Sparks flew as Ryoga pressed his axe onto the spinning grinding stone. Next to him, Shampoo worked carefully to sharpen her spear with a stone. At the fire, Akane, Mousse and Genma sat their eyes closed in meditation as they focused their energies. Nearby, Ukyo stretched her legs and arms, moving through fluid motions of kill strikes. Even Soun Tendo was there, chatting silently with Cologne about the situation.

The only one missing from the group was Ranma. In fact, he was no where to be found in the camp. He had left ten minutes ago under the pretense of hunting down several Quill Rats for Mousse to raise as skeletons. But the truth was he just needed the time to think.

Somehow over the course of a few days, he had managed to accumulate three fiancées. It was a colossal mess but one that he could only partly blame on his father. Ukyo was mostly Genma's but partly his fault. He had just assumed that Ukyo was a boy, someone to be a friend with. Only now he was a she and worse than that, Ukyo obviously was after something. Ranma didn't now if it was revenge or something more but he knew that he needed to heal their friendship.

Shampoo was a bigger problem. How do you tell an Amazon that you're not interested? Knowing them, they'd probably hunt down and kill you. Which was probably better than what Mousse could do if he could catch Ranma and aim well. Ranma shuddered at memories of stories about Corpse Explosions or being raised as one of Mousse's skeletons.

And then there was Akane. Okay, Ranma thought to himself, so maybe she could be cute when she tried. And maybe she was a nice girl. But she was also completely violent and never listened to him and there was something going on with her…

Ranma paused. He did recognize that something had changed with Akane since that mess yesterday. But he didn't know what it was, only that it worried him.

Ranma balked, shaking his feverishly at no one in particular. It wasn't like he cared about her or anything like that. He just needed her to be in top fighting form for today. That was all. Without a second thought, Ranma put his thought behind him and went out to hunt a few Quill Rats.

* * *

"The Deformed Rogues have fallen back to the Cathedral," Hinako said, unfurling a scroll. "As you can see, the cathedral has several areas which you'll have to get through to reach the catacombs where we believe the source of this corruption is centered.

"Cross through the Tamoe Highlands until you see the Monastery's front gate. You'll need to pass through the Outer Cloister to reach the stairs that descend to the barracks. We've had reports of Fallen tribes amassing in this area to feed on… the defeated," Hinako finished with a grimace.

"Make your way through the barracks, with any luck you should be able to find some useful things there. Afterwards, there are several levels of what was our jail. Once you've cleared that, it's the inner Cloister and the Cathedral itself. That's where the entrance to the Catacombs are."

"Great," Ranma said. "Sounds like a barrel of fun."

"Shut up boy," Genma retorted. "We've been through worse."

Ranma cast a glance over to his father. "Really? When?"

"The point is," Akane interrupted, not wanting a fight to break out, "that it's going to be tough."

Hinako sighed. "I wish I could have given you better news. And what's worse is that I don't know what awaits you in the catacombs. All that have gone before you have never returned."

"Well," Ukyo said standing up. "I'm coming back so I'll let you know."

Shampoo nodded. "Shampoo agree. Good fighters together now. We defeat all." The group agreed with various acknowledgement.

"Then let's do it," Ranma said extending his hand from his body. "Let's show these evil rogues exactly what happens when you mess with Team Ranma."

There was silence as they all looked at him skeptically.

"Team Ranma?" Ryoga asked.

"Shampoo like Team Shampoo better."

"I like Team Ranma," Ukyo chimed in.

"You would," Akane shot back.

"What about Shadow Team?" Mousse asked. Silence. "Or not…"

* * *

Several days later, they had finished crossing most of the rouge land to reach the Tamoe Highlands. While most of them took the chance to rest, Ukyo and Shampoo scouted ahead to see how far the cathedral was.

Ukyo moved gracefully across the ground, her feet leaving no footprint and making no sound. At the slightest sound of trouble, she would leap effortless into a tree, barely stopping before she continued on her way.

So far the road looked clear but as Hinako had said, the Outer Cloister was probably filled with all the monsters in the area. She was about to head back when she heard something approaching her.

Flipping around she opened her hand, letting the blades extend and catch the light. She was prepared for a fight but not for Shampoo to be standing there.

"What did you find?" Ukyo said, still not relaxing.

Shampoo looked at her. "Not find anything. Just want talk."

Ukyo frowned. "Then talk."

"Both know that other want Ranma for husband. But for next fight, Shampoo and Ukyo no fight for him. Fight bad things."

Ukyo paused, wondering if it was a trick. But a second later she nodded hesitantly. "Okay, but when we reach the East, he's all mine."

Shampoo smiled. "We see."

* * *

"This is it," Genma said as he stopped in front of the massive doors. He ran his hands along the ancient stones looking for clues. "Best be on your guard, it looks like the Fallen tribes have started to turn on themselves," he finished pointed at some spot of blood on the walls. "With any luck, they'll be too busy with each other to notice us. So what's the plan boy?"

Ranma looked at his father with a nod. "I think we break up into three groups. Two take each side of a room, the other go straight through the center. We should be able to root out anything hiding and surround them." He shot a look at Shampoo who nodded slowly.

"Dad, you and Shampoo take center. Ryoga, you and Mousse take the left. Akane and me'll take the right."

"What about me?" Ukyo asked.

"You scout ahead and wait for us at the next exit. You can double back and help anyone who needs it." Ukyo nodded. "Let's go."

Everyone quickly moved through the doors into the main hall except for Akane who stood frozen before them. Ranma turned around and looked at her. "You coming?" he asked her.

Akane didn't know what to say. Something was wrong, something felt like it was burning inside of her and she didn't want to move. Ranma took in a deep breath and walked forward, grabbing her hand. "You'll be fine," he said. "I promise."

Akane looked at him blankly for a moment before she smiled and blushed and managed to get back a nod. He nodded back and walked forward, unaware that he still had her head until he heard Mousse call out.

"Hey lovebirds, hurry up!"

"Shut up, duck-boy." Thwap.

* * *

Ukyo adjusted her grip, making sure that the blade did not scratch the rock and give her away. They had made it through the main hall before hearing monsters in the next room. Ukyo had agreed to go ahead and made her way stealthily through the entrance, past the candles with speed yet stillness so as not to disturb their flames.

Now she sat a top a stone gate that lined the inner courtyard. In the center she could make out a statue on a fountain and she wondered what this place was like in its hey day. It would have been a very relaxing place.

But now it was crawling with two fallen tribes who had decided that one would have to go. They were circling each other, waiting for the right time to strike. Neither appeared to be ready to make the first move, despite the sermons by the shamans that Ukyo could only say sounded like a bunch of pigs in a sty.

She could go back and tell the others what was going on but knowing Ranma, he'd just want to charge in anyway. This called for a special touch, an assassin's touch. Running silently along top the wall, she made her way over to where one of the shamans was rallying his troops.

Targeting him she jumped quickly over the group onto the wall next to them and reached down, extending her right arm and using the katar to strike him in the throat. The Fallen barely had time to realize what was going on before she was gone again, jumping over them and running across the wall.

All she needed to do was repeat the procedure on the other side. Two dead shamans, two angry tribes, it wouldn't take too long for them to blame the other. But just in case it wasn't deadly enough, Ukyo made sure to set a few traps near the fountain before dashing back towards the entrance where the rest of the group was waiting.

"So, what's the story?" Ranma asked as soon as she was visible.

Ukyo smiled, just as a Fire Blast trap went off. "Give it about ten more minutes and the Outer Cloister will be clear."

* * *

Ryoga walked as quietly as he could but the barbarian's feet still echoed in the empty barracks. It didn't matter, he said to himself. A barbarian did not sneak past danger, he met it head on.

And that's exactly what Ryoga would have been doing if Mousse weren't tagging along. One look at the scrawny Necromancer and Ryoga knew that the Skeleton Mages wandering the halls would eat him up for dinner.

"What are you looking at?" Mousse hissed.

"Nothing," Ryoga said glumly. Just at a useless waste of space slowing me…

"What did you say?" Mousse whispered, thinking that the Barbarian was insulting him by calling him nothing.

Ryoga stopped and wondered if he had just said the last bit out loud. But he was sure he didn't. "You read my mind!" he cried, still trying to keep his voice low. "You used your evil Necromancer ways to invade my mind."

Mousse raised an eyebrow. "Like I would need any skills to read your dimwitted mind. Eat, stomp, sleep. Foul Crows think more than your kind."

"What?" Ryoga yelled. "I'll show you dimwitted…"

"Bring it on, fatso!" Mousse said, reaching in and grabbing his wand.

Ryoga swung his axe downward only to have it get encased within a bone wall. He grunted and started to pull at it until it broke free, sending him back and the axe into the surprised bodies of several Skeleton Mages.

Not realizing that their fight was drawing the attention of everyone, the two kept on fighting. Ryoga let out a fearsome Howl, which caused several of the mages to run away. Mousse just laughed at what amounted to his terror curse. He prepared a Decrepify curse but his vision got the better of him and several mages were hit instead.

Ryoga tried a few more warcries, a few Bashes for good measure and even a Stun but none of them hit Mousse. Mousse meanwhile had managed to cast ever curse on everything except Ryoga, create a bone wall across half of the barrack, and cast a few bone spears that mainly impaled more monsters.

"Guys!" Ranma said running towards them. "It's okay, you can stop fighting!"

Ryoga and Mousse stopped immediately and looked over at Ranma. Then they looked around them, finding themselves surrounded by corpses.

"Wow," Ranma said with a smile. "We all heard you fighting but couldn't get to you until now. Doesn't look like you need us though."

Mousse and Ryoga looked at each other and smiled.

"Piece of cake," Ryoga said.

"No problem," Mousse said.

* * *

Shampoo held the Maiden Spear in her hand, feeling how the weight worked. It was a bit different from her spear and she could feel the difference in it. This would be a lot more deadly to anything she hit.

Looking over she saw Genma placing the decorated Antlers over his head. He adjusted and nodded at the feel of it. Ukyo looked like she was enjoying the two new Blade Talons that she wore. Ryoga was wandering around trying to get his new Assault Helm on correctly. Akane stopped playing with her new boots enough to go and help him, which caused Ranma to suddenly loose interest in the huge Aerin shield he was holding.

"Incredible," Mousse said as he examined his new wand and his new Demon Head. "I can't believe the Rogues had all of this just laying around."

Genma snorted. "Remember boy, that these are trophies they took from people they destroyed." Everyone paused to look down at their new toys, taking in what Genma had said. If the Rogues could defeat people who held these weapons and yet not the plague in this cathedral, did any of them really stand a chance of surviving?

Genma noticed they're sudden mood shift and stood up. "Let's just keep moving," he said looking at Ranma.

The boy broke out of his revelry and nodded at his father. "Pop's right. We need to make our way through the jail and we're home free. Ukyo?"

The assassin nodded and took off, running off to scout the area. She returned several minutes later looking unhappy.

"I can see anything but… it doesn't feel right."

Ranma paused and looked over at his father, who gave a nod. "Okay, Pop, you take Shampoo to the center and try to get them out of hiding. We'll wait for your signal."

Shampoo fell into step behind the fast moving druid. She was a bit perplexed by the plan. But then, she wasn't about to admit that she was uncomfortable about playing, what appeared to be bait.

"Now just play along," Genma said as soon as they were far away from the others. "Pretend you're lost and I'm your pet."

Shampoo paused for a moment to process what had been said. "What you mean, pet?" But by then, Genma had morphed into a wolf, which looked rather like a dog as he sat at Shampoo's feet. "Oh no, Shampoo see where this go and Shampoo no do."

The wolf started to whine and laid his head on his paws. Shampoo looked down and glared at him. "This stupid plan. Shampoo no do."

Wolf-Genma reared his head up to the air and started to howl, a sound so pathetic and annoying that Shampoo was forced to shut her ears. "No work," she yelled. "Shampoo no follow stupid plan!" But Wolf-Genma didn't relent and after several more seconds of it, Shampoo stamped her feet angrily. "Okay!" she cried.

Wolf-Genma stopped howling while Shampoo put her spear-butt on the ground with a sigh. Then in her most feminine voice possible she called out, "Where or where is Shampoo sheep? Thought sheep go down into dark cave but Shampoo and cute doggie no find sheep here."

Back at the rest of the group, Akane couldn't contain the giggle. "You have got to be kidding," she said.

Ranma shook his head. "Saotome School-of-Anything-Goes-Fighting Damsel in Distress Bo Peep style."

"Here sheep!" Shampoo continued stepping forward and right onto Wolf- Genma's tail. "Where"…stomp… "Shampoo"…stomp… "sheep?" Stomp. Wolf-Genma tried not to cry out and decided a different tack. He stood up on all four legs and started wagging his tail. Shampoo's expression was puzzled.

"What dog want?" she asked. Wolf-Genma grabbed onto the material on her leg and started to pull her forward. "Good doggie find sheep?" Shampoo asked, thinking Genma had heard some monsters.

Genma pulled her softly at first and then quickly pulled her forward, causing the purple-haired Amazon to tumble and fall to the ground. The wolf snickered a bit until he saw Shampoo stand up.

"Shampoo no find sheep but about to find DEAD doggie!" she said running after Wolf-Genma with her Maiden Spear. They disappeared in the dark for a moment before Genma came running out in human form, followed by an angry looking Shampoo and then followed by a horde of Skeleton Mages, Zombies and several Disfigured following them.

Suddenly Ranma and the rest of the group stopped laughing.

* * *

"The Inner Cloister," Ranma said as the group emerged from the dark staircase. "Just a bit further and we'll be at the Catacombs." There was a firm grip on his shoulder and Ranma turned to see who it was.

"I think," Ukyo said slowly, "we should rest a bit."

Turning around, Ranma saw that it was not up for discussion. Most of the group had already collapsed on the ground, taking in heaving breaths. So he nodded and took a seat.

Akane took to distributing their limited supply of potions. The large store that Cologne had given them had dwindled down dramatically and Ranma couldn't afford a heal aura at the moment.

"I'll go find some more," Ryoga said standing up, as if he was reading her thoughts.

Akane smiled in return. "Thanks Ryoga," she said. "That's very nice." Ryoga offered a goofy grin before he took off.

Mousse waved her over for a potion. As she sat down next to him, Mousse gave her a grateful nod. "Thanks Akane," he said. "You're doing very well out there."

Akane shrugged. "Inferno and Fire Ball tend to do the trick but… I don't know, it just feels like its not enough. I wish I was stronger."

Mousse nodded. "I understand. But it's something that takes time. There are no easy answers and if you find any, the price tends to be higher than you imagined." Akane shifted uncomfortably. "Have you learned Fire Wall yet?" Akane shook her head. "When we arrive in the East, we'll find more sorceress to help you out. Just… be careful until then."

"Hey, where's Ryoga?" Ranma asked coming over to the pair.

"He went to go look for potions," Akane said.

"By himself?!" Ranma cried. Akane nodded slowly. "How could you let him do that! You know he has no sense of direction! He's probably completely lost by now!"

* * *

Ryoga walked down the marble hall, wondering where everyone had gone. He knew they were around here somewhere. He had found about twenty potions and an almost equal number of mana potions as well. Now he wanted to give them to Akane so he would be proud of him.

Ah Akane, he thought to himself. How beautiful and kind she was. Too bad she was engaged to Ranma but it didn't seem like either of them wanted it. After this was over, he could take her back home to Harrogath and together they would have a happy little home with tons of little piglets…

Ryoga shuddered at the thought. Stupid curse. He needed to get rid of it. He couldn't let Akane find out about it, it was too mortifying. A little black pig! Couldn't he have been a strong boar instead?

Ryoga paused long enough in his thoughts to take in his surroundings. Light streamed through broken stain glass windows creating shattered rainbows on the floor. Looking ahead he could see an altar whose white marble had been covered with blood.

Unsheathing his battle-axe, Ryoga moved slowly towards the altar, watching for anything suspicious. There on the table was a dead rouge, her hand still clutching a spear. Her eyes looked up to the ceiling, pain and misery etched on her face.

Ryoga could understand the feeling. His homeland had been wracked by clan wars for centuries. There was no peace for them, just as there would no peace for the rogues should the corruption be allowed to continue.

He was more determined than ever to restore the honor of these brave women. Mousse could call him dimwitted, but Ryoga knew more about honor and bravery than any one of them. He had seen too many friends fall over the years not to.

It started to rain and suddenly the reflections on the ground became tiny pools of colors. Ryoga was a bit mesmerized by it and realized all to late that he should probably avoid them all together. Before he could stop it, the cold rain fell on his bare arms and activated his curse.

* * *

Ranma pushed the group faster, not willing to leave Ryoga lost somewhere in the Cathedral. At least Shampoo could pick up his tracks so they knew what direction he had headed in.

They reached the cathedral and Ranma narrowly avoid tripping into a pool of water. Looking up he saw the rain falling through the broken windows.

"P-Chan!" Akane cried, running up towards the little black pig huddling in the corner. Ranma looked over and groaned. They had just lost their brute strength. He found Ryoga's clothes huddled nearby and found the store of potions.

He looked over at Shampoo and Mousse and shook his head, letting them know that they shouldn't let on to Ryoga's curse. "Ryoga must have gone ahead," Ranma said, gathering the barbarian's things and storing them in his pack. "But he left us some potions," he continued distributing Ryoga's findings.

"What we do know that we lose Barbarian?" Shampoo asked. "Catacombs just beyond door."

Ranma nodded grimly. "We'll just have to adjust our plan a bit. Mousse you come with me. Ukyo go ahead and scout, Akane stay here." Ukyo disappeared quickly, not sure if she was doing so to avoid the imminent fight or to do her job.

Akane stopped petting P-Chan. "What? Why should I stay here?"

"Because it's going to be too dangerous down there," Ranma said. "And I can't protect both you and Mousse."

"But Ukyo can stay with me," Akane replied. "I can cast spells and she can distract the monsters."

"She's right sugar," Ukyo said suddenly reappearing. "And from the looks of it, we're going to need all the help we can get."

"Shampoo agree," Shampoo said. "Akane prove can fight."

There was silence will Ranma looked glumly over at the girls. "Mousse," he said finally. "You go with Ukyo." Akane was about to say something more but decided that she might as well take what she could get. "What's it like down there, Ukyo?"

Ukyo shook her head. "I only got a few feet into the catacombs before I had to stop. There's something, more in the core but the place is completely packed with corrupted Rouges. All I can hear is this maniacal laughter." Ranma paused.

"I don't think an all out assault would be a good idea," Mousse suddenly said. "Why not let Genma and I send in a few of our summoned creatures to act as a distraction. Then we can sneak around the melee and attack the source."

"That's a good idea," Ranma replied. "Okay, let's do it."

* * *

Kodachi sat in her new throne and watched over her dominion. Her troops were growing in strength and it wouldn't be long before she, the Black Rose, was queen of all the Rouge Land.

But alas, she was a queen without a king. And all that could be scrounged up were a few pitiful idiots who begged for her mercy, as if she would ever want someone like that. Even the raid on Tristram had provided nothing but a bit of fun for her rogues. She needed someone strong and brave and…

Chaos suddenly erupted on the edge of her throne room as Skeletons and forest animals suddenly charged in. Her guards where quick to react but it seemed that they might be overwhelmed.

With an evil look, Kodachi stood up and strode towards the melee, several of her elite guards running towards her. And that's when she saw him. A young Paladin running towards her, sword raised, pigtail flying. He had no fear in his eyes and his aura was a bright red. She stopped long enough to realize that he was perfect before she ordered her troops to capture him.

She hadn't counted on the others but they would be easy enough to deal with. Her guards appeared to be taking over the intruders at the door, probably mere summoned creatures.

Suddenly, she felt something burning on her side. Looking down she saw that her left leg had caught fire. Enraged she looked around and saw a sorceress drinking in a mana potion, preparing the cast another spell.

Akane watched in fear as Kodachi turned her attention towards her. She dropped the empty potion vial and quickly prepared her next inferno spell. She let it loose but Kodachi walked through it, taking only minimal damage. Before she could react, Akane was flying towards the far wall. Only her training prevented her from hitting it head on and breaking her neck.

Akane landed on her feet and saw that Kodachi was still after her. The rest of the group was engaged with the elite Rogues and Ranma was no where in sight. With nothing left to do, Akane stood up and prepared to fight.

"So you won't run," Kodachi said, striding towards her. "How pitiful. However, if you bow down to me now, I will not destroy you but just make you one of my elite."

Akane's only answer was a fireball, which Kodachi swatted away. But before she could take another step, Kodachi found something blocking her way. It was the Paladin, running towards her with a sword.

Kodachi jumped back with a laugh. "So you fight well too," she said to him.

"I'll show you how good I fight," Ranma said, striking downward at Kodachi's leg.

The Black Rose flipped backwards effortlessly and laughed. "You shall make a fine King for me, Kodachi the Black Rose, Queen of the Rogues."

"Lady," Ranma said, "you about to be the Queen of the damned 'cause I'm about to send you straight to Hell."

Kodachi smiled as he approached her. "I think not…"

"Ranma, watch out!" Akane cried, moving from the wall. She saw Kodachi's movements and knew she was up to something. A second later, a cloud of green smoke encircled the Black Rose and Ranma went down coughing.

Kodachi laughed. "Just a bit to make you somewhat more cooperative. The poison will keep you paralyzed until I decide to give you the antidote."

Akane hadn't heard that part of the conversation and thought that Kodachi was about to deliver the final blow. She looked around, trying to find anyone that could help Ranma but no one was around. She started to panic, her conscious fighting her desire to help her fiancé.

Mousse's words echoed in her head but Akane pushed them away. Remember the words from the scroll that Herb had given her, she started the spell as she moved to the corner of the wall. As soon as she had finished, she fell backwards, back towards the wall and suddenly disappeared in the shadow there.

Kodachi was too taken up in her prize to see what Akane had just done. She was preparing to pick up the paralyzed Paladin and bring him to a safe spot when she felt something on her leg.

Looking down, she saw two hands extended from her shadow. They wrapped themselves around her ankles and began to pull downward. Taken by surprise, Kodachi tried to fight but had no opponent as the hands disappeared back into the shadows dragging her down with her. She called out for help but the rest of the fighters had decimated her elites.

So she did the only she could and started to laugh as she was pulled into oblivion.

* * *

"Ranma! Ranma honey!" Ukyo said running up to his fallen form. Genma was close behind her. Leaning down he examined his son.

"Paralysis poison," he said grimly. "He'll be fine but without an antidote, he won't be able to move again."

"Great grandmother make potion," Shampoo said. "We take Ranma back to camp."

"Where's Akane?" Mousse asked, realizing they were one short. Everyone started to look around until they heard some pitiful squealing.

Akane was on the ground in the corner of the room with P-Chan next to her, pushing against her arm as he tried to wake her up. Shampoo and Mousse ran up to her to make sure she was okay.

"What happen?" Shampoo asked.

Mousse examined her unconscious form and slowly touched her closed eyelids. He opened them for a moment and hung his head down. Akane's eyes had turned completely black.