Chapter 10
"Where to begin?" Nodoka asked herself as she collected her thoughts. Joram sat across from her running his fingers over the Elven text as he sat and waited. He knew exactly what it said because he was the one that had etched it there just after he had forged it those many years ago.
"We'll start off by saying that this sword has been handed down in my family for close to six hundred years. Yes, my side, not the Saotome side." Nodoka said and confirmed when she got an inquiring look from Soun. "The legend passed down by my family says that our clan founder had gone on a long journey to perfect his skills with the sword. One day on his journey he heard a call from a mountain, a call that could not be ignored. It seemed to travel on the wind along side him as he continued his search. Finally one day he could ignore it no longer; he headed straight for the mountain.
"He came to the last village that he would pass on his way to the mountain and worked for a month to get the needed supplies for the trek ahead. Many of the villagers came to like him, for they saw that he was an honourable man and warned him not to continue on his set path. The mountain was cursed they said. They told him of many monsters that lived on and under the mountain and of many other horrors. Still he was undaunted, and when the time came that he was able to leave with the supplies he had gathered, he left.
"He travelled another five days just to get to the base of the mountain. It is said that it took him another ten days to fight, and yes to even hide when the enemies were too many, his way to a secret entrance into the mountain. He knew of this entrance because the voice guided his way and told him where to look. At the entrance, just inside, he was once again guided by the voice and he found a stone box that contained two necklaces, one that had a pendant that held a blue crystal the shade of winter ice at its centre, the other a black crystal that seemed to steal the light around it.
"The voice said: "Do not take the fair one, for though it would protect you from evil and provide much light, soon you would be over come. Take the black one for it will allow you to see in this dark as though it were only early evening outside, and sense the approach of evil." Now he was torn between the two necklaces, for on the one hand he did not wish to be in the dark, he wanted to travel in the light. But on the other hand he did not wish to disobey the voice that had guided him thus far. At length he chose to listen to the voice and take the dark crystal even though he longed for the light.
"Soon though, he was once again on his way. True to her words he could see in the black of the mountain as though it were evening outside, and he reprimanded himself for having doubted. He travelled for days under the heavy skirt of the mountain above many times narrowly avoiding encounters that would overwhelm him in minutes.
"Then on the ninth day under the mountain his small tunnel led him to an enormous cavern that is said to have held a temple so large that it dwarfed any castle he had seen in all his days. All around the temple there were set many large crystals on tall pillars, all providing light enough to compete with the sun at its peak it the sky. As he was approached the voice once again instructed him, this time to remove the necklace and put it away for safe keeping. This time he obeyed without question and headed to the front steps of the temple.
"On his way he took notice of thousands of skeletons from dozens of different creatures, most of which he did not recognize for they were so different from anything he had ever seen before in his life. The thing that caught his attention though was the fact that none of those bones crossed the line between the pillars. This made him pause and ask of the voice what it meant. The voice told him that those of evil hearts and intent could not enter this sacred place. That he was not to worry for he was someone without evil in his heart. Taking courage at these words he once again continued on his way, crossing the line between the pillars without fear.
"When he came to the doors of the temple he was again impressed at the size of the building, for the doors themselves were taller than the length of ten men. He was then instructed to place his hand on one of the two metal plates that were found on either side of the almost invisible seam of the tall doors. When he did as instructed a pillar of while light shone about him for a moment and the doors swung open on silent hinges.
"He expected the air in the temple to be old and foul, but a sweet smell came to him that reminded him of flower covered hills in the spring. He went into the temple with a heart that was light with content and passed many libraries that were each larger than many villages he had seen throughout his long travels.
"After walking for some time he finally arrived at the centre of the temple and saw the source of the voice that had been guiding him. Before him he found a spirit standing before a large stone sarcophagus. The spirit was of a woman that had passed on untold years before.
"She told him of many things that I don't have time to go over here, but among them was that she awaited to be released by the one who made this sword. That it was up to him and his descendants to find the maker of the sword and lead him back to the temple so that she could finally rest in peace.
"Now, along with the sword he was given a book made from thin leafs of some silvery metal that he did not recognize. It had more writings that resembled what was written on the sword, as well as a few others that seemed to be completely different. The book was meant to instruct you on how to release her from her vigil. Unfortunately the book went missing at the end of the Edo era and hasn't been seen since." Nodoka finished.
"So, why did you know to attack me? And you still haven't answered the "why" part of the attacking question." Joram said from where he sat, absently twirling the piece of the sword between his fingers as he tried to get a feel for the magical energies still in the sword. There had been some pretty hefty enchantments added after he had parted with it those many years ago.
"Along with the sword he was given a very accurate description of you, right down to the way you tie your hair." Nodoka replied as she reached into her kimono and pulled out a scroll. "He was also given a drawing of you, and has since had his descendants draw it out and memorize it once they reached the age of ten." She then held out the scroll to Joram.
Joram undid the royal blue ribbon that kept the dark green scroll tied tight. Once he opened it though his eyebrow began to twitch. "You mean to say that you attacked me based on this drawing?"
"Yes." Nodoka replied simply.
"Do you have any idea HOW MANY PEOPLE COULD LOOK LIKE THIS!" Joram yelled as he turned the drawing around and showed it to everyone.
"I don't know, it looks an awful lot like you." Akane said and Asuza nodded her agreement. "Yeah, how could she not make the connection?" Kasumi said as her father nodded. Said picture in question, by the way, looked something like a fifth grader would draw in their spare time. The "guy" in the picture was a tall man in black clothing with swords on back and at hip and his hair tied up high on his head. There also seemed to be some sort of crown on his head. Aside from the bag, the hair and maybe the crown; it looked nothing like him!
Joram's head hit the table as he "grrr'd" in frustration.
"As for the "why" part of the question, the spirit said that you would recognize the sword as your work and become intrigued. She said that after that he need only explain the situation and you would agree to help." Nodoka said in conclusion. All present at the meeting waited with an air of anticipation.
"So you want me to find a lost mountain, travel nine days under said mountain to find a long lost temple that may fry me when trying to cross the protective barrier just to put a ghost to rest?" Nodoka nodded. Joram again sighed in frustration. "Do you have any idea how long it's gonna take to prepare for something like this?" Joram asked the matriarch of the Saotome family.
"It should only take a couple of days to gather the appropriate supplies." Nodoka answered.
"Yes, probably only that long to get the needed supplies, but it'll take me a good month to re-forge that sword so that it'll work the way it was supposed to." Joram said in exasperation as he flipped the hilt over and over in his left hand. "And does anyone here know of a forge that I could use uninterrupted for a month?"
"That will require some looking into, but I assure you that it won't be a problem." Nodoka replied.
"Heck, I'll even help her look into it." Nabiki said with a gleam in her eye. Ranma had just about started to hope that there might be a hope for her, but it was for naught when she finished what she had to say. "For a price of course."
Joram just shrugged and pulled out a small leather pouch from his shoulder satchel and began to finger through what was inside. Asuza, or rather Sakura, being right beside him leaned over and gasped in surprise at what she saw. This reaction really piqued Nabiki's interest and she started to edge her way closer to Joram. Meaning that she tried to elbow Sakura out of her way to get a look. Unfortunately for her, and fortunately for Joram, he finished by taking something small out, pulling the draw strings closed and shoving the pouch back into the satchel.
"This should be more than enough to cover any rental fees that might be charged for the months' work at the forge." Joram said as he handed the item to Nodoka who covered her surprise quite well. Meaning that her eyes only bugged out slightly. Had Genma been there, well, everyone knows what would have happened then. As it was Nabiki's eyes dilated slightly and she got a funny look on her face. What everyone was staring at was a small sapphire about the size of a woman's pinkie finger nail. That wasn't the most interesting thing about the gem though; it had what looked like a tiny little star in the middle. It wasn't shining or anything, or rather it didn't produce any light of its own. It managed to catch the light in the room and refract it in amazing ways. The gem itself was uncut, though it had been polished to a mirror shine, making it look like a tiny, shiny, egg.
"Where did you get something like that?" Mr Tendo asked as he wept for the beauty of the gem.
"Oh, uh, that one I found amongst a Lich's hoard about ten years back." Joram said casually as he remembered that one fight. It had taken a while to win that one, but in the end he wound up casting heal on the thing and it crumbled. Joram smiled at the memory. Everyone just blinked at him. He then remembered that there probably hasn't been a lich on this planet for a good hundred thousand years or so. He sighed. "I was dungeon crawling and ran across a monster of great strength and when I defeated it I took what treasure I could find." He hoped that that explanation would be better. As expected everyone present "ahh'd" and nodded, Mr Tendo trying to look the most sage while doing so.
"Ok, now that that is taken care of," Joram said to change the subject. "Any idea where this mountain is?"
"The only clue was that it was in the Qing Hai province in China." Nodoka replied, Joram blinked in the usual way he did when he had no clue. On the other hand Ranma-chan perked right up.
"Really? Then as a martial artist's duty, I must accompany you all on this trip." She said without even thinking about it. Akane elbowed her in the ribs and gave a significant look at Ranma-chan's chest. Ranma-chan gave her a puzzled look, then comprehension dawned on her cute face. The look of shattered hope on her face was almost crushing. "Auntie Saotome? You wouldn't happen to be going on this trip too, would you?"
"Why yes Ranko-chan, I would." She said with a concerned look on her face. "But you needn't worry, we'll be all right. You don't have to come if you don't want to." Nodoka said as she misinterpreted the look of sadness on Ranma-chan's face.
"Anyway, that can be discussed later. We do have a whole month or so to clear all this up." Joram said from where he sat. "Now, could someone please explain to me how it was that I was fighting an old man one second, then a huge panda the next?" Joram looked around at the shocked expressions on everyone's faces. Nodoka had a confused look on her face for a moment, everyone else started to look panicked, then comprehension dawned on her face.
"That was Genma, wasn't it?" She asked in a cold tone of voice. "I though I recognized its fighting style." Everyone backed up a step or two, including Joram, as she began to get a faint red glow around her that just so happened to highlight the red in her hair in a very complimentary way. 'It's odd what sticks out in times of great danger.' Joram thought to himself as Nodoka continued to glare in his direction. After a moment though he realized that her glare was focussed through him, not at him. Even then he edged to the side slightly, trying very hard not to be in the way of a potential attack.
Then Nodoka turned and regarded Ranma-chan. Suddenly she… glided, that could be the only word used to describe how she moved, across the floor and stopped in front of Ranma-chan and regarded her for a time. Joram was struck by just how much they looked like each other. Ranma-chan could have been a younger version of Nodoka, and Nodoka an older version of Ranma-chan. At length she said: "Ranma?" In a very uncertain tone of voice that trembled slightly.
Ranma-chan looked as though she wanted to sprout wings and fly away right then and there. But seeing no way out of it she turned to her mother and regarded her for a moment before answering. "Yeah, it's me mom." Ranma-chan looked as though she were accepting a voluntary death sentence when she said it though. Kasumi had come up behind Ranma-chan at some point and was holding a kettle of hot water. Smiling happily, because she always had thought it wrong that Ranma lie to his own mother like that, she dumped some of the hot water on her head, now his head.
Nodoka's eyes widened and began to fill with tears. Ranma mistook the look for disappointment and began to babble about how it was a training accident and that he was waiting to find a cure before letting her see him again. He was promptly shut up by his mother latching onto him like she never intended to let him go again.
Ranma was stupefied. Never before had he come across a situation like this. Sure Shampoo had glomped onto him more times than he can count, not to mention the many other girls that were always trying to get him. But never someone that was genuinely happy to see him. No other motives, plots, designs, nothing. Just him. Just happy to be with him. "So does this mean I no longer have to commit sepuku?" Ranma asked after a moment because he was somewhat uncomfortable with the fact that his mother had still not let go. At hearing that though she pushed him to arms' length and regarded him with confused expression.
"What on earth are you talking about?" She asked; her eyes first focussing on his left eye, then his right and going back again and again between the two.
"I found a contract amongst the old man's stuff one day that said if I didn't come back as a man among men, we would both have to commit sepuku." Ranma started to explain then stopped as his mothers' expression turned from one of confusion to that of the most profound horror.
"I have never heard of such a thing Ranma." Nodoka whispered out finally. Then her expression changed to one of utmost rage. "If that is the reason why I haven't been able to see my son for almost eleven years, I'm going to have a new panda skin throw rug very soon." At this proclamation, and the fact that her eyes were now glowing a ruby red, everyone around the table backed off slightly, even Ranma. Nodoka then reached for her sword and instantly came back down to a sane power level as her disappointment became evident.
"Don't worry Mrs. Saotome-" Joram started to say but was cut off.
"Nodoka will do." She said in a cold, cold tone of voice that could freeze even a Canadian (A.N. - Sorry, had to put that in there, eh….).
"Then don't worry Nodoka, I'll have the sword made as fast as I can. You have my word on that." Joram pledged in his most solemn tone of voice. "Heck, I could even build my own forge if I had the materials to do so. That might save some time trying to find one to rent." Joram said as he looked around at those gathered. Kasumi was smiling as usual; Mr Tendo tried to look contemplative, Nabiki greedy, Akane pensive, Shampoo curious, Fang boy confused, mummified monkeys- "Gah!" Was what Joram had to say about them as he spotted them sitting behind Mr Tendo where they wouldn't be spotted as quickly.
"Interesting story m'boy." The male monkey said. Joram had thought he heard him being referred to as the "master". "So tell me; who are you exactly?" The first mummified monkey he had met, being the female, quipped in. "And do try and give a straight answer sonny."
"A… ah, straight answer, huh?" Joram stalled. Both monkeys nodded in that all knowing way masters of the art use when dealing with an initiate, or rather new trainee. Let it be known that Joram had always been told to respect his elders. "I'm a warrior from two hundred thousand, or so, years in the past and through extraordinary circumstances that were out of my control, I find myself in your day and age." Joram said once the noise of the new arrivals had died down. Heck, he had even missed a new guy dressed in robes with glasses on his head. How did these people get here? And when had they come?
Joram looked around at all those gathered to hear the story and was somewhat disappointed to find that they were only giving him blank stares. Well not the two monkeys, they were just nodding away at the thoughts that were skittering through their very ancient brains.
"You forget mention that you can come back to life." Shampoo added happily. Joram just about smacked his forehead in frustration. He had really hoped that no one would bring that up.
"Now that you mention it, how old are you if you can just keep coming back to life? Or is it that you only have so many times you can come back? Or is it so many times a month, week, or day…?" Joram then performed his first ceiling cling as the life form he had taken to be a mouse sitting behind him actually turned out to be a person. Probably the only thing that saved the man's life was the fact that Joram's danger sense hadn't gone off. 'Just a surprise, just a surprise….' Joram repeated in his head as he consciously calmed his heart rate with a few meditative techniques he had learned over the years. After a few moments pause he dropped back down to the ground and made a thorough scan of the area using both his sense life and sense death abilities to do so. After a moment of searching he was satisfied enough to sit back down and regard the new guy.
The new guy was wearing glasses and looked rather harmless to the untrained eye, but he kind of gave of the aura of a medical specialist. 'That could be dangerous.' Joram thought to himself as he continued to collect himself.
"As for my coming back to life, quite frankly that is none of your concern." Joram said matter-of-factly and got a few disappointed reactions. "Now, who are all you people!" Joram asked, very exasperated. Introductions were then made for the ones he didn't know. Fang boy's name was Hibiki Ryoga, robe boy was Mousse, and the other mummified monkey type guy was Happosai. All looked and felt quite dangerous.
"Good to meet all of you." Joram said pleasantly once the introductions were taken care of. "Now Nabiki," Joram turned to the middle daughter, "if you could make the arrangements to have the materials delivered as soon as possible that would be great. The sooner you can get it here the sooner we can get that sword fixed and leave on this adventure."
"No problem." Was all she said before leaving the living room to head to her room.
"Nodoka," Joram then turned to the woman that looked so much like Monica, though now that he had time to look at her, more like Elanya. That was something to think about another time though. "You can use this sword in the mean time. It's nothing special, but it is well made." Joram said as he took out a katana from his shoulder satchel. None of them really blinked and eye at that, which kind of surprised him.
"Thank you Joram." Nodoka said graciously. "But I cannot accept a blade until the one that was broken is re-forged."
"Well then you can use it for our sparring sessions then." Joram said decisively and handed her the sword. "Ranma, when can you begin training Asuza?" Joram asked as he turned to the young man that only looked a year or two younger than him.
"I guess we can train before and after school." Ranma said as he scratched the back of his head.
"Though you cannot teach her any of the Amazon techniques that you have learned from me." Cologne said from where she sat. Joram turned and regarded her form a moment before shrugging at the same time as Ranma.
"Whatever." Again both said it at the same time and both looked at the other.
"Oh how nice. You both should get along quite well if you think that much alike." Kasumi said from where she was passing out cookies for everyone. While Ranma looked a wee bit annoyed Joram just laughed.
Switch Scene; The next Day
"I'm glad we could all gather here today to discuss this emergency that our Princess doesn't even want to consider." Setsuna said from the head of the dining room table at Haruka and Michiru's house. Those gathered, on the left from where Setsuna sat, was Mamoru, and on the right were Haruka and Michiru.
Mamoru didn't look all too pleased today though. Usagi had opted to go out with Makoto, Ami, Minako and Rei to look for that Joram character. Their objective wasn't the one he would have chosen. Quite frankly it was about the last one he would have ever thought of…. Grrr.
"We are here to come up with a way to get rid of this Joram character. Because of him Crystal Tokyo has been altered beyond recognition and I can't even be certain that Princess Serenity even rules there." Setsuna said from where she sat.
"How can get rid of him though? I ran him through with my cane and he still nearly killed me." Mamoru said from where he sat. "Usagi even wants to protect him. So what can we do?"
"It's not that he's only powerful, and he certainly is powerful, but he had the protection of a goddess." Setsuna said and all those gathered gasped in surprise. Well, not Michiru. Hotaru had warned her about continuing against Joram.
"How are we to fight against that!" Mamoru demanded heatedly from where he sat on the edge of his chair. He didn't look good these days. It looked as though he hadn't been sleeping all that well or all that frequently.
"This is my plan." Setsuna said as she leaned forward slightly, a glint in her eye.
Switch Scene
"Hotaru?"
Hotaru turned to regard the woman in black that was walking beside her down the street, but who only she could see. "What is it Katreen-sama?" Hotaru asked as she once again began to look where she was walking. She didn't want to bump into anyone after all.
"I don't think the warning I gave Pluto the other day quite sank in." Katreen said in a conversational tone of voice as she walked with her earthly agent.
"She is quite stubborn." Hotaru offered.
"Yes, but this time she could get more than a little hurt. I honestly don't want to see her get killed. And if she does get killed I don't think Joram will be all too inclined to bring her back." Katreen continued conversationally. "Or he may do worse than kill her if she does something particularly bad."
"What could he do to her that would be worse than killing her?" Hotaru asked after waiting for a group of girls from her high school to pass them by. None of them liked her to begin with, and if they saw her talking to herself she would have problems for the next month.
"He could either seal her powers, or remove them completely." Katreen said seriously.
"How could he do that?" Hotaru demanded, completely shocked.
"He's not from your time, remember? He grew up in a time when things were a lot different from what they are now, or even in the Silver Millennium. His time was a time of magic, mystery, danger and uncertainty. In some ways the people of his time were way more advanced than the people of this time. Back then they focussed on self improvement for power, either through the mind and body, or that of magic. He devoted his time to studying it all, and he's lived from a couple hundred years already." Katreen paused, then added for emphasis: "And he is my avatar."
"That's true. I did warn Michiru mama to stay away from him, but Haruka papa didn't want to listen. She's even more stubborn than Michiru is."
"I know, and that's why I want you to go and warn them one last time. The only reason why he spared Mamoru was because of Usagi. He doesn't have a problem killing those that are trying to kill him." Katreen said as they stopped in front of Hotaru's house, the house that was currently housing the conspirators. "One thing that might save them though is the fact that he is curious." Hotaru gave Katreen a questioning glance as she opened the front gate. "He usually tries to first find out why they want to kill him before he acts." Katreen said as she began to fade like mist in the wind.
"Always dramatic." Hotaru murmured to herself as he approached the house and wondered what she was going to say to the conspirators.
Switch Scene
"That's pretty daring." Michiru said from where she now stood beside Haruka. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. From what she could remember, and she could remember a lot from her life during the Silver Millennium, what Pluto proposed was a major violation of her entrusted powers. "But it could very well work…."
"Can you do it though?" Mamoru asked while leaning back in his chair. He seemed more calm and collected now. As though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"I believe that it is quite possible to do." Setsuna said from behind steepled fingers. "I-" She cut off as she heard the front door open. A moment later Hotaru walked in. Setsuna was always amazed when she saw the young girl. Not too long ago she had been just a baby. They had thought that she would stop growing at her accelerated rate when she reached the physical age of when she had used her Death Reborn Revolution, but she had continued to mature a few years past that to the point of being about the same age, physically, as Usagi and her friends.
"Hey guys." She said as way of greeting. "How's the plotting going?" Everyone that had gathered face faulted either onto the floor or onto the table, depending where they were situated. Mamoru wound up with a large line across his face from where he contacted the edge of the table.
"Why would you say something like that?" Haruka asked as she got up.
"It's written all over your faces." Hotaru replied, enjoying the minor panic that could be seen in their eyes. It's not that she was sadistic or anything. It's just that they were going against the wishes of her goddess, who just so happened to be her best friend.
No one knew that she had spent most of her childhood in the company of Katreen. When she was a baby and couldn't express herself the way her grown up mind wanted Katreen was there to listen and comfort her when she needed it. She had been there whenever she had needed someone to talk to, especially when she couldn't talk to Haruka or Michiru. She loved those two like her own parents, but she needed someone else to confide in as well. Katreen had been that person. Katreen had even gone so far as to help her understand her powers a lot better, and especially how to control them. Katreen had even told her of the Saturn kingdom and how it was set up. That had been somewhat… enlightening, or even shocking.
"You guys should really stop all this nonsense before someone really gets hurt." Hotaru said earnestly.
"Hotaru! That's enough!" Haruka said from the table as she smacked her hand down on the table, resulting in a very loud smacking sound. Michiru put her hand on Haruka's shoulder to quiet her.
"What makes you think anyone is going to get hurt?" Michiru asked in that kind voice of hers.
"He's her Avatar." She said slowly, trying to emphasize every word. "Do you have any idea what that means?" She asked of those gathered. "You could consider me a subordinate to Joram." She added to get her point across. That gave them pause. She didn't bother to tell them that if they were to be compared, she would be the grenade, and he would be the high powered sniper rifle. Both are effective, but each has their own applications.
Switch Scene
Katreen felt a slight twinge of regret, very small, for having told a small lie. Joram didn't have any remorse killing any of the evil races; goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, orcs, ogres, trolls, and such. He did, though, have problems killing humans, elves, dwarves, halflings and the like. He had a tendency to try and talk things out. Admittedly enough it did work from time to time, but mostly not. That tendency happened to have cost him many points along the way, not that she minded though. That just meant that she could see him more frequently...
Katreen sighed out loud as she walked through the halls of her keep. She smiled to herself as she remembered the first time Joram had come to this place. He had been the first human to see it as it was, not as he had wanted it to be. Come to think of it, there had only been one other who had seen it for what it was. Ever.
Again she sighed out loud. Maybe she shouldn't have warned that woman again; that way she could see Joram again sooner than she normally would be able to. That is if he wasn't paying enough attention again...
Switch Scene
"Could you please sit still for more than two minutes?" Joram asked in exasperation as he tried to remain patient. It wasn't easy though. Asuza kept on fidgeting about, which made it much more difficult to get this physical exam over and done with.
"How can I? You're tickling me!" Asuza responded with an attempted finger jab to Joram's ribs. Said finger was caught though and placed, along with the rest of her hand, on her knee.
"Could you please sit still? This will only take another ten minutes. That's it, nothing else, no more worries." Joram trying very hard to stay calm and collected. He even tried to give one of his winning smiles, but it didn't quite have the usual effect of winning the person over.
"Could you stop smiling at me like that? It's really creepy." Asuza said from her spot on the floor right in front of Joram. Joram re-focussed on her and dropped his smile right away. Her hand was beginning to twitch. "Ok, fine! I'll sit still for ten minutes, no more!" She said in that tone of voice that women used when they would brook no more nonsense. She then re-positioned herself so that she, almost perfectly, imitated a statue of Buda. This was, of course, lost on Joram; having missed the whole Buddhist thing due to his jaunt through time.
"Ok, ok. I got it. I'll do it with my eyes closed, that way you don't have to worry about me staring at you." Joram said as he extracted himself from his hole and once again sat down in front of Asuza.
"How are you going to do it with your eyes closed?" Asuza asked with scorn in her voice to hide the interest she didn't want to show.
"With my chakra of course." Joram said with a smile as he closed his eyes and placed his left hand on her forehead and his right hand over her heart. "Your heart rate has increased. Try and calm it by taking deep, long breaths-." Joram was interrupted from saying the rest by a fist to the face that embedded him in the dojo wall, twelve feet away.
"That hurt you know." Joram said, unintentionally mimicking Kuno to a tee.
"Touching my…. Your hand…. Aaarrrraaaaaagghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
'What on earth did I do now?' Joram asked himself as he watched as Asuza got to her feet and began to charge at him, fist ready for another blow. Joram watched as though the scene before him were playing at a fraction of the speed it should. He noticed her poor form in the attack itself; how her arm was cocked at the wrong angle, and that her centre of balance was way off. For some reason, though, her face was all red. Maybe it was just her blood pressure going through the roof.
So Joram sat and watched as Asuza came closer and, when the time was just right, tilted his head to the right to avoid the almost surely fatal punch. What he didn't expect though was for the wall to explode.
Joram had a long second and a half to reflect on what had just happened as he and Asuza sailed through the air. 'Ok. Fist flying at me, tilted head….' Was what Joram pondered as he flew but was again interrupted, that was really starting to get on his nerves, by the approach of the floor.
Unfortunately there seemed to be something interfering with the movement of his shoulder, and as a result prevented him from rolling with the fall and landed hard on his shoulder that wasn't responding. The pain upon impact was nothing less than… exquisite. Pained seemed to blossom like a sky rose that the gnomes would send up at special times of the year; large and bright. One good thing that seemed to struggle its way through the pain to show itself was the fact that he hadn't landed on Asuza. Unfortunately, Asuza was still conscious and regarding him with a look that could wither a cactus. It was odd what you thought of as someone was trying their best to do you serious bodily harm. Then her eyes went wide with shock as she focussed her attention behind him. That was when Joram identified that nagging feeling in the back of his head; it was his danger sense. Too late.
Joram found himself in that familiar grey landscape that surrounded Katreen's castle. He sighed. What had managed to send him here this time he wondered? With a sigh he began to run to the castle, not wanting to even waste the fraction of a fraction of a second it would take him to walk to the castle in "real" time.
Switch Scene
Asuza was astonished at what just happened. She could have sworn she was about to pulverize that jerk, but his just seemed to tilt his head to the side and avoided her punch completely. Then, inexplicably, the wall exploded as she hit it, sending them both flying through the air. She was somewhat glad that Joram had managed to take hold of her in the air. Unfortunately, there seemed to be many unfortunate things occurring these past few seconds, Joram didn't react fast enough and they both landed hard and rolled half a dozen feet.
When her world stopped spinning, she once again opened her eyes. Joram was laying there on the floor only a few feet away on his side looking dazed, a large piece of wallboard sticking through his shoulder, blood trickling down onto the dojo floor. Some movement behind him caught her attention.
A massive man made of metal was approaching, each step breaking though the floor of the dojo with a loud snapping/crunching sound. By the time she could react to it, it was already standing over Joram, sword raised. Joram seemed to sense something, for his face took on a surprised look a second before the monstrosity thrust its sword through his torso, entering his right ribcage and going all the way through. Asuza then did the most logical thing she could think of; she closed her eyes and screamed as loudly as she could.
Even while screaming she could still hear the sickening sound of the monster's sword being withdrawn from Joram's lifeless body. She then opened her eyes and saw the thing once again raise it's sword for another blow. Why it did so was beyond her; Joram was already dead.
"Mouko Takabisha!" Asuza turned her head quickly to the side to see Ranma launching some sort of ball of light at the metal monstrosity. It didn't seem to hear, but it definitely felt it. The large blast knocked the thing over to the right, tipping it off balance and sending it through the floor.
"What the hell was that thing!" Ranma demanded as he ran the rest of the way to where Asuza still lay propped up on her elbow.
"I don't know." She began to reply, then stopped as the monster stood itself up, not even a scorch mark showing on its shiny surface.
"What the hell!" Ranma once again demanded as he took up a fighting stance. The monster once again raised its sword and swung down at Joram's prone form.
Switch Scene
"You know you just lost a good twenty points, don't you?" Katreen said in her mock serious voice.
"I know, I know. Just send me back to I can do something about it, will you?" Joram replied impatiently.
"Not even a "thank you" this time?" Katreen pouted while giving him a sad look.
Joram took one look at her and cracked. "Gah, stop that!" He pleaded as he stepped close to her and gave her a hug. "You know I'm very appreciative of what you do and have done for me. I just need to get back and take care of the problem before something else happens."
"You do remember that time passes much more slowly here than back in the waking world, don't you?" She asked him, sounding a little puzzled from her spot at his shoulder.
"I know that. But you also know that I don't like to waste time, even in this realm. It also takes me a little while to get my bearings when I get back."
"Tsk." Katreen tsk'd as she pulled back slightly from his embrace. "Fine, but I would also like to give you one warning before you go." Joram raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "There seems to be a very powerful wizard after you, be careful."
"A wizard in this day and age?" Now that surprised him even more than being killed unexpectedly. "How is that possible?"
"That's all that I can say for now. Go now, and save your friends." Katreen said as she and her world faded from view.
Switch Scene
"What is that thing?" Ranma demanded as he jumped back to avoid a decapitating swing of the monster's sword, all the while nursing his broken fist. He'd tried to use his Kashu Tenshin Amaguriken on the enemy but after the first three punches his fist had shattered. Not even Ryoga had managed to harden himself as much. Though looking at the thing it did look as though it were made of solid metal. Even then, he had managed to at least dent thick steel in the past. This thing wasn't even scratched.
Motion from the corner of his eye caught his attention and so he took a quick glance over. What he saw really shouldn't have surprised him, but it did. This was just the way his luck went some days. Horribly. Another one of those metal giants made it's way through the large entrance to the dojo and was now making it's way, albeit very slow, over to them. Were the gods just mocking him some days, or what?
"Catch!" Someone yelled from the side. He reacted on instinct and caught the tossed objects in one hand and looked over to where the voice had come from. Once again he was surprised at what he saw. It was Joram standing up, in the process of tossing him something else. Ranma saw that is was a vial of some sort of blue liquid just before he caught it.
"What's this for?"
"It's heal you hand, drink it quickly!" Joram yelled back as he pulled the piece of would out of his shoulder. Ranma shuddered and uncorked the vial. The contents smelled sweet and tasty, so it wasn't through duress that he drank the fluid. Ranma was astonished at how good it felt going down, and how his hand began to set itself aright. In a mere second his hand was once again in its proper form.
"Now put those on so that you can actually do some damage to these things!" Joram yelled over as he took a vial of blue fluid and downed it in one gulp. As Ranma watched the wound in Joram's shoulder grew smaller and healed over in a matter of about two seconds. Giving himself a shake, Ranma looked at what Joram had thrown him. They looked like a set of bracers that extended up to just below the triceps and came over the back of the hand to cover the fist. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth Ranma strapped them on as fast as he could while dodging the next swing of the metal giant in front of him.
"Oh, and if it opens its mouth; get out of there as fast as you can." Joram yelled over. Ranma just muttered a little under his breath. 'What the hell were these things anyway? And how did Joram know how to fight them?'
Once Ranma had the weird bracers on he took another quick glance around the room. Sakura was in the process of scrambling out of the way and Joram had out both a katana and a wakasashi and was going all out on the first one, sending little bits of metal flying with every expert swing.
"Ha, can't let him show me up, can I?" Ranma asked himself quietly and he took another stance and waited for the giant to get within striking distance. It was odd; he'd always been a competitive person, but this Joram really seemed to bring it out in him even more than anyone else he knew. Then the metal giant came within range.
"Kashu Tenshin Amaguriken!" He yelled as he once again went on the attack. Ranma grinned as each punch impacted the monster. He hadn't even felt a twinge this time, and the metal monster now had a large indentation where most of his punches had connected.
Unfortunately it didn't seem to phase the monster very much beyond knocking it on its heels. As a result it had a good opening for an attack, and it took the opportunity presented to it by swinging diagonally down and to the left at Ranma.
Ranma realized this and instinctively raised an arm to block the blow, just realizing as the blow was millimetres away from his arm that that probably wasn't the best idea. The blow then impacted with enough force to send him flying across the room to be imbedded into the dojo wall.
As Ranma dislodged himself from the wall he marvelled at the fact his arm was still attached to the rest of his body. Heck, it wasn't even broken! The only thing that told him it had been hit at all was a slight tingling sensation right where the monster's sword had contacted. Then there was the bracer itself; not even a scratch. Ranma grinned then. This was going to be fun.
Switch Scene
He was having a good day. He'd managed to find the mole that was leaking information about his company and had added him, or rather parts of him, to his growing collection of bones and other bodily parts that came in handy for his various experiments.
He'd seen a movie a number of years back and it had really inspired him to strive to new heights. That's why he needed the body parts, namely the skin and the hair. He'd done a lot of thinking over the years on how to do it and he thought he might have come to a good conclusion. Necromancy. Such a useful sphere of magic that one. You could do so much with it.
That sphere alone had probably kept him alive long enough to get proper medical treatment after that incident…. To this day he still saw red when he thought about how he had ended up in Japan. Only very recently, due to some scrying that he had been doing, had he found out the name of the one who was responsible for is current condition. Joram.
A loud snapping sound brought him back to the present and he realized that he had snapped his pen in half and the ink was now running down his hand. With a disgusted sneer he threw the remains of his pen into the small trash can beside his large mahogany desk then took out a handkerchief and began to clean his hand off.
He paused in the process of cleaning his left hand and regarded his right hand. It was a beautiful piece of machinery. The finest to be had for sure, for he owned the most advanced robotic/ cybernetics company in Japan. Through hard work, study and a few spells here and there, he had managed to build a very strong empire for himself. Though in this day and age one couldn't simply do as he wished. One had to be subtle and patient when the time called for patience.
He had definitely learned patience these past twenty five years. And it had paid off. After much contemplation he had come to the conclusion that that Joram character must have been pulled through the rift in time as well. The only thing was, he hadn't been able to find out when exactly he would come out. Then just the other day he had felt a… ripple in time and he had known that his time for revenge was at hand.
He had even sent two of his iron golems to take care of Joram as soon as he was able to arrange for the spell. It had taken him up to today to finally pin point where Joram was hiding out. He had even managed to manipulate a strong martial artist into attacking him to see how well he could fight. Based on what he had seen though, those two golems should be more than enough.
And if not, well, he had many other creations he could send after Joram to weaken him to the point where he could go in person to finish him off. Oh, how sweet that would be. To feel the life drain out of Joram as he stood there strangling him to death…. Ooh, he'd just gotten goose bumps! This would be oh, so sweet.
Switch Scene
Ukyou couldn't believe what she was seeing. Ranma-honey was just pounding the metal giant if front of him with such ease that it almost looked laughable. It was a vivid contrast to his opening attack that had done next to nothing to the metal monstrosity. Then Joram had given Ranma those weird bracers and the tables had turned drastically. Ukyou was very glad that they had indeed turned, because if Ranma hadn't been able to do anything to it, well, the rest of them would have been completely helpless.
Then there was Joram. She had figured he was a good fighter by the way that he carried himself, but she had never thought him a swordsman. Even after the explanation he had given earlier that day she hadn't been able to wrap her head around it. And now the proof was in front of her; and what a swordsman he was! His swords were but a blur to her trained eyes. He made Kuno look like a toddler trying to copy a master of the Art. It was, quite simply, beautiful to behold.
That thought gave her pause. Of course Ran-chan was always number one in her books, but she really had to admit that Joram was, well, amazing. She wondered then; who would win in a fight if Joram used his swords? Ukyou immediately stopped that train of thought. Nothing good would happen if those two fought each other. Nothing good at all.
To help her get her mind off the unpleasant subject she decided to study how Joram fought. It was of no style that she could recognize. It was at once fluid and strong. Almost like an avalanche; it flows and can sweep anything out of its way. Or even a tidal wave. It's coming, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. It was almost frightening to behold.
Then she remembered how nice he was the first day she had met him; and how he had happened to walk by when she had been hit by that truck and had helped her. She remembered the kindness in his eyes that night and, inexplicably, the worry. No, this man was someone who you would count as lucky to be your friend. He seemed to be as loyal as Ranma, in his own way, when it came to those he cared about. And for some reason, he seemed to care about the people here.
Then Ranma caught her attention by jumping up and doing his Kashu Tenshin Amaguriken technique right to the metal giant's head. The first hundred hits smashed in the thing's face, then the next couple hundred knocked its head right off its shoulders. Ranma dropped to the ground stunned.
"I didn't mean-. I mean, I… I…" Ranma couldn't quite finish his gibbering he was so stunned and shocked. Ukyou was just as stunned. After the head had been knocked off she had been expecting a gory display, not a hollow suite of armour. It was eerie how the body, or rather suite, just stood there after its head had been knocked off.
Ranma finally got over his shock when he realized there was no blood coming out. He then crept up to the trunk of the body slowly, obviously wary of some sort of trick. In the mean time Joram was continuing his attack, sending bits of that hollow giant everywhere. The poor thing now looked as though it had been through a blender. Joram then took a moment to look back at Ranma to see how he was doing.
"Oh, you've finished already?" He asked as he dodged another clumsy swing of the metal giant. "Guess I'd better finish up, eh?" Everyone there just about face faulted. Joram didn't seem to notice as he turned back to his opponent and sheathed his wakasashi. He then spun his katana so that it was at the horizontal, tip pointed directly where the giant's heart would have been had it indeed been a living creature. Just before he thrust it in, Ukyou could have sworn that it turned a bright white. What was amazing though was that the katana made almost no noise going into the metal giant's chest.
He then did something really weird. She had only ever seen monks or shrine maidens do it. He did several hand seals. Now that wouldn't have been so odd, but he then started to glow an iron grey. As the light began to appear Joram once again took hold of his sword and pushed it in even further. As he did so the metal giant seemed to begin to glow as well, then to change. It was hard to describe how he began to change, almost like wax melting at the edges at first, then like water flowing. The whole time that was happening Ukyou was marvelling at the huge amounts of ki flowing from Joram. It was just amazing.
When the flowing and glowing of the metal ceased she was looking at a very large tanuki statue. "What do you think? Isn't he cute?" Joram asked, panting slightly. This time everyone did face fault. "I saw one of these my first day here and thought to myself; when I get a shop of my own, I'll have one of these outside of it." Joram said as he gazed fondly at the tanuki in front of him.
"How on earth did you do that?" Ukyou asked in amazement after she had picked herself up.
"Oh, the metal thing?" Joram asked as he came back to his surroundings. "I have an affinity with the earth element. It's easy once you know the trick, but it takes up a lot of chakra to do." Joram said, now starting to look a bit tired.
"That's all fine and dandy, but how're we gonna get these things out of the dojo?" Ranma asks, pointedly kicking at the head of the metal giant he's taken down, then cursing softly as his toes painfully crunched into it.
"That's a good point. Each one does weigh a couple of tonnes…." Joram mused to himself for a moment as he walked around the dojo, mindlessly kicking pieces of the metal giant to the center of the dojo where they had come from. "Sakura, be a honey and use this to collect the rest of the bits and pieces would you?" Joram asked as he tossed her a large metal staff with a metal sphere on one end the size of a cantaloupe. Everyone blinked, still not used to Joram doing a Mary Poppins. Asuza easily caught the staff and regarded Joram in a peculiar way.
"Sure, no problem." She said, then: "How?"
"It's magnetic." Was all Joram said as he pondered and continued to kick bits of metal to the center of the dojo.
Asuza once again looked at the ball tipped staff in her hands then just shrugged and went about passing the ball portion of the staff in front of her in large sweeping arcs. There were many small clanking and tinkling sounds as she made her way around the ruined dojo.
"Well, there's no choice but to add wheels." Joram concluded to himself with a self satisfied nod of his head.
"What good will wheels do? Those things broke through the floor just by walking? Nabiki asked from what remained of the door.
"That's true…." Joram admitted. "I guess we can just push them out the hole they came in from."
"What's all the commotion!" Mr Tendo demanded as he ran into the dojo and stopped dead. "My dojo!" Then he began the water works.
Joram sighed as the rest of the family came in and gathered around Mr Tendo to see what was up. Akane gasped but Kasumi just gave an "Oh, my!" before leaving; presumably to get a broom.
"You do know that this is going to cost you extra, don't you?" Nabiki then asked as she went up to examine the tanuki. "Hmm…. We could sell this to earn a bit of extra money." She commented.
"I don't know…." Joram mused. "I'm not entirely certain that the magic is gone from it yet."
"What do you mean?" Nabiki asked, backing away from the tanuki. There'd already been too many complications due to magical items in their past and she wasn't in any hurry to add another to the long list.
"Well, these things were golems. Not only are they almost impervious, but they also have a tendency to spew poisonous gas every few minutes when an enemy is around." When Joram mentioned the poisonous gas ever one in the room backed up all that much more from the tanuki.
"What are we keeping it for then?" Mr Tendo demanded Joram, attaching himself to Joram's shirt in the process.
"Well, there is the problem of them weighing a couple of tonnes." Joram began, but stopped when Mr Tendo's tears began to flow once more. "Gah! Stop that! You're a grown man, aren't you?" Joram demanded, trying to pry the vice like fingers off his shirt. At length he decided to just abandon the thing, it was ruined already anyway. So he quickly unlaced the ties on the front and dropped to the ground with his arms raised, successfully escaping.
Once free he slipped behind the distracted Mr Tendo and touched a couple of pressure points to put him to sleep for a bit. For added measure Joram even added a little chakra to the touch to make sure Mr Tendo would be out for a while. He then caught the man before he face planted into on of the holes in the floor and gave him to Akane.
"What did you do to him?" She asked, slightly worried.
"I put him to sleep. If you'd like I could teach you how to do that. I'm sure it'd save a lot of money in water damages."
Akane just gave him a blank stare. "I think you've mistaken me for my sister." He tone matched her stare to a tee. Ranma guh-fawed, but quickly covered it up with some fake coughing. He still got a mild glare from Akane.
"What?" Joram asked, slightly confused. "Anyway, could you give me a hand with this statue over here once I've put wheels on it?" Joram asked Ranma as he made his way over to the tanuki statue.
"Huh? Yeah, sure. No problem." Ranma said as he saw his mother coming. He guess that her bath had been interrupted because her hair was still held up by a towel, though she was completely dressed. She carried the sword Joram had lent her at the ready. Ranma had to resist the urge to run and hide. He sighed. It would take a while before he was once again used to being around his mother.
"What's going on here?" She demanded once she arrived. She took one look around and her eyes widened considerably, especially when she saw Joram without a shirt. "What happened?" She asked with a mixture of awe, horror, and curiosity. Joram sighed.
"How about I explain all this once I get the place cleaned up, eh?" Joram said as Asuza finished her rounds with the magnetic staff and headed over to him. It looked as though there was a good five hundred pounds of iron on the thing, but she only looked as though it were something as heavy as her school bag. Joram stared. And so did every one else.
"I'm all done. Where'd you like it put?" She asked sweetly, giving a wonderful smile that dripped sarcasm.
Joram gulped. "Guess that's one of the side effects…." He muttered to himself. Louder he said, "You can just put it over by the tanuki." Smiling, she complied by dropping it on the floor, making another hole in the process.
"Wow, you should get the floor checked. It shouldn't break like that under such a light weight." At this, Joram face faulted. "What?" Asuza asked innocently.
"Ranma, how much can you pick up?" Joram asked him once he got up.
"I don't know. A few hundred pounds?" He really didn't know; he'd never actually gone to a gym to test it.
"Ok then. Pick up that staff Sakura was using." Ranma gave him a weird look. "Please?"
"Fine, fine." Ranma said as he went over to pick up the staff. His mother was now watching the whole thing, curious as to what was going on.
Ranma reached for the staff and took hold. He gave it an experimental tug, but it didn't give an inch. Now convinced that it might be heavy he took it in both hands and heaved for all he was worth.
Pop.
Ranma fell over backwards grabbing at his lower back. "What the hell?" He asked as he lay there in pain. It felt as though he'd thrown out his back again.
"Oh my." Kasumi said yet again as she re-entered the dojo, this time referring to Ranma. Then she turned to regard Joram. "Oh my." She repeated and blushed slightly.
"Are you all right son?" Nodoka asked as she rushed to Ranma's side to see how he was doing.
"What happened here?" Ryoga asked as he came into the ruined dojo and looked around.
"How heavy is that thing?" Both Ranma and Asuza asked at the same time.
"What? This thing?" Ryoga asked as he walked over to the staff and lifted with both hands, making it look as though it weren't all that heavy at all. "I'd say it's a good five hundred pounds or so." He then dropped it back to the ground with a loud thud. "So, what happened here? Ranma lose another fight?" He goaded.
"No more than I lose to you P-chan." Ranma goaded right back, which prompted Ryoga to grab the staff in on hand this time and to take a swing at Ranma; all the while yelling how he was going to pulverize him and how much pain he was going to inflict on him to pay him back for the years of pain that Ranma had put him through. Ranma, as usual, just dodged the attacks, albeit with slightly less grace than usual, though he did goad Ryoga along the whole time. Ranma was even profiting from the extra protection the bracers gave him.
This behaviour, of course, resulted in many more holes appearing all throughout the dojo. While Nabiki was just totalling the new damages on a calculator she always kept on her for just such an occasion, Akane was starting to get mad.
"Would you to STOP IT?" Akane yelled as she pulled out her extra large mallet and used it like a five iron and knocked them both out of the dojo.
"Wow." Was all Joram could think to say at that point. "To think someone of this era could master the Dimensional Hammer is nothing short of amazing."
He remembered the legends of how the goddess of protection had granted the Dimensional Hammer as a divine gift to those women who were in trouble and called upon her name. This Akane must have been in some serious trouble, and frequently, in the past to have managed to acquire such a large mallet…. Snapping out of it Joram slowly backed away from the enraged Akane. No need to be knocked into the next city.
"So, uh, if everyone could just head inside; I'll see what I can do about repairing the place before I follow along, hey." Joram was really trying to appear non-threatening and soothing. Again, there was no need to attract the ire of one who holds the Dimensional Hammer. It still looked as though Akane wanted to club something.
"C'mon sis. No need to do more damage to the dojo." Nabiki mildly chided her younger sister as she put an arm around her to get her heading in the right direction, and to hopefully avoid any more property damage.
"Why can't they just get along?" Akane asked more to herself than anyone present.
"Don't take too long; there are things I'd still like to discuss with you before the night is out." Nodoka told Joram before she too left the dojo.
"Would you like my help removing that scrap metal since Ranma-kun is no longer here?" Asuza asked as she looked around at the place. That Ryoga had caused just about as much damage to the place as the metal giants had.
"Yeah, that would be great. Well one thing is for sure; you are now freakishly strong due to drinking a full chalice." Joram said and immediately ducked to avoid a blow to the head that could have knocked it off his shoulders.
"Well soooooooooory for being a freak! Who was the one who told me to drink it? How was I supposed to know to only take a sip?" Each question was punctuated by a swing at Joram.
"I didn't say it was a bad thing! And it's not my fault your brain translated that word that way!" Joram continued to dodge a few more swings before Asuza started to get tired. "If you'd just let me do the exam I could tell you what to expect in the future."
"Yeah, not going to let you touch me there again!" This time she tried a kick; no success.
"What are-?" Joram cut himself off then when he remembered exactly where he had placed his hand. "Those are just some pressure points that make the exam easier and more accurate! No need to try and kill me. I am a physician after all."
"What the hell kind of doctor touches a girl there?" Asuza demanded from where she stood, now too tired to do much more than breath heavily.
"The only one on the planet that had a hope in the nine hells to tell you what to expect!" Joram shot back. "For example; why your hair is starting to go all silver."
"What are you talking about?" Asuza demanded now feeling a little self conscious under Joram's scrutiny.
"Just have a look for yourself." Joram said as he pulled out a small mirror from his shoulder satchel on the floor. Noticing that he still hadn't put on another shirt he also took out one of the t-shirts his clone had purchased earlier that week.
Gibber, gibber, and some more gibber was what came from Asuza when she spotted the first few strands of silvery hair. It even had some really light blue highlights to it.
"What's happening to my hair?" She almost shrieked (by "almost", I mean she only missed it by a decibel or so). It was bad. As she was watching several more hairs began to change to that silvery colour.
"Like I said, if you'd let me examine you I could-" Joram was cut off by the vice like grip of Asuza's hand on his wrist, then shocked when she pulled his hand over to rest over her breast. She snatched his other hand and placed it on her forehead.
"Then do the exam already!" She growled.
"Let's sit down then." Joram said as he pulled away slightly so that they could do just that. The look in her eyes was frightening to behold. It burned with a feverish light that didn't look as though it would die down until it got the answers it was looking for.
"Now, breathe like this." Joram said as he demonstrated. With obvious effort Asuza regulated her breathing and mimicked Joram's perfectly. He was pleasantly surprised by this though. Usually it took a few tries to get this one down right; the timing had to be just so.
"Now close your eyes. Picture, in your mind, the starry sky at night; how it seems to go on forever. Imagine yourself in the midst of those stars. Feel how weightless you are, how every movement shifts your being." Joram continued on those kinds of images as he once again placed the tips of his fingers on the pressure points needed to do this examination effectively. He was very glad to note that she didn't hit him this time, let alone flinch.
"The universe is your mind, and your body is your soul. Feel how your soul and mind interact with each other, the connections that are there. Feel how the energies flow through your soul and mind to your body, how they change and reform into what is needed to keep your body functioning." Joram continued to drone on in hopes of getting her to center herself better. It was far easier to get a better picture of things when the patient was more centered.
He then focussed the part of his mind that he needed to regulate the chakra flows needed to thoroughly examine her. What he found at first was of no surprise. Her body was in perfect physical condition. Her body strength was enormously huge though; her bone and muscle density has increased exponentially. Again, no surprise there thanks to her display earlier.
He then checked on the rest of her system. Her health was amazing; her immune system was off the charts, as was her ability to heal. It was on par with his regenerative abilities. Her system also seemed to have… streamlined itself. Her digestive capabilities were almost as good as a dragon's, and there seemed to be no un-needed extras. That's why her hair was changing pigment; there was no reason for her body to use the extra resources to keep it dark.
Joram did some more… digging to see exactly how far reaching the changes would be. Her lung efficiency seemed to be getting better, and her stamina was already growing from the minor exertion of swinging at him for a few minutes. After several more minutes of digging he almost gasped. This was totally amazing. He had never come across a human like this before.
There was also something that he couldn't quite identify, something that was recessive but was now very prominent. It was something that he should know. Something familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it; it was too vague for the time being.
Then there was the rest of her life to consider. What would happen if she had children? Would they inherit the same abilities, or just a few? Would they get the same abilities as their siblings, or would each inherit something different? Was this the beginning of a new special bloodline? Something to be feared: or something to be cherished?
Yet again Joram's musings were interrupted by a shift in his environment. There seemed to be some sawing sounds coming from somewhere. Reluctantly he opened his eyes and just about began to laugh. Asuza had become a little too relaxed and had fallen asleep. Joram smiled to himself as he lay her down and watched her sleep for a time. Judging by her reaction to just a loch of hair changing to that odd silvery colour, she would kill him when she woke up and looked in a mirror.
Joram gave a sigh and got up. This would take considerably more chakra. But he first had to cast a warding on himself to avoid detection through scrying. He couldn't afford to take a wizard lightly, especially one that could create golems. He didn't want to endanger his new friends. "Well no more than they had already been." Joram silently amended to himself.
Through the years he had found that wizards liked to scry for people who they thought might be dangerous to them and/or their ambitions. He had himself ended the life of a couple of dozen wizards over the years, and had studied the scrying spells said wizards liked to use. So, with the help of the Hokage of his time, he had developed and perfected a jutsu that shrouded the caster; making them seem non-existent. It had come in very handy over the years, and had even saved the village once because the enemy generals couldn't find the Anbu squads after them, let alone the Hokage and most of the Juunin. Now if he could just remember how it went….
Several minutes later he finally managed to find the scroll the jutsu was recorded on and was sitting on the floor next to Asuza while he went through the jutsu in his head. It was a little more complicated than he remembered. That gave him pause. He really must be slipping if the jutsu he helped, in no small part, to create was giving him troubles. He was going to have to train!
Then he remembered the promise he'd made to re-forge the sword and heaved a sigh of resignation. He'd have to train after that was done. Or maybe he could forge the sword in that place. It would go a lot quicker, here in the real world that is. He seriously considered going there for a moment before he realized that the opening of that portal would attract any magically sensitive people for hundreds of leagues around. And that wouldn't do, especially when there was that mystery mage running around.
Joram sighed. He'd have to do it the long way. But that wasn't so bad; he'd at least get some time to practice his sword smithing techniques. And who knows? Maybe even try a new trick or two…? Joram shook his head. 'Must concentrate on the jutsu!' He silently chided himself as he once again began to study the scroll intently.
At length he rolled up the fine parchment made scroll and stood up. Joram cast his senses out yet again to scan the area for any would-be-spies. After another moment he nodded to himself; completely satisfied that they weren't being observed. It was time.
Joram performed many different hand seals so fast that it seemed his hands were a blur, chanting under his breath as he did so. After a couple of minutes of this he once again reached into his satchel and pulled out a small vial, unstoppered it, and smeared a small amount of the clear fluid across his forehead, just under the diadem, and under his eyes. Joram then replaced the cork in the vial and put it away. Several more hand seals followed then he clapped his open palms together, fingers pointed up.
With a grin he sat down, small beads of sweat forming on his brow. "Wow, that one was tricky." Joram chuckled as he sat there watching Asuza sleep. It was quite something. She could be so hot headed at times, then so very nice. As she slept though, she looked at peace. Somewhat like she did when he had watched her die….
Joram shook his head to rid himself of that unpleasant thought. She wasn't going to die again like that, especially if he had something to say about it. He would train her as he was trained those many years ago by Jirin. On second thought, maybe he would give her a slightly heavier workload. She's a lot tougher than he was when he was that young…. Jimmy! Who was he kidding? She could probably snap his arm like a twig in an arm wrestle. Well, if he wasn't using his chakra to make himself stronger she could…. Pout.
"Well now that I'm more or less hidden I should take care of things here." Joram said as he stood up and had a look around at the ruined dojo. He heaved a great sigh. Why did things have to break so frequently around him? He then once again took notice of the large metal chunks of golem left behind as well as the tanuki statue in the middle of the room; and sighed. How in the nine hells was he going to get those out of here with Asuza being asleep?
Joram's eyes lit up as he had an epiphany. They could be used as decoration! What proceeded next is too weird to put to writing, so it will only be seen as its finished product.
Switch Scene
"He disappeared." Pluto stated flatly. It had to be flat otherwise she would have shrieked, and that was just plain undignified. The guardian of the Gates of Time didn't shriek. No, never that.
"How?" Was all Sailor Uranus asked. She looked as though she too wished to do something undignified.
Sailor Pluto didn't even respond as she had the scrying mirror in front of her rewind time a few minutes or so. She stopped it as it came to Joram taking the scroll out of that satchel of his. She watched intently as he read the scroll, then rewound the scene yet again, this time taking a vantage from over his shoulder.
"What is he reading?" Sailor Neptune asked; slightly puzzled at what she was seeing. It was in no language that she could recognize. As for the diagrams; they looked to be instructions on how to do those hand seals she had seen Rei use when performing her fire readings.
"I'm not sure. It's nothing I've come across in the past ten thousand years." Pluto admitted as she studied the scroll in question. What language was that!
Then as they watched Joram do the hand seals he slowly started to get blurry, almost as though one were looking at something out of focus. Then he disappeared altogether at the end. It was so frustrating it was maddening!
"Well whatever he has done to hide himself from the unknown party that has attacked him it seems to be just as effective against us." Tuxedo Kamen said from the side. All four of them glared at the frozen image of Joram in the time mirror.
Switch Scene
"Found him!" Ami said excitedly as she jogged along, trying to keep her communicator steady as she went.
"Great! Where is he?" Makoto's voice came from the communicator quite loudly. Ami winced slightly. Makoto had been somewhat... basket case like these past few days. Especially after the news cast from a few days ago; the one where the security cameras had shown Joram taking out several bank robbers, but had also shown one of the employees being shot in the end. The most disturbing thing though had been that Joram had killed one of the bank robbers.
The huge mystery had been the footage where he had… changed while laying on the ground after the police had arrived. No one could explain it. He had gone down looking like the Joram they had know, then had gotten up looking like someone else. Then there was the fact that he had escaped from prison. The details on that one had been somewhat… sketchy. The police refused to give out any info on the matter.
So Usagi had decided to use her transformation pen to come up with a disguise so she could investigate. To everyone's surprise Usagi had actually managed to get some relevant information from the place. She had even managed to get Joram's cell footage. That had been another mystery. How had he done it?
Then there had been the forensics lab. That had been a huge mess. Her Mercury computer would have definitely picked up a spike in magic had magic indeed been used. How someone could do so much damage to a place without magic was beyond her. It was just mind boggling.
Then there was the problem of the detective in charge of Joram's case. That man seemed to be a complete fanatic. Everyone Usagi had managed to question agreed that this case had sent the Investigator off the deep end. Insp. Fuji was now obsessed with catching Joram.
Ami sighed as she came to a brief stop to catch her breath. How any one person could cause so much chaos was also beyond her.
"Ami! Where is he!" Makoto's voice yelled through the communicator. That brought Ami crashing back to the present.
"The Amazon girl, Shampoo, said that he is staying with the Tendo family in the Nerima district." Ami blurted out. "He is staying in the dojo." That was all that she was willing to say. If she told her friend that he was staying in the dojo with a very pretty woman… well, Makoto would probably explode. Makoto had been worried almost sick since Joram had taken off a few days ago. With the news cast and the fact that the police were now after him, Ami was surprised her friend hadn't developed some grey hairs yet.
"Great. We'll meet at the Crown Arcade tomorrow after school and head to the Cat Café right after that so we can get directions from Shampoo to the Tendo residence. Minako out!"
Ami stood there for a moment contemplating the situation. What was going to happen tomorrow? She pictured many things in her head then, and what she pictured wasn't good. Especially if Makoto saw that Sakura girl with Joram. She sighed.
A sudden beeping snapped her out of her dark thoughts. It was the Mercury computer. With a slight frown she took it out to see what it had detected. The display showed a map of the Nerima district along with a very bright dot marking the source of the alert. After a moment of examining the readings she just sighed. That was Joram's energy signature. What on earth was he doing now? He was generating enough life force to attract any youma in Tokyo and its suburbs. Fortunately they hadn't seen any for the past few days…. She sighed.
Ami then pressed several buttons on her communicator to start a conference call with the other Inner Scouts. No need to let the Outers know where Joram was; they didn't need another scene like Rei's temple to unfold. The repairs still hadn't been done yet, and Rei was getting more and more angry by the day because Joram still hadn't come by to fix all the damages.
"Hey guys got some news for you…."
Switch Scene
"That should do it!" Joram proclaimed as he regarded his handiwork, a huge grin plastered on his face.
End of Chapter 10
A.N. – Whew! Finally done with this chapter. Had a bit of writers block there; couldn't decide what to do with the last few pages of the story. That, and had to make a few decisions on where to take the story. Ranma is very happy with the opportunity to go back to China to yet again try and find a cure.
Ranma and his mother. I never thought Nodoka would be as heartless as try and kill her son. That's my take on it anyway.
Yes; Joram does have a villain to fight now. I had been planning on if for some time now, I just take a while to do anything. Now, the Iron Golem is indeed a formidable opponent. Some people who might know a few things about Iron Golems might be questioning how Joram did what he did to his golem…. He isn't technically using magic. Enough said.
Not sure if it's been copy righted to anything like that, but if that name hasn't been used, I'll gladly take it! Mine!
Things will get a little bit crazier in Chapter 11, so bear with me when I release it. If anyone has a list of the Sailor Senshi's Transformation names and or attacks, I would greatly appreciate it if someone sent it along in a review!
Have comments? Questions? Send along a review. If it is only to complain or to "burn", don't bother; I won't listen to you anyway.
Other than that, thanx for reading!