Chapter 4
Questions, Answers and Demons
Ickzil sat on a light post across the street from the Tendo dojo. It had followed the car driven by the little ninja who took orders from the young man who thought he was in a time far removed from this one. It had kept back because it recognized the small man who had stopped the one called Ranma from killing the odd young man. It's demon lord had described him in great detail to all of it's minions and Ickzil had remembered. It was the same man, who many, many years earlier, had banished it's demon lord back to the netherworld. The lord had not been happy. As Ickzil recalls it, the lord and slaughtered almost half of it's followers in it's fit of pique. It smiled at the memories.
If the old man had been strong enough to banish a demon lord, then he was certainly strong enough to destroy the likes of Ickzil. It sighed as it waited. It would have to be patient and it wasn't very good at being patient.
Deciding that patience never paid off in the long run, Ickzil cloaked it's presences as best it could and flew closer to one of the downstairs windows to hear what was being said.
*****
Ranma opened his eyes and looked at the familiar ceiling of the room he shared with his father. He was tired, and his whole body ached. He felt like he had fought for a week straight without a break. He sat up with a groan and looked around. Night was falling, he could see, and no one else was in the room. Had it all been a dream? Was he really possessed by someone from some other Earth?
Yes, Daniel said in his mind. Ranma jumped. Before you ask, I'm privy to your thoughts, yet you are not to mine. Maybe it's because I know so much of you and you know nothing of me. Mayhap the bond will work both ways after we've been together long enough. Mayhap.
"Great," Ranma said sourly. He didn't like this. It wasn't the first time he had that thought, and it wouldn't be the last, either. He stood up and staggered to the door. The hallway outside was dark as he stepped into it. Daniel suggested stealth and caution, but Ranma ignored him. It was sort of easy to ignore a voice in his head.
He entered the dining room less than a minute later and all conversation stopped at his appearance. They were all there, Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi, Kuno, Sansuke, Soun, Genma, and Happosai. They sat around the table and stared at him. He felt a flush creep up his face and he also felt a small spike of anger come from Daniel.
"Uh, hi," he said uneasily to everyone. Kasumi and Sansuke were putting a bandage around Kuno's stomach from where Ranma punched him. The area being bandaged was slightly swollen and was badly bruised. Kuno looked into Ranma's eyes unflinchingly. This was not going to be pleasant.
He came forward and Soun and Genma parted so that he could sit. He did notice that they moved a bit further than necessary to accommodate him. He sighed.
"Look," he began. He began a lot of sentences that way. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier, at breakfast and about what happened at school. You would not believe what's been going on." With that, he tried to tell the story that Daniel had told him, but he didn't get it quite right.
Let me tell it, Daniel snapped.
"What do you mean?" Ranma didn't know that he only had to think the thoughts for Daniel to hear him, and Daniel wasn't about to tell him. Let them think he's lost it. The others stared at him as he continued to have a conversation with no-one.
Relax your will, your control and I'll take over to tell the story. You've botched some key details.
"Uh, okay, I guess." He did as he was bid. He closed his eyes and relaxed his control over himself. He felt himself falling backwards, yet his body didn't move. He suddenly found himself sitting in the chair in Daniel's room. It was as comfortable as it looked. He looked around and saw that the view on the TV was the view through his eyes, and everything said was coming through the speakers.
Ranma's body opened it's eyes, and everyone noticed that he wasn't the same. His eyes had changed, for one thing. They were again that deep brown that Kuno and Happosai had seen, but they weren't filled with a promise of a painful death this time. They looked around with as much apathy as Nabiki showed, but in Daniel/Ranma's case, it was real apathy and not feigned. The expression on the face was also different. He looked older, not as old as Genma or Happosai, but older than he usually looked. He also looked a lot harder, more cold than Ranma ever could.
"I've asked Ranma to step aside so that I may tell my story," he said. He spoke in English and everyone looked dumbfounded. Happosai understood him, but that was because he had traveled the world several times in his life and had picked up a lot of different languages. Kuno caught a word or two, but only because he was passing his English class. English, he found, was a lot more difficult to understand without the accent.
Daniel/Ranma looked at Happosai. "I know you can understand me, as I know the others cannot. Would you act as a translator?" He bowed his head at the old man, and Happosai found himself nodding. He explained to the others what Daniel had said.
He frowned slightly as he collected his thoughts and then told, again, what he told Ranma in his room. The looks he got were ranged from wide-eyed wonder (Kasumi) to downright disbelief (Kuno). Nabiki looked at him calculatingly, while Soun and Genma looked at him perplexedly. Akane and Sansuke looked at him with skeptical expressions while Happosai had a thoughtful look on his face.
"I guess this is the part of the story where the other players ask the new lead the questions that are burning in their minds," he said when he had finished and given them a few moments to let it sink in.
"Ranma Saotome, do you honestly think we believe this utterly preposterous fabrication of yours?" That was Kuno for you, he never knew when to keep his mouth shut. Daniel's eyes went from apathetic to cold as ice. He stared at Kuno and Kuno was stupid enough not to back down.
"You had best close your fool mouth, Tatewaki Kuno," Daniel said quietly. "I will not put up with your drivel. You are nothing but a spoiled child who insults the memory and honor the samurai you claim to emulate." Kuno didn't like that, not one bit. He stood up and brandished his bokken.
"I will not be insulted by the likes of you, Ranma Saotome," he screamed.
Daniel stood slowly, getting a feel for his new body. He stood shorter than the older boy, but he was more intimidating than Kuno could ever be. His stature belied nothing of his presence, the aura of malevolence that seeped around the edges of his control.
"I am losing my patience with you, boy. Do not act rashly and I won't continue what was stopped before." Happosai continued to translate all of this, though he didn't know why. During the story the stranger had told, and even now, he kept smelling something foul coming from the window. It was faint, and sometimes disappeared on the breeze, but it was there nonetheless. He had smelled it before, but he couldn't place the memory, so engrossed was he in the unfolding events in front of him. Then it occurred to him where he had smelled that stench before.
Daniel sensed the imp right before Happosai placed the smell. He lunged forward and snatched the bokken from Kuno's startled grasp. He turned and threw it like a spear through the open window. There was a small scream and spatter of black blood hit the window. Then came the sound of the bokken being dropped on the ground and leathery wings taking flight.
"Damn," Daniel muttered. "Missed the fucker."
*****
Ickzil clutched it's destroyed shoulder as it flew towards the pastry shop. It blistered the air with curses in various languages, never once repeating itself. Blood dripped from between it's finger to spatter on the ground, leaving a nice little trail for anyone to follow, though it knew it's blood wouldn't last more than an hour. One small advantage to being something not truly alive on this mortal plane.
The pastry shop loomed closer as it flew. It hoped it would make it. It was losing strength fast, thanks to that damned pig-tailed boy. It didn't understand half of what was said in the house, but it remember the words and it hoped it's demon lord would know. It just hoped it would live long enough to report in.
Using the secret ways, it entered the summoning chamber where it's master waited. It had decided to use cunning and trickery where the truth would not quite work. It flew in and fell unceremoniously at the feet of it's master, spattering him with black ichors.
The summoner looked down at the imp in amazement. He had never expected anything like this. He had never seen anything like this, nor read of it. He didn't think that the denizens of the netherworld could be hurt, except for the various runes and spells, in this day and age of non-belief.
"Wh-what happened?" the summoner was unnerved by this.
"Master, thy plans have been thwarted. Mine enemy knew of thy designs and intercepted me before I couldst gain the item of thy desire. They ambushed me using cold-wrote weapons and blades of slivered steel. Thy servant wasn't strong enough to defeat them." Ickzil barely suppressed his smile as he saw the anger and fear that plastered the face of the summoner. It saw more fear than anything else, though and that was a good thing.
"Master, send thy servant back to it's home so that it may heal and recruit others that we may take vengeance for thee. Thou shalt have thy item, master, and those who hurt thy servant shalt surely pay!"
That had the desired affect. The summoner immediately broke into an incantation. Soon, another rift in the fabric of that reality appeared and the imp crawled through. The rift closed and the summoner looked at the spot it once occupied. He had doubts now. He didn't know if ultimate power and immortality were worth the price of setting loose a demon hoard on the world.
He shrugged away those doubts. Yes, it was worth it, he decided. Anything was worth it.
*****
There was a moment of stunned silence in the dining room as the shock of what just happened settled it. Once it was situated in everyone, they exploded with questions and demands. Daniel didn't respond to any of it, and neither did Happosai. They looked at each other and said not a word. No form of communication passed between them, they just stared and reassessed their opinions of each other.
As the tumult of noise continued, Daniel got tired of it. He took a deep breath and yelled at everyone to shut up. They were immediately quiet, even Kuno sat back down, shaken.
"Gods, I want a cigarette," he muttered to himself. He could feel Ranma screaming in the back of his mind, but he chose to ignore him. He would be useless in the conversation to come.
"What just happened?" This came from Soun, who looked like he was about ready to cry. He cried a lot, Daniel noticed. Too much, in his opinion.
Daniel sat back down and nodded his head to Happosai. Happosai was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "It was a demon," he said at length. Night was almost fully upon them and it seemed a good time to have this discussion. "I don't know why it was here, but this cannot bode well."
"More specifically," Daniel said in the ensuing silence, "it was an imp."
Happosai looked at him sharply. Suspicion was clearly evident on his wrinkled visage. "How do you know what kind of demon it was?" he demanded. His voice sounded older than usual. He looked older than usual. The events of the day have made him feel older than usual.
"I've had some minor dealings with them," Daniel replied nonchalantly. "The summoning of an imp is not so difficult a matter and controlling one is a bit easier."
"How would you know how to summon and control a demon?" Genma asked, alarmed. He had started to stand and even Kuno was glaring at him again.
"I thought that was fairly self evident. I've summoned them before. What? Did you expect me to try to summon a celestial for aid? Feh. A celestial would do one of two things when they got near me. One, they'd attack me, or two, they'd run in fear. Oh, would you people stop glaring at me? I'm no more evil than Genma is."
Genma started to splutter at that. He stood, red faced and took a menacing step towards the man that occupied his son's body. Daniel raised his hand and pointed one finger at Genma.
"Not a step closer. Ever since I came to the fore, I've been insulted and threatened and I'm gettin' fuckin' sick of it. Now sit your ass down before I really start to get mad."
To Happosai's eyes, the dark aura of rage had returned, but now it was a lot stronger. Daniel still had Ranma's finger pointed at Genma and Happosai saw the rage travel down his arm and start to coalesce at his fingertip. Even Genma could see it then, a small sphere of dark energy at the boy's fingertip. He blanched and sat back down, glaring at his son.
Like a switch being shut off, the aura disappeared. Daniel brought his hand back down to his side and Happosai saw a small tremor in it, as if he was using too much of his hate. Maybe, Happosai thought, his hate is a finite source of energy and he weakens when he uses too much. It gave the old man much to ponder.
"As I was saying before being interrupted," Daniel continued, "I'm no more evil than Genma, or Soun, or anyone else in this room, probably with the exception of Kasumi. Everyone in here is probably a thousand times more evil than she. Anyways, I needed information and summoning an imp was the most expedient way of getting it. I made no promises, nor did I sell my soul to a dark power. You may think it was a deplorable act, but it was nothing more than getting the information I needed. Hell, since I woke up here, I've been tempted to summon one to find out who brought me here and why, though I think the why is clouded even to the supernatural." He sighed. His voice was weary when he next spoke.
"You wanted to know why he was here, well I can hazard a guess or two. I'd say he was here for information. That's why he tried so hard to mask his presence and demons aren't known for their patience, which is why he was at the window listening instead of waiting until later. I'd be willing to bet that I was the reason he was here, as well. Not to sound like an egotist, or anything, but with my anger, I stand out like a sore thumb around here. He'd had to have felt that and he was probably curious as to what I was. No doubt he was summoned for some other, unrelated thing. At least I hope so."
By this point, he had slumped forward, and Kasumi and Akane looked at him, or rather at Ranma's body, with concern. To all appearances he was using pure will power to keep himself as upright as he was. Kuno continued to glare at him and Sansuke sat back with look of concentration, memorizing every detail of the conversation. Genma and Soun looked at him with mistrust and Happosai looked on with a thoughtful expression on his face. He had much to ponder, and he doubted he'd be getting any sleep tonight. Too much to think about. Nabiki, as usual, looked on him with pure calculation on her face. Yes, he did admire that about her.
Daniel raised his head and looked at the assemblage. He noted all of the looks they gave him and noted that Kasumi's look was concern for him and Ranma and not just Ranma's body. "I'm going to go back to sleep now," he said. He sounded bone tired. "I am sorry to have caused such a disruption in your household, and I truly apologize for being here." He said this directly to Kasumi and she smiled slightly.
"And Kuno, I am sorry to have ruined your bokken. It was a fine weapon that deserved better than to be ruined by the blood of an imp." Kuno's look softened just a little and Sansuke grinned. The little ninja was sharper than he looked.
"I know it is no excuse for my own behavior," he said to the group as a whole, "but my temper gets an even shorter fuse when I'm tired. Please have some sympathy for me. I'm not from here and from out of nowhere I'm thrust into a world I barely know. It has not been the best of days for me. I think I'm about done for the day. Good night." His head dropped forward and almost immediately snapped back up.
Ranma looked around. His eyes were his own color and bloodshot. He shook with exhaustion. Everyone was glad he was back, even Kuno.
They sat around and discussed what had happened and what to do next. Kasumi rose during the discussion and fixed a quick dinner for everyone, which they gladly ate. They talked and talked for about two hours before Ranma had to leave or pass out again. He slowly made his way to his room and collapsed down onto his pallet. He was asleep before he had hit the ground.
*****
Daniel laughed when he got back to his room. He knew how to play a crowd pretty well. He eagerly watched what happened after he left on the TV and laughed all the more when he saw that he had actually swayed them a little. These next few days were going to be crucial. He had to keep a tighter reign on his temper than he usually did. That display with Genma could have cost him everything. He didn't even know he could focus his rage like that. His hate seemed to be a tangible thing here, but it also took it's toll on Ranma's body, which unfortunately was his body also.
He briefly thought about teaching Ranma how to focus his hate, but then promptly disregarded the notion. He was much to good natured for that. It took a certain lack of good will to be able to build up that much hate, let alone use it.
It was while he was thinking of this that he noticed that his computer table had materialized. Curious, he sat down at the chair and started exploring. Soon he realized what it really was. He now had access of all of Ranma's mind. Here were his memories, even the ones he couldn't remember were here. Here were his emotions. Here his hopes and dreams. He laughed at the sight. He could change everything about the boy from here, but he restrained himself. Ranma didn't trust him and if Ranma found himself feeling things that were natural to him, yet he'd never felt before, then he'd trust him even less.
He realized that his computer was a two-edged sword. Not only did it give him total access to Ranma's brain, but it would give Ranma total access to Daniel's mind when he was in the fore. He'd have to do something about that.
He bent over the keyboard and started typing away, putting password restriction on almost everything. He was pretty sure Ranma would never figure out the password, but better safe than sorry. He put password protection on the password protection. He didn't know if that was possible back home, but this wasn't home and functioned under similar, but totally different rules.
He yawned and stretched when he finished. Maybe a little nap was in order. He thought he handled his first experience in the flesh of this reality fairly well. He wasn't attacked at least. That was a start. Plans had started to form in his mind, and he was hoping to implement them before too much longer. He grinned and sighed as he climbed into his bed. He chuckled unpleasantly to himself as sleep embraced him.
Questions, Answers and Demons
Ickzil sat on a light post across the street from the Tendo dojo. It had followed the car driven by the little ninja who took orders from the young man who thought he was in a time far removed from this one. It had kept back because it recognized the small man who had stopped the one called Ranma from killing the odd young man. It's demon lord had described him in great detail to all of it's minions and Ickzil had remembered. It was the same man, who many, many years earlier, had banished it's demon lord back to the netherworld. The lord had not been happy. As Ickzil recalls it, the lord and slaughtered almost half of it's followers in it's fit of pique. It smiled at the memories.
If the old man had been strong enough to banish a demon lord, then he was certainly strong enough to destroy the likes of Ickzil. It sighed as it waited. It would have to be patient and it wasn't very good at being patient.
Deciding that patience never paid off in the long run, Ickzil cloaked it's presences as best it could and flew closer to one of the downstairs windows to hear what was being said.
*****
Ranma opened his eyes and looked at the familiar ceiling of the room he shared with his father. He was tired, and his whole body ached. He felt like he had fought for a week straight without a break. He sat up with a groan and looked around. Night was falling, he could see, and no one else was in the room. Had it all been a dream? Was he really possessed by someone from some other Earth?
Yes, Daniel said in his mind. Ranma jumped. Before you ask, I'm privy to your thoughts, yet you are not to mine. Maybe it's because I know so much of you and you know nothing of me. Mayhap the bond will work both ways after we've been together long enough. Mayhap.
"Great," Ranma said sourly. He didn't like this. It wasn't the first time he had that thought, and it wouldn't be the last, either. He stood up and staggered to the door. The hallway outside was dark as he stepped into it. Daniel suggested stealth and caution, but Ranma ignored him. It was sort of easy to ignore a voice in his head.
He entered the dining room less than a minute later and all conversation stopped at his appearance. They were all there, Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi, Kuno, Sansuke, Soun, Genma, and Happosai. They sat around the table and stared at him. He felt a flush creep up his face and he also felt a small spike of anger come from Daniel.
"Uh, hi," he said uneasily to everyone. Kasumi and Sansuke were putting a bandage around Kuno's stomach from where Ranma punched him. The area being bandaged was slightly swollen and was badly bruised. Kuno looked into Ranma's eyes unflinchingly. This was not going to be pleasant.
He came forward and Soun and Genma parted so that he could sit. He did notice that they moved a bit further than necessary to accommodate him. He sighed.
"Look," he began. He began a lot of sentences that way. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier, at breakfast and about what happened at school. You would not believe what's been going on." With that, he tried to tell the story that Daniel had told him, but he didn't get it quite right.
Let me tell it, Daniel snapped.
"What do you mean?" Ranma didn't know that he only had to think the thoughts for Daniel to hear him, and Daniel wasn't about to tell him. Let them think he's lost it. The others stared at him as he continued to have a conversation with no-one.
Relax your will, your control and I'll take over to tell the story. You've botched some key details.
"Uh, okay, I guess." He did as he was bid. He closed his eyes and relaxed his control over himself. He felt himself falling backwards, yet his body didn't move. He suddenly found himself sitting in the chair in Daniel's room. It was as comfortable as it looked. He looked around and saw that the view on the TV was the view through his eyes, and everything said was coming through the speakers.
Ranma's body opened it's eyes, and everyone noticed that he wasn't the same. His eyes had changed, for one thing. They were again that deep brown that Kuno and Happosai had seen, but they weren't filled with a promise of a painful death this time. They looked around with as much apathy as Nabiki showed, but in Daniel/Ranma's case, it was real apathy and not feigned. The expression on the face was also different. He looked older, not as old as Genma or Happosai, but older than he usually looked. He also looked a lot harder, more cold than Ranma ever could.
"I've asked Ranma to step aside so that I may tell my story," he said. He spoke in English and everyone looked dumbfounded. Happosai understood him, but that was because he had traveled the world several times in his life and had picked up a lot of different languages. Kuno caught a word or two, but only because he was passing his English class. English, he found, was a lot more difficult to understand without the accent.
Daniel/Ranma looked at Happosai. "I know you can understand me, as I know the others cannot. Would you act as a translator?" He bowed his head at the old man, and Happosai found himself nodding. He explained to the others what Daniel had said.
He frowned slightly as he collected his thoughts and then told, again, what he told Ranma in his room. The looks he got were ranged from wide-eyed wonder (Kasumi) to downright disbelief (Kuno). Nabiki looked at him calculatingly, while Soun and Genma looked at him perplexedly. Akane and Sansuke looked at him with skeptical expressions while Happosai had a thoughtful look on his face.
"I guess this is the part of the story where the other players ask the new lead the questions that are burning in their minds," he said when he had finished and given them a few moments to let it sink in.
"Ranma Saotome, do you honestly think we believe this utterly preposterous fabrication of yours?" That was Kuno for you, he never knew when to keep his mouth shut. Daniel's eyes went from apathetic to cold as ice. He stared at Kuno and Kuno was stupid enough not to back down.
"You had best close your fool mouth, Tatewaki Kuno," Daniel said quietly. "I will not put up with your drivel. You are nothing but a spoiled child who insults the memory and honor the samurai you claim to emulate." Kuno didn't like that, not one bit. He stood up and brandished his bokken.
"I will not be insulted by the likes of you, Ranma Saotome," he screamed.
Daniel stood slowly, getting a feel for his new body. He stood shorter than the older boy, but he was more intimidating than Kuno could ever be. His stature belied nothing of his presence, the aura of malevolence that seeped around the edges of his control.
"I am losing my patience with you, boy. Do not act rashly and I won't continue what was stopped before." Happosai continued to translate all of this, though he didn't know why. During the story the stranger had told, and even now, he kept smelling something foul coming from the window. It was faint, and sometimes disappeared on the breeze, but it was there nonetheless. He had smelled it before, but he couldn't place the memory, so engrossed was he in the unfolding events in front of him. Then it occurred to him where he had smelled that stench before.
Daniel sensed the imp right before Happosai placed the smell. He lunged forward and snatched the bokken from Kuno's startled grasp. He turned and threw it like a spear through the open window. There was a small scream and spatter of black blood hit the window. Then came the sound of the bokken being dropped on the ground and leathery wings taking flight.
"Damn," Daniel muttered. "Missed the fucker."
*****
Ickzil clutched it's destroyed shoulder as it flew towards the pastry shop. It blistered the air with curses in various languages, never once repeating itself. Blood dripped from between it's finger to spatter on the ground, leaving a nice little trail for anyone to follow, though it knew it's blood wouldn't last more than an hour. One small advantage to being something not truly alive on this mortal plane.
The pastry shop loomed closer as it flew. It hoped it would make it. It was losing strength fast, thanks to that damned pig-tailed boy. It didn't understand half of what was said in the house, but it remember the words and it hoped it's demon lord would know. It just hoped it would live long enough to report in.
Using the secret ways, it entered the summoning chamber where it's master waited. It had decided to use cunning and trickery where the truth would not quite work. It flew in and fell unceremoniously at the feet of it's master, spattering him with black ichors.
The summoner looked down at the imp in amazement. He had never expected anything like this. He had never seen anything like this, nor read of it. He didn't think that the denizens of the netherworld could be hurt, except for the various runes and spells, in this day and age of non-belief.
"Wh-what happened?" the summoner was unnerved by this.
"Master, thy plans have been thwarted. Mine enemy knew of thy designs and intercepted me before I couldst gain the item of thy desire. They ambushed me using cold-wrote weapons and blades of slivered steel. Thy servant wasn't strong enough to defeat them." Ickzil barely suppressed his smile as he saw the anger and fear that plastered the face of the summoner. It saw more fear than anything else, though and that was a good thing.
"Master, send thy servant back to it's home so that it may heal and recruit others that we may take vengeance for thee. Thou shalt have thy item, master, and those who hurt thy servant shalt surely pay!"
That had the desired affect. The summoner immediately broke into an incantation. Soon, another rift in the fabric of that reality appeared and the imp crawled through. The rift closed and the summoner looked at the spot it once occupied. He had doubts now. He didn't know if ultimate power and immortality were worth the price of setting loose a demon hoard on the world.
He shrugged away those doubts. Yes, it was worth it, he decided. Anything was worth it.
*****
There was a moment of stunned silence in the dining room as the shock of what just happened settled it. Once it was situated in everyone, they exploded with questions and demands. Daniel didn't respond to any of it, and neither did Happosai. They looked at each other and said not a word. No form of communication passed between them, they just stared and reassessed their opinions of each other.
As the tumult of noise continued, Daniel got tired of it. He took a deep breath and yelled at everyone to shut up. They were immediately quiet, even Kuno sat back down, shaken.
"Gods, I want a cigarette," he muttered to himself. He could feel Ranma screaming in the back of his mind, but he chose to ignore him. He would be useless in the conversation to come.
"What just happened?" This came from Soun, who looked like he was about ready to cry. He cried a lot, Daniel noticed. Too much, in his opinion.
Daniel sat back down and nodded his head to Happosai. Happosai was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "It was a demon," he said at length. Night was almost fully upon them and it seemed a good time to have this discussion. "I don't know why it was here, but this cannot bode well."
"More specifically," Daniel said in the ensuing silence, "it was an imp."
Happosai looked at him sharply. Suspicion was clearly evident on his wrinkled visage. "How do you know what kind of demon it was?" he demanded. His voice sounded older than usual. He looked older than usual. The events of the day have made him feel older than usual.
"I've had some minor dealings with them," Daniel replied nonchalantly. "The summoning of an imp is not so difficult a matter and controlling one is a bit easier."
"How would you know how to summon and control a demon?" Genma asked, alarmed. He had started to stand and even Kuno was glaring at him again.
"I thought that was fairly self evident. I've summoned them before. What? Did you expect me to try to summon a celestial for aid? Feh. A celestial would do one of two things when they got near me. One, they'd attack me, or two, they'd run in fear. Oh, would you people stop glaring at me? I'm no more evil than Genma is."
Genma started to splutter at that. He stood, red faced and took a menacing step towards the man that occupied his son's body. Daniel raised his hand and pointed one finger at Genma.
"Not a step closer. Ever since I came to the fore, I've been insulted and threatened and I'm gettin' fuckin' sick of it. Now sit your ass down before I really start to get mad."
To Happosai's eyes, the dark aura of rage had returned, but now it was a lot stronger. Daniel still had Ranma's finger pointed at Genma and Happosai saw the rage travel down his arm and start to coalesce at his fingertip. Even Genma could see it then, a small sphere of dark energy at the boy's fingertip. He blanched and sat back down, glaring at his son.
Like a switch being shut off, the aura disappeared. Daniel brought his hand back down to his side and Happosai saw a small tremor in it, as if he was using too much of his hate. Maybe, Happosai thought, his hate is a finite source of energy and he weakens when he uses too much. It gave the old man much to ponder.
"As I was saying before being interrupted," Daniel continued, "I'm no more evil than Genma, or Soun, or anyone else in this room, probably with the exception of Kasumi. Everyone in here is probably a thousand times more evil than she. Anyways, I needed information and summoning an imp was the most expedient way of getting it. I made no promises, nor did I sell my soul to a dark power. You may think it was a deplorable act, but it was nothing more than getting the information I needed. Hell, since I woke up here, I've been tempted to summon one to find out who brought me here and why, though I think the why is clouded even to the supernatural." He sighed. His voice was weary when he next spoke.
"You wanted to know why he was here, well I can hazard a guess or two. I'd say he was here for information. That's why he tried so hard to mask his presence and demons aren't known for their patience, which is why he was at the window listening instead of waiting until later. I'd be willing to bet that I was the reason he was here, as well. Not to sound like an egotist, or anything, but with my anger, I stand out like a sore thumb around here. He'd had to have felt that and he was probably curious as to what I was. No doubt he was summoned for some other, unrelated thing. At least I hope so."
By this point, he had slumped forward, and Kasumi and Akane looked at him, or rather at Ranma's body, with concern. To all appearances he was using pure will power to keep himself as upright as he was. Kuno continued to glare at him and Sansuke sat back with look of concentration, memorizing every detail of the conversation. Genma and Soun looked at him with mistrust and Happosai looked on with a thoughtful expression on his face. He had much to ponder, and he doubted he'd be getting any sleep tonight. Too much to think about. Nabiki, as usual, looked on him with pure calculation on her face. Yes, he did admire that about her.
Daniel raised his head and looked at the assemblage. He noted all of the looks they gave him and noted that Kasumi's look was concern for him and Ranma and not just Ranma's body. "I'm going to go back to sleep now," he said. He sounded bone tired. "I am sorry to have caused such a disruption in your household, and I truly apologize for being here." He said this directly to Kasumi and she smiled slightly.
"And Kuno, I am sorry to have ruined your bokken. It was a fine weapon that deserved better than to be ruined by the blood of an imp." Kuno's look softened just a little and Sansuke grinned. The little ninja was sharper than he looked.
"I know it is no excuse for my own behavior," he said to the group as a whole, "but my temper gets an even shorter fuse when I'm tired. Please have some sympathy for me. I'm not from here and from out of nowhere I'm thrust into a world I barely know. It has not been the best of days for me. I think I'm about done for the day. Good night." His head dropped forward and almost immediately snapped back up.
Ranma looked around. His eyes were his own color and bloodshot. He shook with exhaustion. Everyone was glad he was back, even Kuno.
They sat around and discussed what had happened and what to do next. Kasumi rose during the discussion and fixed a quick dinner for everyone, which they gladly ate. They talked and talked for about two hours before Ranma had to leave or pass out again. He slowly made his way to his room and collapsed down onto his pallet. He was asleep before he had hit the ground.
*****
Daniel laughed when he got back to his room. He knew how to play a crowd pretty well. He eagerly watched what happened after he left on the TV and laughed all the more when he saw that he had actually swayed them a little. These next few days were going to be crucial. He had to keep a tighter reign on his temper than he usually did. That display with Genma could have cost him everything. He didn't even know he could focus his rage like that. His hate seemed to be a tangible thing here, but it also took it's toll on Ranma's body, which unfortunately was his body also.
He briefly thought about teaching Ranma how to focus his hate, but then promptly disregarded the notion. He was much to good natured for that. It took a certain lack of good will to be able to build up that much hate, let alone use it.
It was while he was thinking of this that he noticed that his computer table had materialized. Curious, he sat down at the chair and started exploring. Soon he realized what it really was. He now had access of all of Ranma's mind. Here were his memories, even the ones he couldn't remember were here. Here were his emotions. Here his hopes and dreams. He laughed at the sight. He could change everything about the boy from here, but he restrained himself. Ranma didn't trust him and if Ranma found himself feeling things that were natural to him, yet he'd never felt before, then he'd trust him even less.
He realized that his computer was a two-edged sword. Not only did it give him total access to Ranma's brain, but it would give Ranma total access to Daniel's mind when he was in the fore. He'd have to do something about that.
He bent over the keyboard and started typing away, putting password restriction on almost everything. He was pretty sure Ranma would never figure out the password, but better safe than sorry. He put password protection on the password protection. He didn't know if that was possible back home, but this wasn't home and functioned under similar, but totally different rules.
He yawned and stretched when he finished. Maybe a little nap was in order. He thought he handled his first experience in the flesh of this reality fairly well. He wasn't attacked at least. That was a start. Plans had started to form in his mind, and he was hoping to implement them before too much longer. He grinned and sighed as he climbed into his bed. He chuckled unpleasantly to himself as sleep embraced him.