And here is chapter 9. First real action-oriented chapter; please tell me how it went.

Probably one or two more chapters to this arc, and then it gets interesting. Yeah, that's right! This has all been lead-up to reveal everyone's God Seeds!

In any case, I hope you like it.


As Soun leaped from building to building like some kind of mutant grasshopper, Ranma and Genma led the group of people following him. Ukyo and Konatsu were in the back, guarding Ryoga, who was burdened down by Nabiki. Nabiki herself looked non-plussed at being thrown over Ryoga's shoulder like a sack of grain, but was otherwise determined; her title as the Ice Queen was well earned. Shampoo, Mousse, and Cologne stayed in the center, right behind Genma and Ranma, prepared to come to anyone's aid.

They'd agreed on this formation because no one had any idea what was going to be thrown at them. The intruder's intent was unknown as well; he could have been trying to capture everyone in the chaos, or he could have been trying to get some bait to lure Ranma onto his territory. Most martial artists who tried to attack Nerima chose the second path, but the guy was a 'blood mage', or whatever. Ranma wasn't quite sure what that meant, but Cologne had been quite firm on the fact that it made him very dangerous.

Soun had been circling around Nerima for fifteen minutes now, but he was definitely closing in on the hideout; as they advanced, the atmosphere of dread and hate was gradually getting stronger and stronger. If he hadn't trained in the Soul of Ice (and if all his rivals hadn't trained to eliminate their vulnerabilities to the technique), he'd most certainly have been overwhelmed by this point. He briefly looked back at Nabiki, his respect for the woman going up a notch when he saw that her only reaction to the emotional assault was an occasional shiver.

When Soun finally stopped, it was obvious that they'd found the right spot. In the middle of one of the smaller parks was a huge hill of rock and dirt, with a broad cave entrance taking up most of one side. A dim red light shone out of it, and the hill itself looked burned and scared by some previous fire. Everyone gathered together while Soun, in a moment of clarity, decided to take a breather.

"So, now what?" Ranma asked, admittedly a little hesitant at just walking into a place that emanated such an evil aura.

Having caught his breathe, Soun growled and headed for the entrance in answer, but Cologne grabbed him by the collar. "We go inside, like Soun wants to, but we do it intelligently. This is a pocket dimension created by the enemy; we have to assume that he's set it up exactly how he wants it."

Genma nodded. "Yes, there's no way around it. A place like this, there won't be any side or back entrances. Ventilation shafts and garbage dumps are out, too, as this place is not only magical, but temporary, and thus has no need for such conveniences. I'm betting it'll be an underground complex, and we'll have to go, oh, about fifty feet down before we see anything but an entrance shaft. He'll probably try to split us up, too."

Shampoo looked at Genma like he was slightly crazy. "How the hell do you know all that!? And you'd be willing to go in through a garbage dump?"

Ranma snorted. "The psychological profile of the target is important when guessing at the layout of a building, if it's been built to his specifications. It's called 'casing a joint', and my father's an expert at it."

"Boy, don't you take that tone with me!"

"How the hell would you know if I did or not? Everything we say here is monotone!"

"Because you're always taking that tone with me! Irreverent brat!"

"Now, now," Cologne said, getting between them, "Now is not really the time. I understand that not being able to express your emotions with your voice can be frustrating and disturbing; it's undoubtedly part of the enemy's plan that we get unsettled. Now, we should go in before this man has any more time to prepare. Ukyo, will you stay here with Nabiki?"

Ukyo nodded. "Uh, I guess. What should I do if someone comes and attacks?"

Cologne tossed a small folded piece of paper over to Ukyo. "Rip this apart, and I will know that you've been attacked."

Konatsu bowed to Cologne. "I'm afraid that, kidnapped girls or not, my place is here by Ukyo-sama's side."

Colgone frowned, but then shrugged. "I suppose it couldn't hurt. There's a very good chance that you'll be attacked here, and Ukyo by herself might very well be overwhelmed. Now," she said, turning to everybody else, "shall we go save those girls?"

"Wait just a second!" Nabiki look pissed as she was put down by Ryoga. "You're just going to leave me here like some piece of baggage?"

Ranma smiled shakily. "Well, it's not like you're be any help in a fight, so-"

"I'm way more important than that! I demand an honor guard – Daddy! You're going to stay here and guard me!"

Soun grunted, but didn't make any motion to stand down from his attempt to strain against Cologne's grip and head into the hill.

"Nabiki, I understand your worry," Ranma said. "I'm actually pretty impressed that you can stand this atmosphere at all."

"Atmosphere?" Nabiki frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Ranma stared. "Oh, just the oppressive air of hatred and rage that permeates this entire place!"

"Oh, that! Bah, you've seen nothing till you've seen Kasumi pissed. Right, Daddy?"

Soun whimpered, and placed his hands on his head briefly, as if remembering something unspeakable, before doubling his efforts to get free.

Ranma laughed nervously. "Right, whatever. Look, we all promise that, if you're in any danger, we'll come back to save you. Right?" He looked around at his fellow martial artists expectantly, and they nodded reluctantly.

Nabiki stared at them all, and a different sort of oppression seemed to descend on it. "You mean it? On your honor as martial artists?"

Everyone nodded once more, and something seemed to click into place. Nabiki looked satisfied, and waved them away. "Fine, then, go save my sisters."

Turning back to the devilish hill, Cologne released Soun, and everyone they followed him into the gaping maw. They were greeted by a downward staircase, which Soun promptly went racing down; rather than take the steps, he ran along the walls, bouncing between them when his momentum began to fail. Ranma found it pretty hard to keep up; rather than try to emulate the berserker, he decided to take the standard approach and stick with the rest of the group.

As they went further down, the red light became increasingly bright, and the walls began to smoke. It wasn't getting any hotter, though; the effect seemed to be purely for appearances, although someone would cough every now and then. "Guy's really into the whole 'Lord of Hell' motif, huh?" Ranma said over his shoulder.

Ryoga snorted. "What a joker. We'll take him down faster than Happosai can cow one of his students."

"You got that right," Ranma said back, smirking. "Hey, it's nice that we can all work together in times like this."

"Hey, he went after Kasumi. No one goes after Kasumi and gets off with it."

There was a collective silence as everyone was reminded that the man they were chasing already had three hostages in his grasp. Soon they reached the bottom of the stairway, however, and found a curving hallway. Soun was already sprinting down it, seemingly tireless in his anger, and to avoid getting left behind Ranma had to ignore the burning sensation that was creeping up on him and keep on moving.

The corridor quickly emptied into a round chamber, though, which had seven branching pathways. Soun could be seen going down the center one, a glittering veil settling into place on its entrance. Cologne opened her eyes and cursed loudly as she saw what had happened.

"That fool!" she exclaimed. "He's activated the magic! Blast, now we really will have to split up!"

Ranma looked at her curiously. "Mind explaining, old woman?"

"It's a spell that forces an invading group to separate. See that veil? That means that we can no longer go down that corridor, and whenever one of us goes through the others, it will close of as well. - and don't even think of destroying the walls to bypass it, the magic is designed to counter such attempts. If I had had a chance to look at it before it was activated, I might have been able to destroy the magic, but there's no hope of that now. Well, no time to sit around like idiots. Let's get moving."

"Wait a second," Ranma said, looking confused. "How could he have anticipated how many of us there would have been? And even if he had, three of us stayed back at the entrance."

"This room's probably been set up to change shape and function depending on how many people walk into it. There was plenty of time to analyze us as we went down those stairs. Now," Cologne said with determination, "unless you have any more questions, it is time we separated."

Everyone looked uncertain as they each went to a different pathway. Genma was frowning in consternation, while Cologne was grim and focused. Ranma and Ryoga exchanged nervous grins, letting their rivalry give them a small bit of strength, while Mousse was worst of all, barely able to step away from Shampoo's side.

Then, in silent consensus, they all stepped through their doorways at the same time, mustering their courage.


Cologne walked down the hallway slowly but surely, eyes and several other senses darting back and forth, looking for traps. As it turned out, though, the end of her trial was there to greet her no more than a minute after she'd stepped through the veil. Stepping into a wide hallway, she was unsurprised to see the mastermind of their entire ordeal standing before her. "I thought you'd take the opportunity to deal with us one by one."

"Oh, I've got more resources than that. Give me some credit, hag." The man said, a cruel smile on his lips. "We both know you're the most dangerous person here, barring that fool Genma suddenly growing some balls. Of course I'm going to deal with you personally – but my servants are more than enough for the rest."

Cologne raised an eyebrow. "While Genma is certainly a fool, his refusal to use his more dangerous techniques is one of the wiser choices he's made in his life. A young whelp like you probably wouldn't know anything about that, though. And servants? I thought blood mages were proud elitists. "

"A blood mage? Is that what you think I am?" The man threw back his head and laughed arrogantly. "I am much more than that, hag. I am a demon summoner, the best there is! The only way you fools could possibly make it out of here is if Happosai was here, and I took great pains making sure he wouldn't be."

Cologne narrowed her eyes when she heard the word 'demon', but smirked after the man was done speaking. "If you think the martial artists here will fall to a few demons, you have greatly underestimated them."

"Oh, you would be right if I was any other demon summoner. But as I said, I am the best – and calling half a dozen highest-tier demons, while tiresome, is very possible."

Her eyes widening, Cologne got into a battle stance. "If you are not bluffing, then I must deal with you quickly and efficiently. Forgive me; I have no time for mercy when my charges are in danger."

"Stop pretending, old woman. You're far from your prime, unlike myself. You're going to die no matter what you try to do." As he raised one hand, the tips of its fingers began bleeding; as he simultaneously began drawing several different runes at once with it, purple flames burst into existence in the palm of his other hand. "How many times do I need to repeat myself? I am the best."

Cologne smiled grimly. "We'll see about that, won't we?"


Xian Puu was quite worried as she went down the hallway. She couldn't stand the idea of someone hurting Kasumi any more than anyone else could, but she had very little confidence in her skills at the moment. Honored Grandmother had taught her the basics of a healing spell that morning, but she'd hardly had any time to practice it at all; nor had she had any time to practice the Ki techniques that Konatsu had showed her. If she ran into anyone, she'd be hard pressed to survive; she'd heard of blood magic before, and knew that the way Honored Grandmother had spoken of the man meant he was quite formidable. Then, of course, soon after she'd parted the group loud explosions had started up somewhere in the complex; she wasn't looking forward to running into anything that could make sounds like that.

So for once, she was intensely relieved when she ran into Muu Suu again as their two paths merged. She didn't show it, of course; Muu Suu was crying hard enough for a small horde of emotionally sensitive Japanese girls, shameless man that he was. Really, why did Amazonian men have to be so sensitive? It was so boring.

After patting him on the head to stop his bawling, the two made their way down the widened corridor together. A few minutes later, the path opened up into a small hemisphere-shaped room, about sixty feet in diameter. Standing in the center of the room was a small, fat man, with reddish skin that was literally dripping with oil. He had open sores all over his body, emitting pus that mixed with the oil, creating a revolting stench that filled the room.

Worst of all, though, was that he was completely naked.

"Augh!" Xian Puu turned around and desperately tried not throw up. "Muu Suu! Kill it!"

Muu Suu grimaced in disgust, but then turned around in shock. "Xian Puu! You just spoke in Chinese!"

Xian Puu blinked. "You're right," she said, in Japanese this time, "I seem to be equally capable with both languages. Whatever, now is not the time. Kill it! Kill it!"

The small, disgusting man chattered in a high-pitched voice that was reminiscent of insects. "Kikikikikiki! As if small fry like you could slay a demon of disease like me! I hope that master will let me keep you after you die; I'm going to love seeing your bodies ripen back at home in the hells!" With a snap of his fingers, the doors on either side of the room closed.

Xian Puu glared at the demon, trying to focus on its face. "I don't care what you are, you are disgusting and must die. Muu Suu!"

Muu Suu bowed. "Of course, Xian Puu." Quickly pulling several daggers out of his sleeves, he threw them at the demon, who...

Let them hit.

The demon laughed as the daggers were pushed out his body. "Did I mention that I'm a demon of disease? Yes, I think I did. If you're so foolish as not to know that such attacks won't work on a demon with such broad focus like 'disease', than you're easier prey than I thought!"

Muu Suu growled, and then pulled out one of the small rods that Xian Puu had seen him practicing with out of his right sleeve. Focusing, he slipped it into his left sleeve, and then pointed his left hand at the demon. "I'll give you one last chance to surrender."

The demon just laughed again. "Give me your best shot, human!"

"As you command."

Xian Puu didn't even see the rod leave Muu Suu's sleeve. One second the demon was laughing, his layers of fat jiggling and swaying; the next, he was disintegrating into a cloud of burned flesh and evaporated pus. Xian Puu stepped back in disgust as small bits of demon rained down. "Well, he got what was coming to him. Let's move-"

As she pulled in a breathe, she immediately began coughing violently. Muu Suu, seeing her reaction, sniffed the air. "Poison gas!" he called out, and pulled a plastic snorkel mask out of his right sleeve. Putting it on, he pointed the air tube down his shirt – into a dimensional pocket filled with air, no doubt. "Are you alright, Xian Puu!?"

Xian Puu couldn't answer; she was coughing so hard she couldn't even get a breath in. She started turning blue; even after she'd expelled all the air out of her lungs, she was unable to breathe in any more.

The demon's voice seemed to echo out of nowhere. "Kikikikikiki! How do you like my paralytic gas? It's my specialty; one breathe, and it's your last!" He laughed again. "I admit, I was surprised by that attack of yours, but it matters little. Demons of my type are incorporeal by nature, even outside of hell. No amount of thrown weapons is going defeat me. Also, I'd say my goodbyes to that woman, little man; there's nothing you can do for her now, and you're next!"

Muu Suu glared into the red fog that had now completely filled the small room, and then turned to Xian Puu. Focusing once again, he outstretched his hands, and a glowing sphere expanded out of them, expanding over Xian Puu's twitching body. "Xian Puu," he said quietly, "this is the results of my God Seed. Whatever is in this globe, I can protect and heal from all things." He smiled. "I was quite ecstatic when I discovered it, since I can think of no better way to serve you. It seems I was correct."

Xian Puu suddenly found herself able to breathe again. Gulping in air, she began coughing once again. Muu Suu took the opportunity to continue speaking. "This guy seems powerful. I promise, until my last breathe leaves my body, that shield will stand; use that time to think up a strategy against him. You're the magic user; I'm sure you'll think of something."

He turned around again, to face the demon. The bits of flesh that lay strewn around the ground were collecting together, forming huge insects, full of spines and wings and thorns sticking out in every possible direction. Muu Suu smiled viciously as he pulled out several tubes of buckshot out of his right sleeve, and began pouring them into his left one. "Let's see what you got, demon."


Ryoga was fighting the urge to drag his feet as he continued down the corridor. Despite trying to show a strong face to Ranma before they'd separated, he'd really been quite frightened. The one glance he'd had of their enemy back at the Tendo dojo had shown him to be very powerful. Soun and Genma had been shooting off attacks that he couldn't even really understand, and that mage had been fending them off – had been winning, even! Ranma had charged right in, but Ryoga had been paralyzed by the sight of someone so ridiculously strong.

When the old man, Kondi Xia Nia, had told them this tale of God Seeds and stolen magic, Ryoga had only partially believed it. Sure, he'd been glad that he was the closest to developing a Seed (aside from Ranma, damn him!), but it hadn't meant that much to him. After all, he was already pretty strong – only monsters like Saffron, and to a lesser extend the members of the Musk Dynasty, had proven a true match – and he'd gotten stronger since then, he was sure of it!

That one glance of the enemy fighting Soun and Genma had destroyed all of that. There were people in the world that were stronger than he could comprehend – people that had been hiding right next to him, even! Sure, he and Konatsu had supposedly 'awakened' their God Seeds, or whatever, but Konatsu had been the only one happy about it. To him, his Seed seemed completely useless; Konatsu had said that it was powerful, but Ryoga just couldn't see it. Konatsu's seed was only a little bit better than his, despite the ninja's optimistic attitude. Maybe he was missing the point, but until he'd seen that monster attacked by Soun and Genma, he hadn't cared – he'd rather rely on the techniques he'd already learned to do the job for him.

Now, though, he knew he wasn't up to the task. The first enemy he met would squash him like a bug, he was certain of it. That explosion that had rocked the complex earlier had proved it – whatever enemies were here, they were powerful. The only thing that kept him going was the though of poor, innocent Kasumi trapped somewhere. His comment to Ranma on that subject had been truthful, at least.

Lost in his thoughts, he barely noticed when the corridor suddenly expanded into a larger room. Sighing as he looked around, he immediately stood at attention when he spotted a very well-endowed woman in the center of the room. She was wearing almost nothing; what was there was black and sensual, leaving much to the imagination – and Ryoga's imagination, fueled by hormones and guided by his glimpses of Ranma and Akane's female physiques, was more than up to the task. She was, truly, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Ryoga sunk to his knees. "Why!? Why, God, do you punish me so!? What have I done wrong to make you put such dangers in my path!?"

The woman blinked. "Well. I haven't gotten a response like that for a long time. You must have had some rough experiences with woman, huh?"

Ryoga cringed and looked away. "I haven't seen anything! Don't hurt me!"

Smirking, the woman stalked forward, a predator sensing weakness. "What, you don't like the way I look, boy? There something wrong," she said, placing her hands on her large breasts, "with these? Are they not to your liking?"

"Gah!" Ryoga was forced to apply emergency first aid to his nose with his bandannas. "You, you, you seductress! Leave me alone!"

"I think not," the woman said wryly. "I have been tasked with defeating you, and that is exactly what I will do. I never thought my opponent would be so emotionally weak, though. Makes my job easier, in any case."

Suddenly staring straight at Ryoga intensely, the woman smiled. "So, looking at me makes you think of this Akane girl? My, even though you have that Akari girl. How shameful!"

Ryoga whirled around, his face frozen in shock. "You, you can read my mind!?"

"Indeed. I am a demon of depression, after all. But really, you pretend you don't like her anymore, but your imagination is quite vivid on the subject. How can you even pretend to be a martial artist with such thoughts in your head?"

"That's, that's not true! I already gave up on Akane!"

"Please, don't even bother lying to me. I can read your mind – even if your lying to yourself, you can't fool me. You lust after Akane – you've dreamed about the bosom that, as a pig, you sink into at night. If Akane showed any interest, you'd abandon Akari in a heartbeat. You wouldn't even feel sorry about it, would you? It'd all be for the sake of freeing Akane from Ranma's lecherous grasp – and speaking of Ranma..."

"No! Silence!"

"Ranma, your rival in love and war. He's the cheater, the lecher, the pervert. He never fights fair, he has Akane madly in love with him despite the fact that he cheats on her regularly, and to top it all off he's not even a real man. As a boy, he's your fiercest rival – or really, your fiercest enemy. What a sap, helping you so much even though you never return the favor. What a nice guy. He deserves all those victories he's had against you, all the woman that fawn over him. And you, you pretend you're still in his league, that you can compare. As a boy, he's your superior... but as a girl, he's much more than that. Ah, you're a sicko, aren't you? You know that he's really a guy, but you still harbor such dirty thoughts..."

Ryoga shook his head, turning pale. "Lies! All lies! It was only once, in a moment of weakness! He just popped in there – there was nothing I could do about it!"

The demoness smiled cruelly. You're right, it was a one time fluke, but I'm going to convince you otherwise, anyway... "But once is enough, isn't it? I can't blame you, really – she's a real hottie. Those legs, muscular and smooth. A martial artist's legs, but also a woman's legs. So curvy, so sensuous, and yet she never realizes it – it's so easy to get comfortable with her, isn't it? Unless they're homely like Akari, you can never relax around those other girls, but Ranma's really a boy, isn't she? But then, she acts so girly, too. She's got the cute mannerisms down, when she wants to use them. And, of course, there are her breasts. Ah, I mention the word and you nearly collapse."

Ryoga starred at the floor, eyes wide. "Only, only once... It was only once..."

"But how many more times have you lied to yourself? How do you know that those little fantasies of yours aren't really about Ranma, and that you're just supplanting the images of those other girls onto Ranma's actions and mannerisms? In your dreams, all those girls are always so relaxed, so charming, so... easy to be around. Just like Ranma."

"No... No, it can't be true... I'm, I'm not a pervert like Ranma is..."

"Ah, that's what you want, isn't it?" The demon smiled cruelly. Just a little more, she thought, and he's finished. "You call him a pervert so quickly, so easily, so forcefully – isn't that your secret fantasy? Ranma, the pervert, yours."

Ryoga couldn't say anything – all he did was mumble the word 'no', over and over.

"Really, you call him a pervert because that's the only thing you imagine ties you two together, isn't it? You're the real pervert! You're just projecting that onto him, in the hopes that will be a good enough connection between you two. After all, his God Seed is so powerful. He absorbed the power of Jusenkyo, and you know first hand how powerful that is. And what techniques can you use?" The woman concentrated, and then grinned. "Ah, you tried to hide it from me, but your God Seed is pretty pathetic, isn't it? All you can do is create different versions of the techniques that you already know – like Genma's creation of techniques, but without the innovation. Really, you're pathetic. The techniques you know aren't even that great – a rock-breaking move, and the Shishi Hokodan-"

Suddenly the demon turned pale, and stopped talking. Her silence seemed to move something inside Ryoga, who slowly got to his feet and began speaking. "That's right. My God Seed is so pathetic. I mean, Ranma's father apparently had a reputation for a great Seed, and mine is similar to his, but there's no way I can use it properly. All I can do is think up new variants to my previous moves – and I could do that before. Sure, maybe they come a little faster, and maybe they're a little more creative in ways I hadn't thought of before, but I'm still worthless."

The woman stared backing up. "No, wait, it'd not that bad. I think you've got a lot going for you, really. Buck up! No need to be so negative-"

"Negative?" Ryoga said sharply, interrupting. "Everything about me is negative! Ranma turns into a girl, and he's more of a man than I am. He's a better martial artist, a better person – but then, that's not really that surprising." He sighed, heavily. "I've never been more depressed in my life."

"Ah, wait-"

"But then, Akane is counting on me, isn't she? And Kasumi, too. Even I, worthless creature that I am, have to give my best to try to save them. I suppose I'll try out one of those worthless variants I created. Need to know exactly how pathetic it is, after all. If I'm lucky, maybe I can take you out with me."

"Wait! Can't we talk about this!?" The demon looked like she wanted to run, but she'd looked into his mind – and she knew there was no escape.

Ryoga released all the tension in his body. His eyes were empty as he said, "Shishi Hokodan – Gravity Aura variant."

In an instant, the gravity multiplied a thousand times. The walls and ceiling came down so fast that, if someone could witness it from the outside, it would look like Ryoga had turned into a black hole, forcing everything in a small radius around him to implode. After that, Ryoga, and the remains of the room, began to rapidly sink into the ground, burrowing deep into the earth.

The demon didn't even have time to scream.


"Woah!" Ranma nearly fell over as the entire complex violently shook. For several seconds the rumbling continued before stopping, and after that, muted explosions began sending tiny quakes through the floor. "Geez, what the hell is going on in this place? That was even worse than those explosions a while back! No way do I want to run into whatever is making those!"

Ranma shook himself before going down the corridor. Idiot, stop talking to yourself. You sound like Ryoga. Glad that no one had been around to hear him act so foolishly, he tried to make good speed, focusing all his senses on examining his surroundings.

It was difficult to maintain that focus. He had tried to show a courageous face to Ryoga, so that he wouldn't lose when it came to maintaining a good attitude, but in reality he wasn't nearly as confident as he had pretended.

Like always, he was sticking his head into a situation above his head. He'd managed to do it many times before and come out ahead by the skin of his teeth, but this time was different. Without thinking he had rushed forward to attack that blood mage, but now that he reflected on it he might have died if the mage had retaliated against him. His pops had been attacking furiously, using complicated variants of the Tente Tensou Shushou that Ranma could barely recognize as variants at all – never mind Soun, who was so berserk that he was probably damaging his body with his own techniques.

Ryoga, now, Ryoga had remained calm and let the threat of Cologne coming to support his assailants force the man to run away. Lost boy and idiot though he was, Ranma remembered Nabiki mentioning that he was training to activate his God Seed. He probably had already discovered it, and had gotten a few new tricks up his sleeve – tricks which could give him the confidence, shaky that it was, that he had shown Ranma before they'd split up.

Not like me. No, my supposedly powerful God Seed lets me change into a girl at will. What a wonderful ability. Ranma sighed. I just hope I can rescue the girls before this gets too serious.

He had been traveling down a straight line for a while now, the corridor never altering from that path. Whether it was on purpose or not, he seemed to be heading straight to the back of the complex – to, he assumed, where the enemy was. After all, if he built a large magical underground base, he'd be in the very back of it.

After only a few more minutes, his suspicions were confirmed – the room he walked into was clearly built for living in, with a rather grand throne room attached through an open doorway. There were a few bookcases, a bed, and varied other mystical-looking instruments and devices scattered over the tables here and there. The floor was covered with circles painted – or rather, sprayed – with blood. Ranma had no idea what they were for, but the first thing that came to mind was demon-summoning.

Luckily, no one was there. Hopefully, the girls were in this room somewhere, and he'd be able to free them before the owner came back. Quickly, Ranma began to search the room for the trio of figurines.


Genma was quite worried. He had no idea what those explosions were, but they sounded quite fierce. It was likely that they were the result of Cologne facing off with the enemy – since she was the strongest, it was probable that the blood mage would decide to take her out first. After all, that was why he had separated them in the first place.

That second set of explosions, though, worried him. It hadn't really been an explosion at all; he wasn't quite sure what it was, but he doubted Cologne would make use of such a flashy move, and blood mages were not known for big explosions. Well, that first explosion had probably been his, but if he judged Cologne right, such a move would be useless on her, and the mage didn't look stupid enough to futilely use the same move twice.

That led him to conclude that this mage had allies – allies who could attack Ranma, or Soun, or himself. He and Soun could take care of themselves, but Ranma was still a little green when it came to the mystical – a few illusions and he'd be toast.

He stopped pondering on the variety of ways his son could get utterly destroyed when he found a small room in front of him. In the center of the unremarkable room was a small wooden bench, and on the bench sat a man – a man that Genma knew very, very well.

"Morgan!?" Genma choked out. "You, you're dead!"

Morgan, a blond, Caucasian giant who looked to be European in origin, smirked a little before speaking in a heavily inflected English. "'Course I am. What, you 'tink a man can come back from 'aving his 'ead blown clean off?"

Genma blinked twice, slowly, his mouth open in shock, before coming to his senses. Looking closely, he realized that the man was transparent, and had a slim collar around his neck. "Oh, no," he said sadly in Japanese, visibly becoming tired. "It didn't work, did it?"

"What, that plan to get get me outta my deal wit' 'da devil using 'dat loop'ole about my Australian citizenship? Naw, never worked. Never expected it ta, really. Just wanted ta ease ya mind before I died."

Genma wilted even more. "So, you were expecting that you would die."

Morgan smiled brightly, emitting a sort of infective optomism. "'Course I did, fool. Was worth it, though. Don't start feeling bad." Then his smile turned into a frown. "'Den again, tis ain't exactly 'da best of situations."

"If you're here, then that means that this guy is a demon summoner. Am I right?"

"Yep, 'dat's right. And I've been tasked with fightin' ya. So, let's get 'dis over wit, right?" Morgan began grinning again. "Actually, we never 'ad a real fight before. I'm kinda lookin' forward to 'dis."

Tensing up, Genma stared hard at his old friend. Then he relaxed, and gave him a shaky grin. "Sure. But first, let's have a drink – for old time's sake." He pulled a bottle of wine out of his gi and moved to sit down on the bench.

Morgan clapped once, creating a near-deafening sound from his huge hands. "Sounds great! Pass it over!"

Genma paused for a second, as if hesitant to hand it over the alcohol, but then relented. "Sure. It's good stuff; feel free to drink a lot."

Morgan placed the bottle to his lips and then poured the drink down. Swallowing, his adam's apple prominently moving up and down, he drank half of it before handing it back with a satisfied gasp. "You were right. 'Dat's some good stuff!"

Genma took the bottle back, but refrained from drinking any. He placed the bottle down at his side, and after a few seconds Morgan frowned, looking offended.

"Hey, why aren't you drinkin'? Don't tell me you stopped drinkin' alcohol! 'Dat's not right, not after I drank so much ta old times! It's rude, I tell you!"

Smiling, Genma shook his head. "No, I'm just not a fan of poison."

Morgan blinked, and then surged to his feet, furious. He fell to his knees almost immediately after, though, and then collapsed to the floor. Wisps of ether began drifting off from his body; he quickly became more and more translucent. Speaking in nigh-perfect Japanese, he moved his head just enough so that he could glare at Genma. "That's dirty, friend. Here I was, looking forward to the only fight I've had in decades which I could consider honorable and even remotely interesting, and you send me straight back to the land of the dead. Not fair. Not fair at all."

Genma placed a hand to his forehead and hid his face for a moment, trembling a little. Then he said, "I'm sorry, but my son is in here somewhere. I've got to go help him."

"Your son!? You got married!?"

"Yeah, and while he's pretty good, he just developed a God Seed. He'd not good enough to handle a demon-summoner – not one good enough to summon the demon who owns your soul, at least."

Morgan continued to glare. "I don't care if he was your secret lover, you deprived my of my fight. You've always been a coward, Genma, it's always been what I hated about you." Genma grimaced, and looked like he wanted to say something more, but Morgan interrupted him. "Quit dawdling, you fool! Go rescue your son, or whatever. You already did the deed, so stop feeling bad about it and make use of the opportunity!"

Genma paused one last time, and then bowed. "I'm glad to have met you again, even if it was in such terrible circumstances. I hope I can find a way to rectify your situation." Then he left, sprinting down the corridor.

Morgan smirked one last time, and then disappeared. The collar went last, as if it was somehow holding on to reality, but it, too, finally disappeared.


The demons, small gremlins with little thorns all over their body that dripped a caustic poison, were huddling together in the middle of their narrow room. "All right," one said, who was bigger than the others and obviously their leader, "one of them is coming down the corridor at us. Here's the plan – you guys rush 'em head on, while I direct you from the rear and give fire support."

One of the others frowned, but the leader quickly whacked him over the head. "No arguing! We do it my way!" Satisfied that he had proved his dominance, he backed up and motioned for his subordinates to face the hallway, and they reluctantly complied.

Soon, rapid footsteps could be heard as someone came down the hallway. It quickly curved, so they couldn't see who it was, but the steps were fast and furious. "Alright, get ready!" the leader cried out, and prepared his poison glands so that he could shoot them at the approaching foe.

Soun turned around the corner, and saw the host of demons facing them. He stared, and then gave a feral scream and charged at them, naginata pointed forward like a spear. The naginata quickly grew huge, filling the entire corridor, and began to emit a white glow. The stone walls began to disintegrate wherever the naginata got within a foot of them, the debris getting absorbed by the white aura covering the spear.

As one, the demons screamed as well, and went streaking down the opposing corridor.

The leader was at the head of the pack, and while shaken, grinned. "Don't worry, there's no way he can keep up with OCD demons like us. We may be a new type of demon, but we shouldn't be underestimated!"

Then he looked back.

"Ahh! He's gaining on us! He's a monster!" Seeing the corridor bend up ahead, they put on an extra spurt of energy, and just as Soun was about to hit them with the spear, the last demon made it around the corner.

The leader turned around, just in time to see the naginata effortlessly carve away the corner and absorb the entire group of demons.

If Soun noticed he had hit his targets, he gave no sign of it. Absorbing the demons seemed to have given him a large burst of energy; he didn't stop charging, and, going at full-tilt down the corridors, he made incredible speed.

Occasionally, he would scream out a savage war cry into the air.


Ranma had searched nearly everywhere in the room. He'd picked up every object in the room, opened every cupboard and drawer he could find, and gotten nothing. He was starting to think that the mage hadn't put the figurines anywhere, and still had them on his body. Each second he got more and more anxious, thinking that the mage could return. Growling in frustration, he stared into the opaque crystal ball that he had searched early on. "Crystal ball, crystal ball, show me where the things I search for are."

As he stared the image of the figurines became clear. For a second, Ranma couldn't believe his eyes; then he grinned widely. "Alright! C'mon, crystal ball, show me where the figurines are! Give me a clearer image!"

He stared hopefully, but the image didn't change. Cursing, Ranma smacked the ball violently.

There was a tinkling sound from inside the crystal ball.

Hah! Found you now! Picking the ball up, he was about to throw it violently into the ground, but then thought better of it. Ah, the girls are in there. Don't want to hurt them. He began to crack the ball sharply with his knuckle, hoping to crack it open like an egg, but it quickly became apparent that the ball was much, much tougher than it looked. As in, impervious to any and all damage.

"Damn it!" Ranma said, putting the ball back down. "How am I supposed to get them out now!?" Staring at the ball furiously, he tried to think. Hmm. How would this guy get it out of there? He's a magician, so... Magic!

He'd already figured out how to make magic using his God Seed, so Ranma channeled some into his hand and placed it onto the crystal. His hand went right through the crystal, and with a little scrabbling Ranma soon had three figurines in his hand. That was easy, he thought, unaware that his unique method of channeling magic was not something anyone else could manage. "All right," he exclaimed, "Now to fix you guys!" Focusing once again, he threaded his ki into the figurines, allowing him to see what they were made of. To his senses there seemed to be some sort of circuit of magical energy, going around and around in a complex pattern. Taking a deep breathe and hoping he was doing the right thing, he snipped the circuits in the figurines.

Instantly the figurines disappeared, and in a poof of smoke Kasumi, Akane, and Kodachi reappeared in their stead – and promptly fell onto their butts. "Ouch!" Akane said, irritatedly. "Idiot, couldn't you set us down onto a table or something first!?"

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Geez, I risk my life chasing some super-villain into his lair, and do I get any thanks? Of course not."

He turned away in disgust, but suddenly found Kodachi on his pack, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Very tightly. "Oh, Ranma-sama, I wish to thank you. Please, let me repay you, in whatever way you wish."

Akane turned red, her fist clenched so tight it was making creaking noises, and Kasumi put her a hand to her mouth. "My!" Kasumi said, "I had no idea that you were a rival for Ranma's love! Well, this makes things more complicated, doesn't it?"

"More complicated!?" Akane look like she was having a seizure. "Hah! It makes things simpler, actually! Makes sense that the slut and the pervert would end up together!"

Kodachi instantly let go of Ranma and turned to face Akane, livid with rage. "You will take that back, or you find yourself lacking in whatever meager amount of charm your homely face gives you, I promise!"

The two girls stared each other down, but were interrupted by a strangled cry from Ranma. "You people are crazy, all of you! Have you forgotten that a very powerful mage is going to come back any second now!?"

The two girls turned their anger on Ranma. "So? You'll just take care of him when he gets here, right Ranma?" Akane asked with annoyance.

"Yes, your masculine ferocity has no match!" Kodachi said, nodding.

"Exactly. So stop trying to delay the inevitable."

"Unless, of course, you are trying to keep us from resolving our conflict so you can keep us both."

"Yeah. That would be unacceptable."

"But so interesting!"

"Kasumi!" Akane turned to face her sister with shock. "How could you even say that!?"

Kasumi pouted slightly. "What? It's like my own personal soap opera. I've never seen something this interesting on TV!"

Ranma shook his head. "You know what? Whatever. If you three don't get your act together and realize the danger you're in, I'll knock you out and carry you out of this place myself."

A different voice echoed out of the air. "Arrogant, aren't you? You really think you can escape this place while carrying three sacks of meat with you?"

Ranma whipped around to see a huge, bony devil standing inside one of the larger summoning circles. His eyes were white with black pupils, and he seemed to have no muscles on his body. Oh shit! I can sense the demonic aura coming off him now – and it hasn't changed the whole time I was here! He must have been in here from the start, invisible or incorporeal – he was here the whole time!

Just as Ranma was trying to figure out what to do, the mage entered in from the doorway, burned, bleeding, and exhausted. "That hag, she's really going all out! Mes'xivius, I need you to- Ah! It seems you have come, Ranma! Why haven't you captured them yet, Mes'xivius!"

"Forgive me, master," the devil said while bowing deeply, "I was preoccupied with other matters. I have only just returned."

Ranma looked at the devil warily. He's lying to his own master... What's going on here?

The mage grimaced. "Now you decide to mess up, during the most important point of your contract!? Hurry up, go and devour that man!"

Mes'xivius grinned. "No."

The mage seemed shocked. "What!? How can you-" Then he turned white as a sheet. "No, it isn't possible! I know all the rules by heart, and I haven't broken any of them!"

The devil stepped out of his circle, every step producing waves, like a man wading through a pool, of the powerful aura of hate that had plagued Ranma since he had entered into this place – this demon was, undoubtedly, the source of it. "Oh, you do. But it seems your grasp of the more dynamic aspects of the Code is not as firm as you wished. You see, if the number of a type of magics decreases below a certain amount, it is automatically placed on the list of Endangered Magics, which we demons are not allowed to be commanded to destroy. Jusenkyo is part of the Form, Body, and Soul changing magics – is, in fact, the only such magic. It was destroyed a while back, and thus was entered onto the Endangered Magics list."

Huh? Ranma blinked. But, I'm Jusenkyo right now! It wasn't destroyed...

The mage caught on to this as well. "Jusenkyo wasn't destroyed! It was simply relocated!"

"Now, see, this is why you've lost. Jusenkyo was destroyed; according to the Magical Re-definition Act, Clause 184, 'destruction' of magic of Jusenkyo's power isn't qualified as total destruction, as such a thing is impossible – only complete domain dissemination of the magic in question is required for it to be 'destroyed'. Which, of course, is what happened, right before it was reabsorbed into this boy here."

The mage blinked, and then with a cry tried to cut his arm, but Mes'xivius was on him before he could even move. The mage was trembling visibly as the demon held him in his iron grip, grinning a mouth full of teeth. "It was nice working for you," the demon said, "really. You gave me plenty of tasty people to munch on, but it's over now."

The mage turned to Ranma, a panicked look on his face. "You have to kill Mes'xivius, somehow! I no longer have any control of him; the instant he gets out of this sub-dimension, he'll be free to terrorize the earth as much as he wants! If a devil of his power gets his hands on even a thousand mortal souls, he'll be unstoppable! You have to stop him now!"

Mes'xivius smiled, teeth showing and madness evident in every crease of his face. "Oh, I'm not going to let them go to waste. Your process of absorbing people's Seeds through me using your own Seed was a good one – I have every intention of making Jusenkyo's power my own. But first, you're going to have to become my food."

And without further ado, the devil ate the mage. Messily.

Ranma flinched as blood splattered all over the place. Mes'xivius didn't seem to worry about how much of the man he ate. He'd gone right for the heart, sighed in pleasure as he ate it in one bite, and then continued with what seemed to be choice bits. His teeth went right through bone as if it were butter, and he plucked away flesh like it was paper-mache; Ranma couldn't help but watch with a certain sick fascination. It was like he was seeing some sort of massively superior predator play with his food.

After a minute, he seemed done, and turned back to Ranma. "Now it's your turn, boy."

Ranma backed up, the three girls behind him, trembling with fear. "Hey, didn't you say Jusenkyo is protected, or something? Isn't it illegal to hurt me?"

"Oh, quite. But while it's impossible to command me to do it, I am completely free to do it if it is of my own will. I'll get a slap on the wrist, but who cares? I'll have the power of Jusenkyo at my command."

Mes'xivius took a step forward. "Don't struggle. It'll just take longer."

Ranma felt an oppressing force in his mind, but it seemed to slide off like water. "I don't think so. I don't know how powerful you are, but I'm going down fighting."

The devil stopped, and then glared. "What!? How can you oppose my commands!? No one can oppose me in a dimension of my own creation!"

Ranma blinked, and then realized that there was, indeed, some sort of force consistently pulling on his mind, telling him 'not to struggle'. But... "It seems I have another promise to keep. I don't know why, but my promise to Nabiki seems to supersede yours."

Mes'xivius growled loudly, an evil sound like a wood chipper devouring an entire tree. "A human girl overpowering my magic!? I must see this myself!"

And before anyone could blink, they all disappeared.