An Army of One...or Twenty Seven
Xiaoxing's shrill cry of despair snapped Mousse back to reality. Mousse saw Lloyd's hand tense on the sword. The others watched uncertainly, nervously, afraid. "Stop!" shouted Mousse. "Huh?" said Lloyd. Mousse walked over to Lloyd and grasped his shoulder. "Put your sword away, Lloyd," he said. "They mean us no harm." "But they," began Lloyd. "Trust me," said Mousse firmly. Lloyd hesitantly obeyed. "Release her," said Mousse. Lloyd let the frightened girl go. Mousse examined her neck. "No permanenet damage," he said after a moment. "Some bleeding, superficial cut, no deep wound. You'll be fine, Xiaoxing." The girl's eyes sparked with recognition. "Mousse?!" she said incredulously. He nodded. He tood up and sighed. "My apologies, ladies," he said, "but you must admit you left my friend little recourse in the manner of your arrival. Who of you can say they would not have done the same in his position? Don't worry, we're not going to try anything. Come out here."
After a moment, five more figures stepped forward into the dim firelight. They were all women. Mousse could not keep a straight face. His mouth broke into a wide grin. The women could not keep their apparent happiness contained either. Mousse stepped forward to a reddish brown haired woman, about twenty. They warmly embraced each other, hugging each other tightly. "Ah, Ryoko, my dear, it has been far too long," whispered Mousse. Ryoko said nothing, attempting to hold back tears. He moved over to a brown haired woman with pink highlights, around the same age as Ryoko. Mousse hugged her next. "Megumi-chan, you're looking well!" said Mousse. "You've taken good care of yourself, I see." She nodded. but said nothing. Mousse went to a pink-tipped brown haired girl, whose long locks fell into her face, completely obscuring her eyes. It was hard to tell her age, but she looked a bit younger than Ryoko and Megumi. Mousse hugged her and said, "Midori! How are you? Keeping the team together, huh?" She too nodded, and blushed. He next embraced a dark-haired ninja woman, a mask covering her mouth. She looked in her mid-twenties. "Asuka, Asuka, Asuka," said Mousse. "Have you become a true ninja yet?" She shook her head sadly. He came to a red-haired girl, who seemed a bit older than all the others, but it may just have been her demeanor. Mousse hugged her. She hugged him too, hesitantly at first, but soon giving in to her emotions. "Aoi, my delicate rose," said Mousse. "You're the same as ever."
Finally he went over to the small girl that Lloyd had captured, the young blonde. She happily hugged him and exclaimed, "So good to see Mousse again!" The other women smiled at this. Mousse laughed as he swung her around in a circle and set her back down. The group just watched Mousse as he completed his greetings of these women who had come out of nowhere. Sheena thought, Well, come to think of it, we sorta came out of nowhere too. "Why, Xiaoxing, you haven't aged a day!" Mousse said, a little surprised. Xiaoxing said nothing. The other women seemed uncomfortable. "What?" said Mousse. "Don't tell me I've hit too close to the mark on her? I didn't mean it like that." Ryoko shifted on her feet. "No, the problem is exactly how you said it," she said. "Xiaoxing has not aged a day. Not for four years." Mousse staggered, shocked. "Wha-what?" he asked.
Presea snapped her head up. "What caused this to occur?" asked Presea. "We're not sure," said Megumi, "but we assume it has something to do with that thing around her neck. Show them, Xiao." Xiaoxing unbuttoned her coat a few buttons and pulled the sides apart, exposing her neck and the center of her upper chest. There, about halfway down her breastbone, was a black metallic object. It was nearly circular, and seemed to be directly attached to her skin. The entire group from Sylvarant and Tethe'alla gasped in surprise. "It's an Exsphere!" exclaimed Lloyd. "No, it's not. It's a Cruxis Crystal!" "So, then, perhaps her condition is similar to my previous experience?" suggested Presea. "You mean how you stopped aging?" asked Shinnosuke. Raine nodded. "Yes," she said. "The same is probably the case for Xiaoxing. Lloyd, perhaps you could turn that refined piece of inhibitor ore into a Key Crest for her?" Lloyd nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Hey everyone, I've noticed that there's a massive amount of inhibitor ore down in the crater. I think I"ll take this oppurtunity to go get some, and make Key Crests for all of you to go with your Exspheres."
Ranma looked at Mousse. "Okay," said Ranma, "but take someone with you. We don't want you to get caught alone." Lloyd nodded. "Do you want me to get some for them, too?" asked Lloyd, indicating the recent intruders. "Yes, please," said Mousse. "What's going on?' asked Asuka. "Well, why don't we explain it to you while we're waiting for Lloyd to return?" suggested Raine. "That sounds good," said Ryoko. "And perhaps you can tell us why you tried to kidnap me?" said Genis, not without a little bitterness. "Of course," said Ryoko. "We'd be happy to." Genis did not expect that. "Alright, I think I'll go ahead and go with Lloyd," said Sheena. "I've already heard the first story. And you can tell me theirs later." They all nodded. "If you don't mind, I think I'll go too," said Zelos. Lloyd was okay with it, but he was afraid that Sheena would want to be alone with him and wouldn't want Zelos around. To his surprise she spoke up and said, "Sure, Zelos. Let's go." She didn't say it sarcastically, or rudely. She meant it. Lloyd was finding out women were a lot harder to figure out than he ever imagined. "Okay, we'll be back in a little while," said Lloyd. He, Zelos, and Sheena walked quietly out into the night through the wall of trees.
Sheena reached into a pocket a took out a flask. Unscrewing it, she took a long drink. She sighed, smiled, and looked into the sky. Sheena noticed the guys looking at her. She offered the flask. "Want some?" she asked. "What is it?" asked Zelos, tenatively. "Ranma gave it to me," she explained. "It's some kind of alcohol. Called tequila." "Tequila, huh?" said Zelos, taking the flask and sniffing it. "Smells good," he said, and hesitantly took a swig. He swallowed it and nodded his head to one side. He coughed a little. "Pretty good," he said. "I've had some stronger, though. I don't think I want any more." "Can I try some?" asked Lloyd. Sheena and Zelos looked at him doubtfully. "It might put some hairs on your chest," said Zelos. "Are you sure?" asked Sheena. "I mean, it's pretty strong. And you're only-" "Who cares how old I am?!" said Lloyd. "Doesn't matter here, anyhow. No drinking laws." Sheena shrugged, and handed him the flask. He sniffed it. "Humph," he said. Sheena nudged Zelos. "This outta be good!" she whispered to him.
Lloyd took a sip. Sheena and Zelos waited eagerly. Nothing happened. Lloyd looked at the flask appraisingly. "It's okay," he said. They fell over. "Wh-what?" said Zelos. Lloyd downed a few swallows of it and wiped his mouth. "Dirk makes better stuff," Lloyd said, tossing the closed flask into Sheena's hands. "I forgot you were raised by a dwarf," Sheena grumbled. They came over the ridge. The meteor bathed the crater in an unearthly violet light. Zelos shivered. "Let's do this fast, okay?" he said.
They slid down the inner slope and brushed themselves off. "You know what to look for, right?" aske Lloyd. "Yeah," they said unanimously. They walked in a circle around te crater wall, searching and collecting suitable pieces of ore to make into Key Crests. "So, what do you think is going on with those strange women?" asked Sheena as she examined the rocks. "Ohhhh, they were gorgeous!" said Zelos. "Besides that," said Sheena. "I dunno," said Lloyd. "Mousse seems to know them, and I think a few of the others do too. I think those are those Shinsengumi girls they talked about earlier." "I wonder what they wanted with Genis?" mused Sheena. "Yeah, why didn't they try to take me instead?" whined Zelos. They ignored him. "Well, at any rate, I'm sure they'll work out something," said loyd. "They seemed to share a really close friendship with Mousse. What I want to know is why he's friends with them, and what was going on with them kidnapping Genis." "I'm sure we'll find out when we get back," said Sheena.
"Don't you mean, if we get back?" said Zelos in a trembling voice. "What are you talking about?" asked Sheena, annoyed. He pointed. They followed his finger. Lloyd's jaw dropped. "What the hell?!"
"And that's why we trying to kidnap that guy," said Ryoko. The group nodded. Colette cocked her head to the side. "Did anyone, just hear that?" she asked. "Hear what?" asked Taro. "That scream," said Colette. "It sounded like Sheena!" "Damn," said Mousse. "We're on it!" said Ryoko. They were gone in a flash. Taro stood up. "I'm going to follow them," he said. "Alright, but take this," said Mousse. He handed Taro an ornately carved bone horn. "Sound this if you need help, and we'll all come," he said. Taro nodded, and dashed off.
He huffed as he climbed up the steep hill. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw when he reached the top. An entire army stood before him. But this army was unlike any he had ever seen before. It seemed to be an army of pure evil. They were simply monsters, horrid beings that scarred the mind with their appearance. Taro knew the beasts could be killed, but he also knew that those down in the crater could easily be overcome by force of numbers. So, placing the horn on his lips, he sounded the call. Then, he dashed down to help.
The Shinsengumi and the three otherworlders had managed to hold their own for now, but Taro knew they would be soon overwhelmed. A nightmarish skeleton beast, twelve feet high, loomed in front of the brave warriors. It raised one of its four weapons, clutched by one of its four arms, to slice into Lloyd's flesh. Taro leapt and bashed the arm apart with one of his iron nunchaku. The creature turned to face him. It stabbed at him with wicked swords, piercing the ground as they plunged downward. Taro jumped through its arms and dealt a crushing blow to its skull. The skull shattered and the skeleton collapsed.
The others appeared over the ridge and rushed down the lip to aid their friends. Between all twenty-seven of them, they made a formidable fighting force. They slayed masses of fiends, cutting them down and protecting each. However, their effort seemed for naught. No matter how many they cut down, more would appear in their place. They continued to fight, now in a circle around the mana boulder, and desperately tried to think of something. Sheena wiped the sweat off her brow. She strained her eyes to see n the dark. Darkness...
She had an idea. I just hope this works, she thought fervently. Ranma sliced through the neck of another monster. He looked over to see Sheena standing still, her eyes closed, whispering quickly and intensely. Her voice suddenly boomed, large and resounding through the forest. "Spirits of light!" she commanded. "I summon thee, Aska and Luna!" There was a rumbling of the ground and there appeared in a swirl of yellow cloud, a fiery two headed bird, and the form of a woman sitting upon a crescent moon. "What do you wish?" asked the woman. "Cast thy holy light upon these beasts of darkness!" yelled Sheena. "As you wish," said the woman. She nodded to the bird, and held out her hand. The bird flapped its wings, and suddenly a blinding light came forth from their presence and illuminated the entire crater in a pure white light.
There was a mass moan, a horrible screeching noise as the army of terror monsters cried out in searing pain. The head of one monster near Ryoko throbbed, and burst like an overripe tomato, spattering black fluids upon her. One by one, each of the gruesome creatures suffered a grisly death, and the group of humans, and half-elves, shielded their eyes from the sight. The light went out, and they looked back up. There was nothing left to indicate anything had been in the crater, nothing besides distrubed dirt, as if the light had burned away all the flesh of the evil things. "It is done," said the woman on the crescent, and she and the two-headed firebird vanished.
"That was amazing, Sheena!" exclaimed Herb. "What did you do?1" asked Midori in astonishment. "Heh," said Sheena, "I'm a summoner. What do you think I do?" "We don't know much about things from your world," Akane reminded her. "Well, you see," said Sheena, "In our world there are things called Summon Spirits. They are genderless beings that exist as guides and guards for the world. Most often, as you saw, they assume a physical shape with a gender so that they easier for mortals to deal with. To be able to call upon a Summon Spirit, one instructed in the art of summoning must form a pact with them. A Summon Spirit may only have one summoner at a time. Pacts are formed when the Summon Spirit agrees to a vow the pact-maker makes. The summoner may then call upon the spirit to aid him or her when necessary. But if the pact-maker breaks his vow, then he or she cannot call upon that spirit. In some cases, in fact, in all of my cases, a pact-maker may find the Summon Spirit he desires to make a pact with already has a pact. In that case, the pact-maker can hope the previous pact-maker has broken his vow or died. Otherwise, about the only way to get the spirit to annul its pact and make a new one is to fight and defeat it. All of my Summon Spirits were defeated by us, and now I can ask them to help us, even in this world, apparently. Also, all of my Summon Spirits, save for Maxwell, are Guardians of the Seals."
The earthlings took this in. "What are 'Guardians of the Seals'?" asked Aoi softly. "In the former form of our world," answered Raine, "there were two seperate worlds: Sylvarant, and Tethe'alla. Four mana links, or seals, were guarded by Summon Spirits, and connected the two worlds. These links served as a cage for the Great Seed, so that Martel, who was fused with the Seed, would be protected. When we made pacts with Summon Spirits on two ends of the mana links, the connection was severed. A 'bar' of that 'cage' was removed. And as we said earlier, that was what allowed the Renegades to give mana to the Seed via the Mana Cannon. And, you know what happens from there." The Shinsengumi stared blankly, and raised their hands. "Uh, we don't...." said Ryoko. Lloyd sighed. "Don't tell me we've got to give them a history lesson, too!" he complained.
Mousse thought a moment. "I apologize to everyone," said Mousse, "as what I suggest means a lack of sleep for everyone, but I think we should move. Once again, we have been shown we aren't as safe as we think. I saw a tunnel leading into a mineshaft over there." He pointed to a small doorway in the wall of the crater. "I think we should head in that way. We can talk on the way." There was a general groan of exhaustion from everyone. "Did you get our stuff?" asked Genis. "Yes, we have it," said Ryoga, handing Lloyd their bags. "There are no substitutes for a good night's rest," said Zelos, going through the bags with Raine, "but gels are pretty good for giving you your edge back." With some help from Colette and Raine, Zelos distributed blue Miracle Gels to the group. "Whoa!" said Ryoko when she finished hers. "Man, I haven't felt this good in forever!" "Hehe, my face tingles!" said Xiaoxing, rubbing her cheeks.
"Alright, everyone, let's get going," said Mousse. They entered the tunnel, and were plunged into immediate darkness. "Uh, we didn't pack anything for something like this, did we?" Ranma asked Mousse. "Nope," he replied. "Nothing." "Don't worry, we've gotcha covered," said Genis. There was a moment when all that could be heard was a rustling sound as Genis looked in his bag for something and brought it out. "Got it!" he said. There was a sharp crack-hiss sound as he struck a match. He covered it with his hand and set it to the wick of a candle. "That's not very bright," said Shinnosuke disdainfully. "Watch," said Genis.
After a few moments of burning steadily, the flame suddenly grew bright and intense, and the entire candle melted. The group closed their eyes and held up their hands. When they lowered their arms they were surprised to see the entire shaft was lit in a soft blue light that came from nowhere and everywhere at once. "How does it work?" wondered Midori. "Even I don't know that," said Raine. There was a gasp from the back. Everyone turned to see Zelos, eyes wide, mouth open, put his hands on his cheeks. "No WAY!" he said in mock surprise. "You're not Raine! Raine is omnipotent! She knows all and sees all! You must be a fake." Zelos got a good whollop that time, but it came from Megumi. "Ah-ow!" said Zelos, rubbing his head. "That really hurt! Why did YOU hit me?! I haven't done anything to you yet!" She shrugged and grinned. "I knew it was coming anyways," she said. "And I was closest." Zelos put on his hurt face. "What's omnipotent?" asked Lloyd. "Actually, Zelos got it right," said Presea. "It is an adjective used to refer to one who knows everything and sees or has the power to see anything. Sort of like Raine..."
"Come on guys!" said Sheena, tapping her foot and pointing down the tunnel. "Mousse's group is leaving us behind!" The otherworlders and the Shinsengumi discovered she was indeed correct, and they hurried to catch up. They slowed to walk as they fell in line behind the others. "So Sheena," said Ukyo over her shoulder, "tell me, how do you fight? When we were in battle, I was too busy and it was too dark for me to see what you were actually doing. And I've never seen you carry a weapon, only some strange cards. Are you a martial artist?'
"A martial artist of sorts," said Sheena. "Actually, those cards are how I fight." "What, something like Yu-Gi-Oh, where you summon monsters by throwing out cards?" asked Kuno. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, "but no. I actually fight with the cards." "How?" asked Aoi, puzzled. "In the same way a Key Crest is useless without the runes carved on its surface, as they should have told you," said Sheena, and all their heads nodded, "my cards are useless without the specifc runes written on them with special ink and engravers. With these charms on them, they make them powerful fighting tools, and I can also cast spells with them. They're called seals, and they hurt the enemy while affecting their abilities to fight, or else they and the power of an element, such as fire, wind, or water, to one of my allies weapons, so that they are more effective against certain enemies."
"And about those Summon Spirits you talked about," said Ryoko. "What gave you the idea to summon the spirits of light, uh, Laska and Una, did you call them?" Sheena nodded. "Aska and Luna," she said. "I got the idea when I started having a hard time seeing because of the darkness. Then I got angry, because the monsters obviously had the advantage. Since they were born in the darkness, they were raised in the darkness, and had to be adapted to the darkness, so they must see very well in the darkness. That's when I got the idea. If the monsters were adapted to darkness, then they probably have never seen true light, right? So I figured if I could make it really light by summoning Aska and Luna, maybe I could blind them and we'd have the advantage. However, I never thought it would be that harmful to them! I thought it would just hurt their eyes. I had no idea it would vaporize them!"
"A very good idea, nonetheless!" said Raine approvingly. "Just how I would have done it, using the scientific method! And your results were astounding! Sheena, I think you'd make a fine scientist!" Sheena rolled her eyes. "Don't get your hopes up, Professor," said Sheena. "So what was the deal with the Mana Cannon and the Great Seed?" asked Ranma. "Sounds pretty cool!" "Yes, well to get to that," said Raine, "you have to go all the way back to the beginning, when the one called Mithos the hero ended a war in the holy ground of Kharlan, that had raged on for...." Raine proceeded to give them a lecture on ancient to modern Sylvarant history, and when she finished, Regal filled in what she had left out or didn't know about Tethe'alla. Here and there some of the others would insert some facts or accounts they happened to know about their regional history ."Wow," said Ranma, shaking his head. "I didn't know someone could remember all that stuff! I don't know anything past the basics and my time period!" "Yes, well, our worlds were each quite smaller than yours is, and has less recorded history," said Regal. "In fact, very little is actually known about the time before Mithos and the Kharlan War. And our world has only been the size of your planet for about a year now." "I see," said Ranma, clearly not seeing. "If you don't mind, could you give us some information about your history?" asked Raine. "It seems this tunnel isn't going to end for a while." "Well," said Mousse, "that's really asking a lot. We could spend days talking about one century of history. Well, depending on which century." "How about this," suggested Raine. "you tell me the history of your world one country at a time, from ancient to modern. Then move on to another one. How's that sound?"
Mousse looked around the group. There was a general nod of approval. "We'd be glad to," he said. Raine squealed with excitement. "Excellent!!" she exclaimed. "Let me get my notebook!" "Why can't you get excited like that when I ask you to study me?" asked Zelos. "Shut it, Zelos!" hissed Sheena with a smack to his head. "I wanna hear this too!" "Me too," said all the others. Zelos mumbled sadly to himself and then listened quietly as the people from Earth gave them the complete history of Japan.
"Fascinating!" said Raine as she jotted notes down in her precise shorthand. Together, the people from Earth had managed to give the history of Japan and China to the off-worlders, and were about to begin on the United States when Mousse called them to a halt. "Did anyone notice that?" he asked. They shook their heads no. "Notice what?" asked Asuka. "The ground," said Mousse, "is beginning to slope upwards, meaning we're nearing the end of the tunnel. We should be cautious, and it would probably be best to not speak."
Ranma thought a moment. "How about we send out a scout?" he said. "Someone fast, who could go check the distance to the end, and could see what the outside is like?" Mousse considered this. "It sounds good, Ranma," he said. "Would anyone care to volunteer?" Ryoga raised his hand. "I am uninterested in this history lesson," he said. "I will go." Ukyo stood up. "Then I'll go too," she said. "It could be dangerous," said Ranma, doubtfully. "Exactly," she said, raising a finger. "It is because it could be dangerous that I should go with him, to cover him. It would be unwise for him to go alone." Mousse nodded. "Then go," he said. Ryoga stood and adjusted his rod on his back. "Come on," he said to Ukyo. To the rest of the group, he said, "We'll be back soon. Keep up the lesson." Then, together, he and Ukyo ran down the tunnel and were soon gone from their sight. Akane unfurled a map. "So where were we?" she asked herself. "Ah, yes, America. According to the holy book in our world, the Bible, and to scientific knowledge, human life originated in Asia, in a place called the Fertile Crescent, or Mesopotamia. It is the vegetated land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and it lies as a large oasis in the middle of a vast, desert climate area. Now, during a period of time, roughly ten thousand years ago, during a period of time called the Ice Ages, called that because of the massive sheets of ice that covered much of the continents, there was a bridge, made of land and ice, that connected the Asian and North American continents, across a small body of water called the Bering Strait." She pointed to the gap of water between Alaska and Russia. "Popular belief is that during the Ice Ages, man crossed over this bridge and settled the land. Now, then, skipping ahead, we'll go to the sixteen hundreds A.D., which as we explained, stands for Anno Domini, meaning "in the year of our lord." And, to review, B.C. stands for....."
Akane's voice faded from Ryoga's perception. The tunnel carried her voice quite far. He now understood why Mousse was worried. Ryoga glanced around as dark ovals rushed past him as he ran. All along the tunnel, they had seen passages leading off into caves and what appeared to be mines. They had ignored them because they were obviously all smaller than the tunnel they were in. They remained convinced that this tunnel would lead them all the way out. Most likely it was the main backbone of the tunnel system, and all branches of it first started from here. Ryoga could now smell air from the outside, refreshingly cleaner and crisper than the musty, stale air of the tunnels. They came to the exit, and Ryoga carefully peered outside, and then motioned Ukyo to join him as he stepped outside.
A stiff wind blew, cold, from the north.Ukyo tugged at her coat, drawing it closer to herself. "I'm guessing that's where we're headed," whispered Ryoga. He pointed to a thick black towered that stood at least twenty stories tall, and was pointed like a wide dagger. There was no attempt to disguise this like the outer wall; it was simply fortified. Even from a distance they could tell it was heavily walled and guarded. It just gave off a feeling of being impassive, and it made Ukyo freeze solid. She did not even shiver at the wind. Ryoga broke himself from looking at the giant, pitch black fang against the ashen sky, which was beginning to lighten. Dawn must be arriving. "Let's go tell Mousse," said Ryoga. He grabbed Ukyo's arm, and her gaze was torn from the tower. "Y-yeah," she said.
Ryoga gave one last glance around and ran down the tunnel after Ukyo. He could soon hear Mousse's voice echo down the tunnel. "Americans were incensed, naturally," hesaid. "As a result of the many injustices Great Britain was imposing on its colonies, several resistance groups were formed, the most famous of which was called the Sons of Liberty. They were responsible for many of the retaliations against the British, such as the Boston Tea Party, where the Sons of Liberty dressed as Native Americans and dumped huge amounts of tea into Boston Harbor after the British created the Tea Act, which would raise taxes on imported tea, costing the Americans outrageous amounts to pay for tea, from Britain!" Ryoga skidded to a halt right behind Ukyo who stood before their seated companions.
Mousse stood. "Well, what did you find out?" he asked them. Ryoga stepped forward. "By all appearances," he said, "our main target is directly north of the exit to the tunnel, which faces west. The exit is only about five hundred feet from here." Mousse stroked his chin. "What does our target look like?" he asked. "Creepy!" said Ukyo. "It's a giant walled in tower. We're guessing it's heavily guarded. However, there did not seem to be any enemies near the tunnel exit. They're probably all inside the complex." Mousse turned to Ranma. "What would you suggest?" he asked Ranma. Ranma thought a moment. "How about we exit the tunnel, rest for the day, then try to figure out a way to enter the tower at night?" he suggested. Mousse nodded his head in agreement. "Does that sound good to everyone else?" he asked the group. They all nodded. "Then let's go."
It was not difficult to find a safe cave to rest in, and so the weary travelers set up camp in there. Ranma and Lloyd volunteered to be the lookouts. It was decided there would have to be two watchmen so that they could keep each other awake. Ranma and Lloyd sat on a log, staring into the grim outside. There were many hills in this region, and few trees. The cave faced south, so that the tower would be less likely to learn of their presence. Although the group was tired, it seemed no one could really sleep, so they built a fire and cooked over it. Genis brought out some meat and vegetables and went to making a stew.
After a moment, Ranma sighed, shifted positions, and rested his head on his hand. He changed postions again. Finally he took out his wallet and begin to through it. Lloyd looked over his shoulder. "Got any pictures in there?" he asked Ranma. "Yeah," he replied, and flipped his wallet to the center, where he kept his photos. "Here's me and Akane on our wedding day," he said, pointing to the first picture. "Me and Ryoga, Mousse and Shampoo, uh, here's a guy you don't know." "Who is he?" asked Lloyd. "His name's Ryu," said Ranma. "Ryu Kumon. Very powerful fighter, and a good friend." Ranma seemed sad. "Why didn't Ryu come with us?" asked Ryoga. "He could have helped out a lot." Ranma laughed softly, without humor. "Mortimer would have asked him, if not for one reason," said Ranma. He looked up at the group, who was watching him. "He's dead." There was a murmur of surprise. "How you know this?" asked Shampoo.
Ranma did not answer. "Because I killed him," said Kuno softly. "What?" said Akane in shock. "Why? How?" Kuno waited a moment, then began the story. "Shortly before Ranma came down with the sickness, I was in a street gang, of sorts. It was held that our leader knew the cure for the disease. One day, we ran into two strangers. Everyone wore face coverings, because of the fear of getting the sickness. So, unbeknownst to each other, Ranma and Ryu challenged our gang of five to a fight. It was my sword that gave the fatal wound to Ryu. Ranma revealed their identities to me, and was horrified by my actions, not that I had killed Ryu in particular, but that I had killed anyone. It was because it was Ryu that I saw the error of my ways. I fled, with only one last glance back to see Ranma beat the last one of them to a bloody mess. I suspect Ryu was looking to defeat my leader to obtain the cure for himself, for I later learned from Ranma he was sick. In no condition to fight, he overestimated his abilities and was struck down. It was essentially his fault, but it makes it no easier to deal with the fact I was the one to show him his error." The group was in shock. Ranma said nothing.
After a long while, the group made their individual apologies to Ranma and Kuno for teir own ignorance. Lloyd came back up to Ranma. "Um, excuse me," he said, "but I heard you mention a Mortimer. Who is that?" Ranma picked up his wallet and flipped through it. "He's a middle-aged friend of mine," Ranma said. "Don't know much about him. Here's a picture of us." Ranma gave his wallet to Lloyd. Lloyd looked at the picture. "Looks kind of like that guy," muttered Lloyd. Suddenly his eyes went wide. "Wait a minute," he said. Lloyd stared close at the picture, turning it a little left, then right. "No way," he whispered to himself. "What's up?" asked Ranma. Lloyd didn't answer, but instead went half ran, half stumbled over to his companions.
"Guys!" he exclaimed. "You've got to see this!" He showed them the picture. They gasped. Sheena held a hand to her mouth. "But, but," stammered Genis. "How is this possible?" asked Presea. "It isn't," said Regal. "I would agree with that," said Raine, "but more and more it's becoming obvious things that can't happen have happened already, so we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss this." "What's going on?" asked Ranma, confused. "This man," said Sheena, pointing to the picture, "the one you call Mortimer, is from our world." "You know him?" said Ranma, sounding more surprised that they knew him than that he was from another world. "Yeah," said Colette. "But the thing is, we also know he's dead. He died trying to save us." Ranma stared in wonder at the man he had known for so long. What was going on? What was his reason for being here? How did he get here? "His name was," said Zelos, "or is, I guess, Botta. He was one of the leaders of the Renegades. And they're right; he drowned a long, long time ago, saving us from the flood waters he got trapped in. One can only wonder how and why he's here." "Indeed," said Raine.
"What's that sound?" said Colette. Mousse shook his head. "What sound?" he asked. "Listen!" said Colette. For a second they listened and heard nothing. Then they heard it, a soft, high-pitched whistling sound coming from outside. "Get down!" hissed Mousse, and everyone ducked. An arrow flew into the cave and stabbed itself into a dirt wall. No more flew into the cave. No more were even shot near it, for no one could hear any more flying, not even Colette with her acute hearing. Mousse got up cautiously and went over to the arrow. He pulled it out of the wall. There was a note tied around the shaft with a string. "What does it say?" asked Ryoko. Mousse put on his glasses and looked at it. Reading aloud, he said, " 'You have many questions, I can tell. I have the answers to those questions. If you want them, come to the core of the tower and through the machine in the middle. You were going to go there anyways, were you not? And don't try to fly over the wall. They have a forcefield protecting it. P.S., In case you weren't planning on it, destroy the circle when you go through it, so no one will follow you.' It's not signed."
Hinako shivered. "I wonder who it's from?" she said. "I think we should listen to it," said Ranma. "Why?" asked Herb. "Why not?" said Ranma. "It's true, we were going there anyways. And besides, we haven't had a clue as to what we're really doing. This could be an important lead. We should follow it." "It does not appear we have many options," said Presea. "I agree with Ranma." "As do I," said Mousse. "Does anyone object?" No one raised their hands. Raine sighed. "I swear, you people are way too trusting," she said. "But your arguments are sound. I will follow you." "Then it's settled," said Mousse. "Come nightfall, we enter the tower."
The rock sailed through the air. It was about to clear the wall when it burst apart in a shower of sparks. Another clanked off the wall. A third scratched the gate. "I guess they weren't lying," said Ranma, stepping back into the trees. "No way we can get over the wall. We'll have to go through it." Mousse nodded. "Yes, but the walls are far too thick," he said. "We need to find a weak point. From what we've seen, it would appear we'll have to go in the front. Ther's only one gate in and out. It won't be easy, and once we get going we'll have to keep our momentum. They'll know we're there, so we won't be able to hide for long. We've just gotta take an assault method. Is everyone ready to do this?"
One by one, all the heads nodded. "All right then," Mousse said. He turned and peered out of the trees directly at the gate. "Taro, would you do the honors of getting this going?" Taro brought up a pail of water. "Huh, huh," he said. "It'd be my pleasure." He dumped the water over himself. Although the offworlders and the Shinsengumi had been told about Taro's Jusenkyo form, it was still quite a surprise to see him actually change into a fifteen foot tall minotaur with wings, tentacles, and an eel tail. Taro looked over at Mousse, who nodded. Taro dashed forward, his right arm held high. Mousse followed, holding Han Guang in two hands, ready to slash. Them the rest of he group followed. Taro leaned back and put all his power behind his fist. The thick metal door was torn off its hinges. It flew back and tore down the second gate, which fell and crushed several beings beneath it.
Akane checked the perimeter. Besides the crushed guards, there appeared to be only one other being who saw them, at least from the courtyard. It gaped in shock, and too slowly went to sound he alarm. A shuriken flew through the air and sliced into the creature's neck. It fell, dead.
The group crossed the courtyard surrounding the black tower and came to the entrance. Another pile-driver blow opened their way in, and Taro bellowed as he crushed five surprised guards. Mousse was more than a little surprised by what they saw. The entire tower was hollow, save for narrow spire in the center that reached to the top of the tower. But although it was hollow, it was by no means empty. Across the floor and on the wall was every sort of creature imaginable. But the thing was, they were all sleeping.
Evidently, they had barged in on them during sleeping hours. Apparently, the sound of rending metal and bellowing beasts were natural around here. Mousse put a finger to his lips. He began to tiptoe past the creatures. He indicated that they needed to get to the building in the center. They nodded, and slowly began to make their way past thousands of sleeping beasts. They crossed without incident, until they got to the building. Mousse and Ranma tried to pry the door open while the others watched. A screeching alarm went off and the group readied their weapons. Taro pushed Mousse and Ranma aside and began to pull open the door.
The enemies had all woken up by now, and had their weapons drawn. For a long time, they stared each other down. Then, breaking he silence, there was the sound of clapping. Slow, deliberate. Metal capped heels clicked on the balck floor as someone walked towards them. The crowd of beasts parted and a man in a black cloak stopped in front of the intruders. His face could not be seen. "I'm impressed you made it this far," he said with a German accent. "Of course, you had help. Heh, but not from those humans and half-elves."
The group stared at him, unmoving. He stepped forward in front of Ranma. "Who do you think it was that let you in?" he said. "Surely you suspected something. How else to explain the ease of your entrance? You walked willingly into our trap. Such good little boys and girls. And you know when you are beaten, too, no? Of course. I bet you'd be dead by now if you did not, huh? So, are you going give up willingly, or do we have to do this the hard way?" No one moved. The eager beasts moved in, preventing all movement by the threat of a sword in the side. "Well?" the man asked. Ranma stepped forward. Ranma stood there for a few long moments, then made a disgusting sound with his throat. He hacked a glob of phleghm into the man's face. The man smiled. "Fine," he said, wiping his face off and gesturing to one of the beasts. It grabbed Akane and brutally shoved her to the man, who roughly took her in an armlock. With another gesture, all the creatures tensed. "Go, you damn animals!" yelled the man in the cloak. Reluctantly, the things all filed out the door. When they were gone, the man smiled and drew his sword. He pressed the tip against Akane's side. She said nothing. "Here's a fair trade," he said. "You all stay here with me, and this one doesn't have to die." He looked at her, and smiled. In horror, Ranma watched as he leaned over and licked her face. "Such a pretty one," he said softly. "Perhaps she could be my sex slave instead. Huh, huh." He smiled.
There was a ripping sound as Taro tore the door off the central pylon. The others rushed in and began to study the inside. "Just like we thought, a transporter!" said Raine. They began to leave through it. Ranma stood there, unmoving, staring at the man, who stared back, grinning. "Come on!" said Mousse. "There's nothing we can do!" Ranma did not move. "I'm. Not. Leaving. Yet," he said. "Go. We'll meet you there." Mousse hesitated, then took the transporter with Lloyd. "Well, it's just us, now, huh?" said the man. "That's fine. All I need is you, Ranma. The others don't matter. They'll fail without you, anyhow." He turned back to Akane. "And do you know what? I think I will make you my slave. And you know what the first the thing I'm gonna have you do is?" He leaned over and, still smiling, whispered something in her ear. Though she tried hard, Akane could not help the fear and digust from showing in every feature of her face. Ranma's eyes widened. Without a word, without changing his blank expression, Ranma drew Xiao Lian. The man faced him. "Have you no respect for her life?" he said. "How sad. I'll just have to kill her then, and it's all because of you. What a shame. I was looking forward to her seeing what her body could do."
Although Ranma still did not change his expresson, Xiao Lian suddenly burst into a hot white flame that lit the whole tower in a blazing light. The man pulled back his sword to plunge it into Akane's side. Ranma suddenly switched his grip from a slashing postion to a stabbing. He put the sword by his ear, said a few fervent words, and threw the sword. Before it left his shoulder, the sword melted and changed form, lengthening and tapering until it turned into a long spear. As the man's sword began to tear through her clothing, the spear pierced his hand and stabbed it into his thigh. He howled and the anonymous man's sword clattered to the ground. He moaned as the white-hot spear burned his flesh. Akane threw herself to the ground as Ranam drew Cheng Ying and hurled it. In that moment of panic, instead of ducking aside like he should have, the man acted on blind instinct and raised his hand in a futile attempt to stop the blade. The saw edge sliced off three fingers and the sword plunged into his chest. He fell to the ground, a look of amazement and dreadful realization on his face.
Akane got up and ran over to Ranma. His face fell, and tears flowed from both their eyes. "Thank you, Ranma!" she sobbed. "I won't let anything happen to you," he whispered reassuringly. "I promise." Letting her go, he walked over to the man. He did not move. Ranma grimaced and pulled Cheng Ying out of the man's chest. He noted with mild curiosity that the drops of blood not only ran down the invisible blade, but sometimes went through it. He sheathed it and gripped Xiao Lian. The white spear suddenly faded to blue as it returned to its regular scimitar shape. Ranma sighed and took a deep breath, his eyes closed. "Ahhh," he said. "I think I must have channeled all my power into that sword, because I just got it back!" He put Xiao Lian back in its scabbard. "Let's go," Akane said. "The others are probably worried." Ranma nodded. They ran over to the transporter pad, and stepped on it. Arriving on the other side, they saw Taro raise a fist at them, then stop. "You guys!" said Colette, running over and giving them a big hug. "We were so worried! We were gonna smash the pad, but I told them to wait just a little bit, and I'm so glad they listened!" Ranma smiled. "You alright?" asked Ryoko. "Yeah, we're okay," said Ranma. "Go ahead now, Taro." The big monster nodded, and brought his fist down on the pad, smashing it beyond repair. "Now they have a transporter, but they can't come here without a receiver pad," said Raine.
"Well, glad that's over!" said Xiaoxing in relief. They all agreed and nodded thankfully. "The journey, however, is far from over," came a voice from behind them. They turned around in surprise. Sheena gasped. "You-you're!" she stammered. "But, but," stumbled Lloyd, searching for words. "But, uh, how?"
Metal capped heels clicked on the dirty black floor. "You failed me again, Lieutenant," said the commander to the charred body. "At least you'll never get in my way again." He sighed. "I suppose what they say is true. I'll just have to do it myself." With that, he turned, and left the corpse for all to see, as a warning to the rest of his subordinates:
Don't fail me.