ranma whispered, realising that she was probably the only one who had the largest collection of data on him.

"Exactly," Cypher replied. "I had my suspicions about her and I knew that she was trouble, but I didn't realise how bad until now. Anyway, I still don't know what M'Kachan is up to, but I'm guessing that he wants to bring Ranma into the open. He's probably desperate so this is why he has decided to include the Worldeaters in his plans."

"Surely the situation cannot get any worse? It's only a isolated incident?" Tenchi said, but he received a disapproving headshake from Cypher.

"Why are you shaking your head, Cypher?" Ryoko asked.

"This is just the beginning. I have seen this before and I know how these people think. The first strike was in Juuban, an initial test of the defence of the planet. Now they decide to attack Nerima with a much more powerful and stronger force; it will then spread across all of Japan, then the rest of the world. If we do not stop the Chaos incursion right here and right now, they will use this planet as their base of operations, a staging platform to attack nearby systems, and they'll eventually conquer the entire universe. Soon, once the power of Chaos has gathered sufficient power and forces, not even the Jurai entire homefleet will be able to stop them!" Cypher stared directly into Tenchi's eyes. "This, Tenchi, is how it's going to get worse!" For a split second Tenchi considered calling up his wings in defence, but remembered that Cypher was on their side.

"Surely the Jurai Empire is strong enough to hold against or even repel the chaos incursion. They do have the backing of powerful deity," Ryoko said.

"Just one?" Cypher wondered.

"Yes, Jurai has the Goddess of Life, Tsunami," Ayeka proudly answered. "That should be more than enough to defeat a couple of savages and barbarians."

"No disrespect, I'm sure that your Goddess is strong enough to handle the Dark Gods right now as they don't have any supports here in this universe. To my understanding of the Dark Gods, they heavily rely on their followers and supporters of Chaos to increase their power and influence. First they need to establish a foothold on this universe by conquering this world which they will use to spread their influence," Cypher paused to check if everyone understood what he was saying.

"Each of the Dark Gods represent a darker side of the universe and will use this to tempt the weak minded to join their cult. The more they conquer the most powerful and influential they will be. Just be thankful you don't have a tear in the immaterial warp like the Eye of Terror back home otherwise you all would have been conquered already."

"WHAT!" The Tenchi gang said simultaneously, making Ranma wonder if they had rehearsed it earlier. Washu was carefully taking in what Cypher has said and entering the information into the database.

"The forces of Chaos are backed by four powerful and ruthless Dark deities, Tzeentch, Slaanesh, Nurgle and Khorne. They intend to take over to world to establish a stable bridge between this world and the immaterial warp where the Daemon armies of their masters are waiting."

"How do you know all of this?" Katsuhito asked. "You seem to have an awful lot of information about these invaders."

Everyone turned his or her attention towards Cypher, wondering the same thing Katsuhito had asked. Ryoko could see Cypher's uneasiness and hesitance to answer the question. She decided to intervene to take the pressure off Cypher.

"Come on, you guys, Cypher been travelling around the universe most of his life, isn't that right?" Ryoko winked at him. "Why don't we go down there and kick some high tail!" Cypher smiled at Ryoko's quick thinking.

"But where are we to start?" Tenchi enquired, as Nerima was a fairly large district in Japan.

"I suggest we head over there." Ranma pointed to one of Ry-Ohki's monitors, having just spotted something familiar-a huge, green projectile flying through the air. Ranma knew that the only one who could actually do that was Ryoga.

"What the heck was that?" Tenchi asked.

"Oh, that's Ryoga's Shishi Höködan," Ranma answered. 'Man, Ryoga must be really depressed to product a ki blast as big as that.'

"Ryoko, can you get us to the location of that ki blast?" Ranma asked.

Ryoko gave him the thumbs up. "Sure Ranma, no problem."

***

"Bakusai Tenketsu!"

Ryoga had just sent a couple of these red armoured men flying across the street as he tried to repel them. Although Ryoga was tough and a good fighter, exhaustion was beginning to kick in as he had been fighting non-stop for the past five hours. He had received a nasty gash on his right shoulder when three frenzied warriors wielding some chainsaws like swords had surrounded him. Suddenly, during the mist of the chaos and carnage, Ryoga found himself surrounded by more than a dozen yellow and blue robotic warriors. They aimed their bolters towards the yellow and black spotted bandanna. Ryoga was in serious trouble, and although he could take a couple of ki or chi hits, there was no way he was going to be able to dodge all the bullets.

A black blur appeared from nowhere, was dismantling each of the warriors one by one before they had a chance to react to the sudden attack. A moment later, all that was left of them was a huge pile of yellow and blue parts on the ground. Standing in the centre of the pile with his back to Ryoga was black-cloaked man.

"Ranma, what the hell are you doing here!" exclaimed Ryoga, as he would recognise that pigtail anywhere.

Ranma turned around and grinned. "Why, saving you again, of course, P-Chan!"

Ryoga stared at Ranma before regaining his composure. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, RANMA!" Ryoga fell back into his normal routine.

Ranma ignored his outburst and walked towards him. "Shut up, Ryoga! Tell me, what has happened to Ukyo and Shampoo!" he shouted at him. Ryoga was taken aback as he had never seen Ranma act this way before; usually he was carefree and easygoing.

"WHAT ABOUT POOR LITTLE AKANE? DON'T YOU CARE FOR YOUR FIANCÉE!" Ryoga cried out.

Ranma uncharacteristically punched Ryoga hard in the face before grabbing his shirt. "Listen up, Ryoga, not once have I told about your secret. Remember the time when I led you to school and back every single day and sparred with you, not once did I complain!" Ranma said angrily. "So cut me some slack, why don't you!" Ranma released him.

Ryoga remained silent as he started to think about what Ranma had stated. Yes, it was true that Ranma had not told of his curse to anyone and he did help him when he was young and at school when no else did. Ryoga sighed and leaned against a wall. "You have been true to your word, Ranma. This is the hardest thing I have ever had to say to anyone, especially to you, but you have been acting like a jerk ever since you arrived at the Tendo… I'm sorry." Ryoga bowed his head in shame.

"You knew?" Ranma asked in surprise.

Ryoga nodded. "Yeah, I knew. Although your acting had improved quite tremendously, I could still see right through you. Remember those drama classes we had?"

"But what was with 'Die Ranma!' this and 'Die Ranma!' that?" Ranma enquired.

Ryoga smirked. "One word - training. You were the best sparring partner that I have ever had and I didn't want you getting soft on me. Besides, if I didn't make the others think I was trying to kill you, I wouldn't have learnt the Bakusai Tenketsu or Shishi Höködan."

Ranma sat besides him as he pulled up his knees towards his chest. "I'm sorry, too, for teasing you all the time, but it was the only way to get you to fight me properly."

Ryoga stared at Ranma. He had never apologised to him for teasing him. "I was right, wasn't I?" Ryoga asked.

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, you were right. How about you, Ryoga? Are you still obsessed with Akane?" Ryoga remained silent for a moment. "To be honest, I liked Akane at first, but she was so obsessive sometimes that it was beginning to freak me out, especially her mallets."

Ranma chuckled. "Like the time Akane tried to get you a HOT bath." Ryoga punched his arm, which would've left a huge purple bruise on anyone apart from Ranma.

"Ouch!" Ranma pretended to be hurt. "Seriously, we're a right couple of misfit martial artists aren't we?"

Ryoga smiled. "You sure got that right."

"Anyway, what happened to Ukyo and Shampoo? I just saw their restaurants burnt down," Ranma asked, concerned appeared on his face.

"Hmm…" A thoughtful look appeared on his face. "I'm sorry Ranma, I just don't know what happened to them. I was making my way to the Tendo Dojo." Ryoga saw the sadness in his face. "Cheer up, Ranma. Ukyo and Shampoo are experienced fighters apart from… and I quote, 'an uncute tomboy.'" Ranma smiled at Ryoga's attempts to cheer him up.

Ranma got and extended his hand out to Ryoga. "Friends for life?"

Ryoga stared at Ranma's offer of friendship and then stared directly in his eyes to see if they was any hint that he was joking, but all he saw was a look of seriousness. Ryoga smiled as he accepted Ranma's offer. "Friends for life. Just remember, Ranma, just because we are genuinely friends doesn't mean I'm going soft on you. I will still try to beat the living hell of you, but I will try not to kill you." Ryoga tried to put a serious expression on his face, but failed as his face cracked into laughter.

Ranma laughed. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Come on, let's go and find the ringleaders and give them hell!"

Ryoga smiled and cracked his knuckles. "Lead the way."

***

Cypher had just finished taking care of the third Khorne Berzerker that had tried to ambush him as he was searching for any survivors. So far, he hadn't found anyone, most of the civilians having either been slaughtered or fled the district in terror. All around was the din of a bloody slaughter rather than a proper battle: the sickening clash of cold steel on warm flesh; the screams of the dying and the wounded; the bellowing of war cries and the screeches of inhuman foes. Cypher looked about him and all was in disarray with no pattern or plan.

Earlier he had seen the élite assault of the Worldeaters clash and mingle with the Japanese army, their obsolete rifles and machine guns bouncing off the power armour like they were using pea-shooters against armoured tanks. Cypher watched helplessly as the crazed warriors routed the Japanese army, though they had put up a good fight for roughly two minutes. As they weren't Imperial guard, discipline broke down and they fled. Cypher looked away in disgust as the poor and terrified soldiers were either cut down mercilessly or ridded with bolt shells.

Finding himself at a pause in the fighting, Cypher looked about, gripping his C'Tan Phase sword in one hand and his modified plasma pistol in the other. Cypher could feel in his bones that they were fighting a losing battle unless something happened that would turn the tide. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see Ranma and Tenchi trying to direct the terrified civilians to safety.

"By my reckoning they outnumber us twenty to one," Cypher informed Ranma, who was busy helping a young girl.

"I know," Ranma answered, trying to pry off the girl's death grip.

Ranma then led to the girl to Katsuhito who then led her to safety. "Now where do we start?" Ranma asked.

"How about right here and right now!" Ranma, Tenchi, Ryoko, Ryoga and Cypher turned around to see dozens of ugly-looking Youma, red armoured Berzerkers and Thousands Sons marines led by a blond-haired general, and a weird-looking muscular man wielding a huge axe.

"KILL THEM!" the blond-haired general replied.

"Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for Khorne!"

'It's always the same chant; this is getting tedious!' Jadeite thought.

"Ryoko and Ryoga, you take care of their henchmen!"

"Tenchi you take care of the blond-haired general!"

"What are you going to do, Ranma?" Ryoga asked. "You'd better not try running away from this. I know this is all your fault, Ranma!"

Ranma smirked. "Me and Cypher will be taking care of the rest!"

"Does everyone know what they are doing?" Ranma asked. Everyone nodded. "Good, it's time to kick ass!"

***

The fight between Tenchi and Jadeite was particularly short. Although both were experienced swordsmen, Tenchi was the better man and he managed to thrust his sword past Jadeite's defences and into his chest. Jadeite dropped his black sword and staggered back, clutching his bloody chest, as the mark of Khorne start to glow bright red.

'Well, that was easy.' Tenchi sheathed his sword and turned to see if he could help the others.

"Not so fast, mortal!"

Tenchi froze as he heard a voice that was so cold and sinister that it sent chills up his spine. He slowly turned around to see Jadeite's chest wound healing up; but the most startling thing was that his clear blue eyes were replaced with dark orbs. Jadeite stepped forward, picked up his black sword and grinned evilly. "You are not off the hook yet!" He laughed as he was bathed in a dark aura. Tenchi unsheathed his sword and stepped back, shielding his eyes as some sort of transformation began.

Jadeite's whole body writhed and twisted as his skeleton and internal organs reorganised themselves from within. Black, bone-like stumps appeared from between his shoulder blades, growing at a grossly accelerated rate until a great pair of bat-like wings unfurled behind him, blotting out the light of the sun. Leg joints bent backwards painfully and the snout of an animal burst through his skull. And all the time the Time Warrior's body grew in size as the daemon possessing it drew on the energy of the warp to fuel its transformation.

Tenchi tried to turn away from the sickening transformation in disgust but couldn't. Once the transformation was complete, Jadeite, one of Beryl's generals, was no more and in his place stood a towering and gargantuan Bloodthirster of Khorne, his sword changed accordingly by the transformation to a huge, pitch-black broadsword.

Tenchi stared upwards. "That was different." He wondered as he saw Ryoko and Ryoga staring at the huge daemon, thinking in the lines of: 'Where the hell did he come from?'

Meanwhile…

Ranma was busy dealing with Kharn's bodyguards, especially the one wielding the Glaive like a madman. Cypher, seeing his chance, rushed forward, taking out the nearest opponent under the hail of bullets, in an effort to take out the leader of the assault force, Kharn the Betrayer. Kharn stood still as recognition appeared on his face. "Cypher!" he said out loud.

Cypher's path was blocked as two of Kharn's bodyguards stepped in front of him and crossed their scythe-like weapon to prevent him from getting to their leader.

"Come out and face me, Kharn!" Cypher shouted. "Or are you a too cowardly to face me!" he taunted the champion of Khorne.

Kharn waved his Gorechild, indicating them to back off. "It's been a long time since I have seen you, Fallen Angel. I'm surprised that you are here on this pathetic world," he said as approached Cypher carefully.

"Tell me, what brings you here?" Kharn inquired, stopping just a few metres from Cypher.

Cypher remained silent, his pistols hanging by his side.

Ranma noticed that all of Kharn's bodyguards were attacking him and only him and was wondering what his friend was doing. He was surprised to see him, standing there, listening to the leader of the Khorne Berzerkers.

"Well, Cypher?" Kharn asked again, his patience wearing thin.

"Cypher, what the hell are you doing?" exclaimed Ranma as he punched and kicked a Berzerker.

Kharn looked over to Cypher's companion. "So you are working for him. How much is he paying you, or does he have something you want?" Kharn grinned. "Whatever he is offering you, I will make it three times as much. So how about it, will you work for me?" he offered.

Ranma kicked the warrior wielding the Glaive before breaking through the Khorne ranks and rushing up to Cypher. "What is he on about?" Ranma enquired, unsheathing his Lion Sword in preparation of combat.

Kharn glared at Ranma. "Oh, didn't you know?" He turned his attention towards Cypher. "Why, Cypher, didn't you tell him the truth about what you do for a living?"

"Shut up, Kharn!" growled Cypher as he drew his phase sword and thrust it at him. Kharn parried the blow with his axe naturally.

"What does he mean, Cypher?" Ranma asked, confused by Kharn's statement.

"Cypher, is a Fallen Angel, a ruthless mercenary working for the highest bidder, and he will easily stab you in the back if things don't go his way. He has worked with me many times and is known as Cypher the Damned for his part in the slaughter of millions of people on Achenar." Cypher tried to stab Kharn with his sword, though he effortlessly dodged his attempts.

Ranma stared in shock and waited for Cypher to deny the lies against his honour.

"Cypher, is this true?" Ranma demanded as he stepped away from him, feeling a cold dagger striking at his heart when Cypher didn't saying anything to deny it.

Cypher glanced over his shoulder. "Ranma, I'm sorry for not telling you but..." He sighed deeply. "I cannot not explain it to you. Perhaps later, once we have dealt with these guys." Cypher turned his attention to his opponent. "Kharn, this is between you and me!"

Kharn nodded. "Very well, you and me, one on one, no interference!"

Kharn pointed to Ranma. "Kill him anyway you like!" Kharn's bodyguards looked towards Ranma and charged.

***

For what seemed like an eternity the two exchanged blows, their weapons ringing relentlessly together, one occasionally scoring a light wound on the other, until both had blood streaming from a dozen cuts. Cypher felt no tiredness in his limbs and it was obvious that Kharn had barely even started; rage and hatred could be seen in his glowing eyes. The battle would last an eternity or more if all remained equal. Cypher's white robe was drenched with his crimson blood. 'What wouldn't I give for a suit of power armour right now," Cypher thought. He knew he had to be extra careful when dealing with Kharn and his dreaded Gorechild. His chaos armour prevented Cypher from getting a clean hit with his C'Tan phase sword. Kharn suddenly made it past Cypher's defences and managed to graze his left sword arm. Cypher reeled back clutching his arm, but was surprised when the champion of Kharn didn't press his attack.

"I see you have improved. You seem to be relying on hand weapons rather than your pistol, Cypher!" Kharn said as he raised his Gorechild in the air. "Ready for round two?" Cypher nodded after wrapping a quick makeshift bandage around his arm while Kharn waited patiently. Receiving the nod from him, Kharn charged forward.

So swift was the attack that Cypher barely had time to defend himself. From the first blow, Cypher knew that his life was at stake. He knew that Kharn was one of the best fighters he had ever encountered; his name instilled dread and fear into everyone. So feared was this warrior that entire planets would give up without a fight-but that didn't mean that Kharn would let them off that lightly. Although he had received some extra training in close combat from Katsuhito and Ranma, he was still not as good as those two; but good enough against others. Kharn was as fast, as strong, and as skilled as Cypher. As the fight continued, now and then one of them would launch an attack with blistering speed, only to be parried by equal skill.

Cypher was feeling aches and pains in his entire body as the sheer ferocity and strength of Kharn's numerous blows were weakening him. Soon, only pure determination and willpower kept Cypher from giving, remembering that if he died here he would break his oath to Ranma. Cypher smirked, brought his phase sword up, and charged.

Kharn was surprised by his renewed attack for but a moment as he redoubled his efforts to counterattack Cypher's sudden burst of energy. Kharn thrived on combat and this sudden turnabout excited him as his Blood Fury of Khorne reached another level. "Blood for the Blood God!" he bellowed out as he forced Cypher back against a wall. In a last, desperate move, both men struck with all they had. Cypher's phase sword flew out of his hand while Kharn's chainaxe crashed into his ribs and would've killed him instantly were it not for his force field absorbing most of the impact before it blew a fuse.

Cypher collapsed to his knees, fighting for breath as he felt the bone shield of his chest cavity shatter under the sheer impact. Blood pouring from his body, too much for even the Larraman cells to halt, Cypher knew that he was beaten and looked up to see Kharn overshadowing him, his hand outstretched in a friendly gestured.

"Cypher, today is not a good day for you to die! Join me as my general, just like old times, like we did during Achenar," Kharn said in a tone of voice that he rarely used. "Our blood has been spilt today, for though our path has been long and bloody, you have served your lord with unflinching courage and the honour of a true courageous warrior. Why must you fight and die here for a rotted corpse or human?" Kharn enquired.

"I am not here for the Emperor," Cypher answered in a calm and collected tone.

"Oh? Whom do you fight for, Cypher?" Kharn wondered.

"That human is whom I fight for, and I have sworn to protect him with my life. He is my Lord and Primarch, Ranma Saotome!" Cypher exclaimed as he picked up a glass shard and thrust the shard into Kharn's thigh joint.

Kharn looked down at the glass shard sticking out as though he had suffered nothing more than a scratch. "So be it. I shall have your head!" He then gripped the handle of Gorechild in both of his hands and swung it in a wide arc. Cypher bowed his head and waited for the blow, hoping that it would be swift clean as it took his head from his shoulders.

It never came...

A loud noise came from his left, leaving an unbearable ringing in his ear; he recognised it as steel clashing with steel. Cypher glanced up to see his lord and Primarch, Ranma Saotome, locked in test of strength. Sweat poured from his and Kharn's faces.

"Who are you?" Kharn demanded. He had never met someone that could equal him in terms of strength unless they were some sort of daemon.

"Ranma Saotome at your service!" he said in a mocking tone as he pushed the Berzerker champion back with all of his reserves strength.

Kharn stepped back a few steps. "You're Ranma Saotome? I had expected something better than a wimpy looking mortal!" Kharn mocked as he lowered his Gorechild to one side. "Try your best shot, Primarch!"

Ranma smirked as leapt high into the air towards him and . . .

"Revised Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma gave Kharn a couple of thousand punches rather than his usual few hundred, each one harder than the last. Ranma finished it off with a brutal uppercut towards the chin.

Kharn was sent flying across a few hundred metres as he skirted across the concrete paving. Kharn slowly rose off the guard. "I still fight on!" Kharn said.

'Man, this guy is as stubborn as Kuno!' Ranma thought as he concentrated on his internal energy. Kharn's expression suddenly changed to curiosity; Ranma was starting to glow a darker colour than normal.

"Nekoken Kijin Raishü Dan!"

Two pure ki blades were fired toward the Khorne Champion. Kharn, seeing the two blades heading toward him, immediately tried to dodge them, but failed as they were travelling faster than he could move. The first blade ripped through his armoured shoulder like a hot knife through butter as sparks and blood appeared. The second slashed against Kharn's waist, cutting through inch-thick ceramite plates and flesh alike, severing some power cables and fibre bundles which was having some serious effects on Kharn's auxiliary systems. Kharn's power armour was warning him that he had just lost the majority of systems controlling his movements. Seeing Ranma with a large grin on his face, Kharn immediately pulled out his MK1 plasma pistol and it began to charge up.

Ranma rushed forward with inhuman speed. "DON'T MOVE!" he said very loudly.

"Möko Kaimon Ha!" Ranma threw both his arms in a curving motion away from him as he gave Kharn a powerful kick towards his chest area at the same time. Kharn was thrown through a building and carried on going through at least a couple of other building until his momentum halted against a large, steel reinforced post.

Ranma winced when Kharn slammed at the post. "You know, Ranma, that was overkill," a weak voice said.

Ranma spun around to see Cypher trying to get up, clutching his chest as he had difficulties in breathing. Cypher looked towards him and raised his plasma pistol at him. Ranma stared in shock and disbelief that his best friend would turn against him; maybe Kharn was right.

"DUCK!" Cypher said loudly as he fired a few plasma rounds. Ranma heard his warning and dived forward as the plasma bolts slammed into a couple of Khorne Berzerkers who was about to sneak up behind him. The Khorne Berzerkers fell backwards with smoking pouring out of their armour. Ranma quickly got up and rushed towards Cypher who had collapsed against a wall. "Cypher are you alright?" he asked, concern apparent on his face.

"I've had worse," Cypher simply replied.

"We have to get you out of here!" Ranma said as he tried to help him to his feet.

"I'm fine, Ranma. Just got the crap kicked out of me, that's all," Cypher hastily said.

Ranma glared at Cypher. "You sure?"

"I'm fine, honestly, see..." Cypher showed his wounds were starting to heal up. "Now go and help Tenchi and others!"

Ranma was still unconvinced. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Cypher rolled his eyes and pointed. "GO!"

"Alright, I'm going," Ranma replied.

'Now where is my sword?' Cypher looked around the rubble.

***

The battle between Tenchi and Jadeite the Bloodthirster was brutal and swift. While Jadeite tried to hack Tenchi with horrendously powerful, lightning-fast attacks, Tenchi easily matched the ferocity of the frenzied Jadeite thanks to Katsuhito's training and Ranma's sparring. Hundreds of attacks were traded between the pair in the first three minutes of combat alone. Tenchi, fuelled by the power of his Jurai heritage, attacked in a blur of movement while also protecting himself from the scores of hits from Jadeite that would have killed a normal mortal. At one point, Jadeite stumbled after a vicious blow nearly severed his leg at the knee joint. With a mighty clash he fell on the concrete ground, splintering it into thousands of pieces. Enraged, it stood quickly, blood dripping from its heavily muscled form as the ground trembled beneath its cloven hooves.

With a powerful leap it launched itself into the air, beating its immense wings. It swooped towards Tenchi in an effort to smash him beneath its bulk. Ranma was close by and saw his friend unable to move and about to become a smear on the pavement. He rushed forward and roughly pushed Tenchi to one side while simultaneously unsheathing his Lion Sword as they was no time for anything else. In desperation he lunged forward towards the descending Bloodthirster. Driving the golden blade up into the greater daemon's belly, its own momentum impaled the creature, though not enough to actually kill as he had just missed piercing its dark heart. Jadeite inhumanly screeched in agonising pain as he ploughed into the path causing great rents to appear in the stone surface.

Ranma breathed heavily. He reckoned that had he been just a fraction too slow, he would probably be a bloody smear right now. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and would've taken him out were it not for him sensing a familiar Jurai aura. Glancing up, he could see Tenchi with a smile on his face that silently thanked him for saving his life.

Ranma smiled back saying he would do it all over again for a friend. Katsuhito watched from afar, a smile appearing on his features as he had seen what had taken place between his grandson and that red demon monster. Seeing Ranma acting on instinct and saving Tenchi without a second thought warmed his heart and he cursed himself for not adopting him the first time he appeared at the Masaki shrine. He would have been a good older brother for Tenchi and a welcome member of the family.

A sudden idea popped into his head. 'Hmm… maybe there is a way in getting him into the family,' Katsuhito thought. But there was one thing that was bothering him: Ranma liked Sasami and Tsunami, but did he know that Sasami and Tsunami were the same person?

From the crystalline starship Ry-Ohki, Sasami watched the progress of the battles with keen interest, especially Ranma's.

Washu was watching the young princess rather than the actual battle. 'Hmm… Sasami seems to have a crush on this young man and so does my sister; she's been acting a bit weird,' Washu thought. It suddenly dawned on her like a ton of bricks (not literally!). Washu started to laugh from her invisible seat as she finally pieced it all together. "Hehe! I just hope Ranma knows what he about to get himself involved in." A shining glint appeared in her eyes. Ayeka and Sasami stared at the red-haired scientist before returning their attention to the battle. Ry-Ohki just meowed loudly. Ranma sneezed twice.

***

Ranma had just finished dispatching one of Kharn's élite Berzerkers in brutal hand-to-hand combat when his natural instincts started to kick in. Ranma dived forward just in time as he narrowly avoided being crushed to death by something big and heavy that had appeared from nowhere. Getting up from the ground, Ranma looked up to see one of the Berzerkers standing above him with a smirk on his face as he raised his chainaxe high into the air. Ranma had no time to react as the Berzerker bought down his axe, intending to split his head open with it.

Suddenly Ryoga appeared from nowhere and shoulder-barged the Khorne Berzerker, sending him straight into a nearby house.

"We are even now, Ranma!" Ryoga said before heading down the alleyway, having spotted a couple of those blue and yellow warriors about to gun down a couple of civilians who were trying to escape the carnage.

"Bakusai Tenketsu!" Ryoga extended his index finger towards the concrete paving, sending millions of pieces towards them, and shedding the warriors to metal ribbons.

Ranma was grateful that Ryoga was on his side for once, and he glanced over his shoulder to see what it was that was trying to kill him. At first, he thought it was Doombreed coming back from the warp wanting bitter revenge for their last encounter. Ranma had an eye for detail-especially for opponents he had fought before-and on closer inspection, he noticed the armour that the creature wore was not the same as Doombreed. Instead of the brass-golden armour, it looked like the power armour the Khorne Berzerkers had on, but twenty sizes too small for him. Ranma turned around and looked upwards to see two burning eyes filled with pure hatred and rage staring down on him.

'Not a Daemon Prince again!' Ranma groaned inwardly. He got into an offensive stance holding his Lion Sword in his right hand, but allowed the Prince to make the first move.

"Hello brother!" the Daemon spoke catching Ranma off guard momentarily; usually the Daemons would attack first then perhaps talk later. "It is so good to finally meet you at last," the Daemon Prince said in an almost friendly tone that was beginning to make Ranma a bit edgy.

"Who the hell are you!" Ranma shouted at the massive Daemon Prince.

The Daemon pretended to be hurt and shocked. "Don't you recognise your own brother?"

"Err… I don't seem to recall having a Daemon Prince in the family!" Ranma answered in a sarcastic tone.

The Daemon Prince glared at Ranma for mocking him. "Very well, you have probably heard of me. I am Angron, formerly known as the Primarch of the Worldeaters Legion, now Daemon Prince of Khorne."

"Ranma Saotome, Martial Artist and Primarch of the Emperor," Ranma replied in formal manner.

"Now that we have formally been introduced, I have a proposition that may be of interest to you before I kill you," Angron said; it would have been odd anywhere except Nerima-a huge, powerful Daemon talking formally to a human during a hectic battle.

"I'm listening," Ranma said as he side kicked a Berzerker who had tried to creep up behind him in the head.

"What I am proposing to you may benefit the both of us. Together we shall rule this pathetic world and this universe as battle brothers. What do you say to that? Join me, or die on this pathetic planet." Angron gave his ultimatum to the Primarch of Chaos.

Angron grinned evilly, having full confidence that Ranma would accept his generous proposition of power beyond his dreams, especially after the life that Ranma had had when he was growing up. Tenchi, Ryoko, Ryoga and Cypher watched in dread and fear as they saw Ranma thinking it over.

"Join me and we shall once again become a family," Angron added to tempt Ranma to the dark side of Chaos. M'Kachan and N'Kari watched with interest from afar, wondering why that hadn't occurred to them in the first place rather than trying to overpower him. The Dark Gods were wondering which faction would Ranma join-or would he become the Warmaster of all four powers like Horus was.

Everyone knew that Ranma had had a difficult and harsh upbringing, and it was a miracle that Ranma had turned out the way he was instead of becoming like Genma, or worse, Happosai. Everyone, especially Tenchi and Sasami, hoped that Ranma wouldn't accept Angron's temptation of power.

Ranma took a few moments to think about it before looking up at him and smiling brightly.

"Your offer of power sounds tempting and I am intrigued by it…" Ranma said. Angron smiled evilly-he had finally gotten through to Ranma dark side! Ryoko was about to blast Ranma, but Cypher managed to stop her.

Ryoko glanced over her shoulder to see Cypher shaking his head. Cypher had years of experience in working with many sinister and dishonourable characters in his life-many of whom would murder their own grandmothers for only a small fraction in power-if their granny didn't get them first, of course.

Ranma wasn't one of them. Despite his upbringing by Genma (he made a mental note to beat the little hell out of him when this was over) Ranma was still honourable, kind and a forgiving type of person. Ranma's true nature was said to be a man of few words, who was unfailing warm, polite and kind to all, even those who had tried to kill him repeatedly. These traits earned him the friendship of many potential enemies such as Ukyo, Tenchi and Cypher.

"…But I politely refuse your offer as it means the slaughter of millions of innocent people and total carnage. Besides, I'd rather keep my own appearance, thank you very much, and I already have a family here in this world," Ranma answered Angron, wiping the smirk off his face before being replaced with infuriation.

"So be it!" Angron leapt towards Ranma, gripping his double-headed axe of Khorne. "You are a fool for not accepting my generous proposal!"

"Bring it on!" Ranma charged forward while the rest of gang dealt with the rest of the Berzerkers, the Thousand Sons and Jadeite/Bloodthirster.

The battle between Ranma and Angron was very different to the battle he'd had in Juuban against Doombreed. This was mainly due to Angron being a former Primarch and a very experienced veteran in the art of war. A flurry of blows was launched at Ranma, who was surprised at the sheer speed that the Daemon Prince was moving at considering his size and mass.

Ranma was forced to draw upon all his reserves to fend off his inhuman strikes. For a moment Ranma was confused. This opponent wasn't like Doombreed; Angron was a far tougher opponent than he had encountered before, possessing a formidable defence-especially with that massive axe of Khorne, which he was using both defensively and offensively.

'Damn, he is good!' Ranma thought as he cursed himself for underestimating his opponent. He was indeed skilled judging from the manner in which he had managed to parry his attack while continuing with his onslaught of blows. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Ryoko, Katsuhito, and Ryoga were having trouble dealing with the constant wave of Khorne Berzerkers, Thousand Sons, and the hordes of Daemons appearing from random places, while at the same time aiding the people away from the battle site. Cypher was still having trouble dealing with the Khorne champion who was trying to slice him in half with his Berzerker Glaive. Despite having a broken arm, fractured ribs and a dislocated shoulder, he was still putting up a good fight. Far over to his right, he could just barely see Tenchi dealing with the Jadeite/Bloodthirster and he was currently having difficulties.

Assuming a defensive stance, Ranma waited for the next attack and focused on how to deal with Angron. The Daemon Prince stopped as he outstretched his large, bat-like wings and started to flap them rapidly, creating a huge gust of wind and debris that flew towards Ranma. Ranma didn't have time to erect a proper defence as he narrowly dodged various objects such as glass bottles, wooden shrapnel, bricks etc. Ranma was able to dodge most of the objects, which could've killed him in an instant, but his clothes were torn and shredded in many places due to the small, sharp objects that he couldn't avoid.

Ranma decided to go on the offensive, as waiting for Angron to make a mistake was not paying off. So as soon as Angron stopped his sudden gust attack, Ranma leapt high into the air, unleashing his speed and strength in a flurry of blistering slashes and attacks with his powersword, following up with the Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken for good measure.

Angron had trouble dealing with Ranma's sudden burst of energy as he tried to block his incredibly swift attack with the length of his axe. What Angron didn't expect was Ranma exchanging his sword attacks for his fists, and he reeled back in confusion as he received a couple of hundred punches to his head. Ranma backflipped off Angron and landed in front of him, trying to get his breath back before attacking again.

Angron coughed bloodily. "Is that the best you can do, Primarch?" he taunted Ranma to try that again. Angron looked around to see his men falling back due to the beating that Ryoko and Ryoga was giving them. Angron decide to ignore Ranma for a moment and tried to rally his men.

"THERE SHALL BE NO RETREAT, THERE SHALL BE NO SURRENDER, ONLY VICTORY OR DEATH! I WILL DEAL WITH ANYONE WHO RETREATS OR SURRENDERS! IN THE NAME OF KHORNE, THE BLOOD MUST FLOW!" Angron exclaimed in a loud voice, which could be heard for miles around. He raised his axe into the air, which had the effect of driving the nearby warriors into killing frenzy.

Cypher, Tenchi, Ryoga, Katsuhito, and Ryoko were forced back by the renewed assault from the Khorne Berzerkers. "Ranma, we can't hold them off for any longer!" Tenchi shouted, almost exhausted from his fight with Jadeite.

"There are too many of them even for me!" Ryoga said as he grabbed a Khorne Berzerker by the arm before lifting him into the air and throwing him at his group, who were preparing to rush towards him.

Seeing the sword was a couple of yards away from where they were, Tenchi rushed over and was about to pick it up when a hoofed foot slammed against the blade, preventing Tenchi from retrieving Ranma's Lion Sword. Tenchi immediately got out his Tenchiken and a thin, blue blade appeared.

Angron laughed, "You think that puny weapon is going to hurt me, mortal?"

Angron's smirk was wiped off his face as Tenchi activated his Jurai heritage and his wings came to life as a second sword and armour appeared. "Well, that was different," Angron muttered as he was forced back, allowing Tenchi to grab the Lion Sword from off the ground.

"Hey, Ranma! Catch!" Tenchi threw the sword towards Ranma who instinctually caught the hilt and rushed over to aid Tenchi against Angron, who by now was really pissed.

"Ranma-" [dodge] "-are you okay?" Tenchi asked.

Ranma smiled. "Yeah, just got the wind-" he parried the blow; "-knocked out of me. I'm going to feel it tomorrow." Tenchi laughed, but maintained his focus on the threat they were engaged in.

"Well, let's live to tell about to our children-" [ducks] "-it's sure going to be more interesting than a normal fairytale," Tenchi replied as he narrowly avoided Angron's fist.

Ranma arched an eyebrow. "Have you decided who you're going marry, then?"

Tenchi blushed in embarrassment before answering: "Err… Ranma, I don't think it's appropriate right now!"

"Fine, but you are telling me after all of this is behind us!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Stop ignoring me!" Angron shouted, as he had never seen anyone taking this so easily.

Ranma and Tenchi looked at each other before smirking as they started to swing their weapons in a pincer movement. This caught the Daemon Prince off guard as the two blades destroyed Angron's battleaxe, chopping it into three pieces.

"Tenchi, you go and help Ryoko and Ryoga; I think they need your help more. I shall deal with him!" Ranma ordered.

Tenchi nodded. "Look after yourself, Ranma."

"You too," Ranma replied as he watched Tenchi leap over some rubble to where the rest of the gang were.

Angron somehow materialised a black sword in his hands as he charged toward Ranma. "The Dark Gods tell me that if I am to slay you, I shall become the most powerful Primarch of them all!" he said. "And by Khorne, it shall happen!" Angron bellowed out as he bought his black sword down. Ranma took two swift steps to the left without thinking, totally focused. Realising that this fight had to end now he brought up his Lion Sword, which now glowed from within with a blue light just as when he had fought the Bloodletters. The chaos rune blade struck sparks from his Lion Sword as he parried the blow, swiftly riposting with a thrust to the armoured gut of Angron. Normally, mortal weapons would have bounced harmlessly off the hell-forged brass armour, but the Lion Sword was special, and Ranma had finally unlocked it secret.

The Lion Sword wasn't an ordinary powersword as he and Cypher had at first thought it to be, but something more ancient and deadly to forces of Chaos, especially the Daemons of the Dark Gods. The legendary Lion Sword was actually a psychic force weapon; a cross between the weapons used by the Librarians of Adeptus Astartes and the Nemesis force weapons used by the Grey Knights of the Ordo Malleus. During Ranma's stay with the Masaki family, Katsuhito mentioned that the sword was very susceptible to certain energy sources but he couldn't determine what they were. Ranma finally realised that if he applied some of his ki energy into the blade as he did with the Nekoken sword, it would activate some of its hidden powers.

Angron roared in pain as the glowing blue blade imbedded itself deep into his side. The Daemon Primarch dropped to his knees, thick blood drooling from his slack features; he had never expected his Primarch brother to have a force weapon and cursed himself for not noticing it earlier.

Looking up, blood drooling from his lips, he could see Ranma breathing heavily and poised to deliver the final blow, his Lion Sword now glowing brighter than ever. Angron coughed crimson ichor before glaring at Ranma. "So, Ranma, it seems you are the better man. Finish me off now, brother," Angron said as he slowly reached for the hilt of his Daemon rune sword.

Ranma said nothing as he stepped forward slowly, gripping his sword and preparing to decapitate the Daemon Primarch with one swift blow; but he made the crucial mistake of hesitating as Angron's last words got to him. Angron, seeing Ranma's mistake, threw his rune weapon like a spear in desperation.

Ranma narrowly parried Angron's sword and cursed himself again for not finishing off the Daemon Prince. He then saw the Daemon Primarch fly up into the sky and away from him. Ranma was about to give chase when he sensed two auras appearing just behind him. Spinning around quickly, Ranma breathed a sigh of relief, as it wasn't a daemon as he had at first thought it to be.

"Man, am I glad to see you!" Ranma approached them in a friendly manner, lowering his sword as he saw two girls dressed similarly to the Sailor Senshi, though their primary colours were different to those of the other Senshi he had seen.

"Never seen you two before? Where are the other companions?" Ranma asked.

The two girls remained silent as they focused on the target that Sailor Pluto had said to eliminate for the good of the Crystal Tokyo. Ranma immediately sensed he was in trouble when he noticed the deadly glint in their eyes.

"WORLD SHAKING!" A yellow ball of energy as the ground shook.

"DEEP SUBMERGE!" A massive funnel of water appeared from nowhere.

'Oh Shit!' he thought, and barely erected a defence against the seemingly sudden betrayal of the Sailor Senshi. Ranma did just enough to keep from being killed, but was sent spawning across a few hundred metres. Cypher, Ryoga and the rest of Tenchi gang watched in disbelief having thought that the Sailor Senshi were on the good side, but seeing them attack Ranma for no apparent reason changed the view of that.

Ranma was shocked and stunned and tried to get up but suddenly collapsed as he felt his entire body racked with pain.

M'Kachan, Foulspawn and N'Kari suddenly appeared around the dazed and confused Ranma in a triangle as they tapped into the psychic warp streams. Washu was onboard Ry-Ohki monitoring the battle below when she suddenly picked up a huge increase in dark energy on her sensors. Pulling up a view screen, Washu saw that Ranma was in serious trouble. "Ayeka, get down there and warn Ranma of the danger!" Washu shouted to the Princess who obeyed without question as she was beamed down to where Tenchi and the gang currently were.

"Ayeka, what are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay onboard Ry-Ohki?" Tenchi said in surprise and confusion.

"I'm sorry, Lord Tenchi, but Lord Ranma is in serious trouble. You must help him," Ayeka said as she summoned her guardian logs to aid in their struggle.

"WHAT!" Tenchi immediately searched for Ranma on the battlefield, but was having trouble as hordes of Daemons were blocking his field of vision.

"I can't see him!" Tenchi said.

"He's over there!" Cypher said, tending to his injuries with a makeshift bandage.

"RANMA! GET OUT OF THERE!" Tenchi exclaimed as saw the danger his best friend was in and surged forward through the Khorne and Daemon ranks, smashing into the thin line that had been surrounding them. Tenchi forced his way through their ranks aided by Ryoko and Cypher who provided fire support as he ducked beneath chainaxes and powerswords, his sword deftly flicking out to cut down the nearest Berzerker or Daemon, but he was too late to help him.

"Huh?" Ranma shook off his dizziness.

"Too late, foolish mortal!" M'Kachan smirked. "Thanks for the help!" he pointed toward the Senshi who had ambushed Ranma. The two Sailor Senshi were confused; they had thought that the Daemons should be aiding him, not the other way round.

"RANMA, THIS TIME YOU WILL DIE!" he exclaimed. "TZEENTCH'S FIRESTORM!" screamed M'Kachan as the immediate area around Ranma lit up with multitude of coloured flames.

"DOOMBOLT OF SLAANESH!" hissed N'Kari as a pure-black bolt of energy was sent towards Ranma.

"PLAGUE WINDS OF NURGLE!" muttered Foulspawn as a brownish tornado suddenly appeared behind Ranma.

"RANMA!" Sasami/Tsunami cried out as she watched the combined attacks from the Daemon Princes from Ry-Ohki.

Ranma closed his eyes and prayed silently as he braced himself, knowing full well that he would not survive even at full strength. If one or two magical attacks were aimed at him, he would have a fifty-fifty chance of survival, but three and in a weakened state, and his chances would be zero.

A massive explosion was seen for miles around as the combined attacks of three Daemon Princes merged together creating a chain reaction and causing a huge aftershock which blew down everything that wasn't solidly fixed. It even caused some of the building to collapse due to the structural damage caused by the fighting.

Sasami broke down and cried as Ayeka tried to help her while Washu watched the pair helplessly.

Cypher fell to his knees in shame as he had failed to keep his oath. Katsuhito prayed that Ranma would find a better life where he had gone; he had had so much potential for a skilled warrior at such young age.

Ryoko and Ryoga were enraged and doubled their efforts in beating the living heck out of everyone.

Tenchi had a pained expression on his face as he watched his best friend, someone whom he considered as an older brother, vaporised in the huge explosion. It was then replaced with cold steel fury at M'Kachan and Angron who were both busy laughing evilly.

The forces of Chaos cheered wildly before resuming to their jobs of pillaging and killing.

The Dark Gods of Chaos toasted each other as the thorn in their side had finally been taken care of.

Once the debris and dust had cleared, all that was left of Ranma Saotome was a huge crater. Upon closer inspection, at the bottom of the crater was the Lion Sword shattered in two.

***

Author's Note:

Montymouse carefully walks onto the stage wearing a riot helmet and body armour whilst ignoring the glares from the audience, but notices that everyone is brandishing either particularly sharp implements or weapons.

Montymouse: Is this the end of Ranma Saotome?

The glares intensified with every second at the author.

Montymouse: (In deep thought) Hmm… maybe, or maybe not; but in the words of a famous Mazoku, aka The Trickster Priest, the Mysterious Priest, Namagomi, the fruitcake…

Unknown: GET ON WITH IT!

Montymouse: (Sighs) (Taps on his nose) "Sore wa himitsu desu." Or in English: "That is a secret!"

Montymouse: Look at the time, I have to be going now, bye! (Runs away from the mob of angry people for leaving them with an awkward ending.)

Montymouse: (shouts from a distance) Oh yeah, thanks for those who contributed to this stage of the story. I appreciate it very much. Until the next time, see ya.

Kharn the Betrayer: Gorechild - A huge and ancient chainaxe. Gorechild is an artefact from the Great Crusade. Gorechild's jagged whirring teeth were torn from the jaws of mica dragons on Luther Mcintrye; its haft is forged of adamantium; and its head is a full tree span across. It is a deadly weapon, capable of splitting an armoured Space Marine from head to crotch with one blow and is doubly dangerous in the hands of Kharn.

The Administration will accept all comments and constructive criticism.

The Inquisition will purge all flames with righteous fury.

Please transmit all encoded comments to: pnmonty@hotmail.com

Version 1.0 18/02/03

Version 2.0 26/02/03

Version 3.0 27/08/03