Disclaimer Ranma ½ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and used without
permission, as are all other characters from whatever Manga/Anime they're
from.
You can find the rest of this story and others by Benji Delaski at http://lovesucks.topcities.com/
PART V
Death by cookie.
=============
School was boring. Well, boring by Nerima's standards, any normal person attending school there was probably on medication. (Praise the Lord for our school system, where the most interesting thing to happen is the school psycho - usually my sister - beats up the teacher and sets fire to the place.)
Ryoga noted the few changes in the past week. They had a new science teacher (who was the only person over the age of eleven to be shorter than him in his female form) and a new science lab with Bunsen burners that really worked. *Good! That means the water'll actually heat up.* The gym was trashed - courtesy of a meeting with Ranma, Happosai and Kuno - and there were a couple of new students.
"Ryoko, you schemer! How dare you say such a thing!!!!" screamed a girl with purple hair in pigtails.
"Calm down Ayeka! My, my, aren't we tetchy today," Ryoko said with a smirk. "Is it that time of the month?"
Ayeka fumed and raced towards her. Ryoko got a spell ready. Tenchi ran forward. "Please, not here, Ryoko!"
Mihoshi appeared at Ryoga's side. "Hi, didn't think you'd be back today," she said cheerfully. "Come and meet my friends." She dragged him over to the general melee, just avoiding being blasted by Ryoko's shot. "Ryoko, Ayeka, Tenchi, I'd like you to meet Ryoga. Ryoga, this is Tenchi, Ryoko and Ayeka."
Tenchi cautiously emerged from his desk shield. "Nice to meet you," he said, holding out a hand.
Ryoko pushed past him. "So you're the guy Mihoshi's been prattling on about. My name's Ryoko and I'm Tenchi's fian..."
*WHAM*
Ayeka placed the desk back on the floor. "Honestly, Ryoko, have you no shame?!! Lord Tenchi is _mine." She smiled pleasantly at Ryoga. "Good day. My name is Ayeka. I really must apologise for Ryoko, she has absolutely no manners what so ever..." She bowed down a little.
Ryoko immediately flung her arms around Tenchi's neck. "Why Ayeka. I hope you and Ryoga will be happy together!"
*CLANG*
"FLIRT!!"
"OW!" Ryoga glared at Ukyo. "She was just being polite!"
Ayeka nodded, then turned back to Ryoko. "Yes, SO GET YOUR HANDS OFF TENCHI, YOU SHAMELESS HUSSY!!!!"
Tenchi sat down at his desk and buried his head in his hands. "Why? What did I do to deserve all this?" he wailed.
Ryoga glanced at Ukyo and shrugged. The new arrivals were sure to fit in very nicely at Furinkan.
~~~~~
Washu glanced at the students in front of her, all working quietly. She was the only person Mihoshi had told about her mission, and she was keeping a very close eye on Ryoga. When Tenchi had been expelled from school (for blowing up the science lab - nobody needed to know it was really Ayeka and Ryoko who'd done so) she'd decided the three of them should join Furinkan, and she could teach there to keep an eye on them. (Well, her daughter - and Ryoga - to be specific.)
So far she was getting the same strange readings as the Hyperdolls had, and no clues as to why. It was _most_ frustrating! Here she was, the greatest genius in the universe and she couldn't even tell why a human was emitting energy waves strong enough to blow up the universe.
Ryoga yawned and looked out of the window. Science made no sense to him - it refused to acknowledge the existence of magic, which he knew all to well to exist. Plus, it was almost as confusing as Geography. *Maybe I should've stayed home today... but Skuld said I should try and stick around Akane, Ukyo and Ranma.* He glanced the board and attempted to pay attention. *What the hell do I need to stick around Ranma for though? Surely he can take care of himself? * At least at home, he could watch TV...
"Hibiki? Are you paying attention?"
Ryoga jumped. "Ah... of course, Sensei," he lied.
"Call me Little Washu!" Washu looked pained. "So what's the answer, A or B?"
"A," Ranma whispered behind him.
"A," Ryoga repeated.
Washu laughed and shook her head. "There wasn't any question. Now get on with the work."
Ryoga flushed in embarrassment and ducked his head. "Sorry, Sensei."
"THAT'S LITTLE WASHU!!!"
Ranma sniggered behind him and poked him with his ruler. "Idiot."
Ryoga turned around and glared at him. "I'll get you for that."
"Sure you will, Ryoga-chan," Ranma said with a grin, squirting a pipette of cold water at him.
Akane smacked him over the head. "Stop picking on poor Ryoga!"
Ryoga-chan yanked the umbrella from the top of her pack and advanced on Ranma angrily. "I'll KILL you!!!"
*CLANG*
"Stop picking on Ranchan!!"
"I didn't touch him!!"
Washu shook her head. "Class, back to work. Hibiki, there is a kettle on my desk, you can use that to turn yourself back with."
Ryoga-chan nodded gratefully. "Uh... where's your desk, Sensei?"
"THAT'S LITTLE WASHUUUUUUU!!!! LITTLE WASHU, DAMMIT!!!"
~~~~~
Skuld yawned and dragged herself down the stairs. "Wow... what a night. Back to my mechanics then." This time, she was thankful to see her calculations turn out correctly, and soon her latest invention was complete. "My Super Demon Detector! My sweet l'il invention, what a superbly compact and well designed body you have!" she murmured. "Now to give it to Ryoga."
~~~~~
Ryoga picked up his cup of tea. "I can't believe you blew up your science lab!"
Tenchi shrugged. "Neither can I. But here I am, in a school that seems even crazier than my old one." He watched Ranma and Kuno fighting. "Is everyone here a martial artist then?" he enquired, watching Ranma casually dodge Kuno's blows and walk over to them.
Ryoga shook his head. "No, just a few. Are you?"
"I sword fight, but that's about it."
Ryoga glared at Ranma as he sat down next to them. "Don't you dare even think about splashing me with cold water again, you pervert."
"I'm very sorry, I must have slipped," Ranma lied sweetly. "We're still friends, aren't we?"
"We are _NOT_ friends."
"Oh Tenchi, I made you some cookies!!!" simultaneous calls came from Ayeka and Ryoko.
Tenchi went white. "Oh no!"
Ranma looked at him. "Hey, their cooking can't be worse than Akane's."
"Wanna bet?" Tenchi and Ranma looked at each other.
"Ranma, I made you some cookies and you are going to eat them, you ingrate!!" Akane stomped over to him and pushed the plate under his nose. Ryoko and Ayeka did likewise next to her.
Ryoga took a sip of his tea and watched with mild interest as Tenchi and Ranma carefully swapped cookies without the girls seeing, and took bites. Ranma instantly doubled over and Tenchi collapsed. "Yu..you win..." Tenchi gasped eventually.
Ranma shook his head. "I..I think y-you win..." They both passed out.
Ryoko, Ayeka and Akane all squealed with horror and began to drag their significant others to the nurses office. Ryoga sighed. "Morons." He lifted his cup again.
There was a flash of light and Skuld appeared above his cup. She looked down. "Sorry. Were you drinking that?"
"I was." He set the drink down next to him. "So what d'ya want?"
Skuld handed him a small device. "This will detect any demons within a five mile radius, so you can find them without my help."
"Find them?" Ryoga laughed sarcastically. "With _my_ sense of direction?"
Skuld shrugged. "Didn't you notice yesterday? When you're powered up, I made it so you can find your way around. After all, it'd be too easy to link you to Makoto if both of you got lost all the time."
Ryoga thought back. "Oh yeah! Can't you do that for me normally?"
Skuld shook her head. "Too suspicious. But just to make sure you're OK, I'll try to keep one of me near you just in case demons turn up. Speaking of which..." She took the Super Demon Detector from him. "Well, lets turn it ON!!!" With a flourish, she pressed the on switch.
Ryoga looked at it. "What do those little lights mean?"
She pointed to a blue dot. "That is you. The yellow dot is me, and that red dot's a demon..."
"Demon?"
"Demon." She paused. "DEMON?!!" She split into two parts and the smaller one jumped onto his shoulder. "Let's go!"
~~~~~
Ranma groaned and looked at the ceiling. "When we get married, I'm never letting you cook..."
Akane jerked her head up. "What?"
*Oops. Did I say that out loud?* He grinned weakly at her. "It's not that your cooking's bad..."
"When we get married?" Akane looked closely at him.
Ranma gulped. "When? I meant IF. Of course. If. I didn't say that, really..."
Akane sighed. "Never mind then." *And I thought you were warming to the idea of marrying me...* She glanced over to the other bed, where Ayeka and Ryoko were fussing over a mortally embarrassed Tenchi. *Now where have I seen that sort of scene before...?*
Ukyo burst through the doors and ran over to Ranma. "Ranchan! Are you OK?"
Akane looked at her. "Aren't you with Ryoga?"
Ukyo looked puzzled. "I thought he'd be here with you lot."
Ryoko glanced over at them. "Ryoga? Maybe Mihoshi knows where he is."
Ukyo opened her mouth to reply that if Ryoga _was_ with Mihoshi, she was going to beat him to death with her spatula. Her comment was cut short by the spectacular arrival of a demon. The doors blew open. The room went cold. Ukyo could've sworn the light dimmed.
Ryoko jumped to her feet. "I don't what you are, but I'm not going to let you hurt my Tenchi!!" She changed into full battle armour and flew towards it.
Pointing a hand at her, it blasted her backwards across the room. She struck the back wall.
"Ryoko!" Tenchi sat up.
Ryoko climbed to her feet with some difficulty. "T-Tenchi..."
The demon struck a pose. "Silence, creature! My name is Morganan. I am one of the demons of Amityville and business is not with you, but with Akane Tendo and Ukyo Kuonji."
"What do you want with them?" Ranma asked carefully. He tried to move, but Ryoko's cookies had paralysed him.
"Why, I want to kill them." Morganan laughed. He raised a hand, swirling eddies of light and darkness into a vortex that promised pain and suffering for anything that touched it. You could almost hear the screams of those trapped in the darkness, tortured souls that hadn't managed to escape before Amityville had dragged them into eternal oblivion. Akane and Ukyo gulped nervously. He released it. It flew towards Akane and Ukyo, who screamed in terror.
And never reached them.
Morganan blinked in surprise as the attack cut out of existence half way across the room. "Wha...?"
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," came the voice behind him.
"It can't be..." gasped Akane. Ukyo and Ranma just stood (or sat as the case may be) in shocked silence.
Morganan turned to see a figure in a tuxedo standing behind him. He growled in annoyance. "Who are you?"
"My name is Magical Guy Makoto." Ryoga watched the demon in front of him. *I swear Skuld, I could just kill you.* he thought, hearing the small snigger from Mini-Skuld.
Morganan glared at him. "Well, Magical Guy, I haven't got time to play with you. So just go away and I won't kill you too."
Ryoga pointed the wand at him. "Play? I'm not here to play, I'm here to fight."
"You asked for it!"
Ryoko grabbed Ayeka and Tenchi and teleported out of the room. Akane and Ukyo grabbed Ranma and jumped out of the window, the doorway cut off by Morganan and Ryoga. The room exploded in a flash of light and darkness as Morganan and Ryoga simultaneously launched attacks at each other and raising the cost of insurance even more in Nerima. (Furinkan high school was insured against acts of God, and the Principle was now fervently hoping this also meant acts of the Devil too.) Quite a lot of the nurses station suddenly found itself outside the school instead of inside and fell to the ground. The students of Furinkan, eager to be released from the dreary monotony of lessons, ran over to the crash site. Morganan emerged from the rubble. "Victory is mine!!!" he roared. "Akane Tendo, Ukyo Kuonji, surrender to me!!"
"Not so fast."
Nabiki quickly grabbed her camera and began snapping photographs. "Wow! This is great! An attack on our school of all places!"
"Nabiki!" Akane scolded. She turned to watch the fight again. "I wonder who he is?"
Nabiki grinned. "I'll try to find out. Let's corner him when he wins and take his mask off."
Mihoshi ran over towards them. "Does anyone know where Ryoga is? I wanted to give him some cookies."
Ukyo glanced at her. "How can you be thinking about Ryoga when Magical Guy Makoto is beating up a demon in the school grounds?" she asked curiously. "He's probably gotten lost, same as usual." She resisted the sudden urge to bash Mihoshi over the head with the cookies for reminding her that she did in fact have a conscience. She was suddenly very worried about the fact that she didn't know where Ryoga was. *I should have made him stay at home. Then he couldn't worry me by being missing until later.*
Ryoga, meanwhile was getting increasingly annoyed. Morganan was a much better fighter than the demon he'd fought the day before. "Skuld, help me here!* he whispered, dodging another blast.
"Next time you attack, yell 'Hyper Star Boost'," Mini-Skuld said. "That should do the trick."
Ryoga nodded and ran forward. "Lightning Strike Hyper Star Boost!!" he cried, pointing the wand at Morganan. The attack split into a five-pointed star and struck Morganan, who, with a howl of rage, exploded, knocking everyone backwards. When the dust cleared, Magical Guy Makoto had disappeared.
End Part V
Final song - Thunderstruck
=======================
PART VI
Too many Defenders of Justice
spoil the Okonomiyaki.
=======================
Ukyo looked around with the rest of the Furinkan students. "Where did he go?"
Mihoshi shrugged. "Maybe he teleported away to avoid the publicity," she said simply. "Wouldn't you?"
Ukyo nodded slightly. "Hmm."
The Principal appeared in front of the crowd. "Ahl righ' kids, its backta lessons now! You got fiv' minutes, den it's buzz cuts an' bawl cuts!"
Groaning and muttering among themselves, the students made their way back to their respective classes. Ukyo thought to herself as she walked. *Magical Guy Makoto... he seemed familiar somehow. And why did that Morganan person want me and Akane dead?*
"Hello Ucchan."
She whipped around and brought the spatula crashing down onto Ryoga's head. "You JERK!"
"Ow!!" Ryoga looked at her in surprise. "What was that for?"
"For making me worry!" she fumed.
"I didn't even know you cared."
*CLANG*
"Hey!" He glared at her. "And what was _that_ for?"
"For being a jerk."
"A jerk? I didn't do anything!" he protested.
Ukyo growled and grabbed him by the arm. "Never mind. Let's go."
"Go where?" Ryoga asked, confused.
Ukyo resisted the urge to hit him with her spatula again. "Back to lessons, you jackass. School isn't over, you know."
~~~~~
Ryoga-chan yawned for the fifth time in the past minute. Skuld glanced at her in mild concern. "Why don't you go to sleep for a while?"
"I'm working," she responded, trying to locate whoever it was she was supposed to be delivering the particular order to.
"So ask Ukyo for a little time off. I hear you haven't had much sleep lately." She picked up her calculator and tapped out a few equations. "Nightmares."
Ryoga-chan yawned again. "That's _why_ I'm in no hurry to go to sleep."
Skuld pushed her glasses onto her forehead. "I think I know why you're having nightmares - and I can try to stop them if you like."
The expression on Ryoga-chan's face was rather like that of a recovering alcoholic who's just been told they _can_ drink after all. "What?!! Really?!! Would you do that?!"
Skuld shrugged. "Of course. Magical Guy Makoto can't fight demons on three hours sleep a night."
"Hmph. So why the nightmares?"
Skuld grinned. "Deliver that and I'll explain." After a few minutes she reappeared. "These Amityville demons have been playing games in your sleep, which is why you've been having bad dreams."
"Sure, we have plenty of those," Ryoga-chan said loudly, glancing at Ukyo. She lowered his voice. "So what can you do about it then?"
"Being demons, they probably very much dislike good luck charms. Place a few lucky charms around your room before you go to sleep. And if that doesn't work, I'll perform an exorcism or something. You'd better get back to work now, Ukyo's getting suspicious." Skuld waved her away and continued her calculations.
It was a relatively quiet evening at Ucchan's - guys were eyeing up Ryoga- chan, their girlfriends were tipping their soda's over their heads (Ukyo didn't care - the soda's were always paid for), Ranma and Akane were quietly arguing, Maika and Miyu were scaring poor Akai and Mihoshi flitted from their table to the table where Ayeka, Ryoko, Sasami, Washu and Tenchi were seated, after hearing glowing recommendations about the place. Even the arrival of Shampoo was non-eventful - she didn't attack Mihoshi, Mihoshi didn't attack her, Mousse hadn't followed her and no property damage was incurred. It was all very peaceful
"Mihoshi, tell us about Magical Guy Makoto," Miyu began.
Maika nodded. "Another defender against evil. What is he like?"
Mihoshi giggled. "Didn't you see the news? He's very dashing."
"Dashing?"
Mihoshi nodded. "Dashing, like a old English Earth Lord. And very handsome."
Miyu thought for a second. "Like Tuxedo Mask?"
"Oh, nothing like Tuxedo Mask!" Mihoshi cried. "He knows real magic! And," she leaned forward. "His outfit is a totally different colour."
Ryoko decided to join in the conversation. "Magical Guy Makoto must be really strong to be able to defeat that Morganan guy." She sighed. "Pity. I wanted to teach him a lesson."
Washu tapped her 'daughter' on the shoulder. "Ryoko, you shouldn't try to fight when you know you can't win." She looked thoughtful. "I wonder who he is? He looked a little familiar..."
Sasami laughed nervously. "Y-you guys..."
*BOOM*
"TENDO, KUONJI, PREPARE TO MEET YOUR DOOM!!!!" roared a voice. "MY NAME IS OMEGA AND YOUR TIME HAS COME!!!"
"Not again..." Ukyo groaned.
Skuld jumped to her feet and grabbed Ryoga-chan by the arm. "It's another one! Change quick!"
Customers left rapidly via the windows, except for a minor few. Ryoga-chan turned to run.
"Eek! Ryoga, I'm scared!" Mihoshi wailed, grabbing her by the waist. "Save me!"
Ryoga-chan squirmed desperately. "Mihoshi, let me go!!" she growled, seeing the demon prepare to attack. Skuld groaned in mortification.
"I, Magical Girl Pretty Sammy cannot let you do this!" shouted a voice. Magical Girl Pretty Sammy appeared in the doorway.
Mihoshi let go of Ryoga-chan is surprise, who took the opportunity to run. Meanwhile, Omega started to laugh. "So, Pretty Sammy, what are you going to do?"
Pretty Sammy waved her wand. "The Demon Blast!!!"
There was a short silence as the attack hit Omega, then fizzled out of existence. Pretty Sammy blinked. "Uh... you're not one my fights, are you?" she asked weakly.
"No, one of mine." Ryoga-chan stepped forward. "Thanks for the help, Pretty Sammy, but I'll take over now."
Magical Girl Pretty Sammy blinked. "W-who are you?"
Ryoga-chan struck a pose. "I'm Magical Guy Makoto's sister, Magical Girl Ryoko!"
Omega studied Ryoga-chan carefully. "His sister? Then you must die too!!!"
He threw an energy bolt at Ryoga-chan, who dodged easily and jumped over the counter to grab a kettle. "I don't want to fight as a girl," she muttered to herself, stumbling in the high heels. *Good thing Ukyo ran too!*
The moment this thought crossed his mind was also the point that Ukyo realised she had no idea where Ryoga was. She turned to Ayeka. "Ayeka, do you know where Ryoga is?"
Ayeka looked at her blankly. "I thought he was with you."
Ukyo groaned. "I'd better go back for him."
Ayeka looked worried. "Are you sure? With that creature there?" She grabbed Ukyo by the am. "Surely he would've found his way out."
"Are you kidding? That idiot couldn't find his way out of a paper bag." Ukyo marched back in the direction of her restaurant. "Besides, I'm not letting that thing trash my place any longer." She threw the door open. "All right, Omega, I've had..." She blinked. "Magical Guy Makoto?"
Ryoga and Omega spun to face her. "Ucc-Ukyo?" Ryoga stuttered. "What are you doing here?"
Mini-Skuld groaned and quickly concealed herself. The fact that she was muttering "Oh shit shit shit!" did nothing to make Ryoga feel better.
Omega grinned an evil grin, the kind of grin that is usually worn by corny evil bad guys in action comics and royal viziers. (Probably in the job description. Do you have an evil grin and a mental problem? Yes? Then you can be my most trusted advisor.) It's usually directly before the mad laughter (think Jinnai) and the speech where the bad guy outlines all his plans then gets a bit snotty when our heroes use the time to get rescued instead of listening in awe. Sorry, have I gone off the subject again? Omega grinned an evil grin and laughed. "Why, my dear miss Kuonji! Prepare to meet your doom!"
Ryoga grabbed Ukyo, pulling her out of the blast, and retaliated with his own attack. "Wait! What's all this about?!"
Omega laughed. "This isn't Last Action Hero, you know!" He paused. "Although, if you insist, I have to kill Miss Kuonji here and Miss Tendo because they love Ranma Saotome." He raised his hands. "Now get lost Makoto and let me finish the bitch!"
*Not Last Action Hero, yet you still explain why,* Ryoga thought to himself, dodging another attack and desperately shielding Ukyo too. *If it were, this would be the point where back up arrives...*
"VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!!!"
Omega grabbed the chain from Sailor Venus and yanked it out of her grip. "You dumb blonde!"
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!!!!" she roared, running forward.
"Get rid of Ukyo," the concealed Mini-Skuld whispered in Ryoga's ear. With a nod, he flung the kicking brunette over his shoulder and carried her out of the restaurant.
"Put me down! I have to find Ryoga!" Ukyo yelled, trying to squirm free. *This guy is _strong!*
"Ryoga?!!" Ryoga placed Ukyo on the floor and looked at her. "Are you worried about him then?" Ukyo nodded silently. Ryoga digested this piece of information thoughtfully. *She's worried about me? Me?* He grinned nervously at Ukyo. "Well, I-I'm sure he's OK. But stay here where it's safe." He ran back to Ucchan's, where Sailor Venus was remarkably shocked to discover that her Venus Love and Beauty Shock wasn't working against Omega.
"Uh ... Bunny?" Sailor Mercury cautioned.
Sailor Moon pulled off her Tiara. "MOON TIARA MAGIC!!!"
"This isn't one of ours either."
The tiara flew forward, slicing off half of Sailor Moon's pigtail and bounced off Omega. "Mu-my HAIR!!!!!" she wailed, bursting into floods of tears.
Ryoga gulped nervously. "What chance do _I_ have against a creature that the Sailor Senshi can't hurt?!" he whispered to Mini-Skuld.
Mini-Skuld patted his shoulder. "Don't worry. Your attacks are stronger than theirs and you've got a goddess helping you."
Ryoga nodded grimly and pushed past Sailor Venus, who was trying to calm down Sailor Moon. Sailor Mars looked like she was getting the beginnings of a migraine. "LIGHTNING STRIKE HYPER STAR BOOST!!!!"
With a howl that clearly stated his displeasure on being wiped out of existence, Omega was ... uh... wiped out of existence. When the general public realized the threat of painful things happening was over, they began to reappear (just to say that they'd been there, like people always do). Japan's little congregation of superheroes immediately fled, although Ryoga would dearly have loved to pull Sailor V's goggles off and see if he could recognise her and had to be forcibly yelled at by the still-concealed Mini- Skuld. Hiding sown a back alley, he gave a small sigh and lifted the wand. "P.."
"Ahahah! Wait!" Mini-Skuld squawked.
"What?"
"You were wearing girl clothes when you powered up, that's what you'll be wearing when you power down. And trust me," Mini-Skuld narrowed her eyes a little. "Magical Girl Ryoko is a _totally_ different size."
~~~~~
End Part VI
Final song - Holding Out For A Hero
==================
PART VII
While you were sleeping.
==================
"Lucky rabbits foot, lucky horseshoe, lucky four leafed clover, lucky dwarf statue, lucky arrow... Skuld, are you _sure_ this will work?" Ryoga asked doubtfully.
Skuld laughed. "Of course! They work on Mara, they should work on Amityville demons." She patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. Just get a good nights sleep."
Ryoga nodded. "Well, if I wake up screaming in the night, I'm going to make sure I wake up you too," he joked. Skuld pretended not to notice the slight apprehensive edge to his voice.
"Now, go to sleep and stop worrying, OK?"
"OK." Ryoga yawned and pulled the blanket over himself. "G'night."
Ukyo glanced up at Skuld as she walked into the sitting room. "Is he all right?"
Skuld nodded. "He'll be fine. Don't worry about him so much."
"Me? Oh, I'm not worried at all," Ukyo replied quickly. Too quickly.
Skuld sighed. *Urd, your mad matchmaking skills would have a field day here...*
~~~~~
Up in heaven, Luck scowled. "How dare he use _MY_ charms to keep away demons?!!" Turning, he picked up a small book and flicked through it. "Surely there's a country where those are for bad luck..."
Fate reached over and plucked the book from his grasp. "Stop fiddling with his life."
Destiny nodded. "He's never done anything to you, has he?"
"No, but his father really irks me." Luck sighed. Then grinned. "What a pity good luck charms really irritate some demons, eh?"
"You're not a very nice person sometimes, are you?" Destiny sighed and walked away. "Give the guy a break!"
~~~~~
Ukyo wasn't sure what woke her up. Maybe it was the sound of quiet footsteps, or the click of a door closing. Or maybe it was just women's intuition. Whatever it was, one moment she was fast asleep, the next she was wide awake. She sat up quietly, and listened.
She almost jumped out of her skin when Skuld sat up with a sudden jerk. "Skuld! Wha...?" she began, giggling nervously.
Skuld held up a hand. "Ssh. I can feel them."
"Feel who?" Ukyo whispered.
The dark-haired goddess rose slowly to her feet. "Amityville. I guess they _really_ didn't like my good luck charms." She waved to Ukyo. "Follow me.
Ukyo silently followed Skuld as she tiptoed down the stairs. After a few moments, she asked "I thought you said that the good luck charms would stop the demons."
Skuld shook her head grimly. "I thought they would. But Amityville demons are a stubborn bunch and I think we just majorly pissed them off." *I was so sure those charms would work... Amityville must have a stronger hold over him than I first thought.*
"So what will they do to Ryoga?"
"Probably something a lot less nice than nightmares," came the un- reassuring answer. Skuld pushed the kitchen door open slowly.
Moonlight slanted through the window and into the room, glancing off the sharp blade of the carving knife Ryoga was holding. Orange candlelight mixed with the silver moonlight, reflecting sinister patterns onto the walls. Eyes closed, Ryoga chanted softly under his breath, holding the knife up to his cheek. "The blood of my ancestors shall mix with the blood of Amityville," he whispered quietly. In the night silence though, the sound carried over to Ukyo and Skuld. Skuld covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes widening slightly.
"What is he doing?" Ukyo whispered, trying not to let Skuld see how scared she was.
*He's still asleep...* Skuld realised suddenly. *He doesn't even know he's doing this...* She turned sharply. "No matter what, no sudden noises! He's sleepwalking and the shock could be very dangerous."
Ukyo nodded. She'd seen plenty of horror films to know that you should never wake up a sleepwalking person with a knife.
Oblivious to the two girls, Ryoga continued. "My soul shall join the other realm though my body will remain here and serve the darkness for my crimes against them." Eyes still closed, he raised the knife high.
"With this sacrifice, heaven and hell shall become one, united in blood and controlled by the dark forces of Amityville."
The blade whistled through the air.
"No!" Forgetting her own advice, Skuld ran forward. *I can't reach him in time.. I'll have to use an energy ball.* The energy ball left Skuld's hands and knocked the knife out of Ryoga's grasp, where it thudded into the wall behind him. The room grew eerily silent. And dark. The candle flames flickered and died out and outside, the moon went behind a cloud. A thick, cloying smell, like flowers, filled the room.
Ryoga turned to face her, eyes now open but still asleep. Without a word, he raised a hand and pointed at her. Instantly, every single drawer flew open with a crash. Ukyo gave a squeal of horror and grabbed the young goddesses arm. "Skuld, _do_ something! Stop him, quickly!"
Knives of all shapes and sizes rose into the air and flew towards Skuld. Without even flinching, she closed her eyes and muttered a quick spell. The knives changed direction and thudded into the ceiling. "Let him go," she said coldly, opening her eyes and stepping forward. "I, Skuld, goddess of the future, command you."
The candles flickered back into life, casting an orange glow over the room. Ryoga smiled that evil little smile at Skuld. "You, a second class goddess, would command me, Morticus?" he whispered, in a voice unlike his own. "You make me laugh." The candle flames increased in intensity.
"Barrier up!" Skuld cried, a split second before the knives fell out of the ceiling and flew towards her, blade first. Ukyo gave a small cry of fear and clung to Skuld. "Release him!" Skuld repeated.
"Never!" Pointing both hands at Skuld, he released a lightning spell, which crashed into the barrier with a bright flash of light. "He's mine!"
Skuld flung the spell away. "He is a free being. If you won't let him go, I'll have to force you to." She began to recite a spell under her breath.
The spell reeled into Ryoga, who stumbled backwards slightly. "Clever little white witch," he muttered, in a condescending tone. "Any more little party favours to show me?" Lights began to flicker in the palm of his hand. "Like this one?" Ukyo and Skuld screamed as the room exploded around them. Windows and lightbulbs fragmenting into a spectacular crystalline rainfall. Pretty, but dangerous. All the crockery flew out of the cupboards and smashed against the walls, and the candles placed so strategically around the room, all exploded into colourful little wax wipe-outs. A hurricane wind whipped through the room, scattering everything in its path. "How do you like it, bitch?!" Ryoga screamed above the gale. "How's that for a fucking magic show? Want some more?!!"
"Ryoga!!" Ukyo screamed. She didn't understand what was going on, but a part of her wanted to believe that he could still hear her. That demons hadn't gotten into him and he was still her friend. Aiko's death was still bothering him and he'd just lost it for a moment, but they'd go back to the hospital in the morning and everything would be fine, they'd work this through because he was still her friend, Ryoga...
"My name is Morticus! Ryoga is just the idiot I'm using!" He glowered at Ukyo. "Why, are you worried about him? Lonely little unloved Ryoga?" Electrical appliances began to spontaneously combust and Ukyo screamed again. Ryoga laughed. "He doesn't need your pity or your sympathy or your guilt or your affection... and definitely not your love." Each adjective (are they adjectives or verbs? I really can't remember.) was punctuated by another explosion. "And he'll never need YOU!!!"
Skuld began another spell. *Forgive me for this Ryoga, but it's the only way to get Morticus out of you. I hope you'll understand...*
"Why are you doing this to him?!!" Ukyo began to sob hysterically. "Give me back Ryoga..."
Ryoga punched the wall. "WELL YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!!!!!" He grabbed her by the collar. "You had your chance, and you threw it away. Do you know how bad he felt when you spent four hours on the phone to your dad, pleading - no, begging - that he let you marry Ranma?" He leaned dangerously close to her. "Four, fucking hours of you whining and snivelling and putting him down..."
"I-I'm su-su-sorry..." Ukyo gulped out.
Ryoga laughed. "You're sorry? YOU'RE SORRY?!!!" Floor tiles began to protest at being left out of the general fun, and exploded in a ring around them. "God, if I was as pathetic as you, I would have killed myself long ago," Ryoga sneered. "No wonder Ranma didn't fight to get you back - at least Akane is cute!"
"Mrrow."
Ryoga whipped around and dropped Ukyo on the floor. "A-Aiko?" he gasped in shock.
Ukyo scuttled backwards to where Skuld was standing. "A ghost?" she whispered curiously. Skuld shook her head.
Ryoga fell heavily to his knees and carefully picked up the little kitten. Aiko snuggled down into his arms, purring loudly. With a choked sob, he buried his face in her fur. "A- Aiko... I-I'm s-s-su-sorry..."
Skuld stood up. "Morticus, I cast you out of Ryoga's body and back into the darkness."
Ryoga jerked his head up. "What?!!"
"I cast you out of his body and into the darkness," Skuld repeated.
Ryoga looked at the kitten in his arms. She looked at him, then vanished. "No.."
"I cast you out of his body and into the darkness..."
A white aura surrounded him. "No.. you tricked me.." Ryoga cried.
"I cast you out of his body and into the darkness," Skuld finished. With a howl of anger, Morticus retreated. Leaving only Ryoga, who fell to the ground. Amazingly, still asleep. Skuld smiled. "How's that for a party trick then?"
~~~~~
Ukyo looked at the clock. Would there be any point in going back to bed? She decided there wouldn't - she'd never be able to sleep now, not now, no. The only person asleep at Ucchan's tonight, was Ryoga. The person who'd gotten her so worked up in the first place. *Jackass. How come _he_ gets to stay asleep and we don't?* With a small sigh, she cradled his head in her lap. "Skuld?"
The goddess paused in the middle of her restless pacing up and down the kitchen - not that it could be distinguished as a kitchen any more, it was too much like a bomb site for that right now. "Yes?"
Ukyo looked at Ryoga again. He looked so ... peaceful, and happier, somehow. Maybe getting rid of the demon had done that - maybe the demon was the reason he'd always looked so unhappy before! *Now there's a thought!* "Will he remember any of this? In the morning, I mean?" she asked, not looking at Skuld as she asked the question.
Skuld shrugged. "I hope not." She looked a bit guilty. "After all, the kitten spell was a bit below the belt. If he remembers that, I'm not going to be in the top ten of nice people in his book."
Ukyo nodded in understanding and looked down at him again. "But how do we explain this ... mess to him? After all, he's bound to ask."
Skuld groaned. "We wait until poor old Skuld feels a bit more rested and makes a spell to tidy all this up."
Ukyo nodded again. She idly played around with Ryoga's hair, not even realising she was doing so. "So how did that Morticus thing get into him?" she asked finally, the question that had been bothering her for ages.
Skuld shrugged. "I guess it got into him when Aiko got killed. The guilt made it easy to manipulate his dreams. Then the lucky charms tonight made him really mad - mad enough to kill Ryoga." She sighed. "Lucky I was able to drive Morticus out of Ryoga when I did." She cursed softly to herself. "I really should've seen the darkness tainting his aura - but I figured that was just where he was upset." The goddess allowed herself to smile a little. "But at least he's all right now."
Ukyo paused for a second before daring to ask the next question. "W-will that be the end of it now? No more nightmares or ...anything? And ... and no other demons can get into his mind now, can they?" She looked at Skuld with a hopeful expression on her face. Because Ryoga looked so happy now, it would be horrible if something like this could happen to make him unhappy again. And he looked even cuter when he was happy... *No!* Ukyo forced that little line of thought out of her mind. *I am a concerned friend, not his fiancee.. oh.*
Skuld looked around at the devastation. "The reason the demons are here is, indirectly, because of Ranma Saotome. They haven't finished what they came for." She bowed her head. "If they're still around, if Ryoga goes into another guilt-grief mood - which he may well do - then there is still the possibility that another demon could possess him." She looked at the damage in the dawn light. "And to be brutally honest, I'm not sure I could do that again."
End Part VII
Final song - Hell Is Living Without You
===========
PART IIX
Mirror, Mirror.
===========
"Skuld, is there some other way to travel other than through bathtubs?" Ryoga asked curiously.
Skuld sniggered. "Hey, it makes for interesting scenarios, right?"
"Oh yeah. Interesting," Ryoga said sarcastically. *Am I ever glad it was a guy in that tub and not a girl.* At present, he was running late for school and had begged Skuld to teleport him there. She managed to drop them both in some poor guys bathtub a block from school, but he had to run the rest of the way. At least she was making sure he made it there. Ukyo had already left, leaving a cryptic little note saying 'you were actually sleeping for once and I didn't want to wake you.' Sure, it was very nice of her, but now he was late. Which meant he'd be hauling buckets in the hallways again. Still... "There's no other way of getting around?"
Skuld shook her head. "For me, no. My sister Urd travels through TV sets and Belldandy travels through mirrors."
Ryoga stopped running for a second. "But Ukyo knows you travel through hot water. And Magical Guy Makoto has travelled through hot water too. What happens if somebody makes the connection?"
Skuld stopped too. "You're right! I never thought about that!" She began to circle him slowly.
"What are you doing?"
"Hmm?" Skuld shrugged. "Well, you're part god. Maybe you have your own travel technique. Let's see now..." She pointed a glowing finger to his forehead.
"What? Do I?"
Skuld nodded. "Basically, it's the same as Belldandy's. Mirrors. I'll teach you how to use it when we get to school." She grinned. "After all, that's what school is for!"
~~~~~
Ho hum. God, school could be soooo boring... Ryoga shook his head and tried to focus on the lesson. English.
"The pen of my Aunt is green," the teacher intoned.
"The pen of my Aunt is green," the rest of the class replied.
*And the Uncle of my Aunt is purple with green stripes. Bo-ring.* Ryoga tuned out for a second. This mirror hopping technique Skuld had taught him was almost ... useful. Amazing. Just hop into a mirror, think of something that indicates your destination and hey presto! There he was. He could go anywhere and be back home in seconds, via the mirror. It was great! Direction didn't matter!
"Hibiki, are you paying attention?" The teacher glared at him.
"No Sensei." After all, honesty is the best policy. "I thought I'd try to figure out some of the science formulas we were taught this morning, I was having a little difficulty with them," Ryoga explained - in perfect English.
The teacher blinked a few times. "Aah... well... hehe... never mind then..." He shook his head and slowly returned to the front of the classroom.
With a small yawn, Ryoga tuned out of Reality FM and began daydreaming again. *I wonder why I'm in such a good mood today.... must be because I actually slept a whole night without having any nightmares...*
~~~~~
Ryoko zapped Happosai outside the changing rooms. "What a pain. Is that old man _always_ out there?"
Akane nodded. "He's disgusting.
Ukyo nodded in agreement. "I hope he goes and bothers the boys now."
Ayeka blinked. "Why would he bother the boys?"
Akane and Ukyo exchanged a glance. "You'll see."
Ryoko grinned. "But that means Tenchi is in danger!" She jumped to her feet. "Tenchi my love! I'll save you!" she cried, running out of the room, closely followed by Ayeka.
Akane massaged her temples. "Mihoshi, are those two _always_ like that?" she asked weakly.
On the boys side, things were taking a bit more destructive path than on the girls side as a furious and dripping wet Ryoga-chan chased Ranma around the room. "Damn you Ranma! Why d'you go and splash me anyway?!" she snarled.
Ranma laughed and jumped out of the way of flying fists. "Because you look so cute when you're mad, l'il Ryoga-chan."
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!" Not for the first time, Ryoga-chan cursed her short arms and legs with a vengeance. She couldn't reach Ranma to wipe that dratted smug look from his face.
"Calm down, little girl," Ranma taunted. "It's not ladylike to yell."
*WHAM*
Ryoga-chan grinned. Her female form was small - but it sure was a hell of a lot faster than her male form. "Take that, jerk-off." Grabbing Ranma by the collar, she tossed him into the showers and turned the cold water on.
"Hey!" Ranma-chan shook wet hair out of her eyes. "You are dead, bitch!"
"Ranma-chan! Ryoga-chan! Sweeto!"
With twin screams of disgust, Ranma-chan and Ryoga chan punted Happosai through the roof. "Ugh. He really creeps me out," Ryoga-chan said with a shudder.
Ranma-chan used the opportunity to throw Ryoga-chan across the room, where she crashed heavily into Tenchi. "Sorry!"
Tenchi groaned. "No... ouch... problem...."
"Tenchi darling!!!"
Tenchi's eyes widened in shock and he reached up to shove Ryoga-chan off of him. "Get off me!"
Ryoko burst into the men's changing room, followed by Ayeka. "I'll save you from...."
She stopped. Ayeka slammed into her back, stepped backwards and checked to see what had made Ryoko stop. She gasped in shock.
Ryoga-chan and Tenchi jumped to their feet. "Ayeka, Ryoko, it's not what it seems..." Tenchi began.
Ryoko transformed into her full battle armour. "Shut up Tenchi," she snarled.
Tenchi gulped nervously. "Ryoko, listen..."
Ryoko pointed her sword at Ryoga-chan. "DIE!!"
Ranma-chan proceeded to watch, with no small amusement, as Ryoga-chan easily evaded every single blow Ryoko sent her way, whilst trying to explain who she was at the same time. "Damn you girl! Why don't you fight back!" Ryoko yelled, swinging at Ryoga-chan.
"I don't fight girls."
"And what the hell are you, then?!!"
"I'm a guy!!"
"Oh, yeah." Ryoko laughed. "Suuuure you are!!!"
Ayeka, possessing a little more self control than her comrade, walked over to Tenchi. "Tenchi, who is that girl Ryoko is fighting with?"
Tenchi buried his head in his hands. "Ryoga."
Ayeka blinked a few times, then realisation dawned. "Oh, I see! I remember Mihoshi saying something about this..."
She watched Ryoko chase Ryoga-chan around the shower area, Ryoga-chan giving each shower a bash as she passed to turn them on. "Damn it! Why does hot water never flow in these things?!!" she cried in frustration.
"Should we intervene?" Ayeka asked.
Ranma-chan shook her head. "Nah. I wanna see how he gets out of this one."
Two things happened whilst Ranma-chan was saying this. One, Ryoko got increasingly frustrated and redoubled her efforts. Two, Ryoga-chan, in pursuit of hot water, failed to spot the bar of soap some untidy person had left on the floor and a well known law know as Sods Law (or butter-side- down) sprung into play. That is to say, Ryoga-chan stepped on the previously mentioned bar of soap and suddenly found herself splat on her back. (Yes, I did intend to say splat on her back.) Probably just bad luck again. She quickly rolled over to dodge another strike from Ryoko, one that came too close for her liking. *She's never going to listen to me in this form,* Ryoga-chan realised. *And the showers aren't working. Looks like I'm going to have to use my new mirror hopping technique to get some. I'll jump through the mirror, jump back out and if I do it fast enough, maybe people will think it was just an illusion.* With these thoughts, Ryoga-chan ran over to the mirror. She cast one look back into the room and glowered at Ranma-chan. "Stupid, narcissistic, pigtailed, nut!" she growled under her breath, before vanishing.
~~~~~
Vega hummed to himself as he shaved. He smirked at his reflection. "Hey, beautiful." A lot of people would call him vain, but not many did because that would mean instant death. So maybe he was obsessed with beauty. What was wrong with that? He _liked_ to be beautiful. That's why he wore a metal mask when he was fighting, so that his perfect and beautiful face would not be harmed. So when he took it off, women would swoon and beg him to take them. Only the beautiful ones would do though. He admired his reflection. Perfect teeth, perfect eyes, perfect hair... except for that unsightly shadow he was shaving off at present. Vega splashed a bit of the warm water from the basin onto his face and raised the razor.
*WHAM*
*SPLASH*
*CRACK*
"Oops!" Ryoga spluttered, climbing out of the basin. *Well, at least the water was warm.* Even though most of it was now on the floor because the basin had kinda disintegrated when Ryoga's head hit it. He glanced around the small bathroom. *I know I hit someone... oh. That guy over there.* He gulped. The guy was bleeding pretty badly. Ryoga guessed it was either because he'd been shaving, or because he'd fallen against the glass shower curtain. Judging by the razor in his hand, it was probably a bit of both. *I'd better make sure he's OK.* So much for getting back to school before anyone noticed how he'd vanished. He walked over to Vega and offered a hand to him. "Hey, I'm sorry. Are you hurt?"
Vega looked at Ryoga. He seemed to be tinted red, for some reason. *Waitasecond... red?* He jumped to his feet and ran over to the mirror, pushing past Ryoga. He looked at his reflection in horror. Blood clouded his vision, streaking his face from a cut which ran from his right temple and all the way down his cheek. He could tell instantly, that it would never heal fully. It would scar. It. Would. Scar. He'd... never be perfect again... "NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Vega howled. He grabbed his mask and put it on his face. But now it wasn't a mask to hide the beautiful man. It was a mask to hide the ugly duckling. He whirled round to face Ryoga, eyes filled with hatred. "You did this to me," he snarled.
*Ah. English.* Ryoga recognised English, anyway. "I'm very sorry. Would you like me to get a doctor?"
Vega studied the guy in front of him. Sixteen, maybe seventeen years of age, wild, black hair held back with a yellow and black bandanna, dark green eyes, little fangs which were visible when he spoke. Muscular, but not too much, probably very strong, flowing movements, most likely a martial artist, and one who knew magic if his mirror entrance was anything to judge him by. The guy very likely had a girlfriend or fiancee because he was... beautiful. Vega knew beauty when he saw it, and he was seeing it now. This stranger had his whole life ahead of him. Pity, Vega reflected, that it would only be a few minutes at most. Because he had to die for destroying Vega's beauty. Vega picked up his metal claws.
"Mister? Are you OK? Can you hear me?" Ryoga asked urgently. *Shit! The guys probably in shock or something!* He stepped forward. "I'm gonna phone an amb..."
Vega swiped.
~~~~~
Ukyo whapped the turquoise-haired woman over the head. "Idiot!"
Ryoko glared at her. "Come on! She was lying on top of Tenchi! What did you expect me to do?"
"Do what any normal person would do and ask for an explanation! Not lay it into him!" Akane pretended she didn't hear that comment. Ukyo continued to rant at Ryoko. "So he just vanished into the mirror, that's it?!"
"I told you, that's what happened," Ryoko grumbled. "Ask the others, they saw it too."
Ukyo growled and muttered a curse. "This is just great! I let him out of my sight for ten minutes..." She stormed over to the mirror and began brushing her hair. *Idiot! Who knows what could happen to the stupid jackass?!*
~~~~~
Ryoga was losing the fight badly, and he knew it. *Dumb, crazy idiot!* he thought angrily to himself, dodging the deadly claws again, knowing just how much they hurt. The first swipe had totally torn up his right side and would probably need stitches. He had cuts raked across his face and as for his arms... they were a total mess from blocking. His vision was blurred around the edges and the pain was so bad he knew he'd pass out soon. Also, the guy had smashed the mirror, taking out his escape route. He needed to find another mirror and he needed to find one _now_. *I'm going to carry a mirror with me wherever I go - if I live through this... NO!* He batted the thought away and tried to focus, dodging the strikes, rather than trying to block against them. *R-A, R-C and R-D didn't save me to get killed by a guy who thinks he's Freddy Krueger!* He carefully worked his way around the building, looking for a mirror he could use.
Vega was impressed. Not only was the guy still standing after some of his most powerful attacks, but he'd landed quite a few powerful blows on Vega in return. Still... "Killing blow!" He charged forwards.
Ryoga dodged desperately, spun around and came face to face with
Himself.
A mirror.
*Ucchan... help me...*
~~~~~
Ukyo sighed and adjusted her white bow. *Jerk. Making me worry about him. When I catch him, he's gonna be on the receiving end of one hell of a hissy fit!* Leaning forward, she checked to see the bow was straight.
Her reflection rippled, then, without warning, Ryoga fell out of the mirror and heavily on top of her. They fell to the floor in a tangled heap. Ukyo furiously reached for her battle spatula. *How dare you come into the girls changing rooms, you PERVERT!* she fumed. "Ryoga, you..." She stopped. Something wasn't right here - Ryoga should be scrambling for his life right now, not just laying there...
"U-Ucchan?"
The small whisper cut into her thoughts. Ukyo sat up and took a good look at him. "Oh god!! Ryoga, what happened?!! Who did this to you?!!" she cried in horror.
"I-it hurts..." Ryoga let the blackness swallow him up into welcome oblivion.
End Part IIX
Final song - The Man Behind The Mask
You can find the rest of this story and others by Benji Delaski at http://lovesucks.topcities.com/
PART V
Death by cookie.
=============
School was boring. Well, boring by Nerima's standards, any normal person attending school there was probably on medication. (Praise the Lord for our school system, where the most interesting thing to happen is the school psycho - usually my sister - beats up the teacher and sets fire to the place.)
Ryoga noted the few changes in the past week. They had a new science teacher (who was the only person over the age of eleven to be shorter than him in his female form) and a new science lab with Bunsen burners that really worked. *Good! That means the water'll actually heat up.* The gym was trashed - courtesy of a meeting with Ranma, Happosai and Kuno - and there were a couple of new students.
"Ryoko, you schemer! How dare you say such a thing!!!!" screamed a girl with purple hair in pigtails.
"Calm down Ayeka! My, my, aren't we tetchy today," Ryoko said with a smirk. "Is it that time of the month?"
Ayeka fumed and raced towards her. Ryoko got a spell ready. Tenchi ran forward. "Please, not here, Ryoko!"
Mihoshi appeared at Ryoga's side. "Hi, didn't think you'd be back today," she said cheerfully. "Come and meet my friends." She dragged him over to the general melee, just avoiding being blasted by Ryoko's shot. "Ryoko, Ayeka, Tenchi, I'd like you to meet Ryoga. Ryoga, this is Tenchi, Ryoko and Ayeka."
Tenchi cautiously emerged from his desk shield. "Nice to meet you," he said, holding out a hand.
Ryoko pushed past him. "So you're the guy Mihoshi's been prattling on about. My name's Ryoko and I'm Tenchi's fian..."
*WHAM*
Ayeka placed the desk back on the floor. "Honestly, Ryoko, have you no shame?!! Lord Tenchi is _mine." She smiled pleasantly at Ryoga. "Good day. My name is Ayeka. I really must apologise for Ryoko, she has absolutely no manners what so ever..." She bowed down a little.
Ryoko immediately flung her arms around Tenchi's neck. "Why Ayeka. I hope you and Ryoga will be happy together!"
*CLANG*
"FLIRT!!"
"OW!" Ryoga glared at Ukyo. "She was just being polite!"
Ayeka nodded, then turned back to Ryoko. "Yes, SO GET YOUR HANDS OFF TENCHI, YOU SHAMELESS HUSSY!!!!"
Tenchi sat down at his desk and buried his head in his hands. "Why? What did I do to deserve all this?" he wailed.
Ryoga glanced at Ukyo and shrugged. The new arrivals were sure to fit in very nicely at Furinkan.
~~~~~
Washu glanced at the students in front of her, all working quietly. She was the only person Mihoshi had told about her mission, and she was keeping a very close eye on Ryoga. When Tenchi had been expelled from school (for blowing up the science lab - nobody needed to know it was really Ayeka and Ryoko who'd done so) she'd decided the three of them should join Furinkan, and she could teach there to keep an eye on them. (Well, her daughter - and Ryoga - to be specific.)
So far she was getting the same strange readings as the Hyperdolls had, and no clues as to why. It was _most_ frustrating! Here she was, the greatest genius in the universe and she couldn't even tell why a human was emitting energy waves strong enough to blow up the universe.
Ryoga yawned and looked out of the window. Science made no sense to him - it refused to acknowledge the existence of magic, which he knew all to well to exist. Plus, it was almost as confusing as Geography. *Maybe I should've stayed home today... but Skuld said I should try and stick around Akane, Ukyo and Ranma.* He glanced the board and attempted to pay attention. *What the hell do I need to stick around Ranma for though? Surely he can take care of himself? * At least at home, he could watch TV...
"Hibiki? Are you paying attention?"
Ryoga jumped. "Ah... of course, Sensei," he lied.
"Call me Little Washu!" Washu looked pained. "So what's the answer, A or B?"
"A," Ranma whispered behind him.
"A," Ryoga repeated.
Washu laughed and shook her head. "There wasn't any question. Now get on with the work."
Ryoga flushed in embarrassment and ducked his head. "Sorry, Sensei."
"THAT'S LITTLE WASHU!!!"
Ranma sniggered behind him and poked him with his ruler. "Idiot."
Ryoga turned around and glared at him. "I'll get you for that."
"Sure you will, Ryoga-chan," Ranma said with a grin, squirting a pipette of cold water at him.
Akane smacked him over the head. "Stop picking on poor Ryoga!"
Ryoga-chan yanked the umbrella from the top of her pack and advanced on Ranma angrily. "I'll KILL you!!!"
*CLANG*
"Stop picking on Ranchan!!"
"I didn't touch him!!"
Washu shook her head. "Class, back to work. Hibiki, there is a kettle on my desk, you can use that to turn yourself back with."
Ryoga-chan nodded gratefully. "Uh... where's your desk, Sensei?"
"THAT'S LITTLE WASHUUUUUUU!!!! LITTLE WASHU, DAMMIT!!!"
~~~~~
Skuld yawned and dragged herself down the stairs. "Wow... what a night. Back to my mechanics then." This time, she was thankful to see her calculations turn out correctly, and soon her latest invention was complete. "My Super Demon Detector! My sweet l'il invention, what a superbly compact and well designed body you have!" she murmured. "Now to give it to Ryoga."
~~~~~
Ryoga picked up his cup of tea. "I can't believe you blew up your science lab!"
Tenchi shrugged. "Neither can I. But here I am, in a school that seems even crazier than my old one." He watched Ranma and Kuno fighting. "Is everyone here a martial artist then?" he enquired, watching Ranma casually dodge Kuno's blows and walk over to them.
Ryoga shook his head. "No, just a few. Are you?"
"I sword fight, but that's about it."
Ryoga glared at Ranma as he sat down next to them. "Don't you dare even think about splashing me with cold water again, you pervert."
"I'm very sorry, I must have slipped," Ranma lied sweetly. "We're still friends, aren't we?"
"We are _NOT_ friends."
"Oh Tenchi, I made you some cookies!!!" simultaneous calls came from Ayeka and Ryoko.
Tenchi went white. "Oh no!"
Ranma looked at him. "Hey, their cooking can't be worse than Akane's."
"Wanna bet?" Tenchi and Ranma looked at each other.
"Ranma, I made you some cookies and you are going to eat them, you ingrate!!" Akane stomped over to him and pushed the plate under his nose. Ryoko and Ayeka did likewise next to her.
Ryoga took a sip of his tea and watched with mild interest as Tenchi and Ranma carefully swapped cookies without the girls seeing, and took bites. Ranma instantly doubled over and Tenchi collapsed. "Yu..you win..." Tenchi gasped eventually.
Ranma shook his head. "I..I think y-you win..." They both passed out.
Ryoko, Ayeka and Akane all squealed with horror and began to drag their significant others to the nurses office. Ryoga sighed. "Morons." He lifted his cup again.
There was a flash of light and Skuld appeared above his cup. She looked down. "Sorry. Were you drinking that?"
"I was." He set the drink down next to him. "So what d'ya want?"
Skuld handed him a small device. "This will detect any demons within a five mile radius, so you can find them without my help."
"Find them?" Ryoga laughed sarcastically. "With _my_ sense of direction?"
Skuld shrugged. "Didn't you notice yesterday? When you're powered up, I made it so you can find your way around. After all, it'd be too easy to link you to Makoto if both of you got lost all the time."
Ryoga thought back. "Oh yeah! Can't you do that for me normally?"
Skuld shook her head. "Too suspicious. But just to make sure you're OK, I'll try to keep one of me near you just in case demons turn up. Speaking of which..." She took the Super Demon Detector from him. "Well, lets turn it ON!!!" With a flourish, she pressed the on switch.
Ryoga looked at it. "What do those little lights mean?"
She pointed to a blue dot. "That is you. The yellow dot is me, and that red dot's a demon..."
"Demon?"
"Demon." She paused. "DEMON?!!" She split into two parts and the smaller one jumped onto his shoulder. "Let's go!"
~~~~~
Ranma groaned and looked at the ceiling. "When we get married, I'm never letting you cook..."
Akane jerked her head up. "What?"
*Oops. Did I say that out loud?* He grinned weakly at her. "It's not that your cooking's bad..."
"When we get married?" Akane looked closely at him.
Ranma gulped. "When? I meant IF. Of course. If. I didn't say that, really..."
Akane sighed. "Never mind then." *And I thought you were warming to the idea of marrying me...* She glanced over to the other bed, where Ayeka and Ryoko were fussing over a mortally embarrassed Tenchi. *Now where have I seen that sort of scene before...?*
Ukyo burst through the doors and ran over to Ranma. "Ranchan! Are you OK?"
Akane looked at her. "Aren't you with Ryoga?"
Ukyo looked puzzled. "I thought he'd be here with you lot."
Ryoko glanced over at them. "Ryoga? Maybe Mihoshi knows where he is."
Ukyo opened her mouth to reply that if Ryoga _was_ with Mihoshi, she was going to beat him to death with her spatula. Her comment was cut short by the spectacular arrival of a demon. The doors blew open. The room went cold. Ukyo could've sworn the light dimmed.
Ryoko jumped to her feet. "I don't what you are, but I'm not going to let you hurt my Tenchi!!" She changed into full battle armour and flew towards it.
Pointing a hand at her, it blasted her backwards across the room. She struck the back wall.
"Ryoko!" Tenchi sat up.
Ryoko climbed to her feet with some difficulty. "T-Tenchi..."
The demon struck a pose. "Silence, creature! My name is Morganan. I am one of the demons of Amityville and business is not with you, but with Akane Tendo and Ukyo Kuonji."
"What do you want with them?" Ranma asked carefully. He tried to move, but Ryoko's cookies had paralysed him.
"Why, I want to kill them." Morganan laughed. He raised a hand, swirling eddies of light and darkness into a vortex that promised pain and suffering for anything that touched it. You could almost hear the screams of those trapped in the darkness, tortured souls that hadn't managed to escape before Amityville had dragged them into eternal oblivion. Akane and Ukyo gulped nervously. He released it. It flew towards Akane and Ukyo, who screamed in terror.
And never reached them.
Morganan blinked in surprise as the attack cut out of existence half way across the room. "Wha...?"
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," came the voice behind him.
"It can't be..." gasped Akane. Ukyo and Ranma just stood (or sat as the case may be) in shocked silence.
Morganan turned to see a figure in a tuxedo standing behind him. He growled in annoyance. "Who are you?"
"My name is Magical Guy Makoto." Ryoga watched the demon in front of him. *I swear Skuld, I could just kill you.* he thought, hearing the small snigger from Mini-Skuld.
Morganan glared at him. "Well, Magical Guy, I haven't got time to play with you. So just go away and I won't kill you too."
Ryoga pointed the wand at him. "Play? I'm not here to play, I'm here to fight."
"You asked for it!"
Ryoko grabbed Ayeka and Tenchi and teleported out of the room. Akane and Ukyo grabbed Ranma and jumped out of the window, the doorway cut off by Morganan and Ryoga. The room exploded in a flash of light and darkness as Morganan and Ryoga simultaneously launched attacks at each other and raising the cost of insurance even more in Nerima. (Furinkan high school was insured against acts of God, and the Principle was now fervently hoping this also meant acts of the Devil too.) Quite a lot of the nurses station suddenly found itself outside the school instead of inside and fell to the ground. The students of Furinkan, eager to be released from the dreary monotony of lessons, ran over to the crash site. Morganan emerged from the rubble. "Victory is mine!!!" he roared. "Akane Tendo, Ukyo Kuonji, surrender to me!!"
"Not so fast."
Nabiki quickly grabbed her camera and began snapping photographs. "Wow! This is great! An attack on our school of all places!"
"Nabiki!" Akane scolded. She turned to watch the fight again. "I wonder who he is?"
Nabiki grinned. "I'll try to find out. Let's corner him when he wins and take his mask off."
Mihoshi ran over towards them. "Does anyone know where Ryoga is? I wanted to give him some cookies."
Ukyo glanced at her. "How can you be thinking about Ryoga when Magical Guy Makoto is beating up a demon in the school grounds?" she asked curiously. "He's probably gotten lost, same as usual." She resisted the sudden urge to bash Mihoshi over the head with the cookies for reminding her that she did in fact have a conscience. She was suddenly very worried about the fact that she didn't know where Ryoga was. *I should have made him stay at home. Then he couldn't worry me by being missing until later.*
Ryoga, meanwhile was getting increasingly annoyed. Morganan was a much better fighter than the demon he'd fought the day before. "Skuld, help me here!* he whispered, dodging another blast.
"Next time you attack, yell 'Hyper Star Boost'," Mini-Skuld said. "That should do the trick."
Ryoga nodded and ran forward. "Lightning Strike Hyper Star Boost!!" he cried, pointing the wand at Morganan. The attack split into a five-pointed star and struck Morganan, who, with a howl of rage, exploded, knocking everyone backwards. When the dust cleared, Magical Guy Makoto had disappeared.
End Part V
Final song - Thunderstruck
=======================
PART VI
Too many Defenders of Justice
spoil the Okonomiyaki.
=======================
Ukyo looked around with the rest of the Furinkan students. "Where did he go?"
Mihoshi shrugged. "Maybe he teleported away to avoid the publicity," she said simply. "Wouldn't you?"
Ukyo nodded slightly. "Hmm."
The Principal appeared in front of the crowd. "Ahl righ' kids, its backta lessons now! You got fiv' minutes, den it's buzz cuts an' bawl cuts!"
Groaning and muttering among themselves, the students made their way back to their respective classes. Ukyo thought to herself as she walked. *Magical Guy Makoto... he seemed familiar somehow. And why did that Morganan person want me and Akane dead?*
"Hello Ucchan."
She whipped around and brought the spatula crashing down onto Ryoga's head. "You JERK!"
"Ow!!" Ryoga looked at her in surprise. "What was that for?"
"For making me worry!" she fumed.
"I didn't even know you cared."
*CLANG*
"Hey!" He glared at her. "And what was _that_ for?"
"For being a jerk."
"A jerk? I didn't do anything!" he protested.
Ukyo growled and grabbed him by the arm. "Never mind. Let's go."
"Go where?" Ryoga asked, confused.
Ukyo resisted the urge to hit him with her spatula again. "Back to lessons, you jackass. School isn't over, you know."
~~~~~
Ryoga-chan yawned for the fifth time in the past minute. Skuld glanced at her in mild concern. "Why don't you go to sleep for a while?"
"I'm working," she responded, trying to locate whoever it was she was supposed to be delivering the particular order to.
"So ask Ukyo for a little time off. I hear you haven't had much sleep lately." She picked up her calculator and tapped out a few equations. "Nightmares."
Ryoga-chan yawned again. "That's _why_ I'm in no hurry to go to sleep."
Skuld pushed her glasses onto her forehead. "I think I know why you're having nightmares - and I can try to stop them if you like."
The expression on Ryoga-chan's face was rather like that of a recovering alcoholic who's just been told they _can_ drink after all. "What?!! Really?!! Would you do that?!"
Skuld shrugged. "Of course. Magical Guy Makoto can't fight demons on three hours sleep a night."
"Hmph. So why the nightmares?"
Skuld grinned. "Deliver that and I'll explain." After a few minutes she reappeared. "These Amityville demons have been playing games in your sleep, which is why you've been having bad dreams."
"Sure, we have plenty of those," Ryoga-chan said loudly, glancing at Ukyo. She lowered his voice. "So what can you do about it then?"
"Being demons, they probably very much dislike good luck charms. Place a few lucky charms around your room before you go to sleep. And if that doesn't work, I'll perform an exorcism or something. You'd better get back to work now, Ukyo's getting suspicious." Skuld waved her away and continued her calculations.
It was a relatively quiet evening at Ucchan's - guys were eyeing up Ryoga- chan, their girlfriends were tipping their soda's over their heads (Ukyo didn't care - the soda's were always paid for), Ranma and Akane were quietly arguing, Maika and Miyu were scaring poor Akai and Mihoshi flitted from their table to the table where Ayeka, Ryoko, Sasami, Washu and Tenchi were seated, after hearing glowing recommendations about the place. Even the arrival of Shampoo was non-eventful - she didn't attack Mihoshi, Mihoshi didn't attack her, Mousse hadn't followed her and no property damage was incurred. It was all very peaceful
"Mihoshi, tell us about Magical Guy Makoto," Miyu began.
Maika nodded. "Another defender against evil. What is he like?"
Mihoshi giggled. "Didn't you see the news? He's very dashing."
"Dashing?"
Mihoshi nodded. "Dashing, like a old English Earth Lord. And very handsome."
Miyu thought for a second. "Like Tuxedo Mask?"
"Oh, nothing like Tuxedo Mask!" Mihoshi cried. "He knows real magic! And," she leaned forward. "His outfit is a totally different colour."
Ryoko decided to join in the conversation. "Magical Guy Makoto must be really strong to be able to defeat that Morganan guy." She sighed. "Pity. I wanted to teach him a lesson."
Washu tapped her 'daughter' on the shoulder. "Ryoko, you shouldn't try to fight when you know you can't win." She looked thoughtful. "I wonder who he is? He looked a little familiar..."
Sasami laughed nervously. "Y-you guys..."
*BOOM*
"TENDO, KUONJI, PREPARE TO MEET YOUR DOOM!!!!" roared a voice. "MY NAME IS OMEGA AND YOUR TIME HAS COME!!!"
"Not again..." Ukyo groaned.
Skuld jumped to her feet and grabbed Ryoga-chan by the arm. "It's another one! Change quick!"
Customers left rapidly via the windows, except for a minor few. Ryoga-chan turned to run.
"Eek! Ryoga, I'm scared!" Mihoshi wailed, grabbing her by the waist. "Save me!"
Ryoga-chan squirmed desperately. "Mihoshi, let me go!!" she growled, seeing the demon prepare to attack. Skuld groaned in mortification.
"I, Magical Girl Pretty Sammy cannot let you do this!" shouted a voice. Magical Girl Pretty Sammy appeared in the doorway.
Mihoshi let go of Ryoga-chan is surprise, who took the opportunity to run. Meanwhile, Omega started to laugh. "So, Pretty Sammy, what are you going to do?"
Pretty Sammy waved her wand. "The Demon Blast!!!"
There was a short silence as the attack hit Omega, then fizzled out of existence. Pretty Sammy blinked. "Uh... you're not one my fights, are you?" she asked weakly.
"No, one of mine." Ryoga-chan stepped forward. "Thanks for the help, Pretty Sammy, but I'll take over now."
Magical Girl Pretty Sammy blinked. "W-who are you?"
Ryoga-chan struck a pose. "I'm Magical Guy Makoto's sister, Magical Girl Ryoko!"
Omega studied Ryoga-chan carefully. "His sister? Then you must die too!!!"
He threw an energy bolt at Ryoga-chan, who dodged easily and jumped over the counter to grab a kettle. "I don't want to fight as a girl," she muttered to herself, stumbling in the high heels. *Good thing Ukyo ran too!*
The moment this thought crossed his mind was also the point that Ukyo realised she had no idea where Ryoga was. She turned to Ayeka. "Ayeka, do you know where Ryoga is?"
Ayeka looked at her blankly. "I thought he was with you."
Ukyo groaned. "I'd better go back for him."
Ayeka looked worried. "Are you sure? With that creature there?" She grabbed Ukyo by the am. "Surely he would've found his way out."
"Are you kidding? That idiot couldn't find his way out of a paper bag." Ukyo marched back in the direction of her restaurant. "Besides, I'm not letting that thing trash my place any longer." She threw the door open. "All right, Omega, I've had..." She blinked. "Magical Guy Makoto?"
Ryoga and Omega spun to face her. "Ucc-Ukyo?" Ryoga stuttered. "What are you doing here?"
Mini-Skuld groaned and quickly concealed herself. The fact that she was muttering "Oh shit shit shit!" did nothing to make Ryoga feel better.
Omega grinned an evil grin, the kind of grin that is usually worn by corny evil bad guys in action comics and royal viziers. (Probably in the job description. Do you have an evil grin and a mental problem? Yes? Then you can be my most trusted advisor.) It's usually directly before the mad laughter (think Jinnai) and the speech where the bad guy outlines all his plans then gets a bit snotty when our heroes use the time to get rescued instead of listening in awe. Sorry, have I gone off the subject again? Omega grinned an evil grin and laughed. "Why, my dear miss Kuonji! Prepare to meet your doom!"
Ryoga grabbed Ukyo, pulling her out of the blast, and retaliated with his own attack. "Wait! What's all this about?!"
Omega laughed. "This isn't Last Action Hero, you know!" He paused. "Although, if you insist, I have to kill Miss Kuonji here and Miss Tendo because they love Ranma Saotome." He raised his hands. "Now get lost Makoto and let me finish the bitch!"
*Not Last Action Hero, yet you still explain why,* Ryoga thought to himself, dodging another attack and desperately shielding Ukyo too. *If it were, this would be the point where back up arrives...*
"VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!!!"
Omega grabbed the chain from Sailor Venus and yanked it out of her grip. "You dumb blonde!"
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!!!!" she roared, running forward.
"Get rid of Ukyo," the concealed Mini-Skuld whispered in Ryoga's ear. With a nod, he flung the kicking brunette over his shoulder and carried her out of the restaurant.
"Put me down! I have to find Ryoga!" Ukyo yelled, trying to squirm free. *This guy is _strong!*
"Ryoga?!!" Ryoga placed Ukyo on the floor and looked at her. "Are you worried about him then?" Ukyo nodded silently. Ryoga digested this piece of information thoughtfully. *She's worried about me? Me?* He grinned nervously at Ukyo. "Well, I-I'm sure he's OK. But stay here where it's safe." He ran back to Ucchan's, where Sailor Venus was remarkably shocked to discover that her Venus Love and Beauty Shock wasn't working against Omega.
"Uh ... Bunny?" Sailor Mercury cautioned.
Sailor Moon pulled off her Tiara. "MOON TIARA MAGIC!!!"
"This isn't one of ours either."
The tiara flew forward, slicing off half of Sailor Moon's pigtail and bounced off Omega. "Mu-my HAIR!!!!!" she wailed, bursting into floods of tears.
Ryoga gulped nervously. "What chance do _I_ have against a creature that the Sailor Senshi can't hurt?!" he whispered to Mini-Skuld.
Mini-Skuld patted his shoulder. "Don't worry. Your attacks are stronger than theirs and you've got a goddess helping you."
Ryoga nodded grimly and pushed past Sailor Venus, who was trying to calm down Sailor Moon. Sailor Mars looked like she was getting the beginnings of a migraine. "LIGHTNING STRIKE HYPER STAR BOOST!!!!"
With a howl that clearly stated his displeasure on being wiped out of existence, Omega was ... uh... wiped out of existence. When the general public realized the threat of painful things happening was over, they began to reappear (just to say that they'd been there, like people always do). Japan's little congregation of superheroes immediately fled, although Ryoga would dearly have loved to pull Sailor V's goggles off and see if he could recognise her and had to be forcibly yelled at by the still-concealed Mini- Skuld. Hiding sown a back alley, he gave a small sigh and lifted the wand. "P.."
"Ahahah! Wait!" Mini-Skuld squawked.
"What?"
"You were wearing girl clothes when you powered up, that's what you'll be wearing when you power down. And trust me," Mini-Skuld narrowed her eyes a little. "Magical Girl Ryoko is a _totally_ different size."
~~~~~
End Part VI
Final song - Holding Out For A Hero
==================
PART VII
While you were sleeping.
==================
"Lucky rabbits foot, lucky horseshoe, lucky four leafed clover, lucky dwarf statue, lucky arrow... Skuld, are you _sure_ this will work?" Ryoga asked doubtfully.
Skuld laughed. "Of course! They work on Mara, they should work on Amityville demons." She patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. Just get a good nights sleep."
Ryoga nodded. "Well, if I wake up screaming in the night, I'm going to make sure I wake up you too," he joked. Skuld pretended not to notice the slight apprehensive edge to his voice.
"Now, go to sleep and stop worrying, OK?"
"OK." Ryoga yawned and pulled the blanket over himself. "G'night."
Ukyo glanced up at Skuld as she walked into the sitting room. "Is he all right?"
Skuld nodded. "He'll be fine. Don't worry about him so much."
"Me? Oh, I'm not worried at all," Ukyo replied quickly. Too quickly.
Skuld sighed. *Urd, your mad matchmaking skills would have a field day here...*
~~~~~
Up in heaven, Luck scowled. "How dare he use _MY_ charms to keep away demons?!!" Turning, he picked up a small book and flicked through it. "Surely there's a country where those are for bad luck..."
Fate reached over and plucked the book from his grasp. "Stop fiddling with his life."
Destiny nodded. "He's never done anything to you, has he?"
"No, but his father really irks me." Luck sighed. Then grinned. "What a pity good luck charms really irritate some demons, eh?"
"You're not a very nice person sometimes, are you?" Destiny sighed and walked away. "Give the guy a break!"
~~~~~
Ukyo wasn't sure what woke her up. Maybe it was the sound of quiet footsteps, or the click of a door closing. Or maybe it was just women's intuition. Whatever it was, one moment she was fast asleep, the next she was wide awake. She sat up quietly, and listened.
She almost jumped out of her skin when Skuld sat up with a sudden jerk. "Skuld! Wha...?" she began, giggling nervously.
Skuld held up a hand. "Ssh. I can feel them."
"Feel who?" Ukyo whispered.
The dark-haired goddess rose slowly to her feet. "Amityville. I guess they _really_ didn't like my good luck charms." She waved to Ukyo. "Follow me.
Ukyo silently followed Skuld as she tiptoed down the stairs. After a few moments, she asked "I thought you said that the good luck charms would stop the demons."
Skuld shook her head grimly. "I thought they would. But Amityville demons are a stubborn bunch and I think we just majorly pissed them off." *I was so sure those charms would work... Amityville must have a stronger hold over him than I first thought.*
"So what will they do to Ryoga?"
"Probably something a lot less nice than nightmares," came the un- reassuring answer. Skuld pushed the kitchen door open slowly.
Moonlight slanted through the window and into the room, glancing off the sharp blade of the carving knife Ryoga was holding. Orange candlelight mixed with the silver moonlight, reflecting sinister patterns onto the walls. Eyes closed, Ryoga chanted softly under his breath, holding the knife up to his cheek. "The blood of my ancestors shall mix with the blood of Amityville," he whispered quietly. In the night silence though, the sound carried over to Ukyo and Skuld. Skuld covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes widening slightly.
"What is he doing?" Ukyo whispered, trying not to let Skuld see how scared she was.
*He's still asleep...* Skuld realised suddenly. *He doesn't even know he's doing this...* She turned sharply. "No matter what, no sudden noises! He's sleepwalking and the shock could be very dangerous."
Ukyo nodded. She'd seen plenty of horror films to know that you should never wake up a sleepwalking person with a knife.
Oblivious to the two girls, Ryoga continued. "My soul shall join the other realm though my body will remain here and serve the darkness for my crimes against them." Eyes still closed, he raised the knife high.
"With this sacrifice, heaven and hell shall become one, united in blood and controlled by the dark forces of Amityville."
The blade whistled through the air.
"No!" Forgetting her own advice, Skuld ran forward. *I can't reach him in time.. I'll have to use an energy ball.* The energy ball left Skuld's hands and knocked the knife out of Ryoga's grasp, where it thudded into the wall behind him. The room grew eerily silent. And dark. The candle flames flickered and died out and outside, the moon went behind a cloud. A thick, cloying smell, like flowers, filled the room.
Ryoga turned to face her, eyes now open but still asleep. Without a word, he raised a hand and pointed at her. Instantly, every single drawer flew open with a crash. Ukyo gave a squeal of horror and grabbed the young goddesses arm. "Skuld, _do_ something! Stop him, quickly!"
Knives of all shapes and sizes rose into the air and flew towards Skuld. Without even flinching, she closed her eyes and muttered a quick spell. The knives changed direction and thudded into the ceiling. "Let him go," she said coldly, opening her eyes and stepping forward. "I, Skuld, goddess of the future, command you."
The candles flickered back into life, casting an orange glow over the room. Ryoga smiled that evil little smile at Skuld. "You, a second class goddess, would command me, Morticus?" he whispered, in a voice unlike his own. "You make me laugh." The candle flames increased in intensity.
"Barrier up!" Skuld cried, a split second before the knives fell out of the ceiling and flew towards her, blade first. Ukyo gave a small cry of fear and clung to Skuld. "Release him!" Skuld repeated.
"Never!" Pointing both hands at Skuld, he released a lightning spell, which crashed into the barrier with a bright flash of light. "He's mine!"
Skuld flung the spell away. "He is a free being. If you won't let him go, I'll have to force you to." She began to recite a spell under her breath.
The spell reeled into Ryoga, who stumbled backwards slightly. "Clever little white witch," he muttered, in a condescending tone. "Any more little party favours to show me?" Lights began to flicker in the palm of his hand. "Like this one?" Ukyo and Skuld screamed as the room exploded around them. Windows and lightbulbs fragmenting into a spectacular crystalline rainfall. Pretty, but dangerous. All the crockery flew out of the cupboards and smashed against the walls, and the candles placed so strategically around the room, all exploded into colourful little wax wipe-outs. A hurricane wind whipped through the room, scattering everything in its path. "How do you like it, bitch?!" Ryoga screamed above the gale. "How's that for a fucking magic show? Want some more?!!"
"Ryoga!!" Ukyo screamed. She didn't understand what was going on, but a part of her wanted to believe that he could still hear her. That demons hadn't gotten into him and he was still her friend. Aiko's death was still bothering him and he'd just lost it for a moment, but they'd go back to the hospital in the morning and everything would be fine, they'd work this through because he was still her friend, Ryoga...
"My name is Morticus! Ryoga is just the idiot I'm using!" He glowered at Ukyo. "Why, are you worried about him? Lonely little unloved Ryoga?" Electrical appliances began to spontaneously combust and Ukyo screamed again. Ryoga laughed. "He doesn't need your pity or your sympathy or your guilt or your affection... and definitely not your love." Each adjective (are they adjectives or verbs? I really can't remember.) was punctuated by another explosion. "And he'll never need YOU!!!"
Skuld began another spell. *Forgive me for this Ryoga, but it's the only way to get Morticus out of you. I hope you'll understand...*
"Why are you doing this to him?!!" Ukyo began to sob hysterically. "Give me back Ryoga..."
Ryoga punched the wall. "WELL YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!!!!!" He grabbed her by the collar. "You had your chance, and you threw it away. Do you know how bad he felt when you spent four hours on the phone to your dad, pleading - no, begging - that he let you marry Ranma?" He leaned dangerously close to her. "Four, fucking hours of you whining and snivelling and putting him down..."
"I-I'm su-su-sorry..." Ukyo gulped out.
Ryoga laughed. "You're sorry? YOU'RE SORRY?!!!" Floor tiles began to protest at being left out of the general fun, and exploded in a ring around them. "God, if I was as pathetic as you, I would have killed myself long ago," Ryoga sneered. "No wonder Ranma didn't fight to get you back - at least Akane is cute!"
"Mrrow."
Ryoga whipped around and dropped Ukyo on the floor. "A-Aiko?" he gasped in shock.
Ukyo scuttled backwards to where Skuld was standing. "A ghost?" she whispered curiously. Skuld shook her head.
Ryoga fell heavily to his knees and carefully picked up the little kitten. Aiko snuggled down into his arms, purring loudly. With a choked sob, he buried his face in her fur. "A- Aiko... I-I'm s-s-su-sorry..."
Skuld stood up. "Morticus, I cast you out of Ryoga's body and back into the darkness."
Ryoga jerked his head up. "What?!!"
"I cast you out of his body and into the darkness," Skuld repeated.
Ryoga looked at the kitten in his arms. She looked at him, then vanished. "No.."
"I cast you out of his body and into the darkness..."
A white aura surrounded him. "No.. you tricked me.." Ryoga cried.
"I cast you out of his body and into the darkness," Skuld finished. With a howl of anger, Morticus retreated. Leaving only Ryoga, who fell to the ground. Amazingly, still asleep. Skuld smiled. "How's that for a party trick then?"
~~~~~
Ukyo looked at the clock. Would there be any point in going back to bed? She decided there wouldn't - she'd never be able to sleep now, not now, no. The only person asleep at Ucchan's tonight, was Ryoga. The person who'd gotten her so worked up in the first place. *Jackass. How come _he_ gets to stay asleep and we don't?* With a small sigh, she cradled his head in her lap. "Skuld?"
The goddess paused in the middle of her restless pacing up and down the kitchen - not that it could be distinguished as a kitchen any more, it was too much like a bomb site for that right now. "Yes?"
Ukyo looked at Ryoga again. He looked so ... peaceful, and happier, somehow. Maybe getting rid of the demon had done that - maybe the demon was the reason he'd always looked so unhappy before! *Now there's a thought!* "Will he remember any of this? In the morning, I mean?" she asked, not looking at Skuld as she asked the question.
Skuld shrugged. "I hope not." She looked a bit guilty. "After all, the kitten spell was a bit below the belt. If he remembers that, I'm not going to be in the top ten of nice people in his book."
Ukyo nodded in understanding and looked down at him again. "But how do we explain this ... mess to him? After all, he's bound to ask."
Skuld groaned. "We wait until poor old Skuld feels a bit more rested and makes a spell to tidy all this up."
Ukyo nodded again. She idly played around with Ryoga's hair, not even realising she was doing so. "So how did that Morticus thing get into him?" she asked finally, the question that had been bothering her for ages.
Skuld shrugged. "I guess it got into him when Aiko got killed. The guilt made it easy to manipulate his dreams. Then the lucky charms tonight made him really mad - mad enough to kill Ryoga." She sighed. "Lucky I was able to drive Morticus out of Ryoga when I did." She cursed softly to herself. "I really should've seen the darkness tainting his aura - but I figured that was just where he was upset." The goddess allowed herself to smile a little. "But at least he's all right now."
Ukyo paused for a second before daring to ask the next question. "W-will that be the end of it now? No more nightmares or ...anything? And ... and no other demons can get into his mind now, can they?" She looked at Skuld with a hopeful expression on her face. Because Ryoga looked so happy now, it would be horrible if something like this could happen to make him unhappy again. And he looked even cuter when he was happy... *No!* Ukyo forced that little line of thought out of her mind. *I am a concerned friend, not his fiancee.. oh.*
Skuld looked around at the devastation. "The reason the demons are here is, indirectly, because of Ranma Saotome. They haven't finished what they came for." She bowed her head. "If they're still around, if Ryoga goes into another guilt-grief mood - which he may well do - then there is still the possibility that another demon could possess him." She looked at the damage in the dawn light. "And to be brutally honest, I'm not sure I could do that again."
End Part VII
Final song - Hell Is Living Without You
===========
PART IIX
Mirror, Mirror.
===========
"Skuld, is there some other way to travel other than through bathtubs?" Ryoga asked curiously.
Skuld sniggered. "Hey, it makes for interesting scenarios, right?"
"Oh yeah. Interesting," Ryoga said sarcastically. *Am I ever glad it was a guy in that tub and not a girl.* At present, he was running late for school and had begged Skuld to teleport him there. She managed to drop them both in some poor guys bathtub a block from school, but he had to run the rest of the way. At least she was making sure he made it there. Ukyo had already left, leaving a cryptic little note saying 'you were actually sleeping for once and I didn't want to wake you.' Sure, it was very nice of her, but now he was late. Which meant he'd be hauling buckets in the hallways again. Still... "There's no other way of getting around?"
Skuld shook her head. "For me, no. My sister Urd travels through TV sets and Belldandy travels through mirrors."
Ryoga stopped running for a second. "But Ukyo knows you travel through hot water. And Magical Guy Makoto has travelled through hot water too. What happens if somebody makes the connection?"
Skuld stopped too. "You're right! I never thought about that!" She began to circle him slowly.
"What are you doing?"
"Hmm?" Skuld shrugged. "Well, you're part god. Maybe you have your own travel technique. Let's see now..." She pointed a glowing finger to his forehead.
"What? Do I?"
Skuld nodded. "Basically, it's the same as Belldandy's. Mirrors. I'll teach you how to use it when we get to school." She grinned. "After all, that's what school is for!"
~~~~~
Ho hum. God, school could be soooo boring... Ryoga shook his head and tried to focus on the lesson. English.
"The pen of my Aunt is green," the teacher intoned.
"The pen of my Aunt is green," the rest of the class replied.
*And the Uncle of my Aunt is purple with green stripes. Bo-ring.* Ryoga tuned out for a second. This mirror hopping technique Skuld had taught him was almost ... useful. Amazing. Just hop into a mirror, think of something that indicates your destination and hey presto! There he was. He could go anywhere and be back home in seconds, via the mirror. It was great! Direction didn't matter!
"Hibiki, are you paying attention?" The teacher glared at him.
"No Sensei." After all, honesty is the best policy. "I thought I'd try to figure out some of the science formulas we were taught this morning, I was having a little difficulty with them," Ryoga explained - in perfect English.
The teacher blinked a few times. "Aah... well... hehe... never mind then..." He shook his head and slowly returned to the front of the classroom.
With a small yawn, Ryoga tuned out of Reality FM and began daydreaming again. *I wonder why I'm in such a good mood today.... must be because I actually slept a whole night without having any nightmares...*
~~~~~
Ryoko zapped Happosai outside the changing rooms. "What a pain. Is that old man _always_ out there?"
Akane nodded. "He's disgusting.
Ukyo nodded in agreement. "I hope he goes and bothers the boys now."
Ayeka blinked. "Why would he bother the boys?"
Akane and Ukyo exchanged a glance. "You'll see."
Ryoko grinned. "But that means Tenchi is in danger!" She jumped to her feet. "Tenchi my love! I'll save you!" she cried, running out of the room, closely followed by Ayeka.
Akane massaged her temples. "Mihoshi, are those two _always_ like that?" she asked weakly.
On the boys side, things were taking a bit more destructive path than on the girls side as a furious and dripping wet Ryoga-chan chased Ranma around the room. "Damn you Ranma! Why d'you go and splash me anyway?!" she snarled.
Ranma laughed and jumped out of the way of flying fists. "Because you look so cute when you're mad, l'il Ryoga-chan."
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!" Not for the first time, Ryoga-chan cursed her short arms and legs with a vengeance. She couldn't reach Ranma to wipe that dratted smug look from his face.
"Calm down, little girl," Ranma taunted. "It's not ladylike to yell."
*WHAM*
Ryoga-chan grinned. Her female form was small - but it sure was a hell of a lot faster than her male form. "Take that, jerk-off." Grabbing Ranma by the collar, she tossed him into the showers and turned the cold water on.
"Hey!" Ranma-chan shook wet hair out of her eyes. "You are dead, bitch!"
"Ranma-chan! Ryoga-chan! Sweeto!"
With twin screams of disgust, Ranma-chan and Ryoga chan punted Happosai through the roof. "Ugh. He really creeps me out," Ryoga-chan said with a shudder.
Ranma-chan used the opportunity to throw Ryoga-chan across the room, where she crashed heavily into Tenchi. "Sorry!"
Tenchi groaned. "No... ouch... problem...."
"Tenchi darling!!!"
Tenchi's eyes widened in shock and he reached up to shove Ryoga-chan off of him. "Get off me!"
Ryoko burst into the men's changing room, followed by Ayeka. "I'll save you from...."
She stopped. Ayeka slammed into her back, stepped backwards and checked to see what had made Ryoko stop. She gasped in shock.
Ryoga-chan and Tenchi jumped to their feet. "Ayeka, Ryoko, it's not what it seems..." Tenchi began.
Ryoko transformed into her full battle armour. "Shut up Tenchi," she snarled.
Tenchi gulped nervously. "Ryoko, listen..."
Ryoko pointed her sword at Ryoga-chan. "DIE!!"
Ranma-chan proceeded to watch, with no small amusement, as Ryoga-chan easily evaded every single blow Ryoko sent her way, whilst trying to explain who she was at the same time. "Damn you girl! Why don't you fight back!" Ryoko yelled, swinging at Ryoga-chan.
"I don't fight girls."
"And what the hell are you, then?!!"
"I'm a guy!!"
"Oh, yeah." Ryoko laughed. "Suuuure you are!!!"
Ayeka, possessing a little more self control than her comrade, walked over to Tenchi. "Tenchi, who is that girl Ryoko is fighting with?"
Tenchi buried his head in his hands. "Ryoga."
Ayeka blinked a few times, then realisation dawned. "Oh, I see! I remember Mihoshi saying something about this..."
She watched Ryoko chase Ryoga-chan around the shower area, Ryoga-chan giving each shower a bash as she passed to turn them on. "Damn it! Why does hot water never flow in these things?!!" she cried in frustration.
"Should we intervene?" Ayeka asked.
Ranma-chan shook her head. "Nah. I wanna see how he gets out of this one."
Two things happened whilst Ranma-chan was saying this. One, Ryoko got increasingly frustrated and redoubled her efforts. Two, Ryoga-chan, in pursuit of hot water, failed to spot the bar of soap some untidy person had left on the floor and a well known law know as Sods Law (or butter-side- down) sprung into play. That is to say, Ryoga-chan stepped on the previously mentioned bar of soap and suddenly found herself splat on her back. (Yes, I did intend to say splat on her back.) Probably just bad luck again. She quickly rolled over to dodge another strike from Ryoko, one that came too close for her liking. *She's never going to listen to me in this form,* Ryoga-chan realised. *And the showers aren't working. Looks like I'm going to have to use my new mirror hopping technique to get some. I'll jump through the mirror, jump back out and if I do it fast enough, maybe people will think it was just an illusion.* With these thoughts, Ryoga-chan ran over to the mirror. She cast one look back into the room and glowered at Ranma-chan. "Stupid, narcissistic, pigtailed, nut!" she growled under her breath, before vanishing.
~~~~~
Vega hummed to himself as he shaved. He smirked at his reflection. "Hey, beautiful." A lot of people would call him vain, but not many did because that would mean instant death. So maybe he was obsessed with beauty. What was wrong with that? He _liked_ to be beautiful. That's why he wore a metal mask when he was fighting, so that his perfect and beautiful face would not be harmed. So when he took it off, women would swoon and beg him to take them. Only the beautiful ones would do though. He admired his reflection. Perfect teeth, perfect eyes, perfect hair... except for that unsightly shadow he was shaving off at present. Vega splashed a bit of the warm water from the basin onto his face and raised the razor.
*WHAM*
*SPLASH*
*CRACK*
"Oops!" Ryoga spluttered, climbing out of the basin. *Well, at least the water was warm.* Even though most of it was now on the floor because the basin had kinda disintegrated when Ryoga's head hit it. He glanced around the small bathroom. *I know I hit someone... oh. That guy over there.* He gulped. The guy was bleeding pretty badly. Ryoga guessed it was either because he'd been shaving, or because he'd fallen against the glass shower curtain. Judging by the razor in his hand, it was probably a bit of both. *I'd better make sure he's OK.* So much for getting back to school before anyone noticed how he'd vanished. He walked over to Vega and offered a hand to him. "Hey, I'm sorry. Are you hurt?"
Vega looked at Ryoga. He seemed to be tinted red, for some reason. *Waitasecond... red?* He jumped to his feet and ran over to the mirror, pushing past Ryoga. He looked at his reflection in horror. Blood clouded his vision, streaking his face from a cut which ran from his right temple and all the way down his cheek. He could tell instantly, that it would never heal fully. It would scar. It. Would. Scar. He'd... never be perfect again... "NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Vega howled. He grabbed his mask and put it on his face. But now it wasn't a mask to hide the beautiful man. It was a mask to hide the ugly duckling. He whirled round to face Ryoga, eyes filled with hatred. "You did this to me," he snarled.
*Ah. English.* Ryoga recognised English, anyway. "I'm very sorry. Would you like me to get a doctor?"
Vega studied the guy in front of him. Sixteen, maybe seventeen years of age, wild, black hair held back with a yellow and black bandanna, dark green eyes, little fangs which were visible when he spoke. Muscular, but not too much, probably very strong, flowing movements, most likely a martial artist, and one who knew magic if his mirror entrance was anything to judge him by. The guy very likely had a girlfriend or fiancee because he was... beautiful. Vega knew beauty when he saw it, and he was seeing it now. This stranger had his whole life ahead of him. Pity, Vega reflected, that it would only be a few minutes at most. Because he had to die for destroying Vega's beauty. Vega picked up his metal claws.
"Mister? Are you OK? Can you hear me?" Ryoga asked urgently. *Shit! The guys probably in shock or something!* He stepped forward. "I'm gonna phone an amb..."
Vega swiped.
~~~~~
Ukyo whapped the turquoise-haired woman over the head. "Idiot!"
Ryoko glared at her. "Come on! She was lying on top of Tenchi! What did you expect me to do?"
"Do what any normal person would do and ask for an explanation! Not lay it into him!" Akane pretended she didn't hear that comment. Ukyo continued to rant at Ryoko. "So he just vanished into the mirror, that's it?!"
"I told you, that's what happened," Ryoko grumbled. "Ask the others, they saw it too."
Ukyo growled and muttered a curse. "This is just great! I let him out of my sight for ten minutes..." She stormed over to the mirror and began brushing her hair. *Idiot! Who knows what could happen to the stupid jackass?!*
~~~~~
Ryoga was losing the fight badly, and he knew it. *Dumb, crazy idiot!* he thought angrily to himself, dodging the deadly claws again, knowing just how much they hurt. The first swipe had totally torn up his right side and would probably need stitches. He had cuts raked across his face and as for his arms... they were a total mess from blocking. His vision was blurred around the edges and the pain was so bad he knew he'd pass out soon. Also, the guy had smashed the mirror, taking out his escape route. He needed to find another mirror and he needed to find one _now_. *I'm going to carry a mirror with me wherever I go - if I live through this... NO!* He batted the thought away and tried to focus, dodging the strikes, rather than trying to block against them. *R-A, R-C and R-D didn't save me to get killed by a guy who thinks he's Freddy Krueger!* He carefully worked his way around the building, looking for a mirror he could use.
Vega was impressed. Not only was the guy still standing after some of his most powerful attacks, but he'd landed quite a few powerful blows on Vega in return. Still... "Killing blow!" He charged forwards.
Ryoga dodged desperately, spun around and came face to face with
Himself.
A mirror.
*Ucchan... help me...*
~~~~~
Ukyo sighed and adjusted her white bow. *Jerk. Making me worry about him. When I catch him, he's gonna be on the receiving end of one hell of a hissy fit!* Leaning forward, she checked to see the bow was straight.
Her reflection rippled, then, without warning, Ryoga fell out of the mirror and heavily on top of her. They fell to the floor in a tangled heap. Ukyo furiously reached for her battle spatula. *How dare you come into the girls changing rooms, you PERVERT!* she fumed. "Ryoga, you..." She stopped. Something wasn't right here - Ryoga should be scrambling for his life right now, not just laying there...
"U-Ucchan?"
The small whisper cut into her thoughts. Ukyo sat up and took a good look at him. "Oh god!! Ryoga, what happened?!! Who did this to you?!!" she cried in horror.
"I-it hurts..." Ryoga let the blackness swallow him up into welcome oblivion.
End Part IIX
Final song - The Man Behind The Mask