DISCLAIMER: "Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki" is a registered trademark and copyright of AIC Inc. and Pioneer. "Ranma 1/2" is a registered trademark and copyright of Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Communications and Kitty Productions.

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T E N C H I 1 / 2: FAMILY REUNION II

By Michael "TheZorch" Haney

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Part 7: The Line Drawn in the Sand

Shampoo leaned against Ranma's shoulder, tears still fresh in her eyes. All she wanted was to held in his arms and forget everything that had happened. The new Matriarch of the Chinese Amazons grieved for the one person who had been her only family for the years since her mother passed away was now gone. Her great grandmother, Cologne, the former matriarch of the Nyanchiczu. Everyone sat on the smooth floor of Ryo-Ohki's bridge, and everyone except for Prince Herb of the Musk Dynasty seemed overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of the place.

"Amazing." the Musk prince said softly.

"We'll make Tokyo in about five minutes." Washu informed everyone from the pilot's chair.

"Drop us at the house, I wanna make sure everyone is alright before we hit the Kuno place." said Ranma. Washu nodded and turned back to the controls.

"I too am worried, our other loved ones are unprotected and unprepared to deal with a threat such as Kun Lao." Kuno Hikaru said.

"Sasami is with them at the Tendo place when I left to get you guys." Washu said. "If that creep attacks the house he'll have Tsunami to deal with, wherever Sasami is my sister isn't far away."

"He seems even more powerful than what is in our ancient writings." Prince Herb said.

"That is because he possess the other keys, they are amplifying his chi powers." Rouge explained to him. The Hentai Twins nodded in agreement.

"If he gets the final key, he could possibly have enough power to create Light Hawk Wings." Pepper said and everyone in the room looked at her with shock.

"No way." Tenchi breathed.

"That would be like really bad." Mihoshi said as she cuddle up against Tenchi. The young first prince of Jurai put his arm around her to reassure her.

"That would be worse than bad." Ryoko said.

Ranma slapped his fist into this open palm and said, "I don't give a rat's ass how strong that bastard gets, he's going down for all the stuff he's done to us!"

"He's even stronger than Saffron was." Akane said.

Ranma looked at her and put his arm around her. "That creep went too far when he groped you right in front of us and we couldn't stop him." he said. "Then, his minions killed Cologne, slaughtered almost half of the Amazons, and who knows what else he's done."

"He is an evil that must be stopped at all costs." Prince Herb said.

"As far as we know he could already have that key." Ukyo said.

"No, remember, only a virgin can touch it." Rouge reminded her.

"Oh." Ukyo replied.

Tenchi looked over at Rouge and said, "But, he could get Tatawaki's sister to get it for him."

"That is sadly true." Rouge admitted.

"Man, this whole mess is totally fucked up." Ranma sighed.

"I really wish I knew this stuff was happening sooner, I would have helped." said Ryoga.

"We're going to need that help if we're to prevent Kun Lao from possessing the final key." Hikaru said to him.

"Alright we're just about home, everyone get ready." Washu announced and the everyone stood up and moved to the center of the bridge.

"So, some of you come from the legendary empire in the stars, and Ranma and Tenchi are royalty by way of relation to your half-brother." Herb said turning to Ayeka.

The princess nodded saying, "Yes, Lord Tenchi and Lord Ranma are members of the Juraian royal family line of success."

"There is another, but his situation is a little different." Washu added.

"You mean Seina, right?" Tenchi asked her.

"Uh huh." Washu smiled and nodded.

Young princess Sasami sat out in the back yard of the Tendo household and watched the koi in the pond. She wondered how the fish managed to survive all the times Ranma had been thrown into the pond in the past. That is if Mr. Saotome and Mr. Tendo's stories about the past were accurate or not. She picked up a small pebbled and flicked it out onto the water. A shadow suddenly fell over her and Sasami looked up but saw nothing. Her senses, keen due to her special relationship with Tsunami began to see the outline of a ship that was cloaked. She instantly recognized the the sharp angled shape in the sky and leapt to her feet before everyone materialized in the back yard.

"Their home, everyone, Ranma and Tenchi are back!" she cried and ran as fast as her legs would carry her to her betrothed. Tenchi held out his arms to her and grabbed her up into a tight hug.

"I was so scared for you and the others." Sasami said gripping Tenchi with all her might.

"It ain't over yet, we lost." Ranma said.

"Oh no." Sasami sighed in disappointment.

"Hikaru!" came a cry from the house and Kasumi came running into the yard. The resurrected samurai caught her and twirled her around three times before drawing her close for a passionate kiss.

Ranma looked at them and smiled then heard a sound next to him. He turned to see Nabiki looking at him. Her face seemed impassive at first, then it shifted to sadness, then tears formed in her eyes. Ranma did not wait for her to say anything or move, he reached out and took her in his arms. Nabiki buried her face in his chest and wept.

Ryoga looked at Nabiki and shrugged, "They must be handing out parkas in hell right now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Akane asked her sharply.

"Your normally cold as ice sister being all weepy and emotional." he said. "By the way, why is she hugging Ranma?"

"Because, baka, they're engaged." Akane replied in an annoyed tone.

Ryoga looked at her with confusion and said, "But, I thought you were his iinazuke."

"I am." Akane replied.

"So am I." said Ukyo.

"Me too." added Shampoo.

"And they're all official." Washu said.

Ryoga looked like he was about to pass out. "All-official?"

"I thought Ranko already explained this to you." Ranma said turned to him. "Because of my relation to my cousin Tenchi I'm a prince, and it turns out a member of the royal family of Jurai can have as many wives as they want."

"Not too many, Ranma." Akane said dangerously.

Ranko waved her hand in front of the Lost Boy's face but there was no response. "Oh man, looks like P-Chan's gone bye bye." she said.

"Oh my, I'll go make him a bed." Kasumi said and hurried to the house.

"I'm taking the girls to the dojo, they need to concentrate on divining the accurate location of the key and where Kun Lao may likely be." Rouge said as she lead her scantly clad nieces towards the dojo.

Tenchi turned to Ranma and asked, "Shouldn't we stake out the Kuno mansion or something like that?"

"Haste in this situation is prudent." Herb nodded. "Waiting about puts our enemy closer to his goal."

"Throwing yourself into a situation you know nothing about is also an easy way to get killed." Rouge replied from the dojo entrance.

"I hate to admit it guys, but she's got a point." said Ranma. "He knows we're gonna be after him so there is no telling what he might have waiting for us."

Kuno Hikaru stepped forward and said, "At least allow me to go there and make a quick observation. Those people are my kin, as sad as it seems."

"I'll go with him." Ranko said stepping next to the Musk prince.

"Yeah, I'm sure Kuno would love for his pig-tailed girl to make a visit." Ukyo said.

Ranko laughed, "Why do you think I'm going, if Kuno gets in the way I can draw him away from Hikaru."

"You be careful sis, ok." Ranma said to her.

"Hey, I can handle Kuno." Ranko said.

"No, I think he wants you to handle him." Akane said with a smile. "Of course you might make Ryoga jealous."

Ranko's face suddenly turned bright red. "Wha, huh, now there ain't nothing going on between me and Ryoga." the red head said defensively.

"It sure didn't looked that way to us sugar a little while away ago at the village." Ukyo replied.

"Well nothing happened, we just came to an understand is all." Ranko said, her face still red. "That kiss didn't count." When she suddenly realized what she said she clamped her hands over her mouth and she turned extra bright candy apple red from the shoulders up.

"Kiss? What kiss?" everyone asked at once.

"Oh I've got to hear this one." said Nabiki showing that old "Mistress of All Gossip" gleam in her eye.

"Me and my big fat mouth." Ranko sighed.

_____

Sometime later two figures moved swiftly over the rooftops of Nerima. Ranko and Hikaru ran side by side, leaping from roof to roof as they made their way to the Kuno mansion. Having Ranma's memories, Ranko was able to lead the way easily, and within minutes the pair reached the outer wall of the Kuno estate.

"Much as changed in many hundreds of years." Hikaru said as he looked at the wall. "Where are the guard towers, the second defensive wall, and the main palace?"

"Oh, that's right you guys were official samurai back then." Ranko said. "I dunno what happened to all that stuff. This place looks the same as when Ranma went there for the first time."

"Let us move with stealth and look about for my descendants." Hikaru said before he leapt across the way and bounded silently into the trees beyond the wall.

The two looked around at their surroundings. Ranko recognized the private hot spring that the Kuno family had in their yard. She could see the rising steam on the other side of a stand of bushes. The faint sweet scent of flowers wafted on the wind in the opposite direction, so Ranko guessed that was where Kodachi grew her trademark black roses. This meant that the pond where Mr. Green Turtle lived was not far away. Ranko endeavored to stay clear of that area. Muffled voice could be heard beyond the hot spring where Tatawaki had a small training area. Ranko's keen hearing picked up the baritone wannabe samurai's voice and higher pitched voice of his toady, Sasuke.

"Sounds like Kuno's chewing out Sasuke about something." she said.

"Who?" asked Hikaru.

"Sasuke, their man servant, a pitiful little ninja guy with almost no self-esteem." she told him. "He's practically their slave but no matter how badly they treat him he still stays with them."

"A ninja, I wonder if he is related to the family indentured to our clan many years ago before my battle with Kun Lao." the samurai pondered. "They were practitioners of the dark ninja arts."

After wandering about for a little while they came to the hot springs. A memory came to the mind of the samurai, he remember bathing in this same spring. A lot had changed, if the spring was there then that meant where the main house was proper was where the palace had once been. A splash of water drew his attention and he looked into the clouds of steam and noticed a figure standing halfway out of the water. A gust of wind blew the steam away revealing a vision of loveliness bathing herself, her wet, bare breasts gleamed bright in the sunlight. The samurai full back behind the cover of the bushes, a jet of blood shooting from his nose.

"Wow." Ranko whispered out loud as she looked at the girl in the pool. "Kodachi had a really nice pair on her, I wonder why Ranma never noticed how huge she was."

"Uh-ah-oh-geh!" was all the samurai could say as he held his nose.

"Don't worry, I won't mention this to Kasumi." Ranko smirked.

The samurai bowed his head, "Arigato-gozaimas!"

Ranko looked back out over the pool and scowled, "He can't be far, if he is here I just know he can't resist peeping at her. The creep is worse than Happosai."

"Speaking of the ancient perverted master, where is he?" Kuno Hikaru asked. Ranko looked at him with a shrug and turned back to her observations. Kodachi was going to be Kuno Lao's likely target. As far as Ranko knew the girl was still a virgin, and only a virgin would touch the key.

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The hunter slowly stalked towards his prey, moving slowly inch by inch, making little or no noise as he walked. He could see his prey, it knelt behind a tree, invisible except to those who had the talent to see. The hunter was talented in many unique techniques and abilities. Right now every fiber of his being was focused on following his target, his prey, and ignoring what was out in the warm waters of the hot spring just a short distance away. The naked form of Kodachi was a wonderful distraction for the hunter, but his rage overpowered his desire to run over and fondle those beautiful globes of flesh. All he could see in his mind's eye was a little girl in a hospital bed crying, her clothes in tatters. Walking away was the boy who had been Gosunkugi Hikaru, he looked at the girl with a smirk, zipped up his pants and, left the room. The vision, completely made up in his own perverted mind, enraged him even more. The one now known as Kun Lao was going to pay for hurting his darling little Hinako, he was going to make him pay even if it meant giving up his life. If the old perverted master, Happosai, had any morals at all, he felt them when that little girl was concerned. To him Ms. Hinako was still the little girl he knew from the hospital years ago, the little girl he taught the Ultimate Anything Goes Health Technique to.

Little did the tiny, perverted master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts know but he was about to do something that would redeem him of all of his past crimes in the eye of all who knew him.

_____

Akane and the rest of Ranma's harem, that was what they started to think of themselves as, watched their mutual love interest pace back and forth in frustration. He did not like this waiting around, but they had to wait for Ranko and Hikaru to come back from scouting out the Kuno place. A long, exasperating hour later Ranma threw up his arms and headed outside to go to the Kuno place himself when Hikaru and Ranko came flying over the wall to alight in the yard.

"He's there, we didn't see him, but he's definitely gotta be there." said Ranko.

"How do you know?" asked Ranma.

"Kodachi was bathing in the hot spring." she told him. "If he's around he would definitely be watching her. That is what Happosai would be doing, and those two are almost like twins."

"I would say the perverted master is the lesser of the two evils." the samurai commented.

"But he's still evil." Ranko said.

"Amen to that sugar." said Ukyo as she and rest of Ranma's harem came out of the house to join them.

"Where was Kuno baby?" Nabiki inquired.

Ranko shrugged, "Chewing Sasuke out for one reason or another as usual."

"I am a bit disturbed that Kun Lao has not taken any action yet." said Hikaru. His worried expression was mirrored on the faces around him.

"Lets ask Rouge if the girls found the key yet." Ranma went straight to the dojo and slowly slid open one of the doors. He squeezed his nose to keep from dying from blood loss as his eyes too in the sight of the Hentai Twins engaged in an elaborate chi magic ritual. They were both completely naked, and both girls could have easily been a match for Shampoo in the looks department. Rouge noticed him and rolled her eyes.

"They haven't found it yet, give it time." she told him, pushed him out of the door with little effort and close the door. Ranma stood there for a few seconds before collapsing backwards.

_____

The ancient Chi Sorcerer could hardly contain himself. He had to keep reminding himself that he needed a virgin to get the final key, and he could only mind control a girl to do it. Watching Kodachi give herself a sensual bath in the hot spring and then pleasure herself with various vibrating tools all the while crying out the name of her beloved "Ranma" was driving him insane with desire. He needed released and he needed it now or he was going to ruin his won plans. The Chi Sorcerer, still cloaked from view, or so he thought, left the Kuno compound on a hunt. He did not notice the tiny figure following close behind him.

His search did not take long. He saw her, and a stray memory from the boy who's body he inhabited gave him her name. Yuka was her name. She was not as beautiful as the Kuno girl by any stretch of the imagination, but she was still a girl and from her aura he could tell she was still a virgin too. The young girl was one of the friends of Ranma's women, Akane, if he remembered right from the jumble of memories inherited from Gosunkugi Hikaru. How ironic it was, he thought to himself as he approached her unseen and stretched out with his thoughts towards the girl. She was in her house, her parents were out and she was along wearing only just a pair of panties and a bra in her bedroom. She was lounging on her bed reading a romance manga that was also little ecchi. Kun Lao felt his mind touch hers and he planted several thoughts into her mind. He let his cloak fall away and Yuka looked up at him. A lustful look came to her face as she climbed out of bed. She crawled on all fours towards the Chi Sorcerer and reached up to pull down the zipper on his pants.

From the roof of the house next door the ancient perverted master watched as the young girl's head bobbed up and down. He felt a combination of envy and rage at what he was watching. Envy that he could not have that kind of control over girls, and rage that Kun Lao was spoiling the purity of another innocent virgin. Not that he would do the same thing, but it was the principle of the thing in the old pervert's mind.

Happosai nearly broke his pipe in half when the girl tore off her panties and impaled herself on the ancient chi sorcerer who lay on the door with his pants down. She bucked up and down, the sound of her cries reaching out as far as where Happosai was watching. Was this what he did to little Hinako, the old pervert had to wonder. The thought of his second greatest pupil harmed by that monster disgusted him, or disgusted as his own twisted sensibilities would allow him to be.

Kun Lao did what he usually did, he left the girl completely unaware of what happened and completely without any evidence of what happened. Any evidence of her having been taken advantage of was the musky smell of sex in the air, and the torn hymen inside the girl's body that would not be noticed until a doctor's examination a few weeks later. The ancient Chi Sorcerer was on his way back to the Kuno compound when he found his path blocked.

"Well, well, I was wondering when 'you' were going to show up and challenge me." he folded his arms and looked at the ancient master.

"There is only room for one uber-pervert in this world, and its gonna be me." said Happosai. "I'm gonna take revenge for my little Hinako."

"Hinako, you mean that delightful school teacher." Kun Lao said nonchalantly. "Oh she was something else, a real screamer, I had to use a chi spell to dampen the sound to keep anyone from hearing. I understand I have to thank for her ability to attain adult form. She was quite good, very tight, and those breasts are to die for."

"Die, that is exactly what you'll do." Happosai snarled.

"That sex-changing martial artist and his cousin could not kill me, what makes you think you can?" the chi sorcerer asked.

"Simple." the ancient master said and withdrew something he had been holding behind his back. Kun Lao looked at it and started to laugh.

"So, you stole that from the Amazons I take it, and you think you can kill me with it." he laughed.

Happosai hefted the object and said, "There is only one way to kill an immortal." With that he focused his immense chi reserves and launched himself into an attack.

_____

The war council was gathered in the tea room. Kasumi and Sasami flitted in and out of the kitchen bringing tea and food for the others who were sitting around the table. A holographic display of the Kuno mansion hung in the air before them. Washu typed on her computer keyboard at a speed that rivaled Ranma's amaguriken technique. The Hentai Twins, now dressed, or semi-dressed as they usually did were seated together with Rouge. The older, beautiful Amazon was there more to keep the two amorous twins in check than anything else. Both Ranma and Tenchi's harems noticed the two giving both Tenchi and Ranma hungry stares. Akane put her arm around Ranma's shoulder and shot the twins an expression that screamed, "MINE!" Ryoko and Ayeka did the same thing with Tenchi. Neither men minded it all anymore, not ever having sex with all of their girls at one time before. Well, not all, Sasami was technically Tenchi's iinazuke, but he was not going to try anything more intimate than innocent hugs and kisses until she was older or assimilated with Tsunami. Prince Herb remained silent the entire time as he watched the display with fascination.

"Ok, the twins say the key is here." Washu hit a few keys and a pinpoint of light appeared below the Kuno compound directly beneath the alligator pool.

"Figures it would have to be there." Ranma muttered.

"That small pond, like the spring, has been on the grounds of the Kuno clan for generations." said Hikaru. "The pond was used by our sword smiths when they cooled the blades they made for us."

Nabiki's eyebrow shot up, "Your clan had your own sword smiths."

The samurai nodded, "Some of the best in the province, many other clans in the area came to use to buy our blades."

"Now Kodachi uses it to keep her pet alligator." Akane spoke up.

"Where is Steve Erwin when you need him." muttered Ukyo.

Washu tapped some keys and the image zoomed in on the pond. "Ok, listen up, the key is in a box buried about a meter below the bottom of the lake." she told them. "That means whoever goes in after it will be digging in mud for a while."

"Which means not only do we need to keep Kun Lao busy, but we also have to get that damn Mr. Green Turtle out of the way." said Ranko.

"I remember seeing that thing, its huge." Ryoga commented.

"I already thought of a way to get rid of him, Ryoko will draw it away with a turkey attached to a rope-" Washu began.

"I'm not gonna be a decoy for an alligator the size of a Zensa Beast!" the cyan haired beauty snarled at her. A small statuette feel out of subspace above her head and shattered at it knocked her cold.

"As I was saying, Ryoko was draw the animal away while Ranma and Tenchi go in and get the key out." Washu continued.

"Ite!" Ryoko groaned as she rubbed her head and sat up.

"Only virgins can hold the key, why us?" asked Tenchi.

"Its in a box, so you'll be able to hold it them." Washu explained. "The key is useless to Kun Lao as long as he can't get to the key itself, being in a box he can't utilize it unless he has someone use it for him who 'is' a virgin."

The two cousins nodded in understanding. "So that means pretty much all of us are out when it comes to really touching it." said Akane with a blush.

"Well, except for Sasami and Kasumi that is." Washu added also blushing.

"Uh, you 'are' still a virgin, right sugar?" Ukyo asked the oldest Tendo sister. Kasumi blushed furiously and nodded lightly. Kuno Hikaru also blushed a bit when his beautiful reincarnated love interest look at him.

"There is one other." Herb added with a deep blush, the group nodded.

"Kun Lao is only interested in girls he can use, or take advantage of," said Washu. "So Sasami will be safe, at least I hope." She turned to Hikaru and asked him, "Uh, he isn't a pedophile is he?"

"You mean does he take sexual pleasure out of young children?" he replied and Washu nodded. A disgusted look came over the samurai's face.

"I never saw, but I have heard rumors." he said.

Ayeka immediately grabbed Sasami into her arms protectively. "He wouldn't!"

"All I heard were rumors, that is all." Hikaru said again.

"I heard the same rumors as well." Herb added.

"Rumors part true." Shampoo said, speaking up for the first time since they arrived home. "Amazons have many ancient stories about perverted chi sorcerer, he do it if he think it help get more power or influence over enemy. There be story of lord's young daughter he kidnap to force man to obey, he send warrior against Kun Lao, he punished lord by send daughter back home....defiled."

"Ok, he is way worse than Happosai." Ranko threw up her hands.

It was at that moment they heard the explosion in the distance. Everyone rushed outside and watched as a column of energy rose into the air into the heavens and back down again. The resulting blast shattered windows for miles. Debris could be seen flying up into the air all around where the blast billowed out like a bubble up from the ground.

"A chi spell, and a powerful one too!" Salt shouted.

"What the hell, why?" Ranma glanced out watching the blast diminish into the distance.

"I feel something else, its chi, but its different." Pepper commented.

"Its chi created from, from perversion." Salt added.

"Happosai!" everyone said at once.

"I wondered where the old freak went while we was fighting for our lives." Ranma snarled.

"Probably saving innocent Amazon underwear from the trolls." said Tenchi. Everyone nodded in mutual agreement, they all knew the ancient perverted master well.

"Shampoo wish great grandmother here she know what to do." the blue haired Amazon said leaning against Ranma. He put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her.

"Lets go see what happened!" Ryoga shouted and leapt over the wall in the act wrong direction. Ranko leapt after him, turned him and point the other way. "Oh!" he blushed furiously and followed her. The rest of the group, the combatants of the group that is, leapt over the wall and took to the rooftops chasing after them. Herb was about to join them when he heard his name shouted by Washu. It took just a little time to cross Nerima via rooftop and reach the scene of the devastation. Smoke was still rising out of a huge crater in the ground where several houses once stood.

Ryoko whistled, "Who or whatever he was fighting, its fried now."

"It looks like four or five houses were vaporized." said Tenchi.

"I hope body was at home when this happened." Ayeka gasped.

"Oh Kami-sama!" Akane cried. "Yuka's house was here!" She leapt down into the crater and raced towards where her best friend's house was or had been. The structure was only half gone and bits of it were burning. The others joined her as she leapt up into what was left of the house and waited. Ranma ran in after her and they did not emerge for a short while. Ranma appeared carrying a girl wrapped in a blanket over his shoulder with Akane at his side.

"She's out, but still breathing." he said.

"I'll get her to the house Ranma honey." Ukyo offered and took the young girl into her arms and ran off toward the Tendo dojo.

"Hey, I found Happosai!" came Tenchi's voice from deeper inside the crater. The others came running and looked down at the blacked little body at Tenchi's feet.

"He's-He's-" Akane stammered.

"Extra crispy." said Ranma as he touched the little pervert's hand and it instantly crumbled to ashes.

"Whoa, the power if must have taken to kill that old goat." Ryoga said realizing the true immensity of their situation for the first time. It made him shiver a little with fear.

Rouge sifted in the dirt and withdrew something gleaming. She held it up and the Hentai Twins gasped as they recognized it. "The old fool, he killed himself!" she said.

"What is that?" Ryoko asked, looking at the object in question. It was wand made of gleaming gold and topped by a half-moon piece and studded with blue gemstones.

"The Wand of Power." she said softly. "How in the name of all that is holy did he get his little hands on it."

"Aiya!" Shampoo gasped instantly recognizing the name. "He very stupid if think that work."

"What is the Wand of Power?" Tenchi asked.

"An artifact of the Kami given to us as a gift by our goddess." Salt explained. "It is said to be able to do anything, in the right hands. But, in the hands of a man it can be a disastrous weapon."

"He was really angry at Kun Lao for raping Ms. Hinako." said Akane.

"Likely he focused all of his power into the wand, the fool!" Rouge let her arm drop and looked at the crumbling remains of the perverted master.

"In other words, when trying to kill Kun Lao he got caught up in his own attack." said Ryoko. The Hentai Twins nodded in confirmation.

"Who would have ever guessed the old pervert would have gone out fighting to take revenge for somebody." Ranma shook his head.

"I do not see another body," Hikaru interrupted. "Kun Lao must have survived."

"Shit!" Ranma growled. At that moment Ukyo came flying back down into the crater from a nearby rooftop. A large crowd had already begun to gather at the end of the destruction and sirens could be heard in the distance.

"The blast was heard all the way as far as Shabuya." Ukyo told them. "They were watching the news back at the dojo when I got Yuka there."

"Lets go before the cops get here and start asking too many questions." said Ryoko.

"Yeah, they don't need to get caught up in this, no more blood needs to be shed because of that creep." Ranma nodded and they all followed him as the lead the way to the Kuno estate. The trip was short, the Kuno home was not far away via rooftop travel. Ryoko and Ayeka flew over the grounds of the Kuno estate, the princess of Jurai garbed in her battle gear. It was the same she used in the battle with Kagato years before, and Ryoko had morphed into her black and red battle suit. With a twirl of his ring Tenchi was suddenly engulfed in a bright light and emerged donning his own battle suit.

"I need one of those." Ranma commented looking his cousin up and down noticing how it showed of the boy's slight build. The girls got a good look too and tried to envision Ranma in one of those tight fitting suits. The thought made their hearts race.

"Cretin! How dare you invade the home of Kuno Tatawaki!" came a cry from the side. By instinct Ranma leaned to the side as the wooden blade of a bokken narrowly missed his head. The pigtailed martial artist leaned backwards, placed his palms on the ground, and kicked up with his feet. The result caused the insane Kendoist to go flying with a yell. The boy hit head first on the ground but quickly recovered to a sitting position with is bokken at the ready.

"Fair Akane and the Pigtailed Girl!" Kuno spied his two favorite people in the ground and raced to their side. The two were pressed against one another in a powerful hug from the wannabe samurai. "You have come to confess your love to me at last!"

WHAM! Two feminine legs sent the boy flying again, this time across the entire estate grounds. "Jerk." the two girls said at the same time, they looked at one another, Akane and Ranko, then giggled.

Hikaru put his hand on his face and shook his head, "I cannot believe that buffoon is my kin."

Ranma patted him on the shoulder, "My sympathies man."

"Ok, where is Kun Lao?" asked Tenchi.

"Anywhere Kodachi is likely." said Ukyo.

"Remember, she is of no use to him if he takes her virginity." Rouge reminded them.

"Its not like he couldn't grab any other virgin." Ranma muttered.

A survey of the grounds found little of any sign of Kodachi anywhere. The group split up at the hot spring. Ranma with Akane and Shampoo, Ryoga with Ranko and Ukyo, Rouge with the Hentai Twins, and Tenchi with Ryoko and Ayeka made up the final group. Kuno Hikaru elected to go by himself. Ranma's group arrived at Mr. Green Turtle's pond first, the water stirred slightly as the giant alligator moved just below the surface of the murky water.

"Washu wants me to go in there?" Ranma looked at the water with an expression of dread.

"I wonder where Kodachi is." said Akane. Ranma shrugged.

"Crazy rose girl be anywhere, unless Kun Lao make her look for key." Shampoo guessed.

Ranma looked over at the nearest building, it was the portion of the Kuno home dedicated to entertaining guests. Like the rest of the Kuno home, it was huge with many vast rooms, and probably full of all sorts of secrets. Their previous adventures into the Kuno mansion revealed a great deal about the place.

"Lets check the house." he said.

_____

Ranko remember everything Ranma knew about the Kuno mansion, and she did not like what she remembered. All of the memories were of nefarious traps placed all around the place by Sasuke, the Kuno family retainer and doormat. She found herself having to lead Ryoga around by the hand, or else he would end up getting lost the first time he decides to turn a corner. After that he could end up anywhere in the world for that matter. She wondered what the weather in Timbuktu was like this time of year and thought with a shudder that Ryoga would probably know the answer..

The Kuno place was very big, and it was also like a maze. That was because it was built to confuse enemies who invaded the home during the feudal era. Today the defenses would matter little and would only stop all but the most determined of opponents. There opponents were not armed with ancient Amazon techniques. Ryoga demonstrated one of them as he leveled a wall with one finger that was blocking their way. Beyond that they found more corridors.

"How big is this place anyway." said Ukyo.

"The last time I, I mean Ranma was here, he was lost for a good while." said Ranko.

"I know the feeling." Ryoga said with a sigh.

_____

Tenchi and his two companions opened a sliding door and found themselves inside of a huge gymnasium. It was as large as the gym Furinken High School. The room was littered with Kendo and Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics gear. There were rows of training dummies, all decorated to look like Ranma of course. On the other side were large pictures of Ranko and Akane with huge gashes cut into them. Tenchi realized it was done with the ribbon that lay on the floor in from of the two defiled portraits.

"Geeze, and thought you two were obsessed." said Tenchi. The girls said nothing and just squeezed his hands as they stood on either side of him.

"Doesn't look she's around here." Ryoko said looking around.

"I wonder if the twins are having better luck?" Ayeka wondered out loud.

_____

Rouge wondered what Kami in heaven loved making her life so insane with such relatives as those two girls. She loved them dearly but sometimes they really pushed her to the limit. They were searching the house proper, looking for any sign of the girl in the green leotard. They had not seen any sign of her or the others for a long time since splitting up. The search was going at a good clip until they reached what could only be described as Kodachi's bedroom was found, and their finely tuned senses told the girls there was a secret compartment in one wall. Upon opening it the girls were greeted by the most beautiful sight they had ever seen. A wall full of all manner of sex toys, dildos, ribbed dildos, vibrators, and all sorts of things they had never seen before. So, now Rouge was stewing in her own juices outside of that same bedroom waiting while the muffled cries of ecstasy from the twins echoed down the hall.

She held a small vibrator in her hand and flipped it over and over again in her hands. Those girls, the worst enemy of the Joketsuzoku is out and about and they're masturbating., she grumbled to herself. Salt's scream as she orgasmed rolled down the hallway like a clap of thunder. Rouge found that she was having a hard time concentrating as the sounds were starting to get to her. She felt the familiar burning down below and growled in frustration.

"Damn it!" she snarled, powered on the vibrator, and nearly fell out of her chair when she pressed it between her legs.

The twins came out of the bedroom, both were literally glowing with energy and stopped at the sight of their aunt writhing in the throws of a violent orgasm on the floor.

"Welcome to the horny side Rouge." Pepper smiled down at her.

_____

Kuno Hikaru held his hand to his katana sword as he skulked around the vast expanse of the Kuno ancestral home. He knew the lay of the land, and though it had been changed form time to time much of the place reminded unchanged. He guessed as to where Kun Lao might look for the key, the old cellar. He knew where it was. It did not take long to find the entrance which was now hidden behind a false wall. The stairs were made of stone and descended into the depths below the Kuno mansion. He followed the stairs and stopped when he heard a voice. It was a woman's voice and it could only be one person. He went further and looked around a corner. There she was donning her trademark green leotard. There had been some modifications made to it though which allowed her ample bosom to show in its full glory. Kun Lao, in the body of the young boy Gosunkugi Hikaru was standing next to her.

"I don't feel it anywhere here, so there more to his cellar?" he asked.

Kodachi pointed straight ahead, "There are three more chambers like this one straight ahead. All of them are for storing wine."

"The key must be down here." Kun Lao snarled and went further into the cellar's depths. Hikaru followed keeping to a certain distance taking silent, stealthy steps. After going through the rest of the cellar Kun Lao made several gestures with his hands forming runes in the air. Nothing happened and he let his hands fall down at his sides.

"Damn!" the chi sorcerer hissed.

"There MUST be more!" he shouted at the girl and she cringed away from him in terror.

"There is no more, master!" Kodachi cried out in terror.

"If I did not need you with your innocence intact I would take you now and let you savor the humiliation in full." Kun Lao spat then turned around on his heels and headed for the exit. It was at that moment, in the dim light cast by Kodachi's flashlight that the chi sorcerer was the glint of steel.

"Let her go." Hikaru demanded and pointed the tip of his blade towards the chi sorcerer.

"Did not take you long to make it back from China." Kun Lao said casually. "How did you like the trolls? I trust that gave you and your friends an interesting work out."

"Release her mind and face me!" Hikaru demanded.

The chi sorcerer look over at the half naked girl he had control over. "She is a kin of yours I believe." he said.

"The Joketsuzoku suffered greatly because of you!" Kuno Hikaru spat.

"Well, isn't that a pity." said Kun Lao. "I seem to recall a great deal of suffering when you trapped me inside of that Soul Prison for seven hundred years!"

"There is a difference, I was trapping a monster." Hikaru replied, his voice like venom.

"One man's monster is another man's savior." Kun Lao smirked evilly. "Besides those Chinese bitches deserved what they received trying to keep me from taking what is rightfully mine. It is sat so many luscious creatures had to meet their end before I had a chance to sample them myself, but such is life."

"You are as insane as when I first met you." the samurai scowled.

"And you are as morbid and gloomy, really don't you ever smile?" Kun Lao asked with a smile.

"Only when my blade tastes your blood!" Hikaru cried as lunged. He blinked when his blade cut through thin air where Kun Lao had been a second before. The chamber was dark now, even Kodachi was gone.

"I don't have time for these games, when I am done with the Chamber of Ascension then I'll be glad to play with you." he heard the chi sorcerer's voice coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "Until then, feel free to play with this."

The ground at the samurai's feet suddenly began to split open. Hikaru jumped over the widening rift and ran for the exit. He heard a sound behind him and watched as a vision of sheer horror on eight legs climbed out of the tear in the earth. The thing was huge, resembling a great spider with long black hairs hanging off of its body. The thing had a head that looked almost human save for its six eyes, and the long sharp fang in its mouth. Two of the legs were thick human-like arms, one of those arms held a huge war hammer.

"KUSO!" he snarled as he turned to face the spider demon.

_____

The groups were finished searching the Kuno estate and found nothing. Everyone was gathered once again at the alligator pond. Ayeka and Ryoko both strained as they projected their forcefields to hold a huge and abnormally large alligator high in the air out of reach. Ranma and Tenchi swam about in the water, they went down for a long moment only to return to the surface for air and then went back down again. The remainder of the group acted as guards watching for an attack from any direction. They of course knew they would be of little use at all in a one-on-one fight with Kun Lao, and being girls they were especially vulnerable. Kuno Tatawaki stood watching all of this with rapt attention. Akane was doing her best to explain things to the boy, and was doing only a so so job of it. He was not trying to interfere at least. If what Akane was telling him was true an evil had come to the Kuno residence to corrupt his sister and force her to use a magic item hidden on their grounds for some nefarious scheme.

"Akane can really put one over on Kuno." said Ukyo.

"As long as stick boy not attack Ranma, Shampoo happy." the Amazon said as she kept a sharp out.

"We found something!" Ranma shouted before going below the waters again. Kuno nearly wanted to pass out when he saw two of his beloved pigtailed girls. Akane did not even bother to try and explain that one as it was tried before and Kuno did not get the point.

"About time, its been at least two hours since we got here." Ukyo sighed.
"And no sign of that Ko-whatshername." Ryoko muttered.

"Kodachi." the others chimed in.

"Got it!" Tenchi yelled as he and a very well and female Ranma climbed out of the pond. They held between them a large chest that was caked in wet mud. The princess and the former space pirate heaved a sigh of relief as they released the alligator back into the water.

"Cool, lets get this thing out of-" Ryoko began.

A blast knocked her and everyone else off their feet. Rouge and the Twins looked up to Kun Lao smirking at them as he approached the chest, waved his hand, and the chest opened of its own accord. A half-naked girl in a modified free leotard walked up, her eyes vacant, and reach into the box. She came out with the final key to the Chamber of Ascension.

"You fucking bastard." Ranma spat as she rolled Ryoko body off of him. He charged up with chi and Jurai energy and lunged towards the chi sorcerer. She leapt over Kodachi's head and tried to drop kick the sorcerer but he deflected the blow easily. Ranma managed to land on her feet with ease and charged up a chi blast. Her Moko Takabisha sizzled with immense energy catching Kun Lao square in the chest. He was knocked off his feet and several yards away from Kodachi. The girl in the leotard did not move or flinch an inch.

"Not bad." Kun Lao said as he stood up. He looked at Ranma and licked his lips. "When this is over I'm going to enjoy having you. It would be the perfect punishment for one such as you."

"Touch me or anyone in my family and you die." Ranma snarled at him.

"As if you could kill me, you tried your best in China." Kun Lao said with a smirk. "And it wasn't nearly enough."

The ground suddenly heaved under their feet and then began to split open. A figure leapt out of the crack in the earth holding a gleaming sword. Behind the figure climbed out a nightmarish creature. It had several missing legs and was covered in oozing wounds. It stepped forward once climbing to the surface then collapsed forward and gasped its last breath. Hikaru, looking a worse for wear but still on his feet ran around the body of the monster to stand beside Ranma. He was quickly joined by Tenchi who had the Master Key out and ignited. Ranma could feel rather than see the rest of the group coming up behind them getting ready to fight.

"Cretin, foul sorcerer, release my sister!" Kuno cried out in righteous fury.

"You have nowhere to run." Hikaru said.

"I intend to go nowhere without the key." Kun Lao snarled with rage. He raised his hand and concentrated chi into his jeweled dagger. The Hentai Twins recognized the move immediately and began to make runic symbols in the air around them. A bolt of lightning shot from the sky towards Ranma and the others, but as it reached them it struck an invisible force field.

"As they said, you go nowhere." came a new voice. Everyone turned to see Prince Herb of the Musk Dynasty alight to the ground in the yard and draw his sword. Beside him Ayeka recognized her two guardians Azaka and Kamadake hovering in place.

"Interesting." the chi sorcerer said quietly.

"THIS END NOW!" Shampoo as she lunged into battle. Ranma joined her and soon it was a mad rush against one opponent.

The fight was like none ever seen in Nerima before. The entire Nerima Wrecking Crew plus some new friends against an opponent who looked like Gosunkugi Hikaru. It would have looked comical if not for the fact that the NWC were loosing the fight. The skill Kun Lao possessed rival that of Ranma himself, and it became evident to everyone that he was perhaps Ranma's equal when it came to fighting. Hikaru, the founder of the Kuno clan, was having a hard time of it himself but was holding his own. Eventually the girls found that they had to fall back. Akane collapsed with Ukyo following behind, and Shampoo could not go on. Ayeka joined them a few minutes later but Ryoko stayed in the fight along with Ranko. Between them and Prince Herb the ground around the Kuno estate was being torn to shreds in short order.

"Aiya, he really really good." Shampoo said panting as she watched the others frantically fighting the one solitary enemy.

"No shit sugar, and I thought Ranma honey was good." Ukyo groaned as she rubbed a pain in her side.

Several thunderous blasts of chi later Ranma and the others went flying over head screaming. Kun Lao was glowing with immense power, and standing as if nothing was happening.

"Shit, he's really strong." Ryoko groaned as she picked herself up off the ground.

"Its those keys he has." Rouge commented.

RANMA!" Akane screamed as Ranma ran forward and tackled Kodachi to the ground. She made a grab for the key the girl was holding and it suddenly shocked her hands. She dropped the key and looked at the blackened skin where the key touched her. Kodachi picked the key up again and just stood there. Ranma grabbed her free hand and pulled her along with her, to her surprise Kodachi did not protest and allowed herself to be guided.

"Hold him off!" she yelled at the others. Kun Lao tried to follow but he suddenly found Herb, Ryoga, Hikaru, and Tenchi blocking his path. Ranma ran with Kodachi into the house and was followed closely by a few of the girls. The rest of them, Ayeka and Ryoko, stayed to help hold off the chi sorcerer.

"Now what?" asked Ukyo.

Ranma shook her head, "I have no idea."

Akane looked at Kodachi for a moment then at Ranma. She waved for Shampoo and Ukyo to follow her out of the room. Ranma watched them go with a puzzled expression for moment. They did not take long though. Ukyo and Shampoo both had pale expression and Akane's was grim determination. They looked at Ranma then at Kodachi and a mutual decision seemed to be reached silently between the three of them.

"He can only use her if she's a virgin." said Akane.

"Yeah, that's what Rouge said." said Ranma.

"Is true, if no virgin he no can use." Shampoo nodded.

"We know that." replied Ranma.

Ukyo rolled her eyes. Ranma could be so dense sometimes. She left the room for a few seconds and returned with a steaming kettle. She poured the water over the redhead and she immediately shifted back to male form.

"What we're trying to say Ranma honey is if she isn't a virgin he can't use her to help him anymore." she said.

"Ok." Ranma just looked at her.

Akane pushed open the door to another room and started pushed him and Kodachi towards it. "So hurry up!" she shouted at him.

"Huh!?" he looked at her with surprise.

"Make fast, Shampoo think friends loosing fight." the Amazon said as she watched the battle outside.

"Wha!?" Ranma's mouth hung open, he just did not understand at all.

"Ranma no baka!" Akane screamed. "If she isn't a virgin anymore he can't use her!"

Recognition came to the boy's eyes and they went wide with shock. "N-N-Now wait a minute!" he protested.

"Ya better hurry Ranma honey, its getting ugly out there." said Ukyo as an explosion shattered what was left of the building's windows. A series of battle cries could be heard outside, most of them were male. A figure flew past an open window, it was Tenchi shrouded in the Light Hawk Armor.

"No, I can't-"

"They can't hold him off forever!" Akane shouted at him.

Ranma yelled back, "I can see it in your eyes that you don't really want me to do this, I can't do it. I won't hurt you, any of you, I- I-I love you too much!"

The three girls knew just how much Ranma loved them, they all three gave him their virginity willingly, but to here what he said was a wonderful reminded of just how deep his feelings went. The three turned from the scene of the desperate fight outside and looked him in the eye. Again, a mutual, unspoken decision seemed to be reached and they all nodded in unison. Working as one, the three girls pushed Ranma and Kodachi into the next room and closed the door behind them.

Outside the battle was not going well. The fatigue from fighting the trolls at the Amazon village was starting to have a major effect on a few of them. Ayeka and Ryoko could hardly move. They slumped up against the well of the guest house panting to catch their breath. They were both badly bruised, burned, cut, and lacerated in several places. Ryoko looked up when she heard a shout and watched Kuno Hikaru lunge in towards Kun Lao again with his sword leading the way. The katana blade was outlined by an aura of chi energy being generated by the samurai himself. The light was, however, flickering which demonstrated the fact that he was near exhaustion and his rage was all that was keeping him going. Tenchi was still in the fight, he had called upon the Light Hawk Wings, but even with the power to shatter whole worlds in his hands he was having trouble with the chi sorcerer. Ryoga was in the fight as well, his umbrella had since been incinerated during the fighting so he had to rely on his body and his seemingly infinite supply of bandannas. Ranko was with him fighting at his side, but the fatigue was plain on her face and she looked like she was about to fall over at any moment. Rouge sat on the ground nearby tending to the Hentai Twins. The two scantly clad Amazons were taken out of the fight early by the chi sorcerer. Kuno Tatawaki also lay unconscious on the ground, he did not last very long at all, even less than the twins did. Prince Herb was fairing as well as the other men were, his face was set with enraged determination as he waited his turn to take on the chi sorcerer. Kun Lao himself was showing signs of slowing down himself, his left cheek was slashed by Hikaru's sword sometime during the battle, much of his clothing was wrecked, and he was covered in sweat.

If he can kick our asses in that condition, how much more powerful will he get if he gets that damn key from us?, Ryoko pondered in horror.

"I WILL HAVE THAT KEY!!!!" Kun Lao screamed with insane rage as he deflected Hikaru's sword with his dagger. His other hand shot forward and blasted the samurai with a burst of chi energy. The samurai went flying towards the guest house and smashed through the door.

"You-You will n-n-never possess it." Hikaru said as he literally crawled on all fours out of the house.

"Son-of-a-bitch, this guy is tougher than Ranma when he's 'really' pissed off." Ryoga muttered while nursing a huge bruise on his arm.

"There is a difference between this creature and Ranma." said Herb.

"What's that?" asked Ranko.

"Ranma fights with honor!" Herb launched himself at the chi sorcerer firing off razor sharp blasts of chi energy. Kun Lao deflected each attack with his dagger and side stepped out of the way of Herb's flying kick. The Musk prince swept at the chi sorcerer's head with his sword only to have it stopped by that same dagger a mere two inches from hitting flesh.

"Dragon bastard!" Kun Lao spat at the man.

"Insults do not become you, oni." the Musk prince replied with a smirk. Herb yelped as he was suddenly buffeted by powerful waves of energy. He flew through the air, flipped twice, and alighted to the ground next to where Ayeka and Ryoko stood trying to recover.

"My turn I guess." Tenchi shrugged and he flew in with the Light Hawk Sword at the ready. Kun Lao met him, and to Tenchi's shock his dagger blocked the planet splitting blade of his holy weapon. A seemingly ordinary dagger stopped a blade that had once killed a goddess!

"What the-" Tenchi was too surprised for words.

"The Light Hawk Sword, I am impressed, but even it cannot cut through an artifact of the gods." Kun Lao smirked at him.

"Nani!?" Rouge and Herb both shouted at the same time.

"Do you think I fight with a mere ordinary dagger, this is the jeweled dagger once held in the hands of Hades himself!" the chi sorcerer shouted. "It was forced in the heat of the pit of damnation itself, the power of the Light Hawk Wings cannot hard it!"

"A demonic artifact, I should have known better." Rouge said cursing herself for not realizing something like this earlier.

"It also means that this dagger possesses certain unique abilities." Kun Lao smiled as the jewels on the dagger flared as bright as the sun. Tenchi raised an arm to shield his eyes and he cried out in shock and pain. A force more powerful than anything he ever felt before pushed him away, and he lost his control over the power he was born with.

"TENCHI!" Ryoko cried as the young Juraian prince hit the ground with a sickening thud, his Light Hawk Sword and Armor long since faded away.

"FOOLS, YOU CANNOT STOP ME, NO MORTAL CAN STOP ME!!!" Kun Lao started towards the house determined to find Kodachi and his key, but he suddenly noticed after the fighting was finally over that he no longer had control over the girl. He could sense her ahead of him, he could feel the power of the key there was well, but there was something odd. A set of doors inside the house opened to reveal Ranma and the others. Kodachi, looking very dazed, clung to Ranma tightly to keep from falling over. He held her upright in a firm but gentle grasp. The other girls, Akane, Shampoo, and Ukyo stood with him in various combat stances. They knew they did not stand a chance against the chi sorcerer, but they were going to stand beside the man they loved and if need be they would die at his side.

Kun Lao looked at them, he noticed that Kodachi no longer carried the key, then he looked at her aura.

"NO!!!" he cried in rage.

"You can't use her anymore, only a virgin can hold the final key." Ranma said in an even, hostile voice. "Even if you were to get another we'd have it away from here and so far out of your reach it would take you a million years to find it again."

"Do you think this will stop me?" the chi sorcerer laughed.

"No, but I bet it sure does cheese you off, so close to your goal, but you just can't seem to get with it." Ranma laughed back.

Kun Lao looked down at the ground and sighed, "I see, I finally realize I have no choice." Ranma just smiled.

"I MUST KILL YOU ALL!!!!" the chi sorcerer suddenly manifested a battle aura that would have made Happosai proud.

"Take her!" Ranma cried gently tossing Kodachi to Akane who caught her in he arms. The pigtailed martial artist met the chi sorcerer in battle just as he manifested his own battle aura. The who posing energies war against one another and exploded with tremendous force. Everyone cried out and covered their faces to block out the blinding light of the blast. Akane looked up when the light had finally faded and found herself witnessing a battle right out of that Dragonball anime series. Kun Lao and Ranma were in the air flying around exchanging chi blasts, punches, and kicks. Fatigue finally got the better of Kun Lao and one of Ranma's amaguriken punches got through. Laced with a bit of Jurai power the punch was like the blow of a pneumatic hammer topped with a hydrogen bomb. The chi sorcerer cried out as he felt ribs crack and he flew towards the ground at an incredible speed. He reached out with his power and stopped himself just before impacting the surface of the pond.

"Very-good." he said wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.

"I'm just getting warmed up." Ranma floated down towards him and cracked his knuckles.

"I am going to have fun kill you-aarrrghhhh!" Kun Lao/s voice became a gurgle as the massive maw of Kodachi's pet alligator clamped down. The giant reptile threw itself out of the water and bit, hard. Its long fangs pieced Kun Lao's chest, tearing open huge wounds in his lungs. Within seconds the chi sorcerer's lungs were filled with blood. The boy that had been Gosunkugi looked upon the world with lifeless eyes as he was dragged below the surface of the pond. The water churned as the alligator went into a death roll.

"I think I love that damn alligator." said Ranma.

"That's it, its over, just like that." Ukyo said in surprise.

"An appropriate death for one such as he." Herb frowned.

"Get-away, beware!" Hikaru shouted as he struggled to his feet.

"Huh?" Ranma turned to look at the samurai. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end. He could feel something evil looking at him. Ranma wiped around falling into a fighting stance as a shapeless thing came up out of the water.

"Its Kun Lao!" Rouge cried. "The body may be mortal, but his spirit isn't!"

"Dammit, I knew it was too easy." Ranko fell in beside her brother mimicking his fighting stance. A pair of yellow, malevolent eyes stared at them from within the cloud of darkness floating over the pond. Suddenly it shot forward, Ranma and Ranko leapt out of the way to either side avoiding the thing. The creature made a straight course towards-

"Brother!" Kodachi cried out as she suddenly snapped out of her daze.

"FUCK!" Ranma and Ranko cried as they watched the thing that was Kun Lao's evil spirit slowly enter Kuno's body through his mouth and nose. A few seconds later Kuno's body rose into the air floating horizontally in the air, then slowly it tilted into an upright position. Tatawaki's eyes opened, but they were not his eyes anymore. Where there had been blind arrogance there was now unadulterated malice and malevolence.

"B-Brother?" Kodachi tried to go to her bother but Akane held her tight.

"He's not Tatawaki anymore!" she yelled at the girl. "Look at his eyes!"

The thing had had been Kuno Tatawaki held out his hand. There was a huge splash from the pond and everyone look to see Mr. Green Turtle fly up out of the water. A shower of blood flew from the animal's stomach as something began to cut its way out of the creature from the inside. A few seconds later, the same amount of time it took for the alligator to fall back down into the water, the bejeweled dagger shot out trailing blood and entrails. Kuno caught the bloodied dagger in his hand and smiled at the blood soaked his hand.

"Do you understand now, you can never defeat me, if you kill me you kill only the shell." Kun Lao said, only now he spoke in Kuno's voice.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Ranma screamed and threw himself at Kun Lao. The chi sorcerer deflected blow after blow as if he did not even need to try. Ranma was shimmering with a bright battle aura fueled by his rage and disgust of the horrible creature. With the dagger in one hand an a chi aura shrouded bokken in the other, Kun Lao overpowered Ranma quickly and sent him flying against the wall of the house.

"RANMA!" Akane, Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi cried out at the same time.

"Foul demon!!" Herb cried as he leapt in to do battle. He did not even get very far before Kun Lao blasted him away. The chi sorcerer crossed the bokken and dagger in front of him, they flashed with immense power and the blast hit Herb so hard he nearly flew out of the Kuno estate.

Unopposed now, Kun Lao pocketed the bokken into his samurai garb, and raised his hand towards the house. The final key flew through the door and straight towards his outstretched hand. The chi sorcerer caught it with ease, turned it over and over in his hand, and smiled.

"I would love to stay and play with all of you some more, but I have business to attend to now." he said with a bow. "But rest assured, he shall return to finish this game. For good." With that he tore open a rift in the fabric of space and time with his dagger and vanished.

_____

"I thought only virgins could hold the final key." Ranma said with a groan as Akane wrapped gauze around a wicked looking wound on his left arm. He lay on a futon in the tea room of the Tendo dojo. It was nearly an hour since the defeat at the Kuno estate and everyone was feeling it. Most everyone else was asleep in the dojo on rolled out futons. Prince Herb looked like he was about to fall over as he sipped a cup of tea with Kuno Hikaru sitting next to him at the table.

"The body of Kuno Tatawaki was a virgin." Rouge told him.

"Damn." Ranma sighed.

"Never have I fought an opponent with such power, at least not since Ranma himself." Prince Herb said weakly.

"And to take the body of my kinsman, I cannot help but think he had this planned from the beginning." Hikaru replied in a similar voice.

"Poor Kuno baby." Nabiki said sadly. She sat on the other side of Ranma helping Akane patch up Ranma. Shampoo and Ukyo were laying on futons nearby fast asleep, their fatigue had gotten the better of them, and they both collapsed quickly.

"Knowing the way that bastard thinks, he probably did." said Ranma.

"You should get some sleep." said Nabiki.

"Yeah, but how can I sleep with that thing out there." he said.

Akane shook her head, "You can't save the world if you can barely stand up."

Ranma heard the door to the house open and watched as Kasumi and Washu came in from the direction of the dojo carrying medical supplies and a tea service.

"Well, considering, everyone walked away from this without anything worse than minor cuts and bruises." said Washu.

"How is Kodachi?" Ranma asked her.

Washu smiled at him. She heard what the girls made him do in an attempt to save the day. She hoped it would not came back to bite them all in the ass. "She is fine, I had to sedate her to keep her calm." she told him. "She wanted to chase after her brother."

"What about the-the other thing?" he asked her nervously.

Washu sighed and said, "She isn't going to like this, but it looks like those strange drugs derived from his roses have caused her to, well, loose fertility." Ranma heaved a great sigh of relief which was echoed by Akane. Nabiki looked at Akane and then at Ranma with a puzzled expression. She could not help but feel as if she was missing something.

"Uh, what is going on?" she asked.

"Shampoo, Ukyo, and me sort of forced Ranma to do something that would sort of stop Kun Lao in his tracks, or so we thought at the time." Akane said with an embarrassed expression.

Nabiki looked at her iinazuke through narrowed eyes, "Oh, I've got to hear this one."

"I'd rather not if its all the same." Ranma sighed.

"Was she good?"

"NABIKI!!" Akane and Ranma exclaimed together.

"Does she even know it happened?" Nabiki asked. Akane looked at Ranma, she sighed and nodded.

"She came out of her zoned out daze while 'it' was happening." she said with a deep red blush. "You should have seen her face when she saw me holding her up, Shampoo holding he legs open, and Ranma was-uh-he was-"

"Feeding her the sausage." Nabiki finished for her.

"Uh, yeah!" Akane said with an intense blush.

Nabiki sigh and ran a hand through across her face and through her hair. "I don't supposed she's going to forget it happened." she said. Akane shook her head, she knew Kodachi would never forget about it, even though she was barely able to move at the time 'it' was happening.

"Looks like our number had increased by one, you are certainly massing a nice sized harem Ranma." Nabiki smirked at the man she loved.

Ranma just rolled his eyes at her and sighed deeply.

"She doesn't have anyone now though, her brother is gone, and all there is left is Sasuke." said Akane.

"And old pineapple breath." Ranma added.

The two Tendo sisters just smiled at him knowingly. "We both know that you've made up your mind what you are going to do about this, Ranma." said Nabiki. Ranma did not set up, he did not have the strength, but he did reach wearily with his arms and took the two girl's hands in his own.

"Noble Ranma, we know for a fact that you were going to add her to our number." Nabiki smirked playfully. "You aren't the type to screw a girl and then run out on her. Am I right Akane?" She looked up at her sister. Akane was blushing, she had helped Ranma deflower the Dark Rose, and she nodded. Do they know that well?, thought Ranma.

"I won't let her try to take over things, or make herself more important than any of you." Ranma reassured them.

Nabiki squeezed his hand, "You leave that part to us, you just concentrate on getting better and kicking that bastard's ass back to the nine hells. Anyway, we can deal with Kodachi, she is just like her brother 'was', so controlling her will be pretty easy."

"She is going to be pretty hard to live with for a while, at least until she realizes, one, she isn't your only official iinazuke, and two, she isn't the only one to get her brains banged out by the Wild Horse." she added smiling like a Cheshire cat.

Ranma blushed so hard he felt almost as if he was going to pass out from the blood loss. "I would not exactly call what happened a romantic moment." he said.

"True, but the only thing she will remember from the experience, or what her delusional fantasy world will allow her to remember, is you ramming her behind with that fourteen inch log of yours." said Nabiki.

"fourteen inch?" Akane looked at her.

Nabiki smiled with a blush, "I sort of measured him in his sleep after our first time, I guess your parents gave you the right name Ranma."

The pigtailed martial artist did not have a comeback for that one. He was red all over and looking at the ceiling in total shock. "Fourteen inches." he said after a long silence and then smiled at the two girls.

"Uh, oh, I think you gave him a big head Nabiki." said Akane recognizing that look as Ranma's trademark super-inflated ego smile.

"Interesting choice of words there sis." laughed Nabiki. Akane snapped her mouth shut and blushed furiously as she rolling her own words around in her mind.

_____

Kuno Lao had a day and half lead on them. They all knew it. Ryoko sat at the controls of Ryo-Ohki as she guided the sentient spaceship towards their destination. Everyone was either seated or standing behind her, all were preparing for what was to come in the next few hours. Ranma and Prince Herb sat side by side, once enemies they were now friends united against a common foe, and both were deep in meditation gathering their spiritual energies for the final battle that was ahead. Kuno Hikaru was checking his katana for damage, at his side is reincarnated love Kasumi sat holding his tea for him with an expression of absolute love and adoration in her eyes. Ranma's harem were all getting ready for the fight in their own way. Akane sat with Shampoo in meditation close to Ranma. Ukyo sat nearby checking her baker's peel and examining the fresh runes of magic that had been inscribed there by the Hentai Twins before leaving on this journey. Kodachi sat with them, she was in a daze. On one hand she was elated beyond words that her beloved Ranma accepted her love, but she was also overwhelmed by all she had learned about what was going on with him as well. He was a Prince of a powerful empire and was expected to have many wives. She decided she willing to share him, even if it meant she could not be first wife. There was also the loss of her brother, learning that what happened to him was not reversible was the shocker. Learning that her brother was dead and replaced by that same monster who tried to control her mind jolted something within the girl's mind. In some small way, it and the revelation of being with Ranma finally freed her of the Madness she had carried most of her life.

Nabiki wondered why she was with this group as she sat nearby her sister and sister concubines. That was what they were, she did not mind being considered a concubine, especially to a man like Ranma who was every girl's greatest dream. Or every man's great wet dream if he gets splashed with cold water, she thought with a chuckle. No, she was here because she loved him and she loved them. There would be little if anything she could do in a fight. Kasumi, she knew magic from the memories of one of her past lives so she knew healing spells that would be useful. Nabiki looked at the other side of the ship's interior at the other girls. Ayeka stood beside Ryoko at the controls garbed in her Juraian battle gear. Tenchi sat in his similar garb in deep meditation. Mihoshi was close by checking over a rather huge looking weapon that she had to hold up to her shoulder to fire. Young Sasami with was with them sitting next to Washu who was busily typing away at her translucent computer with the speed of Ranma's Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken technique. Ranma's sister, who's birth could be thanked to Washu's tampering with Ranma's Josenkyo curse, sat with Ryoga who had his arm draped around her shoulder. Like it or not, Nabiki could see that the two were getting close. She harbored some thought that the pig boy was probably secretly in love with Ranma's feminine half but kept it pushed back to farthest corner of his mind. If what she heard happened during the whole incident with the Fishing Rod of Love was true, Ryoga had a chance to get rid of Ranma for good and he could not do it. Now there was nothing getting in the way, Akane rejected Ryoga's affections and was just tolerating his presence because he was helping them fight Kun Lao, and Ranko was with them as a real separate person now.

The odd half of the group were the Amazons, Rouge and her two charges Salt and Pepper. Nabiki recalled there had been a music group with that name in the United States at one time. The so called Hentai Twins sat together in deep meditation with Rouge watching over them. The former Ice Queen of Furinken High raised an eye brow at the older but still beautiful Amazon woman. Her normally more conservative outfit was now slightly more revealing showing off her exotic curves better. Maybe they are starting to rub off on her., she thought to herself.

"We're almost there." said Ryoko from her seat at the controls.

"The shrine that holds the Chamber of Ascension is hidden in the forest we are flying above now." said Rouge. "It is protected by powerful magic from above so we will need to land some distance away and travel the rest of the way on foot."

Ranma's eyes shot open and he said, "Alright, lets do this.

_____

On a plain far from the mortal world a woman who was almost too beautiful for words with dark brown skin and platinum hair watched the scene on the ship on a giant holographic display. She sighed and waved her hand at the scene making it disappear.

"They don't know do they?" asked someone next to her. The woman turned her head to the child standing next to her. She had long black hair and wore a white and red outfit with a red, metal mallet slung over her back. She like the other had strange blue tattoos on their faces.

"We better get sis, this is serious, they need to be told what that place really is." the platinum haired beauty said as she reached out and affectionately ruffled the young girl's hair.

"I can't believe those stories are still going around that that place turns people into Kami." Skuld shook her head.

"You know mortals, you start a rumor and it spreads like wild fire." Urd sighed. The child goddess grabbed her older sister's hand and pulled her out of her seat.

"Come on, let get Belldandy and get there before they do!" Skuld told her.

"You better hope they can stop that Kun Lao before he uses those keys, or they will be needing us there in a big way." said Urd.

She felt Skuld shudder, "Don't even think that, we don't want him to ever open that thing."

"Lets use your water portal, I'm tired of climbing out of TV sets." said Urd as they leapt out over a pool of water and a magic portal appeared on its glassy surface. Soon the goddess were gone form sight. _____

To be continued...

Next time... Part 8: The Chamber of Ascension

We now come to the final chapter. Kun Lao possess all of the keys and the race is on to the Chamber of Ascension, but will Ranma and Tenchi be in time to stop the evil Chi Sorcerer from achieving his goal to become a god? Stay tuned! Special Note: There will be a special OAV wedding chapter coming soon!