"WHAT? That can't be right!"

Deep within the central control room of the Kuno home, Hikaru Gosenkugi stared in horrified dismay at the computer monitor before him. Each of the invaders had been represented as a red dot, and all of the traps were yellow bars. The screen before him showed a WHOLE lot of broken bars, and four red dots moving rapidly toward his position!

"All of those traps... failed?" he squeaked, shell-shocked. "There's no way..."

His skin clammy, Gosenkugi muttered, "If those guys catch me, they're going to pound me to a pulp. This has gotten way more serious than I meant it to. Still, there's no turning back now. I've got to win this... (gulp) or else."

It was then that he noticed that one of the red blips was heading straight for a still-intact yellow bar.

Gosenkugi let out a grim chuckle. "It looks like I might get to 'thin the pack' yet... Okay, then. Bring it on, blip number four!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"When an invader is audacious enough to seize one's house, one expects the rogue to at least attempt to defend it," Kuno mused as he walked into yet another empty room. "On the other hand, I cannot say that I blame him. My prowess with the sword is enough to strike fear into the bravest of men! Hahaha!"

Kuno's laughter echoed throughout the room, as if confirming his boast. Surprisingly, the central route through the house that Kuno had chosen had turned out to be the least dangerous of the four. Of course, a few robots and mechanical ninjas had attempted to impede his progress, but they were no match for Frankunostein or his mighty bokken. Knowing the location of each and every trap in the entire mansion didn't hurt, either. However, Blue Thunder's easy waltz toward the control room was about to hit a snag...

As Kuno stepped into a nearby hallway, a wall camera was watching his every move.

"Okay, here goes nothing!" Gosenkugi muttered as he hit a switch on the control panel. "I have my doubts that even he will fall for this old gag, though..."

"Oh, Kuuuuuuno!" a feminine voice called. "I have a little gift for ya'!"

Kuno stopped in his tracks and whirled to face the door from whence the voice came. "That honeyed voice... could it be?"

Unable to believe his luck (or Kuno's stupidity), Gosenkugi quickly pressed the repeat button on the console.

"Oh, Kuuuuuuno! I have a little gift for ya'!"

"Ah! It's the Pigtailed Girl!" Kuno exclaimed. "She must have gotten worried about me and rushed to my aid. How charming my crimson-haired godess can be!"

Just then, another voice came through the door. "Oh, Upperclassman Kuno! Good morning!"

"And Akane Tendo as well?" Kuno gushed, all smiles and butterflies. "Truly I am a blessed man to have two lovely damsels care for me so! Calm your beating hearts, my darlings; I come to you anon!"

With that, Kuno opened up the door and rushed inside. The big buffoon was so enamored with the thought of embracing his "loves" that he didn't notice the door swinging shut and locking behind him...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"BWAHAHAHAHA! I can't believe he fell for that! This is too rich!" Gosenkugi cackled. Turning serious, he muttered, "I can't help but wonder how and why Kuno had all of these audio tapes of Akane and that other girl, though. Oh, well. If he's stupid enough to leave them lying around, then he deserves to have them used against him."

A smug grin spread across his face as he began fiddling with the control panel. "Speaking of Mr. Millionaire, let's see how he's doing..."

The screen suddenly changed to reveal Kuno standing in the middle of a vault-like room. The entire room, from floor tiles, to walls, to the ceiling, was covered with stainless, reinforced steel. This would be a great place to hide if seeking shelter from a nuclear blast, but if you rushed inside looking for two lovely ladies to glomp, then you were out of luck.

Kuno sweatdropped as he took in his surroundings. "Methinks I have committed a grave error indeed... If I am not mistaken, this is one of the numerous vaults spread throughout my house."

The monsterous swordsman suddenly looked pensive, placing his fist underneath his chin. Something was nagging at the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite place it. "For some odd reason, I seem to remember there being something special about this particular room. Now, what was it?"

WWWWWWHHHHHHHRRRRRRR!

As the sound of moving gears reached his ears, it suddenly dawned on Kuno what made this room so unique.

"Ack! Falling ceiling!" he shrieked.

He had just enough time to brace himself before the ceiling came crashing down upon his shoulders. For a moment, Kuno's entire body shook and it seemed that he would be unable to hold it. Luckily, the Kendo master finally managed to regain his balance and stabilize the situation. Panting heavily, he shifted the weight from his shoulders to his powerful arms so that he could more easily exert lifting pressure. Kuno's biceps tensed as he pushed upward with all of his might, groaning under the strain. Amazingly, his efforts were not futile! He was slowly but surely lifting the fallen ceiling, despite its crushing weight.

Just then, shrill laughter echoed reverberated throughout the room, and the sound of clapping was heard. "Wow! Kuno, I have to admit that I'm impressed. Lifting that heavy metal ceiling is one thing, but I had no idea that you would be able to lift it with one ton of hydrolic pressure bearing down on you. Truly amazing!"

Through clenched teeth, Kuno hissed, "What do you want, coward? I am not in the mood to engage in smalltalk."

"Straight to business, eh, Kuno?" Gosenkugi chuckled. "I can respect that attitude. Here's the deal: if you'll sign that contract I offered earlier, then I'll let you out of here and we can all live happily ever after. If you don't... well, things could get unpleasant. So, what will it be?"

For a moment, the swordsman did not answer. Finally, he looked up with a defiant grin on his face. "The scion of the house of Kuno would rather die a thousand deaths than bow before a spineless cretin like you. There is my answer, knave! Do with it what you will."

"W-what?" Gosenkugi choked, flustered with anger. "Why y-you ungrateful little... Fine, then! You think you're so cool and tough? Let's see how tough you are under two tons of pressure!"

Kuno involuntarily gasped as the weight above him doubled. As the hydrolic engine pressed down mercilessly, he valiantly but vainly attempted to hold the ceiling at bay. Finally, he was forced to his knees by the pressure.

"Is... is this the end?" Kuno wondered. "A samurai must not fear death, yet WHY did it have to come so soon? Such a huge gap will be left by my absence: my sister will have no one to guide her, the school will surely go to pot, and Akane Tendo and the Pigtailed Girl will be so very lonely..."

Tears dripped down his face as he thought about his loves. "Ah, my sweet, noble, and pure Akane! My beautiful, robust, and charming Pigtailied Girl! Their love for me is such that they will accept no other; thus my death shall surely doom them to spinsterhood!"

"Fate, art thou truly so cruel?" he screamed, punching the floor with all his might. Normally, this would have just bruised his hand, but Kuno's strength level was anything but "normal" at the moment. His fist tore through the steel floor, ripping through the tangle of wires below. Deadly electric current surged through Kuno's entire body, but the usually-lethal current didn't seem to bother him at all! In fact...

"What is this power surging through me?" Kuno wondered aloud. "Could it... of course! It must be!"

Gosenkugi's eyes went wide as he stared at the monitor. "Is he... holding the ceiling up with one hand? S-something must be wrong with the camera; yeah, that's it!"

"Hahaha! Sorry to disappoint, but your eyes do not deceive you," Kuno declared, rising to his feet as he lifted the ceiling. "Behold the power of LOVE!"

With one mighty heave, the sword-weilding golem pushed the ceiling up, up, and all the way through the roof! As the wrecked trap disappeared into the stratosphere, a line was marked through yet another yellow bar on the computer monitor. All Gosenkugi could do is stare at the screen with his mouth agape, shaking his head in disbelief.

"T-there's... no... way..." he whimpered. "No, no, no, no, NOOOOO!"

The danger over, Kuno gazed upward at the night sky with a warm smile.

"Akane Tendo, Pigtailed Girl," he said lovingly, "wherever you are, thank you. It was your love that gave me the strength I needed tonight."

"You idiot!" Gosenkugi angrily screeched. "You hit an electric line! Love had nothing to do with--"

"Gigapootie! Hear me now!" Kuno interrupted (not that he'd been listening, anyway).

"That's Gosenkugi!" the annoyed occultist retorted.

The Frankenstein from Furinkan just smirked. "Whatever. Know that I am coming for you, and my vengence is swift. Prepare yourself!"

With that, he punched down the vault door and dashed out into the hallway. Gosenkugi seemed dazed for a second, but his face slowly contorted into a furious scowl. He roared in frustration, slamming his fists onto the control panel and shutting off the cameras.

"Damn them!" he growled. "Damn every one of those arrogant, stupid, freakish weirdos to hell! They think this is over?"

He began snickering as a warped grin came over his face. "Oooooh, no; not by a long shot. I still haven't played my trump card yet. Besides, time is on my side."

He glanced over at the clock on the wall. "Hmph. Four in the morning, eh? Hahaha... they're about to learn that it's darkest just before dawn!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Crud! Four A.M. already?" Ranma panted, looking down at his wristwatch. "I've gotta hurry!"

It seemed to Ranma that he'd been running down this hallway forever. He had been dashing in and out of a seemingly endless series of rooms ever since surviving the "training room of doom"; the Kuno home was proving to be even more of a maze than he'd remembered. Despite his roundabout route, however, Ranma was at least certain that he was heading toward the center of the house. Still, the wolfman realized that he had to hurry; time was running out.

As he neared a corner, Ranma attempted a 90 degree turn in order to maintain his current speed. The second he rounded the corner, however, he was blindsided by a large, speeding object. Ranma slammed against an adjacent wall, but quickly hopped to his feet. He hurriedly adopted a defensive fighting stance, but he breathed a sigh of relief once he saw what had hit him.

"Geez, Ryoga! Ya' almost gave me a heart attack!" he chuckled.

The vampire rose to his feet, also smiling. "Likewise, Saotome. I never thought I'd say this, but you sure are a sight for sore eyes! You wouldn't believe what I... Whoah! Ranma, behind you!"

Ranma whirled around just in time to see a hatch on the floor flip open. He once again readied himself for a fight, but it was (once again) unnecessary.

"Hey, guys! Did you miss me?" Mousse joked, crawling out of the hole.

"Is Akane's cooking disgusting?" Ranma replied, helping Mousse up. "Well, that makes three. Wonder where Kuno wound up?"

"Impatiently waiting for you three to turn around, I would venture."

Although the unexpected voice caught them off-guard, they knew even before they turned to look that it belonged to the oh-so-cocky Tatewaki Kuno. Sure enough, the richest guy in Furinkan was standing right behind them, bokken in hand.

"Well, it looks like the gang's all here," Ryoga said. "We don't have time to sit around and chat, though. It's less than an hour until daybreak!"

"Whoah! We'd better get a move on, then!" Mousse gasped.

Kuno raised his bokken like a conquering general. "On to victory, men! We must not falter at--"

"Shut up and run!" Ranma muttered, taking off full-speed down the hall.

The others quickly joined him, running toward what they knew to be the final showdown with their geeky tormentor, Hikaru Gosenkugi...

END OF CHAPTER 7

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Whew... That's one more chapter down (finally)! Folks, I'm sorry about the extreme irregularity of these updates. While personal laziness certainly plays a hand, my summer job isn't helping, either. After all, there's nothing like a day of building fences under the hot Texas sun to completely sap your will to write (or do anything other than sleep).

Anyhoo, that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it! I plan to ditch that personal laziness, however, so hopefully the next chapter will be ready soon. Until then, don't forget to eat your roughage (or give me reviewage).