Disclaimer: I swear to god, if you don't get that lawyer with the telescope away from my house…
The fourth installment of Ranma: Hour of Chaos is here and ready to go. A thanks goes to Douglas K for Kuno's line.
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"So Etna, I was wondering. You said this was hell right?"
"Yeah."
"So…if I'm in hell, shouldn't I be dead or something like that?"
Etna and Ranma were walking through the corridors of the overlord's castle to reach the infirmary. Despite Ranma's insistence that he was fine and could walk on his own, Etna was supporting him with her arm around his waist.
"Well, this isn't exactly the 'hell' your thinking of. This place is more of a…'purgatory' as you humans would put it."
"Oh." There was a bit of an awkward silence for a few seconds, "What's purgatory?"
Face faulting would have been hazardous with her passenger so she opted for a sweat-drop instead.
"Hmm…let me put it this way. Generally, good people go to the place called 'heaven' while bad people go to the place called 'hell.' Of course Hild-sama and Kami-sama prefer Asgard and Nefilem, but that's a different story entirely."
(A/N: Not to mention the makings of one hell of a confusing plot)
"Those two places co-exist with earth, but the Netherworld and Celestia are a world away. Whenever a soul is…in-balance…their souls get sent here and they take on the bodies of prinnies to pay off their debts and ascend to heaven."
"Well, I don't really get it but hey, at least I'm not dead!"
Etna sighed and put her hand on her forehead.
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"So what do you think Laharl?" asked the Wraith.
The young (in demon terms) overlord looked into the scrying pool the Wraith had made for a second more before sitting back on his throne.
"He could prove to be a worthy vassal. Perhaps he would consider the honor of joining me. He's not a bad fighter for a human."
"Honor my ass," commented the dragon standing beside Laharl, "The last two 'vassals' who joined you had to be beaten within an inch of their lives."
"Shut up!"
"Even so, I am sure that with his support, you could readily establish yourself as a successful overlord."
"Or you could always get off your lazy ass and help me," countered Laharl.
"That would require effort on my part that I'm not willing to give."
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On a different level of existence, a very different argument was occurring. This one, between the warring factions of Nerima.
"What do you mean he's gone?" shouted Ukyo.
"Exactly what it sounds like." Responded Nabiki, "He's not here, gone away, can't be found, vanished, disappeared, do I really need to continue?"
"Tell me what you know then. I know you know something."
"Take a seat in the dinning room then. Everyone else should be here shortly." And I'll have to tell Kasumi to put sedatives in the tea to control this lot.
A few minutes later…
'It's sad really,' Nabiki thought to herself as she looked at the all too familiar sight of Ranma's enemies grouped around the table, 'Where would these people find personalities of their own if they didn't have Ranma to help shape them? Come to think of it, if Ranma really did disappear, what would they do?'
However, Nabiki wasn't one to let such petty things as decency get in the way of her money schemes.
Pocketing her earned/extorted money, Nabiki began to tell the crowd about what her followers had observed the day he had disappeared.
The surprise came in the from of Colonge.
"Do you happen to be talking about this scroll?" The wizened mummy drew a bound and sealed scroll from her sleeve.
Nabiki took a look at it. The seal that bound it was the exact same one that her observer had told her about. A blood red pentagram with a smaller star in the center.
"So…what does it mean?"
Colonge sighed and put the scroll in the folds of her robes, "This scroll was, or rather is, a gateway to a place called the netherworld."
"You mean hell?"
"No. I mean the netherworld. They are two entirely different places."
"Really? How so?"
"If you had been following the story you'd know, but that's not important right now. The thing is, the netherworld is a dwelling place for many powerful demons, even more powerful than I."
This made even the most hotheaded people cool down and think for a bit.
'Damn you Saotome,' Ryoga thought silently to himself, 'Not only do you run off from a man to man fight, but now you've gone and stole my best line! I cant say, "because of you I've seen hell" anymore because you're there now!'
'Foul sorcerer! Even from the depths of hell I shall banish your evil!' Kuno paused, 'Hmm, that didn't sound right…'
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Despite their names, the doctors were very professional. Unfortunately their practice didn't do very well because of their names in the first place, until King Kircheskvoy had taken them in and let them set up their station. In honor of the king's memory, they chose to stick by the prince.
Another thing of interest he had noticed was the place called the item world. Every time a person made a weapon or piece of art, they imprinted a bit of their soul onto their work. The item world, as it was nicknamed, let you do battle with the soul in a physical form. If you defeated it, then the item would be bonded to you, and no one else could use it.
There were other varying factors as well. His shirt for instance, was mass-produced and machine made having absolutely no soul in it. However, if you were to take a hand made sword, such as a blade from the legendary Masamune himself, you would be facing an enemy with near god-like attributes.
This was all thanks to the sorceress Eleanor. At an early age, she had begun to smith weapons and armor. She found later that she had the ability to communicate with items and the proverbial 'souls' that resided within them. Kircheskvoy had taken an interest in her and she later became his vassal. She also chose to stick with the prince in memory of his father.
"So," Ranma had asked, "If king Kirkcheck…whatever, was so great, how did he die?"
"Hmm, oh he choked on a black pretzel." Said Etna simply.
"Are you serious?"
"Yep."
'That's pathetic,' thought Ranma silently to himself, 'But then again, if I hadn't gotten out of that hellhole, Akane's cooking probably would have done me in.'
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Somewhere up on earth, midguard, or whatever name you want to use for it, a certain tomboy sneezed.
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"Hey Etna, you know the portal that transported us here?"
"You mean the dimensional gate? What about it?"
"Can it transport people anywhere?"
"As long as the gatekeeper has the coordinates."
"Could it get me back to earth?"
Etna smiled to herself as she responded, "To do that you'd have to petition to the dark assembly, made up of some of the Netherworld's strongest demons. And those conservatives haven't opened up that route in 2000 years."
Ranma wasn't discouraged though, "So what do I need to do?"
'He's a tough one,' thought Etna, 'Time to bring out the big guns.'
"Just convince a horde of demons who are more powerful than the ones you fought, to open up a portal to the human world when they all revel in isolation."
"And how would I do that?"
"Bribery."
Ranma paled at this. Bribery and extortion were Nabiki's area of expertise, not his. Not to mention he only had about 35 yen in his pocket, and he didn't even know what type of currency these demons used.
"Is there any other way?"
"Well, you could challenge them to mortal combat, but you'd be hopelessly outnumbered."
"Damn. Looks like I'm stuck here for now then. Although it's probably for the best. At least I'm away from Nerima."
"Exactly!" Laharl stood in the hall, his cape flying behind him in an unknown wind, his sword drawn and ready for action, "And now that you've realized just how hopeless your situation is, I have a deal for you."
Ranma casually brushed Etna's arm away and got into a deceptive fighting stance, making it look like he wasn't ready for a fight, but was secretly geared for almost anything.
"And what is this deal?"
"Simple. You become my vassal, and I give you room and board at the castle, along with my protection. In return, you serve me and help me establish my position as overlord."
The thought rolled around in Ranma's mind for a bit, considering the pros and cons. He was technically a guest here and they could boot him out any time if he didn't accept the offer. On the other hand, servitude to a demon could mean a whole host of things he probably didn't want to get involved with.
Then there were the demons Laharl and Etna. The kid-overlord claimed he was nearly 1200 years old but he acted like a 12 year-old sometimes. His power-level though, was nearly as high as his own. Etna was more like a teenager though. She claimed to be nearly 1400 years old, but she acted like a girl who just got out of puberty. As far as Ranma could tell, one demon year was about equal to a thousand human years.
There was also the dark council to deal with. If he wanted to get back home, he needed to win them over, and having the overlord on his side would be a good start…
"Alright, I accept."
"Y…you do?"
"Yeah."
"Seriously? No fighting, no deals, no blackmail or strings attached?"
"Nah. Not my area. My names Ranma, vassal to the kid-overlord Laharl." He held out his hand. Laharl took it.
"Welcome to the overlords castle."
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Etna's Diary:
My memories are slowly coming back to me, now that the vampire Madreas has been defeated. But my memories are a thing of the past. The future is moving on and is bringing new surprises. Today, for instance, the first human in over 1000 years has entered the Netherworld. Not to mention he's strong and good-looking too.
Something seems familiar about him; though I cant quite place my finger on it. Perhaps my returning memories will clue me in as to who this person is.
Another thing, I find myself strangely attracted to this man as well. I know its silly. Humans like him barely have a lifespan of a hundred years or so, a relationship would never work between us, but I can still dream Perhaps a short-term relationship would work…
He's also incredibly shy. Even when I give out a minor suggestion he starts sweating and changes the subject, so I might have to move a little more slowly with him. Not that I've ever really been in a relationship before. He hinted at some crazy stuff back on earth about all these females chasing after him but he didn't elaborate. If half of what he told us is true, I cant believe he's still a virgin. Demons have a knack for smelling stuff like that out.
The only downside I can see to him is that he's a little dull. Right after taking a spectacular loss to one of the late kings servants, he was up and ready to go fight even more powerful demons almost an hour later. He's either really brave or really clueless. Oh well, he'll learn eventually, or die in the process.Etna sighed and closed her diary. It was amazing how much writing your thoughts out put things into perspective. Just as she was about to leave her secret hiding place, something caught her eye. There was a piece of paper sticking out between the pages of her diary.
Hesitantly, she pulled it out. The first thing that caught her eye was two signatures at the bottom. The first belonged to King Kircheskvoy; the second belonged to someone named Genma Saotome.
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Three guesses as to what the contract is about, and the first two don't count.
Please leave a review on the way out.
