"Castles of Pride"
---
Another day splashed down. Ranma tiredly let this one play itself, sleeping in Hinako's class.
Dozing off to the child teacher's droning, his mind drifted. Was involving others to solve his problems abusing his unending day? Had knowing the reactions Nabiki and Kodachi made him a callous manipulator? Despite his bonuses of time and foreknowledge, the Kami realms had their own rules; he was unsure allies from his world shared displaced immortality. Ranma decided to journey on alone, endangering those he cared about was irresponsible. The hardest was over, right?
----
New day. Kami gate by noon. Alone.
He crossed over, and read the sign on the crossroads, this time in simple Japanese:
"There will never be a war to end wars. Only peace will. The road to hell is not paved with good intentions, but with acts that violate those intentions. There has never been and never will be a justification for violence, as the means become the ends. "
Thinking this information strange from the perspective of an artist of war, Ranma filed it for later.
Knowing the way, he took the western path across the Land of Yomi, jogging while under the Way of the Silent Thief. Following the directions of Izanami, he maintained stealth by occasionally pausing to replenish his energies.
He passed inhumanly beautiful or grotesque kami with powerful auras. The pink multi-fanged guy with butterfly wings eating live screaming rabbits made him nervous. But the hungry looking girl with three exposed breasts on her back who licked her lips as he came within her reach disturbed him most. Perhaps they thought him insignificant, or perhaps had orders to leave him be.
Hours later Ranma arrived at the foot of Mount Uka, far from the land of Yomi. Nestling the mountain lay a magnificent palace, the home O-Kuni-Nushi and Suseri-Hime. Glancing upwards, he saw the polished white stone façade of the palace's highest tower was riddled with holes. It reminded Ranma of how the Tendo Dojo might look after the fiancée brigade finished during the flow of time.
Approaching the front gates, passing an orchard of green-blossomed cherry trees in full majesty, Ranma paused before knocking. This was a do or die solution for the Bane of Heirs, O-Kuni-Nushi might be known for inventing therapeutic medicine, but he was also known for killing all eighty of his brothers, and enjoyed a mythic reputation of intolerance.
Examining the exceptional beauty of the castle, Ranma stretched his neck for the full splendiferous impact. The fortress was an extension of the mountain, like it had been chipped out of the imposing stone over centuries (or seconds – who knew how kami magic worked?). Aside from looking completely natural with the surrounding landscape, the castle itself was gigantic, the equal of two Tokyo city blocks. The architecture featured no windows until thousands of feet upwards, where intricate balconies dominated. The overall effect was an impenetrable, beautifully crafted entrance leading up to a solid bulwark of stone, atop which rested the fanciful retreat of a little Japanese girl's dreams.
Except for those mysterious holes.
Emptying his mind, Ranma knocked on the door, using the green jade striker propped by the entrance. Judging by weight, the material that composed it was the densest he'd held. The ceremonial striker was heavier than a modern automobile, and required strength augmented by ki.
A Kappa answered, opening the castle gates. The three-foot tall turtle walked upright on two hind paws (did turtles have paws or were they called something else; Ranma wasn't sure), and had as many teeth in its little sneering mouth as he had imagined.
It hissed cutely, speaking with a voice like a soprano sucking helium: "The Forward Princess will see you now. The Deity-Master-of-this-Great-Land is out dealing with a Tokkaebi infestation near the realm's borders. Damn nosy Koreans!"
Following his guide, Ranma never could recall the inside of the fortress at Mount Uka. He remembered amazement. A Princess of the castle later explained an enchantment protected the Castle of Uka from non-allied parties. Unless personally invited by the Castle's Lord to remember, visitor's memories of the passages and decorations inside vanished upon exit.
-
After miles of hallways, Ranma turned to his guide. The mythic turtle was slowly plodding forward, down another artsy corridor.
"Hey you overgrown tadpole, why haven't we gotten there yet?" He asked in his best diplomatic voice, designed to provoke reaction.
With helium filled disdain, the little kappa returned: "Our lady is with an audience, much more important than an impudent wanderer's impatience. If you are too weak to keep up, I can carry you, much like you offered to me before."
Grimacing, Ranma suddenly wished for cucumbers, as he waited to take his next step. The Kappa's pace was glacially slow, and getting lost inside a vengeful god's house wasn't a good idea. If he had cucumbers, bribing this prideful reptile into speed would be easy.
-
They entered a huge anteroom filled by prismatic lights. Double doors made of silvery metal carved with musical instruments, medical tools, and hourglasses decorated the back wall. Finely woven tatami mats littered the floor. A masterfully played bamboo flute accompanied scintillated rainbows in an intricate midair dance; Ranma soon dismissed it as a Kami-equivalent of elevator music.
Sounding unexpectedly shrill and nervous, the little Kappa turned to its guest and screeched: "This is the audience waiting room; my Lady instructs you to dismiss me in the manner of your choice with no divine repercussion. Please wait until the double doors open."
Holding out a little clawed hand, the turtle-creature bowed, expecting a tip.
Pondering correct action, the irritated martial artist thought of Gods and tests, before remembering how he hated being jerked around.
"I may regret this, but you've annoyed me. We could have been here ages ago if you'd have let me carry you. Here's a tip: too much pride adds unnecessary time to goals!"
Rushing forward with ki-enhanced speed, the questing Martial Artist delivered a well-placed kick to the Kappa's back, rocketing the little creature down the hallway like a rampaging shell in a Mario Brother's game. Smiling happily at the thumping and shattering sounds, he waltzed over the tatami mat nearest the door.
Feeling better, Ranma settled in a lotus position at the center of the mat, awaiting his audience.
Unfortunately for him, the Kappa lied.
--
Three hours later, the carved hourglasses on the elaborate doors turned over, and they slid open.
Reverently walking inside, he felt a soothing presence, a safeness he would eventually think of as the hallmark of the divine.
The lady of Castle Uka dressed in green, wearing a gown of iridescent scales resembling finely crafted turtle shells, and an elegant jade crown tipped in emeralds. She was seated upon a high-backed, ergonomically designed chair (her husband is the God of Medicine!). She had verdant hair and eyebrows.
Suseri-Kami seemed a teensy bit upset. A vein throbbed on her immaculate forehead.
"Ranma Saotome, who is both woman and man, I know of your quest and trials. I had trivial errand prepared before aiding you, but your earlier brashness has made me believe you might perform a task of higher complexity."
Upon later reflection, Ranma wondered if puffing out his chest and proclaiming, "I am the best!" was the right response.
"Good, you are up it." The Forward Princess displayed an awful lot of teeth in her smile. "Simply put: drag my hard-headed, bratty daughter to this castle, and make her apologize!"
"Um, who is she, and what did she do?" 'And why can't you do it yourself?' he added mentally.
"Ah, she was born only a few hundred years ago, and is not really established in Earth-Realm mythology. Her name is Seruni, and her aspect is spiritual life. She should be a pushover for a tough guy like you!" Grimacing unattractively, the Goddess snarled while showing off fangs, "And she knows what she did!"
"Fine, fine, and I have your word that if I bring Seruni back to the Castle Uka and she apologizes for something, you'll remove the Bane of Heirs from me and my lineage?"
Waving a green fan displaying a flying phoenix to hide her devious smirk, the goddess assented, "Well, my husband will undo the curse, but if my progeny is humbled and contrite, it will be a small boon."
"No problem. Where is she now?"
"You'll find her training in the Plains of Pain, western path, upper fork from where you enter our domains."
An involuntary muscle spasm tightly contracted Ranma's stomach. He did what he could to alleviate it, asking: "Before I leave you, oh great Goddess, have you any guidance on this quest?" He did his best to sound humble. Belatedly recognizing too little too late.
Flipping her stylized fan shut, the wife of the God of Therapeutic Medicine stared hard at her champion, seeing a new part of his personality. Finally she answered, using the same tone as an earlier Kappa, worsening the sinking in Ranma's gut.
"A lesson you need to learn, Ranma-san, involves the most important part to experiences. Moments must end, whether it is a happy ending or an ill-considered dismissal. Without an ending, there is only stagnation, the enemy of minds. Oh, and a small tip: excessive pride extracts its price in time."
The Goddess took a moment to smile while Ranma winced at his own venom. Noting her point register, the lady of Uka sweetly ended the audience using a melodious, multi-harmonic voice: "You have a task to complete; do not return until it too has ended."
Blinking, Ranma felt disorientated.
Automatically, he rebalanced himself, wondering at the smell of crushed cherry blossoms.
Shaking off dizziness, he found himself outside the castle gates, near Mount Uka's base. Instinctively, he had balanced on his head after being teleported, and now flipped upright. Brushing dirty sakura out of his hair, he snorted at the perfume smell. Suseri-Hime dismissed her audiences in kind.
Thinking on the Forward Princess's messages, he set off. A clear task awaited, and he held the time of two worlds.
-----
No mention of a goddess named 'Seruni' existed in Tokyo's libraries. Not in the great endless public archive, nor in the hidden places kept by shrine masters and the eccentric rich.
Abandoning his failed information search, Ranma returned to the God's Realms.
Arriving in the signpost clearing, he saw smooth blank wood where the crossroads marker rested. Disappointed no message awaited; Ranma sensed a vibe, a persistent itch on his brain. Maybe Chimata-No-Kami, the god of highways and footpaths was meddling? The impression wasn't vocal or ki-recognizable, but he walked away feeling like the varnished wooden marker held a short conversation with his unconscious mind.
It had called him a stubborn fool, and his inner heart replied 'Training means you take the difficult path.'
The wooden sign had retorted 'What are you training for?'
-
The western path, upper fork extended the meadows encompassing his arrival point. The green grass along the beaten dirt track thinned out a bit, and his body easily compensated for the lack of oxygen. Despite the warm and pleasant atmosphere, Ranma's lungs told him he was fifteen thousand feet in the sky.
He didn't enter the Plains of Pain until thirty minutes later, when the air acquired a new distinct smell: Sweat, the locker-room stench of overexertion. What a T-shirt smells like as you stuff it into the gym bag after showering. The entire area's ambiance was a vast training arena. Realizing what this meant, Ranma thought 'Hot Damn! This is my kind of place.'
Whistling happily at this discovery, he sauntered across the Plains of Pain.
Barely five minutes later his cheery tune died as Ranma Saotome saw his worst nightmare in an enspelled wooden cage. Occasionally a silvery glyph sparkled along the bars, keeping the Formless Duke contained. A bunch of sweaty Kitsune hauled the demon's cage off in a faintly glowing chariot made of intricately carved gold, with a prominent sun-motif.
"Hey kid!" Greeted Nipso the Kitsune from his supervisory position atop the prison, as his band hauled the captive devil-lord back to Hell. Right now the Thing resembled a beaten up Manticore with porcupine quills.
"Holy shit!" Ranma rubbed his stomach absently where black rending claws had nearly disemboweled him.
The scraggly haired shaman snorted at the oath. "The Willow Tree Child put the Duke down right fast, this time. He didn't kill any gods." The old fox sounded disappointed.
The captive demon undulated in a shrug, and turned into a gargantuan sea urchin with lots of broken spines.
"Yeah, that little kami sure knows how to fight!" Added a red-furred fox pulling the wagon. His two partners yipped softly in agreement.
"If yer headed our way, we can give you a lift." Offered the old fox shaman. " 'Ratsu's wheels plus Tsuki-Yomi's cage means he can't bother you much."
Looking at the polished golden chariot closely, Ranma wondered if Ameratsu-Omi-Kami had really used it to haul the sun across the sky, or if it were just a metaphor. He noticed Tsuki-Yomi's cage had small cute bunnies carved into its silvery bars. The Kitsune mistook this for actual thought and gave him time to respond, pausing their labors.
"Nah, I'm here to drag the daughter of Suseri-Hime and O-Kuni-Nushi back to her parents." Answered Ranma.
Unnatural silence greeted this statement, during which a couple drops of fox-sweat spilled onto the grainy soils of the Plains of Pain.
The Formless Duke's prison escort barked in gales of laughter, and the unbroken spikes on the faux sea urchin rippled in amusement. Then it changed into a gray smilodon (pre-historic sabertooth tiger) with black void-like leopard spots, and at the center of each spot was a mouth with needle-sharp teeth. Twenty mouths were missing teeth, as if they taken a direct hard punch. All of them emitted a strange hissing laughter.
Ranma shuddered involuntarily before remembering the serenity of life beyond, resisting whatever phantom of the catfist remained.
Nipso saluted him with a snicker, and he watched the group continue toward the Infernal Domains.
A brief moment recalled his purpose: 'Gotta find the daughter of Suseri-Hime and O-Kuni-Nushi; her domain is mastery of ki inside life.'
With these thoughts, Ranma set off. Mindlessly he traveled, concentrating solely on his goal. What seemed like hours later, he ran into what looked like a five year old girl?
She had on a pink dress with a matching hairbow and slippers. Her eyes looked like starry voids, and she had the traditional black Japanese hair down to her shoulders. The interruption annoyed her.
Quoth the brat with child-like venom: "You fool, daring to trespass on my meditations! Feel the wrath of these fists for such a transgression!"
Remembering the last time he let his mouth go, Ranma appraisingly stared at the child-being in front of him, who he doubted was a little girl. Taking in a deep breath of the exertion filled atmosphere, Ranma smiled a 'bring-it-on and let's see what happens' smile.
"Bleh, who do you think you are? A princess? A spirit of the land? A god?" Ranma laughed at the little arrogant runt who reminded him of himself. Then he wondered at how said brat went completely undetected by his ki-senses until he stumbled over her.
"Meanie! Meanie! I'll show you what it means to mock royalty in the spiritual plane! Take my strongest attack and like it!" The girl-child was incensed.
Still laughing, Ranma made a confidant come hither motion, like when calling over a dog.
She started to laugh with him for a bit, with a clear, free voice, like willow leaves dancing in the wind. Sobering, she took a strange, braced stance, legs tense against the ground. "You asked for this one; if you passed that test of pride we could have played go instead," explained the kid while focusing power. Ranma noticed the delicate embroidery around the sleeves on her dress, which now that he thought about it, was a leotard or bodysuit with a modest skirt.
"Ka." A whitish-pink energy speck materialized between the 'lil tyke's cupped hands. It glowed softly.
The embroidery on her sleeves, invisible unless light hit them a certain way, looked like the leafy vines of willow trees.
"Mi.." A ball of pink light built quickly, like an inflating carnival balloon . . . . . . . . .
Remembering his mythology as the attack built, Ranma recalled some story about Suseri-hime abandoning a girl in the branches of willow tree at the fork of a road.
"Hi!" Built quickly into a snarling vortex barely contained by the fledgling's hands.
Understanding hit hard, and Ranma suddenly doubted he could dodge.
"Me!!" Tendrils of pink power leaped hungrily outward, and shades of pink seemed to evaporate from the girl's body. Her hair floated nearly vertically in a corona of whitish-pink light. With the last syllable, she released a massive burst of power larger than a tidal wave as she pointed her hands outwardly toward Ranma. "HA!!!"
Unprepared for the Fist of the God Princess (Kamihime-Ha), Ranma found herself starting another day in the Koi pond.
--
She was supposed to discipline that? The kid was Seruni-kami; only a goddess whose domain was spiritual mastery could use an attack like that.
Sure, the little kami knocked out that stupid scary demon, but it had blindsided her after an exhausting fight with that Oni group. At full power, Ranma Saotome could probably slaughter it!
Conveniently forgetting a conversation with Nabiki coaxed her back into the Kami realms after that brush with mortality, she knocked Genma out. None had witnessed her defeat by such an embarrassingly colored attack. Shuddering reflexively, Ranma wondered at this newfound aversion to the color pink, blaming Azusa Shiratori.
-
"Are you gonna play nice this time mister?" Not that surprised to see Ranma again, Seruni-kami arched an eyebrow. The go-board in front of her faded out as her attention focused elsewhere.
"You are Seruni-Hime, the Willow Tree Child, daughter of Suseri-Hime and O-Kuni-Nushi?" He had to make sure.
The girl nodded. "And you are Ranma Saotome, son of Genma Saotome, daughter of Nodoka, the Wild One. Mom told me you were coming to spar as her champion; if you win, I agree to her terms."
Ranma finished maneuvering his ki into a spiritual containment warding, and slammed the circle of energy down around entity he had come for. The Plains of Pain echoed with backlash, and briefly radiated satisfaction as power was drawn into the hungry ground.
"Oooh, nice trick!" Seruni applauded from behind him as her after-image faded. "Too bad you are dealing with one of the Gods themselves!"
She snapped her fingers, and Ranma felt a thousand invisible knives hit his vital points. Holding on to consciousness was a losing proposition; nothing could move that fast, right?
A faint chiding female voice, followed him into unconsciousness, "You've chosen the harder path." It told him, with a hint of disappointment. "We won't be playing Go, and it will take you forever to end the battle you have chosen. What will you do with the power you must gain?"
His last thoughts were simple; he'd help people, of course!
---
"Ok brat, this time we'll see just how good we both are." Rushing at the little girl, Ranma began doing his utmost to hit her.
Unconcerned, she dodged every blow, like he was a clumsy ox. Grimacing, he switched female, but the added speed was matched, Seruni became faster, her long black hair swaying as she dodged.
Giving herself up to the exchange that ranged across the lazy meadows, Ranma slipped into a state close to mind-no-mind until she allowed frustrated anger to seep in. Part of the plan.
"Hi-Ryu-Shoten-Ha!" He yelled it with vindication, releasing the uppercut around the dodging godling. This time the winds whirled counter-clockwise, since she was the angry one while the five-year old remained calm.
Exposing the huge inherent flaw in the technique, Seruni flew away, settling down away from the windstorm. Drawing on Ranma's anger, the storm left her exhausted when it died four minutes later.
"Your determination is amusing." Giggled the young goddess, her pink crystal eyes whirling. "But, I'm faster than you, have better control of my energy, and only a slack-jawed moron would expect an opponent to remain still for a ki-tornado!"
Oddly, Ranma couldn't help but experiencing a sense of having lived this before, from the other end. It reminded her of meeting a certain Tendo girl and being asked for friendship.
Walking over to where the defeated Saotome sprawled, panting with energy exhaustion, Seruni tapped lightly on her forehead with a toe.
"If you want to fight for real, master how you escaped from the Formless Duke." Tipped the goddess gently.
Groaning, Ranma barely moved her tired head up and down in a phantom nod as she breathed near the sweat soaked soil. The pink-clad kami-child wandered off ending this sparring session. Unlike Akane, when faced with a vastly superior, yet friendly opponent, Ranma embraced the challenge.
-----
Dealing with the Panda and cutting school, he leaned on the fence by the canal, thinking. Like summer lightning striking a small sapling next to a towering oak, Ranma was stuck by insight.
"Hey! That Goddess called me a slack-jawed moron!" Incensed, he vowed to kick her ass before returning to his new technique-to-be.
He knew little of the Nanban Mirror; Happosai had put it inside him, creating this endless day. Indirectly he could access part of its power. In the realm of the March Hare, he had learned how to center, and he believed breaking out of the repeating loop was merely an extension of that, like accessing the Kami Domains.
Consciously teleporting across time and space but once, while in mortal danger from the Formless Drake consuming his soul, left no good examples. More concerned with escape that observation; he wasn't repeating that nightmare for instructional purposes.
Long ago he'd used the mirror to visit ancient China and meet young Cologne; tears turned it on. That didn't help when the mirror was literally inside his blood.
Musing briefly on timetravelling, Ranma decided to forego experimentation. The Bane of Heirs was his priority.
Settling into a lotus position on the short grass next to the canal, he began remembering sad times. He remembered missing his mother during the training trip, in the early years. 'Suck it up and be a man. Real men don't cry.' Counseled the Genma of his memories. He felt heavy chi building, and ignored depression, seeking grief.
Ranma succeeded in feeling shitty, but was no closer to mastering the mirror.
Abandoning sadness, he released the heavy ki into the canal, sending a spume of vapor fountaining in the morning air. A small rainbow glittered briefly before Jusenkyo reminded him not to play with water.
Ruefully she walked off toward an abandoned place with no distractions – the school library.
-
Sneaking into Furinkan and settling into a deserted section of the library, Ranma had uninterrupted quiet for her next idea. Taking ten minutes for observation, she noted the stacks of books in the philosophy section, the faded gray-green carpet, and the wooden desk/cubicle in front of her. A picture of Principle Kuno leaning between two coconut trees rested prominently on the above wall, presumably to remind delinquents they were being watched.
The picture was beyond ugly, and a student had tastefully given the principal a mustache and devil horns with black permanent marker.
Gently rising, Ranma carefully took the artwork off the wall, disarming the tripwires and vandalism alarms. Grinning madly, she smashed it into itty-bitty shreds, and then danced a relaxing kata involving crushing downed opponent's throats on the pieces.
She stomped em good.
Happily, she fixed this scene of mayhem in her mind's eye, savoring the broken grass frame and small confetti sized bits of ripped Kuno-art on the greenish carpet. Like when entering the Kami Realms, she centered herself by thinking of the roof of the Tendo Dojo
Then she tried -going- to the roof of the Tendo Dojo by willing herself there. She tried so hard she lost track of the world around her, and suddenly was exactly where she wanted to be.
Ignoring a faint feeling of light-headedness, Ranma immediately built upon her victory, attempting to will herself back to the library. And she went!
Giddy with success, she translocated four or five times before falling off the dojo roof in a dead fifteen foot faint, to be shortly found by a concerned Kasumi.
--
Groggily, she came to in a hospital bed, noting her extreme weakness. A monitor beeped with a steady rhythm, and with great annoyance Ranma realized she had to pee and had IV needles impaling the crevices of her inner arms.
Nodoka's vigil ended, and she gently patted her child's forehead. "All is well my son; they spoke of attempted suicide, but found no wounds. Very perplexing to the doctors when faced with a healthy body having forty percent of the blood it should contain."
With great effort, Ranma mouthed the words 'new technique.' Then she lay back and waited for the day to end, as her smiling mother held up a bright yellow bedpan.
Snarling mentally at the artifact inside her, Ranma vowed no vampiric magical gizmo would drain her!
With a bit of practice, this technique would take its rightful place among the arsenal. That brat wouldn't have a chance once she figured out how to overlap.
----
"So you've mastered the mirror? This might be interesting then!" Seruni-chan jumped up and down with glee, the starry infinities that made her eyes dancing a merry yellow with her joy. She looked like any other cute five year old with a new toy, ready to play.
Pausing from where he'd materialized behind her in an attempted sneak attack, Ranma betrayed no surprise. While the Nanban Mirror still weakened him substantially with repeated use, he could manage about two or three teleports and stay in fighting shape.
"Just to make fair," sing-songed Seruni playfully, "watch closely!"
Wide-eyed, he observed his opponent balance on her nose while clapping her hands once straight-armed behind her back. Then she touched her elbows using the hand of the same arm, before somersaulting upright and juggling six types of distinct ki-forms in each hand. Ringed ice, flickering heat, spinning air, jagged lightning, pulsating life, and a sphere of serenity in the right hand, and empty shadow, a cube of fire, a necklace of water, and three energies he didn't recognize in her left hand.
Stopping her show of capabilities, the godling looked directly at him, and spoke with a ki voice made of determination beyond fate. "Ranma Saotome, there is absolutely no way for you to defeat me." Galaxies spun inside her endless eyes.
He opened his mouth with a heated refusal just as she turned her wrist and sent a forked beam of what his higher senses told him was solid air-ki streaking directly upwards.
Two beings, who were also Ranma Saotome, found their day now at an end as their spiritual selves reset in a silvery streak. Their physical selves splattered among the grateful soils of the Plains of Pain, before diffusing into energy motes.
"Now I've defeated you ten times already. I'll give you a free shot; what the heck! Even though it was impolite of you to try and blindside me." Tsking gently, Seruni spread her arms and waited, her long black hair blowing out behind and around her pink outfit with an invisible wind.
Concentrating hard, Ranma poured out his soul. Knowing he could easily teleport back with his internal Nanban Mirror, he flung his life away. Every ounce of ki within his body, including the energy supporting his mortal coil, powered this final attack. Falling to his knees with the strain, he whispered grandly "The Sharp Edge of Nirvana!" then collapsed into the gritty dirt.
Thousands of emotions, given life by ki, streaked toward the Willow Tree Child. In the instant of death, when Ranma's life flashed before him, he seized every emotion, each learning experience, and added striking power. As with every invocation of the Sharp Edge, the ki-lances differed in intensity, power, color, depth, speed, and angle.
"Interesting," muttered Seruni from behind her pinkish-purple shield of beauty and dread and wonder. She absorbed four or five threads, and dodged the dozen remaining emotive beams not deflected by her barrier.
Turning to the nearest observing Ranma Saotome, the diminutive goddess grounded the remaining energies and dropped her overlapping layered defense, letting her hair settle. "Your storm of ultimate emotion failed. While I have never experienced consummated love or dark insanity, they cannot penetrate a barrier anchored upon emotions sharing their components."
A nod agreed with her evaluation.
Drawing herself up to the full three and half feet, the godling slowly turned in place until she had made a complete circle on the Plains of Pain. Smoothing a wrinkle in her pink skirt, she stretched a bit, popping a couple vertebrae in her back. Smiling, she noted the locations of Ranma Saotome.
"Playtime starts!" Exclaimed Seruni-chan gleefully as she sent a lance of power streaking at a group of three Ranmas working in tandem. "Bring it you brainless minions!"
"Who you calling a 'brainless minion' you stupid squirt!" Yelled seven Saotomes simultaneously from within the Way of the Silent Thief
"Shut it you morons!" Screamed an observing Ranma heatedly, identifying how Seruni-chan found him so easily.
Suddenly five tornadoes spun madly together in a star pointed pattern around the goddess. Ignoring them, she swiftly knocked Ranma Saotomes out in rapid physical exchanges, each taking thirty seconds or less. The mounting winds sent her hair and dress flying about madly, and Seruni laughed in delight while flinging bursts of pink power.
As the last of Umi-Sen-Ken cloaked attackers fell, the twisters had built into heavens and were gouging holes in the ground like giant drills. "Now!" Said the Ranma-coordinator with a massive ki-voice that was nearly lost in the roaring winds.
"First Rate Flying Dragon Descent Bomb!" Shouted five ki-voices in tandem as a major assault commenced. Thanks to the various syllables of name corresponding to ki-manipulation techniques in gathering the strike, the five separate attackers synchronized energies, achieving resonance.
The ki inside the huge tornadoes condensed into eleven meter balls, which flew down at Seruni's position like a well orchestrated ballet group. Similar to the attack defeating Herb and ending the quest for the Open Water Kettle, but much more powerful. It contained the contradiction of yin vs. yang in addition to hot and cold, thanks to the two tornado creators being Ranma-chans.
The energies crackled together like a plasma net, and combined into a huge blob hundreds of feet across hurtling down at the smirking goddess.
Two more Ranmas appeared with a burst of silvery Nanban energy, and one in the female aspect attempted to hit Seruni with Yin-charged Buzzing Fists (bursts of compressed air). The other in male form used the Stationary Grapple heavily enforced with Yang on the meadow around the godling, enveloping her legs completely in a prison of Earth.
"A sacrifice ploy?" Mused the five-year old girl, delighting in her foes' ingenuity. "I don't think so."
Gathering her energies in a complex pattern, causing the willow leaves embroidered on her outfit to shine, she screamed out: "Cry of a Cherished Soul!" while throwing a vertical kick which didn't connect, much like uppercut required to start a Hi-Ryu-Shoten Ha. It broke through the Stationary Grapple as if the medium-level ki attack was rice paper.
All spiritual attacks centered on the Goddess reversed direction, striking at their creators. The massive combined ki-bomb flew directly upwards. The Buzzing fists returned to pummel their sender, and the Ranma attempted the Stationary Grapple became buried alive.
"As expected." Muttered the observing Ranma from the outskirts of the one-sided battle.
-
Thousands of feet above the Meadows of Pain, a trio of Ranma Saotomes hovered, careful not to touch, channeling lightning-ki. As the massive rebounding blast approached, they whispered together to coordinate "The Ultimate Mystery! Thunder Snake Heaven's Retribution!"Before hurtling into the heart of the raging ki-inferno.
Now composed of yin, yang, cold, heat, Seruni's strange polarity reversal, air, and lightning, the globe of dazzling power screamed downward toward the Goddess again. This time the inspiration came from Ashura's fight against Pantyhose Taro, which had been ended by a --huge-- lightning strike from above.
Judging by the power inside it, Ranma thought this attack might devastate a city like Tokyo.
-
Detonation at Seruni's estimated location caused a medium magnitude earthquake to shake the Plains of Pain. The secondary shockwave knocked him off his feet and rolled him across a few hundred feet of sparse grassy meadows. When the dust settled, revealing a crater at least a mile in radius, Ranma walked to maw of the depression and examined his handiwork.
"That was impressive." Complemented Seruni as she faded into view on his right. "However the problem with all large scale ki-bombs is they travel too slow. Any entity with more intelligence than an earthworm that it takes one to defeat, can dodge. You have to make the energy compressed and fast or confuse your target into a confined area."
"I thought I had distracted you." Confessed Ranma.
"Oh, you mean your possibility reflections? Those were easy; my full attention was occupied looking for the real attack."
Noting the downcast expression adopted by her sparring partner, Seruni decided to cheer him up. "Don't worry, even an attack like that wouldn't defeat me if it hit. I used to spar with Aji-Suki-Taka-Ki-Hone until the old lightning bug got tired of losing." The five-year old consoled gently, patting him on his upper leg. "Now show me what else you've got!"
Stunned the ancient Japanese God of Thunder couldn't match the brat, Ranma re-evaluated what level of force he should use. Could she be invincible?
"To be honest, my other, useless plans are nothing but tricks and misdirection designed around large ineffective ki-bombs. I'll return later. You'll be here, right?"
Seruni nodded with veiled anticipation, looking deceptively cute. "Waiting is of no consequence. Kami-time relative to your reality-bubble only advances when you are present. You already know that."
Bowing low, Ranma faded, ready to face the consequences of Nanban Overlap.
"Here's a final hint," added Seruni, "I'm not your real opponent." But Ranma had already disappeared and her message went unheeded in the warm empty air.
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Next: The Path of Inevitable Mastery
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--Ranma 3rd signpost, from "The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events" by Jane Roberts p277 paraphrased
--Seruni-Hime was planned from the beginning, her name is parentally derived: 'Ser' from SuSERi-hime and 'Uni' from O-kUNI-Nushi.
Author's Notes: 8/2k4 revision -- took out the Japanese names for Ranma's two coordinated uber-attacks and replaced them with English versions for better story flow. Added a bit more foreshadowing and detail, while removing unnecessary information.