"Hey, Kuno... is this it?" Ranma panted.

"Aye. This is the Kuno household's master control room," the golem replied.

The four boys had reached the end of the hallway and found themselves in front of an imposing-looking double door. Other than their own heavy breathing, the hallway was completely quiet. This unnerving silence, combined with the gravity of the situation, seemed to effectively paralyze the four youths. Mousse was the first to finally shake it off.

"C'mon, guys," he whispered. "This is no time to be awed. If we don't get that antidote in the next twenty minutes or so, we can kiss our chances of being even half-normal goodbye!"

"Y-you're right!" Ryoga exclaimed. "What the heck are we doing just standing here? Let's go!"

The directionless nosferatu thrust his finger into the door with a cry of "Bakusai Tenketsu!", shattering it into a million tiny pieces. They all prepared themselves for some sort of retaliatory attack, but none came. When the smoke finally did clear, it revealed a rather small room filled with all sorts of computers and monitors. The main lights were all off, the only illumination being given by a fireplace in the corner. Behind a desk on the opposite side of the room sat Hikaru Gosenkugi, eerily calm despite his desperate situation.

"Well, gentlemen (and I use that term loosely), I'm glad that you finally dropped by to see me," he greeted them drily. "Although I do wish that you had had the decency to knock..."

Ranma was taken aback by his icy demeanor. "We've got this jerk surrounded, and he knows that we're going to squash him flat," he thought. "So why is he acting like he's still the one in control here?"

The wolfman shook his head to clear his thoughts. Clearing his throat, he said, "So tell us, Gosenkugi: are you going to cough up that cure? If you do, I promise we won't hurt you TOO much!"

Gosenkugi merely smirked. "Surrender to a bunch of knuckle-dragging neanderthals like you? I don't think so. I'm in this for the long haul, so come and get me, Saotome... if you're man enough."

"If... I'm... what?" Ranma growled through clenched teeth. Despite his ignorance of Ranma's curse, Gosenkugi had managed to push just the right button to get Ranma really steamed.

"You asked for this, you little creep!" Ranma muttered, popping his knuckles. With a loud yell, he rushed at Gosenkugi head-on. He got to within a few feet of the desk when he was suddenly picked up by some unknown force and thrown violently against the wall! The other three monstrous martial artists' faces were filled with shock; what had just happened?

"Charge!" bellowed Kuno, not that he needed to. They all three realized that they had to stop Gosenkugi before he could again employ his "mystery weapon". Despite their quick reaction, however, none managed to make it to the desk. Moving his hands rapidly like an overworked music conductor, the young occultist tossed his opponents around like rag dolls. Ryoga was slammed into the west wall, Mousse was hammered into the east, and Kuno was unceremoniously smashed into the ceiling and allowed to drop.

They all managed to rise to their feet, albeit unsteadily. Before Ranma and the others were able to move a single step, Gosenkugi raised both hands and clasped them together. To their unpleasant surprise, the four fighters' bodies followed suit, levitating into the air and gathering together in the center of the room. With a snarl, the nerdy voodoo master slammed his hands on the desk; needless to say, our heroes had a matching experience with the floor. They attempted to get up again, but all four found themselves completely immobilized.

"H-how are you doing this?" Mousse choked.

"Ah, I understand!" Kuno exclaimed (much to everybody's amazement). All eyes on him, Kuno continued, "I saw this before in a documentary. Young Gosenkugi is an evil Jedi, using the dark side of the Force to paralyze us!"

Gosenkugi merely sweatdropped as Kuno's companions glared daggers at him.

"That wasn't a documentary..." Ryoga muttered, severely mortified.

"Kuno, if I wasn't paralyzed right now, I'd beat the ever-living crap out of you!" Ranma grumbled.

"Actually, your stupid friend isn't quite as far off as you might think," Gosenkugi corrected him. "Take a look..."

He moved his fingers back just enough to reveal four small dolls made of straw; one sported a black pigtail, another a yellow bandana with black polka-dots, another a magician's robe, and the last a kendo uniform. Their eyes widened as they realized just what their enemy's "secret weapon" really was.

"Are those... voodoo dolls?" Ryoga asked, speaking what they were all thinking.

Gosenkugi nodded. "Bingo! I've used them a lot in the past, but I never had much luck with them... until now. That kit from Haiti revealed the ancient secret that makes them work: a hair from your victim! It took me almost a week to gather one from each of you, but it looks like it was time well-spent. Hahaha... a hair. Who knew?"

"You moron! Everyone knows that you have to have a strand of your victim's hair for those things to work! And you call yourself a magician?" Mousse angrily shouted.

Gosenkugi seemed flabbergasted to learn that the "ancient secret" was common knowledge, but he quickly hid his shock behind an angry scowl. "Quiet, fish-man, before I flay you!"

"EEP!" Mousse squeaked, now quite silent.

"Anyway, let's get down to business," Gosenkugi said with an air of authority. "First off, let's get one thing straight: I don't want a gang of angry monsters after me any more than you want to be stuck as those monsters. Luckily, there is a way we can both get what we want."

He placed an extremely thick book on top of the voodoo dolls, freeing his hands so he could unroll a nearby piece of paper. He held it up for his captive audience to see; not surprisingly, it was the contract from earlier.

"If you sign this, all of our problems will be taken care of!" he declared, waving it in front of them. "You four get your normal bodies back, and I don't have to deal with your antics anymore. Sure, you'll have to follow a few orders every now and again, but isn't it worth it? Tell me, wouldn't it be better to live happy, productive lives with me as your boss than to live the miserable life of an outcast?"

He smiled warmly at them. "I'm sure that you're reasonable people, deep down. Well, fellows?"

Mousse looked at his friends, hoping that they would be of the same opinion as him. The defiant glares on their faces was all the answer he needed.

"Gosenkugi," Mousse spoke up, a smug smile on his face, "I believe that we've reached a decision. I think I speak on behalf of the entire group when I say that we've considered your generous offer, and... decided to turn it down completely. In addition, we respectfully request that you kiss our supernatural asses."

"What he said!" Ryoga declared.

"All for one, and all against you!" Kuno chuckled.

"Amen, brother!" Ranma laughed.

Gosenkugi was livid with rage. He was sure that once he had them in such a hopeless situation, they would finally surrender to his demands. He now realized that he was dealing with four opponents whose true strength lay not in their power, nor their speed, nor their intellect. What made Ranma Saotome, Ryoga Hibiki, Mu-Tzu, and Tatewaki Kuno so unspeakably dangerous to pick a fight with was their unwavering tenacity.

He looked up with a glare that could (and did) make even monsters shudder. "Fine. You had your chance, losers, but you threw it away. Now it's time to face the consequences."

Trying to hide his growing fear, Ranma shouted, "Oh, yeah? What happens after sunrise, wimp? Even if you do make this curse permanent, what's going to protect you once we get loose?"

"Hyeheheheheh..." Gosenkugi softly chuckled. "You don't get it, do you? How soon do you expect to be found, huh? One hour? Two hours? A day? A week? It will only take about thirty minutes for me to buy a train ticket and leave for parts unknown. You see, I don't have to hold you here forever; just long enough for me to leave the house. After that, you can hunt to your heart's content. Trust me when I say that you'll never find me."

As the truth of his words sunk in, Ranma broke out in a cold sweat.

"However..." Gosenkugi continued, walking across the room, "I'm not going to leave just yet. You three have caused me no end of trouble, you know that? I want to see the look on your faces as the first light of morning floods through this window."

He pressed a button on the wall, a tiny action that created an incredible reaction. There was a whirring sound, and the four martial artists were suddenly aware that the room was moving, probably rising. It was a correct assumption; when the noise stopped, Gosenkugi opened the curtain to reveal a third story view of the eastern horizon, already looking slightly rosy.

He turned toward them with a mad, twisted smile on his face. Malice dripping from his voice, he whispered, "Ten minutes 'till sunrise. I hope you enjoy the view!"

END OF CHAPTER 8

-----------------------------------------------

Holy crap! I've pulled some cliffhangers before, but I think I've outdone myself this time! Don't worry, though. Unlike some of my other updates, I can assure you that I won't leave you hanging for a month. In fact, thanks to a little hard work on my part, the grand finale of this roller coaster is set to appear this Friday...

It's a whopper, by the way, probably two to three times the size of my normal ones. I thought about splitting it up, but there really weren't any good stopping points. Ah, well. It will work out just fine in the end.

In the meantime, howsabout dropping this cliffhanger-loving author a review? (Please?)