Prologue

The Shogun of the Dark would have magically augmented his voice to project hundreds of miles away if there had been any magical energy to spare. There were only five hours left until the completion of the spell. Then, after five thousand years, the one thing he had waited for in all that time would at last come to pass.

Chapter 36: Those Who Would Dare Dream of Tomorrow

Part III

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters and settings belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Kitty, and Viz Video.

All comments and criticisms appreciated. You can contact me at sommer@3rdm.net

The really condensed version: Shampoo fell into The Spring of Drowned Young Man at the same time Ranma fell into the Spring of Drowned Young Woman. Shampoo traveled to Japan with Ranma, and the things went from there. Last chapter, TWPOS used the SDF-3’s fold generators to make a fold to China. They ended up located next to Mount Phoenix, where the Shogun of the Dark is only a short time away from completing his mysterious spell, which will entail the fate of the world. Now it is up to Ranma and company to prevent the Shogun from his achieving those plans within the next five hours. But the Shogun’s bodyguards, the Eight Devils of Kimone, are ready to defend those plans no matter what it takes…

This "" Indicates Chinese

{} Indicates telepathy

-5:00:00

“"Great Grandmother, are you certain it’s necessary for us to go to Mount Phoenix?"”

Cologne carefully examined her great granddaughter. “"I would think that you’d be overjoyed at having another delay on our way home. We are almost out of time."” She looked the ship over. “"I can’t believe they discovered a way to move something this large instantaneously. This may very well have doomed you."”

“"I might be doomed no matter what I do,"” Shampoo murmured under her breath.

Cologne raised an eyebrow at that statement. Had Shampoo’s will finally been broken by her circumstances? Was she ready to give in to death so easily? “"What do you mean?"”

Shampoo gave a smile. “"Nothing. It’s just that this is all so unexpected. That’s all."”

The smile was forced, Cologne could clearly see that. What was Shampoo hiding? “"You’re not telling me evr— "”

“"Look!"” Shampoo pointed to the land touching the lake. “"There are two of our sisters approaching."”

Cologne followed Shampoo’s hand. Sure enough, it appeared that two Amazons were cautiously advancing towards the ship. The pair was far from home, leaving Cologne to wonder if it was a long-range reconnaissance patrol. They would no doubt have some up to date information, which would help the matriarch decide her immediate course of action. “"We will talk later,"” Cologne assured Shampoo as she went to greet the new arrivals.

Shampoo happily nodded and walked away, leaving her great grandmother to talk to the two scouts. Despite the foretelling Shampoo had received, going to Mount Phoenix was no choice at all. True, Mr. Domino, a highly suspect individual, claimed she was destined to die there if she went, but what difference would that make? If she refused to travel to Mount Phoenix, then she would have to go back home immediately, which meant death as well. Perhaps it was her destiny to die in the near future, and if that were the case she would rather take the unknown path than the one that would lead to shame for her and her family.

Besides, Mr. Domino could have been lying.

Really.

With that decided, Shampoo felt her mood ease somewhat. Instead of the apprehension she had felt over the last couple of days, there was a sense of relief, as though she had released some kind of burden that she had been unaware of carrying. It was a curious sensation, all things considered.

Her great grandmother was going to decide on what course of action to take, which meant Shampoo was going to have to move quickly before leaving to confront the unknown. She hurried down the corridors of the ship and paused in front of a particular door.

Shampoo knocked lightly on it. “Kasumi.” She heard a retching sound, followed by a weak “Enter” from within.

Shampoo did and watched as Kasumi emerged from the bathroom, wiping her mouth with a damp washcloth.

“What’s wrong?” Shampoo asked.

Kasumi finished cleaning before explaining. “When the ship made that odd jump, it upset my stomach. I’m afraid my breakfast came back up.”

“Lie down.” Shampoo indicated the bed. Kasumi sat, but remained upright, refusing to lay back. Once Shampoo made certain the eldest Tendo daughter was all right, she tried getting to the reason she had visited.

“I… I just wanted to apologize for my behavior the last few months,” Shampoo explained.

Kasumi gave a baffled look. “What behavior?”

Shampoo felt her heart fall more than a little now that she was going to openly admit her wrongdoing. “For leading you on. I never meant to hurt you. Please believe me. I was confused. I didn’t know how I felt about Ranma, you, everything. And in my confusion I hurt you. I implied things that might have made you think we would be…” she was at a loss for words, not knowing how to say what came next.

Kasumi continued staring in a puzzled manner at Shampoo. “You never led me on.”

“Yes, I did,” Shampoo insisted.

“No, you didn’t,” Kasumi corrected. “You just said you were confused about your feelings. How could you have led me on if you didn’t know your own heart?”

“But I hurt you.”

Kasumi shook her head. “You’ve never hurt me. Not once. You’ve been one of the kindest and sweetest people I have ever met. I’ve never felt sorry about anything we’ve done.”

“What about the things we shared, like on that weekend?” Shampoo pointed out. “You don’t call that leading you on?”

Kasumi became very serious. “Shampoo. I was the one who asked you to extend the weekend. And afterwards, when you suggested that we should try to make a relationship, I was the one who refused you. I was too worried about the problems we might have had trying to do something like that. If anything, I might have been the one who led you on.”

“No!” Shampoo shook her head vigorously. “You never did that.”

“Good. Now that that is settled, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Shampoo insisted.

“You seem very sad. Does it have to do with your people? Are you worried about what might happen now that you’re home again?” Kasumi placed her hand on Shampoo’s shoulder. “I’ll do anything I can to help.”

Shampoo rested her hand on Kasumi’s. “There’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing anyone can do. Thank you for everything.” She embraced Kasumi in a warm hug, placing all of her emotions into that all too brief contact. That would not be too much female affection for Kasumi. After several moments Shampoo gave up the embrace, then made her way to the door.

“Shampoo,” Kasumi said just as the Amazon opened the door.

“Yes?”

“You really love Ranma, don’t you?”

Shampoo gave her friend a hurt look. It still bothered her to say such a thing before Kasumi. “Yes. I do. I love you, too. It’s more than just friendship, but it’s different in a way I can’t explain. I’m sorry.”

“Why should you be sorry? There’s nothing wrong with being in love.” Kasumi gave a bright smile. “I’m happy for you. If he chooses you, I hope you both have a wonderful life.”

It was sincere, that was the worst part of all. Shampoo could tell Kasumi was being totally honest. The purple-haired Amazon was nearly overcome with grief. “How can you be so forgiving of me?”

Kasumi just continued smiling. “Because there’s nothing to forgive, so please stop thinking there is. It’s just going to make you unhappy, and I don’t want you to be miserable. There’s not a single thing that has happened since I met you that I would have changed between us. Not one thing.”

Kasumi got up and moved next to Shampoo. She looked down at the smaller girl for a moment, then kissed her lightly on the lips, just for a brief moment. Kissing a girl wasn’t as horrible as she thought it would be. “Thank you for everything.”

Shampoo appeared surprised by the move, then embraced Kasumi once more before leaving. “Thank you for everything too.”

Kasumi watched Shampoo head down the corridor and out of sight. There was something vaguely disturbing about Shampoo’s entire behavior. There had been an overwhelming feeling of finality about it. Kasumi went back in her room and recalled all that had happened between Shampoo and her over the months. So much had changed in so little time.

She was considering approaching Cologne again to see if the elder had come up with any ideas for helping Shampoo, such as sending someone to Jusenkyou to retrieve some magic girl water, when her stomach began rumbling once more. It was odd how she had been having problems keeping down her breakfasts lately. It could have been motion sickness, but it had happened two times earlier in the week. Perhaps it was a virus and she was having problems shaking it off. In any case there were more important things to worry about than some nasty bug. The problem would no doubt go away in time.

3:49:15

It was an hour later when Cologne summoned everyone to the foredeck. All of the Amazons, the command staff of the ship, and the Nerimans, save Happosai (who was counting his new stash of underwear) and Tsubasa (who was avoiding Perfume at all costs), were present for the discussion.

It was a good thing the scouts had stumbled on the ship when they did. With their knowledge of recent events, Cologne now had some faint inkling to what might really have been going on. The weather had become irregular only in the last three days, and the pillars of fire had formed just the day before. Between Herb’s threats and Kawada’s declarations, it was obvious something big was happening at Mount Phoenix, and Cologne needed to know what was going on now. With any luck she might even be able to put a stop to it before things got any worse.

She could not help but feel something was about to happen. Something terrible. There was an enormous amount of power radiating from the mountain, power that even she could sense from the great amount of distance. It felt as though things might have been reaching a climax, and she seemed to be the only one in a position to stop it. Herb was obviously waiting for something, or else he would not be keeping his army so far away from the mountain.

In a way, it was fortunate the ship appeared where it did. According to the scouts, Cologne was now positioned on the farthest flank of Herb’s army. Once she and the others got around it they would have a clear path to Mount Phoenix. All that was needed was to recruit the necessary ‘volunteers’.

Cologne took the time to look over the gathering one last time. All of the Nerimans had found outfits that would be suited for battle, almost as though they sensed what was to come. There was more raw potential spread out among the group than she had ever seen in her life. Too bad she couldn’t use all of it, but what she was going to take along would have to do.

“I have summoned you all here for a purpose,” Cologne announced to everyone, making certain no one was distracted. “It has come to my attention that we are all in great danger. Someone, perhaps the self-proclaimed Emperor Herb, has done something to the area around Mount Phoenix.” She indicated the mountain in the distance. “Mr. Kawada informs me it is some kind of focus.”

“A focus for what?” Ranma asked.

Cologne stared at the mountain as she answered. “I’m not sure, but I intend to find out. Whatever it is, it can’t be good.” She turned away from the spectacle of the mountain and returned her gaze to the group. “This is why I have requested your presence. I want some of you to come with me.”

Perfume stepped forward and gave a flourishing bow. “"Honored Matriarch, we will be happy to help you."” All of the other Amazons nodded in agreement.

“You will not be coming. The only Amazon I am taking will be Shampoo.”

Immediately a low rumble broke out from the Hunt Pack. Perfume was quick to silence them, then turned back to Cologne. “If I may be so bold as to ask, why? Have we somehow failed in your eyes?”

Cologne gave her a solemn stare. “No. You have succeeded in forging an effective unit beyond anyone’s expectations. The problem comes from Herb. He has stated that if the Joketsuzoku attempt to go to Mount Phoenix, there will be a war between our peoples. Even though we would be victorious, the price we would pay in blood would be too great. However, there is a simple solution around that threat. One that should effectively protect our people.” She turned to look squarely at Ranma. “I would have these others assist us.”

“Sorry. I don’t see how this concerns me. Not interested,” D’Amour said.

“I didn’t mean you!” Cologne snapped. “I meant the rather eclectic group of Japanese that have chosen to travel with us. Some of them, anyway.”

“I’m afraid I have to agree with the walking libido,” Ai commented. “Why should we risk our lives?”

“I think this does concern you. Whatever is happening at the mountain is affecting the weather in Japan, and that is only the first event to occur. I’m almost certain that more and greater troubles are sure to follow.”

“I’m in,” Ranma declared. It was an easy choice for him. Shampoo was going and there would be trouble. Protecting her at the village or at some weird mountain made no difference. He would be at her side.

“That’s my boy!” Genma declared proudly. “It’s the duty of a martial artist to protect his country.”

“Thanks for volunteering to come along, Pop.” He tried his best to imitate his father’s voice. “You are a martial artist, after all.”

Genma began to stutter nervously when Cologne saved him from resorting to groveling. “The fat fool will stay. I don’t intend for the group to be too large and attract unwanted attention. Where is the ghost sweeper? I wanted to take her along.”

Akane moved forward slightly, appearing depressed and angry at the same time. “She’s in some kind of magical slumber. No one knows how to wake her up. It’s all the fault of that guy in the black robes who knocked me out. If I ever get my hands on him, he’s dead!”

Cologne sighed. She had really wanted Minami along. With her powerful magical abilities she would have been almost as valuable as Ranma. There was nothing she could do about it now though. Time was growing short. “We’ll just to have go without her. So, the group shall now consist of myself, Shampoo, Ranma, Ryouga, Mousse, Ukyou, and Tarou.”

“Forget it,” Tarou scoffed. “I’m not helping you. I don’t have any reason to go.”

“I’m not going to be left behind. I’m going too!” Akane shouted.

“Very well,” Cologne assented. She was amused to see Tarou give Akane a surprised look, then level a scowl at Cologne.

“Now I have a reason. I’ll go,” he reluctantly sighed.

Within moments others began demanding to go along. Kodachi for Mousse. Ai for Ukyou. Kyoko for Ryouga. Kunou on the principle that such lovely young ladies could not be allowed to go without his protection. All of that had been anticipated, if not desired, by the matriarch. It was a surprise when Cologne saw Aki move next to Ryouga.

“You’re in luck,” Aki pointed out. “It’s two members of the Hibiki clan for the price of one today.”

As Aki finished her remark, the round of protests that Cologne had expected came from the concerned parties that were going, which in turn brought on stronger insistences from those that demanded to be included.

Cologne quickly weighed her options. Disabling all that wanted to tag along was too difficult and would anger too many. All of the additions were a capable lot, if inferior to the ones that were originally chosen, except for the bandanna-clad Yoshida girl. There was a great deal of untapped potential there. It would be simpler to allow them to come along, although that meant the chances of slipping through Herb’s battle line were practically non-existent. Some modifications to the plans were going to have to be made.

Cologne was about to give her permission when Perfume came forward and bowed. “"Honored Matriarch. I am still under orders from the council to see Shampoo to our village. I would insist you allow me to come along so that I may personally take responsibility for Shampoo. Should anything happen, I would be the only one who would take blame."”

Cologne slowly nodded her head in agreement, the look in her eyes communicating to Perfume she understood why the young warrior was behaving in such a manner. The elder made certain no others tired to come along, then agreed to allow those that had volunteered to travel with her. With that out of the way, those that had tried to protest additions lost their arguments.

Cologne turned to Sparrow and told her of the group’s plans to be passed on to the village council, along with other tasks that should be done in her absence. One splash of cold water later and Sparrow quickly flew in the direction of her home.

While Cologne made last minute preparations, Perfume gathered Cabinet and Julep to her side and began instructing them in what she expected from them in her absence. “"Cabinet, you’re in charge now. Julep is your second-in-command. I’m confident you can handle the job."”

“"I won’t fail you."” Cabinet saluted Perfume, while Julep simply nodded her head in agreement.

Cologne walked over to the Hunt Pack. “"I am probably going to run into trouble when my group makes their way past the Musk lines. We’ll be cutting across the farthest point on their left flank, which means they might try to send reinforcements. There’s only one direction they can come from that might bother me. I want you to delay their progress."”

“"We won’t fail you, Matriarch!"” they cried out in pride and saluted as one.

Cologne gave them a curt nod of approval and moved back to the group of martial artists. “There is one other we need to bring along. I’ll need a bra.”

Ai somehow managed to remove hers, in one smooth motion, without taking off her cheerleader outfit. Cologne held the garment out on the end of her staff, waving it gently like on odd white flag.

“Here it comes,” she murmured. A moment later a red blur appeared and snagged the brassiere. Cologne timed the blow precisely and struck the blur hard, knocking it into one of the nearby walls.

Happosai pried himself out of the wall and shot Cologne an accusing glare. The impact of the blow told him that she had used far more force than was necessary. “Hey! What was that for?!”

“I needed to get your full attention. Something serious has come up and we need your abilities.”

Happosai considered what she said. Having Cologne unashamedly admit she needed his help was an event that, if one was lucky, happened once in a decade, or even longer. “It’s got to do with that mountain over there, doesn’t it?”

She should have known the diminutive pervert was already aware. The level of power Mount Phoenix was emitting was enough for Happosai to easily notice it. “Yes. Something dangerous is happening over there and we need all the help we can get, and that means you. If you still have what it takes, that is.”

Happosai practically bristled at the implication. “Of course I still got it! I’ll come along, but only on one condition.”

Cologne let out an exasperated sigh. “What is it?”

“I want pictures of every cute girl that’s going on this trip in sexy lingerie, and that includes Ranma.”

Thirteen cries of outrage came from the group.

Happosai eyes began to tear. “How can you deny an old man what might be his final wish? These tired old bones might not be able to take much more travel, and this might be my final chance to appreciate the finer things in life.”

“Isn’t there something else you want?” If Cologne had a wish, she would have used it then and there.

“No.”

Cologne recognized the signs; he was going to be adamant about his price. She let out an even bigger sigh, then turned to the group. “He’s not going to budge on this one, and I believe that we really need his help where we are headed. It’s up to you, but his abilities might make the difference between life and death for some of you.”

All of the members of the group looked to one another. No one could deny a feeling of dread was building as they considered setting out the trip. Perfume was the first to reluctantly nod her head. Others began to follow suit. The final one was Ranma. He gave one last look to Akane and Shampoo, then nodded his head.

“But we better end up really needing his help. If you’re wrong about all of this, old ghoul, and it turns out we don’t have to fight nothin’ tougher than a bunch of girl scouts, you ain’t ever going to hear the end of it out of me.”

“Boy,” Cologne said as she stared Ranma in the eye. “I hope I am wrong and I don’t hear the end of it from you.”

Happosai rocketed up close to a hundred feet in the air for joy, throwing Happodairkins high in the air like a display of fireworks. “WOO HOO!!! I’ve finally hit the jackpot!” He landed and stared at Mount Phoenix as he bounced around in joy. “Just you wait, you rotten bunch of punks. The greatest martial arts master in the world is coming, and you’re all that stands between him and true happiness! Let’s get going everyone! I can’t wait!”

Somehow, everyone felt worse than ever as they set out towards Mount Phoenix. Even if they won, they were going to lose.

3:20:46

Mint and Lime were playing cards when they heard the explosions just to the northeast of their unit. Each one looked at the other.

“"Was there an explosion scheduled for that area?"” Lime asked.

Mint pulled out a sheet of paper and read it over. “"Nope."”

“"We’d better investigate. Herb won’t be happy if something bad happens now. Round up half of the troops and get ready to move out. I want to leave some behind just in case it’s a trap."”

“"Good thinking."” Mint did as Lime asked. If there were any problems this late in the plan, Herb would go ballistic. He said today was the last day, then all of them could relax and Herb would be made emperor. Mint was looking forward to the vacation. Running an army was hard work.

3:13:00

Perfume walked through the wasteland of devastated troops the group had left behind. The poor fools never had a chance, not even that commander that had the magic sword. Most of the soldiers had been normal mercenaries with no special abilities, and the handful that had some skill in fighting were hopelessly outclassed. They had only outnumbered Cologne’s group nine to one, making it child’s play to disable the lot of them. Now if only additional reinforcements did not come, the rest should be easy.

2:40:34

Julep was standing on the top of the hill, looking to the southwest. From the sound of the loud explosions to the northeast, there was no way the troops they had spotted to the south had not heard the noise. Unless they were led by complete morons, any reinforcements were already en route to the area where the army had been hit. It would only be a matter of time.

Within five minutes Julep sensed that she had been correct. A scent of sweat and steel drifted from the southwest and she saw one man emerge from a grove of trees about a half-mile away. Assuming the troops were right behind him, they were heading through the pass between the two rather high hills on their way to help their comrades, right where the group of Amazons was lying in wait. It was an ideal place for an ambush. A good strategist, like Perfume, would send scouts to make certain the way was clear. The questions were how large was the contingent that was coming and how smart were the military commanders at the head of the reinforcements. If they had any degree of intelligence, it was going to be difficult to delay them for long. If they were stupid, then the Amazons might be able to break them up and force them away long enough that it would not matter if they got past or not.

Sgt. Sheng looked towards his ‘commander,’ Lime. “"Sir, that pass is a perfect place for an ambush."”

Lime looked the hills over. “"I agree. Who do you think we should ambush?"”

Cpl. Chang watched Sgt. Sheng’s reaction. “"That’s the third time today you facefaulted, sir. If you aren’t careful you’re going to hurt yourself."”

“"I can’t help it,"” Sheng moaned. “"I’m serving under a total moron. Right now I hope we do get jumped and captured. Being a prisoner would be preferable to serving under him."” Sheng bolstered his patience and explained to Lime that he meant the army might be ambushed.

“"I see,"” Lime said sagely. “"I’ll send Mint to make sure there isn’t one."”

Mint rushed forward, and covered the half-mile to the small pass in under thirty seconds. It seemed very simple to him. If there were an ambush waiting, he would spring it when he entered the pass, so he entered the pass and waited to be attacked. No. Nothing. For good measure he shouted, “"Is there anybody here that is going to ambush my troops?!"” Silence was all that greeted him. That was all it took to convince him the pass was clear. He ran back to Lime to tell him it was safe.

Once Mint was out of sight, Cabinet raised herself up from her hiding spot. “"Do you think that was some sort of trap to get us to let down our guard?"” she asked Julep.

“"No. That was my cousin, Mint. From what I hear he’s about as smart as Sage."”

Cabinet scratched her head. “"Isn’t that the guy that just sits in the center of the village and hits himself in the head with a metal skillet for pennies?"”

“"Okay,"” Julep relented. “"Mint’s more stupid than that."”

“"Oh,"” Cabinet said. “"They’re going to walk right into the ambush, aren’t they?"”

“"I think so."”

As the military contingent entered the pass, Mint once again ran at the head of the column. Lime was second, followed by a rather demoralized number of soldiers, about eighty total.

Cabinet whispered to Julep. “"I’ll take the big guy in tiger skins."”

“"Mint’s mine,"” Julep hissed. “"It’s about time I showed him who the leader of our pack is."”

Cabinet rose from her position and gave out a rousing battle cry; the signal for the trap to be sprung. Nearly twenty Amazons leaped from their ambush positions and fell upon the flanks of the column, each warrior taking down two men apiece before the soldiers could even react.

Lime shot an accusing glare towards Mint. “"I thought you said this pass was clear!"”

“"Well, I though it was."” Mint was about to say something further, but was interrupted as he barely ducked out of the way of a green and brown blur that nearly took his head off. He backed off from the attack and drew a metal blade from his belt. Ever since he lost his hand to Shampoo those many months back, he’d covered the stump with a metal ball. It itched incessantly, but it did provide one advantage: it made an excellent place to attach a weapon, and he proved the point by slamming the long blade into place.

Julep gave Mint a feral grin as she drew her set of cat’s claws. “"Hello there, Mint. I’ve been waiting for a chance to meet you. Let’s find out who the fastest member of our family really is."”

To Lime, it appeared that two blurs began to race along the pass and beyond, as the sound of metal striking metal began to fill the air. Neither Mint nor Julep wanted any interference in their duel for supremacy.

Lime was about to shout something when a warhammer struck him in the sternum. He fell backward from the tremendous impact and barely rolled out of the way of the follow-up attack that was aimed at his head. As he got to his feet he was driven back again by a second blow, then a third. Quickly he found himself losing ground as his opponent began driving him further away from the rest of his troops to the opposite side of the pass from which the army had entered.

At last he finally got a good look at his opponent as he caught his breath. It was a large girl, larger than any he had seen, that was attacking him. She was so tall she almost came up to his neck, and her shoulders were three quarters as big across as his. He didn’t have time to size her up further, as she used her warhammer once again. The swing was off, and he managed to easily duck under the attack and connected with a right to her jaw. Her head snapped back for a moment before returning to its regular position. She shook it once, then glared at him as a trickle of blood ran from her lip and down her jaw. Her fist lashed out connecting with Lime’s own head.

Lime shook off the effects of the shot as well. “"Nice punch."”

A kick to the stomach doubled him over. “"Better kick."” She raised her hammer high overhead, and was about to bring it down, when Lime’s hand shot up just as Cabinet arced the weapon downward. He brought his fist into her head again, then followed it up with a raking strike to her chest. Some of the material caught between his fingers and tore away as her body went sailing several feet. She managed to raise her head up several inches, then crashed down upon her back once more.

Lime caught his breath as he moved to finish his opponent off. She really was a very powerful foe. Almost as strong as Ryouga, and just as dangerous. He raised his fist to the sky and was about to bring it down when something about Cabinet caught his eye.

Her breasts. When he had struck her chest the large patch of material that came off was from right down the center of her outfit, exposing her chest to the world. Lime took one look at them and drew back, stunned. Quickly he darted his head around, looking like a child about to take a cookie from the cookie jar, making certain no one saw him. Both he and Cabinet had moved far enough away from the fight that none of the Amazons or his troops could see him. He was effectively alone. Nervously he twiddled his fingers, and after checking once again to make sure no one was around to watch, bent down to touch Cabinet’s breasts. His touch was gentle at first, just a simple feel. They were smaller than Herb-chan’s, but more firm. Feeling pretty sure of himself he fondled them again. Yes. They were definitely firmer. As he handled them, he discovered that he enjoyed touching them a lot more than Herb-chan’s, though he could not say why. Lime was still smiling to himself, delighting in the feel of the breasts, when a warhammer found its way between his eyes. He growled in pain as he got to his feet and tried shaking off the effects of the blow.

Cabinet tried moving her shirt around to cover herself as she got to her feet, the look of blood in her eyes. How dare the oversized fool grope her like that! She was going to shatter his skull for daring to molest her in such a manner. It was not as though he was her…

She brought her hand to her forehead as she realized what had happened. The fight with Lime had unquestionably been one-on-one with no outside interference. He had beaten her fairly, which meant one thing.

Lime shook off the last effects of the blow and saw Cabinet was standing right next to him. He drew back to strike her when she looped her arms around his neck, stood up on her toes, and kissed him full on the lips.

She broke off the kiss. “"Beloved husband. I love you."”

Lime just stood there for a moment, then began giggling. “"That was a kiss, wasn’t it?"”

“"Of course it was."” Cabinet stared at him in confusion.

Lime giggled some more. “"I liked that. Touching your breasts is a lot better than touching Herb’s. He always hits me when I do that. I like kissing much better than being hit."”

“"I see."” Actually she had no idea what he meant by touching Herb’s ‘breasts’, and had no desire to learn. “"Haven’t you ever been kissed before?"”

“"No."” He switched from giggling to just grinning sheepishly at his new wife. “"I’ve never been around women before."”

Cabinet considered that. Could he possibly be telling the truth? Was she the first woman he had any contact with? Looking him over, she realized he was quite handsome, and larger than her. One of the things she had been afraid of when growing up was that she was too large, which meant she was going to end up with a husband she could only look down to, and who would be too small to hold her in his arms. It was quite the pleasant surprise that Lime fit the criteria she wanted in an ideal man quite nicely. And it was quickly becoming evident he was totally inexperienced with women, as well as appearing to be about as bright as a brick. She could make him into a proper husband quite easily. Besides, there was something about his apparent childlike innocence that she found appealing.

“"We’re married now. Let me tell you what is expected of you as my husband. My name is Cabinet, by the way."”

“"Okay, Cabinet. But I got a question. Can we kiss some more? I really liked it."”

Oh, yes. There was something very appealing about his innocence. It was going to be a sad day when he lost it. “"Of course we can. We’re married now. We’ll even have sex, eventually."”

Lime scratched his head. “"What’s sex?"”

Cabinet saw she was going to have her work cut out for her. She was about to start explaining the facts of life to him when she saw Julep herding an obviously beaten Mint to where they stood, shoving him forward as they approached.

“"Keep moving, Lefty,"” Julep said as she shoved him once more.

“"My name’s not Lefty."”

Julep snarled at him, causing him to bow his head. Mint’s wolf heritage took control as he subconsciously followed his more dominant kinswoman.

“"I take it you won?"” Cabinet asked.

Julep gave a broad smile. “"Naturally. It was close though. He was almost as fast as me. Almost. How did you fare?"”

“"Meet my husband."” Cabinet looped her arm through Lime’s, who just stood there with a stupid grin plastered on his face.

Julep took note of Cabinet’s pleasure. Good. She liked her husband. Had Cabinet seemed sorrowful about her new status, Julep would have seen to it her friend became a widow in short order.

“"Cabinet and I are married,"” Lime informed Mint. “"She’s going to let me touch her breasts, and I can kiss her. And we can have something called sex."”

Mint turned to Julep. “"Can we have sex too?"”

“"No!"” She cuffed him on the head. “"Even if we weren’t family, you could never handle it. Instead you’re going to work for me. It’ll be much better than sex."”

“"It will be?"” Mint asked.

“"Trust me."” Julep turned her head to where the Amazons had first ambushed the column. “"The sounds of fighting have stopped."”

Cabinet began dragging Lime along with her. “"Let’s go see if we won or not."”

The four warriors turned the bend in the pass and saw the Amazons now had a number of prisoners nearly twice their size. Lin Fhall turned to report to Cabinet. “"We didn’t have any casualties, just a few minor wounds. Those spineless cowards broke ranks almost as soon as we hit them. A handful got away, but we captured the rest."”

“"Nice job,"” Cabinet commented. Perfume would be proud of the way they had performed. All they needed was for her to return and take her proper position as the leader of the Hunt Pack, then everything would be all right.

2:05:18

Gemma heard the voice of the Shogun boom in his mind.

{There are intruders in the perimeter! Stop them!}

After the Shogun let him know where the penetration had taken place, Gemma alerted the other Devils and set them out to stop the trespassers. He would remain behind in case someone else attempted to sneak into the mountain and interfere in the Shogun’s plans.

Gemma found himself truly anxious for the first time since his release from his ‘Golden Hell.’ Japan was going to be his in a matter of hours. More than a lifetime’s worth of dreams was but scant hours away.

Every second felt like an eternity.

1:49:49

Seven of the Eight Devils of Kimone gathered outside the main entrance to Mount Phoenix, preparing to set out for the south where their opponents were approaching.

“Can you feel it in the air?” the blind swordsman, Ututsu Mujuru, asked of his companions.

Yurimaru, master of electricity, nodded his head in agreement. “The time of our victory is fast approaching. This will be the last task we must do before attaining our heart’s desires.”

“I don’t recall control over the heart of our leader being mentioned as a wish you could be granted,” Zakura, the explosive member of the Devils taunted to her one-sided love interest. Her gibe was answered as Yurimaru raised his hand and a light wire sped from it, wrapping itself around her neck.

“You would be well served to curb your tongue, woman,” Yurimaru warned.

“Look down at your feet,” Benisato whispered in Yuriamaru’s ear.

He refused to allow the surprise at her silent approach show as he turned his gaze downward. There were several snakes, poised to strike, curled at his ankles.

“That’s enough out of all of you!” The hunchbacked form of the insect master, Mushizo, forced its way between the duo. “This is the dawn of the greatest moment mankind has ever seen, and we’ll be the servants of he who aided in bringing about this new age. But all the two of you can do is cause us to fight amongst ourselves and risk losing everything. You fools! The only thing that can stop us now is ourselves!”

“It really would be ironic that this plan should fail because we turned on one another moments before victory.” The voice that had spoken had come not from anyone visible, but from the shadows themselves as Shujima made his unseen presence known.

The deepest voice of the Devils spoke up, commanding the attention of all present. “I’m not one for pretty speeches and inspiring you to fight, but I do know that there are people coming here that need killing. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d rather spill their guts than yours.” Tessai switched to his stone form as he turned away from the horizon where Ranma and the other were approaching, to look towards his companions. “I’m going to think of this lot we kill as the prelude to something a lot bigger. Sort of like an hors-d’oeuvre before the main course. I think tomorrow, after we’re ruling the world, I’ll get around to depopulating someplace with a warm climate, maybe a couple of those South Sea Islands. I think I’ll do Tasmania. No one would miss that.” He began walking from the mountain and headed in the direction from which Ranma’s group was approaching. “Besides, I like the name. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

The other Devils watched Tessai head off in the direction of their opponents. The group seemed to come to a silent consensus and hurried off to do their last official duty as the mere Devils of Kimone.

1:48:05

Cologne was more than a little surprised by the silence that followed the group. After the defeat of the Musk forces there had been little bravado or commentary from the group. Even the usually verbose Kunou was quiet, not even trying to spout out some poetry. It seemed they could all feel the pall that hung over the area around Mount Phoenix. The feeling that there was something horribly wrong with everything around them permeated the air itself. It was the closest thing to fear Cologne had felt in nearly a century. Whatever was going on had to be stopped.

No matter the cost.

“"Col-chan."”

Cologne turned in surprise. Happosai had not called her by that name since his ‘departure’ from Joketsuzoku so many years ago.

As she looked at him she was amazed to see some of the old Happosai, the one she had admired before he allowed his perversions to overcome what sensibilities he possessed, make the first appearance she had seen in nearly a century. “"What is it?"”

“"Do you ever feel sorry about falling in love with me?"”

Cologne ‘humphed’ “"It was never love. It was nothing more than a young, foolish crush from one that should have known better."”

He gave her a sad look. “"It was more than that to me, even if I did ruin it in the end. It was still one of best times in my life."”

She was about to thank him when he continued on.

“"Almost as nice as the times I had with that pretty young thing I met right after you. Her name was Chigusa, and she was the sweetest— "”

*WHACK*

“Hey!” Happosai screeched, holding the spot where she had whacked him in the head with her staff. “What did you do that for?!”

“Because for one brief moment I almost felt sorry for you.”

Surprisingly, he calmed down, then looked over his shoulder at the group. “I don’t think they’re ready for this sort of thing.”

“I don’t think we’re ready for it,” Cologne answered.

He considered that. “You might be right. Still, I would have liked to have had the time to give them a fighting chance.”

“We can’t always get what we want. Both of us understand that.” She hopped over a large tree root that blocked the path. “Besides, they’re more ready than you think. I believe they just might surprise you.”

“Maybe,” he relented. He looked strangely at Cologne, then cleared his throat. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

Cologne shrugged. “That’s all in the past. I don’t think about it anymore.” She jumped over another large root. “Besides, knowing you, there are plenty of things you’re still going to do that will upset me.”

Happosai just snickered in response. She still knew him better than anyone alive.

Ranma stared irritably at the two diminutive trolls that were leading the way. They seemed to be pulling farther ahead of the group as they got closer to Mount Phoenix. It damaged his pride that someone other than him was taking the lead going into a potentially dangerous place, but the two old ones had been correct. They were the individuals most capable of dealing with whatever dangers might be ahead of them. And Ranma still had Akane and Shampoo to look out for. Both of them were staying close to him, making watching them easy. On the downside, Tarou was staying close to Akane and glaring at Ranma the whole time. At least Pantyhose was keeping his arrogant mouth shut. Mousse was trying to stay close to Shampoo, but also seemed to be keeping an eye on Kodachi as well. Perfume seemed to remain close to Shampoo too.

Ranma spared a glance behind him to see that Ukyou, Ryouga, Aki, Kyoko, Kunou, and Ai had formed their own little group, traveling closely behind his. It was the largest collection of high-level martial artists he had seen in his entire life. They would be able to handle anything that was thrown their way. As long as he was around.

He was still trudging along, trying to make out the ever-closer mountain through the forest, when he saw a brief flash of red from high in one of the nearby trees. His instincts took over.

“MOVE!!!”

Located high in the foliage, Zakura quietly spoke.

“Boom.”

Two detonations erupted from the hidden explosives Zakura had left buried in the path. The explosion caught everyone in the first and second groups. Shampoo, the closest in her group to the explosion, took the worst of the detonation. It threw her through the air and into a tree, striking the back of her head and neck, and rendering her nearly insensate. All of that group was knocked off of their feet, save Ranma, who rolled with the explosion, and leaped up in the air, heading to the tree where he had seen the flash of red.

Kyoko found herself the primary recipient of the explosion near her. The pieces of metal and rock shredded a large portion of her outfit and legs, opening a series of deep cuts along them causing blood to flow from the variety of lacerations, and nearly rendering her unconscious. All of the others in the group found themselves hurled to the ground as well, but faring much better than their cheerleader comrade.

Aki was shaking her head clear when she heard the sound. “Is that an odd whistling noise I hear, or is it just that my head’s ringing?”

Ryouga perked his ears up as he shook his own head free of the effects of the explosion. It wasn’t just Aki that heard the whistling, Ryouga could hear it too. The noise was all too familiar to him. One did not forget the sound a weapon as unique as that made.

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!” He grabbed the girls nearest to him, the still stunned Ai and Ukyou, tucked them under his arms as though they were small children, and leaped high in the air.

Aki and Kunou stood up and stared at him for a moment. It was only the purest of chances the approaching weapon came from the direction Ryouga had been in. Both of the standing people saw the huge blur-like discus head towards them. They leapt over the giant spinning blade, barely missing it by an inch. The blade sliced through five trees and began a return flight in the same direction from which it had come. Much to Ryouga’s horror, he saw that it was heading right towards the branches he had leaped to. He barely had time to jump out of the way once again as the tree he was standing on was reduced to kindling.

Aki recovered enough to see the whirring blade get snatched out of the air by a huge eight-foot man with skin the texture of stone. Now that the weapon was stationary, she could see that it looked like two huge swords stuck together by the hilts. The weapon had to weigh two hundred pounds, at least.

“Fresh meat,” Tessai said as he licked his lips and observed Ryouga land with Ukyou and Ai, who had at last recovered and gained their footing. He was going to have fun with his new playmates. It had to have been at least five days since he had killed anyone, and even a fool could tell you if you didn’t kill regularly you could lose your touch. Besides, he recognized the bandanna-clad boy. The rematch Tessai had promised was going to happen even sooner than he had hoped.

Perfume got to her feet just in time to see several long black forms speed across the ground towards her. She was a blur with the naginata in her hands, slicing and slashing at the slithering things. As they stopped moving she identified them: snakes. Vipers of some kind, if she was not mistaken.

She was about to search for more of the serpents when a long pale ropy thing wrapped itself around her arms binding them together. Less than a second later she felt a second one wrap itself around her torso and around her neck. As the things stopped she realized what they were; the hands on the ends were the giveaway.

“I wonder what the sound of your neck snapping will sound like?” The soft feminine voice of Benisato said behind her.

Tarou and Akane saw the odd serpentine woman wrap her snake-like arms around Perfume. Each reacted differently as Akane lunged forward while Tarou spun around quickly, making certain there was no one to attack them from behind. Satisfied, he went to join his love, when a claw of steel shot out from a shadow near a tree and sunk deeply into his shoulder, ripping into flesh and muscle. Tarou gave out a cry of pain as he felt the claw begin to be pulled back. As deep as the claws were into his flesh, a good portion of skin and probably some of his muscle was gong to be ripped off. Just as it started to retract, the pull was halted.

Akane had turned at the sound of Tarou’s cry and in three strides covered the distance in-between them and grabbed the chain, halting the pull on it. She tugged on the chain, building up enough slack for Tarou to dig out the claw as she gave a mighty tug, hurling a gray form from out of the shadow of the tree. The force of the pull had been enough to send Shujima all the way to her, where she released the chain and buried her right fist into his stomach. Shujima leaped back, retracting his chain as he retreated.

Tarou and Akane turned to face their opponent. Shujima gave an amused smile before crossing his arms. Suddenly there were twenty identical versions spawning from the original, one flowing into the next. Neither Akane not Tarou could tell how many, or which, were the real ones.

Kunou had regained his balance and had his bokken drawn, his eyes searching for a foe.

“My name is Ututsu Mujuru. I would challenge you to a duel.”

Kunou turned to see a tall Japanese man, wearing an old style of white robes that indicated he was a fighter. That and the drawn sword at the man’s side told Kunou all he needed to know. The would-be samurai’s heart quickened as he sensed the nature of the duel. This was the sort of thing he had lived his entire life for.

Kunou raised his bokken in salute. The man, despite having his eyes shut, did the same. As Mujuru prepared to go forward, he sensed something unusual about Kunou’s weapon. The scent of teak drifted towards him.

“You use a wooden sword?” he asked.

Kunou gave a smug smile in return. “Whether wood or steel, a weapon of Tatewaki Kunou can cut through trees as though they were butter. You possess no advantage over me due to your weapon.”

Mujuru bowed his head once more. He had heard of techniques that could harden one’s weapon to a steel-like consistency. Truly he had found a worthy foe in this day and age.

They clashed, wood on steel, and began their duel.

Kodachi and Mousse searched around for a foe. Kodachi was still trying to shake her head free of the ringing sound in her ears. She had been too close to the explosion.

“Maybe we should help the others against that stone guy.” Mousse pointed to Tessai, who was closing the distance between himself and Ryouga’s group.

“Very well. I’m with OW!” Kodachi looked at her shoulder where the stinging sensation had come from. A wasp sat on her shoulder. It raised its stinger and plunged it in again. She swatted it, only to feel another one hit her in the backside. She smacked as she felt four more stings over various places on her body.

Mousse was confused by Kodachi’s yelps and seemingly random slaps on her body, when he felt something sting him in the cheek. Reflexively he brought his hand up and smashed the bee that had stung him. He felt more stings from over other areas of his body.

“Hahahaha! My children seem to be having fun with you.”

Both the master of hidden weapons and the martial arts gymnast looked in the direction of the laughter. It was a hunchbacked man, bearing a battle fork in his hands and possessing the compound eyes of an insect, standing about twenty feet away from the pair of them. What was of greater concern was the swarm of insects that surrounded him.

“This might be a problem,” Mousse felt dread build as continued to swat at the growing number of stinging insects around him.

“Yes OW!” Kodachi swatted another one. “I see what you mean.” Kodachi brought down her own fears as a thought occurred to her. She drew a medicine ball from her tights. As she threw it to the ground she gave silent thanks to Mousse teaching her a little about his art. She was able to hold more things than ever in her leotard without any outward sign that anything was there.

As the ball hit the ground a billowing cloud of smoke surrounded the duo. “Bees hate smoke, as I recall,” Kodachi coughed out.

The stinging insects did appear to have been driven off for a moment, but the way the winds were blowing made it clear to Mousse the smoke screen would last only a few moments. He thought about their problem for a moment. “I have it!” He snapped his fingers and pulled out two gas masks and several aerosol cans from his robes. “This will take care of them. It’s an extra-strength version I got to take care of those pesky bugs that were bothering the Ranma-Eating Plant.”

As the smoke cleared, Mushizo once again set his ‘children’ after the pair. Neither of the duo made a motion to escape, and their facial expressions were hidden behind the masks. It was confusing, but didn’t matter to the Devil of Kimone. He sent his swarm of children after them.

As the bugs flew after the duo once more, they raised their spray cans high in the air and formed a cloud of green mist around them. As the bugs hit the cloud they seized up and hit the ground, dying instantly.

“Quick thinking, beloved,” Kodachi said behind her mask.

“It was noth—“ He barely got out of the way of the two-handed battle fork that was thrust in his direction.

Sensing his children were not going to be able to penetrate the cloud, Mushizo elected to take the fight to the pair himself. Both Mousse and Kodachi switched to more standard weapons and fought back against the repulsive hunchbacked man.

Ukyou held her spatula at the ready as the stone man approached the combined might of her, Ryouga, Ai, and Aki. The stone man didn’t stand a chance.

“I’ll go first!” and with that Ukyou ran towards Tessai. Much to her surprise, rather than making any move, Tessai just stood there and stared at her. She was more than halfway to him when she felt something tug at her spatula from behind. There was the momentary feeling of the hairs on her arms standing up…then pain as over seventy thousand volts of electricity shot through her.

The current lasted less than a half a second as a bandanna sheared through the metal wire that had wrapped itself around Ukyou’s spatula. As the unconscious girl started to fall Ai was there, grabbing her before she could hit the ground

The lost one turned his attention to the scum that dared to attack his Uk-chan from behind. It was a feminine-looking man in long white flowing robes.

“Whoever the hell you are,” Ryouga growled. “Prepare to d—“

“RYOUGA! MOVE!!!”

Ryouga moved reflexively at the sound of his cousin’s voice, barely avoiding the giant blade Tessai had swung at him. Ryouga was off balance as the stone giant connected with a fist fully with Ryouga’s stomach, sending him flying with enough velocity to shatter the boulder his body impacted with. Ryouga staggered to his feet. If it hadn’t been for the Bakusai Tenketsu training he would have broken something for certain. As it was, he still felt like he had been through hell, or at least an hour-long no-holds-barred fight with Ranma. The stone man had not been able to hit that hard the last time they fought.

Ai gently placed Ukyou on the ground and confronted her attacker, who was standing poised on some branches of one of the large trees. “I am going to kill you,” she said softly as she brought a pompom to bear.

“PRETTY POMPOM ATTACK!!!” Tiny explosives shot out from the pompom and headed for Yurimaru. He moved almost too fast to be seen as he darted out of the way of the explosives, which blew up a good portion of the tree he had been standing on.

“You and Zakura should compare notes,” he said as he shot a wire from his finger and toward Ai. The line never got to her as she hurled a baton at it, intercepting the wire and hopelessly tangling it. Yurimaru released the line as more explosives were hurled in his direction.

Ranma jumped from one set of branches to the next, approaching ever closer to his target. He was almost on top of the woman with the feathered cloak when he saw a flash of motion as several small objects seemed to launch themselves from her cloak and attach themselves to the tree branch he was about to land on. Just as his foot touched the wood, it erupted in a bright red explosion, sending splinters in all directions. With his landing point destroyed, he began a quick descent to the ground sixty feet below. Reflexes took over as he snagged a nearby branch with his right arm and used it like a single parallel bar, swinging around twice before using his momentum to shoot himself upwards once again. This time he took a different direction as he used the branches to draw closer to the woman’s perch.

“Nicely done,” Zakura said, the sound of appreciation in her voice. “Let’s see how you handle this.” Again the woman hurled a small spherical metal object, this time directly at Ranma. Using his superior mid-air combat abilities, he managed to change direction in the middle of a leap, avoiding the sphere as it passed to the right of him.

“You miss—“

The rest of his taunt was cut off Zakura’s eyes glowed red and the aerial mine detonated. The shockwave hurled Ranma’s body into the main trunk of the tree he had been next to. Zakura shifted weapons as she hurled several small non-explosive spikes at Ranma’s motionless form.

It was only a combination of Ranma’s persistence and speed that enabled him to pry himself out of the tree, allowing only one of the spikes to graze him across the cheek, drawing a small trickle of blood. His relief was short-lived as Zakura once again switched to an aerial mine and detonated it near Ranma. This time he was prepared for the attack and evaded the worst of the explosion. And thus began the deadly game of ‘dodge ball’ Ranma played with the insane living bomb burst that Zakura had become, getting ever closer to where she stood high in the branches of her gigantic tree.

Ryouga and Aki barely avoided another swing from Tessai’s mammoth blade. The gigantic stone man had chosen to engage the two in close combat, trying to cut them in half as they continued to weave to and fro, narrowly avoiding evisceration.

“This is getting us nowhere,” Aki complained as she avoided another thrust.

Ryouga cursed not having his umbrella with him. It was durable enough to withstand several of the giant double-sword’s blows, and Ryouga might have even been able to disarm the man. Even with Tessai’s increased strength, Ryouga thought he could take him. He and his cousin were trying to double team the big man, but he was too skilled with the sword to take more than the occasional light blow from one of his opponents. And all it would take was one misstep from either he or Aki, and Tessai would be down to only one foe.

Fate intervened as Tessai moved in for another swing and Ryouga’s foot caught on a tree root hidden under some leaves. As he fell onto his back he saw that Tessai was already raising his weapon for the kill. Time slowed for him as out of the corner of his eye he saw Aki trying to get to him before the blade would connect. By Ryouga’s estimation she would be a half-second too late. Ryouga couldn’t take his eyes of the shiny steel as the blade began its descent towards his chest. Evidently Tessai was simply going to bury it directly into him, instead of slashing and trying to go for a dismemberment.

The blade was no more than a foot above Ryouga’s head when it paused. As the weapon was turned away Ryouga got a good look at Tessai, whose head was temporarily obscured by a pompom that had attached itself to his face. The opening was all that was needed for Aki to kick the blade out of Tessai’s hand. He retaliated by smashing his fist into Aki’s midsection, hurling her more than a dozen feet away.

Ryouga spared a glance in the direction of his first savior. Kyoko was lying on the ground, staring at Ryouga with eyes that pleaded for his well-being. He nodded his head briefly towards her, then got to his feet to confront Tessai.

“You’re going to pay for that,” Ryouga threatened, not with his usual boisterous voice, but in an even tone.

Tessai just grinned and threw a punch at Ryouga. The lost one ducked and connected with a punch into the stony hide of his opponent. Unlike in their previous battle, where such a blow had an effect, Tessai just smiled at his smaller opponent.

“I’m a lot stronger and tougher than the last time we met, and this time I won’t go easy on you.” Tessai raised both fists and brought them down towards Ryouga. Rather than trying to dodge the massive blows, Ryouga raised both of his arms and blocked the attack. A test of strength between the two erupted as they locked hands with one another and began pushing against one another. Tessai had the leverage advantage, but Ryouga was still slightly more powerful, despite the Devil’s power boost.

Tessai thought he felt Ryouga start to give ground when Aki jumped up and landed on his shoulders, straddling his neck.

“And just what do you think you’re doing, little girl?” Tessai growled.

“I just want to see if your head really is made out of granite. Aki Crusher Attack!” Aki got a firm grip on Tessai’s head and began head-butting him in his skull.

He laughed at the first slam into his head. The girl was going to make things easy and knock herself out. After the fourth blow he admitted to being impressed with her resilience and wondered if he should take her alive to see just how much of him she could take before he killed her. By the seventh blow he felt a headache come on. By the tenth he felt blood start to run down in his eyes. It was unbelievable! She was shattering his nigh-invulnerable hide.

With a quick move he jerked out of Ryouga’s grasp and flailed at Aki. Using all of his strength he barely managed to pry her off and hurl her away for a second time. She sailed through the air and ending up in a number of bushes. Ryouga was quick to follow up as he used his fists to hammer into Tessai’s granite epidermis, slowly chipping away at the rock, wearing the stone Devil down.

Perfume felt the breath of Benisato on the back of her neck. As hard as she tried she could not get out of the coils wrapped around her neck and body. The breath was slowly squeezed out of Perfume’s lungs and her vision began to darken as her air began to run out. She swore that dying in the arms of some weirdo misfit was not the way for a warrior of her caliber to go. If only she was able to get to her secret weapon, then she could make the snake woman pay.

Benisato thought she felt her prey’s neck begin to snap when a hard object smashed her in the back of the skull. She uncoiled in a flash and jumped for the ground, barely evading a second blow from a bonbori that had been aimed for the same spot. Even as she began slithering away she caught sight of the purple-haired girl that had struck her from behind. Benisato summoned several snakes to try to kill the girl, even as the Devil retreated to recover her wits. The girl that dared to attack her would pay. Just later.

Shampoo stood guard over Perfume as she recovered her breath, the sword and single bonbori her friend had given her, wielded to fight off any others that would try to attack the duo.

Shampoo had just recovered her wits from the severe blow she had suffered when she was hurled into the tree. Her neck was still shooting signals of pain, threatening to slow her down, but she fought back against the ache and stood ready to take on any other attackers. She heard Perfume catch her breath, then watched in surprise as Perfume thrust her naginata forward and towards Shampoo. The purple-haired Amazon froze at her friend’s action, then stared in shock as the naginata hit the ground. As the pink-haired Amazon brought the weapon back up, Shampoo saw a snake that was stuck on the end.

“Look out!” Perfume shouted out in warning as she pointed over Shampoo’s shoulder.

Without looking Shampoo spun the sword as she pivoted around on her right heel, lashing out blindly behind her. The blind swing struck home, the viper that had been dangling from the tree branch above her was sliced neatly in half.

“Thanks,” Shampoo gasped as both Amazons stood back to back and searched high and low for any other serpents that were poised to strike.

“Agh!” Tarou felt another rake of the metal claw as the twenty images of Shujima moved in to attack once more. He had already been cut badly six times, the deepest being a rake along his back, and try as he might he still could not find the real Shujima amidst the illusions. Akane fared no better, having been struck across the chest and legs in several spots. Tarou swore he was going to snap the shadow man’s neck for daring to lay one hand on his woman.

Tarou threw another punch at an image, and again met nothing but air. It was absurd. How could he fight when he couldn’t figure out whom to attack? If only there was some way to sort out the real one from the fake.

Then the idea occurred to him. One of the masters he had trained under once taught him that one could not always rely on sight as the only method of targeting an attacker. The other senses were every bit as important as vision. It was his sight that was hindering him, so the best way to even the odds was to eliminate that liability. As Shujima backed off Tarou shut his eyes and tried to sort out the sounds around him. Chaos threatened to overwhelm his hearing, but he managed to sort out Akane’s labored breathing and movements from the rest of the noise around him. That left only one other sound to listen for. The faintest rustling of leaves came to the left of him. It was too easy.

He struck out with his fist, connecting a glancing blow to Shujima’s head. The images disappeared as the shadow man’s concentration was shattered. Akane quickly followed up once the false illusions faded. She connected with a powerful kick that broke three of Shujima’s ribs as his body went flying several feet away. Tarou and Akane moved in to finish their opponent, when Shujima’s body seemed to sink into the shadow beneath the tree.

“Damn!” Akane and Tarou simultaneously cursed loudly.

Kunou brought his bokken high and blocked Mujuru’s strike. It was the three hundredth blow that the sword-wielding Devil had made against Kunou. The young warrior struck out with the two hundred and eighty first of his attacks. Never had Kunou felt more alive than he did now. This had been the fight he had been waiting his entire life for. The exhaustion he felt in his muscles meant nothing as he brought his bokken in a sweeping arc at Mujuru. The blind one parried the blow.

Every true warrior knew that there was one man who he was destined to combat. One man who would help give definition to a warrior’s existence. And when at last that single opponent, who would define that which a fighter was meant to be, was encountered, only then could one truly achieve victory. No one Kunou had fought before in the past excited him as Ututsu Mujuru did. To Tatewaki, it was almost as though the fight was a throwback to an era when true warriors strode the lands in search of the quest that made a man into unyielding steel. Something Kunou had never been able to find, not in any of those he had fought.

Until now.

No matter the outcome of the fight, Tatewaki Kunou, age seventeen, would be forever changed.

Ututsu Mujuru broke off his attack and turned his face to Kunou. “For the first time in my life I truly regret having to kill such a worthy opponent. You have mettle, young warrior. We should have met centuries ago as brothers. You I would have at my side.”

“You speak of victory prematurely. Our fight is far from over.” Kunou held his bokken before him.

“I disagree.” Mujuru held his sword before him. As Kunou stared at the blade he saw the sun glint off the metal, or what he at least thought was the sun. As he stared at it a flash of light emitted from the blade itself, temporarily blinding Kunou. It was the opening Mujuru was looking for as he lunged forward with his blade.

It was a reflex that enabled Kunou to parry downward with his bokken and block the strike aimed at his heart. Mujuru’s blade continued forward, Kunou landing a blow with his bokken into the man’s side on the follow through of the block. Unfortunately for Kunou, Mujuru recovered from the parry enough to drive his sword though Kunou’s upper left leg.

Mujuru withdrew the blade and leaped back to ‘survey’ the damage from the blow. He could smell the sweet tang of blood in the air, and by focusing his hearing, heard the blood flow from leg to the ground in a steady spurt. The femoral artery was cut; it was only a matter of time before Kunou would bleed to death. Mujuru decided he would deny such a skilled adversary from that slow agony and moved forward once more to administer the killing blow.

Kunou’s bokken had fallen to the ground as he lay there and attempted to staunch the flow of blood from the wound. He was helpless. Just as Mujuru raised his sword to decapitate the wounded man, the Devil sensed an attack come from his left. The blade shifted directions in mid-swing, and was brought around to deflect the small objects that had been hurled at him. The acrid smell of burned flesh assailed Mujuru and his heightened sense of smell as he turned to the new fighter.

Ukyou Kuonji found herself barely able to stand, but she was damned if she was simply going to lie there while Kunou was beheaded. She just thanked all of her ancestors that Ryouga had sheared the wire when he had. That was all that had kept her from being fried to death. Unfortunately, there had been enough amperage to hurt her more than a little bit, and she was finding it somewhat difficult to concentrate. Still, she would give her life if it meant helping her ally.

Ukyou drew her spatula and prepared to attack.

Mushizo drew back as more chains and ribbons came at him once again. His two opponents were proving nearly impossible to kill, and the girl’s laugh was enough to set even a psychopath like Mushizo on edge. Too bad he could not use any more of his ‘children’. The one with the glasses kept blasting them with his bug spray whenever there were more than a handful of them around.

Yurimaru ducked out of the way of the tiny explosives once more, splinters digging into his flesh as he wove to the left and shot out yet another wire towards Ai. The cheerleader easily dodged out of the way and threw a baton at Yurimaru’s head. Their fight had gone that way from the opening moments: first one would attack and the other would dodge and retaliate, causing the first to dodge and initiate their own return attack. Back and forth they went, with no clear way of knowing who the better between them was.

Zakura blasted another branch Ranma tried to leap upon. She gave the little jackrabbit credit; he could certainly dodge with the best of them, but at last he was running out of places to go. She blew up another cluster of branches one second too late to catch Ranma. He had managed to get close enough so that two more leaps and he would be within hand-to-hand range with her. Too bad she wasn’t going to let him get the close. She was about to blow away the next branch he would jump up to when he did the unexpected. He dove back and downwards towards a lower branch a tree away. Zakura wondered if she had scared the boy off, not that it would do him any good in the long run. She was still going to blow him to hell.

She was admiring the grace with which he had made his leap, while simultaneously trying to estimate where to place her next explosive so she could blow him into tiny pieces, when her opponent formed a blue ball of energy between his hands.

Zakura had only a split-second to act before Ranma shouted out, “MOKO TAKABISHA!!!” and released a blue bolt of chi energy right at the branch Zakura was standing upon. The beam cut through the wood as though it were not there, and grazed her in the shoulder. The pain made her lose her concentration in the initial moments of her fall. She recovered just as she started to fall past the branch Ranma had landed on to arrest his own fall.

Zakura knew she could prevent herself from crashing into the ground, but had to take one last shot at the boy who had dared to draw blood from her. There was one trick she wanted to try. It was something she only recently learned she could do after her enhancement at the hands of the Shogun. She brought her hands together as black energy formed between them.

“DIE!!!” Zakura shouted as she fell past.

The black bolt of force, more powerful than any explosive she had ever used, headed straight for her opponent. Somehow she saw him get out of the way of the near-fatal and point-blank blast at the last second. The bolt blew clean through the trunk of the tree and three behind it. She was pleased to note the look of pain on her opponent’s face as the force of the explosion sent him sailing far through the air.

It was time for Zakura to save herself. She brought her hands together once again and pointed at the ground, which was now no more than twenty feet away. She released the black energy directly beneath her, blowing up a good portion of the forest floor below and using the force of blast itself, as well as the effect it had on the ground, to slow her plunge and cushion her fall. Despite all of her efforts she still landed very hard.

As she painfully raised herself to her feet, she saw that Ranma too had recovered and was eyeing her cautiously from some distance away. Zakura afforded a glance to her fellow Devils and saw that all was not going as it should have. Too many of her allies were on the verge of defeat or being pressed on the defensive. And then there was that look of quiet confidence in the boy that was her opponent. That angered her more than anything. He should fear her! All should fear her! And she would make them!

“Devils! We are leaving!” And with that Zakura took off, leaping from tree to tree towards Mount Phoenix.

The other Devils paused briefly in their fights to considered what Zakura has said, and the way she had said it, and retreated from their battles, following in Zakura’s wake.

“Let’s get after them!” Aki snarled.

“Wait!” Ryouga shouted to halt her pursuit. “I need to check on Kyoko.”

“Kunou’s injured bad!” Ukyou shouted to the others.

Seeing his opponent and her comrades retreating, Ranma suppressed the urge to follow them and hurried over to Akane’s side. He immediately noticed the cuts she bore from her fight with Shujima and began fawning over her, much to Tarou’s irritation.

Perfume noticed what effect Ranma’s attentions on Akane were having on Shampoo. “Hey! Stupid male! Shampoo’s injured too! Not that an insensitive oaf like you would care!”

Ranma went through a gamut of emotions, from concern about Shampoo’s injury to a “Hey! I’m not insensitive and at least I never tried to impale any of my friends!” remark directed at Perfume. He was trying to decide if he should leave Akane’s side, while she glared at him for obviously considering leaving her to check out Shampoo, when Tarou began whispering in his ear about how Ranma’s boyfriend needed help and how Tarou was more than capable of looking after Akane.

Perfume turned her back on the fight as she joined Kunou’s side and saw the nature of his wound. Already he had nearly passed out from the blood loss, even with Ukyou using direct pressure on the cut. Perfume was about to do a further examination when she saw that the others, save Ryouga, who was fawning over Kyoko, and Aki, who was keeping an eye on the two of them, had joined her at Kunou’s side.

Ai took over Ukyou’s job of putting direct pressure on the wound, and ordered Ukyou to sit down until she could see what damage the voltage might have done to her chef. Perfume shook her head as she decided what would have to be done.

“We have to tourniquet the leg,” she said as she took of her weapon’s belt and began to wrap it on Kunou’s leg as tight as she could and high enough that it would help arrest the flow of blood. She did not inform the others that unless he got medical attention quickly he was going to die.

“I thought that if used a tourniquet you would lose the limb it was tied on,” Akane mentioned.

“He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t die,” Tarou informed her. He had come to the same conclusion Perfume had. “The leg’s gone no matter what he does.”

Perfume nodded in agreement and finished wrapping the leg. Now all it would take was a lot of luck to keep Kunou alive long enough to get medical attention.

“Who goes back with him?” Ryouga asked.

“Sparing any one of us would cut down our odds of survival. The fight with those things was tough enough. Even if they don’t have the advantage of surprise, we’re going to be hard pressed to stop them. We’ll need every bit of force we can muster.”

Shampoo looked around and suddenly realized something. “Where is great grandmother and the little pervert?”

Ranma looked around as well. “Yeah. They didn’t help in that fight at all.”

Happosai and Cologne faded back to the visible eye.

“It looks like that idiotic technique you used for sneaking peeks in women’s baths came in useful after all,” Cologne commented.

“I can’t believe we’re running out on them like that!” Happosai shot back. Running like a coward was Genma’s thing, not his.

Cologne turned in irritation to Happosai. “I like it even less than you do! That was my great-granddaughter I left back there! But you and I both know those beings were nothing more than the second line of defense. No doubt things will get worse the closer we head to Mount Phoenix. The best way to protect the others is to find the one that is really behind all of this and take care of him. Crush the head of the snake, and the body follows.”

“I still don’t like leaving so many cuties behind,” Happosai lamented.

“I’m certain they miss you too. Now hurry! The longer we talk the more danger they’ll be in!”

The pair continued on their way to Mount Phoenix, each hoping the children they left behind would be able to take care of themselves.

“That worthless old ghoul and pervert! I can’t believe they’d duck out on us like that!” Ranma growled once more.

“If great-grandmother left, it was for a good reason,” Shampoo’s own words failed to convince her. Why had Cologne fled without even a word to Shampoo? Surely she had not abandoned everyone to the fates?

Perfume stood in the middle of the group and tried to take charge of the situation. “Those two have probably forgotten more about fighting than all of us put together have learned. Whatever the reason, I’m sure it was good. The problem is what are we going to do now? Someone has to take Kunou back before he bleeds to death on the ground.”

“I’ll do it.”

All eyes turned to Kyoko. Her legs were covered in blood from all of the lacerations she had received from the initial explosion and she was having difficulty standing straight.

“I’d only slow you down now. I don’t want anyone to get hurt because I was holding them back or was a liability.” She looked to Ryouga when she said that.

Kyoko’s concern was mirrored by Ryouga. “But we can’t leave you, you might get hurt.”

“Unlikely,” Perfume commented as she grabbed her naginata and made ready to leave. “She’ll be heading towards the ship and away from Mount Phoenix. Those creatures that attacked us, and the army, are to keep people out, not in. If my sisters did their job, Kyoko shouldn’t have any problems linking up with them. They can take care of Kunou from there.”

“But she’s hurt,” Ryouga protested.

Ai waved him off. “Don’t underestimate Martial Arts Cheerleading. I taught all of my girls to fight through pain, and I made them run endurance exercises with hundred pound weights strapped to their backs. She can handle it.”

Kyoko gave a nod of affirmation directed to Ryouga.

Ryouga shook his head. “I can’t let her go off like this!”

“Then go with her!” Perfume shot back irritably. “We’re heading out now. Every moment we waste here gives those animals a chance to set another ambush for us.” She turned to the direction to Mount Phoenix. “Whoever is coming along, we leave now.”

The others watched Perfume head off in the direction of the mountain once more, then followed. Only Ryouga, Kyoko, and Kunou were left behind.

Ryouga looked hesitantly between Kyoko and Ukyou’s dwindling form. He couldn’t protect both of them, and he had made his choice.

“Go,” Kyoko said.

Ryouga stared longingly at the group for a moment, then back to Kyoko. “I can’t. You need me.”

“They need you more than me,” she said softly. “I’ll be all right. Show some faith in me,”

Ryouga looked to the group once more. If they got out of sight, it wasn’t likely he would be able to find them once more. “But—“

She pressed a finger to his lips. “Go. If anything happens to them and you weren’t there, you’re never going to be able to forgive yourself.”

She was right. He knew it, even if he did not want to admit it. There was no choice to make

“Take care,” he said, then in a moment of daring, moved forward to initiate a kiss. It was only for the briefest of moments, nowhere near enough time for him to even start a nosebleed. He then turned and rushed off to join the others.

Kyoko watched him go, then muttered under her breath, “You could have agonized over that a little longer.” She smiled then, and touched her lips where Ryouga had kissed her. HE had kissed her. They almost had something resembling a real relationship. If only Ryouga was able to keep himself safe from harm.

She bent over, wincing in pain, and picked up Kunou. Waves of fire shot up from her legs as she placed him over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Ai was correct in that under ordinary circumstances, Kyoko would have been more than able to carry Kunou the entire distance to TWPOS in little time, but with her legs torn up as badly as they were, it was going to take everything she had to get Kunou to help before he bled to death.

“Come on, put your back into it,” she said, remembering how Ai would urge her onward in order to keep her going. It was going to be a long trip back.

1:20:33

Zakura paused in her flight and waited a moment for the Devils to catch up to her. She stood atop a small, green hill that allowed her to overlook the forest from which the group had emerged, several miles away.

“This had better be good,” Yurimaru threatened. “We have to kill that lot before they get any closer to Lord Gemma.”

Zakura stared at her shoulder, which had only just stopped bleeding. “They’re all going to die, now!” she turned to Mujuru. “Where are they?”

Mujuru allowed his senses to stretch out once again. He sorted out the sounds of close to a dozen people making their way cautiously through the forest. “There.” He pointed to where the group was located.

“Perfect,” Zakura said under her breath. She then held her arms out, allowing her feathered cloak to float lightly back on a gentle breeze. “Feel my fire,” she said, and with that a huge section of the forest where Ranma and the group had been suddenly erupted into a huge fireball.

The other Devils, save Tessai, shielded their faces from the wave of heat that washed over them as the effects of the blast reached their hill. Only Tessai watched the rising flames from his position on the hill, admiring Zakura’s handiwork.

“What was that?” Benisato asked her partner.

Zakura laughed wildly, allowing the others to see the full madness that had taken root etched in her face. “Do you think I spent the last several weeks here simply sitting on my rear? I’ve been planting explosives throughout the entire area surrounding the mountain. What I just set off there was napalm.” She ran her hands over her body as she felt on orgasm build from witnessing the conflagration that she had created. She had not had a chance to use many of the new explosives that she had come into contact with in the new age. There was no doubt in her mind she was going to have to burn several villages to the ground in the next few days and experiment with them.

By the gods, how she loved this century.

It was only a quirk of fate that had enabled Ranma and company to be as far away as they could be between two sets of the explosives. Zakura’s inexperience with her new toy showed as the group ended up in one of the small spots where the flames failed to reach. That was not to say the group had escaped the effect of the blast. The whole party had been knocked to the ground, and the heat that had washed over them hurt immensely, but they had survived, for the most part, unharmed. The fact that the forest around them was suddenly on fire and they had no way of putting it out did not help either.

“What do we do?!” Ai called out as the flames drew closer. It became evident they were surrounded by fire, and it was drawing closer to the group.

Ryouga was more concerned about another. “Kyoko.” He looked through a wall of flame in the direction he had left her. Without thinking he began to instinctively rush towards the place where he had last seen her.

Aki placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. “You’re not fireproof, you dummy! You’ll burn to death and never reach her!”

“I have to go!”

Aki saw the wild look in his eyes. The fool was going to try to go anyway. “Listen to me. If you try to get to her you are going to fail and die, and all you’ll accomplish is leaving her to cry over your charred corpse. I think the explosions were confined to the area around us. She had a good head start and was heading in the opposite direction. She’s all right.”

“How can you know?!” he shot accusingly.

She looked him straight in the eye. “I’ve hung out with our demolitions expert a lot. I know what I’m talking about. I know she’s okay.”

“All right,” Ryouga reluctantly admitted as he backed away from the wall of flames that was getting ever closer. If it had been anyone other than Aki, he would have disregarded the information and gone ahead anyway.

Aki was relieved he turned away from the flames. She had lied through her teeth, and hadn’t the faintest idea if Kyoko had survived or not. Aki hoped the cheerleader had, but even if Kyoko had not, there was no way she would allow her cousin to throw his life away in some senseless gesture of false heroism. She just prayed he would come to forgive her if it turned out she was wrong.

Tarou hit upon the solution immediately. “I can fly several of us out of here, but not everyone. Some of you are going to have to stay behind.” And he had that list already chosen, with Ranma at the top. He could carry at the most five people safely in his arms. That meant Akane and four of the others. Tough luck about those that would remain behind.

“I can think of a way around that limitation,” Kodachi said as she drew a ribbon and moved closer to Tarou, the circle of fire drawing in on the group by the second.

The Devils of Kimone stared at the bright orange flames before them. Only Gemma himself could possibly survive the inferno before them. The intruders had to be dead.

Yurimaru was about to turn away and report back to Gemma when he heard Mushizo gasp. The master of electricity turned to see in the distance a huge monstrosity emerge from the flames and slowly head up to the skies. It appeared to be a minotaur with wings. As it continued to rise up, Yurimaru was able to make out what appeared to be several people, dangling by some sort of cords, hanging from the bottom of it.

“I’ll take care of this,” Tessai growled as he drew back his mighty two-bladed sword.

Tarou-bull’s wing already ached from the additional weight he was carrying. He would have been able to handle his additional passengers with ease under ideal circumstances, but one of Shujima’s slashes had been at the exact spot where Tarou-bull’s wings appeared. The muscle under that wing ached, and flying on his own would have been difficult enough, but with the extra baggage he had it made his flight slow and nearly impossible.

He looked down at the ribbon and chain that encircled his wrists. He hated to admit that Kodachi had figured out a good way to transport everyone, too bad. Dangling from one wrist was Kodachi, Mousse, Ai, Ukyou, and Ryouga. From the other, the important one to Tarou-bull, was Ranma, Aki, Perfume, Shampoo, and Akane.

He was looking towards Mount Phoenix, wondering if he had enough endurance to make it there without landing at least once, when he heard the whistling sound behind him. Instinctively he raised his flight path, narrowly avoiding the spinning blade that had headed towards him. Instead of slicing through him, the blade cut through the ribbon Kodachi’s group had been on and flew on past. That was unfortunate, but it was impossible to grab all of them while Akane and the others were still being carried in his other hand. If he was to make any violent maneuvers, he might knock them, or more importantly, Akane, off. The falling ones were on their own. At least there appeared to be a river beneath them. Perhaps they would even survive.

While Tarou-bull listened to the others cry out in concern, he heard the whistling sound get louder. He looked up to see that damned spinning blade was coming back for another pass. He narrowly avoided the second approach, but this time it sliced through the ribbon holding Akane and the others. Tarou-bull panicked as he saw the love of his life start to plummet to her death. Without a second thought he dove for her, grabbing her by a leg and cradling her gently in his arms.

“Save Ranma!” she shouted.

Tarou-bull looked down at Ranma’s plummeting form. Saotome had already built up a good bit of speed, and if Tarou-bull tried diving after him, especially with the condition of his wing, there was a better than fifty percent chance he would not be able to pull up in time and end up crashing into the ground below.

Besides, it was Fem-boy.

Tarou-bull shook his head at Akane. She just stared at him with wide eyes, then tried ordering him to do it once more. He refused, causing her eyes to tear up as she saw Ranma drop out of sight, with the others that had been on his ribbon, nearby. She tried squirming out of Tarou-bull’s grasp, causing him to tighten his hold on her until they landed some distance from where Ranma and the others would have struck the ground.

Akane fell to her knees, crying, and Tarou-bull’s heart went out to her. He didn’t want to see her cry, not ever, even if it was over Saotome’s death. He tried placing one of his massive hands over her shoulder, but she slapped it viciously away.

“HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME!!!” she raged. “YOU LET HIM DIE! I HATE YOU!!!”

Tarou-bull actually flinched at her accusations. It hurt worse than any blow he had ever received. It hurt worse than all of them combined. He had to do something to get back into her graces. He simply had to. It dawned on him that a life without her did not feel like it was worth living.

Since he could not speak he began writing on the ground. Akane refused to look at it, initially, opting to cry instead, but eventually Tarou-bull got her to look at the writing. Through her tear-stained eyes she read that Tarou-bull knew he could not have saved Ranma without killing them all, and that ‘Fem-boy’ was annoyingly resourceful, and that one lousy fall, even from that height, would not kill him.

There was mostly truth in what Tarou-bull had written; especially since he WAS confident Saotome had survived the fall. The guy was like a cockroach and refused to be squashed like the bug he was. No, Tarou-bull was certain Ranma had survived the fall, but he hoped the hermaphrodite had at least broken both of his legs on the landing.

As though grasping at one last desperate hope, Akane nodded her head and dried her tears as best as she could. Tarou was correct. Ranma would not succumb to a mere fall.

“Let’s go find him,” Akane set off towards where they had last seen Ranma.

Tarou-bull placed his massive form between Akane and the path. He began writing in the dirt some more, saying that finding Ranma down there was more like searching for a needle in a haystack. Since they knew Ranma was heading towards Mount Phoenix anyway, the two of them should set off for there and meet Ranma when he arrived.

Besides, Tarou-bull wanted revenge against the shadow man that had hurt him and Akane. He’d show Shujima what it meant to lay a hand on his woman. Saotome would be dealt with after the fight. Tarou had to rethink how he was going to win Akane’s heart, now that he knew simply getting rid of Ranma was no longer an option.

Earlier:

Ranma saw the trees rushing up to him. There was nothing he could do to stop his fall, so he aimed for the thick cover of foliage and gave a prayer that he and the others landed in something soft. Maybe he could slow his fall using the branches. It was a longshot, but it was all that he could think of as he was falling to what might have been his death.

He saw a flash of purple as Shampoo nearly ran into him in mid-air, then he felt the green of the leaves as he crashed through the first screen of leaves, He grabbed at Shampoo as he held his free hand out and tried to grab anything he could, hoping to slow his fall, even if it meant having his shoulder ripped out of its socket.

His body broke two sets of branches, the second actually being thick enough to slow him down some, while he made certain Shampoo was above him as they fell. If he slowed down enough his body might be enough to keep her from dying on impact.

As he fell through the second set of branches he saw there was nothing else to slow him down as he and his companion rushed to meet the forest floor. It was brown, if clear of any vegetation. No last minute pool of water there. Ranma was fairly certain they were coming in too fast to survive the impact. There were still so many things he had left unresol—

*SPLOOSH*

Aki saw Perfume go through almost the same spot that Ranma and Shampoo had fallen through. It was as good a place as any to aim for as Aki guided her body near where Ranma had gone through. Too bad she couldn’t bring herself to use her stand to cushion the fall, even now. She hoped Ryouga and the crew didn’t mourn her loss for too lo—

*SPLOOSH*

Aki felt herself in some kind of warm liquid-like substance. It was too thick for water, and she couldn’t see through it, but it had been soft enough to break her fall and keep from breaking her neck. She had been extraordinarily lucky to have taken a deep breath right before she hit. She tried swimming in it, but it was too thick. Panic began to overcome her until she realized that her feet were touching something solid. She used that for leverage and began to walk through the thick, viscous liquid. Anyone not as powerful as her would have had trouble walking through it, but not her. It was slowing her down, but she moved at a fairly quick pace.

As she moved forward and felt her lungs start to burn from lack of air, she felt something soft brush against her face. There was a shift from it as Aki held her hand up and grasped at it. Even through the thick substance her fingers identified what it was: fabric.

Aki grabbed onto the person in it, who was struggling weakly, and began carrying them through the substance. Aki felt faint, but could have sworn the bottom of whatever it was she was in was starting to rise. The person she was carrying stopped struggling, not a good sign. Aki used every ounce of energy she had when she felt an object in front of her. Taking a chance she grabbed it and tried to hurry onward. She felt as though she was going to black out when her head broke through the thick liquid and air passed across her face.

Air. The most precious substance in the world filled her lungs as she staggered to the edge of the pool she had been in. She wiped her eyes of the muck across them as she looked at what she was still waist-deep in. The brown ooze left her with little doubt about what it was that had saved her from death and nearly killed her anyway. Quicksand.

As she gasped for air she turned her attention to her two burdens. The first one she had grabbed turned out to be Shampoo, whose unmoving head was just above the surface of the quicksand. The second was Perfume, who was equally unmoving. That left only Ranma still in the pool. Aki threw Perfume roughly on the ground next to the pool, then tried to pull Shampoo fully out of the quicksand, so she could end up on shore and Aki could start a search for Ranma. The odds of finding him were terrible, but she had to take the chance.

The drag on Shampoo was incredible, and as Aki placed both hands on her and gave a mighty heave, she saw why. Shampoo’s left hand was clutching Ranma.

Shampoo hadn’t let go of him, even after the fall. Even after unconsciousness. Aki shook her head, then remembered that Ranma had been under longer than any of the other three. Quickly Aki placed Shampoo and Ranma on solid ground, then heaved herself out of the waist-deep spot she was in and examined the three closely. Perfume and Shampoo were breathing, weakly, but they were breathing. Ranma was not, though a quick check showed his heart was still beating.

Aki threw Ranma on his back and began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Time lost meaning for her as she began the process of trying to get him to breathe on his own. She felt no breath, then repeated the procedure swearing she would do it until she got his breathing restarted or she dropped from exhaustion.

After three minutes, she got the former

“You dummy,” Aki said as sat up and breathed a sigh of relief. It was as she was wondering how long it would take Ranma to recover when she felt a hand grab her by the back of the neck. She turned to look at the point of a sword leveled against her throat.

“Why you kiss Ranma?” Shampoo said, glaring at Aki the whole time.

Aki placed her finger delicately on the tip of the sword and gently pushed it away from her face. “It was called a ‘kiss of life.’ He wasn’t breathing.”

“Oh!” Shampoo dropped her sword and examined Ranma gently, confirming for herself that he was still breathing.

Aki went over to check on Perfume. The pink-haired Amazon sat up, looking like she had been through a vicious fight, fell several hundred feet, and nearly drowned in quicksand, but was otherwise in good shape. The two exchanged a few words, then looked back towards Shampoo, who was now gently cradling Ranma in her arms.

Shampoo felt Ranma stir, then embraced him. “Ranma, you is okay.”

*BLORF*

Shampoo held Ranma away from her for a moment to see he had cleared his insides out of all the quicksand he had managed to swallow. Too bad for Shampoo he had done it all over her, not that it was not all that noticeable since she was already covered in the muck. So much for any romantic revelations, though.

After several moments Ranma recovered enough to listen to what happened to him and thanked Aki.

“What happened to Akane?” he asked as he felt his heart seize up. If anything had happened to her…

“I think Pantyhose grabbed her. I saw him fly close to her, but I lost track of them,” Perfume said. “There were more pressing concerns at hand, you understand.”

“Yeah. He’d do that and leave the rest of us to fall to our deaths. He probably thinks I’m out of the way now. Wait until I get my hands on him!”

Aki cuffed him in the back of the head. “As much as you have a right to be angry with him, we gotta little problem with those monsters that attacked us. Why don’t we take care of this whole Mount Phoenix thing before we go beating each other up?” She tried wiping as much of the muck off her clothes as she could. Despite her outward focus, she was concerned about Ryouga’s fate. She had still been hanging from her ribbon when her cousin had been cut loose. Fortunately, it had appeared there was a river right below him when he fell. Aki would have sworn he hit the water, but she had not had a good look.

Ranma assented and the remaining trio tried to dry themselves off as they reoriented themselves.

Aki stared at the quicksand for some time. To her knowledge that wasn’t the sort of thing that made up part of the western Chinese countryside. She took a moment to examine her surroundings. Something else wasn’t quite right. It took her close to two minutes before she could place her finger on it.

“Ranma! Shampoo! Take a look at the trees and plants around here and tell me what it reminds you of.”

“Being in the country,” Ranma answered, irritated Aki was apparently going off on some wild tangent that had nothing to do with beating up the opposition.

Shampoo looked at it more closely. She hadn’t noticed it before, but there was something wrong about the plant life. Growing up in the area all of her life, she knew nothing like the types of plant life she was seeing before her belonged here.

She snapped her fingers. “It’s just like Pangea!”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought,” Aki said. It was good to have that confirmed.

“I see what you mean,” Ranma said in agreement. “This stuff gets freakier by the moment. Let’s find those guys, beat ‘em up, then get them to change this place back to the way it was. And let’s hope there ain’t no dinosaurs around here either. I had more than enough to last me a lifetime.”

The trio of girls agreed with Ranma and headed towards Mount Phoenix once more.

1:06:10

Kodachi moved through the air gracefully and executed a perfect dive as she entered the water cleanly, barely feeling the impact.

Mousse was flailing away as he did a near-version of a belly flop. He was temporarily stunned as he changed to panda form and began to sink into the water. Kodachi swam over to where he disappeared and managed drag him to the surface before rousing him. Together the two headed for the shore to dry themselves out.

“Do we continue on, my dearest?” Kodachi asked.

Mousse-panda nodded. [We have to make sure Shampoo is all right.] He began tromping off towards Mount Phoenix once again.

Kodachi scowled angrily at his back as she followed. He had given up on Shampoo, yet continued to fawn over her. For his sake, when he came fully to his senses and realized just whose heart he held, he had better start treating Kodachi twice as nicely. Or else.

Ai, Ryouga, and Ukyou all dove into the water at the water at the same time. The initial splash hurt, but it was something all of them could easily deal with.

Ai was swimming to the surface when she spotted Ryouga-bat beginning to sink. She made a mental note that apparently bats weren’t designed for swimming. Quickly she kicked out with her legs and swam over to the sinking form. Ryouga was far from her favorite person in the world, but he certainly did not deserve to drown.

Ukyou paddled her arms furiously, trying to stay afloat. For someone that had spent a good portion of her life near a seashore, one would have thought she would be able to swim fairly well. Nothing could have been further from the truth. She could do a passable job and could keep from sinking like a rock, but being in water was not a favorite pastime of hers.

When no one else surfaced Ukyou began to panic. She was about to risk trying to swim underwater when Ai broke the surface, bearing gifts in the form of a bat and his shirt and pants. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ukyou headed to shore, and once on firm ground set up her portable grill and heated some water for Ryouga. Within minutes he was dressed and apologizing for nearly drowning.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ukyou assured him.

“I just hope Aki’s all right,” Ryouga muttered.

Ai pointed towards Mount Phoenix. “Since that’s where we were heading, let’s get going. I’m sure the others will be there waiting for us.”

Ukyou and Ryouga nodded in agreement as the trio set off towards Mount Phoenix.

57:12

The Devils had split up. Most tried to find the separate groups of people, while Tessai and Mujuru headed directly to Mount Phoenix in case any of the intruders made it that far. None of them could be allowed to get to the Shogun. None of them.

Ranma and the girls gazed at the huge field full of the strange flowers before them. The expanse was truly immense, unlike anything Ranma had ever seen, yet there was something wrong about the flora. It appeared… alien, in some way.

“Kodachi would have a field day with this,” he commented.

“Ah! It’s just a bunch of flowers. Plants aren’t dangerous,” Aki commented as she set off for the field.

“You never had one try to eat you whole,” Ranma replied dryly as he followed behind her, wary of any plants that might suddenly rise up and try to devour him.

The quartet made it halfway across the field when Perfume slapped the first bee that stung her. She was about to continue onward when something clicked in her mind. “I think we have a problem.”

The others turned to look at her, then heard the sound of buzzing come from all around. A huge swarm of bees, wasps, and other various stinging insects began to pour forth from the flowers.

“Even with the amaguriken, I can’t handle anywhere near this many bugs!” Ranma shouted as he began swatting them out of the air.

Shampoo began to panic as well. They had no attack that could wipe out a lot of bugs that came at them from all sides at the same…

“Ranma! Run away to almost the edge of the field, then use the Moko Takabisha on me!” Shampoo shouted.

Ranma shook his head, the move allowing him to get stung several times. “Are you crazy?! How’s that going to help?!”

In answer Shampoo began to glow blue, the chi energy taking on a scale-like pattern.

Ranma understood in a heartbeat. “Run!” he shouted to Perfume while grabbing Aki and heading to the edge of the field.

Aki allowed herself to be carried almost half of the distance before she realized what was happening. “You coward! You’re leaving Shampoo to die while she attracts all of the bugs! Oww!” She smacked an offending wasp. “Almost all of them.”

“Nah! She’s going to blow herself up.”

“Oh,” Aki said in relief. “That makes… WHAT?!!!”

Perfume began to run after Ranma when she spotted something in front of her. It was just a fleeting glimpse from out of the corner of her eye, but it was all she needed