dragons warning and a demons fun
working title by
imortis

ranma blinked looking up and about as an almost soothing feeling of
warm liquid slowly traveling down his face, almost like the feeling
that blood had on those times when he'd gotten hurt. he blinked and
hesetently rubbed his cheek, kind of paniced about looking. he
blinked not seeing anything. ranma started to calm down when a
slight sound coming in on the breeze that suddenly made him feel
chilled and overheated at the same time, blinking at the anger and
fear that he felt at the same time.

he blinked and looked around at the school yard with hard, burning
eyes. just then turning about, akane blinked up at him "hey, whats
wrong?" she asked seeing that look he gets on his face when ever he
suspects a cats near, except it had a fury in it she'd never seen
before. ranma startled severely out of his searching when akane
clapped her hands sharply in his face "hey!! can you hear me!?" she
shouted trying to get his attention. he scowled at her "whatcha
distract me for?!" he yelled indignently. she snorted looking away
haughtily "well, i guess for now on i'll let you stare off into
nothing with that stupid as dirt look on your face." she sniffed
marching out of the school yard.

ranma grumbled under his breath as he stalked after her, after
scanning the yard again, he shivered again rememering that....
chuckle... with a very uneasy feeling down his spin, a feeling he
hadn't felt since...... "hey akane! wait up!!"

ranma hurried into the house when they got home and brushed everyone
off as he quickly walked upstairs, catching the attention of three
people with that almost fearful look on his face. genmas eyes narrowed
as he descretely followed after him, nodoka looked suspiciously at
akane and saw the same questioning look on her face, they nodded
slightly and silently followed. they crept to the door and blinked
hearing the sound of something being tossed at the floor "i'm not
imagining it pop.....its that feeling i got...." ranmas voice shook
with sepressed terror.

"your mistaken boy, its impossible, we left him dead long ago, your
just letting your fear control you." genma growled sharply. they
looked wide eyed at each other hearing ranma breathing deeply "you
don't know that pop. and it wasn't just my fear, I FELT HIM. i could
practically taste the blood in my mouth pop, i could feel the
excitement..." they gapped hearing the sound of genma grabbing him
"shut up! you listen good boy, that was not you. he used you! it was
not you doing it. hes DEAD!!"

ranma pushed him away "you don't know that!" ranma half roared
through his teeth in fear and panic driven frustration "we don't
know hes dead pop. hes going to come, hes going to come and hes
going to make me kill again. i felt it. i could almost hear.... that
laugh...." genma grabbed his sobbing son and shook him "you stop
this! don't ever speak of this again! it was a hard time for both of
us, but its over and done with! you saw the same as i did! master
roshi helped you kill him! its over! i will not hear of you speaking
of this again!"

ranma nodded shakily after a few minutes to gain control of himself
"h- hai..... pop. i'll..... go do my..... workout." he said
haltingly and genma let him go "good, be sure no one knows of this,
your mother would surely kill us both if she heard of it." he watched
him grimly starting his mental strengthening excersises "why, why is
mom so unforgiving?" he asked softly. genma sighed "your mothers a
very close minded person boy, i was extremely surprised she excepted
your curse, i felt for sure we were dead."

ranma looked troubled "i don't know pop.... moms not that close
minded, are you sure? if we explaine-" ranma was cut off and they
heard a slapping sound "listen to me good, boy, you will never dare
tell your mother. which one of us knows her better? you, or me? your
mother would hate you if she ever found out." ranma stopped looking
down fighting the tears that idea welled up in him "....ok.... i'll
stay silent." he whispered softly meek. genma nodded uncrossing his
arms "what happened was horrible and people like your mother would
think it was best to hunt you down if they knew. its better to just
keep your distance from her, lest she see your taint."

ranma snarled feeling angry "my taint?!? you did it to me!! i was
six pop! you did it to me! you let him take me!" he yelled bitterly.
genma snorted "its your own fault boy! if you had been a man and not
a weak litle coward you would have been able to over come any
obstical." he growled back. ranma growled back stopping "thats
bullshit pop. that 'its your fault for being too weak' shit don't
cut it anymore with me. i've talked to people, the only truth is
that you took a six year old boy and fed him to that damned demon.
its all your fault, its your fault he made me kill twenty three
people!"

the two looked up hearing the sound of something hitting the floor
and genma jumped checking the door for anyone. he sighed in relief
not finding anyone. he looked back at ranma and scowled at him "if
you bring this subject up again, i'll have you training in the catfist
so long you'll think he was being nice."

in nibikis room nodoka had her hand clasped over her mouth crying
hard, she hadn't moved since nibiki pulled the two in there after
akane face faulted. "did you hear that!?" akane hissed angrily
having heard the last of it. nodoka nodded shakily "my son... is a
murderer." she said heartbroken. they blinked "no, did you hear what
genma said?" she growled. nodoka shook her head and it was played
back to her "whats the catfist?"

nibiki snapped her fingers when akanes explanation made the woman
start cursing softly "listen, ranmas talking to himself." she
whispered unplugging her headphones. "-couldn't i be normal? i hate
him so much, please save me. i don't know why you torture me so, i
want my mother." he cried softly. he sniffed "i just want to go back
home to mom, why can't you let me go..... you've made everyone hate
me. what did i do to you?"

nibiki started to turn it off when she hear something, she turned up
the gain on her recorder and listened carefully "it pleases me that
you suffer." they all jumped hearing it, blinking at the high
pitched shreek it made. "haven't i suffered enough?" he whimpered.
all he got was a giggle that sounded like glass grinding against
torn metal. "i won't let you take me back, you can go back to what
ever hell pop took you from, i'm not going to kill again." this time
the giggle was louder "you have no choice, your father gave your
soul to me, you belong to me and as long as you resist me, your pain
will grow."

she turned the volume down quickly hearing the thundering of ranma
opening his window. they looked horrified at each other "what... do
we... do?" nodoka freaked sobbingly, hearing her sons sobs tore at
her heart. nibiki looked angrily at the door for a minute "i don't
know." she finally said shortly, if something supernatural happened
they went to ranma. "poor ranma." akane whispered fighting her
tears. nodoka hugged her for comfort. nibiki looked thoughtful for a
minute "theres only two people i know that could help us with this
sort of thing. but i don't trust either of them."

nibiki looked up a half hour later as cologne appeared in her window
silently. "did ranma see you?" she asked softly. she shook her head
eying nodoka and akane hanging on each other, both of them crying now
"what has happened nibiki?" she asked grimly. nibiki handed her the
headphones and she took them silently. nibiki watched her face go
from curious to shock to horror and anger. she nodded when she
jerked after a few minutes and took the headphones off. she blinked
a few times hiding the tear that tried to come "i will need to
research this, bring the boy by the restaurant tomarrow, i'll have
something by then."

ranma looked up from the bento in his hands to blink in surprise at
his mother and the two tendo sisters, losing the lost and despairing
look he'd worn all day. "... hey, is lunch over?" he asked softly.
they blinked at him worriedly "ranma... schools been out for the
last hour and a half." akane murmured nealing by him. he blinked at
her uncomprehendingly "lets go, we're going to go see cologne, she
said she had something interesting to tell auntie and i don't think
she should go alone."

ranma blinked for a minute before understanding entered his eyes
"cologne? ya... lets go." he stood up and looked curiously at the
way nodoka was looking at him "is something wrong mom?" he asked
nerviously."no dear. i was just thinking..... we really need to sit
down and.... talk. here you are, and i don't know anything about
you."

ranma looked away from her hiding the dread and hope on his
face "theres... not much to tell." he said meekly. nodoka
took ahold of his arm and cupped his face in her hands "i
told you, before genma took you from me, that no matter what
he did.... i'd always love you. no matter what." she
whispered softly stroking her thumbs down his cheeks. ranmas
mouth quivered softly "i..... i can't." he whimpered
softly. she looked pleading "why can't you? maybe we can
find someone who can help." she begged quietly. ranma
blinked at the tears in his eyes "pop made me promise never
to tell."

she looked angry "ranma, theres something my father told me
which i didn't want to believe at the time." she bit her
lip "he told me, that men, that live without honor, do not
have the right to demand an oath from anyone, that those
with honor are honorbound to ignore such oaths if they do
not want to lose what honor they had." she looked down
biting her lip "father stopped talking to me after genma
took you, he said i'd disgraced myself for letting him
bully me into agreeing to the oath. i.... i was in love, i
thought genma loved us. i didn't want to believe that he
would hurt you. please, please tell me, did he hurt you? i
need to know."

ranma opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. he
blinked for a minute before trying again. he looked confused
"i can't." he murmured confused. she looked worried "come,
lets go see what cologne has for us."

ranma looked around the nekohanten for a minute before
moving back scared from the things on the floor "you can't!"
he shouted recognizing the demon wards "we're trying to
help you boy!" cologne said moving close. ranma shook his
head "no! if you do this you'll he-" he voice cut off and
he stomped his foot in frustration "somethings keeping him
from speaking cologne-san." nodoka murmured. cologne looked
interested in the worry and fear on ranmas face as he edged
away from the magical tools.

"you think its bad that we do this?" she asked. he nodded
quickly opening his mouth but nothing came out. he glared at
the floor for a moment "is like a box, while the box is
closed the d- if you open it h- its better to leave it
alone!" he finished looking angry. cologne glared narrow
eyed at him "your saying its not a possession?" she
demanded. ranma nodded and shook his head then looked
pissed "it won't let me say!"

she nodded "its trying to hide something." she mused.
ranma nodded looking pleading. she nodded pointing to a chair
"sit there boy." she comanded. he did as he was told. nodoka
took his hand and he smiled slightly at her as cologne came
back "drink this, it might help." she said. ranma nodded
looking at akane and his mother for assurances before doing
it. he jerked in pain grabbing his head gasping through
gritted teeth before sitting up strait "i take it the demon
no longer controls your voice?" she asked. he nodded "the
demon is very angry." he agreed. she nodded "tell me where
it came from." she demanded. ranma blinked and his eyes
dialated "i was six, pop had gotten a few pages from a book
of a man that was dead when we came to visit him, pop said
he would make me strong. the place had been desimated.
pop... took the pages from a book that had been badly
burned, it was sitting inside a circle of ashe along with
charred bones and some other things, i couldn't tell, pop
dragged me away before i could see much. we went to kyoto
and pop started looking for a place, he said that he didn't
want anyone to desturb us. he dug a p- pit, in this clearing
in the forest, he had me, steal every cat i could find, said
it was training so i had to do a good job."

akane gasped "the catfist?" she whispered. ranma nodded
"after letting the cats starve a few days he rubbed me down
with fish cakes and tied a few of them to me. after that
he.... dropped me in the pit." he shivered slightly as sweat
popped up on his brow "the fear must be strong to resist
that potion." cologne murmured as nodoka washed his face off
worriedly "it.... he pulled me out.... after seven hours.
he.... seemed pleased with my condition, like thats how he
intended for it to happen. he gave me a few days to let
my fear settle a little before tying me up, put me back in
the pit."

akane hugged nodoka seeing the horror on her face "he... did
it to hurt him!" she breathed. cologne snarled softly "go
on!" she comanded. ranma twitched slightly "it took three
months of dropping me in the pit for what he was after
finally came. i felt.... this warmth, and a voice that drove
the pain away, it.... laughed at me. the next thing i know,
i'm staring at pop who was shouting angrily at me,
saying.... 'i... summoned you..... give me whats.... mine.'
i.... didn't know why he was yelling at me until i heard
this voice, it wasn't mine." he squeezed his eyes closed in
pain and cologne smacked him in the head with her staff
"quickly, the demon is reaserting itself." she said and
helping hands opened his mouth and more of the stuff poured
down his mouth.

ranma breathed deeply looking lifeless "you offered this boy
as payment for my gift." he said in an almost shreeking
voice. they moved back slightly "fool, i shall keep the boy
and thankyou for freeing me." cologne smacked him in the
head and he blinked at her "for the next ten days.... it was
like a nightmare, i'd... get flashes... of terror filled
faces and blood, then, after a while, i got this image....
and master roshi started urging me to fight. he helped me
push the demon out of my mind, but... it was too powerful to
kill. he said it would take twelve years to prepare the
weapon needed to slay the demon. pop was with him, he...
offered me as a prison for the demon, saying that he would
make sure the demon stayed contained inside me until roshi
could come for us. for the next year, pop would beat me for
almost no reason, i had to hunt rabbits to keep from
starving, he blamed me for what happened, saying it was my
fault and that he would kill me if i ever tried to tell mom.
after ucchan... pop started training me in the art, he
didn't want to return to mom without something to hide
behind. i hate him, i wish he'd die."

they looked at him in horror seeing the pain and rage that
writhed over his face, he started shaking hard "he's
breaking free." cologne murmured and quickly hit a pressure
point on his head, ranma crumpled into unconsciousness and
fell to the floor. cologne looked at the boy for a few
minutes befor humming interestedly "i wonder who this
mastrer roshi is?" she mused. akane blinked "i don't know,
ranma spoke the name like he would say girl or dog." cologne
blinked intregued "you think he literally meant dragon?" she
asked. akane nodded "do you know anything that could do
that?" she asked. cologne nodded "i take your point. lets
get this cleared away before he wakes, he won't remember
anything past entering the room, the importent part is that
neither will the demon."

ranma woke up and groaned touching his head "damn! did akane
hit me again?!" he hissed sitting up and blanched at all of
them staring at him "what?! what i do?!" he asked moving
back nerviously. nodoka cleared her throat "you passed out
son, are you alright? you worried us." she murmured. he
blinked at her for a moment and fear washed over his face
"i... passed out? did i.... do anything?" he asked softly.
they shook their heads "no, but you did keep moaning a
name." akane murmured, ignoring the cautionary looks the two
older woman shot at her "what?!" he asked dreading her
answer. she blinked "you kept saying master roshi." she said
worried. ranma looked relieved "just... roshi?" he asked
relaxing. she nodded "who was roshi?" she asked. he blinked
for a minute before shaking his head "i don't remmber much
more then that he helped me when i was young. i think he
lived in.... i think it was a forest forty miles south of
kyoto." he murmured thinking hard.

cologne looked at the two women for a second before looking at ranma
critically and nodded "boy, i think its time you proved your
worth again." she darted forward and tapped more then a few pressure
points on his chest and ranma cried out falling to the floor as his
knees weakened "wh- what the hell did you do to me?!?" he demanded
trying to stand up. she grinned at him "its a weaker version of the
pressure point happosai used to steal your strength. you have to beat
me to get the cure." she said challangingly. he jumped up snarling
and fell back down not being able to support himself. cologne
cackled "oh did i forget to tell you? the only way you could beat me
in your current state is to learn to use your chi in ways you
wouldn't think possible." she chuckled handing akane a small scroll
"you, take the boy home, and do not let genma see that scroll. i do
not trust that man with this sort of thing." after she had shoed the
two from the store she looked at nodoka "we'd best get him to kyoto
and find this roshi, and it would be for the best if genma did not
know about this, i'll figure out how to get rid of him."

nodoka looked at her curiously "why are you doing this for us?" she
asked softly. cologne looked at her "i realized a long time ago that
that boy was not meant for shampoo, he's wrong for some one like her,
and after finding out what genma did to him i want him away from
shampoo even more. but i will not just blow off the skill and
potential he has. i would not be happy to waste all the time on him
that i have without seeing my patence carry through." nodoka looked
at her blinking repeatedly "i thank you for everything you've done
for my son, he has said on more then one occation that he would have
fallen to one of his enemies long ago if you hadn't started training
him." cologne blinked at her interested and she nodded smiling as
she left "he respects you as his teacher and better, even if he
won't say it to your face."

cologne chuckled nodding "i understand." she said nodding as the
woman left. after she was sure she was gone she looked at the duck
sitting silently in the cage behind the counter "i would know what
you think about this mou tzu." she said in chinese. he quacked
hurrying from the room after she had released him and came back
quickly after dressing "i did not think saotome genma could be that
evil." he said softly looking at the ground "the tzu famiy has long
hunted demon kind, can we trust that we heard?" she asked. he nodded
slowly "the two believe it with all their heart, and from what i
could tell, ranma doesn't realize he isn't telling us something.
something importent." she nodded looking thoughtful "do you know how
to track roshi?" she asked curiously. he blinked surprised and
nodded after a minute "i've spoken with one before if thats what you
mean. grandmother took me to see one once, i could track one."

she nodded "go pack a bag, i want you to return home and gather
what you may need in case we must kill the demon ourselves." she
comanded. he nodded standing firm "does this mean we will be giving
up on ranma?" he asked softly. she nodded "of course, you know the
law as i on consorting with the lower creatures." she said. he
nodded "they say kill any that had anything to do with it." he
agreed. cologne nodded "yes, but we're going to try to save ranma,
he has already shown himself as a valueable ally to have, just not
in the tribe." he nodded looking thoughtful "and if we can't?" he
asked. she looked grim "then i shall kill him."

nodoka blinked in surprise hearing yelling from inside the house
and ran in worried. "i said get up boy!!" genma yelled angrily at
him from his position over the prone boy laying where genma had
knocked him. nodoka scowled at him but before she could do anything
akane pounded genma into the floor with her mallet. she snarled at
the unconscious man before helping ranma stand and walked him to
the couch "akane! what is the meaning of this?!" soun demanded
upset. akane frowned at him "ranma does not need this dad. cologne
ambushed him on the way home and challanged him again. she showed
him a technique that would allow him to over come this but warned
that it would take a few weeks." soun looked wide eyed "oh, well
then, i guess you were just trying to help your fiance." he said
pleased. akane grimaced not saying a thing.

nodoka looked at soun with a scowl making him shutter looking away.
nodoka frowned looking at genma on the floor for a minute before
making a decision she turned and marched from the room "where are
you going auntie?" kisumi asked. she looked at her before forcing a
smile "i need to get home for a while kisumi, i'll be back
tommarrow." she said normally. she smiled nodding and left her
alone. nodoka shouldered her sword and marched from the house. after
a few blocks she stopped and called a cab. she nodded to the driver
when she got in "take me to the train terminal."

ranma grumbled softly to himself as akane helped him climb the
stairs and slumped onto his futon with bitter anger on his face
"stupid old man, shoulda known he'd do this, did it last time!" he
snarled slumping back into the mattress. akane came over and helped
him sit back up and rubbed his shoulders "don't worry about that
ranma, i'll make him regret it if he doesn't leave you alone, and
auntie is very willing to hurt him if he doesn't leave you alone."
she soothed holding him up as she took out the scroll cologne had
given them. ranma blinked at her and blushed slightly looking down
"wh- why are... you being so nice?" he asked softly.

::ranma and akane scene here, ranma learning to let akane assist
him in normal things.::

nodoka looked at the gate before her with not a little trepidation, she
closed her eyes for a minute before ringing the bell. after a minute
a man she knew well during childhood answered the door. he blinked
at her for a minute before moving to shut it. "no!" she cried
putting her arm in the way showing him her sword hilt "i would
speak with my father. on the honor of the family i demand to see
him!" he hesitated for a second, a pained look crossing his face
and she looked pleading "please, i need to speak with him." she said
desperate. he frowned trying to hide the worry the look on her face
made him feel. he nodded shortly "on our family honor. i can not
deny you."

nodoka looked around the large study he took her to ringing her
hands as she paced. she looked up as the door opened and her mother
walked in looking grim. nodoka looked upset "wheres father?! i need
to see him!" she said worried. her mother frowned at her not
saying anything for a few minutes "he has sent me to deal with you."
she said quietly. nodoka looked heartbroken "i need to see him
mother. i need his help." she pleaded holding out her hands. the
woman snorted "you know as well as i do what he said would happen if
you gave into that man, he can not go back on his word." she said
grimly. nodoka gripped her hands "i don't care mother! i have to see
him!" she said desperately. she walked over and took her hands
"please, i can't do this myself!" she cried holding tight. she
looked worried touching her face "what is it child?" she asked
softly. nodoka shook her head "father has to hear it mother. i need
his help if i'm to save ranma."

she looked wide eyed before rage filled them "what?! what did
tha man do?!?!" she snarled. she shook her head "please take me to
father, i need to tell both of you this." she looked at her sternly
for a minute before nodding and led her down the hall and up a
staircase. the man in the room looked up from his brooding at the
window when the door opened "so what did she-" he broke off when his
wife led nodoka into the room. nodoka waited until her mother sat
next to her father before getting on her knees and lowered her head
to the floor, both of them looked upset at that "i beg you father, i
beg you to help me be free of the man i no longer know. please free
me from this marrage, help me save my son." she pleaded not looking
up. both of them looked angry and the man jumped up "get up off that
floor this instant! you are not a patitioner!!" he shouted angrily.
she didn't move "did you not hear him!?!" her mother shouted. "i
heard you. i just can not. you warned me not to trust that man and i
foolishly ignored the things i did not want to see because i was in
love. i couldn't refuse him what he wanted and you cast me out
because of it." she looked up at them "i have no right to come to
you, but there was no one else i could go to. you were right father,
you said genma would harm my son, you said he did not deserve to
have me. you were right. you can turn me away father, but i beg you,
if you do, all hope i hold of saving my son is lost."

both looked worried and her father gruffly pulled her to her feet
"what is this you say!?" he demanded. nodoka sniffed, she had been
crying "i didn't want to see him in truth, the love i felt blinded
me to what he was. two days ago i found out something he had done to
ranma that made me come to you." she reached into her pocket with a
shaking hand and pulled out two tapes she had, nibiki having made
the first for her and the other she had gotten from the tape
recorder she had taken with her when she had taken ranma to cologne
"you can not hear me because i am nothing to you, but these will
tell you. the first one is of genma and ranma talking." she said
handing it to him. he scowled at her for a minute before walking
over to the wall and opened a cabenet with a wide array of eletronic
devices on it "you will need to turn up the volume on the last part
to understand the horror of it." she said softly as he started it.
she stood still listening to the first part with her eyes closed
before flinching from the horrible voice as both her parents gasped
in shock. when it was over she was sobbing softly to herself. after
a minute she calmed enough to hold up the other tape "this... this
is a recording i took yesterday after we took ranma to a chinese
mystic that he had been training under, refusing to accept genmas
master as a teacher."

nodoka slumped to her knees as they started the second one and
covered her ears not wanting to hear the voice even though it got
through to her. after it was over she didn't look up for a few
minutes until she heard one of them come towards her. she looked up
at her father "i-" he shook his head not being able to speak just
yet "ranma can be saved father, but i can't do anything to stop
genma unless you help me!" she pleaded. he pulled her up off the
floor and pulled her into his arms for a fierce hug, shaking almost
as much as she was "i- i forgive you.... daughter." he cried softly.
nodoka cried out softly clutching at him tightly "daddy!" she sobbed
feeling her mother hug her from behind "i will kill that man myself
for daring to do this to you." he said letting her go. nodoka
laughed in relief through her tears "oh thankyou father!" she cried
hugging him again. he let her go after a minute before pulling her
to the chair and sat her down "what is this thing that the old woman
plans on doing?" he asked. she sniffed trying to clean up her face
"its been her way to challange ranma to battles as a way to train
him, she would do things to him that would make him try hard and
give him a new technique to master before she would free him from
what she did. its kept ranma alive so far."

her mother looked worried "is genma trying to kill him?" she asked
worried. she shook her head "no. it seems that genma made a lot of
enemies while he had my son and ranma was forced to defeat them to
keep them from harming everyone. and i can't get ranma to tell me
anything!" she looked frustrated "genmas told him since he took him
that i would kill him if he talked!" she pulled out a peice of paper
and handed it to her father "genma signed this contract when i
forced him to before he took ranma, i told him i would kill him if
he hurt ranma at all and for some reason ranma thinks i would kill
him too!" her fathers brows furrowed "this is rather ambigious dear,
what exactly did you mean man amongst men?" he asked. nodoka blushed
"it meant that if i found out he had hurt him in any way i would
force seppuku on him. well... you really, i didn't think i could so
planned on asking you to do it."

he blinked at her in surprise "you planned to have me carry this
out?? honey, you must have realized i wanted him gone! i wouldn't
care if ranma was a paragon of manliness, i would have done it." he
protested. nodoka nodded "i know. i'm not that much of a fool, i
love my son more then i can say, if your fears were true i would
have gladly turned it over to you. except he never came back, he
never planned on giving ranma back to me daddy, i still wouldn't
know where they were if i hadn't visited the tendos regularly! genma
had been forcing ranma to hide from me!" she shouted angrily. both
of them looked angry "you were more then right about him father, no
one will tell me much, but he put my son through hell for his own
ends! that little thing he used to call the demon is called the
catfist, you heard him, he still threatens him with it!"

both looked grim "when shall we do this?" her mother asked. nodoka
looked exstatic "as soon as possible, you should have seen it! i
wasn't in the door more then a second before i heard genma
tormenting my son! the amazon elder crippled ranmas fighting
strength in order to teach him something new and genma was standing
over ranma yelling at him for letting her do it! thankfully ranmas
fiancee made him stop." both looked at each other for a minute
before glaring "how about we visit them?" he suggested grimly. his
wife sat firm "tommarrow, i haven't seen my daughter in eighteen
years because of that horrid man and i want to get to know her
again."

he nodded smiling slightly "of course, your brother and sister will
be wanting to see you too." nodoka started crying again in relief.

nodoka smiled hurrying over to her brother when he walked into the
room and hugged him tight "i missed you!" she squeeled holding him
happily. he smiled "i had heard that dad had forgiven you, so,
wheres your son? i figured you would bring him." he said looking at
her happily. she lost the happy look "ranma can't stand right now
brother, last i saw him he had to be guided about the room to keep
from falling." he looked horrified along with the woman that had
just come in with someone else. "whats happened?!" her sister
noriko exclaimed hurrying over. nodoka started to answer when she
got a look at the boy that had come with her "you look just like
ranma!" she exclaimed walking over. she smiled looking him up and
down "the hair and the clothes are the only difference!" she
marveled. she smiled "this is my son kanada." noriko said before
grabbing her "what happened to ranma?!" she demanded. she blinked
"oh, don't worry, his sensei purposefully did it, shes training him
in a martial arts form that makes the person rely on something other
then physical strength. to do that she stole away his power and gave
him a scroll that would teach him how to over come the obstical."

both looked shocked "you let someone do that to your son?" jiro said
looking agast. nodoka looked grim "its either this or the next enemy
to show up kills him!" she said more harshly then she intended. she
smiled in apology "i'm sorry sis, its just that ranmas in constent
danger because of all the things that.... man!... did to him. daddy's
going to judge him for me, i can't think of a punishment harsh enough
for what he did to my son." they hugged her looking horrified "is he
ok?" she asked softly. she smiled at them "thats the thing sis,
ranmas an amazing person! he's one of the greatest martial artists
in japan right now! not five months ago ranma was forced to go to
china to rescue his fiancee who had been kidnapped by these strange
people in a remote provence. they say the man ranma fought was an
honest to goodness god! ranma was forced to kill him to save akane."

she sighed "ranmas been through hell because of genma, and its a
testement to my sons strength that he survived it as well as he
did." her sister smiled "it must have been tough." she murmured then
pulled her son over "this is kanada. he's only sixteen and already
he's in his third year of collage." she said proud. nodoka looked
pleased "oh thats wonderful! do you think you could help my son? his
grades are terrible." she said grimacing. he smiled slightly "i
wouldn't mind meeting him if what you say is true." he said
politely. nodoka smiled "ranmas a very unique person, i can safely
say theres no one anywhere thats as unique as he is." she said
ruefully. her mother snorted sitting down "you mean other then the
fact that he holds a demon prisoner inside his body?" she chidded
softly. nodoka scowled darkly "it isn't his choice mother." she said
softly. she nodded hugging her "i'm not saying it is, that man
saddled him with it and he is forced to contain it." she said
soothingly. they looked at the three statues "he has a demon inside
him?" kanada said dumbly. nodoka nodded looking about to cry "its a
constent torment to him, but theres nothing else he could do, if it
got loose it would possess him and go on a rampage, ranmas forced to
suffer under the things cruel treatment because he can't let it
loose."

kanada grinned wider "now i really want to meet him. i should talk to
dr fochoki about this." he mused softly. his grandmother nodded
quickly "yes! the demonologist! he might know of a way to fix
this." she said pleased. nodoka bit her lip "is it right to tamper
with it? ranma barely holds the thing at bay." she said worried.
"it must hurt a lot." he murmured wincing. nodoka looked worried
"it hurts?" she asked. he nodded "all the books on it i've read say
that its an agony all its own." she looked even more worried
"it is?!" she exclaimed. he nodded "the cases that have been
documented tell of the person it happened to having to be
locked away to keep from gouging out hunks of his skin, they
kept fixating on the feeling of blood covering their bodies."

nodoka looked pale "thats what ranma said..." she murmured softly.
her mother hugged her "what are the other things that happen
kanada?" she asked. he looked pained "some of its not for polite
company." he demured making nodoka twitch for a minute "the thing
is, we think we know of a way to free ranma from this thing, the
only problem is.... we don't even know if it still lives." she
murmured. her mother nodded "you mean the roshi." she murmured
stroking her hair. nodoka nodded "genmas the only one who knows for
sure where the dragon might be and i wouldn't trust him to not try
to stop us if he found out." jiro frowned deeply at her "what do
you plan to do about this man?" he asked sharply. their mother
smiled "your father is going to acompany us back to the dojo in the
morning and deal with him there."

he nodded satisfied with her response sitting back "good, what kind
of help will you be needing father?" he asked the man who had just
come back into the room. he smirked at him "we're going to do this
formally, we will capture him and take him here, no need to be rude
to the tendos by forcing them to see what we will do. i will take
great pleasure in paying that man back for taking your sister and
her son from us."