Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma 1/2: The Truth and the Tempest ❯ Storm's Arrival, Sudden Vengeance ( Chapter 36 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

[Author’s Note: The characters and setting herein- with the exception of one or two O.C.’s of my own design- are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. They will be returned once this chronicle is complete, with full rental fees paid. But enough beating around the bush.]

Ranma ½: The Truth and the Tempest

Chapter 36: Storm’s Arrival, Sudden Vengeance

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“Are you sure this is the last case, Mistress?” a weary Sasuke gasped as he staggered out the door of Kuno Manor, lugging a designer suitcase that threatened to overwhelm him just as he set it beside several identical suitcases. Each had been crammed to capacity with clothing and personal belongings. The suitcases sat on the pavement next to an assortment of large boxes, which were being loaded onto a moving van by two men under Kodachi’s watchful eye.

“Quite sure, Sasuke,” the raven-haired girl replied in a low, serious tone. “Anything still remaining in the closets can remain there for now; I shall likely not be needing them.” She glanced up at the van and narrowed her eyes. “Be careful with those, you two! If so much as one box or the contents therein is damaged, it will be on your heads, do you understand?”

“Don’t worry ‘bout a thing, ma’am,” one of the movers replied in a tired voice. “We’re professionals, we handle this kinda thing all the time.”

“I should hope so, but do pay attention to which one goes where! And DO be careful with the ones marked ‘Fragile’, they are MOST precious!” She turned away from the van and discreetly bit her lip. The last thing I need those apes doing is breaking one of those blasted chemistry vials; I would as soon leave them here but I cannot risk it. Especially some of the more… potent concoctions, best not to let them sit unattended…

“Mistress, are you really sure you want to do this?” Sasuke asked as he sat on the largest of the suitcases. “Would it not be easier to have young Master Kuno’s things put away instead? Must you leave the family estate altogether?”

“Sasuke,” Kodachi sighed, “there is a part of me that would just as soon stay here. That I will not deny… but there are a number of bad memories within these walls as well. Memories that have not been easy for me to revisit, as you know.” She folded her arms and hugged herself briefly. “I doubt that I shall be sufficiently able to deal with them for some time, and it may be longer still if I stay within those walls.”

“I… I understand your reasons, Mistress, but to abandon the estate…”

“I am not abandoning it, Sasuke,” Kodachi replied with a shake of the head. “I am merely taking my leave of it for now. Father did as much, and the house held up in his absence… though his reason for abandoning me to my brother could hardly be comparable to my reason.” She looked up at the walls of the manor with sad eyes- eyes that no longer seemed to shine with a maniacal light. “The staff should be able to manage until I return… and I know that you, loyal Sasuke, probably already plan to see to it personally.”

Sasuke nodded hesitantly, a slight flush on his face. “Well… y-yes, with your approval, of course.” Kodachi paused a moment, then smiled.

“Of course.” She paused, then glanced at the front gate. “I do hope Midorigame will be okay. He loved this place so much… I expect the move will be harder on him than it will be for me.”

Sasuke shrugged noncommittally. “Oh, I don’t know… the Nerima zoo seems a nice place. I’m sure the keepers will be kind to him.” He paused. “In truth, I was somewhat taken aback when you decided to donate him, Mistress. You raised him from a hatchling, after all.”

“Yes… it wasn’t easy, saying goodbye,” the gymnast sighed. “But I couldn’t leave him here while I’m away, I just couldn’t. He’d throw a right awful temper tantrum if you or the staff tried to feed him; as skilled as you are, you just don’t know how.” She flashed a brief grin that made Sasuke’s eyes widen slightly, then slipped back into melancholy. “And besides… he, too, reminds me of that… that woman I became. Him and the house, both. As long as I’m around either of them… I’m…” She stared at the ground. “I’m afraid, Sasuke. Afraid the Black Rose might come back again before I’ve dealt with my ‘family’ properly. Afraid it might wreck any attempt to reconcile with Ranma and the Tendo girl… afraid that…”

She paused, then blinked. “Sasuke… do my eyes deceive me, or is there an afternoon mist building up?”

Sasuke glanced around, his brow furrowing. “That is most peculiar… I thought for sure the weather forecast called for a clear evening, not this.”

The two of them glanced higher, and as they did, their expressions became more and more confused. What had begun as a mild mist wafting down the street was quickly turning into a cold fog that grew thicker, seemingly, by the second. It crept along the outer walls of the estate and spread up and outward, rolling over the moving van and the walls as if they weren’t even there. Soon it had crept higher still, blocking more and more of the afternoon sunlight and casting eerie shadows along the pavement. A chill shot up Kodachi’s spine as the fog caressed her bare ankles.

“Sasuke… this does not feel right,” she said, trying to hide the tremble in her voice. “Unless you have a hidden ninja secret to produce fog…”

“M-mistress, there is no ninja technique on this level… I can make do with smoke bombs, but none of my family has ever learned anything of this magnitude!” The short man’s mousy features suddenly turned a sickly shade as a nearby streetlamp flickered on, doing little to ease the growing discontent in Kodachi’s heart. The two movers had stopped moving boxes and simply stared as the fog grew thicker, colder… until it appeared the entire road was a sea of mist.

“This is ridiculous,” Kodachi snapped at no one. “It’s probably just a freak weather pattern, nothing more. There’s no reason why a little fog should make Kodachi Kuno weak at the knees!”

An instant later, a distant cry- like a baying wolf- echoed down the street. Sasuke froze in place. Kodachi’s eyes grew wide and she swallowed hard. Shortly after, a shrill cackle erupted in the distance, followed by another, and another.

“On the other hand… there is no reason why a young girl should not be on guard for dangers other than a little fog,” she stammered, reaching into her school uniform and whipping her ribbon into a ready stance.

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In other parts of Nerima, the fog was spreading like wildfire. It slithered through alleyways and crawled through the side streets, it crept between trees in the park and oozed its way through the canals. Streetlamps began snapping on the moment they were engulfed by the thick mist, but what light made it through was hardly a comfort and seldom enough to see by. Cars began to screech to a crawl; a few were stopped completely either because they were lost or because of collisions with telephone poles, brick walls, or other cars.

People began to shiver as the fog wound around them, stripping away the heat of late spring with surprising alacrity. The chill in the air only became worse as a silence descended upon the streets for a few brief moments, only to be replaced by a haunting, howling wind and a vicious snicker that seemed to come from all directions at once, as if from a great unseen chorus. Some people in the commercial district started to panic, leaving their afternoon shopping behind as they dashed into the road, trying to make sense of the fog and looking for a place to run.

A tendril of fog snaked into the open doorway of the Neko Hanten and wormed across the floor of the dining room, causing the few diners therein some consternation before Shampoo slammed the door shut, blocking the remaining fog. She stared at the door for a few seconds and shuddered as her legs brushed the mist; her eyes widened as the sensation of a hand running up her leg hit her just before the miasma evaporated.

Shampoo spun on her heel and stared at the ground, but there was nothing there except the floor. Behind her, faint echoes of laughter and nervous people in the streets made their way through the door. Aiyah… this not normal, Shampoo know it not supposed to be foggy today… but all at once… and… and something try to grope Shampoo’s leg, but cannot see what? She shook her head and darted into the kitchen. “Great-grandmother, something very bad happening and I no know what it is!”

“I know, child, I can feel it from here,” the old Amazon murmured with a catch in her throat. “I felt it even before I saw that mist roll through the door… there is something very wrong afoot. Very wrong indeed.” She turned around, and Shampoo could clearly see worry etched into every line on Cologne’s face. “Twice today, I’ve felt the presence of strong ki- very strong ki- passing through town. The first one I knew right off; that degenerate Happosai’s back in town. But the second…” She shuddered. “I have no idea what the second was.”

“I don’t believe this!” Mousse shouted as he bounded down the stairs and skidded to a halt just inside the kitchen, the pain from his injury seemingly forgotten. “I took one look outside my window and I thought I’d gone blind again! What’s the deal with all that fog outside? And what is the deal with all that laughing I heard?”

“Mousse, quiet down and listen! This is too, too serious!” Shampoo snapped, pulling him further in. The remaining customers decided to finish lunch early and quickly departed, leaving their payments on the tables.

“What? I was only asking what the deal is with the weather…”

Cologne batted him lightly on the head with her cane. “The ‘deal’, as you put it, is that something… or someone… is causing it to happen. Something very powerful, boy… and, I might add, something overwhelmingly vicious.” She shook her head. “I only felt it for a moment, just a minute or two ago… it felt like it was some distance from here, but even so… the ki I felt was unbelievable.”

Mousse blinked. “Something made that happen? And it’s doing it as we speak?” Damn… I thought something felt a little off when I was cleaning my room up, I thought it was just a drafty window…

“In a word, yes. And I daresay, I haven’t felt many auras on par with what I felt a moment ago.”

“But why?” Shampoo asked, throwing another nervous glance towards the door. “What fog-thing doing here? Is come to steal something, or…” She suddenly paled; memories of numerous other occasions involving strange appearances came crashing down on her like a ton of bricks, and in particular a certain person or persons who almost always became involved. “Oh no… does this mean… is brother Ranma in danger?”

“I fear that may be the case, child,” Cologne replied. “He and Akane do tend to find themselves at the mercy of beings such as these. Even more so, it may be, because of their blood. Of course, I might be wrong… but as I said, I also felt Happosai’s aura pass through much earlier.” Her eyes narrowed. “And when that old goat’s around, it’s always bad news.”

“So what happens now?” Mousse asked in a sharp tone. “Do we go to the Tendos’ and try to warn them before this ‘something’ reaches them?” Behind him, the newest member of the wait staff peeked around the kitchen door curiously.

“I think they already know by now, boy. And I doubt we could reach them before ‘it’ does… but they are our adopted tribal brethren. By law, they are Amazons- and Amazons never abandon fellow warriors.” Shampoo nodded and was just about to reply, when Cologne’s head suddenly jerked up. The old woman spun to face the doorway; the others glanced up just in time to see the door slide open so hard it nearly came off its tracks.

A shadow staggered through the fog, followed closely by another. “Excuse me! How do you get to Nerima ward from here?”

Shampoo blinked, then rolled her eyes and sighed. “You IN Nerima, stupid pig-boy. Aiyah… at least with fog you got excuse for being lost.”

Ryoga blinked, glanced around twice, then let out a relieved chuckle. “Oh, thank the Kami… the second that damn pea soup rolled in I thought for sure we were gonna wind up down in Kyoto before nightfall!”

“You and me both, sweetheart,” Akari added as she stepped in, rubbing her arms to ward off the cold. “I can’t believe I lost Grandfather’s map again; the wind just ripped it right out of my hands!”

“Yeah, first the fiasco with the pigs’ medicine, then today he tells us he’s running out of his own medicine and we run right smack into this freak weather.” Behind Ryoga, outside the door, Katsunishiki grunted his agreement and gave a porcine whine; the giant pig was rather upset that the doors weren’t wide enough for him. “I don’t get it, I thought today was supposed to be kinda pleasant… well, it was when we started out…”

“This no time for idle chit-chat!” Shampoo snapped, fists on her hips. “Is something very bad in Nerima that is causing mist, and that mean certain someone probably in big trouble!”

Ryoga’s head snapped up. “What are you talking about?”

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In the backyard of the Tendo estate, the mist was slowly beginning to thin. The clammy chill that hung in the air continued to ooze forward regardless, sending tiny pricks up the backs of most of those present. Kasumi had dropped to her knees, gripped by a nameless dread, Nodoka had dropped the leash Genma was on, though he was too startled to take advantage of the opening- even Nabiki’s icy outer shell was beginning to crack. Ranma and Akane just stared as a roiling, pulsing wave of ki crept through the air, threatening to overwhelm their nascent aura senses with its intensity. “Shin… I thought you said you’d set up some kinda barrier around here,” Ranma muttered, taking a deep breath and glaring at the fog. A sudden crackle of pale gold light in the air just above the porch answered him a second later as multiple warding points began to glow.

“I set that barrier up around the house and dojo, Ranma; I didn’t have enough materials for the backyard too,” Shingen shot back through gritted teeth. His eyes were narrowed so much they were nearly shut, and his knuckles were turning white with the intensity of his grip on his naginata. This is not good… that concentration of demonic energy is far too strong to be from a run-of-the-mill entity! The mist continued to pull back centimeter by centimeter; Happosai was still struggling to sit up, his face ashen and his eyes wide as saucers. Shadows began to stir within the fog… and Shingen’s eyes widened. There’s more than one! One massive aura, at least two smaller ones with it… and… there’s something else beyond that, not quite as strong as the weakest of the first three, but it doesn’t feel fully demonic… a hanyou in the service of the others? Whatever they are, this is WAY more than I was expecting! He felt a sudden tremble in his hand and glanced down; his weapon was beginning to pulse and throb with an inner energy all its own.

“Yes… it’s been a very, very long time, Little Happosai.”

One shadow moved. The owner of the voice stepped forward, the mist thinning away to reveal a tall man with long ivory hair and menacing violet eyes. He stood barely a yard from the puny ex-Grandmaster, clad in a long white garment that bore a striking resemblance to a priest’s cassock, but with gold Chinese-style closures up the middle. He appeared to be wearing loose black pants and shoes, and a deep purple sash about the waist; his left hand rested on an ebony cane thrust through the sash. Beyond him, two more shadows gradually grew more distinct- an even taller, monstrously proportioned shadow to his right, and on his left a more petite shadow barely the same height as Ranma’s female form.

The tall man took another step towards Happosai- and Akane gasped in surprise as she realized the old lech was doing something she had never seen him do. He was shaking. In pure, abject fear. “Oh my God… what kind of person is this?” she breathed.

“Wha… wha… what’s going on?” Soun managed to stammer. “What is all of this? Who are these people?” He glanced around, but a reply was not forthcoming.

“What’s this, then?” the violet-eyed man purred, folding his arms. “You don’t look so pleased to see me, Happosai. In fact… I’d say you look like you never expected to see me again.”

Oh hell… Shingen’s eyes snapped wide open. This power… he’s reining it in, but I can still pick up its intensity from here… great Kami, that man could be a Named Spirit…

Ranma’s head snapped up, as did Akane’s. Shingen, what was that you said? Named Spirit?

That’s what I said, the taller man replied Astrally. I knew something big was about to happen, but if it’s a Named Spirit… no wonder Karasuhebi’s reacting the way he is…

Happosai, for his part, had found a tiny reserve of energy and was scooting back on his rear towards the Tendo house. “Oh… oh dear…” he said in a tiny voice. “T-this is quite a l-little surprise… T-T-T’an-mo, what an unexp-pected pleasure to s-see you ag-gain…”

The white-haired man raised an eyebrow. “T’an-mo… hmm… yes, I suppose I have been known by that name. There have been so many, sometimes it’s hard to keep track… occasionally they just blend together.” His mouth curled into a minute smirk. “Yes, I did use that name a long time ago… until I was somehow sealed away, most unexpectedly…” He took another step. “For now, however, I would rather you address me by my proper name, whelp. The name handed down to me by my father… Astaroth.”

Shingen’s jaw dropped. WHAT did he just say?

“Astaroth? What kinda weird name is that s’posed to be?”

“A name that means nothing but trouble, Ranma!” Shingen hissed. “Remember how you told me you fought against the demigod Saffron?” A hesitant nod was his reply, but before he could continue the ivory-haired man shot an icy glare towards the open shoji doors. Violet eyes narrowed- and suddenly the demon’s battle aura flared, blasting air forcefully in all directions as indigo light wreathed his body. The sudden gust caught those in the room and battered them with the intensity of a hurricane, knocking several of them off their feet and, in Soun and Genma’s cases, sprawling them onto their backs. Ranma’s and Shingen’s knees buckled and Akane winced as she was pushed down to one knee, but all three managed to stay more or less upright. A quantity of crockery and glassware lay strewn about, broken or cracked on the floor.

“I do not appreciate being interrupted whilst I am addressing this maggot,” Astaroth glowered in a glacial tone of voice, the light fading. “Nor do I appreciate anyone referencing myself and the Phoenix god in the same breath. He and I are of an entirely different breed.” His eyes darted left to right, scouring the porch before traveling upward to the roof. “Hmm… so my viceroy was right. You’ve placed a shield ward on this estate, Hunter scum.” He drew in a breath, closing his eyes and brushing his hair back. “How very… impolite of you.”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve talking about politeness when you’re the one barging into our home!” Akane snapped reflexively, fists clenched. The tall demon turned to face her and locked eyes with hers- and for a brief instant, Akane felt a chill the likes of which she had never faced. It took all the chills she had felt over the past two weeks and blew them away; it felt like she was staring into pure blackness, stripping all warmth away, worse even than the sensations she had felt when on the brink of death on Phoenix Mountain. Her stance faltered and she began to shake.

“I said don’t interrupt, young one. I shall deal with you and your pig-tailed loverboy soon enough,” Astaroth murmured. “For now, though, Happosai and I have unfinished business. Don’t we?”

Happosai had scooted right up to the porch, his back touching the crackling golden barrier that was reacting more and more to Astaroth’s presence. “I… I’m afraid I really have no idea what you’re talking about, I’ve been away for quite some time… long training trip… very long indeed… and I think I need to go on another one…”

“Oh, I think you’ve done enough ‘training’ as it is, Accursed One,” came the reply with all the friendliness of a rabid pit bull. The white-haired man motioned with his left hand, and the two shadows behind him stepped forward. The black Tengu with chains wrapped around his arms emerged from the mist on the right, cracking his knuckles. On the left appeared someone neither Ranma nor Akane had seen before- a girl, smaller than Akane but with a figure on par with Ranma’s girl side, with shoulder-length black hair and wild violet eyes. She was dressed in a skin-tight sleeveless purple bodysuit and sported a seductive yet feral grin. Strange tattoos ran from the palm of her right hand up her forearm, seemingly seared into the flesh.

The pulses from Shingen’s naginata grew stronger and his eyes narrowed again. A Named Spirit, that damned Greater Tengu, and now another succubus- or something very like it… this is too much. I’m going to have to… He was about to swing his weapon into a ready position when Astaroth’s right hand gripped the cane tucked in his belt. An instant later, he swung the cane up, then cracked it down upon the ground… and while the earth did not crack or collapse beneath him, the shockwave that burst from the point the cane struck was sufficient to throw everybody off balance yet again. Shingen staggered and collided with Ukyo, who had been pulling herself to her feet as well, and the two of them fell backwards with Ukyo ending up on top of him- and blushing rather ferociously. Akane dropped to both knees, while Ranma managed to adjust fast enough so as to only fall to one knee.

“What did I say before?” Astaroth sneered. “You’re quite the impatient one, aren’t you, young Hunter. I assure you, you and your two little Hunter fledglings there will have your chance once I am done.” He snapped his fingers, and the mammoth Tengu stepped forward. “Kurowashi. Bind him.” The great beast grunted and thrust his hand forward. Happosai squeaked and tried to scramble away just as chains exploded from the Tengu’s arm in dozens of directions at once, slithering through the air like silver snakes. A chain snapped around Happosai’s leg, pulling taut, then another around his arm, then another, until finally the old man was sprawled on the ground, spreadeagled, with steel links pulling him in all directions.

“What the hell is all this?” Ranma snapped, scrambling back to his feet. Astaroth did not reply, but leveled another emotionless glare at the others before swinging the black cane outward in a sweeping arc. This time the ground in front of the porch and the energy barrier split and cracked as another tremor rocked the house’s foundation, followed by a sudden mass of black stone lances punching up from below. Each lance jutted up from the ground at least six feet, then curved back on themselves, until the entire ground floor appeared to be wreathed in a cage of black claws.

“I have had quite enough of these interruptions,” he purred dangerously. “You saw fit to lock me out, therefore I have returned the favor and locked you in. And now…” At a gesture, the black Tengu’s chains hoisted the struggling Happosai into the air, who looked as if he had wet his pants. The ivory-haired man stepped right up to the tiny elder, his lips curling into a wicked sneer.

“You think I don’t remember, do you?”

Happi swallowed hard. “Uh… r-remember what? I d-don’t h-have a c-clue what you m-mean…”

“Don’t lie to me, Happosai,” Astaroth snapped, grasping the smaller man by the chin. “You know full well what I’m talking about. Over two hundred years…” He dug his thumbnail into the old man’s cheekbone. “You should know full well I would find a way to escape that little backstabbing trap of yours, you worm.”

Ranma blinked twice from behind the double barricade. “Geez, I know Happi’s pissed off a lot of people, but someone like this?”

“What was that about two hundred years? Has that old goat really been around that long?” Ukyo asked as she rolled off of Shingen’s chest.

Astaroth took no heed of what they said, but stared emotionlessly into Happosai’s shell-shocked eyes. “You broke your word to me. That I had almost expected… but to imprison me with a five-fold warding ritual… and I’m not even going to ask HOW you pulled it off, or what priest or miko you stole the technique from…” He took a slow breath. “You know full well that time is my ally. You knew it then, you know it now. And surely you know, too, that I do NOT tolerate those who swear fealty to me and then attempt to renege on their contract.”

It was Akane’s turn to blink. “Contract?”

“Contract?” echoed her father and Genma.

“I remember it all… you were far younger then, Happosai. And just as puny, too… and by far one of the greatest lechers in all of Asia. I felt it long before you ever saw my face, I could smell your aura from a mile away.” His thumb relaxed, easing the pressure on the old man’s cheek. “I knew if I approached you, I could offer you something you had always longed for. Yes… I’d watched you for a long time, Little Happosai. Stealing food, stealing ladies’ underclothes, cheating masters of the martial arts out of their hidden techniques… even learning to conjure up lesser demons.

“But even with all of that, I could tell you were afraid of that great inevitable for all humans. You may have fortified your aura and fighting skills, but you were growing old. You were afraid of that… and unable to find or steal the secret you so desperately wanted. You could have found it among the Amazons, but no. Even one such as you couldn’t stand and face more than one of their Elders, let alone an entire village of warriors. You had to find another way, and you had to find it fast.

“Then I approached you. I offered you that which you desired even more than pleasures of the flesh. I offered you the secret of Agelessness. You had already learned the art of Lust Healing, stolen from a reclusive monastery of hedonist warriors… warriors, I might add, who were devout acolytes of my father, the true Lord Astaroth. With that and the power I granted you, you would be nigh unstoppable… and barring violent death, practically immortal.

“In return, you were to become my human servitor. My viceroy amongst the human race, to spread the power of chaos as I willed it. My right hand, as it were.” The thumb resumed its squeezing, the nail digging into the flesh hard enough to draw a trickle of blood. “I granted you power. And you turned around and betrayed it.

“I had thought you had been cowed sufficiently. That you would not deceive me as you had so many other humans. And for that oversight, I was rewarded by that little surprise when my back was turned. You tricked me into that cave with promises of your latest offering- you had fulfilled your offerings before, I felt it would be no different- and promptly lure me into an elaborate warding circle, imprisoning both me and my weapon behind stacked barriers, five strong. And you laughed. You MOCKED me. Claiming you had ‘outsmarted the demon prince’.

“Well, let me assure you, scum. Nobody laughs in the face of Astaroth.”

Happosai was now shaking like a leaf. “P-please, I c-can explain…”

“You have done enough explaining,” the tall demon spat, backhanding Happosai across the face.

Beside him, the dark-haired girl’s smile grew wider. “Oh, dear. Looks like the little man is getting twitchy, my Lord,” she giggled. “Just as he should, after immobilizing you all those long, long years…”

Astaroth nodded, a faint smile returning to his face. “Quite right, Yoko. Quite right indeed.” He turned to her, putting his arm around one of her shoulders. “You see her, filth? This is a being of true loyalty. Born a lowly imp, but faithfully coming to me and doing my bidding all the many years I was held back by your stolen enchantments. She has been my eyes and ears, which you were unwilling to be. Received what boons I could grant in my crippled state, so that my work could be done. Even set events in motion to free me from my prison… and for that, she was rewarded. Given a name, a new station as a higher entity. Once an imp… but now, one of the pain-givers. A Fury, if you will.

“Her loyalty was rewarded. Your impertinence will be punished.”

Happosai practically screamed. “N-no, wait! Please! It’s n-not what you think! I was… I was… protecting you! Yes, I, uh… I was masking your p-presence from a great, GREAT being of p-power… I had, of course, intended to release you once the danger passed, but… well… great battle, lots of things happening, uh… amnesia… so, really, it w-wasn’t my f-fault…”

Astaroth leveled a gaze at him that would freeze gasoline. “Stop lying to me, vermin. I have watched you far too long to fall for any of your foolish tricks. Don’t you dare think for one second that you or your precious School of Anything Goes will escape punishment tonight.”

Everyone on the other side of the barrier suddenly snapped to attention. “What did he just say?” “S-Saotome, d-did that man just say the School as well?” “That’s what it sounded like, Tendo…” “I knew this was gonna be trouble one way or another, little bro…” “Oh, my… I knew Grandfather Happosai was far from a good man, but this is just too much…”

“I’ve been planning for a long time, Happosai. Watching through the eyes of my viceroy and other imps, picking up what clues I could about you… all the while biding my time, using what power I had left to forge counter-wards to my prison. And I swore that I would not rest until the ‘Grandmaster’ that sealed me in that pathetic prison had paid, along with his most devoted students.”

Happosai began to whimper… and suddenly stopped. “Wait a moment… did you say you… you swore to make the Grandmaster pay? Because if that’s the case, then I’m afraid you’ve come at a bad time. You see, I’m afraid I’m not the school’s Grandmaster any longer… lost a challenge to my heir, fair and square; if you want a Grandmaster you’ll have to look towards him because I’m not…”

Ranma’s jaw practically hit the ground; Akane, Kasumi, Nodoka and Ukyo all gasped. Shingen and Nabiki merely rolled their eyes. “WHAT the HELL? Are you tryin’ to foist yer damn problems on me AGAIN, you little son of a bitch?” he shouted, leaping across the table and smashing his knuckles into the stone spike barricade beyond the gold shield. The stone shook with a vibration that caused everyone to gasp and hold their ears, but did not crumble- in fact, it barely cracked. Ranma gasped, shaking his hand in considerable discomfort.

Astaroth, for his part, moved his hand and gripped Happosai by the throat. “Clever. Very clever, slime. And so like you, too. But I distinctly said the Grandmaster who sealed me away. And I never specified that he had to be retaining that title.” He ran his finger along Happosai’s jugular. “You won’t deny me this, little filth. And besides… I’m not the only one who has reason to punish you.” He looked away and gave the remaining shadow within the fog a nod. “It wasn’t my intention to bring another… we just happened to meet on the way. He seemed rather… keen to meet you.”

The figure stepped forward, and Happosai’s eyes widened again as the mist dropped away. A pair of angry yet pleased eyes were revealed… an unruly mop of hair… a sudden glint of light off the dragon-scale armor the young man was wearing, and a light breeze that caused the crudely fashioned pantyhose-belt around his waist to flutter. Ranma blinked in surprise, then shook his head slowly. I don’t believe it… guess it’s really true what they say about karma comin’ back to bite ya in the ass…

Happosai began to sweat as Pantyhose Taro stood directly in front of him and cracked his knuckles. “Well, well… I’ve been looking forward to a day like this for a long time, old man. Now… let’s talk about names, shall we?”

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“What is the matter with you youngsters? Hurry up already, this is too important to waste time on!”

“Give us a break, you old mummy! Not everyone’s as adept at sensing auras as you are; with this damnable fog it feels like I’m going blind again!” Mousse’s outburst was quickly silenced with a cane whacking, followed by a low groan.

“Great-grandmother, Mousse right about fog, but we make much better time if stupid pig-boy not get turned around so much!”

“Hey, BACK OFF! I’m doin’ the best I can; you know I have a bad enough time as it is in GOOD weather!”

“Sweetie, it’s okay, at least we’re all still together, right?”

“That right, but Shampoo think we move faster if pig-boy stay behind!”

“Like hell I will! You think I’m just gonna sit around in this lousy weather and get lost again? Forget it!”

“Alright, everybody just SETTLE DOWN!” A long sigh. “Good grief, I’m getting too old for this sort of thing. Shampoo, take Mousse’s hand. Mousse, find something in that robe of yours that Hibiki can hold on to. Right? Now, follow me, and quickly now! Who knows what’s going on while we’re here wasting our breath…”

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It didn’t take more than a moment for Ranma’s sense of fair play to overrule the private satisfaction he was getting from the spectacle before him. On one hand, he- and most of the others in the house- were rather glad to see the old pervert getting pummeled by Taro’s flying fists, but at the same time a growing discomfort was lodging in his throat. First, the ‘punishment’ had quickly evolved into a form of torture, considering Happosai’s immobility in midair via the chains. Second, the fact that Taro was standing in the midst of several demons- the leader of whom was casually examining his fingernails while Taro continued to pound Happi- led him, Akane and Shingen to a mutual and uncomfortable consensus. It was more than likely, they soon agreed via the Astral Link, that Taro had fallen into the grip of his own curse demon… or even, perhaps, the other way around. It was with those thoughts in mind that all three of them soon began pounding, slashing and kicking at the barricade of stone claws, chipping away fragments of it at a maddeningly slow pace. Shingen, for his part, quietly fumed that the confined quarters of the living room gave him no real space to properly swing his naginata.

“Hm. It seems your punishment is making the locals angry, young man,” Astaroth mused casually. “Perhaps the old fool is willing to give you what you wish now.”

Taro nodded and relented his assault, then lifted Happosai’s face- which seemed to resemble a piece of hamburger- and stared right into his bloodshot eyes. “You hear that, ‘father’? What’s it going to be? Do you change my name or do I change forms and keep using you as a punching bag until you do?”

“N-no… p-please… wanna go h-home…”

“Answer me, Happosai.” His hand went to the tiny man’s gi top- which was threatening to fall apart- and lifted him up to his face. “What. Is. My. Name?”

“N-name… P-P-Pantyho…”

“NO!” Taro grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him till his eyes rattled. “The name I wanted. Give it to me, or we go back to the exercises!” His right arm shot back, fist clenched, and Happosai began to shake again.

“NO… nononononono…” The breath left his body in nervous gasps, and he twisted his battered face away. “Y-you are… y-you are… A… A… Awe… some… T-Taro.”

“There, you see?” said Astaroth calmly from the side. “All it took was a little persuasion, young fellow.” Taro said nothing in response, but let the old man go and smiled coldly.

“Persuasion? Looked a lot more like beating a helpless old goat senseless, if ya ask me!” Ranma spat. Even if he did kinda deserve it…

Taro shot a scornful look in the general direction of the house. “Well now, is fem-boy going to complain about the fact that I taught this disgusting man a little lesson? I thought you hated him just as much as I do.”

“That still don’t make it right! And you ain’t got any right to call me fem-boy any longer!” Ranma retorted, punching a stone spike hard enough to score it with tiny cracks.

“Don’t provoke that guy too much, Ranma,” Shingen piped up in an even tone. “I still can’t get a clear read on his aura; something about the stone barricade must be interfering, but if he has allied himself with those three we might be in a lot of trouble very soon.”

Taro paid Shingen no mind, but quirked an eyebrow at Ranma’s statement. “No right to call him… I didn’t realize fem-boy had gotten that sensitive about his curse.”

“Actually, young man, he speaks the truth.” Taro turned to see Astaroth stepping up to Happosai’s battered body once again. “The power behind his curse was expelled from his body and destroyed. He does not transform any longer… does he, Yoko?”

The black-haired girl nodded. “My brethren and I could not keep an eye on him always, but I did at least see him splashed with water once and not change. It served to confirm that Akureiko was destroyed.” Taro raised a curious eyebrow at her words, but shook it off and turned his attention back to Happosai, not caring to give them a second thought.

Astaroth nodded slowly. “It would have been so much easier if he had let the spirit absorb him… or even if he had taken over the spirit’s consciousness and gain the powers therein. Either way, it would have been a greater boon to my plans.” He let out a dramatic sigh. “Still, the best laid plans of gods and men…” A light pause, and then he snapped his eyes back toward Happosai.

“Young Taro has received what he desired, filth. Now it is my turn.”

“What?” Akane gasped, her fist stopping in midair inches from a badly cracked pillar. “Your turn? You mean you’re going to do more to…”

“I told you once already, girl. I have had to endure the humiliation of what this man did to me for a long time… not that time has much of a meaning to me. But existing in a crippled state for extended periods of time is something I am not terribly fond of. I had plans, you see.

“I had left unfinished business in this land… indeed, in this very ward. All those plans had to be set aside when Happosai locked me away… even with my viceroy acting in my stead, I could not complete my agenda from a distance. Nor could I free myself directly, with the way the old fool constructed his five-point prison. I had to find an alternate way. I sent out dozens of imps to watch this little bastard’s every movement, while I took it upon myself to forge indirect countermeasures to my prison. Eventually all was in readiness- but to break the seals I needed multiple releases of ki energy, and not just any being’s energy. It had to bear my mark.

“That was when I learned of the things the whelp had been up to in my absence. The scams. The atrocities.” He gestured in Taro’s direction. “Young Taro’s involuntary evolution, even. I sent out my eyes and ears more frequently… and that was when I stumbled across something most interesting indeed.

“I found out who his students were… and more importantly, I learned of their children. AND their bloodline. Not to mention whispered rumors of a contract between families- a contract which would lead to the betrothal of two children with Demon Hunters’ blood in their veins. The last living descendants of the Sagara and Saito clans, no less. I must say, when I learned of this possibility- not to mention the fact they would be related to this Accursed One’s own school- I was not amused.”

There was dead silence in the air as several pairs of eyes locked onto both Ranma and Akane. Soun’s jaw hit the floor. Genma didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands or what to say. Kasumi had both hands clasped over her mouth as she looked at Akane with astonishment, disbelief and worry all rolled in her eyes. Taro started to look bored.

“Think about it. The heirs to two branches of the Accursed One’s school, with the potential to become Hunters of my kind as well. Of course, I had to do something about it.” Astaroth paused to brush a speck of dust off his black cane. “That, of course, is when it all fell into place. What better way than to turn their lives upside down, cause endless havoc between the two houses and set in motion a select series of pawns to disrupt their lives endlessly. It seemed the perfect way to undo the Accursed One’s life’s work… and Yoko, though still an imp at the time, was most cunning in the manner of marking suitable ‘candidates’ for my purposes. Particularly in marking candidates to act as the keys to my prison.”

Ranma’s face went white. “Wait a second… you don’t mean…”

The black-haired girl giggled. “It was truly such a fun time, you know, moving unnoticed by most everybody, picking those most suitable for chaos attraction and marking them as such… sometimes it was hard to choose, what with so many magnificent candidates in this ward alone.” She flipped her hair coyly. “I must say, though, I most enjoyed the process of selecting strong curse-hosts for my Lord’s awaiting brethren… a push here, a misstep there, a bit of misdirection at a crucial moment… it wasn’t that hard to cajole certain powerful warriors towards the spring portals, especially one or two on the Master’s revenge list. You practically walked right into it, you and your deceitful father both.” She shot a meaningful glance in Ranma’s direction. “The plan would have gone so much smoother, had you just listened to Akureiko’s voice rather than have her expelled from your body, boy.”

“Still, what’s done is done,” Astaroth added nonchalantly. “I had hoped the others would not meet the fate that befell them, but in the end their ki- marked just the same as you were- served my purpose. Their energy provided my release. Which is all that ever mattered, after all.”

For another moment, there was absolute silence as many sets of eyes stared at the white-haired man… and the next moment, Ranma’s eyes narrowed and his aura began to throb in increasingly powerful waves. “I… I don’t believe this,” he snarled, locking eyes with Astaroth. “Are you trying to tell me that all the hell I’ve endured for the last year and a half… that damn curse, who knows how many rivals and just as many damned unexpected fiancées at the same time… getting tossed around, fought over, malleted, poisoned, charmed, damn near killed a few times… everything that’s happened to me an’ Akane was your doing this whole time?”

The white-haired man chuckled, brushing his hair back. “Hmph. If you want to lay blame for your suffering, boy, lay it at the feet of the puny man before you.” He tapped a fingernail pointedly on Happosai’s forehead, eliciting a barely-conscious groan. “I might not have even noticed you were it not for your family’s association with this maggot. But to answer your question… as I couldn’t very well leave his school unpunished, and of what might happen should you and the Saito girl grow close…” His lip curled into a cold smile. “What do you think?”

“You SON OF A BITCH!” Ranma’s aura practically exploded, engulfing his entire body in cold blue flame as he jerked his right hand back and punched forward with all his might. Flesh and bone met stone pillar once again with a horrific shudder- and a second later cracks raced along it from tip to base, followed by the rock shattering into several hundred slivers. Akane gasped and tried to grab hold of his shirt to stop him, but Ranma had already planted one foot on the remnants of the pillar and sprang through the barricade, into the backyard. His form blurred for an instant as he rocketed towards Astaroth in a boiling rage, ki wreathing both fists. He ducked low, changed directions at the last second and exploded into a vicious Amaguriken barrage…

He was so intent on beating the man’s face in, so suddenly filled with the accumulated anger of the last year’s Hell on Earth that he had endured, that for a microsecond he failed to notice the defiant smirk Astaroth was sporting. His eyes suddenly widened as Astaroth ducked low and to the side, letting Ranma’s rapid-fire punches sail over one shoulder for a brief instant- and the next instant, the white-haired man had driven his knee directly into Ranma’s gut. The impact knocked the air out of Ranma’s lungs and sent him flying backwards across the yard, where he collided with the stone pillar barricade and crumpled to the ground, doubled over and gasping for breath.

“Ranma!” Akane gasped as she scrambled through the hole in the barricade and knelt by his side. Behind her, Shingen gritted his teeth and roundhouse-kicked another severely cracked pillar, breaking it off at the base before jumping through, weapon at the ready.

“Heh. Looks like fem-boy let his anger get the better of him,” Taro drawled from the side. “Getting a little sloppy there, ‘Grandmaster’.”

“Shut up!” Ranma spat, coughing and pulling up to his knees. “Least I ain’t knockin’ around town with a damn demon like you are, bastard!”

“Who said I was knocking around town with them?” Taro replied with a shrug. “I just happened to be heading this way when the fog rolled in and they showed up. I had business with the old goat, they had business with the old goat. Makes no difference to me what they are; I got what I wanted in the end.” He reached up and smoothed his hair back.

“Quite right. And now that you’ve been satisfied, young man, I believe it is time for me to take what is due.” Astaroth turned back to face the bound and spreadeagled Happosai again and clutched his cane in both hands. The jewel set in the top of the cane began to scintillate. “You’ve suffered much today, Little Happosai. Very much, indeed. But rest assured, your suffering has only just begun. I’ve waited a long time for this moment… and Zangyaku has grown most hungry.”

His right hand gripped the top of the black cane and pulled in one quick, fluid motion as the jewel at the top flashed, sending a wash of purple light across the ground that caught Ranma, Akane and Shingen in its wake; thin ropes of energy emerged from the light and stuck to their legs, lower bodies and the ground beneath, quickly binding them in place. The cane separated roughly ten inches from the amethyst, revealing a shining inch of steel- which quickly grew as he pulled, revealing a concealed straight-edged katana blade with whorls of black seemingly etched into the metal. Happosai’s eyes widened in sudden horror…

Ranma, Akane and the rest of the Tendo household gasped. Shingen stared, struggling to break free of the strands locking his legs. Taro blinked in sudden surprise…

The girl called Yoko licked her lips as the blade came down…

… Happosai barely had time to let out a strangled scream before the ground beneath him was suddenly painted red. A horrific gash ran across his tiny body, which suddenly erupted in blue-white fire as Astaroth jammed the tip of the sword directly into the ancient man’s chest. The fire twisted, turned, then burst outward from his body with an unearthly screech, siphoning through the air and into the black markings on the blade. Before anyone else had time to react, the blue fire disappeared completely and the blade was withdrawn from the twitching Happosai. An instant later, Yoko had stepped forward and gripped the bound old man by the neck.

“Ashes to ashes…” was all she said before tendrils of fire burst out of the tattoo on her arm, snaking themselves around the old man before exploding in raw, unbridled fury. A moment later, the Tengu’s chains dropped away and the girl released her grip, letting a tiny, charred body collapse motionless on the ground before her.

For a long moment, the silence in the backyard was deafening.

“… Oh… Oh my God…”

Kasumi didn’t say much more before fainting into Nodoka’s arms. Nodoka, for her part, was trying very hard not to start shaking or faint herself. Nabiki dropped her camera; Ukyo lost her grip on her battle spatula. Soun and Genma both appeared to have turned completely white.

Taro slowly turned where he stood, shock evident in his eyes. “What did you…” He shook his head as Astaroth tilted his head to look at him. “You… you killed him?”

“I granted him the power of Agelessness long ago, before he betrayed and bound me,” murmured Astaroth emotionlessly as he shook the blood from his blade. “Call it a revocation of that gift.” He lifted the sword up and stared into the black patterns along the spine. “He wanted eternity, and now he has it… along with the hundreds of souls trapped, over time, within Zangyaku’s blade. An eternity of torment and pain. A suitable punishment, don’t you think?”

Taro’s eyes widened. “This… was not what I had in mind for that old man. Punishment, hell yes, the goat deserved it for what he did to me and just about everyone else, but I didn’t want to kill him!” I just wanted to keep him around as a punching bag, not wipe him off the face of the Earth…

“That, young Taro, is where we differ, I suppose.” He shut his eyes and shook his head ever so slightly. “A pity. I thought you might have been more inclined to agree with me, from the way I had observed you in passing…”

“And what the hell’s THAT supposed to mean?” Taro snapped. “Are you saying I look like a killer or something? Or act like one?”

“My, my. Quick-tempered as always, aren’t you.” Astaroth shook his head again, then laughed. “You should feel good about what has transpired. You got what you desired, as I said you would. I now have part of what I desire, and the rest will be soon to come.” Another pause. An instant later there was a flash of steel as Astaroth swung his sword in a horizontal arc, the sound of steel on flesh and dragon scales, a spray of blood, and suddenly Taro was sprawled on the ground, clutching at the fresh wound across his chest.

“I have no use for a half-breed, in any case- much less one who disagrees with my methods,” the white-haired man sneered emotionlessly as he slammed the sword back into its cane-sheath. “Live or die now, it makes no difference to me. You may not bear my mark, but in the end you’re little more than a pawn like all the rest. And besides- you’re the result of Happosai’s interference in things, too.”

“You monster!” Akane shouted, pulling up to a crouch as best she could, fighting against the pull of the ki ribbons on her body. “Happosai may have been the biggest pervert on the planet, and a Grade-A jerk, but NOBODY deserves to go through what you just did!”

The demon snapped his head around, hitting Akane dead-on with a sub-zero glare. “And who are you to tell me what to do, little Huntress? The heir to Saito is going to lecture me on proper conduct when she spent the last year letting her temper get the best of her? Pummeling a man she ‘loved’ for the slightest perceived infraction?”

“I MADE A MISTAKE!” she screamed, pushing away the sudden rush of guilt. “I wasn’t thinking… didn’t mean to… I made a goddamned mistake…”

“Indeed,” Astaroth mused haughtily. “A great many, at that. If only Akureiko could have prodded him into making you commit more of those ‘mistakes’… she might have succeeded in pushing you two apart. A pity his feelings for you kept most of her influence at bay.” He sighed. “A pity, too, that it was her marked ki and not his that broke the first seal of my prison upon its destruction.”

“That DOES it! I’ve heard just about all I care to from you, demon!” Shingen roared as white-gold ki erupted from his body, snapping the tie that kept his hair in a ponytail and giving his eyes the appearance of miniature suns. The ribbons of ki binding his legs suddenly snapped; even the ground began to crack under his feet. I’ve held back my trump card far too long… I can’t afford to get approval from Father or any other Master Hunter at this stage, not with a Class Omega threat right in front of me. I have to release my weapon’s lock. Official or not, the Archangel Protocol is in effect for as long as this monster is active! The tall man gripped his naginata just below the blade and twisted the staff a quarter turn; as he did, the weapon gave off another pulse of energy and the blade seemed to become a thing of pure light. The metal suddenly split at intervals along the blade’s length, with tiny protrusions suddenly jutting out, giving it the appearance of a saw-toothed spear. “As a warrior of clan Yamashira, I will not allow any further bloodshed by your hand!” He swung the naginata up over his head. “Now… uncoil, Karasuhebi! CHAIN BLADE!”

The naginata snapped downward in a diagonal arc- and Ranma’s eyes widened, as did Akane’s, as the serrated blade abruptly grew longer. With a series of fluid metallic snaps, each split section of the blade pulled apart, held together by a sort of silver cable that threaded through the length of each section, until what had been a two-edged halberd had become a massively long, serpentine chain of razor-sharp blades attached to the naginata’s staff. The thing twisted in midair as if alive, then with a twist and thrust of the staff end, shot low across the ground before snapping upward again, rearing up like a cobra ready to strike. Astaroth’s eye twitched as the length hurtled towards him- and an instant later, he had been impaled through the stomach while the tip hooked backwards behind him, reared around and whipped around his neck.

“Holy moly!” Ranma gasped as he suddenly snapped free of the ki tendrils himself. “What kinda trick is that?”

Akane said nothing in reply, but stared at the point of entry on Astaroth’s body. I had no idea Shingen could do that with his weapon… but did it do the trick?

Astaroth looked down at his stomach… and began to laugh.

“You still don’t understand yet, do you, boy,” he purred. “There’s a reason why referring to the demigod Saffron in the same breath as me is a mistake, as I said before.” He reached down and took hold of the chain blade with his bare hand. “That so-called deity is reborn upon his death…” He twisted his hand, wrapping the links around his forearm. Shingen stared in shock and angrily whipped the staff back, but the chain refused to move- and before Shingen could react in any way, Astaroth snapped his arm back, yanking the Hunter across the backyard and driving his left fist directly into his stomach with devastating force. Shingen’s eyes snapped wide open and he crumbled to the ground, coughing up a small quantity of blood.

“I, on the other hand, do not die. If you want to kill me, you have to make me bleed first.” The naginata slipped from Shingen’s hand, and the snakelike chain blade shrank and pulled free from Astaroth’s abdomen- which bore no evidence that there had been any injury. Even his cassock appeared untouched. “And in case you were wondering… no man has ever made me bleed.” He shoved the cane back into the sash at his waist, then turned and thrust both hands towards Akane and Ranma, who were only just getting over their most recent shock. Indigo light surged out of his palms and crashed into the two teens; they barely had time to register the attack and thrust their own hands forward in a desperate counter. Dark ki met reddish-gold ki in a maelstrom of wind and noise before Astaroth’s attack finally overwhelmed the two and broke through their aura shields, pummeling their bodies and knocking them into the remaining stone pillars surrounding the Tendo house.

Yoko laughed and brushed her hair back as the two teens collapsed next to one another, still breathing but barely conscious. “Still green, I see. Couldn’t even stand against Astaroth-sama’s Dark Thunder,” she giggled sadistically.

“Indeed, it seems a shame to do such able warriors in so quickly,” the white-haired demon replied. “I believe it is time we took our leave. There is much to be done… and I plan to enjoy the elimination of the Accursed One’s school for as long as possible.” He turned and nodded to the Tengu, who grunted and whipped his right arm forward; chains exploded from his forearm once again, this time battering the golden ki shield surrounding the house. Genma, Nodoka and the others gasped as sparks flew between the chains and the shield for several long seconds, until, with a horrific ripping sound, the shield bulged, split, and finally ripped apart under the onslaught of the Tengu’s weapons.

“Imagine. That foolhardy Yamashira actually thought a mere temporary warding could hold back one such as you, Kurowashi?” Astaroth chuckled. “Such typical Hunter arrogance, really. And now…” He cast a roving eye across those in the room, finally coming to rest on the unconscious Kasumi and trembling Nodoka. “Yes. They shall be our welcome guests, those two… the perfect company while we wait for the two Hunter fledglings to find us. Don’t you think so?” Yoko nodded maliciously; Nodoka’s blood turned to ice. Soun began to verge on total non-functionality.

“I won’t allow it!”

Nodoka stopped trembling for an instant, her fearful look replaced with one of shock and surprise as Genma rose, slowly but surely, to his feet. “I may not understand what’s happened here today,” he said in a measured tone, barely maintaining control. “I don’t understand a lot of things, least of all what you’ve been saying about my son. I won’t deny the power I felt just now, and I can’t deny the fact that your very presence scares the hell out of me. Moreover… I can’t say that I’m not afraid, and that part of me doesn’t want to run far away right now.” He took a deep breath and cracked his knuckles. “But I can say one thing. I’ve done far too much running in my pathetic life, and this is one time I’m not going to run away… so… if you’re going to intrude on this house any further than you have…” He swallowed hard, beating his base instincts down as hard as he could. “Then you’ll have to go through me first.”

Nodoka’s hand went to her mouth. “G-Genma…” Why? Why are you doing this when you saw what they just did? M-my son… Akane… even Shingen-kun couldn’t hurt him… so why?

Astaroth frowned. “Hm. It would seem you have some guts after all, fat fool. Yoko, go through him.”

“Thank you, my Lord.” The dark-haired girl flexed her hands, her nails elongating and growing sharper. She crouched low, then sprang forward at lightning speed. There was a flash, the sound of cloth tearing… and an instant later Genma dropped to his knees, blood welling out of a series of cuts across his stomach and deep gouges in his right thigh and ankle. Nodoka screamed. Ukyo and Nabiki backed away as fast as they could until they met the wall. Soun’s sensibilities overloaded and, once again, he fainted.

“Don’t be so melodramatic,” Yoko sneered, her nails shortening to a more normal size. She looked at the blood on her fingers amusedly, then dragged her index fingers across her cheekbones, just under the eyes, smearing the blood as if it were war paint. “He’ll live. Once the young ones out there recover, they’ll mend him soon enough.”

“Indeed. And once they have recovered, they’ll come looking for us… and the game begins anew, my child,” Astaroth replied with a nod, then turned to the Tengu. “Kurowashi. Take the women, and do be careful not to injure them. They are, after all, our guests.” The Tengu nodded with a low chuckle and seized both Kasumi and a teary-eyed Nodoka, pulling them beneath his massive arms.

“When the young ones come to, tell them I shall be waiting at the Unfinished Gate. The light will show them the way.” The white-haired man chuckled malevolently and turned on one heel, practically floating as he stepped out of the house with the imp-turned-Fury Yoko beside him, and Kurowashi close behind with his human cargo. A quick hop and the demonic trio stood atop the estate wall. Another jump, and they disappeared once more into the fog, leaving Ranma, Akane and Shingen sprawled on the ground coughing for breath, Taro and Genma both clutching at their wounds, and the burnt remains of what used to be Happosai.

Ranma staggered to his knees, drawing in ragged breaths as angry tears streaked his face and fire erupted in his eyes. “N-no… damn it all… bastard…” He pulled himself up and punched the ground as Akane rolled onto her side and groaned.

“ASTAROTH! I‘M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!!!”

To Be Continued.

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Author’s note 2/27/06: Well, it seems no matter how much I try to keep my chapters a reasonable size, they just keep getting long. Must be the fact that I love detail. Now, before you say anything, when I started this chronicle I never indicated I was going to pull any punches. Nor did I say that anyone was safe from death. Now that Astaroth is on the loose after a 200 year imprisonment, I personally would be amazed if he DIDN’T get a little Medieval on Happi’s ass. Of course, it’s to be seen what may or may not happen now that he’s bound inside of Zangyaku’s blade… I’m not going to drop any hints, but be aware that from this point on anything can happen and probably will. Especially with a demon of this caliber on the loose in Nerima and a fog full of fiendish helpers.

For those curious about Yoko’s appearance, I was very heavily influenced by the manga Battle Angel Alita(Gunnm in the original Japanese), and yes, she is practically the spitting image of Gally/Alita. Their personalities, on the other hand, are quite different…

T’an-mo, the name Happosai addressed Astaroth by, is the name of a Chinese devil of desire. Astaroth’s ‘proper’ name appears in multiple sources, as alluded to in a previous chapter. One source cites Astaroth as a Grand Duke of Hell, who seduces via laziness and vanity. This, however, may refer to the Elder Astaroth; the white-haired demon did state the name was handed down by his father, so he may be Astaroth the Younger. I leave the interpretation up to you. The name of his sword, Zangyaku, means ‘brutality’ in Japanese, while the name of Shingen’s naginata, Karasuhebi, translates as ‘black snake’.

As I mentioned, pretty much all hell has broken loose in Nerima… but as you well know, especially in the case of the Ranmaverse, it is often darkest just before the sun rises. It’s not over yet. I’ll do my best to get a new installment in soon, but I can’t say when- I had to deal with a bunch of bad days this month and still get this chapter taken care of at the same time. Thanks for all your reviews; they keep me going. Until next time.

-Neon Ronin