Disclaimer:- It is not my intention at any point in time to lay claim to the rights or privileges of the owners of Ranma-chan, or his cohorts in crime. I am but a lowly fan fiction writer. Any attempt to sue me will be found to be futile, as I am very poor. If you would like to change that fact at any point in time, please, please, please, sell me rights to Ranma half for one cent US. Okay, back to reality, I suppose it's back to the mines for me.
Author's note)- For those people waiting for an update of 'Who's a Pokemon master?' I'll have to apologise, you see I had a brainwave on that story and it kind of happened very quickly. I got excited and posted it before I knew where I was going with it. I have some tentative plans now on where to take it but it'll be slower than I like to leave people. Plus I really should finish one major project before I start several others.
Phoenix Ascension
Chapter 3K
Sachiko and her sensei stared in shock as Ranma crumpled onto the floor on the far side of the massage table the red-head not even making any attempt to break her fall. Neither of the two watching were prepared for what was happening now. After a moment of stunned silence they both rushed forwards to check on the fallen red-head.
"Sensei what did you do?" She knelt down and attempted to straighten the young woman's limbs as she supported the girls dead weight. "Ranma, Ranma, wake up! Come on, you're scaring us." Sachiko patted the girls cheek in an attempt to wake her up.
"I didn't do anything that would cause this kind of reaction." Then joined his student in staring again as Sachiko felt the weight of Ranma leave her arms, startled she glanced back from her sensei to see Ranma was floating a couple of metres off of the floor. Her feet and hands hung limply and her back was arched as if her body were supported only by the small of her back. Her body rotated around her centre of gravity as her lifeless eyes stared sightlessly at the walls.
"YESSSS!" An inhuman voice cried from her motionless lips as she spun faster increasing in momentum. Peter found he was shivering as his ki senses reacted to a new presence, it wasn't close but it seemed to be getting nearer by the moment. Then everything stopped with heart stopping suddenness, and a hissing sound announced that the approaching something was displeased for some reason. The old Reiki master shuddered again as he know that nothing good would ever make a cold sibilant sound like that. The two looked on as Ranma rose even further until she was almost touching the ceiling just before as iridescent bubble appeared and encased her in a protective ward, the three ofuda that formed the circled around the sphere at equidistant points distributing their corruscating bolts of power into the rippling blue surface.
Sachiko backed against the wall as her weirdness metre was peaked for the first time in her life. Peter Devon stared in fascination as the power in the bubble grew. The walls of the room seemed to contract painfully to his vision and then expand, no not expand explode as he watched the walls pushed back at an ever increasing speed. Everything in the surrounding rooms was pushed aside and scattered as the walls broke apart and moved further away, traveling like shrapnel carried by a cyclone ripping out the outer walls of the building and spraying them into the streets beyond.
Peter picked himself up from the floor and shook his head to clear some of the ringing that the concussive blast had carried. Sachiko was no where in sight and he began to panic. He was about to go in search of her when his attention was arrested by the sight of four pairs of huge avian wings surrounding the bubble. One of the huge creatures looked back over its shoulder past its left wing and glared at him. None of them were shorter than seven feet in height, and their wings made them seem even larger adding in some cases another couple of feet to their height. They looked like angels but unlike any angel he'd seen in a book or chapel. Forget white fluffy wings and long pure robes, these had the wings of predators. The shortest of them seemed to have the massive wings of a Condor, he'd need them if he was actually able to fly, as his body while the shortest was also the most massive, broad shoulders with arms as large as most peoples upper thigh, the wings were supported by a mass of muscle from the centre of his shoulder-blades, just like the rest. Though the others weren't as muscular they were taller, the tallest was a slender eight and a half feet in height and her wings were like the speckled feathers of a Peregrine Falcon, whereas the first was obviously built for power, she was built for speed. The other two had the wings of eagles though as he was no ornithologist he had no way of knowing which type they were. The other difference was that these were clad in pure white armour with gold trappings and a large golden eagle emblem across the chest of the one he could see across the glowing sphere of power, the armour looked kind of familiar and he wracked his brain to figure out what it reminded him of, then he recalled the pictures of Roman centurions he'd seen in history books. What he'd at first taken for skirts turned out to be tessellated leather kilts that stopped just above the knees. His senses were sent reeling as he finally managed to get some perspective on their power. He'd never seen an aura like these beings produced it shook him to the very core, he hadn't at first been able to sense the extent of their power and now he knew why. It was so simple when he came to understand that he was within their power aura and as such their strength was unreadable. The 'Angel' that had glared at him before turned back to him and asked.
"What are you still standing there for mortal; we can't save you if this gets out. We may not even be able to save the girl. Get out while you can." It turned back to the sphere and laid its hands on it to add his power to the shield. The sphere shook as another massive blow hit it.
"It's not holding, the demon is just too big!!" Mia looked up to find they still had an audience as Peters legs had frozen and he couldn't move if he tried and he was trying desperately. He was only a Reiki master and nothing he'd ever learned had prepared him to deal directly with the Kami. The decision to move was taken out of his hands when she gestured with her free hand and he found himself flying through the air, he crashed into what remained of the buildings outer wall and pin-wheeled away, thankfully unconscious. He crashed into a pile of rubble forty or so metres away to lay sprawled beside some of the other victims of the power backlash.
"Damn it Mia focus on what's important, attempting to expand shield to Category one, phase A! Initiate!" Slamming both hands to the shield he grimaced as the power was torn from his frame even as the others joined him.
"I think we might hold it for a while, damn it where's that support?" A tinny voice could be heard coming from what appeared to be a headset, something similar wouldn't have looked out of place in any modern military setting but taken together with his ancient looking armour it looked completely out of place.
"Calm yourself crackle Arias. It'll be there in t-minus three, two, one…." The remaining portion of roof disappeared as it was vaporized, the dust joining that that was already circling in the growing maelstrom of power. The room shook as another concussive blast ripped from the bubble covering the blast as their support crashed into the floor at more than supersonic speeds, the impact barely causing His knees to buckle.
"Damn it Asgaroth, get your skinny arse over here and assist!" Arias broad frame shook with the strain of holding the shield in place.
No mortal was present to see the return of the twelve foot God to the mortal plane after nearly three thousand years of self-imposed exile. His armour still shone golden in the bright sunlight even though He hadn't needed to wear it since He was last on Earth. Casting a critical eye on the scene before him he assessed what he'd need to do
"It's too late for that; if we don't shut down the nexus the next blast is going to kill someone. Whatever is happening that's a Class One Category One demon, whoever is planning this is willing to play for keeps."
"You can't take out the nexus alone man, even your father would have trouble with that."
"There's no time for this, just watch my back." With that He began to fade even as He approached the shield moving slightly out of phase with this reality He could see the pinhole of darkness that pierced the shield at its nadir (1). He'd never attempted anything like this before even if He had trained for it; He waited for the right moment. There, something traveled within the shaft of inky darkness. The sword He carried sang as it was released from its sheath and leveled at the creature now ascending towards the defenceless girl. If He missed this there wouldn't be any second chances, they would have to initiate a burn and cauterize the wound in the Pale. That would mean the mortal would die, regardless of what she carried within but that wouldn't really matter as Naha and most of the Islands of Okinawa would cease to exist along with her. He thrust the blade and almost shouted in exultation as it met resistance that would not be there if He'd missed. If He'd missed none of them would have been there, Team Alpha and most likely He Himself would have been a spreading cloud of atoms. At it was the pressure He applied was enough to keep the demon from attaining its goal. For the moment.
"Now all I've got to do is kill it." He muttered ruefully. Applying more pressure the shaft of darkness began to buckle, just not enough, the demon began to move again as it received a renewed portion of energy, it approached ever closer to the underside of the shield.
"It's not enough Asgaroth, we need help!!" The shield expanded again as the force inside increased yet again.
"Call in Team Gamma to assist." Asgaroth grunted as the demon forced its way upward once again.
"I'm on it. Control calling in assistance, Team Gamma requested for immediate deployment."
"Alpha leader request denied, Team Gamma is already deployed, Team Theta is enroute."
"Acknowledged Control, Team Theta released. Requesting ETA for Team Theta?"
"ETA at t-minus thirty seconds and counting."
"Asgaroth can you hold it for thirty seconds? Team Theta is on the way."
"I-I can't hold it, it's too strong. I don't know what it is but it's not a normal demon. I'm going to call on my priestess for aid." He closed his eyes even as he strained to hold his foe in place. "Priestess," His thought went out along a long unused link.
I hear you Lord, what do you require of me?
-Thirty thousand feet above the Pacific Ocean-
Khu Lon rested her head against her seat as she contemplated the changes in her lives. Six times she'd been reborn, five of those times she'd been born knowing all of what she'd learned in her previous lives. She was a cursed woman, not in the Jhusenkyou sense but in the fact that she was the guardian of her people not that she truly saw it as a real curse, it wasn't even that much of a burden.
Once in her youth she'd angered a God by cursing the other Elders on the Council who in their arrogance had challenged that selfsame God, they had continued the battle that had raged for a thousand years and left the once mighty nation of Amazons a ragged band of war-torn survivors, the war should have ended long before but the God was enraged by his peoples arrogance and thus swore to hunt them to the ends of the Earth. At the last the remnants of the Amazon empire had been cornered and just as Asgaroth was about to crush them the elders had hatched a desperate plan and turned to the dark arts of human sacrifice in a last ditch attempt to defeat Him. He'd known what they had planned for him and acted to eliminate them and the remainder of His people but Khu Lon the youngest and weakest of the Elders had changed his mind with her actions. In the battle that had ensued he'd killed each of the five Elders responsible for sacrificing the tribes children and brushed his hands of them.
Khu Lon had then made an error that would cost her, she'd cursed the Elders that they not be able to cross over into the next life and they'd have to wait until the end of time to be reborn. The trouble was she was too weak to actually make it stick forever and He'd made sure that she would be there to clean up the mess she'd made of that situation.
Most of her life had been a battle, carving a new home for her people and training for the day each of the Elders would break free of the paltry curse she as a mortal was able to use on them. And come they did, they each came to get their revenge on the survivors of the purge, and it had been her privilege to battle each of them and save her people from certain annihilation.
That is until the last of the Elders had been reborn into an incarnation of Saffron, instantly corrupting him and turning his purpose from being the saviour of his people to attempt to conquer those annoying Amazons that he hadn't even known were there until that final rebirth. He'd been hatched from his egg knowing that they were his people's mortal enemies and thus he had turned his gaze on them and instructed his people to crush them. That hadn't been the case though. Khu Lon had led her people to defeat them several times before the numbers of the Phoenix people dropped too low for them to even think of winning a confrontation with the Amazons. Saffron had changed the game plan then; he'd moved to crush them from without, using guile and treachery he'd caused his people to spy on the Amazons looking for a weakness.
Nothing had turned up immediately until Ranma had come along; there had been such a glaring weakness in their defences after his arrival that Saffron had formed plans to destroy the insignificant bug.
Khu Lon smirked as she considered just how badly that had blown up in Saffron's face, he hadn't really stood a chance when Ranma thought he'd lost everything that was dear to him, he'd destroyed the incarnation of Saffron and with him had died the last of the spirits of the Elders. Not that she minded missing a battle with the Phoenix, she'd have lost and she knew it all too well, which is one of the reasons why the stalemate went on as long as it did. Ranma was different than anyone she'd ever met before, where others might have given up in the face of overwhelming odds he'd persevered and managed to defeat something much more powerful than he was. Now that the Phoenix was dead the sole reason for her great granddaughter to be in Japan was void and she could return to her homeland with her new husband. Now there's no excuse for them to be in Japan they may as well return to China, in fact…. Khu Lon stilled her mind as she felt a presence that she hadn't felt in thousands of years. Asgaroth? Here? What is happening? Where is He?
Priestess?
"I hear you Lord, what do you require of me?" Xian Lon and her husband of less than twenty four hours stared at the wide eyed Matriarch as she began muttering to herself.
I require energy, I need your faith.
"I hear you my Lord, what little I have is yours." She turned to the children and met their eyes. "Join hands with me, we must make a circle. Don't ask there is not time." Without further ado she grabbed a hand from each of them and waited for them to complete the circle. "Give me your Chi children, I have need of it." Moments later she was flooded with their youthful chi, gathering what she had stored in her staff and her own massive Chi reserves together she sent it down the long unused link to her God. He sent back a feeling of gratitude which was felt by all three of them. Now that the crises had been answered they slumped back into their seats totally spent. Khu Lon opened her eyes to find they were the centre of attention as the cabin crew and other passengers had been witness to the fact that they had all glowed with their power before sending it wherever it had gone.
"Is there a problem children?" Khu Lon grated out as she made eye contact with each of those watching her. She smiled satisfied as they all turned back to what they should be doing, they were still watching she knew that but they weren't staring anymore. The old woman settled back to rest her weary eyes, she wouldn't reawaken until they touched down in Tokyo.
-Naha, 20feet above sea level-
Asgaroth watched as Team Theta arrived on the scene and gave a tiny shudder as the elite forces screwball squad arrived.
"Prepared for trouble!"
"Make it double and doubled!"
"To protect the world from annihilation!"
"To unite all people under our Heavens!"
"To embrace the goodness of truth and love!"
"To extend their reach to the stars above!"
"Misai!"
"Serlina!"
"Gervis!"
"Mareka!"
"Team Theta! Arriving at the speed of sound!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"Mareka! THAT'S RIGHT!"
"Can it you goof-balls and get over here I don't know how much longer we can hold it!" 'Damn it why'd it have to be these four anime watching otaku?' Arias thought to himself.
Mareka raised an auburn eyebrow as she surveyed the wreckage that had once been 'Cutie Rabbit Bun-buns Beauty parlour'. "Oooh nice mess you guys made of the place."
"Shuttup! You three come 'ere. Mareka assist Asgaroth." Arias directed his forces where he felt they needed to be.
"No! Everyone stay with the shield, my help is on the way." Even as He spoke his plea to His priestess was answered. The Amazons God smiled as he felt her faith was undiminished even though she had not heard from Him in over three thousand years. Faith seemed like such a frail source of energy but for a God it acted as an amplifier to their innate power. Whereas before He struggled to hold back the demon now His blade bit into the shaft of dark energy as Asgaroth poured his renewed reserves into the fray.
Several of the Valkyrie turned to watch as they felt the power surge. "What on Earth was that, and where'd it come from?"
"My Priestess has answered my need." He grinned ferociously as the sword slid further; the tip touched the demon and drew forth a scream of outrage as the positive energy began to tear at it.
"What are you talking about Asgaroth; you can't break the Covenant by actively recruiting a priesthood. You know this!"
"It is of no concern to me. My Priestess predates the Covenant by a thousand years." He laughed as His power surged even more. The sword drove into the demon and He watched in satisfaction as parts of the negative plane creature began to explode as the sword finally slid completely through the hell beast. As the sword slid out the other side Asgaroth was forced to take a step forward to regain His balance as all resistance disappeared.
"Control? Demon Nexus has been terminated." The Amazons God was breathing heavily even as he laughed weakly. Crouching down He relaxed for the first time since arriving on the scene, looking around He had to agree with Mareka the place was a mess for a couple hundred metres in any direction He chose to look. Checking around He was surprised to find that most of the mortals that had been in the vicinity had made it to some form of safety and of those that had failed there were very few serious injuries. There'd be serious words with Mia about her handling of the Reiki master Peter Devon when they were debriefed later on. He smiled as he heard Controls answer to His report and then frowned as they continued.
"That's an affirmative, one Mother grade Class One Category One demon has been vanquished. Caution, Control reads a second demon signature now that the Mothers presence is gone. We are unable to pinpoint its location from here though." Asgaroth's head swivelled as he tried to locate the demon. There! He turned towards the shield they'd been holding and felt His eyes widen as….
Mia had been straining, the shield was holding but the demon presence was stronger than they'd thought possible when they'd first been assigned this task. Nothing ever went according to plan though so she would shoulder her share of the strain and hope that the reinforcements they had requested would arrive in time to be of aid. Barring anything better to do she watched as the young red-head continued to be suspended above the ground by the force of the shield, 'Pretty young thing isn't she, I wonder what the demons want with her? Bit of a tomboy though, what with the way she's dressed.' She bunched her shoulders as she resisted another surge of power from the demon. 'Hmmm calluses on her hands must be some kind of artist maybe, or she could be a martial artist.' The angel smirked for a moment, 'Oh yeah like that's likely.' Looking back she found the figure had stopped spinning slowly around her axis and was looking directly at her, there was nothing human in the eyes that she could see, but such a pretty colour. She could vaguely hear the taskforce commander reporting the termination of the demon in the background. Smiling she thought to herself. 'I wish I had eyes like that.'
The arrival of team Theta in the middle of her ruminations had allowed Alpha team to relax a little as the pressure was relieved and they managed to contract the shield back to its original size and intensity. Several of the team sighed in relief as they heard Asgaroth give His report a few moments later on the demise of the demon nexus, they had a few moments to celebrate another successful mission before things went sour.
Mia was bound to rue her earlier thought as the girls eyes changed before her. The tiny black pupils expanded like a whirlpool of darkness as they engulfed the iris, not stopping there the blackness bled out into the whites of the young girl's eyes until there was nothing left of the original colours, and then as if they were eyes opening, an intense emerald coloured light appeared where the pupils had once been. Pandemonium broke out as the rest of the team felt the change in the one they were trying to protect and tried desperately to reorient the shield to resist attack from within, it was no longer a matter of the girl needing protection, now they needed it. Mia would have been swearing and telling everyone what she was seeing but she wasn't given either the time or a chance. Black energy snapped out from the girls eyes and smashed through the flimsy shield and into her chest. The young warrior from Team Alpha was flung back violently in a cloud of feathers as the beam engulfed her, and began shredding her, she would have screamed in agony but she couldn't make her lungs work through the pain. Then she knew nothing as it became too much for her, Control picking up on her vital signs pulled her back for treatment.
As the downed angel disappeared the attack was suspended and the girl they'd come to save started to turn towards another of the angels. The only proof that Mia had been there was the cloud of feathers that was slowly settling around the bloody remains of her left wing.
"Control we need an exorcist immediately. The demon is inside the victim, I repeat the target has been possessed!"
"Reading you loud and clear, exorcist has been on standby and will arrive in three, two, one." There was a bright flash that didn't fade as the remaining members of the taskforce beheld the arrival of a Class One Category one Unrestricted Goddess. The demon within had lined up its second victim and released its energy which splashed harmlessly against the inside of the hastily reconfigured shield.
"Xeras is onsite, commencing exorcism." She turned to the brightly glowing shield and commanded. "Drop the shield and back away, I'll take it from here." Lining herself up with the place the demon was attacking in a bid to gain its freedom she gave a slight nod and braced herself as the rippling blue sphere ceased to exist. The beams of dark energy slammed into Her cupped hands and dissipated. She blinked for a moment as she assessed the power level of the attack.
"Ah! You're just a baby. What are you doing this far from the crèche? Asgaroth what's your take on this?"
"It seems you're right Xeras, it's truly weak." He shrugged after a moment, "Well that's a good thing. Control, suggesting the withdrawal of Team Alpha and Theta. We'll be needing a reclamation team in here as soon as possible, the place is a mess." Asgaroth produced a giant sweat drop as He watched Xeras cooing at the young girl they'd come to save, then blinked as she stopped a second beam attack from striking Her.
"That's enough! Don't make me come in there; you wouldn't like to make me angry now would you?" She gestured with the hand that had stopped the demons attack, making a curling motion as if She were scooping something up and then pulled the hand back. Suspended from her fingertips was a small black figure that appeared to be made of oily smoke, it gradually resolved itself into a kitten form a father large kitten.
"Well I'll be, it's a Neko demon." True enough the demon that had lain semi-dormant within Ranma since he'd been trained in the Neko-ken was indeed just a kitten, it should have matured by now but there was something in the aura of the innocent and naïve martial artist that kept that from happening. On the ground the kitten would have stood about two feet tall at the shoulder, the body had the blocky muscular appearance of a boxer dog, powerful shoulder supported the fore limbs, they had human seeming hands but the very tips held sharp black claws. The rear legs were slightly shorter than those at the front and were those of a cat, large padded and also claw tipped, a less embarrassed observer would note the creatures sex as female if they checked under the stub of tail that remained. It would stand on all fours but it seemed that the skeleton was formed to become upright as the form gained strength and maturity. The creatures head was incongruous with the rest of its body, the head seemed to be extremely kitten like in a way that no one would ever call cute, if just slightly longer from muzzle to back of head than was standard for a cat, its ears like those of a lynx sat to either side of its head and framed the flaming emerald eyes that gazed with demonic intensity at the world beyond. Down either side of the Neko demons muzzle would be seen flashes of ivory as its fangs glinted in the light of the sun as they stretched past the lower lip by centimetres. The creature seemed to be made of smoke, but that was an effect of its fur, which formed tight spirals of smoky grey hair not unlike that seen on Cornish Rex(2). The hair seemed to float independently of any breeze and that was what gave the appearance of it being insubstantial as smoke.
"Oh isn't it cute!" Asgaroth looked at the Goddess in surprise as She gushed like a little girl. "Can I keep him?"
"No you can't, you know the rules. Besides that thing took out Mia before you arrived, she's in intensive care at the moment, and while they may be able to reattach the wing there's no way she'll ever fly again. You know what that means. I know we have to return it, but I say we return it spayed so we wont have to worry about the next generation of Neko demon." The kitten eyed the God with very intent eyes as it hissed in displeasure at the concept just discussed
"Oh alright you meanie, but just so you know I'm not happy with you. I hope Mia will be alright, it's not easy to lose the thing you love. Maybe it's for the best though, she really wasn't cut out for a combat team. She had too much compassion, and now she has an excuse to discover other talents."
"Look thanks for the assist Xeras, but if I'd known it was that young I would have handled it myself. That'll teach me to make assumptions based on what I've already dealt with." He looked over the Goddesses shoulder at the still suspended girl and motioned until she was back on solid ground. "We'd better make sure there's nothing else in there."
"I can assure you that I've already checked and there isn't." Xeras stomped her foot in mild ire at the slur on her alibility. The Neko hissed again as it swung in her grasp.
"That's good to know, but if I'm reading things correctly then that demon has been in there for more than a decade. I want to know how the monitoring stations missed it."
"Hmm that's actually a good question; they're not usually that careless."
"My thought exactly, so we'll need to examine the situation very closely and find out how it was done."
"Control I need the file for one Ranma formerly of the Saotome Clan. Focus on the period between ten and fourteen years ago. Focus on the keyword Neko. We'll be returning as soon as the reclamation squads are here" Turning back to her partner she asked him. "Are you sure I can't keep it?" She was watching fondly as it played with Her. Asgaroth must have been watching something else as all He saw was a spirited attempt by the Neko demon to gnaw her hand off and or tear out Her wrist with its back paws.
"Um I'm pretty sure O-Kami-Sama won't allow it, but you can always ask I suppose." He'd do almost anything to head off the dreaded Pouting Goddess Attack. Imagine the standard puppy dog eyes attack and multiply it by a factor of at least a hundred, Goddesses are much more potent than the average woman.
"Right, right, I'm sure that's all very important…" Both of the deities turned in surprise at the lightly amused tone of voice that addressed them as they hadn't felt anything approach them. "Xeras if you'd turn that adorable little kitten over to administration as soon as possible please, and remember don't get too attached to it as they'll be returning it to the Dark Lords crèche as soon as possible."
"Oh I'm sorry I forgot about you. Control, sending Neko demon to containment now." The cats eyes flared as it yowled in distress before disappearing in a flash of bright light.
"What are you doing here?" Asgaroth folded His arms across His massive chest as he regarded the latest arrival, He was possibly the most bizarre creature to appear in 'Cutie Rabbit Bun Buns' that day. He was quite tall somewhere between nine and ten feet and had the slender athletic frame of the long distance runner. In fact his was the form that all long distance runners aspired to, slender to cut down on wind resistance, with lean whip-chord muscles that told not only of speed and power, but also of endurance. His frame told those that saw him that he could run faster than the wind, and as long as the Earth turned. That wasn't what made his appearance strange though, it was the fact that he was wearing a bright red singlet and pair of shorts, he had a red sweat band above his eyes which held his sunglasses in place amongst the golden locks of his hair. On his feet were a pair of the most lurid red running shoes ever seen on any plane of existence, and their appearance wasn't improved by the fact that they had tiny golden wings attached to either side of them. Anyone looking closer might have noticed that they weren't part of the shoe but part of Him that was slotted through the slit in the side of the joggers. One thing tied the clothes together other than the colour, it was the fact that they were all Nike brand goods. He'd once been heard to say that He'd wear Mercury brand sports gear but the name was too long to make a catchy brand-name.
"I was asked, don't you know. O-Kami-Sama felt it would be a good thing for there to be someone to explain things to our young friend here. Seems he's owed an apology or some such and I've been deemed expendable if he goes ballistic." He gestured down at the still sleeping form of Ranma, who for an attractive young girl could certainly snore with the worst of them. The unnamed beings tone of voice still sounded as if it was greatly amused with the whole situation in general, but this particular part of it was even more amusing and He couldn't believe how much fun He was having.
"Expendable? Uh-huh, I can agree with that. So really, why you?" Xeras wasn't buying it for a second.
"Well I don't mean to brag and all, but I volunteered, as it were. So why don't you two just trot along and make way for the clean-up crew? Hmm, Mareka was right Asgaroth, you and your team do quality work, I've seen war torn cities that had less damage than this. Now why don't you run along like good little children and play?"
Asgaroth stood glaring daggers at the man before Him, 'Oooh one of these days…'
The man turned back to them and raised a brow even as His eyes flashed with lightning. "I SAID GO PLAY!" He managed to loom over them even though He was shorter than either of them. Neither of the deities was willing to admit they had been intimidated in any way but they weren't slow in backing down and making ready to depart either.
"Alright, but just so you know you haven't heard the last of this."
"What..ever!" The big man made a dismissive gesture with His hand as He turned back to the young girl sprawled in-elegantly across the tiled floor. Reaching down His hand He covered her eyes and murmured a few syllables to the air before disappearing.
-Elsewhere-
Ranma groaned in protest as he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. Patting himself down in his normal start up mode he discovered that nothing had changed and he was still currently a she all bumps and curves present and accounted for. For that he just had to groan again, after all anyone who hurt as much as he did should get some kind of reward or something at least.
"Ah man, what happened." She sat up on the massage table and took stock of her surroundings. Still in the beauty parlour, fully clothed. 'Where're Devon sensei and Sachiko?'
Ranma groaned again as she levered her legs over the side of the table and allowed them to fall to the floor. "Ouch!" Well that hurt more than it should. He ran through the last things he remembered, 'That's right Devon-sensei was showing us an advanced Reiki technique, and now I'm opening my eyes up and hurting all over. Man I dunno what it was but I don't wanna feel it again.' She breathed in gently and then out, it took a couple of moments for her to realise there was something drastically wrong, there was no other noise, not even the usual white noise that was the background to everyday living in a city. Casting out with her ki senses she tried to find out where everyone was but only managed to find one ki signature, and she sure as hell didn't recognise it either.
The door seemed to be miles away as the young martial artist considered just how in hell he was going to convince his aching body to make it. Never let it be said that a little pain defeated Ranma, or a lot of pain as the case may be, she gritted her teeth and slid her best foot forward, 'Alright now the other one. Who is that? Sure doesn't believe in making things easy does he? I wonder what's going on, I still can't feel anyone other than him.'
"There, made it. See didn't hurt a bit." She bit back a grimace as she reached for the door handle. 'Okay maybe just a little.' She would have snorted in derision at her internal monologue but stopped herself because she knew that would be a painful lesson in irony. The handle gave way and the door swung open as Ranma tried to stop herself from falling on her backside. A couple of minutes of deep breathing and all seemed right with the world, at least until she began to move out into the beauty parlours foyer.
"Ah there you are! Would you like a hand, you seem a little peaky to me." Ranma looked up at the large man sitting on one of the leather couches in the waiting room. Ranma watched the man warily as she was currently in no shape to take on anyone, even if they did appear to be weedy, okay that wasn't quite right, there was plenty of muscle on the mans frame and from the way he was sitting in the chair he was taller than she'd first credited
"Yeah I'm just fine and peachy, so what do you want." Ranma straightened her shoulders and suppressed the wince as muscles she knew she had but currently wished she didn't protested the movement.
"I like it! Such bravado, so much machismo you can almost smell it. Settle petal, I mean you no harm. Not that there's much you could do about it in your present state even if I did. And as for what you thought earlier you're right I'm not going to make anything easier on you. So sit down and listen while I fill you in on a few facts." He gestured with an offhand motion towards another of the comfy looking chairs. Then sighed as she didn't move. "Alright, let's get it over with. What's the problem?" He eyed the martial artist in front of him as she prepared the best defence her battered body could.
"You said you don't mean me any harm. No one I meet like this means me no harm, so you'd better come clean."
"Or what exactly, you're going to clean my clock perhaps. You're only just barely standing up at the moment so do us all a favour and can the theatrics. Sit down and I'll tell you why I'm here, and what I hope to be the outcome of our meeting."
"Fine mumble , I'm sitting already mumble …" She tried to find an easy and pain free way to lower herself down into the low slung seat and finally gave up. Relaxing her knees she dropped the final few inches and grunted as stars flashed across her eyesight.
"And so graciously too I might add. Now Ranma, I can call you that can't I?"
"Yeah, sure, whatever."
"I'd introduce myself but to be honest that's not as important as you might think. I can see that a name is important to you so for the time being you can call me Mercury. What? I'll have you know that Mercury's a fine name."(2)
"Right….and who are you really."
"As I said the name is Mercury, not that I'd expect you to know much about it, you coming from Japan and all. That's all beside the point anyway, I've been sent here to explain what's happened to you and why, and what is going to happen in potentia. That means I can't tell you what is going to happen but I can tell you some of the things that might happen, you follow?"
"Yes, alright already. For someone who's supposed to be fillin' me in you sure say a lot of nothing."
"Hmm, tough sell I see. So to get back to you, I've been reading your file and I see the most commonly asked question you have is 'Why me?' Usually screamed at the sky I might add. There are four hundred and seventeen cases of that question so far. So we'll start with that. The answer is 'Why not you?'" Ranma just sat and blinked a few times at him.
"That's it? That's what you came here to tell me? And by the way what's goin' on here? You're the only thing I can sense anywhere."
"This? This is your dreamscape, but it's not a dream."
"Oh like that's helpful. Why don't you just give me a straight answer?"
"That was a straight answer. This is your dreamscape. The thing is I took control of it, basically because dreams tend to be chaotic and I didn't want to be dealing with the workings of you subconscious mind. Not that I'd mind seeing a few naked Yumi's running around."
"You Hentai!"
"Oh don't pin it on me, it's your subconscious, Mr. I'm so pure and innocent."
"Erk!"
"And as to the other, well that's not exactly true, there's more to it than 'Why not you?' It's a matter of where to start."
"Try at the beginning and work from there."
"From the beginning you say? Okay if you insist. In the beginning there was the Void. Standard creation myth don't you know?"
"Yeah but what's that got to do with me?"
"Not really as much as you'd like to think, but there are some points in here that might interest you. So there was the Void and then there was O-Kami-Sama, which came first the Void or O-Kami? No one knows and it's not important, what is important is that He had two siblings there also. For all intents and purposes they're triplets, they all look alike. As is the case with many identical siblings the similarities were all on the outside, their internal ideologies were about as far apart as they could possible get. O-Kami believed in Chaos, not the kind that destroys things but the kind that leads to change and freedom of choice. His brother the Dark Lord believed in Order and the third sibling who remains named It till this day didn't care enough to state an opinion other than thinking His siblings were idiots and went off to sulk."
"It? Dark Lord?"
"Well yes that's what we call them, all three of them are beyond the ken of mortals, and as such they have many names. Their true names are incomprehensible to mortals and also unpronounceable as the human voice box doesn't have enough range to cover energy signatures. As for the Dark Lord espousing Order, well just think upon it more as a matter of total control. There have been many avatars of order throughout time; some of the more prominent ones were Hitler, Caesar, and Attila the Hun, as you could guess the list goes on. They all envisioned a world where man could live in peace, of course for that to come to pass you'd have to submit to their total domination as they ruled with an iron fist, but there would have been peace of a sort. O-Kami-Sama believes in Chaos, the kind that allows you to wake in the morning and decide that you're going to do something different today. That wouldn't be possible if the Dark Lord had His way, you'd only do what you were programmed to do now and forever."
"So what's all this got to do with me again?" Ranma crossed her arms in an attempt to hold in her frustration at not getting quick answers.
"Hmm, as I was saying they begged to differ on their ideologies. After they bickered for a while they decided to have a competition to see whose ideology was superior. Neither side could use the total sum of their power, so O-Kami couldn't use total chaos and the Dark Lord couldn't use total order. While they hashed out the rules their brother came back to see what was going on, and promptly left in disgust wondering why they couldn't leave well enough alone. Shhh-shhh, don't fret I'll get there eventually. I'm just filling in some detail for you. Anyway they set up their game board so to speak and rolled the dice for the very first time. Both sides won their first moves as they focused on setting up favourable conditions for themselves. The Dark Lord devised science, the ultimate rules by which the entire universe is governed, while O-Kami created magic as his ultimate tool of Chaos."
"So where's this game board?"
"My dear child you're standing on it."
"What the Earth?"
"No silly, the entire universe. Weren't you listening when I explained science?"
"….."
"Anyway things moved along, for a very long time. That was one of the first joint projects by the way. Time. They created it so that they could stop everything from happening at once though they kind of mingled their own ideas together. O-Kami saw time as a sea where you could go from shore to shore in any direction you chose while His opponent saw time as a river flowing majestically to its destination. Neither was willing to back down so they both became the truth regardless of the paradoxes they created. If you're getting a headache at this point don't worry about it, it happens to everyone."
He reached over for a glass of water and took a sip. "Now as I said time passed and they hit a bit of a stalemate. Neither side seemed to have an advantage, so O-Kami decided to up the ante and create life to which he imbued freewill. Like I said that gave things the option to evolve, adapt and hopefully overcome the conditions imposed on them by science and magic. After billions of years mankind and a number of other sentient races began to appear across a plethora of different planets and a new age was declared in the battle. Now I explained about avatars didn't I? No? Right then with the advent of life each side could choose avatars, beings that embodied the ideologies of either side. You've heard of those I mentioned for the side of Order so I'll give you some of those for the side of Chaos. Ghandi and Florence Nightingale were some; they showed mankind the right way to live and thus gave them choices that they previously couldn't see. The ultimate recent avatar was Jesus of Nazareth; he gave hope to entire nations and still does even after all this time."
"You call that recent times?"
"That depends on what timescale you're talking about doesn't it? If you take it in context against the time since the beginning of the universe then it's less than the blink of an eye."
"I suppose so."
"Still trying to figure out what this has to do with you?" At the red-heads nod He continued. "Right, I'm getting there I promise. Then there was you, if you followed your probable destiny you'd die somewhere in you nineties with a number of children from your first and second marriages and a mass of grand-children from them, you would have been a middling to good martial artist with a big mouth and an attitude to go with it. Just goes to show something's are inevitable, yes? That was all before O-Kami took an interest in you and turned you into an avatar of Chaos." He reached for his handkerchief to wipe the water that Ranma had sprayed across the room off of His face.
"Me! An avatar of the Gods? You've gotta be kiddin' me!?"
"I assure you I don't 'kid' as you put it. Now as an avatar there are certain things that happen that don't to other mortals. Firstly you get interference from the local forces of Chaos and Order; both sides try to influence your life from their point of view. On top of that there's a God and a Demon assigned to you, one makes sure that you aren't faced with too much too soon and that you fulfil your potential as an avatar. The other tries to make your life hard. As an avatar of chaos that means that the Demon was trying to make your life hell, and as your assigned God wasn't made aware that He was your assigned God, you might say that the forces of Order had free rein. The local forces for Chaos tried to care for you but they were outgunned and thus many nasty things happened to you."
"Well that would explain a few things."
"Like the Neko-ken perhaps?"
"Yeah, amongst other things. Damn stupid martial arts style."
"Let's see, the Neko-ken isn't a martial arts technique as most people think. If it were our side wouldn't have a problem with it. What it is, is an attempt by the forces of Order to sidestep the issue of magic. It didn't work the way they intended but it did enough damage that many chose not to touch magic ever again. The book, scroll or stone tablet that it's written on is actually a magical artefact. As such it reaches out for people who fit a certain profile and entices them into utilizing the technique."
"Let me guess, it looks for someone who is reckless with others, careless of the damage done to their students, and I suppose it doesn't hurt if they're stupid and greedy?" Thinking dire thoughts about his father.
"That's actually pretty close to what it looks for Ranma. Now once it finds a target it reels them in until they are in a position to use it. You'd know what that's like firsthand. What people don't realize is that there have only ever been three people who actually survived and 'learned' the technique. You were one of them. What happens when you go cat is largely shaped by your own personality, as a child you were playful and so thus was the entity that possessed you."
"Possessed me? What are you talking' about?"
"Possessed, all those cats attacking you were there to lower your defences so that a Neko demon could possess you, as you were young and playful you were taken over by a baby Neko demon and as it's only been about fourteen years, well lets say that it takes a lot longer for demons and Gods to age. As I said such a thing would normally have been spotted by your protector but He wasn't made aware of the fact He was your protector and the oversight has only recently been corrected. Another factor is such a demon possession would normally be detected by the Gods that watch over this part of the Earth in general, except for this case. You see the technique as I said draws in a corrupt individual who does something that is quite evil when he throws the trainee into the pit, so while it is noted it shows a human doing something, the technique scroll hides the rest of what is happening at the time, and so the possession of such a weak demon goes unnoticed."
"Weak, that's not how the technique is described."
"No, it's not. Let's see if I can explain it. The scroll didn't work as advertised in your case. The Neko-demon that possessed you would normally have grown at a rapid rate, it should have been in control of you right from the start, you would have appeared to go insane and as you killed more and more people the negative energy of these acts would have matured the demon, after awhile, we don't know how long it would take as we tend to find the demon first and destroy it, it would have shed you like a skin after devouring your body from within and then it would have been free to roam the Earth destroying whatever it chose."
"Why couldn't you destroy it? Why didn't it mature like you said it would? Why am I sane if it drives everyone who learns it insane?"
"Who said you're sane? No, no, I apologise that was uncalled for. Firstly we didn't know about it, can't destroy what you don't know about. How did it hide from us, well that's rather easy. You see part of the technique uses the scars you garner from the cats as a shield of sorts."
"I ain't got any scars from that, they all healed years ago."
"Yes the physical scars did indeed heal, unfortunately the psychic trauma left the kind of scars that don't show up on the outside. Only a Reiki master would see them and only then if he knew what he was looking for. I'll answer your second and third questions before I continue with this. The next question is much harder and you probably won't like it. You see when you were a mere babe still in the cradle your father used a different technique on you, I only know because I've read the files of all the people involved with you. It turns out that he hampered your mental development, if allowed to run naturally you'd mature sometime in your fifties after a lifetime of being used by your father. That technique is easy to defeat if you know what to look for, and can even be overcome by someone who doesn't know it's there. You've almost defeated it by yourself." At Ranma's quizzical look he decided to explain further. "Remember the fight with Ryoga where you powered up to four chakra? Well if the fight had gone just a little longer you'd have broken the mental conditioning. I'd suggest you power up again as soon as possible. Third question, simply put I have no idea why you weren't fully possessed, it could be your avatar status, or maybe the mental conditioning of your father, or maybe even a combination of different things, it's not really that important, you're quite sane, for someone who lives in Nerima that is."
"Alright suppose I just accept all that you've told me what happens now?"
"I'll get there don't worry. First you need to know what happened to bring me here. You see your new friend Peter Devon used an advanced Reiki technique to overcome your physical conditioning, basically he synched his ki with yours as much as possible and tricked your body into thinking it was yourself doing it. That allowed the master to pour healing ki through your muscles relaxing them, it had a side effect of also healing some of the psychic scars you had allowing Us to sense the demon for the first time. The rest as they say is history."
"Hardly, so what happened to me? I mean I've still got a demon in me an it's gonna take me over."
"That is no longer an issue, the Goddess Xeras exorcised your demon."
"You mean I'm free of the Neko-ken? Ranma winced as she straightened up too quickly for her body to handle the influx of pain
"That is correct, you've lost access to the Neko-ken, but that's really no great loss. As a side benefit you're no longer phobic of felines."
"You mean I'm not gonna scream like a girl the next time I see a cat?"
"Technically you were never actually afraid of cats."
"Huh?"
"You were actually afraid of Neko-demons which your mind saw everytime you saw a cat. This is what your mind told you was there whenever you'd see a cat." The tall man waved a hand and a replica of the Neko-demon appeared on the floor in front of Ranma.
"Gaaaaah! Get it away!" Ranma almost screamed as she backed over the chair and crouched behind it not even noticing the pain of earlier.
"Ranma, open your eyes. You aren't really afraid of this anymore you know, it's just a conditioned response now." Ranma reluctantly opened her sky blue eyes and observed the appearance of the Neko-demon.
"That thing was inside me?" She whispered in a barely audible squeak.
"Yes it was. This is an exact replica of the demon that was inside you. If it had grown as normal you wouldn't be alive and the demon would have looked something like this." The form in front of him expanded and moved to an upright position, its ears nearly brushed the ceiling. The creature also became more muscular expanding an already powerful chest, the arms and legs also appeared to have doubled in proportion to the rest of the body. Long claws extended from the tip of each finger, its back claws are fairly sharp but they're mainly for traction not fighting."
"I guess that means I should say thanks, I…"
"Thanks are unnecessary, if anything we owe you an apology. Anyway back to the story, if you'll remember there are only two sides playing the game? You might ask what happened to the third sibling?..." He paused for a moment to see if Ranma would ask about the third sibling and then gave up with a sigh. "Or maybe not. So I'll tell you anyway, the third sibling refused to play and went off to sulk just like I said. But now It's back and it wants to play, it has one goal also and that is the total destruction of the gameboard. Though It is held in check by Its siblings It makes moves such as the one that infected you with an unlimited Neko-demon. Don't ask as I won't explain what I meant be that, I will say that it has nothing to do with you now. The move has been defeated and your life should return to a semblance of normal. Meaning you're still a chaos magnet, but you're no longer an avatar of chaos. Call it recompense for all the damage that's been done to you."
"So that's it, my lifes been like hell for the past fourteen years and all I get is a thanks, so long and see ya later?"
"What would you suggest we do for you Ranma?" The tall man in front of Ranma smiled as he straightened in His seat. The cold look that entered His eyes froze Ranma where he stood.
"I'd suggest you piss off Mercury before I hand you your head." Both occupants in the room whirled to find a tall dark clad man leaning against the door jamb.
To be continued…..
Authors note)- You always suspected there were Kami laughing their heads off at poor Ranma's predicament. Well now you know the truth of it. You might ask who is that tall dark stranger who appeared from nowhere. Well you'll just have to wait for the next chapter. Lol. There's a slight Ah Megisama crossover here though you won't be seeing any of the real cast from Oh My Goddess!! It's only a cameo so don't expect Ranma to spend too much time with the Kami, it's only while he's unconscious and the cleanup crew is onsite. I think the chapter stands on its own merits, if you like it or hate it I'd like to hear why, so please review.
For those waiting for an update of 'Who's a Pokemon Master.' I have to apologise, I released a story that wasn't really ready for release yet. The update is in the works but it's going to take a few weeks possibly, or if it flows smoothly it may be out sooner. I won't set a time in concrete, it doesn't work that way for me. Imagination comes as it will, and doesn't always translate to paper as well as I hope it will. I shall persevere though and will update as soon as possible.
Nadir is the lowest point of something as opposed to the apex which is the highest point.
Mercury was the messenger of the gods in the Roman pantheon, he like many of the roman deities was stolen from the Greek pantheon where he was known as Nike. So Mercury's mode of dress is a sort of joke, i.e. he's wearing Nike brand clothes. Nuff said.