Between the shifting ether of the cosmos sat two beings at a table. With both shrouded in mist, their voices indefinable in terms of sex, left identification of the beings impossible. Between them lied a board that seemed to be a strange mocking of the standard chessboard. Its dimensions defied both reality and physics making for a board more fitting the mad hatter then any form of actual play. The being who sat on the side of white looked across at its partner.
"Ah, I see you have acquired some new pieces, but this one seems particularly strange." As it reached across the board to examine the piece in detail, its opponent stopped the gesture.
"No stranger then the pieces you play. Shall we begin again?" The being smiled at White, "You might have won last time my friend, but victory shall ultimately be mine." White grinned back with a malicious smile back at Black.
"Careful, remember the last time you let pride get the best of you." Black then donned the same smile. With that they began to set out their pieces.
Elsewhere in darkness a figure kneels on a raised dais in white flowing robes with his face shrouded. Everything except for a small hint of a brown beard obscured. Surrounded by hundreds of floating candles he looks up towards a beautiful stained glass window that depicts scenes of Heaven.
"Soon, soon it will come to pass, and all shall be made safe." He speaks to the glass, its voice a rich bass of a man. He feels a presence detach itself from the shadows and make its way behind him. Without turning he addresses the newcomer. "What do you have to report?" He feels the figure draw up and bow.
"It is done; she will be heading towards Japan as we speak. Her friends are dead and we presume she will end up next to the Gatekeeper, as you had planned." The figures sultry voice belays both a female grace and cruelty. He could feel her smile as she continued, "The American police were evaded, and believe she is the one who killed them. Should we give them another target?" The man stood up and turned to his guest, who was shrouded in darkness with only her forest green eyes to be seen.
"No, for now let them think she did it. She will want revenge and thus will be easy to manipulate when the time comes. Do the police have any evidence we should know about?" He very much doubted it, the woman before him was one of his best agents on this world, but it never hurt to be wary.
She shook her head in response. "No my liege, the only evidence they found was that the bodies were injured with an exotic weapon. She would be the only known one in the Santa Fe area to be known for her weapon choice and style." She looks up to her liege. "Perhaps we are putting to much effort onto her. She might have been our original choice but-"She was cut off by the man's voice.
"No! You are not to touch her!" The room shook for a brief moment at the power in his voice. He calmed himself and looked again at the woman who had taken a step back at his refusal.
"I understand you're, displeasure, at what she did to you," he continued in a calmer tone, "but even if we found a better option it would be unwise to simply discard her. The Gatekeeper we have chosen is powerful indeed, but has many enemies and is surrounded by a force of chaos. Until we are sure he is in our power, we must be cautious. We must step lightly." He descended from the dais until he stood before her.
"Soon our work will come to fruition and everything will be made safe. He will understand this and if he doesn't, we shall help him see the light." He gently took the woman into his arms. "Be patient my child, soon you will be able to extract your revenge."
Behind him the stained glass window dimmed from the outside clouds, allowing one to briefly see the man's eyes glow a pale yellow light.
Pain.
Slowly she opened her greenish brown eyes, blinking past sudden tears as the pain lashed out at her. Fighting against the sudden onslaught of the darkness she forced herself to sit up and take stock of her situation.
Looking around she noticed that she was in some sort of infirmary. The plain walls and wooden cabinets along with smell of herbs justified her belief. Along with the fact that she was currently wearing an examination gown, it masked only the bare essentials and nothing else.
Spying her cloths neatly folded on a nearby chair she quickly dresses herself. As she ties her dusty brown hair back with a black cord she takes stock of herself. Wearing jeans and jean jacket with a green t-shirt she covered up most of her body. Her hair, while long, was tied back and out of the way. Still in pain but not spying any obvious injuries she decides to find out more of her current location.
Opening the door gently she stealthily made her way into a larger room. It appeared to be a sort of waiting room. Curious though that posters and magazines about the room seemed to be all in Japanese. Though she could speak the language, and knew enough to pick out its written language, she could not read the writing. But no part of the town the woman resided in dealt with such materials, let alone displayed them.
Suddenly instincts began to flare, causing the woman to drop to one knee. Or at least try to, sudden pain lashing out of her left thigh caused the leg to buckle, sprawling her onto the floor. With a grunt she turned onto her side, raising an arm in a warding gesture.
"Oh my, are you alright miss?" The male voice speaking in Japanese belonged to a taller then average Japanese man. He wore glasses along with what appeared to be a brown Gi. His hair was tied back into a low ponytail that was quite becoming on the man. His hand was stretched down in a non-threatening manner.
But the woman scooted across the floor away from the man. Ignoring the pain in her leg and now right arm she gazed warily upon the man before her. He didn't look threatening, but her instincts told her that there was much more to him then she could visually see.
"W-who are you?" She spoke in Japanese slowly, making sure to form her sentence properly. The man looked surprised.
"You speak Japanese I take it?"
She waved him off, "Enough to get by. I know how to speak it." She tilted her head. "Again, who are you?"
The man bowed to her. "I apologize, my name in Dr. Ono Tofu. May I ask what your name is?" The woman had realized that she was near some seats, and had pulled herself up onto one. She hesitated for a second before responding nervously.
"Rachel Hunter." She looked around at her surroundings. "Where am I Dr. Tofu?"
The woman's name was Katrina; an old black woman somewhere in her 60s who had emigrated from America some thirty years ago. It was hard to picture her even then as a major underground supplier of the black market; Katrina looked today to be more like someone in the kitchen baking goodies for grandkids then selling guns to the Yakutza. She had a lit cigarette in her lips with one arm draped lazily behind her; she took a puff and continued. The teenager across from the woman paid close attention, idly brushing her red hair to the side of her face.
"Dani I tell you this boy has got some awful, and I mean awful, rumors about him. They say he can hit you a dozen times before you can blink and even leap to the top of a three story building standing, goes by Ranma Saotome. They also say he has got some kinda curse on him. But they just gotta be out of their minds, I mean-" Dani cut her off.
"What's the curse? What, he a werewolf?" She joked. The Katrina looked at her and gave a short laugh.
"Red, I tell you it's the craziest thing; they say this guy somehow turns into a girl and back or something." This had Dani's curiosity piqued.
"What, you mean he's a cross-dresser?" Again the woman laughed.
"Nah, that's the thing that is so crazy. They claim he actually becomes a girl. Not sure about the plumbing, the boy don't seem to keen on people peeking at his undies I hear. But the guy has jet black hair, and then he will suddenly have red hair kinda like yours, and a nice chest to boot." She had cocked her head to the side, "Relative of yours Red?"
"Not that I know of." Katrina shook her head in amusement and from beneath the table produced a metal suitcase. Opening it revealed Shiva, Dani's custom desert eagle magnum along with two extra magazines. As Dani closed the case again Katrina grabbed her wrist.
"Just be careful Red, you don't know what it took to get that thing past those cops into this country. I'm serious on that, don't ask. Don't be using it to much either, other then the local mafia only cops carry guns. They catch wind you have it and you will bring down a fury even you won't be able to run from." She let go and sat back, "The only reason I'm helping your fool head is because I knew Will and your's relationship, and I know you didn't kill him or the others." Katrina stubbed out her cigarette. "Any leads?" Katrina asked hopefully as she looked over her glasses, Dani sighed.
She suppressed a scowl at the memory as she shook her head. "He or she didn't leave much evidence behind, not that the police found. Course I know whoever did it had connections in high places." Katrina raised an eyebrow at that.
"Really now? How do you figure?" Dani gave a small dark chuckle.
"Simple, the cops knew exactly what had happened, before I did. They were pulling up and busting down the door guns blazing just as I was finding out they were dead. We weren't exactly downtown Santa Fe and they hadn't gotten off a shot, so no reason for the neighbors to call it in." This time she did scowl, "twelve people killed before they could fire a shot." She shook her head as a fire lit in her eyes, "Yeah, this guy was a pro who made a mistake messing with my family, and I plan on making him pay for all of it." She suddenly looked up into the older woman's eyes and asked nervously. "How do you know I didn't kill them? Katrina, I don't want you-" The old woman cut her off.
"For one, I knew that you were a stickler of your code." She smiled, "Ambiguous as it is, no,no you didn't kill them. That and you wouldn't be going to Will's granny for help if you had. You're to smart for that. Least that's how Will spoke you to be." She smiled. "Red, I've known you for as long as Will had you in his gang, yeah you can do what needs to be done, but you aren't the kind who is gonna betray her own." She pulled out another cigarette and put it unlit between her lips.
"I'll keep an ear out for any leads, mean time girl you keep your head down as you sort this out. I know its fresh but you gotta keep moving if you want to do anything 'bout it. This school will give you cover, make some friends who would be willing to back you up, you might need it." Katrina stood up and as she hugged the younger girl, she whispered, "Finally, make sure no one figures out your secret, either of 'em."
With that Dani left, leaving the older women to light and slowly smoke her cigarette.
A pigtailed martial artist moved through his katas with the grace of a dancer. His black hair bobbed as he weaved around invisible opponents. Sweat trickled down to land on grass as he moved around a walled in yard. So focused was he that unnoticed were his observers.
"Oh my, is Ranma still practicing?" A kind looking woman asked gently of her younger sister. The short blue haired girl sadly shook her head.
"Yeah. He has been like this ever since Saffron. Its all he has been doing since the Dad and Mr. Saotome put the engagement on hold." She looked to her right at the ruined wreckage of her family's Dojo. "I'm getting worried about him Kasumi." Before her sister could respond another figure walked out onto the porch.
"Don't worry so much Akane, you know nothing fazes Saotome. Pretty soon he will be back to his overly dramatic life, probably with the freeloading as well."
"Nabiki, that isn't very nice. Ever since the wedding Ranma has been working hard to rebuild the Dojo." Kasumi admonished her sister.
As the sisters continued to talk Ranma focused on his life. Not only had he been forced to take a life while in China, but nothing was resolved by the wedding. He was now a junior in high school, and the craziness would only get worse. Ranma felt it was time to try and resolve things, but how?
He would continue to think on it. He had a lot of thinking to do.
The pieces were set. "Shall we begin?" Black asked of White. The figure nodded in response, and with that the game had begun.