A Ranma ½ King of Fighters crossover fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ and King of Fighters characters. Especially some macho chick! That's built like a stick! Dumb as a brick! Thighs are too thick! Can't even kick! [WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!] Ugh… shutting up now… oi…

Flames of Destiny

By Insane Blight

Chapter 21: The Heavenly Kings of Orochi: The Hakkeshu of the Sacred Flame

"You…? You three are of Orochi blood?"

Orochi Yashiro hopped down, crossed his arms, and smirked arrogantly at the fighters while the rest of the Hakketsu Shuu followed suit. "Surprised? It is to be expected."

Kyo cracked his knuckles before calling out his crimson flames. "You six, should've known. What are you scheming this time, Orochi scum?"

"Us? Scheming? Heh, you've done it all for us!"

"What?"

Mature chuckled as she stepped forward. She scowled when her eyes homed in on Chizuru though. "Kagura, I think you already have an idea on what we're talking about."

"What does she mean, Kagura?"

"The Orochi awakening… I get it now. They planned this all along, the tournament, the brutal matches they had, everything. I should've seen this a long time ago, eight Hakkeshu, the eight people who have been assigned to gather energy for Orochi in the past. I was foolish for not having realized it sooner." Chizuru cursed, clenching her fists tightly.

Orochi Yashiro laughed. "For those who do not understand, our bodies are perfect conduits to harness the large amount of energy required for the resurrection. It has been that way ever since the beginning, but I guess someone overlooked it. Every time we Hakkeshu fight, we absorb our opponent's energies and every time it happens, our powers grow stronger and it will continue until we simply go into the awakening process."

"Where our powers are made known and not only that, we also inherit the memories of our ancestors…" Mature continued. "…we finally get to see the true face of humanity. Better yet, the energy we gathered is enough for the resurrection as well if it is combined with all eight Hakketsu Shuu but sadly, Guidel and Goenitz are gone so…"

Vice continued for the blonde. "What better way to gather the energy than to battle the best fighters in the world. That's our reason for joining the King of Fighters, and you guys fell for it, hook, line and sinker."

Kyo snarled. "Damn, I feel like a jackass…"

"Oh, you only noticed that now? You're more of an idiot than I thought." Orochi Chris mocked.

Orochi Yashiro stomped hard on the ground. "True… now to avenge the 1800 year old insult. You humans, of course, can't realize why the Orochi clan and Orochi himself were cast into the darkness."

"My ancestors' powers, that's why!"

"Ah, yes, the ever-so powerful Yata mirror. The artifact that has the power to contain Orochi but you can only do so with the help of Kusanagi and Yasakani. Heh, now you seek the aid of these fighters? You were using them as much as we are! Anyway, do you really know how? 1800 years before, our ancestors tried to destroy the human plague but the newly resurrected Orochi was still too weak so the clan needed to gather energy for our god."

Chizuru gritted her teeth. "You needed people with strong, dormant ki to be sacrificed for Orochi."

Orochi Yashiro placed a hand on his head as he laughed. "I knew it! Ranma has been talking to you! Otherwise, you wouldn't have known about that little fact. Hmph, it doesn't matter now. Anyway, the people the Hakkeshu gathered were surprisingly all women. They were sacrificed, but one of them was saved by the Yata clan. Lacking the power to destroy the humans, Orochi was defeated by the three clans… heheh, but it will not happen again this time!"

Yashiro paused, as if in deep thought. "Hmm, I should probably tell you that the maiden whom your ancestors helped has one descendant in this time…"

"Impossible, I thought the Orochi clan killed them all when they attacked one of the places of the Kusanagi clan!" Chizuru exclaimed.

"Surprised, I see. But that's not all… who do you think is the surviving descendant? Any guesses, Kusanagi?"

Kyo growled as he shot out a wave of crimson flames but it was cancelled by Chris' purple flames. "Dammit, just spit it out! I'm done talking to you, Orochi filth!"

"Destiny is a fearful thing… Kusanagi, your squeeze! She is the descendant of that maiden!"

"Yuki?!"

Orochi Shermie took over. "Have you seen her lately? Hmm, guess not." She smiled when Kyo's eyes widened. "We are taking really good care of her… before we kill her as a sacrifice that is… hahahah!"

"You goddamn bastards!"

Kyo sprinted forward, only to be flung back when a figure dropped hard to the ground, creating a large crater between the fighters and the Orochi Hakketsu Shuu. As the dust settles, the fighters' eyes widened when the one who was standing at the center of the crater was none other than Ranma.

"Come and stop us if you can… in the meantime, Ranma here will keep you company. Hahahah!" Yashiro shouted as he and the rest of the Hakkeshu walked away.

Ryugenzawa

"The lake… what in the world is happening?"

"Granddad, what is causing this?"

Shinnosuke and his granddad froze when a thunderous roar echoed around the lake, right before the sealed lake exploded, knocking both of them down. Shinnosuke shakily stood up, only to be hurled towards a rock by a large, transparent serpent head, instantly knocking him out.

"Shinnosuke!" his granddad yelled.

Another transparent serpent head emerged out of the lake and roared at the old man's face. The serpent head snarled, opened its mouth and sent purple flames towards Shinnosuke's granddad. It burned him up real good but fortunately he rolled towards the lake, quickly putting it out.

"Ah! Shinnosuke… help me!"

He tried to get out of the lake but he froze when Orochi finally emerged out of the lake, seven heads and all, and looked at him straight in the eye. They stayed like that for what seemed like hours until Orochi's eight head let off a deafening roar and then the remaining heads swatted the old man back.

The eight-headed beast howled once more as it was engulfed in a white light. When Shinnosuke and his granddad finally came to, the eight-headed beast was nowhere in sight, the animals were dying one by one, the lake has dried up and the plants and trees surrounding it has withered as well.

Tournament Arena

Ranma was noticeably different. His hair was an odd mixture of black and white, his violet eyes were vicious and uncaring, and the most obvious one was the aura he was emitting. It was in the form of a large serpent. He was wearing a type of uniform Goenitz used to wear but his was all black along with a short dark-blue cape that was connected to his shoulder guards.

"R-Ranma?"

"All of you… shall perish…" he said in an eerily calm tone.

The Hakkeshu of Fire got behind the fighters in an instant. He swatted Reiko to the far side as he tried to get to the still shocked Chizuru. Kyo was the first one to turn and attempted a spin kick but Ranma easily caught Kyo's leg with both of his hands, lifted him up and slammed him down. Benimaru pulled his arm back as he lunged at the Hakkeshu but to his dismay, Ranma caught it, electric arcs and all, and literally crushed the blonde's hand.

Heidern placed Leona to one side before joining the rest of the fighters to battle the ponytailed teen. He jumped towards Ranma, clamped a hand on the teen's face, and then drove his other hand onto Ranma's stomach. Blood came out seconds later but Ranma took it in stride as he drove his razor sharp fingers to Heidern's body at Amaguriken speed. It was the commander's turn to spill out blood, and the wounds he received were so many and so deep that the fighters wondered if he was still alive after that attack.

"Stop it Ranma! Power…"

Terry couldn't finish as he spent the next few seconds attempting to block the barrage of attacks he was receiving. Andy tried to jump to his brother's aid and kicked the ponytailed teen. Ranma took the brunt of the attack and acted as if that nothing even happened. He elbowed Andy on the throat while delivering a swift kick to the side of Terry's face that sent him flying.

"Sono chikara…" Chizuru began, crouching behind the Hakkeshu with her palms flat. "…fuujimasu!"

To her surprise, Ranma bent backwards, placed both hands on the floor for support, and allowed her arm to harmlessly pass over him. He continued his counter by grabbing her arm as he got back up and raised it up high, lifting her body along with it and inciting a scream from her as well.

Ranma stared directly into her eyes. "Kill…"

The Hakkeshu's eyes widened when blood suddenly splashed out of his back, ripping part of his clothes and forcing him to release the priestess as well. He hunched in pain for a minute before he turned around, only to find himself face to face with Yagami.

"I woke up and see you fighting women, bah, now I know that you're not Saotome, even I can tell that much." He said, slashing Ranma's chest and tearing out a portion of his clothing.

Ranma hopped back for a second before lunging forward and punching Iori in the stomach, followed by a sickening kick to the side of the redhead's face that made him slide along the ground. Ranma ran after him, clamped his hand around Iori's neck and tossed him up. He casually stood as he waited for a few moments before raising an arm up that soon stabbed the descending redhead in the stomach.

Fortunately, Ralf quickly tackled the Hakkeshu so as not to make the wound inflicted on Yagami any deeper. Ranma snarled and drove his knee on Ralf's stomach multiple times and then he grabbed his opponent's arm and twisted it, breaking it as it forces an anguished scream from Ralf.

Clark tried coming to his partner's aid but he only got caught up in the purple flames that suddenly exploded out of the ground Ranma was standing on, burning both him and his partner. Ranma casually walked out of the purple flames, and to the fighters, it looks as if he was gliding rather than walking towards them.

The Hakkeshu turned to his side and saw that Iori has grabbed a hold of his leg. He frowned slightly, and kicked Iori several times on the head but the Orochi warrior refused to let go. Iori's head was promptly buried deep into the ground as the ponytailed teen pried himself loose, jumped way up high and stomped hard on the redhead.

Ranma slowly walked over the downed Orochi warrior and clamped a hand on Iori's neck once more, lifted him up in the air as he struggled to breathe. The ponytailed teen looked him in the eye as purple flames swirled around his free hand. "It's such a short-lived life…" (1)

Cave Entrance

"Is Ranma going to be alright? Hey, answer me will you?!" Shermie yelled at the rest of the Hakkeshu, sending out huge amounts of lightning as she did so.

Yashiro, Mature and Vice ignored her completely but the grim look on their faces was enough to make the Hakkeshu of Lightning worry. She clenched her fists and was about to attack her fellow clan members when Chris tugged at her clothes and looked at her with a smile. "Don't worry about him Shermie. Everything is going according to plan."

That both worried and assured her but she kept silent. There was something about the tone that this member of the sacred tribe used which made her very uneasy, that and the fact that Chris was emitting a much powerful aura than any one of them at the moment. Imagine, a mere clansman having more power over the Orochi Hakketsu Shuu. That should've been impossible even if he is one of two potential vessels.

"Eheh, you guys notice that?" Yamazaki chuckled.

Vice chuckled back at him. "A mere worm, just ignore him Yamazaki. One mere human can't stop our plans, heh, and after Ranma kills those fighters, nothing will stand in our way."

The Hakketsu Shuu chose to ignore the man watching them as they entered the cave. Said man laughed as he walked out of the bushes. Ash smiled mischievously, glancing at the cave entrance rather intently. "A mere worm? You should watch your mouth Hakkeshu. I am trying to help all of you resurrect your god so insulting me is not a very good idea."

He pulled out the pendant from his pocket and smiled as it glowed brightly. "A little more, just a little more and you will be free from that accursed curse and then… you will be mine…"

Back at the arena, Ranma arched his arm back and was about to put a hole into Iori's chest when his body was swiftly engulfed in crimson flames, followed by a barrage of electric arcs that hurled him back. "Heh, I can't believe I'm saving you of all people."

Iori coughed as he kneeled down. "The feeling's damn mutual Kusanagi…"

"I am one with Gaia… the powers of the elements are mine to use…" Ranma said in an even, more like a mechanical tone as he raised his arms up high. Pillars of purple flames exploded everywhere, barely missing the fighters, especially the heavily injured ones. Benimaru was unfortunate to get caught up into one of the rising pillars, which burned his entire body real bad. He fought the pain it brought but his fall finally made him lose consciousness.

Kyo and Iori jumped to the sides to avoid a few lightning bolts that came down from the sky. Then they had to jump in the air to avoid the rising ground down below. Terry and Andy were busy carrying Blue Mary and Mai as they try to avoid the flame pillars and the lightning bolts while the rest of the fighters were being encased inside a protective seal created by a heavily exhausted Reiko.

Ranma eventually noticed the seal and the struggling Reiko so he held a hand up and sent a small tornado towards the protective barrier. Reiko grimaced from the collision and soon went down to her knees as the tornado continues to gather more strength the more it clashes with her barrier. No matter how hard she struggled, she only delayed the inevitable, the barrier was shattered but the tornado dissipated as well.

"Prepare for your deaths… it will all be over soon…"

Iori shakily got back up to his feet as he summoned his purple flames. "Yeah right… I'm not going down without a fight, Saotome. You will have to kill me in order to stop me, but I doubt that I'll go down by your hands."

Kyo followed suit, calling out his crimson flames as he spoke, "I will save Yuki, and you will not stop me Hakkeshu! I will kill you right here!"

Both fighters' eyes widened when a surge of energy came from behind them, darted forward and struck Ranma in the chest, sending him flying back and crashing to a huge pile of rocks and debris. Their eyes widened even more when Ranma stood up a few moments later but he shakily went back down as blood gushed out of his chest.

"Don't make me do this." Chizuru warned, concentrating all of her power towards the floating artifact in front of her. Ranma stood up, tried to take step forward but he was immediately pushed back by the immense power the priestess was currently wielding.

"Is that…?" Kyo asked, looking at the artifact with some sort of recognition.

Reiko practically lost it when she got a good look at it. "The Yata mirror! My lady! Are you going to kill Miss Leona and Master Yasakani as well?! If you release the power this close to them, they will surely die along with Mr. Ranma!"

Benimaru let off a dry chuckle while lying motionlessly on the floor as the winds around the place got stronger. "You're kidding right? We barely damaged him and you're saying that the little artifact Kagura is holding has the power to kill him? Get real!"

"I'm serious! Hakkeshu or no, Ranma will surely die if he's that close to it! Besides, hasn't anyone got it yet?! The Orochi Hakketsu Shuu has the power of the elements, you can even call it godly powers if you wish but the fact is that their bodies are still human! They can still get hurt and they can still be killed! The Yata mirror is the artifact that seals Orochi, their god. What do you think it'll do to his followers or those tainted with his blood especially at point-blank range?"

Everybody's eyes widened in realization. Ralf and Clark immediately grabbed Leona and Heidern with their good arm and ran out harms way as fast as they could, Benimaru was slowly being assisted by Reiko and surprisingly, Kyo was helping Iori get back up his feet as they also tried to move back. The rest of the fighters just backed away and watched the confrontation between Chizuru and Ranma from a distance.

"Don't expect me to return the favor, Kusanagi."

"Heh, I know, we'll discuss that some other time, Yagami."

Chizuru was surprised when Ranma stoically leapt at her with an arm extended forward in hopes of getting a hold of the Yata mirror. Surprised because the ponytailed teen was rapidly being torn apart, his flesh was being ripped from his body at an unbelievable rate but instead of jumping back, Ranma pressed on and tried to grab the mirror, without any hesitation whatsoever.

"Stop it! You'll die if you continue doing that…!" Chizuru's eyes widened, letting off a small gasp as she finally understood what the teen said a little earlier. 'Kill… did you mean… that one? Is that what you were trying to tell me?'

-----

"Well then, goodnight. And good luck in your match tomorrow."

"Yeah, thanks again…" Ranma took a step forward before pausing. "Hey, Chizuru? Can I ask you a favor?"

Chizuru turned around. "Yes? What is it?"

Ranma bowed his head, his bangs covering his eyes. "If… If I start to lose control in the tournament or anywhere for that matter…" he paused and bit his lip. "…please kill me…"

"What…?" Chizuru gasped out, her eyes widening by the second.

The ponytailed teen chuckled mirthlessly. "I know that you have the knowledge and the power to kill someone with Orochi blood, that's why I'm asking you. Um, you don't have to answer right away… just… just… please… I don't want to take another life when I go into the Riot of Blood or the Awakening for that matter. Please, spare me the pain. Kill me once I start to lose it…"

-----

Chizuru took a step back, slowly put her hands down and looked at Ranma with a sad smile. "This isn't you…"

-----

'Why? Why is he saving me?' Chizuru thought as she watched the ponytailed teen bury his arm to the side of the cliff, creating a human lifeline while holding her by the waist with his other arm. "W-Why…?"

-----

The Kagura priestess closed her eyes and began to concentrate once more, causing a huge amount of energy to swirl around her mirror. "This isn't the real you."

-----

Ranma gave her a sad smile and began to walk away. He opened the door and said one last thing to her. "I guess… I'm still trying to be human, no matter how hopeless it may be."

-----

Everyone gaped when the Kagura priestess halted her attack as the mirror went back inside her body. Ranma limply stepped forward as he looked at Chizuru with those vicious violet eyes of his. Chizuru surprisingly just stood there and waited for the ponytailed teen. The Hakkeshu was panting heavily as he neared her but he didn't let that get in his way, he tried to grab her neck but he stopped when the priestess yelled out the one thing that he truly desired.

"Human!" Chizuru yelled, looking at him in the eye. "'I'm still trying to be human'… those were your words, wasn't it?! This isn't you… this isn't what you wanted. Why do you follow Orochi's will? You told me yourself that you do not want to harm other people, why are you doing this then?"

The Hakkeshu gritted his teeth as he placed a hand to one side of his head. "Shut up…"

Chizuru screamed in pain as Ranma slashed her chest, ripping out a part of her clothes in the process. She endured the pain and continued to talk to the ponytailed teen. "You know I speak the truth, look at them!" she shouted, pointing towards the rest of the fighters.

"With the power you just displayed, you could've easily killed them yet you chose not to. It's because you are human, Ranma. It doesn't matter whether you have Orochi blood or not, you are who you choose to be and this isn't it. This isn't your will… it's that eight-headed beast's!"

Ranma screamed as he grabbed Chizuru by the neck. His wounds were starting to take effect, he was bleeding profusely, spitting out blood as he gritted his teeth and clutched his head with his other hand. "Shut up…"

"Please… come to your senses… come back to us… you said you did it before… you can do it again… fight it… Ranma… fight… it… please… you're more human than you think…"

"Human…" he mumbled, letting go of Chizuru, and taking a few steps back as swirls of energy began to surround him. He clutched his head while screaming in pain. The swirls of energy began to flow upwards, inciting a much more anguished scream every time it did so. Tears soon began to trickle down his pain-filled face. "I'm… human…!"

Then all of a sudden, the energy took the form of a large, transparent serpent head, it roared loudly as it flew to who knows where. Ranma's eyes, eyes that still have its violet hue, were now stripped of its viciousness and hatred. He lost consciousness as he fell forward, right into the waiting arms of Chizuru.

Chizuru fell down with him, and with her arms wrapped around his body, she smiled genuinely, and whispered a word into his ear as she held him closer. "Okaerinasai…"

Temple of Worship

Orochi Shermie snapped her head up and clutched her now aching chest. What did just happen? It's like something has gone terribly wrong. At least, she thought and feared that something has gone wrong, and wouldn't you know it? She was right. "Hey Chris, when will Ranma return to the temple? He must've killed all of them by now so why hasn't he come back yet?"

"Unfortunately, sensei will be delayed a lot longer than you think." Orochi Chris calmly replied, pointing to the purple wave of energy in the sky.

The rest of the Hakketsu Shuu had to cover their ears when a thunderous roar echoed around the altar. Orochi Shermie gaped when a transparent serpent head was rapidly circling the place. The serpent head roared once more before it flew up and slammed into one of the eight, twenty-foot high, stone pillars that were surrounding the altar. It swirled for a bit before exploding and turning into purple flames.

"What is that?"

"That is the reason why Ranma will take some time to get here. He shunned Orochi-sama's will once more. Heh, I never thought he had such resolve. I guess someone really doesn't want to be with his real family." Orochi Yashiro said with a grin, yanking at his glove as made the ground to tremble.

Yamazaki smirked as well. "Heheh, that means more kills for me."

The group was now inside a hotel, a few blocks away from the destroyed arena. Reiko, Iori, Chizuru and Ranma were inside one room, discussing the current conditions of the fighters. Surprisingly, Chizuru was still beside the ponytailed teen, allowing his head to rest on her lap.

"Not good, Benimaru and Daimon are seriously hurt, so are Mai and Blue Mary. Commander Heidern is in critical condition and Ralf and Clark suffered broken arms, third degree burns and a few internal injuries as well. Fortunately, the rest of the Ikari mercenaries arrived and are now preparing to transport the wounded to their camp in Tokyo."

"Thank you Reiko, but I must ask you to go with them, they'll need all the help they can get and your abilities will be most useful there and If my guess is right, Andy will go with you as well but I don't know if Terry will stay or not."

Reiko wanted to protest but one look at Chizuru made her sigh in resignation. She walked out of the room and went down the hallway, where Kyo was currently resting inside one of the rooms along with an exhausted Terry Bogard and a sleeping Leona Heidern.

The Kagura priestess turned her head to the side and asked, "Are you sure you're alright? That stab wound is a lot deeper than I first thought. You should have it looked at by the doctors here…"

Iori was not in the mood to beat around the bush. "Why didn't you use that artifact on Goenitz? It would've saved us a lot of trouble last year if you used it from the very beginning."

Chizuru shook her head, looking down at the sleeping Ranma as she brushed his hair. "The Yata mirror takes time to gather its energy, using it on Goenitz would have drained it to its limits due to his extraordinary speed and powers over wind. That's why I need its power to seal Orochi, not to waste the mirror's energy on its Hakkeshu."

"Use it to seal Orochi, eh? Let me ask you this, why did you use some of its power to subdue Saotome then? And when he was choking the life out of you, you used some of it on him yet again." Iori said casually, he smirked and his eyes had an amused look as the Kagura priestess struggled for words to say.

"Uh… Uhn…" Ranma muttered.

Chizuru looked at the ponytailed teen, relieved by the distraction. "He's coming to…"

Iori cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Oh, I've been waiting for this. Wake up Saotome… you and I are going to have a little talk."

Ranma groaned as he opened his eyes. His vision was blurry but he knew that he was staring at someone's face, except he can't identify the person just yet. He focused his eyes and smiled slightly when the image became a little bit clearer. "An angel…" he muttered before passing out again.

This of course, was heard by the other two people in the room. One was trying to hide a blush that has quickly formed on her face while the other one basically ignored it because he was a little peeved that Ranma passed out before he could pay him back.

"My Lady!" Reiko shouted, barging into the room all of a sudden.

"What is it Reiko?"

Reiko took a few deep breaths before answering, "It's Master Kusanagi, he's gone after the Orochi Hakketsu Shuu by himself, saying that he'll track them down and he will not stop until Yuki is safe. Terry Bogard went after him while Leona went to tell me everything."

"L-Lets go then… I know where they are…" Ranma said faintly, rubbing his still blurry eyes as he regained consciousness.

Forest Path

After discussing their current situation, Ranma, Chizuru, Leona and Iori were now walking towards the place the ponytailed teen told them about, Goenitz' hideaway, the only place that has any connection to Orochi in this area. Iori and Leona took front while Ranma was at the back, still too weak to walk by himself so Chizuru was assisting him for the time being. He had an arm wrapped around the priestess' neck as they walked forward.

"How are you feeling?"

Ranma shook his head slightly. "I just feel a little drained, that's all. I really don't remember what happened. Last I recall was being chained to a wall and then… nothing."

"I see… maybe it's best that way…"

"But there was one thing that I remember very clearly. I remember someone calling out to me, I-I think that the voice was trying to help me in overcoming my pain, my burden…" he paused and looked at Chizuru with a small smile. "It was you. You brought me back, right?"

Chizuru smiled back. "I don't need my mirror to know that you're not the kind to give up on something important to you that easily."

Ranma chuckled slightly. "Am I that easy to figure out?"

"Yes."

Both shared a laugh at that, until Ranma finally noticed his bangs and the odd mixture of black and white hair he has. Chizuru was a bit surprised to see him so calm after noticing the changes in his hair and eyes. When she asked him why, he just said that he finally accepted what he is, he's human but he also accepted that he has Orochi blood in his veins. He guessed that his appearance was a result of that.

"Chizuru, I want to thank you… you know, for everything…"

"Is should say the same to you, um, for saving me from that cliff… I never thanked you for that so… thank you…"

The two turned and stared at each other for who knows how long, that is until a certain irritated redhead scoffed at them. "Look, if you two want to make out, that's fine by me. You can back out right now. I can handle them by myself."

Chizuru and Ranma hurriedly broke their gaze as they walked forward.

Leona giggled a bit before she turned towards Iori. "You know, you really can be a nice guy if you want to."

"Tell that to someone else and I promise that I'll rip your head off." He snapped, placing his hands inside his pocket and walked ahead of the three.

The blue-haired girl just smiled and shook her head.

Cave Entrance

"We're here…" Ranma said in between gasps.

"This is the cave? Hmph, I thought it would at least be guarded or something…" Iori paused when both Terry and Kyo's body flew past him as they slid to the ground.

Leona quickly went to the aid of the downed fighters while both Ranma and Chizuru looked at the redhead with a frown. "You and your big mouth…"

Iori scoffed at the two before turning his head towards the cave entrance, where a certain individual was now walking towards them. The figure was wearing an ancient mask that completely conceals his face and a dark cloak that covers his entire body. He chuckled as he looked at Chizuru, Ranma, Leona and a slightly irritated Iori. "So the key players are finally here, good."

"Who dragged you out of the circus?"

"A childish attempt to get to me, ah, but it is what I expected from a member of the traitorous Yasakani clan though." He said nonchalantly.

Iori snarled, dashed in and swung an arm at the masked figure but his eyes widened when the figure disappeared and reappeared behind him. "How…?"

"Hahaha… I'm over here. Nice try though, Yagami-kun."

The figure laughed and disappeared yet again, Chizuru gasped in surprise when Ranma shoved her back as he got in front of her all of a sudden. She looked over the ponytailed teen's shoulder to find out that the figure reappeared a few feet in front of her, and that Ranma has blocked the figure's fist that she knew was intended for her. "I should say the same to you. Nice try, you masked weirdo."

"Oho…! I get it now." the masked figure whispered back to Ranma.

Chizuru glared at he masked figure. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Nobody in particular… I guess you can call me an Orochi fanatic. I just wanted to buy some time for the resurrection so I decided to have some fun with Terry Bogard and Kyo Kusanagi first. Oh my, I guess it worked, they're already starting the ritual…" He jumped onto a tree branch and hopped away.

Ranma was about to give chase when he and the rest of the fighters suddenly clutched their head in pain as a thunderous inhuman roar passed by them. "What in the world was that?!"

Terry shook his head. "I don't know but I do know that it went inside the cave."

"Well, there's no going back now…" Ranma began, looking at the rest of the group with fiery eyes. Seeing everyone nod, he, with the help of Chizuru, started walking inside the cave. "…let's go…"

Ash walked back to the cave entrance, removed his mask, and smirked as he muttered, "I'll see you two later, Saotome-kun, Kagura-san. Oh yes, I'll see you two very soon."

"I can't see a thing, are you sure we're going the right way?" Kyo asked placing a hand on a wall for support as he continued to walk forward.

Ranma went ahead of him, entered the next room to the right, and came out carrying a couple of lamps. "Here, take this. Now, come on and follow me. There's not much time, I can sense it. Whatever it was that made that sound, I'm pretty sure that it has something to do with the resurrection of Orochi."

'Not good, the numbers are even but most of us are injured and if Ranma's display of power was any indication, we're going to be in for the fight of our lives…' Terry thought with a frown.

The group soon made it to Goenitz' quarters, Chizuru reflexively shivered when she entered the place, this is the room of the man who ruined her life. Ranma made his way to the door with the weird markings and took a few deep breaths as he turned to face the rest of the group. "I don't know what's in there but those that refuse to go can leave, no one is forcing you to fight."

The reactions varied, but the results were the same. Iori scoffed at that, Leona shook her head, Terry bowed his head as he shook his cap, Kyo pounded his fists together and finally, Chizuru looked him in the eye and nodded to him.

Ranma nodded back at them, faced the door and placed a hand on it. A bright light soon filled the room, the fighters covered their eyes and waited for the light to disperse and when it did, they were now looking at a spiral staircase that has blood and flesh on the walls. "Let's finish this…"

(1) – Gee, wonder whose line that was…

AN: Ashy washy =P. Last two chapters left. Hopefully I can finish it this week so I could concentrate on Dark Ascension next before real life decides to ruin it for me, ja ne!

Next The Revival of the Demon

"That's it, that's the spirit! There's no choice but to fight! But even if you win, a living hell awaits you!"