The undead construct let out one final bellow, then it collapsed in a heap of bones.

Ranma wiped his brow. "Well," he said. "That takes care of that."

"Aye..." Hartwig grumbled while throwing an unpleasant glance towards Sylvanas and Cadavrine. "Now we have to deal with the other undead abominations in this room..."

"If you wish to die that badly, I will gladly grant your wish," Sylvanas whispered as she drew an arrow.

Cadavrine called Klathmon to her side and got ready to charge up a Shadowbolt. "Don't you dare lay your hands on Lady Sylvanas!" she hissed. The Voidwalker just growled.

"Oh my," Kasumi said, looking worried all of a sudden. "Why is everyone fighting each other?"

Not wanting to see the oldest Tendo sister unhappy, he stepped in-between the Forsaken and the Alliance members. "Hey, would you cut that out?" he asked, sounding annoyed. "We really got more important stuff to figure out than fighting each other."

"You in league with this Horde scum, boy?" the gnome rogue frowned as she raised her daggers.

"You leave Rene alone," Azusa commanded. "Azusa doesn't like bad people who bother her friends."

Kairi would have said something, but the druid-turned-nightsaber was still being strangled by Azusa's mighty glomp of doom. So all she could utter was a strangled meow.

By now, Kasumi had heard enough. She decided something had to be done, so she stood next to Ranma and used her father's favorite technique.

"Whaaaaah!" she cried, and the waterfalls began to flow. "I don't wanna see you fighting. Why can't everyone just get along with each other? Whaaaaah!"

Everyone looked at Kasumi in bewilderment. Most of the people present in the room felt a twinge of guilt that they had made this sweet girl cry. Hartwig coughed and bashfully stroked his beard. Cadavrine stopped charging her spell and sighed. Azusa instantly dropped Kairi and came to Kasumi's side. "Awww, don't cry," she said. "Everything's gonna be all right."

Kasumi sniffled a bit and wiped away a tear. "Th-thank you..."

But inwardly, she smiled. She knew learning father's special technique could come in handy at some point.

Only Sylvanas didn't look as if Kasumi's outburst had moved her in any way. "Well," she said, only lowering her bow slightly. "Are you willing to take us to your leader, paladin?"

Hartwig glanced at her for a moment. "Fine," he then said. "I suggest a truce until you have spoken to her... I think she would be interested to hear just why the queen of the Forsaken has personally come to lead an attack on this school of necromancy..."

Ranma grinned. "Great. Now that we're all pals, how about we leave this rotten place and find something to eat?"

Kasumi smiled, suddenly back to her usual, happy self. "That does sound good, Ranma-kun."

Just a short while afterwards, they all left the underground complex and were back at the surface, in the ruins of Andorhal.

And found themselves surrounded by a whole troop of undead.

Hartwig groaned. "I knew they wouldn't give up that easily..."

"Not a problem," Ranma smiled confidently and cracked his knuckles. "We beat them once, we can beat them again."

"I'm afraid it's not going to be that easy," a cold voice spoke up. Then they all saw him: The floating being that behind its troops, surrounded by a blue aura of cold and purple robes that did nothing to hide its skeletal frame.

"Araj the Summoner..." Sylvanas spat. "The leader of the Scourge in Andorhal..."

The lich looked at the assembled group with his eternal grin. "So, Lady Sylvanas, you come into my city, wreak havoc in my beloved school and believe you can just walk away like that without being punished?" He chuckled. "I think not. Your ruling days are over, Dark Ranger! I will bring your limp body to my master and receive my eternal reward..."

"Hey!" Ranma shouted as he stepped next to his old friend. "Ever heard that you don't pick on girls?"

Sylvanas glanced at Ranma with irritation, and Araj scratched the side of his skull in thought. "And who, pray tell, are you, mortal?"

"The name's Ranma Saotome!" he said and put his hands on his hips. "And if you touch Sylvanas, I'm gonna knock that tiny skull of your bony body."

The ghouls and skeletons surrounding Araj hissed and growled. It sounded like laughter. One motion of the lich's hand made them silent. "You are not worth my time, boy!" he said and raised a hand, creating a ball of frost magic that was hovering in his palm. "I will freeze the blood in your body and crack it like a walnut..."

Ranma didn't look too impressed. He took on his fighting stance. "Bring it on!"

"Are you insane, boy?" Hartwig grumbled. "Do you see the undead hordes that are surrounding him? Even if you somehow manage to beat a lich with your bare hands - which I doubt - you still can't fight against all these undead monsters all by yourself."

Ranma just smirked. "Ranma Saotome doesn't lose."

"It's your funeral..." Araj whispered as he got ready to fire his first Frostbolt at the young martial artist.

"STOP!!" a booming, commanding voice came down from the heavens, as something came swooping down on the scene, on wings of bone, like a living cyclone.

The massive Frost Wyrm landed in the middle of Andorhal with a load roar, burying the remains of a house and a dozen of hapless skeletons underneath his massive weight. A lithe figure, wearing armor as black as the night, came jumping down from its back. Her metal hammer was engrafted with glowing runes. She pointed it at the lich. "At the command of the Lich King himself, I order you to leave the human male to me!"

The lich looked at her in confusion. "Who are you, Death Knight?" he wanted to know. "How dare you give me commands in my own city?"

"I am the right hand of the Lich King and the new general of his armies in Northrend," she proclaimed, proudly putting her saronite glove to her breastplate, where the emblem of the Lich King himself was visible. "I am Lady Akane of Northrend!"

Ranma had never shuddered once in the presence of the lich and his frosty spells. Not even the spooky ambience of the Plaguelands, the ruined Andorhal and the halls of the school of necromancy had made him afraid.

But now he could feel is blood run cold.

He could not believe his eyes.

This creature... this woman with the black armor, the pale skin, and the glowing, blue eyes... this servant of the Scourge, which had ridden on a huge Frost Wyrm... was none other than his fiancee.

"Akane..." a voice behind him whispered. And then Kasumi let out a cry as she ran at her youngest sister, only to be held back by Hartwig's strong arms.

"Are you insane?" the dwarf asked her. "That's one of the Lich King's Death Knights!"

Kasumi shook her head again and again while tears came out of her eyes. She didn't really know herself if those wear tears of sadness of happiness. "But you don't understand..." she sobbed. "She is my sister... Akane! It's me, Kasumi!"

"Not any longer, lass..." Hartwig grimly said. "They turned her into one of their mindless puppets... don't you see the evil in her eyes?"

But Kasumi did not want to listen. "Akane, I'm here," she said again. "Now everything is going to be okay... we can go home, back to father and Nabiki..."

But then Akane looked at her... and it made Kasumi gasp with fright. This wasn't the gentle smile of her sister... not even the stubborn face when she was determined to overcome a challenge of the annoyed scowl when she was dealing with boys that were going on her nerves.

This grin was made of pure evil. It was full of dismay and hatred, and it was burning Kasumi's soul.

"You believed I would still be the same Akane you know, right?" she asked. "This weak waste of flesh I have been... no... I have... become something more. I am strong... I am powerful... mortals fear me... the cold winds are mine to command... the blood of my enemies is running through my hands... and I even control life and death. Yes, Kasumi, I am your sister, Akane... but at the same time, I am something new."

She smashed her rune hammer down on the withered ground of Andorhal and proclaimed proudly: "The whiny and weak schoolgirl Akane Tendo is dead... reborn, I am the new champion of the Lich King!"

"No..." Kasumi whispered as more tears were running down her face. "No, this isn't true... this isn't you..."

"You can't believe how this feels, Kasumi..." Akane chuckled. "This feeling... of absolute power... to carry out his will... and to do anything I like... Arthas is right, death is the only solution for any living being!"

"Well, sure, that's the same old crap we hear from any Death Knight... or any minion of the Scourge, for that matter..." Stabby grumbled, drawing her daggers. "What makes you so special?"

Akane didn't pay any attention to the gnome girl. She took a step forward. Under her feeth, the already dead ground blackened even more and was covered with a thin layer of ice, which was instantly shattered by her heavy saronite boots. "What do you say, sister?" she smiled. It was a cruel smile. "Don't you want to die as well? See what it did to me... see what power it gave to me... we could do anything. Together, at the Lich King's side, we would never have to fear death again, dear sister... doesn't that sound wonderful?"

"No!" Kasumi shouted. "That sounds horrible! My... my sister would have never suggested anything like that!"

"Is it about Nabiki and father?" Akane asked. "Would you miss them? Oh, but we can convert them as well... they will join the Scourge... and anyone else we know. We will be united forever, Kasumi... imagine!"

By now, Kasumi was shaking like a leaf. "No..." she sobbed again and again. Her legs gave away, and she dropped down to her knees. "No... please stop..."

"Kasumi..." Akane's voice had become a whisper by now. "Imagine... we could even bring back... mother..."

The scream of terror that was coming out of Kasumi's mouth wasn't really that loud... but it was full of pain, full of fear and full of sorrow at the monstrosity that her sister had become. It sounded so horrible and heart-braking that even Ranma was pulled out of his stupor.

He narrowed his eyes. "Akane, that's enough," he said in a calm voice without looking up.

Lady Akane tilted her head. "Pardon me? Did you say anything, Ranma?"

Ranma looked up at her, a glare of determination and anger. "That's enough!" he shouted. "What do you think you're doing? Can't you see how you're hurting Kasumi? Are you having fun doing that to her? What's gotten into you, Akane?"

"Death has gotten into me, Ranma," Akane grinned. "Death... and it is exhilarating."

"You can't be serious!" Ranma said. "Do you know what you're saying? Akane... we're your family! Not these monsters..."

"Family?" Akane frowned and let her gaze sweep across the assembled undead. "Oh, you mean these poor things? Those are just pitiful minions... puppets that are expandable, nothing more. Even that lich is nothing more than a pawn in a greater game..."

"Why, the nerve..." Araj grumbled.

"Game?" Ranma shouted. "Did you say game? This is not a joke, Akane... those people are dead!"

"Gee, what a surprise..." Akane rolled her eyes. "You really are dense, Ranma, if you think I didn't know that already... You know what? Even back in life, these people were nothing but scum. Weak cowards that deserved to be turned into this. As ghouls, they at least serve a purpose... what good are spineless wimps that are begging for their lives?"

"At least fight warriors that can fight back," Ranma told her. "Where's the honor in slaughtering innocents?"

"Oh, but I did fight warriors, Ranma," Akane explained. "Night Elves, Tauren, Centaurs... they were all weak. They all fell underneath by hammer and my dark powers. I killed them all, Ranma... they are dead. I did them a favor by ending their worthless lives..."

By now Akane's words had reduced Kasumi to a blubbering pile of sadness. Kairi and Azusa tried to soothe her, but no words seemed to reach the anguished girl.

Ranma tightened his fists. His arms were shaking. "All right, that's it... I dunno what those monsters did to you, Akane, but I won't let you do this anymore! You speak of death and killing as if it were a game... you laugh at people that never did anything to you... you are not a martial artist anymore!"

"Thank god I'm not," Akane spat. "Oh, did I say god? What I meant to say was: Thank ARTHAS!"

"GGYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Ranma exploded in a torrent of anger and fury. He couldn't bear it any longer. Looking at this creature that had the face of Akane and was tormenting them... he just could not believe that this monster was actually the girl he loved. He couldn't listen to her anymore... so he jumped at her with all his power focussed in his fists."

"ATTACK!" Araj the Summoner thundered, and the next waves of undead came storming forth. The noble warriors of the Alliance and the Forsaken welcomed them with weapons and spells. The fight underneath the city was nothing against this clash of forces... even the huge Frost Wyrm joined the fray, circling over the battlefield and blasting everything with his deadly frost breath.

Sylvanas wanted to get a clear shot at either Araj or Akane, but with so many ghouls, skeletons, abominations and crypt fiends around, it was just impossible. So instead, she jumped up onto the remains of a collapsed wall and concentrated her fire on the circling wyrm.

Kairi, Stabby, Cadavrine, Azusa, Klathmon and Jen'po formed a protective circle around Kasumi, who still made no attempt to move or even react to their voices.

"This is not funny anymore," Azusa shouted, while shooting happy bolts everywhere. "Azusa wanna go home, back to her sweeties... oh no!" She realized that she had just ran out of mana.

"Oom!" she said. "Oom. Oom."

"Stop humming like a loon and focus on the battle!" Cadavrine shouted.

Akane and Ranma noticed nothing about the battle that was going on around them. All Ranma could see was the cruel grimace, this mockery of the girl he loved. And all Akane could focus on was the chance to finally beat Ranma.

"You will die, Ranma!" she shouted. "Die and rot away like a corpse!" She tried to hit him with her hammer, but he jumped over it and charged his ki.

"MOKO TAKABISHA!" he yelled and shot the energy bullet at her. Akane just winced as it hit her armor, not even denting it.

"Nice," she said. "Now it's my turn... HAAAAAAH!" She pointed her palm at him, and all of a sudden, icy winds came down on him, coating his arms with ice. It stung painfully, but Ranma shrugged it off.

He stormed at her again and attacked with a flurry of punches. "KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"

Akane growled as she was pummeled in the face. Maybe she should have had brought her helmet..."

"You annoy me Ranma..." she muttered and her hands began to glow. Unholy energies were being focussed on her runic weapon, and it began to glow in a sickly, green light. "WITHER AWAY!"

"Is that all you got, Akane?" Ranma grimaced as he tried to block the hammer. He even succeeded.

But what he couldn't block was the green aura that was creeping down his arms... the disease every Death Knight was able to spread... using his PLAGUE STRIKE.

Ranma gasped in pain as the unholy plague wreaked havoc in his body. "What... what have you done... Akane?"

"Pain, Ranma..." she whispered. "Sweet pain... you will suffer before I finally release you. You will beg for mercy, and in the end, beg for your death... just like me... and then... you will become like me..."

She grinned and raised her weapon for the final blow.

But then, loud trumpets could be heard. Thundering hooves and loud footsteps were coming closer. Loud yells, whinnies of horses and screeches of gryphons were filling the air.

"For the Light!" shouted the leader of the troops that had suddenly appeared in Andorhal, cutting a path through the undead hordes.

"FOR THE LIGHT!" every human, dwarf and elf shouted back. Swords, maces, arcane magic, spells of light and gryphon talons tore through the rotten flesh of the ghouls and smashed the bones of the skeleton. Paladins, warriors, priests, mages and archers all entered the battlefield, determined to smite the Scourge in the name of the holy Light.

Araj the Summoner immediately realized that he had lost. "You haven't seen the last of me," he swore, before he vanished in a swirl of frost.

"It's Lady Vereesa and the Argent Dawn!" Hartwig yelled as strength and hope suddenly returned to his body. "We're saved!"

Sylvanas barely heard his yell as she had to dodge another lance of ice from Cyan. "Annoying wyrm..." she muttered. "Taste the deadly skills of a Dark Ran... ger..." It then dawned to her what the dwarf had just said. "What... did you say... Ve... Vereesa...?"

Akane lowered her hammer in annoyance. "Man, they sure know how to spoil my fun..." she grumbled. "CYAN!" The Frost Wyrm screeched and flapped his skinless wings once, landing directly in front of her, squashing another trio of skeletons. Akane jumped on his back and swore: "You're lucky this time, Ranma, but I swear: I'll be back and finish this some day!"

Ranma wanted to get up and stop her, but the plague that Akane's strike had put into his body was weakening him. "Ak... Akane..." he whispered... before he fell down to the ground and fainted.

The castle of Stormwind.

A royal guard clad in finest armor entered the throne room. Sitting in front of him, almost always bearing the royal armor of the king, sat Varian Wrynn, the wild, black hair falling down his back in an unruly ponytail, a cross-shaped scar visible on his serious face.

"Your Majesty," the guard saluted. "We just received a message from the Kirin Tor."

"Rhonin..." the king sighed and rubbed his temples. "What does he want now?"

"Well, it appears as if a small cadre of the Silver Covenant has joined the Argent Dawn in battling the undead in Andorhal."

"Odd..." Varian frowned. "Why would they send troops there while the battle against the Scourge in Northrend is still raging? We need all available troops up there... Rhonin knows that. Did that Elven woman meddle with his heart again?"

The guard was dumbfounded. As he didn't know what to reply, the king waved his hand. "Well, get on with it."

"W-well, it seems as if something of particular importance has happened in the school of necromancy below Andorhal... according to the letter of the Kirin Tor, some people have been kidnapped by the Scourge... people that need help."

"That happens often enough," Varian said. "And while I agree that it is always good to help victims of the undead, why send the Silver Covenant into the Plaguelands?"

"Well, they have been pretty vague about this... but apparently, it has to do with the new champion of the Lich King... and a magical artifact, some sort of orb..."

Varian frowned yet again. The letter from Theramore with the report about the female Death Knight that had wrecked countless settlements of Alliance, Horde and other, uninvolved factions, had arrived his court in the morning. Lady Tyrande Whisperwind herself had warned her allies in Stormwind about the danger, and Jaina Proudmoore of Theramore had added her own letter, reminding Varian that she, better than anyone else, knew how the most noble and powerful men could be corrupted into service of the Scourge. After all, Prince Arthas himself had once been her suitor...

"Send a messenger to Ironforge and inform King Bronzebeard that I'd like to have a talk with him tomorrow... we need to know what exactly it is that the Kirin Tor know and we don't know."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the guard saluted and left the throne room.

Varian sighed and leaned back in his throne. 'Just what are you planning this time, Arthas?' he wondered. It didn't make any sense... if the Lich King had such a powerful warrior, why not use it in the battle in Northrend? Why let that female Death Knight attack helpless villages and military outposts that lie in the middle of nowhere? Was it just a test? Or did he want to spread terror before using his new secret weapon against the troops of the Alliance... and the Horde?

The Horde... Varian still had to grimace when he thought back to his last meeting with Thrall, the Warchief of the Orcs...

The first time they met... for a very short moment, Varian believed that peace with the Orcs might be possible. Thrall was very much like him... they both even had fought in the arena, as gladiators...

Then again, Thrall was an Orc... and Varian could never trust an Orc again. After all, wasn't it an Orc who slew his own father? And then the blind, wild fury of certain Orcs... Varian only had to think of that young warrior, Garrosh Hellscream...

"Peace with the Horde..." he muttered. "Will probably never happen..."

"That almost sounds as if you prefer war over peace..." a sofrt voice behind him spoke up. A slender hand rested on his shoulder harness for a short while.

"You don't know the Orcs like I do," Varian sighed. "They leap at the first chance to betray us... and they would use any chance to harm my bloodline. I never want Anduin to be in danger ever again..."

"It was just one Orc who killed your father," the woman said softly. She walked over to a table and put down her sword. "You yourself told me that a whole race can't be taken responsible for what a single person did."

"I was young and naive back then," Varian frowned. "I also never met the Orcs in... negotiations." The king almost spat out the word. "Every attempt was a failure..."

"You should keep trying," she said as she came closer. "If you are both fighting that enemy in the north... why not fight him together?"

"Because Orcs are blinded by their fury," Varian tried to explain. "And the Forsaken are even worse... they are blinded by their lust for revenge. Do they know honor like we do? Do they follow the path of the Light?"

"You can't win a two-sided war, Varian. It's not possible..."

He sighed. "It is. It has to be. Highlord Bolvar Fordragon is leading our troops in Northrend... I would entrust my life to him. He will do the right thing... make the right decision."

"You have become bitter, Varian," she said as she knelt down in ffront of him. She was looking at his face with worry. "Bitter and untrusting."

"How can I trust anyone after what happened to me?" Varian asked her. "I almost lost my son to that dragon, Onyxia..."

"Yes, but in the end, you saved him... both of you." She smiled. The story he had told him had been a bit strange... kidnappings, memory loss, life as a gladiator and a second Varian who was a missing part of him... still, she never had any reason to believe that he wuld lie to him. After all, they both knew each other pretty well, back in their youth...

He looked at her sternly, but with a bit of regret. "You know that under these circumstances, I can't let any troops search for signs of your family... after all, we don't even know if they are here as well or not."

"Of course," she smiled. "I know that. And knowing Genma and Ranma, they can take care of themselves."

The king of Stormwind rose from his throne. "Excuse me, Nodoka... I must prepare for my trip to Ironforge." And he left the room.

Nodoka Saotome looked after him with a deep sigh. Dressed in one of his deceased wife's dresses, she sat down on the throne and pondered her situation.

Years ago, back when she didn't know Genma, she had visited Azeroth on a regular basis... and met the young prince of Stormwind for the first time, Varian Wrynn. Back then, he was living in exile, as the Horde had destroyed his home during the First War. Nodoka never learned how she had been able to visit this land of fantasy and magic, but she was glad that she had never been forced to actually witness the brutal battlefields Varian was describing to her. The two teenagers developed a deep friendship, and for a short while, Nodoka had even developed a crush on the handsome prince...

Now, as a married woman and mother of a teenage son, she suddenly found herself back in the magical kingdom of her youth... and her prince had become a king, a strong ruler, and a bitter man who had lived through a wondrous adventure.

Nodoka had never heard of her son's similar experiences with Sylvanas, since Genma had never told her about it. Now that she was stuck here in Azeroth, she couldn't help but wonder if she was the only one who got here from another world...

"Ranma..." she whispered and looked up at the ceiling of the huge throne room. "Wherever you are, I hope you are safe..."