A Ranma ½ / Yu Yu Hakusho / Sakura Wars / Inu Yasha / Darkstalkers / Devil May Cry / Multi-crossover
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ and Yu Yu Hakusho or any other anime/game titles for that matter. Though I sometimes wish I was a class-S youkai…heh.
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Two figures were standing in front of the Saotome family grave. One was a middle-aged man wearing a worn-out white gi, glasses, and a white cloth that was wrapped around his bald head. The other one was a familiar young man with a pigtail, wearing a red sleeveless Chinese shirt, loose dark blue pants and black Chinese shoes. The young man stood in front of the grave as the bald man talked to him from the side.
"Do you understand, Ranma? It's time to start Operation: Saotome's visit to the grave!" Saotome Genma exclaimed, gesturing to the grave in front of the pigtailed boy. He cleared his throat as he continued, "It's about time we show your ancestors how strong you really are," he paused a bit before nodding to his son, "Now, go on and do it boy."
Saotome Ranma stepped forward and cracked his knuckles, "So… ya sure I ain't getting' cursed or nothin', right? I am goin' to be punchin' a tombstone after all…"
"Boy, that's the tradition of our martial arts family," Genma paused, readjusting his glasses, "All young men must go through the right of passage!" he exclaimed, although he was sweating much more than usual.
The pigtailed boy took a deep breath, placing his hands to his side and clenching them into a fist, "Well then, it ain't my fault if I break it."
Genma took a few steps back as he said, "That's the spirit, boy! Go for it!"
Ranma took a few more deep breaths before drawing his arm back.
"Ha!"
Wham!
The moment Ranma punched the tombstone, a large brick just a little below it caught him off-guard as it literally sprang up and struck him right in the face. It was followed by even more bricks before the tombstone itself fell forward and struck him at the back of his head, knocking him down and pinning him to the floor.
"Whoa!" Genma breathed out, astounded by the scene before him. "That was great, ancestors! A perfectly executed counterattack!" he exclaimed with mock respect to the tombstone.
Twitch. "Shut up, old man!" Ranma yelled as he got up and bopped Genma on the head with the tombstone. He then grabbed his father by the shirt as he continued to scream at his face. "What the hell was that all about?! Graves aren't supposed ta hit back!!!"
Instead of replying, Genma tilted his head the moment he heard some rustling to the side, "Hm?" He quickly sucker punched his son that made him fall over the ledge that was just a couple of feet behind the Saotome grave. "Shhh! Someone's coming! We should hide!" he said as he jumped right after his son.
The two held onto the ledge as they took a peek as to who the person was. Genma sweated the moment his wife came into view while Ranma simply stared at his mother for the longest time.
"What on Earth is she doing here?" Genma asked in a whisper, sweating a little more than before.
"It's our family grave, dumbass!" Ranma snapped back.
"What?!" Nodoka gasped out when she caught sight of the Saotome ancestral grave. "Who… who could have done such a thing…" she pondered with a hint of anger in her voice. A few moments later, she shook her head, looked over her shoulder and called out, "Ranma? Can you come over here please?"
Ranma and Genma involuntarily cringed and nearly lost their grip on the ledge when they heard Nodoka call out her son's name. How did she know that they were here?! Did she find out about their curse?! Did she want them to come out and commit… gulp… seppuku?!
"Sure mom!" a familiar voice happily replied.
Ranma and Genma turned and faced each other as they blinked. What the heck? They turned their gaze back to Nodoka and the young man that was running towards her. Upon seeing who the young man was, Genma sputtered as he froze in place while Ranma looked on, wide-eyed, as he stared at the person standing next to his mother.
"That's… me…"
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Dark Ascension
By Insane Blight
Otherworldly Reunion II: Ranma and Ranko
Majin Ranma walked towards his mother with a small smile. He was kind of disappointed when he heard that the grave they were going to was the ancestral grave of the Saotomes, Genma's side of the family, meaning it was the grave of dirtbags and the like. Plus add the fact that Genma had no such spiritual potential whatsoever, so this really wasn't the place he wanted to see. On the bright side, at least he now knew for sure that his mother's side of the family held the answers to his questions. He'd just ask her about it later on.
"Son, could you help me with this?" Nodoka asked, pointing towards the scattered bricks and the fallen tombstone.
Majin Ranma looked at his mother and smiled genuinely, "I'd be glad to mom."
Mother and son only took a few moments in fixing up the grave, especially when Majin Ranma used his inhuman speed and strength in doing the job. Nodoka praised her son for his hard work to which the hybrid surprised himself when he actually blushed upon hearing those words. Well, whatever, he was quite glad that he did use his powers, as he immediately sensed the duo hanging on the ledge just in front of him and his mother. He decided to not say or do anything about it for now.
Nodoka and Ranma clasped both hands together as they closed their eyes and prayed at the grave. Nodoka did, but the hybrid had other things in mind. For example, why hadn't those two jumped in and start saying some typical nonsense about him being a fake, imposter, clone, and the like? Surely, they could have easily have done so the moment they saw him, so why hadn't they?
"Ranma?"
"… Huh? Ah… yes? What is it, mom?"
Nodoka beamed at him, "Let's go back to the inn. I'm sure you're feeling tired from the long trip here. Plus, I'm still worried about your wound. I'll clean it as soon as we get there, alright?"
Ranma didn't say anything right away. He stared into his mother's eyes before nodding his head, "Yes, I do feel a little exhausted from the long trip… but I'm more concerned about you mom. You said that you were feeling a bit drained yesterday, and I can tell that you haven't had a goodnight's sleep in awhile."
"Thank you dear, maybe we both should take a breather or two, ne?" the auburn-haired woman giggled.
"Sounds like a plan!"
The two shared a laugh as they turned to leave.
'Sigh… if they won't show themselves, I might as well do something about it…' Ranma thought as he placed a hand on Nodoka's shoulder, causing her to stop and look at him, "Mom, we're being watched… it's really nothing to worry about. Here, let me take care of it."
Ranma watched as the other 'Ranma' helped his mother fix up the ancestral grave. He stayed that way until Genma shook him out of it. "What is it Oyaji?" he asked, still too shocked to do anything.
"Boy, are you really my son?"
The pigtailed boy blink-blinked, then bopped him on the head, "What the hell are ya babblin' 'bout?! I'm the real one! He's the one doin' the impersonatin'! Maybe he came from that stupid mirror from that Mirror Mansion? Or maybe the pervert used another technique while I'm asleep! Or don't tell me that I have a twin brother I don't know 'bout pops!" he finished with a glare. Truth be told, he wanted it to be the latter, as he had just about enough of curses and magical artifacts.
Genma looked at him oddly, "Of course not boy! What ever gave you that idea?"
Ranma swatted him again, "I wouldn't let it pass you, pop! You've kept some things ta me before. Does mom and seppuku ring a bell?! Hmm?! Well?"
Before the Saotome patriarch could reply, they were both distracted by the laughter of both Majin Ranma and Nodoka as they turned to leave. However, their sighs of relief were short-lived when Majin Ranma spoke, "Mom, we're being watched… let me take care of it…"
'Ah, crap!'
Majin Ranma swiveled around, held a hand up, and sent a huge ki blast towards the ledge that, needless to say, completely destroyed it. However, the demonic hybrid frowned when he sensed something odd was going on with the energy signatures of his alternate and this world's Genma Saotome.
Splash!
Nodoka and Majin Ranma walked towards what was left of the ledge and leaned forward, the persons they saw were not the ones they were expecting, as a sopping wet panda and a petite, buxom, redheaded girl seemed to have fallen into a small well.
The Saotome matriarch blinked twice before a smile appeared on her face as she clasped her hands together, "Why, if it isn't Ranko and Mr. Panda!" she exclaimed in delight.
Ranko frowned and growled slightly as she saw that Ranma was looking down at her with a raised eyebrow, but her demeanor completely brightened when she looked at the Saotome matriarch, "Gyah! Auntie Saotome!" 'And some jerk pretendin' ta be me!'
Majin Ranma blinked, then turned to his mother, "Who?"
Nodoka looked at her son with obvious confusion, "Ranma, don't you know Ranko-chan and her pet panda?" seeing her son shake his head, she thought for a moment before realizing something, "Oh! Ranko never did mention ever meeting you. Anyway, son, this is Tendo Ranko, your fiancée's cousin!"
A pair of eyebrows shot up, Ranma and Ranko's to be exact, though Ranma's was the more noticeable of the two.
"…Fiancée?"
"Why yes, your fiancée… Tendo Akane!"
To Ranko's amazement, Ranma didn't act surprised at all. Instead, the pigtailed boy simply smiled at Nodoka as he placed a hand at the back of his head and chuckled out, "Is that so?" Seeing a nod from his mother, he turned towards the pigtailed girl and the redhead could see the amusement in his eyes, "In that case, it is nice to meet you, Tendo Ranko."
"Yeah… whatever…" Ranko muttered, hopping out of the well along with Mr. Panda.
At the beach, Nabiki dropped the lotion in her hands in shock then gaped at something on her side. It took awhile but she eventually composed herself and offhandedly said, "Whoa… talk about a weird sense of déjà vu."
Akane, Kasumi, and Soun turned to look at her, to which she pointed her finger to her side causing them to follow it. They blinked, rubbed their eyes, stared, and blinked some more. Nodoka was walking towards them with a smile, Mr. Panda was walking right behind her with a nervous look, but the one that made them stare in shock was that Ranma AND Ranko were walking side by side, although a scowl was on the redhead's face as opposed to the beaming smile that was on Ranma's.
"Oh my…"
"A-Auntie Saotome, what a surprise to see you here with…" Akane trailed off, alternating gazes between Ranma and Ranko.
"Ranma-kun," Nabiki finished for her. "So… what brings you to this place Auntie? And you even brought Ranma-kun along with you," she inquired, trying to find out more about this strange event, particularly the Ranma that was standing beside a grumpy Ranko.
Soun interrupted, "Nabiki, there will be time for that later. Nodoka, why don't you and Ranma-kun join us for awhile?"
The group settled in, with Ranma sitting beside one side of his mother and Ranko on the other side along with a rather happy Mr. Panda. In front of them were Soun and Kasumi, the latter kindly offering tea to the guests. Akane and Nabiki were busy talking to each other as they stayed at a certain side of the beach, away from the rest of the group.
Nodoka pulled out a small, rectangular wooden box and showed it to Soun, "This is what we came here for, the Saotome family treasure."
"Oh? Family treasure?" Soun inquired.
Nodoka nodded, "Yes. For generations now, this treasure has been passed down to each young man born into the Saotome family," she paused and turned to her son, "And now, I would like to pass it onto my son."
Mr. Panda jumped in and held up a sign from behind the Saotome matriarch, -Why don't you give it to me instead? I'll take real good care of it!-
Ranko grabbed the aforementioned panda and threw him into the sand, "Quit it!" then, she knelt down and whispered angrily into the panda's ear, "So that's what you were after back at the grave, huh, Panda-chan? Oyaji, stop this right now! We have other things ta worry 'bout!"
-I'm just a cute panda!-
Before Ranko could bop Mr. Panda on the head, Ranma cleared his throat and said, "I'd be honored to have this family treasure mom, but could you hold onto it for me for the time being?"
Nodoka nodded with a reassuring smile, "Of course dear."
Just then, a man carrying a bucket of water tripped, splashing Ranma with the contents. Soun and Kasumi blinked, Ranko stared at him with a mixture of awe and jealously, while the panda…
Seeing the lack of change in Ranma's part, Mr. Panda raised a paw in the air while pulling out another sign with his other paw saying, -YES!-
Evening soon came, and everybody sat around the table inside the Tendo's room at the Inn as they ate dinner. Nabiki though, just watched the happenings around her with a curious eyebrow. Akane and Ranko were whispering to each other, Genma-Panda was unusually happy, knowing him, he's probably thinking about some harebrained ideas. Nodoka was idly chatting with Soun, while 'Ranma' was seated beside Kasumi and the two were busy talking about, medicine?
"We're sorry for intruding like this," Nodoka said with a bow.
Soun waved it off, "Think nothing of it! I'm just glad that Akane and Ranma-kun can spend time together!" he exclaimed, ignoring the angry, not to mention loud 'hmph' of the youngest Tendo.
Mr. Panda pulled out a sign, -Yes! Exactly!-
Ranko grabbed Mr. Panda's cheek and whispered through gritted teeth, "What the hell are you saying, you idiot?! I'm the real Ranma, remember?! Didn't you tell Mr. Tendo about it, old man?!"
Genma-panda looked directly into the redhead's eyes before flipping the sign he already had up, -He looks like you, he sounds like you, and best of all he doesn't have a curse of being a weak little girl! He's my son for sure!- He pulled out another sign, -Nodoka has already accepted him! I won't be committing seppuku! And I can finally show myself to No-chan! Heheheheh!-
WHAM!
Ranko elbowed Mr. Panda on the head, embedding him to the floor. He should've expected a response like that, the stupid, selfish panda. Weird though, everyone said that this Ranma looked exactly like her male form, couldn't they see those marks on his face? Are they blind or was she the only one who could see them? Even so, it seemed that this guy looked like he had been into quite a fight recently, and she could tell that he didn't seem like a pushover either.
"Anyway, Soun, I know that my husband is your best friend and all but you didn't have to make up lies about Genma, my son already told me what really happened to him," Nodoka finished with a serious look.
Everybody, save Ranma and Nodoka, froze before turning to the downed Mr. Panda, who simply held out a sign saying 'I'm innocent!' as a huge bead of sweat appeared at the back of his head.
Soun gulped, "W-What happened to him?"
"That he died several years ago by gunshots to the body, arms, legs, and finally, the head," Ranma answered nonchalantly. "He was shot to death because they saw him throwing little ol' me into a pit of starving cats."
Ranko flinched.
Nodoka nodded, taking a sip of her tea before glancing at the Tendo patriarch, "See Soun? I now know the truth. Sigh, but what's done is done. To be honest, I never wanted to see Genma again after hearing what he did to my child. That horrid Neko-ken training, lying, stealing, that is not very manly behavior at all."
Mr. Panda growled angrily and held out a sign, -WHAT?! How could you say that?! I'm your husband!!! I did all of those for the sake of the art! THE ART!!!-
WHAM! WHAM!
A pair of mallets courtesy of Akane and Ranko flattened Mr. Panda and broke the sign before Nodoka and Ranma could get a chance to read it. Ranko leaned in closer and whispered to the panda's ear, "You heard 'Ranma', panda-chan, you're supposed ta be dead," she finished with a snicker.
Akane also leaned closer and whispered, "Uncle, um, Mr. Panda, please! What's going on anyway Ranm, er, Ranko? You are the real Ranma, right?"
"Yes it's me!" Ranko answered hotly. "I dunno what this guy is, but he just showed up at the Saotome family grave with mom," she paused, glancing at the hybrid for a moment, "Ya know, I woulda jus' called him another Ryu Kumon, but this guy looks exactly like me!" 'Except for the marks you all can't see.'
A near-broken sign was held up by a shaky paw, -Not to mention he has a lot of power!-
That earned Genma another mallet strike from both girls. Ranko wanted to say something, but she knew that her father was right. This guy had a lot of power, and from the looks of it, he wasn't even trying to hide it from others! Maybe it was because of the injuries she sensed that the guy had that somehow prevented him from masking it, or if you follow Akane's point of view, the guy, er, pervert, was simply showing off.
Speaking of the pervert in question, Ranma was still engrossed in talking to the eldest Tendo girl, seemingly oblivious to the happenings around him.
"Well, I've always did want to take up medicine…" Kasumi said softly.
"A friend of mine is a doctor, and he has taught me a lot about the subject. I could teach you, if you want," Ranma offered with that oh-so-innocent smile, which was quite unnerving to those who saw it because Kasumi gave the pigtailed boy one of her own oh-so-innocent smiles as well.
"I'd love to Ranma-kun! Thank you so much!"
Ranma chuckled, "I like you. You're such a nice person, Kasumi-chan."
Ranko and Soun both choked on their tea while Akane's aura blazed forth like hellfire as she shattered the cup in her hand. Akane twitched a few times before turning to her side and seeing the pigtailed boy and her older sister, who was blushing from all the compliments she was getting. The last straw was when Ranma actually leaned forward and kissed Kasumi on the cheek. That… that… pervert! Pulling out her giant mallet-sama, she stomped forward, hell-bent on bashing the pigtailed boy, "Ranma no baka!"
Ranma's eyes turned cat-like when he looked to his side and swung an arm that destroyed the mallet AND a good portion of the wall behind his fiancée. Everyone, save Nodoka and Kasumi, did a double-take when Ranma meowed as he got up and stared into the shocked eyes of the short-haired girl. He then blinked when he noticed the reactions of the rest.
Nice lady Kasumi was still blushing, oblivious to what had happened so far.
Nodoka was clapping her hands and complimenting his skills. She didn't seem to care one bit about what just went on… that woman was simply downright weird.
The middle Tendo daughter, Nabiki, was looking at him wide-eyed. That was rather surprising considering he first thought she was just like Hagiri in terms of being the cold and distant one, so much for that.
Ranko was… unexpectedly up on her feet and was now in front of Akane while glaring daggers at him, but she was noticeably trembling and muttering words like 'he's not a cat'. That little scene made Ranma smile, the girl had guts, something he hadn't expected considering she was raised by Genma, and it looked like she also went through the Neko-ken training, but she seemed to be afraid of those cute, adorable, furry creatures.
Lastly, the one that caught his attention the most was the Tendo patriarch. Who wouldn't when he was currently in full demon head mode yelling something about attacking his little girl? However, Soun was quickly subdued when he sent one murderous glare towards the man, guess he got his point across.
"Well, seeing that I have most of your attention," he paused, glancing knowingly at his mother, "I apologize, Tendo-san, for my actions but all of you saw that your daughter was the one that started it, I merely fought in self-defense. Now then, my mom and I are a little tired from the trip so if you'll excuse us." He gave one last smile to the group, "I hope to see all of you again under better circumstances, ne, Ranko?"
Ranko jumped slightly then glared at the pigtailed boy, "Yeah, I'll see you later."
"Hey Akane, are you alright?" Nabiki whispered into her younger sister's ear, her eyes fixed at the retreating figures of Ranma and Nodoka.
Akane broke out of her daze, turned towards her sister, and blinked a couple of times. "Huh? What did you say, Nabiki-oneechan?" she asked, clearly still shocked at what just happened.
Nabiki sighed and decided to drag her little sister to their bedrooms. At least she found out that this Ranma really wasn't anything like Ranko, what happened earlier was proof of that. This one actually fought back against her little sister's mallet-sama. That wasn't the one that bothered her though, what bothered her was that she could tell that 'Ranma' actually had a brain, her recent eye contact, along with the things she had observed at dinner, told her that much.
He was actually very attentive to what was going on around him even when it looked like he was busy talking to Kasumi. There was this one time when he actually looked at her for a second and gave her a wink and an amused smile, letting her know that he was onto her. She didn't know what to feel about it, he was obviously smarter and a lot more cunning than the real one. To her, it seemed that the guy was the exact opposite of the redhead that was about to enter the room.
Ranko walked towards the still dazed Tendo daughter, "Akane? Are ya alright?"
"Huh?"
"I said if yer alright you uncute tomboy!"
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
Nabiki stood beside the downed redhead girl and watched as Akane stomped out of the room. Shaking her head, she looked back at the redhead and nonchalantly said, "She looks fine to me Saotome."
Ranko groaned, shaking her head and slowly standing up. "Stupid, uncute tomboy, I was really concerned 'bout her for a minute. Grr… who the hell was that guy?! Wait, forget I asked. I don't have any money." Before Nabiki could respond, Ranko slammed her fists together and yelled loudly, "I'll just force it outta him!"
Soun cleared his throat, "No Ranko-kun, you mustn't," he said calmly, catching their undivided attention, "That's no ordinary fighter." Seeing the curious look in their eyes, he coughed and continued, "His eyes… those are not normal… and something tells me that he won't hesitate to harm anyone who gets in his way."
Ranko scowled and clenched her fists, "I saw it too but… I won't let another Ryu Kumon get close to mom… especially not some cheap copycat!"
It was then that Kasumi entered the room and asked one innocent question, "Ranko-chan, where is Mr. Panda?"
Mr. Panda tiptoed into Nodoka's room and onto the safe located at the far end, even using a stethoscope to open the lock. Inside it was the family treasure, but it didn't stay there for long as Mr. Panda nabbed it while chuckling to himself.
-Heheh, the treasure's mine!-
"And just what are you doing in my mother's room, Panda-chan?"
Mr. Panda's body jerked, he whirled around and saw Majin Ranma, leaning on the open door with his arms crossed and looking at him with a smirk. He sweated but quickly held out a sign saying, -Housekeeping!-
Ranma rolled his eyes and laughed, "Oh really? Then why do you have the Saotome family treasure in your hand?"
-Er, I'm protecting it from burglars!-
"Heh, I think I'm much more suited for the job, Panda-chan. Besides, you have to get ready to get your ass kicked in, oh, five, four, three, two, one… bang!" Ranma snapped his fingers and several red orbs appeared in the room and quickly closed in on the furball. Mr. Panda tried to fight his way out of the room but the more he fought the harder it was to move. A few seconds later, the panda was swallowed up by the orbs as it formed a single, round, blood red ball that imprisoned the poor animal.
By this time, Akane and Ranko came rushing into the room but they stopped in their tracks when they saw the giant ball that was floating in the middle of the room. They glanced at the ball, then at the pigtailed boy who was casually flipping the family treasure in his hand.
"What is that?" Akane asked, pointing at the ball.
Ranko on the other hand, had another question in mind, "Where is that no-good Panda?!"
"Mr. Panda won't be coming back for a few days," he paused as he walked towards the ball and swiftly kicked it out the window, smirking as the ball disappeared into the distance, "Because your kleptomaniac pet will be out of the country for awhile," he finished without the intended humor as his voice had gone cold.
"What did you say?"
Ranma stared coldly into the redhead's eyes, telling her in advance that he was dead serious, "I'm warning you Ranko, next time I see that panda trying to steal something else from mother, you will never see him alive again, that's a promise."
Ranko gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, but fortunately, Akane had a hand on her shoulder, talk about irony. The redhead stared into an eerie pair of blue eyes before turning and walking away. She looked back over her shoulder and silently said, "Tonight, at the beach."
Later that night, the Tendos and the Saotomes went to bed. All of them were fast asleep, all except for two certain people. Ranko was lying on her bed with a scowl while Majin Ranma had his hands placed behind his head as he stared at the ceiling with a smile. They stayed that way until both of their eyes suddenly narrowed at the same time, as they had only one thing on their mind…
"It's time…" the two whispered simultaneously, getting up on their futon, leaping out the window, and running towards the beach.
They stood there, face to face, one burning with anger, the other filled with amusement. Taking the initiative, Ranko took a couple of steps forward and clenched her fists before snarling, "Who the hell are ya?! I know that ya ain't Saotome Ranma, are ya some crazy copycat or somethin'?! And what're ya doin' with my mom?!"
Majin Ranma smiled, "Your mother, huh? Well that confirms it. I'm not even going to bother asking you in whatever it was that made you turn into a girl, but I will answer your question," he paused, his smirk turning into a considerable frown, "You're wrong about me because, yes, I used to be called Saotome Ranma, but it's just plain Ranma now."
Ranko gritted her teeth, "How could you be me?! We ain't anythin' alike! I ain't nothin' like you… you cheap fake! Yer just someone who looks exactly like me and that's it! What are ya after? The old man's forbidden techniques? What?"
"…Hahaha, my poor, poor, counterpart. Just because I'm also claiming to be Saotome Ranma doesn't necessarily mean that I'm a fraud, a fake, or any of the sort."
The redhead looked at him oddly, "Just what do ya mean?"
The hybrid sighed, he could explain it, but he really doesn't know if his alternate could grasp it. Well, there was only one way to find out, "Do you believe in alternate worlds? I suppose now is the time to do so. I was fighting a powerful demon in my home world when I accidentally got caught up in an erratic portal that somehow sent me to this world, and by sheer luck, mother found me and things went on from there."
Ranko stared at him for a long time, before sighing loudly and dropping her guarded stance, "Well, why didn't you say so? You're from another world huh? You should've just told me that earlier."
Majin Ranma would've facefaulted if he hadn't been in shock, "How could you believe it so easily?"
The redhead shrugged, "Meh, with the way my life has been, other worlds ain't all that surprising," she answered nonchalantly.
"Eheh, heheh, haha… interesting, very interesting indeed… I'm glad that we have that taken cared of, but there is one other thing I'd like to talk to you about." 'And I don't think that you will like it.'
"Me too, like why do ya have those weird tattoos on yer face?" Ranko asked, gazing curiously at the marks.
Ranma blinked, "You can see it?" He paused for a minute before slapping his head and laughing out, "What am I saying? Of course you could! You have inherited mom's spiritual powers just like I have!"
"What?" Ranko asked dumbly.
Ranma waved it off, "There's time for that later. Right now, I'd like to hear your thoughts about Saotome Genma."
The redhead twitched, "What is there to tell about the stupid panda? He's a big fat old fool that runs at the slightest signs of danger. He's a coward, a thief, and a good for nothin'!"
"…And despite all that you still cling to his every word," Majin Ranma stated matter-of-factly. "I talked to Kasumi-chan about it earlier. She told me all about it, the promises, the fiancées, and all the thieving, among others. It takes a lot to amaze me, and quite frankly, you did. You have somehow managed to survive through it all, but despite all that, despite all the things he has done to you and to others, you are still with him."
Narrowing her eyes, Ranko stepped forward and grabbed Ranma by the shirt, "Just what are ya gettin' at? Sure the old man has done a lot of things, but he's an idiot. I dunno what happened in your world but it ain't the same here."
"…Just as I feared, you turned out to be what I expected since you spent what? Ten years with Genma? Damn, makes me cringe just thinking about it…"
"Will ya stop beating 'round the bush and just tell me what are ya gettin' at?!" she snapped angrily.
The hybrid sighed, freeing himself from the redhead's clutches, time for the girl's wake-up call. "What's the use in telling you? It's not like some uncouth young GIRL like you would understand a word I'm saying. You'd be better off blindly following your daddy's orders. It's quite obvious from the moment I saw you that you can't do anything by yourself. Heh, Ranko, a sad, pitiful little girl who is all talk!"
Ranko ire was building and she knew it. This guy really knew how to push her buttons. "Feh, funny you said that. Yer the one who's all talk! All you ever did so far was insult me and the old man!" She readied herself as she went into an Anything Goes stance, "Come on, I'll show you just how powerful I am!"
"Then show me RANKO! PROVE IT!" Ranma taunted, gesturing for her to make a move.
Ranko screamed in rage and punched Ranma on the face, but even that didn't affect him. Ranma grabbed her outstretched hand and forcefully twisted it, flipping the redhead with it and making her meet the floor face first. The hybrid continued by stomping on the redhead's shoulder with his youki-covered foot as he tugged on her arm, inciting a pain-filled scream from her. "Come on Ranko! Is this the result of your training with that fat fool? If it is, then I'm even more grateful to my brother for taking me in!"
Ranma was caught by surprise when Ranko turned to her side and kicked him on the head. The redhead flipped back up but she was flung all the way back towards some large bushes across the beach when Ranma blasted her with a healthy dose of reiki. Hunching slightly, Ranma wiped some blood from his mouth before slowly gliding towards his opponent.
"Ranma? Ranma, are you here?" a familiar, gentle voice called out, catching the hybrid's immediate attention.
"I'm over here mom!" Ranma yelled.
Nodoka gasped when she saw the bruise on her son's face, "Dear, what happened? Who did this to you?" she asked, taking out a white cloth and wiping the blood off her child.
Ranma smiled, "It's just a thief, mom. Don't worry, I took care of him, he won't be coming back for awhile." His smile widened and he absently rubbed the back of his head when Nodoka praised him for what he did.
Ranko watched the all too familiar scene from the bushes, her hands clenching tightly and tears were slowly forming around her eyes before getting up on her feet and walking away.
Next day, The Tendos, along with an awfully silent Ranko, left the Inn and went back to the Tendo Dojo. Nabiki had a frown though, and it wasn't because they had to leave the Inn in the morning. No, it was because last night, she saw the fiery redhead burned and wounded when she passed by her room. She figured that Ranko must've fought the one pretending to be him, er, her, but when she asked the redhead herself, she was quite surprised with the answer.
Ranko said that the one staying with her mother was also her, er, him. A little irritated at that, she pressed on and the redhead said that the guy was from another world, and he was sent into this world because of an accident. Well, whether Ranko was making it up or not, the Saotomes left the place early this morning so she couldn't talk to the other Ranma to confirm it. But with the way Ranko said it, she was looking at her in the eye, and she wasn't stuttering, Nabiki might as well believe it.
She might as well do just that, with the way strange things seemed to happen around the pigtailed boy.
Hmm, another Saotome, but this one was not like Ranko or Genma, and from the way the redhead looked right at this moment, that thoughtful though slightly angry look, it seemed that last night was just the beginning of many fights. Of course, she planned on making money off of this situation. A fight between two, real Saotome Ranma should prove to be interesting to anyone that knew the pigtailed boy.
Looking to her side, Nabiki blinked when Akane, Kasumi, Ranko and her father seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. She could guess what was going on in her older sister's mind, which being the kiss the other Ranma gave her yesterday, the heavy blush was a dead giveaway. Her father was, in all likelihood, thinking about the joining of the schools. It wouldn't surprise her to see him try to marry the other Ranma to her or to Kasumi and let Ranko marry Akane.
Anyway, Ranko must still be thinking about his fight with the other Ranma but for the life of her, she couldn't quite tell what was going on in her little sister's mind. She expected Akane to explode right then and there but she hadn't done anything except for the minor pounding she gave Ranko yesterday. Well, come to think of it, she noticed that her little sister's temper seemed to have gone down as of late, especially after her trip to Ryugenzawa a few months back, so maybe that was it.
'Er, then again, maybe not,' Nabiki thought as she watched Akane send Ranko to LEO with one mean, larger than usual, mallet. Shaking her head, Nabiki shrugged at the rest of the group and continued to plan things that involved both pigtailed boys.
Ranma and Nodoka were walking down the street, happily talking with each other about past experiences, though the topic about Genma was never brought up. Mother and son had beaming smiles on their faces that it was impossible to tell whether they were faking it or not. Either way, things had to come to an end sometime.
The hybrid had other things in mind midway through his talk with his mother, mainly the person he sensed running towards their direction. If this guy didn't come here to ruin the mood, then he'd gladly sacrifice himself in a ritual that would definitely see to it that he suffered for eternity, heh, that didn't sound so bad.
"Saotome Ranma! I shall smite thee!"
Ranma and Nodoka blinked at the sight of a man wielding a bokken, and it seemed that he was rushing towards them. Gently pushing his mother aside, the pigtailed boy turned his head to the side and looked at his attacker with boredom. He causally stepped back, and stuck one foot forward, wincing when the man tripped over said foot, fell down hard, and continued to tumble down the long stairwell behind the hybrid.
Nodoka looked at the man and blinked when she heard him say that it did not hurt before passing out. Shaking her head, she turned back to her son and asked, "Son, do you know that man?"
"Never saw him before in my life," he answered truthfully as he looked down at the unconscious kendoist, "Maybe he's just a lunatic or something, probably escaped from a mental institution."
The Saotome matriarch nodded with a small smile, "Yes, you maybe right."
With that, the two went on their way, only to stop when a familiar pink cat walked in front of them. The cat did a double take when she saw that Ranma was looking at her without the usual fear, but she was really surprised at his other unusual reaction more than anything else.
"Kawaii!" the pigtailed boy squealed in delight, rushing up to the cat and hugging her for all her worth.
Shampoo-neko mewed, blinking several times as Ranma hugged her tighter. Then, her eyes widened before letting out a much more enthused meow as she rubbed her cheek against his, much to both of their delight. She quickly discarded all normal senses and ignored the questions forming on her mind. She didn't care about such details nor did she care about anything anymore, she only cared about what was happening right now, as she was practically in heaven.
Ranma lifted Shampoo-neko up and giggled at her, then, he gave her a kiss on the mouth which, needless to say, made the cat faint with a silly grin on her face.
Turning to his mother, Ranma went to his, joyous, childish, innocent self to which the Saotome matriarch didn't seem to mind, on the outside at least. "Hey mom! Can I keep her? Can I? Can I? Huh? Please? Please? Please?"
"Um, calm down Ranma, er, yes you can keep her, okay?" Nodoka quickly replied, trying to appease her suddenly hyperactive son. Watching the lively boy for what seemed like hours, the Saotome matriarch simply had that calm demeanor, until her lips curved into a small, sad smile.
"Wai! Wai! Wai!"
Mother, son, and their newfound pet finally arrived back at the Saotome home. Ranma wasted no time in showing Shampoo-neko around the house while Nodoka quietly went upstairs to her room and pretty much stayed there for the rest of the day, not that her son cared or noticed for that matter. Well, said cat was still out of it, for everytime the cat would regain her senses, the pigtailed boy would promptly bombard her with hugs and kisses, sending her to another state of euphoria.
Evening came, and Ranma finally came back to his senses as he prepared dinner, with the help of a certain cat. It was then that he smelled something burning. Expanding his senses for a minute, he quirked an eyebrow when he realized that it was coming from the front yard. Grabbing the pink cat and cuddling her in his arms, Ranma went outside and blinked when he saw that Nodoka was standing in front of a small fire, holding a slightly crumpled piece of paper in her hand.
"Mom, what are you doing?" he asked, with Shampoo-neko letting of a questioning meow herself.
Nodoka visibly shuddered for a brief moment, then she casually threw the piece of paper into the fire, before turning to her son and shaking her head, "It's nothing, just burning garbage dear."
Ranma and Shampoo-neko blinked, before shaking their heads at the same time and smiling widely at the Saotome matriarch. "Anyway, dinner will be ready in a few minutes, mom. I made this one just for you!" Again, there was a subtle tone of mischievousness as he said the last part, but the Saotome matriarch didn't seem to notice. If she did, she didn't show any signs of it.
Dinner was a rather uneventful event, with Ranma too busy talking to and feeding Shampoo-neko while Nodoka kept silent and just watched the two the whole time. When it was time to go to bed, Ranma plopped down and immediately fell into a deep sleep. Shampoo-neko was wide awake though, as she silently jumped outside the window, giving her beloved one last look before disappearing completely.
She just had to tell her great-grandmother about this!
Majin Ranma grumbled slightly while shaking his head to clear his mind. He actually had a nice nap? How? He never had a nice nap, or a real goodnight's sleep for that matter. Maybe it was because of neko-chan, or maybe it was because of… well, whatever, it wasn't like he cared.
He got up and stretched for a bit, but stopped when he felt a very familiar presence standing in front of the house. Smiling, he opened his window and his smile turned into a smirk when his counterpart, who was now male, was glaring at him from the ground. He chuckled as he popped his head out, "…Finally got tired of cross-dressing?" he asked innocently.
"Grr… get down here!"
The hybrid complied, leaping out of the window and landing a few feet in front of his counterpart. The two seemed to know what the other was thinking when they walked away from the house. They walked for a while until they arrived at a large, empty lot, quite a distance away from Nodoka's house. Taking a few steps forward, the Majin gave Ranma an innocent look as he asked, "Well, what do you want? Coming into my mom's house and ordering me around, that's very rude behavior you know."
Ranma clenched his fists, "I've had enough of yer trap! First of all, SHE'S MY MOTHER NOT YOURS! Secondly, what the heck are ya talkin' 'bout at the beach anyway?! I just don't get it!"
'Ooohhh, someone's jealous…' Majin Ranma grinned, "Fine, I'll tell you Baka-Ranma. I can tell from talking to Kasumi back at the Inn and during our first talk that Genma has warped your mind so much with his idiotic spiel that it practically made you his slave, literally and figuratively." Oh, this was absolutely great! He was berating himself! Hahaha! No wonder Raizen always had that annoying smirk when he talked to him in the same manner, this was really fun!
"What the hell does that suppose ta mean?!"
The hybrid slapped his head in frustration, "Oh, figure it out! Or are you really that dumb, Baka-Ranma?!" 'Thank you Oniichan! Thank you for taking care of me or else I might've ended up like this retard in front of me!'
"Don't you ever shut up?!"
Majin Ranma nimbly dodged Ranma's punches and kicks, jumping over sweeps and ducking down to avoid some of the punches. Interesting, Ranma was actually adapting to his movements in the midst of the fight, it was very evident when the boy managed to hit him on the chest with a palm strike, quickly following it up with a thrust kick then a spin kick with the other leg. Distancing himself by leaping backwards, the Majin chuckled when a thought came to mind. Heh, a battle genius, his counterpart was the same as him, almost.
His alternate did have a lot of noticeable weaknesses. Neko-ken training, Ranma's weakness on cats, didn't know how that happened but the boy was very scared of them. Second was the one Kasumi talked about, Ranma's ego, he didn't want to get into that. Ugh, like he mentioned earlier, a lot of weaknesses, and he planned on using one of them against the boy now.
"Hmm… now that I think of it, might I suggest the term Genma's bitch? I think that suits you more, if you know what I mean…" the hybrid teased some more with a familiar smirk that will irritate the hell out of anyone, himself included.
"Argh!"
Ranma recklessly threw himself forward, causing the Majin's smirk to widen. This was all too easy! The hybrid ducked under the attack, grabbed one of Ranma's arms and twisted as he got behind Genma's son. Wasting no time, the Majin quickly placed his other hand on his counterpart's throat, his sharp, claw-like, fingers threatening to slice it wide open.
"Tsk, tsk, temper, temper," the Majin admonished, his sharp fingers going back and forth on his alternate's throat. He leaned closer and whispered, "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, but I can't help it, it's in my nature." He grinned as he swiftly slashed Ranma's throat, but he never intended it to be fatal. He slashed it just enough so he could scoop up some blood with his finger. Still holding Ranma, the hybrid stared at his blood-covered finger for a moment before licking some of it in delight, much to the shock of his counterpart.
"As I thought, a full-blooded human…" the hybrid whispered in a sad voice, his eyes becoming distant for a few seconds.
Noticing that the Majin had his guard down, Ranma elbowed his counterpart in the stomach, allowing him to escape from his grasp. He coughed a little and clutched his wounded throat as he jumped back and glared at the hybrid, "You… you sick freak!"
Majin Ranma chuckled, licking the rest of his alternate's blood off his finger, "Why thank you."
"Grr…"
"Sigh, I can clearly see that we will never understand each other, me with my forcefulness in pounding the truth to you and you with your stubbornness and stupidity in your refusal to see the truth, so let's just settle it with our fists shall we, Baka-Ranma?"
"Then shut up and fight! Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma snarled as he punched his counterpart's chest area hundreds of times before punching Majin Ranma's face and stomach with just about the same number of punches. He topped it all off with a Saotome Forbidden Technique, the Mouko Kaimon Ha, which flung the stunned Majin well across the empty lot.
Majin Ranma shakily tried to get up, spitting out red human blood as he did so. A small smile was on his face, as if rejoicing on the fact that his alternate can really walk the walk. His eyes widened as he threw up blood again, not to mention that his Dark Force wound opened up and bled anew as well. 'I… I was sure… I blocked most of his punches… even his last attack… no… it can't be…'
'Sorry Oyaji, but he's too damn tough to beat with the Amazon techniques alone,' Saotome Ranma thought with a frown as he slowly approached Majin Ranma, his hands glowing light blue. His frown deepened when he heard his opponent chuckle softly, then it became louder and louder as he stood up. "You may be Saotome Ranma in your world, but you ain't and will not be me! It will never happen!"
Majin Ranma lunged forward at unparalleled speed and drove his fingers into his counterpart's stomach, "How would you know? The way I figure it, human or no, you are just one step away from turning into me!" With that, he did an upward slashing motion, similar to what Raizen did to him, causing his alternate to have a wound that was about as large and as deep as his own.
Then, Déjà vu happened. Just like his fight with Raizen, it happened all over again when Ranma countered as he thrust his hand forward, palms flat, and sunk his fingers into Majin Ranma's chest. This time though, a blue light surrounded both fighters for a brief moment. The Majin snarled and kicked Ranma in the chest to throw him back. The two men recovered quickly and distanced themselves, but it was clear that neither one would be able to fight much longer.
Majin Ranma smirked as he gasped for breath, "I'm impressed, you have no training in reiki yet you unconsciously use it in your attacks, making it much more powerful than I ever expected… heh, Nodoka's son indeed." Before Ranma could respond, the hybrid formed an energy ball in front of him and swiftly kicked it to his counterpart's direction.
"Reikou Resshuu Kou Kyuu Dan!"
A Shi Shi Hokodan? No problem. A Happo Dai-Karin? He could handle that. A Kijin Raishu Dan? Painful, but he could take one or two hits. But Majin Ranma's reiki blast weren't any of those, and Ranma damn well knew it. The angled ki blast literally flung him around a hundred feet in the air, and with his body wracked in pain, he could only watch as the Majin leapt after him and blasted him with yet another one.
This time, the pain was too great. He crashed down to the pavement, creating a large crater in doing so. He couldn't move, he couldn't feel anything, he was helpless, and he had a feeling that he would be killed by his bloodsucking counterpart soon enough.
"Don't worry. I have no intention of killing you… yet. I'm simply gonna let you lie there to think about the things that I told you. Ja ne, Ranko-chan," Majin Ranma whispered as he walked away from his counterpart, stomping on Ranma's head while he was at it.
"Kuso…" Ranma cursed as he looked at the hybrid's retreating figure before losing consciousness.
Majin Ranma limply went back to his room and sat at a corner as he placed a glowing hand over his chest, trying to close the wound Raizen made. "Well, what do you know? He really can fight…" he chuckled out. "Although he seems to have a problem with killing people," he paused and rubbed the spot where his alternate buried his hand earlier, it was not as deep as he thought it would be. "Though I'm sure I can fix that in time."
With the wound closed up temporarily, he called out his wings and flew out of the house. "Finally… I thought I'd never sense any other demon in this world besides the one that kept on disappearing. Let's see… wow, there sure are a lot of them tonight. Hmm, due east, ah, southeast…"
Nodding to himself, he flapped his wings once and then headed towards the group of demons, hoping that they would at least be powerful enough to allow him to recover a lot of his strength. But first, he flew back to the large, empty, scorched lot and smirked when he saw that his counterpart was still knocked out from his attack.
"I wonder what he'd think when he finally kills someone… I can see it clearly… with the life he has, and if it continues, it won't be for long…" he mused as he went on his way.
He knew himself well, too well…
Home World
Back in the past, Rayne stealthily moved past a group of soldiers. She really wasn't in the mood to fight them, as she hadn't fully recovered from the wounds she received with her little skirmish with Dante. Thinking about that demon really renewed her desire to shove her blade up his pompous ass.
The Devil Hunter was extremely pissed when the redhead suddenly embraced him just before she sunk her fangs into his neck. To Dante, it was a very good thing that he already had his guns in his hands, as he quickly shot at Rayne, grazing her on the leg and of course pissing her off because of it.
A day had passed since then, and the two eventually 'agreed' to work with each other. However, it didn't mean that they would tolerate the other if they did something wrong, and that jerk of a Devil Hunter just did something to piss her off. He suddenly disappeared when she was busy in assassinating a Nazi general. No trace, no scent, no nothing.
Well, she really didn't expect him to be a team player, but he could've at least told her that he was leaving. Its not that she cared for him or anything, she was more interested in those guns he carried, especially the one that can be attached on an arm. What did he call it? Oh, right, the Nightmare-Beta.
Anyway, back to the mission, she was making her way up the castle. Her mission was simple enough, get the unholy relic, the Heart of Beliar away from the Supreme Commander of the Nazis, Jurgen Wulf. She herself had one unholy relic, one Eye of Beliar that forcefully attached itself to her eye, but Wulf had several of Beliar's parts already attached to his body, making him more powerful than any human on the face of the Earth. That bastard was also the one who almost killed her five years ago when she and her former partner, Mynce, were on a mission in Louisiana.
Her partner and mentor, Mynce, hmph, that woman was nothing more than a traitorous bitch. Mynce faked her death in their mission in Louisiana. The truth was that she was actually working for Jurgen Wulf, she said so herself when they recently 'talked' face to face. Still, Rayne felt something amiss when she fought her, like why her former partner was holding back and hesitating in her attacks. Oh well, it was too late now, she did threw Mynce off the cliff.
Rayne finally arrived at the top, but there was no sign of Wulf anywhere, just two Nazis who looked alike fighting a group of vampire mutations. Checking her target list, she smiled when one of the pictures matched that of the two Nazis. 'Time to go to work' with that thought, she entered the room and prepared herself for an inevitable fight.
"Ah, the doppelganger twins, Simon and Sigmund Krieger, what a pleasant surprise. Such handsome Nazis… and two of them," Rayne moaned, licking her lips and showing her fangs for the twins to see.
The first one, Sigmund Krieger, stepped up and smiled at the redhead woman who had ruined their plans for quite some time, "We had no idea that the troublemaker…"
The second one, Simon Krieger, continued for his brother, "…Would be as beautiful as you are."
Rayne smiled seductively, "And gentlemanly, my luck is turning."
The twins laughed at that, and Rayne, for the heck of it, chuckled along with them. It took awhile, but they eventually managed to compose themselves. Followed closely by his brother, Sigmund took another step forward and asked, "What is your name Fraulein?"
The redhead damphir smiled and shook her head, "Why bother with names, this will be no more than a one night stand," she said, looking at her reflection from one of her blades.
Sigmund was a little crestfallen, bowing his head slightly, "Ah, that is too bad."
"A shame really, we are hoping for…" Simon began, shaking his head in disappointment.
"…Something more of a commitment," Sigmund finished.
Okay, this twin talk was starting to get on her nerves. Frankly, there were only three people who had ticked her off in this mission. One was the white-haired man in red, nuff said, the second one was Jurgen Wulf, Supreme Commander and an inhuman son of a bitch, and the last one was a monster who could multiply in numbers when someone attacked it. The monster called itself Hedrox and the way it repeated itself over and over again was truly irritating. "You know… you two remind me of someone."
"Someone… you're fond of?" Sigmund asked hopefully.
Rayne smiled slightly, "I wouldn't go that far, just someone I killed again, and again, and again, and again…"
"Haha!" Sigmund laughed.
"She speaks of Hedrox," Simon muttered with an amused expression.
It was then that Rayne noticed that the twins were missing an arm. Curiosity taking over, she pointed her blades towards it and nonchalantly asked, "So, you boys lost an arm playing catch?"
"No, we were born conjoined…" Simon began, looking at his brother.
"…But sadly, separated soon after birth," Sigmund finished, looking at his brother as well.
"Well, when I'm done, you'll both be missing more than an arm." Rayne went into her fighting stance as she jumped forward and did a downward slash that was intended to cut the twins in half but the two men simultaneously leapt to their side to avoid the attack.
Simon laughed, pulling out a few knives from the back of his uniform, "Haha, we don't miss an arm…"
Sigmund soon joined his brother in laughter as he pulled out a weapon of his own, "…We miss the connection we once had."
Rayne smirked, standing up slowly and pointing her blades to the both of them, "You boys are too much, now this might hurt a little."
The twins quickly got behind the two thick pillars that were present in the room, all the while throwing knives at the redhead. Blocking the knives with the flat side of her blades, Rayne rushed in and quickly went for one of the twins, Simon. It proved to be no small feat because whenever she was about to deliver a blow to him, his brother Sigmund would either throw a set of knives to her back that would force her to turn and deflect it, or Sigmund would keep her busy with a barrage of bullets while Simon got inside her defenses. This was also the same case whenever she went for the other twin.
Fortunately, with a lot of persistence, she managed to get Simon out of the pillar he was hiding on and trapped in a secluded part of the room, completely out of Sigmund's view. She swiped at him with both blades, intending on slicing his head off, but Simon ducked and kicked her on her side, making her grimace in pain when a small blade that was attached at the tip of his boot buried itself to her body. Enduring the pain, she swiftly swiped at Simon and then kicked him away from her as she took a second to look at her wound.
That was all the time she had when Simon got up and chuckled at her, much to her shock. She was absolutely sure that she had cut him deep on the arm, and it didn't seem to affect him one bit. Then, Sigmund stood beside her brother and joined in the laughter as well, this time, much to her annoyance.
Sigmund smirked as a deep stab wound mysteriously appeared on his shoulder, "What a wonderful move little girl!"
Rayne took a few steps back in shock, clutching her wound while gazing back and forth between the doppelganger twins, "What the fuck?"
"Oh, look! We surprised her, brother!" Simon chuckled. There were absolutely no signs of any wound on his body, much to the ever growing puzzlement of the redheaded damphir.
"What a becoming look on her face," Sigmund said with a smile.
"Oh, tell her Sigmund. She should know!" Simon exclaimed, grinning widely.
"As with everything else, we share each others pain…" Sigmund began.
"…One of us is unaffected while the other suffers." Simon finished.
Rayne frowned a little then chuckled as she pointed her blade at Sigmund, then at Simon. "So, you punch yourself when you're mad at your brother?" she asked, amused despite the small grimace that was on her face.
Simon laughed, "Ahaha! She's so quick, we should keep her!"
Sigmund nodded, "We really hate to have to hurt you, pretty girl."
"I wouldn't worry about that. I promise that you won't be able to lay a finger on me again," Rayne vowed as she dashed forward and swiped both twins on the chest, drawing blood, and then she flipped towards the skidding Simon and buried her blade to the arm she struck moments ago. Needless to say, Sigmund definitely felt that, letting off a rather amusing girlish scream as blood gushed out of the huge hole that appeared in his arm.
Retracting the blade, Rayne's fangs showed themselves as she viciously kicked Simon's throat, shutting up the rather sissy screams of his brother and sent him on a violent coughing fit instead. Seemingly undaunted by his brother's well-being, Simon snarled and grabbed one of her blades, parried it, and then elbowed her in the chest, or tried to. The redhead used the flat side of her other blade to block the attack but even that wasn't enough to stop the force placed behind the blow. Rolling back, the redhead got on one knee and glared at Simon as she gasped for breath.
Rayne's eyes were threatening to bore a hole through Simon's chest as she glared at him. Yes, she was caught up in the moment, but that didn't mean that she was unaware of what Sigmund was doing. She knew that the other twin was sneaking up behind her, knife probably in hand, and from the rather rapid swirling of his aura, he was about a second or two away from making his move.
She bowed her head slightly and smiled. Goodbye twins, it was nice meeting you two…
"Naaaarrrghhh!!!" Simon screamed as Rayne spun and impaled his brother Sigmund in the chest with her blade, then, quickly retracted it as she watched the two with cold indifference.
"Simon!" Sigmund shouted, rushing towards his brother, who was slumped in a corner and bleeding profusely from the chest. Checking on his brother for a moment, he slowly got up, turned around, and looked at the redhead with a sad smile. "No need to fight anymore, little girl. You have mortally wounded my brother. I will follow soon…"
Simon gasped out, "She got me."
Sigmund knelt down beside him and shook his head, "No, she got me. I'm sorry brother."
"I can't see… where are you Sigmund?" Simon asked, coughing up some blood.
"I'm here. I'm here with you…" Sigmund told his brother, holding his hand tightly.
"I'm dying… ugh… ahhhh……"
"No!!!" Sigmund screamed to the heavens. He bowed his head as he muttered, "Goodbye Simon." Visibly wincing and coughing up blood seconds after his brother passed away, he looked up at Rayne and smiled, "You… you never told us your name…" he mumbled as he fell lifelessly to the ground.
Rayne merely frowned slightly at the twins before being startled when part of the ceiling suddenly collapsed, revealing a secret room and a set of stairs that she was sure would lead to Hedrox and Jurgen Wulf. Her only problem now was how was she going to get up? It was at least a hundred feet up, even her vampiric abilities won't allow her to jump that high. Just then, as if to answer her question, someone dropped a rope ladder for her to use.
"Now, who could that be? Dante, if it's you, get ready to get your ass kicked," she muttered with a dangerous glint in her eyes. Climbing up the ladder, she leapt up when she reached the top and almost let herself fall back down when she landed in front of a certain someone, "Mynce?!"
"Hello Rayne."
Quickly recovering from shock, Rayne stared at her former partner with a mixture of irritation and boredom, "You know, your whole coming back from the dead act is starting to get old, Mynce."
Mynce smiled a bit before turning serious again, "Rayne, I'm a double agent, ever since that mission in Louisiana."
"You expect me to swallow that?" the redhead snapped.
Mynce nodded, "Yes, I do. Who do you think saved you after Wulf left you for dead in Louisiana? Who do you think led you to the target file in Germany? Who do you think has been your informant this entire time?"
Rayne's eyes widened, then she cursed silently for not noticing it sooner, if she cursed aloud about it, Mynce would surely say some stupid comment about thinking not being her strong point. Her former partner could be one mean bitch at times. Anyway, doubts were still lingering in her mind, but that was mainly because of the ass-kicking she dished out and received when she and Mynce fought each other a little earlier. "I… but…"
"Here," Mynce said calmly, tossing something to the redhead.
"What is…? Officer Name plates…"
"You can check them off your list. Maybe now you'd believe me," Mynce said as she started to walk forward, with Rayne following closely behind.
Taking a moment to look at her list, Rayne frowned a little at first before it curved into a sly smirk. She looked up and asked one simple question, "So, why haven't you killed Wulf yet?"
The double-agent shook her head, "It's not that easy. He is almost invincible with the all relics inside his body. But we can't let him get Beliar's heart. It's the most dangerous piece."
"Hedrox already has it," Rayne said matter-of-factly.
Mynce turned and faced the redhead, "What?"
Rayne shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal, "He doesn't know how to use it though. He's looking for officers to… interrogate." Well, to suck their brains out would be more accurate. That monster had an ability to absorb the knowledge of the persons he targeted, she should know, she almost became its next victim in their last fight.
"I thought the relic was automatic?"
The redhead shrugged again, "I did too, but nothing happened."
Shaking her head, Mynce turned back and continued walking forward, "We need to get that thing away from him and Wulf. The heart could awaken the demon itself, and we can't let that happen… what the hell?!"
A portion of the ceiling suddenly collapsed, and then a red figure fell right in front of the double-agent, startling her even more and causing her to jump back and bump into Rayne. Mynce quickly went into a fighting stance while, to her surprise, her former partner just walked past her and glared at the kneeling figure.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Rayne asked the Devil Hunter.
Shaking his head, Dante stood up and dusted himself as he replied, "Oh, just hanging around."
Mynce raised an eyebrow at the exchange, "Well now, I didn't know you have a new partner."
Rayne quickly got on Mynce's face, "He isn't! I'd rather die than be partnered with him!"
"The feelings damn mutual," Dante muttered, turning his back to the two women. He just had to say that, since he was just thinking about a certain, long-haired blonde before he fell down the ceiling.
"Who are you?" the double-agent asked, but it came out more like a demand.
Dante spun and looked at her, "Dante, a miserable, time traveling Devil Hunter." His brows furrowed slightly when he noticed that the one he was talking to, seemingly ignored his introduction as she was now gaping at him, and then his eyebrow rose up when the woman pointed a shaky finger to his eye. Oh yeah, he almost forgot about that unwanted change in appearance.
"T-That's… Beliar's other eye!" Mynce exclaimed in shock. Seeing Rayne with one of Beliar's eye was a shocker in its own, seeing this half-breed demon with the other was too much to take.
"Huh? Oh this…?" Dante asked, pointing to one of his eyes that now had a red color, "I found this one inside a cave not too far from here. This stupid thing attached itself into my eye and for some damn reason, I can see through anything, even concrete walls when I will myself to," he paused, checking out the two women in front of him, "Well, well, it does have its use after all…"
Rayne quickly caught on, and needless to say, an angry redhead leapt forward and tried to take his head off, "Try that again, pervert, and I'll make sure you won't make it out of here alive."
Dante casually hopped back with a small smirk and did a warding gesture with both hands, "Whoa, easy there babe! You're the one to talk. You're the one who bites into the necks of countless men, not me, you wanton vampire whore. Besides…" he looked her over again before continuing, "…I've seen better."
"As much as I'd like to see this go on," Mynce interrupted, immediately stepping in between Dante and Rayne before the redhead could even retort. "We still have to stop a maniac from obtaining one of the most powerful relics in the world," she stated more to Rayne as she leveled a glare towards her. Seeing that the girl understood the situation, Mynce turned to the Devil Hunter with a small smile, "Now then, Dante was it? I'm only going to ask you one thing, are you going to help us out or not?"
Dante looked her straight in the eye for a few unsettling moments before shrugging, "Sure… why not, but in return, I'd like to talk to you about some of the artifacts that Miss little tramp here told me your little group has, mainly the ones that deals with time travel. Is that proposal acceptable?"
"Fair enough," Mynce quickly answered, trying not to smirk when she sensed that Rayne was getting angrier by the minute, most probably because of the little tramp comment. Not wanting to wait for a reaction, she turned her head to the side and motioned for the redhead to join them, "Come along Rayne, we still have a heart to catch."
Mynce ran ahead of them as she led the way, with Dante and Rayne not too far behind. When she climbed a set of stairs, she was startled when a steel gate suddenly dropped down behind her, separating her from her two partners. She didn't quite know what happened afterward. All she saw was Dante changed into a winged demon and thrust his sword forward, as if attacking someone that seemingly wasn't there.
Jurgen Wulf was fast, him having received a relic that made it possible for him to run at inhuman speed, but Dante was simply faster than the Supreme Commander. Of course that was mainly due to his transformed state that enhanced his speed and strength tenfold but he was faster nonetheless. The Devil Hunter thrust his sword though the steel gate and did a side swipe from right to left that would've surely taken Wulf's head off if he didn't stop his intended surprise attack on Mynce.
To his disappointment, Wulf did notice it, but not before being nicked on the shoulder by the tip of Alastor followed by a small electrical shock that singed part of his uniform. The Supreme Commander backed away, clutched his wounded shoulder, and snarled at the Devil Hunter before dashing out of the room at his usual inhuman speed and muttering the words, "Curse you demon!"
Dante shifted back to his human form and silently cursed, pulling out his sword from the other side of the gate and strapping it on his back.
Mynce backed up against the wall, clutching her chest while trembling slightly and staring wide-eyed at the place where Wulf stood a moment ago. She knew that she would've died had it not have been for Rayne's partner, for Wulf was too fast for her to notice even with her vampiric senses when he came rushing into the room.
By this time, Rayne finally managed to tear the gate down. She quickly went over to her mentor and frantically asked if she was alright, which Mynce put her at ease with a simple, albeit stupefied nod. Her mentor then turned and thanked the hunter for saving her, that pompous ass simply said that he'll collect his reward later. Knowing him, it could mean either way. Well, there was time for that later. Right now, her desire to have Wulf's head at the tip of her blades grew with the stunt he just tried to pull.
The climb up wasn't so far, but there were a few Nazi soldiers left, a quick introduction with a flying, spinning Alastor took care of that though. When they arrived at the very top room of the castle, a gate suddenly dropped behind them, preventing them from going back. The room was quite simple enough. It was a circular room with a set of stairs to the side that they assumed would lead to the small circular ledge at the very top of the room.
Monsters, Hedrox' copies to be accurate, surrounded the center of the room. Two figures could be seen in the middle, it was none other than Jurgen Wulf and Hedrox, discussing something important, probably the heart. Taking a few steps forward, the trio stood at the side and watched as to where this conversation would lead to.
"Give me the heart, Hedrox," Wulf demanded, taking a short glance at Dante and Rayne.
The monster Hedrox shook its head and growled out, "No! It's mine!" he yelled back. He snapped his head up when he noticed Rayne and Dante. Chuckling softly, he regarded everyone with a fanged smile, "So glad you all are here… you brought Beliar's parts for Hedrox…" he slurred.
"Ugh, God, how I hate that voice…" Rayne grumbled.
Hedrox smiled as he tossed something towards the redhead, "Heheh, here's a present for your collection Rayne."
Grabbing it in the air, the redhead raised an eyebrow at what she saw. It was an Officer Name plate. "Lt. Bogue… I guess he's off my list. Hmm… that just leaves Wulf."
"He guessed the secret for Hedrox," Hedrox chuckled darkly.
"Tasty," One of Hedrox' copies added in delight.
"The secret, the secret is hidden within," Hedrox continued, a black aura was slowly enveloping him, causing Dante, Rayne, Mynce and Wulf to step back as the aura began to grow bigger.
"The secret," another copy added, creating an annoying echo to an already annoying voice.
Wulf cursed, dashing past the trio as he ran upstairs. The so-called big bad guy was running away… not good.
"Ah! Hedrox can feel it! Beliar's black heart… it is powerful!" With that final exclamation, Hedrox was completely swallowed by the dark aura. Pretty soon, Hedrox' copies began to die one by one. A few more seconds and the dark aura dissipated, revealing a red skeletal form of a monster that was at least twenty feet tall, its skeletal fingers were long and sharp, very much like claws, and lastly, the heart could be seen at its exposed skeletal chest, beating slowly and rhythmically.
The monster stomped hard several times before letting off a deafening roar as it gathered power from the center of the room, "There is no more Hedrox! Beliar is born again!"
Dante blinked twice, then whistled, "That's one evil stickman…" He then winced when Rayne nudged him hard on the side as she leveled a glare at him.
Mynce looked at Dante and Rayne before pointing at Beliar, "Without the rest of the parts that Wulf and the two of you possess, the demon is incomplete. He is only in his skeletal form, but his power is still superior to any one of us."
Beliar stood at the center, looked up at Jurgen Wulf, and then regarded the two half-breeds with a growl, "Now… each of you…" he began, pointing towards Wulf, Rayne and Dante, "…has something that belongs to me!"
Rayne smiled, her blades at the ready, "You're gonna have to come and get it."
Dante swiftly dashed forward and tried to slice Beliar in two but his sword didn't even made a dent into its body. Beliar swung an arm towards the Devil Hunter, to which he barely avoided by hopping a couple of feet back. He glared at the monster as he muttered, "Its armor… just like Despair Embodied…"
"Aim for the heart!" Rayne yelled, readying her guns. Mynce too, also grabbed one of the many discarded guns on the floor and was busy reloading it.
"…The heart? I got it!" Dante yelled back, quickly aiming his youki-charged twin guns at Beliar's black heart, but he couldn't quite aim properly because Jurgen Wulf began shooting at them from the very top floor of the castle. Rayne and Mynce took cover on one of the pillars while Dante had a hard time doing so because Beliar was right on his tail. After a few flips and rolls, he finally managed to take cover on one of the pillars, long enough to shout at the two women, "Go! I'll take care of things down here!"
Rayne nodded, her face held none of the anger she had against him earlier. She and Mynce ran to the stairs leading to the top, intent on making the bastard pay for what he did to the two of them.
Dante didn't have any time to react when Beliar drove one of his long claws right through the pillar and skewered him just a little below his chest, the pain making him drop Alastor to the ground. He screamed as the Demon Lord shook him back and forth in the air, all the while chuckling darkly at the amount of blood he was getting out of the hunter. The son of Sparda was being thrown around like a rag doll, until both of his arms were literally set on fire.
He clasped his hands together and a massive flame burst erupted underneath him and Beliar. He then cupped his hands and a fireball formed afterwards. He lifted his arms up and allowed the fireball fall behind him, blasting Beliar's gigantic claw with the projectile. It was not even dented, but the impact was enough to free him from his impalement as it flung him across the room.
The hunter rolled a few times and then went to one knee as he called for his discarded sword. The moment the sword returned to him, he flipped it up and then threw it to Beliar, more precisely, Beliar's exposed heart. What surprised him was that just as it was about to impale the heart, Beliar was suddenly surrounded with flames of his own, flames that deflected Alastor like it was nothing, then, the Demon Lord suddenly grew taller and larger, making it even more powerful than ever before.
Smiling for whatever reason, Dante leapt up, grabbed his sword in the air, and strapped it back in place. Pulling out his two favorite guns, Ebony and Ivory, he jumped on Beliar's arm and proceeded to hop his way to the heart. Beliar was too engrossed in the power surge provided by his growth that by the time he came to his senses, Dante, in his demon form, was already in front of his now gigantic heart and he was looking at him straight in those hollow eye sockets as he gave him one helluva smirk.
"Jackpot!"
One fully-powered demon blast to the exposed heart was all it took to destroy the Demon Lord. Its body exploded on the spot and its remains vanished into nothing as soon as they hit the floor, all of it except for Beliar's black heart.
Wulf was a big disappointment the moment Beliar went down. Don't get them wrong, he was an absolute powerhouse, firing at the two vampires with precision accuracy and then attacking them close-up with his inhuman strength and speed that would have killed a normal person a hundred times over. Rayne and Mynce could barely even stand up when he was finished with his first attack, but the distraction provided by the defeated Beliar and the Devil Hunter proved to be invaluable when Wulf turned to look at them for a brief moment.
A second was all Rayne needed when she leapt at him with her last ounce of strength and sliced one of his arms off his shoulder. Further distracted by the pain he was feeling, Jurgen Wulf screamed when Mynce also lunged at him and sliced both of his legs off before, in her rage, slicing another body part down below. The two women finished his miserable existence when they bit into his neck before swiftly slicing the Supreme Commander's head off.
It was flung across the room before falling down and landing right in front of the kneeling Devil Hunter, and needless to say, nothing was left of it when Dante crushed it with his flame-covered gauntlet.
Seeing this, Rayne and Mynce couldn't help but laugh even in their injured state.
"Dante, did you destroy the heart?" Rayne shouted from the top.
Dante was just about to do so. He stood beside it and was about to grab it when it suddenly changed colors, then it slid down and fell into the large grate in the middle. For a moment there, he was about to curse out loud, but he paused for a moment before shrugging to himself. He looked up to Rayne and Mynce and gave them a thumbs up as he stood up and limply walked up the stairs to join them.
Oh well, it was as good as dead anyway.
At the present, somewhere in Ningenkai, a figure riding a red motorcycle sped past most of the vehicles in the highway. A few minutes later, the figure finally arrived in a small, seemingly deserted city. Deserted because there was not a human in sight, but those that had been here before knew the reason for that. Demons, demons roam the streets at night, and the only ones that prevented them from taking over the city entirely were because of the Devil Hunters.
They were located in one of the city slums, and their place was called 'Devil Never Cry'. Stopping right in front of said place, the rider got off of the motorcycle and slowly took of the helmet to reveal a familiar Devil Hunter, a long-haired blonde that went by the name Trish. Shaking her head for a moment, she placed the helmet on the motorcycle, then casually walked up the stairs and opened the door.
What awaited her inside though, was not the man in red, but a redheaded woman dressed in fairly odd clothing. Not knowing what to expect next, Trish raised a hand up and to the surprise of the redhead, a large sword flew out of nowhere and went to the blonde's hand. She quickly pointed it towards the woman and asked, "Who are you?"
The redhead jerked slightly, absently playing with a coin in her hands as she replied, "Um… oh, you must be Dante's partner, er, Trish, is it?"
Trish's eyebrow shot up, "I asked for your name, red."
The redhead jumped again but quickly answered, "Um, my name is Lucia. Dante came into my village to learn more about his father and his demonic heritage," she trailed off.
Oh boy, the blonde knew where this was going, "Let me guess, something went wrong and an evil demon or whatever appeared that forced him to fight and being the guy that he is, he successfully killed the bad guy and saved the place, island, country, world, whatever from being invaded by demons."
Lucia blinked, "Uh… yes, that's about it."
Trish dropped the sword slightly and sighed, "Typical. So, where is he now?"
"…Hell…"
The blonde's eyes narrowed as she glared at her before pointing the sword to the redhead's face again, "What in the world does that mean?"
Lucia struggled for words to say, that was until she noticed that Trish was beginning to glow brightly. "It's a very long story, and I don't want to bother you with… urk!" she stopped when the blonde pushed the sword a little, hitting her throat just a bit.
"Humor me."
Back in Makai, Hiei cursed to the nth time. Running, they were running away, damn it all. Kurama called it a strategic retreat, he called it a coward's way out. He didn't understand why they had to run away. He and Mukuro wiped them all out by combining their powers, with her using her barrier to trap them and him using his Ensatsu Koukuryu Ha to turn them into dust. It was then that Mukuro immediately called out for a retreat, surprising him greatly considering they just finished their enemies.
He had heard that those things would regenerate given time but he was a little bit skeptical. Had he seen it happen with his own eyes, yes, he would not complain about the order to retreat but he didn't see it with his eyes so the doubt was still there.
He was shaken out of his thoughts when he noticed that Kurama and Mukuro were busy talking about something, something that seemed to be of utmost importance if the seriousness on their faces were any indication. Slowly, he walked towards them and caught their attention as he growled out, "What's the problem now?"
Mukuro regarded the Jaganshi for a moment before answering, "We have just gotten a report saying that all of the towns and cities in Makai have either been destroyed or taken over, only a number of demons made it out and they are now making their way towards us. Hiei, we have no choice, we have to go to Ningenkai, and I don't care what Reikai says about it. It's the only thing we can do to save the remaining demons left."
Hiei frowned but kept quiet. He was rather busy thinking about a certain family member back in Ningenkai as he absently held the two tear gems he had around his neck.
Kurama stepped up, "I get it. We'll open the gate connecting the two realms and enter Ningenkai, then have the Reikai Special Defense Team to immediately close it to prevent those monsters from coming into the human realm, finally, we deal with Reikai itself."
Mukuro nodded, "Yes, that's the only thing we can do…"
Kisin sat comfortably on Berial's throne at the disturbingly empty Aensland Castle, his Legendary Sword in hand. "The scourges are finally reunited," he said with an evil grin, eyeing the three figures standing in front of him. The one in the middle was male, while the two figures at the sides were definitely female.
"No, not yet," the tall, multi-armed man in the middle said in an inhuman voice, "One of us is still missing. Where is the bearer of the other Legendary Sword? Where is the other Legendary Devil, Kisin?"
The white-haired demon shook his head, "He won't be coming back anymore for I fear that he has died several years ago," he stated in a calm voice, but the three figures did not miss the anger that was present in it as well. "In any case, I'm glad to finally see all of you again. It has been such a long time."
"Indeed," the long-haired woman that was standing on the right chuckled out. She was wearing a long dark cloak that concealed her body and she was holding a fairly long staff that had a spherical, crystal top. "I thought I'd never get out from being sealed and frozen underneath the sea of ice, Daimakai. I thank you for your work on the seal, nicely done old friend."
Kisin chuckled, but he waved it off.
The man in the middle snorted, "He couldn't have done it without the surprising death of Dohma. You know that, Dark Sorceress Cerridwen," he growled in disdain as he glanced at the dark-cloaked woman.
Cerridwen smiled, "I know, but I wanted to see your reaction Teoyaomqui, oh great creator of Meikai," she mocked as she turned and gave the multi-armed man a disrespectful bow. "Hmph, the only thing I like about you is the fact that you despise Reikai as much as I do," she said with a smirk.
The creator of Meikai smirked back, "Trust me, the feeling is mutual, the feeling is mutual, oh creator of the two great seas of Makai." It was his turn to mock the woman, but to his dismay, she didn't bite, she just gave him a smile that said 'Nice try, but I'm not going to fall for my own trick jackass'.
Kisin quickly interrupted, "Now, now, there will be time to play with each other later. Right now, let's focus on continuing our mission to destroy this wretched demonic realm shall we?" he paused when the third figure, the other demoness that had emerald green hair and was wearing some kind of ancient battle armor, turned her head to the side and stared intently at the large portrait of a certain succubus.
Grinning widely, Kisin chuckled as he said, "Whoa! I didn't know you swung that way, Nemetona!"
Nemetona froze in place, her face showing no emotion. Just then, Berial's throne suddenly exploded, startling the rest of the scourges from the strength of the blast.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," Kisin, in his full demon form, apologized as he hovered above Berial's destroyed throne. He suddenly snapped his head up when he felt something, then a grin made its way to his face as he looked down at the three scourges in front off him and said, "…The three rulers fell for it…"
Fata-Morgana walked forward, taking a glance at the huge snake demon watching her from the side every now and then. As much as she hated it, she now worked for the scourges, Kisin somehow knew of her weakness with a blessed crystalline gem. She looked down and frowned when the gem that was embedded at the center of her chest flickered slightly. It was clear to her that if she did one wrong move, she'd meet her maker much sooner than she hoped.
Well, might as well make the best of it, since she had one powerful snake guardian to push around. Kisin ordered his guardian to follow her orders, which was quite alright since if she did decide to betray them, the gem would see to it that she died slowly and painfully. That was something she wasn't looking forward to, not yet anyway.
The Sorceress Cerridwen ordered her to capture one very special demon, a demon that knew more than he was willing to tell. "This Youko Kurama… he reminds me of 'him' for some strange reason…" the dark songstress mused as she vanished along with her snake guardian.
The Other World
"Ah! That hit the spot!" Majin Ranma sighed happily as he assimilated the last of the thirteen minor demons that were roaming around certain parts of the city that night. Flying back to where his other self was, he was surprised to see him gone. Either Ranma had faster recovery ability than he did, or someone helped him off the street. Heh, not that it mattered, he was going to find a way to leave this world as soon as he got the info out of Nodoka.
Come to think of it, he really didn't have any plan whatsoever ever since coming here. Not good, he must at least have one, for he might screw up at some point and things could go spiraling down from there. Sighing, he landed on the roof of a fairly large house, folded his wings, and sat down. 'Okay Ranma, think… I know I'm not a super genius like my brother but I have to think of all the possibilities and scenarios for each of the things I do from now on…'
The pigtailed boy was quite startled when a stray thought came to mind in the form a cute, flat-chested, annoying and irritating succubus. 'Now where did that come from?'
Now that she came into mind, he wondered what happened to her. Last time he saw her, they were inside Jedah's master chambers, after Lilith tried to ahem do things to him. Oh, that reminded him, the hair that tied his pigtail together changed colors, it changed from bright purple to emerald green. It was still tied firmly, but he felt that it was not as strong as before. 'I wonder what happened to her… is she still in Gilala Gila? Sigh… I want to know what happened to all of them. Mister, Lilith, that nice cat lady, even those cute bees… I have to find a way to get back there…'
"Okay… first, I'll find out the history of my family in this world… I'd never be able to do it in my world with my hateful mom. After that, I'll fully heal myself with the rituals and then I'll find a way back to my own world."
Having decided on the things he should do, Majin Ranma got up and sighed as he stretched his demonic wings. He was about to fly back to Nodoka's house when something caught his attention. He focused his senses and after a short while, he buried his face in his hand as a tired and frustrated smile slowly creased his face. 'Oh, you have got to be kidding me…'
"World Shaking!"
"Deep Submerge!"
AN: Mwahahahaha! Dunno, just felt like putting them in there… yup, it felt right to put them face to face with a psychotic, bloodthirsty, soul-stealing, unstable, demonic boy that was currently on the verge of snapping. Nah, actually, Majin Ranma has been a busy little bee the past few days, right? I mean, rituals, dark auras, flying every night, kicking NWC asses, mainly his own ass but y'know, so of course someone was bound to notice him and his demonic powers besides Cologne and Happi. Of course it didn't help that he was in Juuban when he assimilated those demons.
Whew, that was a long chappie. This was supposed to be separated into two to three chapters but I thought that I should combine them for the heck of it, that's why I took so long to update it. The scourges were taken from various mythologies, Celtic, Aztec, Maya, Irish Celtic, Fijian, and Welsh. I did a variation on their abilities and their looks, and did alterations with their histories to suit the story.
Next: Otherworldly Reunion III: Dreams to Nightmares