Ranma, in the heart of the crater she had just made, remained still. The final seconds of her attack colliding with Ku had been an eternity of pain that she was trying to understand. Her mind picked on every detail of Ku's attack, and her own.

Ku's blast had felt like a raging river of ice cold water when she tore through it with her own. She had been blinded by the intense light of their auras exploding around her. Ranma remembered focusing through the pain that covered her body as she shot down through that blast. She remembered seeing Ku's shadowy figure through the light and striking it in the head with everything channeling into her fist.

That moment in time is what Ranma replayed in her mind as the dust began to fall back down around her. She had struck Ku, and the demon had lost its form around her. The explosion of her chi blast blew apart the now formless mass of chi in all directions. Ranma had felt victory was in her grasp, but something happened that made her uncertain.

Ranma thought about the explosion of her chi attack against the earth. Her dragon had spiraled around her body and into Ku's formless chi. It roared as it rammed through, the black chi burning against its body.

The formless chi remained within the outer edge of the explosion, slowly pressing through it, and the dragon. Like smoke slipping through cracks, the chi passed through the dragon and Ranma felt it move into her own body, spreading the cold, numb sensation of death. Her dragon lost its own form when that happened, melting into the dissipating light of the explosion.

As Ranma's chi blast had ended, the formless chi finished passing through her. Now it hung around her with the smoke of the scorched earth, nearly disguised, but Ranma knew better. She could feel the numbness surrounding her like impending doom. She struggled against the truth trying to break through. She clung to her pride, her confidence, and her hope, but reality refused them all. The darkness fell upon her. Her attack had failed.

Ranma ½: Limitless

By: OmegaGear

Chapter XXI: Possession

Kasumi handed a fresh cup of tea to Nodoka and Nabiki as the three of them continued to wait silently. Over an hour had passed, and night had now fallen upon Nerima. The storm that passed through had made them all feel uneasy, although they all hid it from each other. The tension in the family room was thick, and none of them wanted to be the one to shatter it.

Nodoka accepted the tea with an appreciative smile, but did not break the nervous silence. It was strange to sit and wait the way they were. In the past, they had all gone through their usual daily routines whenever Ranma got into any sort of trouble. Even when he and Akane were in China facing, to them at the time, unknown dangers, they did not worry this way.

To say the least, Nodoka was very troubled. She didn't have the experience with Ranma's battles neither Kasumi nor Nabiki had, so to see them like this didn't help her own situation.

Kasumi remained composed as she sat across the table from Nodoka. She couldn't imagine what it was like for her as Ranma's mother. She already felt herself being overcome with worry, and Ranma was only her future brother-in-law, although she did care for him dearly.

Nabiki let out a quiet sigh as she looked back and forth between the two older women. It wasn't like her to worry like this, but even she could see what kind of threat Ku was. What troubled her though, was the timing of everything. Things had been progressing so well, all things considered, and now a wrench had been thrown into the gears. Ku had brought reality crashing down on the comfortable little slice of life they'd all been living.

Nabiki didn't like it when unexpected turns happened such as this. She was a calculating woman, and she didn't like the outcome of such things. She was depending on Ranma's existence as the wild card to put things right.

Nodoka looked over at Nabiki when she heard her sigh. She'd never known Nabiki to lose her cool, but here she was, looking as worried as she felt. She turned her gaze back to Kasumi, the figurative matriarch of the Tendo household. The elder daughter looked more together than she or Nabiki looked. She carried herself well.

Nodoka considered the older daughter closely and decided it was time to end the silence. "Kasumi, dear," she said.

Kasumi looked up from her cup of tea. "Yes, Auntie Saotome?"

Nodoka spoke as calmly as she could, not wanting to break down. "Is it... always like this when Ranma is facing battle?" she asked.

Kasumi was surprised by the question. She thought about it, and decided there were times when things had been similar to now. "I guess you could say that," she admitted.

Nodoka looked at her with pleading eyes. "How do you get through it?"

Kasumi felt her compassion for Nodoka's situation. The truth was, she didn't have too much trouble getting through these kinds of situations. Akane was the one that spent her time worried, and she played the part of the supportive mother figure. "To be honest, Akane's the one that spends her time worrying," she said. "We've usually just been her support."

Nodoka wasn't surprised to hear that. She had expected Akane to be that way. Anyone worthy of her son should be so devoted. "I see," she said with a weak, but sincere smile. She supposed this was why Kasumi was so collected at the moment.

Kasumi returned the smile with the best one she could manage. "Don't worry, Auntie," she said as she raised her cup. "I'm sure Ranma will be just fine," she finished and took a sip from her cup. She placed the cup on the table and stiffened when it cracked in her hands.

Everyone looked at Kasumi's cup to see a crack running along its side and tea leaking from it. An unsettling chill ran down all of their spines as they stared at the tea pooling on the table.

- x -

The storm that blanketed Nerima with rain and lightning came to an end as the dust around Ranma cleared. Akane and the others all stood and stared at Ranma crouched in the crater she had made with her attack. For a moment, there was complete silence as everyone took in what had just happened. The silence was finally broken when panda Genma growled and raised a sign, 'He did it!'

Soun was next to come to his senses and cheered. "The heir to the anything goes school is triumphant!" he yelled with a fist raised.

Shampoo meowed happily while Mousse quacked indifferently, leaving Akane as the only person, besides Ranma, to say anything.

Akane stepped to the edge of the crater and looked down at Ranma. Her fiancé had yet to move, or say anything, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Ranma was for sure exhausted, so maybe she just needed a moment to catch her breath, Akane thought. "Ranma!" she called out to her.

Ranma didn't move. She couldn't move. Her body was completely numb, and not from exhaustion. Something was wrong, and Ranma knew it as she tried to will her body to get up, but could do nothing more than cause it to shake. She had just realized her failure, and was trying desperately to regain her wits, and continue the fight.

Akane saw Ranma struggling and dropped down into the crater. She walked towards her slowly with a concerned look. "Ranma?" she asked.

Ranma managed to look up at Akane with fear stricken eyes. She suddenly realized that the smoke in the crater was slowly blowing towards her and seeping into her body. "A-Akane, get back," she gasped.

Akane stopped walking towards Ranma, but didn't retreat. "What's wrong?" she asked, now sounding nervous. Like Ranma, she had seen the surrounding smoke suddenly moving towards Ranma.

Ranma felt the smoke enter her like ice water in her veins. She clenched the dirt under her hands tightly to try to maintain control, but ever so slowly, she felt consciousness being choked from her. In the back of her mind, she began to hear an evil laugh.

Akane watched as Ranma struggled against an unseen foe. She didn't know what was happening, or what to do. "Ranma, what's happening?" she asked desperately.

Ranma struggled to breathe as the smoke filled her. Her body spasmed and convulsed from the indescribable pain that moved through her veins and pounded in her head. Her vision began to blur, and the edges began to be covered by blackness.

"Ranma!" Akane cried. She didn't like what she was seeing.

Ranma could barely hear Akane while she struggled against what was happening to her body. "Akane, get out of here," she said.

"No way!" Akane protested. "How could I leave you like this?"

Ranma looked to where Akane's voice was coming from. Through her blurred vision, all she could see was a spot of white against the darkness. "Akane," she pleaded.

Akane put her hand to her mouth and stepped back when she saw Ranma's eyes. They were completely black, and devoid of life as they looked pleadingly at her. "Ranma!" she yelled.

Akane ran to Ranma and reached for her with her hand. She grabbed Ranma's shoulder and hissed in pain before pulling her hand back. Touching Ranma's body had felt like having Ku's black chi cutting through her again.

Akane suddenly realized what was happening, and panicked. "Ranma, you have to fight it!"

Ranma could barely hear Akane as a loud ringing pierced through her ears. Her vision was nearly completely black now, and her body felt heavy with numbness. She tried to focus enough to conjure her aura, hoping it would shield her from this intrusion. She felt her heart pounding, and felt for her center pulsing with it. She found it, but it wasn't pulsing in rhythm with her heart. It was erratic, and lashing out in all directions as the blackness crept in from all directions.

Ranma tried to gain control of her center as it darted in every direction against the consuming darkness. The light of her soul lashed out at the invader, fighting as desperately as Ranma had fought Ku. It swirled around a small golden light, keeping the darkness away from it at all costs. Ranma tried again to aid it, to focus it, but she couldn't reach it through the darkness.

Akane watched Ranma and saw the same struggle between her blue aura and the invading blackness when she viewed the flow of chi in her mind's eye. She got a sense of panic as the blue stream swirled violently in the expanse of darkness. She felt compelled to help, and tried to reach for Ranma again, despite the pain she knew it would bring her. "Ranma, hang on!" she begged her.

Ranma felt Akane's hand close to her again and reacted in a way she didn't expect. Her instincts considered Akane's presence, and the invader within Ranma's body. The light of her soul also sensed these things, and suddenly exploded forth, piercing through the darkness.

Akane felt a rush of adrenaline when she saw Ranma glowing blue. She gave a faint smile of confidence that Ranma was winning her internal struggle, but was soon shown how wrong she was.

Ranma was not in control of her aura, and she knew it. She couldn't see anything anymore, but she could still feel Akane's chi, and her own. She nearly suffocated from shock when her aura lifted Akane and threw her back.

Akane yelped when Ranma's aura suddenly threw her back. She fell backwards when she landed and looked back at Ranma with confused eyes. "What are you doing?" she asked. She couldn't believe that Ranma would push her away.

Ranma didn't understand either. She didn't understand why her aura had behaved in such a way. "I don't," Ranma couldn't finish as pain shot through her chest and forced what little air there was out of her lungs. In her mind's eye, she saw her chi retreating from the darkness into a tight ball, returning to the tiny speck that represented her existence. This left her felling completely hollow, and she dropped to her knees limply as Akane cried out to her.

"Ranma!" Akane cried. She saw the redhead lurch in pain and go limp suddenly and couldn't hold it in anymore. She was shouting at the top of her lungs and attempted to run to Ranma, but found that she was being held back.

"Akane, wait!" Soun yelled as he held her back. He had seen the way Ranma's aura had thrown her back, and didn't want her going anywhere near him at the moment.

"Let me go!" she yelled.

"No! I can't let you get near him!" Soun insisted. "We don't know what's happening!"

Akane tried to break free, but found that her father's grip was too much for her battle worn muscles. She stared helplessly at Ranma kneeling on the ground. "Please, let me go," she begged. "We can't... I can't let this happen."

Soun would have normally been overjoyed to let his daughter go to Ranma's aid, but his instincts wouldn't allow it. He didn't like abandoning Ranma to fight whatever it was within him alone, but he couldn't let his daughter get hurt too. "I'm sorry, but I can't," he said, and firmed his grip.

Akane felt like crying, but held back her tears. She wouldn't cry, because that meant giving up. She wouldn't give up. She gazed at Ranma and did the only thing she could. She called out to him constantly.

Akane's voice was now a far away echo to Ranma as she fell down to her hands and knees. The darkness that covered her eyes gave way to a blinding light, and Ranma felt like she was floating.

"What is this?" Ranma asked, finding she was able to speak easily again. She looked around her surroundings, but could see nothing beyond the intense white light that flooded the space she was in. "Am I dead?" she asked out loud, suddenly worried about her situation. She then concluded there was no way she was dead. If she was, she wouldn't be a girl, she'd be a boy. Her soul had to at least be her normal form, right? "Right?" she asked nervously, as if something would have been reading her thoughts and confirm for her.

No answer came from Ranma's surroundings, and she sighed. She played through what had happened before she got to this place, but her memories were fuzzy on the matter. She couldn't make sense of the pieces she could recall, and quickly gave up on the task.

A more intense light suddenly appeared above. Ranma looked up to see a golden sphere, shining like the sun. It radiated a calming warmth, and made her feel alive. She looked up at the light, feeling like it was calling to her.

"Hmm," Ranma hummed to herself and wondered what was going on. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be heading towards any strange lights right now. She'd heard the stories about going towards the light when one dies, and she had no intention of floating into her end. She had matters to settle, and someone to protect. With newfound resolve, Ranma clenched her fist, determined to return to Akane once more.

As Ranma thought of Akane, the golden sphere pulsed brightly above her. She looked at the golden sphere, and something was beginning to dawn on her, when everything suddenly began to shake violently. Ranma yelped and found herself falling away from the golden light. "What the hell!" she shouted.

Ranma continued to fall until she exited the expanse of white light. She now stared up at a giant sphere of blue light that was lashing out streams of energy in all directions as darkness tried to consume it.

Ranma could no longer feel her body as she fell from the blue sphere. There was no warmth, nor coldness. Her body felt completely hollow as it laid with her back on a surface of some kind.

The blue sphere lashed out with blasts of its light, snapping at the creeping darkness. A large extension of its aura reached downward and wrapped itself around Ranma before slowly lifting her back towards the sphere. The darkness would not allow it, and quit its attempts on the sphere to instead swallow Ranma from its grasp.

Ranma could do nothing as the darkness wrested her from the blue sphere's grip. Another blast of blue light tried to fend off the darkness, but it wouldn't surrender her to the light. In a sudden change of strategy, the sphere split open and used itself to reach down into the darkness for Ranma. The darkness fled from its intense light, revealing the chi's intended prize.

Ranma could feel the light upon her. As the solid strands of chi wrapped around her, she felt her body fill with life again. She allowed herself to be taken by the light, no longer fearing what it meant.

As the light carried Ranma, the darkness follow close behind. The light's actions to retrieve Ranma had caused it to open entirely, revealing a coiled strand of blue around the golden sphere high above. The darkness also sensed this change in the situation, and suddenly moved past Ranma and the strands carrying her. The darkness reach up with its own sickly strands, reaching for the golden sphere.

The coiled strand of blue light swirled around the golden sphere and protected it from the darkness. It fought frantically as the black abyss nearly surrounded it, threatening to consume it.

When Ranma saw all this, something in her chest pounded sharply. Her instincts went on edge, and she suddenly found the strands unravel around her. In an instant, the blue sphere shut itself around the golden light, repelling the darkness.

This act sealed the golden light safely, but abandoned Ranma. She was now sinking down into the darkness, watching the blue sphere shrink as it drifted away. The darkness consumed her, and the light became a tiny speck before she finally relented, and succumbed to unconsciousness.

- x -

Akane and the others all watched nervously as Ranma shook violently while on her hands and knees. She was grunting and hissing like an animal, or a man gone completely mad. To Akane, it was one of the most painful things she ever had to watch. She'd never seen Ranma so tortured before, and wished she could help him.

Ranma suddenly lurched up on her knees. Her head flew back and she opened her mouth as if to scream, but only the gurgling sound of a choked breath came out. The sound was horrifying to hear, like she was being strangled to death.

Akane couldn't stand it any longer and broke free from her father's grip. She meant to rush for Ranma, but only managed a couple steps before Soun had her again, and this time, Genma was helping him.

"Akane, no!" Soun yelled as he restrained her.

Genma had his arms wrapped around Akane's thighs, using his superior strength of his panda form to keep her immobile. He wanted to help Ranma, maybe even as much as Akane. He felt rage burning in the pit of his stomach at witnessing his son's plight, and every fatherly and martial artist instinct told him to act. When he saw Ranma's own aura swat away Akane, however, he knew they could do nothing.

Genma's training with Soun under Happosai had taught him much about chi, aura, and the true nature of a man. In the most desperate situations, once tapped, the aura spirit would protect itself, the life of the mortal body, at all costs. They could not reach Ranma now any better than when he was in the neko-ken, and this time, even Akane was kept away.

Genma held up a sign as he kept his grip on Akane, 'We cannot help him now.'

Akane read the sign and felt her anger burn hotter than she thought possible. "How can give up on your own son!" she yelled.

Genma flipped the sign around, 'I am not giving up on him!'

"Then let me go!" Akane demanded after reading the sign. "Let me help him!"

"Akane, please!" Soun pleaded with her. "Saotome and I know this is for the best! Ranma is on his own right now." Like Genma, Soun remembered what he had learned under Happosai, and understood that Ranma was a danger to anyone that close to him at the moment.

"Never!" Akane screamed and her aura exploded around her, breaking her free from Soun and Genma. She once again rushed towards Ranma, but was again denied when the black smoke swirled around the redhead and blew her back. She fell backwards and looked helplessly at the black chi that now protected Ranma from her interference.

The black chi completely entered Ranma's body, causing her to shake. She fell forward onto her hand and knees again, but made no sound. Slowly, her body began to change as it shook. Akane and the others all watched wide-eyed as Ranma, without any water, transformed back into his true male form.

When the transformation was complete, Ranma stood with his back turned to everyone. His shoulder shook as he started to laugh, but it didn't sound like Ranma at all. The laughter was evil, twisted, even though it had his voice.

"Ranma?" Akane called out questionably, hoping her fears were wrong.

Ranma stopped laughing and turned slowly. As his face came into view, Akane choke at the sight of his eyes. They were black, empty, just as the ninja's had been. They were also completely insane looking as he gave her a wicked smile. "Yes," he said, sounding pleased with himself. He raised his hand and produced a flaming fist of green chi. "Yes!"

"No," Akane uttered in disbelief.

"The time is now, Saotome!" Soun yelled from behind her.

Together, Soun and Genma charged at Ranma, now possessed by Ku. They attacked him with flurries of punches and kicks from different angles, hoping to trap him.

Ku easily dodged and blocked the pair of fighters. Ranma could have done so already, but Ku's power gave his body unnatural speed and strength beyond what was already superhuman. He humored their futile efforts for a moment before punching the ground and blowing them away with an eruption of green chi.

Soun and Genma both flipped in the air to land on their feet. Ku's power was already intimidating before, but in Ranma's body, it felt even more powerful.

"Saotome!" Soun yelled to his long time friend.

Genma looked over through the corner of his eye, unwilling to take too much of his attention away from their opponent.

"Hold nothing back," Soun said, and steeled himself. He was preparing to use techniques he'd not used in nearly seven years, since his wife passed away.

Genma nodded, and immediately vanished into the umi-sen ken.

Ku grinned as he faced Soun. The older man attacked, striking with surprising force. Ku blocked each blow, feeling like he was being struck by a mountain, rather than a man.

Soun channeled his chi into each punch as he fought Ku. He summoned the techniques that formed the foundation of his school, using them with mastery he'd never shown before.

Ku matched Soun's blows and countered when there was an opening. His fist went for Soun's chest, but was stopped by his stone-like grip on his arm.

Soun channeled his chi and threw Ku down with all of his might. He held him to the ground and didn't budge as Ku kicked his legs. He felt his confidence in his skills return at Ku's failure to break free. His school was based on a solid, immovable form, using one's chi to plant their feet to the ground. He would pay for it the next day, but for now, his legs were like steel against Ku's kicks.

Ku could sense the chi being pumped into Soun's legs and scowled. He could easily overcome such a feeble force, if only... Biting down his frustrations, Ku grabbed Soun's pinning arm by the wrist with his free hand and channeled his green aura around it. Soun released him as the biting cold bit into his arm, and Ku sent him flying with a mule kick.

Ku got to his feet and spoke in disgust. "Foolish mortal," he spat. "You would use new techniques now, after you've lost?"

Before anyone could answer, Genma struck with the blows of the white snake from behind. Ku grunted as the dozens of blows pummeled his back. He growled in anger and turned with a sharp backhand and sent his chi exploding into Genma's gut.

"Insolent whelp!" Ku snorted.

The two men were on Ku again, this time attacking together. Soun attacked the from the front while Genma continued to stealthily attack from the umi-sen ken. Ku grew tired of their attacks, however. He grabbed Genma out of the air as he tried to vanish and threw him into Soun. Soun didn't flinch as Genma slammed into him, but that proved to be their undoing, as Ku sent a one handed chi blast into them both.

Akane had watched the two men fight Ku, still frozen in shock. She couldn't believe that after everything, Ku had won, and taken Ranma's body for his own. She was at a loss over what to do. She couldn't see the good in fighting Ku in Ranma's body. She just stared forward, feeling hollow at the sight of Ranma defeating their fathers with such lethal force.

Shampoo and Mousse had also watched in relative shock to the events as they unfolded. They had recovered however, and were both trying desperately to wake up Cologne. They were inexperienced with demons and possession, but knew enough from their village legends to know they needed their Elder's wisdom and skill to have any chance.

Shampoo meowed madly and pawed Cologne's face while Mousse pecked at her arms. The old woman groaned, finally, and opened her eyes.

"What's happening?" she asked. She looked up to see Shampoo and Mousse staring back at her in their cursed forms. She sat up as her wits came back, and looked around her. The field they had been fighting in could hardly be called that anymore. It looked like a bomb had gone off. "Has son-in-law arrived?" she asked, figuring the damage had been done by Ranma.

Ku's evil laughter was Cologne's answer. The old woman looked over and her eyes went wide at the evil smile adorning Ranma's face. "Your 'son-in-law' did show up," he said mockingly. His possession of Ranma had given him knowledge of his new host's situation. In fact, Ku knew quite a bit about the boy in question now. "Too bad he's gone, now."

"Oh dear," Cologne said as she stood up. "It's as I feared." She looked deep into Ranma's body with her trained senses. Ku's black chi filled it and flowed like poison. She noted however, that it seemed to be struggling, and then saw that small speck of light where the heart was.

Cologne twirled her staff and perched herself onto it. Not all was lost, but the battle could not be won here. She needed to take some time to figure out what they could do. "So you were after son-in-law's body after all," she said.

Ku grinned in reply. "And such a fitting body it is," he said. "Through it, I now wield the power that defeated a god!"

"Perhaps you do," Cologne squinted. She knew all too well how powerful Ranma had become over the past year. That same power, however, she suspected was working against Ku, rather than with it. "But I don't think we can count son-in-law out just yet."

Ku rushed to where Cologne was standing and glared at her with menacing eyes. "There's nothing you can do, child," he said.

"Me? No," Cologne admitted. She was wise enough to know she could do nothing against such a powerful demon. As long as that light remained in his heart, however, she knew there was hope.

"So then," Ku said and smiled in victory.

Cologne hopped to the side, showing she would not try to stop him. Shampoo and Mousse both yowled in shock and protested. "Be silent," Cologne said with grim seriousness. "We can't do anything about this right now."

"Or ever," Ku added confidently.

Cologne said nothing more, and Shampoo and Mousse fell silent, although the cat hissed angrily as Ku walked past them.

Ku walked passed them only to be stopped by Akane. Akane stood before him in a stance that could barely be described as one ready to fight. Her body was limp, and her lips quivered as she tried her best to remain composed. She couldn't seem to focus, no matter how much she tried though.

Ku gazed into her uncertain eyes with amusement. "You'd best get out of my way, girl," he said.

Akane swallowed the lump in her throat and firmed her stance. "No way," she said.

"Akane," Cologne said in warning from behind Ku. She shook her head when Akane looked at her, hoping she'd do nothing foolish.

Akane didn't understand why Cologne was just standing by while this demon walked away with Ranma's body. She couldn't do the same. She refused to give up without a fight, despite her own exhaustion.

Ku waited a second for Akane to get out of his way, but when she did not, he only grinned. "You're making this all too easy," he said while getting into his own stance.

Akane gulped again when Ku prepared to fight her. Strange feelings bubbled in her stomach at the sight of him in Ranma's body, and her mind became clouded. Her confusion hadn't even begun to clear when Ku made his move.

Ku lunged in close, but didn't attack. He stopped in front of Akane, making her step back in surprise. She recovered before falling, but didn't counter in any way. She remained frozen while Ku looked down on her and smiled. "What's the matter, Akane?" he asked mockingly. "I thought you enjoyed hitting me?"

Akane bit down her retort. While she wanted to shout back, she knew it was simply a trick he was playing with her head. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of that.

"Akane!" Soun yelled and appeared in between her and Ku. "Stay away from my daughter, you monster!"

Ku lost his grin and turned it into a scowl. "Get out of my way," he said.

"You'll have to kill me first," Soun said seriously.

"If you insist." Ku's face was a mask of grim determination as he punched at Soun's chest. Soun blocked the attack and traded blows with him until he caught a sharp jab to his chest.

Soun froze as the blow struck him. He didn't flinch, due to the chi he used to reinforce his body, but that did nothing for the pain. Ku's fist had hit him right over his heart, and it remained planted there, scorching his flesh with his green aura.

Ku leaned in and smirked at Akane as he whispered into Soun's ear. "You brought this on yourself," he said so only he could hear him. He pressed his fist against his chest hard, causing Soun to flinch as sharp pain cut through his heart.

Soun was silent as Ku pulled his hand back. He fell down to his knees and clenched his chest before finally coughing violently.

"Daddy!" Akane cried.

Ku charged his right hand with his aura and looked down at Soun. "Any last words?" he asked.

Cologne suddenly flew in and struck Ku's charged hand. Ku stepped back in surprise and growled at the old woman. "That was a big mistake," he hissed.

"I would leave you in peace," Cologne said, "but if the other's insist, I cannot stand aside."

"This crater is going to be your grave," Ku declared. He lunged for Cologne, but missed as the old Amazon leapt away on her staff.

Akane tended to her father while Cologne lead Ku away. She placed one hand on his back and the other on his shoulder to help support his weight. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Soun continued to cough, but gave the hand on his shoulder a reassuring pat. "I'll be fine, my daughter," he said. He kept his mouth shut as he coughed again, keeping the blood he tasted a secret.

Akane didn't quite believe her father, but he did look relatively okay. She looked up to see how Cologne was doing to see the elder had taken the offensive against Ku.

Cologne sensed that Ku was not yet at full strength as she fought with him. While his movements were swift, and his blows powerful, they were much more human than before. He couldn't seem to conjure a full battle aura either, and this presented an opening for her. She took advantage of this apparent weakness, and assumed the offensive. If she could strike his pressure points and subdue him, perhaps they could have some time to deal with the demon within.

Ku retreated from Cologne as she assaulted him with her staff. She threw barrages of blows, using the kachu tenshin amaguriken in quick bursts to keep him on the defensive. He did not show any sign of worry as he blocked the attacks.

Cologne aimed her staff strikes carefully as she continued to chase Ku. She tried to strike his pressure points several times within each flurry, but while Ku may have been weak at the moment, he was no slower than before. His blocks and parries kept her staff from hitting their targets, forcing her to try harder and harder to increase her speed.

The two continued to dance around with Ku blocking and Cologne attacking. So determined was she to not let this chance slip away, she'd been completely blind to the obvious tactic that Ku was baiting her with. When Ku suddenly ducked under staff, Cologne finally saw the flow of chi they'd created around them. "Oh no," she mumbled.

Ku gave her a twisted smile and hit her with a mighty uppercut. "Hiryu shoten ha!" he yelled.

Cologne flew high in the air as the tornado of chi exploded around her. She couldn't believe she had been foolish enough to believe that Ku was weakened enough for her to defeat him alone. Even worse, she couldn't believe she had been tricked by her own technique. It was foolish of her to not consider his ability to use it, now that he possessed Ranma's body, and his mind.

Luckily, Cologne had three hundred years of experience to draw on, and knew just how to counter the attack in order to escape. She worked her way to the eye of the tornado and twirled her staff to create her own smaller whirlwind within it. Her smaller chi tornado joined the larger one, and created a small pocket of open air around her, protecting her from further harm.

As the hiryu shoten ha died down, Ku saw the old woman gliding down looking relatively unharmed. He wasn't surprised she was able to counter the move she had taught his host, but the point wasn't to defeat her. He could see that the shock had done the intended damage, as she looked at him with a nervous expression.

"Very clever," she said, "but I won't fall for that trick again." She may have taught Ranma one of her people's most powerful techniques, but there were dozens more where that came from.

Cologne flew at Ku once more, but he was through with the games. He struck her staff dead on with a charged chi blast and threw her back. While she was still recovering, he leapt at her and brought his fist down, attempting to deliver a finishing blow. The old woman just barely recovered in time to avoid the direct impact, but the explosion from Ku's chi charge fist hit her hard and she was slow to get up afterwards.

"Time to die!" Ku said. He charged Cologne and was about to strike her when Akane suddenly appeared in front him with her hands raised defensively. He stumbled back a step and looked at her with wide eyes. "A-Akane?" he stuttered and then growled at what had just occurred. He glared murderously at the girl. "You..."

Akane finally was able to muster the courage to attack. She threw several punches, but her focus was still missing, and Ku swatted them away with little effort.

Ku blocked Akane's feeble attacks until he caught her right wrist. He glared into Akane's tear glistened eyes and growled madly. He squeezed her wrist hard, causing her to wince in pain. The sound of her whimper sent a scorching pain in his chest, and he dropped her from his hold while stepping back.

Ku clenched his chest where the pain burned. He looked down at his hand covering the offended area and scowled in frustration. "Stubborn boy," he muttered.

Cologne watched closely from behind Akane. She saw the flow within Ku become disturbed by a vibrant pulse in his chest when Akane had cried out. That pulse had been enough to stop what he was doing, but it was gone almost quickly as it had appeared.

Ku tried to attack Akane again. The girl was still on the ground, and wouldn't be able to defend herself in time. He moved to punch her, but his body became locked before it could hit her.

Akane looked into Ku's eyes nervously. She was too afraid to move, should doing so cause whatever was holding him back to free him. "Ranma?" she asked hopefully.

Ku pulled back as Akane's single word caused his chest to burn again. He looked at Akane with murder in his eyes, but made no move to attack her. "Stupid girl!" he said. "Your time will come soon enough!"

Ku turned and made his escape. He dashed to where his katana was stuck in the ground and pulled it out before hopping away into the bleachers and over them. Akane stood up to pursue, but Cologne quickly struck her in the back of her leg with the tip of her staff to disable her.

"What are you doing?" Akane asked sharply. She tried to get up, but her legs buckled under her weight.

"Stopping you from making a foolish mistake," Cologne answered.

"We have to go after him!" Akane complained.

"And we will," Cologne said. She then glanced around, "but look around you. We've lost this round."

"But,"

"No buts," Cologne cut her off. "We must take time to recover, and plan out what we're going to do."

"Cologne is right," Soun said as he made his way over to them slowly. He had his hand over his heart, as if to protect it. "We can't continue on like this."

"But Ranma," Akane started, but was cut off again.

"Ranma is going to be fine," Cologne said. "At least, for now."

"How can you be so sure?" Akane asked.

Cologne looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm surprised you would even suggest otherwise," she said.

Akane dropped her head in shame at Cologne's words. She hadn't meant to show a lack of faith in Ranma's ability to survive the ordeal he was now in.

Cologne relaxed her face to look at Akane sympathetically. "Look, I know things look bad, but all is not lost," she said. "I saw a small spark of light within Ku's chi while I fought him, and something was obviously troubling him the entire time he was in Ranma's body."

"What do you mean?" Akane asked.

Cologne shook her head. "We can discuss it once we've all returned to your home. For now, we have wounds to tend to." She tapped a pressure point on Akane to give her back the use of her legs and hopped over to where Shampoo and Mousse were fussing in their animal forms.

Akane begrudgingly agreed with a nod, and helped her father walk over to where Genma was just recovering. He rubbed his head and held up a sign, 'Where is my boy?'

Akane stopped walking and choked back the feelings threatening to rip her heart apart. Soun didn't catch the look on her face and said, "He's... retreated, for now."

Genma looked at his old friend closely, trying to read between his well chosen words. From the looks of things, his son was still possessed by the demon, and that was not good. The battle had not gone well at all, and Ranma had clearly been their best chance. Now, they faced a very difficult challenge, in more ways than one.

"We can discuss everything once we've returned home," Soun continued. "I was hurt soon after you fell. Could you carry our master, Saotome?"

Genma didn't like the idea of having to carry his old master due to the memories that tortured him, but the gravity of the situation made him comply. The panda nodded and slowly walked over to where their master lay, and lifted him over his shoulder. He then eyed another unconscious body and raised his sign again, 'What about him?'

Soun and Akane looked in the direction Genma was and saw Ku's formed host on the ground. Soun felt rather indifferent to the man, but Akane felt sick at the sight of him, even from a distance.

"We can't leave any stone unturned," Cologne said from behind them. "Best to take him with us."

Genma nodded and hoisted the unconscious ninja over his other shoulder.

Akane helped support her father and together, everyone began the silent journey to the Tendo household. Along the way, Akane retrieved the Saotome family blade where it laid, and its sheath with its silk covering. She rewrapped the blade and held it tightly as they walked in silence.

Author's Notes: This chapter completes this battle at last. It really is too bad that Mousse, Shampoo, Happosai, and Cologne couldn't help Ranma along with Akane, Soun and Genma, huh? Things may have turned out differently if that were the case. Hints for the rematch? Maybe.

You may have noticed a strange shift from "it" to "he" as Ku's pronoun in this chapter. While I describe Ku as an "it" in his demonic form, I will be describing him as a male while in Ranma's body.

Now that we're past this sluggish three part fight, we can move back to a more moderate pace, and get some story development going again. Also, chapter 7 did receive a minor rewrite while I finished this one up. Nothing major was changed, but Akane's time under was extended to include details to match this and future chapters.

Ranmayamabushi: Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying the story.

Richard Ryley: It's true that Akane is by no means a bad fighter. I just think that her development as one was really underplayed throughout the manga. She does get better, but we're never really shown her doing much special training, like we constantly see Ranma doing.

Compucles: Your suspicions on Ku's possession were correct. This was my intention all along. As for breaking him free, it's going to be unique.

linkgold64: I won't confirm or deny your suspicion. You'll know it when you see it though.

AliceTheBookGirl: Yes, indeed, there is so much more to be done. The aura spirits were brought up in the chapter spirit, although you probably couldn't gather that they would play this kind of part from that brief mention of them.

poseidon's son: In the first part of the fight, Ranma rules out the hiryu shoten ha, because Ku radiates cold chi naturally. This prevents the contrast of hot and cold Ranma needs for the soul of ice to produce the tornado. It does, however, make Ku a walking hiryu shoten ha cannon.

SUSYAKANE: THANK YOU!

Tyeren: I can relate. Putting anything into words can be hard. I appreciate your kind words, though, and hope to continue to surprise you.

Tristan: I'm glad it was. It was one of the chapters I had been looking forward to writing, since I really wanted to get to Ranma's aura spirit. Of course, now I just want to get to Ranma's final form of it . haha.

Garrett West: I have tried my best to keep it faithful. I can appreciate all of the unique takes people have for fanfiction, but for my own stories, I try to keep it as close to the original as possible. I certainly am tempted to write more Ranma. Originally, before I picked this one back up after four years on ice, I was actually writing a Ranma one-shot, but that ended up being dropped for this. I also have a completely separate idea for a more drama themed story, but am not sure if I want to take on two Ranma stories at once.

adeelshirazi1: No, it isn't done with chapter 20, and don't worry, there will be an epilogue to close it up when I do reach that point. Thanks for the 10/10!

As usual, any comments on this chapter, and the fanfic as a whole, are greatly appreciated.