Hello all. Here is chapter 10, the longest one yet, I believe. It certainly felt the longest!

In any case, lost and lots of action here! I enjoyed writing this, so I hope you enjoy reading it! Drop a review, please!

Xian Puu felt exhausted. Not physically, as Muu Suu's barrier was constantly refreshing her and had put her in peak condition a while ago, but mentally. A few minutes ago she had stopped trying to break down the barrier from the inside; in truth, the effort had been half-hearted, as she knew that going outside of it would be suicide. And, as much as it disgusted her, she knew that if she had to choose between saving her own life and Muu Suu's, she'd choose her own. Right now it wasn't coming down to that – the instant Muu Suu died, she'd be dead too – but the guilt she felt at the realization still dug into her mind relentlessly.

It had seemed like an eternity to Xian Puu, but in reality only fifteen minutes had passed since Muu Suu had raised his barrier. Muu Suu had been fighting bravely, but the little monstrous 'insects' that the demon was forming out of his own flesh kept coming back, endlessly. It was taking its toll, and Muu Suu was covered with small wounds, which were red and infected – the demon of disease was living up to his name.

Panting, Muu Suu, for what seemed the umpteenth time, poured buckshot into his sleeve. At the beginning of the fight he'd shot it out in small bursts, disintegrating the little beasts, but he'd improved his technique since then. Now he was shooting it out pellet by pellet – each one was plenty to kill the insects, as it literally blew holes in them, and it saved his energy. Unfortunately, it was a battle of attrition against an opponent who didn't tire – the result was inevitable.

Muu Suu raised his arm once again to fire at the approaching monsters – but suddenly groaned, and fell to his knees. Desperately his arm shot forward, the other hand at his chest, clutching it tightly, and he sprayed out pellets in machine-gun like bursts – a total waste of energy, but his aim had suddenly deteriorated. The insects were, once again, destroyed, but immediately began forming back together, restored fully.

Muu Suu, on the other hand, slowly sunk to the floor. All energy seemed to leave his body as it fell down, and as he stared at Xian Puu, and she stared back in horror, his eyes closed. A single tear of regret slid down his face, and then he was still.

Xian Puu felt frozen with fear, and then the shield suddenly disappeared. Without thinking she took in a breath, and was immediately paralyzed again. She fell to the ground; choking, panicking, all she could see was Muu Suu's still form, all she could hear was the demon's terrible laugh, and all she could feel... was pain. Pain in both her body, and in her heart.

Damn it, Muu Suu, get up! You have to keep fighting! Her silent command seemed to somehow reach him, as he twitched, but his body was incapable of anything else. Muu Suu, you have to do something! I don't want to die! I don't want you to die, either!

"Well, that was fun." The demon seemed to be satisfied with the results of the drawn-out battle. "It's not often that I get such emotionally packed battles; it will make eating you two especially delicious. Now, I've fulfilled my part of the bargain; it's time to take you two back to my home plane to let you ripen."

The demon's casual disregard, enjoyment even of her and Muu Suu's pain, awoke something within Xian Puu. A feeling of rage rose up and seemed to strangle her mind; she hadn't felt this angry for a long, long time. Her life recently had been a long drawn out battle against disappointment after disappointment, of failure resulting from failure. She was an Amazon, and had persevered – after all, the prize, Ranma, was worth it. But she hadn't felt herself truly opposed by anything substantial ever since she'd left the village. It had always been things beyond her control, it seemed, ill luck and misfortune, which had plagued her.

Now a burning sensation, different from the cold stillness that resulted from the demon's paralysis, seared into her. She felt it especially in her lungs, and the pain suddenly became overwhelming. To her surprise, her body ceased being paralyzed, but it wasn't really on her mind – she was too busy thrashing in pain.

The demon, though, noticed. "What are you doing!? How are you able to move!?" The red gas swirled turbulently, and the insects turned toward Xian Puu's twitching form. "Enough. I will destroy you," the demon said coldly, all amusement gone from his voice.

The pain began to subside, and Xian Puu shakily got to her feet. The poison in the air no longer seemed to affect her; she could feel something different about her lungs, could feel them process the air so that she could breathe it. Every breath seemed to drain a little bit of ki out of her, but she was, thanks to Muu Suu, in top condition; she wasn't worried about it.

Instead, she turned to face the approaching insects. There were about a dozen, and they were made of an amalgam of claws, fangs, and wings. Some were flying, some were crawling, and all looked vicious; she'd seen how easily they ripped through flesh first hand.

The closest one leaped at her, and she barely manged to dodge it. The attack had been so sudden that she was unable to counter attack; the next one, though, met with her hand stiffened like a knife. However, the rest caught up, and began attacking in concert, and she found herself hard pressed to dodge their attacks, much less attack back.

Soon, far too quickly for her liking, they managed to get a few hits on her, and she could feel the poison enter her veins. The burning sensation from earlier came back, though, and the poison seemed to disappear. From that point on the insect's attacks no longer poisoned her – or if they did, it had no effect – but the cuts they were making were still damaging her. A little more of this and I'll be cut to shreds. Grimacing, Xian Puu made a desperate gamble.

Gathering up the majority of her ki, she tried to put it into her muscles like Konatsu had shown her. Forming a dense ball of emotion – of which she had plenty, right now – she injected it with the ki, and then spread it into the muscles in her legs and arms. Immediately she could feel the difference; she could also feel that she was being very inefficient, but it mattered little. The burst of speed and strength it gave her allowed to instantly smash all the insects around her.

Exhausted, she saw with dismay that the insect were once again reforming. The red gas was collecting around them, lifting the pieces up and knitting them back together. If they reassembled and attacked again, she'd have no hope of destroying them; she'd used up most of her ki in that last attack.

So, acting on instinct, she breathed in deep, as deep as she could.

And breathed, and breathed...

The demon gave a strangled squawk, and ceased trying to put his puppets back together as he began to be sucked in by Xian Puu. "Wha, what are you doing!?" he cried out. Xian Puu, on her part, was just as confused, but it seemed to be working. Her lung capacity seemed infinite, and her lungs were making short work of the demon once she'd actually breathed him in. It was disgusting, but out of everything that had happened during the fight it was working, so she continued to suck in air, and demon, as fast as she could.

The demon's tone turned from annoyance to fear. "Stop, stop! You can't do this, this is impossible, what are you doing to me!?" Soon even the gas in the farthest corners of the room was getting sucked in, and, with a final scream, the the demon was totally absorbed, leaving the room a vacuum. When there was nothing left to suck in, Xian Puu found that her lungs were completely empty. Faced with a completely new problem, that of having nothing to breathe, she began to panic once again.

Then, the tension inside of her disappeared, and she released an earth-shattering fart that literally shook the room. Both her and Muu Suu's clothes were whipped around in the resulting gale, and when it finally stopped Xian Puu was sporting a deep red blush.

Thanking the gods that Muu Suu was unconscious, she rushed over and examined him. His wounds were still red and puffy, and were beginning to emit pus. He was breathing shallowly, but it was clear his condition was getting worse.

Once again gambling, Xian Puu used the blood from one of her open wounds and tried to pour it into one of his. She nearly collapsed from relief when the redness immediately began to subside, and the wounds all over his body began to slowly recover. She nearly felt like crying when his eyes fluttered open, and a groan came out of his lips.

Then his eyes opened wide in shock, and he both pressed his snorkel mask tightly to his face and pulled out another one for Xian Puu. "Oh, god! Xian Puu, quickly put this on!"

Xian Puu blinked at him, confused. "What are you talking about? It's over, I won the fight."

"That's all well and good, but his poison gas is still around! Rather, that bastard must have released something even worse; this stuff smells rancid! Can't you smell it!?"

Xian Puu laughed nervously. "Ah, no, I'm fine. I'm, uh, using magic, so I'm fine. In fact, I don't think this is poisonous."

Muu Suu grimaced in disgust. "It doesn't need to be! A smell like this would knock out a bear! I can't believe that even a demon could create something this terrible; I feel violated simply letting it touch my skin! Whatever you did to destroy that demon, I'm glad; anything capable of producing a smell like this needed to be destroyed totally and utterly! In fact, I'd say that even further measures- Ow!" Muu Suu rubbed his head, where Xian Puu and smacked him. "What did I do!?"

"Just shut up and get up! You can do that, right?" Steaming with anger and embarrassment, Xian Puu pulled Muu Suu to his feet, where he was able to stand, if shakily. Looking around, she realized that the doors had once again opened, allowing them to exit. Part of her wanted to continue forward, but she knew that she and Muu Suu were only going to be a burden in any fights, much less actually win on their own, until they got some rest."Muu Suu, can you use that technique of yours again?"

"The healing sphere? Not without a little rest, no."

"Then let's get outside again. We need to recover from our fight."

Muu Suu looked unhappy, but nodded, and they both headed back the way they had come.

One moment, Ranma was trying to face down an angry demon with the remains of his latest meal splattered around him. The next, he was facing said demon, but outside, in front of the entrance to the demon-summoner's lair.

And he was standing on top of Nabiki.

"Ow!" she cried out, and then shoved his legs. Surprised, frightened, and tense, Ranma tried to both avoid her 'attack' through instinct, and leap off her. Instead he found himself sprawled on the group, tangled up with Kodachi. How these things happened to him he had no idea, but he was getting tired of it. As was Akane, from the look on her face. Actually, the fact that she could be worried about him cheating on her in this situation was both touching and alarming.

Ukyo and Konatsu both looked shocked, first by their sudden appearance, and then by the demon that had come with them. Without hesitation, Ukyo ripped the paper Cologne had given her in half – and then in half again, and a third time, just in case.

Nabiki, now on her feet, blinked when she saw the demon grinning sadistically in front of her. "Yes?" she asked impatiently. "Is there something you want from me?"

Mes'xivius smiled, showing his teeth. "Your soul."

Nabiki laughed, making Ranma cringe and Mes'xivius look less than pleased. "My soul? You and every other shallow trickster in Nerima! Believe me, you can't afford it."

"I don't trade," Mes'xivius said, "I take."

Nabiki frowned. "That's just rude. No one's going to do business with you with that attitude. Why would you even want my soul in the first place?"

"Because," the demon said, feeling a little off put by Nabiki's nonchalance, "you have developed a most interesting God Seed, and I want it for my own."

"A God Seed!?" Nabiki looked surprised, but quickly laughed it off. "Yeah, right. I'm not a martial artist; how would I get a God Seed?"

"Oh, there are other ways of gaining them. It only requires a powerful focus and any type of inner development; while development of ki is the most common way, there are... other types of energy one can develop."

"Oh!" Kasumi exclaimed loudly, clapping her hands together lightly. "I see!"

Nabiki switched between giving the demon and Kasumi paranoid glances. "What!? What do you see!?"

Kasumi smiled serenly. "Oh, nothing. Continue on."

Nabiki's eyelid was now twitching as she stared at Kasumi, and it required the demon politely coughing for her to fix her attention back on him. "Please don't ignore me. It hurts my feelings."

"Oh please, you big baby." Nabiki gave the demon a disgusted look that spoke volumes for exactly how much respect she had for him. "Ranma, deal with this joker, would you?"

Ranma was nearly having a nervous fit from the tension that was coursing through his body. He'd managed to disentangle himself from Kodachi with a little effort, and had been in a combat stance ever since. "It's, uh, a little more complicated than that, Nabiki. Remember that guy that was facing off against both our fathers and holding his own, if not winning?"

Nabiki glared, annoyed at Ranma's hesitance to get the job done. "Yeah, so what? Is this guy a minion of his or something?"

"Well, he was. A few minutes ago, he effortlessly killed and ate that blood mage."

"Oh." Nabiki said. "OH."

"Yes, 'Oh'." Mes'xivius glared. "While I have to appreciate a woman who can hold her cool while under the influence of my aura of hate-"

"Huh?" Nabiki looked confused. "Aura of hate? What are you talking about?"

Ranma's eyes were starting to roll back into his head, and the demon was developing a twitch himself, but continued speaking. "In any case, I'm done conversing with you. I don't know exactly what kind of energy you developed into a God Seed, but it matters little. I'll find out once I devour your heart."

Nabiki put her hands up. "Now, just hold on there! You want my soul? Fine, let's make a deal." He, he may be right. Something inside of me seems to be telling me that I do indeed have one of these Seeds in me. If he's telling the truth, then I think I've figured out what my God Seed is. If I'm right...

Kasumi frowned. "Nabiki!"

"Not now, sister!" Nabiki turned back to the demon, and with all the mental might she could muster she began to push his mind in the direction she wanted it to go. "You want my soul? Fine. You can have it, if you agree to do me a favor first. Unless you complete this favor in its entirety, you don't get anything."

Mes'xivius growled once again, frustrated, but somehow, someway, some part of him wanted to agree with this strange woman's request. I guess I respect her will more than I thought. No matter. Once I have her soul, I can quickly continue with my plans. "Fine. One favor, and then your soul is mine."

Something seemed to click into place, and while Nabiki looked pale from effort, she had a broad smile on her face. "You know what my God Seed is?"

The demon glared at her. "What?"

"Any deals I make, if properly 'reinforced' during their conception, must be followed to the letter. Now, die please."

Mes'xivius smiled at her, amused despite himself.

Then he was no longer so amused.

Eyes wide in shock, Mes'xivius fell to his knees, clutching at his heart. His entire body was trembling, and a groan of pain escaped his lips. For her part, Nabiki had fallen to the ground herself, fighting off unconsciousness. Her skin was pale, and sweat was pouring off her. Everyone dashed over to her side, worry, and a little relief at her apparent victory, on their faces.

"Sis!" Akane was the first to get there. "What's wrong!? Are you alright!?"

Struggling for breath, Nabiki grimaced when she turned to her sister. "I kinda thought it would be harder to force someone to do something they'd be fundamentally opposed to, like dying, but I had no idea it would be this bad. I'm, I'm not sure I can finish this."

Ranma was on his knees at her side, concern on his face. "Don't push yourself, Nabiki! I'm sure I'll figure out something, so just let it go!"

Nabiki coughed. "I don't think I have a choice. I did the best I could; you'll have to finish it off." Trailing off, her eyes closed, and she lapsed into unconsciousness.

Mes'xivius stopped groaning in pain and got to his feet, but he was obviously severely damaged. He wasn't able to totally stop his trembling, and his footing was a little unsteady, but he was in command of his body – and Ranma could tell that, even now, he was a humongous threat. "Brats!" he growled out. "I'm going to take my time devouring you!"

"Just try it!" Ranma said with false confidence, the mental conditioning of the Anything Goes style (Bluff! Then bluff some more! Try some lying and cheating to switch things up!) kicking in. "I've faced worse threats than you, imp."

Despite the pain and his annoyance, Mes'xivius laughed. "Hah! I'm one of the seven lords of hell, avatar of Pride and master of the art of Conquest! Only the other lords of hell are my equal, and even that is debatable!"

Ranma's smile flickered a little, but just a little. "Hah! If you're the master of conquest, then I'm the master of ass-kicking – and I specialize in arrogant assholes!" I'm also the master of bluffing.

Mes'xivius said nothing – he just grinned once more, and then rushed forward.

He was almost too fast for Ranma to see – but thanks to the pain the demon was suffering, he was just able to block his hand, claws outstretched, from reaching his face. Unfortunately, Mes'xivius's strength was ridiculous; despite getting both hands in the way and bracing against the ground, Ranma found himself flying backwards. His flight ended when he smashed into a wall, demolishing it, and it took him a few seconds to recover – seconds Mes'xivius did not waste, catching up to him and swiping once again. Knowing it was coming, Ranma was able to get out of the way, but only barely.

Forget his speed, this guy is strong! There's no way I can block more hits; I have to dodge! I need to be faster, more agile... Without really thinking about it, Ranma transformed into a girl, and found it just a little bit easier to avoid the hits. It wasn't easy, but she focused on avoiding blows and waiting for her chance.

Mes'xivius, however, wasn't stupid. Seeing that Ranma was focusing on dodging his blows, he switched tactics. Leaping backwards, he spread out his bony wings and flapped them once. Instantly he shot into the air and began circling around Ranma, who was cautiously following his flight.

All of a sudden Mes'xivius turned into a dive, and at a speed many times previous streaked towards Ranma. Caught off guard, Ranma couldn't keep up, and she suffered a direct hit to the chest from one of the demon's heavy paws. Screaming in pain, she went flying backwards once more, hitting a wall. This time she stayed down, writing.

Mes'xivius decided to land, and stalked closer, grinning. "So sad, that you know so little about the powers of Jusenkyo. Turning into a girl; what a silly and perverted use for such a splendid power."

He was interrupted by every other martial artist there suddenly dashing in between him and Ranma. "I think not!" Kodachi said, outraged. "Turning a girl is a splendid use of such a power!"

"Yeah!" Akane said, and then blinked. "Well, actually I totally agree with you, but I'm going to stop you nonetheless!"

"That's right! We won't let you hurt our Ranma!" Ukyo brandished her spatula and fingered some bags that she had tied to her belt.

Konatsu turned all of his focus towards Mes'xivius. "What Ukyo wishes, I make come true. You will stop here, demon."

Mes'xivius growled angrily. "Get out of my way, flies! I don't have time for you!"

"Meaning," Ranma said in exhaustion as she got up, holding a hand to her chest as she forced herself to walk in front of the others, "You don't have the energy to take us all on. Nabiki's little 'deal' must have done quite a number on you."

Mes'xivius growled again, but didn't refute the claim. Instead, he reached behind him with one outstretched claw and slashed it downwards. The air itself seemed to tear, and a rip in the very fabric of the world opened up. Stepping out of it came an ugly demon, who bowed to Mes'xivius and then glowered at the martial artists. It was followed by a second, and then a third. "There," Mes'xivius said confidently, "That should be more than enough to deal with you pests. Now, I'm going to finish our fight, Ranma!"

With a flap of his wings Mes'xivius was once again airborne. He circled around, looking like a vulture searching for its supper. Ranma closed her eyes, and focused briefly before opening them again. "I'll be okay, you guys, but I need to draw this guy off. You'll have to handle these demons, alright?"

"Ranma," Akane said disbelievingly, but she was cut off by a finger to her lips, which caused her to blush.

"Don't argue. I'll take him down, trust me on this. Just worry about yourselves, alright? I'm pretty sure the others will head back here; that demon's aura is pretty hard to ignore. Just hold on till then, alright?"

Akane nodded hesitantly, as did Ukyo and Konatsu. Kodachi, however stepped forward. "Ranma, don't you dare do anything stupid! You're my future husband/wife, so you have to take care of yourself!"

Ranma rolled her eyes. "Whatever, you crazy lady. I'm not going to lose, so don't lose your head, alright?"

Kodachi frowned imperiously, but then suddenly lost all pretenses of arrogant command. "Please," she said quietly, but desperately, "please win, Ranma. I need you."

Taken back, Ranma looked confused as to what to do, but Mes'xivius answered for him by slowing his circling. Dashing off, Ranma looked back one last time and waved, then leaped onto the top of the hill. "Hey, ugly and incompetent! Want to play a game?"

Mes'xivius smiled. "Oh, I'm already having enough fun as it is. I'll have to pass."

"Too bad! I feel like playing hide and seek, so that's what we're going to do. You're it!"

Grinning arrogantly, Ranma disappeared from view.

Mes'xivius gawked briefly, and then focused. Smiling, he flew past where Ranma had been and continued forward at high speed.

The three girls and one ninja watched as Mes'xivius disappeared behind one of the undamaged walls, and then turned to the three remaining demons. The lead one gave them a hard stare. He was abnormally tall and thin, lightly muscled, and gave out an air of brittle, unbending willpower. His two subordinates, one a large but muscle-bound male, and the other a scrawny-looking female with spiked armor over various parts of her body, both stepped forward. "Our Lord called, and we three obey," said the leader. "I am Ambition. He," Ambition continued, pointing towards the remaining male, "is Confidence, and lastly, she is Cowardice. We are Lord Mes'xivius's three lieutenants, and we will destroy you without hesitation."

Konatsu stepped to their forefront, taking command. "I will take Ambition. Ukyo-sama, please take care of Confidence, and Akane, please deal with Cowardice. Kodachi, please support those who need it, but if you get in the way, please retreat. I mean no offense, but you are the least well equipped out of us all, having no God Seed."

Kodachi looked non-plussed, but nodded in understanding. Then they split up, turning towards their respective opponents. The demons seemed open to the idea of individual matches, and faced off as well. For a second they engaged in a staring match, and then dashed towards each other.

Ranma was having more trouble than she thought she would. She had activated the Umisenken's signature stance and started dashing from building to building, but to her surprise Mes'xivius had quickly seen through it and followed her. It had been less than a minute since she'd run off and Mes'xivius was already on her back and closing in. Scratch that – Ranma barely ducked in time to avoid the demon's sweeping attack. Hitting the ground hard, she grimaced in pain as the open wound on her chest started bleeding just a little bit faster.

"Damn it, I need to do something about that," Ranma said to herself, panting with effort. Her vision was starting to blur, and the pain was nothing to laugh about. "If only I could use my Seed better! All I can turn into are my male and female forms, but I'm sure I can do something better!"

Taking the opportunity to focus while Mes'xivius regained his height, Ranma tried to activate her Seed once again, to change into something, anything, other than her male self. Unfortunately, she found herself male; to his surprise, though, the wound on his chest was gone. Experimentally, he switched back into a female, and the wound was still gone.

Well, this changes things! Ranma grinned, but then went back to a grimace when Mes'xivius dived again, his claws literally turning the stone it hit instead of Ranma into powder. Then again, regeneration won't make a difference if he rips my head off. There's got to be something I can do! Think, Ranma! Think!

Trying her best to force her brain into overdrive, Ranma started searching for answer. I can turn into a guy and a girl because I know those forms really well. Are there any other forms I know well? She searched her memories, but only a few came to mind. I know all my rivals pretty well; recently I've been hitting them with ki-enhanced attacks, and that's given me a pretty good understanding of their bodies. But turning into one of them isn't going to help; I am better than them, after all.

Ranma suddenly opened her eyes wide. "Oh! That might work! But I didn't get a very good image 'cause I was worried about other things. Well, nothing to lose, I guess." Focusing, Ranma tried to build the image he needed in his mind – only to be interrupted by Mes'xivius's attack. "Hey, asshole! Give it a break, why don't you!"

Mes'xivius said nothing, only began to circle once again.

Ranma cursed, and then brightened a little. "Well, that might work, but I'll probably die. I'm going to die anyway if that continues, though, so no worries!" Briefly, the worried face of Akane, and the surprisingly vulnerable and open face of Kodachi, came to mind, but she shrugged and squared her shoulders. Nothing to it but to try and hope for the best.

Ranma turned to face Mes'xivius once again. "Hey, what's-your-name, Messy Iggy or whatever."

The demon gave an indignant snort. "It's Mes'xivius, mortal. At least know the name of your executioner."

"Yeah, whatever Iggy. I just wanted to know, how long are you going to play around?"

Mes'xivius stopped in midair. "What!?"

"You heard me." Ranma gave the best cocky stare she could muster. She used every arrogant body signal she knew, bent her ki into a simulacrum of an aura of confidence, and filled her voice with palpable disdain. "You can't possibly think I'm going to take you seriously with just this, do you? I bet they call you Iggy the Imp back at home, 'cause the only thing you're lord of is your own incompetence!"

An aura of dark flame, which seemed to eat away at the light rather than give it off, ignited around Mes'xivius, and with an angry roar he dived once again, using the flame as a sort of rocket booster to accelerate his speed to many times his original. In an instant, he streaked into the place where Ranma-

wasn't.

Confused, Mes'xivius immediately braked in the air, but felt something fly off his shoulder. Gaping in surprise, he saw Ranma, who, in an act of insane bravery, had leaped upwards and snatched the demon's shoulder in the middle of his high-speed dive, go flying off into the air. Mes'xivius once again accelerated himself using his dark flame, but it would still be at least a minute until he caught up, and Ranma wouldn't be hitting the ground any time soon.

Which was exactly what Ranma wanted. Focusing (She was used to flying through the air), Ranma tried to pull the image of the person she wanted to emulate into her head. Unfortunately, it wasn't all there; she couldn't very well turn into an incomplete person, so she began to reconstruct the image from her memories.

Mes'xivius was catching up, though, and Ranma realized that she wasn't going to have enough time. Damn, I can't dodge in midair. It's now or never! Maybe I can graft the parts I have onto my own body... It's worth a try!

Closing in, Mes'xivius outstretched both of his claws and prepared to rip Ranma into shreds with one attack. Five seconds away from impact, he grinned, and dark fire burst into existence around his hands. Then, with sharp crack as his hands alone broke the sound barrier, he slashed his hands into Ranma's stomach.

Feeling something connect, Mes'xivius smiled grimly and held up the piece of meat he had grabbed, only to find it was a leg. Furious, he turned around. How could she dodge!? She was in the middle of the damn air! His thoughts were interrupted, though, by the sight of Ranma.

Now sporting a pair of white, black-tipped wings, Ranma hovered in the air, holding her leg in pain. It had indeed been ripped off, but grew back as Mes'xivius watched. Shakily grinning with the first bit of real confidence she had felt all day, Ranma held her hands out and channeled fire into them, an intense white flame that seared the air and created shimmering heat waves. "Alright, Iggy. Let's get started for real."

Mes'xivius sneered, and let his own dark flame fill his hands. "Please. This changes nothing. I was prepared for such eventualities from the start."

Ranma grinned. "We'll see about that, huh?"

The two winged fighters flew at each other, flames clashing and filling the sky with swirling streaks of both light and darkness.

Demons were highly resistant to knives, Kontasu had found out. In fact, they were resistant to punches, kicks, spikes, saw blades, drills, airborne irritants, and small explosives as well, which made a fair portion of his arsenal useless. Every time he managed to actually do some damage it was almost immediately regenerated, as well. Things were not looking good.

As he threw yet another pair of knives, pouches of irritating dust rigged to explode on impact trailing behind on invisible strings, Konatsu back flipped and tried to get some space. Ambition ignored the knives and, while he was surprised by the pouches, the irritant did not affect him. "You're a tricky human, that's for certain. But your tricks cannot harm me. When I find you I will destroy you, and it will only be a little longer till I distinguish your life force's signature, and then you will be able to hide no longer."

Konatsu raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" He had led the demon a little ways off from the others just so that his tricks and illusions couldn't be viewed by Ambition's comrades and given away. They had ended up in the canal; there was little cover in the canal, but all Konatsu had to do was slip over the fence and the demon was all by himself in an area that was wide open, and thus easy to manipulate.

The small stuff didn't seem to be working, though; he'd have to advance to the more complicated tricks. Sending out a clone to distract the demon, once again Konatsu sought refuge over the fence. This time, though, he was here for a separate purpose. Looking around, he spotted his target – a fire hydrant. He dashed over and, with a well aimed blow, sent a geyser of water shooting outwards. A little jury-rigging, and the jet was aimed into the canal, above the demon.

Sending another clone to distract Ambition from investigating the water, Konatsu went off in search of another hydrant. He continued to break them and constrain the contents to the canal, and soon the canal was waist high in water. Returning to the demon, Konatsu could see that Ambition was getting highly irritated; undoubtedly, it was finding itself incapable of identifying Konatsu's aura.

"Come out, bug!" the demon yelled, suddenly looking more furious than before. "I will break your bones and destroy you! Come out!"

Hmm. Either he's highly volatile and quite insane – which, considering his nature, is very possible – or he's acting angered so that I'll make my move and reveal myself. Well, he's obviously never fought a ninja before, at least not a ninja of my class. There is no need to reveal myself to destroy someone like you!

Pulling various packages out of his clothes, Konatsu unwrapped them and quickly prepared his tools. Once he was done, he grabbed a few wires in his hand and teeth, and quietly slipped a large piece of silk into the water.

Ambition whipped around – not like the furious berserker he was pretending to be, but the cautious planner Konatsu had suspected he really was. Seeing nothing, not even a ripple, he spread out his senses once again in the hopes of catching Konatsu's 'scent'. As he looked around, he was once again caught off guard – as a huge dragon burst out of the water!

It took him only a second to realize it was only a huge streamer, but that was all Konatsu needed. Quickly grabbing another tool, he threw it into the air over Ambition's head. As Ambition blinked, strings of dynamite draped themselves over his shoulders, and then went off. The explosions sounded off, one after another in a string of over a dozen, leaving only a cloud of smoke standing over the water. Konatsu watched intently, looking for any sign of movement. Lets see how well you weather the Tank Silencer.

As the smoke cleared, it revealed Ambition still standing, grimacing in pain and pock-marked by the explosions but otherwise fine. Even as Konatsu watched, the wounds Ambition had suffered began to heal, albeit at a much slower rater than before. Seems you are as tough as your confidence in victory attested to. But I am not done yet!

As Ambition fingered the wound on his forehead, the air was suddenly full of smoke, bursts of light, and shooting shapes. As Ambition held up a hand to block one of the shapes that shot towards him, he scowled when it turned out to only be a paper airplane. "More distractions. Eventually, I will-"

He stopped and grunted in pain, and looked down to see a steel crossbow bolt sticking out from one of his larger wounds, in his side. He gripped it and began to pull, but stopped when he realized it was barbed. Gritting his teeth, he got a tighter grip on it – only to realize that it wasn't just a bolt. The end of the bolt was much thicker than the tail and had a blinking red light on it.

A light that suddenly turned solid, and beeped.

This time the explosions was both louder and sharper, contained within Ambition's body as it was. Konatsu was satisfied to hear a demonic shriek echo out. There wasn't as much smoke this time, so Konatsu could clearly see Ambition hunched over his side, one hand trying but failing to cover the gaping wound there. Seeing the opening he had been waiting for, Konatsu dashed forward and began to throw a hail of needles towards the wound. The poison they were coated would have instantly paralyzed an elephant with just a few; the dozens Ambition was taking directly into a heavily bleeding wound should, in all fairness, strike him dead.

It appeared to have no effect, however. Ambition just growled, disappeared from sight, and then reappeared right behind Konatsu. "Found you!" He sang, exultation overriding the irritation in his voice.

Konatsu tried to dodge, but the demon's hand got a solid hit on his side – a hit which sent him flying down the canal with a dozen broken bones. When Konatsu finally stopped moving, he found Ambition standing over him once again, the wound from the dynamite already healed and the one from the C4-laden crossbow bolt starting to close. Vision blurring, Konatsu crushed three smoke bombs in his hand and replaced himself with a clone, which was almost instantly destroyed. "Illusionist!" Ambition cried out, real anger in his voice. "You will not escape me a second time!"

"I don't need to," Konatsu whispered to himself, the pain from his side making it more of a whimper. Ambition whirled around, trying to find the source of the noise, but Konatsu was already gone.

Ambition scanned around, the closeness of his victory making his blood boil. He always started patient, but when he got close to his goal he inevitably wanted to get there all the faster. He was Ambition, after all. But he had lived with this flaw for millennia, and he would live with it for millennia more.

There was a splashing sound behind him, and he turned to see the cloth dragon from before rise from the water. "This again!? You are clearly... clearly..." He trailed off, unable to believe his eyes.

The dragon was real.

Long and serpentine, it rose from the water (impossible as that was), coiling into the air. Its scales were thick and lustrous, and tinted with gold powder, as if it had recently been sleeping on its horde. The colors, mixtures of jade green and ocean blue, made it hard to see where it began and where it ended as they shimmered and shone in the faded light of the strange reality of the pocket dimension they were fighting in. The water from the canal streamed down its sides, splashing and splattering and forming miniature waterfalls. It rose high into the air, higher and higher, until it was nearly twenty stories tall.

Then, with a roar that sent the water rippling in foot-high waves and Ambition to his knees, It lunged back downwards, swallowing Ambition in a single gulp.

When it had disappeared, Konatsu gave a small smile and began winding the silk dragon up. See, Ryoga-sama? Turning illusion into reality is hardly a useless skill.

Then he fainted.

When Konatsu had led the leader of the demons off to fight his own battle, Ukyo was a little worried. Only a little, though; Konatsu might very well sacrifice his own life to protect Ukyo's, but he'd do his best to survive first. After all, part of serving someone was continuing to be there in the future so one could serve them again.

Rather quickly, though, that worry had dissappeared – or rather, been superseded by worry for her own life. The demonConfidence, it turned out, was some sort of muscle-maniac martial artist who kept switching styles on her every few minutes. He didn't even need to, either; he could have easily pounded her into the ground with his initial assault, but had backed off at the last second to give Ukyo a chance to recover and counter-attack. Or try to counter-attack; the guy's defense was not only rock solid, but he used a different way to fend off her spatula every time – had, in fact, used a powerful punch to reduce it to crumpled metal a few minutes ago.

Guess that was why he was called Confidence. Or was Confidence, or however demons worked.

Now all she had were her little creations, which Konatsu had handily packed for her. She'd had to watch over them so that they didn't try to disembowel him while he was wrapping them up, but now she had over a dozen bags full of lethal pieces of dough – or had a dozen, at least. They hadn't proven as lethal as she had thought; the gingerbread men had been ripped apart without effort, and while the rolls were mainly indestructible, they weren't doing anything, either. Confidence was using some sort of aura attack to push them away whenever they got close.

Her potions were still working, but while they gave her plenty of energy, they failed to heal any of her wounds, which were beginning to accumulate. Out of the dozen that were strapped to her belt, she'd only used two packages, but all she had was mass quantities of them in the first place. When she'd tested them, the gingerbread men had been ferocious attackers that, when equipped with rock candy chain-saws (she was proud of those!), had been quite deadly. They'd never even gotten close to Confidence, though.

Confidence leaped in again, a toothy grin on his face as he used some strange variant of Muay Tai that turned him into a literal whirlwind of arms, legs and elbows. As he approached (slowly, to savor her fear she guessed), Ukyo swore and pulled the only other thing she had aside from her little soldiers. In it was an arm-mounted cannon made of glaze and pastry – the rocket-propelled ammunition for which she had not yet developed. Instead, she pulled out another bag of rolls, loaded one into the front, and fired it off.

Of course, the reason she had restrained from doing this before was because as soon as the rolls left her bag and became alive again (the bags reduced them to inanimate lumps – another creation she'd found out through luck), they began to weigh about fifty pounds – difficult to carry, certainly, but the knock back from the force required to launch them out of her arm-cannon nearly dislocated her arm. She grunted in pain as the roll left the cannon, shrieking against the wind, and then grunted in disappointment when it just barely missed, turned aside by Confidence's whirlwind. Understandably he accelerated, and Ukyo only had time to fire off another shot before he got close to her.

That shot, though, was point blank range, and while she had to strangle back a scream, Confidence had no such opportunity; the roll, which hit him in the arm, produced a sick crunch as it shattered bone. Confidence screamed out loud and backed up; he still had his crazy grin on, so apparently he was masochistic.

Oh, wonderful, Ukyo thought, switching the cannon to her other arm to give it some rest. Confidence shook out his broken arm, grunted as it stretched, swelled, and then set itself, and then rushed forward again with the other arm outstretched to grab her. Ukyo was able to fire another shot off, but it only grazed him this time, making him back up but dealing little damage.

This isn't going well, Ukyo thought, glancing around to see Akane having her own problems. I hope Ryoga, or Shampoo, or someone gets back here soon, or we're going to get floored.

Yet another Akane dissappeared in a poof of Deific energy as Cowardice pierced it with a spear. The demon seemed to have an infinite supply; all she had to do was pull on her spikes, and a five-foot long spear would be in her hands. She alternated between throwing them, using them as spears, and spinning them like bo-staffs, and while Akane could have possibly found an opening if she stuck to one form, Cowardice knew her weaknesses well, and switched up her style when ever Akane thought she might have an opportunity to strike.

She'd formed a dozen Akane-clones, of the red anger variant, at the start of the fight, only to have them disintegrated nearly instantly. She'd stuck to the more cautious-oriented yellow Akane-clones after that, and they'd lasted longer, but she was still losing them, and each time one was destroyed Akane felt weaker. She'd already drunk the potion Ukyo had tossed to her at the beginning of the fight, and her energy was once again dipping.

Annoyed at her own apparent weakness, but afraid more of being beaten and killed, she turned around. "Kodachi, can't you help or something!?"

Kodachi sighed. "Please. I'm a little busy planning how I'm going to reward Ranma when she, or he, gets back. That's what it comes down to in the end, though; He, or She. The skills of seduction are subtly different for a heterosexual male than a homosexual woman. Which one should I prepare for..." Kodachi trailed off, lost in thought once again.

"Kodachi! Think less of impossible futures, and more of the present!"

"Oh, fine, hag! You owe me, though!" Kodachi stepped forward. "So, slut, you're called Cowardice?"

Cowardice turned her attention to Kodachi "What did you call me? I'd be flattered, but the fact that I'm apparently attractive to you disgusts me."

"Well! You've got quite the mouth on you! Don't worry, I'm not interested; someone as cheap as you can't possibly be disease free."

"You couldn't afford a session with me if you owned the Heavens and the Earth in their entirety. I multiply the cost exponentially for unsavory clients, and sleeping with an in-bred, deluded freak-of-nature like yourself is right at the top of the list."

"Ah, the brilliant are ever plagued by the ignorance of their lessers. Certainly, I must seem deluded to you. But then, I suppose someone who sees phallic objects everywhere would see everything that way."

Cowardice blushed slightly. "How did you-!"

"Oh, I can see it in your eyes. They twitch slightly whenever Akane hold her hammer especially tightly."

Cowardice glowered for a minute, and then regained her haughty attitude. "Never mind. I've never been one to talk when I could be killing." Suddenly and without warning Cowardice flashed her arm out and sent her spear flying towards Kodachi. Akane, all twelve of her, tried to intercept, but were barely able to register that the spear had moved at all before it got to Kodachi. Kodachi, for her part, was smiling arrogantly as she quickly pulled out six spiked batons and interlocked them into a shield, which she interposed between her and the spear.

The spear went through them like a knife through butter.

The shrapnel went flying into Kodachi, hitting her face and opening several small cuts. Kodachi reeled back in pain, and raised her left arm to wipe away the blood – only to realize that it wasn't there. The pain suddenly hit her, and she fell to her knees screaming, holding the ragged stump of her left arm with her right hand, trying to stop the bleeding. Eyes rolling, she leaned back against a wall and gritted her teeth, trying to fight the pain.

Akane, disgusted and terrified by what she had seen, felt like throwing up, but instead sent half her clones to protect Kodachi and went with the others to see Ukyo. She's got to have something to help with this, something, SOMETHING! Oh, christ, I don't like Kodachi but I can't let her die! She'll bleed to death if I don't do something fast!

Her thought were interrupted by a flight of spears, nearly a dozen all at once. Akane looked back to see that Cowardice had ejected her spikes all at once, and was already regenerating them. "Playtime's over. I'm not one to enjoy a fight, so now that I've had my fun instilling you with fear, I'm going to kill you now."

Cowardice said this so matter-of-factly, so assuredly, that Akane felt her knees tremble. When she glanced back at Kodachi she realized that, unless she dedicated her all to just defending Kodachi, Kodachi wouldn't live long enough to get any treatment. Shaking, she turned to face Cowardice.

The demoness launched another salvo of spears, this time towards Kodachi. The clones surrounding her thrust out their hammers and expanded them to the size of small cars. Most of the clones timed it right and used the momentum of the expansion to knock the spears away, but a few got it slightly off and found themselves impaled, their hammers split in half. Akane quickly remade them, but even the new burst of fear she was experiencing only managed to fuel one or two on its own, the rest requiring yet more of her ki.

When I was experimenting before, emotion was good enough to fuel my clones, but I went past that limit a long time ago. I can't fight for much longer; my emotions are spent. I've got nothing left...

That's not true!

Akane flinched despite herself. Ranma! Not now!

Stop calling me that! I'm nothing like that prude! Anyways, since you're about die, let me out. I want to stretch me legs – to walk, of course. Let me OUT!

The urges that Akane had been fighting for most of her grown life suddenly reappeared, much stronger than ever. Given a calm situation, Akane might have fought it off. Now, however, she could hardly focus all of her attention on an internal fight, and her internal 'Ranma' managed to get in control for one, brief second.

That was all it needed. In that second, over a hundred Akane-clones appeared, all bearing the pink pin to signify their allegiance. Looking around, drooling in anticipation, they spotted Cowardice, who was slowly letting her spikes extrude farther and farther. "Oh," one said, "you look delicious!" As a crowd, they charged.

Cowardice, surprised by the sudden increase in numbers, shot her spears at and impaled a dozen – but dozens more leaped forward in their place. Suddenly frightened, Cowardice turned to run – only to be caught and pinned to the ground. She tried to fight off her assailants, but there were too many. A few seconds later her spears regenerated, and she prepared to shoot them out again, but a heavy force settled over her mind, making her thought cloud.

You don't want to do that, a voice seemed to say, and suddenly Cowardice felt very calm. Not calm, actually; of all things, she felt aroused. Yes, the voice said, feel it, feel what I feel. You need it, I need it, and it's all so, so simple...

The real Akane was a little confused, but realized a turn of luck when she saw one. She rushed over to Kodachi. "Are you alright? Kodachi, can you hear me?"

Kodachi looked at Akane, eyes slightly off focus. "Hear you, Akane? Of course I can hear. I am a Kuno; I have an over-abundance of nobility at my disposal!"

Great, she's delusional and non-coherent. "That's nice, Kodachi, but I need you to come with me. We need to see Ukyo, alright? I'll help you up."

Akane pulled Kodachi to her feet, but Kodachi ripped her hand away. "A Kuno needs no help from a commoner!" Immediately she fell back to the ground. "Huh? How did I all back to the ground? Well, I guess it must be better to be on the ground. A sign of the Gods, delivered to the noble Kunos! How fitting!" She laughed, and then seemed to black out for a moment. "Huh? Akane, what are you doing there? Help me up already- no! Wait! Kuno's need no help! I can get up on my- oof. Well, I guess it's my place to be on the ground. A Kuno's instincts know best, after all!" She laughed, again.

"Oh, for crying out loud! Kodachi, you need to get help, now! If you don't-" Akane was interrupted by a loud sound coming from a little off, and she turned around to see a huge serpentine dragon towering in the distance. "Holy shit! What the hell is that!?"

Kodachi sniffed. "A snake, fool. I see nothing out of the ordinary. Are you so unfamiliar with serpents?"

"If that's a snake I'm a cow."

"You do understand! How wonderful!"

Akane pinched the bridge of her nose. "Kodachi, I'm debating whether or not to save you. I'm not normally such a bitch, so I've decided to accredit it to you. Now, as I was saying, if you don't let me help you over to Ukyo, I'm going to-"

Again she was interrupted, this time by Cowardice throwing the clones high into the air with a roar of anger. For some reason the demon looked flushed. "Evil woman, I will not be defeated by such tricks! I will destroy you!"

Akane clenched her fists tightly, anger overcoming her fear just slightly. "You know, for someone named Cowardice, you're pretty brave. None of those clones are dead yet."

The clones were indeed still alive; angry at being thwarted, the pink Akane-clones pulled out their hammers and increased their size many times, until they were the size of vans. However, Cowardice shot out a dozen spears once again – but this time, they curved and twisted in the air, obeying her will. They shot through a clone each, and then twisted to go through another, and another. When they had shot past the last one, they turned around and weaved back into the Akane-clones once again. When they finally hit the ground, no Akane-clones were left.

Cowardice sneered, and motioned with one of her hands. As she walked forward the spears lifted themselves up and returned to her body. "I'm going to destroy you both utterly; never have I been more humiliated!"

Akane gathered her courage, as well as her remained yellow clones, and stepped forward. "That's just too bad. You obviously haven't ever visited Nerima before. You don't spend much time here without getting humiliated in one way or another."

"And I will never again be coming to this rot-hole again. You will die, Lord Mes'xivius will be pleased, and I will return home, in preparation to capture your pathetic souls on their way to wherever they go. Know well, that even if your soul is destined for the heavens, it will end up in my grasp nonetheless. Know well, that the suffering you two will experience at my hands will be unending and unrelenting. Know well, that when I am-"

This time it was the demoness' turn to be interrupted. The ground began shaking, and both Akane and Cowardice stumbled. Kodachi, of course, muttered something about 'drunken fools', and then lapsed back into unconsciousness. Then the shaking stopped, and the two combatants looked around warily.

"Well-" Cowardice began, but just as she spoke the round underneath her exploded – followed by Ryoga, who Akane was never happier to see. Ryoga looked around, tense and a little wild-eyed, but when he spotted Akane, who had several small wounds from her fight, he fell to the ground in anguish.

"Noooooo! Akane, please believe me, I didn't mean to hurt you! I thought I was aiming for someone else, someone I didn't recognize and was fighting you! Please! You have to believe me!"

Akane gripped her hammer tightly. Why am I surrounded by fools? "You idiot, you didn't even come close to hitting me. You did get her, though." She pointed behind Ryoga, where Cowardice was getting to her feet, still slightly stunned.

Ryoga got up, turned around, spotted Cowardice, and fell to his knees in anguish again. "Noooooo! Not another demoness! I won't let you read my thoughts – I can't let you read them, not with Akane here! I'll destroy you before you have the chance!"

A determined look in his eyes, Ryoga got to his feet. "Shishi Hokodan – Gravity Aura variant, uh, Revised. Very much so Revised." The gravity suddenly became much stronger, and Akane fell to her knees from the weight. Kodachi started whimpering from the pain it caused her arm, and Cowardice grunted and braced her legs. Ryoga, however, seemed unaffected. Next, Ryoga held out one hand, finger extended, and grasped that hand's wrist with his other hand. Concentrating, he focused so much ki into that one finger that it began to visibly glow – a rare phenomena with ki that was still inside the body.

Then he stabbed the finger into the ground and closed his eyes. The look on his face became calm and collected, like he was meditating, and Cowardice stared at him warily. When nothing else happened, though, she raised her arm to throw a spear-

"Bakusai Tenketsu – Critical Manipulation variant!" Royga suddenly shouted, and the ground underneath the demoness exploded. She went flying upwards, and then came down extra fast, thanks to the increased gravity. The instant she touched the ground Ryoga exhaled, and again the ground exploded, sending her into the air. This time, though, the angle of the explosion seemed deliberate; Cowardice was sent flying into a cloud of dirt.

Once inside the dirt Ryoga tightened his eyes, and rocks began to shoot out of the air towards her. Some missed her, but it seemed purposeful; the ones that did hit her always sent her into the path of another rock. Soon it was evident that the rocks had not missed at all – they came back down, right on target and accelerated by the gravity. Cowardice only looked stunned by the initial assault, but the repeated rocks were taking their toll, and her armor began to crack and shatter with every blow. Its protection began to lessen, and Cowardice was now crying out in pain from every blow.

Ryoga suddenly straightened up and dodged to the side, and a boulder crashed into where he had been. Akane looked more closely, and realized that it wasn't a boulder at all, but a chunk of a building. She looked to where it came from, and was shocked to see a giant demon lifting another boulder to throw. "Ryoga!" she called out.

"I know!" he shouted, seeming a bit more lucid than before. The gravity suddenly reverted to normal, and Cowardice crashed to the ground, where she lay groaning. "Akane, finish that demoness off – and whatever you do, don't listen to anything she says! She might say she can read minds, but it's a bluff!"

Akane raised an eyebrow. "Right..." She wanted to say more, but the giant had tossed his projectile and Ryoga was forced to dodge again. She looked at the giant, and saw another one coming out of the portal that Mes'xivius had set up, which had expanded in size. "I understand, just go deal with those demons before more come out!"

"More?" Ryoga seemed stunned by the word, and his previously unstable mindset returned. "MORE!? More demoness', reading my thoughts and telling my secrets and twisting my mind and- No! Must Kill!" Foaming at the mouth slightly, Ryoga dashed forward to deal with the giants.

Akane turned her attention back to Cowardice, who was getting back on her feet. Gulping, she advanced towards the demon, who was looking unsteady. Her clones following, she tightened her grip on her hammer and began thinking of new strategies.

Ukyo was truly desperate now. One of her arms was pretty much already dead; the best she could do with it was open her belt pouches, spill them onto the ground, and watch as her little gingerbread soldiers ('Assassins, really," Konatsu had commented) marched to their deaths. Confidence made short work of them, and while the rolls were still valiantly rolling, they didn't make much of an impact even if they did make it.

The demon was toying with her, and she knew it. His wounds healed extraordinarily fast, even the nasty ones her hand-cannon gave him, and both of them knew that she couldn't deal any lasting damage with the thing. Even if she could, she could probably fire it once or twice more, and then both of her arms would be useless – and it would be over. Once Confidence got bored, he'd finish her off and go to support Cowardice.

Speaking of that, she'd heard and seen Kodachi get her arm blown off, but try as she might there was nothing she could do. Even if she did make it, none of her potions would help. Restore energy, yes; she had one that could heal wounds, but regenerate an arm? No way. It wouldn't even stop the bleeding – she'd tested it on herself, and what it didn't heal completely, returned to normal within seconds. Unless Cologne got there and performed a miracle – which, as far as Ukyo knew, was within Cologne's power – Kodachi was screwed. It was sad, and terrifying and shocking, but Ukyo was going to die too unless she herself got help.

Confidence danced forward again, this time using some variant of boxing that involved what looked like a lot of pelvis thrusting, and Ukyo retreated backwards, unwilling to fire her gun for what could possibly be the last time when she knew that the demon was expecting it and was prepared to dodge it. He'd easily dodged it the few times she hadn't caught him off guard – and when he did let his guard down, he did it on purpose, she was sure.

As Confidence punched again and again, Ukyo realized there was an element of Drunken Boxing in there somewhere – the source of the pelvis motion. It was giving him extra momentum, and making it hard to predict his moves. Ukyo dodged a couple times, but then out of nowhere his leg came lashing out, and she knew that she'd get hit – hit for real, this time.

As it impacted, Ukyo guarded herself with her good hand, and was surprised when her arm absorbed all of the impact safely. Did he hold back? Ukyo stared cautiously, and then blinked when she saw Confidence dancing backwards on one foot, a red hot piece of steel impaled into one leg.

Turning around, she saw Shampoo and Mousse coming out of the hill. Mousse's sleeve was outstretched, and a trail of smoke lead from it to where Confidence had been hit; apparently the deadly projectile that had canceled Confidence's momentum was his work. Both seemed exhausted, though, and Ukyo's heart fell; Ukyo knew from experience that a single attack wouldn't keep Confidence down for long.

"Ni hao, spatula girl," Shampoo said, her accent gone but the mocking tone the same. "Need any help?"

Ukyo was terribly relieved, but knew that they weren't out of trouble. "How are you speaking normal Japanese? My potion should have worn off long ago."

"I have no idea, but more importantly, do have any more energy potions? We're both totally out of ki."

Ukyo nodded, but grimly. "Only one. And even if I gave it you, it wouldn't help for long against this guy."

Shampoo grinned, her confidence infectious. "Don't worry about it! Give it to Mousse."

Ukyo shrugged and handed it over. Mousse stared at the small vial suspiciously, and then chugged it down. Immediately his skin returned to a normal hue, and he no longer needed Shampoo's help to stand – although she still needed his. Gently sitting her down on the ground, he motioned for Ukyo to sit down too. "I don't want to use this for anyone but Shampoo, but I will make an exception this time."

Ukyo stared at him like he was crazy, which he obviously was. "Uh, hello? Crazy masochistic demon over there. Don't think you can take him on your own."

Mousse smirked. "I can, but that's besides the point. Please, sit down and let me show you the effects of my God Seed."

Reluctantly complying, Ukyo sat down next to Shampoo, and as Mousse outstretched his hands a small glowing sphere grew over them. Ukyo gasped as she felt her strength returning to her. "Does this thing heal wounds?"

Shampoo nodded, smiling. "Yep. Don't worry, we'll be fine now."

"That's not my worry! Kodachi's had her arm blown off; she needs this way more than we do!"

Shampoo frowned and looked off to the side. "Kodachi? I don't really see the point, but I suppose Mousse can go and stabilize her. Mousse!" she called out. "Kodachi is apparently terribly wounded; leave this to us and go heal her!"

Mousse nodded slightly, but when he attempted to dash off, Confidence got in his way. "Oh, I don't think so," he said, the first words Ukyo had heard him speak. "You're interesting. You're staying here and fighting me!"

Mousse fired more rods out of sleeve, but just as Ukyo had predicted Confidence was able to dodge them this time. Mousse backed up, next to the sphere. "I'm sorry, Shampoo, but I don't think I'll be able to escape."

Ukyo cursed. "Well, all that we have left is Cologne to rely on."

"It's my policy to make young ones rely on themselves."

Both Ukyo and Shampoo turned around to see Cologne – battered and burned, and leaning on her staff a little, but fine. "Cologne!" Ukyo called out, desperately relieved. "Kodachi's had her arm blown off – you've got to go help her!"

Cologne opened her eyes in shock. "Her arm!? That is a serious injury indeed. I see she is over there, next to Akane fighting that..." She trailed off as she stared.

"Yes, that demon! She's the one that did the damage to Kodachi!"

"I see..." Cologne said gravely."

Ukyo stared, worried. "Is, is something wrong?"

"Something wrong? Yes, I'm afraid there is. That demon is one of cowardice, yes?" When Ukyo nodded, Cologne shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid that wounds made by Cowardice demons do not heal unless powerful exorcism ceremonies are performed – ceremonies which I am incapable of performing, even back at my home. Normally they are quite weak, but I recognize that demon – she is the most powerful of cowardice demons, and claims the name Cowardice as head of her tribe of demons. I know of few people who could heal such a deep wound caused by her, and none who would do it willingly."

"No..." Ukyo said, her heart falling. "Is there nothing we can do?"

"Cologne shook her head. "Nothing, I'm afraid. She will die here. In truth, I am very, very surprised that no one else has."

Shampoo looked at the two, a little confused. "I understand Spatula girl's response, but why are you so sad, Honoured Grandmother? Amazons must be strong and weather all difficulties; that woman is not even a friend of the tribe! Why do you care so much?"

Ukyo looked a little disgusted by Shampoo's words, but Cologne just smiled sadly. "You will understand more of the code in time, girl. Just hope you live that long. Now," she continued, iron returning to her voice, "I cannot afford to stay here and help you. It appears reinforcements are coming, and I must at least stem the tide. I give you one piece of advice – break a confidence demon's confidence, in whatever he holds it, and you will have defeated him. This one is a leader of his kind as well, so it will not be easy, but it will be far easier than just destroying him. If you cannot dislodge his confidence, than deal a decisive blow that will kill him in one strike."

Giving the two a nod, she leaped off towards the demon portal, which was beginning to expand as a giant demon began to force his way through it. Ukyo and Shampoo turned their attention back to Mousse, who was beginning to have trouble with Confidence.

Ukyo tried to get up, but Shampoo forced her back down. "A few more minutes and you'll be fully healed." Ukyo blinked, and then realized that she was almost in tip-top shape. "All Mousse has to do is hold out till then, and then we can all take him out together."

Ukyo grimaced, still shaken by Kodachi's definite doom. "Then I hope he can hold out. Confidence is almost on top of him."

Shampoo smiled once again, but her confidence was a little shaky. "Don't worry! He's tougher than he looks!"

Ukyo said nothing, only turned to watch the conflict. Shampoo did as well, and both hid their secret doubts. Someone they knew was going to die – even if they were in top shape, maybe they would be next? What about Akane? Or Ryoga?

Or, god forbid it, Ranma?

And that was chapter 10. After this we have one more chapter in this 'arc', and then we move on to the larger portion of the story.

I'm pleased with this story so far, but there are quite a few errors that seem to have made their way in during the uploading process. After this arc finishes, I'll go through the chapters again and make sure they're properly formatted. Nothing you need to go back for, but it should make the story better.