TOKYO
Chapter 10
Decisive Action
When he awoke, he had a splitting headache. And anything that can split the rock comprising a golem (or one-third golem) has GOT to be intense.
Zelgadis opened his eyes, wincing. "That was not pleasant," he muttered.
"I would assume that using a spell of that magnitude to successfully destroy a creature such as Dark Force would take a lot out of even someone at your level of skill?" said a familiar voice.
Zelgadis groaned inwardly. Only one person he knew would use phrases like "I would assume" and "take a lot out of" in the same breath, spoke with such crisply precise speech, and ended sentences like that which were statements with a question mark in cold blood. "Hello, Rufus," he said. "Where am I, exactly?"
"You are in my personal hospital suite," said Rufus Shinra, sitting next to the bed. "Very few people know of its existence, and even fewer are allowed to enter -- but that number now includes you, Ranma Saotome, NeiSecond, and Vash the Stampede. And Zero."
Zelgadis thought about this. "The least-dangerous members of my group?" he said wryly.
"Well done," said Rufus. Something in his voice said: I may trust your little group, but that doesn't mean I'm a complete idiot, just in case I can't. "I don't believe Vash the Stampede would have let them do anything. And in case you're wondering if anyone tried to claim the bounty," he added, almost before Zelgadis had, "he's going here under the name of Valentinez Kaiser III."
"I thought he might," said Zelgadis.
"Indeed," said Rufus, and stood up. "Well, I have other matters to attend to for now. You just keep resting here -- we haven't had any demon-golem-human chimeras before, so I'm leaving things up to your judgement." He turned to leave. "And by the way, I believe you have some visitors."
"You doing all right, Zel?" said Ranma.
"Oh, more or less all right," he said. "I think I'll do well after some actual sleep as opposed to merely unconsciousness."
"What was that spell you used?" said Nei. "I don't think even Megid would do that much damage ..."
"Dragon Slave," said Zelgadis. "Actually, research has indicated that it was called the Dragon Slayer after it was used successfully to destroy a dragon, but the name got corrupted."
"In any event, nice work," said Zero. "Oh, and by the way, the consensus was that a name like 'cloth armor' was too dumb, so we renamed it to flex-armor."
"That has a better ring to it," said Zelgadis. "Think you're going to use your old armor?"
Zero grinned. "Oh, hell no," he said. "It impedes my agility, and isn't as protective as this."
"Glad to hear it," he sad, and then turned his head slightly. "Vash? What is it?"
Vash had been silent the entire time he'd been here, and he continued to be silent for a few seconds. "We've got to find Zio and stop him," he said, an odd note in his voice that sent chills down Zelgadis's spine. "No one's been hurt -- besides us -- but we've got to stop him before that changes."
"What do you suggest?" asked Zero. "I mean, we've got zero leads as to where he's hiding ..."
"Is there anything we have that could see through invisibility magic?" said Nei abruptly.
Zelgadis blinked. "Um, all kinds," he said. "Unfortunately, most of them require that you know where the invisible thing is. Why?"
"I ... heard a story in my homeworld," said Nei. "It was from a thousand years ago, and Dark Force was in it -- though there was a mistake in the translation and called it Dark Falz -- but its agent at the time was King Lassic, and he ruled from the Air Palace, which hovered miles above the ground and was hidden in an invisibility field. It was dispelled by a magical item called the Aero Prism ..." She shrugged. "I have a hunch that maybe Zio's in the Air Palace now ..."
"Oh, right, that floating castle thing that appeared and disappeared the night Zio showed up!" said Zero.
"That was the Air Palace?" said Vash.
"Hmm ... I suppose that begs the question of how we could get our hands on the Aero Prism," said Zelgadis.
"Or if we couldn't, where to look for the Air Palace with what we've got," Zero pointed out.
"I've lost track of what we were talking about," complained Vash.
"I have a general idea of where the Air Palace is," said Rufus, leaning by the doorway.
This caused everyone to pause. No one wanted to be the one to ask how long he'd been there.
"Where?" said Zelgadis.
"I'm sure most of you have seen footage of the Air Palace's appearance and subsequent disappearance," said Rufus. "However, the invisibility technique doesn't disguise the passage of air currents."
There was a long silence. Then a slightly shorter one. Then Zero, a faint trace of awe in his voice, said, "You've been tracking it?"
"Yes, indirectly," said Rufus, nodding. "And we did our best to make sure that no one else knew about it, either. I'm sure Zio would have found a way to counter it if he discovered what I was doing."
"So ... once I've recovered," said Zelgadis, "you give us the coordinates, we make our way to it ..."
"... and then we kick Zio and Neifirst's asses all the way to Palma," said Zero, grinning.
"Indeed," said Rufus.
In the depths of a castle that no one could see ...
Zio sat numbly on the throne that had once belonged to Lassic -- or Lashiec, as he had also been known. But his thoughts were on much more recent events.
They destroyed Dark Force. This was his only thought. He had worshipped Dark Force as a god before ... and even though he knew that Dark Force was merely a servant, it was still a shock. They destroyed Dark Force. Again he saw Dark Force facing that damned chimera, again he saw the orange blast of light, again he saw the dust settle and only the humans surviving ... They destroyed Dark Force. He didn't know where Neifirst was, or what she was doing, his mind was still on just one thought ... They destroyed Dark Force.
And soon you will destroy them.
The voice was deep, feminine, and held a power in it, a power that could lay waste to galaxies, that could annihilate the universe if it felt like it ... more power, in fact, than Zio could possibly imagine.
He sat there, agape, for several moments. And then his face broke into an enormous grin.
Dark Force is replaceable. But for the time being, you, Zio, are not.
He felt a thrill at those words. He was irreplacable? In a way that Dark Force was not?
He was greater than Dark Force?
They are coming for you. Let Neifirst deal with them, if she can. My final victory is at hand.
Another thrill ran through him. His eyes widened, and almost seemed to shine.
The Darkness was at hand.
"Ranma!"
Ranma turned, and saw the one person who he simultaneously most and least wanted to see. "Hi, Akane," he said.
"Where have you been?" she said. "I haven't seen you since that monster, that ..."
"Dark Force," said Ranma, continuing down the street.
Akane continued, unabated. "Whatever it was, I ... I ..." She paused, as if not sure she wanted to admit it. "I was worried about you! I thought you might be ..."
Ranma stopped, and turned to face her. "Hey," he said. "Don't worry about it." He felt a blush spreading across his face, and tried to ignore it. "If ... if I got killed that easily, I ... I probably wouldn't even be here!"
Akane smiled faintly. "Yeah ... I guess you're right ..."
Ranma nodded. "Right," he said quickly. "Um, let's just head back to the ..." He paused, tilting his head and listening.
"What is it?" said Akane, puzzled.
"Shh," said Ranma, moving closer to a nearby alleyway.
"Okay ... so we go in, destroy the Mandala, kill the Prism, and throw away the Protectors."
"Wait, what?"
"Uh, no, I thought we were going to kill the Mandala, destroy the Protectors, and throw away the Prism."
"Uh, neither of those plans make sense, you two."
"Huh?"
"Okay, you figure out what we were supposed to do!"
Ranma peered down the alleyway. Three squat masked, robed figures appeared to be sitting there, indiscriminately bickering. One of them, he noticed, was holding a strange crystal, or prism. Its light seemed to be the exact opposite of the three figures.
"Well, it'd make sense for Zio's orders to be to kill the Protectors so they're not a problem, throw away the Mandala so nobody'll find out about the PD, and destroy the Aero Prism so nobody can find anything else," said one of them.
"In that order?" said another.
The first one shrugged. "Works for me."
The third one nodded. "Great idea."
"WAIT!"
The three figures (and Akane) jumped in surprise at Ranma's sudden exclamation. They were completely caught off guard when he leaped into the air, palms together, and screamed, "Mokou Kaimon Ha!" as he swung his hands apart. There was a burst of what looked like air, lancing outward at the three demons and smashing into their faces. They let out a collective howl. "What the hell was THAT!?" exclaimed the one that seemed to be the most intelligent.
"Yamasenken Technique: Fierce Tiger Gate Open Blast," said Ranma, landing in an attack pose. "Now, I don't know who the Protectors are, but you're buddies of Zio, so that means I'm against it."
"Oh, right -- he's one of them!" said the first one that had spoken.
"We are Xe-A-Thoul," said the second one.
"And you," said the third, "are about to get highly unlucky."
Ranma tossed Akane a cell phone. "Akane, call 523-63417 and tell whoever answers that I'm fighting a trio of very stupid minions of Zio." He smirked, turning to face them. "Now let's do this."
"Works for me!" said one of them.
Ranma seemed to half-crouch, as if drawing within himself. "Give me your best shot," he said quietly.
"What the -- I can't sense him anymore!" said the smarter Thoul.
"Who cares, if we can still see 'im!" said another, throwing a bolt of lighting at Ranma --
-- who vanished, almost at the same instant.
"What the --" exclaimed the Thoul, and then howled with pain as Ranma appeared behind him, jabbing at his back with a cry of "Haku Dato Shin Sho!"
Almost as Akane hung up, she jumped in surprise as Zero and Dita materialized, followed by Seifer, Soma, and Nei. "Let's rock!" said Zero, bringing out his Z-Saber and charging at the first unoccupied Thoul, which launched a fireball at him. Zero deflected it back with his saber, while Nei leaped at it with a snarl, claws extended.
Soma and Dita double-teamed the third, Soma using spells and Dita using her X-Buster from opposite angles. The Thoul snarled in rage and frustration, raising its hands to cast a spell ... but it was distracted by the sound of applause.
Zero and Nei were standing in opposite post-having-slashed-nastily-at-their-opponent stances, facing away from each other, the now-smoking, seemingly empty robes of the Xe-A-Thoul they'd been fighting. Beyond them, Ranma and Seifer were smirking and clapping, the remains of the first Thoul behind them.
The last Thoul considered this a moment, and then said, "SHIT!" It charged at Dita, who simply shot it in the chest; it disintegrated in a puff of smoke.
"That was easy," muttered Soma. "Of course, after Dark Force, just about anything would be. Now ... let's see what all this fuss was about."
The Aero Prism -- which was the only thing it could be -- lay intact on the ground, glittering.